European Cruises 2017 - What have you heard?

[Atliana11]

We are in the initial planning stages of our fourth Disney cruise...this time to the Med. We aren't going until the summer of 2018, when the kids graduate from college/high school. Does anyone know if Disney only does the Med cruises in August? I know this far out there is no way to anticipate itineraries, ships, or if they will even have a route through the Med that year. However, does anyone know if historically Disney has only ran these cruises in August or if other summer months are possibilities? I ask because the only ones being offered in 2016 are both in August.

 

[Pens Fan]

At times, DCL has cruised the Med all summer long. Other times, they have split the summer between northern Europe and the Med. It's anybody's guess what they will do going forward, unfortunately. All I can say is that in 2015 and 2016 it was northern Europe in June / July and the Med beginning in August. With only four ships in the fleet they only send one to Europe each summer. While other lines have the luxury of having multiple ships in Europe during the summer, Disney does not.

 

[Atliana11]

Thank you Pens Fan....it's great news to hear they, have in the past, had other offerings. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed that the year we're going they have a few more earlier in the summer. That late in August and it interferes with school starting up.

 

[Mommb]

Does anyone know if Disney only does the Med cruises in August? I know this far out there is no way to anticipate itineraries, ships, or if they will even have a route through the Med that year. However, does anyone know if historically Disney has only ran these cruises in August or if other summer months are possibilities? I ask because the only ones being offered in 2016 are both in August.

In 2011 and 2013, Disney did Mediterranean cruises out of Barcelona starting in early June. So, there is precedent for starting in southern Europe, but in those years the ship didn't go to northern Europe -- it stayed in the western or eastern Med all summer. As you note, it is difficult to predict what the itineraries might be in 2018.

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

We are in the initial planning stages of our fourth Disney cruise...this time to the Med. We aren't going until the summer of 2018, when the kids graduate from college/high school. Does anyone know if Disney only does the Med cruises in August? I know this far out there is no way to anticipate itineraries, ships, or if they will even have a route through the Med that year. However, does anyone know if historically Disney has only ran these cruises in August or if other summer months are possibilities? I ask because the only ones being offered in 2016 are both in August.

You might be good even if there are "only" August Med. cruises in 2018. In 2015 the first Med. cruise was the second week of August, so maybe even that would be early enough to cruise and return for school/college. Unless you're a really early start like some of the Southern U.S. schools.

 

[Atliana11]

Thank you HermanTriplets +1...DH is a middle school math teacher here in Texas so he usually has to go back to work around the second week of August.

 

[Garyjames220]

Anyway think there will be some totally new places for Europe. Like canaries or something ?

We think the magic will be in Amsterdam. However when do u reckon that cruise will depart from at a guess

 

[Saamh]

Anyway think there will be some totally new places for Europe. Like canaries or something ?

We think the magic will be in Amsterdam. However when do u reckon that cruise will depart from at a guess

The Magic appeared on the Amsterdam port calendar on May 25 and June 27th . The May date is likely a stop on the EBTA and the June date appears to be a port stop (rather than a home port) based on the arrival and departure times).

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

The Magic appeared on the Amsterdam port calendar on May 25 and June 27th . The May date is likely a stop on the EBTA and the June date appears to be a port stop (rather than a home port) based on the arrival and departure times).

That's my thoughts as well

Heather

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Anyway think there will be some totally new places for Europe. Like canaries or something ?

We think the magic will be in Amsterdam. However when do u reckon that cruise will depart from at a guess

OK, here's a "dream" - the Magic, when it finishes in Northern Europe, will reposition to the Mediterranean. Instead of the 5 day repo that it's done in the past, it will become a 7 day repo, and will include a stop at the Canary Islands! Of course it will still stop at Gibraltar, since that's a port I "need" to visit. Oh, and the best part of the dream is that I will be on this cruise!

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

OK, here's a "dream" - the Magic, when it finishes in Northern Europe, will reposition to the Mediterranean. Instead of the 5 day repo that it's done in the past, it will become a 7 day repo, and will include a stop at the Canary Islands! Of course it will still stop at Gibraltar, since that's a port I "need" to visit. Oh, and the best part of the dream is that I will be on this cruise!

(I have officially moved out of the aim of this thread, I know, this is not at all semi-legitimate chatter, but I couldn't help dreaming!)

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

This was my post:

Someone was asking about possible evidence of Norway port bookings for 2017 ... this is what Flossbolna found.

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Oops that didn't work - here is Flossbolna's post:

"I poked around a bit and found two dates that are interesting:

The 2017 calendar for Geiranger has one date where the ship is "TBC", that is June 8, 2017: http://www.stranda-hamnevesen.no/cruise-calls

The 2017 calendar for Bergen has a ship on June 9, 2017 that has the same specifications as the Magic: http://www.cruise-norway.no/Arrivals.aspx?ports=8&zone=8&start=09.06.17&end=09.06.17

All the previous 7-night Norway cruises had Geiranger followed by Bergen. So, I guess there might be one Norway cruise in June 2017."

 

[closetmickey]

Oops that didn't work - here is Flossbolna's post:

"I poked around a bit and found two dates that are interesting:

The 2017 calendar for Geiranger has one date where the ship is "TBC", that is June 8, 2017: http://www.stranda-hamnevesen.no/cruise-calls

The 2017 calendar for Bergen has a ship on June 9, 2017 that has the same specifications as the Magic: http://www.cruise-norway.no/Arrivals.aspx?ports=8&zone=8&start=09.06.17&end=09.06.17

All the previous 7-night Norway cruises had Geiranger followed by Bergen. So, I guess there might be one Norway cruise in June 2017."

That was me. Thanks. So if they are only listed once, is it safe to assume that there will be no other Norway sailings beyond early June?

 

[pcannizzaro76]

Is there any new speculation about 2017 itineraries that should be released this coming month?

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

OK, it's mid-March. I figure that if March has 31 days, then after March 10th it is officially mid-March. Where's our release?! Any other dates found by port detectives?

 

[luckylady131]

I would love another an Iceland cruise, but the 11k price tag for an inside room is just to steep for me. I don't think I could limit myself to just one cruise a year to be able to do this. I really wish I would have done this cruise in 2015 when the price was a little more reasonable.

We are going on the Norwegian Iceland Fjords cruise in July. First time going on a Disney Cruise. Do you have suggestions regarding the shore excursions? Do you do any from Disney, or did you explore on your own? I am now in the process of figuring out what there is to do and see at each port. We have 2 kids, ages 6 and 10 at the time of the cruise. Would love to hear your experience!

 

[pcannizzaro76]

We are going on the Norwegian Iceland Fjords cruise in July. First time going on a Disney Cruise. Do you have suggestions regarding the shore excursions? Do you do any from Disney, or did you explore on your own? I am now in the process of figuring out what there is to do and see at each port. We have 2 kids, ages 6 and 10 at the time of the cruise. Would love to hear your experience!

We went on the Iceland cruise last year and it was great. Although I am sure you can save money by not doing Disney excursions, the possibility of not making it back on the boat is not worth it. One couple missed the boat in Reykjavik last year and had to find another way to the next port which was not very close. I would definitely visit the blue lagoon in Reykjavik. It was great and the whole family loved it. There is a lot of unbelievable scenery in Iceland, but of course after you see a couple of the waterfalls, the kids tend to get bored.

 

[MouseMomx2]

OK, it's mid-March. I figure that if March has 31 days, then after March 10th it is officially mid-March. Where's our release?! Any other dates found by port detectives?

When I called DCL earlier this week I mentioned that I would be moving an OBB to a Summer 2017 date once they were released. The CM said that they had training in "a couple of weeks" for those dates so I would guess we'll see something closer to the end of March.

 

[Pens Fan]

We are going on the Norwegian Iceland Fjords cruise in July. First time going on a Disney Cruise. Do you have suggestions regarding the shore excursions? Do you do any from Disney, or did you explore on your own? I am now in the process of figuring out what there is to do and see at each port. We have 2 kids, ages 6 and 10 at the time of the cruise. Would love to hear your experience!

We were on last summer's sailing of this itinerary. I'm not sure off hand if your ports are exactly the same as ours, but here is what we did. Keep in mind, our son is quite a bit older than your children (17).

Oslo - We hired a private guide, but still used public transportation (and our feet!) for transportation. http://www.guideservice.no/no/ Having the guide was not essential - but it did offer a nice addition to the sights we were seeing and wasn't very expensive as it did not include transportation. Oslo is very doable on your own and the public transportation system is great. I would not pay Disney prices for an excursion here. The Viking museum is terrific, as is the Folk museum. We also visited the Fram museum which is worth a peek if you have the time. We walked around the fort but could not go in as there was some kind of event that included the king, and pretty much everyone else in power at the time we were there. We did get to see the king's guards and his car, though . The Norwegian resistance museum was just fascinating. My son who is a history buff was in heaven. He spent more money in that gift shop than anywhere else on our trip - all books! I'm not sure about younger kids, though.

Kristiansand - I really couldn't find much that interested us here, so we took a short Disney excursion. It went to a small fishing village (charming, but not a lot there) and a folk museum. The folk museum was nice, but paled in comparison to Oslo's. We were back on the ship in time for lunch and spent the afternoon at the spa.

Stavenger - We did the Lysefjord cruise through Disney. It is cheaper if you can book it independently, but we had a very short time in port and the timing just didn't work with the Rodne boats. So we did Disney and it was beautiful - highly recommended, though again not sure if younger children would be bored. If the timing does work with the Rodne boats they are literally steps away from where the Magic docks. I'd go that route in a heartbeat over Disney.

Reykjavik - www.discover.is - I cannot recommend this company enough. We spent both days with them, touring the area in their super jeeps. It was amazing. We did the Golden Circle tour - including going out on the glacier (a highlight of the day!!) and the Reykjanes Peninsula and Blue Lagoon tour. Both were fabulous and the guides were terrific. My son loved this so much, he wants to spend his summer breaks from college driving jeeps in Iceland (hopefully he changes his mind ). While your children are younger, I can tell you without a doubt my son would have loved this at any age. But then he was hiking in Yellowstone at age 3. YMMV.

Akureyri - http://www.inspiration-iceland.com - Another great day. This was supposed to be another super jeep tour, but there was a mechanical problem with the jeep and we used a van instead. That was a slight disappointment to my son, but it didn't end up detracting from the day.

Kirkwall - We used http://www.orkneyaspects.co.uk - Wow is all I can say about this day - amazing sights, beautiful island - we even got to go inside a 5,000 year old tomb. Though, unfortunately, I would say your chance of booking with them at this late date is about zero. Kirkwall is tiny and there aren't that many tour businesses. But take a look at their website anyway. That should give you an idea of the highlights.

You didn't ask about Copenhagen, but try to spend as much time there ahead of time as possible. It's an absolutely beautiful city and so easy to explore on foot. We came in three days early and weren't ready to leave when the time came to board the ship.

As for Disney vs private guides. Everyone has there own comfort zone. All I can tell you is that each and every guide we used was completely focused on insuring we arrived back in time. They usually shoot for about an hour ahead of time, to allow for the unexpected. Remember that in this day and age of instant online reviews, just one instance of causing someone to miss the ship could devastate their business. If you do you due diligence - I poured over Trip Advisor, this website and Cruise Critic - you should be fine. In most cases, we paid about the same, or less, for a private guide for just our family as we would have to be crammed on a bus with 40 or 50 other people. Our guides were also quite funny in how they did everything in their power to avoid those buses. While at times it was inevitable that we would catch up with the crowds, we often had sights completely to ourselves or with just a handful of other people. At each port we were back on the ship, sitting on our balcony drinking a glass of wine while we watched all of the last minute folks pour in. But again, everyone has their own comfort level with this. This was our first time venturing outside of the Disney bubble and we loved going that route so much that for our next cruise (Canadian Coastline) we have already booked our excursions and both are independent of Disney.

Have a great cruise. Whatever you decide it will be wonderful. You really can't go wrong in those ports!