Odds of Silver booking any Wish sailing

[calliest]

After listening to a podcast where they guessed that silver stood no chance of booking ANY sailing on the Wish during the whole first season, I wondered what you guys thought about this? We are silver, and want to book a B2B on whichever date we can get. Didn't seem like a crazy notion...but now I'm nervous.

Thoughts??

 

[JWG]

To say minimal chance at all seems like a lot. Maiden, no. First several, no. But by late summer i‘d think there’s a chance.

We are gold and gave 6 dates that work for us, we will see.

 

[calliest]

Fortunately we don't have any date restrictions. Did anyone see a limit to how many staterooms one could book during the early booking period? Is it still just 1 per person in each category? Asking because the husband and I are both silver but we wanted to bring my dad and his wife this time who have never cruised with Disney before.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The summer cruises once you get past the first few just are not that appealing to the Platinum cruisers. I think you will have choices.

 

[Marthasor]

I think speculating you will have no chance is a stretch. If you have no date restrictions, IMHO, I think you will have a better chance with the fall dates when kids are back in school. I'm gold and am going to try for next summer as well, but I keep having to remind myself that this ship will be sailing for years to come and, if we don't get to sail next summer/fall, there will, eventually, be plenty of other sailings to choose from.

 

[JWG]

The summer cruises once you get past the first few just are not that appealing to the Platinum cruisers. I think you will have choices.

I wonder about this, too. For Platinum, once you get past the rush of the first few sailings (and I would imagine a sharp drop off even after the maiden voyage), the thrill sort of goes away because you cruise frequently. So, if you don't get one of the early cruises, it's easy to just shift to your normal cruise time and say why go when we wouldn't normally go. The biggest risk could be B2B'ers I guess. Taking up two sailings to get 7 days. Our plan is to only do 3 and then do a regular Disney stay.

If you're Silver (or not status) and are DVC or Adventures by Disney alumni don't forget they get a special booking day ahead of Silver. And if DVC, don't forget there is a member cruise that will likely have better availability.

 

[MomOTwins]

Interesting. I do think a lot of gold/platinum/dvc will book back to backs, so that will fill up more before silver. But it is such a large ship I can’t believe there will be nothing left for silver.

I wonder about this, too. For Platinum, once you get past the rush of the first few sailings (and I would imagine a sharp drop off even after the maiden voyage), the thrill sort of goes away because you cruise frequently. So, if you don't get one of the early cruises, it's easy to just shift to your normal cruise time and say why go when we wouldn't normally go. The biggest risk could be B2B'ers I guess. Taking up two sailings to get 7 days. Our plan is to only do 3 and then do a regular Disney stay.

If you're Silver (or not status) and are DVC or Adventures by Disney alumni don't forget they get a special booking day ahead of Silver. And if DVC, don't forget there is a member cruise that will likely have better availability.

Actually, many DVC members are ineligible to book the DVC exclusive cruise because you must use points and only direct purchased or “grandfathered” points from before resale restrictions are eligible. Normally, dvc member cruises allow you to book cash if you are a member. The member cruise is also only 3 nights and is midweek. So I do see a lot of dvc people skipping that cruise and booking later in the summer.

 

[JWG]

Interesting. I do think a lot of gold/platinum/dvc will book back to backs, so that will fill up more before silver. But it is such a large ship I can’t believe there will be nothing left for silver.



Actually, many DVC members are ineligible to book the DVC exclusive cruise because you must use points and only direct purchased or “grandfathered” points from before resale restrictions are eligible. Normally, dvc member cruises allow you to book cash if you are a member. The member cruise is also only 3 nights and is midweek. So I do see a lot of dvc people skipping that cruise and booking later in the summer.

One person in the stateroom must book on points. Others can be cash. Though, no one knows what the point requirement will be and if it's even remotely logical. But, this is the reason we're choosing not to sail that booking. We don't see the value in using points for a cruise even for one person and also want our points for a land stay before/following our hopeful Wish booking.

Though, there are a ton of people with a backlog of points given the closure and travel concerns - so maybe a higher number are willing to do this to use points. I appreciate that they gave the option.

 

[MomOTwins]

One person in the stateroom must book on points. Others can be cash. Though, no one knows what the point requirement will be and if it's even remotely logical. But, this is the reason we're choosing not to sail that booking. We don't see the value in using points for a cruise even for one person and also want our points for a land stay before/following our hopeful Wish booking.

Though, there are a ton of people with a backlog of points given the closure and travel concerns - so maybe a higher number are willing to do this to use points. I appreciate that they gave the option.

True, it may appeal the backlogged folks. I guess I am just assuming the point cost for even one person will be out of reach for a lot of folks since it is being billed as a near-maiden exclusive cruise, and there are so few of the cheaper inside/oceanview rooms. Also, with all the woes of people who had to battle to get points back after their 2020 cruises were cancelled, it is risky to use points for a cruise. Just think that cruise would sell out instantly if use of points were an option rather than required, but as it is, I foresee a lot of DVC people looking elsewhere at cruises later in the summer.

 

[JWG]

True, it may appeal the backlogged folks. I guess I am just assuming the point cost for even one person will be out of reach for a lot of folks since it is being billed as a near-maiden exclusive cruise, and there are so few of the cheaper inside/oceanview rooms. Also, with all the woes of people who had to battle to get points back after their 2020 cruises were cancelled, it is risky to use points for a cruise. Just think that cruise would sell out instantly if use of points were an option rather than required, but as it is, I foresee a lot of DVC people looking elsewhere at cruises later in the summer.

I'm curious if it's really being held for DVC or if it's expected to be partial DVC + media or something. I wonder if Disney has a plan for not enough DVC members booking. If they pull back the point requirement, we'd book it.

 

[MickeySwirl]

Fortunately we don't have any date restrictions. Did anyone see a limit to how many staterooms one could book during the early booking period? Is it still just 1 per person in each category? Asking because the husband and I are both silver but we wanted to bring my dad and his wife this time who have never cruised with Disney before.

During early booking, there has to be one person from that CC category in the room in order to book. So if you are asking if you can book a room on the same cruise for your Dad and his wife, you can but only if you or your husband are in the room. So it would like like this:

Room 1 - You/Dad's wife
Room 2 - Husband/Dad

You can always switch once you're on board because DCL doesn't care/monitor who sleeps where. You'll just have to get a courtesy key from Guest Services to open the other room.

 

[lanejudy]

Did anyone see a limit to how many staterooms one could book during the early booking period? Is it still just 1 per person in each category?

I haven't read that there is anything different in this regard for the Wish cruises than other cruises. The general rule for early booking is that a guest of CC status must be booked into each stateroom. So if you and DH are both silver, on the silver opening day you can each book 1 stateroom and put your dad and wife in with you.

I don't believe the Wish will fill all sailings with just platinum CC. The maiden voyage, yes, and possibly the first few after. But not the whole first season.

 

[DCLDVC1]

I don't believe the Wish will fill all sailings with just platinum CC. The maiden voyage, yes, and possibly the first few after. But not the whole first season.

I agree. I think a lot of people who are interested right now will change their minds once the prices are released. Money won't be an object to some but I think it will be a deterrent to many. I doubt the September cruises will fill as fast as earlier dates since school will have started.

 

[JWG]

During early booking, there has to be one person from that CC category in the room in order to book. So if you are asking if you can book a room on the same cruise for your Dad and his wife, you can but only if you or your husband are in the room. So it would like like this:

Room 1 - You/Dad's wife
Room 2 - Husband/Dad

You can always switch once you're on board because DCL doesn't care/monitor who sleeps where. You'll just have to get a courtesy key from Guest Services to open the other room.

This is what we're doing. Booking me in a room with my parents and my wife/daughter in a room. Once on board (assuming we get a booking), we'll ask the Guest Services team to move me or get an extra key.

 

[Winston Wolf]

Silver will have plenty of chances. The maiden? Probably not unless you can catch one that a Platinum cruiser drops.

 

[Cheburashka]

After listening to a podcast where they guessed that silver stood no chance of booking ANY sailing on the Wish during the whole first season, I wondered what you guys thought about this?

It's baloney. There will be ample opportunity for people to book Wish sailings, even first time cruisers. What will not be widely available is the maiden voyage and probably the first few cruises afterwards. But beyond that, DCL is not going to be able to instantly fill up every cruise on the Wish from June through September with platinum and gold cruisers. DCL would probably love for that to be the case, but it ain't gonna happen. The earliest voyages will likely be the hardest to book, with the late summer and early fall voyages having the most availability.

Yes, some DCL cruises sell out quickly, such as maiden voyages, Hawaii cruises, Greek cruises, etc., but those are cruises that only have one or at most a few sailings per year. That's an entirely different equation from an entire season of 3-4 night cruises being booked in a matter of days of elite-only booking, which has never happened with DCL, or even come close to it, with any of its new ship releases.

A relatively minor side point to this is the fact that a fair percentage of cruise-interested Castaway Club members currently have viable cruises booked for winter/spring 2022, with the 25% FCC bonus built in. They aren't all going to be willing to cruise twice in six months, or to give up that huge bonus, just to sail the Wish during its first season.

 

[ScooterPie]

My husband and I did b2b on the Dream with our first trip being on the inaugural sailing. I cannot tell you how unsavory the inaugural cruise was and how relaxing and peaceful the second cruise was. All the difference in the world to the fact, we will never sail an inaugural cruise again.

It started at the sail away. All adults were handed an ingraved champagne flute commemorating the historic event for a toast with the captain before leaving port. If you sat your glass down, even for a minute, someone swiped it. Almost right out of your hand. The red pillows in each stateroom came up missing by the dozens which prompted Disney to start charging if it disappeared when you went home. The beautiful signs were ripped off the walls and the marble tiles on the floors of the elevators were ripped up, all in the name of maybe EBay....?

There was a teenager riding on the top of one of the elevators. People as a whole were rude and entitled. The second cruise had a completely different feel in the air.

 

[kaseyC]

My husband and I did b2b on the Dream with our first trip being on the inaugural sailing. I cannot tell you how unsavory the inaugural cruise was and how relaxing and peaceful the second cruise was. All the difference in the world to the fact, we will never sail an inaugural cruise again.

It started at the sail away. All adults were handed an ingraved champagne flute commemorating the historic event for a toast with the captain before leaving port. If you sat your glass down, even for a minute, someone swiped it. Almost right out of your hand. The red pillows in each stateroom came up missing by the dozens which prompted Disney to start charging if it disappeared when you went home. The beautiful signs were ripped off the walls and the marble tiles on the floors of the elevators were ripped up, all in the name of maybe EBay....?

There was a teenager riding on the top of one of the elevators. People as a whole were rude and entitled. The second cruise had a completely different feel in the air.

We were B2B on the second and third cruise of the Dream. I remember some of the stories of guest behavior shared with us from many of the cast members. It was crazy to think grown a$$ adults were acting that way!! I also think some folks don't realize that these first few cruises especially on a new class of ship, that the crew is still pretty much in training. There are a lot of bumps and service can be slow and/or inconsistent.

 

[Debbru]

My husband and I did b2b on the Dream with our first trip being on the inaugural sailing. I cannot tell you how unsavory the inaugural cruise was and how relaxing and peaceful the second cruise was. All the difference in the world to the fact, we will never sail an inaugural cruise again.

It started at the sail away. All adults were handed an ingraved champagne flute commemorating the historic event for a toast with the captain before leaving port. If you sat your glass down, even for a minute, someone swiped it. Almost right out of your hand. The red pillows in each stateroom came up missing by the dozens which prompted Disney to start charging if it disappeared when you went home. The beautiful signs were ripped off the walls and the marble tiles on the floors of the elevators were ripped up, all in the name of maybe EBay....?

There was a teenager riding on the top of one of the elevators. People as a whole were rude and entitled. The second cruise had a completely different feel in the air.

We could have written this exact post - the behavior on the Dream's maiden voyage was something we had never seen before & hope to never see again. We were convinced that at least half the passengers were not Disney fans at all but ebayers looking for a quick score. The scene in the stores when they opened the first night was horrible! DCL seemed to have no control over the chaos that went on.
Now, in spite of all that, we went ahead and booked the maiden voyage of the Fantasy. It was amazing!!! DCL definitely put very strict controls on everything - from preordering maiden voyage merchandise that was waiting for you in your stateroom, commemorative champagne flutes that were in your stateroom (1 per adult), limiting store purchases of any maiden voyage stuff, etc. The whole vibe of the cruise was so different than the Dream's maiden. I would hope Disney remembers the past & applies that to the Wish's maiden voyage.

 

[Cheburashka]

We could have written this exact post - the behavior on the Dream's maiden voyage was something we had never seen before & hope to never see again. We were convinced that at least half the passengers were not Disney fans at all but ebayers looking for a quick score. The scene in the stores when they opened the first night was horrible! DCL seemed to have no control over the chaos that went on.
Now, in spite of all that, we went ahead and booked the maiden voyage of the Fantasy. It was amazing!!! DCL definitely put very strict controls on everything - from preordering maiden voyage merchandise that was waiting for you in your stateroom, commemorative champagne flutes that were in your stateroom (1 per adult), limiting store purchases of any maiden voyage stuff, etc. The whole vibe of the cruise was so different than the Dream's maiden. I would hope Disney remembers the past & applies that to the Wish's maiden voyage.

I'm glad Disney learned from that Dream (or rather, nightmare) experience & improved the Fantasy's maiden voyage. I'm sure they still remember and will therefore keep the Wish's maiden voyage under control.

Disney merchandise Ebayers... I'm not a fan of their behavior.