Disney’s Med Cruises Unveiled!
OK, the news is finally official - the Disney Magic will sail eight 10 and 11-night cruises from Barcelona, starting May 26, with two 14-night transatlantic sailings at either end.
The cruises visit Palermo, Naples, Olbia, Civitavecchia (for Roma), La Spezia (for Pisa and Florence), Marseille and Villefranche. The 10-night cruise has 2 days at sea (one at the start and one at the end), while the 11-nighter has 3 sea days (which is good to be able to enjoy the huge range of onboard facilities).
Rates range from $2,399 to $3,499 (based on two sharing a cabin) and bookings will open April 4. The rotation dining system will continue as they do now (i.e. using one of the three different restaurants in turn each evening). My initial thoughts are these are rather ordinary itineraries, the sort of thing every other Mediterranean operator already offers (Palermo - OK if you want to visit Mt Etna and Taormina, otherwise a horrible port; Naples - always interesting; Olbia - nothing special; Civitavecchia - fine if you want to take the Rome tour, horrible otherwise; La Spezia - makes for a long day out to Florence, less to Pisa, but nothing special as a port; Marseille - wouldn’t be my choice on the Riviera; Villefranche - a charming little port but mainly a tours route to Monte Carlo; Barcelona - a great city to visit, but will people get time?), so they must be counting on the ‘Disney difference’ of being on board. Hopefully, they will be able to offer some more original tours at each port, as these are all very busy (and rather tired) ports otherwise. I would have thought Disney would want their passengers to see ports like Portofino, Cannes, Nice and perhaps Majorca or Menorca. Marseille, Olbia and La Spezia?? I can’t imagine this appealing to anyone who has already cruised in the western Med, so it remains to be seen how many Disney cruise fanatics there really are! It’s not cheap, either - almost 5,750 euros at the top rate for two (without flights to Barcelona). I’m sure it will still be a sell-out (with only 10 cruises in all), but I was expecting a bit more of Disney.
Well, at least the Med will get to see one of the world’s smartest cruise ships.