The Old Disney Cruise Line Website! Part 2: Deck Plans

Welcome to Part 2 of the series where we go back in time to the Disney Cruise Line Website of the early 2000s!  In Part 1, we started at the homepage and looked through Rates, Dates, & More.  In that post, I said I'd be saving the deck plans for a later post.  Well, it's officially later, so let's look at those deck plans!  These deck plans from the old DCL website are of the original versions of the Magic and Wonder, before any changes were made in dry docks.  I'll be comparing the old deck plans of the Magic and the Wonder (they're sister ships, so their deck plans are very similar) to the modern deck plans using this deck plan from WDWinfo.com.  I would use the normal DCL website deck plans, but this other deck plan has each deck in a way that looks very similar to the old DCL website's deck plans.

Let's start at the bottom of the ship, Deck 1.  There's not much to do on Deck 1, and nothing here has changed, except for the Health Center's name.  It used to be called "Medical Health Center", but now it's just "Health Center".  This change is very minor, if you asked a crew member where you could find the Medical Health Center today, I'm sure they'd know what you were talking about.

Deck 2 is much more interesting than Deck 1.  Aside from staterooms, Deck 2 originally had three conference rooms in Midship.  These conference rooms must not have been used for many meetings, since they were eventually converted into Edge, the youth club for ages 11-14.  Deck 2 probably wasn't an ideal place for a youth club, since the loud kids probably disturbed the guests in the nearby staterooms.  So, Edge was moved up to Deck 9, where the Quarter Masters Arcade previously was.  The space Edge occupied on Deck 2 was converted into six inside staterooms:  2063, 2065, 2067, 2563, 2565, and 2567,

Today, Deck 3 is quite different from what it was originally like.  Let's start in Forward and work our way to Aft.  The adults-only nightclub area on the Magic was originally called Beat Street and featured Sessions, Off Beat, and Rockin' Bar D.  The Wonder's equivalent of Beat Street was Route 66.  Route 66 featured the Cadillac Lounge, Barrel of Laughs, and WaveBands.  Route 66 was created before Cars, a movie that mostly took place in a town on Route 66, released.  So, Cars had no influence on it.  But did the Wonder's Route 66 influence Cars?  I don't remember there being any cruise ships in Cars.  Both of these areas featured a small shopping boutique area, separate from the main shopping area onboard.  Beat Street and Route 66 are now After Hours, a different area with a name unrelated to roads.  In the Magic's After Hours, Sessions is now Keys, a literal piano bar.  While Off Beat was a creative name, it wouldn't make much sense in After Hours, so it's now O'Gill's Pub, which is also on the Fantasy.  Also, Rockin' Bar D is now Fathoms, or as I thought when I was on the Magic in 2015, Fathorns.  On the Wonder, the Cadillac Lounge is still the Cadillac Lounge, even though the Route 66-themed area is gone.  Barrel of Laughs is now the Crown & Fin Pub, and WaveBands is now Azure.  Also, the boutique shop is now Sea Treasures.  Having a store in After Hours seems a little odd, but hey, at least it has an actual name now.

Closer to Midship are the Guest Services desk and the Shore Excursions desk.  These were likely very similar to what they're like today, but DCL's Shore Excursions are now called Port Adventures.  I prefer the newer name, but would a shopping excursion count as an adventure?

Near those desks is the atrium, now with 50% less grand staircases.  The Magic and Wonder originally had two grand staircases in their atriums, but since the newer Dream and Fantasy only have one, their starboard side staircases were removed.  At least they kept the statues in the same central location.  Right next to the staircases is one of the three rotational dining restaurants, Lumière's on the Magic and Triton's on the Wonder.  Not much has changed with these restaurants since the Magic and Wonder were launched.  Notably, on the original deck plan, Lumière's is spelled with a fancy, accented 'è', but on the new deck plan, it's just Lumiere's, without the fancy 'è'.  

Between Midship and Aft is the Promenade Lounge.  While it's still on the Magic, the Promenade Lounge has been converted into the French Quarter Lounge on the Wonder.  The French Quarter Lounge goes very well with Tiana's Place, the nearby rotational restaurant.  Unfortunately, the newer deck plan I used for this post doesn't show this change, but the DCL website's deck plan does.  The last time I was on the Wonder, it was still the Promenade Lounge, but the French Quarter Lounge looks really cool.

Near the Promenade Lounge is the second of the original DCL rotational restaurants, Parrot Cay.  From what the old website says, Parrot Cay was a tropical Caribbean restaurant.  If I went on a cruise in the Caribbean and went to Caribbean restaurants in the ports the ship visited, I think I'd prefer to eat at a different-themed restaurant at night.  Maybe that's why they changed it.  On the Magic, it was changed into Carioca's, a Brazilian restaurant.  Carioca's didn't last, though, and it was converted into Rapunzel's Royal Table in 2018.  Rapunzel's Royal Table goes really well with Tangled:  The Musical, a live show exclusively on the Magic.  Well, it's also on YouTube, but it's more fun watching it in the Walt Disney Theatre.  On the Wonder, Parrot Cay became Tiana's Place, one of DCL's most fun and entertaining rotational restaurants.

Let's go up another deck to Deck 4.  Starting in Forward, the first location is the Walt Disney Theatre.  This theatre was where live shows were held back in the time of the old website, and it still is where live shows are held.  Near the Walt Disney Theatre is Preludes, where guests can buy popcorn, cans of soda, and other snacks to enjoy during a show.  Preludes was like this in the early days of DCL, and it still is today.  The Dream and Fantasy both have Preludes as well, and they're just like their counterparts on the Magic and Wonder.

Between Preludes and the atrium are the two major shops, Mickey's Mates and Treasure Ketch.  Mickey's Mates was the shop for Disney and DCL merchandise.  Treasure Ketch was not a place to play games that involved catching treasure (a ketch is a type of sailboat), instead, it was a duty-free shop.  Mickey's Mates is now Mickey's Mainsail and Treasure Ketch is now White Caps.  The original shops likely sold similar goods to what their modern equivalents sell.

Deck 4 is the deck above the atrium.  Near the atrium is the Disney Vacation Planning Desk, which is absent from the original deck plans.  I think the desk was there but it just wasn't on the deck plans.  Where else would guests book another cruse onboard?  They couldn't have used the app because smartphones didn't exist yet.  Also, remember how I said that the starboard grand staircase was removed from the Magic and Wonder?  The newer deck plan still shows both grand staircases.  Furthermore, the deck plan on the DCL website still shows two!  This is a strange error since the Deck 3 plans have been updated to show the single staircase.  Maybe whoever was in charge of removing the staircase from the deck plans just forgot to remove the top part of it.

Near the atrium is Studio Sea, which is now the D Lounge.  The old website says Studio Sea was a family club, which is similar to the D Lounge that replaced it.  It was likely changed to keep continuity with the newer ships, as we've seen with a few changed areas so far, like the shops and the removed grand staircase.  Outside of the D Lounge is the Vista Gallery, which was not on the original deck plans.  I enjoy going to the Vista Gallery to look at art, even though I never buy anything from it.  I hope the Wish has a dedicated Vista Gallery area like the Dream and Fantasy did before Tiffany's took over.

Part of Studio Sea was turned into the Shutters Portrait Studio, where guests can pay extra to get fancy photos taken of them.  Outside of the Shutters Portrait Studio is Shutters, where guests can buy photos taken by professional photographers onboard.  Now, guests use kiosks with touchscreens to buy photos.  I'm pretty sure there weren't any touchscreen kiosks back when the Magic and Wonder entered service.

Right next to Shutters is one of the Buena Vista Theatre's exits.  It's labeled on the old deck plans but not on the newer ones.  This might be because it's no longer used as an exit, or maybe it wasn't deemed important enough to be labeled.

Near there is The Crown Jewelry on the Magic.  I don't remember this being on the Magic in 2015, but judging by its page on the DCL website, it looks like a jewelry shop with some very expensive wares.

Finally, the last feature of Deck 4 is Animator's Palate, the third rotational restaurant.  Animator's Palate is the only rotational restaurant on every DCL ship.  The version of the restaurant on the Dream and Fantasy introduced some awesome new features, and the version on the Magic and Wonder have adopted some of those features since.  For example, Animation Magic, the show where guests draw a character on a placemat and their character comes to life later in the dinner, started out on the Fantasy.  Since then, it has been brought to the Magic and Wonder.   It's not on the Dream since it only does short cruises.

The next deck we'll be looking at is Deck 5.  Starting in Forward, the first point of interest is the Oceaneer Lab, one of the youth clubs for kids from age 3 to age 12.  The Oceaneer Lab has activities targeted toward the older end of the age group, but younger kids can participate in its activities as well.  The Oceaneer Club is targeted toward the younger end of the age group, but older kids can go to it as well.  There is a hallway that connects the two clubs.  Before the Magic and Wonder were reimagined, I'm pretty sure that kids could not freely go between the two.  To go between them, they would've needed to ask a counselor.  Allowing kids to go between as they please is a much better way for the clubs to function.

Adjacent to the Oceaneer Club was Flounder's Reef Nursery, themed after The Little Mermaid.  The nursery is for children that are old enough to go on a cruise but are too young to go to the Oceaneer Club and Lab.  For children to go here, their parents would've needed to pay an extra fee.  Flounder no longer has a reef, because it's now the It's a Small World Nursery.  According to the newer deck plan, the It's a Small World Nursery ironically appears to be bigger than Flounder's Reef. 

Right next to the nursery is the Buena Vista Theatre, the ships' movie theater.  It's not as big as the Walt Disney Theatre, so new, popular movies like Star Wars and Marvel movies are often shown in the Walt Disney Theatre in addition to the Buena Vista Theatre so more people can watch them.  Since the Magic and Wonder have been in service, the Buena Vista Theatre has been upgraded with 3D technology.

Deck 5 starts and ends with staterooms, and there's not much to say about these rooms, so let's move on!

Deck 6 really isn't that interesting.  Even the deck's description on the old website doesn't seem to care much about this deck:  "Staterooms from bow to stern."  As you can see, there's just a lot of rooms here.  Some categories have been changed and some rooms have been changed into connecting rooms.  Instead of wasting time here, let's go up the virtual staircases or ride the virtual elevator to Deck 7.

Deck 7 is a lot like Deck 6, "Staterooms from bow to stern."  As I said before, some room categories have been changed and some connecting rooms have been added, but that's about it.  Let's go up to Deck 8.

Deck 8 isn't entirely "Staterooms from bow to stern."  It's mostly staterooms from bow to stern.  The bridge is shown on this deck's plans, even though it's not a guest area.  It would be really cool to go to the bridge and see what's there, but I guess the only way to do that is to get hired by Disney.  Deck 8 is also where many of the concierge rooms are, including the Walt Disney Suite and the Roy Disney Suite.  Deck 8 also has a pair of staircases behind the Aft elevator lobby.  These go to what is now Cabanas on the deck above.  Let's go to that deck!

Deck 9 is the pool deck, and there's a lot to discuss here.  As with the other decks, let's start in Forward.  The first area is the spa.  Back before the Reimaginations of the Magic and Wonder, the spa was the Vista Spa & Salon, but now it's Senses Spa & Salon, keeping with the fleetwide name and theme.  The section of the spa closest to the front of the ship is the overlook, which is absent from the newer deck plans.  The overlook was still inside the Vista Spa & Salon, and it was probably just part of the adjacent fitness area, which is on the newer plans.  On the starboard side, the Aerobics Area is now Spa Villas, and the Chill Spa for teenagers has been added near the Hair Salon.  Also, in the middle of the spa, the Thermal Baths have been converted into the Rainforest Room.  Other than those changes, the rest of Senses still has the same layout.

The Quiet Cove is similar to what is now, but there's one notable feature missing:  The Cove Café.  Instead, there's an area called Common Grounds, which was a coffee shop-themed youth club for teenagers from age 13 through age 17.  Now, you may be asking, "Where's Edge's equivalent?"  It didn't exist!  Instead of Edge and Vibe, there was only Common Grounds.  At this time, 11- and 12- year olds, two ages that can currently go to Edge, were restricted to the Oceaneer Club and Lab.  I think the reason why Edge was added and the age groups were altered was because Common Grounds was too crowded.  On the Magic or Wonder, if you've ever been to the Cove Café or Edge (they're essentially mirror images of each other), you probably know that they aren't very big.  Putting kids from ages 13 through 17 in the same small area likely wasn't ideal, so Common Grounds was split into two separate clubs later on.

Across from Common Grounds was the Quarter Masters Arcade.  Like the Arr-Cade on the Dream and Fantasy, it was removed.  The Quarter Masters Arcade is now Edge, and Deck 9 is a much better place for it than Deck 2 was.

Right behind the Forward funnel are the stage and Goofy's Pool.  There are two small whirlpools next to Goofy's Pool, which are in front of Pinocchio's Pizzeria.  Pinocchio's Pizzeria is the only original poolside restaurant on the Magic and Wonder that remains.  Contrary to what a sign may tell you on the Wonder, it isn't a pool.  

On the new deck plans, Quacks is next to Pinocchio's Pizzeria.  Quacks is really strange, but I've tried to figure out what's going on with it.  Near that are Eye Scream and Frozone Treats on the Magic and Sulley's Sips on the Wonder.  Eye Scream was originally Scoops, which was where Daisy's De-Lites is now (we'll come back to this in a bit).  The Reimaginations moved the ice cream station and added Frozone Treats and Sulley's Sips, a place to get specialty drinks for an extra cost.  Both the older and the newer deck plans show a staircase next to Eye Scream, but there isn't one there anymore, as it would make the area even more crowded.  I guess Disney really likes getting rid of staircases on the starboard side.

Under the functional funnel is the second poolside restaurant, Pluto's Dog House.  Pluto's Dog House was converted into Pete's Boiler Bites, which was then converted into the Duck-In Diner on the Magic.  It's still Pete's Boiler Bites on the Wonder, however.  That change doesn't make a ton of sense, wouldn't have just been easier to just keep it as Pete's Boiler Bites?  Anyway, Pluto's Dog House likely offered similar foods to what Duck-In and Pete's offer now, like hamburgers, chicken tenders, and French fries.

Outside of there is the original Mickey's Pool.  This was a pool shaped like Mickey's head, similar to Mickey's Pool on the Dream and Fantasy.  However, unlike the newer Mickey's Pools, Mickey's ears were two separate, smaller pools in the original version.  Mickey's Pool on the Magic and Wonder is now the AquaLab.  The AquaLab is similar to Mickey's Pool, but now, there's more to play with while getting drenched.  Near the AquaLab is the Nephew's Splash Zone on the Magic and Dory's Reef on the Wonder.  So on the Wonder, Flounder lost his reef, but Dory got a reef.  Dory's Reef and the Nephew's Splash Zone are for very young children, those that are too young for the AquaLab.  The Magic and Wonder originally did not have something like this.  At this point, I'm sure you've noticed the water slide on the deck plans, but the entrance to it is on Deck 10, so we'll come back to it.

I said we'd come back to Daisy's De-Lites later, so let's talk about it now.  Scoops was where Daisy's De-Lites is now, and it was adjacent to Goofy's Galley, which was the equivalent to Daisy's De-Lites.  It served healthier foods than the other two poolside restaurants, including fruit and salads.  However, I don't blame you if you didn't know that Goofy's Galley existed, because it's not on the deck plans.  I think the reason for this was because there wasn't enough space to fit both 'Goofy's Galley' and 'Scoops Ice Cream', so they chose the one that would appeal to more people.  If you were on a cruise, would you rather have ice cream or a salad?  

The last part of Deck 9 is the buffet.  On the Magic, the buffet was Topsider Buffet, and on the Wonder, it was Beach Blanket Buffet.  From what I've seen online, Beach Blanket Buffet had a tropical theme that was kind of like Cabanas, and Topsider Buffet had a lot of signal flags.  These themes were fine, but as we've seen a lot, when the Dream and Fantasy introduced Cabanas, Disney updated the older members of their fleet to have Cabanas.  If you look on the deck plans inside the buffet, you'll see the staircases that go from it down to Deck 8.

Time for the penultimate deck, Deck 10.  Starting in Forward, we have the Wide World of Sports Deck.  Here, there are foosball tables, a basketball court, and ping pong tables (although they might have been removed, since they had been removed from the Fantasy at some point before January 2020).  Previously, there was nothing between the sports deck and the funnel except for some tables, but now, the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is there, by the Deck 10 Forward elevator lobby.  Originally, all of the Forward elevators went to Deck 10, but now, only one does thanks to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.  Its location feels a little odd to me, it seems like Disney had nowhere else to put it so they just put it there.  On the Dream and Fantasy, the Boutique is on Deck 5 above the atrium in a convenient location, but on the Magic and Wonder, it's up by the sports deck, out of the way.  I'm not exactly in its target age group anymore, but maybe if I was, its location would make total sense.

By the funnel is the Outlook Bar.  Before writing this post, I had no idea that it existed, but according to the internet, it was a bar that offered views of the Quiet Cove and the ocean.  The Outlook Bar is not to be confused with the Outlook Café, a second-floor expansion of the Cove Café on the Wonder.  

The Outlook Bar has been replaced by the Concierge Lounge.  While the Wonder's Outlook Café is not part of the Concierge Lounge, the lounge did take over part of the café.  The Outlook Café has a Key to the World card scanner next to the door to unlock it.  I tried mine once, but it didn't work.  It likely only works for adults, since it is still part of the adults-only Cove Café.  

The Outlook Café was never added to the Magic, and near where it would've been is the AquaDunk entrance.  The AquaDunk was added to the Magic in 2013.  It's a scaled-down, faster version of the AquaDuck, which is found on the Dream and Fantasy.

Inside the nearby Forward funnel is the Broadcast Center, which is now called the Radio Studio.  Judging by the names, they're likely very similar to each other.  This is not a guest-accessible area, and like the bridge, I'd like to see inside it someday.  Across from there is the ESPN Locker Room.  This was probably part of the ESPN Skybox, located above on Deck 11, where Vibe is now.  

Between the two funnels, there's some open deck space for chairs on Deck 10.  Like on Deck 9, both the old and the new deck plans still show two staircases, but there's only one now.  On the back of the Aft funnel is the slide entrance.  Originally, this slide was Mickey's Slide and after riders climbed up a spiral staircase to around the height of Deck 11, they slid down about three decks, ending beside Mickey's Pool.  Now, the slide is the Twist 'n' Spout.  This slide is similar to Mickey's Slide, but it's taller, starting from what would be Deck 12 and ending on Deck 9.  As the name suggests, it's also significantly more twisty, and these twists increase the length of the slide.  Essentially, the Twist 'n' Spout is a bigger, more fun version of Mickey's Slide on the Dream and Fantasy.  The slide shown on the deck plans looks the same on both the original version and the newer version, so just pretend that there are many more twists on it now.

The last guest area on Deck 11 is Palo, the only adults-only restaurant on the Magic and Wonder.  Palo is an Italian restaurant that debuted on the Magic and Wonder, but it is also on the Dream and Fantasy along with Remy, a French restaurant, and Meridian, a bar between the two.  I've never been allowed to go, but from what I've heard, Palo is much fancier than Pinocchio's Pizzeria.

We finally made it to the top deck, Deck 11!  Deck 11 is the smallest deck, as it only includes the Forward funnel.  Even with its small size, there's plenty to talk about here.  Originally, the ESPN Skybox was inside this funnel.  It was a sports bar that had many TVs playing up to four sports broadcasts simultaneously.  It also had live radio broadcasts of other games.  It seems similar to O'Gill's Pub or the Crown & Fin Pub, bars where live sports are sometimes shown.  The old DCL website's page about the ESPN Skybox doesn't say anything about it being only open to adults, but it also doesn't say anything about going there with the whole family.  Maybe it was like the other bars:  Open to everyone during the day, but only open to adults at night.  I would call DCL to ask about it, but this area doesn't exist anymore, so I doubt I'd get an answer.

Eventually, the ESPN Skybox was converted into The Stack on the Magic and Aloft on the Wonder.  Common Grounds, the original teen club, was converted into the Cove Café.  The same age group from Common Grounds, 13 to 17, applied to The Stack and Aloft.  From the picture on the old DCL website, The Stack reminds me of Edge on the Dream and Fantasy.  However, pictures I've seen of Aloft online look really similar to what Vibe looked like on the Magic-class ships before their most recent dry docks.  The older version of Vibe was definitely inspired by Aloft.  Anyway, Deck 11 on the Magic and Wonder is now Vibe.

I'd love to keep talking about how the Magic and Wonder have changed since their launch, but we're out of decks.  The Magic and Wonder are quite different now compared to the early 2000s, and it's interesting to see what's different and what's the same.  If you want to explore the original deck plans on your own, feel free to visit the old DCL website.  The next part of this series will be cover the Fun Onboard section of the old website.  We've already learned a bit about what the Magic and Wonder had to offer when they launched, but next time we're going to look at these features in more detail.  It'll be fun (Onboard)!

The Old Disney Cruise Line Website! Part 1: The Homepage and Rates, Dates, & More

 A few months ago, I wrote about the updates made to the Disney Cruise Line website.  The updates made the site even easier to use and made the cruise booking process more pleasant.  But have you ever wondered what the Disney Cruise Line website looked like before all of these modern updates were made?  In this series of posts, we're going back in time!

A fascinating resource on the internet is the Internet Archive.  This website is a library of old websites, files, and resources from the past that were archived for people to view long after they were taken down.  The Internet Archive allows you to visit old websites that aren't normally available anymore using its Wayback Machine.  For this post, I'll be using it to go around the oldest version of Disney Cruise Line website it has.

The oldest archived version of the DCL website is from 2001, which was almost twenty years ago!  Throughout the post, you may notice the date in the top right changing.  This is because not all of the pages were archived at the same time.  With that in mind, we'll start at DCL's old homepage.

Do you notice any differences from the modern website?  Well, there's no cruise suspension alert at the top.  The links at the top are in a wavy shape that reminds me of the DCL logo.  I like it.  There's also a pretty large picture of Mickey Mouse and some text describing a Disney cruise.  Even though there were only two Disney ships when this website existed, the names of all four DCL ships are on this page.  Can you find them?  It's cool that all of the information on this page seems to be still accurate to this day.  Even the phone number at the bottom is the exact same as it is now!  Good job 2001 Disney.

Let's click on the first link at the top, "Rates, Dates, & More".

Here, there are quite a few links on the left.  There isn't too much to talk about here, so let's move to the first link, "7-Night Caribbean Cruises".

In 2001, Disney only offered one type of 7-Night Caribbean cruise.  This cruise went to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Castaway Cay.  This is closest to the 7-Night Eastern Caribbean cruise currently offered on the Fantasy.

Later in 2001, Disney announced 7-Night Western Caribbean cruises that started on May 11th, 2002.  These cruises went to Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Castaway Cay.  The original Caribbean cruises were now called 7-Night Eastern Caribbean cruises, but there were no changes to the itinerary.

This is the Rates & Dates page for the 7-Night Caribbean cruises.  The stateroom offerings at this point were similar to what they offer now, though they're a lot cheaper here.  Was it inflation or was it Disney that raised the price?  Interestingly, the minimum age to go on a Disney cruise in 2001 was 12 weeks, which is less than three months.  Now, the minimum age is 6 months.  A bit further down the page, I'm confused about why it says, "More than five Guests staying in a Category 1 or 2 suite will require booking an additional Walt Disney World® Resort room at an additional cost."  Why does it mention Disney World?  This is the 7-Night Caribbean cruise page, not the 7-Night Land and Sea page.  Disney may have included this information on all of their Rates & Dates pages for clarification, but it's making things less clear for me.  At least the modern site is less confusing.  Anyway, lower on the page, the list of cruises is much simpler here than it is on the modern site, but there aren't any useful pictures or maps to help visualize the cruise.  You also can't book a cruise from here.  You'd have to use the Reservations tab, which we'll look at in a later post.

One of the ways Disney offered vacations in 2001 was through a 7-Night Land and Sea vacation, and they still do this.  Back then, there were three options:

The first option was to spend three nights at Disney World, then go on a 4-Night Bahamian cruise.  These cruises went to Nassau and Castaway Cay, and had one day at sea, just like the what Dream does now.  However, back in 2001, the departure time from Nassau was 2 AM!  Now the DCL ships leave in the early evening.  I'd actually like if they still stayed in port until 2.  Even though I don't usually get off the ship at Nassau, less people would be on the ship during the evening, which means that the lines for the AquaDuck would be even shorter than they usually are in the evening. 

The second option was just like the first, but instead of a day at sea, there was a stop at Freeport, a port that Disney no longer visits.  Why did Disney stop going to Freeport?  I don't know.  Maybe it was too similar to Nassau.  Or, maybe the docking fee at Freeport was too expensive.  I doubt this, though, the port is called Freeport.  

The third Land and Sea option was to spend four nights at Disney World, then go on a 3-Night Bahamian cruise.  These cruises went to Nassau and Castaway Cay, identical to the Dream's current 3-Night Bahamian itinerary.  For my family's first cruise, we spent three days at Disney World before getting on the Dream for a 4-Night Bahamian cruise.  It's a nice way to experience both, and it's great for people who aren't sure if they'll like a cruise or Disney World better.

Next, we have the rates and dates for the 7-Night Land and Sea trips.  There are three groups of options.  The first and most expensive group consists of the concierge rooms for the cruise and a stay at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.  The mid-range group includes the various types of verandah rooms and Disney World resorts like Disney's Polynesian Resort and Disney's Wilderness Lodge Resort.  The last and least-expensive group includes the oceanview and inside staterooms and less-fancy Disney World hotels like Disney's Port Orleans Resort.  This site doesn't say if it was possible for someone to choose a stateroom and a hotel from different categories, like a verandah room on the cruise but a cheaper hotel at Disney World.  If it was possible, calling DCL may have been the way to do it.

The next page, Walt Disney World Events, has a list of all the exciting upcoming events that Land and Sea guests could look forward to.  Well, they were upcoming twenty years ago.  The various links take you to the old Disney World website, which I won't be covering because I'm the DCLKid, not the WDWKid.

This is the 4-Night Bahamian cruise page.  These two itineraries are the same as the 4-Night Bahamian cruise itineraries available for Land and Sea vacations, so I won't be spending much time here.

Here is the 4-Night Bahamian cruise Rates & Dates page.  These were already listed in the Land and Sea section, and these trips are the same, minus the Disney World portion.  At first glance, this page isn't too special, until you find the error.  Above the stateroom list, it says, "The following is a list of rates that apply to both of our 7-night cruises."  The Rates & Dates page for the 7-Night cruises said this as well, but it made sense there.  Maybe whoever was working on this site copied this information from the 7-Night cruises page but forgot to change it.  Let's go forward in time to the next archived version of the site from August 11th, 2001 to see if it was fixed.

Hey look, they fixed it!  It's really cool how the Wayback Machine allows you to view later versions of websites to see changes, even minor ones like this one.

The next link on the list on the left side of the page is the link to the 3-Night Bahamian cruise page.  As I said earlier, this itinerary is identical to the Dream's 3-Night Bahamian cruises it does today.  A problem I have with this page is that it says Nassau is exciting.  In my experience, once my family and I went there a few times, Nassau got kind of boring and we don't think it's worth getting off at.

The 3-Night Bahamian cruise Rates & Dates page has the same error the 4-Night Rates & Dates did.  Let's travel to a slightly more recent version of this page, from November 20th, 2001.  I'm assuming these errors were fixed, but they could've forgotten.

Yup, they fixed it here too.  I doubt errors like this happen much on the modern DCL website, I'm sure more people manage it and look over it before changes get made.

Enough about charts and itineraries.  Let's look at Disney Cruise Line's entire fleet from 2001, the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder.  Unlike the modern DCL ships overview page, this has some of the ships' stats.  Back in 2001, the Magic and Wonder were both 964 feet long.  Since then, they've been lengthened during their Reimaginations.  They're now both 984 feet long.  They've also gained weight.  This site says they are both 83,000 gross tons, but they're now around 84,000 gross tons.  They still both have 875 staterooms, and they're still registered in the Bahamas.  However, both the Magic and the Wonder don't have any cruises scheduled that start from Port Canaveral.  Their old jobs have been taken over by the Dream and the Fantasy.

The next link is to the deck plans.  There's a lot to discuss there, enough for an entire other post, so I'll be skipping them for now.  Keep an eye out for that post in the future, though.

Here's an overview of the staterooms.  The general description mentions the word 'spacious', and they weren't kidding.  The DCL staterooms were designed to be larger than what the competition offers.  Did you know that the staterooms on the Magic and Wonder are actually larger than those on the Dream and Fantasy?  It seems kind of backwards, the smaller ships have bigger rooms and the bigger ships have smaller rooms.  

The description here has a couple of interesting facts.  73% of the rooms on the Magic and Wonder have an ocean view, and 44% of those are verandah rooms.  Additionally, this page has an old photo of what appears to be a verandah room.  Some things are different, like the red couch (it's blue now), and the comforter on the bed (it's white and fluffy now).  Also, it looks like the curtain and the table next to the couch are different.  However, some things are the same, like the Disney music art on the wall and the basic layout.  

The first group of staterooms on the list are the Royal Suites.  There are only two Royal Suites on each of the DCL ships, the Walter E. Disney Suite and the Roy O. Disney Suite.  This version of the site is from February 2nd, 2002, so it's a little newer than the others I've been using.  This was the earliest version of the site where the image would load in, so I had to use this one.  Speaking of the image, it's a very detailed layout of the room.  The modern DCL site doesn't have diagrams like these.  Instead, it has photos.  The photos allow users to see what to expect from the room, but the diagrams show the layout of the entire room, which would still be nice to have today.

The Royal Suites are the two biggest staterooms on any of the DCL ships, including the Dream and Fantasy, and they sleep 7 people.  They also come with massive verandahs and a VCR!  I'm pretty sure they don't have VCRs anymore.  Does this mean that the concierge rooms have been downgraded through the years?  I think this room is just too big.  If I stayed in this room, I wouldn't want to leave it and enjoy the rest of the ship.  I'd be totally fine with a normal room.

Below the features, it says, "'Land and Sea' Guests in Category 1 Staterooms may choose to stay at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa."  As I said before, if it was possible, calling Disney was probably the way to choose a different hotel than what was assigned with your stateroom choice.  I wouldn't bother calling to ask about their website from twenty years ago, but you can if you really want.

Like the last page, I had to go forward in time for this one to work right.  The Two-Bedroom Suites with Verandahs are similar to the Royal Suites, but they're a little smaller.  The Royal Suites sleep seven, these sleep five.  The Royal Suites aren't even that much bigger than these, these are less than 100 square feet smaller than the Royal Suites.  Like the Royal Suites, guests in these rooms on Land and Sea vacations could stay in Disney's Grand Floridian.

One-Bedroom Suites with Verandahs are significantly smaller than the last two stateroom categories, but they're much bigger than normal staterooms.  These rooms sleep four people, but some sleep five.  That's strange, since the modern page for these rooms says they all sleep five.  They've probably changed thanks to renovations to the ships in the past two decades.  These rooms also allowed Land and Sea guests to stay at Disney's Grand Floridian.

That's it for the suite (they're now called concierge) rooms.  The site is actually missing a category of concierge room, the Concierge Family Oceanview Staterooms with Verandahs.  This is not an error, because some of the existing rooms on the Magic and Wonder were converted into these rooms at various times after the early 2000s.

Surprisingly, I didn't have to manipulate time to see the layout of the Deluxe Family Staterooms with Verandahs.  These rooms sleep four people, with some being able to sleep five.  Unlike the suites, these rooms don't have a VCR, and they still don't!  Also, all of the non-concierge rooms either included a queen-size bed or two twin-size beds.  Now, the rooms only have a queen-size bed, which has to be more comfortable than two twin-size beds put together.  According to the diagram, these room could not connect to other rooms at this point.  However, there are now some connecting Deluxe Family Staterooms with Verandahs on the Magic and Wonder.  Another thing changed about these rooms is their name.  They were called Deluxe Family Staterooms with Verandahs, but now they're called Deluxe Family Oceanview Staterooms with Verandahs.  Adding 'oceanview' seems a little redundant, isn't it assumed that if you get a room with a verandah, you'll be able to see the ocean from it?  Well, there are some cruise ships, like Royal Caribbean's Oasis-Class ships, that have verandahs that face towards the center of the ship, but none of Disney's verandahs are like that.  Oh well, I guess extra clarification is a good thing.  Anyway, Land and Sea guests in these rooms could stay at deluxe resorts at Disney World, like Disney's Wilderness Lodge.  

The next type of room on the list are the Deluxe Staterooms with Verandahs.  These rooms can sleep 3-4 people, and some of them can connect to an adjacent room.  Like the Deluxe Family Staterooms with Verandahs, these rooms have had a name change.  Their modern name is Deluxe Oceanview Staterooms with Verandahs.  Land and Sea guests in these rooms could stay at deluxe resorts at Disney World.

Does this page seem familiar?  The image used for the Deluxe Staterooms with Navigator's Verandahs is the same image as the one used for the Deluxe Staterooms with Verandahs.  The two rooms are very similar, except none of the rooms with Navigator's Verandahs are connecting rooms.  Also, Deluxe Staterooms with Navigator's Verandahs can only sleep 3 people.  Like the other verandah rooms, Land and Sea guests in these rooms can stay at deluxe Disney World resorts.

One of the last stateroom types on the website is the Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom.  These rooms can sleep 3-4 people.  Also, some of them can connect to the adjacent room.  Deluxe Oceanview Staterooms are some of the lowest-priced rooms DCL offers, so Land and Sea guests in these rooms can stay at moderate Disney World resorts like Disney's Port Orleans Resort.  Did you notice that this diagram is wrong?  I've stayed in a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom on the Wonder before, and the bed is between the bathrooms and the couch area, not next to the window.  This website is outdated, so the diagram could be wrong, but I don't think that's the case.  Changing the layout from what's in the diagram to what these rooms are like today would've been very difficult.  The desk, its cabinets, and the couch would've had to have been moved toward the window, and the bed would've had to have been moved to where the desk was.  I think this is just a mistake, because... 

...The Deluxe Inside Stateroom diagram is exactly the same!  For this type of room, the diagram is right.  Since there's no window to look out of, the bed can go next to the back wall.  Some of the inside staterooms are connecting rooms, so everything is correct here.  These rooms are very similar to the Deluxe Oceanview Staterooms, since they're both the same size and can hold the same amount of people, 3-4.  The biggest difference is that this type of room has no window.   
Land and Sea guests in Deluxe Inside Staterooms can stay in moderate Disney World resorts, just like the previous category.

  

Finally, we have the last type of room from 2001, the Standard Inside Stateroom!  At 184 square feet, these are the smallest rooms on the Magic and Wonder.  Even with their small size, they can sleep 3-4 people.  Unlike any of the other rooms we've looked at, these rooms don't have a split bathroom.  Instead, it's all in one room.  When I was on the Dream in 2019, my family and I stayed in some unusual rooms that didn't have a split bathroom.  Having the entire bathroom in one room was less convenient, but it worked.  Land and Sea guests in Standard Inside Staterooms could stay at moderate Disney World resorts.

If you went into a stateroom on the Magic or the Wonder in 2001, then went into one now, they'd feel very similar.  Even in the smaller rooms, the layout works well and I'm glad the Dream and Fantasy kept a similar design.  Hopefully, Disney won't change the room design with the Wish, since it works well already.

Next on the left-list are the Resorts.  There's a collection links to Disney World resorts available for guests on Land and Sea vacations, though most of them don't work anymore.  Let's make the most of what does work.

According to this, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa is only available when booking a Category 1, Category 2, or Category 3 room.  It looks like guests would have to pay for an expensive stateroom to go to the expensive resort.  Some room category flexibility would've been nice, but maybe it was possible to mix accommodations by calling Disney.  Anyway, Grand Floridian looks like a really nice resort to stay at, but if I were to stay at it, I'd probably spend too much time at the parks to enjoy everything it has to offer.

Disney's Beach Club is a deluxe resort, available with the verandah rooms during Land and Sea trips.  It features a water park, a pool, and some other amenities.  It doesn't seem as overwhelming with features as Disney's Grand Floridian Resort, so I'd rather stay here.

Unfortunately, none of the other resort links work for some reason.  They must've worked back when this website was actually in use, but it doesn't look like they were archived for us to view in 2021.

There wasn't much to do in Resorts, so let's move to Special Offers & Packages.  These packages included a regular cruise, plus some extras.  Because they added to the cruise experience, Disney charged more for these packages.  Also, I'll only be going over the ones featured on the main Special Offers & Packages, from August 2001.

The first package listed is the Romantic Escape package.  On this page, the picture wouldn't load in, but unlike the stateroom diagrams, it's not necessary.  So, just imagine there's a picture of a couple at Palo or the Quiet Cove.  There were two versions of this package, one for Land and Sea vacations and one for cruises only.  At Disney World, people with this package would get two commemorative pins, two limited-edition watches, and a choice of either dinner at a specialty restaurant, a special spa treatment, or a professional honeymoon photography session (one choice per person).  The DCL benefits are the same for both versions of the package, and these benefits are a romantic stateroom gift, a half-hour aromatherapy treatment at the Vista Spa, and priority seating at Palo for one night of the cruise.  To me, the Disney World benefits seem better than the DCL benefits, which explains why the Land and Sea package is significantly more expensive than the cruise package.

The next package is the Discovery Magic package.  This package was only available to Land and Sea guests, as all of the benefits were at Disney World.  Guests with this package received a commemorative pin and got to pick two "Magical Wishes" every night they were at the park.  These Magical Wishes included recreational experiences, dining experiences, and park tours.  This package would probably have been a good deal for people that knew that they'd use them all.

The Deluxe Magic package is next.  Like Discovery Magic, this one was only available to Land and Sea guests.  This package made the time at Disney World closer to an all-inclusive resort, covering meals, tours, and excursions.  Also, each guest with the package got to choose between admission to Cirque du Soleil:  La Nouba, spa treatments, a collectible art piece, or a copy of Walt Disney World Quest - Magical Racing Tour, a video game for the original PlayStation.  People who chose to get the game also got a limited-edition watch.  I'd choose either the art or the game, since guests could keep these forever.  

Following Deluxe Magic is the Family Reunion package.  Unlike the past two packages, this one has benefits for a cruise, not Disney World.  For $29 per person, it appears that this was a really good deal for family reunions.  People with this package received custom family reunion shirts, likely similar to the ones you often see families wearing on cruises.  They also got a photo book and a DCL family reunion certificate for each family member.  Groups of eight or more could choose between a one-hour reception, a steamer trunk filled with snacks delivered to each of the staterooms the group was staying in, or a bottle of wine delivered to each of the staterooms the group was staying in.  The reception was probably the best option to choose for this package.  It guarantees family time and is more special than the other options.  Why would anyone want a trunk of snacks when room service exists?

We'll now be looking at a couple of special offers.  The first one, the Fall Fantasy special offer, encouraged people to book cruises in the fall, a time that probably wasn't super popular because of its proximity to the start of the school year.  People who booked 7-night vacations, either a 7-Night cruise or a Land and Sea trip, could take advantage of lower prices.  Unlike the name suggests, this has nothing to do with the Disney Fantasy, the ship that started sailing eleven years after Fall Fantasy was created.

The other special offer I'll be looking at in this post is Fall Fantasy Plus.  When I was looking through this page, I was confused about whether I was reading about normal Fall Fantasy or Fall Fantasy Plus.  I think it would've made more sense to keep the discounted cruises under one special offer, Fall Fantasy, to make things simpler and more straightforward.  Anyway, while normal Fall Fantasy discounted 7-night vacations, Fall Fantasy Plus discounted 3-Night Bahamian cruises and 4-Night Bahamian cruises.  Fall Fantasy Plus only applied to eight cruises (four for each length),but it did not apply to Land and Sea vacations.

The final link on the left is for Questions & Answers.  Like the deck plans, there's a lot to talk about there, so I'll save it for another future post.

The old Disney Cruise Line website is nowhere near as fancy as the modern website, but it's still completely useable.  In most areas, the modern website does everything this one does plus more, but the old website has some features the modern one doesn't.  For example, it has diagrams of each of the staterooms, while the modern site just has photos.  Additionally, the old site has stats about the ships while the modern site doesn't.  They're not necessary, but they're cool facts that may have come in handy during DCL trivia.  Also, the modern site doesn't offer any cruises that go to Freeport or staterooms that come with VCRs, so this older site is more advanced in those aspects.  Of course, if VCRs were still available in some staterooms today, I doubt they'd get much use.  The 2001 website has much more content than I though it would, and since there's so much more for me to talk about, more posts in this series will be released in the future.  I hope you're looking forward to those!  In the meantime, feel free to explore the archived DCL website on your own!

Update: All Disney Cruises are Canceled Until the End of May 2021, and All Cruises on the Magic are Canceled Until August 10th

Yesterday, February 24th, on their website, Disney announced that all cruises are canceled through May 2021.  Also, all cruises on the Magic are canceled until August 10th.  The Magic had so many more cruises canceled because it would've been in Europe, where there are many countries it visits.  Some of these countries may have closed themselves off from cruise ships, like what Canada did, and the countries it would be able to visit would all likely have different COVID-19 restrictions in place.  Rerouting cruises to avoid countries that are closed would have been much harder than just canceling most of the summer's European cruises, so Disney made the best choice here.  

Cruises on the Fantasy will resume on June 2nd, cruises on the Dream will resume on June 4th, cruises on the Wonder will resume on June 7th, and cruises on the Magic won't resume until August 18th.  

This announcement mentioned the Wonder's Alaskan cruises.  Since they're currently impossible as a result of Canada's closure, Disney is currently looking at alternative options.  So as of now, the Alaskan cruises aren't canceled.  If Disney doesn't cancel the Alaskan cruises at a later point in time, then they'll be changed, possibly into more Baja cruises from San Diego.  I went into more detail about this in a previous post, I suggest reading it if you haven't already.

All of the people affected by this suspension will either receive a full refund or a 125% future cruise credit (they can only get this if they paid their cruise in full).  The deadline to use the future cruise credit was recently extended until September 30th, 2022, so people with it will have the summer 2022 cruises to use it on, once those cruises get announced.  This suspension may get extended if needed, so check the Disney Cruise Line website for the latest information.

Disney Extended the Deadline to Use the 125% Future Cruise Credit

Yesterday, February 23rd, Disney announced that they have extended the 125% future cruise credit given to guests who had their cruises canceled from May 31st, 2022 to September 30th, 2022.  They made this announcement in an email.  Take a look:

Here's what the email says:

"Reservation #: 12345678

Dear DCLKid,

All of us at Disney Cruise Line hope you and your family are staying well. We are reaching out with important information about the cruise credit you were previously provided.

When your sailing was cancelled due to the pandemic, you were offered the choice of either a future cruise credit* equal to 125% of your original voyage fare or a full refund. We are now extending the use of your future cruise credit from sailings commencing prior to May 31, 2022 to sailings that depart by September 30, 2022.

Your credit has automatically been updated. If you have not done so already, you may place a reservation on hold by applying it as a payment option when booking a new reservation online. Once your modified reservation is paid in full, any remaining future cruise credit will be applied to your shipboard account as a non-refundable onboard credit.

If you prefer to speak to someone directly, please contact a member of our reservation team at 1-866-325-6685 or 407-566-7797. Sailings are currently available through the spring 2022 with additional eligible sailings to be released at a later date. 

We appreciate the planning that goes into a cruise vacation and hope you enjoy this additional time to travel. We look forward to welcoming you aboard as soon as we can and making magic for you and your loved ones.

Sincerely,

Cast & Crew 

Disney Cruise Line

*The Future Cruise Credit is equal to 125% of your original voyage fare plus the cost of the Vacation Protection Plan, if applicable. The FCC is only valid for sailings commencing on or before September 30, 2022. Select Disney Wish block-out dates apply. Your original reservation must be paid in full to be eligible for the FCC. The FCC is applied per person and is non-transferable, non-refundable and has no cash value. Standard prevailing rates apply and Guests are responsible for any balance due after the FCC has been applied. If you end up not being able to use the FCC, you will be eligible for a refund up to the amount of your original voyage fare plus the cost of the Vacation Protection Plan, if applicable. Standard cancellation policies and terms and conditions apply to future sailings. Guests who previously received a FCC are not eligible for an additional FCC."

According to the email, before this extension, the future cruise credit (FCC) had to have been used on a cruise that starts before May 31st, 2022.  This deadline has now been extended to September 30th, 2022.  This means that there are many new options for people to use their FCC on, none of which have been announced yet.  I was thinking that Disney would extend the FCC use deadline, but wouldn't it have made more sense to announce this at the same time as the summer 2022 cruises, cruises that this announcement affects?  It just says, "Sailings are currently available through the spring 2022 with additional eligible sailings to be released at a later date."  I think these additional eligible sailings will be announced very soon, since the summer 2021 cruises were announced around this time in 2020.  

When Disney announces those summer 2022 itineraries, they'll also announce cruises on the Wish, which is scheduled to begin cruising then.  Disney knows this, and "select Disney Wish block-out dates apply".  They're going to not allow people to use the 125% FCC on some Wish cruises.  Fortunately, it  doesn't say all of them.  They'll probably block out the Wish's maiden voyage and the first few cruises so they don't fill up almost instantly, but not all of the summer 2022 Wish cruises.  This is good news!  Disney could've said, "No, I don't want you using your FCC on the Wish" and blocked out all summer 2022 Wish cruises, but they didn't!  If people use their 125% FCC, they'll have an easier time going on some cruises on the Wish, cruises that will probably be more expensive than cruises on the other four ships.  

Disney didn't say which Wish cruises would be blocked out because they haven't announced them yet.  The Wish's first itineraries will likely be announced at the same time as the other four ships' summer 2022 itineraries.  When the announcement is made, Disney will also probably reveal more information about the Wish, because if people know more about its features, more people will want to cruise on it.  The announcement could come any day now, even later today!  To be prepared for it, you can sign up for email alerts about the Wish on the Wish's website.  If you do, you'll get an email when Disney announces something related to the Wish, like its first itineraries.  There should be a lot of information released relatively soon, since the Wish is coming next year!  The wait is almost over!

My Family's Next Cruise

Earlier this month, I wrote about the Passenger Vessel Services Act and how it prevented my family from going on a back-to-back cruise.  While this was disappointing, my family didn't stop looking for cruises.  For school, the weird scheduling gives us a few days off at the beginning of November, so my siblings and I wouldn't miss much school if we go on a cruise that week.  It would be the perfect time for us to go on a cruise, if there's one we want to go on.  At that time, the Magic will be doing a 5-Night Bermuda cruise from New York to San Juan and a 4-Night Eastern Caribbean cruise from San Juan to Miami.  Those two cruises are the ones we tried to book but couldn't thanks to the law from the 1800s.  The Wonder will be doing a 5-Night Baja cruise from San Diego.  The Dream will be doing its normal 3-Night and 4-Night Bahamian cruises it does every week.  Finally, the Fantasy will be doing a normal 7-Night Eastern Caribbean cruise.  

All of those are pretty good options.  San Diego is a long way away from where we live, so getting there would be expensive.  We took the Wonder out of the picture.  We've done both a 3-Night cruise and a 4-Night cruise on the Dream, so we took those out as well.  We've done the 7-Night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy, and while it would be fun to do it again, our most recent cruise was on the Fantasy.  Some of my family members, including myself, would like to go on another ship.

So what does that leave?  Those two cruises on the Magic.  If we could, we'd do them both, but we can't because of the Passenger Vessel Services Act.  The first one, the 5-Night Bermuda cruise from New York to San Juan, goes to Bermuda and Tortola and has two days at sea.  This cruise is a Halloween on the High Seas cruise, a type of cruise we've never done before.  Also, we'd be able to drive to New York City instead of spending more money on plane tickets.  The second one, the 4-Night Eastern Caribbean cruise from San Juan to Miami, goes to the Dominican Republic and Castaway Cay and has one day at sea.  This isn't a holiday cruise, just a normal repositioning cruise, and we'd have to fly there and back.

Which one did we choose?  The 5-Night Bermuda Cruise from New York to San Juan!  We chose this one because it's more exciting than the 4-Night.  Also, we only have to get a one way flight, from San Juan to home.  I'm looking forward to going to Bermuda, a place we haven't been to yet, and Tortola, a place we've been to a few times.  Last time we visited Tortola was on the Wonder in 2019.  We went on a Port Adventure to the Virgin Gorda, an island with some amazing sea caves.  We may do this again or try something completely new, we haven't looked at our options yet.  This cruise will be the first time we've done many things:  It'll be our first Halloween on the High Seas cruise, our first 5-Night cruise, our first cruise out of New York, our first repositioning cruise, and our first time going to Bermuda.  I can't wait!

This will be our second cruise on the Magic.  Our first Magic cruise was a 4-Night Bahamian cruise back in 2015.  Since then, the Magic has had some changes made to it, like the removal of Carioca's and the addition of Rapunzel's Royal Table, so it'll be interesting to see what's been changed.  It's not a new feature, but I want to ride the AquaDunk again.  Last time, I only rode it once and didn't like it.  I was much younger then, so I think I'll like it now.  I probably won't like it more than the AquaDuck, but it's possible.  We'll be staying in rooms 7072 and 7074.  These two Deluxe Oceanview Staterooms with Verandahs are between Midship and Aft, and they're on the Port side.  Deck 7 is a nice central location, with Deck 9 two decks above and Deck 5 two decks below.

As excited as I am for it, this cruise could get canceled by Disney.  I'm not sure if cruises will resume by October.  I hope they do, but it's possible they don't.  Also, Disney hasn't announced the health and safety restrictions that will be in place when cruises resume.  When they make the announcement, if my family and I think that the restrictions are going to detract from our enjoyment of the cruise, then we'll probably cancel this cruise and find another cruise.  

This cruise is less expensive than our 7-Night Western Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy that got canceled, so it doesn't use all of our 125% credit.  I don't know what we'll use the remainder for.  We have to use it before the cruise in October starts, or else it gets applied to our stateroom account.  If we don't use all of the credit on our stateroom account during the cruise, it's gone.  Hopefully the summer 2022 itineraries get announced soon so we can see what the Wish will be doing.  I'm probably the most excited person in my family for the Wish, and I'd really like to go on it.  Last year, the summer 2021 itineraries were announced in February, so the summer 2022 itineraries could be released any day now, so I'm excited to see what happens!

The Wonder's Bigger Alaska Problem

Back in March of last year, I wrote about how the Wonder was affected by Canada's cruise ship ban that stopped all cruise ships carrying over 500 people from docking at Canadian ports until July.  It turns out I had nothing to worry about, since Disney cruises didn't resume by July.  But now, there's more of a problem.  Last week, Canada's government announced that they won't be letting any cruise ship carrying over 100 people into Canadian waters until February 28th, 2022, over a year from now.

Assuming that Disney cruises will resume by the time the Wonder starts its Alaskan cruises in 2021, the Wonder won't be able to do any of these cruises because they all start in Vancouver thanks to this ban.  Is there an alternative port for the Alaskan cruises to start from?  Let's look at where one of DCL's competitors, Royal Caribbean, starts their Alaskan cruises from for some options.

In addition to Vancouver, Royal Caribbean has some of its Alaskan cruises starting from Seward, Alaska.  Also, some start from Seattle, Washington.  Well, why not just have the Wonder's Alaskan cruises start from Seward or Seattle?  Seattle is really close to Vancouver, so it would probably be the better option.  Problem solved!

Unfortunately, it's not that easy.  It's not possible to start Alaskan cruises at either of those because of a US law from the 1800s.  This law, the Passenger Vessel Services Act, applies to all passenger ships that aren't registered in the US, which includes all four DCL ships.  On a cruise starting and ending at the same US port, ships not registered in the US must stop at a port in another country before coming back to the US port where the cruise started.  Disney's Alaskan cruises only go to ports in Alaska, in the US.  Since Canada isn't open, there aren't any other countries nearby that the Wonder could visit, so a cruise from Seattle to Alaska and back to Seattle would be impossible thanks to the Passenger Vessel Services Act.  The Royal Caribbean cruises from Seattle and Seward are possible because they visit Canada during them, but those cruises will have to be drastically changed or canceled because they can't go to Canada.  Canada is a critical part of any Alaskan cruise, not just Disney's.

Now, there is a possible solution to this problem, but I don't think it'll work.  Alaskan cruises from Seattle could be possible if the US government temporarily suspends the Passenger Vessel Services Act for Alaskan cruises.  If it gets suspended, ships on Alaskan cruises won't have to go to a port in another country, so a cruise starting from Seattle and only going to Alaskan ports would be possible.  Suspending the law would help Alaska's tourism and cruise industry, because at this point, it looks like the 2021 cruise season in Alaska is not going to happen.  I don't think this law will be suspended, but it would be great for Alaska if it does.

So, if this law doesn't get suspended and the Wonder can't do any Alaskan cruises this year, what will it do instead (if Disney has resumed cruising by then)?  In addition to Alaskan cruises, the Wonder also does some Mexican cruises that start from San Diego, California.  All of the Alaskan cruises could be changed into Mexican cruises.  Or, since Disney has already canceled the Wonder's Westbound Panama Canal cruise that would've been at the end of February, the Wonder could just not go through the canal.  Disney can't make any money off of that cruise, since there won't be any guests.  So, instead of wasting money on that, the Wonder could stay on the East Coast to do Caribbean cruises or Bahamian cruises.  There are plenty of options to do cruises shorter than seven nights there.  Could Disney make it into a second Dream?  

The Wonder is going to need major changes to its cruise schedule, but we can't forget about the other DCL ship that's going to Canada.  In October of this year, the Magic is scheduled to do a 6-night Canadian cruise from New York City.  This itinerary visits two ports in Canada, and the only other port it stops at is in Maine.  The main selling point of this cruise is Canada, and even if the Passenger Vessel Services Act gets suspended, it would only be able to go to one port of call, which is kind of boring.  I think this cruise will be changed into a Bermuda cruise.  It could either spend two days in Bermuda and have three days at sea, or it could spend three days in Bermuda and have two days at sea.  This cruise could also be changed into a Disney World cruise, one that starts in New York, goes south to Castaway Cay and Port Canaveral (where guests can easily go to Disney World since park admission is included in the cruise price), then back to New York.  If they keep it a 6-night cruise, the Magic will have to get from Florida to New York in one day at sea, which I think is possible, but I'm not sure.  

As of now, Disney hasn't said anything about what the Wonder or the Magic will do if cruises have resumed by the time they would go to Canada.  They have removed all of the Wonder's Alaskan cruises in 2021, but there's no official announcement yet.  They'll probably announce their plan in the near future, so be sure to check the Disney Cruise Line website for the latest information.

Why Can't We Do That?

Since Disney canceled our cruise that would've been in January of this year, my family has been looking for alternative cruise options to use our 125% cruise credit on.  We had a few pretty good options in mind, until last week, when we found the perfect option.  My school had just released the calendar for the 2021-2022 school year, and we use it to try to go on a cruise at a time where we miss as few days of school as possible.  For some reason at the beginning of November, there will be a 2-day school week, which totally isn't a waste of time.  This looked like the perfect time to go on a cruise, and we noticed that the Magic will be doing an interesting 5-night cruise during that week.  Starting from New York City, it will go to Bermuda, then to Tortola, and end up in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  My family has never been to Bermuda, and we love Tortola, so this cruise sounded great.  Repositioning cruises are often some of the least expensive Disney cruises, and since we have a 125% credit, we looked at what the Magic was doing after the New York to San Juan cruise.  Its next cruise will be a 4-night cruise that goes to the Dominican Republic, Castaway Cay, and ends in Miami.  Like the other one, it's a repositioning cruise, so it's less expensive than usual.  Since we'd be missing almost no school, we had the credit, and we wanted to try a back-to-back cruise, we decided that we would book both of them!

But we couldn't.

It wasn't because there weren't any rooms available.  There were plenty.  It wasn't because of COVID-19 restrictions controlling the length of a cruise.  According to the United States CDC, a single cruise can't be over 7-nights.  This restriction does not affect back-to-back cruises, however, so these cruises would be possible.

It was because going on these cruises back-to-back would violate the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886.  This nearly-135 year-old US law prevents ships that aren't registered in the US from bringing passengers from one US port to another US port.  Even though Disney is an American company, all four DCL ships are registered in the Bahamas.  Ever wonder why the back of each DCL ship says "Nassau"?

So, since the DCL ships are registered in the Bahamas and not the United States, they aren't allowed to bring passengers from one US port to another.  The only way they can bring passengers from one US port to another US port is if they stop at a distant foreign country.  Ports of call in Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, South America, Europe, and Asia (and Antarctica, I guess), count as distant foreign countries.  This is why the Wonder goes Columbia, a South American country, on its 14-night Panama Canal cruises, since none of the other places it visits count as distant foreign countries.

Under the Passenger Vessel Services Act, how can the second cruise, from San Juan to Miami (two US ports) work?  Although it's a US port, Puerto Rico is an exception from this law.  So, it's as if the cruise starts in a different country and ends in the United States, which is allowed.

Well, since the whole trip on the Magic is two separate cruises, wouldn't it be allowed under the law?  Unfortunately, it's not.  The law treats consecutive cruises as one trip.  Pretend San Juan, where the first cruise ends and the second cruise starts, is just a port of call.  The overall voyage would go from New York to Miami, two US ports, which isn't allowed.

The Passenger Vessel Services Act is why the Magic is stopping at San Juan.  If it could, I think the Magic would go directly from New York City to Miami, but that's not possible.  Since Puerto Rico is a US port exempt from the law, the Magic can go there, end a cruise, start a new cruise, and go to Miami.  For this to work, it has to be two separate cruises, not just one long one.

This law doesn't stop ships registered in other countries from leaving from a US port and returning to the same port.  Ships not registered in the US can bring passengers from a US port and back to the same US port as long as they visit any port in a different country, like the Bahamas, Canada, or Mexico.  Conveniently, it doesn't have to be a distant port.  Also, normal (non-repositioning) cruises can stop at US ports, as long as the passengers aren't permanently getting off there.  This is how some Disney cruises can go to Key West, Florida.  

When I heard that these cruises wouldn't work, I wondered why the Passenger Vessel Services Act even exists.  It was signed into law by Grover Cleveland, the 24th president of the US, to prevent cabotage, which I originally thought was when you sabotage a taxi.  Cabotage is actually the movement of cargo or people between two locations in the same country by a foreign party.  The Passenger Vessel Services Act makes more sense in the perspective of something like a ferry service between two US cities, keeping it domestic and not allowing ships from other countries to come in and make money off of it.  However, this law doesn't seem beneficial at all for a cruise ship.  It just gets in the way and makes cruises less flexible.  Plus, it may actually be hurting the cruise industry by not allowing customers like my family to go on some cruises.  

I'm really disappointed about the seemingly-perfect cruise not being possible.  I never would've thought a vacation my family was planning on going on wouldn't be able to happen because of a law from the nineteenth century.  The law against cabotage sabotaged our cruise plans.  I guess we'll just have to look for another cruise to go on.  

To learn about the Passenger Vessel Services Act, I used a really useful and educational page on the Carnival website.  I know, I'm a traitor, but since none of Carnival's ships are registered in the United States, it's in the same situation that Disney is.  Also, the Wikipedia article about it was a lot of help when I was writing.  Finally, if you're ever unsure if a back-to-back cruise is possible, calling DCL and asking about it is one of the best ways to get an answer.

Since it's so old, I'm sure my family and I weren't the first people to have plans ruined because of this law.  Even though it's not doing much good for the cruise industry, I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon.  Maybe someday it will be revised to allow more freedom for cruises in the US.  Do you think requesting that on a DCL comment card would work?  It's Disney, so anything's possible!