Here is what we know for sure:
Magic and Wonder will be in Alaska for the summer of 2027 and then return to San Diego, Ca in September/October of 2027. You can see both deployed to Vancouver, Canada April/May of 2027. Magic and/or Wonder will stay in San Diego, Ca sailing Baha and Mexican Riviera cruises for the Winter 2027 to Spring 2028. This information comes from DCL and Avalon, Catalina Island, Ca has posted about DCL going to Catalina Island starting in the Fall of 2027 almost year-round. This is a 5-year contract with 2 agreed upon renewals for another 5-years each, for a total of 15 years of sailing out of California! This contract also states that there will be at least 2 ships in the Catalina port per week a good portion of the year. That will require 2 DCL ships in California most of the year!! It also states that Catalina is open to at least a 3rd ship and possibly more Disney Ships porting there.
For Fall of 2027, as stated by the authorities at the Port
of Galveston, Tx, one of the Dream-Class ships will head to Galveston, Tx and start
doing most of the year cruises out of there. This has not been confirmed by DCL
as of 8/21/25. I consider this credible because of limits at the Florida Ports
and the increase in the DCL fleet.
Educated Guesses:
Dream and Fantasy are wild cards at this time for Summer of
2027. My assumption is they could be split between Port Canaveral and Fort
Lauderdale, Fl for the Summer 2027 and one of them will go to Galveston, Tx Fall
of 2027 to take over for the Magic as Magic heads to California.
Treasure and Destiny most likely will stay where they are in
Florida. They may be joined by the 4th Wish-Class ship of the fleet
that just started construction August 2025. The 4th of the Wish-Class
ships should be completed around the time the current itineraries are
completed. This will leave 5 ships split between Port Canaveral and Fort
Lauderdale, Fl for the summer of 2027. I believe 5 is the limit of ships the 2
ports can handle at this time.
My thought is the Wish will head to Europe in April of 2027
and spend her summer doing the Meditation Cruises that have been done by the
Magic and Dream-Class ships up to now. My reasoning is on the schedule for April
and May 2027 are TBA for the Wish. Her itinerary is not out as far as the other
ships. They are not announcing what ship is going to Europe and Wish is the
only one that is not scheduled at time a ship usually goes.
In 2028 things should stay stable. All 4 Wish-Class and 1
Dream-Class ship will be in the 2 Florida ports. 1 Dream-Class ship will be in
Texas. The 2 Magic/Classic-Class will be in California. Summer of 2028 1 ship
will be going to Europe. That is a wild card.
The next BIG shake up will be in 2029. First is the addition
of the 5th Wish-Class ship that will go to Tokyo, Japan for the
Oriental Land Company. Construction has not started on this ship yet. The 5th
Wish-Class ship should be completed sometime in 2028 with delivery to OLC expected
in early 2029. Also. in 2029 the first of the unnamed 5th-Class and of
ships joins the fleet! Anything could happen then! The new 5th-Class
of ships, come out in 2029, 2030 and 2031 respectively. They could be split
between the 4 main US ports DCL has chosen or go completely wild to some other
continent/country!
Knowing that the Florida Ports are already stressed with capacity
it is possible that the first 2 of the 5th-Class of ships could
split between California and Texas with the 3rd being a wild card to
fill in where needed. Consider the ship taking another ships spot as the other,
larger ship heads to Europe or some other location. Because of the height of
the Bridge of Americas on the Panama Canal only the Classic/Magic-Class of
Disney Ships can go through the Canal. I believe the 5th-Class of
ships will be of a size they will be able to go through there. This would allow
them to come to the West Coast full or part-time.
There is also the sad, and real possibility that the Magic (Started
Sailing 1998) and Wonder (Started Sailing 1999) will retire by 2030, or shortly
after. Both will be 30+ years old by then. 30 years is the expected and real useful
lifetime of a cruise ship. They could replace them with the 5th-Class
of ships on the West Coast. Again, they need to keep at least 2 ships here for
the Catalina Island Contract. West Coast could end up with 1, 2 or all 3, of
the new smaller ships!
There is a lot of research, thought, reading between the
lines and educated guessing being made in this post. It has been a pleasure to
explore and think about all the possible options for the future.
I honestly believe that the next set of itineraries, May/June
2027 to September 2027 should come out by the end of this year. The current
itineraries were released very late so I think the next will come out quicker.
DCL usually releases the next itineraries around 16 months prior to the end of
the current itineraries.
If you wish to book one of the new itineraries that are
available to book starting September 2nd, 2025, for the General Public.
Early booking starts August 25th, 2025. You can contact us about
current booking or if you wish to be on our list to be contacted when the next
set of itineraries are released.
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