Is Disney worth the money?

[mcgrate]

Hey everyone,

I'm brand new to the site and this is my first (of many I hope) posts!

 

I am also new to cruising.. as in I've never gone yet. I signed up to this site to do my research.

 

Im looking at all of the cruise lines and ships. Nothing jumped out at me until I got to disney. the PRICE of them!! holy moley.

Are kids free? Are kids full adult fare? I have a 2 year old who is a disney-nut but I put a 5 night cruise into the availability and it came back at nearly 3,000 dollars! Is it worth this kind of money? We're in the UK so would have to factor flights on top of that bringing a weeks holiday to almost 5k.

 

Apart from the obvious characters, what does disney do that Royal C or carnival dont do?

[6rugrats]

You can check the price by doing a dummy booking. IMO, no Disney is absolutely not worth it, but obviously a lot of people think it is.

[Onessa]

We've done one Disney cruise, one heck of a long time ago. The ship was beautiful, the service was terrific, the costumed characters scared the stuffings out of my then about 3YO.

 

We've done Princess, RCCI, NCL and Celebrity cruises as well. Each line has its own amenities and "character". I tend to like RCCI and Celebrity (owned by the same company) -- and that is primarily because I have had very good experiences with their crew and I like their commitment to public art (adds a nice ambiance that I find missing particularly on NCL).

 

Disney has some cool technologies that they employ, lots of Disney movies and memorabilia, and the characters. The kids club is no better (or in total any worse) than other lines kids clubs -- some people like the age groupings on one line vs another, some people are partial to NCL because most of their counselors and female others to RCCI which seems to skew more male, some like the hours of operations of the program on one line vs another, etc.

 

If your kid likes high level of activities, RCCI ships tend to have a good variety. If your kids really likes Disney stuff, Disney might be worth it to you (as I mentioned above, really was not something my kid was "into") Good luck

[remillard]

My kids have done both RCI (at ages 4 & 6) and Disney (at ages 5 & 7). They loved the RCI Adventure Ocean program and hated the Disney program. Our basic take was that RCI had better programming and staff, while Disney had better facilities.

 

With RCI, the staff were very hands-on and dynamic. Activities changed every 15-20 minutes and our kids enjoyed the daily themes. With Disney, they felt more like it was group babysitting. The Disney staff made sure nobody got hurt and kids got fair access to play on the computers, but otherwise didn't do much with the kids. As a result, our kids didn't want to go to the Disney club activities, which were supposed to be one of the pluses of the trip.

 

We'll be back to RCI next month and the kids are looking forward to it.

[cb at sea]

Most folks with kids report that the Disney kid's club is not equal to Carnival or RCI, or the other cruiselines.....

 

The cabins are larger on Disney, tho!

[bus man]

Have you checked Disney during the off season? During those times, the price differential between Disney and the other lines isn't always all that horrible, relatively speaking.

 

"Off season" in this context means any time that most kids are in school. Here in the States, this would be early January through mid-March (excepting the week of President's Day, the 3rd Monday in February); then mid-April through mid to late May, or sometimes the first week of June; then early September through mid-November; then the first 3 weeks of December.

 

As for whether Disney is worth it, that's obviously very subjective. If your son enjoys the characters or the Disney ambiance, then it may well be worth it. Keep in mind too that most lines require children to be at least 3 years old, and potty trained, before they can use the kids program. So you might want to wait until that time before you set sail. (I think Disney might allow 2 year olds; but on the other hand, they did specifically ask me if my 3.5 year-old daughter was toilet trained. So I don't know.)

 

Kids do not sail free on Disney, or most other lines for that matter. Nor do they pay full fare. They pay somewhere in between, with the amount being higher or lower depending on if it's in season or out of season.

 

Personally, I enjoyed Disney, but I found that overall, I preferred Royal Caribbean. My kids have only sailed on Disney, and they loved it. As we like to say here, YMMV (your mileage may vary).

[Friend100]

Hey everyone,

I'm brand new to the site and this is my first (of many I hope) posts!

 

I am also new to cruising.. as in I've never gone yet. I signed up to this site to do my research.

 

Im looking at all of the cruise lines and ships. Nothing jumped out at me until I got to disney. the PRICE of them!! holy moley.

Are kids free? Are kids full adult fare? I have a 2 year old who is a disney-nut but I put a 5 night cruise into the availability and it came back at nearly 3,000 dollars! Is it worth this kind of money? We're in the UK so would have to factor flights on top of that bringing a weeks holiday to almost 5k.

 

Apart from the obvious characters, what does disney do that Royal C or carnival dont do?

 

If child is the 2nd passenger then you pay full fare. If child is the 3rd/4th/5th passenger you pay reduced fare, which is normal practice for most cruiseline. DCL's price for 3rd/4th/5th passenger if children differs by age. I think the grouping is infant to 2, 3 to 11, and then 12 to 17 (but I could be off). Depends on the date and itinerary, price difference between the 1st/2nd passenger and the 3rd/4th/5th passenger varies.

 

Whether DCL is worth it or not really depends on your preference. For us, we choose DCL for sailing dates that we can afford. If we can't do 7-day we'll do 4-day. Different cruiselines, and different ships within the same line, have each of their strength and weakness.

[Friend100]

One more "difference": you can watch the latest Disney movie on the ship. I believe they are showing The Avengers now on Disney Dream ... not sure about the other 3 ships also have it.

[Warm Breezes]

It was worth it to us when our kids were 4 and 7. 2 might be a little young to fully get your money's worth. Have you looked into NCL Nickelodean cruises?

[Friend100]

OP, the Disney Magic will be back to the Mediterranean in the summer of 2013 so you may want to consider that.

 

In my limited experience, I do feel that there is quite a difference between the older/smaller yet more intimate and classic-style Disney Magic/Wonder, vs. the newer/bigger more high-tech contemporary Disney Dream/Fantasy. We like the newer ship more.

 

When comparing to other lines, I don't think DCL is better than others. They are just different. For all major cruiselines, large or small, their core business is cruising. For Disney, their core business is media and entertainment. Cruising is a means for them to deliver their product. If you are going for the Disney magic touch, the onboard experience while at the same time to be able to visit a few ports, and are willing to pay a premium price, then DCL is a good choice. But the "premium price" can vary a lot depends on when you are going. For off season the price difference (when comparing to something you consider as similar) maybe not by much ... about the same, or maybe 10-20% more. But during high seasons like the summer, it could be outrageous.

 

I posted the below post before in another thread in this forum and I am re-posting it again.

 

One word to sum up Disney cruise: magical. This is the word you hear most from people describing their Disney cruise experience. You rarely hear people talking about their CCL/NCL/RCI/Princess/X/HAL cruises being "magical".

 

Here are a few pictures of the Disney Dream.

 

 

 

 

The atrium:

 

Free soda:

 

Pool deck:

 

Promenade deck:

 

One of the menus:

 

[Gatrcruzer]

Dear mcgrate,

 

There are a few things to consider when looking at the cruises. As previous posters have mentioned, time of year could have a big impact on the cost of the cruise. Also, as previous posters have mentioned, children are usually not free on cruises (Costa and MSC are running kids sail free specials, and HAL is having some free and reduced 3rd person fares).

 

One thing that was not mentioned is the availability of childcare onboard for a 2 year old. Most kids clubs start at age 3, with the exceptions of Carnival and NCL (although NCL might be changing the age to 3 in the near future), which start at age 2. However, Disney and some of the RCI ships have onboard nurseries where children under 3 can go for babysitting - this would be for a fee, and not included in the cruise fare.

 

Another issue: children who are not potty trained may not use regular pool facilities on cruise ships. It sounds crazy, but it has to do with sanitation and the way that water can be treated on ship pools, which is more complicated than a typical land-based pool. Some RCI ships and all of the Disney ships are equiped with a specially filtrated children's pool area for those who are not yet potty trained. If you are hoping to take your child to the pool while on the cruise, and if this is important to you, I'd investigate those ships that offer this feature. If you are not pool people, or if your daughter is already potty trained, then this isn't a concern.

 

Some other differences with Disney: they allow you to bring your own beverages on the ship (alcoholic or not), whereas RCI does not allow beverages of any kind to be brought onboard. Disney also provides free soda machines, whereas most other lines to not offer this (although many have "soda packages" you can purchase).

 

It may or may not be worth it for your family to go on Disney vs. another cruise line, but you also might want to consider a land-based trip to Disney in order to let your Disney nut get her fix? Good luck with your decision-making.

[Kerry's Girls]

Since you're in London, I agree with the poster above who suggested a Disney Med cruise if you're leaning toward Disney. That way you get the Disney experience without the airfare.

 

Best,

Mia

[Gatrcruzer]

Thought of a few more thing to consider as you compare cruises:

 

1. Tubs: Many ship cabins do not have bathtubs, but for parents traveling with a young child it could be quite convenient to have a tub. Disney provides tubs in their stateroom bathrooms; Holland America has tubs in ocean view categories and higher; Carnival's new ships have special ocean view categories that contain tubs; but most other lines only provide tubs in categories junior suite and higher. People work around this by bringing blow up tubs, but that is a real hassle - those bathrooms on ships are quite small; others just get higher category cabins. Not sure about P&O - given your location you might want to check them out. Wouldn't it be convenient to skip flying?

 

2. Where your child will sleep: While many staterooms have 3rd (or 4th) person occupancy, will the third bed be a bunked? Or will there be a convertible couch, or maybe a murphy bed? Be sure to pay attention to this as you compare cruise ships. Personally, I would not want to put my 2 year old in a bunk, so that would mean my husband and I would have to split up so that one of us could sleep up there. This would be a less desirable set up for us.

 

3. Stateroom size - There is a very wide variety in the size of the stateroom depending on the cruise line, and even differences between ships within a cruise line. Having space can be really nice. Just make sure as you compare prices, you also consider cabin size. Does your daughter still nap? You might need to be spending quite a bit of time in the cabin. Some people get a balcony stateroom so that parents can sit outside and relax when children are sleeping/napping.

 

Just make sure that as you compare prices, you also consider some of the other differences that could impact the comfort of your vacation.

[TheCalicoCat]

If you have to ask - NO.

IMHO - No.

But we have pretty much avoided the Disneyfication (insert any licensed product) of our lives. Sure my son know who Mickey is, but he doesn't have Mouse ears on everything.

 

With all of that said, I would think that 5-8/9 would be a more ideal age range to truely get the most bang for you buck in a Disney cruise.

[Friend100]

If you have to ask - NO.

IMHO - No.

But we have pretty much avoided the Disneyfication (insert any licensed product) of our lives. Sure my son know who Mickey is, but he doesn't have Mouse ears on everything.

 

With all of that said, I would think that 5-8/9 would be a more ideal age range to truely get the most bang for you buck in a Disney cruise.

 

That was pretty much my perception too before our first DCL. We were lucky to find a kids sail free deal at that time for a short Bahamas cruise and the price for a quad was reasonable - not rock bottom bargain but I'd say comparable to an RCI Radiance-class ship sailing the 4-5 day from Tampa at that time. We don't consider ourselves Disney fanatic - have never been to any of the Disney park or their resort. But for us, I feel a 10% to 20% premium (as compared to an RCI Freedom-class ship ... which is the other ship we have done) is reasonable for a Bahamas/Caribbean cruise. The challenge is to find the right cruise and book at the right time. Being a past DCL cruiser, knowing how (and with whom) to book it, and how to pay it also give me an instant 15% off the published rate, plus more OBC with the cruiseline and additional OBC with the TA.

 

If the itinerary was more port focus like Alaska or Med, then I don't know - haven't done it yet but I do believe there are other choices that give us better value for that type of itinerary when the focus of the trip is more for the port experience. But there is always some exception. DCL is doing a promo now for their Panama Canal this December and I find their price of $980pp for a 14-day full transit to be good value - but of course not many families with children can take 2 weeks off at that time of the year :)

[TheCalicoCat]

DCL is doing a promo now for their Panama Canal this December and I find their price of $980pp for a 14-day full transit to be good value :)

 

That does sound like a good value for a 14 day cruise. You are also right about families having a hard time swinging the 2+ weeks. I hate think of how much the air fare would be...

[6rugrats]

I hate think of how much the air fare would be...

 

This cruise departs from Miami and ends in Los Angeles, or vice versa, so by booking a multi-city ticket, I am guessing airfare would not be that bad. I see it for around $411 for coming from the Pacific Northwest.

 

Price listed for this cruise is for a standard inside cabin, but seems to be good for a 14 day Disney cruise.

[momof3cruisers]

Have you been to Disney World? I would do that instead of a Disney cruise at her Age. As mentioned, you have to pay for child care instead of having access to the club for her age. We went on DCL when my youngest was two. He still refers to the child care as "the sad baby room." LOL. they didn't do pretty much anything with that age group. Plus you have to pay her fare, of course.

 

At WDW her admission at two is still free as is her food at all buffets and family style meals. Two is an awesome age to go to Disney parks.

[mcgrate]

Thanks everyone for all the hints and tips. Spoke to a couple of travel agents and cruise lines. I asked them "Does the ship (in question) have a pool onboard?" (See I really am new to this!! haha) anyway, turns out my non-toilet trained daughter wont be allowed in the pools :( gutted. She would flip out if she seen a pool with lots of kids splashing around and wasnt allowed in it, so alas, I think I have to end my search for at least a year or so anyway.

[Onessa]

There are a limited number of ships with "splash pool" areas that are specially designed to allow the non-potty trained to swim (look at the mega RCCI ships and some of the NCL ships). There are also a lot of us who have brought on a small inflatable splash pool as a substitute.

 

Maritime regulations are pretty clear about the pools on cruise ships. They cannot use the same chemicals used in land-based commercial pools because if they are emptied into the ocean and the chemicals will cause issues in the immediate vincity of where they are emptied. Without these chemicals, the pools can much more easily become "polluted" and cause sickness. So the regulations do not allow non-trained kids or "swimmie" type diapers (nappies).

[Friend100]

Information about Disney Fantasy's Nemo's Reef wet play area:

 

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/fantasy/pools/nemos-reef/