I just came across this thread. A little concerned that it seemed to take a turn about the use of tax dollars to pay for cruises! Unfortunately we don't get tax refunds...wish it were so. But the topic is the cost of the cruise so let's keep it there. We have done 12 Disney cruises over the years ranging from the Caribbean to Europe, including the Baltic as well as Alaska and the Mexican coast. We are doing the Greek isles this summer. We are blessed that we can take our entire family, with two or three cabins, some of them inside and 3 or 4 to a cabin. The cost for taking 7 people on the Greek cruise was about $11,000 with air costing almost as much. We have also cruised on crystal, princess, royal Caribbean, carnival, celebrity and silver sea. Yes we are blessed that we can afford it, and yes Disney is more expensive than some, but it is the ambiance, the characters, the service, the comfortable feeling of coming home that we love the most. With the exception of silver sea and crystal which are very expensive, we have never experienced the level of caring and customer service that Disney offers. Also the cabins seem fine to me. I prefer a balcony and we get one most of the time but I'm happy with just a window. The split bathroom makes all the difference especially with 4 people in the cabin. The food has vastly improved over the years. We never let the grand kids order off the kids menu because it is mostly fried stuff although they have started offering grilled chicken or fish on the kids menu too. I find the food fine and I am a bit of a foody.. I send things back if needed and I'm not afraid to ask for a couple of entrees so I can try everything. Also their wine program is a relatively inexpensive way to have a bottle every night. Palo has fab food and we try to go there at least once. Personally I have not noticed a huge increase in prices, but we are lucky that we don't have to track every dollar. But I still feel that the value you get is well worth the cost. We had decided that Greece would be our last European cruise on Disney, but we really like the 2015 cruises to Norway and Iceland. We have been to both but I think the kids will like it. At some point we will just take a 7 day cruise in the summer on the Dream or Fantasy and never get off...we love those ships so much. For an all inclusive week at a five star resort, I don't think you can beat the cost.
By the way, the magic is once again hosting the Turner classic Movie cruise in October. We have been on three of these cruises, the first two on Celebrity. The worst service I have ever experienced. And the food was just okay. We were prepared To not go again until they moved it to Disney. If you like old movies and old movie stars, it is wonderful. Great dress up nights. Great conversations with stars like Eva Marie saint and Ernest Borgnine, the first year, Debbie Reynolds, two years ago, and jane Powell and Robert Wagner from last year. Alex trebek has been on board for trivia games every year so far. They haven't announced the stars on board yet this coming October, but we have signed up already. It's a blast.