I'm a little worried...how does this work? Limited capacity question.

[bakerworld]

We had a cruise booked for November '20 which was cancelled so we rescheduled for April '21. When it became fairly obvious the April was a 'no' and the summer scheduled hadn't been released, we were going to do a GTY for March '22. Sure 'nouf they cancelled April and suddenly cabins started to become available on the March '22 cruise so we booked a cabin. My BIL called and surprise the cabin right next to us was available. Seems a bit suspicious.

 

[Cheburashka]

I think the Magic situation is interesting here. They cancelled all the original summer itineraries and are doing short 2-4 night UK resident only cruises instead. I could see them doing the same thing for the Dream/Fantasy/Wonder the first few months of sailing: cancel everything, create a whole new slate of itineraries, and have everyone rebook--ideally with some sort of preferential access for guests that had been cancelled.

They did something similar with restaurants at WDW last summer. All of our restuarnat reservations were cancelled all at once, but we were the first to be able rebook dining for our August trip.

Alternatively, they could cancel everyone in some categories (e.g., inside/oceanview) and given them an option to rebook to a different cruise in a verandah at no cost. That would be similar to what they did with the hotels at WDW last year: they closed a lot of the moderate/value hotels and rebooked those guests in a deluxe at no cost.

I do think that something like this will happen, personally. However DCL cruising restarts, it's likely going to be jarring, just like WDW's reopening was. It won't be business as usual right away.

 

[Husker Mike]

Disney already did this with a 9 night cruise on the Fantasy in late July. It became a 3 night cruise followed by a 6 night cruise, and people had to rebook. (And likely all in vain, since it's probably going to end up being cancelled anyway...)

 

[Disneyloverliz]

That was actually the case for WDW for some time after reopening too. Also, there are customer goodwill components too—at a certain point, if other cruise lines reopen and DCL does not, they may lose repeat customers who feel strung along with their FCC and lose out on prospective first timers who opt for something else instead and lose interest in trying DCL.

I have a September 2021 cruise scheduled, and it'll be our first. I want so badly to go, but like everyone is saying, it's a crap shoot at this point as to when sailing will resume. If I opt for something else, it'll be the parks, but my kids really want to go on a cruise! I don't think I'd take them on anything but a Disney cruise. I'm just not sure how much longer I can hold out!

 

[kathi]

I have a September 2021 cruise scheduled, and it'll be our first. I want so badly to go, but like everyone is saying, it's a crap shoot at this point as to when sailing will resume. If I opt for something else, it'll be the parks, but my kids really want to go on a cruise! I don't think I'd take them on anything but a Disney cruise. I'm just not sure how much longer I can hold out!

We have September booked also - now that I'm seeing the confusion with the UK Magic sailings and if vaccination will be required, I'm honestly thinking about switching to Celebrity for that particular date. It's just adults on this one (postponed from last September) and I know that Celebrity is requiring all adult passengers to be vaccinated. It's a personal choice, for sure; but if DCL does not require adult passengers be vaccinated, I'm not sure we will sail with them this early. It makes me very sad after 20 DCL cruises. But to bring this back to topic, that may be a way DCL will reduce numbers for the early cruses. People deciding not to sail based on vaccination status (either way).