Magic Going to Europe this Year?

[leannak]

Anyone have thoughts or predictions on whether or not the Magic will sail to Europe and attempt to go through with the sailings scheduled for over there? When should we find out some news about this either way? Just curious what others think will happen…

 

[Micca]

Christmas 2019 we gifted ourselves the Northern European cruise (not sure if the Magic?) and we're still waiting.

I think it's still on the schedule for September, but who knows? It's a double whammy with risks of the virus and possible denied entry to various countries.

Things change all the time, the picture could be quite different in 5-6 months.

 

[KashasMom]

I think the cruises will happen. Numbers are down, vaccines are up and boosters are happening, mask mandates are ending, countries are open, and cruises ARE (and have been) sailing around Europe now. Enough already!

 

[bcwife76]

I think it will sail over for the Europe cruises, yes. Having said that we did cancel our 2022 Europe cruise and are going to rebook for 2023. This is the first trip to Europe for everyone in my family (except myself but I haven't been since I was 17.) It's a big trip and we want to get the full experience so for us, it's worth waiting for one more year, hard as it was to cancel our cruise (again).

 

[BadPinkTink]

My guess is that yes The Magic European summer sailings will sail as scheduled and its going to leave American passengers in a very hard position. Many will have booked with FCC and will have a lot of money tied up in these cruises and travel to Europe.

With no movement on the test to enter USA being removed, my guess is that many American passengers, especially those booked concierge will be hoping their cruise is cancelled so that they can get their money back.

There will be many American passengers waiting until PIF date to cancel. DCL a few days ago sent out emails that the May transatlantic Florida to Barcelona and the first 3 Med cruises in May now have the PIF 30 days before the cruises.

But for some people, that 30 days is just too tight.

I think that 2022 Disney Magic European summer season will have really low American passenger occupancy and its possible that DCL will have a big marketing campaign in Europe for first time European passengers, just like they did in summer 2021 for the UK Staycation cruises.

 

[KashasMom]

With no movement on the test to enter USA being removed, my guess is that many American passengers, especially those booked concierge will be hoping their cruise is cancelled so that they can get their money back.

They can get tested at the airport. It's NOT that big a deal.

 

[AquaDame]

Agreed, an antigen test is quick and relatively painless. The problem here is what happens if you test positive.... no one wants to get stuck in Europe when they have obligations at home and some literally can't afford it as far as time off goes.

 

[BadPinkTink]

They can get tested at the airport. It's NOT that big a deal.

For people travelling from Europe to USA it is a big deal. I just recently did. The US Government require a Covid test 1 calandar day before the flight to USA. For me, I isolated myself and worked at home for the 10 days before my flight to USA and I did an at home test the day before my official test. The US Government require a Fit to Fly Cert and the test must be a supervised test at a clinic. My test cost me €35.

For me, it was easy to make sure I did everything possible to stay Covid free before my flight to America. If I had been unfortunate enough to test positive, I would have been able to quarantine at home and would have had to rearrange my holiday.

HOWEVER

American tourists who travel to Europe also have to do the same test and get the same Fit To Fly cert as I did to return to America.

The risk of testing positive after a cruise and holiday in Europe is just too much for many Americans. Not only are they stuck in a foreign country, they now have to find somewhere to stay, added expense and they have to extend their vacation which means more time off work and school.

 

[tvguy]

I think the cruises will happen. Numbers are down, vaccines are up and boosters are happening, mask mandates are ending, countries are open, and cruises ARE (and have been) sailing around Europe now. Enough already!

Still very fluid. Way way too soon to predict. We are just 5 weeks from a record number of infections for the entire pandemic. Certainly not as many deaths and hospitalizations, but more cases. I think we will have a clearer picture in the next couple of weeks as protocols have been eased in many areas. Best quote today on the Sunday News shows......"We are tired of covid, but covid isn't tired of us".

 

[tidefan]

So I just got off the phone with DCL asking about air, because my understanding was if we booked air through DCL and they (DCL) cancelled, the air fare would be refunded. The agent told me that is not longer the case and it is subject to airline penalties (which, BTW, is a different story than I got yesterday), so that’s not good…

 

[PirateFrank]

The risk of testing positive after a cruise and holiday in Europe is just too much for many Americans. Not only are they stuck in a foreign country, they now have to find somewhere to stay, added expense and they have to extend their vacation which means more time off work and school.

Bravo! finally someone gets it. The testing isn't that big of a deal...... it's the testing in a foreign country with a risk of being either kicked off the cruise in a foreign port or prevented from being able to fly home, both resulting in quarantine in a foreign country. My scenario is exascerbated by the fact that I am on the 12-day, which sails from Rome, but terminates in Barcelona. So if I or anyone in my 8 person party is positive at the port, we all have to scramble to find airfare out of Rome (following a quarantine).

 

[DCLMP]

I think the cruises will happen. Numbers are down, vaccines are up and boosters are happening, mask mandates are ending, countries are open, and cruises ARE (and have been) sailing around Europe now. Enough already!

Except none of those other then numbers decreasing reduce your risk of testing positive.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Bravo! finally someone gets it. The testing isn't that big of a deal...... it's the testing in a foreign country with a risk of being either kicked off the cruise in a foreign port or prevented from being able to fly home, both resulting in quarantine in a foreign country. My scenario is exascerbated by the fact that I am on the 12-day, which sails from Rome, but terminates in Barcelona. So if I or anyone in my 8 person party is positive at the port, we all have to scramble to find airfare out of Rome (following a quarantine).

Thanks I get it because I have been in that position twice. At Christmas I travelled from Ireland to England to visit family. To get home to Ireland after Christmas I had to get a negative test and a fit to fly cert, as the Irish Government had brought in new restrictions due to Omicron. When I originally booked the flights to England, we didnt have to test to return home, but then in December, the Irish Government changed the requirements. I had to find a testing centre near where my sister lives and book an appointment for the day before my flight. If I had tested positive I would have had to find a hotel to quarantine in England and had to rearrange my flights.

Then for my end of January trip to LA and Disneyland, I had no idea if or when the Irish Government would remove the test to enter Ireland, so I had to have a contingency plan. I booked a cancel without charge motel near LAX, I found information about the testing centre at LAX airport and I made arrangements with work in case I had to extend my time in LA. I am lucky, I am a solo traveler and I work from home and I had the financial means to pay out of pocket if I had to extend my time in LA. I also have good travel insurance and I knew that my insurance would cover hotel and other costs if I couldnt return home due to a positive test.

In the end The Irish Government removed the test to enter Ireland about 3 weeks before my trip, so I didnt need my contingency plan. But this is what Americans need to think about if they want to travel to Europe and the test to enter USA is not removed.

 

[Sykes]

Bravo! finally someone gets it. The testing isn't that big of a deal...... it's the testing in a foreign country with a risk of being either kicked off the cruise in a foreign port or prevented from being able to fly home, both resulting in quarantine in a foreign country. My scenario is exascerbated by the fact that I am on the 12-day, which sails from Rome, but terminates in Barcelona. So if I or anyone in my 8 person party is positive at the port, we all have to scramble to find airfare out of Rome (following a quarantine).

Good travel insurance that covers costs incurred due to COVID-19 is pretty readily available and relatively affordable, so it is possible to fairly effectively mitigate the financial risk. Having said that, it would still be terrible to fly 10 hours to Barcelona only to test positive and have to spend the rest of your vacation unable to leave a hotel room, or have to miss an extra 10 days of work at the end of your trip just to spend it watching TV and staring at a hotel room wall.

We're booked on the Disney Magic EBTA then a Royal Caribbean Med cruise immediately after and we'll probably keep our bookings. For the Disney EBTA, we only have to fly to Miami so it would be far less annoying to test positive than if we had flown all the way to Barcelona or Rome. If we test positive after disembarking the EBTA then at least we won't have have totally missed out. We have family and friends flying to Barcelona to meet us to embark on the Royal Caribbean med cruise, and at least as things currently stand they'll be able to test before leaving home so the risk of them getting stuck there before the cruise is minimal, and they can work from the hotel room if they happen to test positive afterwards. My guess is that they wouldn't be willing to even try it if they had to test at the Port like Disney requires.

Both of the cruises are in May, though, so we're just hanging tight and seeing how things go. Trying to predict how things will be beyond a month from now is a fool's errand.

 

[DCLMP]

If DCl does go to Europe this Summer I expect demand may be low. There’s a lot going on the world beside just Covid and how it all plays out over the next few months is going to effect people’s willingness and financial ability to travel abroad. I think Disney is doing the right thing extending the payment date to 30 days out. There is way to much uncertainty to make a decision farther out than that.

 

[tvguy]

So I just got off the phone with DCL asking about air, because my understanding was if we booked air through DCL and they (DCL) cancelled, the air fare would be refunded. The agent told me that is not longer the case and it is subject to airline penalties (which, BTW, is a different story than I got yesterday), so that’s not good…

Well, it does seem that all the cruise lines are getting enough passengers booking now that they are starting to shift some of the risk back to passengers.

 

[tidefan]

Well, it does seem that all the cruise lines are getting enough passengers booking now that they are starting to shift some of the risk back to passengers.

In our case, we’ll just wait to buy airfare.

 

[PirateFrank]

Good travel insurance that covers costs incurred due to COVID-19 is pretty readily available and relatively affordable, so it is possible to fairly effectively mitigate the financial risk. Having said that, it would still be terrible to fly 10 hours to Barcelona only to test positive and have to spend the rest of your vacation unable to leave a hotel room, or have to miss an extra 10 days of work at the end of your trip just to spend it watching TV and staring at a hotel room wall.

Oh absolutely! My travel insurance policy may mitigate some of the financial risk. That being said, it doesn't mitigate the overarching logistical risk of someone in a party of 8 testing positive and ruining the trip for the whole family. What I need is someone who can give me some assurance that a fully vaccinated family of 8 flying into Rome on a friday, touring Rome for 3 days being exposed to god knows what and avoiding a positive test at the port on the following tuesday. We can be as careful as possible, whether its masking up, hand washing, distancing - and it may not matter. There's also an emotional/aggravation toll with a positive, there's a vacation accrual toll (Im not getting that time back from my employer), and a cruise fee appreciation cost as I won't get 20-25% in cruise credit from Disney when I want to rebook my lost cruise 2 years later.

For a cruise out of Port Canaveral...I'd be ok with taking the risk. For a once in a lifetime cruise through the med? I think Im going to wait until the odds are more favorable.

 

[mousefan73]

They can get tested at the airport. It's NOT that big a deal.

And in many countries FREE at local testing centers.

 

[DCLMP]

And in many countries FREE at local testing centers.

Testing might not even be required by Summer. Things are changing every day and new problems cropping up. I would not base any decisions on what going on today for a vacation 4-6 months from now.