Disney is changing up some itineraries and the $25 onboard credit is back!

[Disneyfalcon]

Disney brought back the $25 onboard credit for online bookings from now until December 16th. Just make sure you or your travel agent book online to get the credit.

They are also modifying some existing sailings from Galveston at the end of 2013.

NEW! 7-night Western Caribbean, including Jamaica
• 2013 departure dates: Oct. 5, Oct. 19, Nov. 2, Nov. 16 and Nov. 30.
• Ports of call: Falmouth, Jamaica; Grand Cayman; Cozumel, Mexico

NEW! 7-night Bahamas, including Disney’s Castaway Cay
• 2013 departure dates: Sept. 28, Oct. 12, Oct. 26, Nov. 9, Nov. 23, Dec. 7 and Dec. 14.
• Ports of call: Key West; Nassau, The Bahamas; Disney’s Castaway Cay

NEW! 6-Night Western Caribbean
• 2013 departure dates: Dec. 21
• Ports of call: Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico, plus three days at sea.

NEW! 4-Night Getaway Sailings
• 2013 departure dates: Dec. 27 and Dec. 31
• Ports of call: Cozumel, Mexico, plus two days at sea.

The new 4- and 6-night sailings open for new bookings on Nov. 16, 2012. Probably an indication that the new 2014 itineraries will open then also.

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Yes!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Not sure how I feel about the addition of Jamaica. My in-laws have been there. They say you should stay inside "the fence" or stay with a tour group. My brother-in-law said his experience was that the locals are very aggressive in wanting to sell things. Like they grab your arm, pull you into shops, place things in your hand, then tell you what to pay. That's pretty much what I've consistently read. My in-laws were on a tour outside the fenced area that included some shopping. They caught onto how the van would pick up & drop off at the door of the shops they were to go in. The guide never let anyone out of their sight. When my in-laws asked about a shop they had heard of by name the guide accommodated by having the can driver escort them. Again, never alone. My mother-in-law says she would only do tours with the ship guides in the future or stay inside the fenced shopping area at the pier. I'm pretty sure this was all Falmouth. They sailed RCI and I think that's where RCI goes.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Not sure how I feel about the addition of Jamaica. My in-laws have been there. They say you should stay inside "the fence" or stay with a tour group. My brother-in-law said his experience was that the locals are very aggressive in wanting to sell things. Like they grab your arm, pull you into shops, place things in your hand, then tell you what to pay. That's pretty much what I've consistently read. My in-laws were on a tour outside the fenced area that included some shopping. They caught onto how the van would pick up & drop off at the door of the shops they were to go in. The guide never let anyone out of their sight. When my in-laws asked about a shop they had heard of by name the guide accommodated by having the can driver escort them. Again, never alone. My mother-in-law says she would only do tours with the ship guides in the future or stay inside the fenced shopping area at the pier. I'm pretty sure this was all Falmouth. They sailed RCI and I think that's where RCI goes.

Well shoot!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Well shoot!

Did you read the recent article on Yahoo news about this subject? That's what brought up the conversation at dinner a few weeks ago. Between the article & comments below I was curious so I asked Kacey & Mom about it. They both pretty much confirmed what I read. Kacey in particular said its a shame because they really like getting off the beaten path and seeking out the local experience.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I didn't! I'll have to go look for it.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

http://m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/n..._host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=US&.lang=en-US

I hope that link works. Be sure to read the comments. I'm really surprised at Disney adding Falmouth after reading that again.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Oh I did read that before. I didn't take away that it was dangerous though, just that the cruise lines are boosting the economy like they thought. Did I miss something?

 

[sweetpee_1993]

The comments under the article are pretty descriptive with the scary stuff. I just scrolled thru about a dozen and I'd say all but 2 were disturbing at best. I'm getting that Falmouth is a pretty new port (as far as Jamaican ports go) so maybe it's going to take a little time for the locals to learn how to handle tourists. The pushiness scares the bejeezus outta people. Also, like a city with growing pains, maybe law enforcement sufficient to the safety needs will take a little time. As of right now if I was set to cruise to this port I'd be almost certain to stay on the ship.

**In the comments a person said a guided tour bus on their way to Dunns Falls was robbed at gun- & machete- point. Scary stuff!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Oh the comments! Sorry, I forgot to read those. Some of that is scary stuff. I think some has to be taken with a grain of salt, if you read some stuff about Nassau you wouldn't want to get off either. But you can't ignore all of it.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

True. Maybe do more research. My brother-in-law has cruised to Jamaica 2 or 3 times, my in-laws once so I'm relying on word-of-mouth from their experiences. Good thing I don't listen to them when it comes to who to cruise...I might be missing the Disney awesome-sauce! LOL!

And you're right about Nassau, that's 75% of the reason we didn't get off the ship there on our first cruise there. Now we just like Atlantis so much we make it a point to go there. It's not the most local-ish experience but it feels safe.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Lol! I would trust family usually.

Although my Dad and I were together in Tunisia and walked away with completely different perceptions. I loved it, thought it was gorgeous, and never felt unsafe. He thought it was gorgeous, but did feel unsafe and never wants to go back.

Maybe I was naive, maybe he was paranoid. It's hard to know!

It certainly has proven unsafe in recent times, so maybe he was more right than me.

 

[Zortek]

When we visited Jamaica several years ago we were told to pretty much stay in the resort or do resort sponsored tours. Even then, we decided to do a resort excursion to a pineapple plantation and had an uncomfortable experience there as well. We had a bus full of white tourists and a black guide that went into a pretty aggressive rant about how slavery still existed and he was just a slave to all of us white people. Luckily for us, he did not turn violent or anything like that, but it was a little bit scary to be put in that situation and apparently that is a common sentiment in that area.

 

[emcclay]

Yes.. you need to be extremely "street smart" Jamaica. A friend of my mom's grew up there and is VERY thankful she lives in the USA now.