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

[John VN]

....................................I've cancelled Royal and Carnival. I'm so appalled by the way they have handled this whole situation I'm not sure they'll ever get another dollar out of me. I'm still holding out hope for MSC and DCl, but not optimistic. I'm leaning towards river cruising next year.

We have an October MSC and January MSC that we expect will sail and will be making reservations for additional MSC 2022 cruises later today. MSC canceled our late August cruise and we have no issues with that since we expected it. REMEMBER MSC has been sailing in the Med. since last year so they know how to make things work.

ENJOY when you get back on the water's.

 

[icc2515]

I am reading the article correctly? They only had 300 people on the test cruise not including crew?

 

[lmhall2000]

I’m putting my money on #2. I don’t think this is the kiss of death others believe it to be. If the CDC is unsuccessful in their appeal (which I believe they will be), test cruises go away. Why risk having negative press for any hiccups when you get just wait it out? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, DCL is cruising by mid-September barring another variant/massive outbreak.

I follow Australia since their flu season is starting up entering their winter- they are about to lockdown again. We either rely on the science/data and realize lockdowns did not work- these vaccines have not slowed deaths on variants (62% of deaths on Delta variant were vaccinated in UK) - we had whole ships hit by Norovirus and there were deaths- we know how to treat cases to prevent severe declines- we can’t afford more lockdowns. My friend is on a cruise now and she said over-fishing on islands has been a severe issue bc travel tanked- if cruise lines don’t have more liberal policies- they’ll not make it.

 

[jrapps]

That one seems to be very plausible to me. They probably said to themselves, why bother going through with the test cruise - and incur all the costs associated with it - when, after July 18, we can resume operations without having needed to conduct a test cruise? So they came up with an excuse to cancel the test cruise.

I doubt this is the case. First off, there is no guarantee that test cruises won't be required after July 18th (The CDC still has the option to respond with a new streamlined CSO) so it makes no sense to plan around a possibility that may or may not happen. Second, the judge granted the CDC an extension. The CDC has until July 22nd to respond, and once that happens the judge will need to review, so in effect the current CSO will remain in place at least until early August.

 

[jrapps]

So looking back over the past year, seems DCL has cancelled cruises between 45-60 days out. With the delay of the test cruise, we are now 41 days before the first Dream sailing (Aug 9th). One way or another, DCL is going to have to say something in the next week. I'd be surprised if we don't get an official word on the rest of August by the end of this week. I think at this point, they are just trying to decide if they are cancelling just 2 weeks of cruises, the rest of August, or into September at all.

 

[mcd2745]

So looking back over the past year, seems DCL has cancelled cruises between 45-60 days out. With the delay of the test cruise, we are now 41 days before the first Dream sailing (Aug 9th). One way or another, DCL is going to have to say something in the next week. I'd be surprised if we don't get an official word on the rest of August by the end of this week. I think at this point, they are just trying to decide if they are cancelling just 2 weeks of cruises, the rest of August, or into September at all.

As someone who is booked on the Aug 9, that is all we (and just about everyone else booked on that cruise - at least those in the FB group) want. People want to be able to finalize alternative plans, if it is not sailing. Those who want to go to WDW (not us since we have a WDW trip planned for next spring) need to buy tickets, make park reservations, etc. If you askedd people on the 8/9 sailing to choose either being held in limbo a little longer with sayva 50/50 chance of sailing, or a cancelation announcement today...I think almost all would choose the cancelation today just so we would know how to proceed.

 

[mcd2745]

Sending their xcrew status to red is a... bad excuse? Nassau will care a lot about crew status.

I think the testing is real. You don't want to come out and say "we are seeing positive crew tests" as a pretext. Good pretexts include "supplier delay in getting whatever whatever on board." Or "embarkation delays for crew beyond our control." Not "positive tests and a need to retest," since that is more central to the overall issue of sailing in a pandemic and doesn't inspire confidence, and inspires additional scrutiny from ports of call.

They have gone out of their way to describe this as " inconsistent test results" and say that the crew members re-tested negative but that doesn'tmatter to the CDC. I'm not saying I 100% believe they canceled just to save the costs, just saying it is plausible. Look at the Palo menu changes. After being sidelined for 16 months, they are clearly in full-on penny-pinching mode.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

They have gone out of their way to describe this as " inconsistent test results" and say that the crew members re-tested negative but that doesn'tmatter to the CDC. I'm not saying I 100% believe they canceled just to save the costs, just saying it is plausible. Look at the Palo menu changes. After being sidelined for 16 months, they are clearly in full-on penny-pinching mode.

Yes, but WDC is pretty good at public relations, and here's where using the tests as pretext gets messy. You get headlines like this: COVID-19 results have caused Disney Cruise Line to postpone a test voyage.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/...delays-test-cruise-over-covid-19-test-results
Sure, it's on the RCLBlog, but on the other hand, you really don't want that as the lede ANYWHERE.

Postponement for any reason that does not include the term COVID-19 is better if they wanted pretext/excuse. There are plenty they could have put together, right down to "ran out of polish for the railings."

 

[jrapps]

Yes, but WDC is pretty good at public relations, and here's where using the tests as pretext gets messy. You get headlines like this: COVID-19 results have caused Disney Cruise Line to postpone a test voyage.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/...delays-test-cruise-over-covid-19-test-results
Sure, it's on the RCLBlog, but on the other hand, you really don't want that as the lede ANYWHERE.

Postponement for any reason that does not include the term COVID-19 is better if they wanted pretext/excuse. There are plenty they could have put together, right down to "ran out of polish for the railings."

If they cancelled my cruise for lack of railing polish, I am honestly not sure how I would react to that one! LOL

 

[icc2515]

IMHO DCL just needs to bite the bullet and do the 95/95 cruises and drop the kids under 12 for now. I know that this will be unpopular around here, but somethings gotta give to allow them to sail and this seems like the best route right now.

What is the protocol for a positive test result if Disney ever gets these test cruises passed. Does the family have to disembark at the next port and find their own way home or do they have to be locked in their cabin with big biohazard tape over the door? I don't think that either of these things will get a whole lot of good press. And you just know that there will be plenty of positive test results on the children.

 

[jrapps]

IMHO DCL just needs to bite the bullet and do the 95/95 cruises and drop the kids under 12 for now. I know that this will be unpopular around here, but somethings gotta give to allow them to sail and this seems like the best route right now.

While that may be a "safer" way to sail for sure, I'm not sure they could financially go that route either. What percentage of a typical Disney Cruise are families with at least one child under 12? I'd be willing to bet it's a lot, maybe even half the ship, especially over the summer time. So the 95/5 plan immediately gets rid of all those people. You aren't just getting rid of the kids, you're getting rid of their parents and siblings too. Also remove any cabin where anyone over 12 isn't vaccinated...you start to approach a point where the people left to sail are so low, they lose more money by sailing the ship than by just waiting.

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. But to switch gears like that takes time to crunch the numbers. They don't have that kind of time before they need to make a decision about Aug 9th.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

If they cancelled my cruise for lack of railing polish, I am honestly not sure how I would react to that one! LOL

Just the test cruise, promise!

 

[icc2515]

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. But to switch gears like that takes time to crunch the numbers. They don't have that kind of time before they need to make a decision about Aug 9th.

With this postponed test cruise, I would guess the decisions already been made about Aug. They just have not sent out the emails yet.

 

[DisneyMusicMan]

While that may be a "safer" way to sail for sure, I'm not sure they could financially go that route either. What percentage of a typical Disney Cruise are families with at least one child under 12? I'd be willing to bet it's a lot, maybe even half the ship, especially over the summer time. So the 95/5 plan immediately gets rid of all those people. You aren't just getting rid of the kids, you're getting rid of their parents and siblings too. Also remove any cabin where anyone over 12 isn't vaccinated...you start to approach a point where the people left to sail are so low, they lose more money by sailing the ship than by just waiting.

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. But to switch gears like that takes time to crunch the numbers. They don't have that kind of time before they need to make a decision about Aug 9th.

I tend to agree. I think it looks bad for Disney from a marketing point of view. They are known as a family cruise line, but they amazingly do well with both those with children and those without, just given their great service, amenities, cleanliness, etc.

But, folks I’ve talked to always say that there is a potential over-abundance of children, coupled with a lack of a casino and late-late night activities. I don’t think they could appeal to the non-family clientele with an about-face in terms of marketing and branding successfully. I’m sure there are some here that would happily go on the cruise with out their kids, but would that be true for the general cruising public?

I don’t know. I don’t they would be able to make a reduced/limited children cruise fly…(sail?).

 

[lovedisneycruise]

I tend to agree. I think it looks bad for Disney from a marketing point of view. They are known as a family cruise line, but they amazingly do well with both those with children and those without, just given their great service, amenities, cleanliness, etc.

But, folks I’ve talked to always say that there is a potential over-abundance of children, coupled with a lack of a casino and late-late night activities. I don’t think they could appeal to the non-family clientele with an about-face in terms of marketing and branding successfully. I’m sure there are some here that would happily go on the cruise with out their kids, but would that be true for the general cruising public?

I don’t know. I don’t they would be able to make a reduced/limited children cruise fly…(sail?).

Sign me up! I will be first in line for a vaccinated, adult only Disney cruise… And yes I have children! Lol

 

[jrapps]

Sign me up! I will be first in line for a vaccinated, adult only Disney cruise… And yes I have children! Lol

Oh, don't get me wrong, we love doing DCL without the kids too. But converting a family vacation to an adults only one is hard to pull off. If I book it that way in advance, that's great. But if I try to kick my kids off an existing sailing, that's a conversation I would not look forward to!

 

[mcd2745]

While that may be a "safer" way to sail for sure, I'm not sure they could financially go that route either. What percentage of a typical Disney Cruise are families with at least one child under 12? I'd be willing to bet it's a lot, maybe even half the ship, especially over the summer time. So the 95/5 plan immediately gets rid of all those people. You aren't just getting rid of the kids, you're getting rid of their parents and siblings too. Also remove any cabin where anyone over 12 isn't vaccinated...you start to approach a point where the people left to sail are so low, they lose more money by sailing the ship than by just waiting.

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. But to switch gears like that takes time to crunch the numbers. They don't have that kind of time before they need to make a decision about Aug 9th.

We don't know what their capacity plans are, but if they don’t intend to initially sail at more than 50% capacity anyway.....

 

[kathi]

I don't think DCL would have any trouble, in the near-term, filling the ship with vaccinated passengers to the required capacity (35% 50%). They could be sailing with few restrictions (like Celebrity EDGE), getting crew back up to speed, getting good press (hopefully) and MAKING MONEY.

 

[DCSWO]

I never saw myself saying this, but right now, I'm perfectly content that my next cruise is a little over 14 months away.

 

[CamColt]

As someone who is booked on the Aug 9, that is all we (and just about everyone else booked on that cruise - at least those in the FB group) want. People want to be able to finalize alternative plans, if it is not sailing. Those who want to go to WDW (not us since we have a WDW trip planned for next spring) need to buy tickets, make park reservations, etc. If you askedd people on the 8/9 sailing to choose either being held in limbo a little longer with sayva 50/50 chance of sailing, or a cancelation announcement today...I think almost all would choose the cancelation today just so we would know how to proceed.

I too am on the 8/9 sailing and hate this waiting. To be honest though, if it means we ARE sailing, I will be happy with the waiting. I'd give about anything to be back on a ship. However, if the waiting is for nothing and then I'm scrambling at the last minute for park reservations, then yes, I'd rather they just pull the plug now. It really is a catch 22 unless they actually know for sure what is happening, and I don't think they do know. Frustrating, yes, but we can cancel if we want, so I guess I have no one to blame but myself for waiting it out.

As for an adult only vaccinated cruise, I would be fine with that as this cruise is just DH and myself. Our kids are adults now anyway so even the what if's wouldn't personally affect me. I have been wondering if they do sail, but at a limited capacity, how do they choose who gets bumped? Maybe this would be a way to make that decision.