March 10 announcement?

[NancyIL]

I don't think that is true. I looked at doing a Celebrity cruise out of NJ this October that sails from NJ to San Juan and the only foreign port is St. Thomas which is still considered North America.

I have also looked at a NCL repositioning cruise from Tampa to NY and the only ports are in the Caribbean and Mexico which are considered North America.

Probably the person who wrote that on Wikipedia either didn't understand that Puerto Rico is the US or that the Caribbean and Mexico are also North America!!!

St. Thomas is in the US Virgin Islands, so it's not a foreign port. I was on a repositioning cruise from San Juan to Norfolk, VA, and it stopped in St. Maarten, Tortola, and Bermuda - as well as St. Thomas. (Before that it went from Tampa to San Juan.)

Wikipedia may be wrong about North America, but there is still the "distant" foreign port requirement for ships traveling between two different US ports.

Cruise ships that regularly visit Hawaii don't tender in all the ports. I have a Honolulu to Vancouver cruise booked for 2012 that goes to 5 ports on 4 islands. It docks in Honolulu (Oahu), Nawiliwili (Kauai), and Hilo (Hawaii), and tenders in Lahaina (Maui) and Kailua-Kona (Hawaii)

 

[NancyIL]

I can't help wondering if the American-flagged ships have a monopoly/ownership of the ports and/or the port fees for non-American-flagged ships are so outrageous the other cruise lines refuse to pay them?

There is only ONE US-flagged cruise ship, and that is NCL's Pride of America that sails year 'round in Hawaii. NCLA used to have 3 US-flagged ships, but the demand for their cruises wasn't there.

 

[denas]

St. Thomas is in the US Virgin Islands, so it's not a foreign port. I was on a repositioning cruise from San Juan to Norfolk, VA, and it stopped in St. Maarten, Tortola, and Bermuda - as well as St. Thomas. (Before that it went from Tampa to San Juan.)

Wikipedia may be wrong about North America, but there is still the "distant" foreign port requirement for ships traveling between two different US ports.

Cruise ships that regularly visit Hawaii don't tender in all the ports. I have a Honolulu to Vancouver cruise booked for 2012 that goes to 5 ports on 4 islands. It docks in Honolulu (Oahu), Nawiliwili (Kauai), and Hilo (Hawaii), and tenders in Lahaina (Maui) and Kailua-Kona (Hawaii)

I guess that is my point. If Celebrity can do a repositioning cruise going from NJ to San Juan and the ONLY stop is St. Thomas then there must be some variations to the maritime rule - or the US territories are not considered part of the US for this rule??? It just doesn't seem that clear.

I do think a re-positioning cruise looks like fun and if Bermuda or CC was considered far enough away, I would think a one-way from NYC to PC with a stop at Bermuda would be fun!! Better than taking the train or driving both ways!!

 

[NancyIL]

I think this would be fabulous for our famly (not necessarily for everyone but for us ). For an in our dreams trip I we'd the train to NYC, ship to PC, 8 days at Disney, board the ship back to NYC.

Or, cruise to PC, a week at Disney, fly home.

I don't think a stop in the Bahamas is "distant" enough for DCL to do one-ways between NY and Port Canaveral.

 

[NancyIL]

I guess that is my point. If Celebrity can do a repositioning cruise going from NJ to San Juan and the ONLY stop is St. Thomas then there must be some variations to the maritime rule - or the US territories are not considered part of the US for this rule??? It just doesn't seem that clear.

I do think a re-positioning cruise looks like fun and if Bermuda or CC was considered far enough away, I would think a one-way from NYC to PC with a stop at Bermuda would be fun!! Better than taking the train or driving both ways!!

The Celebrity cruise I think you considered (the Summit from Cape Liberty to San Juan on Oct. 23) also stops in Bermuda - which is a foreign port. http://www.celebritycruises.com/sea...M06R005&backPageName=Itinerary+Search+Results

 

[denas]

The Celebrity cruise I think you considered (the Summit from Cape Liberty to San Juan on Oct. 23) also stops in Bermuda - which is a foreign port. http://www.celebritycruises.com/sea...M06R005&backPageName=Itinerary+Search+Results

Oops - you are right. I forgot about the Bermuda stop (which is why I first looked at it) I ended up choosing a different cruise, but this one made my list!!!

 

[cindy18]

Oops - you are right. I forgot about the Bermuda stop (which is why I first looked at it) I ended up choosing a different cruise, but this one made my list!!!

Wouldn't this make a Bermuda stop the answer to the problem? If Magic cruised from NY to PC or CC (or both) with a stop in Bermuda along the way? Would that solve the foreign port problem. I'm biased because I'm much more interested in that cruise than in a New England/Canada cruise, although I'm still holding out for an Eastern Med, no matter how remote that feels right now. Really surprised DCL hasn't released news yet, especially since so many of the other cruise lines have.

 

[denas]

Wouldn't this make a Bermuda stop the answer to the problem? If Magic cruised from NY to PC or CC (or both) with a stop in Bermuda along the way? Would that solve the foreign port problem. I'm biased because I'm much more interested in that cruise than in a New England/Canada cruise, although I'm still holding out for an Eastern Med, no matter how remote that feels right now. Really surprised DCL hasn't released news yet, especially since so many of the other cruise lines have.

I think you're right. However, we are all assuming there isn't enough demand for 7-day RT to NY with stops at CC and PC. NCL runs one ship in the summer and TWO in the winter that do this exact itinerary and Carnival runs one year-round that does this. So if people are willing to fill these ships with the only stops being PC and private islands, I bet they would fill a Disney ship doing a Disney stop and their (much nicer) private island!!

 

[NancyIL]

Wouldn't this make a Bermuda stop the answer to the problem? If Magic cruised from NY to PC or CC (or both) with a stop in Bermuda along the way? Would that solve the foreign port problem. I'm biased because I'm much more interested in that cruise than in a New England/Canada cruise, although I'm still holding out for an Eastern Med, no matter how remote that feels right now. Really surprised DCL hasn't released news yet, especially since so many of the other cruise lines have.

There's a difference between a foreign port stop (required for a roundtrip cruise from a US port) and a distant foreign port stop (required for one-ways between two different US ports). Apparently Bermuda is distant enough for repositioning cruises, but I don't know if it would be allowed for regularly-scheduled one-way cruises. I doubt that Castaway Cay is distant enough - just as Ensenada, Mexico isn't distant enough for one-way Hawaii cruises, but is allowed for roundtrips.

 

[cindy18]

There's a difference between a foreign port stop (required for a roundtrip cruise from a US port) and a distant foreign port stop (required for one-ways between two different US ports). Apparently Bermuda is distant enough for repositioning cruises, but I don't know if it would be allowed for regularly-scheduled one-way cruises. I doubt that Castaway Cay is distant enough - just as Ensenada, Mexico isn't distant enough for one-way Hawaii cruises, but is allowed for roundtrips.

OK, I get that, but what if it were a roundtrip cruise instead of a regularly scheduled one way cruise? We're assuming south would mean CC/PC and then coming back. What if it were just Bermuda, or Bermuda, CC, and then back to NY? Too long?

 

[cmwade77]

It's not feasible. As has been pointed out earlier in this thread, to do a one way between 2 US cities, you have to have a distant foreign port call. The Bahamas are not considered distant. So the cruise ship would have to return to the original port of origin (NY) with everyone who left from NY on that cruise or there are large penalties per passenger.

Cannot leave them in FL for a few days to get on a different sailing. That's providing transportation and is not allowed for foreign flagged ships.

This is a stupid law, why would they do such a thing? But I still want round trip from L.A. to Hawaii, I would be just fine with 4 at sea days and 3 days in Hawaii. But that is because inlive in L.A. and it save money on airfare! Although eve one way wouldn't be too bad, depending on the time of year as tickets to Hawaii can get as cheap as about $100 round trip (one way is usually more expensive, so you just book round triip, although some airlines will offer cheaper one way tickets from time to time).

 

[CruznLexi]

We did round trip on RCI in 07 and loved it. We spent 45 min in Ensenada! It was 4 1/2 days to get to Hawaii from San Pedro. Only 2 ports were docked both Kona and Lahina were tendered and we did an overnight. We rented cars in all ports saved a ton of money! Waiting on Disney and RCI. Carnival has a fabulous itinerary but holding off as it is a one way. When we considered doing one in 07 the one way cruise just airfare and it was cheap was $850 a person. Still holding on.

 

[mickeyfan1]

The Jones Act has been around for a long long time. DCL is not going to Asia, they will reposition the Wonder from CA to Vancouver via Hawaii and the same on the return. This is the same thing that RCCL and CCL have done. They do not let passengers disembark in HI for good, as it were.

For the poster that claimed other cruise ships are not making a foreign port stop, look more closely at the itineraries, they are 10 or more nights and they stop in the Fanning Islands in order to satisfy the Jones Act. They go from LA to HI, via that distant foreign port. Once they get to HI, they travel around to the various ports and then passengers get off. New passengers get on, they sail around HI, go to the Fanning Islands and back to CA. It is a longer than 7 night cruise that NCL does.

 

[tufbuf]

I just wish DCL will finally release their Magic and Wonder itineraries once and for all!

 

[discorsner]

Someone mentioned a few pages ago what if Disney stopped a PC and offered trips to WDW and offered different more elaborate things to do.

I see with adding on the Adventures by Disney port adventures they come up with some neat things to do and I'm sure they make a lot of money.

The one thing that comes to mind that I would LOVE would be what if they offered an exclusive port adventure that included a tour of the castle suite?

I would so want to do that. I have wanted to get inside that place forever! They did have tours of it with the D23 Magic and Merriment but we were not able to try to go to it because of the timing, plus it was very difficult to get tickets.

If they offered it as a port excursion, even an expensive one, I would go for it. I know they probably wouldn't want you to "pay" to see it but if they coupled it with a new tour of the Magic Kingdom or something like that then it wouldn't really be criticized.

They could keep it exclusive to the cruise or make it a regular Adventures by Disney land trip.

 

[SanDeeKath]

We did round trip on RCI in 07 and loved it. We spent 45 min in Ensenada! It was 4 1/2 days to get to Hawaii from San Pedro. Only 2 ports were docked both Kona and Lahina were tendered and we did an overnight. We rented cars in all ports saved a ton of money! Waiting on Disney and RCI. Carnival has a fabulous itinerary but holding off as it is a one way. When we considered doing one in 07 the one way cruise just airfare and it was cheap was $850 a person. Still holding on.

Carnival just announced a round trip from LA to Hawaii on the Splendor! Thinking about booking it! I think it's 1 sailing only so far (Jan 2013 if I remember correctly). You can see it on their site. The Splendor has a covered pool (retractable top) so it is KEY during those windy sea days coming and going across the Pacific. And they have great kids club resources and huge dining/buffet venues. We'll probably do this sailing although I have not put a deposit on it yet.... We need to plan 2012 first.

Katherine

 

[BabyBun]

has anyone else noticed that all of the Panama Canal itinerary information is still on the DCL website? All of the information about the Baltic itinerary was removed, perhaps they are planning on moving the Magic to the west coast or the Wonder to the east coast?

 

[WeLoveABD]

I agree - we like to use the ship as a floating hotel but the Med Cruise was so port intensive. If we had it to do all over again then we would sneak an extra beach day in rather than running around like maniacs.

As far as some of the home ports some have mentioned....here is my take

Galveston - makes no business sense at all to me. Would directly compete with the Florida ships. Could go to Cozumel or Costa Maya from there but not seeing it at all. Maybe could shoot down to Belize but too much overlap with Florida.

Baltimore - Hard to do shorter cruises out of Baltimore. Could go to Canada but if you are going to go to Canada why would you start in Baltimore.

New York - This at least makes some business sense to me. Huge population to draw from and could take only 1 sea day to get up towards Canada. Would seem to make sense as a summer orgin. I can not see them going south to Bermuda and CC from there - too many sea days. Most New Yorkers I know (grew up there but thankfully made my way to Colorado) want to go go go. A cruise with too many sea days would not be a huge hit with most New Yorkers.

LA - Could they possibly put 2 ships out there with one running down the Cabo itinerary and the other being special cruises? Personally, Hawaii is my favorite place in the world but I would not want to be confined to a day here and a day there. Again 4 sea days in a row is an awful lot. I just am not seeing Asia happening just yet.

Agree! Which when all is said and done makes Europe (and maybe eventually Asia) the most likely destination for the Magic. Could be that with the concerns in Japan right now, that any Asia trip will be put off--as would an Eygpt stop. But plenty to see and do in the Eastern Med. I can't see Disney holding back a year on these sorts of cruises because of world turmoil--there will always be conflicts and turmoils. Still holding out for something outside of the US in 2012; but just in case we have started looking at other cruise lines to see what is offered, and may yet be wow'd by a new Advertures By Disney trip (generally not announced until August).

 

[dato63]

has anyone else noticed that all of the Panama Canal itinerary information is still on the DCL website? All of the information about the Baltic itinerary was removed, perhaps they are planning on moving the Magic to the west coast or the Wonder to the east coast?

That would be funny if DCL was going to Panama Canal next year. We decided we wanted to do something different next year, and just (today) booked w/Princess to Panama for Christmas. I was waiting to see where DCL went, and if they went out of Galveston. But then DH and I discussed trying something different - and I've always wanted to see Panama Canal.

 

[cindy18]

Agree! Which when all is said and done makes Europe (and maybe eventually Asia) the most likely destination for the Magic. Could be that with the concerns in Japan right now, that any Asia trip will be put off--as would an Eygpt stop. But plenty to see and do in the Eastern Med. I can't see Disney holding back a year on these sorts of cruises because of world turmoil--there will always be conflicts and turmoils. Still holding out for something outside of the US in 2012; but just in case we have started looking at other cruise lines to see what is offered, and may yet be wow'd by a new Advertures By Disney trip (generally not announced until August).

Agree completely with this post, which is why the persistant rumors about NY in the summer of 2012 have confused me. Not going to Asia seems more about finishing the Hong Kong port and not world turmoil. They could certainly do an Eastern Med with Greece and Turkey and avoid Egypt. There is a lot of interest in NY departures (at least until people find out how expensive it is to do that), and the 2011 med cruises, I thought, weren't selling well, so they may just think they need to do something new. We've never cruised with another line, but we may next summer, because we really want to do the Greek isles by ship! We'll see.