This is a list of Disney Cruise Line ships. All of Disney Cruise Line's ships are officially registered in Nassau, Bahamas.[1]Disney Magic began operation on July 30, 1998.[2]Disney Wonder began operation in August 1999 and were both built at Fincantieri shipyard, Italy. These approximately 84000-ton (the measurement of the two differ slightly) ships are 964 ft (294 m) long and 106 ft (32 m) wide. The ships each contain 875 staterooms[3] and are not identical in their design, with a lot of variations in interior design, restaurants, and entertainment venues. Both contain areas designed exclusively for various age groups, including children, teenagers, and adults. Current itineraries go to Alaska,[4] the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Australia and Europe, depending on the ship. The newer Disney Cruise ships were built in Meyer Werft Shipyard in Germany.
The ships are the first in the industry to be designed and built from the keel up as family cruise liners, with the goal of accommodating and equally satisfying adults and children. Unlike most ships of their type, they do not include casinos. Disney ships also feature ship's horns, affectionately known as the "Mickey horn", which play the opening seven-note theme of "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Disney's Pinocchio, in addition to the traditional horn. The Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy, and all subsequent ships include other tunes on their horn not heard on the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder, such as "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?",[5] "It's a Small World", and an elongated version of "When You Wish Upon a Star".[6][7]
The Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy entered service in January 2011 and March 2012, respectively. These ships were built at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. These new 129,690-ton ships are 339.5 m (1,114 ft) long and 36.8 m (121 ft) wide. They are two decks taller than the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder and have 1,250 staterooms each.[8] The Disney Dream was the first ship to have a water coaster.[9]Disney Wish entered service in July 2022 and embarked on her maiden voyage, a five-night Bahamian cruise stopping at Nassau and Castaway Cay.
Disney had cruise ship designs drawn up by February 1994.[11]Disney Cruise Line in 1995 ordered Disney Magic and Disney Wonder from Fincantieri in Italy. The ship was built in two halves with the bow built at Fincatieri's Ancona shipyard and the stern at their Marghera shipyard.
The planned maiden voyage was for March 12, 1998.[3] In January 1997, the first ticket for Magic's first trip was raffled off on Lifetime channel, while ticket sales would begin in September 1997.[2] Delays on the construction of MS Rotterdam kept additional workers from the Magic. Thus, by November 1997, the cruise line initially rescheduled the ship's initial voyage to April 30, 1998. However, further delays from suppliers and poor weather conditions at Fincantieri pushed back the maiden voyage even further by a few months. The bow was towed to the Marghera shipyard where the halves were joined.[3]
Disney Wonder was laid down on May 5, 1997, launched on February 23, 1998, and completed on June 18, 1999.[12] The ship's godmother was Disney character Tinkerbell (who only "spoke" with bell sounds), and Mickey Mouse gave the ship's blessing in English.[13][14] Wonder entered into service in August 1999.[3]
In February 2007, Disney Cruise Line announced that it had commissioned two new ships.[15] The first steel cut, for scrollwork on the ship's hull, was in March 2009, at the Meyer Werft shipyards in Papenburg, Germany.[16] Later that month the two ships were named, with Disney Dream set to enter service first, followed by her sister ship, Disney Fantasy.[17] The design of Disney Dream was unveiled at a press conference in New York City, on October 29, 2009.
The keel of Disney Dream was laid on August 19, 2009.[18] On June 1, 2010, the final section of the ship, the bow, was put into its place, completing the exterior, with work continuing on the interior of the ship. Float-out took place on October 30, 2010, and Disney Dream had her maiden voyage on January 26, 2011.[19]
Disney Cruise Line took possession of Disney Dream on December 8, 2010. She arrived in Port Canaveral, Florida on January 4, 2011. Disney Dream was christened on January 19, 2011, by Jennifer Hudson.[20]
In March 2009, the two ships were named, with the Disney Fantasy set to enter service on March 31, 2012, a little over a year after its sister vessel, the Disney Dream.[17]Disney Fantasy is structurally almost identical to Disney Dream, with a gross tonnage of 130,000,[21] a length of 340 m (1,120 ft) and a width of 42 metres (138 ft).[22]Disney Fantasy has 1,250 passenger cabins.[21]
The ship's keel was laid on February 11, 2011. Disney Cruise Line president, Karl Holz, along with Minnie Mouse, officially placed a magic coin beneath the ship's hull. The coin is identical to that which was placed beneath the Disney Dream, however, featured the hull number S688, and the date of the keel laying.[23] On September 13, 2011, it was announced that the stern character on Disney Fantasy would be Dumbo, the Flying Elephant.[24][25]
In March 2016, Disney Cruise Line announced that it had commissioned two new ships, described as larger than Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy but with an equivalent number of staterooms.[26][27] A third ship of the class was announced on July 15, 2017, at the D23 Expo.[28] In March 2018, Disney Cruise Line released the first rendering of its new generation of cruise ships.[29][30] The 140,000-ton cruise liners would be LNG-powered and would accommodate at least 2,500 guests.[31] In January 2019, the class of ship was confirmed as Triton in public documents published by Port Canaveral.[32][33] However, it is now following the standard naming of class after the first ship.[34]
On August 25, 2019, the fifth ship was officially announced as the Disney Wish at the D23 Expo.[35] Construction began in March 2020 at Meyer Werft, Germany,[36] with the delivery date later changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[37][38] Also announced at the D23 Expo was that Rapunzel would feature as the stern character on Disney Wish, with The Walt Disney Company releasing the design mock-ups for the ship, including a render of Cinderella as the ship's atrium character.[35]
On April 8, 2021, during the keel laying ceremony, it was announced that Captain Minnie would be the centrepiece of the Disney Wish.[39] On April 29, 2021, Disney Cruise Line shared a first look at their newest ship, Disney Wish, set to embark in mid-2022.[40] On July 14, 2022, Disney Wish officially entered service and embarked on her maiden voyage, a five-night Bahamian cruise stopping at Nassau and Castaway Cay.[41] She has a gross tonnage of 144,000 GT, a length of 1,119 ft, and a width of 128 ft. Disney Wish has a capacity of 1,555 crew and 4,000 passengers with 1,254 staterooms.[42]
Disney Cruise Line is in the process of acquiring several new ships.
The Wish-class vessels are larger than Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy but with an equivalent number of staterooms.[43] The 144,000-gross tonnage (GT) cruise liners will be LNG-powered.[44] Disney announced an agreement to build two more Wish-class vessels in 2016, and a third in July 2017.[45] The ships will enter service in 2025 and 2024 as Disney Destiny and Disney Treasure.[46]The Oriental Land Company ordered a Wish-class ship, which will start sailing in 2028 as the first Japanese-based Disney Cruise Ship.[47][48]
Disney also acquired the partially completed Global Dream, that was intended to enter service for the now defunct Dream Cruises. Since renamed the Disney Adventure, the 208,000-gross tonnage (GT) cruise liner will be 45% larger than the Wish-class with a capacity of approximately 6,000 passengers. The vessel was purchased for €40 million, a significant discount from the original value of €1.8 billion.[49]Disney Adventure is being built by Meyer Wismar, under the supervision of Meyer Werft, who completed Disney's other ships. The vessel will be powered by methanol. It is expected to enter service in 2025[50] and would be homeported in Singapore.[51][52]
On August 11, 2024, during D23, Josh D'Amaro announced Disney would acquire 4 additional vessels, starting deliveries in 2027, bringing the total fleet count to 13.[53][54][55]
^Niemelä, Teijo (March 10, 2009). "Disney names its new ships". Cruise Business Online. Cruise Media Oy Ltd. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved March 10, 2009.