Verandah cabins just went up $400!

[MelissaE1]

I got an email from AllSeasTravel today (whether you choose to book through them someone else I highly recommend their newsletter to keep you informed of pricing changes, etc.) They stated that Disney has recently raised the price across the board on all verandah cabins by $400.00. I logged onto Disney's site and compared a price I had gotten from them in January for a 9/04 sailing and sure enough, it is exactly $400 more now.

I hope I do not upset anyone when I say that AllSeas also stated that they will continue to offer their original pricing through this month on cabins already in their inventory for sailings through the end of 2004. In April prices will start to reflect Disney's new pricing structure. I know they purchase huge blocks of cabins in advance, so perhaps other agencies like DU can still offer this too, I don't know. Just wanted to let anyone thinking of booking a verandah know about this -- $400 is a lot of money, at least for us!

 

[KaitlinsMom]

Wow! That is a big difference! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[markey]

You are correct - just went to DCL site and checked. The difference between our CAT 9 and the CAT 6 was $1200 for our August cruise, a price I would never pay, has now gone to a $1600 difference. For $1600 I can almost cruise for 2 years in a CAT 9.

 

[rae519]

OUCH!

Rae

 

[SweetSpot]

Out of curiosity I checked DCL's website for a quote on the cruise we have booked for Nov 2003. We booked the cruise on the ship Nov 2002 and in 4 months time the rate has increased 1,460.00 for out Cat 4 room. I really am shocked at such a large increase in such a short amount of time. Soon the DCL cruises will be too hard for families to afford.

 

[my3kids]

That REALLY makes the other lines even more attractive. We loved the Disney Cruise and have another one booked, but when I see we can get verandah rooms on Celebrity for less than our inside rooms on Disney......the verandah/savings probably do outweigh the magic/characters. We really did love the Disney trip, but the pools were out of control. I have not made any final decisions yet, but.......

 

[MarkRG]

These ships run on huge amounts of diesel fuel. I'm sure the economy is affecting other operating costs as well.

 

[beattyfamily]

I booked for our friends this past Sunday for Nov 4, 2004 (3-day cruise) Category 4 and it's the same price today as Sunday so either it went up BEFORE I booked Sunday or it didn't go up for Category 4 for next year??

 

[Chattyaholic]

I'm glad our cruise for next January is already booked!

 

[AnnMorin]

I'm glad our december on is already paid for! But I just checked on travelocity and it still has the same rate listed. On DCL's website it went up but not 400.00 per person though.

 

[mouseclick1]

I booked our cruise at the end of December for June 2004. I noticed it went up about $400 dollars about a week ago. That is a total for all four of us though, not per person.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Originally posted by my3kids
We really did love the Disney trip, but the pools were out of control.

Sorry? The pools were out of control... I don't understand what you mean?

Thanx

>>^..^<<

 

[Wishing on a star]

I have heard plenty about the crowding and mayhem at the pools. It is my only big concern with DS(5)

DCL - are you listening?

However, this subject is/should be an entirely different thread....

 

[markey]

Can't speak for what they mean by out of control, but I will tell you what I think of the pools. I have been on 3 cruises, with the 4th one booked and have never been in any of the pools. Kids were in on the 1st, and haven't been in since then. The kids pool is like a giant wadding pool with kids knocking into one another and look about as sanitary as a sewer system. The other pools are just good for standing in, and in the family pool you have to watch out for kids jumping in. I can't believe the amount of unsupervised kids. But I don't book a cruise for the pools, so this is ok. I guess we are spoiled since we have a 16 by 32 inground pool at home.

 

[my3kids]

By out of control....I meant way too many kids in way too little pool. I tried playing in the goofy pool a number of times with my kids, but it is unbelievably small for a "family" ship. You could hardly turn around, much less actually swim because of the number of people in the water. I'm not sure if the Mickey pool was as over crowded, my kids generally were just waiting in line for the slide, but in the Goofy pool, it was literally like sardines piled into a small tin. The pool decks really were not any better....probably worse. I don't take my eyes off my children when they are near water, but it is hard when there are about a zillion people lined up in deck chairs around the pool watching the zillion kids in the water. We were there in November. I'd bet the mayhem is even more pronounced in the summer. Again, we had a great trip, but if they could figure out a way to add a bunch of pools or enlarge the ones they have , it would be a WHOLE lot better!

 

[>>^..^<<]

I guess I had a good week when the ship was not full... The goofy pool was fine... quiet cove was deserted and the mickey pool was not crowded at all..

The only complaint/concern I had was by the afternoon the water was really 'murky" from all the suncreen and lotion accumulating from all the kids.

I would see people thicky slather this stuff on and then send their kids right in before it had a chance to absorb or dry... there would be lumps of it floating around... ewww

>>^..^<<

 

[floridaminnie]

I guess I was lucky. I would take my DD early in the morning and we had the Mickey pool to ourselves. I went to the adult pool and it was crowded at all. There was a couple of times during the middle of the day I was by myself and this was during the summer. Also, I was also suprised on how small the pools were, but after thinking about can't they only be so large since they are on a boat. If they were much bigger wouldn't it cause problems?

 

[my3kids]

The pools were one incentive to booking late dinner seating next time. I think late in the day when most people have gone in to get ready for early seating, we'll be able to swim in fairly empty pools for a while.

 

[beattyfamily]

We've gone Sept 98 and Dec 2001.

I could see what you mean. We avoided those times, though. We went when we first boarded and then it did get crazy after that. I believe we swam one other time after that and it was alright.

But leads me to something I've been wondering. How are the pools when you dock at Nassau (we've always gotten off the boat so don't know)??

Thanks!

 

[PiperG]

Originally posted by beattyfamily
We've gone Sept 98 and Dec 2001.


But leads me to something I've been wondering. How are the pools when you dock at Nassau (we've always gotten off the boat so don't know)??

Thanks!

Our experience is that, when everyone gets off at port, the pools are much more serene. We have done both a Wonder and a Magic cruise, and purposely spent little time in the ports so that we could enjoy certain parts of the ship in a less crowded enviornment.

I think if you love to snorkel, boat etc. . .it might be tough to give that up and stay on board. However, our lives are normally so hectic, that we don't like to have to be anywhere or do anything at a specific time when on vacation. We just enjoy hanging back, doing the pools or playing shuffleboard without crowds.