cfabar1

On 4/9/2024 at 4:24 PM, Itried4498 said:

 

Another way of putting it is that Disney has a dedicated, cult like fan base who won't be happy with anything but a Disney experience and are willing to pay for it.  My oldest brother and his wife are good examples -- huge Disney fanatics that live, eat and breath Disney.  They live in a crappy house in a crappy neighborhood, she works two crappy jobs and every penny they make goes toward Disney (many weeks DVC, DCL, etc.).  You can't even have normal conversation -- you could say 'did you hear about the horrible tragedy this morning down the street from you, in which numerous people lose their lives' and he will respond with 'OMG - speaking of horrible tragedy, Tiana's Bayou Adventure's soft opening was pushed back a few days.'  These aren't rational people.  Hence why DCL's prices are in the stratosphere.  DCL offers an excellent product but you have to be a Disney fanatic to convince yourself it's that much more exceptional.  

So, are there other cruise lines at the price point that offer:

- Turn down service

- Really good meals

- A family friendly environment including nursery care for infants (this has been a huge thing in Disney's favor for us for right now in our lives)

I'm not a cheerleader, just asking....

Very sad to hear that your relatives may have some kind of addiction/need for therapy.  

DCL is expensive, but if you book early and use the placeholders it softens the blow...

We were able to book 3 times on DCL and the way we were looking at it, that we could make the price work relatively well compared to RCCL.  But now after a few DCL cruises, we are hooked... The service, the kindness, it is all wonderful.

We have been watching some old videos from the lines....

Super beautiful and elegant buffets that they used to have at midnight....

It is very sad that these midnight buffets have gone away.... I also hate how MDR food has declined to inedibility on RCL based on recent reviews - and tried to force you into premium dining.

It is also the amenities that cater to families....

As much as people can complain about disney, they still do turndown service - that is a huge advantage for families.

We have done DCL twice - both post-pandemic.... Way better food than RCL...

Nursery is also very nice, very few cruise lines offer that feature for infants.

We were on the Allure last June.  Had an incredible time.  Glad to hear nothing has changed.  We won’t be cruising for a little while now, but would strongly consider an Allure trip in the future.

We considered not getting off fearful there would be nothing to do.

There was a lot to do that was worthwhile.  Beach club seemed very empty (we did not go, but whenever we were on the tram nobody was on it).

If you do an “auto booking” with balcony, do you have the ability to say I want an ocean balcony only?

Has there been any change with this? From what I can tell NEXT Cruise really isn’t worth it.

I have the Amex offer.  Unsure whether to bite given the fact economy is on verge of collapse, but it would be nice to get next cruise on a discount.

I hope that all three survive.  That said, I could see Carnival especially selling off divisions to make that happen.  Would RCL be able to make anything meaningful from the sale of Celebrity?

Also, would another line or carrier have any interest in acquiring some or all of these assets? Private equity would need to cut cut cut to make these things profitable.  And their structures are logistically a headache.  Perhaps a Saudi sovereign wealth fund, maybe a pension group.  

Virgin seems to me like the one most likely not to make it through this… I recognize it isn’t the same thing, but it is still worth stating.

On our recent trip all things related to coco cay were ridiculously expensive.  Cabanas, water parks, etc.  Frankly there is enough “free stuff” to do, and ample room, for now, I would not recommend paying these insanely high prices.  

I think the app overall is quite good.  The reservation feature was quite buggy.  Sometimes our dinner reservations or theatre reservations would disappear for hours at a time and then reappear later.

I wish the CoCo Cay map was interactive, that would be a seemingly easy thing to do.  I think charging $2-3 a day to message people through the app is an outrageous surcharge.  

Was on this same journey! Found it very enjoyable, and totally agree about the CoCo Cay investment.  It was a spectacular day!

I found the service to be outstanding, but agree that boy, were those people working hard, especially in the main dining room!

I think they work very very hard to keep folks happy, but what I wonder is how much true “autonomy” they have as CD on the vessel.  I suspect that they have some autonomy, particularly as the cruise is going.  Recently, we were on a vessel that had a show unexpectedly cancelled.  I was disappointed that the CD, or someone from that staff, was unable to replace the production with at least some kind of live entertainment, and instead opted to show a movie.  That made me think that they don’t have the ability to move $$s, investment, etc. around, and instead are mostly there to provide an appearance and make sure the trains run on time.

Everyone I know who has been on a cruise ship has had at least one person in their party test positive for COVID nearly immediately after the cruise… in some instances by just a few hours.

Now, they assumed the risk, and we have treatments, vaccines, etc. that were not available a few years ago, but, I am relatively supportive of maintaining the testing requirement, at least for now.

Question about Crown and Anchor...

I know that suites are eligible for double credit per night.

Does this include junior suites or only regular suites?