Major competition coming for the Disney Wish?

[auntlynne]

…

What do you think? Will Disney have to compete pricing wise to draw folks away from possibly the best ship in Port Canaveral?

I don’t think they will lower fares in response to this.

Based on marketing and product (and my experiences with various cruise lines), the target market does not have a big overlap. And I don’t think it’s only the Disney cruisers - lots of Royal cruisers are referred to as Royal Loyal. While they both offer a ship and similar ports, they are different experiences. Some like assorted styles of cruising, many find one and stick with it - despite the cost. If Disney out-prices me, I will go to Princess, again, or pick an alternate form of vacationing.

Also, I don’t consider myself a Disney “fan;” but do enjoy their cruises - especially Castaway Cay. The only positives about Royal’s Coco Cay is a pier and the same water found at CC.

I believe it is the busiest cruise port in the U.S. Been decades since I cruised on RCCL and loved them, but this will have zero impact on Disney.

Yep, in the US - and the world.



The “Out Islands“ are The Bahamas (not including the islands with Nassau and Freeport).

North America also has the most passenger cruisers.

 

[AquaDame]

I think locals and folks who just like to cruise will be tempted, but Disney has great FL rates as well, so maybe pricing is similar, I don't know. I still believe most folks who cruise Disney cruise for Disney first and cruising second. We'd never fly to MCO just to go on this ship, but we live in Oregon so that would be a loooong way to go. Somehow I did it for the Wish when it launched however so.. I guess I am firmly in that group I mentioned.

 

[TXDCLfan]

We enjoyed the MDR for dinner, but the buffet was awful and MDR for breakfast blah.

We gave RCCL 4 tries over a seven year period and just had lousy food and were done with them. To many other cruise lines that have nice ships and quality food option plus RCCL wants you to pay for Johney Rockets when CCL and others have quality burgers for free.

 

[OKW Lover]

What do you think? Will Disney have to compete pricing wise to draw folks away from possibly the best ship in Port Canaveral?

Not in the least. Disney is already the more pricy of the cruises from Port Canaveral and they have no problem filling the ships. RCL is attracting a different demographic.

 

[Lilsia]

I don’t think they will lower fares in response to this.

Based on marketing and product (and my experiences with various cruise lines), the target market does not have a big overlap. And I don’t think it’s only the Disney cruisers - lots of Royal cruisers are referred to as Royal Loyal. While they both offer a ship and similar ports, they are different experiences. Some like assorted styles of cruising, many find one and stick with it - despite the cost. If Disney out-prices me, I will go to Princess, again, or pick an alternate form of vacationing.

Also, I don’t consider myself a Disney “fan;” but do enjoy their cruises - especially Castaway Cay. The only positives about Royal’s Coco Cay is a pier and the same water found at CC.



Yep, in the US - and the world.

View attachment 770663

The “Out Islands“ are The Bahamas (not including the islands with Nassau and Freeport).

North America also has the most passenger cruisers.

I think that you are right. I follow a few cruise vloggers and it seems that every cruise line has their die hard fans. This is not Disney specific. It makes sense, a lot of people have their favorite places, brands, and products that they like and stick to. But for some reason, Disney people are treated like they are crazy for being brand loyal. I don't know why it bothers some people so much.

 

[o&smom]

I can wait to sail the Wish until it’s not the new hotness and it is sailing more interesting itineraries. But the mega ships don’t appeal to me even slightly. Hopefully they’re going away from the lack of external views that I’ve seen on other Royal oasis-class ships, because I can’t imagine wanting to be on a ship where I could easily forget I’m even at sea.

That is my problem with the Wish. I felt the design and layout had many spaces in the interior areas of the ship, and not taking advantage of the connection to the ocean.

 

[Flying Fish]

That is my problem with the Wish. I felt the design and layout had many spaces in the interior areas of the ship, and not taking advantage of the connection to the ocean.

If you're too connected to the ocean, you're not spending money.

 

[starvenger]

Based on marketing and product (and my experiences with various cruise lines), the target market does not have a big overlap. And I don’t think it’s only the Disney cruisers - lots of Royal cruisers are referred to as Royal Loyal. While they both offer a ship and similar ports, they are different experiences. Some like assorted styles of cruising, many find one and stick with it - despite the cost. If Disney out-prices me, I will go to Princess, again, or pick an alternate form of vacationing.

Also, I don’t consider myself a Disney “fan;” but do enjoy their cruises - especially Castaway Cay. The only positives about Royal’s Coco Cay is a pier and the same water found at CC.

I know J at the Shiplife jokingly calls Carnival fanatics "Carnies". He does a lot of vlogs on Carnival so it's clearly done in jest. DCL outpriced me a long time ago. I'd honestly be afraid to find out how much a New Year's cruise like the one I'm doing with Princess would cost.

I would say that DCL operates on a different tier from everyone else. You can find similarities with other cruise lines in terms of pricing or amenities, but no one else can build things around a Disney Experience. That Disney Experience is what allows DCL to dictate their pricing structure. Doesn't matter what a Royal or a Carnival or a MSC does.

I think that you are right. I follow a few cruise vloggers and it seems that every cruise line has their die hard fans. This is not Disney specific. It makes sense, a lot of people have their favorite places, brands, and products that they like and stick to. But for some reason, Disney people are treated like they are crazy for being brand loyal. I don't know why it bothers some people so much.

As more of a non-DCL person, and someone who also visits the cc boards, I can tell you that a couple of things that stick out are when people decry the lack of "Disney Experience/Magic", and nickel-and-diming.

- the lack of that Disney touch... well, of course. But without context, the hot take reaction is that you cruised Disney Cruise Lines for the Disney, and not the Cruise. I'm on this board, so I know that this can be the case, but it's mostly not the case.

- Nickel-and-diming is an issue for certain on the other cruise lines, especially Royal (which, full disclosure, is my favoured cruise line). On the other cruise lines, you start to recognize and avoid, to the point where you can filter that noise out. But if you've only done DCL, it's gonna be a shock for sure.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

We gave RCCL 4 tries over a seven year period and just had lousy food and were done with them. To many other cruise lines that have nice ships and quality food option plus RCCL wants you to pay for Johney Rockets when CCL and others have quality burgers for free.

I guess RCCL just redid there MDR menus a few months ago and alot of loyals aren't happy with it, we found dinners pretty good, but they are less fancy if that makes sense. But didn't like filet was an upcharge. We did Chop for first day lunch which was really good and nice to be away from the crazy of the buffet.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

Not in the least. Disney is already the more pricy of the cruises from Port Canaveral and they have no problem filling the ships. RCL is attracting a different demographic.

These new ships from RCCL are very expensive as well, maybe not as much as Disney when just considering fare, but with all the upcharges for Royal they aren't always that far apart. I was pricing out Utopia and Disney for fall 2024 and could actually book for very similar prices for no peak season. Now peak season there is a bigger jump.

 

[mlayton14]

Royal = Las Vegas shopping mall resort at sea , nothing wrong with it if that’s your speed, hard pass for us

 

[starvenger]

I guess RCCL just redid there MDR menus a few months ago and alot of loyals aren't happy with it, we found dinners pretty good, but they are less fancy if that makes sense. But didn't like filet was an upcharge. We did Chop for first day lunch which was really good and nice to be away from the crazy of the buffet.

Tbh I found their filet to be kind of average and not worth the upcharge. And Chops, to me, isn't as good as the Keg up here in Canada.

But avoiding the buffet on day 1 lunch is always good advice.

These new ships from RCCL are very expensive as well, maybe not as much as Disney when just considering fare, but with all the upcharges for Royal they aren't always that far apart. I was pricing out Utopia and Disney for fall 2024 and could actually book for very similar prices for no peak season. Now peak season there is a bigger jump.

I would say DCL knows their client base well. There's a point where you become unwilling to take kids out of school to take advantage of the lower prices. So inflate the cost, knowing that people are willing to pay.

 

[KevinFL]

Just watch a 40-45 minute informational video on You Tube about Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Seas. Wow! Impressive is what I thought, but then they said it will be doing 3/4 cruises only out of Port Canaveral and how unusual that is. Looks like the Wish is going to have some serious competition there.

What do you think? Will Disney have to compete pricing wise to draw folks away from possibly the best ship in Port Canaveral?

We booked for July 2023 7-night on Wonder of the Seas (RCL's 2022 Oasis class ship out of Pt Canaveral) in concierge and was not cheap or too far behind DCL pricing!!!

 

[KalamityJane]

The Icon actually looks better than Utopia to me. Utopia is just another Oasis class.

 

[KevinFL]

The Icon actually looks better than Utopia to me. Utopia is just another Oasis class.

Compared to Wonder do the Icon rooms look smaller and more expensive or is it just me?

 

[KalamityJane]

Compared to Wonder do the Icon rooms look smaller and more expensive or is it just me?

I can tell you in April, I’ll be on it then Icon is definitely expensive but still much much cheaper than DCL for us. We have 2A2K in an oceanview for $3900 for a 7 night hitting St Kitts, St Thomas and Cococay, and that’s a refundable fare so we could have gotten it cheaper.

Eta: I priced out a comparable DCL, Fantasy 7 night going to St Kitts and BVI and Castaway Cay, in an oceanview, in April 2024, it was $6640.

 

[Lilsia]

I know J at the Shiplife jokingly calls Carnival fanatics "Carnies". He does a lot of vlogs on Carnival so it's clearly done in jest. DCL outpriced me a long time ago. I'd honestly be afraid to find out how much a New Year's cruise like the one I'm doing with Princess would cost.

I would say that DCL operates on a different tier from everyone else. You can find similarities with other cruise lines in terms of pricing or amenities, but no one else can build things around a Disney Experience. That Disney Experience is what allows DCL to dictate their pricing structure. Doesn't matter what a Royal or a Carnival or a MSC does.


As more of a non-DCL person, and someone who also visits the cc boards, I can tell you that a couple of things that stick out are when people decry the lack of "Disney Experience/Magic", and nickel-and-diming.

- the lack of that Disney touch... well, of course. But without context, the hot take reaction is that you cruised Disney Cruise Lines for the Disney, and not the Cruise. I'm on this board, so I know that this can be the case, but it's mostly not the case.

- Nickel-and-diming is an issue for certain on the other cruise lines, especially Royal (which, full disclosure, is my favoured cruise line). On the other cruise lines, you start to recognize and avoid, to the point where you can filter that noise out. But if you've only done DCL, it's gonna be a shock for sure.

I hate the nickel and diming of other cruise lines. I also watch the Shiplife and he recently went on a Carnival cruise that cost him quite a bit for what you get, IMO. Personally, I would never sail Carnival especially not after all of the issues in the last few years.
For me, I don't think that the ship fosters that "Disney magic" as you are saying, but the cruisers do. The whole ship feels more like family experience. Everyone is connected through their love of Disney and they seem to be nicer to each other.

 

[allashore]

We booked for July 2023 7-night on Wonder of the Seas (RCL's 2022 Oasis class ship out of Pt Canaveral) in concierge and was not cheap or too far behind DCL pricing!!!

are u in star class with the Genie? or Sky class without Genie there is a big diif in price
we sailed Symphony of the Seas in January and felt the Sky class was better then DCL Concierage
so much so that our kids asked if we could switch for this summer to RCCL, we are not since some of us had the discount from the Wish initial sailings being postponed, not willing to give up that discount

 

[KevinFL]

are u in star class with the Genie? or Sky class without Genie there is a big diif in price
we sailed Symphony of the Seas in January and felt the Sky class was better then DCL Concierage
so much so that our kids asked if we could switch for this summer to RCCL, we are not since some of us had the discount from the Wish initial sailings being postponed, not willing to give up that discount

We booked Owner's Suite for 2 adults 2 children so is their Sky Class and being a prime month in July it cost $26k (we could have done this on off months for $17k). A 1-bedroom concierge on the Fantasy in July 7-night was around $32k so not too far apart. I did not think Royal Caribbean would cost that much I expected a substantial savings.

Side note; we love the concierge lounge and sundeck on the Wish and it has ruined the Dream and Fantasy where we are holding off sailings on them until they drydock and hopefully renovate that. The Dream/Fantasy lounge and sun deck having no ocean view is tough to go back to after the wow factor and size of the Wish lounge. The problem with the Wish is only 3 & 4 nights so we are waiting for the Treasure. BUT I think those Treasure concierge 1-bedroom concierge for 7-night sailings will be pushing the limit on what we want to pay for a cruise as often as we sail. So this one reason that pushed us to try Royal Caribbean for a 7-night

 

[Lilsia]

We booked Owner's Suite for 2 adults 2 children so is their Sky Class and being a prime month in July it cost $26k (we could have done this on off months for $17k). A 1-bedroom concierge on the Fantasy in July 7-night was around $32k so not too far apart. I did not think Royal Caribbean would cost that much I expected a substantial savings.

Side note; we love the concierge lounge and sundeck on the Wish and it has ruined the Dream and Fantasy where we are holding off sailings on them until they drydock and hopefully renovate that. The Dream/Fantasy lounge and sun deck having no ocean view is tough to go back to after the wow factor and size of the Wish lounge. The problem with the Wish is only 3 & 4 nights so we are waiting for the Treasure. BUT I think those Treasure concierge 1-bedroom concierge for 7-night sailings will be pushing the limit on what we want to pay for a cruise as often as we sail. So this one reason that pushed us to try Royal Caribbean for a 7-night

When you are so rich that you think that $6K is "not that far apart". LOL