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A Disney cruise can cost two- or three-times more than resort family lines, like Royal Caribbean, Carnival, or Norwegian Cruise Lines, and often 40% more than other premium lines, like Celebrity, which Disney is more like. Is it worth it.....??
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ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 101 cruises I have done to date.
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00:00 Start
00:37 Disney Kingdom at Sea
02:57 Kids Clubs
04:18 Adult-only Areas
05:35 Capacity Issues
07:31 Food Issues
08:25 Service Issues
09:50 Inclusions & Exclusion Issues
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
my Disney Cruise had cost me nearly
0:02
three times more than a similar cruise
0:04
on a resort family line like Royal
0:06
Caribbean Carnival Norwegian it was even
0:09
costing me 40 more than a pretty
0:11
expensive line like celebrity which
0:14
Disney is probably more like so as I
0:16
said off on my recent Disney Magic
0:18
fjords cruise I was wondering what on
0:21
Earth all that extra that I paid for was
0:25
going to give me I'm Gary behridge and
0:27
here's what I found out well first of
0:29
all I wondered if most of that fare was
0:31
basically going to be going on then
0:33
delivering the Disney Experience
0:37
well the minute I stepped on board I was
0:41
absolutely plunged headlong into a
0:43
Disney kingdom I was greeted by
0:45
characters they were constantly Disney
0:47
characters to pose with they popped up
0:49
at the sail away party the end of the
0:51
cruise party and many other events the
0:53
shows and entertainment were of course
0:55
all Disney
0:57
the theater production shows were big
1:00
Disney Productions we had a frozen deck
1:03
show at one port Sail Out so on my
1:05
cruise for example in the theater they
1:07
had Tangled the story of Rapunzel Disney
1:09
dreams a kind of compilation of the kind
1:11
of greatest hits of Disney films twice
1:14
Charmed a reimagining of the Cinderella
1:16
story and Once Upon a Song a concert
1:18
with lesser known to me but not to most
1:21
of the guests Disney songs all the
1:23
movies shown in the Buena Vista Cinema
1:25
were all Disney properties so for
1:28
example I actually got to see some
1:29
really recent Marvel films that had not
1:32
yet caught at my local Cinema because of
1:34
course Marvel and Star Wars are now
1:36
within the whole Disney World trivia was
1:39
almost always Disney link the decor in
1:42
the design of the ship had Disney woven
1:44
in all over even on the exterior goofy
1:46
is hanging at the rear of the ship the
1:48
funnel had big Mickey ears on and it
1:51
played When You Wish Upon a Star when we
1:53
were sailing out at Port inside many
1:56
venues were Disney themed or named like
1:59
the goofy pool when I was not avert
2:01
there would still be hidden Disney
2:04
features woven in so for example Disney
2:07
characters are around the atrium trim
2:10
there's Hidden Mickey ears on the
2:12
Elevator Shaft glass exterior and even
2:15
in the roof of the adult only special
2:17
agent Restaurant Palo there's some
2:19
Hidden Mickey ears the three main dining
2:21
room restaurants that are rotated around
2:23
each night were heavily Disney themed I
2:26
had Rapunzel's Royal table which is
2:29
linked to the story of Tangled animators
2:31
palette which features Disney animation
2:34
and lumiers which is linked to Beauty
2:36
and the Beast there was of course
2:39
there's the artwork all around the ship
2:41
it's really clear to me that a lot of
2:43
the premium that I was paid in my fare
2:46
was going into all of this it's of
2:48
course really well done and it takes
2:50
many crew or cast members as they call
2:52
them to deliver it but was that the only
2:54
place that this premium had gone I
2:56
wondered
2:59
another really obvious place the fair
3:01
premium showed up I thought is in the
3:03
kids clubs now which of course for me I
3:05
was traveling without kids meant I was
3:07
getting no direct benefit although you
3:08
could argue there was an indirect
3:10
benefit because it meant kids kept
3:11
disappearing into them for long periods
3:13
because they are so remarkable but
3:15
anyway Disney have four key clubs they
3:18
have It's a Small World nursery the
3:20
Oceania club for ages 3 to 11 Edge for
3:24
the 11 to 14 year olds and Vibe for
3:26
teens 15 to 17. these are unlike
3:29
anything I have ever seen on other lines
3:31
The Ocean Club for example it's a vast
3:33
area it's splits into two areas one is
3:36
for play and divided into things like
3:38
Toy Story Andy's room Disney Fairies
3:41
Pixie Hollow Marvel
3:43
Superhero Center Disney Club junior the
3:47
other which they describe more as the
3:49
Oceania lab is designed for activities
3:52
like animation drawing and craft
3:54
activities Edge is focused on kind of
3:56
gaming Vibe is kind of a cooler more
3:59
more funky space to hang out for with
4:01
movies and game stations and so on so
4:04
clearly a big slug of that Premiere I
4:08
was paying was going into those kids
4:09
clubs which as I said had no direct
4:11
benefit to me but were there then areas
4:14
that my fair premium was benefiting me
4:16
more directly
4:19
yes I think they probably were because
4:21
some of the premium does go into having
4:24
and spending money on having dedicated
4:26
and included adult only areas these
4:30
areas are probably more expansive than
4:33
any other cruise line that I've been on
4:35
you know dedicating areas to guests over
4:37
18. there was an adult only pool deck it
4:41
had the signals bar and the Cove Cafe
4:44
the gym and the spa were also adult only
4:47
they then had this area called after
4:49
dark which after 9 00 pm at night was
4:52
adult only three venues in there fathoms
4:55
a Cabaret style lounge with various
4:57
events like sun disco Bingo jungling
4:59
lessons a nightclub adult comedy show
5:02
and so on Keys a piano cocktail bar and
5:05
then a girl's a really popular Irish
5:07
themed pub with adult only trivia and an
5:11
Irish band performing there is no casino
5:13
on Disney Magic by the way they also had
5:15
Paulo which is an Italian specialty
5:18
dining adults only restaurant amazing
5:20
food amazing service on other ships they
5:23
have Remy more French orientated and
5:25
some of the new ships they actually have
5:26
both of those so while I felt some of my
5:29
fair premium was going there there were
5:30
some areas that actually made that fair
5:32
premium look much less attractive
5:36
for me one thing that diminished the
5:39
value and the premium is the ships can
5:41
get really busy more so I found then on
5:45
other premium ships of the same size
5:48
that they operate in now cruise ship
5:50
capacity is advertised normally as an
5:52
industry standard based on what is kind
5:54
of called fixed lower bursts which
5:57
pretty much means double occupancy of
5:59
cabins because regular beds in cabins
6:02
the normal beds are usually double or
6:04
twin per cabin now Disney appears to
6:07
have many many more cabins that can
6:09
accommodate entire families of course
6:11
than any other line so for example my
6:14
family Deluxe around a cabin wire from a
6:17
declared capacity level would really be
6:19
counted as holding two people because
6:21
that was the amount of fixed bed space
6:23
it could actually take three more two on
6:26
the sofa bed and another sleeping in a
6:28
bunk bed that you could pull out from
6:29
the ceiling so discovered and realize
6:32
that at Peak vacation times Disney ships
6:34
can be selling between 150 25 and 160
6:38
capacity because there's just so many
6:40
more people per cabin so am I selling we
6:42
had roughly about 100 people above the
6:44
double occupancy level of about 1750 and
6:48
it did feel really crowded finally into
6:50
the dinners in the atrium between the
6:52
shows and the dining when there were
6:54
many character appearances and at events
6:56
like the sail away and Frozen deck
6:57
parties it just felt really really busy
7:00
but it could have been sailing with
7:03
2713 guests so 960 more than I had it
7:08
would absolutely have felt really really
7:09
cramped other premium lines with similar
7:12
side ships like celebrity for example I
7:14
just come back from they are much less
7:16
capable of selling at such intensity
7:18
because they generally have fewer
7:20
multiple occupancy cabins and by
7:22
definition attract many fewer Travelers
7:25
and families who do so that is something
7:26
to consider when assessing value I felt
7:28
it did diminish the value
7:32
but is Disney Great Value though because
7:34
of the food as many many fans have
7:37
suggested to me is why it's worth that
7:39
big premium Now comparing doesn't need
7:40
to other lines in the premium category
7:42
that they compete with closely I thought
7:45
the menus were often larger but I did
7:47
think the food on Disney was good but it
7:50
wasn't as good as some recent cruises
7:51
I've been on say like celebrity and
7:53
virgin which are also kind of Premium
7:55
priced ships it did definitely match
7:57
Cunard and Holland America being on
7:59
recently and definitely was better than
8:00
princess and piano cruises that I've
8:02
been on recently so I thought it was
8:04
kind of middle range so I'm not sure
8:06
wasn't convinced that the value the
8:08
premium I was paying in the fair was
8:11
really going into the food as much as I
8:13
thought it would do of course the main
8:15
dining rooms have more theming they have
8:17
the shows around the meals so of course
8:19
that does I guess swamp up some of the
8:21
premium and the value
8:25
another thing that I had wondered
8:27
because a lot of people talk about it is
8:29
did that larger Fair premium translate
8:31
into better service well I felt that
8:34
service was good and it was very
8:36
friendly but it was not in my opinion
8:39
that different to other premium lines it
8:42
became clear that they reward the crew
8:44
on their guest rating surveys because
8:47
they kept lobbying me to do the survey
8:49
and give them good scores plus they have
8:51
this very unique gratuity system which I
8:54
felt encourages behavior from the crew
8:56
to encourage you and kind of almost
8:57
Lobby you to give you extra tips I was
9:00
given a printout towards the end of the
9:02
cruise which told me how much Auto
9:04
gratuities have been charged to my
9:05
account then it split out by each of the
9:07
key people like the cabins to the server
9:09
what share they would get and now I was
9:12
supposed to tear the slips with that
9:14
amount off put them in the envelopes
9:16
they supplied and hand it to each person
9:18
now I felt like I was being manipulated
9:20
almost required to give extra gratuities
9:23
rather than on other Cruise Lines where
9:26
I'm left to tip my cab Institute tip my
9:28
regular service above the auto gratuity
9:30
really based on service and without any
9:33
kind of explicit pressure I felt this
9:36
really uncomfortable and despite the
9:38
high Fair premium I thought it didn't
9:40
necessarily show up in better service
9:41
but I felt the gratuity system was
9:44
saying to you we expect you to tip above
9:47
that already premium fare more by the
9:49
way that they did it
9:52
talking of add-ons to that already
9:54
premium fare what are the other add-ons
9:57
the actual explicit add-ons like now I
10:00
found some great inclusions so it is
10:02
juices coffee tea hot chocolate they
10:04
were all included and within the fair
10:07
the shows the films too of course were
10:10
included as I've already mentioned now
10:11
one great thing from a value aspect is
10:14
although they take the official
10:15
character photos
10:17
which there are many I can use my own
10:19
camera I could ask the cast members to
10:21
take pictures of me with the characters
10:22
they're not forcing me or you to buy the
10:26
photos so that's that's really good
10:28
there were many add-ons though I had a
10:30
pretty big onboard Bill coming off
10:32
Disney they don't have a drinks package
10:34
so if you're drinking I found the cost
10:36
kind of ramp up Wi-Fi is really costly
10:38
it cost me 210 dollars for the premium
10:40
service for the week it was a pretty
10:42
good service though excursions though
10:44
did seem to be much more expensive than
10:47
on other lines but it did sound like
10:50
they've got added requirement events
10:52
which maybe push up the cost so for
10:54
example I went on a fantastic helicopter
10:56
Excursion in no fjordite and the pilots
11:00
had told some people on the next round
11:01
of helicopters that Disney had a higher
11:04
requirement on the hours that the pilots
11:06
had to have flown before they could be
11:08
used on a Disney Excursion so things
11:10
like that may push up the costs of
11:11
Excursion if you are a Disney fan or
11:14
want a Disney Experience then the value
11:16
is probably worth it for all those
11:18
things that I mentioned about because
11:19
this is where I feel most of the money
11:21
goes on other areas like food service
11:23
and the add-ons I think they match
11:25
pretty much similar Cruise Lines if you
11:28
want to do a Disney cruise watch this
11:29
video with 13 things that I wish I'd
11:32
known and done before and on the cruise
11:34
to make the most of it starting with the
11:36
biggest thing that I would tell everyone
11:38
they must do before they go or they will
11:41
miss out when they're on board big time
11:43
see you over there
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