Disney charters two Royal Olympia ships to sail from CA summer 2005!

[GenieDana]

Any REAL news about where the Magic will be summer 2005?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by GenieDana
Any REAL news about where the Magic will be summer 2005?

No. There's no "real news" yet -- just the oft repeated rumor that the Disney Magic will be in California in summer 2005. There are certainly folks within DCL who know the real details, but those details have not been announced within DCL or to the travel industry (which would also mean to the public).

I really wouldn't except DCL to charter or acquire ships from other cruise lines. DCL has built its reputation with purpose-built ships -- with large theatres, many staterooms capable of holding families, split bathrooms, rotation dining, large kids' areas. and classic ocean liner styling. You can only retrofit an existing ship to a certain degree.

Here's what I wrote recently on the Cruise board:

DCL has announced the schedules for the Disney Wonder and the Disney Magic all the way through the end of 2005 -- but with a gaping hole in the Disney Magic's 2005 schedule between the May 7 cruise and the September 3 cruise.

DCL will only say that there will be "new itineraries."

Sure, that could mean places like Costa Maya or Belize on the Western and other new ports on the Eastern -- but why would DCL take so long to announce such plans? They've been selling other 2005 dates for many months. And the fall 2005 Disney Magic itineraries are the usual Eastern and Western routes.

It seems that they're waiting for the right timing to make the big announcement -- such as a press event. The press event to announce the plans for Disneyland's 50th anniversary was originally scheduled for February, but is now scheduled for May 5.

And DCL won't use the Disneyland press event to announce new Caribbean itineraries.

 

[AOPI57]

Where did the info come from about Disney chartering 2 Royal Olympic ships to sail from Ca? For us this would be great news as we're still hoping to go to the Carribean in summer 05.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by AOPI57
Where did the info come from about Disney chartering 2 Royal Olympic ships to sail from Ca? For us this would be great news as we're still hoping to go to the Carribean in summer 05.

Due to Royal Olympic Cruises' financial problems, the line's newest ships -- the Olympia Explorer and Olympia Voyager -- were auctioned off for about half their original purchase prices about two weeks ago. See http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040330/nytu142_1.html

Presumably, these ships will eventually be sold or leased to a cruise line somewhere in the world with a need for relatively small (25,000 GRT) cruise ships.

Any connection between the availability of these ships and and use of them by Disney Cruise Line seems to be nothing more than a suggestion by GenieDana.