DCL Disney Magic At Sea UK Residents Only Sailing Summer 2021 General Information

[Wannabealocal]

http://dclpodcast.com/201-booking-a-cruise-out-of-the-uk-on-the-disney-magic-summer-2021/ That's the one people were talking about, worth a listen, they interview a British guy who's sailing on the 4 night Liverpool and is a DCL vet. Sadly, Dis hasn't put out there own UK staycation show yet, and may never, as they are mostly geared to a US audience perhaps.

I drink maybe one bottle of cider every 2-5 months. My wife would usually have wine one or twice a month. I will, and DW might, use the gym, and there is no British weather that can stop me swimming, unless of course they close the pool. I share your concerns re: value for money. We're only doing this because it's our home city, and we got a nice veranda under our budget. I'm happy to give DCL the benefit of the doubt for now, but I think you are completely right to question wether this is right for you.

We won't be doing Palo, we're not paying more money to eat when there is so much complimentary food to try and it's our first time ever.

Thanks for the link, I’ll listen later.

I booked because I needed a bit of Disney in my life this year and a trip abroad just isn’t for us at the moment. I want to keep the faith that Disney will provide plenty to do but booking for these activities will only be available after the PiF date and we wouldn’t be able to cancel if it looks like there’s not enough to do. Hopefully all will be revealed before the 30 day mark and we can make a final decision then.
I think I could be happy just wandering the ship and taking in all the detail but my husband likes to be busy and could find himself stuck for things to do.

 

[Wannabealocal]

I could enjoy a cooking class and an art class would be great. The animation class at DHS was one of my favourite things to do on our trips to WDW.
If they announce things like this in time I’ll be much happier to keep our booking.

 

[steveyjc81]

One of my favourite things was "art of the theme ship tour" where they tour around the ship pointing out the small details - like lowering the ceilings in the kids clubs to make them feel bigger/more important, or the uniforms in the nursery being extra soft material etc. I think its 18+ as it goes into the adult only areas etc.

 

[Wannabealocal]

One of my favourite things was "art of the theme ship tour" where they tour around the ship pointing out the small details - like lowering the ceilings in the kids clubs to make them feel bigger/more important, or the uniforms in the nursery being extra soft material etc. I think its 18+ as it goes into the adult only areas etc.

That’s exactly the sort of thing I’d enjoy and hope they’ll offer.
Thanks

 

[Geomom]

Thanks. Could you explain what you mean by classes please? If it’s just the beverage tastings, it’s not for us. Also we’re not planning to book Palo as we’re keen to try all the main dining rooms.

In pre-covid times, at the 120/105/90/75 day mark, you would pre-book drink tastings, spa appts, port adventures, Palo, Frozen/Princess meet and greets. Everything else would just be showing up that day/time listed on the personal navigator. A bunch of these are not happening right now, and if you're not interested in the alcohol tastings and Palo, you'll just want to book some 30 day out activities like the show. I'm sure they'll offer other non bookable programs. I'd also expect there to be changes after the first couple sailings once they figure out what programs are "too" popular and they may add more things to pre book at 30 days out (or maybe the day of...). They will have to offer plenty of things to do as you have no ports...but it may take a couple sailings to figure out how many things they need to offer.

For daily activities, Disney used to offer a couple of ship tours, 18+ "cooking" classes where you'd watch the chef make something in D Lounge and get to taste a sample at the end--DD21 and I went to an apple strudel one on our last cruise. There were napkin or towel folding classes, character drawing classes, 3D paper crafts, etc. Piano music in Keys lounge at night, more lively interactive entertainment in Fathoms lounge (game shows, dance parties, and other entertainment.). There should also be movies in the theater. There have been a few straight to Disney + movies (due to Covid) that they could show as well as any they plan to release at theaters. They will show new movies the same date it opens on land. They may need people to pre-book a time for those! For new movies, they have shown them in the regular theater (Walt Disney) as well as Buena Vista movie theater.

I hope you all have a great time!

 

[BadPinkTink]

Quoting from another thread as some very useful information, thanks Jules334

Hi Ruth,

I must admit, I was underwhelmed at first, I emailed the team on the email above (which is super helpful of Marc D) but sadly and had no reply from the Sat until the Tue eve.

when I spoke to Joanne, she couldn’t have been more helpful. I had a list list 29 questions, whilst a lot of the answers were kind of wait until 35 days out, some of the answered were very helpful. It is however clear that Disney are still unsure exactly how the UK Cruises will work.

i do know that Concierge Lounge will be open. The detail of how it will operate is still a litlle unclear but the team will be there to assist us. The arrivals lunch is still to be confirmed, along with some other details though & the option for a hot cooked breakfast in your stateroom on disembarkaction day is not available.

i was able to ask for the rotational dining to be the way round we wanted it to be. RRT fist then AP second. Don’t fret about the Spa showing as sold out, the Spa is unlikely to be open, so Disney have it show as sold out.

there is a lot more we can do at 35 days out, BUT it’s got you to contact the Concierge team, they will not contact you (suggest emails, as a call was £2 per min)

happy to add more detail if you would like

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Regarding bookings for classes, Palo etc. On previous cruises they have typically held spaces back to be booked once on board, to give everyone a fair shot.

I could see this not happening on the Staycation sailings, because a common element of this onboard booking has traditionally been crowds and queues.

 

[Wannabealocal]

In pre-covid times, at the 120/105/90/75 day mark, you would pre-book drink tastings, spa appts, port adventures, Palo, Frozen/Princess meet and greets. Everything else would just be showing up that day/time listed on the personal navigator. A bunch of these are not happening right now, and if you're not interested in the alcohol tastings and Palo, you'll just want to book some 30 day out activities like the show. I'm sure they'll offer other non bookable programs. I'd also expect there to be changes after the first couple sailings once they figure out what programs are "too" popular and they may add more things to pre book at 30 days out (or maybe the day of...). They will have to offer plenty of things to do as you have no ports...but it may take a couple sailings to figure out how many things they need to offer.

For daily activities, Disney used to offer a couple of ship tours, 18+ "cooking" classes where you'd watch the chef make something in D Lounge and get to taste a sample at the end--DD21 and I went to an apple strudel one on our last cruise. There were napkin or towel folding classes, character drawing classes, 3D paper crafts, etc. Piano music in Cadillac lounge at night, more lively interactive entertainment in Azure lounge (game shows, dance parties, and other entertainment.). There should also be movies in the theater. There have been a few straight to Disney + movies (due to Covid) that they could show as well as any they plan to release at theaters. They will show new movies the same date it opens on land. They may need people to pre-book a time for those! For new movies, they have shown them in the regular theater (Walt Disney) as well as Buena Vista movie theater.

I hope you all have a great time!

Thanks!
I feel like I’m getting a better picture of what has been on offer in the past and what could be available for these cruises.
We are booked on one of the earliest cruises, the 20th July from Liverpool, which is only the third cruise but I guess they’ll have had some opportunity to assess things and make some changes if necessary.

 

[Temp77]

For those sailing out of Liverpool the link to the official port parking is now active on the official DCL website. I priced out the 4 night cruise on 23 July and the official cruise parking quote is £50. I'll be sticking with the £30 I paid for the Ibis Albert Dock but others who've yet to book parking for their departures out of Liverpool might be interested to book.

 

[meryll83]

For those sailing out of Liverpool the link to the official port parking is now active on the official DCL website. I priced out the 4 night cruise on 23 July and the official cruise parking quote is £50. I'll be sticking with the £30 I paid for the Ibis Albert Dock but others who've yet to book parking for their departures out of Liverpool might be interested to book.

Thanks for the heads up.
I still can’t decide what the best option is from a logistics point of view, having to get from the car park to the arena with luggage on day 1 and then from the ship to the car park on return…

 

[GreenDress]

I’m trying to think which is the official cruise parking but i can’t picture it. I would say go for the furthest walk pre cruise as you are more excited/have more energy.

 

[Temp77]

I couldn’t picture where the official cruise parking was either so I did some digging and found more info on the official cruise parking website:

https://www.cruiseparking.co.uk/ports/liverpool/

It seems you drop off your luggage at the port then drive to the car park at L1 8JU and then get a shuttle back to the port. The car park is located quite a bit further along than the likes of John Lewis Q Park and the Ibis Albert Dock, which are both walkable to the M&S Bank Arena. I’m more than comfortable with having booked the Ibis irrespective of the fact it was cheaper than the official cruise parking.

 

[GreenDress]

I couldn’t picture where the official cruise parking was either so I did some digging and found more info on the official cruise parking website:

https://www.cruiseparking.co.uk/ports/liverpool/

It seems you drop off your luggage at the port then drive to the car park at L1 8JU and then get a shuttle back to the port. The car park is located quite a bit further along than the likes of John Lewis Q Park and the Ibis Albert Dock, which are both walkable to the M&S Bank Arena. I’m more than comfortable with having booked the Ibis irrespective of the fact it was cheaper than the official cruise parking.

Thanks - its not a bad walk as its straight down but with luggage it is a bit of a hike if you didn’t want to do the shuttle. The price of the ibis is fantastic. Are you staying over or just parking?

 

[Temp77]

Thanks - its not a bad walk as its straight down but with luggage it is a bit of a hike if you didn’t want to do the shuttle. The price of the ibis is fantastic. Are you staying over or just parking?

I live in the West Derby area of Liverpool so I'm just parking. I booked the Ibis using JustPark.

 

[Claireywalsh]

if you need any info on Liverpool let me know. One hint, if you are asking for directions the m&s arena is still called the Echo arena locally so don’t get confused if someone starts sending you there.

we’re gold and the activitiesI wanted to do were booked up when i looked we are also the 23rd!

Thanks so much - great tip with the arena name. I would keep checking with the activities as people may not keep their bookings closer to the time and things may pop up. I just hope we can try out the aqua dunk at some point. I’ve done the aqua duck on the dream but my daughter was a bit too small so her and her friend are super excited to try it. also can’t wait to see those funnels and hear that horn

 

[Claireywalsh]

Was this the paid-for activities like BBB or the regular things we have to book on these cruises like the shows? Haven’t seen any reports on the latter yet and really intrigued to see what’s on offer.

Just the paid for extras - the other activities will be at 30 days like shows, pool, theatres and gym. maybe will be part of the check in process for the uk staycations i wonder?

 

[Claireywalsh]

Has anyone tried ordering any stateroom gifts? I wanted to get the room decorated as it’s my daughters friend first time cruise - I can view the options but it doesn’t recognise my reservation number? theres a slimmed down choice to normal but it looks like they intend on offering the service?

 

[diablodancer]

Has anyone tried ordering any stateroom gifts? I wanted to get the room decorated as it’s my daughters friend first time cruise - I can view the options but it doesn’t recognise my reservation number? theres a slimmed down choice to normal but it looks like they intend on offering the service?

In the past you could only book stateroom gifts online if you were in the US IIRC (although I thought they might finally change that for the staycations). I had to call Disney to arrange mine for my last cruise.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Has anyone tried ordering any stateroom gifts? I wanted to get the room decorated as it’s my daughters friend first time cruise - I can view the options but it doesn’t recognise my reservation number? theres a slimmed down choice to normal but it looks like they intend on offering the service?

In the past you could only book stateroom gifts online if you were in the US IIRC (although I thought they might finally change that for the staycations). I had to call Disney to arrange mine for my last cruise.

Actually, before Covid you could only book stateroom gifts online or through the APP if you booked through the USA DCL website OR through an American TA like Dreams Unlimited, basically if you paid for your cruise in US Dollars.

I discovered this in 2020 before Covid. I booked through Dreams Unlimited and could view and book the stateroom gifts but Europeans who booked the same cruise and paid either in UK Pounds Sterling or Euros could not.

Before Covid, those who did not book in US Dollars had to phone DCL about 6 weeks before their cruise to book stateroom gifts.

 

[diablodancer]

Actually, before Covid you could only book stateroom gifts online or through the APP if you booked through the USA DCL website OR through an American TA like Dreams Unlimited, basically if you paid for your cruise in US Dollars.

I discovered this in 2020 before Covid. I booked through Dreams Unlimited and could view and book the stateroom gifts but Europeans who booked the same cruise and paid either in UK Pounds Sterling or Euros could not.

Before Covid, those who did not book in US Dollars had to phone DCL about 6 weeks before their cruise to book stateroom gifts.

I was close lol (thanks for clarifying)

I’d love if they did a stateroom gift exclusive to the staycations like the throws they do for the holiday cruises but there’s nothing listed so far.