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

I was wondering if it's worth it?

Heck ya!!! Been on 16 and loved every single one of them!!!!

I’ve done Disney and 1 Royal. I really enjoyed Royal too, but the service is like no other on Disney. Also, what ages are your kids?

Their is a Disney Crusieline forum though and you can get a ton of info!

If you have any questions feel free to ask:)
 
If you are just looking for all you can eat, its not a good deal. Otherwise I have no interest in other cruises so no need to compare
 


I agree with PP on posting this on the Disney Cruise Line forum here. You will get lots of feedback from people who have sailed multiple cruise lines and can give you a true comparison.

When you post there, you might mention what's important to you so that people can respond appropriately. For example, if you have young children and you want to know about the children's areas or the food or itineraries, etc.
 


As someone that does not drink, smoke or gamble, I definitely think Disney cruises are worth the extra cost.
I was skeptical before I took my first Disney Cruise earlier this year.
I have booked a second Disney cruise as it exceeded my expectations.

I have had bad experiences on other Cruises in the past (non-Disney).
 
I was wondering if it's worth it?
It's worth it for some people, and not for others. We'd have to know more about you, to determine if it's worth it for you. Here are a few of the factors:
  • Do you have kids?
  • Do your kids like Disney characters & theming?
  • Do the adults in your party enjoy Disney theming?
  • Do you have ample disposable income for vacations?
  • Do you value a wholesome atmosphere on a cruise?
  • Do you like being around lots of families and kids?
  • Do you dislike cigarette smoke and casinos?
  • For you, is cruising as much or more about the ship than about the ports?
  • Do you want lots of entertainment for all ages to be offered on the ship?
  • Do you like the old-fashioned ocean liner style of ship more than the modern white boxy style of ship?
Add up all the yeses to the questions above. The more yeses there are, the more a Disney cruise is worth it, and vice versa.
 
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I think you need to provide more info about yourself. Have you cruised on other cruiselines? Have you been happy with them? If so it may not be worth it. It's a tough question. DCL is a lot of money. I think it really depends on how much you like Disney and if you have kids...or how much you ltolerate kids if you don't have them.
 
For our family, at the current costs - No. We really loved our Baltic cruise with DCL 3 yrs ago, and I in particular loved our Merrytime cruise 2 years ago, but as the prices continue to go up, and we are locked into school break (read peak) times and pricing, I can make my dollars stretch far, far further elsewhere. Our last concierge experience on MSC this summer cost 1/2 of what DCL standard would have cost, and less than 1/3 of what concierge on DCL would have cost. We used the extra money to spend a week in France. We won't be back to DCL until the prices become more reasonable, hopefully with the introduction of the new ships.
 
I was wondering if it's worth it?

It depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for Mickey... Then yes.

If you don't care much for the characters, then the answer would be more complicated:

After two Disney cruises, my husband and I had a smaller budget for vacation in 2016 (due to being both hit by a car while we were crossing the street and were out from work for a while) and we had a credit with Carnival that we decided to use (we ended up on with a Bahamas cruise on the Carnival Victory).

To our surprise, we ended up liking the food and the entertainment more on the Carnival cruise than we did on the Disney cruises. Which is why we decided to cruise on the Carnival Vista in October 2017.

For us, when we want Disney, we find that WDW gives us more bang for our bucks than DCL. And when we want to cruise, Carnival gives us more bang for our bucks.

That being said, DCL is a great cruise line. We even returned in April 2017 with my MIL and FIL and had a very good experience. It's just, in my opinion, a little too expensive for what it offers.
 
From an overall POV, if DCL cruises were not worth it, then people wouldn't keep coming back, because it's not a cheap vacation.

Then there is a question of worth to YOU and your family. Posters have noted that a lot depends on what you are looking for, and that helps during the planning stages. But I don't know that you will truly be able to assess "worth" until you've gone on board and completed the cruise.

That's right, I'm advocating empirical research. You owe it to yourself to go on a cruise to see if you like it.
 
That's right, I'm advocating empirical research. You owe it to yourself to go on a cruise to see if you like it.
There's value in that, but I advocate a little advance analytics, too. If he isn't into Disney theming and also doesn't have kids, a DCL cruise would probably be a waste of money for him to try.
 
For us yes. We have a disabled adult daughter. We have been on 20 disney cruises because she loves it still as does her best friend who we always take. And our older grandkids still love it. For all those reasons we will not switch from Disney for family cruises. However for just my husband and I we love Crystal. Same level of service as Disney but all inclusive.
 
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!
 
There's value in that, but I advocate a little advance analytics, too. If he isn't into Disney theming and also doesn't have kids, a DCL cruise would probably be a waste of money for him to try.
A fair point. But say it checks all the boxes but you're still on the fence...
 

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