A Pixie’s Speculation on Disney Cruise Line’s Growth

 A Pixie’s Speculation on Disney Cruise Line’s Growth

Disney Cruise Line’s Fleet is Growing! As of today, January 17, 2025, DCL has 6 ships in the fleet. We know by 2031 DCL will have 13 ships in the fleet!

 

It all started in 1998 with the Disney Magic that was quickly followed by the Disney Wonder in 1999. The two ships are near identical twins and are the Magic/Classic Class of Disney Ships. They can hold 2,400 guests and are approximately 84 tons. Magic and Wonder are roving Disney ships. Magic moves between Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades, Fl, Galveston, Tx, occasionally Port Canaveral, Fl, and San Diego, Ca. Wonder does Galveston, Tx, Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades, San Diego, Ca, Vancover, Canada to Alaska, South Pacific Cruises, Hawaii, and sometimes spends time in Australia in the US winter and Australian Summer.

 

In 2011 and 2012 Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy joined the fleet. These ships comprise the Dream Class of Disney Ships. These ships are bigger than the Classic ships. They can hold 4,000  guests and are approximately 130 gross tons. Up until recently they went out of Port Canaveral. Now Dream is home ported at Fort Lauderdale. Disney Fantasy has been sailing out of Port Canaveral until recently. Both Dream and Fantasy have been taking turns going to Europe during the summer months.

 

In 2022 the Disney Wish joined the fleet. Wish is the first of a new class of ships, the Triton/Wish Class. December 2024 the Disney Treasure joined the fleet. Treasure is the second Triton/Wish Class ship. Treasure is doing 7-Night Caribbean Cruises. November 2025 DCL will add Disney Destiny. Destiny will sail 3-5-Niht Bahaman Cruises from Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades. This will bring the Triton/Wish Class to three ships. In 2028 or 2029 (depending on the official DCL press release from DCL you read) an unnamed fourth Triton/Wish ship will join the fleet. The fourth ship was requested by the Oriental Land Company, that owns and operates the Tokyo Disney Parks. She will sail out of Tokyo on 3-5-Night Magic at Sea cruises with no port stops, all days are sea days. She will provide wonderful Land/Sea packages with the Tokyo Disney Parks when completed! A fifth Triton/Wish ship has been ordered, it will be delivered, along with all other ordered ships sometime between 2027 and 2031. DCL has released no other information about this fifth Triton ship. We have no expected date for her to join the fleet, no name and we do not know where she will call home port as of yet. This class of ships are currently the largest of the Disney Fleet. They are 140 gross tons and can hold a little over 4,000 guests.

 

Disney Adventure will join the fleet in December 2025. She is a one of a kind unique mega ship. Not only is she big for the DCL fleet, she is going to be one of the biggest passenger ships built! There will be no other Globel Class ship for DCL. She will be able to carry 6,700 passengers and is 208 gross tons. Her size is not the only unique thing about the Adventure. She will sail out of Singapore until at least 2030, on 3-5-Night Magic at Sea cruises. They will start and end in Singapore and have no ports to stop at. The prices for the Adventure are some of the lowest on the fleet! You just have to get to Singapore to board her. There are a lot of special and firsts of a kind things on this ship!

 

Adventure started as the Global Dream for a Chinese Cruise Line. Due to the financial losses of the Covid Pandemic the Chinese cruise line and the shipyard building her were forced out of business. DCL purchased the ¾ built ship and asked Meyer-Werft to take over the shipyard and redesigned the ship, making it uniquely Disney. All the reports make her look extremely special! But that is for a different post!

 

The above-mentioned ships will bring the total number of ships to ten. By 2031 Disney has announced they will have thirteen ships. The last three ships have my greatest attention. I’m very excited to hear more about them as they are being built!! This is the little bit we know these 3 ships. They will be a new class of Disney Ships. We do not know the name of the class or each individual ship. What we do know is they will be between the Classic and Dream size of ship. They will be about 20% larger than the Classic ships and about 20% smaller than the Dream Class. The last three ships will be about 100 gross tons. They have not stated the passenger capacity yet as she is yet to be designed. I’m assuming passenger capacity will be somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 passengers. This is in direct opposition of all the other cruise lines out there that are building bigger and bigger ships. DCL decided to go smaller.

 

The last ships are being built so they can go to smaller ports and places the larger ships cannot. Dream Class and Trition/Wish Class are too big for the Panama Canal! This means easy movement between the East and West Coasts of the US is not possible for the bigger ships! These smaller ships may be able to do the Panama Canal! They will be more environmentally friendly. They will be able to plug into shore power were available in ports so they can shut off their engines in port. Their design will be sleeker allowing them to use less fuel and emit less emissions. Many ships use Disel Fuel, some use LNG that burns much cleaner. This new class will be able to use multiple types of fuel, LNG, Bio Disel and even using converted cooking oil! It will adapt to what is available and what is best for the environment.

 

The last three ships are going to be of a size that may be able to go through the Panama Canal! If they do that then the West Coast of the US has a good chance of having more Disney Cruises. Currently only the Magic and Wonder can come to the West Coast. These ships will open more locations for Disney Cruising!

 

With all of these ships I’m hoping that DCL will leave a ship on the West Coast of the US. Maybe have Wonder out of San Diego, Ca Spring and Fall with her spending the summer in Alaska as she has been. Maybe Magic or one of the new ships can stay in San Diego while Wonder is in Alaska and maybe Australia. They could have a ship sail out of Washington or Oregon and go into Canada instead of Mexico, as they have for quite a few years. Either way I hope they have a ship on the West Coast to make it easier for those who live there to sail with Disney.

 

Other options for DCL is to leave a new ship in Australia or dedicate a ship to going there. They could leave a ship in the Mediterranean and do more cruises in Europe. There are lots of places they could take a ship!

How to Choose a Disney Cruise

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 5^th 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 21^st, 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 20^th, 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!

Disney Treasure has Started Her Transatlantic crossing!

 Disney Treasure has Started Her Transatlantic crossing!

Yesterday, October 30th, Disney Treasure embarked on its Transatlantic journey from Eemshaven, Netherlands to its future home in Port Canaveral! This is 4,500 miles between the Disney Treasure and its destination, it will take two weeks to complete. The ship’s first port of call will be Funchal, Portugal, where it will make a brief stop before heading back out to sea. During the crossing, final preparations will be made to ready the ship for its maiden voyage on December 21^st.

 

During the trip the Imagineers and crew will make the final installation of electrical, carpet and décor, such as the Grand Hall Statue of Aladdin and Jasmine. During the trip the crew will learn their jobs and get ready to greet guests.

It has been noticed that a unnamed Disney Triton class ship will stop at Port of New York on December 17^th, 2024. It is the Disney Treasure that is going to stop at NY a few days before the Maiden Voyage for a VIP, Press and Travel Agent pre cruise. I’m sure Good Morning America will have a show! Because Treasure was handed over to DCL earlier than expected it is possible she may arrive earlier in NY.

Disney Treasure will be Christened November 19/20 at the New York Harbor! I'm sure Good Morning America will have some special shows showing off the Treasure. GMA may also show the Christening Ceremony. Disney is the parent company of ABC that has GMA. If  the Maiden Voyage is going to be webcast, that information will be posted on this blog. Disney Then she will move onto Port Canaveral for the Maiden Voyage.

 

If you wish to watch Treasure come into Port Canaveral or Port New York you can use the following link to get to Port Canaveral Webcam and there are links to other port cameras, including New York.

Port Canaveral Webcam

As always if you are interested in booking a Disney Cruise or any other trip feel free to contact us.

Carolyn-Tinky@PixieDustedMemoriesTravel.com

Scott-Sparky@PixieDustedMemoriesTravel.com

Disney Cruise Line – Past and Future Growth!

 Disney Cruise Line – Past and Future Growth!

Disney Ships
Back Row R-L
Magic, Dream, Wish, Treasure, Adventure, Destiny, Unnamed OLC, Fantasy, Wonder
Front Row
Next 4 Unnamed ships.

Disney Magic: The first ship of the Disney Fleet. She came into service July 30^th, 1998. She is the first of the Magic/Classic Class of Disney Ships. Disney Magic has the AquaDunk waterslide that drops you off the front funnel.

Disney Wonder: The second ship of the Disney Fleet. Wonder joined her twin sister, the Magic, August 15^th, 1999. She is the second and last of the Magic/Classic Class of Disney Ships. Wonder has no waterslide, other than the kids Twist ‘n’ Spout that is also on the Magic.

 

Magic and Wonder move around to different temporary home ports. Sometimes they are in the Gulf of Mexico going out of Texas or New Orleans, they also go out of either Port Canaveral and Port Everglades, Fl, and sometimes San Diego, Ca. Wonder also goes to Alaska out of Vancouver. Magic and Wonder are the only Disney Ships to do the Panama Cannel. All the other ships are too tall to go through the cannel. During the last few years Wonder has gone to Australia for the Winter Season.

 

Disney Dream: The third ship of the Disney Fleet. She came into service on January 26^th, 2011. She is the first of the Dream Class of Disney Ships.

 

Disney Fantasy: The fourth ship of the Disney Fleet. She came into service March 31^st, 2012. She is the second and last of the Dream Class ships.

 

Dream and Fantasy have the AquaDuck Watercoaster. It is a water powered coaster ride. They both have sailed out of Port Canaveral, Fl but also have gone to the Mediterranean and done European Cruises. At this time Dream will be sailing out of Port Everglades while the Fantasy will generally be sailing out of Port Canaveral while not in Europe.

 

Disney Wish: The fifth ship of the Disney Fleet. Wish joined the fleet June 29^th, 2022. Wish is the 1^st of the Wish/Triton class of Disney ships. Wish sails out of Port Canaveral, Fl and for the foreseeable future will continue to do so.

 

When Wish was built Disney Cruise Line ordered a second Wish/Triton Class ship. They were to join the fleet earlier, but the Covid19 Pandemic delayed the ship until 2022. Before Wish was completed DCL upped the order to a total of 3 Wish/Triton class ships! Disney Wish is themed after the Disney Princesses.

 

All Triton/Wish class ships have the AquaMouse Watercoaster Attraction! The AquaMouse is the first Disney attraction at sea. It is like the AquaDuck but has video screens and special effects that tell a story, like the dark rides at Disney Parks. The stories told on the AquaMouse change from ship to ship to bring them in line with the ships theme.

 

Sailing on her Maiden Voyage December 21^st. 2024, Disney Treasure, the sixth ship of the fleet, has officially joined the Disney Fleet. Currently, she is on her Transatlantic crossing with the crew finishing up the details of the ship. Treasure will sail out of Port Canaveral doing Western and Eastern Caribbean cruises.

 

The seventh ship joining the fleet November 20^th, 2025, is the Disney Destiny. Destiny will be the next ship to join the Disney Fleet. Destiny will sail out of Port Everglades doing Bahamian Cruises. Disney Destiny has a Hero/Villian theme, showing the destiny of major Disney characters.

 

The eighth ship, joining the fleet December 15^th, 2025, is the most unique ship of the Disney Fleet. She is named Disney Adventure. Adventure started its build as the Global Dream. It was being built for a Chinese Cruise Line before the Covid19 Pandemic. The Chinese cruise line closed its doors due to the pandemic and then the shipyard building it also went under. Disney scooped up the half-built ship and changed lots of things to finish it as a Disney Cruise Line ship! Adventure will be the largest ship of the Disney Fleet carrying over 6,000 guests. The Triton/Wish class can carry 4,000 guests in comparison. Another huge change is the Adventure will sail out of Singapore! Keep watching this blog for more information on the amazing Adventure! There are too many exciting things about this ship!

 

The ninth ship was ordered by the Oriental Land Company, that owns and operates Tokyo Disneyland. At this time the ship does not have a name and will be completed by 2028. She will sail out of Japan from a port 15 minutes from Tokyo Disneyland. She will be a Wish/Triton class ship. While it will be a DCL ship my understanding is OLC will operate the ship. OLC has stated that after the ship is built and they see how it is operating they will consider ordering more ships for the Asian Cruise Market.

 

Now things have gotten REALLY EXCITING!!! DCL has ordered four more ships to be built by the Meyer Werft shipyard! They will be completed by 2031!!! These yet to be named ships will bring the total number of DCL ships to 13!! We have no information on the last 4 ships. We do not know when construction will start or the exact dates they are projected to join the fleet. They do not even have official names as of yet. We do not know if they will continue with the Wish/Triton class or another design. Personally, I hope they do not continue building the Wish/Triton class as there are issues that cannot be fixed with that design. They are difficult for those with accessibility issues. They need to find a team of real ship designers and put them with Disney Imagineers to come up with some better design.

 

With all that is going on with DCL this is a very exciting time for those who love to sail Disney! DCL  has not announced exactly where things will end up after the new ships join the fleet. There is indication that the Magic may join the Wonder sailing out of San Diego, or another port on the West Coast. As of 10/25/24 the last itinerary that is officially posted is the Magic going through the Panama Canal to San Diego in June of 2026. This could indicate that Magic will sail out of California while Wonder is in Alaska. It is further possible that Magic will stay on the West Coast while Wonder goes to Australia late 2026. It is unsure if Wonder will go to Australia at all. Anything could happen!

 

New DCL itineraries for May-September 2026 should be released soon. If you wish to be on a list to be notified when the release date is announced please let us know!

 

Carolyn-Tinky@PixieDustedMemoriesTravel.com

Scott-Sparky@PixieDustedMemoriesTravel.com

 

Disney Treasure Ship’s Log 10-24-24! Official Log and Personal Speculation.

 Disney Treasure Ship’s Log 10-24-24! Official Log and Personal Speculation.

The is a synopsis of the official DCL Ship’s Log:

Disney Treasure marked the final construction milestone: the Delivery Ceremony in Eemshaven, Netherlands. Welcome Disney Treasure to the Disney Cruise Line Family!! Disney Team members, shipyard works, and the Meyer Werft Team took part in the ceremony.

The Delivery Ceremony is a time-honored maritime tradition marks the transfer of ownership between the shipyard partner, Meyer Werft, and Disney Cruise Line.

 

Now the Countdown is on!! Disney Treasure is on its way to welcoming families onboard starting December 21^st, 2024.

 

Personal Speculation:

So, what is going on with the Disney Treasure now?? Disney Treasure will leave Norway shortly and start it’s Transatlantic Crossing to take its place beside the Disney Wish and other Disney ships at Port Canaveral, Fl, USA.

 

While the Treasure is crossing the Atlantic the finishing work will be done. As they cross they will be installing carpet and lighting throughout the ship. They will be painting the inside areas of the ship. Finishing the decks. The furniture, artwork and statues will be placed. The Walt Disney Theater will need to have the lights and theater effects installed, along with all the other finishing work of carpet, painting and such. While the work is going on in the theater the cast for the shows will be practicing the plays as well! The main restaurants are being completed with painting, artwork, lighting and special effects. As all the work is being done the serving crew will be practicing serving in the restaurants as they serve meals to the crew finishing the ship. The staterooms are already complete and will house some of the crew that is finishing the ship as it crosses the Atlantic. The room stewards will be learning their tasks, including making towelgomies for your bed. The crew will also be unpacking the prefab cabins that are painted with furniture and art installed.  Kids Club crew will be learning their areas and skills. The kitchen staff and chiefs will be working on the meals they will serve to the guests. All crew members on this sailing will be working on complete the ship.

 

You can see that the Transatlantic crossing will not be uneventful. I believe that Disney Treasure is the unnamed ship scheduled to arrive at the Port of New York December 17^th, 2024. The Maiden Voyage is December 21, 2025, and there will be a sailing of VIPs, Media and select Travel Partners.

 

If you wish to watch Disney Ships pull in and out of ports check out:

PortCanaveralWebCam.com

Once on their site you can select Port Canaveral, Port Lauderdale/Everglades, Port Miami, Port New York or any of the other ports on the East Coast and more than a few in the Caribbean and Bahamas.

Check out the WDW Discounts for 2025, they are AMAZING!!

 Check out the WDW Discounts for 2025, they are AMAZING!!

There are a lot of offers out there for WDW for 2025. Here is an overview of them. For more details on a particular offer just contact us at the email at the end of this post.

 

Booking for WDW Resorts is open for November  – December 2025!

 

From January 1 to December 19, 2025 Military Discounts are being offered for Select WDW Resort Hotels!! This is as well at the Shades of Green Resort.

 

Throughout 2025 you can enjoy one of the Disney Water Parks the day you check into your hotel, FREE!

 

If you are interested in booking a Walt Disney World Resort Vacation feel free to contact us.

 

Carolyn-Tinky@PixieDustedMemoriesTravel.com

Scott-Sparky@PixieDustedMemoriesTravel.com

818-606-1424

Disney Cruise Line “Changes” Concierge Guests Gratuities . . . NOT REALY!!!

 Disney Cruise Line “Changes” Concierge Guests Gratuities . . . NOT REALY!!!

Disney Cruise Line recently announced a change to their Concierge Gratuities. The “New” amount is $23.50 per night per person in the cabin. Many other blogs/vlogs are saying this is an increase of 50% but it really is not!  This is a change but not really an increase! This is a clarification and combining of the standard $15.50 per person per night Concierge Gratuities that is shared by the Stateroom Attendant and Dining Room Staff and the $8 per person per night Concierge Lounge Gratuities that are shared by the Concierge Lounge Attendants.

 

Up until this recent change the Lounge Attendants Gratuities were just taken care of separately. In my opinion this clarifies the Gratuity Total and makes it clearer to the guest what amount is expected. Otherwise, the guests may get to the end of the cruise and find they owe an unexpected extra amount for extra unexpected gratuities. For a 4-Night cruise for 2 the additional cost would be $64! Now there is no surprise!

 

When I book a guest in a Concierge Cabin I have always added the Lounge Gratuities when calculating how much the client would need to pay so there is no surprise.