DCL Europe Summer 2022 approaching - what are you doing?

[Intr3pid]

If you are vaccinated and comfortable with testing, this is going to be the best summer in Europe in a long time and at many levels. On that note, my suggestion for those looking to travel to Europe is, book your airfare. If you know your dates, lock it in. Fares with flexibility are rising fast. Doesn't show in the lowest quotes - which should be avoided unless booking last minute.

 

[AquaDame]

Agreed. Despite my fear and trepidation in regards to testing we just got back from two weeks in Ecuador and it was amazing. The inability to stop in areas with lots of people meant more time with the animals in places we were not scheduled to go. We're scrambling to try and go back to do the other half now ASAP, before the return of tourists en masse. With less interference the animals are thriving. Where there would be 5-15 boats fully loaded with passengers there was just us, or us and the sister ship. With a passenger load of 14 people who had been fully vaccinated and PCR tested within 72 hours of setting foot on the boat, the masks were put away for the entire week.

That said we are only able to do this because both of our jobs would be fine with us stuck in quarantine. We can do 90% of our work from a hotel room anywhere in the world, and we both have sick time to burn were we so sick we could not focus. For those able to take the risk, and deal with the consquences should they occur, it is a great time to go. That's a lot of caveats though. I don't blame anyone who isn't equipped to deal with it all.

 

[carolsherman]

Who did you all use for travel insurance that would cover COVID if you got quarantined or couldn't get back to the US?

 

[tidefan]

If you are vaccinated and comfortable with testing, this is going to be the best summer in Europe in a long time and at many levels. On that note, my suggestion for those looking to travel to Europe is, book your airfare. If you know your dates, lock it in. Fares with flexibility are rising fast. Doesn't show in the lowest quotes - which should be avoided unless booking last minute.

Airfare is ridiculous!

 

[carolsherman]

I booked our airfare thru disney got business class cheaper than online and if disney cancels the cruise you get your money back from them only if you get the flexible airfare

 

[wideeyedwonder]

Just booked a direct flight Los Angeles to Barcelona today, and we signed up for our excursions I think Friday. Super easy - barely an inconvenience...

 

[Sykes]

I booked our airfare thru disney got business class cheaper than online and if disney cancels the cruise you get your money back from them only if you get the flexible airfare

For one-way international itineraries this is often the way to go. Cruise lines (and cruise travel agents) often have access to really good unpublished airfares that can only be sold with cruises.

 

[brentm77]

If you are on a European cruises this summer, how are you feeling about it lately? We are still fully invested for our June Italy/Greece cruise, but I am concerned that Disney may cancel when I see so many people canceling in our Facebook group. My hope is that Disney sails, even if the ship is pretty empty, just to get back in the market in an attempt to resume normal operations and attract future cruisers. I suspect if they are out of a certain market too long, you drive a percentage of your customer base to try other lines and they may never come back. On the other hand, Disney may not be willing to take the hit if they get too many cancelations - but is there even time/port availability to offer cruises on the Magic in the U.S. if they change this late in the year?

I assume we should be watching to see if the transatlantic happens on May 8. Anyone on that cruise who can give us some insight on whether it looks like it is full steam ahead for Disney, if there are signs of it canceling, or if it is still too early to know?

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

DCL announced they would make changes to the two itineraries with St. Petersburg, and stated they would tell people booked on those sailing the "new" plan by the end of this month. I think if DCL keeps there word, and actually announces to those booked on those sailings what the new plan is, we will have a better idea what DCL plans to do in Europe. I.E. if that cruise is suddenly canceled or changed into a cruise are the Carribean you will have some idea of the fate of rest of Europe cruises. If it is changed to go ahead with a few different ports, again, you might be able to infer a planned continuation of European cruises.

Hopefully DCL keeps their word on the timeline and lets people know about those two itineraries originally with St. Petersburg by the end of the month and that will give everyone some idea of the summer plans.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Like everyone else watching the May 8 transatlantic. I'm in Ireland and booked on the September Norwegian Fjords. I have now booked my night before the cruise hotel in Dover. I am planning to spend some days in London after my cruise but I havent booked that yet, as I'm not sure of my plans yet.

With the updates about Alaska cruises and the change from PCR testing to Antigen testing before boarding, I'm fairly confident that DCL are working behind the scenes and getting everything sorted for the European summer season.

 

[San Diego traveler]

Have the 10Jun Greek cruise booked - final payment due next month. We are doing a San Diego short cruise in two weeks to see if we still like the post COVID cruise experience before paying the final bill on the Greek cruise.

I am concerned they could cancel - definitely have a back up trip planned (using all miles so easy to cancel with no fees) in same footprint if they do cancel the DCL cruise. I think if things stayed exactly as they are today it would be okay but so many other factors that could affect it - new Omicron variant gets much worse, Ukraine war spills out into Greek areas, etc. It's going to be this way for a long time - have to have insurance or way to cancel for free and lots of backup possibilities for vacations.

 

[tidefan]

If you are on a European cruises this summer, how are you feeling about it lately? We are still fully invested for our June Italy/Greece cruise, but I am concerned that Disney may cancel when I see so many people canceling in our Facebook group. My hope is that Disney sails, even if the ship is pretty empty, just to get back in the market in an attempt to resume normal operations and attract future cruisers. I suspect if they are out of a certain market too long, you drive a percentage of your customer base to try other lines and they may never come back. On the other hand, Disney may not be willing to take the hit if they get too many cancelations - but is there even time/port availability to offer cruises on the Magic in the U.S. if they change this late in the year?

I assume we should be watching to see if the transatlantic happens on May 8. Anyone on that cruise who can give us some insight on whether it looks like it is full steam ahead for Disney, if there are signs of it canceling, or if it is still too early to know?

Which date are you sailing? We are on the June 26th sailing...

Like you, we are watching to see what happens. We haven't bought air yet and through a weird circumstance, we weren't allowed to purchase DCL insurance (long story) so we'd be getting 3rd party insurance (which probably would be better as it would cover the flight too). Hopefully we'll know in the next couple of weeks.

 

[DCLMP]

Have the 10Jun Greek cruise booked - final payment due next month. We are doing a San Diego short cruise in two weeks to see if we still like the post COVID cruise experience before paying the final bill on the Greek cruise.

I am concerned they could cancel - definitely have a back up trip planned (using all miles so easy to cancel with no fees) in same footprint if they do cancel the DCL cruise. I think if things stayed exactly as they are today it would be okay but so many other factors that could affect it - new Omicron variant gets much worse, Ukraine war spills out into Greek areas, etc. It's going to be this way for a long time - have to have insurance or way to cancel for free and lots of backup possibilities for vacations.

I the Ukraine war spills into Nato countries like Greece it would be WW3 so I doubt cruises would be sailing.

 

[brentm77]

Which date are you sailing? We are on the June 26th sailing...

Like you, we are watching to see what happens. We haven't bought air yet and through a weird circumstance, we weren't allowed to purchase DCL insurance (long story) so we'd be getting 3rd party insurance (which probably would be better as it would cover the flight too). Hopefully we'll know in the next couple of weeks.

We are on the June 10 sailing. We have airfare, hotels, private tours, and transportation booked. A cancelation would be very disappointing for us. If Disney doesn't sail, we probably won't do a Mediterranean cruise any time soon. Instead, we would turn this trip in a land trip, since we already have good airfare and a week worth of stuff booked in Rome for pre-cruise. Either that, or look at another line to see if there are any options that would work with our flights or slight adjustments to our flights. But, we won't make a fourth attempt with Disney if they don't sail this year, as this would be our third cancelation for this itinerary. It will be time to move on if that happens. My two kids are getting older, getting in relationships, and the window to vacation in Europe for two weeks as a family is likely closing for awhile.

 

[Joshonfinal]

We are on the July 30th Northern Europe sailing. Not so patiently waiting for the word regarding the replacement/adjustment for St. Petersburg. Assume if and when they make the announcement that would be an indication they are going forward but assumptions are dangerous especially with Disney these days. Still very much want to go so fingers are crossed.

 

[KayKayJS]

We are booked for Europe in Sept... We are still tentatively on but I am waiting to hear about the nursery for under 3's. I also want to hear about some of the excursions - like Meeting Anna & Elsa at Sunnmore Village. Without those 2 we will probably cancel and go to Aulani. Reschedule for a Greek cruise next year.

 

[Snowwhyt]

If you are on a European cruises this summer, how are you feeling about it lately? …..
I assume we should be watching to see if the transatlantic happens on May 8. Anyone on that cruise who can give us some insight on whether it looks like it is full steam ahead for Disney, if there are signs of it canceling, or if it is still too early to know?

We are going on a mother daughter trip May 8. From social media we continuously have one family apologize for not sailing with us and a few days later we get 4 to 8 new members. So although the number would be constantly changing there’s always more adds then drops. Our group dropped 20% of the members and the number is almost back to its highest again. The DISboards meet and greet page is so confusing because of the amount of drops.

Typically foreign clients will drop stating the risk is much greater for them to be turned away at the port for US testing or concerned that the cruise might be canceled. At least that’s what I frequently see posted.

New Covid issues are a concern in Europe and in a few weeks here also. But looking at the past two years it would appear summer has not been the highest numbers and with so much more testing at home available we are never going to know the actual numbers any longer. But I think the last few weeks of Magic sailing outside of western ports will be most at risk as covid numbers increase toward fall season.

Going forward I believe we are a world with Covid concerns. So I’m gonna have to jump through new hoops to fly back home. But I’m not gonna worry about it until a week before(1 week into my trip while on the ship) if I need a test. Which means when I do my land portion I’m gonna have to figure out what’s required in Venice to get on an airplane to come to America. But before that how to get a test if needed to fly to Rome after 3 days off the ship in Barcelona. So many testing places close or open and requirements continue to change in the US. Hong Kong hit hard right now who gets Covid as badly as them next??? Remember how it hit Brazil? I suspect this will all be about what the hospitals can handle in the future. And that part frightens me because if they go county by county instead of Country by Country that could get messy for traveling.

So we are going and thinking our ports are going to be fine. If they cancel a few ports, I would not be surprised. If my last port was not Barcelona I think they would still sail. Maybe we will have to test at port to leave the ship. Sounds fair to the Country we would be entering. And a decent healthy plan to protect them from 3000 sequestered tightly quartered typhoid Mary’s.

So we are going and we will get home and not floating on the Magic for months. Maybe at port a few days at the end actually sequestered because of Covid but I’ll bet they have hotel plans for that kind of thing now.

 

[whatlevelisthis]

June 18 Mediterranean sailing here. I think it's very unlikely DCL will cancel.

Yes, things are uncertain now, but as I see it the trends are all pointing in the right direction:
1) Delta and Virgin Atlantic reported last week that demand for transatlantic flights to Europe this summer remain strong. There was a slight dip in bookings after the Ukraine invasion, but it seems to have recovered

2) Case counts of Omicron's BA.2 variant in Europe are already beginning to descend, after an initial spike

3) Even if Omicron BA.2 continues to persist, so far there hasn't been a huge Diamond Princess-like outbreak on ships. It seems like the combo of vax requirements + testing all passengers and crew is doing a relatively good job of containing large outbreaks from any infectious people who slip through. We'll of course see if continued relaxing of restrictions onboard and dropping the mask mandate will have any impact on this.

4) European countries are continuing to loosen restrictions. Italy doesn't require a COVID test to enter the country anymore if you're up to date with your shots. That makes a DCL cruise embarkation from Rome much easier if you're American or British. And the UK and Denmark have dropped most or all of their testing requirements too, which also makes it easier for those embarking on DCL N. Europe cruises from Dover or Copenhagen.

5) Let's just say that the invasion of Ukraine so far hasn't been going too well for the aggressor. I highly doubt they're going to start invading NATO countries given they can't even hold the first one down.

 

[pjacobi]

5) Let's just say that the invasion of Ukraine so far hasn't been going too well for the aggressor. I highly doubt they're going to start invading NATO countries given they can't even hold the first one down.

Unfortunately, all take is one plane or missile crossing the line.


-Paul

 

[DCLMP]

Unfortunately, all take is one plane or missile crossing the line.


-Paul

We're already in an economic war and that is usually how things begin. Hopefully, we'll all be able to take our Summer trips before things escalate or the global economy melts down.