No Costa May for Disney Magic

[Crazy4Disney]

We just got word that the Disney Magic in Sept 2008 and Oct 2008 WILL NOT be going to Costa Maya, we are going to Grand Cayman instead

[Rylisal]

Seems so sad..i was looking forward to CM!

 

Thought the Re-build was going well & ahead of schedule so wonder why DCL has taken this early decision?

[Crazy4Disney]

Seems so sad..i was looking forward to CM!

 

Thought the Re-build was going well & ahead of schedule so wonder why DCL has taken this early decision?

 

 

The only speculation I have heard it, the port will not be up to Disney's standards by then, very sad but Grand Cayman should be nice!

[LauraS]

Check this info out on the Disney Magic's Sept 30th visit to Costa Maya - http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2657 - and recheck your itinerary! You may be in luck,

 

Laura

[selketine]

I'm on that DCL cruise that was to stop at CM on 9/30 and we were called last week and told the port was changed to Grand Cayman.

 

I think Cruise Critic got it wrong - I suppose DCL could have changed the port back but that would seem odd. Some have already been able to book Grand Cayman excursions through DCL.

 

**edited to add that I wrote to Cruise Critic and noted this and the guy who wrote the story got right back to me saying that their info is current as of yesterday but they are checking it out. So....who knows?

[editor@cruisecritic]

We are seriously perplexed. Michael Potter, who wrote the story, is trying to figure out what's what. He had it confirmed from Costa Maya's p.r. firm (RBB Public Relations in Miami) that Disney is the first to go. I'd have just thought, from Selketine's email to us (thanks for the heads up!) that perhaps Disney just hadn't gotten around to re-calling everybody.

 

And that may true.

 

But when we heard that two other ships that RBB told us would be calling at Costa Maya this fall -- Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas (another reader email, thanks Brad) -- aren't calling there either we got worried. Royal Caribbean confirmed that for us (the info was so far off that it's scary, like Splendour of the Seas isn't even in the region at that time!) and we've edited the item appropriately.

 

This is really bizarre.

 

We have calls in to Costa Maya's marketing chief, to Disney, etc. Michael already heard back from the PR firm, which swears it's info is right but clearly...it's already not right as it relates to those Royal Carib ships. Stay tuned as we'll update the info (even this weekend) when we hear something.

 

And by all means if you hear anything interesting or find something else that's wrong with this thing -- drop me a note (editor@cruisecritic.com); I'm on news duty this weekend so will be checking email.

 

Thanks, all.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

 

I'm on that DCL cruise that was to stop at CM on 9/30 and we were called last week and told the port was changed to Grand Cayman.

 

I think Cruise Critic got it wrong - I suppose DCL could have changed the port back but that would seem odd. Some have already been able to book Grand Cayman excursions through DCL.

 

**edited to add that I wrote to Cruise Critic and noted this and the guy who wrote the story got right back to me saying that their info is current as of yesterday but they are checking it out. So....who knows?

[Buckeye Gal]

The only speculation I have heard it, the port will not be up to Disney's standards by then, very sad but Grand Cayman should be nice!

 

I'm also cruising with Crazy4Disney and selketine in September. As mentioned, we have had official confirmation directly from DCL via phone calls and/or through our Travel Agents who had received an announcement from DCL.

 

Someone from the October 25 Magic cruise also stated that she received notification from her TA. She also stated that she called DCL directly. To add to the reasons why they pulled out, they told her that several excursion vendors' service offerings were not back up to their quality standards yet as they were prior to Hurricane Dean.

 

Sad indeed. No doubt they have worked so hard to have the infrastructure for the port ready ahead of schedule because they need our money for their economy.

[editor@cruisecritic]

Disney Magic will NOT be calling at Costa Maya on its September 27 cruise; read our latest story here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2660.

 

Carolyn

[Buckeye Gal]

Thanks for the update, Carolyn!