Anyone else disappointed in the 2019 Caribbean itineraries?

[n2mm]

Nothing different. Summer cruises are too expensive for me. I would jump on a last minute cruise if the price was right. I’m already book for November 2018 and a b2b for February 2019

 

[kaseyC]

You and me both!!! We have been there done that with these ports. While I understand that for a lot of cruisers the ship itself is the destination and they really don't care where it goes, that's not us. At all !!! A Mouse doesn't make up for the same old same old ports over and over. We need new, interesting places to explore and Disney just isn't offering that for us right now. Even the European sailings (which we were mostly interested in) are pretty much the same thing they have done year after year. I really hope that when the new ships come on board they will offer more adventurous itineraries. But until then - well there are so many other options out there and we are more than happy to take advantage of them.

That's exactly how we feel. The summer is for new destinations...Europe, Asia or one or more of the many fantastic National Parks in the U.S. We do the Caribbean for Spring Break, where we really don't care where we go as long as it's warm and not in IL. lol

 

[CamColt]

As always, I would love another summer cruise out of NY (or Boston would be nice too) but unfortunately they seem to keep those to during the school year now.

 

[vakamalua]

When we came back from a Southern Caribbean DCL cruise in January, they sent us a survey about visiting the following ports: Cartagena, Columbia; costa Rica, Belize and Panama (not the canal transit). So they are at least thinking about expanding Caribbean itineraries in the future. Might interest us--but right now, DCL is Been There, Done That (no, the ship is definitely not a destination for us).

 

[dclpluto]

To go to carribean ports that are good look into the southern Caribbean. Normal DCL Caribbean cruises are not much except for castaway cay of course. Think I’m done with carribean cruises until the new ships come out.
2018 Quebec cruise
2019 Alaska
2020 Europe
2021 new ship

 

[Shanti]

Not at all interested in sailing to the tropics in the summertime, but I am disappointed by DCL's European itineraries for next summer. For the times we can go, it's all about the Mediterranean, and that's not where we want to go, for the same reason as I don't want the Caribbean. We're Texans and we want to cool off in the summer, not pay for an expensive vacation just to stay hot.

I hope in 2020, some Nothern European or Western European itineraries will be offered in June and early July.

 

[cruiser21]

Not at all interested in sailing to the tropics in the summertime, but I am disappointed by DCL's European itineraries for next summer. For the times we can go, it's all about the Mediterranean, and that's not where we want to go, for the same reason as I don't want the Caribbean. We're Texans and we want to cool off in the summer, not pay for an expensive vacation just to stay hot.

I hope in 2020, some Nothern European or Western European itineraries will be offered in June and early July.

Same here. NCL is offering 1 dollar deposits . I'll probably book a Baltic on them. Im not sure what I want to do next Summer, but it's not a huge financial commitment to book something.... just in case. I don't think I can afford a Baltic on DCL in July or August. When they were in early June prices were more reasonable.

 

[jdb in AZ]

When we came back from a Southern Caribbean DCL cruise in January, they sent us a survey about visiting the following ports: Cartagena, Columbia; costa Rica, Belize and Panama (not the canal transit). So they are at least thinking about expanding Caribbean itineraries in the future. Might interest us--but right now, DCL is Been There, Done That (no, the ship is definitely not a destination for us).

If you could choose a destination in the Caribbean, where would you want to go? We've been there done that with too many cruises, and there just aren't a lot of poverty-stricken islands that we want to visit. As for visiting Panama, it seems a shame to go there without transiting the canal.

 

[Shanti]

If you could choose a destination in the Caribbean, where would you want to go? We've been there done that with too many cruises, and there just aren't a lot of poverty-stricken islands that we want to visit.

This. We sailed the eastern on the Fantasy in 2016, and had read that the Virgin Islands were the in the "upscale" part of the Caribbean. Ahem. I now realize how much hype & distortion there is in travel writing. We toured those islands & the entire islands looked poorer than the poor side of our home city. It was sad to see. We know we're lucky and may God bless the people who live there, but that is just not something we want to see on our vacation. For our warm-weather cruises, we now only want to sail to Castaway Cay on the Dream. No interest in the Caribbean at all.

 

[n2mm]

This. We sailed the eastern on the Fantasy, and had read that the Virgin Islands were the in the "upscale" part of the Caribbean. Ahem. I now realize how much hype & distortion there is in travel writing. We toured those islands (this was the year before the big hurricane) & the entire islands looked poorer than the poor side of our home city. It was sad to see. We know we're lucky and may God bless the people who live there, but that is just not something we want to see on our vacation. For our warm-weather cruises, we now only want to sail to Castaway Cay on the Dream. No interest in the Caribbean at all.

Instead of booking a 7 night, try doing a 3/4 b2b. We do this every February. We cruise during the b2b to relax, eat, and visit castaway twice for less than a 7 night Caribbean cruise mist time.

 

[gatordoc]

We did the 11-night Southern last year, and really enjoyed it, but wanted some different ports. We were holding out hope that this release might provide that, but now we've decided to do a Celebrity cruise that visits Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. Some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean, which is our main port interest. Given their proximity, it seems like a no-brainer to include all three in the same cruise, but for some reason Disney never has an itinerary that does this. I'm sure we'll miss Disney, but we've heard good things about Celebrity.

 

[MUN]

I'd love to see them sail out of Texas during the summer. I think the cruises would be fully booked! Most kids are out of school by the first week of June when many other states are still in school. Heck, they could even sail out of Texas in June then switch over to California for July and August. Make lots of people happy!

Galveston wouldn't be able to support a DCL ship more often they have one now.

 

[Lesverts]

I still haven't been to Grenada, St. Vincent, Trinidad, Bonaire, Curacao, and Aruba out of the Caribbean I want to go to. But no one goes to Trinidad. St. Vincent is usually only included on longer itineraries and the ABCs are sporadic and tend to be included in more pricey cruises.

 

[Dug720]

Not at all interested in sailing to the tropics in the summertime, but I am disappointed by DCL's European itineraries for next summer. For the times we can go, it's all about the Mediterranean, and that's not where we want to go, for the same reason as I don't want the Caribbean. We're Texans and we want to cool off in the summer, not pay for an expensive vacation just to stay hot.

I hope in 2020, some Nothern European or Western European itineraries will be offered in June and early July.

I actually appreciate that they are changing it up a little in Europe. For the past couple of years it’s been reversed. It’s only fair that those of us who are in school until the end of June get a shot at the Northern and Western itineraries.

 

[RedSox68]

So what Caribbean ports do you wish they would go to?

Many other lines have the "less visited" port itineraries like St. Kitts, Tortola, Aruba, Belize, Grand Turk, St. Barts, St. Lucia, Grenada, Bonaire. When I say less visited I mean that they include a majority of those ports with or without a top in St. Thomas or St. Maartan or San Juan, all three of which Disney has done to death. Some of Disney's itineraries may offer one or two of the aforementioned ports, but then repeat the rest like St. Thomas, St. Maartan, Cozumel or Grand Cayman! I'm not interested in paying those prices to visit one port I haven't been to and then repeat ports for the rest of the cruise.

 

[kidz dream]

Many other lines have the "less visited" port itineraries like St. Kitts, Tortola, Aruba, Belize, Grand Turk, St. Barts, St. Lucia, Grenada, Bonaire. When I say less visited I mean that they include a majority of those ports with or without a top in St. Thomas or St. Maartan or San Juan, all three of which Disney has done to death. Some of Disney's itineraries may offer one or two of the aforementioned ports, but then repeat the rest like St. Thomas, St. Maartan, Cozumel or Grand Cayman! I'm not interested in paying those prices to visit one port I haven't been to and then repeat ports for the rest of the cruise.

First time on the 11night Caribbean.
I'd appreciate suggestions for excursions.

I'm looking for independent excursions. There aren't many offered by Disney.

Ziplining in St Kitts looks interesting. I'd rather do it on my own.
(Or not, the Disney ones are generally easier.)

 

[mousefan73]

I keep hoping for more and varied Hawaii and/or West Coast cruises. A cruise up and down the west coast would be awesome. Maybe one that starts in San Diego, stops in SF, LA, Astoria, Seattle, Victoria, and/or Vancouver and then back down the coast.

Kate

I‘d looove this one

 

[ahain]

When we came back from a Southern Caribbean DCL cruise in January, they sent us a survey about visiting the following ports: Cartagena, Columbia; costa Rica, Belize and Panama (not the canal transit). So they are at least thinking about expanding Caribbean itineraries in the future. Might interest us--but right now, DCL is Been There, Done That (no, the ship is definitely not a destination for us).

Some other cruise lines offer Panama itineraries that are 6-8 days and that don't actually transit the whole canal, so maybe DCL is thinking about this.

 

[RedSox68]

I keep hoping for more and varied Hawaii and/or West Coast cruises. A cruise up and down the west coast would be awesome. Maybe one that starts in San Diego, stops in SF, LA, Astoria, Seattle, Victoria, and/or Vancouver and then back down the coast.

Kate

I agree with the PP, I love this idea. And then people can do back-2-back cruises when they reposition for Alaska. I would think they could make this work year-round out there for sure.

 

[bobbiwoz]

If you could choose a destination in the Caribbean, where would you want to go? We've been there done that with too many cruises, and there just aren't a lot of poverty-stricken islands that we want to visit. As for visiting Panama, it seems a shame to go there without transiting the canal.

Just referencing Panama, we’ve twice cruised Princess partially transiting the Panama Canal in January. Each time we tendered into Panama for a shore excursion so we have learned about and experienced a “new to us” country while seeing the Canal. Each time that was a 10 night cruise, with a stops at Cartegenia and Costa Rica as well as one or two Caribbean ports where we enjoyed warm beaches in January!