°o° °o° °o° 9/11/09 DCL Announcement Discussion Thread °o° °o° °o°

[kaseyC]

I'm sure someone already answered this for you (I'm jumping on late) but these are the old CAT 12s. This is what I just read off the DCL website in the "staterooms" section under "standard inside stateroom":

Changes Effective 2011: For cruises sailing in 2011, Standard Inside Staterooms will be reclassified into 3 new categories: 11A, 11B, 11C. These room categories will remain located on Decks 5, 6, 7 and 2. 11C, located on Deck 2, sleeps only 3


Basically they've adapted this "A B C" for almost every category...probably another way for them to add tiered pricing. Reminds me of how RCCL prices their cruises, so that kinda disappoints me...I like it just simple, just give me one price for each category. Oh well...

Yes, it looks like there may be tiered pricing within each category. Suites are being changed a bit too. Starting with 2011 cruises Cat. 3s will become T, Cat. 2 - S and Cat. 1 will be R. Hopefully, there will be some new suite and options for larger families on the new ships.

 

[Subi WRX]

It looks like Cat 5 and 6 are the only ones not to change categories for 2011? Cat 3 will now be Cat T? I wonder if they will have Ta, Tb, etc. Like Ta will be the midship ones, and Tb will be all others?

 

[MyLove4Disney]

Originally Posted by mmouse37
It is from the press release section of the website. It is interesting that at the very bottom it says:

All pricing reflects a category 11C standard inside stateroom, Government Taxes and Fees not included. To learn more about Disney Cruise Line, to book a vacation or for more detail on offer terms and conditions, guests can contact their travel agent, visit disneycruise.com or call Disney Cruise Line at 888/DCL-2500.

Others have asked on this quote about the different categories, but what I was reading was somewhere they actually had some pricing listed somewhere. Does anyone know what the pricing they are referring to is.

I would like to at least to know a price range of what the Alaska cruise will cost before I call in on the 21st. I also want to go in the middle of the season as I would like to be on the ship during the longest day in AK...

 

[Caitsmama]

The all-new Disney Dream, scheduled to set sail in early 2011, will be unveiled live in New York City on October 29! Beginning at 4:15 pm EST, you can watch the streaming video of the unveil and be part of the action at disneycruise.com[/I] end of quote.

Can i ask a dumb question.. WHERE in NYC are they doing this announcement??

 

[lbgraves]

Question for you experts.... We have a group wanting to book Alaska... We'll probably book 4 staterooms. It seems like it would be easiest to go through a TA so that they can process them all at once with everyone's different forms of payment and help us link our ressies, etc. Do TAs get an opportunity to "pre order" some staterooms at the tier 1 price, or are we only going to be able to get the "best deal" if we book directly through DCL on Sept 28th?

In the past there has not been a chance for any one group to book ahead of anyone else. Before TAs could book small blocks of rooms but DCL started regulating how many rooms TAs could do this with. Now no one really knows. The fact that you have to call in and it is not being opened to the website for anyone makes it seem that DCL is intent on making sure only those who "qualify" to book before the 28th do.

 

[lbgraves]

Can you tell me where you listened to the announcement again? I missed it yesterday due to a meeting and would love to see the actual announcement but I can't find it. I only see the videos where they talk about Alaska

I recorded it on realplayer so that I could go back and catch anything that I missed when trying to take notes on it.

I'm sorry, I'm sure that this has been posted about a million times, but I can't seem to find out WHAT TIME do bookings open up on September 28?

For some reason I have 9am eastern time in my head, but can anyone tell me the confirmed time? I will be one of those calling in the first minute!

It has been at 8 am ET the last two times new bookings have opened up. I remember because I had to arrange for a friend to come and pick up my kids to take them to school.

Trimix, take a deep breath hun. I made an innocent mistake. That's what I thought I heard him say in his speech. At the time I posted my statement, the webcast wasn't available to review or I would have done so before I posted.

NP! There was a lot of info given on many topics and we all WANTED to hear something about the Dream. If I hadn't recorded it I wouldn't have known for sure.

 

[jilljill]

Can i ask a dumb question.. WHERE in NYC are they doing this announcement??

No one seems to know the answer to this question yet. I've not seen on here or on the DCL website.

 

[Selket]

Agreed, but Selket's original question was "When is the DREAM up for booking for 2011? Is it the same day (Sept 28th) as the the Magic/Wonder?" so when you replied, "The Dream's info will be released on 10/29 at 4:15pm EST." I assumed you meant the day that the dates would go on sale.

I saw the info about the Dream being "unveiled" on the 29th of October but I hadn't thought this meant the booking dates would be released. I guess now that I think about it - what the heck are they "unveiling" on the 29th of October?

Thanks for taking the time (to all) for answering my question. I think it is safe to day for now that the Dream is not open for booking on Sept 28th and it likely will be sometime after this "unveiling" on my birthday in October.

 

[RedSox68]

I'm thrilled to read that we will be in Vancouver to see all the new changes and upgrades they are doing for next year's Olympics!

TRIP PLANNING QUESTIONS: All those with Vancouver experience and/or Alaskan cruise knowledge, I have some questions:

1. Is it possible to go to either Anchorage or Denali pre-cruise -- and if so, how would you get back to Vancouver to catch the ship?

2. If we fly into Seattle, how far a drive is it to Vancouver?

3. How many days would you recommend we give Vancouver to see everything?

THANK YOU!

 

[Inkmahm]

I'm thrilled to read that we will be in Vancouver to see all the new changes and upgrades they are doing for next year's Olympics!

TRIP PLANNING QUESTIONS: All those with Vancouver experience and/or Alaskan cruise knowledge, I have some questions:

1. Is it possible to go to either Anchorage or Denali pre-cruise -- and if so, how would you get back to Vancouver to catch the ship?

2. If we fly into Seattle, how far a drive is it to Vancouver?

3. How many days would you recommend we give Vancouver to see everything?

THANK YOU!

I'll answer #1. IMHO a round trip out of Vancouver is definitely not the way to go if you want to spend any time on land in Alaska in Anchorage or Denali either post or pre cruise. Other cruise lines have one week cruises that start or end in Vancouver so you do the land portion after or before, in those cases.

We've done southbound Princess twice with land tours precruise. If you've never seen Alaska before, I wouldn't recommend skipping Denali Park, Anchorage, etc. Actually, I wouldn't recommend skipping Glacier Bay, either. And DCL won't have access to Glacier Bay on the cruise.

For those of us who have been to Alaska before and will go again, this one week out of Vancouver could be a "fix" just until the next real Alaskan trip. I'd consider it, but would likely combine with some days at Disneyland in California before or after since I'd be on the west coast anyway.

 

[Inkmahm]

I just found this thread so I have to admit I've read the first and last page. Do we not have any idea yet what the prices will be for cruising in Alaska? Anyone know when they will be announced?

We travel there every 5 years for a land/cruise tour. I told DH that I could see putting in a one week DCL Alaska cruise inbetween as a "fix" until our next "real" Alaska vacation.

 

[mrsklamc]

Didn't someone (Andrew?) post the port agreements awhile back and wouldn't those tell us more or less what the length or the Dream's trips will be?

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

I just found this thread so I have to admit I've read the first and last page. Do we not have any idea yet what the prices will be for cruising in Alaska? Anyone know when they will be announced?

We travel there every 5 years for a land/cruise tour. I told DH that I could see putting in a one week DCL Alaska cruise inbetween as a "fix" until our next "real" Alaska vacation.

At this time, no prices have been released.... From what I am hearing, they willl not be released until 8 am EST on 9/28 when DCL opens booking to the general public. I *think* the gold and platinum Castaway Club members get to book on 9/21, so I am hoping they share some of the information about prices they get then with the rest of us.

 

[wideeyedwonder]

It has been at 8 am ET the last two times new bookings have opened up. I remember because I had to arrange for a friend to come and pick up my kids to take them to school.

Thanks! It looks like I'll be waking up just before 5am Pacific time in order to try to move my WB TA repo reservation to the WB PC repo. It won't be so bad, as I will be staying at the soon to be completed DVC Grand California Villas at the time! Woohoo, talk about a Disney overload! (And we will be eating at a character breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen later that morning!)

 

[tink too]

Another question is who would be allowed into this Outlook Cafe? The only mention of access is through Cove Cafe which is adults only. Seems like it would not be fair to only restrict it to adults

I like the idea of the new Cafe and I would guess (since it is attached to Cove Cafe) that it would be an adult only venue....but we will see. I don't think it is unfair at all. DCL has the most kids space in the industry. Would be nice to have another area, other than a dark nightclub, to hang out!

I hope that DCL do let kids into the new viewing area - even if it's only at certain times (for example - adults only after 7pm).

I realise that there are loads of other kids areas onboard, but none of those will provide a viewing area like Outlook Cafe will.

 

[m&m's mom]

I hope that DCL do let kids into the new viewing area - even if it's only at certain times (for example - adults only after 7pm).

I realise that there are loads of other kids areas onboard, but none of those will provide a viewing area like Outlook Cafe will.

I agree. My DH and I were comparing inside viewing spots from RCCL Radiance of the Seas to the Wonder. The Radiance even has outside glass elevators. We could whale watch from the elevator. There were many more places on RCCL that everyone could see out.
I read a professional review on the Wonder a while back and it said that it did not like that the ship had most things focused inward vs some other ships. Next time I went on I could definitely see what they meant.
On the Radiance for example, the walls were glass and looked outward. You could see the ocean from parts of the kids club. The DCL kids clubs were inside and very dark IMO.
So... I sure hiope they open up that viewing to the kids.

 

[Inkmahm]

At this time, no prices have been released.... From what I am hearing, they willl not be released until 8 am EST on 9/28 when DCL opens booking to the general public. I *think* the gold and platinum Castaway Club members get to book on 9/21, so I am hoping they share some of the information about prices they get then with the rest of us.

Wow, no pricing until you can actually book? Seems like that would tie up the phones quite a bit longer with people having to ask about prices to even know if they'd like to book or what category they'd like to book. Having that info ahead of time would allow the phone calls to just be actual calls to book cruises.

 

[RedSox68]

I heard that prices are being posted tomorrow. They can't keep from posting the prices until 9/28 since a lot of us will be booking on 9/21.

I was told by my TA to submit my date and stateroom requests first thing tomorrow morning and they will be able to get the quotes for me same day

 

[RedSox68]

I'm thrilled to read that we will be in Vancouver to see all the new changes and upgrades they are doing for next year's Olympics!

TRIP PLANNING QUESTIONS: All those with Vancouver experience and/or Alaskan cruise knowledge, I have some questions:

1. Is it possible to go to either Anchorage or Denali pre-cruise -- and if so, how would you get back to Vancouver to catch the ship?

2. If we fly into Seattle, how far a drive is it to Vancouver?

3. How many days would you recommend we give Vancouver to see everything?

THANK YOU!

Thank you, Inkmahm.

One question I forgot to include that I'd really like to know -- for all those who have done Alaska before, what month do you recommend for optimal ice flow, calving and wildlife? We were thinking August but thought it might be too late to see a lot of ice. And I thought I read the wildlife is more visible in early summer (like May and June).

Really appreciate any help on this as it affects not only when to book Alaska, but also trying to add the Med cruise same year and which month to switch it up to. Thanks tons.

 

[RanCan]

I heard that prices are being posted tomorrow. They can't keep from posting the prices until 9/28 since a lot of us will be booking on 9/21.

I was told by my TA to submit my date and stateroom requests first thing tomorrow morning and they will be able to get the quotes for me same day

If this actually happens, that is great news!!!