Last week, Disney Cruise Line released more of their 2015 itineraries. For the first time, Disney Cruise Line (aboard the Disney Magic) will explore the Norwegian fjords, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Plus, Disney Cruise Line is returning to the Baltic for all-new itineraries…, including sailings from Copenhagen, Denmark to St. Petersburg, Russia. And, the Disney Wonder will return to Alaska for the summer season with 7-night cruises departing out of Vancouver, Canada. The Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy will continue to sail during the summer to the Bahamas and Caribbean from Port Canaveral, Florida – these cruises include a stop at Disney’s private island – Castaway Cay.
What most loyal Disney Cruise Line cruisers noticed was the pricing. It appears to have risen up to 12% from the same sailing in 2014 (easily compared because the Dream and Fantasy are cruising most of the same schedules as they are in 2015). Some cruisers we excited for the new ports in the Baltics, while other were dismayed that the Dream and Fantasy aren’t offering newer itineraries with different many ports.
My family LOVES cruising with Disney Cruise Line. We knew that we wanted to cruise next summer, we were just wondering where Disney would take us. While a Baltic cruise appealed to some, to us it was a hard stretch for us to purchase 5 round trip tickets to Northern Europe. The transatlantic cruises looked amazing, and the flights a bit easier to afford, but the dates didn’t work for us at all. Alaska is a dream destination- which we aren’t sure we can do next summer after heading to Hawaii this summer because an Alaskan cruise is really all about the excursions, etc (which will increase the price as well) and I want to be sure all 3 of our kids will be able to do everything we would ideally want to do in Alaska.We just cruised on the Fantasy last summer on their Eastern Caribbean itinerary, and we cruised their Western in December 2010 on the Disney Magic. My husband is not a fan of shorter cruises, especially in the summer when we typically can and will vacation for at least 7 nights, so that ruled out the Disney Dream. Decisions decisions…
When we cruised in December 2010 we stopped in Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Castaway Cay. We were able to partake in a lot of holiday activities on board the Magic, which was great. If we chose the western in the summer of 2015 we did have the option of visiting Jamaica, which we haven’t visited before (this would replace Key West, which we loved on our 2010 cruise). We decided to go for it and try to go west again, a different ship during a different time of year will change things up for us a bit as well. We also chose 2 category 5e staterooms for our August 2015 sailing- which is different from the 2 9C (oceanview) we had on the Magic in 2010 too. We LOVED having a balcony when we sailed in January, and the 5e’s offer oversized balconies at the back of the ship. As Gold level Castaway Club members we were able to book our cruise a day before most cruisers, so these hard to get staterooms we a bit easier to get for us – especially since we needed our rooms to connect (we will be sailing with my Mom again, who will have our 2 daughters in her stateroom and Mike and I will have our son with us again). We are so lucky to be sailing with our good friends, the Belfonti family, again on this cruise- who will be right next door too! On the Fantasy, your balconies connect to the staterooms next door- so we will have 3 oversized and connecting balconies!
As we continue to plan, I will update you here, on our blog. At this point we know we want to get off in each port to do something. In Cozumel, we might just do some shopping at the port and stop somewhere to try some authentic Mexican food (my favorite!). In Grand Cayman, I would like to visit their Sea Turtle Farm. In Jamaica, we might try to visit the Beaches Resort in Negril for the day. On Castaway Cay, we are hoping to reserve a cabana, like we had during our sailing this past January.
Are you planning a 2015 Disney Cruise Line vacation? How are your plans coming along? How did you decide when and where to sail?
