Has Disney become almost luxury? (Based on price)

I just booked a spring break sailing on an oasis class ship. I thought it was a fortune until I checked Disney. An ocean balcony for two adults and a child was over 7,000! Did this become one step below crystal cruises or something?? I have only sailed celebrity and royal Carribean ( one NCL older ship which was my least fav) and this fall we are

Doing a 3 night Disney. I'm wondering if I will get spoiled if it's so different than royal? We have a 7 night royal booked for March. Thanks!!

Disney is usually more than other lines. It's the 'Disney Factor' and the fact that there is no casino onboard. Spring Break and other times schools are out of session are typically have the most expensive cruise fares. Put those two factors together and price becomes very high.

Oh yeah I'll miss the casino :)

When comparing like itineraries and cabins types, Disney has always priced out quite a bit higher in my experience than other mass-market lines.

We will probably never sail disney. We currently don't have kids and when we do, I really feel like it will be way out of our budget. I have no problem with Disney or anything but I just feel like all the main stream cruise lines offer plenty of stuff for children to do. Between the waterslides, pools, kids clubs, etc.

I'm sure Disney is a great experience, but I just can't imagine paying more than 2x for it!

I just booked a spring break sailing on an oasis class ship. I thought it was a fortune until I checked Disney. An ocean balcony for two adults and a child was over 7,000! Did this become one step below crystal cruises or something?? I have only sailed celebrity and royal Carribean ( one NCL older ship which was my least fav) and this fall we are

Doing a 3 night Disney. I'm wondering if I will get spoiled if it's so different than royal? We have a 7 night royal booked for March. Thanks!!

We paid $4k for 4 on a 4 night Disney World/3 night Disney Wonder in an inside room and cheapest resort in 2001. We paid over $4k for 4 on a 7 day in an obstructed OV room 2004 on the Disney Magic. In 2005 we paid just over $1k for 4 in an inside room on CCL Inspiration on a 5 day. Disney is not becoming almost a luxury, it always has been. You are paying for the Disney experience. It was worth it for us at that time since our kids were of an age to get the most out of a Disney experience and I don't regret paying the premium. I would not pay for it again until I have Grand kids that age to spoil.

Thank you! If you go on a Disney ship and then a royal Carribean ship are there things you notice now that royal doesn't do that you loved on Disney ( not talking about shows or characters )

While I would love to take a Disney cruise, just to see what the hoopla is about, I really feel I wouldn't get my (extra) money's worth vs any of the other cruise lines I've been on.

I've taken the whole family (last time there were 12 of us - our grown kids and their significant others, plus 2 grandkids!) to Walt Disney World (renting a house off-site) multiple times, and would rather spend the extra Disney dollars there, since there's so much more to experience.

Thank you! If you go on a Disney ship and then a royal Carribean ship are there things you notice now that royal doesn't do that you loved on Disney ( not talking about shows or characters )

yes you will be making comparisons, no matter how much you tell yourself not too, you will :)

All the comparisons aren't necessarily negative, they're just comparisons.

Some of them will be about the rooms or ship in general, like the split bath on DCL which is great and the room curtain which divides the room - nice when you're traveling with kids, they can go to bed and you can be up with a light on without bothering them.

On the other hand, you might compare how the pool decks differ between the ships or how RCI has a rock wall (or whatever activity) that DCL doesn't.

Personally, I've found the level of service on DCL is far and above the service we've had on other lines. That's not to say there aren't bumps on a DCL cruise but the service is always amazing.

Disney has always been more $$ than the mass market cruise lines , but certainly not a Luxury line .

Disney offers the Disney experience that seems always in demand.

Our three night was 1450 for an ocean balcony but that really is pricey per day!

Disney has always been more $$ than the mass market cruise lines , but certainly not a Luxury line .

Disney offers the Disney experience that seems always in demand.

OP asked if it was becoming a "luxury" not a "luxury line". For us, at the price you pay, it is a "luxury" and always has been....especially for us when we cruised with Disney 11 and 14 years ago when our family income was less than half what it is now with 2 little kids to support and raise. IMHO "luxury" is a subjective term mainly based on your income level and I believe a majority of people would consider a Disney Cruise a "luxury".

It is "luxury" only if you equate luxury with cost. The essential difference between Disney and the other mass market lines is the Disney brand, for which people are willing to pay extra. Of course a spring break cruise, when parents will be trying to give the best and most complete experience to the little nippers accompanying them, will be particularly expensive.

Call me a grinch, but I would pay a slight premium to NOT sail with Goofy et al.

Thanks! I never had it on my radar and this three night may be our only experience as I love royal Carribean and this march we will do oasis class for the first time in Allure and I feel like it's a great fit for both my son and older parents joining. I think they would find Disney annoying and they love the casino on cruises :) but we have this chance to

Go but when I saw the price for a seven night it really made me wonder if it's a class above what I'm used to. We did get very nice cruise documents and luggage tags :)

Lol navy I gotcha. It never

Appealed to me either but on royal we have dreamworks onboard so they have the best of both. Characters when you want them but also tons of adult things :) now I'll have my son begging to do another Disney cruise afterward. Great! Ha

Thanks! I never had it on my radar and this three night may be our only experience as I love royal Carribean and this march we will do oasis class for the first time in Allure and I feel like it's a great fit for both my son and older parents joining. I think they would find Disney annoying and they love the casino on cruises :) but we have this chance to

Go but when I saw the price for a seven night it really made me wonder if it's a class above what I'm used to. We did get very nice cruise documents and luggage tags :)

It is the Disney experience you are paying for but I have to say the best restaurant I ever ate at was Palo on the Disney Magic, the shows were awesome, the service was also the best I have ever experienced and the room layout was the best of any other ship we sailed. Castaway Cay was wonderful as well. Those 2 cruises were my favorites of all of our cruises. But like I said before, unless I have Grandkids to spoil and give the Disney experience to, I would have a hard time paying the premium.

A little bit of our "Disney experience"....on our first cruise the Disney Wonder DD was 4 at the time. We had gone to Disney World first and she saw Tinker Bell flying down from the Castle in the Magic Kingdom. DD was awestruck and said "She is real!". When we were on the ship a couple days later we were watching one of the shows that at the end showed Tinker Bell on the screen flying over our ship sprinkling pixie dust. As that was happening the lights on the ceiling twinkled. DD looked up in awe again and said "Does this mean we can fly?" A priceless memory I will never forget:D.

Not sure Disney is "luxury" since we could only afford an inside room (and it did not have one of the famous split bathrooms, dang), whereas on other cruiselines, we'd get a balcony.

But Disney does allow you to bring all the alcohol you want onboard, and they do provide free soda/pop.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it alot.

Oh yeah forgot I read free soda! We fly in the night before so not sure we will have alcohol to bring onboard but we are not huge drinkers so a drink a day at the bar may be just fine.

We did a Disney cruise when our older son was two-and-a-half and only paid port fees and taxes as his fare. It was our first cruise: in a porthole room for four nights. We were there during the holidays and the entire ship was beautifully decorated. It was a wonderful experience and one we will never forget. Unfortunately, Disney cruise fares have become cost prohibitive.

We have found other cruise lines that offer great itineraries and on-board amenities. We enjoyed Disney's Castaway Cay but absolutely loved Carnival's Half Moon Cay. We are very much looking forward to the Flow Rider, rock climbing wall, and ice skating rink on the Freedom of the Seas. With the more affordable rates of the other cruise lines, we are able to get a promenade room for our boys AND a balcony room across the hall for me and my husband for SEVEN nights.

We are not doing a Disney cruise, but since we will already be in Florida for our RCCL cruise, we are spending a week at WDW before our cruise from Port Canaveral.

Win/Win

Disney is just overpriced compared to similar cruise lines IMO. Good if you have small kids and like everything related with small kids you PAY.....

That is a perfect blend! Enjoy. I agree. We did Disney world twice for my son and we did liberty of the seas which we loved- dreamworks and ice skating and rock climb in which I think you will have all

Of that on freedom. My mother in law

Was dying to do something Disney with her only grandchild so that how this cruise happened. Otherwise we will stick to royal as a family or maybe celebrity again if we get to

Cruise alone again!

You don't pay for luxury you pay for a brand/gimmick.

I have always said that when I have kids and they want a Disney experience we will got to Walt Disney World then go on a Carnival cruise et al after...much less money for more time.

Their park prices aren't exactly a walk in the park either, but that's just me.

It is the Disney experience you are paying for but I have to say the best restaurant I ever ate at was Palo on the Disney Magic, the shows were awesome, the service was also the best I have ever experienced and the room layout was the best of any other ship we sailed. Castaway Cay was wonderful as well. Those 2 cruises were my favorites of all of our cruises. But like I said before, unless I have Grandkids to spoil and give the Disney experience to, I would have a hard time paying the premium..

I have to agree with all you have said. Our one Disney cruise was by far the highest quality cruise we have experienced, from the entertainment, to the amenities, to the service, and that fantastic Palo specialty restaurant. No other cruise we have taken has matched the level of quality we enjoyed on Disney Magic.

It's an immersive experience. From dropping our bags off at our local airport check-in desk to not having to think about them until we enter our stateroom and there they are, to all transportation between the airport and the ship being taken care of on their private buses, to their fabulous private island, it is a very nice experience.

But I doubt that we will do another Disney cruise in the near future. We are OK with slightly lower levels of service, entertainment and food, and cost, to allow us more opportunities to cruise.

It is the Disney experience you are paying for but I have to say the best restaurant I ever ate at was Palo on the Disney Magic, the shows were awesome, the service was also the best I have ever experienced and the room layout was the best of any other ship we sailed. Castaway Cay was wonderful as well. Those 2 cruises were my favorites of all of our cruises. But like I said before, unless I have Grandkids to spoil and give the Disney experience to, I would have a hard time paying the premium.

 

A little bit of our "Disney experience"....on our first cruise the Disney Wonder DD was 4 at the time. We had gone to Disney World first and she saw Tinker Bell flying down from the Castle in the Magic Kingdom. DD was awestruck and said "She is real!". When we were on the ship a couple days later we were watching one of the shows that at the end showed Tinker Bell on the screen flying over our ship sprinkling pixie dust. As that was happening the lights on the ceiling twinkled. DD looked up in awe again and said "Does this mean we can fly?" A priceless memory I will never forget:D.

That is worth the extra dollars!!! No one does it like Disney.