After a few runarounds with the TA and DCL on the phone, we finally found a 4A GTY online today for the Hawaiian 9-nighter. It only accepted five people in the cabin - nothing less - but that worked out fine for us. The latest 4A GTY price for the 9-nighter is ~$13K for five. I assume DCL is GTY'ing everything here because they feel they will have more room in the expensive categories. While we prefer these dates, we have looked at DIY'ing a more adventurous - and logistically challenging - B2B. RCCL's Ovation of the Seas leaves Sydney (Australia) on Apr 20, stops in New Zealand and French Polynesia, and arrives in Honolulu on May 7. (You can get off in NZ to tour the south island and then fly to Tahiti to rejoin the ship.) You get to stay one night in Aulani, as the Wonder next leaves for Vancouver on May 8. In total, this would require a commitment of 18 + 1 + 10 = 29 days across the Pacific, plus a week in the beginning in Australia and some days in Vancouver in the end. Don't know if we can actually pull it off, but something to try for those of you cruising without the school-goers.
Well, it's a cruise they only do once a year. And rumor has it that they're not doing it next year. Don't know how true that is. But, if you want to be able to pick your room, you have to book pretty far out. We booked over a year ago, and they were in guarantee status at that time. So we don't know what room we're going to be in yet. Princess also does a similar cruise.
Sorry I can see why that’s confusing! As we are in the U.K, and the Norway cruise departs and return to Dover, we are able to drive and take all of our warm clothes, blankets etc ‘just in case’, and its a week for us and so doesn’t need to be our ‘big vacation’. Whereas, Alaska is a long flight and limited luggage and I’m not sure I’d want the added expense of costly flights for a cold vacation - we do like a ‘proper holiday’, and for lots of Brits that means warmth as we just don’t get guaranteed hot weather here! But thank you for your reply - I’m treating Norway almost as a trial run, to see if we could cope with Alaska - it would obviously be a bonus for us if we got good weather, but I’d need to go with the mindset for colder temperatures so that I’m prepared and wouldn’t be disappointed! I do get another posters comment about Disney not wanting to lose their Alaska ‘spot’ and having looked at other liners it doesn’t seem as though any of them cruise to Hawaii in the summer either - such a shame as Oahu is my husband and children’s favourite place so far, and we’d love to take them around some of the other islands with DCL.
FWIW regarding Alaska, the two years I went mid-to-late July, we were in shorts and t-shirts and were fine. One of the cruises they even did a cook-out on deck as we hung out in said shorts and t-shirts and people were swimming with the roof open. So it's not always frigid.
Just wanted to add - we went on our Alaska cruise this last July 4 week (2018) and couldn't believe how warm it was!! Hate to say, but I was kind of disappointed (lol) I had brought cozy blankets and sweatshirts and was prepared for hot chocolate days on our veranda. Instead, we needed T-shirts and cold drinks. My kids wore shorts, swam, and sunbathed. People couldn't believe we came back with a tan. The only part that got nippy was when we went to the glacier. It was windy and we wrapped in a blanket when looking at glacier on deck.
Pretty sure it'd be 'June', with the Fall release. The Summer 2020 release will include the eastbound transatlantic for May 2020...so the westbound for September would be with the Fall releases. They should have all the Magic European sailings up to the transatlantic--so when you see where and when the last 'summer' cruise ends...that's where/when the transatlantic will start.
That sounds amazing! I hope to be able to do a trip like that after we retire. I still have a ways to go.
I know a couple who took one of these on Princess after they retired. It went from Australia or New Zealand, through the South Pacific (stopping at Fiji, Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.) to Hawaii and then on to Los Angeles. They were gone for well over a month (I believe the cruise is about 4 weeks long and they toured before the cruise began).
While I would not count Norway as a "warm destination" ist is still warmer than Alaska despite being further north because of the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream brings the warm waters from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to Western Europe and has a huge influence on Europe's climate.
My Parents are doing this right now. It's a 5 month long cruise. They left from Ft Lauderdale, went through the Panama Canal to LA over to Hawaii and they are on their way now to New Zealand and Australia and then they'll be taking it all the way back.
LOL, I also live in California and I WOULD LOVE a Hawaiian cruise! Now you know someone in California who would love a Hawaiian cruise!
Actually, I don't know you. And I'm not surprised ANY Disney cruise would be popular on this board. My comment had to do with the fact that I don't think Disney can sell out many of these cruises, assuming at some point they will need non die hard DCL fans to sail on them. DCL seemed to agree, and is not carefully testing the waters so to speak. I loved the Iceland cruise with DCL, but most people I know prefer to take a land based trip there, too, since there is so much to see and do. I guess that's why DCL only goes there once a year. I hope you enjoy your cruise.
I'd be really surprised if there aren't plenty of Alaskan cruises on the Wonder. It's a fantastic destination. We did the 7 night and I wished it was even longer, but I can understand needing a shorter cruise. I hope you find what you're looking for!
This is the first thing on my retirement list, granted it's about 20 years away but I really want to do something like this!
