How to Choose a Disney Cruise
As of the end of this year Disney Cruise Line will have 6 ships active in the fleet. By 2025 there will be 8 ships in the fleet. Between 2028 and 2031 DCL will add 5 more and have 13 ships! So how do you choose what ship to sail?
First decide what is most important to you. Are the Ports
more important than the ship or is the ship the attraction? If it is ports/destinations,
then look for where you wish to go. If it is ship, look to what Class of ship
you wish to sail. You can also decide by Departure Port, looking for a port
near your home or near a Disney Park so you can do a Land/Sea vacation. You
should also consider length of cruise. Only one ship does consistent 7-Night
itineraries. Starting in December2024, that will be the Treasure out of Port
Canaveral. Some ships only do 3 & 4-Night Cruises. Some do 3, 4, 5, and a
few 7-Night cruises. 2 times a year a ship does a 13-14-Night Transatlantic. A
ship or maybe 2 will do 2 Panama Canal 14-Night cruises. Wonder often does 2
13-Night cruises to/from Hawaii and a 13-14-Night South Pacific cruise to
Australia with a return of the same. Wonder also does 7 and 9 day Alaskan Cruises
as well.
Disney currently has 3 different classes of ships and 6
ships in the fleet. By 2031 DCL may have 5 classes of ships.
Here are the classes of ships and information of the ships
of each class:
Class - Classic/Magic Class
Ships - Magic and Wonder
Number of Staterooms – 875
Passenger Capacity – 2700
These are the oldest and most loved of the Disney Ships
built in 1998 & 1999. When Magic was built she was the 5th
largest ship at sea, but is now considered a small cruise ship. Wonder is her
near identical twin.
Class - Dream
Ships – Dream and Fantasy
Number of Staterooms – 1,250
Passenger Capacity – 4,000
These beautiful ships came into service in 2011 & 2012.
They were the first ships of the fleet to have a water coaster, the AquaDuck. They
only have 1 restaurant with a show with 2 beautiful fancy restaurants.
Class – Wish/Triton
Ships – Wish, Treasure (December 2024)
Number of Staterooms – 1,254
Passenger Capacity – 4,000
These ships are the newest. Wish came into service in 2022,
and Treasure joined the fleet in October 2024. Treasure will take its Maiden
Voyage December 21st, 2024. These ships have 2 restaurants with
wonderful shows. The downside to these ships is they have no Midship Elevator.
This makes it harder for those with mobility issues to navigate the ship.
Coming between 2025 & 2031
Class – Wish/Triton
Ships – Destiny (2025), Unnamed (Ordered in 2024 for the Oriental
Land Company Sailing from Tokyo, Japan in 2028.)
Number of Staterooms – 1,254
Passenger Capacity – 4,000
These ships are identical to the Wish and Treasure. Destiny
will join the fleet November of 2025 and the Maiden Voyage is November 20th,
2025. The unnamed ship will be built by 2028 and sail out of the Tokyo, Japan.
If it does well the Oriental Land Company will order more. Building of this
ship should start in late 2025 or early 2026.
Class – Global/Adventure (This is a unique one of a kind
Disney Ship as it was purchased half built from auction when a Chinese Cruise Line
went out of business during the Covid Pandemic.
Ships – Adventure (2025) (Sailing from Singapore until at
least 2030/31.)
Number of Staterooms – 2,111
Passenger Capacity – 6,700
Adventure started out named the Global Dream for a Chinese
Cruise Line. It will have 6 Main Restaurants that will be broken down into 2
three restaurant rotational dining experiences. There are 7 themed areas. This
ship will sail from Singapore starting December 2025.
There are 4 more ships yet to be named and Class/Design
unknown to be built by 2031. These ships were ordered in 2024. There is not
enough information at this time to speculate Passenger Capacity or even where
they will sail from.
At this time there are always 2 ships sailing out of Port
Canaveral, Florida with 1 or 2 out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Depending on
the “season” Disney has ships in the Mediterranean/Europe, Vancouver, Canada
going to Alaska, San Diego, California, Australia, and Gulf of Mexico (Galveston/New
Orleans). So you can take a Disney Cruise almost anywhere in the world!
When choosing a Disney Ship, you may wish to look at
Restaurants and Shows to see if they have are ones you are particularly
interested in. An example is for the Frozen fan Wish has the Arrendale Frozen
Dining Experience. Several of the ships have a Frozen live stage play. Magic
has a Rapunzel themed restaurant and Wonder has Princess Tiana’s Place. One
thing to understand is there are 1-2 restaurants on each ship with
entertainment in the Main Restaurant with dinner! 2 ships only have 1
restaurant with entertainment, Dream and Fantasy have Animator’s Palate for a
show while the other restaurants are just fancy and great restaurants. No
matter if they have shows or not the food is always amazing!
Having been on all the ships, except the Wish/Triton Class
my favorites are the Classic/Magic class. We love the nautical theming of the
ship as a whole and they both have 2 restaurants with shows! Both have Animator’s
Palate and then either Rapunzel or Tiana themed restaurants that have shows.
While the Wish/Triton class ships look amazing, and we know
we would love the offerings for entertainment, experiences and restaurants we
have our concerns about this class. The Main Restaurants are all amazing for
the Disney Fan. Marvel has a restaurant on each ship, a Disney Movie gets a
restaurant and then there is 1923, a 1920’s Glitz/Glam Hollywood theme with
lots of Disney artwork on display. They have unique offerings, such as the
AquaMouse, the first Disney Attraction at Sea. It is a water coaster, like the
AquaDuck with some Dark Ride video and
water effects to tell a story. There is also an Alternate Reality game you can
play on the app using your phone. You point the phone at a piece of art or
maybe at the sky or water and it gives you clues to solve a riddle! All the
other ships have 3 banks of elevators, Aft, Forward and Midship. This makes it
easy to go up or down a deck and stay in the same area of the ship. This is
important for those with mobility issues that limit or eliminate the use of
stairs. From looking at deck plans, talking to those that have been on the
ships and reading reviews I think those with mobility issues will find this
class harder and more frustrating to navigate. Just imagine being in the Grand
Hall (main lobby) midship, you know there is a shop or lounge you wish to go to
one deck above. You have to go either to the forward or aft of the ship to get
the elevator to go up because you can’t take the stairs. That could double the
distance you need to go, and you already have mobility issues. I don’t believe the
designers of the ship took this into consideration and it is a huge mistake.
But no matter what ship you choose you will have an amazing
cruise experience!
