Summer 2022 Disney Cruise Line Itineraries

Disney Cruise Line has released itineraries through Summer 2022! There are sailings to great new destinations and popular ports of call in the Greek Isles, Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Alaska, and the Caribbean. In this post, we’ll take a look at the awesome options, followed by commentary on pricing, our recommended destinations, and why we’ll be booking on opening day instead of waiting for a deal.

Note that “opening day” booking for the general public will begin on March 25, 2021. Prior to that, there will be a staggered advance booking period beginning next Monday. Here’s the eligibility timeline:

• March 22, 2021 — Platinum Castaway Club Members, Golden Oak Club Residents
• March 23, 2021 — Gold Castaway Club Members
• March 24, 2021 — Silver Castaway Club Members, Disney Vacation Club Members, Adventures by Disney Insiders
• March 25, 2021 – All Guests

If you’re an existing member, Disney Cruise Line recommends that you log in to your account now to verify your Castaway Club status, so you’ll be all set to book on your designated date. You can also call (866) 784-1592 starting at 8:00 AM Eastern Time, or contact your travel agent.

Another thing to note is that the Disney Wish is scheduled to sail its maiden voyage in Summer 2022. However, it’s not included in this itinerary release. Disney Cruise Line promises bookings and info for the Wish will be released at a later date.

By process of elimination, we’re pretty confident it’ll be taking over the shorter Bahamas cruises out of Port Canaveral. On the one hand, we really want to experience the Disney Wish. On the other hand, I’ve had my fill of those itineraries for a while. Back to the first hand, we really do miss Castaway Cay, and getting back there plus a new ship will probably win out.

Summer 2022 will bring a new collection of Disney Cruise Line destinations as part of the Disney Magic’s grand tour of Europe. This will begin with sailings through the Greek Isles and Mediterranean before heading to Northern Europe for cruises to the Baltic, British Isles, Iceland, and the Norwegian Fjords. Five new ports of call in Europe include Chania, Greece; Porto, Portugal; Riga, Latvia; Maloy, Norway; and Nynashamn, Sweden, which is near Stockholm.

From Rome, cruises to Greece will whisk families to the beautiful landscapes and archeological wonders of Piraeus, the gateway to Athens, and to the spectacular Greek islands of Santorini and Mykonos. One 9-night sailing will mark Disney Cruise Line’s first call to Chania, Greece on the island of Crete, known for its charming harbor.

Mediterranean voyages from Barcelona, Spain, will visit a mix of must-see locales including Rome and Naples, plus French Riviera coastal towns like Villefranche (pictured above) and Cannes. During a 7-night cruise from Barcelona to Dover, England, Disney Cruise Line will make its first-ever visit to Porto, Portugal, a coastal city with old-world charm.

Additional new ports of call in northern Europe include Riga, the capital of Latvia and the largest metropolis in the Baltics; Nynashamn, Sweden, a beautiful seaside town just outside Stockholm; and Maloy, Norway, a charming coastal village bordered by silver-sand beaches and historic lighthouses.

For the first time ever, families can sail out of Miami during the summer season. Every cruise from Miami in the summer of 2022 features a stop at Castaway Cay. The June 7 voyage will be the Disney Dream’s inaugural cruise from Miami–the ship has previously only home ported in Port Canaveral.

In addition to visiting Castaway Cay, 3-4 night cruises from Miami will call on Nassau, Bahamas, while 5-night cruises include a stop at either Grand Cayman or Cozumel, Mexico. One special five-night sailing features two stops at Castaway Cay, along with a call on Nassau.

Itineraries to the Caribbean and Bahamas continue aboard the Disney Fantasy from Port Canaveral. Each Disney Fantasy voyage features a visit to Castaway Cay. This ship will embark on an assortment of itineraries to the eastern and western Caribbean throughout the summer of 2022, including 7-night voyages, a special 5-night sailing, and an extended 9-night cruise.

The 9-night Disney Fantasy cruise features a first-time call on Roseau, Dominica, an eastern Caribbean destination filled with natural hot springs, waterfalls, and tropical rainforests. This mountainous island is bordered by pristine beaches and crystal clear water.

The Disney Wonder will return to Alaska for the 2022 summer season to explore the region’s breathtaking natural vistas, glaciers, and wildlife. These 7-night sailings depart from Vancouver, Canada and most will visit Dawes Glacier, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. Two of the cruises will call on Icy Strait Point in place of Skagway.

If you’re looking for a recommendation, pretty much everyone who has done one will shower the Alaska itineraries with praise. To be sure, that’s one of the better trips we’ve taken. It’s also pretty approachable.

However, our all-time favorite cruise is the Norwegian Fjords itinerary–by a pretty wide margin. We cover the similarities and differences in Norway v. Alaska Cruises, but the bottom line is that for us, Norway was much better. Others we know who have done both give the edge to Alaska–you really can’t go wrong either way.

Although we haven’t done it as a cruise, we absolutely love the French Riviera. Villefranche-sur-Mer is one of the most gorgeous harbors I’ve ever seen, and it’s a 15 minute train ride from Monaco. Not seeing James Bond at the Monte Carlo Casino was sorta a bummer, but Monaco is otherwise a fantastic, highly-recommended place.

Much like Walt Disney World on discount drop day, Disney Cruise Line’s phones will be jammed and the online system will likely slow to a crawl at peak times. Please do not exacerbate this by calling on a day before you’re eligible; they won’t make an exception and let you cut the line. It’ll just waste everyone’s time, including yours.

It’s always a good idea to use an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner to do the work for you, but especially for opening day bookings. For one thing, using them to book your cruise is a great way to save time and stress. For another, their services are free to you since they’re paid commission by DCL on the reservation.

Every year opening day price-points make waves on social media once they’re available to book for Platinum Castaway Club members, as prices always jump. This is not really a surprise at this point, but it’s nonetheless easy to be taken aback when first seeing each year’s prices…especially if you remember what prices were 5 years ago.

With that said, it’s worth noting that opening day stateroom rates are largely on the lower end of the historical pricing spectrum. As itineraries start to book up and stateroom inventory becomes more scarce, rates invariably increase. Pricing is demand-based, with cruises in recent years rarely decreasing in price–increases are far more common.

We’ve scored some good deals on Disney Cruise Line over the years (and cover how you can do the same in our How to Save Money on Disney Cruise Line Sailings post), but have had less luck in the last couple of years. We do not expect that this trend will change with the Disney Cruise Line itineraries. If you’re planning on taking one of the popular cruises, booking early is definitely the most pragmatic route!

With the sailings out of Florida–especially Port Canaveral–the odds of prices dropping are stacked against you. There’s probably a 90% chance that opening day prices are the cheapest that those sailings will ever be.

For what it’s worth, we plan on following our own advice here. There are several itineraries we’re eyeing, but the ones that really stick out include stops in St. Petersburg. That’s a bucket list city for us, and a cruise seems like the ideal way to accomplish that. We’d also love to visit Oslo–still need to touch that viking ship to awaken the Spirit of Norway.

My suspicion is that there’s a lot of pent-up demand for cruising and, unlike theme parks, insufficient stateroom inventory to absorb all of that. There are a lot of avid cruisers, and most will have gone nearly 2 years without sailing once cruising finally resumes. On top of that, a lot of people are going to be getting stimulus checks and/or have unspent vacation budgets from the last year that they won’t mind burning on cruise reservations next week.

Being frugal by nature, I’ll still cringe at the itinerary prices, but I’ll find a way to justify it to myself. In part, I have absolutely no faith in scoring a last-minute deal given the pent-up demand, record personal savings rate, and stimulus. Also in part, we really want to take another European cruise. (Maybe I’ll just let Sarah book the cruise and never tell me what it cost. Ignorance is bliss.)

With zero international travel, only one trip to Disneyland last year, and a couple of hotel stays at Walt Disney World, we spent a fraction of our normal budget last year. It’s looking less and less likely that Japan or Europe will be reopening borders anytime soon, so that’ll probably be true (albeit hopefully to a lesser degree) again this year. That’ll also make it easier to justify whatever these absurd prices end up being. I’m not looking forward to overpaying for a vacation, but I’m looking forward to a vacation enough that I’m willing to overpay for one!

Planning to set sail aboard one of the Disney Cruise Line ships? Read our comprehensive Disney Cruise Line Guide to prepare for your trip, plan entertainment and other activities, and learn what to expect from your Disney cruise! If you want personalized recommendations for Disney Cruise Line itineraries, ships, and more, click here to get a cruise quote from a no-fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. They can find you all of the current discounts, and help you plan the details of your cruise!

YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think of these Summer 2022 Disney Cruise Line itineraries? Any that appeal to you? Any thoughts on pent-up demand given the “year off” from cruising? Will you be booking on opening day, or taking a wait and see approach hoping to score a deal later? Do you think Disney Cruise Line is worth the premium pricing? Any other tips to add or recommendations? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!