When I went on our first DCL cruise (a 7-day in 2014), we got a Concierge 1-room suite and paid full price for it, just under $12,000 (it was a one-time super splurge after a huge year for my company, but it was well worth it). We booked it in early 2013 I think. The sail date was around April 7th, 2014, heart of spring break.
Now that same cruise in that same room costs $20,000+, almost double the price. Not only can we not afford that, but the smaller Concierge 300 sqr foot room (half the size) is now in the $12k range! CRAZY.
Here are my thoughts on why this is happening:
1. Supply and demand:
Disney still only has 4 ships and demand keeps going up, driving prices up yearly. Disney needs to build those 3 new ships ASAP! Prices will not go down, but they may stabilize if Disney can expand their offerings. Otherwise it just becomes a cruise for the same rich people over and over and it makes the normal Joe not want to "do Disney" anymore. Bad for their brand.
Disneyland (in California) right now is having the same exact problem, and unfortunately they have no room to expand. Annual prices just go up and up and up much faster than the Walt Disney World rate. Expansion can do a world of good for Disney AND for us here. It's a win-win in a good economy.
2. The 1% (or 5%):
"The rich get richer" is a idiom which is generally true right now. As the top earners continue to make more, and the middle class get pushed down via inflation, housing prices, etc, Disney is becoming more of a rich-mans vacation. It's in the parks, it's at the movies, it's on the cruises.... it's all getting more expensive. The top earners can afford to pay the $50,000 for the Royal Suite. Heck, Disney could make it $100k and it'd still sell, why not? When a person with $5 million now has $10 million, why not double the price of your rooms? Not sure how to solve this one, and let's just leave it at that.
3. Stock price:
Disney is constantly pushed to deliver on quarterly and yearly earnings, and they must continue to increase prices to show "growth" and "profits" for shareholders on Wall Street to be happy. Apple is running into the same problem.... an iPhone X now costs over $1000. Why? To keep margins up and keep shareholders happy. Eventually this model will break, but until then, prices go up and up and up until people stop paying. When the economy is good (like it is now), it just gets higher.
Anyway, my opinions.
Ethan