What is happening with the recently announced Disney Magic summer sailings in Europe for 2021?
There was a great deal of celebration when Disney Cruise Lines announced that there would be a whole summer of sailings around the British Isles from June until end of August 2021.
Sailings were announced to be from Tilbury (London), Southampton, Liverpool and then Newcastle. Each sailing would not make any port stops, but would sail in a loop from the port of origin. There were options for 2, 3 and 4 night cruises.
All of these Disney Magic Europe staycation cruises are open only to UK residents.
The original details from Disney Cruises said that these sailings on the Disney Magic would be available to start booking on 14th April for Platinum Castaway Members.
This was going to be followed by Gold on 15th, Silver on the 16th before being released to the general public on 19th April.
However, over the past couple of days Disney has quietly changed some big details.
Firstly the official Disney Magic at Sea page now only references cruises from Southampton and Liverpool. Tilbury and Newcastle have gone completely.
No explanation has been given for this.
The second change is that the official Disney site now says that booking is open from 19th April. This is the date when it was supposed to open up to the general public.
It seems that Castaway Club members no longer have a head start on booking.
One unusual thing was that for the Castaway Club priority bookings over the first 3 days, booking was only going to be available by phone.
Usually, booking is by phone and online, even on opening day. The advantages of being able to book online are huge.
I was wondering how Disney was going to cope with the huge demand on opening day when guests and travel agents are only able to book by phone. Imagine the hold time on that one!
Also if you book online you can easily see the prices of all the Disney cruise options. You could have compared the cost of each cruise date, just like you usually do online.
With the original arrangement of only being able to book on the phone at first, it was difficult to imagine how Disney could manage the call volume. Also, as no one could see the prices before the call, it is likely that people would take longer to decide, and also need to hear options for different sailings.
So, right now there seems to be some confusion about what is happening. We will keep you up to date, but if you are wanting to book one of these cruises we suggest that you keep referring to the official Disney Magic at Sea page.
Alison Meacham is the founder of EverythingMouse Disney Blog. For over 15 years she has shared her love of Disney Parks, Disney Cruises and Universal Orlando. In over 30 years of Disney Travel she has spent countless months in Disney Parks and has sailed on over 45 cruises. A British native and now a United States resident she splits her time between California, Florida and the UK. And spends a serious amount of time sailing the seven seas. She helps over 200,000 people per month follow their Disney travel dreams.