movies--are they that big a deal?

[KashasMom]

For us my DD and I watched 2 movies on board, Bridge of spies, great, and Lincoln, not so great. We only did this because it was a late night showing and because we had been on enough cruises, the act or activity we were skipping we had already seen or done.

As for the other discussion, I have been to one movie in a theater in the last 20 years, library lets us get them for free so why not. We are super frugal and rarely eat out and if we do it isn’t a splurge meal. When we vacation on land we pack most of our meals etc.

The one thing I can say about cruising though is the cost per day is tough to beat on a land vacation

Depends what you like to do on the ship. At $700+ a night we can easily beat the cost per day on a cruise - great hotel and pool and 3 meals a day. Can include a movie or even a show in that! And if we're abroad, we can very easily do 2 nights/days for the price of one on a cruise. I would never consider a Disney cruise a good value.

 

[Minnie & Daisy]

I don't think it's a big deal, but our daughter wanted the kids club in a big way, and we hadn't seen Ragnarok and heard it was good, didn't see anything else exciting on the ship, and we were tired and the notion of sitting down for two hours seemed kind of pleasant, so "hey why not."

And how often at home do you have 2 hours to sit down and do nothing but watch a movie, especially when you have children?! This is what vacations and cruising is all about!

 

[cgolf]

Depends what you like to do on the ship. At $700+ a night we can easily beat the cost per day on a cruise - great hotel and pool and 3 meals a day. Can include a movie or even a show in that! And if we're abroad, we can very easily do 2 nights/days for the price of one on a cruise. I would never consider a Disney cruise a good value.

The most we have paid is a little over 300 per person each day for concierge. We aim to keep the cost at under 150 per person each day. We don’t drink a lot on board either. On our early cruises we did buy a bit of DCL merchandise so yes we are frugal. We have done all types of rooms except a suite, but with a family of 3 at the time it wasn’t needed. Now only my wife and I cruise so we may never do a suite.

 

[Napoleon Dynamite]

My son is 19, has limited socialization skills (Autism) so doesn't participate in the young adult meetup type stuff on the boat, and the movies is his favorite! We buy his snacks, walk him in there, and sometimes I leave! It's a nice break for ME, and he LOVES movies! He is going to be so happy to see everything that is playing for our cruise in less than 3 weeks on the Fantasy! We've only ever done shorter cruises, so 7 nights...he will get plenty of movies in LOL

 

[mevelandry]

Depends what you like to do on the ship. At $700+ a night we can easily beat the cost per day on a cruise - great hotel and pool and 3 meals a day. Can include a movie or even a show in that! And if we're abroad, we can very easily do 2 nights/days for the price of one on a cruise. I would never consider a Disney cruise a good value.

On this board, I noticed a certain lack of consensus regarding what is "a good value" VS what is "a splurge". What makes you happy doesn't necessarily equal a good value. I see the premium that DCL asks for the Mouse as a "splurge" since I can find excellent service, comfortable cabin and excellent food --aka primary needs for a cruise are quite beautifully fulfilled-- on other cruise lines for 40% less (or even less than that). Another example: The closest Six Flags park (from my house) asks 60$/day for an adult and between 80 and 100$ for an annual pass which makes it a great value, VS the Disney Parks/Universal Parks at 100$+/day and (???) for an annual pass, which makes it a splurge. However, when I started visiting WDW seven years ago, the price difference between La Ronde (Six Flags) was more or less 25$. At the time, I considered WDW a good value. Now, not so much.

 

[mevelandry]

And how often at home do you have 2 hours to sit down and do nothing but watch a movie, especially when you have children?! This is what vacations and cruising is all about!

Granted, we are childfree.

 

[cruiser21]

And how often at home do you have 2 hours to sit down and do nothing but watch a movie, especially when you have children?! This is what vacations and cruising is all about!

Pretty much everyday, but my kids are teens. I'm not sure what other people do at night to unwind before bed, but a glass of wine and Netflix is pretty much a nightly thing for me.

 

[sturner324]

Husband and I are movie people. We go a lot at home, so we always watch at least one movie onboard. We tend to prefer longer cruises anyway, so we usually have time. But I can understand skipping them on a short cruise.

For us fair skinned folks, we’re only going to spend so much time laying around in the sun. And we don’t drink. So, unless we are doing trivia, eating, or in port. We’ll be watching a show, entertainer, or movie. And I’m nearly burnt out on the same old jugglers. We typically “save” one movie specifically to see onboard that we might typically see at our local theater. It is something we look forward to.

 

[KashasMom]

The most we have paid is a little over 300 per person each day for concierge. We aim to keep the cost at under 150 per person each day. We don’t drink a lot on board either. On our early cruises we did buy a bit of DCL merchandise so yes we are frugal. We have done all types of rooms except a suite, but with a family of 3 at the time it wasn’t needed. Now only my wife and I cruise so we may never do a suite.

You have paid $600 per night per couple for concierge? Your cruise fare? Not your on board account. You've found a cruise concierge for $4,200 a week? I don't think that's what you meant. My $700 per night was the cost of our ROOM for 3 - not "merchandise" or booze!

 

[KashasMom]

On this board, I noticed a certain lack of consensus regarding what is "a good value" VS what is "a splurge". What makes you happy doesn't necessarily equal a good value. I see the premium that DCL asks for the Mouse as a "splurge" since I can find excellent service, comfortable cabin and excellent food --aka primary needs for a cruise are quite beautifully fulfilled-- on other cruise lines for 40% less (or even less than that). Another example: The closest Six Flags park (from my house) asks 60$/day for an adult and between 80 and 100$ for an annual pass which makes it a great value, VS the Disney Parks/Universal Parks at 100$+/day and (???) for an annual pass, which makes it a splurge. However, when I started visiting WDW seven years ago, the price difference between La Ronde (Six Flags) was more or less 25$. At the time, I considered WDW a good value. Now, not so much.

Oh, right. I saw you trying to explain your viewpoint. I'm with you and have no desire to argue with anyone else about what they think is a good value. What I meant was that I can find a land vacation that has a higher value (for US).

 

[KashasMom]

Back to the subject at hand...movies. I find that the times of the movies don't work in with whatever else we're doing - especially late night movies. I don't think I'd go to the movies on a short cruise but possibly on a 7+ night if something interested us. We really don't go to very many movies at home.

 

[Dug720]

I've sometimes used the later movie hours to watch something (I'll admit it...something Marvel) I would not pay to see in a land-based theater. Did that for a couple of movies when I was working at the Disney Store and could not always avoid getting placed in the Marvel area - at least gave me a tiny bit of knowledge to help out.

 

[cgolf]

You have paid $600 per night per couple for concierge? Your cruise fare? Not your on board account. You've found a cruise concierge for $4,200 a week? I don't think that's what you meant. My $700 per night was the cost of our ROOM for 3 - not "merchandise" or booze!

Yes in 2014 a Cat V was right around that on the Fantasy, we did it 2 years in a row. The 2nd year (2014) the hosts were complaining that they were going to lose some families because the cat V prices almost doubled for 2015.

Looking at 2018 and 2019 an inside on the Fantasy is not a lot different than what we paid for a Cat V back in 2014. Hard to penthouse to the outhouse essentially for similar costs which is part of the reason we are free agents now Of course we will never rule out coming back, but paying for college changes things

 

[KashasMom]

Yes in 2014 a Cat V was right around that on the Fantasy, we did it 2 years in a row. The 2nd year (2014) the hosts were complaining that they were going to lose some families because the cat V prices almost doubled for 2015.

Looking at 2018 and 2019 an inside on the Fantasy is not a lot different than what we paid for a Cat V back in 2014. Hard to penthouse to the outhouse essentially for similar costs which is part of the reason we are free agents now Of course we will never rule out coming back, but paying for college changes things

Honestly, I'm shocked that you cruised concierge for about $4,000. I just looked at a March 2019 cruise (so sort of off-season) and Cat V for 2 people for a week on the Fantasy is over $13,000! That's a HUGE uptick in 5 years. Good for you though!

 

[cruiser21]

You have paid $600 per night per couple for concierge? Your cruise fare? Not your on board account. You've found a cruise concierge for $4,200 a week? I don't think that's what you meant. My $700 per night was the cost of our ROOM for 3 - not "merchandise" or booze!

No I think that's what he meant 300pp per night for cruise fare.Keep in mind Disney cruise prices have more then doubled in the last 5 years. That's why you see so many priced out threads. I have no idea what the cost 10, 15 20 years ago was I believe he started cruising on DCL a while ago. We could have sailed concierge on the Fantasy in early Dec 2014 for around 7500 for 4 people. We opted for the 3500 VGT rate. 7500 is the cost of an inside room these days. I havent been back on the Fantasy since then.

 

[KashasMom]

No I think that's what he meant 300pp per night for cruise fare.Keep in mind Disney cruise prices have more then doubled in the last 5 years. That's why you see so many priced out threads. I have no idea what the cost 10, 15 20 years ago was I believe he started cruising on DCL a while ago. We could have sailed concierge on the Fantasy in early Dec 2014 for around 7500 for 4 people. We opted for the 3500 VGT rate. 7500 is the cost of an inside room these days. I havent been back on the Fantasy since then.

From $4,200 to $13,000+ is more than a 3x increase in 5 years! We have never gotten any deal like that. We must have sailed between the great deals - a bit too early and a bit too late!

 

[cruiser21]

From $4,200 to $13,000+ is more than a 3x increase in 5 years! We have never gotten any deal like that. We must have sailed between the great deals - a bit too early and a bit too late!

It's why we haven't been back on the Fantasy. 3500 for a balcony room vs 6-8k now. It's not worth it for the same itinerary. We did get some pretty good GT rates in 2013-2015. We did a 7 day(4 people) on the Magic for 3200 in 2015. I kind of wish I would have tried concierge back then, but I think it would be hard to go from concierge to what we book now... insides or port holes.

 

[nearlyfallinstar]

To go to our local theater with my family of five it costs $30 just for the tickets and if we get snacks it is about $50. If I splurge and go to the big theater (like the one on DCL), it costs $60 for tickets and another $20-$25 if I purchase snacks. Needless to say, we don't go to the theater excessively at home. So if there is a new release playing on the ship that we are interested in, I would go to a movie.

 

[All about me]

On this board, I noticed a certain lack of consensus regarding what is "a good value" VS what is "a splurge".

Because it is subjective. I have friends who have been Disney Vacation Club members for over twenty-five years and consider it the best investment they ever made. I look at it and cringe.

What makes you happy doesn't necessarily equal a good value. I see the premium that DCL asks for the Mouse as a "splurge" since I can find excellent service, comfortable cabin and excellent food --aka primary needs for a cruise are quite beautifully fulfilled-- on other cruise lines for 40% less (or even less than that).

I consider a cruise a splurge, period.

Again, subjective.

 

[mevelandry]

I consider a cruise a splurge, period.

Again, subjective.

(Never said it was a primary need!)

Once one decides to "buy" a vacation, the term "good value" does exist. I did not invent the concept: even Tripadvisor has a "good value" option category (at least) when it comes to hotels.

We'll agree to disagree with the "subjective" part at least when it comes to the "good value" criteria. There is a certain base for every "service" offered* and you can compare them, compare prices and then decide which one are representing "good value".

(*service offered: in this case, a cabin with housekeeping on a cruise ship, going to different destinations, providing food and entertainment.)

The other components that lead to a decision regarding a choice of vacation are indeed subjective and very personal.

P.s.: Forgive my french, I did the best I could to explain what I meant.