Another Platinum DCL sailor who jumped ship..

[jdb in AZ]

I suspect part of the high prices on the existing four ships is so they can raise the funds to build the two new ships. After the new ships are built, I hope the prices will level off, but we're not counting on it.

 

[Birdie dog]

I'm glad to see that others are enjoying Princess! We've sailed other lines also, RCCL, X, NCL, and CCL. I'm well past the Caribbean cruises. I've done so many that when we did the 7 night southern this January (on the Wonder) I told my husband it was past time to branch out.

Princess has some awesome itineraries and at their price point, if we're happy, we'll go back.

 

[FigmentSpark]

We chose Disney because of the brand and the sense of customer service that comes with it. Also, you can comfortably fit 4 people in a room on Disney. I didn't see where this would be possible on other lines. Well, they did have them, but now you were into suites or getting 2 rooms and the prices started to go higher. So it really depends on your situation and what you like. This will be my first cruise (who knows, maybe last if we don't like it?), but if all goes well, I wouldn't be adverse to trying something else, but I'd compare to a Disney offering first.

 

[RedSox68]

We chose Disney because of the brand and the sense of customer service that comes with it. Also, you can comfortably fit 4 people in a room on Disney. I didn't see where this would be possible on other lines. Well, they did have them, but now you were into suites or getting 2 rooms and the prices started to go higher. So it really depends on your situation and what you like. This will be my first cruise (who knows, maybe last if we don't like it?), but if all goes well, I wouldn't be adverse to trying something else, but I'd compare to a Disney offering first.

That's not true -- many lines we have sailed on had very large standard rooms. In fact, Carnival had some of the biggest rooms we've been in for standard. Princess had a ceiling bed, a couch that folded out and a king bed in their verandah rooms -- more than comfortable for four. Disney does not have the market locked on quad rooms.

 

[Rabb it]

What a huge jump, you can do a lot with that chunk of change!

 

[jahber]

That's not true -- many lines we have sailed on had very large standard rooms. In fact, Carnival had some of the biggest rooms we've been in for standard. Princess had a ceiling bed, a couch that folded out and a king bed in their verandah rooms -- more than comfortable for four. Disney does not have the market locked on quad rooms.

The room we stayed in that slept 5 on the Carnival Breeze was basically the same as a family stateroom on the Disney ships, except it had a shower AND a tub in the split bath set up. Awesome! I sometimes wonder where people come up with these comparisons. Maybe they checked a ship once and base their opinions on that one experience? More than one person has stated lately that Royal doesn't have any standard rooms that sleep more than 2. That's just silly. We have two standard rooms booked that each sleep 4.

 

[RedSox68]

The room we stayed in that slept 5 on the Carnival Breeze was basically the same as a family stateroom on the Disney ships, except it had a shower AND a tub in the split bath set up. Awesome! I sometimes wonder where people come up with these comparisons. Maybe they checked a ship once and base their opinions on that one experience? More than one person has stated lately that Royal doesn't have any standard rooms that sleep more than 2. That's just silly. We have two standard rooms booked that each sleep 4.

I actually think other cruise lines have far more reasonably priced alternatives for triple and quad rooms than Disney by far! A cruise line couldn't survive if all their rooms only slept 2. The only lines I've ever seen that on are river cruises!

 

[mrp4352]

As much as I love DCL (I'm platinum, too) - when you look at a 4-night ocean view on the Dream vs a 7-night veranda on Norwegian, the 7-night is cheaper. I'm getting much more vacation for my dollar, plus two new-to-me ports. I'll still come back and cruise with Disney, but I'll have to take a couple of years in between sailings to save up the funds. and in the meantime, I'll cruise on other lines. Hopefully the pricing will level out once there are more ships to meet demand, but until that happens (in 5 years), I'll have to get my cruising fix elsewhere.

 

[RedSox68]

As much as I love DCL (I'm platinum, too) - when you look at a 4-night ocean view on the Dream vs a 7-night veranda on Norwegian, the 7-night is cheaper. I'm getting much more vacation for my dollar, plus two new-to-me ports. I'll still come back and cruise with Disney, but I'll have to take a couple of years in between sailings to save up the funds. and in the meantime, I'll cruise on other lines. Hopefully the pricing will level out once there are more ships to meet demand, but until that happens (in 5 years), I'll have to get my cruising fix elsewhere.

And we have found over the past several years that it's actually fun checking out and comparing what other lines offer. To this day, the Carnival Glory still has the most beautiful and largest stateroom we've had so far on any line - and it was a standard oceanview!

 

[phinz]

We chose Disney because of the brand and the sense of customer service that comes with it. Also, you can comfortably fit 4 people in a room on Disney. I didn't see where this would be possible on other lines. Well, they did have them, but now you were into suites or getting 2 rooms and the prices started to go higher. So it really depends on your situation and what you like. This will be my first cruise (who knows, maybe last if we don't like it?), but if all goes well, I wouldn't be adverse to trying something else, but I'd compare to a Disney offering first.

We're doing an Alaska cruise on Princess in 3.5 weeks. We get to leave out of Seattle, we're in a ~600 sq. ft. aft verandah suite (with suite amenities like a free mini bar) on a ship that had a fairly recent dry dock (The Wonder is *way* overdue) and we got the cruise for significantly less than a standard verandah on the Wonder. This made it possible for us to fly Business class from, and to, Atlanta, stay in the Marriott Waterfront for 2 days prior to the cruise, buy the unlimited drink package for me, the soda and coffee package for my wife, *and* pay for two luxury seats on the Yukon train tour in Skagway after we factor in the amount saved on drinks while onboard. Top that off with not having to go through Vancouver airport customs and it's a win/win for us.

As a comparison, you can get two connecting balcony staterooms on the Crown Princess, 1 adult and one child in each room, for a total of about $6100 in mid-June. One verandah room on the Wonder for 2 adults and two children a few days later is $11,049. If you decided to only get one room on the Crown, it would be about $3700. The difference is *insane*.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Well then, since I obviously didn't do a good comparison, can someone post what the comparible rooms are for Princess/Carnival/Norwegian/RCL to a cat 4A? What I found when I found the larger rooms was that the price was up there, too, so I am maybe looking in all the wrong places. What should I be looking for on those other lines? Thx.

 

[RedSox68]

Well then, since I obviously didn't do a good comparison, can someone post what the comparible rooms are for Princess/Carnival/Norwegian/RCL to a cat 4A? What I found when I found the larger rooms was that the price was up there, too, so I am maybe looking in all the wrong places. What should I be looking for on those other lines? Thx.

I search by rooms that accommodate 3 adults, then by ship location, then by verandah or oceanview and narrow down my locations that way. Each ship in each line can have slightly different layouts and some change-up in categories, so you cannot draw a chart (most of the time) and compare exact room types side-by-side. What you can do, however, is compare room square footage and how many they sleep -- and how the sleeping configuration is done (fold out couch, drop down bed, etc.). Hope that helps.

 

[gometros]

I know my thread is a little late, but I had to take the time to decide if I was *happy* about my decision. I'm a platinum ( partial to suites ) DCL guest who was SOOO excited about the summer 2017 announcements until I saw the pricing and almost pooped myself.

DH and I are empty nesters. No kids. But, we love DCL and were expecting to pay. Just not as much as DCL wanted.

So, in 2017, I'll be sailing Princess on a 12 night British Isles cruise for right around half price. I'm sure DCL won't miss me but they did lose a party of 10 total. We've now got a group of 10 sailing between 6 cabins (2 solo cruisers). A $40,000 booking on Princess. A $80,000 booking on DCL.

We're in the same boat, empty nesters, platinum. Just booked a 10 day western Mediterranean on RCI while waiting for the DCL fall itineraries, because they had a pretty good sale. We're paying $4100 for a midship verandah on the top deck. Unless DCL comes out with some eye popping itineraries, we probably won't change.

 

[Hundredacre]

My parents are now on a 12 day princess trip to Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Finland and Germany and they paid $1200 a piece for a verandah.... Cheaper than the mouse that's for sure!

Wow

 

[RedSox68]

My parents are now on a 12 day princess trip to Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Finland and Germany and they paid $1200 a piece for a verandah.... Cheaper than the mouse that's for sure!

Princess has some great cruise sales with a lot of amenities if you can catch them. That's a great deal.

 

[Ofinn]

Well then, since I obviously didn't do a good comparison, can someone post what the comparible rooms are for Princess/Carnival/Norwegian/RCL to a cat 4A? What I found when I found the larger rooms was that the price was up there, too, so I am maybe looking in all the wrong places. What should I be looking for on those other lines? Thx.

I have found the same problem on older ships on other lines. It would be very hard to find a ship with an inside or ocean view rooms comparable in size to DCl. Verandah rooms are easier. You cannot fault DCl on their room size. We are a family of four so it matters. Carnival is the only cruise line I have found that haa ocean view rooms the same size as Dcl. I think some of the oasis class ships on RCI have some nice sized rooms. If I came to an inside on Dcl or a verandah on an older RCI ship I would still go with DCL.

 

[bumbershoot]

Just don't ever cruise Holland America! They have great prices but the quality and service are terrible!!

My MIL would disagree. She's a picky and persnickety woman, and she had nothing bad to say about the service or quality of anything on the cruise. In fact on the first night her server noticed she was getting seasick before she had identified what it was she was feeling. Brought her a plate of sliced green apple with salt, told her to eat that and that it would help. And it did. MIL was fine the rest of the cruise.

We chose Disney because of the brand and the sense of customer service that comes with it. Also, you can comfortably fit 4 people in a room on Disney. I didn't see where this would be possible on other lines. Well, they did have them, but now you were into suites or getting 2 rooms and the prices started to go higher. So it really depends on your situation and what you like. This will be my first cruise (who knows, maybe last if we don't like it?), but if all goes well, I wouldn't be adverse to trying something else, but I'd compare to a Disney offering first.

All lines have rooms that sleep 4. That's the starting point, generally.

I sometimes wonder where people come up with these comparisons. Maybe they checked a ship once and base their opinions on that one experience?

I think they are looking at pure square footage. Which just isn't right. It's like people thinking they have to compare Disney normal rooms to Royal's junior suites b/c of the sq ft. What they don't get is that ship builders are AMAZING at creating space out of nothing. I've noticed no difference in size/the feeling of room/storage space between the 4 rooms we've been in on Dream or the 3 rooms (4 if we include honeymoon) my family have stayed in on Royal's ships.

Now, we have stayed in some great rooms on Royal. 1700 and 1864 on Freedom of the seas (aft balcony that's HUGE and a new bow/port-side panoramic oceanview room). Plus a side-facing panoramic room on Vision. And we have a terrific aft room with a gigantor balcony coming up on Adventure. I book the interesting rooms! But all are vastly cheaper than Disney (if not in total, then definitely in the per-night cost).

More than one person has stated lately that Royal doesn't have any standard rooms that sleep more than 2.

Wow, didn't see those ones!

 

[cmph]

This whole thread makes me sad! We are taking our first DCL cruise Dec/Jan. I have been on Princess, RCL, Carnival, and HA from the age of 14 through adulthood. DH didn't enjoy the southern Caribbean HA cruise we took prior to having kids, with my large extended family - it wasn't (at the time) a particularly youthful cruise, but then that's why my grandparents chose it. I finally talked him into trying a cruise again, b/c I know our kids will love the experience of being on a cruise ship, and we do love Disney - so it was the only option he wasn't likely to argue against. I priced out our particular cruise vs other lines over the Christmas/New Year's break, and it was less than $1000 difference (2 adults, 2 kids; didn't research Carnival though) for the closest comparable itineraries that fit within our school break. Departing out of Galveston (was only an option on DCL) instead of FL means cheaper flights from the west coast, so that will be reduced more. I was fine with the added cost, b/c I've cruised all over the Caribbean but obviously never Castaway Cay - and that part will be a highlight for us. We are looking forward to this trip, but I suppose I should head into it with the mindset that this may be our one and only on DCL, which is kind of the opposite of what I thought would happen. It may be that those of you without date restrictions are just going to find better deals and price differences than those of us stuck with school breaks to work around, I don't know, or maybe I'm not clear on how high the prices have jumped and the jumps just didn't apply in this case. (Posting this nervously!!)

 

[RedSox68]

My MIL would disagree. She's a picky and persnickety woman, and she had nothing bad to say about the service or quality of anything on the cruise. In fact on the first night her server noticed she was getting seasick before she had identified what it was she was feeling. Brought her a plate of sliced green apple with salt, told her to eat that and that it would help. And it did. MIL was fine the rest of the cruise.

I agree with you about HAL -- we have taken two HAL cruises, one through Alaska (including land portion) and one from Quebec through Canada and New England and we had a fabulous time on both (different ships). The care and quality really impressed us. We loved the serving staff and thought the food was way better than Disney in most areas. Our favorite thing is that they allowed you to order hot entrees for breakfast for room service! I'd cruise them again in a heartbeat.

 

[RedSox68]

This whole thread makes me sad! We are taking our first DCL cruise Dec/Jan. I have been on Princess, RCL, Carnival, and HA from the age of 14 through adulthood. DH didn't enjoy the southern Caribbean HA cruise we took prior to having kids, with my large extended family - it wasn't (at the time) a particularly youthful cruise, but then that's why my grandparents chose it. I finally talked him into trying a cruise again, b/c I know our kids will love the experience of being on a cruise ship, and we do love Disney - so it was the only option he wasn't likely to argue against. I priced out our particular cruise vs other lines over the Christmas/New Year's break, and it was less than $1000 difference (2 adults, 2 kids; didn't research Carnival though) for the closest comparable itineraries that fit within our school break. Departing out of Galveston (was only an option on DCL) instead of FL means cheaper flights from the west coast, so that will be reduced more. I was fine with the added cost, b/c I've cruised all over the Caribbean but obviously never Castaway Cay - and that part will be a highlight for us. We are looking forward to this trip, but I suppose I should head into it with the mindset that this may be our one and only on DCL, which is kind of the opposite of what I thought would happen. It may be that those of you without date restrictions are just going to find better deals and price differences than those of us stuck with school breaks to work around, I don't know, or maybe I'm not clear on how high the prices have jumped and the jumps just didn't apply in this case. (Posting this nervously!!)

Oh, don't be sad. Don't let our opinions about Disney pricing and what else is out there dampen this very exciting first cruise. NOTHING compares to your first Disney cruise -- and you won't regret it. I've taken 10, but as mentioned it is getting a little expensive for us. However, there are Disney itineraries that are much cheaper than other itineraries and should help you book another Disney cruise. Be sure to put a deposit while onboard so you get the 10% and OBC and that may help you the next time you book to get more affordable pricing! Have fun! And yes, Castaway Cay is worth the whole trip!!!