DCL has tentative bookings at Honolulu Harbor in 2012!

[minniemoms]

just subscribing

 

[birkner]

But that's the problem. The trans-atlantics are hard to fill and are often discounted. The 08 Eastbound crossing which was in August sold better than the May westbound.

Why would they repo to Vancouver via Hawaii in the off-season knowing that off-season long cruises are the hardest to sell?

While I agree there may be some discounting on the TA's this year, there are a good many of us on the WBTA in September who did not get discounted rates. What I have heard is that this cruise is full and there will be no upgrades available to purchase.

I think the September WBTA has attracted more adult couples if the DIS boards are any indication. We would have like to take our GK's but their schools will not permit a three week absence as we are in Barcelona for almost a week before the cruise.

Just my thoughts...

If there are cruises in the off season to Hawaii, DCL may attract even more adult couples. I know it would be more attractive to me and other people who want to sail from California avoiding airfare costs.

 

[jennypenny]

What is the school calendar like in Asia? If that is a target market, then maybe school isn't an issue there.

I can't wait until these come out. Although I think they'll make the Baltic prices look like bargains...

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

According to your siggie your kids are only 6 & 9 so you can get by with doing that NOW...but when they're older (in MS & HS) and have advanced GT / AP classes you will sing a different song!! My DS is starting 8th grade next week and he's already doing HS credit classes...he had HS Algebra 1 & Spanish 1 last year and this year will be taking HS Geometry. It is very impt. that he keeps his GPA up as this goes on his permanent record for college entrance. He's also in GT English & Science classes so if he even misses a day or two for sickness or something he has SOOO much work to make up it isn't even funny. And the teachers at that level leave it all up to the kids to catch up. They don't hold their hands any more once they're out of elem. school. Our school system also does not give excused absenses for vacations - so they're counted as absent and if it's unexcused they don't have to even allow them to make up the work. Homework in our county does not count as part of their grades! And if he misses something that counts as 90% of his grade he is soooo screwed to try to catch back up.

While they may learn a lot of different things on a PC cruise or something it can't replace 14 days of HS Alegbra instruction or a science lab where they disect some small critter that counts as a big part of their grade. I'm just sayin'...take advantage of it now but be prepared that it won't always work that way... For this reason we'll never be able to do a repo until DS has moved out & on to college.

Annie-----you are probably right I wouldn't pull for 2 weeks but next yr my DD(10- now but-youngest in class) is in middle school and we are doing the Mexican Riviera. I already know she has more work to expect but we will figure it out, cause they will be gone soon enough and our time as a family is important and my DH can't get the time off they have off. Some of the DIS'ers seem to have fall break, we don't get that..I either have Xmas,easter or summer to choose from that's it! So we will always pull them for a weeks vacation, our school excuses them for that, I still get the note saying how many days they have missed but not held against them. They have 2 weeks to make up their work and I will try and get some a head of time to have them turn in before we go! They won't remember their lesson on rocks but they will always remember their family vacations!!

 

[Stitchnut]

DCL + Hawaii= paradise. I would book!

 

[NancyIL]

Why would they repo to Vancouver via Hawaii in the off-season knowing that off-season long cruises are the hardest to sell?

Because they won't end their lucrative ALASKA sailings before early to mid September! Besides, repositioning cruises on most cruise lines cost less because they are during the shoulder season rather than prime season.

I think the September WBTA has attracted more adult couples if the DIS boards are any indication. We would have like to take our GK's but their schools will not permit a three week absence as we are in Barcelona for almost a week before the cruise.

Just my thoughts...

If there are cruises in the off season to Hawaii, DCL may attract even more adult couples. I know it would be more attractive to me and other people who want to sail from California avoiding airfare costs.

I don't cruise with kids, and I would be much more likely to book a long Disney cruise in the spring or fall than a summer one full of kids.

 

[clten]

But that's the problem. The trans-atlantics are hard to fill and are often discounted. The 08 Eastbound crossing which was in August sold better than the May westbound.

Why would they repo to Vancouver via Hawaii in the off-season knowing that off-season long cruises are the hardest to sell?

The reason they would do a repo to Vancouver via Hawaii is exactly that. The repo cruises are harder to sell so they need something that makes them attractive to people who might not consider a repo sailing. So they give them a port that they have never gone to before. With DCL, there is a whole slew of people who like to do the "first time DCL went...". DCL is well aware of that and does take advantage of that to help fill the "first" sailings.

And everyone keeps saying off season -- DCL doesn't just market to families, they have many different demographics so for a lot of people, May and September is not off-season. Hawaii is nice any time of year so nothing off-season about that.

 

[danfromca]

While I agree there may be some discounting on the TA's this year, there are a good many of us on the WBTA in September who did not get discounted rates. What I have heard is that this cruise is full and there will be no upgrades available to purchase.

Yes, they do fill the ships. But if you look at the cost/day of the transatlanic repo cruises it tends to be considerably less than they get for the summer cruises - which is one of the reasons they fill: they are great values.

And everyone keeps saying off season -- DCL doesn't just market to families, they have many different demographics so for a lot of people, May and September is not off-season. Hawaii is nice any time of year so nothing off-season about that.

Just to clarify: when I use off season it is purely in the context of a time of year when they can't charge top dollar. More accurate I suppose to use "peak season" instead of off-season.

 

[macm525]

My only problem with all of this is how to get enough money to go on all these cruises! I really want to do a med. trip now. Hawaii would be wonderful. We still have gone on a Western caribbean and then there's all the new ships. How do we fit it all in? lol.

I agree...that's why I don't think I'll be retiring in the near future. This year we did the Baltic and the Transatlantic, and are going to Alaska in 2011...so we continue to work and save and it's all worth it!!!

 

[macm525]

Your statement about DCL calling in Cartagena isn't quite true. Out of the (4) completed PC cruises the Magic made in '05 & '08, she stopped in Cartagena ONCE and that was the '08 EB cruise. I was on the '05 EB and the '08 WB and we did not stop in Cartagena.

I was on the Panama Canal EB cruise in 2005 and 2008...As I recall, in 2005 we stopped in Curacao and in 2008 in Cartagena

 

[joksten2000]

Did the Hawaii cruise out of Vancouver on the RCCL Rhapsody of the Seas. Did a lot of research on this. The cruises out of LA (14 days)only spend four days in the islands. The Rhapsody (12 day cruise)spent seven days in the islands as it sails from Honolulu to the South Pacific then to Australia. We almost booked a b2b but the leg out of Honolulu to South Pacific is 18 days with 12 sea days.

The most amazing thing was the sail by Mount Kilauea at night, what an amazing sight. Spent the last day at the Polynesian Cultural Center, what a must visit place almost a three hour drive with a couple of rest stops but well worth it. The luau and show were not to be missed.

 

[Anal Annie]

Did the Hawaii cruise out of Vancouver on the RCCL Rhapsody of the Seas. Did a lot of research on this. The cruises out of LA (14 days)only spend four days in the islands. The Rhapsody (12 day cruise)spent seven days in the islands as it sails from Honolulu to the South Pacific then to Australia. We almost booked a b2b but the leg out of Honolulu to South Pacific is 18 days with 12 sea days.

The most amazing thing was the sail by Mount Kilauea at night, what an amazing sight. Spent the last day at the Polynesian Cultural Center, what a must visit place almost a three hour drive with a couple of rest stops but well worth it. The luau and show were not to be missed.

To each their own. I went to the Poylnesian Cultural Center on my very first visit to Hawaii. While the luau was nice that evening I felt like it was a LONG day and we went on a bus tour so we were "stuck" there all day. We had several hours in the afternoon where we were so bored and nothing to do about it as we couldn't leave. I just felt "done" with all of it after awhile. I would never go again on a bus with no way to "get out" and leave. I've never had the desire to go back and would never recommend it to anyone who has limited time to spend on Oahu. If you only have 1 day to spend then Pearl Harbor & the USS Missouri would be the MUST SEE on Oahu. I have been 4 times now and it never fails to be the most moving experience ever.

Now Kilauea - that's a must see for sure if you go to the Big Island. We have done a couple of helicopter rides over it - simply amazing to look down inside that thing!

 

[NancyIL]

To each their own. I went to the Poylnesian Cultural Center on my very first visit to Hawaii. While the luau was nice that evening I felt like it was a LONG day and we went on a bus tour so we were "stuck" there all day. We had several hours in the afternoon where we were so bored and nothing to do about it as we couldn't leave. I just felt "done" with all of it after awhile. I would never go again on a bus with no way to "get out" and leave. I've never had the desire to go back and would never recommend it to anyone who has limited time to spend on Oahu. If you only have 1 day to spend then Pearl Harbor & the USS Missouri would be the MUST SEE on Oahu. I have been 4 times now and it never fails to be the most moving experience ever.

Now Kilauea - that's a must see for sure if you go to the Big Island. We have done a couple of helicopter rides over it - simply amazing to look down inside that thing!

Do you mean USS Arizona?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Do you mean USS Arizona?

I think Anal Annie meant the USS Missouri. The Battleship Missouri ("Mighty Mo") is docked at Pearl Harbor. It was on the deck of this ship that the Japanese delegation signed the surrender that ended World War II. The tour of the ship is fascinating.

http://www.ussmissouri.com/

 

[NancyIL]

I think Anal Annie meant the USS Missouri. The Battleship Missouri ("Mighty Mo") is docked at Pearl Harbor. It was on the deck of this ship that the Japanese delegation signed the surrender that ended World War II. The tour of the ship is fascinating.

http://www.ussmissouri.com/

Thanks. I'm just starting to read about Hawaii cruises, and one guidebook mentions the USS Arizona Memorial.

 

[Disney Fool]

The Arizona is the one that sunk. The Pearl Harbor Memorial is above it.

 

[NancyIL]

The Arizona is the one that sunk. The Pearl Harbor Memorial is above it.

Guess I should've watched the movie!

 

[Anal Annie]

Do you mean USS Arizona?

Nope - the Arizona is where the Pearl Harbor Memorial is built over it but the USS Missouri is actually there right now in the harbor and you can tour it. They said they don't know how long it will be there - I guess it's possible that they could decide to move it somewhere else. But for now its home is at Pearl Harbor.

The Missouri is on the left and the Arizona Memorial is on the right:

This plaque on the Missouri marks the spot where the Japanese surrendered

Never realized how BIG those guns were

Standing on the memorial over top of the Arizona

Oil still seeps up from the Arizona

 

[NancyIL]

Nope - the Arizona is where the Pearl Harbor Memorial is built over it but the USS Missouri is actually there right now in the harbor and you can tour it. They said they don't know how long it will be there - I guess it's possible that they could decide to move it somewhere else. But for now its home is at Pearl Harbor.

The Missouri is on the left and the Arizona Memorial is on the right:

This plaque on the Missouri marks the spot where the Japanese surrendered

Never realized how BIG those guns were

Standing on the memorial over top of the Arizona

Oil still seeps up from the Arizona

Great photos. Thanks, Annie!

 

[HappyontheLake]

Ugh -- please not while my kids are in school. More incentive for my husband to take that job in Asia. If we are moving the kids to Asia, why not pull them out early for a long cruise.