Received letter from DCL-Puerto Quetzal

[MM2U2]

I just received a letter from DCL in a response to my letter about the elimination of Puerto Quetzal from the Repo cruises. Basically, it said that they (DCL) feel that they are correct in eliminating this port. They feel that the extra day at sea is worth it. Four ports in 15 days seems minimal to me. I know the distance is far considering that the Magic can only sail 27 miles per hour at the most. My cruise travel agent feels that Disney eliminated the port(Puerto Quetzal) because of other reasons than Disney is stating. IMHO, Acapulco to Curacao is a long way to go without a land stop. The letter from DCL also stated that port fees will be adjusted accordingly. However, I strongly suspect that we will all be paying the original port fees when adjusted for the extra hours in Acapulco. I have never been on a cruise before and I hope this special East bound Repositioning cruise is worth it! I am a little nervous about so many days at sea with my ACTIVE kids. DH is wanting to cancel and take a Hawaiian vacation instead.

 

[TraSee]

Days at sea are my favorite! BUT...I can understand your concerns about your little ones. Rest assured that Disney has activities for kids from dawn to dusk and they will have a blast! They even have a game room and library where you can check out board games to play with your family. You are going to have a great time on this cruise! (I'm jealous!!)
Happy cruisin'
Tracy

 

[LibertyBelle]

Totally agree with you MM2U2. We actually did cancel our Aug 20th repo cruise. We decided it was no longer of interest to us, and that our spot would be greatly appreciated by someone on the waitlist

With 8 sea days (and the Canal) and only 4 ports we decided to go with another cruise line for our 14 night sailing. They offered 7 sea days, 6 ports and the canal (they are actually cruising the canal during the day and porting in Panama the same night) in Ocotber.

I LOVE to cruise (this will be #15 in the past 7 years) so it is not an issue about sea days or land days... I just prefer having an equal amount.

 

[kpgclark]

It really is a lot of sea days for the children especially. I mean there is just so much you can do and you can play board games or Nintendo at home. My biggest concern about the sea days is that it will be HOT HOT HOT and the pools will be CROWDED CROWDED CROWDED! I really can see that the kids might go a little stir crazy. Can you imagine if the seas are high for a few days?

That being said, I'm still going.

 

[kimkatmom]

MM2U2

I agree with your husband. It's really a long time for two active children. I would cancel if I were you. You could probably use the money for better purposes.

 

[DonnaDavid]

I'm debating canceling also. I love cruising DCL and I was really looking forward to the eastbound repositioning cruise, but I'm thinking this is too expensive a cruise for this many days at sea. Also, this will be our only big vacation this year - it would be really unfortunate if the weather were bad.
I also wrote DCL about the change - as I expected, I got the same response as you did. I didn't expect them to be too responsive to complaints about a sold-out cruise.
Hmmm . . . what to do . . .

 

[Ella2]

WOW, that is a very long cruise to take for your FIRST cruise. As much as it sounds like a great time, I would DEFINITELY spend the money in Hawaii instead, there is TONS to do there and it's great for active kids. Plus it's gorgeous.

That really is TOO many sea days for many people, even for some experienced cruisers. I love sea days but as was pointed out, the pools are a madhouse on sea days.

Maybe you could do a 7-night cruise on DCL instead at some point. Whatever you decide, enjoy!

 

[JenKatt]

Can I just point something out before there's a mass rush to cancel cruises? If you cancel now, you won't be able to rebook. There is no harm in waiting, esp if you are on the Aug cruise, it's a YEAR away. And just as DCL has changed ports once, I fully expect them to change again.
Wait a few months and if nothing has changed, esp once the May cruise is closer, then cancel.
Just my 1 1/2 cents

 

[laurenk]

I am waiting to see what happens, and at the same time investigating other options. I really want to sail on DCL, but I think my family might get too antsy with that many sea days.

 

[tvguy]

We ended up on DCL's 12-27-03 Eastern after canceling a HAL cruise to the Caribbean. HAL decided (granted it was 11 months in advance) to ADD ports and drop sea days for the holiday cruise.
So I have been in your situation. But for us, sea days are what makes a cruise. So we switched lines.
We were so busy on sea days on DCL that we never found time to use the pools (yes, we had a 12 and 16 year old with us), or a lot of the facilities on board, kids never made it to any of the kids clubs, and we never made it to any of the adult nightclubs .
So, additional sea days would have been heaven.
I wish I had the $$$ to take your slot. I guess I'll just pull out my pictures, and relive our 7 days of heaven on the Magic.

 

[RJake1]

How dare you question DCL's decisions. <g>

 

[HumphreytheBear]

Originally posted by RJake1
How dare you question DCL's decisions. <g>

lol RJake1...I understand where that comes from...I really think you got a bad rap on the other thread, everyone is very opinionated here (as am I) but I still think some posts were Harsh... that face was for goodvibes and a little sunshine...

 

[mmouse37]

Booking a 2 week cruise for your first cruise is very daring....what happens if you hate cruising...that would be a misirable 2 weeks.

I would suggest Hawaii and try DCL another time on one of the shorter cruises....


RJake....I also know and understand where that came from...but let's not heat up the boiler!!!

MJ

 

[tecdavidt]

Please cancel, then we could go . On our second cruise(non DCL) a couple we sat with at dinner recommended the repo cruises for people who love sea days. They also added that the rates are usually better per day than a regular 7 day cruise. Now I know DCL is charging a higher rate. As this cruise approaches and if a lot of people cancel after rethinking the whole length and sea days--well, just maybe the laws of supply and demand might kick in. Normally these cruises are cheaper because it is hard to fill the ship. You have a lot of days to take off on vacation, and there will be a lot of sea days and not the best of port stops. Of course, this is Disney so who knows how this will play out.

The idea behind the repo cruise is not the ports but getting the ship from point A to point B. I know a lot of people were excited when this wonderful cruise appeared and booked it right away. Unforunately the ports are really an after thought and I would guess the ports are chosen based on what the ship needs not the passengers entertainment. The large amount of sea days could wear on some people. Now for my family, sea days are our favorite!

Happy cruising to all. Kathy

 

[piglet33]

I just love sea days so the more, the better. Also, I would not even think to cancel since the whole reason I booked is to go through the Panama Canal. The rest is just icing on the cake.

 

[Scratch42]

Originally posted by piglet33
I just love sea days so the more, the better. Also, I would not even think to cancel since the whole reason I booked is to go through the Panama Canal. The rest is just icing on the cake.

BINGO!

Panama Canal on the MAGIC!

Cruisin' is about being on Sea not Land!

Scratch

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I am on the cruise and whilst disappointed that DCL have reduced the port days, I am glad they cut the Puerto Quetzal stop from all of the bad press it was getting on these boards.

I would like to see Costa Rica added its on the route and I stopped there on another Panama trip before.

However I would like to point out whilst understanding you do not get off when the ship goes through the Panama canal you cannot call it a sea day, its a full day experience when the sightseeing comes to you, and you do not have to pay for a shore excursion.

It is a wonderful day.

 

[LTGRAMPS]

This cruise is about going through the canal. I have wanted to do this for quite a few years now. So far, the only port I find interesting is Curacao. On our two previous four day cruises, there was far too much to do on board to get everything in. In our hectic world, I can think of nothing better than relaxing at sea with no tv or radio blasting in the background!!

 

[WRH3MD]

We are going on the repo east to west in May. We have cruised DCL 10 times since 2000 so we have come to know the product. This thread makes me cringe a bit, though. We love the days at sea, really do and have never been at a loss as to what to do. Therein lies the problem. Our bar bill tends to be higher on days at sea than on days with a port call Without sounding as if I should join AA or convene with friends of Bill, I save my liver for these cruises and I may be on life support by the time we arrive in Disneyland I better start saving my money now, what do you all think? Wes

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

It is each to there own, higher drinks bill, or lower shore excursion bill, I am going to pack in a lot before the cruise, Vegas, Hollywood and Disneyland so I would welcome a rest.

I understand peoples views about successive days on the cruise, whilst enjoying a Panama trip with Princess the last few days seemed to drag a bit.

But the kids will be happy, the food is nice, I am sure they will not get local dancers on in Acapulco for the evening in port and we might have a deck party.

I think with everyone knowing the cruise would be released on may 5th and be a certain sell out, many people booked fast, but the cost and the changes have made people reassess their commitments.