Cruise to California Update - For weeks now, there have been whispers about when it was actually going to happen. Little whisps of stories would leak. Juicy little tidbits like: "AT&T has already booked 100 rooms for the trip out to Los Angeles" and "Disney's other corporate partners are being offered first shot at the rooms on that cruise."
But -- this time next week -- the cat will finally officially be out of the bag. For -- as part of the
Disneyland Resort's big "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" press event, the
Disney Cruise Line will be revealed that it is bringing the Disney Magic out to the Port of Los Angeles for 11 weeks of cruising.
This special event -- which will be directly tied in to "Disney's Golden Celebration" (The Walt Disney Company's worldwide celebration of Disneyland's 50th anniversary) -- will kick off in early May 2005 with a special "repositioning" cruise. During which the Disney Magic will steam out of Port Canaveral, go through the Panama Canal, and then arrive -- with much fanfare 14 days later -- in L.A.
After that, look for the Disney Magic to begin a series of 7-night cruises to the Mexican Riveria during the Summer of 2005. With the proposed ports of call being Cabo San Lucas, Puerta Vallarta and Mazatlan. The cruises will only be offered in late May, June, July and early August. After that, the Disney Magic makes a return trip through the Panama Canal and -- by mid-August -- will once again resume its 7-night Caribbean schedule.
Sounds like a pretty fun time, doesn't it? So when exactly will you be able to book passage on these extra special
Disney Cruise Line cruises? Well, as I mentioned earlier in this story, Disney's corporate partners were made aware of the Mouse' plans months ago. Which is why they were given first shot at rooms on the "repositioning" cruise.
But -- as for members of the general public -- you can book passage on these inaugural Disney Cruise Line Southern California cruises just as soon as the Mouse officially announces them. Which should be by the middle of next week. But -- given that there are only a limited number of rooms available on this extremely small number of Summer 2005 cruises -- now might be a good time to put the Disney Cruise Line on your speed dialer. For those reservations are sure to go pretty fast next week.
Speaking on which ... Remember, these are strictly 7-night cruises. Not 3 or 4-night cruises will be offered this time around. Though -- if you'd like to combine a trip to the Disneyland Resort with your voyage to the Mexican Riveria -- the Disney Cruise Line will reportedly have a few packages like that available.
"And what happens beyond this?," you ask. Well, should this inaugural round of Disney Cruise Line Southern California trips go well, don't be too surprised to see the Disney Magic return for a second set of sailings in the Summer of 2006. And -- after that ...
Well, Disney's reps have already been back and forth to the Italian shipyards where the Disney Magic & the Disney Wonder were initially built several times this year. So does this mean that a third Disney boat -- one that would be built specifically for trips around the Pacific -- be in the company's future?
To be honest, a lot of that depends on how well the Disney Magic's Summer 2005 sailings sell next week. How quickly that first 11 weeks of cruises sell out.
The bad news is that the ftp client isn't talking to the web page so I can't get it uploaded. 
That's good news!
Morning!!!!
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