Really? ABD for Eastern and Western Caribbean Sailings??

[WishUponAStarryNight]

So, DCL announced summer 2020 today and ABD will have add-ons, not only for Alaska and the Europe sailings, but also for the Caribbean sailings. I'm wondering what kind of interest there will be for these Caribbean trips? I'm new to ABD, but these seem odd to me. Any thoughts?

 

[sayhello]

So, DCL announced summer 2020 today and ABD will have add-ons, not only for Alaska and the Europe sailings, but also for the Caribbean sailings. I'm wondering what kind of interest there will be for these Caribbean trips? I'm new to ABD, but these seem odd to me. Any thoughts?

I agree, it seems odd because a lot of Caribbean ports just don't have that much to do or see, and what they have is easily arranged by anyone. It's the same issue ABD had doing a Hawaii ABD. But maybe they're just trying to see if there's interest or not. If there's no interest, they can always drop it.

I'm surprised they have Alaska again. They used to have Alaska years ago and dropped it due to lack of interest. I'll be interested to see what they're doing differently.

Sayhello

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

Maybe they're trying to convert more cruisers to ABD? I'm not sure $3K pp on an Eastern Caribbean sailing is the way to do it, but what do I know?

 

[sayhello]

Maybe they're trying to convert more cruisers to ABD? I'm not sure $3K pp on an Eastern Caribbean sailing is the way to do it, but what do I know?

Maybe. I absolutely *LOVED* the ABD Add-on I did on an 11-night Mediterranean cruise. It made so much sense for that. But the Eastern Caribbean? For $3000? Probably not.

Sayhello

 

[laceltris3]

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[sayhello]

OK, so it's $2499 per person for an Adult, $2369 for a Child. For a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise with only 2 ports plus Castaway Cay. Yes, they have "Special Entertainment" of some sort at Castaway Cay, but really? Is that that big of a benefit? You're really only doing 2 days' worth of excursions! That is just way too much money for what you're getting. They list "All meals on board & in port" as a part of the ABD, when your meals onboard & on Castaway Cay are included in your cruise fare! So that really only covers 2 lunches in port! And you have a separate place for lunch on Castaway Cay, but it's still included! I just don't see the value there!

ETA: You have *3* Sea days with little to no interaction with the Adventure Guides. It's mostly listed as "On Your Own Time". Seriously?

ETA again: The 7-night Western Caribbean is only slightly better (3 ports plus Castaway Cay, and 2 Sea days). But it's $400 per person more! Oh, well, it will be interesting to see what happens.

Sayhello

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

OK, so it's $2499 per person for an Adult, $2369 for a Child. For a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise with only 2 ports plus Castaway Cay. Yes, they have "Special Entertainment" of some sort at Castaway Cay, but really? Is that that big of a benefit? You're really only doing 2 days' worth of excursions! That is just way too much money for what you're getting. They list "All meals on board & in port" as a part of the ABD, when your meals onboard & on Castaway Cay are included in your cruise fare! So that really only covers 2 lunches in port! And you have a separate place for lunch on Castaway Cay, but it's still included! I just don't see the value there!

ETA: You have *3* Sea days with little to no interaction with the Adventure Guides. It's mostly listed as "On Your Own Time". Seriously?

Sayhello

But you have unlimited access to bikes, floats, snorkels, kayaks, paddle boats and paddle boards on Castaway - totally makes it worth it.

 

[laceltris3]

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[WishUponAStarryNight]

I am laughing out loud at the absurdity of paying over $12K more on top of the DCL cruise fare for my family of 5 for a Caribbean cruise. At that point, it's honestly within spitting distance of the Danube River Cruise ABD with early booking.

I think it will actually be more expensive than my Danube ABD. I'll definitely be watching the prices, but summer sailings on the Fantasy are pricey!

 

[sayhello]

But you have unlimited access to bikes, floats, snorkels, kayaks, paddle boats and paddle boards on Castaway - totally makes it worth it.

I looked at the Alaska Add-on, and it's not much better. *Three* Sea days with little to no interaction with the Adventure Guides, 3 ports, and all for only $2599 per Adult, $2469 per Child. And if you want to do the big ticket item? The helicopter and dog sledding on the glacier that was originally included in the old Alaska ABD add-on? It costs *EXTRA* and is booked as a DCL excursion! You do get first dibs at booking it, but that's it! It's listed as an "optional" add-on activity to the ABD in Juneau!

Sayhello

 

[lalariner]

I had to ask if it was inclusive of cruise fare because the prices seem absurd to me! I also think it's nuts that they advertise 21 meals included when you are already paying for most of those anyway. Bizarre!

 

[Donalyn]

I can see value on the add-ons for some of the European cruises (Sayhello - you have sold me before on this), but I'm with the rest here. I don't see this at all. I thought that the Alaska one had potential, until I saw all of the at sea days and extra price for the better excursions.

 

[sayhello]

I had to ask if it was inclusive of cruise fare because the prices seem absurd to me! I also think it's nuts that they advertise 21 meals included when you are already paying for most of those anyway. Bizarre!

Nope. The price is totally on top of the price of the cruise. But with the language that ABD is using (and the price) I can see how you could think it did include the cruise fare. And I do agree that advertising it as including 21 meals is pretty ridiculous.

I can see value on the add-ons for some of the European cruises (Sayhello - you have sold me before on this), but I'm with the rest here. I don't see this at all. I thought that the Alaska one had potential, until I saw all of the at sea days and extra price for the better excursions.

Sayhello

 

[Donalyn]

I was just going on-line to check out the Caribbean schedules, but can't get onto ABD website. Anyone else having that issue?

 

[sayhello]

I was just going on-line to check out the Caribbean schedules, but can't get onto ABD website. Anyone else having that issue?

Yes, it looks like it crashed.

Sayhello

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

I looked at the Alaska Add-on, and it's not much better. *Three* Sea days with little to no interaction with the Adventure Guides, 3 ports, and all for only $2599 per Adult, $2469 per Child. And if you want to do the big ticket item? The helicopter and dog sledding on the glacier that was originally included in the old Alaska ABD add-on? It costs *EXTRA* and is booked as a DCL excursion! You do get first dibs at booking it, but that's it! It's listed as an "optional" add-on activity to the ABD in Juneau!

Sayhello

I can’t imagine these itineraries will be very successful. If the Vancouver short escape was canceled in a hot minute, how popular is this add-on likely to be? Seems most people caught on very quickly that you could do the same things for far less and without a ton of effort.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

OK, so it's $2499 per person for an Adult, $2369 for a Child. For a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise with only 2 ports plus Castaway Cay. Yes, they have "Special Entertainment" of some sort at Castaway Cay, but really? Is that that big of a benefit? You're really only doing 2 days' worth of excursions! That is just way too much money for what you're getting. They list "All meals on board & in port" as a part of the ABD, when your meals onboard & on Castaway Cay are included in your cruise fare! So that really only covers 2 lunches in port! And you have a separate place for lunch on Castaway Cay, but it's still included! I just don't see the value there!

ETA: You have *3* Sea days with little to no interaction with the Adventure Guides. It's mostly listed as "On Your Own Time". Seriously?

ETA again: The 7-night Western Caribbean is only slightly better (3 ports plus Castaway Cay, and 2 Sea days). But it's $400 per person more! Oh, well, it will be interesting to see what happens.

Sayhello

O.M.G. Ridiculous. I’m going to have to dig out it that old letter I wrote about Alaska when they raised price and cut a bunch of stuff, but this is even more laughable. I really wish they wouldn’t do stuff like this as it makes me question the value of other trips. And don’t forget for those 2 port days and castaway cay you are expected to tip for all 7!

 

[sayhello]

O.M.G. Ridiculous. I’m going to have to dig out it that old letter I wrote about Alaska when they raised price and cut a bunch of stuff, but this is even more laughable. I really wish they wouldn’t do stuff like this as it makes me question the value of other trips. And don’t forget for those 2 port days and castaway cay you are expected to tip for all 7!

That's true! They not only expect you to *pay* for all 8 days when you're really only getting 2 days of excursions, but they do expect you to tip for all of them, too. Sigh.

Sayhello

 

[laceltris3]

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[WishUponAStarryNight]

I really wish they wouldn’t do stuff like this as it makes me question the value of other trips.

This!!