Feb 1st any news on the rest of 2014?

[pequele]

Originally Posted by poohj80

I haven't done a Med cruise yet, but Alaska was awesome with a 5 year old and so many exciting excursions to chose from it was hard to narrow it down in each port. I don't think I would have wanted such a long international flight with a 5 year old for a med cruise.

A few pix...



Had the Mickey pool to herself (and yes it was warm enough to swim)


Saw a pod of Orcas in Juneau (DD still talks about it)


Train in Skagway with Suspension bridges




Glacier tour

Awesome pics! Still leaning towards Alaska with him, right now seems more his style. For us in NH it would probably be faster to get to Europe than Alaska though, to be honest ahaha.

Originally Posted by luv2sleep

I've been to Rome and Venice and while they were beautiful, interesting and architecturally stunning cities, I can't see my son being interested in seeing any of it. I'm going to book Alaska in 2014 if it's offered and wait to do a Med cruise when he's older. He will be 7 in the summer of 2014. I think he will get a kick out of seeing the wildlife, all of the trees, etc. since we live in a desert, panning for gold, seeing the lumberjack show, and experiencing a dog musher camp. He's always begging me to take him camping and hiking. I think he'd really love Alaska.

I know, I totally agree and that's what I am trying to determine. I do believe Alaska seems more like him right now, that was why I was trying to see what excursions people did in Europe since I do see some geared towards the kids, but I just don't know anything about them.

Originally Posted by ruadisneyfan2

We sailed Alaska last summer during the last week of August. There were still bergey bits floating as we sailed through Tracy Arm Fjord. I don't know what it looked like in May to compare though.

GREAT thanks! I haven't settled on a time to go yet, but good to know we could still see the "calves" (funny name!).

Originally Posted by ruadisneyfan2

I have to say my boys were 15 & 12 at the time and even ds12 couldn't sit to watch the glacier calve more than a few minutes at a time. He could easily take himself back to Edge when he got bored. This is the same child who spent half our time at the Grand Canyon playing with a stick in the dirt.
There were lots of small kids on the cruise but I sort of felt bad for their parents who missed a lot of viewing time to take care of their young children. If you don't mind missing out some things, then do it.
We are doing the Med this year and though both boys enjoy history, must come from dh's side, we'll probably do the Top Car Museum (Prince of Monaco's car collection) in Villefranche since ds12 loves cars so hopefully will be one less day he might find things a bit boring after a while.

I totally think that is the thing, gotta find the right things for him to do in order to decide. I am sure I can drop him in the kids club to watch Tracy Arm. Then again I'd feel bad I did that, too. How far is the kids club from the top deck so I could run him down when he was bored

Originally Posted by jdb in AZ

Yes, kids get antsy watching glaciers, but i can't imagine them enjoying the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, or the Russian ballet either, both of which were major highlights of our Baltic cruise. The Sistine Chapel and Pompeii are also amazing but I doubt a small child would appreciate them, and all the walking involved. The pope made an appearance at the Vatican when I was there, along with sooooo many tour buses and cheering crowds(!) -- it would be difficult to keep track of little ones there as well.

As previous posters have mentioned, there are kid-friendly shore excursions to do in Alaska. I'd recommend saving the historical sites in europe for when the kids are old enough to appreciate them more.

BTW, there's enough glacial ice in May that some ships can't get all the way into Tracy's Arm and/or have visited another "arm" in the area.

Good to know again about the glaciers! Thanks. Exactly what I want to know. Is the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg a kid's touch n feel museum Just kiddin'. Everything you said about not being at the age where he would likely appreciate a lot of this stuff is what runs through my mind. He might appreciate the Pope though since he goes to a Catholic school, but I don't have a good track record with the guy. Last time I was to see him in audience, he was dying! I'd feel almost wrong trying to go back again!

Originally Posted by Calfan

We did the Med in 2011 when our kids were 6 and 8 (almost 7 and 9). And we did Alaska in 2012 when they were 8 and 10 (my DD turned 10 in Juneau). Both cruises were fabulous, but as a family, the Med gets the nod. My kids did GREAT throughout our entire 19-day trip which included several days in Barcelona prior to the cruise and a few days in Paris after. We deliberately opted for excursions that were not museum-heavy, but we had some long days, and they held up fine and were interested in what we were doing, including St. Peter's in the Vatican. We did things like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pompeii, Capri, Rome highlights like the Trevi Fountain and the Coliseum. I'd highly recommend the Med cruise as a way to introduce younger children to Europe. My kids also really enjoyed Alaska, but I think they missed getting to swim a lot on the ship which they were able to do on our sea days in the Med (we did the 11-day which had 2 much-needed sea days to regroup in between the very intensive port days). I would be a little leery of the 7-day Med cruises which don't have any days in between the ports. The highlight for us in Alaska was taking a helicopter to the glacier and dog sledding. I highly recommend this if you opt for Alaska.

Good to think about with the 7 day "go, go, go" pace! Luckily I think my son would be ok with not swimming really. He swims almost every day at home, so it typically isn't a must have with him. But the rest to break up the busy port days is really something to think about!

Originally Posted by Cousin Orville

My 5yo dancing with Belle at the Catherine's Palace Ball in St. Petersburg. Priceless





At Tivoli, touring and riding rides...




And in the Med the next yr at Cincque Terre



With dw and both my boys in Rome


My youngest at the time watching us sail into Malta



We had a great time on both cruises.

The Belle pics are so cute!! What sort of excursions did you do while in Europe?
From your pics, I don't think these are the same ports offered this year (who knows about next!). I see you are heading on an ABD this year? Have you done those before? If you have been before, which do you think is a better option, the cruises or the ABD?

I really appreciate everyone's help!!! I really hope they release them tomorrow so someone can shed some light for me on what is offered. Maybe that will help my decision making waiting waiting waiting

[Cousin Orville]

Here's a YouTube video review. There's others for each day.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Fge5Jtl3qf4

They had a DCL excursion where they opened up Tivoli an hour or 2 before the general public. They gave a tour of the park and then you were free to ride the rides. The rides included classic rides and modern roller coasters etc. It's certainly not Disneyland, but it is charming and you can see the influence it had on Walt.

[Cousin Orville]

Originally Posted by pequele

The Belle pics are so cute!! What sort of excursions did you do while in Europe?
From your pics, I don't think these are the same ports offered this year (who knows about next!). I see you are heading on an ABD this year? Have you done those before? If you have been before, which do you think is a better option, the cruises or the ABD?

The first few pics are from the 2010 Baltic. Seems like there's a possibility DCL will be returning there next yr. We'll soon see. We did the Catherine's Ball "excursion" in Russia. Definitely not your typical excursion... More of an event. The Tivoli excursion was in Copenhagen. The other ports we either did on our own or with a private guide.

In the med, we mostly did private tours or own our own. We did a tour in Palermo, but its unlikely they're going there next yr. In general I think a mix of excursions, doing things on your own, and a private guide for a couple of ports is a good mix.

I've been to most of the Western Med ports a couple of times now between a DCL cruise and other trips. I'm still looking forward to seeing them again this summer. There are so many things to do in places like Rome and the south of France, it's always a new adventure. I've never been to Greece or Turkey so I am especially looking forward to that. As far as booking a new cruise, I'll be looking into the possible Repo cruise to Dover and/or the Baltic again. I do hope they offer a new port or two on the Baltic. We'll see.

As far as ABD vs DCL, without hesitation I prefer ABD. However, I have young children including a new infant. European cruises with the kids is a blast. With young kids its the only way to go. But we did take our oldest on an ABD this past summer (7 ys old at the time) and it was wonderful. If I had older kids, I'd concentrate on ABD - no doubt.

[eemaxx]

So , getting back to the original subject of this post (although I certainly enjoy everyone's comments, pics, etc:-)) does anyone know what TIME the new itineraries may be released tomorrow? Are we talking first thing in the morning or just at some point tomorrow? I can't book until Wednesday, but I'm just so anxious and excited!!! Looking for Alaska in August 2014...although all this talk of Europe sounds tempting too!

[pequele]

Originally Posted by eemaxx

So , getting back to the original subject of this post (although I certainly enjoy everyone's comments, pics, etc:-)) does anyone know what TIME the new itineraries may be released tomorrow? Are we talking first thing in the morning or just at some point tomorrow? I can't book until Wednesday, but I'm just so anxious and excited!!! Looking for Alaska in August 2014...although all this talk of Europe sounds tempting too!

yes!!! I sure hope it is tomorrow. My question is, will we even see anything online before Wednesday? I know that Platinum and Gold can't book online on Tuesday, so would the Monday release (oh please oh please ) just show up for people like the TAs? How does this work?

[lbgraves]

You can only book the first day for gold/plat by phone...including TAs.

[pequele]

Right I realise only they can book, but do you know if the schedules are released can everyone see them online or will only TAs see them on Monday and Tuesday and the gold and platinum people have to call in and ask a zillion questions to find out what cruises are available? I guess I'm just wondering if we (those who any book until Weds) can plan starting Monday and Tuesday just by seeing the web page but of course no options to book until Weds?

[MAJPLO]

Originally Posted by pequele

Right I realise only they can book, but do you know if the schedules are released can everyone see them online or will only TAs see them on Monday and Tuesday and the gold and platinum people have to call in and ask a zillion questions to find out what cruises are available? I guess I'm just wondering if we (those who any book until Weds) can plan starting Monday and Tuesday just by seeing the web page but of course no options to book until Weds?

I don't think anyone will see anything online until Wednesday. At least how the beginning of 2014 release was I'm pretty sure.

[LeslieG]

Originally Posted by MAJPLO

I don't think anyone will see anything online until Wednesday. At least how the beginning of 2014 release was I'm pretty sure.

Hasn't DCL done a press release in the past to announce the new sailings?

[pequele]

Originally Posted by MAJPLO

I don't think anyone will see anything online until Wednesday. At least how the beginning of 2014 release was I'm pretty sure.

[kaseyC]

Originally Posted by pequele

Right I realise only they can book, but do you know if the schedules are released can everyone see them online or will only TAs see them on Monday and Tuesday and the gold and platinum people have to call in and ask a zillion questions to find out what cruises are available? I guess I'm just wondering if we (those who any book until Weds) can plan starting Monday and Tuesday just by seeing the web page but of course no options to book until Weds?

You won't see anything on the DCL page but most Platinum/Gold Disers will post rates and dates from quotes that they have received on each ships 2014 Sticky thread at the top of the boards. So that will give you an idea of rates and whether they are rising fast or remaining steady.

[pequele]

Originally Posted by kaseyC

You won't see anything on the DCL page but most Platinum/Gold Disers will post rates and dates from quotes that they have received on each ships 2014 Sticky thread at the top of the boards. So that will give you an idea of rates and whether they are rising fast or remaining steady.

Oh, how does that work? I just look there and see what they are getting? Is there a list updated or do I just have to keep going to the end? I wouldn't be able to call a TA on Monday or Tues would I, even if I can't book?

[DVC4US]

Has any one else heard anything about the announcement coming tomorrow? I talked to my TA today and he seems to think the announcement won't be made until Tuesday with booking starting on Wednesday.

[AquaDame]

What exactly do they announce ahead of time if it isn't dates/itineraries...? Just a quick 'Hey, gold & plat you can book the unknown tomorrow and silver & new can book the STILL unknown Wed"? Surely there is a place of dates/ports so we can actually know what we want to book...? I don't like the idea of finding out just to have to wait all day to talk it over with my husband that night, possibly letting the rates go higher and higher...

[lbgraves]

Usually the quotes are updated throughout the day in the first post.

I meant to say that the only information that will be gotten the first day for gold/plat is by phone. There will be nothing available ot look at online or elsewhere for rates. That was the reason we started doing the opening day threads here to share that info with everyone else.