On Friday, August 21, 2020, the Magens Bay Authority assembled via Zoom for a monthly board meeting. According to a report from the Virgin Islands Source, the board discussed an informal proposal from Cruise Ship Excursions tour company to set up an exclusive zone, bubble, on the beach, roughly in the middle of the mile-long stretch for Disney Cruise Line guests booked on a Port Adventure.
Cruise Ship Excursions operators, Billy and Martyn Crawford and Judy Reeve proposed that every other Wednesday for 3 and a half hours, Disney Cruise Line passengers would be allowed to congregate strictly among themselves on beach lounges set up in advance of their arrival, somewhere between shed 3 and shed 4, with no social distancing requirements. Attendants from either the cruise ship or the tour company would be assigned to guide locals and others away from the Disney designated area.
“The cruise line wants to keep people as far away from the guests as possible”
Martyn Crawford
Based on the report from the meeting, Disney is requesting an exclusive portable, air conditioned restroom, and a temporary concession stand for water, canned, and bottled beverages.
Disney also told the tour company they recommend all guests to remain within the defined bubble proposed for Magens Bay.
Magens Bay Authority Board did not take any action on the informal proposal brought up by Cruise Ships Excursions, but did request the tour operators to provide a detailed written proposal for future board consideration.
Although no action was taken, the existence of informal proposal offers a glimpse into Disney Cruise Line’s plans for when cruise operations resume and the steps they are taking to ensure guests are in the safest environment possible when and if they choose to go ashore in ports that are accepting cruise passengers.
Magens Bay is a park consisting of 68 pristine acreage: one mile of white sand beach, a six acre arboretum consisting of large trees from four tropical continents, a two acre camping ground with parking, 5 acres of coconut groves and 15 acres of mangroves and wetlands. Below are some pictures from our visit to Magens Bay in 2013 and you can read more about our experience in this blog post.
At this time, based on the current CDC No Sail Date and Disney Cruise Line’s suspension of all departures through at least October 31, 2020, the earliest return, would be mid-November when the Disney Fantasy calls on St. Thomas during at 7-Night Very MerryTime Eastern Caribbean Cruise departing Port Canaveral on November 14th.
Disney Cruise Line’s Magens Bay Beach Break port adventure has been a regular offering when stopping in St. Thomas, and includes transportation from the port, and a lounge chair for $59.00 (ages 10 and up), and $49.00 (ages 3 to 9).
As a cruise passenger, what would you like to see addressed in port adventures when cruise operations resume?
St. Thomas Tour Operator Attempting to Establish Exclusive Bubble for Cruise Passengers at Magens Bay was originally published on August 24, 2020 at 12:10PM by Scott Sanders from Disney Cruise Line Blog. Far Beyond Infinity Travel Blog takes no responsibility for errors in syndicated content.
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Definitely intriguing to see how this would work. I know Disney has been moving very cautiously in the reopening of all their destinations. I’m still not sure that I will be cruising any time in the near future. I look forward to hearing more ideas coming from Disney. Thanks for the article!