Where are the Wonder and Magic Summer 2012?

[denas]

OoooH speculation! Hmm... Well if NY becomes home that leaves wonderful New England/ Canada opportunities (Hello Boston, Maine , Nova Scotia, and so forth!) or South to Bermuda ..... Hmmm the possibilities

That is my dream. We are actually looking at Carnival out of NY for a summer cruise to New England/Canada. It is hot and humid here in VA and hot and humid and rainy in Florida, so the weather would be really nice in the summer in New England or Bermuda - and no airfare

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Because DCL doesn't do Glacier Bay, the most spectacular part of an Alaskan cruise, only die-hard DCL fans will likely travel DCL to Alaska, and there's a limited (but dedicated) number of those. The most accurate predictions of future itineraries seem to have come when people could get port reservation information in advance of Disney announcing it; I wish I knew how they did that.

The lousy itinerary is the main reason we did not book the Alaska cruise through Disney. No Glacier Bay and not a one way cruise which should be required on anything Alaska.

 

[kcashner]

Nothing official yet...but my TA posted from the Dream today that if anyone is considering Europe that they should do it this year. There are rumblings on the Dream that there might not be a ship in Europe in 2012.

 

[truck1]

From everything Im hearing, from Bob Iger, and Karl Holz, the press, and here, Im not surprised by that if it is true.

 

[Corwin]

Nothing official yet...but my TA posted from the Dream today that if anyone is considering Europe that they should do it this year. There are rumblings on the Dream that there might not be a ship in Europe in 2012.

That would be bad news for us. I had planned to book a Med cruise for our family for the summer of 2012.

We already have another DCL cruise booked for this year, so there's no way for us to do a Med cruise this year. Besides, I had to get my wife used to cruising in the first place.

I don't know how DCL expects to attract a loyal customer base without some consistency. Once they started the Med cruises, I expected them to continue. Indeed, with the new ships, it seemed logical that the Magic would continue the Med cruises, the Wonder would go to the West coast, and the Dream and Fantasy would take over the Bahamas and Caribbean cruises.

We did a Wonder cruise last year, and have a Dream cruise planned for this year. I'd hoped to sail on the Magic next year in the Med, and on the Fantasy to the Caribbean in 2013.

This news, if true, rather dashes those plans.

P.S. Doesn't this news contradict these reports from last Fall?

 

[Meghatron]

Nothing official yet...but my TA posted from the Dream today that if anyone is considering Europe that they should do it this year. There are rumblings on the Dream that there might not be a ship in Europe in 2012.

That's a lot of lamps and details to change out on the Dream if that's true, and lost time in drydock during the sparkling-new first year of sailing to do it.

I think it's a lot more likely that these are deliberately planted rumours to increase bookings on 2011 Europe itineraries. That's far more cost-effective, anyway, and better PR in the long run. Of course, I'm still holding out hope for a return of the Baltic cruises, so you could say I suffer from wishful thinking, LOL.

 

[truck1]

That would be bad news for us. I had planned to book a Med cruise for our family for the summer of 2012.

We already have another DCL cruise booked for this year, so there's no way for us to do a Med cruise this year. Besides, I had to get my wife used to cruising in the first place.

I don't know how DCL expects to attract a loyal customer base without some consistency. Once they started the Med cruises, I expected them to continue. Indeed with the new ships, I seemed logical that the Magic would continue the Med cruises, the Wonder would go to the West coast, and the Dream and Fantasy would take over the Bahamas and Caribbean cruises.

We did a Wonder cruise last year, and have a Dream cruise planned for this year. I'd hoped to sail on the Magic next year in the Med, and on the Fantasy to the Caribbean in 2013.

This news, if true, rather dashes those plans.

P.S. Doesn't this news contradict these reports from last Fall?

Assuming that the Magic does NOT return to the Med after 2011, yes it would. DCL contradicts themselves almost like clock work, about every 6 months or so. First the Magic was an Ambassador ship, that was announced during the Dream unveiling. Then they went and said that Hi, and Asia are possible itineraries, theres was a survey out, looking at Tx and the NYC area, then they said that what you posted,(maybe not in that order, but all have been mentioned in the last 2 years or so) and now theres rumblings, that the Magic,wont be going back to the Med. The press picked up on the soft Med booking several months ago, and if what they are saying is true, then DCL is not leaving a ship where it wont make them any money.

 

[mrsklamc]

That's a lot of lamps and details to change out on the Dream if that's true, and lost time in drydock during the sparkling-new first year of sailing to do it.

Why would having no ships in Europe affect the Dream? The Dream has to remain in FL for several years.

 

[Meghatron]

Why would having no ships in Europe affect the Dream? The Dream has to remain in FL for several years.

There is decorative detail all over the Dream showing two ships in FL, one ship on the west coast, and one ship in Europe.

 

[mickeyfan1]

Well all the merchandise in the gift shops on the Wonder for the MR cruises say Mazatlan as a port, but those port stops have been canceled.

I really doubt that DCL is going to plan or change itineraries based on cabin decor.

 

[Presentation]

Nothing official yet...but my TA posted from the Dream today that if anyone is considering Europe that they should do it this year. There are rumblings on the Dream that there might not be a ship in Europe in 2012.

Where do you think the Magic and Wonder will go in 2012?

I’m hoping you will say anything other then divestiture of these two ships but the gals are mature for a premium brand cruise ship.

Maybe not old yet, but certainly mature.

 

[kaseyC]

Nothing official yet...but my TA posted from the Dream today that if anyone is considering Europe that they should do it this year. There are rumblings on the Dream that there might not be a ship in Europe in 2012.

I would not be surprised if this rumor is true. DCL has had to offer some type of discount for some of European sailings each year a ship has been placed there. There were discounted Cat. 12 GTYs in 2007, KSF, 20% On board booking discounts and discounted Cat 12 GTY in 2010... they even ended up discounting some Baltic cruises and for 2011, we had the change to 7 night itineraries for some dates, prices have been all over the place and I expect we will see some more discounting these cruises too.

I also wouldn't be surprised if they are losing money on excursions as more cruisers research and book with private groups instead doing the cruise ship big bus tours.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[truck1]

The Wonder has a 2yr agreement with the Port of Los Angeles with a 3yr option to extend. I believe it was announced in a thread here some time back that the Magic is to become the Ambassador ship for DCL and test new itineraries worldwide. I don't think it will stay in Europe year-round though as the most cruise lines are only there from May until Oct-Nov timeframe. I think the only sure thing to count on is the fact that the Dream/Fantasy are both contracted to stay at PC until at least 2014.

That was probably me. Either Bob Iger, Karl Holz, or the now gone Tom McAlpin said that during the Dream unveiling in NY.It was 1 of the 3.

Because DCL doesn't do Glacier Bay, the most spectacular part of an Alaskan cruise, only die-hard DCL fans will likely travel DCL to Alaska, and there's a limited (but dedicated) number of those. The most accurate predictions of future itineraries seem to have come when people could get port reservation information in advance of Disney announcing it; I wish I knew how they did that.

The lousy itinerary is the main reason we did not book the Alaska cruise through Disney. No Glacier Bay and not a one way cruise which should be required on anything Alaska.

Having never sailed Alaska, I cant speculate on the quality of a trip to that area of the world. The only thing I can think of, is that to sail in Ak waters, there is special restricions on ships, in regards to pollution control, shipboard discharge etc. Also, any ship that sails in Ak, has to apply for a permit, and there could be a limited amount of those available. DCL did what they had to to get their foot in the door so to speak, and could be working on getting in other more popular places. Just a thought.

 

[Corwin]

It's to be expected that bookings have been soft. We're just now beginning to come out of a recession, for one thing.

Also, it seems to me that Disney just started more visible advertising for DCL within the last year or two. Going on a cruise was never particularly on our radar before we saw all of the ads for DCL starting in our 2009 visit, and the fact that our Magical Express coach bus was decked out in DCL livery on that visit. It was on that trip back to the airport that I seriously thought about going on a cruise for the first time.

We decided to go on a short cruise for the first time in early 2010. We had such a good time on that cruise that we booked a similar cruise for later this year, and planned to expand our horizons to a Med cruise next year.

I'm sure that there are others like me, that have just discovered cruising. DCL is not going to be able to tap into this customer base without some consistency from year to year to allow for the typical advance planning (>1 year) that goes into a cruise.

I'm personally going to be quite disappointed if there are no Med cruises in the summer of 2012.

 

[mrsklamc]

Having never sailed Alaska, I cant speculate on the quality of a trip to that area of the world. The only thing I can think of, is that to sail in Ak waters, there is special restricions on ships, in regards to pollution control, shipboard discharge etc. Also, any ship that sails in Ak, has to apply for a permit, and there could be a limited amount of those available. DCL did what they had to to get their foot in the door so to speak, and could be working on getting in other more popular places. Just a thought.

I wasn't faulting DCL...for whatever reason, they did withdraw their application to sail Glacier Bay. But anyone who did any research at all on an Alaskan cruise wouldn't likely book with them unless their primary deciding factor when booking is the DCL brand.

 

[truck1]

I wasn't faulting DCL...for whatever reason, they did withdraw their application to sail Glacier Bay. But anyone who did any research at all on an Alaskan cruise wouldn't likely book with them unless their primary deciding factor when booking is the DCL brand.

I didnt think you were. There was a lot of Why did....... when it was announced. Im wondering if the Glacier Bay permit was still a lesser chance of getting it when who ever is in charge told DCL that they got the other permit, so they let the Glacier Bay go. Either that or DCL would not have met the strict conditions of the permit by the time the ship went up there. Just my guess.

 

[truck1]

It's to be expected that bookings have been soft. We're just now beginning to come out of a recession, for one thing.

Also, it seems to me that Disney just started more visible advertising for DCL within the last year or two. Going on a cruise was never particularly on our radar before we saw all of the ads for DCL starting in our 2009 visit, and the fact that our Magical Express coach bus was decked out in DCL livery on that visit. It was on that trip back to the airport that I seriously thought about going on a cruise for the first time.

We decided to go on a short cruise for the first time in early 2010. We had such a good time on that cruise that we booked a similar cruise for later this year, and planned to expand our horizons to a Med cruise next year.

I'm sure that there are others like me, that have just discovered cruising. DCL is not going to be able to tap into this customer base without some consistency from year to year to allow for the typical advance planning (>1 year) that goes into a cruise.

I'm personally going to be rather ticked off if there are no Med cruises in the summer of 2012.

Youre right, in that we are coming out of a recession.It could it be part of why DCL has to discount and special out the med cruises?and it could also be DCL is the new kid on the block,(In Europe) and the brand recognition didnt go as far as they hoped? or a combination of both or more factors. We dont really know all of the behind the scenes details, of what DCL is thinking, on where they send ships to ports and why. The only sure things with DCL is that they use Nassau, and CC as an attention getter, to get its cruisers back for longer cruises. After that, acording to the bosses, DCL goes where there guests want them to. Maybe they paid attention to what a lot of people were saying when we said We want longer trips over the summer when the kids are out of school, and we cant because there is no ship doing anything other then Nassau.(just and example. It worked the same way when the Magic was in Cali) Theres really no telling.

Ive noticed that the DCL ads are picking up here also, and wonder how much that has to do with the Dream coming in, and also that DCL and Disney as a whole is lowering the number of discounts available to its guests.

 

[Cmbar]

When we cruised in November our head server was talking to us about other cruises and said that the Med cruises were not really any fun for the servers and didn't go as planned. They said the clientele is obviously more European and they had many, many problems with speaking the languages and he said in general people were not happy with the food on the ships because Disney is geared towards an American clientel with American type foods. He also said the ships were not in the ports long enough to get a good taste of the different ports. He said Disney's best clientel is obviously the Americans!

For what its worth that is what he mentioned to us.

 

[MrsKP]

I'm personally going to be quite disappointed if there are no Med cruises in the summer of 2012.

You and me both. My husband is not a big fan of cruising. He will only cruise DCL when he decides to cruise at all. We were planning a Europe trip for 2012when the DCL brochure came in the mail. We had already booked our 2011 vacation.

I really want to do a Med trip in 2012 on DCL. I hope we do not have to take our business elsewhere.

 

[lbgraves]

When we cruised in November our head server was talking to us about other cruises and said that the Med cruises were not really any fun for the servers and didn't go as planned. They said the clientele is obviously more European and they had many, many problems with speaking the languages and he said in general people were not happy with the food on the ships because Disney is geared towards an American clientel with American type foods. He also said the ships were not in the ports long enough to get a good taste of the different ports. He said Disney's best clientel is obviously the Americans!

For what its worth that is what he mentioned to us.

The servers don't like going to the Med either because their tips go down on those cruises due simply to it not being customary to tip there. This was told to me last month when talking with a server we knew from previous cruises. He said that while he loves being on the Magic he was thinking about switching to the Fantasy to stay in the Caribbean.