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.

New Disney Promotion Announced!

In a recent press release Disney announced a new unique promotion.  

The promotion entitled “Build the Future” is based around current construction projects in the Disney Theme Parks.  The idea is simple.  Each guest visiting one of the Disney Theme Parks where construction is going on will have the opportunity to help build part of the park.

“This is a great opportunity for our guests to be able to claim they had a part in building Disney World,” stated the talking trash can in Tomorrow Land.

Disney also released a price list with all the different things true Disney fans can do:

Drive a nail - $50 per nail

Paint a small section of a wall - $100

Paint a large section of a wall - $200

Paint an entire wall - $250

Plant a bush - $100

Use a piece of heavy equipment with supervision - $100 a minute

Use a piece of heavy equipment without supervision - $500 a minute

Stand around and act like a typical job site supervisor - $10 a minute

Dig a hole - $50

Dig a hole with a plastic shovel - $100 (plastic shovel not included)

Dig a hole with an actual shovel - $200 (shovels available for rent)

Use C4 to blast boulders - $2000 an ounce + $500 per explosion. Minimum of three explosions required.

Disney also announced that only Disney fans would be able to participate in the new promotion. When asked who a Disney fan is a spokesman responded that the people participating in the promotion are fans.  Anyone who does not participate in the promotion is not considered a true Disney fan.   However, Disney also announced that people could purchase an official fan certificate for $2000 if they will not be attending the parks during the promotion.

If you couldn’t tell from the fact that the spokes…thing is a talking trash can, the above is a fake news story. However if anyone doesn't believe me that it's fake you can purchase a plastic shovel through these link.

Apple's Tablet is Out and It's Called....The iPad?!?

Good grief Charlie Brown what was Apple thinking? The iPad?!? Seriously? I'm sorry but it sounds like a high tech feminine product. I'd love to know who came up with that. What kind of thought process was involved?

If I can ignore the name I'm a little disappointed. There is no USB connector. For it's size that's unacceptable. The pricing is messed up. On one wants the one with only 16gb. We want the big one but we don't want to pay that much. Oh and I have to pay extra for 3g and get it its own data plan. Fantastic!

My guess is the price will drop over the next few months when they see the response they get and future versions will transform it from a glorified iPod Touch into a nice little gadget.

I still have no plans to buy it. Lines, Disney Dining, and the Disney Maps look just fine on my iPhone. Plus lugging that around Disney World wouldn't be fun.