How Many DCL Trips Have You Taken?

[CarolynU]

Thirteen for me completed, and I wish we could take our next ones in November but we can't. My son in law doesn't want to cruise at all ever anywhere, and so instead of cruising we are doing the parks instead for 16 days!!!!! I'd so much rather be on " The Mickey Boat," as my little granddaughter says! Just can't exclude the son in law from a big vacation. Just got to wait until 2020 for my next fix!

 

[Junebug1029]

It just seems like a lot to me. 4K can get some pretty nice trips elsewhere. I am also a single parent in the dc area so that number for one trip is just hard to swallow. I’m jealous of everyone that can do it!

We take about one cruise per year, and for me it's just about saving up. It isn't easy because we can only cruise during peak season, when fares & flights are quite costly. It helps that my son and I typically sail as a party of two. Once I invited my mother to cruise with us, and that really was noticeably more pricey, paying for 3 people rather than two.

Everyone has a different income & different types of expenses in their lives. Some people can afford it easily, others cut corners in certain areas to make room for cruising. And some people have access to better deals than others. People who can sail on Florida discounts & cruise offseason pay a lot less than those of us who are not from Florida & must cruise peak-season. People who live close enough to drive to the port can save a lot on travel expenses for each cruise.

To answer the OP's question, we've sailed on 5 cruises so far. We want to sail on the Fantasy one more time, as we didn't see Aladdin on our first Fantasy cruise. We also want to sail on each of the new ships when they come out. We'd never sail 50+ DCL cruises even if we could afford it, though. We like to do other things for vacation, as well.

It definitely makes a big difference with your party size. For a family of 5, it cost us $7500.

 

[pixiedustedme]

It definitely makes a big difference with your party size. For a family of 5, it cost us $7500.

Well, the flip side of that is that because I'm a single parent, I have to shoulder the entire cost myself...But yeah, party size matters a lot with the cost of DCL, and in other areas, too. Having one child has been good for us financially. There are so many things I've been able to do for my son: lots of therapy when he needed it for his autism, private schools, nice vacations, etc. I would never have been able to afford all of that for two kids or more.

 

[JoeFromSeoul]

How do you all afford so many dcl cruises?! I did one in 2015 that set me back almost 3k for an inside room. Their prices just seem insane.

We have our 4th Disney Cruise booked for August. Number 2 and 3 were on the Magic while I was stationed in Miami and could take advantage of the resident discount for one and military discount for the other. (I retired from the USAF in 2009.)

Our first cruise was a three year process of saving and paying for the trip in advance. We did Disney Surf-and-Turf with a week in the parks and a week on the Fantasy. Fortunately, my employer covered the airfare in exchange for me agreeing to remain in Korea another 24 months. Our upcoming trip is another pricey one because we are once again in Korea. We managed to snag a military discount (thank you Dreams Unlimited!) for the cruise and almost reasonable airfare on Air Canada. It is still an investment, but we will only have our kids at home another couple of years...I want to make memories while we can.

The only rule I set for myself is that I won't go into debt for vacation. Overtime, skipping short trips, saving pennies and the like are all ok, but the trip has to be paid for before I leave the house.

I agree, the prices are insane, so I scrimp and save, scrimp and save.

 

[disneyfunfamily4]

We’ve done 3, 4 and 5 are booked. Looking to book # 6. But we also have DVC so we do frequent WDW trips. we’re on the west coast so all our cruises so far have been out of San Diego (no air fare) or Alaska. We’re doing our first cruise on the Dream in November after a week at WDW. And #5 will be Alaska again. It’s pricy when the 4 of us go but well worth the cost! There were some great Military rates out of San Diego this spring but we weren’t able to take advantage of them. Hopefully we’ll see more coming this way.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Completed two, Fantasy May 2017 and Fantasy November 2019. Number 3 coming up in October 2019, the Fantasy again.

 

[Sorahana]

Three so far; two on the Dream and one on the Wonder. Cruising on the Dream again this week!

 

[Kirsty_Lou]

I have taken 14 so far with number 15 booked for August. I've done 3 Bahamas, 1 Alaskan and 10 European with my favourites being Norway and Alaska (my next one is Alaska again!). I did a few when I worked for Disney, but now I'm a teacher it is not easy at all to go except in summer holidays. I have a placeholder but at the moment can't find a suitable cruise for next year that fits in with breaks....will have to keep looking!

 

[Robin"D"]

Hey Gang,

We have completed 18 DCL cruises, we love the longer cruises/ b2b cruises:
Panama Canal
TransAtlantic
1st Hawaiian Cruise
Europe/ Baltic
Costal/1st Alaskan Cruise
and oh course some Caribbean cruises

Robin & Angel "D"

 

[n2mm]

20 for us, all 4 ships. Cruises 21-24 already booked. Plus a placeholder in waiting for the new release. All Disney cruises. We are not Floridians, so use our dvc points for our before and after lodging.

 

[NancyIL]

We have taken 4 DCL cruises. After #5, we will be gold members. Trouble is, I can not find an affordable DCL cruise.

There aren't many Disney cruises that I consider reasonably priced. However, the Feb. 2020 Wonder repo from San Juan to New Orleans was downright cheap, by Disney standards, so we booked it. The Transatlantic cruises used to be one of the best bangs for the buck, but even those with mediocre itineraries have gotten pricey the past few years. The Panama Canal cruises, though expensive, aren't that much more than on other cruise lines - if you book when first released.

I have been on 7 Disney cruises, and #8 is the San Juan to New Orleans repo in Feb. 2020. I have 5 upcoming cruises in the next 18 months, but the other 4 are on Royal Caribbean (1 Greek Isles and 3 Transatlantic cruises).

 

[KayKayJS]

Just got off my 6th in 4 years. Our goal is to take at least one every year, we'll see how that goes going forward now that we're adding a child to the mix. We also love to go to Aulani, and travel internationally, so all of those things affect how much money is available to cruise.

Currently on our short list:
Greece, Australia, Fantasy 7 day eastern, and Aulani again

With a baby coming this year the cruise will probably be the easiest for 2020.

 

[monarchsfan16]

We have taken 3 since 2016, with our 4th (our grand slam) booked for April 2020. As someone else said, the upside to having not started cruising earlier is I am more used to these current price tags. Also, our first 2 cruises were 4 night cruises (as is the next 1). There are also only 2 of us, so that also helps.

 

[ChicosWife]

We have sailed on both the Dream and Fantasy once and about to sail on the Fantasy again, for a total of 3! I wish we could sail more often!

 

[jlynch924]

I think my most honest answer is “not enough!”

 

[Intr3pid]

I think a better question to ask is, how many trips you have taken as a family with kids and before your retirement.

 

[WanderingAlice]

Only two!! The last one was the inaugural sailing on the Magic. Oh my gosh I feel so behind..! I’ve been on other 6 other cruise ships (Carvinal, Royal). 20 years later and I’ll be on the Disney Magic this December! You can only imagine my excitement!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I think a better question to ask is, how many trips you have taken as a family with kids and before your retirement.

All of our DCL cruises were before my husband retired. And we never took the kids until they were adults. Before that, when we cruised, the kids stayed home.

 

[JecHec]

2 with kids
May 10- just Dh and I

 

[ChicosWife]

I think my most honest answer is “not enough!”

Ditto that!