Cruise Fever Article-Average Cost of Stateroom per night Across Cruise Lines

[Lorana]

I was loyal to DCL, but I ran out of itineraries. Cost also became a factor when cruising in Europe.

Yeah, I love Disney and we prefer it, but we also did NCL in the Mediterranean last year for that reason. But boy did we miss the Disney service. Though my kids wish that Disney had a hibachi restaurant.

We’re sailing Disney to Norway but ouch that sticker shock there.

However one challenge we’re finding these days is a lot of mainstream cruise lines seem to be moving to two beds in their larger balcony rooms: a king/queen and a sofa queen/double. We need three sleeping surfaces. So we would’ve ended up with two staterooms on NCL, which made the cost slightly more (but the NCL cruise was 3 days longer and included Iceland, so still arguably a better value). Yes, we would’ve had more room space, but we don’t expect to be in the rooms much and we enjoy the Disney experience, so it worked out better to do Norway on Disney for us this time.

 

[Lorana]

That is incorrect. Speciality restaurants are not included in DCL. Speciality restaurants on DCL are Palo, Remy, and Enchante. You pay extra for those. You are eating in the main dining room for free on DCL just like you would eat in the main dining room for free on other cruise lines. DCL does do shows in some main dining rooms, and other cruise lines do not. That may or may not be a positive depending on your opinion.

Also other cruise lines offer free ice cream in buffets as well.

Okay, yes, those three cost extra, good point. I generally don’t include them when I factor in Disney vs mainstream because they’re adult only. I see Palo, Remy and Enchanted are elevated dining experiences that are adults only. I could not take my children to them. I can take my children to the specialty restaurants on other cruise lines.

I also don’t consider the Disney dining rooms the same as the main dining halls at the other cruise lines at all. They are far more compatible to the specialty restaurants on other ships. Main dining halls have less ambiance and my experience on NCL and RCCL is that the food quality is not nearly the same. There’s a reason people want the specialty restaurants, lol. But to each his own!

Ice cream included in the buffets is not the same in my mind as having free ice cream machines on the main deck, because I’d expect food in the buffets to be included free. The ice cream in the Disney buffet is also free.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I also don’t consider the Disney dining rooms the same as the main dining halls at the other cruise lines at all. They are far more compatible to the specialty restaurants on other ships. Main dining halls have less ambiance and my experience on NCL and RCCL is that the food quality is not nearly the same. There’s a reason people want the specialty restaurants, lol. But to each his own!

Ice cream included in the buffets is not the same in my mind as having free ice cream machines on the main deck, because I’d expect food in the buffets to be included free. The ice cream in the Disney buffet is also free.

DCL's MDRs do look nice but they are in no way comparable to specialty dining on other ships. The food is still mass produced food akin to a hotel conference banquet food. Personally I think all MDR food on all cruise lines is susceptible to being average at best.

Also we have sailed on HAL and RCCL and both lines had free ice cream, both in buffets and in machines on the main deck. In fact we sailed in Yacht club (concierge) level on MSC and got free gelato!

For us as a family of 5 for carribean cruises it’s often cheaper to sail DCL vs the other lines because we could all fit in one room and only pay the higher fares for the first two guests and the 3 kids were cheap to add on. With other lines we would be paying full fare for 4 of the 5 of us and it was typically more money. Now for the European or Alaskan sailings on DCL its was still cheaper to get two rooms for the 5 of us and we brought my in laws along too since we needed the two rooms anyway.

I have NEVER found it cheaper for my family of 5 to sail DCL vs any other line, whether we are in one room or two. It is true that you pay the adult fare for the first two guests, but it almost doesn't matter because on some of the DCL ships you couldn't get an inside room that slept 5 so you're paying a higher base adult fare for an OV or verandah room than you would with a family of 4 in an inside room.

I priced out a 7 night caribbean cruise with Royal (Sun to Sun) and one for the same week with DCL (Sat to Sat). DCL in two rooms is coming out at double the price. DCL in one room is 2.5x the price of RCL in two rooms. That's my typical experience with DCL pricing, it's always way, way more to sail on DCL.

 

[DCLMP]

Yeah, I love Disney and we prefer it, but we also did NCL in the Mediterranean last year for that reason. But boy did we miss the Disney service. Though my kids wish that Disney had a hibachi restaurant.

We’re sailing Disney to Norway but ouch that sticker shock there.

However one challenge we’re finding these days is a lot of mainstream cruise lines seem to be moving to two beds in their larger balcony rooms: a king/queen and a sofa queen/double. We need three sleeping surfaces. So we would’ve ended up with two staterooms on NCL, which made the cost slightly more (but the NCL cruise was 3 days longer and included Iceland, so still arguably a better value). Yes, we would’ve had more room space, but we don’t expect to be in the rooms much and we enjoy the Disney experience, so it worked out better to do Norway on Disney for us this time.

What ship did you sail on in the Med? NCL has a new ship in the med next year that looks pretty interesting...pricey, but still not DCL pricey.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Specialty restaurants. DCL’s dining rotation means you get to visit all the specialty restaurants, but you have to pay for them on other cruise lines we’ve sailed like NCL and RCCL.

Also free ice cream whenever my kids want it.

Anybody who thinks rotational dining is speciality dining, has never experienced specialty dining. The steakhouse, etc. on other cruise lines are premium. The steak served in rotational dining is average for a cruise - on its best day, it may be as good as Texas Roadhouse.

Every cruise line has free ice cream on the main deck as well as buffet. Many Carnival ships have free Gelato as well.

 

[LAS2AMS]

boy did we miss the Disney service. Though

WDW and DLR have exceptional service. DCL’s service is very average for its industry, and for good reason. Cruise jobs are highly competitive and if employees don’t excel, their contracts aren’t renewed. Sorry you missed the Disney vibe!

 

[Kwami]

DCL's MDRs do look nice but they are in no way comparable to specialty dining on other ships. The food is still mass produced food akin to a hotel conference banquet food. Personally I think all MDR food on all cruise lines is susceptible to being average at best.

Also we have sailed on HAL and RCCL and both lines had free ice cream, both in buffets and in machines on the main deck. In fact we sailed in Yacht club (concierge) level on MSC and got free gelato!

The food that I've had on Disney cruises has always been better than any of the food that I had at NCL specialty restaurants. It wasn't really close. NCL also locked their soft serve machine inside the buffet restaurant when they closed it.

 

[lilsonicfan]

The food that I've had on Disney cruises has always been better than any of the food that I had at NCL specialty restaurants. It wasn't really close. NCL also locked their soft serve machine inside the buffet restaurant when they closed it.

Food is subjective. I haven't been on NCL since 2011 so I can't comment about their food. I can tell you that I thought the MDR food on Royal and HAL was just as satisfactory as DCL. As for the soft serve machine, well, that does suck about NCL. But given the point of the OP was to talk about an article comparing the per night price, and the per night price is at least double on DCL vs many other lines, I'm not sure the ice cream is a terribly big deal.

 

[Lorana]

What ship did you sail on in the Med? NCL has a new ship in the med next year that looks pretty interesting...pricey, but still not DCL pricey.

We sailed on the Breakaway!

We’re balcony people and on NCL we always try to do the Club Balconies for the extra perks, definitely worth it for the longer sailings too when it comes to that laundry bag! We did a 10 night Greek Isles and Italy tour, and I chose it partly for the itinerary (but then they replaced Dubrovnik with Malta a few months out). We had a fantastic time, and Six was a great show.

We haven’t sailed NCL’s newest ships but we’ve done the Breakaway, Getaway and Bliss, as well as the Gem and long ago a couple of Bermuda cruises on the NCL Dream (which is now retired). We didn’t like the Bliss as much as the Getaway/Breakaway, but we also could never secure times for the Escape Room or Laser Tag, which was a huge disappointment to my kids, but it was a good ship for Alaska.

 

[DCLMP]

We sailed on the Breakaway!

We’re balcony people and on NCL we always try to do the Club Balconies for the extra perks, definitely worth it for the longer sailings too when it comes to that laundry bag! We did a 10 night Greek Isles and Italy tour, and I chose it partly for the itinerary (but then they replaced Dubrovnik with Malta a few months out). We had a fantastic time, and Six was a great show.

We haven’t sailed NCL’s newest ships but we’ve done the Breakaway, Getaway and Bliss, as well as the Gem and long ago a couple of Bermuda cruises on the NCL Dream (which is now retired). We didn’t like the Bliss as much as the Getaway/Breakaway, but we also could never secure times for the Escape Room or Laser Tag, which was a huge disappointment to my kids, but it was a good ship for Alaska.

I'm looking at the Viva. New ship sailing out of Istanbul ending in Vienna. It is scheduled for 2 nights in Dubrovknik. Why did they switch to Malta. I've been to Malta it's great too. I think we would go with an Oceanview but the rooms looks amazing.

 

[Lorana]

Anybody who thinks rotational dining is speciality dining, has never experienced specialty dining. The steakhouse, etc. on other cruise lines are premium. The steak served in rotational dining is average for a cruise - on its best day, it may be as good as Texas Roadhouse.

Every cruise line has free ice cream on the main deck as well as buffet. Many Carnival ships have free Gelato as well.

While I’ve absolutely had some amazing food on NCL or RCCL specialty dining, not all of their specialty restaurants have higher quality food, and in some cases that premium food comes with an additional premium.

But as some said, food can be subjective and it can depend on individual cruises, too.

My point is more that Disney doesn’t charge extra for themed dining experiences or dining shows but most other mainstream cruise lines do. If that matters to you, it’s just one data point for someone to consider. We are not fans of the main dining halls on most other cruise ships and so prefer to do several nights in specialty dining experiences. As the NCL Free Dining and Free Drinks is only for the first two passengers and a limited number of nights (and you prepay gratuities as they are not included), you have to consider the cost of adding those on for additional passengers, and for adding on additional nights if you want more than the fee included, and that can be a factor in how much the cruise ultimately costs for you.

 

[Lorana]

I'm looking at the Viva. New ship sailing out of Istanbul ending in Vienna. It is scheduled for 2 nights in Dubrovknik. Why did they switch to Malta. I've been to Malta it's great too. I think we would go with an Oceanview but the rooms looks amazing.

Oh, I’ve eyed that itinerary as I want to do it some day, and the Viva does look like a ship we’d want to try!

I did enjoy Malta but I had picked that itinerary because it hit Dubrovnik, Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Messina and Naples/Pompei, and none of the other ships and itineraries that summer hit all of those, so I was very excited. And then they dropped Dubrovnik. Alas! They never gave a reason beyond “to enhance guest experience, the itinerary has changed.” The switched Corfu for Olympia and Dubrovnik for Malta.

 

[DCLMP]

Oh, I’ve eyed that itinerary as I want to do it some day, and the Viva does look like a ship we’d want to try!

I did enjoy Malta but I had picked that itinerary because it hit Dubrovnik, Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Messina and Naples/Pompei, and none of the other ships and itineraries that summer hit all of those, so I was very excited. And then they dropped Dubrovnik. Alas! They never gave a reason beyond “to enhance guest experience, the itinerary has changed.” The switched Corfu for Olympia and Dubrovnik for Malta.

That is the negative part of cruising. I've had itinerary changes happen on DCL, Royal and Carnival.

 

[LAS2AMS]

The food that I've had on Disney cruises has always been better than any of the food that I had at NCL specialty restaurants. It wasn't really close. NCL also locked their soft serve machine inside the buffet restaurant when they closed it

While I’ve absolutely had some amazing food on NCL or RCCL specialty dining, not all of their specialty restaurants have higher quality food, and in some cases that premium food comes with an additional premium.

But as some said, food can be subjective and it can depend on individual cruises, too.

My point is more that Disney doesn’t charge extra for themed dining experiences or dining shows but most other mainstream cruise lines do. If that matters to you, it’s just one data point for someone to consider. We are not fans of the main dining halls on most other cruise ships and so prefer to do several nights in specialty dining experiences. As the NCL Free Dining and Free Drinks is only for the first two passengers and a limited number of nights (and you prepay gratuities as they are not included), you have to consider the cost of adding those on for additional passengers, and for adding on additional nights if you want more than the fee included, and that can be a factor in how much the cruise ultimately costs for you.

Food is subjective but you can look at it objectively. I’m wondering where all the fancy, gourmet dinners on Disney are, because they sure never had them (in relational dining) when I’ve cruised them. And they rarely change up the kid menu, so it’s not like they’re new. DCL serves similar food as everyone else, and which one is better is going to depend more on who cooked the food and how’d it turned out than anything else.

Themed dining only exists on Disney and is part of the Disney experience you’re paying for. The trade off is that there’s far less evening entertainment than on the other lines. That’s obviously not an issue to Disney fanatics as they want Mickey, not live music

Ultimately a Disney cruise comes with a hefty premium because you’re paying for the Disney ambiance. And that’s okay but don’t convince yourself that you’re getting more for your money or that other cruise lines have extras that make them the same price. For many, the cost of Disney is more than they should be spending so they look for reasons to justify it, which is why we read that so often in these fiourms.

 

[Lorana]

And that’s okay but don’t convince yourself that you’re getting more for your money or that other cruise lines have extras that make them the same price

For you, perhaps, you aren’t getting more for your money, or you may not care about the cost of the extras. But people value different things and you’re presuming we all value the same, or that people are somehow wrong for valuing different things. I put my experiences and the cost differences so that those who might value such things are aware of them. If they don’t matter to you, then absolutely sail on mainstream cruises, and be content that you’re getting the value for your money that you want. Some people would never value the cost of a balcony over inside stateroom, but I absolutely would.

For my family, dining experiences is part of why we cruise. It’s included with Disney. We have to pay for specialty restaurants on other ships for a dining experience.

Soda is included for my children at Disney. It is not outside of meals on other mainstream lines, unless I pay for every drink or buy a package.

Sometimes I just don’t want to feel like I’m being nickled and dimed on my vacation, and I often feel that way on other mainstream ships.

We like Broadway style shows. Hence why I loved Six on NCL but that was one night of a 10 night cruise.

I priced NCL out for Norway. We would need two staterooms and it priced per day about the same as DCL, and slightly higher once we added in the extras.

Now some might value having two balcony staterooms on NCL over sharing a deluxe family verandah on Disney and so that might be the deciding factor for them on value. But some might value other things, and then Disney will come out ahead.

I’ve never said Disney doesn’t tend to price higher, but on some itineraries, the difference is not as drastic as x2 the cost, and in some cases not materially different at all. But in some cases it is — for example, we sailed the NCL Getaway to the Caribbean one winter partly because it was about 2/3 of the cost of Disney even after adding in extras and we were on a budget. We’re planning a cruise again on RCCL because it has the itinerary we want for summer 2026 and Disney hasn’t yet released its summer 2026 sailings.