Disney Cruise Line vs. Royal Caribbean

I recently asked for a quote on a Disney cruise.  I’d never been on the Disney Cruise Line so I thought it would be worth a shot.  After all people rave about DCL.

The cruise I asked for a quote on was a seven day cruise in a balcony stateroom. What did it come out to for two people?  Over $3,700.00.  I nearly fell out of my chair.  That is…insane.

Why is that insane?

First you need to find a good comparison.  You can’t compare NCL to Disney.  NCL is as low as you can go when it comes to the major cruise lines. It’s not fair to compare NCL to anyone because no one else is that bad (if you don’t believe me go look my up many articles on my experiences with NCL).

What about Carnival?  That’s a no go to.  Carnival’s customer service is so horrifying it wouldn’t be fair to compare them to Disney.  If you don’t believe me about Carnival go look up the articles I wrote on my experiences with them.

Royal Caribbean is another matter.  After some fairly in depth research online RC to Disney is a fairly close comparison.  Let’s set the stage by saying that DCL is slightly better than RC.  If RC isn’t as good then they should be cheaper but still somewhat close.  Well that’s half correct. For a seven day cruise on RC the quote came in at $2,500.

The difference is literally 33%.  Disney is a full third more expensive. Disney is not 33% better than RC.

Now let’s take a page out of Mythbusters book.  On Mythbusters when a myth doesn’t pan out they often try to figure out what it takes to match the myth.  So what could you get on RC for the price Disney is charging?

The next step up on RC is a Junior Suite aka category JS stateroom.  It’s bigger and often better located than a normal balcony stateroom.  Does that match up?  Nope!  A JS comes came in around $2,800.  

So what is next?  The only other feasible stateroom for a couple on Royal Caribbean is a Grand Suite, category GS.  A GS is a HUGE jump from a JS.  GS is bigger, much bigger. They tend to be some of the best located rooms on the ship.  They also come with major perks.

1 - GS gives you expedited boarding.  In other words the second worst part of cruising is almost eliminated.   

2 – GS gives you expedited exit.  You get off the boat fast and while you are waiting you are in a private lounge.

3 – GS gives you access to an exclusive lounge where you get free booze at night.  To put this into Disney terms GS gives you access to club level services. 

There are a lot of other small perks that come with a GS but those are the big ones. 

So what is the price for that? About $3,300. A super suite with HUGE perks cost $400 less than a normal balcony on DCL.  

For once I am at a loss for words.  What can you say about that?  It’s truly hard to wrap you head around that.

More Executive Changes

Last week Disney shook things up and moved a number of their executives around the company.  They continued this week with even more changes.  As usual Disney is trying to get their executives some diversified experience to strengthen the company as a whole. 

Here are some of the new changes:

Head of PR: Grumpy Dwarf

Head of Accident Prevention: Goofy

VP of Human Resources:  Uncle Remus

Head of Onsite Childcare: The Big Bad Wolf

VP of Training: Dopey Dwarf

Manager of the Land Pavilion: Ariel

Manager of the Seas Pavilion: Madame Medusa (She’s from The Rescuers)

VP of Brooms and Buckets: Mickey Mouse

Head of Horticulture: Ursula

Head of Social Networking: Eyeore

Head of Bus Driver Training: Mr. Toad

Anti-Smoking Liaison: Baby Herman

Manager of Wardrobe: Tarzan

Head of Security: Sleepy Dwarf

The changes are expected to take place within the next two weeks.  

Photo of the Week: Flower and Graden Photo Tips

The 2013 Epcot Flower and Garden festival is quickly approaching.  I thought I'd take the time to pull out a decent garden / flower photo.

If you are going this year there are two general rules to follow when filming gardens or flowers.  If it's a garden you want to do a panoramic or landscape shot that includes some of the surrounding area. This gives life to the  photo and makes it pop.

If you are filming a flower you generally want to zoom in or get as close as possible and set your aperture as low as you can go.  An f-stop of 3.5 or smaller is best.  This will put the flower in focus and blur out everything else.  This really draws attention to the single flower in a garden it also draws out it's details. 

MyMagic+ : What to Expect

What can you expect with the roll out of MyMagic+? I’m going to take this from the viewpoint of someone not staying on property like a local, annual pass holder, or vacationer on a non-Disney property.

1 – Longer waits – Why would you see longer waits?  Capacity on Disney attractions is not being increased.  This means those advanced reservations for rides are coming from one of two places; either fewer regular fast passes or a higher fast pass to queue ratio.  In either case the normal guest will end up waiting longer as fast passes run out faster or the queue moves slower.

2 – Shorter waits at the turnstile – Yes this is a benefit for non-MyMagic+ guests.  MyMagic+ guests will be hitting the RFID entrance.  That is supposed to be a faster form of entry.  This means fewer people hitting the turnstiles.  That should mean a shorter wait.

3 – Bummed out kids – It sounds like the long term plans are going to allow the RFIDs to trigger some special features within the parks.  This could bum your kids out big time.  Just imagine hearing “Why did Mickey know that other kid and not me?”  That could become a reality if your kid doesn’t have a Disney RFID.

4 – Wallets the new class distinction! – You know how you feel when someone in front of you at a store pays with a check?  Don’t even try to bug off that one you know how annoying it is.  You can’t help but wonder why anyone would use a check.  Guess what – if you don’t have an RFID reader the person behind you is feeling that about you!

5 – Less for you more for them – MyMagic+ is just starting.  You will see more features rolled out in time.  The odds of a non-resort guest being able to purchase any of those features does not seem likely.  Over the long haul you’ll see your park experience slowly deteriorate.

Secrets Private Seaside Dining Review

What turns a meal into a value?  For some people it’s solely based on the food they receive.  Some people want a lot of food for their money, others are only concerned about quality, and others still want a balance of both. 

On the other side of the coin you have people who give a lot of weight to the environment they are eating in.  If a place is poorly decorated the meal isn’t as good.  If a place has exceptional atmosphere maybe it makes up for subpar food. 

When you are paying $160 to $200 for two people to eat all of the above come into play.  Secrets offers a private dining option.  This option puts you and one other person at an outside, seaside, candle / torch list table.  You get one bottle of wine and a three course meal.  Is that worth the price?

Since a majority of the readers of this blog are Disney fans I am going to draw a lot Disney comparisons to help you judge if this option is worth the hefty price tag.  

The Atmosphere

It wouldn’t be easy to beat the atmosphere you experience with this dining option.  It is a nice relaxing atmosphere.  In most cases you will be eating on the sand somewhere.  The torches give just enough light to make things comfortable.

It sounds great but there are some big drawbacks.  First of all your experience could vary dramatically from another persons experience.   The reason for this is the actual dining locations vary greatly.  Some are out of the way and private while others are only feet from main walking path meaning you get no privacy whatsoever.   In our case we were put on a strip of sand a few feet from a private pool and the doors to half a dozen rooms.  All the lights were off so it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t ideal.

If you eliminate the privacy issue the atmosphere was about on par with a mid to high end Disney dining location.  San Angel Inn, The California Grille, and Garden Grille all offer atmospheres that have the same level of atmosphere.  Granted I am talking about having atmosphere not what kind.

So overall the atmosphere does not meet the price you pay. It’s just too much of a crap shoot.

The Service

The service starts with your server or a assistant meeting you at one of the bars and then walking you to your table.  In theory this should work well.  Our experience was not a positive one.  The bar we were assigned to wait at was closed for a private party so we didn’t even have anywhere to sit or get a drink.  We felt like a nuisance as we stood around and waited, and wait we did. 

We checked in, were checked off, and told our server would be with us shortly.  Then we waited as they tried to find our server.  No one seemed to know where he was.  After seeing the chaos of four different people call or try to find our server, finally someone showed up to seat us, twenty minutes after we were supposed to start our dinner.  Not a good start.  Considering this was supposed to be personalized service that exceeded our expectations it fell flat.  Most check in experiences at most Disney dining locations were far superior to what we experienced here.  This could be an anomaly but it still happened.  If it happened to one party I don’t doubt it’s happened to others.

Our server was decent.  He did well but considering what you are paying and what you get he was not up to par.  When I think of a dining experience that claims it’s on this level I think of The California Grille or Jiko.  At either of those locations you will normally get service that was far better than what we got at t his private dinner.

The service fell far short of mark.

The Food

So did the food make up for the other shortcomings?  I’ll start by saying the food I would expect at this price range should be on par with Jiko, The California Grille, The Brown Derby (when it’s at its best), or Narcoossee’s. The food wasn’t even close to what you’d get at any of them.

The food was terrible but there was one major issue with it.  The food was the exact same food you could get at any of the other restaurants on the property.  All of those restaurants were included in the cost of your vacation.  When you pay beyond that you expect something really special not the same stuff in a different location.

The food was a major flop for the price.

In the end, if you buy the cheapest package, you are paying $160 - $200 to eat on the beach under torchlight.  Keep that in mind.  You can get the same food and similar service at any of the normal dining locations at Secrets.  If the experience of dining seaside is worth that price for you then you would want to do this.  If that sounds insane then avoid this package at all costs.