Wonder from New Orleans in 2020?

[mmmears]

Disclaimer that I'm from the west coast... But I am trying to look at the bigger picture here and want to add that there are no sailings from Los Angeles, San Francisco, or even Seattle at the moment. These are BIG airport hubs (San Diego not so much). From a business perspective I would think DCL would want to port at one of these - it would help them attract people from the west coast, but also Asia and Australia.

 

[DCL_Wonder]

I regularly tell friends that Mud Island in Memphis should completely overhaul the River Museum and include a Soarin' type Mississippi River ride from the headwaters to the coast in it. You would smell the the unmistakable scent of the brewery over STL and the Cardinals playing, the Smokey BBQ as you fly over Memphis during Memphis in May and pee as you zoom over the French Quarter.

Excellent idea, except in New Orleans, you smell more than just pee.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

It would be very Disney to sail out of New Orleans. Walt LOVED New Orleans. It's a great place, port city (always raw and rough), has the most complicated and interesting history in the US.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

I don't have any interest in sailing to or from NOLA. But I was hoping to book a southern caribbean on the Wonder out of SJ in January and it's looking like that itinerary may not be happening any more. Thanks to the comments here I looked at the Grand Cayman port schedule and the Wonder has two stops there in January, whereas in the past it was doing Southern Caribbean most of the month :-/.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

A ship out of NO might make a difference for me. DCL is off my list of cruise lines to even price right now. If I didn't have to factor in the cost of a flight, I would at least price them.

 

[Sleepyluke]

It is interesting to me to see the love and hate for different cities. I was born in New Orleans and alot of the problems are the tourists and certain areas. There are lots of resident problems as well as with any city, but if you like the New Orleans TYPE food in opther places, you will love New Orleans because it is 100% better than the want to be versions. Yes it stinks, yes people talk funny, yes you will see things you can not unsee, but hey you are there to get on a cruise ship.

As for me, i would rather sail from NOLA than Baltimore anyday. And I may be wrong, but I think the extreme coast issues have the itenerary problems that so many peolpe complain about. Yes it would be great for one trip to save on airfare, but limited on options of where they tend to go. West coast tend to go to Mexican riviera which has never sold well for DCL and NYC seemed to have a good many discounts, but if I remember right ( i could very easily be wrong though), they were high priced to begin with and terrible times of the year for alot of families.

It has been interesting to see how terrible Galveston sold until they left and now they seem to book up pretty well and I know alot of people will book jsut to get on the ship regardless of where they are going, at least once, but not repeatedly.

Back to NOLA vs Galveston, NOLA definitely has alot more to do than Galveston, but just to move 1.5 - 2 hours east does not make a ton of business sense either. Or at least in my head anyway

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

It is interesting to me to see the love and hate for different cities. I was born in New Orleans and alot of the problems are the tourists and certain areas. There are lots of resident problems as well as with any city, but if you like the New Orleans TYPE food in opther places, you will love New Orleans because it is 100% better than the want to be versions. Yes it stinks, yes people talk funny, yes you will see things you can not unsee, but hey you are there to get on a cruise ship.

As for me, i would rather sail from NOLA than Baltimore anyday. And I may be wrong, but I think the extreme coast issues have the itenerary problems that so many peolpe complain about. Yes it would be great for one trip to save on airfare, but limited on options of where they tend to go. West coast tend to go to Mexican riviera which has never sold well for DCL and NYC seemed to have a good many discounts, but if I remember right ( i could very easily be wrong though), they were high priced to begin with and terrible times of the year for alot of families.

It has been interesting to see how terrible Galveston sold until they left and now they seem to book up pretty well and I know alot of people will book jsut to get on the ship regardless of where they are going, at least once, but not repeatedly.

Back to NOLA vs Galveston, NOLA definitely has alot more to do than Galveston, but just to move 1.5 - 2 hours east does not make a ton of business sense either. Or at least in my head anyway

I agree and think the worst thing about Galveston and New Orleans as ports of departure is cruise itinerary. We are booked on one out of Galveston that only goes to Cozumel.

 

[mousefan73]

Interesting possible itinerary thoughts in the above posts. did notice most pan handle sailings on other lines also are limited in itineraries.. at least for places that interest us.

If I were a genie, I would move hawaii a couple thousand miles east and make it a two sea day trip max from the west coast to the Islands. .. Depart LA or SD for a 7 night that includes a couple of island stops.

and during the summer and late fall.

 

[DVC Doc]

Even as an East Coaster, I'd love a permanent sailing (or even a lot of the year) out of Los Angeles. Excuse to combine a cruise and DL trip.

DCL has tried Los Angeles multiple times, first in 2005 for Disneyland’s 50th and then again around 2009. Unfortunately the cruises were not very popular and a Disney terminated their contract with the Port of Los Angeles early. Now that San Diego has become more popular, maybe they would try again but I have heard there is a lot of bad blood between Disney and the port. I think the reality is that, even on Disney, the Mexican riviera is just not that exciting to a lot of people.

I personally would love a New Orleans based cruise - especially if it stops at Key West!

 

[Dug720]

DCL has tried Los Angeles multiple times, first in 2005 for Disneyland’s 50th and then again around 2009. Unfortunately the cruises were not very popular and a Disney terminated their contract with the Port of Los Angeles early. Now that San Diego has become more popular, maybe they would try again but I have heard there is a lot of bad blood between Disney and the port. I think the reality is that, even on Disney, the Mexican riviera is just not that exciting to a lot of people.

I personally would love a New Orleans based cruise - especially if it stops at Key West!

Not sure why I am the one quoted? Someone else first mentioned LA.

 

[CamColt]

Interesting possible itinerary thoughts in the above posts. did notice most pan handle sailings on other lines also are limited in itineraries.. at least for places that interest us.

If I were a genie, I would move hawaii a couple thousand miles east and make it a two sea day trip max from the west coast to the Islands. .. Depart LA or SD for a 7 night that includes a couple of island stops.

and during the summer and late fall.

And if I had 3 wishes, this would be what I wish for, Genie!

 

[jdb in AZ]

Interesting possible itinerary thoughts in the above posts. did notice most pan handle sailings on other lines also are limited in itineraries.. at least for places that interest us.

If I were a genie, I would move hawaii a couple thousand miles east and make it a two sea day trip max from the west coast to the Islands. .. Depart LA or SD for a 7 night that includes a couple of island stops.

and during the summer and late fall.

DCL makes a lot more money in Alaska than they do on their Hawaii cruises, so there's no way they'd do a Hawaii cruise during the summer. If they cruise to Hawaii either before or after the summer season, then families would have to pull kids out of school, and that's not the best-case scenario either.

 

[mousefan73]

DCL makes a lot more money in Alaska than they do on their Hawaii cruises, so there's no way they'd do a Hawaii cruise during the summer. If they cruise to Hawaii either before or after the summer season, then families would have to pull kids out of school, and that's not the best-case scenario either.

just read up on the Jones Act. Too didnt realize how this affects cruising and the itineraries. US to Hawaii cruises not possible unless you find a US flagges, crewed, owned ship

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

just read up on the Jones Act. Too didnt realize how this affects cruising and the itineraries. US to Hawaii cruises not possible unless you find a US flagges, crewed, owned ship

It's possible with a foreign flagged vessel, the ship just has to go out of it's way to get to a "distant foreign port".

 

[cadien]

just read up on the Jones Act. Too didnt realize how this affects cruising and the itineraries. US to Hawaii cruises not possible unless you find a US flagges, crewed, owned ship

Princess sails from L.A. to Hawaii. They just stop in Ensenada.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

Princess sails from L.A. to Hawaii. They just stop in Ensenada.

And that is exactly what DCL did on 2012 with their 2 round trips from LA to Hawaii. We were in the October sailing and loved it!

 

[gotomu212]

Princess sails from L.A. to Hawaii. They just stop in Ensenada.

That works for roundtrip sailings -which make for long cruises that are more special one offs and not regular DCL sailings (it’s hard for families to take 2 weeks off of school and any more than one special cruise needs to rely on families).

To go from one US port to another US post one way requires a stop at a distant (non North American port).
Edit to add by that I mean to start in one port and end in another different port.

 

[ssanders79]

Scott at the Disney Cruise Blog speculates it could be New Orleans:

I was not speculating. I was bringing up an old rumor as a plausible option. The fact that the current Port NOLA CEO played a key role in bring DCL to San Diego simply added weight to the rumor. Sometimes these rumors never pan out, but sometimes they do. Just look at today, the Magic is in Quebec City. Reports surfaced back in 2013 of talks between DCL and officials in Quebec. This rumor eventually came true with the Fall 2018 itinerary announcement in May 2017.

 

[mcd2745]

I was not speculating. I was bringing up an old rumor as a plausible option.

I apologize if I offended you or misrepresented your statements, however...I really don't see the distinction.

 

[G.Tyler]

several cast members recently stated that with the long term contract with the Port of New York they were given the impression that the new port would be the Port of Baltimore located in the inner harbor.