San Diego Cruises

[disEAR]

Out of curiosity, do you think the remaining DCL Cruises set to sail out of San Diego in September and October will happen? Or will Disney limit their sailings to Florida and Texas?

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

That's a lot of money to go through the Panama Canal for two months of cruising out of San Diego.

 

[bcwife76]

That's a lot of money to go through the Panama Canal for two months of cruising out of San Diego.

Even less than that. It's literally 8 cruises before the EBPC.

 

[iannovich]

It’s 11 cruises. 3 of them are sold out already (so they’re not showing on the website). Several others are fairly full, with only Verandas and Concierge remaining. (And to be fair there are a couple have plenty of availability). One of the sold out sailings is the EBPC. It’s a ton of money. A minimum of $4m. The 7 night is also full. The Baja cruises generate way more than people realize. I’ve seen an estimate (to sail through empty) of $300k. I do think they’ll pay that, and I do think they’ll bring the Wonder over to the West Coast.

 

[HiStitch626]

It’s 11 cruises. 3 of them are sold out already (so they’re not showing on the website). Several others are fairly full, with only Verandas and Concierge remaining. (And to be fair there are a couple have plenty of availability). One of the sold out sailings is the EBPC. It’s a ton of money. A minimum of $4m. The 7 night is also full. The Baja cruises generate way more than people realize. I’ve seen an estimate (to sail through empty) of $300k. I do think they’ll pay that, and I do think they’ll bring the Wonder over to the West Coast.

Maybe, but it's more than just the price of the PC transit. The Wonder is not fully crewed. No ships have sailed from any port in California yet, and no ship is scheduled out of San Diego until the Wonder and one of the HAL ships at the end of September. One Carnival ship is scheduled out of Long Beach in late August and September.

 

[gismo1554]

Maybe, but it's more than just the price of the PC transit. The Wonder is not fully crewed. No ships have sailed from any port in California yet, and no ship is scheduled out of San Diego until the Wonder and one of the HAL ships at the end of September. One Carnival ship is scheduled out of Long Beach in late August and September.

Crew are being called back to San Diego for the Wonder on the 24th August (multiple reports on FB about this) which would then given them a month before sailing start which would work with a test cruise being thrown in there.

 

[iannovich]

Maybe, but it's more than just the price of the PC transit. The Wonder is not fully crewed. No ships have sailed from any port in California yet, and no ship is scheduled out of San Diego until the Wonder and one of the HAL ships at the end of September. One Carnival ship is scheduled out of Long Beach in late August and September.

That’s true. I’m not worried about crewing up, but you have a good point about cruises out of California. And Disney doesn’t seem to ever seem to want to be a trailblazer when it comes to the restart.

But there have been Cast Members that have posted on social media that they are flying to San Diego to join the Wonder in August, and I don’t think Disney wants to give out any more 125% FCCs. I think they’re ready to start keeping our money, and adding my Palo Brunch dollars to the mix. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been wrong (I have a slew of FCCs and canceled sailings over the last year as I repeatedly said “surely they’ll be sailing by xxxx”), but I’m still confident.

 

[Cheburashka]

I think California cruises are unlikely this fall, partly due to the expensive transit needed to get there, but also because DCL hasn't shown itself as ready to visit public foreign ports yet. August & early September Florida cruises aren't even going to Nassau, and I wouldn't be surprised if that gets extended to later cruises, as well. There is no Castaway Cay on the west coast, so there is nowhere for the ship to go if it doesn't visit a Mexican port, which DCL might not be ready to do in September or October. And under American law the ship would have to stop somewhere if it were to cruise.

I also think the eastbound Panama Canal cruise will not happen this fall. It's just too long, with too much potential for disease to spread onboard & a PR nightmare "outbreak" to occur. I can see DCL sticking with 3 and 4 night cruises for a few months at least.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Grand Cayman would be removed as a port for an EBPC, as they are hard closed to cruise ships. Colombia is currently a Level 4 advisory (Do Not Travel) from the US Department of State. Mexico is a 3, which is just "reconsider," which puts it in line with The Bahamas.

Now, mind you, Dream is just doing CC, and not Nassau right now, which means they're going into a much more controlled environment than most of the Bahamas, so we cannot use the Dream to decide how DCL feels about Level 3 advisories.

For a cruise from San Diego to Galveston (or any east coast US port), Mexico does not qualify as a "distant foreign port" under the PVA. They need Cartagena to be a legal cruise (or to add a call in the ABC islands, which are considered distant foreign ports). So that's another puzzle piece - would DCL port at a Level 4 Advisory destination that is labeled that not only for COVID-19, but also for terrorism threat?

 

[Tasmen]

I'm scheduled to be on one of those San Diego cruises and was pretty skeptical it was going to happen until I heard they were calling back CMs (and not just ship crew but also performers) to San Diego for the Wonder.

I could see them doing the EBPC and stopping at a port but maybe not letting people off the ship. I believe that would help them with the rules but I could be wrong.

 

[Sykes]

That's a lot of money to go through the Panama Canal for two months of cruising out of San Diego.

They don't have to go through the Panama Canal if they're just repositioning the ship. A few cruise ships have just gone the long way. They're motoring the ships around the Caribbean already ... it wouldn't be that much more costly to slowly motor the Wonder around South America.

The fact that they're staffing up the Wonder says something, although I'm not really sure what. If I were Disney I'd just add some more Galveston cruises earlier in the schedule. It probably depends a lot on whether or not they can do the EBPC cruise.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I could see them doing the EBPC and stopping at a port but maybe not letting people off the ship. I believe that would help them with the rules but I could be wrong.

Alas, you are kinda wrong. A technical stop under the PVSA must include a bona fide opportunity for passengers to disembark. In fact, if a ship has a scheduled stop it cannot make due to weather, and that was the stop that satisfied the PVSA (think: A San Diego cruise to Cabo and back, and they miss Cabo entirely) they get fined, although they can appeal for act of God.

 

[iannovich]

Castaway is very convenient for the restart of the Dream. Definitely helps ease them back in with a more controlled environment. I've been thinking that them dropping Nassau had more to do with Nassau and their restrictions than Disney's unwillingness to visit a foreign port. Nassau requires a Health Visa for both vaccinated and unvaccinated cruise travelers, and additional testing for unvaccinated... the timing of those required PCR tests potentially don't line up with Disney's '5 days or less before embarkation' requirement, which means that Disney would have to figure out how to accommodate that for those that would require it (at additional cost, I'm sure). For 3 and 4 day sailings, it's much easier to just say "nah, dawg, we don't have to deal with that, so we won't. We're just skipping Nassau for now".

Since Mexico (currently) doesn't require any extra testing or a health visa for cruise travelers, it may be an easier stop. There's always the chance that they could drop a port and add a sea day to try to limit risk on the longer Baja sailings.

For the EBPC, I definitely don't think it'll be sailing the itinerary as it was originally scheduled (although that sailing is still 3 months away, so things could change, but to Aurora's point, Grand Cayman is already off the table). If they can't stop in Cartagena and George Town, that gives them a couple of extra days' wiggle room to find a port that they can stop at to satisfy the Distant Foreign Port checkbox. I'm confident that, unless things get much worse, they can find another place to stop. I'm not too concerned about DCL being able to figure out a way to make the itinerary work legally. Many stops, in many ports is definitely more of a barrier, depending on how safe they feel about it.

I have to admit, I do find these potential barriers to be way more likely to be a problem to the extent that they decide not to send the Wonder over than just lack of crew or the cost of coming through the PC empty. I do appreciate your pointing them out.

Factoring in those things I hadn't considered before (which are all valid points), I'd say maybe my confidence has lowered a tad, so I'm now about 85% sure they're going to send the Wonder over.

 

[Ravenclaw78]

Alas, you are kinda wrong. A technical stop under the PVSA must include a bona fide opportunity for passengers to disembark. In fact, if a ship has a scheduled stop it cannot make due to weather, and that was the stop that satisfied the PVSA (think: A San Diego cruise to Cabo and back, and they miss Cabo entirely) they get fined, although they can appeal for act of God.

Not sure about the requirements for "distant foreign port" technical stops, but cruise ships can and have stopped at Ensenada for an hour at 2 AM with no passenger debarkation on round-trips from San Diego. We did that on a round-trip Celebrity cruise to Hawaii and back a while back.

 

[disEAR]

Could we see them adjust their San Diego and Galveston sailings to a Magic at Sea, similar to what they’re doing in the UK? No ports of call.

 

[JWelch62]

Could we see them adjust their San Diego and Galveston sailings to a Magic at Sea, similar to what they’re doing in the UK? No ports of call.

Although they are closed loop, they will still need a stop at a foreign port. Just not a "distant" foreign port.

 

[Ravenclaw78]

Could we see them adjust their San Diego and Galveston sailings to a Magic at Sea, similar to what they’re doing in the UK? No ports of call.

"Cruises to nowhere" are illegal for foreign-flagged cruise ships (which is effectively all cruise ships) sailing from US ports due to the PVSA.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Not sure about the requirements for "distant foreign port" technical stops, but cruise ships can and have stopped at Ensenada for an hour at 2 AM with no passenger debarkation on round-trips from San Diego. We did that on a round-trip Celebrity cruise to Hawaii and back a while back.

Correct, and there are those that do Victoria from 9-midnight. The key is that passengers must be able to leave the ship.

Doesn't matter if anything is open, if there are excursions or if it isn't ridiculous, if passengers cannot disembark it is not considered a valid technical stop.

The guidelines also vary a bit on closed loop versus point to point trips. The thing about the EBPC is it is between two US ports so it must have a distant foreign port, with legitimate stop opportunity.

 

[DWillowBay]

I think California is a big, sloppy, confused mess right now...back and forth between safe/ unsafe....mask on/ mask off...etc. I love the cruises from San Diego, but I would be surprised if they go in the fall. That being said, I'd be THRILLED if they go in the fall.

 

[Mommb]

Not sure about the requirements for "distant foreign port" technical stops, but cruise ships can and have stopped at Ensenada for an hour at 2 AM with no passenger debarkation on round-trips from San Diego. We did that on a round-trip Celebrity cruise to Hawaii and back a while back.

The guidelines also vary a bit on closed loop versus point to point trips. The thing about the EBPC is it is between two US ports so it must have a distant foreign port, with legitimate stop opportunity.

Yes. A cruise that begins in and returns to the same US port is required to stop at a foreign port. So, cruises to and from Port Canaveral that stop only at Castaway Cay (in the Bahamas) are permitted, as are cruises to and from San Diego that stop at Ensenada.

A cruise that leaves from a US port and ends at a different US port is (with a few exceptions, such as cruises to Puerto Rico) required to stop at a distant foreign port. So, a cruise from Port Canaveral to San Diego that stopped only at Castaway Cay and Ensenada would not be permitted, because neither of those ports counts as "distant."