Don't look for rate drops our of Galveston

[Goodtime Cruizin]

this fall and/or going forward. Disney is moving in and their rates are extremely high in comparison. I've never sailed Disney, but Wowza! There's a huge gap between the two in cruise rates. I suspect that this will allow RCL to hold their rates in place and perhaps even allow them to charge a bit more, as for the first time, RCL is NOT the price leader out of Galveston.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Goodtime Cruizin

[spookwife]

are they replacing Carnival or in addition to Carnival?

[foxgoodrich]

this fall and/or going forward. Disney is moving in and their rates are extremely high in comparison. I've never sailed Disney, but Wowza! There's a huge gap between the two in cruise rates. I suspect that this will allow RCL to hold their rates in place and perhaps even allow them to charge a bit more, as for the first time, RCL is NOT the price leader out of Galveston.

 

That's always been the case with Disney - the mouse has ALWAYS been substantially higher than RC, Carnival, Princess, NCL, etc. etc. We've sailed Disney before with family, and noticed quite a few differences - my personal fave was the attendant at every public restroom and the fact that every public restroom I visited was spotless!

 

The cabins are fantastic - at least they were on the Dream. My son, DIL, and 2 granddaughters had a family balcony cabin with a HUGE balcony and a wonderful split bathroom arrangement - one had tub/shower/sink, and the other had toilet/sink. Our lowest class interior had a tub/shower combination. We also had a 'virtual porthole' with a realtime view of the sea...but every so often Tinkerbell would fly across it, or penguins would dance, or Captain Hook would show up, etc.

 

Soda is free and included with your fare. There are lifeguards at the pools. The toiletries provided to every cabin are high end (H20 Plus!:D) and provided in larger quantities than the other cruise lines (larger tubes/bottles.) There seemed to be lots more crew/staff and you can see the difference in service and in keeping everything clean. Royal's Dynamic Dining is a replication of how the dining rooms work on Disney - our wait team rotated through the restaurant assignments with us. (Our favorite was Animator's Palate, but the little ones loved the Enchanted Garden.) Royal's 'Wow Bands' are a replication of Disney's Magic Bands. In other words, Disney is innovative.

 

Would DH and I sail Disney without kids with us? Probably not, although there were numerous cruisers without children aboard on our cruise. We would not be willing to pay the premium to sail with the mouse unless we had kids with us. We had a grand time with our family, but our $$ goes farther on Royal!:)

Judy

[brn2crz]

Than again, competion can create lower prices. works for Carnival..

[wolfganghowell]

Disney has been in Galveston before. The only real impact on Royal's prices is their own supply and demand.

[PCWalton1]

I don't see how this would cause Royal's prices to go up. If anything the Disney ship add more supply (cabins) to the port which could reduce the demand on Royal cabins if some passengers decide to switch to the mouse.

[ukintheus]

Disney have sailed out of Galveston since the fall of 2012 but they are only here in the fall/winter. The first year they came October-May and since then have come Nov-Jan. We are trying RCI after sailing DCL out of Galveston several times, partly due to price but mostly for a change of itinerary. DCL pricing out of Galveston has increased quite a bit since they first came in 2012. You could actually get a "good deal" on DCL out of Galveston back then, now not so much. :rolleyes: I think Galveston is just attracting more cruisers in general and creating higher demand with having more options available.

[pspercy]

We're booked on Liberty for December and have already had good drops, currently booked in D3 for $749pp:)

Edited June 29, 2016 by pspercy

[PCWalton1]

We're booked on Liberty for December and have already had good drops, currently booked in D3 for $749pp:)

 

Our September cruise on Liberty still has the inside cabins at $499 pp which is what we are in. But we are coming up on final payment date and there are still various outside & balcony categories with large numbers of cabins available so something should move in the next month. :)