DCL Price increases just floored me compared to our Hawaii cruise

[cgolf]

I was just looking up a price to use as a comparison when talking in one of the threads and I came up with 3,999 for 2 people on the Wonder in mid February 2018 for and Eastern Carib cruise in an inside stateroom (285.71 per person per night). The part that floors me is that in 2012 we did the inaugural Hawaii cruise that was sold out to the point that you had to check multiple times a day hoping that the cruise would reappear so that you could book, it was 4,400 for a 16 night in an inside stateroom (137.5 per person per night).

I know that they can charge whatever they want because people will pay it blah blah blah, this is why we have moved on, because the value for us isn't there. For newer cruisers who never saw previous prices, now is their baseline.

If there ever was a cruise to mark up in price, it would have been that Hawaii trip, and it was a little bit from their normal prices back then, but not by a big margin.

 

[JW9DVC]

Even for not new cruisers it is now the baseline. Some of us find it worth it, just because we can. Sorry you no longer feel that way.

 

[cgolf]

Even for not new cruisers it is now the baseline. Some of us find it worth it, just because we can. Sorry you no longer feel that way.

We are mostly good on our choice to move on, my reluctance to stop helping out on this board, might say otherwise This did really hit home though, cause that trip was amazing, I know they say to never say never, but I am sure that trip will always be our #1 cruise. I had realized that prices had been creeping up to a point that we switched, I just hadn't really compared the price of our non concierge cruises to the new pricing. Generally each year we have just created a word document comparing the prices of each line and based our decisions on itinerary and price. 2017 and 2018 are the first times for us DCL lost out.

I will see if we still have some of those comparison docs, because in the past during off peak times DCL was super competitive with other lines. Not a hater just made a choice that was made easier being empty nesters now.

 

[cruiser21]

The longer cruises on DCL are generally a better value. I don't know if I'll pay DCL prices to go to the Caribbean again. I rarely cruise just to cruise anymore. I like to see new ports. We did Hawaii too. It was a great value. The panama, TA's and even some of the early and late Summer European cruises are all in my per night budget.

 

[JW9DVC]

The longer cruises on DCL are generally a better value. I don't know if I'll pay DCL prices to go to the Caribbean again. I rarely cruise just to cruise anymore. I like to see new ports. We did Hawaii too. It was a great value. The panama, TA's and even some of the early and late Summer European cruises are all in my per night budget.

Is that $125 per person per night?

 

[cruiser21]

Is that $125 per person per night?

Not necessarily. Where did you get that idea?

 

[KalamityJane]

I was just looking up a price to use as a comparison when talking in one of the threads and I came up with 3,999 for 2 people on the Wonder in mid February 2018 for and Eastern Carib cruise in an inside stateroom (285.71 per person per night). The part that floors me is that in 2012 we did the inaugural Hawaii cruise that was sold out to the point that you had to check multiple times a day hoping that the cruise would reappear so that you could book, it was 4,400 for a 16 night in an inside stateroom (137.5 per person per night).

I know that they can charge whatever they want because people will pay it blah blah blah, this is why we have moved on, because the value for us isn't there. For newer cruisers who never saw previous prices, now is their baseline.

If there ever was a cruise to mark up in price, it would have been that Hawaii trip, and it was a little bit from their normal prices back then, but not by a big margin.

We paid less than that for our 2 person stateroom 15 night EBTA this year. I think it was 3900 for a 10B. Slightly more for our 3 person stateroom.

ETA: 4900 for our 3 person 10B. So the 2 person room is 130/pp/pn, the 3 person room is 108/pp/pn. This was before our cash back from Costco. Ours has also been sold out, though today some rooms just opened up. We are less than a month from sailing though.

 

[cgolf]

We paid less than that for our 2 person stateroom 15 night EBTA this year. I think it was 3900 for a 10B. Slightly more for our 3 person stateroom.

ETA: 4900 for our 3 person 10B. So the 2 person room is 130/pp/pn, the 3 person room is 108/pp/pn. This was before our cash back from Costco. Ours has also been sold out, though today some rooms just opened up. We are less than a month from sailing though.

I so wish I could convince my wife to do one of those cruises. She hates flying though and couldn't deal with flying both that long and that long over water. Even flying to San Juan is pretty much out.

 

[KalamityJane]

I so wish I could convince my wife to do one of those cruises. She hates flying though and couldn't deal with flying both that long and that long over water. Even flying to San Juan is pretty much out.

Rumor has it they may do the Hawaii cruise again in 2018 (it seems to be every 3 years) but not sure if it will be RT or one way. You could totally look into the Panama Canal cruises though, that would have flying over the US and not over water. They are a good price too.

 

[jujubiee4]

I was just looking up a price to use as a comparison when talking in one of the threads and I came up with 3,999 for 2 people on the Wonder in mid February 2018 for and Eastern Carib cruise in an inside stateroom (285.71 per person per night). The part that floors me is that in 2012 we did the inaugural Hawaii cruise that was sold out to the point that you had to check multiple times a day hoping that the cruise would reappear so that you could book, it was 4,400 for a 16 night in an inside stateroom (137.5 per person per night).

I know that they can charge whatever they want because people will pay it blah blah blah, this is why we have moved on, because the value for us isn't there. For newer cruisers who never saw previous prices, now is their baseline.

If there ever was a cruise to mark up in price, it would have been that Hawaii trip, and it was a little bit from their normal prices back then, but not by a big margin.

That $4400 must have been a dream come true. What I would like to know is what people paid
for one of the Alaskan cruises several years ago compared to the price now.

Every year I say we have to try the Alaska cruise and every year the price floors me.
Of course that being said i still may try next summer

 

[cgolf]

That $4400 must have been a dream come true. What I would like to know is what people paid
for one of the Alaskan cruises several years ago compared to the price now.

Every year I say we have to try the Alaska cruise and every year the price floors me.
Of course that being said i still may try next summer

During the first year or two of Alaska cruises, I remember them doing kids sail free deals. Unfortunately we never bit on any of those.

 

[JW9DVC]

Not necessarily. Where did you get that idea?

Just wondering. That's about what we have paid for an inside on the WBPC cruise

 

[cruiser21]

Just wondering. That's about what we have paid for an inside on the WBPC cruise

If I limited myself to 125.00 per person per night I might never set foot on a DCL cruise again.LOL It really depends on the itinerary. This year there's only 2 of us sailing so the cost per night is higher. I'm paying 250.00 per night per person on the Dream. Kind of ridiculous....but oh well. Were going to WDW and this is a special trip.

I'm thinking about booking Alaska in Sept which would run about 225.00pp per person per night, but again there's only two of us. Next year all four of us will most likely be sailing. With 4 people it's hard to find interesting itinerary's on DCL that don't cost more than a car. We will most likely sail on the WBTA next year. I still love going to the Caribbean, but I won't pay Disney prices. I've just been their too many times to justify paying that kind of money to visit ports I've seen multiple times.

 

[cruiser21]

Rumor has it they may do the Hawaii cruise again in 2018 (it seems to be every 3 years) but not sure if it will be RT or one way. You could totally look into the Panama Canal cruises though, that would have flying over the US and not over water. They are a good price too.

I asked the captain of the Wonder about this in Dec. He said they don't sell very well so he wasn't sure. I told him if they could figure out a way to do the cruises in October they might sell better. A lot of Western states have Fall break in October. They don't seem to have not trouble selling the TA's and Panama so I'm not sure what the issue is with Hawaii.

 

[cgolf]

I asked the captain of the Wonder about this in Dec. He said they don't sell very well so he wasn't sure. I told him if they could figure out a way to do the cruises in October they might sell better. A lot of Western states have Fall break in October. They don't seem to have not trouble selling the TA's and Panama so I'm not sure what the issue is with Hawaii.

My opinion it was the one way nature of the trips. Personally I think the RTs would sell better.

 

[cruiser21]

My opinion it was the one way nature of the trips. Personally I think the RTs would sell better.

What are the rules about round trips from a US port to a US ports. Wouldn't they have to stop in Mexico? Or Could they do Roundtrips from Vancouver? I forget what the rules are.

 

[cgolf]

What are the rules about round trips from a US port to a US ports. Wouldn't they have to stop in Mexico? Or Could they do Roundtrips from Vancouver? I forget what the rules are.

Ours stopped in Ensenada Mexico.

 

[clten]

What are the rules about round trips from a US port to a US ports. Wouldn't they have to stop in Mexico? Or Could they do Roundtrips from Vancouver? I forget what the rules are.

If it is a closed loop cruise from a US port (round trip sailing, beginning and ending in the same port) then they could just have any foreign port call (like they did with the Hawaii cruises in 2012 that were roundtrip LA, they made one port call in Ensenada). If they wanted, they could do roundtrip from Vancouver but that would put restrictions on travelers - US citizens flying in would have to have a passport; the international flight is more expensive for a lot of people. So for RT cruises, it would make sense for DCL to do it from a US port (like LA or San Diego).

If they do one way cruises, there are too many limitations to be able to start in a US city on the west coast and end in Honolulu. So that is why their last set of Hawaii cruises were one way between Vancouver and Honolulu. A lot less restrictions if the cruise starts or ends in a non-US city (could be Vancouver; could be Ensenada).

I asked the captain of the Wonder about this in Dec. He said they don't sell very well so he wasn't sure. I told him if they could figure out a way to do the cruises in October they might sell better. A lot of Western states have Fall break in October. They don't seem to have not trouble selling the TA's and Panama so I'm not sure what the issue is with Hawaii.

I think there were a couple problems with the Hawaii cruises causing them to be poor sellers. The first sailing was not a poor seller. It was sold out in one day and people were always checking for availability. It sold out so quickly because it was a completely new itinerary and the opening rates were FANTASTIC. Once they added the October date for 2012, those opening rates were dramatically higher than the April cruise so I think they had a harder time filling that sailing. So the problem with the first cruise for DCL was that they left a lot of money on the table by underpricing the opening rates. Then caused themselves more problems because people knew what the opening April rates were and many had some sticker shock to the October rates (or to the rates whenever a cabin opened on the April cruise). I believe both these cruises were 15 nights -- hard to sell to families during the school year even if they plan it while schools have spring or fall breaks.

The two one way cruises weren't very family friendly either. First the cruise fare was pretty steep. Then you had a long flight on one end of the cruise or the other and the price of airfare wasn't exactly cheap either. The reason we loved the RT was that we got to see Hawaii without having to endure a long flight from the east coast. These one way cruises took that benefit off the table. People say the benefit of the one way cruise is that you get to combine the cruise with a stay in Honolulu. But at that time of the year, I don't know many families that can take the time (10 day cruise plus more time for a Hawaii stay??). So you end up with a lot of cabins booked with just 2 adults rather than a good mix of adults and families.

I think DCL puts up with making the TA and PC cruises interesting and not too overpriced so they can sell them because they aren't really interested in making a killing on these particular sailings. These sailings are required to get the ships to their very profitable itineraries (Europe and Alaska). If they have to price them at a break even point or even at a loss (which I'm sure some the TA's have had to have been), they make that sacrifice. But if they are adding on Hawaii itineraries, it has to be a money maker or there is no reason to offer them. So they haven't figured out how to balance the Hawaii itineraries with the price to make the itinerary attractive and the price palatable.

I'm hoping they give it one more shot because like cgolf, that first Hawaii cruise was one of the best we've ever taken.

 

[Trera]

If the ship leaves Alaska and heads to Hawaii..............how many days into the cruise will it be warm enough so you can start laying out on the pool deck and swimming in the pools?

 

[gotomu212]

During the first year or two of Alaska cruises, I remember them doing kids sail free deals. Unfortunately we never bit on any of those.

We paid $2900 for 2A/1C for the very last Alaska cruise in 2014. That was for an ocean view, made reservation a month before. Using that as a comparison it's really really hard to digest some of today's prices.