Disney out of LA again?

[ariel68]

I would be ecstatic if they brought the Wonder back to LA! We are in western Canada and LA/Disneyland is a much easier and cheaper vacation. We cruised both years DCL was in LA and would do the same itinerary every single year if possible. It is beautiful.

I agree whole heartedly. While our upcoming Dream cruise is our 2nd in 3yrs, we would likely sail more frequently if DCL offered a regular itinerary from LA. We absolutely love Florida, but have found our California trips much more pleasing to the "budget"

 

[Meghatron]

If DCL came back to sail out of SF/LA/SD we would probably drop our APs and put all our vacation money into cruising. If they'd offer 2/3/4 night cruises instead of nothing but 7 nights we'd be on that ship for every birthday in our house. I will never understand why they entered the SoCal market with the model they did.

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[PizzieDuster]

If DCL came back to sail out of SF/LA/SD we would probably drop our APs and put all our vacation money into cruising. If they'd offer 2/3/4 night cruises instead of nothing but 7 nights we'd be on that ship for every birthday in our house. I will never understand why they entered the SoCal market with the model they did.

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Same here. I can dream. I really wish they would. The options here just doesn't excite me. I'm not holding my breath though.

 

[TwinMom202]

Even though my family took advantage of having a DCL ship here on the west coast, DCL really dropped the ball on marketing. I don't ever even recall seeing any advertisement for DCL while they were cruising the Mexican Riviera.

Very true! We're in San Francisco and we always see advertisements for Disneyland but not cruises! We missed the cruises while the ships were in CA because we had to save.

 

[PizzieDuster]

Very true! We're in San Francisco and we always see advertisements for Disneyland but not cruises! We missed the cruises while the ships were in CA because we had to save.

I only got advertisements from Castaway Club mailings. And a couple of radio stations giving cruises out of San Pedro, and Good Day LA had a contest.

I booked my last 7 day MR cruise from a post card with a Kids Sail Free promo. It took me four hours of refreshing, over and over and I finally got a stateroom. Have that credit card and all information ready! LOL

 

[nunzia]

I agree with the sentiments that they just don't give the new ports enough time to be established! Very disappointing and really with a lack of future thinking on Disney's part. I was on a Pixar cruise and a cruise out of Galveston and both were wonderful, but Disney just didn't commit to a growing period with those two ports and left way too soon. I hope they reconsider.

 

[cruisecrasher]

I agree with the sentiments that they just don't give the new ports enough time to be established! Very disappointing and really with a lack of future thinking on Disney's part. I was on a Pixar cruise and a cruise out of Galveston and both were wonderful, but Disney just didn't commit to a growing period with those two ports and left way too soon. I hope they reconsider.

Very true

 

[dsnydaddy]

Disney had disappointing results with the Mexican Riviera. Since there seems to worsening conditions in the west coast Mexican ports it makes it a risky proposition for DCL. I agree that it seemed that DCL had put NO money into marketing the west coast cruises. Whenever I mentioned them to friends I got surprised looks. And the person that said that DCL didn't give people enough time to save for the cruise was spot on. Most families I know have to save 2 years for a cruise.

All that said, the MR cruise was my second favorite cruise of all. I'm bummed that we are not seeing it return because I wanted to make it a regular thing with my family. The Repos are nice but I need to arrange air back home so that adds to the cost.

 

[twindaddy]

Here is what I don't get. Why not just try a month of MR cruises in 2015, and maybe mix in some 4 day and 3 day trips. I bet they would sell out completely. Build some buzz, and slowly expand. I am surprised LA could not support 5 months of MR cruises, but why not try one month? Why do you need to have 3 ships in Florida?

Mix in a Hawaii, some 3 and 4 day trips to Mexico...maybe a few coastals. Vary it up! I find it hard to believe we could not fill the boat for four trips to Mexico in a year.

 

[moomy-san]

Here is what I don't get. Why not just try a month of MR cruises in 2015, and maybe mix in some 4 day and 3 day trips. I bet they would sell out completely. Build some buzz, and slowly expand. I am surprised LA could not support 5 months of MR cruises, but why not try one month? Why do you need to have 3 ships in Florida?

Mix in a Hawaii, some 3 and 4 day trips to Mexico...maybe a few coastals. Vary it up! I find it hard to believe we could not fill the boat for four trips to Mexico in a year.

My impression was it is a contractual issue. San Pedro/Long Beach may require a longer commitment than a month or two to use their facilities. I know DCL pays a premium to use the short term ports.

 

[Meghatron]

My impression was it is a contractual issue. San Pedro/Long Beach may require a longer commitment than a month or two to use their facilities. I know DCL pays a premium to use the short term ports.

The poster meant a month sailing to Mexico, not just a month sailing out of San Pedro. The idea would be to offer multiple cruises, including shorter ones that would sell better during the school year and in a new market, to fill up the time not in Alaska as opposed to JUST doing 7-nighters to Mexico. So a long term port contract would not be an issue.

Now, whether any port authority would enter into a new contract with DCL, without serious compensation for breech of said contract, given how they've treated LA and Galveston is another matter...

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[bulldog42]

My family lives in Alberta, Canada and we were able to cruise twice out of LA with our family in 2012. The airfare and cruise was way more affordable for us than any cruise out of Florida. It is highly unlikely that we will ever be able to afford taking our kids on a cruise out of Florida. As well, it would be very easy for us to get to Vancouver to do the Alaska cruise but the price of that one is WAY more than most other cruises that Disney offers, so that wont happen either. We wish that Disney would come back to LA too. We would be able to cruise multiple times.

 

[dizneekrazee]

Another vote for West Coast cruising!!

Love the idea of mixing it up, even if the summer months were primarily for Alaska, and the rest of the year mix up short & long cruises to Hawaii, Mexico, and Catalina/Ensenada.

I, for one, would love to take a MR cruise. Especially if they offered California resident rates or something! Did they do that previously?

 

[3monkeys4me]

I'd love to see a west coast port in spring of 2015. We are looking to do a 4-7 night cruise for my dad's 60th and airfare is looking too expensive for 3/4 of my family. Even Galveston would have been better. If they keep everything on the east coast we will likely have to look at other lines for that particular event since most people cant afford an extra $1500+ on airfare.

 

[DbleTheFun]

We were on the first ever DCL repo fro L.A to Vancouver. It was so fun! When we went it was a 6 nighter. I thought I saw it available this year but a 5 nighter. If DCL keeps doing Alaska, there will be one north bound and one south bound. We had 2 nights in San Fran but now I think you only get one. We have only cruised 3 times but this was by far the best one yet.

we were on this one too! Loved it! Hoping to cruise the West coast more often as well... Especially after the refurb!

 

[taaren]

The poster meant a month sailing to Mexico, not just a month sailing out of San Pedro. The idea would be to offer multiple cruises, including shorter ones that would sell better during the school year and in a new market, to fill up the time not in Alaska as opposed to JUST doing 7-nighters to Mexico. So a long term port contract would not be an issue.

Now, whether any port authority would enter into a new contract with DCL, without serious compensation for breech of said contract, given how they've treated LA and Galveston is another matter...

This is my fear as well. As much as I love being able to cruise closer to home, since that makes it actually affordable (cruise fare + airfare to the East Coast is just too much for a vacation), it seems like DCL burned its bridges with LA and Galveston. Maybe they can make San Diego work out?

I'll keep booking the repositioning cruises, we just love being on the ship and the Caribbean itineraries don't enthuse me. They do seem to sell fairly well (better in 2014 than in 2011 anyhow), so maybe DCL will take the hint and do a few more itineraries. That Pixar cruise we took last year was fabulous, and it did sell out once they offered the last minute rates. I think another part of the reason is pricing ... they price pretty high for West Coasters who are accustomed to cheap Carnival-style cruising, and then when they throw out lower rates it seems to fill up fast. Cruisers are only willing to pay a premium for Alaska perhaps?

As long as they keep Alaska, I'll be happy since that means I'll be able to go on my repos. MR or SF/Vancouver type cruises would be even better, though. Then I could actually talk my friends into going (who want a beach-ey type cruise without having to pay and arm and a leg for airfare).

 

[AquaDame]

I think another part of the reason is pricing ... they price pretty high for West Coasters who are accustomed to cheap Carnival-style cruising, and then when they throw out lower rates it seems to fill up fast. Cruisers are only willing to pay a premium for Alaska perhaps?

I think a large portion of those going to Alaska are once-in-a-lifetime folk from elsewhere, so they're more willing to spend $$$. I keep hearing how other lines are cheaper, but when we looked into it only the one way cruises were cheaper and the savings went out the window once we factored in airfare. Otherwise the difference was minimal enough for us to just stick with DCL.