2010 news from the Magic

[riggins]

How many Sea days do you think we'll see on this itinerary? I checked out some similar cruises on other lines and I'm thinking there may be 4 days at sea. We want to go, but DH is not a fan of days at sea, so I'm actually hoping for less than more, but we'll see.

Also, does anyone know what the weather is like in the Baltic in the summer?

Thanks
Leslie

 

[NancyIL]

Personally I don't think we will see DCL in Alaska until the first of the new ships is put into service and they will move either the Magic or the Wonder to the west coast

I agree that 2011 is the earliest it would be in Alaska. But that is still next year's (2009) "news."

 

[Joan1]

How many Sea days do you think we'll see on this itinerary? I checked out some similar cruises on other lines and I'm thinking there may be 4 days at sea. We want to go, but DH is not a fan of days at sea, so I'm actually hoping for less than more, but we'll see.

Also, does anyone know what the weather is like in the Baltic in the summer?

Thanks
Leslie

The Northern Europe / Baltic cruises are very port intensive and having the sea days, to me, are beneficial for recharging otherwise you will be exhausted.

The amount of sea days will depend on how many nights the cruise itinerary will be and where they will go. On other cruise lines if the itinerary is 10 nights they usually have 2 sea days. If it is 12 nights they usually have 4 sea days. There are others that only have one or two sea days on the 12nt itinerary because they have more ports they are stopping at.

 

[NancyIL]

How many Sea days do you think we'll see on this itinerary? I checked out some similar cruises on other lines and I'm thinking there may be 4 days at sea. We want to go, but DH is not a fan of days at sea, so I'm actually hoping for less than more, but we'll see.

Also, does anyone know what the weather is like in the Baltic in the summer?

Thanks
Leslie

The 12-night Baltic cruise we did on Jewel of the Seas in 2005 had 4 sea days. We went July 2-14, and it was in the 70's in most ports.

 

[misseulalie]

I have a question about cat 12's. If there are 4 of us, we typically book a cat 12 knowing we will get bumped to at least an 11. (We have always been lucky and have gotten a 9, but would have been happy with 10 or 11.)

I have heard rumors that the after drydock, both ships will actually sleep 4 in all cat 12's, so the idea of automatically getting bumped won't happen any more. (Unless you are REALLY lucky)
Is this true?

I am debating on telling my TA to reserve us a 9 or 12....

 

[awoltoday]

According to this you must apply for a permit to cruise Glacier Bay as they limit the number of ships / boats that are allowed

http://www.nps.gov/glba/parknews/cruise-ship-proposals.htm

Six cruise lines have submitted proposals in response to a prospectus under which multiple concession contracts may be awarded for the operation of cruise ship services within Glacier Bay National Park. The contracts will include the initial allocation of a limited number of vessel use days in Glacier Bay during June through August of each year of the contract term. The anticipated term of the contracts will be January 1, 2010 – September 30, 2019. The deadline for submitting proposals for the initial allocation of available cruise ship use days was August 18, 2008.

Right! But, that is only for cruise ships. That doesn't stop Disney from running excursions in Glacier Bay from other locations on smaller vessels, either through vendors and/or Adventures by Disney. I was just trying to say that Disney has other options for Alaska and a Glacier Bay permit is not required.

I agree that 2011 is the earliest it would be in Alaska. But that is still next year's (2009) "news."

RIGHT!

 

[ACDSNY]

I agree that 2011 is the earliest it would be in Alaska. But that is still next year's (2009) "news."

I hope so...then we can book it while we're on the Wonder in Nov 2009!

 

[pillow]

I have a question about cat 12's. If there are 4 of us, we typically book a cat 12 knowing we will get bumped to at least an 11. (We have always been lucky and have gotten a 9, but would have been happy with 10 or 11.)

I have heard rumors that the after drydock, both ships will actually sleep 4 in all cat 12's, so the idea of automatically getting bumped won't happen any more. (Unless you are REALLY lucky)
Is this true?

I am debating on telling my TA to reserve us a 9 or 12....

Thats definitely not good news. I was told once by a Disney reservationist that the capacity of each stateroom changes based on how full the ship is. I've never received a firm answer on just how many of those cat 12 rooms actually physically hold 4 versus 3 people.

I think you're assuming that the cat 12 prices will be available for booking in October, but I don't know if that will be the case. I've noticed that the original pricing for some cruises includes a cat 12 price. But then on other cruises, the cat 12 pricing is added later - more like a "sale" fare closer to cruise time.

If I were you, I would book the cat 9 now. Then consider switching to cat 12 later. We will probably do the same. I think for us to take this trip, all the stars will have to be in alignment - a good cat 12 price and a halfway decent airfare. Otherwise, I have a feeling the price will be too high for us.

I'm curious to hear what others know about the whole cat 12 thing.

Jodie

 

[gydell]

... but DH is not a fan of days at sea, so I'm actually hoping for less than more, but we'll see.



Thanks
Leslie

We love the sea days! We feel that we pay to be on the Magic so why not enjoy it. Not too fond of double paying for meals either since it adds to the cost of the trip.

 

[NancyIL]

Mary at Mousesavers edited the info about both the Baltic cruise (order of the ports) and Alaska (added a comment): http://www.mousesavers.com/dcl2010.html#special Thanks, Mary!

 

[wdhinn89]

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

I have a question about cat 12's. If there are 4 of us, we typically book a cat 12 knowing we will get bumped to at least an 11. (We have always been lucky and have gotten a 9, but would have been happy with 10 or 11.)

I have heard rumors that the after drydock, both ships will actually sleep 4 in all cat 12's, so the idea of automatically getting bumped won't happen any more. (Unless you are REALLY lucky)
Is this true?

I am debating on telling my TA to reserve us a 9 or 12....

I actually heard this over 6 months ago but haven't brought it up again as no one else seems to have mentioned it. I heard that some of the cat.12's would be retrofitted to sleep 4 but I didn't hear that all of them would be. Of course, I'm not on the inside track (would like to be though )

 

[winotracy]

I actually heard this over 6 months ago but haven't brought it up again as no one else seems to have mentioned it. I heard that some of the cat.12's would be retrofitted to sleep 4 but I didn't hear that all of them would be. Of course, I'm not on the inside track (would like to be though )

I haven't heard anything recently about it, but when booking 2009 rooms, some came up with category 12 assignments for groups of 4. An agent looked it up for me and 1/2 of the category 12 rooms would accommodate four. No one has confirmed or denied that these changes are happening with drydock.

 

[crzy4magic]

When we did the EB PC cruise 3 years ago, the DCL President said that they wanted to attract more people without children to Disney cruises because if they booked every cabin with families they would exceed that capacity of the kids clubs. He said that was one of the reasons they added Ocean Quest - to give more room for kids so they could book more. I would not be surprised if the availability of cabins is based on beds/dining seats/kids club capacity and lord knows what other factors.

 

[robsmom]

On a serious note, i do not think any europe is happening for 2009 because the exchange rate is terrible. QUOTE]


Do you mean 2010? And as far as the exchange rate is concerned, it depends which side of the pond you're on. Last month we sailed on Navigator of the Seas out of Civitavecchia and Independence of the Seas out of Southampton. Both cruises were packed, and let me tell you the Europeans were loving the exchange rates!!

Sorry for the confusion... i meant 2009 in that we really want to do a europe cruise next summer and have been researching. Since Disney needs to set the US dollars now, I was wondering if they will be as high (or higher) than what we are seeing for the 2009 Europe itineraries on other lines. For comparison 12 nights eastern europe on RCCL for 2 adulsts and 1 child in a "junior suite" which is the same as a cat 5 or 6 on DCL - $15K incuding airfare. Another option i looked at would total $18K. This is before any before/after hotels, excursions or on board expenses. $20K is my ballpark at this point if we go in 2009. with research on air and hotels maybe $15-$16K.

The Europeans should be coming to the US to really enjoy their current advantage. My collegues from Europe are all working on excuses to come in the fall so they can do their Christmas shopping.

 

[NancyIL]

Sorry for the confusion... i meant 2009 in that we really want to do a europe cruise next summer and have been researching. Since Disney needs to set the US dollars now, I was wondering if they will be as high (or higher) than what we are seeing for the 2009 Europe itineraries on other lines. For comparison 12 nights eastern europe on RCCL for 2 adulsts and 1 child in a "junior suite" which is the same as a cat 5 or 6 on DCL - $15K incuding airfare. Another option i looked at would total $18K. This is before any before/after hotels, excursions or on board expenses. $20K is my ballpark at this point if we go in 2009. with research on air and hotels maybe $15-$16K.

It doesn't have to cost that much to go to Europe. There are people that book inside cabins - and live to tell about it! (Yours truly is one of them.)

 

[ljhayes]

I just happened upon this thread today (and read the whole thing...), and I'm so excited! I was hoping they wouldn't do the Med again, since we would like to go someplace new. We're booked for a Tortola Eastern in May 09 at the moment, but we were planning on pushing it out anyway. If I can rebook it for a Baltic cruise in 2010, I guess that would be ok

Can't wait until October 7th!!!

 

[robsmom]

It doesn't have to cost that much to go to Europe. There are people that book inside cabins - and live to tell about it! (Yours truly is one of them.)

As my son likes to say to me "true...very true". If we really want to go next summer this is likey what we will do. I guess i am leaning towards other options because it just seems way out of line to me. US or caribbean options are looking good right now.

 

[pillow]

It doesn't have to cost that much to go to Europe. There are people that book inside cabins - and live to tell about it! (Yours truly is one of them.)

"Expensive" is such a relative term. I think the kicker for Europe is the flight price. For a family of 4, we're looking at roughly about $4,000 for just the flight over. And theres no way I'm flying into London without staying a few days. And then of course if you've paid all that money for the flight, you might as well get the most out of it and stay a few more days and see the Cotswolds, Stonehenge, etc. It can get a bit out of control.

Our Med trip cost about $15K for all 4 of us. We booked the cat 12 for $4,500. The cruise fare was actually the cheap part. It was the shore excursions + flights + Barcelona pre and post nights that jacked up our price. We didn't really do that much shopping either. Compare that to the trip I have planned out West next summer. We can get a roundtrip airfare into Phoenix out of Dulles for only $200 per person. An entire 2 week trip is only costing about $6K. When you look at it that way, Europe IS expensive!!

If you want cheap, do it like this . . .

www.eurosatemydollars.com

Jodie

 

[NancyIL]

If you want cheap, do it like this . . .

www.eurosatemydollars.com

Jodie

Thanks for the link. That looks like a great site!