can you tell me if a disney cruise is worth the extra $$ over a standard cruise line?

[bumbershoot]

I was wondering if it's worth it?

For me? Nah. Especially not at current pricing. There’s nothing Disney does better, other than actually having Disney characters, than the other line I’ve been on (Royal).

Is it a bad cruise? No of course not. But is it *worth* the money? Heck no. Not in our opinion.

Food is both good and bad on both lines I’ve been on. We’re vegetarian so there’s not a huge set of choices for us. I have my fave and my omg never again options on both lines.

All servers have been mainly good, but I’ve gotten a LOT of pushback on Disney when I can’t finish or don’t want to finish my food.

Room attendants are all good.

I haven’t done concierge on Royal but there are good (and she left Disney) and cloyingly embarrassingly awful (that most others love but even my 10 year old was reacting negatively) concierge hosts on Disney.

How nice a ship looks is purely subjective; I personally prefer the clean white lines of Royal or what I’ve seen of princess. I don’t prefer the old fashioned dark colors of Disney or even what I’ve seen of HAL.

I don’t watch the production shows on either line. I will watch a comedian or a magician.

Ultimately if I can do a 7 day cruise and get everything equal and not have to worry about Mickey (character-phobic since childhood, though I don’t mind jack sparrow and even the dreamworks characters on some royal sailings) appearing, and I can get it for a fraction of the cost of Disney, I’m taking it.

 

[ludari]

I don't have a lot of cruise experience with other cruise lines but the others I've sailed with (Holland America and RCL) I have to say that cruising with Disney is definitely worth it to me.

 

[cruiser21]

Its worth it if you have the money. Kind of like asking if any hihj end luxury item is "worth it". Is a Ferrari "worth" more than a honda even though they can both get you to work? Is a diamond "worth" more than a cubic zirconia even though most people can't tell the difference? Are Disneyland churros "worth" more than a churro at Rubios? Of course they are!

It depends on wether you see dcl as a luxury item. Some do and some don't. I think of dcl, Carnival, NCL and royal along the same lines as Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott. All about the same, but everyone has a preference. Silver seas is a true luxury line. I'm sure there are others, but that is one that comes to mind.
Disney has ...well Disney and if you like Disney it may make it well worth the money.

 

[SteveMP]

It depends on wether you see dcl as a luxury item. Some do and some don't. I think of dcl, Carnival, NCL and royal along the same lines as Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott. All about the same, but everyone has a preference. Silver seas is a true luxury line. I'm sure there are others, but that is one that comes to mind.
Disney has ...well Disney and if you like Disney it may make it well worth the money.

I can't think of one economist that would label an ocean cruise as a necessity good, but some may consider a DCL cruise a veblen good lol.

 

[cruiser21]

I can't think of one economist that would label an ocean cruise as a necessity good, but some may consider a DCL cruise a veblen good lol.

Ha Ha So True!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
OMG I'm so full and I have still haven't had pie yet.

 

[MillauFr]

I don't think it is worth the extra cost. But my son with Downs Syndrome would have a meltdown if they didn't have Disney Characters on the cruise.... So we pay the extra cash for Disney.

 

[dclpluto]

It’s definitely worth the extra cost for me. I been on 19 DCL cruises next one in 15 days. When we first started cruising in 06. Went on two DCL cruises I had this crazy and stupid idea to save money on our third cruise. It was a 12 night cruise that left from my home state of New JErsey. They had one good show out of the 12 nights.
Food was equal friendly crew just like on DCL. This was on rccl explorer of the seas. They did have a good ice show. For their pictures you could get your picture taking with a beautiful Filipino lady.
DCL definitely worth it to me.

 

[oumagic]

We have been on one Disney cruise, one Princess cruise and 3 Carnival cruises. I do not think a Disney cruise is worth what they charge, but I did like it better. If you have cruised other lines before Disney, you may go into it thinking it should be twice as good since it is probably double the cost of what you would pay on most mainstream cruise lines (it was for my group, when we priced similar itineraries out of the same port). If you do that, you might be disappointed because nothing on the DCL cruise would I have considered worth twice the cost. here are plenty of people that do think it is worth the cost or DCL would have to reduce prices.

That said, although I don't really think it is "worth it" it is the only cruise that I have booked right now (December 2018). It is such a hard question to answer and is such a personal choice. Example, I don't think $500 a night at the Grand Californian is worth it compared to $150 at the Best Western, but given the choice and if I have the money, I would stay at the Grand Californian. I don't think Starbucks coffee is worth $2 a cup compared to a cup I make at home, but I still sometimes splurge.

So to consider "worth", it just is up to the individual/group going. The things we liked better on DCL:

The shows were better for our family
My kids and niece/nephew prefer the DCL cruise
The atmosphere/ambience was "fun" with the decor/theme/characters
Deck parties were more fun for my family
Restaurants were more fun than the dining (food was not better, in my opinion)

 

[cadien]

A couple other examples on how it can be super individual.

- A Disney cruise is not generally worth the extra money to my family because we're just not Disney people, including our son, but the Star Wars and Marvel cruises are absolutely worth it.

- A Disney Baltic cruise is suddenly looking worth it to us because NCL has just switched from using smaller ships on that itinerary to using their megaships, and DH hates megaships. To the extent that paying at least double to do a small Disney ship instead would probably be worth it. It will be summer 2019 so the exact prices aren't out yet.

 

[happytime]

I LOVE Disney Cruise Line. We have 3 booked cruises for 2018, which will put us well over into Gold status. Our upcoming cruises include a "Just hubby and me" cruise, a Trans Atlantic cruise, and a "family cruise". LOVE how I'm treated on this cruise line over others. There are NO casinos, NO cigarette smoke to avoid, NO questionable entertainment which could include uncomfortable innuendos, cursing (words that sailors would use), and NO embarrassing games. There is also the ship horn that blasts a Disney tune as it leaves port--NO other cruise line can boast that!

Yes, expensive, but I thoroughly enjoy a good, wholesome environment where I feel valued on so many levels--from the moment I step into the Embarkation at the Port to the end of cruise (See You Real Soon!).

We have traveled on many other cruises before Disney and I will give a nod to them as they can and do offer good, decent cruises (Celebrity is one of them). I've recommended other cruise lines so that people can make a clear decision for what they want to have in cruising. And I can admit COST is one reason I would recommend as it is a real factor when you vacation.

Will I only cruise with Disney going forward after this upcoming year? Most likely. BUT we will also entertain other cruise line companies for reasons already cited from previous posters-- cost, ports-of-call, and some amenities that could take us years to get on a Disney cruise. So far we are happy with veranda rooms, although it would be great to try concierge at least once. I will still sleep happily in any cabin where I enjoy the whole environment from beginning to end.

But OP, if you want a wonderful, fun, family environmental trip, there is no other, in my opinion, than a Disney Cruise line experience.

 

[bcwife76]

Maybe if you came back to this post and told us more about your situation (kids? no kids? grandkids??) then we could gear it more toward your situation....

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

No, it is not worth the extra money. And my 401K says definitely not worth paying double or more for a comparable cruise that actually falls short in many ways.

 

[rcchello]

One assumption is that a cruise is worth it. If what you want is ocean air, being fed, no chance of being seasick try a beach vacation. If you really want to see one of the ports, you are better off flying and staying a bunch of days. If you just want to see a bunch of places, a bus tour or a train pass might be better.

So, the first assumption has to be, that You want to cruise. At a base level Disney Cruise is no different than any other cruise line, you get a room, get fed, and you get to superficially see a bunch of places. The only difference are things previous posters covered better than I could.

1. You want to cruise.
2. You have extra money you would be willing to spend for something different.
3. The Disney differences are enough to spend the extras.

There are other cruise lines that sell more lux or more unique experiences than Disney. Only you can decide what type of experience you want to have.

 

[Main Street Matilda]

Not sure if this helps - but my first cruise was Royal Caribbean and my family had no interest in cruising again. It was a newer ship with an Eastern Caribbean itinerary. Ports were great. Stateroom (with balcony) was nice and the food was good, although nothing special. We had a good time but felt that our vacation dollars would have been spent better elsewhere.

We had no intention of cruising again, but my daughter who loves Disney, wanted to do a Disney cruise. I priced it and knew I was spending considerably more money for DCL, but since my children were growing older, we bit the bullet and took a cruise with nearly the same Eastern Caribbean itinerary on the Fantasy. IMHO, it was worth the additional cost.

For us, it was the little things that made the difference. My children were not that young (11, 14 and 16 yrs at the time) yet still really enjoyed the kids clubs and went nearly every day. (By contrast, they had no interest in the Royal Caribbean kid programs and didn't return after their first time there.) The entire ship seemed cleaner and better kept. The food was better (although not enough better that I would make that a deciding factor) and the rotational dining was nice change. The shows were much better although that was not a game-changer for any of us. It was things like the service and attentiveness of the ship's crew that made a big difference. The attention to little details that make a Disney World trip worthwhile seemed replicated on the ship. Castaway Cay was also an incredible, relaxing day.

Whereas we had no intention of cruising again after Royal Caribbean, we have booked another Disney cruise. My now grown sons and teenage daughter are already talking about it and it's not until May. The Disney cruise left an impression that the Royal Caribbean cruise did not.

 

[JimGA]

Impossible to answer, as worth is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Miumiu4me]

If you have small kids it's worth the extra money.

If I wasn't traveling with a preschooler I'd never consider a Disney cruise over another line

 

[truck1]

Here's something else to consider. I was doing some online research not long ago, doing a room to room and add on comparison. When you take a given room from any DCL ship, and compare it to a similar room on another line, they are pretty close to being the same. Pricing is also fairly close. Usually within a hundred dollars or so. So wheres the difference? Most other lines if not all have casinos and other adult or specialty entertainment that is extra. There goal is to get a body on the ship and make up the difference onboard. So theyll offer deep discounts to get you onboard. Plus the add on soda package, add on specialty dining,..... and Before you know it in most cases your back to paying full or close to full fare.( did the math for my family ) DCL on the other hand, doesn't have much to add on. Remys and Palo, brunches and a drink add on. Thats about it.

 

[tvguy]

I'd say everyone should do at least one Disney cruise. We had cruised Paquet, NCL twice, RCL twice, and HAL once before we cruised DCL. We didn't intend to cruise Disney, we intended to do HAL but the ports the only week we could go we Western Caribbean, and we wanted out kids to see the Eastern Caribbean, so we ended up on DCL. It was our kids second cruise.

It was a special cruise. NYE on DCL.

It was 30% more expensive than HAL, and about 50% more expensive than Carnival for the same ports at the same time of year.

Bottom line through, it just depends on what your family likes. My kids were 11 and 15 on HAL and 12 and 16 on DCL. They enjoyed both, but found the kids clubs on both not to their liking. HOWEVER cruises for us are a time for us to be together as a family 24/7. DW and I checked our "mom" and "dad" hats when we got on the ship and just got to be our kids friends for 7 days. We were looking to spend time together, not apart. Lord knows we only saw our kids for about 3 hours a day during the school year. So it was nice to get to spend more time together.
The last cruise we took with our kids was 5 years ago, our kids were 21 and 25. The only thing that changed from their first cruise 10 years before, our bar tab was much much larger. Otherwise, it was time to hang with our kids.

 

[cruiser21]

Here's something else to consider. I was doing some online research not long ago, doing a room to room and add on comparison. When you take a given room from any DCL ship, and compare it to a similar room on another line, they are pretty close to being the same. Pricing is also fairly close. Usually within a hundred dollars or so. So wheres the difference? Most other lines if not all have casinos and other adult or specialty entertainment that is extra. There goal is to get a body on the ship and make up the difference onboard. So theyll offer deep discounts to get you onboard. Plus the add on soda package, add on specialty dining,..... and Before you know it in most cases your back to paying full or close to full fare.( did the math for my family ) DCL on the other hand, doesn't have much to add on. Remys and Palo, brunches and a drink add on. Thats about it.

I would love to see you actually post the Fantasy against any other mega ship and show us how they even come close in price. For my family of four the Fantasy is almost always double for a comparable room. If your math was correct we wouldn't see these threads pop over and over again. I think the debate is over wether DCl is worth the extra money not if it's more expensive. We all know DCl costs way more.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Here's something else to consider. I was doing some online research not long ago, doing a room to room and add on comparison. When you take a given room from any DCL ship, and compare it to a similar room on another line, they are pretty close to being the same. Pricing is also fairly close. Usually within a hundred dollars or so. So wheres the difference? Most other lines if not all have casinos and other adult or specialty entertainment that is extra. There goal is to get a body on the ship and make up the difference onboard. So theyll offer deep discounts to get you onboard. Plus the add on soda package, add on specialty dining,..... and Before you know it in most cases your back to paying full or close to full fare.( did the math for my family ) DCL on the other hand, doesn't have much to add on. Remys and Palo, brunches and a drink add on. Thats about it.

This may be true for some specific off season cruises. But for the cruises we do, it is double or triple. Like $3200 verses $8500 and $6000 verses $13000. And the $3200 and $6000 are balconies with superior itineraries, verses DCL's inside cabins. And the great irony is the kids had just as good of a time. We thought we were doing the Disney cruises for the kids but they didn't miss it at all. Lol.