Hey, guys. I've never been on a Disney Cruise, but would REALLY like to, and take my extended family, including kiddos.
I've been on cruises with the "other guys", and have had a marvelous time, some I'm wondering:
is it worth it to pay the added expense for the Disney feel?
I mean, the Nickelodeon cruises look pretty cool, too...
The Disney pricing structure just seems to be REALLY steep in comparison...
Any advice or commentary?
Thanks in advance!
You get nickel and dimed on the other cruises...Disney includes it all. The specialty restaurants, non alcoholic beverages, kids clubs.
I enjoy DCL more than the others. Why not take a cruise without the group to see for yourself (the 3 nights are just too short for my taste but that could work for you) then you can see the difference.
Have fun
Dee
Member of the 6 castle club and working to pay for my next Disney vacations: 1/5-10/18, September 2018 for my 50th and 2018 the year of Disney cruising.
Looking into my first Disney cruise myself right now! Well kind of. I sailed with them back in 1989 when it was Premier Cruise Lines, the Big Red Boat that was the Disney cruise line at that time. That was for my honeymoon. Sailed Royal Caribbean all my others. One thing I did find is Disney is currently running a promotion that if you sail out of Galveston between January and beginning of March, kids sail FREE! WOOT! 
Something you might explore price wise if that is a good time of year for you to be able to sail.
I agree with Dee Dee, other cruises nickle and dime you, with the extras that Disney Includes. My biggest shock was paying $90 per person for Coke for a week on NCL. It's included with Disney. We paid an extra per person charge for dinner almost every night to get decent food on NCL because the included restaurants weren't very good. On Disney there are one or two adults only upscale meals you can pay for, but I didn't feel like the food in the standard restaurants was bad.
Disney's Staterooms are the largest standard rooms at Sea. Even in their lowest cost category. In a place where inches are making a difference, you can really tell that Disney goes the extra mile for guest comfort. The decor is inviting vs cold, and I was very comfortable in the Disney Room.
I didn't feel like I was getting a hard sell to buy jewelry the entire trip on Disney, like I did on NCL. There was some extra "selling" involved but it wasn't constant.
Disney's ships are also "prettier" with that classic elegance of the art deco style. The entertainment is of a higher grade, there was more shopping that didn't involve jewelry or watches on DCL. The staff members were nicer and all spoke english on DCL. I found our DCL cabin steward more attentive and things got taken care of faster.
The Disney cruise line *is* expensive when you compare it to other Cruise Lines, or if you're not used to staying at Disney's Deluxe Resorts. In my opinion it's 100% worth it.
Y'all, that's fantastic info, and exactly what I was looking for.
The info about being nickel and dimed on the other lines is super helpful. $90 on Cokes? Yep, that's a charge I would end up with! And had no idea about having to pay to eat dinner on the other lines...
I agree that the Art Deco design of the ships...I've snooped around online to see the detailing of the lobbies and they're fantastically cool.
Thanks so much, y'all. That is uber helpful stuff right there!!!