European Cruises 2017 - What have you heard?

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

I would love another an Iceland cruise, but the 11k price tag for an inside room is just to steep for me. I don't think I could limit myself to just one cruise a year to be able to do this. I really wish I would have done this cruise in 2015 when the price was a little more reasonable.

I hope you get the chance to go! Best cruise ever

Heather

 

[MouseMomx2]

The Magic is on the Amsterdam port schedule for 5/25. I believe we will see it as part of the Transatlantic, with it terminating in Copenhagen on the 27th. (The Magic's last Southern cruise ends on 5/8 in San Juan, giving it 5 nights to return to Port Canaveral.) That would make it a 5/13-27 cruise, which fits with past summer schedules. I would guess they will sail a fjord or Baltic itinerary after that before transitioning to the Med for late summer.

 

[krisinparis]

The Magic is on the Amsterdam port schedule for 5/25. I believe we will see it as part of the Transatlantic, with it terminating in Copenhagen on the 27th. (The Magic's last Southern cruise ends on 5/8 in San Juan, giving it 5 nights to return to Port Canaveral.) That would make it a 5/13-27 cruise, which fits with past summer schedules. I would guess they will sail a fjord or Baltic itinerary after that before transitioning to the Med for late summer.

Has the Magic been seen on any other port schedules besides Amsterdam and Rome?

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Has the Magic been seen on any other port schedules besides Amsterdam and Rome?

Yes @Flossbolna shared she had located the Magic (or one fitting her description) for two Norwegian ports in June I believe. Sorry not at my Mac to pull up the ports but from memory they were repeats from the previous Norway sailings.

Heather

 

[Garyjames220]

The next lot of dates that come out. When will that take us up to is it October 2017

 

[Flossbolna]

Yes @Flossbolna shared she had located the Magic (or one fitting her description) for two Norwegian ports in June I believe. Sorry not at my Mac to pull up the ports but from memory they were repeats from the previous Norway sailings.

Heather

This was my post:

I poked around a bit and found two dates that are interesting:

The 2017 calendar for Geiranger has one date where the ship is "TBC", that is June 8, 2017: http://www.stranda-hamnevesen.no/cruise-calls

The 2017 calendar for Bergen has a ship on June 9, 2017 that has the same specifications as the Magic: http://www.cruise-norway.no/Arrivals.aspx?ports=8&zone=8&start=09.06.17&end=09.06.17

All the previous 7-night Norway cruises had Geiranger followed by Bergen. So, I guess there might be one Norway cruise in June 2017.

 

[AquaDame]

This was my post:

Wouldn't just one be surprising..? Have they not been selling well?

 

[krisinparis]

Thanks Flossbolna!!! So it looks like TA cruise in mid may, Norway in early June and Med. in mid-August. There is still a lot of time in between to fill-- I can't wait to see what it's going to be!

 

[Birdie dog]

Some are out, some aren't out yet. I don't think RC or Princess are out yet, but HA and Azamara and several of the high end (Regent, Crystal) are out also.

Princess has released. I've considered their 12 night British Isles.

 

[krisinparis]

Wouldn't just one be surprising..? Have they not been selling well?

I would love to do a Norwegian itinerary, but the June dates don't work with our vacation schedule. If they scheduled one in July I would be there! (Really, they should "flip" the itineraries and do the Med. cruises in June when it isn't so hot and then do colder climate cruises in July and August when people would really like to escape from the heat.)

 

[Pens Fan]

[QUOTE="krisinparis, post: 55135299, member: 507219"(Really, they should "flip" the itineraries and do the Med. cruises in June when it isn't so hot and then do colder climate cruises in July and August when people would really like to escape from the heat.)[/QUOTE]

Thank you! I've been thinking this as well. We really want to do a Med cruise but not in August. Too hot and too crowded. Flipping the timeframe makes so much sense. Mickey, are you listening?????

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

I have always dreamed of the Dover-Barcelona Repo, even made a reservation for last year but had to cancel it due to family goings on. One day! Norway is also on my radar. Just the $$ . But one of these years, it's gonna happen!

 

[Flossbolna]

Wouldn't just one be surprising..? Have they not been selling well?

I know that our Norway cruise (6/6/15, the inaugural cruise) did not sell very well. There were numerous people onboard who booked with CM discounts. Strangely, they never offered any IGT,OGT, VGT rates nor any other discounts, but gave it away to CMs for a very good price. In the end the cruise was full, but there was a lot of availability and if I remember correctly, prices did not go up very much. Looking at cruisefish for this year's two Norway cruises, it seems to be the same picture (still 64% of room categories available and only one or maybe two price jumps in each category so far).

I am wondering if Disney is starting to see the price limit on some of those European itineraries.

They seem to be trying to market the European cruises more towards the European market now. When we stayed at Disneyland Paris in January they actually had a flyer in the room about DCL coming to Europe this summer and advertising the cruises. I had never seen that before! Also, here in Germany I have come across the first advertising in print during the last summer for DCL that I ever saw. The cruise tourism market is currently booming here in Europe and growing at a very fast rate. Understandibly Disney is trying to tap into this. I wonder whether this might lead to differnt itinerary choices. For example, using Amsterdam as a home port (if it will be a home port and not just a port of call, I think that this is still not sure) might be a strategy to be attractive to not only the Netherlands, but also to very populous areas in Western Germany that are not far from Amsterdam at all. NCL for example made a big deal here in Germany about that Hamburg will be a home port for the first time in 2017 (they are already using Warnemünde for Baltic cruises as home port).

Thanks Flossbolna!!! So it looks like TA cruise in mid may, Norway in early June and Med. in mid-August. There is still a lot of time in between to fill-- I can't wait to see what it's going to be!

I would not be surprised if we saw another British Isles cruise.

 

[jenf22]

I know that our Norway cruise (6/6/15, the inaugural cruise) did not sell very well. There were numerous people onboard who booked with CM discounts. Strangely, they never offered any IGT,OGT, VGT rates nor any other discounts, but gave it away to CMs for a very good price. In the end the cruise was full, but there was a lot of availability and if I remember correctly, prices did not go up very much. Looking at cruisefish for this year's two Norway cruises, it seems to be the same picture (still 64% of room categories available and only one or maybe two price jumps in each category so far).

I am wondering if Disney is starting to see the price limit on some of those European itineraries.

We looked at that cruise and ultimately ended up on the very similar NCL cruise that sailed on 6/5/15. It was less than half the cost for a similar room (we booked a mini-suite) and we got the dining and beverage packages included. Maybe with the port intensive cruises, people aren't seeing the value in Disney. Right now we've got a 10-night Med booked on NCL that is crazy cheap ($3100 for the 3 of us!). Of course it's also the end of March and only 1 week coincides with the kiddo's spring break. So he'll have to miss 1 week of school to go. I'm still watching for everyone's summer dates!

 

[suyama]

[QUOTE="krisinparis, post: 55135299, member: 507219"(Really, they should "flip" the itineraries and do the Med. cruises in June when it isn't so hot and then do colder climate cruises in July and August when people would really like to escape from the heat.)

Thank you! I've been thinking this as well. We really want to do a Med cruise but not in August. Too hot and too crowded. Flipping the timeframe makes so much sense. Mickey, are you listening????? [/QUOTE]

I've always wondered this as well...WHY does Disney do the Med cruises in August???

 

[krisinparis]

Thank you! I've been thinking this as well. We really want to do a Med cruise but not in August. Too hot and too crowded. Flipping the timeframe makes so much sense. Mickey, are you listening?????

I've always wondered this as well...WHY does Disney do the Med cruises in August???[/QUOTE]

Maybe we should all start sending in suggestions!!! We did a short Med. sailing in 2014 and the boat was probably 75% Spanish families. The only thing I can figure out is they are marketing to the families close to Barcelona and they take their vacations in August?

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Princess has released. I've considered their 12 night British Isles.

I did this along with the Princess 12 night Norway and the Arctic circle cruise in 2014. Very nice itinerary and very port intensive. I paid significantly less than I would have on disney, that is for sure. I took the Disney EBTA over and then followed it up with these two cruises. It was a blast!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I did this along with the Princess 12 night Norway and the Arctic circle cruise in 2014. Very nice itinerary and very port intensive. I paid significantly less than I would have on disney, that is for sure. I took the Disney EBTA over and then followed it up with these two cruises. It was a blast!

Will you please adopt me??

 

[jrabbit]

I've always wondered this as well...WHY does Disney do the Med cruises in August???

Maybe we should all start sending in suggestions!!! We did a short Med. sailing in 2014 and the boat was probably 75% Spanish families. The only thing I can figure out is they are marketing to the families close to Barcelona and they take their vacations in August?[/QUOTE]

My guess as to WHY in August .... its still summer and they can charge more and they probably get a better rate on docking fees. Win Win for Disney, higher prices, lower costs.

 

[AquaDame]

Maybe we should all start sending in suggestions!!! We did a short Med. sailing in 2014 and the boat was probably 75% Spanish families. The only thing I can figure out is they are marketing to the families close to Barcelona and they take their vacations in August?

My guess as to WHY in August .... its still summer and they can charge more and they probably get a better rate on docking fees. Win Win for Disney, higher prices, lower costs.

My completely uneducated guess is that other cruise lines have booked the ports up during the ideal time frames..?