2013 dates

[RJAYL]

This wouldn't surprise me at all if they don't release the entire 2013 schedule at once. They did not release all of 2012 at once either.



I would like a Bermuda cruise out of NYC too, but a 5 day cruise would be too short for it. I'd wouldn't mind if they added Charleston to the Bermuda cruise just to make it a 7 or 8 day sailing.

Hi Barb

Happy Labor Day!

 

[Anal Annie]

There are more places to go than Nassau, but they are under obligation to make so many port stops there a year or they will incur fines. Now I don't know if they are only limited to Nassau or if they could go to Freeport to count as their Bahamian stop.
Sure would be nice to see another place than Nassau in the Bahamas.

Yes, I realize they have that obligation and if I had to choose between Freeport & Nassau I think Nassau is the better option. Our thing is we're really not fans of the shorter cruises. MIGHT consider a 4 or 5 night one again just to get that 5th cruise under our belts so we can claim Gold CC status...but would prefer a longer cruise. I would also like to see Southern Caribbean ports sprinkled in. Not sure how I feel about the Bermuda cruise. NY is within driving distance for us but I'd prefer a longer cruise with more ports...and Charleston doesn't interest me. So that one leaves me feeling like "whatever".

 

[jilljill]

Hi Barb

Happy Labor Day!

Hi there.
Happy Labor Day to you and your's.

Yes, I realize they have that obligation and if I had to choose between Freeport & Nassau I think Nassau is the better option. Our thing is we're really not fans of the shorter cruises. MIGHT consider a 4 or 5 night one again just to get that 5th cruise under our belts so we can claim Gold CC status...but would prefer a longer cruise. I would also like to see Southern Caribbean ports sprinkled in. Not sure how I feel about the Bermuda cruise. NY is within driving distance for us but I'd prefer a longer cruise with more ports...and Charleston doesn't interest me. So that one leaves me feeling like "whatever".

I haven't heard anything about Freeport, but it would be nice to see another port on a DCL cruise especially if it's an 8 day sailing from NYC. At least it would be a different port than Nassau.

There are so many ports they could visit, it would be nice if they added more a year than to just 4 or 5 cruises every so often.

 

[RJAYL]

Yes, I realize they have that obligation and if I had to choose between Freeport & Nassau I think Nassau is the better option. Our thing is we're really not fans of the shorter cruises. MIGHT consider a 4 or 5 night one again just to get that 5th cruise under our belts so we can claim Gold CC status...but would prefer a longer cruise. I would also like to see Southern Caribbean ports sprinkled in. Not sure how I feel about the Bermuda cruise. NY is within driving distance for us but I'd prefer a longer cruise with more ports...and Charleston doesn't interest me. So that one leaves me feeling like "whatever".

I haven't heard anything about Freeport, but it would be nice to see another port on a DCL cruise especially if it's an 8 day sailing from NYC. At least it would be a different port than Nassau.

There are so many ports they could visit, it would be nice if they added more a year than to just 4 or 5 cruises every so often.

A Southern Carribean like the one I have booked for Feb 2013 on the Carnival Breeze would be nice, 8 nights, Grand Turks, DR, Curaco, & Aruba would be awesome! Other ports would be nice as well, they just need some variety!

 

[kmc33]

But then that would eliminate the possibility of doing Eastern / Western back-to-backs. I'm really thinking that might be what they do so they could cater to those who can only do 7 nights and to those who want longer.

I hope that DCL might consider something like they did this year if they want to offer 7 night cruises... there was something for everyone 7, 10 or 11. I would prefer longer than 7 night, yet to do 14 night by combining b2b is too long for us. With the time change to Europe, I like to have the option of going a few days early to get adjusted and we could not do that with 14 days at sea.

 

[kmc33]

A Southern Carribean like the one I have booked for Feb 2013 on the Carnival Breeze would be nice, 8 nights, Grand Turks, DR, Curaco, & Aruba would be awesome! Other ports would be nice as well, they just need some variety!

That does sound awesome!

 

[jilljill]

A Southern Carribean like the one I have booked for Feb 2013 on the Carnival Breeze would be nice, 8 nights, Grand Turks, DR, Curaco, & Aruba would be awesome! Other ports would be nice as well, they just need some variety!

YES!!! That's what DCL needs. But I think they like to keep things simple at PC and do strictly Sat. arrivals/departures. Heaven forbid people have to think about what day the ship arrives without looking at a calendar.

 

[RJAYL]

YES!!! That's what DCL needs. But I think they like to keep things simple at PC and do strictly Sat. arrivals/departures. Heaven forbid people have to think about what day the ship arrives without looking at a calendar.

Other cruise lines do different things like alternating 8 night 6 night to keep it on a weekend schedule & different ports to allow for back to back cruises as well!

 

[jilljill]

Other cruise lines do different things like alternating 8 night 6 night to keep it on a weekend schedule & different ports to allow for back to back cruises as well!

I know. People just have to pull out a calendar and look at the days the ship sails.
It would be very nice to have options for different ports and length of cruise from PC - such as cruises longer than 7 days and not just at holiday time when the prices are thru the roof.

 

[RJAYL]

I know. People just have to pull out a calendar and look at the days the ship sails.
It would be very nice to have options for different ports and length of cruise from PC - such as cruises longer than 7 days and not just at holiday time when the prices are thru the roof.

Oh yeah I have 1 of those DCL Holiday cruises booked!

I told the oldest no more DCL holiday cruises, too much dinero.

Though that is why I love DVC I can go during Xmas vacation or any other time i want & it does not bother me!

Waiting for a Polynesian DVC resort to buy some more points!

They could name it Blue Hawaii or the Elvis long house Thankya Thankya very much!

Oops!

 

[Pudo]

When DCL sticks with familiar ports of call those itineraries are normally released in the fall. Similar to last year when they only released about two thirds of the year's itineraries the expectation is that since there will be new ports of call that they may not release the Med itinearies until the spring. If you recall it wasn't until this April when DCL announced NYC, Seattle, Galverston, the repo through Hawaii, etc. This is pretty standard so don't expect everything to be released in October/November.

 

[CruznLexi]

I still think there is another Hawaii or a 2 week charter as the Wonder has no cruises from Oct 14-28. Dry dock is this fall. I too would like to see different schedule. I am so tired of the carribbean. We are on the Liberty for Oct and don't even get off in 2 of the ports.,

 

[NancyIL]

I think whenever they get around to releasing summer 2013 dates for the Magic it may include a combination of Eastern & Western Med cruises. We just got back 2 weeks ago from one of the Med cruises & then I got a postcard to complete an online survey which I did yesterday. One of the last questions was about how likely we were to sail on various itineraries (with "starting at" prices listed). The last 2 choices were a Western Med & an Eastern Med with "starting at" prices at $949. They were both 7 nights out of Civitavecchia (Rome). Since both are out of Civitavecchia I am wondering if they would alternate them so you could do back-to-backs. Here's the specific itineraries they gave:

7-NIGHT EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN (Starting at $949)
Cruise Ports: Civitavecchia, Italy; Messina, Italy; Kusadasi, Turkey; Athens, Greece; Heraklion, Greece; Civitavecchia, Italy

7-NIGHT WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN (Starting at $949)
Cruise Ports: Civitavecchia, Italy; Genoa, Italy; Marseille, France; Barcelona, Spain; Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Sardinia, Italy; Civitavecchia, Italy

I like both itineraries, and I don't think 7 nights are too few. You can spend time in Italy before and/or after the cruise to make it worth spending so much money to fly to Rome.

I hope the Transatlantic cruises will go directly to Civitavecchia, rather than a TA cruise to Barcelona and then a repositioning cruise to Civitavecchia.

It wouldn't surprise me if DCL waited until spring 2012 to announce their summer 2013 plans in Europe - as spring is when most cruise lines announce their Europe itineraries for the following year.

 

[Kathymford]

I like both itineraries, and I don't think 7 nights are too few. You can spend time in Italy before and/or after the cruise to make it worth spending so much money to fly to Rome.

I hope the Transatlantic cruises will go directly to Civitavecchia, rather than a TA cruise to Barcelona and then a repositioning cruise to Civitavecchia.

It wouldn't surprise me if DCL waited until spring 2012 to announce their summer 2013 plans in Europe - as spring is when most cruise lines announce their Europe itineraries for the following year.

I would jump on either of those in a heartbeat. I've "told" DBF he's taking me to Italy for my 40th birthday (ha!), and this would be perfect...!

 

[tanda4556]

Destination: Mediterranean

7-NIGHT EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN (Starting at $949)

Cruise Ports: Civitavecchia, Italy; Messina, Italy; Kusadasi, Turkey; Athens, Greece; Heraklion, Greece; Civitavecchia, Italy


7-NIGHT WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN (Starting at $949)

Cruise Ports: Civitavecchia, Italy; Genoa, Italy; Marseille, France; Barcelona, Spain; Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Sardinia, Italy; Civitavecchia, Italy
[/COLOR][/QUOTE]


Oh, I hope DCL will go for these sailings (either from Civitabecchia or Venice, doesn't matter). My husband said "if they will do these itineraries, book them both for B2B as soon as they announce it!"

 

[NancyIL]

Oh, I hope DCL will go for these sailings (either from Civitabecchia or Venice, doesn't matter). My husband said "if they will do these itineraries, book them both for B2B as soon as they announce it!"

If DCL is asking for feedback about 7-night cruises from Civitavecchia, they probably don't intend to depart from Venice. It would be hard to do a roundtrip western Med cruise from Venice in only 7 days.

 

[kmc33]

I like both itineraries, and I don't think 7 nights are too few. You can spend time in Italy before and/or after the cruise to make it worth spending so much money to fly to Rome.

You make a good point and although I would love to do a 10 or 11 night Med again, I would consider doing a 7 night and planning extra days in Italy.

 

[WeLoveABD]

I hope they don't go out of Rome--western med certainly covered all things Italy; better that they start and end in Athens, with stops in Crete, Eygpt and Turkey---hitting Santorini along the way too. With Adventures by Disney now doing a Greece trip (and starting the Eygpt one back up), seems like a natural add-on for an ABD/Magic combo (like what was done with the western med).

 

[NancyIL]

I hope they don't go out of Rome--western med certainly covered all things Italy; better that they start and end in Athens, with stops in Crete, Eygpt and Turkey---hitting Santorini along the way too. With Adventures by Disney now doing a Greece trip (and starting the Eygpt one back up), seems like a natural add-on for an ABD/Magic combo (like what was done with the western med).

I don't see DCL home porting in Athens. DCL wants people to be able to fly into the more easily accessible airports in Europe - like Barcelona, London, Rome. For crying out loud - they changed their Alaska cruises from Vancouver to Seattle for 2012, and Vancouver isn't exactly difficult to get to!

 

[Anal Annie]

I like both itineraries, and I don't think 7 nights are too few. You can spend time in Italy before and/or after the cruise to make it worth spending so much money to fly to Rome.

I hope the Transatlantic cruises will go directly to Civitavecchia, rather than a TA cruise to Barcelona and then a repositioning cruise to Civitavecchia.

It wouldn't surprise me if DCL waited until spring 2012 to announce their summer 2013 plans in Europe - as spring is when most cruise lines announce their Europe itineraries for the following year.

If DCL is asking for feedback about 7-night cruises from Civitavecchia, they probably don't intend to depart from Venice. It would be hard to do a roundtrip western Med cruise from Venice in only 7 days.

Although we had really wanted the 10 night Med when it got switched out to the 7 night we added time on before & after. We went to Paris first for 4 nights and then to Barcelona a day early then added 2 more nights after the cruise. Had we done a 10 or 11 night cruise we probably would've only flown in 1 or 2 days early as the time off requirement gets to be too big. The 7 night cruise WAS too short but we were OK with it since we'd added a week before it. You definitely need to add time on before & after tho for just 1 week to make the flights worth it.

I really think they're looking at Civitavecchia as being the only feasible port option to do alternating Eastern & Western Meds. And I think that would be the first smart thing they've done in awhile.

I happen to think that there is such a thing as announcing the itineraries too early. I know the people here on the DIS are chomping at the bit but the AVERAGE person is NOT thinking that far ahead. I think it promotes slower (perhaps disappointing) sales to start with. For the most part people just aren't looking to BOOK something that far in advance. They may be starting to form plans & ideas about future vacations but the committment in todays world is harder to do. While we booked our Med cruise 22 months in advance most people I know thought we were crazy. I just booked spring break at BLT at 7 months out & DH doesn't even want to bother his boss about it yet. He says he looks at him like he's nuts for asking off that far in advance. It is only us DIS'ers that plan & plan & plan!!

I also don't think that if they're planning to announce Eastern & Western Med cruises in October that they'd still be doing surveys for them in September.