Same old ports

[dclpluto]

not counting Europe DCL doing a very great job there of new ports.
Anyone else tired of the same old ports over and over again. Wish DCL will put a little effort into going new places. Lots of places to go in the Caribbean just look at the other cruise lines where they go. I'm not going to any of the other cruise lines because of the ports but I'm sure a lot of people are. I know they have to go to Bahamas a lot because that's where the ships are flagged at.
Once again DCL doing a very great job in Europe.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

not counting Europe DCL doing a very great job there of new ports.
Anyone else tired of the same old ports over and over again. Wish DCL will put a little effort into going new places. Lots of places to go in the Caribbean just look at the other cruise lines where they go. I'm not going to any of the other cruise lines because of the ports but I'm sure a lot of people are. I know they have to go to Bahamas a lot because that's where the ships are flagged at.
Once again DCL doing a very great job in Europe.

This is an often repeated complaint. For years.

 

[holula]

I just don't think there are many that new ports to visit at this point. They added the Southern cruises, which ARE visiting new ports. I think the ABC islands are unlikely since they are a Southern cruise of their own. They switched St Maarten out for Tortola. There isn't a great deal to add in the Bahamas. The Dream and the Fantasy will be more limited on ports because of their size anyway. Where would you like them to visit?

I personally would like to visit Belize/Honduras but I think that is unlikely on DCL because of safety concerns.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I just don't think there are many that new ports to visit at this point. They added the Southern cruises, which ARE visiting new ports. I think the ABC islands are unlikely since they are a Southern cruise of their own. They switched St Maarten out for Tortola. There isn't a great deal to add in the Bahamas. The Dream and the Fantasy will be more limited on ports because of their size anyway. Where would you like them to visit?

I personally would like to visit Belize/Honduras but I think that is unlikely on DCL because of safety concerns.

Bermuda would be nice. Japan, Australia and New Zealand -- there's a whole world out there.

 

[hoffman1]

I would like to see Belize added as well. I went there on another cruise line and I would love to go back!

 

[wilkeliza]

While I could see 1 or 2 different ports I can't imagine why Disney would change things drastically. For one they don't cater to repeat yearly cruisers so the few that do travel at the same exact time every year on the same ship are few and far between. We sale around the same time but switch up lengths and ship based on where each one is going and change weeks depending on the itenerary.

The other thing is DCL is a relatively small cruise line. They have 4 ships where as Norwegian has 12 (maybe 13) and Royal Carribean has 24 ships and Carnival has 24 as well. Those are massive fleets compared to the 4 of DCL which allows them to be more flexible with destinations. They also go to the same locations over and over because building relationships with the local governments and businesses allows them to make sure their guests have the best possible experience if they book everything direct.

 

[holula]

Bermuda would be nice. Japan, Australia and New Zealand -- there's a whole world out there.

I agree on Bermuda but they will have to fight for port time since NCL and Celebrety/Royal take up so many slots. I'm surprised that they haven't tried Asia. Maybe after Shanghai DL is built and they can do a cruise that hits all three Asian DLs.

 

[bceagle76]

Aruba is far down but went there PCC and visited after just to go there

 

[Ofinn]

I wish they woul do some longer caribbean cruises. 10 to 12 days would be nice with some new ports mixed in like Belize and Honduras. Cuba would be nice too.

 

[Ajojo]

I wouldnt mind seeing them stop in a few American ports

 

[jdb in AZ]

I agree on Bermuda but they will have to fight for port time since NCL and Celebrety/Royal take up so many slots. I'm surprised that they haven't tried Asia. Maybe after Shanghai DL is built and they can do a cruise that hits all three Asian DLs.

I'll make sure not to go to Bermuda when Anthem of the Seas is in port with 5000 passengers clogging up all the shops and sites.

 

[Ofinn]

I wouldnt mind seeing them stop in a few American ports

A East coast cruise that stopped at New York, Boston, New Brunswick, Halifax, and Quebec. I live on the West Coast so I would love something like that.

 

[SnowWhite2]

According to one of our Castaway Club Q&A sessions, Bermuda is a no-go and DCL has been looking at Asia. I'd love to go to Bermuda again and I specifically asked the question and it was a definite no. The captain did bring up Asia as one of the places that DCL has been looking at recently but who knows what that means. It sounds risky going into a market so far away and so new plus DCL is a very risk adverse company. I can't see Asia until a 5th ship comes on line.

 

[Otimon]

For the Dream cruises, we would love to see Port Canaveral, Miami, Castaway Cay and back to Port Canaveral for at least some of
the cruises instead of Nassau all the time! We were on the Dream last week and stated this in their survey before disembarking.

 

[Anisum]

The thing about DCL is that despite all of the power Disney wields they have a small number of ships that are regularly booked. This gives them little incentive to change at a fast pace. The Wonder will continue on it's route until the Panama Canal update is finished because it's the only ship Disney owns that fits through. The Magic is really the only one that travels outside of the region where Disney is most comfortable. If the Fantasy and the Dream weren't being booked then they might be more eager to change. I do think in the future it's possible they will venture out but it takes time and money (both of which they have) to obtain the use of terminals in foreign ports, create port adventures through a tour or tour service, and ensure that everything is in place to make it what Disney wants.

If it were my guess I would think that the next time they build ships you will see new itineraries but it's possible that those itineraries will be for river cruises based on the fact that they're partnering on river cruises for Adventures by Disney.

 

[truck1]

The thing about DCL is that despite all of the power Disney wields they have a small number of ships that are regularly booked. This gives them little incentive to change at a fast pace. The Wonder will continue on it's route until the Panama Canal update is finished because it's the only ship Disney owns that fits through. The Magic is really the only one that travels outside of the region where Disney is most comfortable. If the Fantasy and the Dream weren't being booked then they might be more eager to change. I do think in the future it's possible they will venture out but it takes time and money (both of which they have) to obtain the use of terminals in foreign ports, create port adventures through a tour or tour service, and ensure that everything is in place to make it what Disney wants.

If it were my guess I would think that the next time they build ships you will see new itineraries but it's possible that those itineraries will be for river cruises based on the fact that they're partnering on river cruises for Adventures by Disney.

The only thing I would add to this is DCLs lack of imagination when it comes to routes. For example, DCL got out of Galveston early supposedly due to soft bookings a year early. I'm not going to swear either way. So what did they do? They sent the Magic back to Florida out of Miami and did the same routes as PC. Somewhat understandable since DCL already has an agreement with Nassau and it was easy to plug a ship in. But what if they did something completely different out of Miami? Carnival, Princess, Royal all have off numbered day cruises to ports DCL hasn't touched in a while. Princess has a 10 day trip out of Ft Lauderdale to Aruba, Bonaire and some other ports. Carnival does a 5 day out of Miami to Jamaica Grand Cayman and I think Cozumel. Royal has similar trips. In reality, I don't think its so much a lack of ships because the ships are there, its a lack of trying on Disneys part. Ive heard that DCL wont do certain intins because there too far from Port Canaveral. Ok, but Miami is closer and the other lines don't seem to have problems.

 

[cgolf]

While I could see 1 or 2 different ports I can't imagine why Disney would change things drastically. For one they don't cater to repeat yearly cruisers so the few that do travel at the same exact time every year on the same ship are few and far between. We sale around the same time but switch up lengths and ship based on where each one is going and change weeks depending on the itenerary.

We actually fall into this category and basically now at this point we pretty much stay on the ship instead of getting off on ports that we have previously visited (we have only cruised DCL). Next cruise we did find an excursion in Nassau, but other then that the trip will be very low key with lots of time on the ship. This is one of the reasons that we are looking into other lines now, because we will have different options when we choose to cruise. It would be cool if DCL came up with a totally unique cruise like the Galapagos cruise that Celebrity does.

Not asking them to change it all just make some noticeable tweaks yearly.

 

[wilkeliza]

We actually fall into this category and basically now at this point we pretty much stay on the ship instead of getting off on ports that we have previously visited (we have only cruised DCL). Next cruise we did find an excursion in Nassau, but other then that the trip will be very low key with lots of time on the ship. This is one of the reasons that we are looking into other lines now, because we will have different options when we choose to cruise. It would be cool if DCL came up with a totally unique cruise like the Galapagos cruise that Celebrity does.

Not asking them to change it all just make some noticeable tweaks yearly.

We are in the same bucket but we are totally okay staying on the ship. We are on annual cruise number 4 and with this one are doing a different itenerary. I think we are lucky though that we can be flexible to do different cruises and only do one a year so we don't do the same carribean cruise, same alaskan cruise, and same Bahamas cruise in one year. We rotate through them so that by the time we hit the same port we don't feel like it is a repeat. Well at least that is the plan for now. We did do the same exact Fantasy sailing for 2 cruises simply because it is what fit our first time cruising pals schedule and we felt confident helping them along the way since we had already been there. Plus they are super fun ports for kidless adult.

 

[Ofinn]

Last year they had the Magic and the Fantasy doing the same itinerary's all winter and Spring. This year it's the Dream and the Magic doing the same thing. Then late Spring the Magic and Fantasy doing the same thing. I haven't even looked at 2017. Like pp said it's not due to lack of ships. I believe that is why there were so many last minute discounts from Oct-May. It's hard to sell out 2 ships doing the same thing week after week. It was great for us. We got to cruise a lot over the last year due to the fact they 7 day cruises didn't sell out. I guess they threw in the Star Wars thing to help sell the cruises in 2016, but still the same old ports.

 

[tup1830]

Disney is also a master of cost savings. Buy in bulk and save on cost. You see that a lot at WDW...and even the WDW catering does DCL out of PC.

The more visits by DCL to a certain port, the lower negotiated fees (aside from taxes).

They're not innovating the ports because its cheaper not to...and they have enough people filling the ships...so win win (for them)..because the lower fees don't translate into lower fares for the guests.