Disney getting too expensive for families

[gometros]

That's why I said "unless things have changed." This was not the case when we were on the Fantasy' date=' and our recent DCL cruises have been on the Magic (which does not have Remy). As far as wine in Remy--the sky is the limit. We were told that they have a bottle that sells for $10,000. I didn't ask what it was. I'm not surprised that they've added upcharge food items as well.[/quote']

 

The last time we ate at Remy before our most recent voyage on the Dream this past June, was in September 2012. At that time, the Wagyu beef was not an upcharge. It was the best peice of steak I ever had.

[moki'smommy]

That was our experience too, but it has been a couple of years since the Fantasy. There were NO upcharge food items including the wagyu beef. There were plenty of ways to upcharge on alcoholic beverages. But again, things change and I'd have to believe someone who ate there in recent months over my couple of years ago experience.

[NotACruiserYet]

We've never been on a Disney cruise, but I booked the new NCL ship - Escape for a family of four, 7 days in the Caribbean for about $2400 - all in. Granted, I got a deal where they offered two perks for free, but they're still offering that. The ship is nowhere near the excitement of Disney I'm guessing, but my kids are old enough that they're not going to miss the character stuff. :)

[moki'smommy]

We've never been on a Disney cruise, but I booked the new NCL ship - Escape for a family of four, 7 days in the Caribbean for about $2400 - all in. Granted, I got a deal where they offered two perks for free, but they're still offering that. The ship is nowhere near the excitement of Disney I'm guessing, but my kids are old enough that they're not going to miss the character stuff. :)

 

Exactly the point. I had booked a long (24 nights, I think) B2B Brit Isles cruise on DCL in an inside cabin. I later learned that I could book a balcony cabin on Princess with essentially the same ports (2 different) for half the cost of the inside on Disney. No, Princess is not as pretty or as exciting as DCL, but we are talking about a saving of thousands of dollars and we are beyond the excitement of the characters. Needless to say, we canceled the DCL. We did notice that the cruise went to *GT status after being "sold out" early on, so we weren't the only people who canceled before the penalty date.

[Host Mick]

Exactly the point. I had booked a long (24 nights' date=' I think) B2B Brit Isles cruise on DCL in an inside cabin. I later learned that I could book a balcony cabin on Princess with essentially the same ports (2 different) for half the cost of the inside on Disney. No, Princess is not as pretty or as exciting as DCL, but we are talking about a saving of thousands of dollars and we are beyond the excitement of the characters. Needless to say, we canceled the DCL. We did notice that the cruise went to *GT status after being "sold out" early on, so we weren't the only people who canceled before the penalty date.[/quote']

 

That happens a lot on all lines. Some people hold on to their reservations or two for whatever reasons, then come crunch time decide that they aren't going. I've done it before when my employment became unstable.

[Host Mick]

Disney obviously hasn't priced themselves out of the market when all of their ships are sailing full, prices aren't dropping and sales promotions are rare. There's plenty of people willing to pay the price to sail on their ships.

On the other hand, even being a big Disney fan, I won't be sailing Disney for a while. A lot of the things that makes Disney's higher fares "worth it" aren't attractive to me, characters, kids clubs, kids' activities, etc. won't draw us in now that my kids are adults. We've moved up to Celebrity at least until some grand kids show up anyway.

[mamamzee]

Just off the Dream this morning. I gotta tell you that I was amazed at the families with lots of kids. We were in Concierge (just husband and self) and there were even lots of families there , many in 1 bedroom suites. I kept figuring up how much the cruise was costing these families. And nobody looked like a movie star either -- just average folks.

 

I don't know how families afford it, but they certainly did on this cruise.

 

BTW: was Concierge level worth it? Probably not . Would I do it again? In a heartbeat !!

[moki'smommy]

olks.

 

I don't know how families afford it, but they certainly did on this cruise.

!!

 

You make decisions--do you put money in the college fund or go on DCL? Do you buy a new car or go on DCL? Do you mow your own lawn and put the money that you saved by not hiring a service into the vacation fund? As Ursula said, "Life's full of tough choices." Sure, there are families that can afford it on a regular basis, but for many this is viewed as a once in a lifetime trip.....at least the first time.

 

And then there are those who melt the credit cards.

[lvcrzn]

Just off the Dream this morning. I gotta tell you that I was amazed at the families with lots of kids. We were in Concierge (just husband and self) and there were even lots of families there , many in 1 bedroom suites. I kept figuring up how much the cruise was costing these families. And nobody looked like a movie star either -- just average folks.

 

I don't know how families afford it, but they certainly did on this cruise.

 

BTW: was Concierge level worth it? Probably not . Would I do it again? In a heartbeat !!

 

Perhaps tacking on the cost of Airfair is also a factor. Those families living in Florida or have a reasonable drive to the port would find it more cost effective, especially with a larger family.

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

Perhaps tacking on the cost of Airfair is also a factor. Those families living in Florida or have a reasonable drive to the port would find it more cost effective, especially with a larger family.

 

And on top of an airfare for them, there is more than likely a few days or a week at the parks before or after the cruise, another eye watering expense!

Edited September 10, 2016 by CELTICGIRLCRUISER

[carterd2002]

 

And then there are those who melt the credit cards.

 

I suspect it's this more than anything

[ducklite]

One thing to consider is where someone lives. For a family living in northern central NJ, it is "normal" to have an income in excess of $150k. In OKC it's closer to $85k. If each household is paying 30% of their income towards housing, 20% into retirement/college/emergency savings, and let's use an arbitrary $1500 a month for groceries, car expenses, clothing, etc. Assume each pays 30% in taxes and other payroll deductions.

 

The family in NJ has $12k a year left for discretionary spending. The family in OKC is underwater for basic bills and savings each month. That's why what is readily affordable to one family is an impossibility to another family of the same size and age group, driving the same cars and living in a home that costs them the same percentage of their gross income (PITI) which will be able the same size home in both places, although the land the property sits on will likely be about 1/3 smaller in NJ. Location, location, location.

[ducklite]

I suspect it's this more than anything

 

 

 

Considering that only 50% of adults in the US carry any credit card debt monthly and most that do have under $10K in debt, I don't think the numbers are as high as you suspect.

 

Now if we are talking about having savings, it's a different conversation. Most Americans do not have nearly enough of that.

[carterd2002]

Considering that only 50% of adults in the US carry any credit card debt monthly and most that do have under $10K in debt, I don't think the numbers are as high as you suspect.

 

Now if we are talking about having savings, it's a different conversation. Most Americans do not have nearly enough of that.

 

Really? Because one 2015 survey I read recently had the average household credit card debt at around $15,300. I work as a credit analyst in a locally-owned bank and I pull credit reports daily and frankly it's rare to see a couple/family with less than $10,000 in credit card debt. People definitely use different methods to pay for their vacations, and it wouldn't surprise me if many young families use credit cards to pay for them, especially a vacation as expensive as a Disney cruise.

[meatloafsfan]

Disney obviously hasn't priced themselves out of the market when all of their ships are sailing full, prices aren't dropping and sales promotions are rare. There's plenty of people willing to pay the price to sail on their ships.

 

I don't think they sail as full as they'd like us to believe.

 

DCL is one of the few cruise lines that offers paid upgrades at port on a regular basis. That tells me they are not sailing "full".

 

And DCL has plenty of "promotional" pricing - it's just not for the public. They have an entire cadre of people who work for their brand that they will offer rock bottom prices to as a "perk" instead of the general public. There's no other cruise line that does that.

[Tonka's Skipper]

Honest part is that no Disney is not out pricing families........the vessels are generally sailing full or nearly.

 

Likely every economic group, families sail are what they can afford. Some families cannot afford a cruise on any Line or cabin level. Other families sail on lines they can afford. and other sail DCL or the more expensive lines.

 

Add to that , the cabin class a family can afford. We usually sail Disney because we love the whole package, magic and pixie dust included. We sail balcony or inside and feel its well worth the money. Yet we cannot afford concierge.........and if that was all that is available, we would likely not cruise any line.

 

 

AKK

[Tonka's Skipper]

P.S. DCL like all lines and businesses charge what the market will bear. The DCL product is specail and amazing for us and many, many others and it costs more and we pay the price. Other lines also charge what people are will to pay and charge that.

 

AKK

[moki'smommy]

DCL typically sails "nearly full." The real question is how many of those guests paid the advertised fare.

 

When the ship is not filling, they may offer *GT, FL res, Canadian res, GA resident, military, travel agent, and CM specials. Some of these are offered fairly regularly, others I haven't seen for a while. But an empty cabin is a "loss." A cabin sold at a rock bottom TA or CM rate may still generate a profit from sales of t-shirts, alcohol, etc. In addition, these rock bottom fares require payment of the automatic gratuities at the time of booking and they can't be removed--thus the CMs are happy as they are getting their expected tips and have a full cadre of rooms or a full serving station.

 

The list of cabins available for purchased upgrades at the terminal is typically quite short. We used to ask on a regular basis and saw lists as small as 5 or 6 cabins and as long as about 25. The supervisor literally stands there with a list of available cabins and crosses them off when they are taken. Her chart indicates the price to upgrade from what you booked/paid for (inside, oceanview, balcony) to each available. It isn't a lot different that DCL sells upgrades at the terminal while other lines start working the phones for "upsells" a couple weeks before embarkation. Since we typically cruise "off season," we probably see more open cabins than those who cruise school vacations or holidays. However, we've seen some surprises. On one cruise, the Walt suite was available. The CM doing the upgrades said that the family who booked it had to cancel on a single day's notice due to illness and that it was too late to offer it thru normal channels (yes, inventory control keeps a list of people wanting suites).

 

On another cruise line we've had 2 offers out of the 3 cruises we've sailed with them--each time it was via an e-mail at 2 1/2 weeks before embarkation. They must not be sailing full either.

 

Another interesting point--we've often encountered CMs/crew who tell us that they used to work on (name of line). We've seen this on each line we've cruised, including DCL. However, we've never encountered a CM currently working on another line who told us that they used to work for DCL. Now that could be because DCL had relatively few CM and is a relatively younger line than the others, but LOTS of people on DCL have told us that they used to work on Princess or Celebrity. My logic is that overall, DCL tried to pick the best and keep them.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Another interesting point--we've often encountered CMs/crew who tell us that they used to work on (name of line). We've seen this on each line we've cruised' date=' including DCL. However, we've never encountered a CM currently working on another line who told us that they used to work for DCL. Now that could be because DCL had relatively few CM and is a relatively younger line than the others, but LOTS of people on DCL have told us that they used to work on Princess or Celebrity. My logic is that overall, DCL tried to pick the best and keep them.[/quote']

 

I would agree with this. I got to talk with my cabin steward on RCCL this summer, and at this point she's been with them long enough and built up enough seniority it's not in her best interest to move, but she did confess to me that she wished she'd at least explored the possibility of going with Disney several years ago. I encouraged her to at least reach out to them if she was truly interested - I don't know how they do initial assignments (and obviously she wouldn't have the seniority), but I'd think her experience would certainly count for something. And she would fit right in with Disney. (I actually cried saying good-bye to her - and I don't cry easily.)

[moki'smommy]

I would agree with this. I got to talk with my cabin steward on RCCL this summer, and at this point she's been with them long enough and built up enough seniority it's not in her best interest to move, but she did confess to me that she wished she'd at least explored the possibility of going with Disney several years ago. I encouraged her to at least reach out to them if she was truly interested - I don't know how they do initial assignments (and obviously she wouldn't have the seniority), but I'd think her experience would certainly count for something. And she would fit right in with Disney. (I actually cried saying good-bye to her - and I don't cry easily.)

 

It depends on the position she wants. I've been aware of people making lateral moves (getting the same position starting on DCL that they had on another line after many years). It just depends on what DCL needs at the time. But truly, if someone is interested it is worth their at least exploring what might be available to them on DCL. The best thing is that DCL tries to promote from within. The most remarkable is either the guy we originally met as an assistant server who is now head of food and beverage or the one who was a YAC who is now an ACD. Sure, these people have been with the company for many years, but the company has been good to them.

 

Since a cabin steward's pay is primarily from tips, I can't see the move as a terribly bad thing.

 

The other thing is that when the new ships come out there will be lots of room for promotions--best to start accruing some DCL seniority in advance of that time.

Edited September 13, 2016 by moki'smommy

[Tonka's Skipper]

The often/general practice (not always though) hiring for the crew positions, is that the CMs actually work for a management (Human rescources) firm.....the line hires CM's though them.

 

Contracts last for whatever is the usual time period at sea. The line is in contact with the CM's directly and rehires the people they want back. However the management firm also have a bull pen of personal ready to cover positions. DCL CM's then go to DISNEY training as well and take some additional seamanship/safety courses, at least 1 though Adult education at SUNY Maritime College, as do some other lines.

 

There is of course variations with the different lines and management firms and practices vary, but the bottom line is the different management firms are known to be better and worse and the costs to the lines are based on that. Better management firms, better CM's and higher costs.

 

As noted before CM,s tend to work for the same line , if they and the line are happy. Gain perks and benefits (like seniority) that may be lost if they which to another line after a long period of time.

 

AKK

Edited September 13, 2016 by Tonka's Skipper