A new home port?

[Bjn10]

Wiith other cruise lines announcing there return to service from “alternative” ports what are the chances of Disney considering the same?

 

[DCLDVC1]

Airfare to the ports could be cost prohibitive for a lot of families who can easily and inexpensively get to Port Canaveral or Miami.

 

[Bjn10]

Airfare to the ports could be cost prohibitive for a lot of families who can easily and inexpensively get to Port Canaveral or Miami.

i wonder if Disney will send surveys out and ask this question kinda get a feeler for what people are thinking

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

Nassau seems like a very reasonable option to me. Now with RC sailing from there beginning in June, I wonder if the CDC feels more or less urgency (not sure they could feel less) to get things moving from the US.

 

[yowcruiser]

Never say never - but I doubt DCL would start considering workarounds for Caribbean/Bahamian cruises. Maybe if Carnival and Norwegian which are more family-focused cruise lines start to do it then they may feel the pressure - but until then, they will be patient and let others give it a try

 

[BartmanLA]

The logistics alone for relocating a Terminal (origination port) to another country that they don't have a contracted agreement with is highly unlikely. The other cruise lines are banking on the fact that travelers will be able to fly from their home countries to The Bahamas (barring travel restrictions from foreign countries not including the U.S.) On top of it, if they DID relocate even one ship to Nassau, they would be facing possibly a sanction by the CDC and a complete barring of returning to any U.S. port until after pandemic levels will allow it.

 

[mmackeymouse]

Honestly, this news has me feeling a lot less hopeful about cruising.

It seems like the cruise lines are fully anticipating the CDC to keep dragging their feet for a long time. For them to make these re-arrangements and invest in the logistics of running their operation out of a foreign port...I don't think they'd do that on the whim. I don't think they'd do that if the CDC had shown any movement at all.

A part of me hopes it's a bluff. Or at least a calculated move designed to put some pressure on the CDC to work it out, and soon.

Anyway, I'm feeling significantly worse about the outlook for cruising than I was a few days ago.

 

[yowcruiser]

Honestly, this news has me feeling a lot less hopeful about cruising.

It seems like the cruise lines are fully anticipating the CDC to keep dragging their feet for a long time. For them to make these re-arrangements and invest in the logistics of running their operation out of a foreign port...I don't think they'd do that on the whim. I don't think they'd do that if the CDC had shown any movement at all.

A part of me hopes it's a bluff. Or at least a calculated move designed to put some pressure on the CDC to work it out, and soon.

Anyway, I'm feeling significantly worse about the outlook for cruising than I was a few days ago.

True - but also let's not forget that some of these cruise lines are way more desperate than Disney. At least, as a company, Disney is still generating some income from the parks and its entertainment division. Some of the balance sheets for these cruise lines are likely getting really ugly...

 

[cvjw]

Airfare to the ports could be cost prohibitive for a lot of families who can easily and inexpensively get to Port Canaveral or Miami.

All of the emails I have gotten include airfare or a discount for airfare in their cruise fare. Seems to be totally aimed at Americans who can easily fly to the Bahamas or the Caribbean to board a cruise ship.

celebrity will be sailing from st. Marten, and crystal from the Bahamas. All great news for us. Easy flight from Atlanta.

 

[tvguy]

Honestly, this news has me feeling a lot less hopeful about cruising.

It seems like the cruise lines are fully anticipating the CDC to keep dragging their feet for a long time. For them to make these re-arrangements and invest in the logistics of running their operation out of a foreign port...I don't think they'd do that on the whim. I don't think they'd do that if the CDC had shown any movement at all.

A part of me hopes it's a bluff. Or at least a calculated move designed to put some pressure on the CDC to work it out, and soon.

Anyway, I'm feeling significantly worse about the outlook for cruising than I was a few days ago.

I think the next few weeks will be very telling. I don't think the CDC is dragging their feet. Given the spike in infections in places like Paris, which is locking down AGAIN for a month, the CDC has their fingers on the pulse of the pandemic and are just being responsible. The CDC isn't the issue is, the virus it, and the failure of people to take actions to stop the spread the spikes are the problem.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Airfare to the ports could be cost prohibitive for a lot of families who can easily and inexpensively get to Port Canaveral or Miami.

Not to mention, flying to a foreign port for a cruise would require passports for everyone.

 

[Husker Mike]

Cost prohibitive probably depends on whether you would drive to Orlando vs. fly. I just ran the numbers for our July cruise, and flights to Orlando were $330; flights to Nassau were $580... so $250 more per person. $1000 extra might seem prohibitive, but many people with cruises may also have flight credits languishing in their airline accounts...and those credits may have been from prepandemic fares. (My credit from a cancelled flight for a cruise one year ago was $700+.)

 

[OKW Lover]

I don't think Disney will do that. I think the other cruise lines are just doing it as a temporary measure so that they can start sailing again. Its much more important to them since its their only line of business. For Disney the cruise line is a very small part of the whole company so the pressure to resume isn't as great.

I also think that it won't be long that the other lines will find themselves at a disadvantage once normal cruising from US ports. Consider that it costs a fairly significant amount of money to fly to a foreign port, even one as close as Nassau, as compared to a US port.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Plus, even with flights, you are talking many Americans without passports who bring their birth certificate to PC or Miami.

To fly to Nassau or St. Maarten, you need a real honest to God passport. Not a passport card, not a BC.

 

[AquaDame]

Plus, even with flights, you are talking many Americans without passports who bring their birth certificate to PC or Miami.

To fly to Nassau or St. Maarten, you need a real honest to God passport. Not a passport card, not a BC.

The number of US Citizens with passports is going up every year... supposedly 42% now have one. I do wonder what the spread is on people who sail with versus without... in the customs lines at disembarkation it seems like everyone around me has them in their hands. (I enjoy seeing other country's passports so yeah, I glance around a little more than normal...) I don't really see DCL setting up a new home port honestly though. If there were no end in sight maybe they would start to think about it but it feels like they are slow to make changes and slow to commit to more than a few "test" cruises at a time to check out a market.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Never say never - but I doubt DCL would start considering workarounds for Caribbean/Bahamian cruises. Maybe if Carnival and Norwegian which are more family-focused cruise lines start to do it then they may feel the pressure - but until then, they will be patient and let others give it a try

I wonder if that would upset some of the powers in the US if they were to sail elsewhere. Like it could look as though they were trying to get around the US rules? Because, well of course, that’s what they would be doing. And someone with power might lose that “Magic” smile and get grumpy over rules in the future. I think Disney is not the kind of company to get powerful people mad, but maybe find ways to make their need benefit everyone.
And I mean more than the president, this was not meant to be politics, but still political. It’s all red tape with big business right?