Finally bit the bullet and booked on Celebrity.

[soniam]

Glad I discovered this post. We've been on 7 DCL cruises and loved all of them. We're now booked on the Oct. 13th, 14-nt Pacific cruise from Honolulu to Sydney. I've been considering other cruise lines due to cost, but DW is not interested in leaving DCL. She keeps mentioning the casinos and smokers as her main negatives of the other lines. Maybe with time, and more information I'll be able to convince her to at least try Celebrity.

I don’t remember the casino or ship being smoky. I am incredibly sensitive to it and actually allergic. I inky remember needing to walk through a few times. It as probably mostly during the day. It definitely didn’t affect our decision to take another Celebrity cruise.

 

[hrhdhd]

There is no indoor smoking on Celebrity. I don't smoke, so I don't know exactly where the smoking areas are, but there's one on the promenade deck, one near the pool, and one at the back of the ship at the Sunset Bar. Easily avoided.

 

[soniam]

There is no indoor smoking on Celebrity. I don't smoke, so I don't know exactly where the smoking areas are, but there's one on the promenade deck, one near the pool, and one at the back of the ship at the Sunset Bar. Easily avoided.

That probably explains us not smelling smoke

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Well, hope you have a great cruise with Celebrity and then tell us all about it. I do know that the DCL-WBPC cruise was wonderful when we did it. We didn't want to get off of the Wonder when we arrived at San Diego.

I agree. We just did our first in March 2022. It was awesome. Funny how the last 4-5 days it felt like we were nearing the end and made me think about all the times we took 3-5 nt cruises out of necessity/school schedules. Long cruises are soooo nice!!

 

[DCLMP]

We're doing a Holy land cruise on RCCL and I'm pretty darn excited about it. You can knit pick dining times, casinos, shows and etc, but unless itinerary's and price are similar I'm not even sure why that matters. On a Caribbean or Bahamas cruise I'd probably always choose DCL, but when you really want to start exploring the world you are going find better itinerary's and better prices else where.

I'm looking forward to seeing what DCL offers in 2024. I keep getting daily emails about their 2023 European discounted cruises. It's obvious they need to offer something that excites their fans for 2024.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We're doing a Holy land cruise on RCCL and I'm pretty darn excited about it. You can knit pick dining times, casinos, shows and etc, but unless itinerary's and price are similar I'm not even sure why that matters. On a Caribbean or Bahamas cruise I'd probably always choose DCL, but when you really want to start exploring the world you are going find better itinerary's and better prices else where.

I'm looking forward to seeing what DCL offers in 2024. I keep getting daily emails about their 2023 European discounted cruises. It's obvious they need to offer something that excites their fans for 2024.

They will only offer discounts on sailings that have not sold well, ships not full etc. Currently that’s a lot of Europe and some Alaska. We got a price on DCL Alaska end of May 2023 for less than we had it booked for in 2021 on opening day. (Booked early January 2023). About the same price as Royal Caribbean and less than Princess actually, so it was a no brainer to book with Disney (for us). I just feel like, normally this doesn’t happen.

 

[DCLMP]

They will only offer discounts on sailings that have not sold well, ships not full etc. Currently that’s a lot of Europe and some Alaska. We got a price on DCL Alaska end of May 2023 for less than we had it booked for in 2021 on opening day. (Booked early January 2023). About the same price as Royal Caribbean and less than Princess actually, so it was a no brainer to book with Disney (for us). I just feel like, normally this doesn’t happen.

The discounts usually come after the PIF date this time they came months before so what does that tell you. I don't blame you I would book with Disney with price and itinerary being in the same ball park.

They really need to lower their starting price in Europe. Their prices were so far above their competitors it was laughable. I believe that's why they haven't been able to sell them. They need to offer some new ports too.

 

[lscrivan18]

We're doing a Holy land cruise on RCCL and I'm pretty darn excited about it. You can knit pick dining times, casinos, shows and etc, but unless itinerary's and price are similar I'm not even sure why that matters. On a Caribbean or Bahamas cruise I'd probably always choose DCL, but when you really want to start exploring the world you are going find better itinerary's and better prices else where.

I'm looking forward to seeing what DCL offers in 2024. I keep getting daily emails about their 2023 European discounted cruises. It's obvious they need to offer something that excites their fans for 2024.

We took the Holy Land cruise on Celebrity years ago. Presuming a similar itinerary for you, it is an incredible journey and a memory of a lifetime. I'm sure you'll love it!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

The discounts usually come after the PIF date this time they came months before so what does that tell you. I don't blame you I would book with Disney with price and itinerary being in the same ball park.

They really need to lower their starting price in Europe. Their prices were so far above their competitors it was laughable. I believe that's why they haven't been able to sell them. They need to offer some new ports too.

Yep, I agree. I was not expecting such big discounts for summer in January. They might have even offered them sooner for all I know, I wasn’t checking until January. We got off a Royal Caribbean New year’s cruise and had a placeholder, and I was checking Alaska. My kid said he wants to go with Disney to Alaska. I laughed. I mean we have done 6 Disney cruises but Alaska/Europe was just too much $.
I was shocked to see the price as low as it was. My guess is that mid to late August Alaska sailings will also get discounted soon-ish.
Still - I think it will be mainly those 2 destinations that will be discounted this summer. My guess is bookings were low for Alaska out of Vancouver due to Canada not fully dropping all remaining restrictions til last Fall & Europe.. well I think we know why… airfare is really high too.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few months.

 

[brentm77]

The discounts usually come after the PIF date this time they came months before so what does that tell you. I don't blame you I would book with Disney with price and itinerary being in the same ball park.

They really need to lower their starting price in Europe. Their prices were so far above their competitors it was laughable. I believe that's why they haven't been able to sell them. They need to offer some new ports too.

I hope the itineraries get more variation as the fleet grows. I know Disney sticks with what works, but I can't imagine they won't need to mix it up more to bring back repeated cruisers on some of the more expensive itineraries.

Prices are not even comparable anymore in Europe either. For a similar, but not as good, itinerary as we booked on Celebrity, it is more than double plus a few extra thousand if we want to pick our room. And that doesn't include concierge service like Celebrity. Concierge for one Med cruise I was pricing next summer on DCL was $52K!!! I realize it means they have essentially sold out and are looking for that very wealthy late booker, but it seems a little crass to charge that for a small room with a verandah. They must think they can get it from past experience, but I am shocked someone would pay that for what is essentially a standard verandah room with drinks in the fridge, even more food that what is already included, a lounge, a choice of pillows, and someone to help you get bookings you want.

We did pay a premium for Disney in the Med last year. I don't regret it at all. It was the perfect vacation. But we are also ready to branch out and try other lines, particularly for places that we are going more for the ports than the ship. I love the options that opened up to us once we were willing to look. Who knows, we may try it and hate it so bad that we never venture from Disney again. From everything I have read and seen, it looks like Celebrity has a lot of the qualities of what we enjoy from Disney. We will see.

The excitement of realizing we were going back to the Med so much sooner than expected due to the great price was palpable. I don't think we have ever been this excited about booking a vacation.

 

[brentm77]

Yep, I agree. I was not expecting such big discounts for summer in January. They might have even offered them sooner for all I know, I wasn’t checking until January. We got off a Royal Caribbean New year’s cruise and had a placeholder, and I was checking Alaska. My kid said he wants to go with Disney to Alaska. I laughed. I mean we have done 6 Disney cruises but Alaska/Europe was just too much $.
I was shocked to see the price as low as it was. My guess is that mid to late August Alaska sailings will also get discounted soon-ish.
Still - I think it will be mainly those 2 destinations that will be discounted this summer. My guess is bookings were low for Alaska out of Vancouver due to Canada not fully dropping all remaining restrictions til last Fall & Europe.. well I think we know why… airfare is really high too.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few months.

We had a similar experience for Alaska for this September. We were ready to book another line and I priced Disney. For the two of us, in a navigator verandah, with by placeholder discount, I paid an extra $400 over what I would have paid for a similar room on the other line. The real cost was giving up Glacier Bay. But for what my wife and I were looking for on this trip, we were perfectly fine with that.

 

[Mango7100]

We're doing a Holy land cruise on RCCL and I'm pretty darn excited about it. You can knit pick dining times, casinos, shows and etc, but unless itinerary's and price are similar I'm not even sure why that matters. On a Caribbean or Bahamas cruise I'd probably always choose DCL, but when you really want to start exploring the world you are going find better itinerary's and better prices else where.

I'm looking forward to seeing what DCL offers in 2024. I keep getting daily emails about their 2023 European discounted cruises. It's obvious they need to offer something that excites their fans for 2024.

I agree that Caribbean is easier to justify Disney prices, but Europe is more destination-centric as opposed to ship-centric so I can’t stomach DCL unless it’s a really good deal. There were some cheap (relatively speaking) DCL Europe ones for 2023 I saw, but the airfare for 3 of us is more than the cruise

 

[MomOTwins]

I agree that Caribbean is easier to justify Disney prices, but Europe is more destination-centric as opposed to ship-centric so I can’t stomach DCL unless it’s a really good deal. There were some cheap (relatively speaking) DCL Europe ones for 2023 I saw, but the airfare for 3 of us is more than the cruise

Hit the nail on the head. We had a European cruise booked opening day on DCL for 2023 but the airfare prices started off high and have only gone higher. Finally cancelled because while the cruise price was comparable on DCL compared with other lines (since we are afamily of 5 our options on other lines are usually two rooms or a suite, plus we have the placeholder discount on DCL that helps) with airfare it was just not affordable for us to go to europe with any cruise line this summer. Hoping in 2024 or 2025 the airfare prices will normalize…

 

[DCLMP]

I hope the itineraries get more variation as the fleet grows. I know Disney sticks with what works, but I can't imagine they won't need to mix it up more to bring back repeated cruisers on some of the more expensive itineraries.

Prices are not even comparable anymore in Europe either. For a similar, but not as good, itinerary as we booked on Celebrity, it is more than double plus a few extra thousand if we want to pick our room. And that doesn't include concierge service like Celebrity. Concierge for one Med cruise I was pricing next summer on DCL was $52K!!! I realize it means they have essentially sold out and are looking for that very wealthy late booker, but it seems a little crass to charge that for a small room with a verandah. They must think they can get it from past experience, but I am shocked someone would pay that for what is essentially a standard verandah room with drinks in the fridge, even more food that what is already included, a lounge, a choice of pillows, and someone to help you get bookings you want.

We did pay a premium for Disney in the Med last year. I don't regret it at all. It was the perfect vacation. But we are also ready to branch out and try other lines, particularly for places that we are going more for the ports than the ship. I love the options that opened up to us once we were willing to look. Who knows, we may try it and hate it so bad that we never venture from Disney again. From everything I have read and seen, it looks like Celebrity has a lot of the qualities of what we enjoy from Disney. We will see.

The excitement of realizing we were going back to the Med so much sooner than expected due to the great price was palpable. I don't think we have ever been this excited about booking a vacation.

There seem to be enough people with deep pockets to sell out concierge rooms. It’s the rooms for the normal income people that they price like concierge rooms on other cruise lines they can’t sell. Their 11 night med cruise was originally over 11k for just an inside room. I believe they dropped the price to around 7k…but still that’s an inside room. I paid 3500 for a balcony room on Odyssey. 12night cruise.

 

[brentm77]

There seem to be enough people with deep pockets to sell out concierge rooms. It’s the rooms for the normal income people that they price like concierge rooms on other cruise lines they can’t sell. Their 11 night med cruise was originally over 11k for just an inside room. I believe they dropped the price to around 7k…but still that’s an inside room. I paid 3500 for a balcony room on Odyssey. 12night cruise.

For sure. But I have never seen them hit 52K before. At that was for two people! I think our med Cruise last June was in the low 20K range for concierge when booking first opened, which still seemed absurd to me at the time. Personally, I think Disney's concierge class doesn't even justify a modest upgrade cost, so 4x the cost of an already above-market regular verandah room took me by surprise.

 

[DCLMP]

For sure. But I have never seen them hit 52K before. At that was for two people! I think our med Cruise last June was in the low 20K range for concierge when booking first opened, which still seemed absurd to me at the time. Personally, I think Disney's concierge class doesn't even justify a modest upgrade cost, so 4x the cost of an already above-market regular verandah room took me by surprise.

I think consumers are pulling back anyway. I expect to see more discounts in the future.

 

[DCLMP]

We took the Holy Land cruise on Celebrity years ago. Presuming a similar itinerary for you, it is an incredible journey and a memory of a lifetime. I'm sure you'll love it!

I’ll try to write some sort of review. They are offering it two or three times a year at least over the next few years. Odyssey is a new ship and it looks like it has a lot to offer for families.

 

[jujubiee4]

I agree that Caribbean is easier to justify Disney prices, but Europe is more destination-centric as opposed to ship-centric so I can’t stomach DCL unless it’s a really good deal. There were some cheap (relatively speaking) DCL Europe ones for 2023 I saw, but the airfare for 3 of us is more than the cruise

Have to agree with this. I keep seeing the discounts on the cruises but when I look at airfare it is
out of the question. I even have a lot of miles but no way am I using those or cash for inflated prices.
Will use that money for Alaska. Will try to hit Europe next year.

If we lived in Europe I would be trying to go on at least 1 or 2.

 

[brentm77]

Hit the nail on the head. We had a European cruise booked opening day on DCL for 2023 but the airfare prices started off high and have only gone higher. Finally cancelled because while the cruise price was comparable on DCL compared with other lines (since we are afamily of 5 our options on other lines are usually two rooms or a suite, plus we have the placeholder discount on DCL that helps) with airfare it was just not affordable for us to go to europe with any cruise line this summer. Hoping in 2024 or 2025 the airfare prices will normalize…

I sure hope it does get better for 2024. It is going to take people saying "no" to flying there, otherwise the airlines are going to know they can get away with it. They are still ramping up on hiring and increasing capacity, but it won't help any of us if they do it and realize they can still charge a premium too. I suspect the prices will deter enough people form traveling that we will see some pressure on pricing. It's a huge reason my wife and I didn't invite our adult kids for our 2024 trip to Europe. We simply can't justify the price of airfare for four people.

 

[Mischievous Daisy]

OP here. I could have written these very words. This is why I posted about biting the bullet. Nothing else feels like a Disney cruise. As I stated before though, I don't want to say I can't try anything else. Dh felt like doing something different so I don't mind compromising sometimes. It can't always be about me. Maybe he'll spend half the time pointing out how Disney would have done something differently or he'll miss our corny magnets or he'll miss the Disney shows or he'll miss sitting in the deck 4 chairs watching the sunset. Maybe he's tired of seeing Golden Mickeys 30x. I can appreciate that too. I will definitely report back about it.

Our kids are 26 and almost 23. The kids club hasn't mattered to us for years. Our kids have enjoyed Palo on the few, special cruises they've sailed with us more recently (2019). We still enjoy Disney without kids.

"he'll miss our corny magnets"
Absolutely take your magnets on your trip. A lot of folks decorate their doors on Celebrity,