2010 news from the Magic

[granmaz]

Repo in May is what I'm hoping for! Hawaii - Baltic - Alaska - who cares? I've been busy but do read the WB site when I can.

We might see you there. So nice to hear from you. Miss you on the thread! When do you go to WDW in april? We are flying over on the 29th for almost 6 weeks!!

 

[nikkistevej]

I would also love an Alaskan Disney cruise, I think DCL would "do it right" for the kids, but not sure if it will happen. I can dream!!!

 

[Mozart]

I don't see Disney getting permits for Glacier Bay. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity don't have permits, and I imagaine they'd go there if they could!

If DCL goes to Alaska, my guess is that they would do roundtrips out of Seattle.

But according to the list from the National park Service, RCCL and Celebrity did not even apply for permits.

 

[xangav]

Well, I'm kind of bummed. It sure sounds like Alaska for 2010 if they are trying to get permits. We just did RCL out of Seattle in July for my FIL's 80th birthday. We weren't impressed with RCL at all. However, we stayed in a Grand Suite and took mid-priced excursions (no flight planes or helicopter-glacier rides) which we thoroughly enjoyed and we still paid less than a Mexican Riviera cruise in a CAT 4.

Because we left out of Seattle we went around Vancouver Island and it was rough. This was my sixth cruise and the first time I lost my cookies.

I think NJMOM is right, that it would be difficult to sustain 10 years worth. And we didn't see alot of young children on the cruise. Also, the kids areas were very limited and small. I think Disney would "do it right" for the kids as they did in the Med.

 

[xangav]

According to the cruise critic boards, HAL and Princess are the ones who get the contracts for Glacier Bay and have been there the longest.

 

[awoltoday]

Just thought I would add the link to the National Park Service's Glacier Bay website that shows that DCL has sent in a proposal for use days in GB for 2010-2019.

http://www.nps.gov/glba/parknews/cruise-ship-proposals.htm

Adding more fuel to the fire of rumors!!

Great find!

 

[nikkistevej]

Love the pics, do you see me waving from the deck?

 

[gydell]

We might see you there. So nice to hear from you. Miss you on the thread! When do you go to WDW in april? We are flying over on the 29th for almost 6 weeks!!

We'll be there Sept 14 for 5 days and then the last 2 weeks of May.

 

[Justthe8ofus]

Great find!

See now doesn't that seem so right?

Other than the fact that I am not on the ship.

 

[gydell]

Alaska would be my 1st choice!

 

[granmaz]

We'll be there Sept 14 for 5 days and then the last 2 weeks of May.

Ah, I forgot to say we fly in April, so will be there for the end of May. Our daughter, son in law and their 4 children are coming over to join us for 16 nights from the 20th May.

 

[gydell]

Ah, I forgot to say we fly in April, so will be there for the end of May. Our daughter, son in law and their 4 children are coming over to join us for 16 nights from the 20th May.

Maybe we can meet up for a few minutes.

 

[awoltoday]

According to the cruise critic boards, HAL and Princess are the ones who get the contracts for Glacier Bay and have been there the longest.

Hal & Princess are GUARANTEED a certain number (or perhaps percentage) of use days. They can also get more use days through the competitive process that everybody else is forced to use.

This is an informative quote from the seatrade insider article...

Princess and Holland America legally qualify as ‘historical operators’ in Glacier Bay, giving them the ability to lock up their existing historical permits, which number 71 of the total 153 available permits annually for the next 10-year contract period. Additionally, Princess holds 13 ‘preferential' entry permits.

All told, HAL and Princess have the potential to maintain 84 of the peak season entries of the total of 153 available.

Dave Nemeth, chief of concessions management for Glacier Bay National Park, said the National Park Service hopes to allocate the permits by year’s end.

 

[granmaz]

Maybe we can meet up for a few minutes.

We will try!!!!!

 

[xangav]

Awoltoday- that is a great find. If I may ask, where on earth did you find that? Or perhaps I shouldn't. Anyway, thanks for the info on the glacier bay entries.

 

[DAggiesRWe]

Not to put out too many people's excitement for 2010, but I find it far more likely that DCL's request is more about getting ready for when the two new ships come online than making plans for summer 2010.

This prospectus competition is a required first step if there is to be any possibility of taking a ship to Alaska before 2020, so DCL basically had no choice but to enter the competition. There are provisions for relenquishing unused slots, so it is possible (in fact it was asked in the Q&A of the prospectus) that an applicant may not plan to start offering cruises until 2012 so would turn in their 2010 and 2011 dates immediately.

BTW, there is a law about cruise ships sailing from a US port directly to another US port are required to have an all US crew, which is why so many Alaska cruises go out of or stop in Vancouver, BC (and the Hawaii cruises all stop at Ensenada, Mexico).

 

[Tink rules]

maybe Disney will do every other year with Mex riviera in between?

 

[xangav]

Not to put out too many people's excitement for 2010, but I find it far more likely that DCL's request is more about getting ready for when the two new ships come online than making plans for summer 2010.

This prospectus competition is a required first step if there is to be any possibility of taking a ship to Alaska before 2020, so DCL basically had no choice but to enter the competition. There are provisions for relenquishing unused slots, so it is possible (in fact it was asked in the Q&A of the prospectus) that an applicant may not plan to start offering cruises until 2012 so would turn in their 2010 and 2011 dates immediately.

BTW, there is a law about cruise ships sailing from a US port directly to another US port are required to have an all US crew, which is why so many Alaska cruises go out of or stop in Vancouver, BC (and the Hawaii cruises all stop at Ensenada, Mexico).

This occurred to me after posting and I would be okay with that. As far as a foreign port, we stopped in Prince Rupert which many deemed unworthy of a stop. We found it very refreshing for it's lack of touristy jewelry shops and the kind locals.

 

[awoltoday]

Awoltoday- that is a great find. If I may ask, where on earth did you find that? Or perhaps I shouldn't. Anyway, thanks for the info on the glacier bay entries.

Awoltoday- that is a great find. If I may ask, where on earth did you find that? Or perhaps I shouldn't. Anyway, thanks for the info on the glacier bay entries.

The quote is from the seatrade insider (http://www.cruise-community.com/ShowStory.asp?ID=14953). It DOES require a subscription, but the subscription is free. As far as I can tell, they broke the news on the DCL application on August 22nd. Most of the numbers in the quote can easily be found on the NPS website in the Prospectus: Pricess gets allocated 32, HAL gets 39 from their historical rights (see Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act §1307).

I'm not sure where they came up with the '13 preferential use days' for Princess. I'm seeing 82 use days offered under the solicitation. And, it looks like to me, that there are no preferred operators for this prospectus. Of course, I'm not claiming to understand this monstrosity of a prospectus! But, I wouldn't be surprised if the article was slightly inaccurate

I DO think DCL will get permits. The current contract was based on a lessor number of entries. Those entries were increased in 2005 (for 2006 & later). The extra permits were allocated to operators by the percentage of competitive permits they held. I think that 14 permit increase may go directly to DCL for this contract and the other lines will keep the number of permits they had for 2005. That is if the Superintendent doesn't just raise the quota (okay, now I'm just getting cynical).

Not to put out too many people's excitement for 2010, but I find it far more likely that DCL's request is more about getting ready for when the two new ships come online than making plans for summer 2010.

This prospectus competition is a required first step if there is to be any possibility of taking a ship to Alaska before 2020, so DCL basically had no choice but to enter the competition. There are provisions for relenquishing unused slots, so it is possible (in fact it was asked in the Q&A of the prospectus) that an applicant may not plan to start offering cruises until 2012 so would turn in their 2010 and 2011 dates immediately.

BTW, there is a law about cruise ships sailing from a US port directly to another US port are required to have an all US crew, which is why so many Alaska cruises go out of or stop in Vancouver, BC (and the Hawaii cruises all stop at Ensenada, Mexico).

Good catch on the Q&A. I missed that. That was clearly one of the newbies to Glacier Bay that asked that question. But, DCL wasn't the only newbie...

"Vessel use days which are not relinquished by June 15 and are not used for two consecutive years, will be revoked..." - Directly from the prospectus.

So, by 2011 they would have to start using the permits...

it also states,
"Failure to use all prime season use days allocated during the first year of the contract term may result in reallocation of the unused use days for the remainder of the contract term at the discretion of the Superintendent"

So, do you apply for permits that you may lose a significant portion? Or do you schedule the Magic to Repo in 2010?

And, yes, I would expect DCL to depart from Vancouver or depart from Seattle with a stop in Victoria.

 

[NancyIL]

BTW, there is a law about cruise ships sailing from a US port directly to another US port are required to have an all US crew, which is why so many Alaska cruises go out of or stop in Vancouver, BC (and the Hawaii cruises all stop at Ensenada, Mexico).

Cruises that sail roundtrip from Seattle or San Francisco have to make a foreign port stop, and it's usually Victoria or Prince Rupert, BC. Cruises that begin or end in Vancouver, whether roundtrip or one-way, don't have to make a foreign port stop - because Vancouver is in Canada.