Here's the reply I received from Canon this morning (I'm impressed the reply came so quickly!):

"Thank you for your inquiry.  We value you as a Canon customer and
appreciate the opportunity to assist you.  I am sorry that your PIXMA
Pro9500 Mark II did not come with a inner tray to print CD/DVDs.

Globally, Canon is comprised of many different sales divisions.  Each
sales division makes their own business decisions as to the products and
features they feel will help them achieve their goals and best suit
their market.  Canon USA has made the decision not to include the
CDR/DVD printing feature on consumer printers sold in this market.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused,
and let us know if we can be of further assistance to you with your
PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II."

Oh well. I do miss that feature which I had on my old R1800, although I don't miss the clogged heads!

I've had an R800 (same heads as R1800) for several years and it's performance has been excellent and never had clogged heads.
I printed today after a 3 -week  gap and it worked perfectly; I did a nozzle check but the printer requested a new cartridge which I installed, the nozzle check completed. That and subsequent prints were perfect.
I rarely have to do a nozzle clean and even after a 5 week period of it being off there were no problems. 
So, I wonder what you did to get clogged heads, not use it for months or use so called "compatible" cartridges?   
Terry