The City of Avalon, Catalina Island, Ca Has an Agreement with Disney Cruise Line
The City of Avalon, Catalina Island came to an official agreement with Disney Cruise Line October 7th, 2025. Here are the specifics of this agreement
- Initial term of 5 years commencing upon execution of Agreement and ending September 14, 2030, with two additional five-year renewal options.
- Preferential scheduling for Saturdays and Tuesdays during the “Peak Season” (September 15th to May 15).
- Preferential scheduling for Tuesdays during the “Summer Season” (May 16 to September 14).
- Disney Cruise Line proposes to remit a Cruise Line Fee equal to the City Wharfage Rate plus an additional Passenger Service Charge equal to twenty percent (20%) of the Wharfage Rate for each passenger on the manifest as consideration for preferential scheduling.
- This rate will be subject to annual adjustments equal to 2.5% per year.
- Disney Cruise Lines shall guarantee a minimum of 120,000 passenger visits to the City per year.
- In the event of a shortfall in any given year, Disney Cruise Lines will remit payment at the current wharfage rate plus the applicable “passenger Service Charge” set forth in the Agreement.
So, when will it start? What does it all mean for DCL?
What does it mean to DCL Fans? What could happen next?
This agreement will start September of 2027. Most likely
after the Magic and Wonder spend the summer in Alaska they will reposition to
San Diego and they will stay there.
The first contract term is for five years and is renewal two
more times for a total of fifteen years. The first contract ends September 14,
2030. This means the agreement could continue until mid-September 2040.
During the “Peak Season” (September 15 to May 14) a Disney
ship will be given its preference on when and where to port at Avalon on
Tuesdays and Saturdays. Twice per week, fall to spring a Disney Cruise Line
Ship will stop at Avalon. During the “Summer Season” Disney Cruise Line will
stop at Avalon on Tuesdays. This means a Disney Ship will be at Avalon year-round!
Does DCL making this agreement mean that there will be no
Alaskan Cruises by Disney Wonder during the Summer Alaska Season? I believe it just
means there will be one ship at San Diego, Ca and the other will be free to go
to Alaska. As long as there is one ship to go to Catalina during the summer
they are good.
Not mentioned in the above announcement but included in a
much earlier release by Avalon and DCL this agreement specifically names Disney
Magic and Disney Wonder as two of the ships. It also further states an unnamed third
Disney ship could be added in the future. I believe the third Disney ship will
be one of the ships scheduled to be built between 2029 and 2031.
How is one of the future build ships coming to the West
Coast important? It is possible that the West Coast may have one or more of the
future build ships scheduled here full time after 2029. DCL could have three or
four ships here and during the Summer Season sending two of them to Alaska and one
or two staying in San Diego.
The future ships heading to the West Coast could also signal
that the Disney Magic or Disney Wonder may be about to retire. They are nearing
the useful expected lifetime of a modern Cruise Ship. As well maintained as
they are not all things can be repaired or upgraded with new technology after thirty years.
Let’s look specifically at the end of the current
itineraries. The current bookable itineraries end May of 2027. It is my opinion
that the following will happen fleet wide. This goes into 2028. Beyond that the
addition of new ships makes it hard to know what will happen.
Having more Disney Cruises on the West Coast opens more cruising to West Coast Fans. Not having to pay for cross-country flights opens cruising up to more people. It also gives more opportunities for people to experience Baha and the Mexican Riviera on a Disney Cruise. It also opens the possibility for Disney choosing to go North to Canada instead of South to Mexico and open even more experiences.
Lets start off with were 2027 itineraries end:
Where do I see the ships in 2027 and 2028?
Classic/Magic-Class Ships
Disney Magic and Disney Wonder:
Summer 2027 - Vancouver Canada and do Alaska.
Around September 13th-15th, 2027 San
Diego to do Baha and Mexican Rivera Cruises.
Mid-May 2028. From May to September 2028, I believe one ship
will go to Alaska and one will stay in San Diego. Schedule should be the same
until 2040 with the addition of more ships.
Dream-Class Ships
Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy:
May 2027 and beyond and until the next ship is released in
2027, I believe they will stay in either Port Canaveral or Fort Lauderdale,
Florida.
September 2027 There is also the possibility that the one of
them will go to Galveston Texas and stay there. There is a “rumor” that DCL
will call Galveston, Tx a homeport year-round. This “rumor” has been confirmed
by Port Officials of the Port of Galveston, Tx. DCL has not confirmed this yet.
Wish-Class
Disney Wish:
Mid-April 2027 the itineraries for Disney Wish are To Be
Announced. Mid-April is the time that one of the Disney ships heads for Europe
for the summer season. I believe Disney Wish may be going to Europe. All other
ships are accounted for during that time.
September 2027 and beyond. Disney Wish could return to Port
Canaveral or go to Fort Lauderdale, Fl. It is also possible she could go to
Galveston, Tx. This last is a “rumor” that is followed on later.
Disney Treasure:
June 2027 until the next ship joins the fleet in 2027, I
believe Disney Treasure will stay in Port Canaveral, Fl. After the next ship joins the fleet she may go to any of three ports, Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Fl or Galveston, Tx.
Disney Destiny:
June 2027 until next Wish-Class ship joins the fleet in mid/late
2027, I believe Disney Destiny will stay in Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
UNNAMED #4:
As stated above there is another Wish-Class ship joining the
fleet in 2027. The projected build completion date has not been announced nor
has the name of the ship. They did the first metal cut in August of 2025. The average
time to build one of these ships is 18-24 months. It is possible we will see
the new ship between June and August of 2027.
UNNAMED #5:
There is a fifth Wish-Class ship being build for DCL
requested by the Oriental Land Company, that runs Disneyland Tokyo. She will be
completed late 2028 and sail from Tokyo, Japan starting early 2029.
NEW UNNAMED-CLASS
There is an order in for three ships of a new design to be
built. Construction will start in 2027 on the first one and she will be delivered
in 2029. The second and third ships will join the fleet in 2030 and 2031
respectively. This yet unnamed-class of ships will be slightly larger than the Classic/Magic-Class
ships and 20% smaller than the Dream-Class ships. She will carry 3,000 guests.
At this time this is the only information that is out on these ships. This
class of ships is exciting! At this time there is a lot of speculation as to
where they will go. These are the ships I believe could be deployed on the West
Cost.
Watch this blog for further updates on the Disney Cruise
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