Once Upon a Disney Wish Was Great, but it Didn't Mention Everything

If you're reading my blog, there's a pretty good chance you've already watched the Once Upon a Disney Wish presentation from April 29th.  So many exciting features were announced in the video, and if you haven't watched it yet, I suggest you watch it before reading this.

I really enjoyed last week's presentation.  In the nearly 36-minute video, DCL gave us a look at many new features that will debut on the Wish.  The AquaMouse looks like fun, there are a lot of pools, the rotational restaurants are all completely new and different from what we've seen before, the new Walt Disney Theatre looks nice, the Star Wars:  Hyperspace Lounge makes me wish I was an adult, and the new Oceaneer Club makes me wish that I wasn't too old to enjoy it.  There were quite a few surprises, and I was so happy to finally learn about them.

But while the video was awesome, there were some other Wish announcements made on the same day.  Disney updated the Wish's website on the day of the presentation with some more information about the ship.  If you only watched Once Upon a Disney Wish, you might not have heard about these announcements.  They're just as interesting as what was announced in the video, so, in this post, we're giving them the attention they deserve.

Let's start off with a big one.  The Wish's itineraries were announced!  Its first cruise, the maiden voyage, will be a 5-night Bahamian cruise starting on June 9th, 2022.  This cruise will stop at Nassau and Castaway Cay and spend two days at sea.  For the rest of the summer, the Wish will be doing what we predicted.  From Port Canaveral, it'll alternate between 3-night Bahamian cruises and 4-night Bahamian cruises, with both stopping at Nassau and Castaway Cay.  This is what the Dream has done its entire life, and since it's moving to Miami, the Wish will take over its former job.

Another big announcement was the Wish's deck plans.  Thanks to these deck plans, we now know that the Wish will have fifteen guest decks!  That's one more than the Dream and Fantasy have!  I wasn't expecting this, because the Wish is only going to be a little bit larger than those ships.  But hey, I'm not complaining!  There are two versions of the deck plans.  One is on the normal DCL deck plans site, and the other is at the bottom of the Wish's website.  The one on the normal DCL deck plans site shows stateroom numbers, but many of the most interesting decks, like Deck 3, are completely blank.  The Wish's website plans don't have any empty decks. Instead, they just have some areas with the label, "More Magic Coming..."  Strangely, the normal plans only list fourteen decks, while the plans on the Wish's website have all fifteen.  This is probably an error, and I think the normal plans will be fixed when more about the Wish gets announced.

The deck plans also show that the Wish will only have two elevator lobbies, instead of the three on each of the current DCL ships.  Each lobby will have eight elevators.  One is between Forward and Midship, and the other is between Midship and Aft.  They're pretty close to the center of the ship, so getting to them shouldn't be a problem.  This is the fifth DCL ship, they know what they're doing by now.

This two elevator lobby layout could cause a problem, though.  Since there's no elevators directly in Midship, which is aligned with the Forward funnel, how are people who can't climb stairs going to get up to Deck 13, Deck 14, and Deck 15 in the funnel?  Would they have to miss out on whatever is up there?  Possibly, but there could be a special elevator that's only in the funnel to allow access to those three decks.  The deck plans don't show anything there, but I'm sure Disney's already figured that problem out.

  

Another cool feature that wasn't mentioned in the video is that the family pools all have names.  There are six family pools located between the funnels, and each belongs to a character from the Mickey Mouse universe.  On Deck 11, there's Mickey's Pool, Minnie's Pool, Daisy's Pool, and Pluto's Pool.  Donald's Pool and Goofy's Pool are on Deck 12.  Mickey, Donald, and Goofy all have pools on the previous DCL ships.  Mickey's Pool and Donald's Pool are on the Dream and Fantasy, and Goofy's Pool is on the Magic and Wonder.  Minnie, Daisy, and Pluto are all first-time pool owners.  I think this spread-out pool situation is going to work well.  Instead of everyone cramming into two pools, people will be spread out between many pools.  It's not what I had in mind for the Wish's pools, but it's probably going to work better than what I was thinking.

While we're on the topic of pools, let's talk about what wasn't announced about the AquaMouse.  During the video, it was announced that the AquaMouse will be a 760 foot long slide.  Pretty long, right?  Well, did you know that the AquaDuck on the Dream and Fantasy is actually five feet longer than the AquaMouse?  This difference is in no way noticeable, and it won't affect how fun the slide is.  Since a section of the AquaMouse takes riders up, a ride on the AquaMouse will likely take longer than a ride on the AquaDuck.  Even though it's a bit shorter than the AquaDuck, I think it'll be a lot of fun. 

 

Could you imagine if Disney had mentioned that the AquaDuck is longer than the AquaMouse during the presentation?  "The brand new AquaMouse is a whole five feet shorter than the AquaDuck water coaster on the Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasy!"  That doesn't make the slide look good, so it's probably good they left that detail out of the video.

If you're like me, while watching the presentation, you noticed that they never talked about the Oceaneer Lab.  Well, this is because there is no Oceaneer Lab on the Wish.  Instead, everything that would've been in the Lab is in the Oceaneer Club.  Consolidating the youth clubs for ages 3-12 will make the club more straightforward for kids, parents, and counselors.  It'll be especially helpful when kids are getting checked out from the club.  Instead of looking through two separate areas for a kid, the counselors will only have a single area to find kids in.  

The video presentation spent a lot of time talking about the Oceaneer Club, but it didn't even mention Edge or Vibe.  On the Wish, Edge will be on Deck 5.  It'll be themed after New York City, which is different from the versions of Edge on the Dream and Fantasy.  Vibe will be on Deck 12, and it'll be inspired by Parisian lofts.  This is suiting, because Vibe will be pretty close to Enchanté, the adults-only French restaurant.  I'm hoping for more information about these youth clubs in the future!

Once Upon a Disney Wish spent some time focused on the new Walt Disney Theatre and the revamped Aladdin show that will debut in it, but it didn't talk about the Buena Vista Theatre.  This is because the Wish won't have one!  In its place, there'll be two separate movie theatres, the Wonderland Theatre on the port side of Deck 4 and the Never Land Theatre on the starboard side of Deck 4.  These two theatres are right next to the Walt Disney Theatre, so hopefully the showtimes are coordinated to prevent multiple theatres letting guests out at the same time.  Thanks to these theatres, it'll be possible to show three movies in the theatres at a time on the Wish.  That'll be very handy for cruises that happen shortly after a new Marvel or Star Wars movie releases.

Lastly, did you know that the Wish will be the first DCL ship to feature staterooms above the bridge.  These rooms will have amazing views, and many of them will be concierge rooms.  On the four current DCL ships, Senses is above the bridge.  On the Wish, Senses is now on Deck 5, and it features a sundeck that'll probably be pretty similar to the Vibe sundeck on the Dream and Fantasy.

Once Upon a Disney Wish was great, even though it didn't talk about all the announcements.  There's still so much that needs to be announced!  Cabanas?  Poolside restaurants?  Eye Scream?  Shops?  We'll more about those in the future.  I want to learn more about Luna and the Hero Zone.  I'm thinking Luna is the new D Lounge and the Hero Zone is the new Goofy's Sports Deck, but we'll see how DCL surprises us.  Bookings for cruises on the Wish open later this month, so hopefully we'll get some more information about the ship before then.  As they said in the video, "Wishes do come true", so if we wish for more information, I'm sure we'll get it.  Eventually.

What I'm Wishing to See Tomorrow

The wait is almost over.  The Once Upon a Disney Wish event is tomorrow, April 29th at 11 a.m. ET!  I'm super excited for it, although unfortunately I won't be able to watch it live.  I'm sure some of the presentation will be spent talking about the few Wish features we already know, like the Cinderella statue in the Grand Hall, Rapunzel on the Wish's stern, and Minnie Mouse on the bow.  But the event is going to be around 30 minutes long, so that's plenty of time for new announcements.  So, to prepare for it, I thought of some Wish features that may be announced during the event!

First off, I think the Wish's deck plans will be announced tomorrow.  A while ago, I found a fifth ship selection option on the DCL's online deck plans.  This fifth option is still there, so maybe it's finally time to make use of it!

I'm hoping that Disney spends some time of the event talking about the Wish's restaurants.  Of course there'll be Animator's Palate, but the other two main rotational restaurants are a mystery.  The restaurant adjacent to the Grand Hall may be themed after the Disney Princesses, which wouldn't be too surprising.  The restaurants next to the atrium on the current four DCL ships (Lumière's, Triton's, Royal Palace, Royal Court) all have something to do with Disney Princesses, so making the Wish's equivalent similar would make sense.  However, they could surprise us!  Palo, the adults-only Italian restaurant on all four of the DCL ships is likely going to be on the Wish, but I'm not sure about Remy.  Maybe they'll want to set the Wish apart from the Dream and Fantasy by giving it a different second adults-only restaurant.  If they do this, it may be announced tomorrow.

I also hope Disney talks about the Wish's pool deck.  I thought about the ideal layout for the Wish's pool deck, and I'm curious to see what it ends up looking like.  Similarly, I want to learn more about the Wish's new water slide.  From what we've seen, it looks similar to the AquaDuck on the Dream and Fantasy, but the technology in that slide is a decade old.  An upgraded and improved version of the AquaDuck would be amazing, so hopefully it gets featured tomorrow.

Like the pool deck, the Wish will have areas for all guests to enjoy, like theatres, a sports deck and some shops.  I'd like it if DCL spends some of the presentation talking about these features.  Maybe we'll even hear about an upgraded Midship Detective Agency!

We could hear some of the Wish's horns during the event.  The Wish will probably add some new horns based on Disney songs, so some of them could be played tomorrow.  The Disney Parks Blog post said that there'll be some performances during the event, and a horn song counts as a performance, right?

Disney may discuss the Wish's youth clubs during the event.  I'm guessing they'll stick with the current names and themes of the youth clubs (Oceaneer Club, Oceaneer Lab, Edge, Vibe) for fleetwide continuity, so I don't think that'll change about them.  The Wish's youth clubs will probably feature more to do in them than their existing counterparts, and we could find out about those innovations tomorrow.

There are definitely going to be adults watching the presentation, so it'll probably detail the adults-only spaces around the Wish.  I'm really hoping for a bar similar to the Dream's Pub 687.  Being the DCLKid, I don't usually care too much about the bars, but Pub 687 is really cool.  It features artifacts and pictures from the Dream's construction, and for people like me, it's a lot of fun to just go inside and look around.  I'd love if the Wish has something similar to Pub 687.

I'm almost certain that Disney will talk about the tiny details that most people won't notice.  I like finding these details when I'm on the DCL ships, so those sections of the presentation will be fun.

All these potential Wish features would be great, but they'd be pointless if Disney never gives the Wish anything to do.  So, I think the Wish's itineraries will be revealed tomorrow.  The summer 2022 itinerary announcement allowed us to get a pretty good idea of the cruises that the Wish will start out with.  These cruises will likely be 3-night and 4-night (and maybe the occasional 5-night) Bahamian cruises from Port Canaveral.  This is just like what the Dream has done for pretty much its entire life, and since the Dream's getting moved to Miami that summer, it would make sense for a new ship to take over its previous job.  

If Disney announces the Wish's itineraries, then they'll also give its maiden voyage a date.  I'm probably not going to go on the maiden voyage, but I'll be happy to finally have a date for it.

I'm hoping that all of these things and more get announced tomorrow, so we'll see what happens.  If you want to watch the event live, you can do so on this Disney Parks Blog post.  You'll likely be able to watch it after it ends there as well.  Enjoy the presentation!

Four Years!

Four years ago today, I started this blog!  Before I became the DCLKid, all of the Disney Cruise Line-related blogs and websites I knew of were created and operated by adults.  So, in 2017, I decided to start my own DCL-related blog, where everything would be written by me, a kid.  Since then, I've been pretty busy.  I've gone on five cruises, taken thousands of DCL photos, and gotten my work published in a book a couple of times.

That's great and all, but none of it would've been possible without you!  Thank you for reading my blog, and for those of you who've been here since the very beginning, thanks for sticking around!  You've kept me motivated to write here, and I really appreciate your support over the years.  This blog has been a wonderful place for me to write about whatever I want, whenever I want, without having to worry about deadlines, following rules, or getting graded.  I wrote a whole post trying to prove the existence of something that was just a typo, and I don't think that would've made sense anywhere but here.  It's been a fun four years, and I hope you've enjoyed the content I've posted.  

Don't worry, this isn't a farewell message like what you'd hear at the end of a cruise.  I'm not going anywhere, so you can expect many more posts coming soon.  But until then, thank you all for a magical four years!

I Wish It Was April 29th

Remember the Wish's keel laying ceremony that happened earlier this month?  Well, at the end of the Disney Parks Blog post, Ashley, one of DCL's cruise directors, said that "big news is on the horizon".  Well, she was right!  Today, Disney announced the Once Upon a Disney Wish event.  Scheduled for April 29th at 11 a.m. ET, this event will announce areas and features of the Wish, as well as "adventures" the Wish will have to offer.  These "adventures" may be itineraries or onboard activities.  Whatever they are, I'm excited.  The event will also feature some of the Imagineers that designed the Wish.  I love learning more about the minor touches of the DCL ships, so hopefully the event will spend some time focusing on those.  Additionally, there'll be character appearances and surprise performances.  The only performances I want to hear are the Wish's horns, so maybe they'll give us a hint of those.

Looking at the image on top of the Disney Parks Blog post, there's a picture of what the Wish will probably look like.  It looks like it has an AquaDuck on the top of it, so this could also be the Dream or the Fantasy.  Let's just do what Disney wants and call it the Wish.

Here's a video of Ashley talking about what to expect for the event.  It's kind of strange, this video's title doesn't call the Wish by it's full name, 'Disney Wish'.  Instead, it just calls it the "Wish".  You would think that Disney would call the ship by its full name, but I guess Mickey was feeling casual today.

Here's a very similar video of Ashley talking about what to expect for the event.  This one is only for Castaway Club members, so don't watch it if you haven't gone on a Disney cruise before.  

In addition to information about the event, these videos give us a good look at the Wish's Grand Hall.  Did you notice Moana on the left of Ashley?  As I said back when we got our first look at the Grand Hall, this could be the exterior of the restaurant that'll be adjacent to the Grand Hall.  So, maybe the restaurant will be Moana-themed.  It's possible, but in the new video, the other Moana characters, Maui and Hei Hei, aren't there.  Instead, it looks like there are other people, and the one on the top left is definitely wearing a fancy dress, so it's likely another Disney princess.  If this is the exterior of the restaurant, then it could be Disney princess-themed.  This general princess theme would work better with the Cinderella statue than a more specific Moana theme.

However, these characters might not be related to the restaurant.  The princesses along the walls could be a decoration to reinforce the princess theme of the area.  I'm not sure why the princesses are there, but I guess we'll find out on April 29th!

This event is going to be amazing.  Disney's going to announce so much, and I can't wait to watch it.  But, why's it on a Thursday?  As much as I'd love to watch the presentation live, I have school.  I don't think "watching a 30 minute video about a cruise ship" is a valid excuse to be absent.  I'm sure the video will be posted to the Disney Parks YouTube channel after the event ends, but there's just something awesome about watching things live.  

You can reserve your spot for the event here, and if you do, you'll get a background you can use on your devices.  Reserving a spot isn't mandatory, as the event will be shown on the Disney Parks Blog post about it.  Remember, Once Upon a Disney Wish is on Thursday, April 29th at 11 a.m. ET!  It's going to be awesome!

Update: All Disney Magic Cruises are Canceled Until October 14th

Yesterday, April 15th, on their website, Disney announced that all cruises on the Magic are canceled through the 9th of October.  This announcement only canceled three Bermuda cruises from New York, and it does not impact the Wonder, Dream, or Fantasy.  Also, this summer's Magic at Sea cruises from the UK are not affected by this announcement.

Cruises on the Magic will resume on October 14th, which is dangerously close to the cruise on the Magic my family is planning to go on.  This cruise is scheduled to start on October 30th, but thanks to this announcement, I'm not so sure it'll happen.  I hope it does happen, but it's not looking good now.

These cancelations surprised me.  None of these cruises were going to Canada, which is temporarily not allowing any cruise ships in, so that wasn't the problem.  Bermuda is part of the UK, and they're probably fine with cruises, judging by the Magic at Sea announcement.  Speaking of Magic at Sea, DCL announced the dates for the Magic at Sea cruises, and the final one, a 3-night, is starting on October 1st and ending on the 4th.  These three Bermuda cruises were probably canceled to give the Magic time to cross the Atlantic and return to the US.  So maybe my family and I will go on that cruise on October 30th!  I'll start looking at alternatives just to be safe.

The relatively small amount of people affected by this suspension can either get a full refund or, if they've paid the full price of their cruise, a 125% future cruise credit.  Let's hope that this suspension doesn't get extended, because I want to go on the Magic in October!  But, if it does get extended, the DCL website will have the latest information.

The Wish's Keel Has Been Laid!

Earlier today, April 8th, Disney held a keel laying ceremony to celebrate the construction of the Disney Wish.  A keel is the bottom-most part of a ship, and today, the first block of the Wish was lowered into the dock where it will be built.  A special coin with a picture of the Wish, its hull number (705), and today's date on it was placed under that block.  You may be wondering why they did this now, because we've seen many videos of the Wish's construction progress already.  This ceremony wasn't celebrating the very beginning of the Wish's construction.  Rather, it was commemorating the start of the Wish's construction in the building dock.  Many of the sections of the ship, like a funnel, have already been built, so now, these sections have to be put together in the building dock.  Today's a very important day for the Wish, and I'm hoping that this commemoration is commemorated with a photo or two somewhere inside the ship, like this photo on the Fantasy.

In addition to the traditional keel laying celebrations, more information about the Wish was announced.  Captain Minnie Mouse was on one side of the coin, and it was announced that Minnie, not Mickey, will be on the Wish's bow, the front of the ship.  

Mickey is on the bow of the four existing DCL ships, like in this photo of the Wonder, but with the Wish, Disney is breaking tradition and putting Minnie there instead.  This change is part of DCL's work to inspire female leaders in the cruise industry.  I'm excited for this change, it'll be another thing to set the Wish apart from the older DCL ships.  I think the sixth and seventh ships will have Minnie on their bows to continue DCL's efforts.  It's funny, Minnie is on the bow, but she's not wearing a bow.  

Remember the Wish's website?  I signed up to get emails about Wish announcements, but I didn't get an email about this.  There could be one coming tomorrow or a few days from now, or maybe it'll only send emails when new features and itineraries are announced.  If you haven't done so already and are interested in the Wish, I recommend signing up for those announcements.

Speaking of announcements, the Disney Parks Blog post says that "big news is on the horizon".  Disney confirmed it, more information is coming sometime soon!  Could it be about the Wish's itineraries?  Not like we already figured those out or anything...  News about new features?  Whatever the "big news" is, I'm excited.  This should be coming pretty soon, so keep your eye out for it!

Update: All Disney Cruises are Canceled Until the End of June 2021, and All Remaining European Cruises in 2021 are Canceled

I feel like the titles of these posts are getting longer.  On April 6th, on their website, Disney announced that all cruises on the Wonder, Dream, and Fantasy are canceled until the end of June.  On the Magic, all of the European cruises that hadn't been canceled previously are now canceled.  The easiest way to deal with the different health and safety restrictions imposed by all of the European countries is to just cancel the cruises and not visit the countries.  This announcement means that the only cruises that the Magic will do this summer are Magic at Sea cruises.  Leaving from the UK, these cruises are exclusive to residents of the UK.  They go out to sea and return to the same port after a few days, not stopping at any ports.

Cruises on the Dream will resume on July 2nd, cruises on the Fantasy will resume on July 3rd, and cruises on the Wonder will resume on July 7th.  Aside from the Magic at Sea cruises, normal cruises on the Magic are scheduled to resume on September 29th. 

This announcement canceled more Alaskan cruises, which are currently impossible because of the Canadian government's cruise ship restrictions.  Disney says they are still evaluating options for alternatives to these cruises, but at this point, I doubt they'll need to find an alternative.  I think the rest of the Wonder's summer 2021 cruises will get canceled, which would include all of the remaining Alaskan cruises.  It would be great for the entire cruise industry if cruises resumed sooner, but with all of the restrictions imposed by organizations like the US CDC, I don't know if they'll be able to.  

All of the people affected by this suspension can either get a full refund or, if they've paid the entire price of their cruise, a 125% cruise credit.  This suspension will get extended if necessary.  The DCL website always is updated with the latest information, so be sure to check there if you're curious.

Finding Pinocchio's Pool

I've said this before, but the designers of the DCL ships paid great at attention to detail.  There are so many small touches on their ships that go mostly unnoticed, and I've enjoyed every one that I've found on the four ships.  Well, all except for one.  Though it's small, one detail on the Wonder has confused me ever since I noticed it back in 2019.  

If you've been on the Magic or Wonder before, you may know that the poolside pizza restaurant is called Pinocchio's Pizzeria.  But this directory sign on the Wonder doesn't include Pinocchio's Pizzeria in the list of locations at the bottom.  Instead, it includes Pinocchio's Pool.  The three guest pools on the Magic and Wonder are the Quiet Cove Pool, Goofy's Pool, and the AquaLab pool, so Pinocchio's Pool doesn't exist.  Or does it?

The first possibility is that the two small whirlpools near Pinocchio's Pizzeria are Pinocchio's Pool.  I've always considered them to be part of Goofy's Pool, since they're right next to it, but they're also close to Pinocchio's Pizzeria.  They're officially part of Goofy's Pool, but maybe Pinocchio is trying to take over that section of Deck 9 without Goofy knowing.

Alternatively, Pinocchio's Pool could be the name of the crew pool.  The Magic and Wonder have a crew pool in the very front of the ship (it's visible from the Wide World of Sports Deck).  Guests aren't allowed to use it, so it's not easy to get to.  I don't know if it has a name other than just 'crew pool', but it is a pool, so it meets the qualifications to be Pinocchio's Pool.  However, the sign pictured above said that Pinocchio's Pool is to the right of the sign, and the crew pool is to the left.  Also, the sign only lists guest areas, not crew areas, on it.  I'd say that the crew pool is not Pinocchio's Pool.

Another possibility is that Pinocchio's Pool doesn't exist...yet.  People who read the Wonder's sign are probably supposed to assume that the locations listed on the sign are on the Wonder, but let's not assume this.  The sign's directions aren't very specific (left and right), so it may be listing some of the locations on the Wish or the other two future ships.  If Pinocchio's Pool is somewhere to the right of the sign, and the sign is on the Starboard side of the Wonder, locations to the right of it are behind the ship.  Let's say the Wish is to the right of the sign, behind the Wonder, like this:

Pretend they're both facing toward the left.

If Pinocchio's Pool is on the Wish, and the Wish is directly behind the Wonder, then the pool would be to the right of the sign, like what it says.  The sign would be accurate, though only during these rare occasions.  This is possible, but I don't think one of the Wish's pools will be named Pinocchio's Pool.  People would probably get confused, as the DCL fleet would have Pinocchio's Pool and Pinocchio's Pizzeria.  Mixing up a pizza restaurant with a pool would be terrible, I hope it never happens.

Those options are possible but unlikely.  A final possibility is that Pinocchio's Pool is actually a sink, not a swimming pool.  Before handling food, the crew has to wash their hands, so what if the sink they use before working in Pinocchio's Pizzeria is the Pinocchio's Pool?  If you cover the sink's drain and leave the water running, a pool of water will fill up the sink.  It's a pool at Pinocchio's!  Pinocchio's Pool!  It does exist!  The sign wasn't wrong after all!

Pinocchio's Pool is likely just an error on that one sign, but where's the fun in that?  I hope you enjoyed the legendary April Fool's Day quest to prove that the typo really does exist.  By now, that sign error has probably been noticed and corrected, which is good.  It'll save people the trouble of trying to figure out where Pinocchio's Pool is.  

Remember, don't believe everything thing you read, like that sign on the Wonder.  Especially today.

Magic at Sea: It's Just the Magic, at Sea.

Back in February, Disney canceled all cruises on the Disney Magic until August 10th.  This was unfortunate, as the Magic would be missing out on the majority of the 2021 European cruise season, a very popular and profitable time for cruises.  Well, thanks to an announcement from last week, the Magic actually won't be missing most of the European season this year.  It'll just be a lot different than it normally is.

Last week, Disney announced Disney Magic at Sea, a special type of cruise that the Magic will be doing this summer.  The name gives a big hint about why these cruises are special.  They only go out to sea and don't visit any ports of call.  The Magic at Sea cruises will leave from four ports in the UK:  Newcastle, Southampton, Liverpool, and London Tilbury.  Disney will offer three duration options, 2-nights, 3-nights, and "limited" 4-nights.  They sound like fun, especially you aren't a fan of disembarking at ports.  However, there's a catch.  These cruises will only be available to residents of the UK.  Why?  By limiting these cruises to UK residents, DCL is eliminating the need to travel long distances to go on a cruise.  Also, the UK is an island country, which enables it to be more isolated than other countries.  This relative isolation helps to limit the spread of COVID-19.  Plus, as we'll see in a bit, this will help limit the number of people going on these cruises.  I don't live in the UK, and I know my family wouldn't want to move there just to go on a short cruise.

Disney hasn't announced a ton about their Magic at Sea cruises, but they did say that these cruises will be different than they have been in the past to keep everyone onboard healthy.  They'll be taking a 5-point approach to health and safety, and these points and more will probably be implemented when cruises resume fleetwide. The first point is Health & Wellness.  Face coverings and social distancing will be required, which I expected at this point.  Instead of giving out Castaway Club bags, Disney should give out masks to Castaway Club members on these cruises.  A way Disney could promote social distancing is by limiting elevators to one family at a time.  This would be pretty annoying, but there won't be any rushes to get down to Deck 1 to disembark at a port, so it's not a huge problem.  In addition to keeping people away from others, restricting the elevators would promote health by allowing guests to exercise as they go up and down the stairs instead of using the elevators.  Additionally, Disney will have health screenings and COVID-19 testing, but the site doesn't say anything about guests being required to get tested before boarding.  The Magic will be operating at a lower capacity as well.  Only opening these cruises to UK residents will help with the lower availability, since the low amount of people actually able to book these cruises means there'll be less demand.  The website doesn't say anything about requiring guests to have received a COVID-19 vaccine, so this probably means it's not mandatory.  

The second point is Cleaning & Disinfecting.  The Magic will be cleaned more frequently than it was before cruising got shut down.  The DCL ships were already cleaned really frequently, but now, even more cleaning will be done.  They'll emphasize cleaning in areas that are touched frequently, like elevator buttons and railings.  

The third point is Innovative Technology, and it involves the DCL Navigator app.  Disney says it'll be used to help keep people safe.  This could mean that the app will just have a message telling guests to be safe, but that doesn't seem very innovative.  To be more innovative, the app could be used to reserve activities on the ship, like seats at the theatres.  Things like theatre seats would be limited commodities because of social distancing restrictions, so using the app to reserve them would be helpful and convenient, if it works well.  An increased reliance on the app would need a reliable internet connection, so hopefully Disney upgraded the network technology on their ships during the pandemic.

Fourth is Crew Member Training.  By the time the Magic at Sea cruises start, the crew will be trained and knowledgeable about the safety protocols and restrictions that DCL will be following.  I'm sure all of them will help the guests stay aware of these protocols.  

The final point is Working Together.  Disney says they'll give their guests resources to help them get used to the new safety restrictions.  The website doesn't have much information about their health and safety protocols yet, but as the Magic at Sea cruises get closer, more information will surely be added.  This is good, because I really want to know how the youth clubs are going to work.

The rest of the website has information about the activities guests can do on the Magic at Sea cruises.  These appear to be just like what was available on cruises before they shut down.  There will be restrictions, but it's good to see that the overall experience will be similar.  Even with these restrictions, these Magic at Sea cruises will still be fun.  Although, probably not as much fun as a normal, unrestricted cruise.  

Interestingly, in the section about the Magic's live shows, it describes the musicals as "West End-quality", while elsewhere on the DCL website, musicals are described as "Broadway-style".  The West End is a theatre in London, and judging by the DCL website, it seems to be the UK equivalent of Broadway.  West End and Broadway even have some of the same shows, like The Lion King.  The Magic at Sea cruises are exclusive to UK residents, so of course Disney tailored the website to them.  

The Magic at Sea cruises will probably be less expensive than normal, pre-March 2020 Disney cruises.  The likely lower price will be due to the fact that these cruises are shorter than many of the cruises that DCL offers.  Plus, these cruises don't stop at any ports.  Whenever a cruise ship stops at a port of call, it has to pay certain fees and taxes.  These fees are included in the price guests pay for a cruise.  But the Magic at Sea cruises don't stop anywhere, so there aren't any port fees to pay.

The announcement of the Magic at Sea cruises got me thinking.  Could they do something like this in other places?  Could Wonder at Sea or Dream at Sea be possible?  Not from the US.  A cruise starting and ending in the same US port must stop at at least one port in a different country before returning to the US.  The UK doesn't have a law like this, so cruises that only go out to sea are possible from there.  A cruise like this from Canada couldn't work, either, because Canada's closed until next year.  That's too bad, because an Alaskan cruise from Vancouver or Seattle would be awesome, even without stops at ports.  A cruise from the Bahamas would be possible, as some cruise lines, like Crystal Cruises, are planning some for this summer.  They wouldn't have to deal with the restrictions and limitations implemented by the US, so it's a possibility.  

But as of now, I think the Magic will be the only DCL ship to have cruises over the summer.  We'll probably see another suspension extension announcement in the next few weeks regarding the Wonder, Dream, and Fantasy.  Also, the Magic at Sea page will be updated with more information regarding the cruises soon.  I have to say, I'm looking forward more to that update than the cancelation update.

The Magic at Sea website says that booking for these cruises will start at some point in April.  I'm excited to see how many of these cruises the Magic will be doing, pricing, and more information about the restrictions that will be in place.  All that should be announced when booking opens, so if you live in the UK and are interested in these cruises (or you're like me and just want to learn more about them when more is revealed), check the Magic at Sea website in April!

Taking a Look at the Newly-Announced Summer 2022 Itineraries

Last week, Disney announced their itineraries for the summer of 2022, from early May to late September.  I was expecting to hear about the Wish with this group of itineraries, but this announcement was only for the current four ships.  I was disappointed by this, but at least the itineraries that were announced are interesting.  Also, the omission of Wish cruises in this announcement probably means that the Wish will get its own special announcement at some point in the future.  The Disney Parks Blog post about the itineraries says that information about the Wish's itineraries will be announced at a "later date", so while we wait for that, let's look at the itineraries that were announced.

First, let's start with the Magic.  Like it has done in past years, the Magic will be spending the majority of the summer in Europe.  Before it goes there, though, it'll go on a 3-night Bahamian cruise from Miami.  This is an average 3-Night cruise on the Magic, it stops at Key West and Castaway Cay.  After that is the 13-night Eastbound Transatlantic cruise.  This cruise goes from Miami to Barcelona, Spain, with stops at Ponta Delgada and Lisbon in Portugal, and Cádiz, Málaga, and Cartagena in Spain.  This cruise starts out at a surprisingly reasonable price, around $4,250 for two adults in an inside room.  From Barcelona, the Magic will do a couple of 7-night Mediterranean cruises, going to places like Naples, Italy, and Villefranche, France.  After these, there'll be a 6-night Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona that ends in Civitavecchia (near Rome), Italy.  From Civitavecchia, the Magic will go on a few Mediterranean cruises that visit some of the Greek Isles, like Santorini, Mykonos, and Heraklion on Crete.  After those, it'll go on a 12-night Mediterranean cruise that visits parts of Greece, Italy, and France before ending in Barcelona.  Following that, it'll go on a 5-night Mediterranean cruise visiting Cannes in France, and Civitavecchia and Livorno in Italy.  When that cruise ends, the Magic will go on a 7-night Western European cruise to Dover, England.  This cruise stops at Cartagena, Spain; Porto, Portugal; La Coruña, Spain; and Bilbao, Spain.  From Dover, the Magic will start an 11-night Northern European cruise that ends in Copenhagen, Denmark.  This cruise goes to Tallinn in Estonia, then spends two days in St. Petersburg in Russia, then goes to Helsinki in Finland, Nynäshamn (near Stockholm) in Sweden, and Riga in Latvia.  During the next cruise, a 7-night Northern European cruise, the Magic visits some of the same ports it went to on its last cruise.  After that, the Magic will head back to Dover on an 11-night Norway, Iceland, and Scotland cruise.  This cruise visits Olden and Maloy in Norway, spends two days in Reykjavik in Iceland, and visits Kirkwall and Invergorden in Scotland.  If you go on that cruise, there's Norway you won't have fun.  Back in Dover, the Magic will go on a 7-night Northern European cruise that goes to Amsterdam, Netherlands; Warnemünde, Germany; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Oslo, Norway.  Again, there's Norway you won't have a great time on that cruise.  You may be thinking that there's Norway a cruise could only go to Norway.  But there is a way!  The next cruise is a 7-night Norwegian cruise that goes to Alesund, Nordfjordeid, Eidfjord, and Stavanger.  There's Norway I can pronounce those names right.  Finally, after that cruise is a 7-night British Isles cruise from Dover.  This cruise goes around England, Ireland, and Scotland and ends up back in Dover.  That's it for what was announced on the Magic.  I like how the European cruises are very diverse, no two European cruses in 2022 are the same.  Each cruise has something unique about it, and it's impossible to get bored with that variety.

Let's move on to the Wonder.  I just mentioned how diverse the European cruises in 2022 are, but in Alaska, there are significantly less options.  There are only two types of Alaskan cruises (the Wonder will go to Vancouver during a previously-announced cruise) happening in 2022, and they're both 7-night cruises.  The first variant starts from Vancouver and visits Dawes Glacier, Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan.  There are fifteen of this type of Alaskan cruise happening in summer 2022.  The other, less-common variant is similar to these.  Instead of going to Skagway, these two cruises go to Icy Strait Point.  

Out of all the ships, the Dream's itineraries are usually the most consistent.  Almost every week, it does a 3-night Bahamian cruise and a 4-night Bahamian cruise, both round trips from Port Canaveral that go to Castaway Cay and Nassau.  Well, in summer 2022, there will be some major changes to what the Dream's been doing its entire life.  The Dream will start out the summer as usual, with 3-night cruises and 4-night cruises from Port Canaveral in May and early June.  The Dream's last scheduled cruise from Port Canaveral starts on June 3rd, and its next cruise leaves from Miami, where it will start and end its cruises for the rest of the cruises that were announced.  Unlike the Dream's other 3-night cruises, the final (for now, at least) Port Canaveral one doesn't go to Nassau.  Instead, it only goes to Castaway Cay and spends a day at sea.  This cruise is not a repositioning cruise.  While this may seem strange, it's not possible for a Bahamian cruise to go from Port Canaveral to Miami because of the Passenger Vessel Services Act.  This US law says that a foreign ship, like Disney's ships, can't take passengers from one US port to another without visiting a distant foreign port first.  Since Port Canaveral and Miami are both in the US and Castaway Cay isn't far enough from the US to classify as "distant", the Dream can't take passengers from Port Canaveral to Miami.  So, after this cruise ends, the Dream will sail from Port Canaveral to Miami without any passengers, and start a 4-night Bahamian cruise the next day, which will the first-ever Bahamian Disney cruise from Miami in the summer.  For the remainder of the summer, the Dream will be doing a mix of 3-night, 4-night, and 5-night cruises from Miami.  There are three different 5-night versions:  A Bahamian cruise with two stops at Castaway Cay, a Western Caribbean cruise with stops at Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay, and a Western Caribbean cruise with stops at Castaway Cay and Cozumel, Mexico.  The cruises that the Dream will offer from Miami are similar to what the Magic offers from Miami, and they're more diverse than the Dream's Port Canaveral offerings.  We'll come back to the Dream in a bit, but first, we need to talk about the Fantasy.

In summer 2022, the Fantasy has less surprises in store than the Dream.  For the most part, it'll be doing its normal alternating 7-night Western and Eastern Caribbean cruises.  All of the Western Caribbean cruises will be following the normal itinerary and visiting Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Castaway Cay.  All but one of the Eastern Caribbean cruises will be following their normal itinerary and visiting Tortola, St. Thomas, and Castaway Cay.  The one special cruise, starting on September 24th, goes to St. Maarten, San Juan, and Castaway Cay.  This would be a good cruise for people who want to go on the Fantasy but have been on both of its standard itineraries.  Another unusual Fantasy cruise in summer 2022 is its 5-night Western Caribbean cruise. This cruise isn't that exciting, it just goes to Cozumel and Castaway Cay like a variant of the 5-night cruises the Dream will be doing.  The Fantasy will be doing this cruise to prepare for the following 9-night Southern Caribbean cruise.  This cruise goes to St. Maarten, Dominica, Antigua, St. Thomas, and Castaway Cay.  In the past, the Fantasy has done longer Southern Caribbean cruises, like a few 11-night cruises, but there aren't any scheduled for 2022.  This is probably because the demand for those cruises was too low because of the high price.  Anyway, that 9-night cruise doesn't go as far south as the two Southern Caribbean Wonder cruises I went on, but it's a still nice itinerary.

Back to the Dream.  Why is Disney moving it from Port Canaveral?  In summer 2022, the Fantasy will continue to offer its normal 7-night Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral, but there won't be any ship offering Bahamian cruises from there.  The Dream's move to Miami doesn't make much sense until you remember that Disney has a fifth ship coming that summer, the Wish!  Moving the Dream to Miami opens up room for the Wish to do what the Dream had been doing from Port Canaveral, 3-night and 4-night Bahamian cruises!  Disney hasn't explicitly announced the Wish's itineraries, but the Dream's move likely means that the Wish will take over the Dream's old itineraries.  If this happens, then in summer 2022, Disney will have two ships offering Bahamian cruises from two different ports, allowing them to accommodate more customers and make even more money!  

We can learn more from the Dream's move.  The Dream will sail from Port Canaveral to Miami on June 6th, 2022.  This could mean that the Wish will take over the Dream's former role and start sailing in early June.  This is earlier than I expected it to start, as Disney said that cruises on the Wish will start in summer 2022, and the 6th is still technically spring, but I'm not complaining!

Overall, this group of itineraries didn't have that many surprises, except for the Dream.  It was surprising that the Dream was the most surprising.  Disney will officially reveal the Wish's itineraries at some point in the future, and we'll be able to see if our predictions were right.  But until then, enjoy browsing the new itineraries that are now available to book on the DCL website!