Disney Cruise Line: Simulated Test Sailings With Volunteers Beginning June 29

[meliscan]

I am with you. I am fully vaccinated. I will be a test case.

I would be happy to be a guinea pig for them. I am vaccinated and not working right now . . . might as well go on a cruise, right?

 

[jrapps]

It will be interesting to see the how & when they solicit test cruisers. Other cruise lines have had forms to sign up for months now. Some suggested that the people originally paid on that sailing should get first dibs.

More likely, this will be offered to cast members on a private basis. We as the general public may never get an opportunity

 

[Trera]

It will be interesting to see the how & when they solicit test cruisers. Other cruise lines have had forms to sign up for months now. Some suggested that the people originally paid on that sailing should get first dibs.

More likely, this will be offered to cast members on a private basis. We as the general public may never get an opportunity

I would agree with this.

 

[ajgardner]

It will be interesting to see the how & when they solicit test cruisers. Other cruise lines have had forms to sign up for months now. Some suggested that the people originally paid on that sailing should get first dibs.

More likely, this will be offered to cast members on a private basis. We as the general public may never get an opportunity

 

[AquaDame]

@brentm77 - I did alter your title slightly as this was NOT an official annoucement, but a leaked internal document.... once it is announced publicly by Disney please feel free to edit it back if I don't get to it fist!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Relative to the Magic, this is straight from the technical guidance and pretty cut and dry on if the Uk sailings count for anything in US waters. (tl:dr: NO)

Activities conducted on voyages that occurred outside of U.S. waters during the period of the No Sail Order (NSO) and the CSO that were not conducted as part of a CDC-approved simulated voyage, do not count towards the activities that must be simulated on a simulated voyage. However, cruise ship operators may incorporate best practices and lessons learned from these voyages as part of the simulation and in the after-action report submitted to CDC.

 

[AmishGuy91]

Scott Gustin just posted that the test cruise will only include DCL Cast Members. I thought the test cruises had to include the general public? Seems weird if the CDC is going to solicitate feedback from the cruises and they are all paid employees of the cruise line.

 

[Kaymackey]

Interesting!

 

[FastPasser.]

More likely, this will be offered to cast members on a private basis.

In the past whenever test cruises were offered to CMs, the only people I knew that were selected were middle and upper management. But who knows, because of the higher numbers they might include hourly CMs this time.

Whenever a new attraction or special event is ready for testing they sometimes will have a lottery where interested CMs can sign up.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I thought one of the rules of the test cruises was that the passengers couldn't be employees?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I do find it odd that the Dream has test cruise dates set and not the Wonder. As the Wonder is only canceled through July 12th and the Dream is canceled through Aug 2nd. Plus the Dream is out of Florida and there is the whole vaccination requirement law thing. So if I am reading the tea leaves I would say the Wonder cancellation will be extended soon, and if I had to guess it would not be coming to the Pacific this year.

I think it just so hard to say what the rules should be for cruising two months from now when things can change overnight, Just look at mask requirements changed overnight at Disney World.

I personally could care less about vaccination requiremtns. I am vaccinated so I have protected myself as best as I can, so I would get on a full boat tomorrow with no questions asked. I understand not everyone will feel the same way as me, but that is how I feel.

One possibility is that since the Wonder wouldn't be sailing from FL, they could do a 95%/98% (or 100%) vaccinated cruise on the Wonder and avoid the test cruise.

But in all liklihood, I'd say the Alaska cruises aren't sailing.

 

[orum]

I thought one of the rules of the test cruises was that the passengers couldn't be employees?

Florida based cast members probably aren't technically employees of Disney Cruise Line.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Florida based cast members probably aren't technically employees of Disney Cruise Line.

So the rule is specifically for the op co and doesn't apply to employees of the parent company? I guess that makes sense. I wonder if the CDC would view it that way.

 

[orum]

So the rule is specifically for the op co and doesn't apply to employees of the parent company? I guess that makes sense. I wonder if the CDC would view it that way.

Honestly, I am guessing, but I thought cruise lines operate pretty separately for legal reasons.

 

[Sykes]

So the rule is specifically for the op co and doesn't apply to employees of the parent company? I guess that makes sense. I wonder if the CDC would view it that way.

I could be wrong, but as far as I can tell technical guidance doesn't outright prohibit employees from being volunteers, it just prohibits using volunteers that are compensated for being there or who are required to be there as a condition of employment. It wouldn't surprise me if they avoid using DCL employees just to eliminate any doubt about that.

 

[DisneyKrayzie2]

I volunteer as tribute!!

 

[brentm77]

Keep in mind that this was taken from an INTERNAL memo, something that wasns't originally planned to be released to the public at this time. This might happen as stated but it also might not, everything is fluid in these times and there could be a complete change of plans. A lot of information will be forthcoming over then next few weeks/months so we should temper our excitement to what is provable and actually announced by DCL.

Disney has confirmed it has received the test sailing clearance now (I don't see that it has confirmed the exact date yet):

Disney Cruise Line will be sailing once again after announcing it had received the OK from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to embark on a test sailing from Port Canaveral.

“We have reached an important next step toward our gradual and responsible resumption of service, and are grateful for the productive dialogue with state, local and federal officials, the CDC and others in our industry that has made this possible,” said Disney Cruise Line spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez in an emailed statement. “We look forward to our amazing crew once again creating magic for our guests and to helping the many workers who support our industry get back to work.”

This report could be clearer, but it seems the port has confirmed it is scheduled to happen in June. I am not saying it won't change, but it does seem that the end of June is the selected date for now.

[deleted remainder, because it didn't make sense - I was mixing up the Wonder and the Dream ships]

 

[DIS_MIKE]

This is the first feeling of hope, in over a year, and after three cancelled sailings, that I may be able to finally sail aboard the Dream in September 2021!

I am literally in the same boat as you with three cancelled sailings under my belt and I'm set to cruise in September on the Dream as well! But yeah....this is the first major feeling of hope at this point! I just made my room reservations at POP.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The technical guidance does not prohibit having staff as test cruisers.

It prohibits making them go as a condition of employment, or as a form of compensation. Basically, it is not a bonus. It cannot be forced.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Based on cancelations so far, it appears Disney is working towards sailing normal cruises with the Wonder in mid-July - or is there another reason it wouldn't have canceled the Wonder up to the same date as the other ships?

I cannot make the math work for the Wonder to sail July 15.

It would have to:

• Staff up under CDC rules for quarantine when bringing crew aboard.
• Vaccinate everyone (even J&J is 28 days to full effectiveness).
• Get to Seattle.
• Either get approval from the CDC to be a vaccine required set of sailings, or do test cruises from Seattle. (Tech guidance is clear about having to include each US port in test sailings for approval; each ship also must do its own test sail).
• After a test sail it is a minimum of 21 days to approval to sail a revenue cruise.

28 days to get crew vaccinated, through the PC, a test cruise AND 21-days post sail before approval? Not by July 15. And if they go the "full vaccine" route, they still need crew, a run through the PC, and 28 days for vaccination of the crew. And it is already June 1 and the Wonder is not staffed.