Would you pay Disney prices if you were not a Disney fan?

Hi Disney board!

Looking at possibly booking our first Disney cruise for 2017 now that summer pricing is out but I just can't get myself to pull the trigger.

A little bit about us. We are a family of 4, kids are 7 and 5, and as our cruise history shows, we don't play favoritism with cruise lines. We like the Disney product, but we are by no means big fans. Yes, the kids enjoy Disney things and we've taken trips to Disney in Orlando, but at home they don't get any more excited about Disney characters than about cartoon characters on PBS.

With all of that said, for those of you who frequently sail on Disney, would you still choose this cruise line if you were not a Disney fan? Yes I keep reading how amazing the service, the food, and the entertainment are, but I've read and experienced the same on several other cruise lines at a fraction of the price.

So taking aside the Disney "magic" out, what makes you choose Disney over others?

Thanks for your time! [emoji3]

Would you pay Disney prices if you were not a Disney fan?

No.

We are very selective in how we approach Disney. I'm willing to pay a modest premium (125% of comparables), and have been able to do so by booking early (first hour if possible) and combining it with departure ports that are accessible from NYC and are interesting to me.

We did the Canadian maritime cruise from NY at a reasonable rate, and the same with Puerto Rico; the European cruises have gotten outside my comfort zone, ditto the 2017 southern Caribbean. We rotate Disney with NCL and RCCL to keep things fresh.

When the new ships come on line, we'll look for opportunities on Fantasy and Dream.

Would you pay Disney prices if you were not a Disney fan?

No, try NCL. That is where we cruise with our family. You can get rooms that hold up to 6. We are 8 so we get 2 rooms (2 adults and 2 kids). Great Kids Club and other amenities. Love it!

In the last 6 years, we've had better food on 3 other lines than on DCL. We've had fine service--not with some of the fun, quirky things that DCL has, but if you've never had them, you won't miss them. Entertainment has been the best on DCL, but not by enough to rule out the others.

Would I pay a small premium--yes

Will I pay a charge that is 2-4 times as much as another line? No way. No new DCL bookings for us.

I'm a Disney fan in the sense that I'm a fan of their customer service and find it worth a certain premium. But once my son is older, we will probably try other lines again because a lot of the "value" for me is based upon my son's enjoyment of the entertainment and kids activities.

I'm unlikely to go back to NCL, which I sailed several times before my first Disney cruise. Even though I enjoyed my NCL cruises, my DCL experience really illuminated for me the deficiencies in NCL's customer service.

I'm a Disney fan in the sense that I'm a fan of their customer service and find it worth a certain premium. But once my son is older, we will probably try other lines again because a lot of the "value" for me is based upon my son's enjoyment of the entertainment and kids activities.

 

I'm unlikely to go back to NCL, which I sailed several times before my first Disney cruise. Even though I enjoyed my NCL cruises, my DCL experience really illuminated for me the deficiencies in NCL's customer service.

I would suggest that you look at Royal, Celebrity, and Princess. Each has good and less good points, but each has a good product at a reasonable price.

Heck no.

For me, it was well worth sailing Disney when my daughter was 7, but was less so when she was 10.

I knew that I was paying a significant premium for Disney 'magic', both in the ship and in the kids' clubs, and for age-appropriate shows in the evening. Was it worth it? Yeah, I think it was.

By the time of our second cruise, she had little interest in going to the clubs and preferred to lay on deck reading books and listening to her iPod, so that was one less checkmark in favor of Disney.

That being the case, we just sailed on NCL in a 'large balcony' mini-suite for about half the cost of what an oceanview room would have cost on Disney, plus we had the unlimited adult beverage package included in that cost.

Were the evening shows 'great' from her perspective? No, not really, so we only went to a couple, but she is at the age that going to the karaoke bar and the dueling pianos bar, was actually a lot of fun for her and she had a blast singing along at those venues.

As I've posted a million times on this board and others, Disney can charge what they want to, because (I assume) most people are like my family, where a DCL cruise is something that you do one or two times, after which families outgrow what DCL has to offer. The other cruise lines want to create affinity and life long customers - Disney doesn't. It's a matter of "Take your kids and we'll see you again in thirty years when you take your grandkids".

Unfortunately we have only done DCL. After having been on one 8 years ago and after having done over 10, our family cannot see ourselves in other lines. My wife refuses to get on another ship. We have been spoiled. EVERY time we get on one of Disney ships we are greeted by staff members who we have met before. They seem to remember us somehow. Perks such as our room host using Frozen bed sheets for our daughter and our friends 3 times in the past, staff members WELCOMING us back with honesty and the Dining experiences just make us coming back. Prices are horrendous but we are blessed to be able to afford them.

We are very selective in how we approach Disney. I'm willing to pay a modest premium (125% of comparables)' date=' and have been able to do so by booking early (first hour if possible) and combining it with departure ports that are accessible from NYC and are interesting to me.

 

We did the Canadian maritime cruise from NY at a reasonable rate, and the same with Puerto Rico; the European cruises have gotten outside my comfort zone, ditto the 2017 southern Caribbean. We rotate Disney with NCL and RCCL to keep things fresh.

 

When the new ships come on line, we'll look for opportunities on Fantasy and Dream.[/quote']

 

 

We certainly have a differing opinion on what constitutes a "modest premium". We too are willing to pay a (what we consider to be a "modest") premium for DCL. However, for me, that means 30-50% above the cost to sail on other lines.

DCL can charge a higher rate because they provide a special overall product in their cruises.

We find most families on DCL are there for the long haul. Yes mostly with younger kids, but have often talked with many families with teens that still love the Disney Touch, magic and Pixie dust that other lines cannot match.

Many many couples middle aged and older like us the love the classic liner style of the DCL, the excellent food and service and the Disney entertainment. We often cruise with DCL without kids.

AKK

Hi, with dd, we've done two Disney, two non Disney, our next cruise is Disney. Dd didn't even know who Minnie/Mickey were her first cruise, I taught her for her second. She was into a few princesses by then.

The non Disney were fun, but no magic. And not as kid/family friendly. Some of my best memories are from the Disney cruise.

So, for now, we are willing to pay the mouse tax for the pixie dust magic.

Though, as we have more kids, Disney might be out.

We are going on the EBTA in August. By that time we will be platinum. After that cruise we will be jumping ship to a Princess with a land and cruise for 16 days in a suite that is $3000 cheaper that the Disney around the British Isles this summer was on opening day. We also had a veranda room on deck five ( Wonder out of Galveston) that we are switching for a Grand Suite on the Liberty of the Seas for $2000 cheaper -same itinerary and time of year. We love Disney but can't justify the cost.

We certainly have a differing opinion on what constitutes a "modest premium". We too are willing to pay a (what we consider to be a "modest") premium for DCL. However, for me, that means 30-50% above the cost to sail on other lines.

No actually 125% of comparables is 25% over other lines. Paying $10,000 on Disney versus $8,000 on NCL or Royal is okay with me because we tend to drink and gamble less on Disney🤗

We are going on the EBTA in August. By that time we will be platinum. After that cruise we will be jumping ship to a Princess with a land and cruise for 16 days in a suite that is $3000 cheaper that the Disney around the British Isles this summer was on opening day. We also had a veranda room on deck five ( Wonder out of Galveston) that we are switching for a Grand Suite on the Liberty of the Seas for $2000 cheaper -same itinerary and time of year. We love Disney but can't justify the cost.

We booked B2B 12 night cruises doing the British Isles on opening day. We used an onboard booking discount for the one leg that was not blacked out (I think. Both might have been blacked out, I know one was). We booked an inside cabin due to cost. We ended up canceling these cruises.

In their stead, we booked a longer Princess cruise doing essentially the same ports (plus more) in a deluxe balcony cabin (regular balconies were sold out) for almost exactly half the cost of the DCL booking. The Princess booking even included tips. Even with our "trial run" Caribbean cruise on Princess to check them out before committing to a long cruise, we come out thousands of dollars to the good.

Sorry, but why would I choose a more expensive DCL cruise in an inside cabin over a deluxe balcony on another line plus a cost savings of thousands?

Have you looked into Oasis class ships on Royal Carribean.?

Personally I like variety.

Have you looked into Oasis class ships on Royal Carribean.?

 

Personally I like variety.

We sailed on the Allure of the Seas a few years ago when our now 6 year old was 17 months old. We had an absolutely fantastic time. Part of the reason why we chose that cruise was because of what they offered for very young children. The Royal Babies and Tots program was phenomenal. The facilities, along with all the Fisher Price and Crayola sponsored activities as well as their dedicated Adventure Ocean channel, kept our soon entertained and gave mom and dad a break to enjoy the more adult activities offered onboard. Also, the Baby H20 Zone with its temperature controlled and separately filtered pools for babies and toddlers in diapers was wonderful. The carousel in the middle of the Boardwalk was very popular with our son. Finally, the Dreamworks experience with its shows, parades, and character breakfasts were very entertaining as well. [emoji3]

We have never cruised with Disney before, but are biting the bullet to take our DD and family (two little ones ages 4 and 7) on the Dream this summer. Were it not for the kids, we would not be doing this, since the price is crazy high!

My wife can't name a single Disney character or movie and still wants to sail on Disney. We are planning on 2017.

I pay Disney prices only because I'm a Disney fan. Even then, I book their better values - like the Transatlantic cruises. If the Fall 2017 Panama Canal cruise is comparable in price to the April 2017 PC cruise, I will probably book it. Celebrity's Oct. 2017 15-night PC cruise is only $50 less than DCL's April PC cruise - both in inside cabins. I'm more interested in the sea days on Disney than the extra port days on Celebrity.

Out of the 29 cruises I have been on, only 6 have been on Disney. It's the occasional treat. :)

Thanks for all the feedback! [emoji3] Reading the responses on this thread has convinced me not to book a Disney cruise at this time. I had my eyes on either Alaska or Northern Europe, but I just don't see the value in spending three times as much as a comparable itinerary on other cruise lines when these itineraries are mostly about the ports of call and not as much about the ship (we've already done Alaska and, even though it was a fantastic cruise and the ports were breathtaking, I honestly couldn't tell you much about ship. Don't want to pay Disney prices only to have the same kind of limited memories about the onboard experience).

So we'll bypass a longer Disney cruise during high season and just keep our eyes open for a good deal on a shorter cruise during low season where we can focus on the ship and what's happening onboard rather than ashore.

No!

We are not rabid Disney fans and next year will be our third cruise in three years. That's more of a scheduling thing than a brand loyalty thing. There are other ships in port but we know we will get a good product with Disney. I endeavor to try other lines (like RC or HAL) at some point.

I would not. Even being a Disney fan, I get very tired of the music and seeing the people dressed in Disney fan attire. That said, it is still the only cruise I've been on and currently have 3 more booked. :p