Disney Cruise lines in Sydney?

[Chiliburn]

 

[arxcards]

Maybe. A Disney fan friend spotted a few days back that they have registered a business here. Hard to know if this is only a local booking office, or a bit more.

 

I wonder how far down the track they are, or if only aspirational. If less Aussies are travelling to the US to Disney, why not bring a bit of Disney here.

[Chiliburn]

17 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Maybe. A Disney fan friend spotted a few days back that they have registered a business here. Hard to know if this is only a local booking office, or a bit more.

 

I wonder how far down the track they are, or if only aspirational. If less Aussies are travelling to the US to Disney, why not bring a bit of Disney here.

That video speculated next season,it would be good for young families.

Disney cruises are expensive but a lot cheaper than taking a family of 4 to California.

[Aus Traveller]

32 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

That video speculated next season,it would be good for young families.

Disney cruises are expensive but a lot cheaper than taking a family of 4 to California.

But going on a Disney cruise cannot compare with going to one of their theme parks.

[losfp]

Hahahah this got posted on a Disney facebook page I'm on a few days ago. So I wrote up a big thing that I will repost here.

 

This has always been the most likely Disney presence we get here - we'll not get a park in the foreseeable future - especially after Disney Wish is launched.
The interesting thing is WHICH ship and WHEN.
What we know is that their itineraries are sorted until middle of 2023. That's not going to change.
Magic is sailing out of... a lot of ports. Europe, Galveston, New Orleans.
Dream, Fantasy and Wish will sail out of Florida. That's where the money is - constant, unrelenting Caribbean and Bahamas cruises. Dream seems to be swapping between Canaveral and Miami, Fantasy is based fulltime out of Canaveral, and it appears that Wish will be too.
Wonder is the interesting one. It's the only ship that's on our side of the USA, and up until mid 2023 she will sail out of Vancouver to Alaska, and out of San Diego to mostly Mexico. She is also the only one (I think) that can transit the Panama Canal - this becomes important in a minute.
So what do they do? Do they use the Wonder to do Australian cruises out of Sydney during our summer? If they do so, they will lose the Mexico cruises, or will have to shorten each season.
Do they send a second ship? If so, that's a big deal because a bigger ship will have to figure out some way of getting here that's not via the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal. They would have to go AROUND Africa or South America. And I doubt they will want to do that every year - it's just not prime cruising territory and comes with weather and rough seas risks. And is there enough demand here for them to have 2 ships permanently based in the Pacific?
And if they send a big ship, which one would they send? I would say not the newest two. They will be stuck to Florida until superseded. Just too much money there to do otherwise. Disney Dream? Maybe. But there's just not the numbers here. Classic conundrum.
If I were a betting man, this is what I think will happen. Possibly 2023/24, but possibly 2024/25 depending.
- Disney Magic will make its way to the Pacific and spend half the year out of California and half the year out of Sydney. It's the smallest and oldest ship, so that's what we'll get.
- Disney Wonder will continue doing Alaska but swap via the Panama Canal to sail out of Florida or the southern USA states - Galveston, New Orleans etc - in their winter.
- Disney Fantasy stays in Port Canaveral.
- Disney Wish joins the Fantasy in Port Canaveral.
- Disney Dream takes over doing bits and pieces cruises - Mediterranean, Northern Europe, New York etc.
Bookmark this, and let's see how much I get right.
Good night and thank you for listening to my TED Talk about Disney cruises in Australia.

[losfp]

4 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

37 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

 

But going on a Disney cruise cannot compare with going to one of their theme park

This is true, but it could be much more economical, and it IS much more relaxing.

 

We've done a Disney cruise a few years ago (2015) on Disney Fantasy to the Caribbean. Loved it. Our family is very much a Disney family and we would have loved to have gone on another one again but the pricing and the itineraries just didn't suit.  So if one sails out of Australia in the next few years, we will absolutely give them another go.

 

We don't really mind if theme parks never come here - we don't have the population to sustain it, and travelling away to a Disney park is one of our favourite things anyway.

[Hogbay]

45 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

That video speculated next season,it would be good for young families.

Disney cruises are expensive but a lot cheaper than taking a family of 4 to California.

Why go to Europe? Stay in Australia and go on a expensive old Disney Ship....you're joking aren't you ?

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Hogbay said:

Why go to Europe? Stay in Australia and go on a expensive old Disney Ship....you're joking aren't you ?

Where does Europe come in to it? Chili said California which is, of course, one of the most popular Disney parks for Australians. 

 

Although there is a Disney park just out of Paris so you could fit in a Disney fix on a trip to Europe. 

[Chiliburn]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

But going on a Disney cruise cannot compare with going to one of their theme parks.

That’s true but not everyone can afford it. 
My kids have been 8 times and the grand kids once but I would hate to be a young family with a big mortgage to do the pilgrimage.

 

 

[Chiliburn]

2 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Why go to Europe? Stay in Australia and go on a expensive old Disney Ship....you're joking aren't you ?

I was thinking more of China Disney with a side trip to a re-education camp.

[Hogbay]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Where does Europe come in to it? Chili said California which is, of course, one of the most popular Disney parks for Australians. 

 

Although there is a Disney park just out of Paris so you could fit in a Disney fix on a trip to Europe. 

Thats what the comparison was in the video .

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Where does Europe come in to it? Chili said California which is, of course, one of the most popular Disney parks for Australians. 

 

Although there is a Disney park just out of Paris so you could fit in a Disney fix on a trip to Europe. 

They will have to bring the monorail back Julie and some ears on the harbour bridge.

[Hogbay]

20 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I was thinking more of China Disney with a side trip to a re-education camp.

The video stated that Australians would pay $6,000 on a European holiday and a Disney Australian cruises would be preferred 🤔 🤣🤣🤣

[Chiliburn]

4 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

The video stated that Australians would pay $6,000 on a European holiday and a Disney Australian cruises would be preferred 🤔 🤣🤣🤣

I can’t think of many young families around here with a $800k mortgage that can afford a trip to euro disney.

But some May be able to afford a inside cabin for a few days .

[OzKiwiJJ]

43 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

Thats what the comparison was in the video .

Ah, that explains that. I didn't bother watching the video since I'm not interested in Disney cruises.

[OzKiwiJJ]

32 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

The video stated that Australians would pay $6,000 on a European holiday and a Disney Australian cruises would be preferred 🤔 🤣🤣🤣

That's the silliest comparison I've ever heard. 

 

Europe - real history, art, great food and wine, etc.

Disney - theme park 

How can you link the two as a comparison

 

Don't get me wrong, I like Disney. Back in the day when I tagged along on some of Rolf's business trips I had fun going to the Disney Parks in both Hong Kong and France. 

 

 

[losfp]

A family trip to Europe for $6k? HOW.  We're planning one for next year and I doubt we could get just flights for that amount.

 

I DO expect DCL to come here eventually - as per my lengthy post above - and when they do, I have zero doubt that they will sell the ships out. There's a fair amount of demand from Disney fans, and I would certainly look into booking a cruise with them again as long as the price isn't TOO massive.

[losfp]

2 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

silliest comparison I've ever heard

 

It seems a really odd comparison to make. I would have made the comparison with flying the family to California for a trip to Disneyland if you wanted a more logical comparison.

 

But even then, there's a very real difference in the two types of holidays. If you go to one expecting the other, you'll be disappointed.

[Hogbay]

 Gee it would be boring if everyone read the op heading and actually watched the video before posting 🤣. Disney cruising from Sydney would be fantastic, not that i  would go but for competition in the marketplace. 

[losfp]

26 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

it would be boring if everyone read the op heading and actually watched the video before posting

Where's your sense of fun 😄 

[MMDown Under]

There would be no comparison between a Disney cruise and a holiday at WDW in Orlando, Florida.  WDW has four theme parks, disneyland magic kingdom, Epcot Centre, hollywood studios, and animal kingdom and Water Parks.  we used to stay at fort wilderness camping area in a RV.  For a week we would live the Disney dream, riding bikes, roasting marshmallows, watching chip and dale movies, sit on rocking chairs on verandah of the rustic lodge and this was on top of the four Theme Parks!  I would recommend WDW for memorable family holidays.  We returned long after my girls had grown.   

[OzKiwiJJ]

39 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

There would be no comparison between a Disney cruise and a holiday at WDW in Orlando, Florida.  WDW has four theme parks, disneyland magic kingdom, Epcot Centre, hollywood studios, and animal kingdom and Water Parks.  we used to stay at fort wilderness camping area in a RV.  For a week we would live the Disney dream, riding bikes, roasting marshmallows, watching chip and dale movies, sit on rocking chairs on verandah of the rustic lodge and this was on top of the four Theme Parks!  I would recommend WDW for memorable family holidays.  We returned long after my girls had grown.   

I tagged along on one of Rolf's business trips, which was a conference held at WDW. While he sat in the conference rooms I had fun at the parks. That was a memorable trip, not for being at WDW, but because we saw a space shuttle launch. The word went out among the delegates so we jumped into our rental car and headed for the coast. We didn't have a clue where we were going but suddenly cars started pulling off the road onto a grassy patch on one side of a bridge, so we did too. We had to cross four lanes of traffic to get to a good vantage point at the top of the bridge. We didn't even have a clue which way to look but the friendly locals soon put us right. We had a great view of the lift off, and clearly saw the boosters separate before the space shuttle dwindled to a bright dot then disappeared out of sight. Awesome!

[Aus Traveller]

We saw a shuttle launch on one of our trips to the US. We (and our kids) visited Disney World and we all remember the shuttle launch. Superb.

[MMDown Under]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I tagged along on one of Rolf's business trips, which was a conference held at WDW. While he sat in the conference rooms I had fun at the parks. That was a memorable trip, not for being at WDW, but because we saw a space shuttle launch. The word went out among the delegates so we jumped into our rental car and headed for the coast. We didn't have a clue where we were going but suddenly cars started pulling off the road onto a grassy patch on one side of a bridge, so we did too. We had to cross four lanes of traffic to get to a good vantage point at the top of the bridge. We didn't even have a clue which way to look but the friendly locals soon put us right. We had a great view of the lift off, and clearly saw the boosters separate before the space shuttle dwindled to a bright dot then disappeared out of sight. Awesome!

WOW What a priceless experience.  Lots of people spent the day at the Cape from WDW, but they didn't see a space shuttle launch LIKE YOU DID.

[losfp]

23 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Lots of people spent the day at the Cape from WDW, but they didn't see a space shuttle launch LIKE YOU DID

 

So here's something to tie all the threads together.

 

In 2015 we did our big family Disney holiday: Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise, Disneyland, and finishing up with the Disney Aulani resort in Hawaii.  Between WDW and DCL, we spent a day at Kennedy. Loved it. There was supposed to be a rocket launch on the day but we were disappointed to discover upon arrival that they had postponed the launch until the following day.

 

However, we were lucky enough to be able to still see the launch from the deck of Disney Fantasy the next day after we boarded for our Caribbean cruise. It was unreal - you could hear the launch clearly, and I swear you could feel the ground shake as well.