2027 Disney Summer Cruises

[deanimal]

I think it's easier to embark from Piraeus than Civitavecchia. Barcelona is probably the easiest. I'm cruising out of Istanbul this Summer and from what little research I've done so far it looks like a easy, inexpensive taxi ride from the city to the port.

We cruised from Istanbul in 2014 and the city metro was about a five minute walk from the cruise port. I was really impressed with the public transit in Istanbul; it was very modern, safe and efficient.

 

[Mommb]

Quick question for this group - we’re still fairly new to DCL - went on our 1st cruise last summer on the Wonder to Alaska and will be on the Destiny this summer.

In looking at next summer’s itinerary, there is a trip that looks interesting. I’ve continually heard that booking earlier will lock in the cheapest rates, but if I waited until after our summer 2026 trip, we’d have the bounce back offer.

Thoughts on when to lock in would be appreciated!

The best course of action is to book as soon as you know what cruise you want. Then, after your trip this summer, check the current rate for the cruise you booked. If you would save money by using the Onboard Booking discount, you can cancel and rebook at no cost as long as it's before the final payment date (which summer 2026 certainly would be for a summer 2027 cruise). You can also keep an eye out to see if DCL offers any other special offers. Some offers require a new booking, but some can be applied to existing bookings.

 

[lois00525]

We actually haven’t sailed Infinity but really love M-class ships, the Constellation is our very favorite. Also nice cultural immersion to have a thalassopool while drifting around Greece.

I think it's easier to embark from Piraeus than Civitavecchia. Barcelona is probably the easiest. I'm cruising out of Istanbul this Summer and from what little research I've done so far it looks like a easy, inexpensive taxi ride from the city to the port.

We love sailing out of Barcelona. It is our favorite port. This summer we are sailing at the end of July from Barcelona, and then the WBTA in September. We love the transatlantic cruises especially when DCL sailed from Barcelona. Not too crazy over Dover and Southampton departures as the ride to the port is a few hours. We always fly in a few days before our cruise.
If anyone has any suggestions of hotels in Athens, please share. We plan on staying in Athens 3-4 days prior to our cruise. Thanks much!

 

[DCLMP]

We love sailing out of Barcelona. It is our favorite port. This summer we are sailing at the end of July from Barcelona, and then the WBTA in September. We love the transatlantic cruises especially when DCL sailed from Barcelona. Not too crazy over Dover and Southampton departures as the ride to the port is a few hours. We always fly in a few days before our cruise.
If anyone has any suggestions of hotels in Athens, please share. We plan on staying in Athens 3-4 days prior to our cruise. Thanks much!

I like embarkation cities that are easy to get to the port like Barcelona, Vancouver, FLL, San Diego, CPH, Long Beach, Mia, Istanbul. I've cruised out of PC many times and it's always expensive getting to port wether you rent a car or take the bus. I think FLL is great. We just need airlines to offer more flights.

We booked an apartment in Athens near acropolis through booking.com. There were four of us so a hotel room was not an option. We took the train to the port city and then it was a short cab ride. We spent one night at the Sofitel hotel at the airport. It's a nice hotel if your flying in later or flying out early. It's right at the terminal

 

[lois00525]

I like embarkation cities that are easy to get to the port like Barcelona, Vancouver, FLL, San Diego, CPH, Long Beach, Mia, Istanbul. I've cruised out of PC many times and it's always expensive getting to port wether you rent a car or take the bus. I think FLL is great. We just need airlines to offer more flights.

We booked an apartment in Athens near acropolis through booking.com. There were four of us so a hotel room was not an option. We took the train to the port city and then it was a short cab ride. We spent one night at the Sofitel hotel at the airport. It's a nice hotel if your flying in later or flying out early. It's right at the terminal

Thank you. I'm going to look into an apartment.

 

[tidefan]

We love sailing out of Barcelona. It is our favorite port. This summer we are sailing at the end of July from Barcelona, and then the WBTA in September. We love the transatlantic cruises especially when DCL sailed from Barcelona. Not too crazy over Dover and Southampton departures as the ride to the port is a few hours. We always fly in a few days before our cruise.
If anyone has any suggestions of hotels in Athens, please share. We plan on staying in Athens 3-4 days prior to our cruise. Thanks much!

Athens Gate
Plaka Hotel
Ava Hotel

These are all in the Plaka area. For a curve ball, we actually stayed in Piraeus before our Virgin cruise last Summer at the Port Square and actually really liked it. It is directly across from the metro, so it's about 15-20 minutes into town, easy peasy. Also, the rooms were clean, the beds comfy, and the AC was ice cold

 

[lois00525]

Athens Gate
Plaka Hotel
Ava Hotel

These are all in the Plaka area. For a curve ball, we actually stayed in Piraeus before our Virgin cruise last Summer at the Port Square and actually really liked it. It is directly across from the metro, so it's about 15-20 minutes into town, easy peasy. Also, the rooms were clean, the beds comfy, and the AC was ice cold

 

[lois00525]

Thank you so much!

 

[o&smom]

Quick question for this group - we’re still fairly new to DCL - went on our 1st cruise last summer on the Wonder to Alaska and will be on the Destiny this summer.

In looking at next summer’s itinerary, there is a trip that looks interesting. I’ve continually heard that booking earlier will lock in the cheapest rates, but if I waited until after our summer 2026 trip, we’d have the bounce back offer.

Thoughts on when to lock in would be appreciated!

It is always hard to say...summer does tend to have the most price increases because of family vacation time. I think Europe tends to be the worst because there are not many offered of each itinerary. Cruising out of Florida might not change too much because there are so many similar itineraries. Alaska can also increase quite a bit, but might not with two ships. You could always book on opening day and the after you return from your cruise, check how much the price has gone up and any cost savings to use the onboard booking and rebook at that time if it is beneficial.

 

[holula]

It is always hard to say...summer does tend to have the most price increases because of family vacation time. I think Europe tends to be the worst because there are not many offered of each itinerary. Cruising out of Florida might not change too much because there are so many similar itineraries. Alaska can also increase quite a bit, but might not with two ships. You could always book on opening day and the after you return from your cruise, check how much the price has gone up and any cost savings to use the onboard booking and rebook at that time if it is beneficial.

This is what I would recommend doing. Either then you get to save the 10% with the placeholder, or you scored the best rate if the price has increased more than 10%.

 

[asgur5]

I posted this on another site and got downvoted, but I said I feel like a Verizon or AT&T customer where it's always about the new customers. I've been with your company for 20 years and could care less about me. I've been on all the short cruises, give me something new.

They tried that with australian cruises and no americans came.

They are now giving you a singapore option. Admittedly a shocker with no ports.

And dcls whole structure is based on repeat vistors. What do you think the pearl, gold, silver system is about? Regular visitors hog all the best bookings as a result. It massively disincentivizes first time cruisers.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

They tried that with australian cruises and no americans came.

They are now giving you a singapore option. Admittedly a shocker with no ports.

I didn't think the Australian cruises were even the market for U.S.? Weren't they really designed for just Australians? And as I understand it they didn't sell well because Australians didn't gel well with the Disney product that was given to them.

 

[jwalk03]

They tried that with australian cruises and no americans came.

They are now giving you a singapore option. Admittedly a shocker with no ports.

And dcls whole structure is based on repeat vistors. What do you think the pearl, gold, silver system is about? Regular visitors hog all the best bookings as a result. It massively disincentivizes first time cruisers.

newsflash- Americans were never the target audience for cruises from Australia- Australians were (and New Zealenders, and Asians)

And Americans are not the target audience for Singapore cruises either- Asians are. Asia has billions of people; way more than the US. They will not have any trouble filling up that ship from Singapore even if not a single American ever boards it. (And many Americans will)

And when they launch Wish #5 from Tokyo- Americans will not be the target audience for that one either!

 

[DCLMP]

newsflash- Americans were never the target audience for cruises from Australia- Australians were (and New Zealenders, and Asians)

And Americans are not the target audience for Singapore cruises either- Asians are. Asia has billions of people; way more than the US. They will not have any trouble filling up that ship from Singapore even if not a single American ever boards it. (And many Americans will)

And when they launch Wish #5 from Tokyo- Americans will not be the target audience for that one either!

I believe the person you are raging at is an Australian not an American.

 

[DCLMP]

I think the no ports cruises are a bit of a turn off regardless of where you are from. Princess does long Japan cruises with multiple ports almost year round. From what I've gathered the cruise demographics are mainly Japanese with a lot of other countries mixed in including Americans. Asians and Australians do like to visit ports even in their own country.

 

[asgur5]

newsflash- Americans were never the target audience for cruises from Australia- Australians were (and New Zealenders, and Asians)

And Americans are not the target audience for Singapore cruises either- Asians are. Asia has billions of people; way more than the US. They will not have any trouble filling up that ship from Singapore even if not a single American ever boards it. (And many Americans will)

And when they launch Wish #5 from Tokyo- Americans will not be the target audience for that one either!

But americans are the target for baltic cruises?

Im guessing a lot more americans want to go to australia/new zealand and asia then the baltics.

 

[Mommb]

Im guessing a lot more americans want to go to australia/new zealand and asia then the baltics.

That may be true, but there is a difference between “want to go” and “will go.” My husband and I want to go to Australia and Asia. However, he has a bad back and does not want to spend 13-20 nearly consecutive hours on planes, so we spend 7-9 hours on flights to Europe instead.

When we did a Baltic cruise on Disney in 2015, most passengers were American. Now that Disney has been marketing more in the UK, the proportions may have changed, but even our recent cruises from Southampton had a large contingent from the US.