New Ship Teaser Announcement

[disneycruise100]

I think the Bridge of the Americas is the one over the Panama Canal. So will the Bliss be going all the way around South America to repo?

I'm dumb. And have no idea what I'm talking about.

 

[Dug720]

I'm dumb. And have no idea what I'm talking about.

I may be wrong.

 

[disneycruise100]

I may be wrong.

That wasn't sarcasm! I totally thought we were talking about going to Alaska from Vancouver! LOL

 

[Dug720]

That wasn't sarcasm! I totally thought we were talking about going to Alaska from Vancouver! LOL

I think it’s all mixed in. There are two potential bridge issues - one in Vancouver and one at the Panama Canal.

 

[cyclenut]

OK. Alaska is real money for Disney and we know the Wonder is really the only ship they have that can get through the canal. The new ones don't seem to be getting any smaller. Royal Caribbean does Alaska and they don't have any ships sailing through the panama canal. They have three ships in Alaska. Radiance, Ovation and Explorer.

Ovation goes to Asia, sailing Hong Kong, Okinawa, Vietnam.
Explorer goes to Europe, south pacific and they even have one called the spice route (Singapore, Malaysia, India and UAE). Also the Suez Canal and Athens Greece.
Radiance goes to Australia, but also does Hawaii.

What it looks like they do is head West instead of East when they leave Alaska. On Sept 7, 2018, I found Ovation leaving Vancouver for a 10 day Hawaii (Maui, Hilo, Kona, Kuwai, Honolulu from $1450/person).

Explorer has this epic 21 night leaving Seattle that goes to Sydney. Talk about bucket list!
Leaves Seattle, WA
Five days at Sea arriving in Honolulu
Maui
Seven more days at Sea, crossing the International Dateline and arriving in Fiji
One day of cruising, then arriving in Vanuatu
Mystery Island
New Caledonia
Two days of cruising arriving in Sydney Australia.

Disney has a lot of options with these additional ships without sailing through the canal.

 

[RedSox68]

Interesting, do you have any details? Moving the place where Disney docks? Making it bigger with shops? Perhaps a way to accommodate two ships at one time?

It would be great if they could dock more than one of their ships at a time!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I'm sure there would be some amazing ports they could visit. It would be quite a long journey though all the way around South America and up the west coast of North America. Lots of sea days I would imagine too. I don't think it's very realistic, but it would be amazing!

I’ve read a trip report from someone who did it on RCCL, they said the ocean was incredibly rough for a couple days going around the horn. It was also pretty cold even though they did it during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer. They said there were some really nice parts to the cruise but that part was not fun.

 

[Ravenclaw78]

The lions gate is a problem as one of the potential iteneraries during the shoulder season (before and after Alaska) would be one ways back and forth from Vancouver to Hawaii. Going to Hawaii from he US is complicated. I know you have to visit a foreign port, not sure if it has to be closed loop or if you can do one ways.

Around a decade ago, we took a 14-day Hawaii round-trip out of San Diego on Celebrity. On the return leg, the ship docked somewhere in Mexico in the middle of the night (around 1:30 AM, I think), spent a couple of hours there with no passengers allowed to disembark, and then continued on to dock in San Diego later that morning. Not sure that was consistent with the intent of the law, but it must have at least followed the letter of the law. I have no idea whether any other cruise lines have ever done a similar itinerary, but it's definitely possible to do it.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

I’ve read a trip report from someone who did it on RCCL, they said the ocean was incredibly rough for a couple days going around the horn. It was also pretty cold even though they did it during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer. They said there were some really nice parts to the cruise but that part was not fun.

The Straights of Magellan, while historic, aren't fun; especially in winter.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Ok, so... is the Victoria BC port an option that would keep our tall ships able to sail and meet the foreign lands contingency for maritime law?
That’s not US right? It’s BC so not US? (Lord don’t make me hate myself for not googling this first.)

 

[Snowwhyt]

Around a decade ago, we took a 14-day Hawaii round-trip out of San Diego on Celebrity. On the return leg, the ship docked somewhere in Mexico in the middle of the night (around 1:30 AM, I think), spent a couple of hours there with no passengers allowed to disembark, and then continued on to dock in San Diego later that morning. Not sure that was consistent with the intent of the law, but it must have at least followed the letter of the law. I have no idea whether any other cruise lines have ever done a similar itinerary, but it's definitely possible to do it.

I’m willing to deal with that as a compromise. What time was San Diego dock?

 

[Ravenclaw78]

I’m willing to deal with that as a compromise. What time was San Diego dock?

To be honest, I don't recall exactly, and it's possible that there was an at-sea day in between that I've forgotten about, but we disembarked before noon.

 

[Pens Fan]

The Bliss is 20 decks tall. How are they making it shorter? Will you have to crawl around on the floor to get anywhere?

I had the exact same thought. While admittedly I know absolutely nothing about ship building, it seems odd that the Bliss is shorter than Disney's Dream class ships. But it somehow is. Hopefully someone with experience in the industry can explain.

I think the Bridge of the Americas is the one over the Panama Canal. So will the Bliss be going all the way around South America to repo?

Nope. While NCL does offer around the Horn cruises, the Bliss is scheduled to go through the Panama Canal, so either it's short enough to fit or that's going to be one heck of an exciting cruise!

 

[Snowwhyt]

I know it’s just a rendering but what if the stacks are lower?
Lol Maybe they made the stacks so the can be lowered like a flagpole or antenna. Maybe lower it for bridges when they go under but have it raised otherwise for aesthetics. That wouldn’t be expensive to add right?

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

I know it’s just a rendering but what if the stacks are lower?
Lol Maybe they made the stacks so the can be lowered like a flagpole or antenna. Maybe lower it for bridges when they go under but have it raised otherwise for aesthetics. That wouldn’t be expensive to add right?

The mast of a ship can be lowered and raised, but not the stacks. Even then, it's very unusual nowadays to see ships with masts that can be lowered due to the sensitive electronics that are placed up there.

 

[Spork24]

The funnels of the new ships could certainly be built shorter than the dream to accommodate the 190 - 200 ft bridges. It doesn’t “look” shorter, but that doesn’t mean it’s not.

 

[MelSpees]

I know it’s just a rendering but what if the stacks are lower?
Lol Maybe they made the stacks so the can be lowered like a flagpole or antenna. Maybe lower it for bridges when they go under but have it raised otherwise for aesthetics. That wouldn’t be expensive to add right?

With some of the tongue-in-cheek comments here, we really need a laugh button, like on FB.

 

[Pens Fan]

I suddenly envision the Edge counselors seeing the bridge ahead, putting on Shout and chanting, "A little bit softer now, a little bit softer now."

 

[Snowwhyt]

I suddenly envision the Edge counselors seeing the bridge ahead, putting on Shout and chanting, "A little bit softer now, a little bit softer now."

“The Edge located on deck 9.5 or 10 see the navigator for exact location times.”

 

[Spork24]

So it boils down to this, getting one of the new ships to the west coast isn’t a dealbreaker at any height, but operating it seasonally there is unlikely if it’s not under 190 ft.

The dream class design was already completed in principal before the new Panamax dimensions were released. I bet they find a way to get them down to 189 feet