New Disney Ships: News, Rumors, Speculation.....and Names!

[Intr3pid]

Disney has four ships. Is there any other major cruise line that has so few? I was just comparing Disney in Europe versus Princess and I liked the DCL itineraries better because they are round trip. But to each their own.

Cunard is comparable in fleet (3 ships) and pricing, but is mostly adult-geared. They do take their 3 ships all over the world.

I agree Princess has some weird one-way Med itineraries.

 

[southerngirl528]

2% for a savings account? That's pretty generous these days. We are doing the same thing but only getting about 1% with our bank

I was thinking the same thing!! Maybe we should ask Truck1 what bank he's pulling that with!

Worse than every other cruise line. Very few itineraries. Same places over and over. No South America. No Asia. No Australia. No Hawaii. Limited Southern Carib. Limited Europe. Etc.

That seems rather inequitable being as DCL has a grand total of FOUR ships and most other cruise lines have large fleets. Just by the sheer numbers it is entirely impossible for DCL to offer as many itinerary offerings. And anyone that wants something DCL doesn't offer has lots of other cruise line choices with companies that have lots of ships to do lots of itinerary offerings.

It's a fool's wish I know -- but it would be amazing if Disney could lock down permanent residency in Hawaii like NCL has -- with their hotel there, and the opportunity to tie that in with Hawaiian island cruises, and trips to Asia from Hawaii, that would be a big draw for my family for sure!

I'm with YOU!!!!

 

[Dug720]

I was thinking the same thing!! Maybe we should ask Truck1 what bank he's pulling that with!



That seems rather inequitable being as DCL has a grand total of FOUR ships and most other cruise lines have large fleets. Just by the sheer numbers it is entirely impossible for DCL to offer as many itinerary offerings. And anyone that wants something DCL doesn't offer has lots of other cruise line choices with companies that have lots of ships to do lots of itinerary offerings.



I'm with YOU!!!!

1 - Several of the online banks (Ally, Synchrony, Barclay's online) offer rates close to 2%...

2 - Agreed.

3 - I just want to go to Hawaii. Not so much interested in Asia - largely because all the soy sauce (gluten) and fish (disgusting stuff IMHO) makes the idea of eating in Asia VERY daunting.

 

[southerngirl528]

1 - Several of the online banks (Ally, Synchrony, Barclay's online) offer rates close to 2%...

Wow! Good to know! Thanks!

3 - I just want to go to Hawaii.

Me too! As often as possible! It is my favorite destination. Hope you get to go soon!

 

[Dug720]

Wow! Good to know! Thanks!



Me too! As often as possible! It is my favorite destination. Hope you get to go soon!

You're welcome!

Thanks! Aulani is on my considerations for either Winter or Spring Break...though a cruise for one of those would put me Gold before check-in for Alaska, and that could be a valuable thing...

 

[KashasMom]

That seems rather inequitable being as DCL has a grand total of FOUR ships and most other cruise lines have large fleets. Just by the sheer numbers it is entirely impossible for DCL to offer as many itinerary offerings. And anyone that wants something DCL doesn't offer has lots of other cruise line choices with companies that have lots of ships to do lots of itinerary offerings.

IMO - they can certainly do better than they do especially with the Dream. And we definitely take advantage of other cruise lines and expect that will continue even after the new Disney ships come out! No problem for us.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Disney has four ships. Is there any other major cruise line that has so few? I was just comparing Disney in Europe versus Princess and I liked the DCL itineraries better because they are round trip. But to each their own.

But DCL could still mix it up, they could easily do the current eastern and western on the Fantasy in odd months and do a combo 9 night Southern and 5 night Bahamian double dip on CC in even months. I’d love to do the Fantasy again but here’s no way I want to do the exact same ship and the exact same itinerary again, especially for the price they charge.

 

[Pens Fan]

I’d love to do the Fantasy again but here’s no way I want to do the exact same ship and the exact same itinerary again, especially for the price they charge.

I agree. We loved the Fantasy. It's probably my favorite cruise ship that I've been on. But we've done the Eastern Caribbean and the Western doesn't interest us in the slightest. I think cruisers fall into two categories. For one group the ship is the destination and the ports are just gravy. For the other group it's all about seeing new places so the destination is the important thing. I guess a lot of people probably are some type of amalgamation of the two, but we definitely fall into the second group. We've never been on the Dream because we've been to Nassau twice and think it's pretty awful. Castaway Cay is a fun beach, but at the end of the day it's just a beach. I'd love to check out the Dream, but I will never pay Disney prices to go to Nassau and Castaway Cay. Not happening.

I really hope something changes when the new ships come online. It's been almost two years since we've been on a Disney ship and I do miss it. But I don't miss it enough to spend thousands of dollars going somewhere I really don't want to go (or have already been). Fortunately Disney's lack of itineraries we want to sail forced us to explore other cruise options that we loved just as much as Disney. We are very much looking forward to 12 nights in Canada/New England and 14 nights in Italy/Greece/Croatia/Montenegro on NCL.

 

[truck1]

I don't think that DCL will keep a fleet of 7 ships. My guess is that they will phase out the Magic and Wonder, as they are the older ships.

Interesting. I wonder if some of our maritime experts can comment on the life expectancy of a cruise ship. From my meager knowledge, I think they have a commercial life expectancy of ~40 years, but only a portion of that is with the premier cruise lines. After they've outlived their commercial viability with the from-line cruise lines they often get sold to niche market lines where they continue to sail for many more years. So, Imagine a Wonder or Magic without the Disney paint scheme and perhaps without the faux stack.

In the beginning DCLs goal was 10 ships. If 911 never happened these new ships would be 7,8,and 9 assuming no other new classes were introduced. Back in 2000, Disney internally announced 2 new ships but they were shelved after 911 and never revisited.

When ships are built they are built to a given life cycle. typically 30-40 years. They are also required to go to drydock 2x in a 5 year period not to exceed 3 years. This is for mandatory testing and inspections. Which is why you see the Magic class go in every other year roughly. What will kill a ship faster then negligence in maintainance is a major SOLAS change. Ill use the QE2 as an example. She still had about 15 years of life in her but the SOLAS change required new fire proofing and new materials on board. It was cheaper in the end to retire her then retrofit her. In DCLs case the Magic class is barely 20 years old and maybe 1/2 way thru their service life assuming no major changes in SOLAS or a major incident on board.

 

[truck1]

I was thinking the same thing!! Maybe we should ask Truck1 what bank he's pulling that with!



That seems rather inequitable being as DCL has a grand total of FOUR ships and most other cruise lines have large fleets. Just by the sheer numbers it is entirely impossible for DCL to offer as many itinerary offerings. And anyone that wants something DCL doesn't offer has lots of other cruise line choices with companies that have lots of ships to do lots of itinerary offerings.



I'm with YOU!!!!

IMO - they can certainly do better than they do especially with the Dream. And we definitely take advantage of other cruise lines and expect that will continue even after the new Disney ships come out! No problem for us.

But DCL could still mix it up, they could easily do the current eastern and western on the Fantasy in odd months and do a combo 9 night Southern and 5 night Bahamian double dip on CC in even months. I’d love to do the Fantasy again but here’s no way I want to do the exact same ship and the exact same itinerary again, especially for the price they charge.

Disney had plenty of opportunities to mix things up. They plain and simple dropped the ball when all 4 ships were here in Fl. Some of the itins, like the Dreams are industry average out of PC. Both Carnival and RCL do the same trips except for CC. They do similar easterns and westerns also. When RCL and Carnival moved from Sun and Thurs departures, to Mon and Fri Disney did also a year or 2 later. They were also handicapped by contract for a given number of port arrivals and departures until the new contract. Under the old contract basically they had to keep up 3 arrivals and departures a week to make the contract expectation and there was no wiggle room. There were 156 expected arrivals and 156 opportunities per year. Which meant if 1 ship missed it's normal sail dates say for dry dock, DCL was in violation. Which is why they had 400,000 in fines when the contract was up. And tne new number is more reasonable.

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

The actual ports themselves in the Bahamas/Caribbean aren’t a draw for me compared to the ship currently, given the young age of my kids (I don’t care if I do the same itinerary twice but bring on those character greetings). Having said that, I do prefer the “nicer” ports over the ones where I am reticent to leave the ship. The biggest issue for me is that I am NOT a hot-weather tropical climate beach fan, and for those of us who can only travel in the summer, Disney’s current setup (which a pp explained why) is extremely prohibitive unless I want to fork over airfare to fly to Europe or pay a premium to cruise Alaska. I do think Disney banks on selling the cruise “experience” over the itinerary variety, case in point the premium dollar they charge. IF they didn’t feel the ship was the point, how could they justify charging double the cost of other lines?

 

[KashasMom]

The actual ports themselves in the Bahamas/Caribbean aren’t a draw for me compared to the ship currently, given the young age of my kids (I don’t care if I do the same itinerary twice but bring on those character greetings). Having said that, I do prefer the “nicer” ports over the ones where I am reticent to leave the ship. The biggest issue for me is that I am NOT a hot-weather tropical climate beach fan, and for those of us who can only travel in the summer, Disney’s current setup (which a pp explained why) is extremely prohibitive unless I want to fork over airfare to fly to Europe or pay a premium to cruise Alaska. I do think Disney banks on selling the cruise “experience” over the itinerary variety, case in point the premium dollar they charge. IF they didn’t feel the ship was the point, how could they justify charging double the cost of other lines?

Good points. I'm not a beach fan either but I have no issues leaving the ship in any port. For us IF the ship is the point, then DCL needs to step it up on the new ships and have more "active" activities. And pools!! PLEASE! More pools! The only Disney cruises we enjoy now are the Very Merrytime cruises.

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

Good points. I'm not a beach fan either but I have no issues leaving the ship in any port. For us IF the ship is the point, then DCL needs to step it up on the new ships and have more "active" activities. And pools!! PLEASE! More pools! The only Disney cruises we enjoy now are the Very Merrytime cruises.

The trick will be to do it with the elegance they’ve managed in their previous ships. My in laws just cruised RC and part of me was amazed at all the on-board features and part of me thought it felt a little like a Vegas theme hotel... at some point, IMO (and I’m not necessarily speaking of RC here bc I know they do well, but...) to rattle off a list of activities shows you're trying TOO hard and don’t have faith in your own identity. Sort of like a faltering restaurant who throws everything on their menu. So yes I hope Disney adds more but with that Disney identity, classy and moderation.

 

[KashasMom]

The trick will be to do it with the elegance they’ve managed in their previous ships. My in laws just cruised RC and part of me was amazed at all the on-board features and part of me thought it felt a little like a Vegas theme hotel... at some point, IMO (and I’m not necessarily speaking of RC here bc I know they do well, but...) to rattle off a list of activities shows you're trying TOO hard and don’t have faith in your own identity. Sort of like a faltering restaurant who throws everything on their menu. So yes I hope Disney adds more but with that Disney identity, classy and moderation.

For Disney to add more pools or more activities isn't likely going to make it a Vegas theme hotel. There are so many great things on RCI's big ships that ARE better than on DCL for our family. Honestly we get a bit bored on Disney. And it is very boring to see the same shows over and over...and over. We've finally stopped going to most of them on Disney. Change is good. That's why Disney changes/expands their parks. They need to do the same with their ships. I don't think RCI has identity issues at all. IMO DCL's identity is all about the the characters and DCL would be nothing without them. They certainly wouldn't be the "family" cruise they are. No issues for us though...we've happily expanded our cruising experiences with other cruise lines and will fit in a Very Merrytime cruise when we can.

 

[darnheather]

Good points. I'm not a beach fan either but I have no issues leaving the ship in any port. For us IF the ship is the point, then DCL needs to step it up on the new ships and have more "active" activities. And pools!! PLEASE! More pools! The only Disney cruises we enjoy now are the Very Merrytime cruises.

I and my kids are just the opposite. We have very little interest in getting off in the ports. We'll do just one excursion on our 14 night cruise plus get off at CC and Cartaganea (for an hour or two at the port bird sanctuary). We love the ship and the things to do onboard. Now when we cruise to Europe I'm sure we'll get off everywhere but for the southern itineraries we're good.

 

[RedSox68]

IMO - Totally stupid on their part. Should be going to Bermuda in the summer. Celebrity, RCI, and NCL do the Bermuda run all summer long. Disney should have a ship out of NYC all year round! Dumb, dumb, dumb. Tens of millions of people in the NYC MSA not to mention millions more in additional surrounding states for whom driving to the port would be a possibility. Multiple ships/cruise lines sailing our of NYC year round. Disney should have better itineraries from NYC as well as longer cruises - maybe some 10 day cruises? Disney - please give NYC one of the NEW ships!

There are some cruise lines that only do Bermuda in September and October (at least in years before). I know because we kept looking for certain sailings in the summer and some were only available in the Fall.

And as previously mentioned about the smallest amount of ships, there's Oceania, which has six ships. So once Disney comes out with their three new ships, they will be one ahead of Oceania. They also have more smaller ships than other lines -- I'm looking very forward to taking them for the first time next year.

 

[RedSox68]

IMO - they can certainly do better than they do especially with the Dream. And we definitely take advantage of other cruise lines and expect that will continue even after the new Disney ships come out! No problem for us.

Yes, price and repetitive itineraries had us seek out other lines and have found great new ports and experiences and way better prices -- allowing us to do more cruises in a year.

But DCL could still mix it up, they could easily do the current eastern and western on the Fantasy in odd months and do a combo 9 night Southern and 5 night Bahamian double dip on CC in even months. I’d love to do the Fantasy again but here’s no way I want to do the exact same ship and the exact same itinerary again, especially for the price they charge.

This -- Disney has always been over the top for the most part with their pricing, which drove us to seek out other lines which we have never regretted. We have been platinum since 2014 and haven't been able to afford to take another cruise to use our benefits. I am not holding out hope for prices to go down when the new ships come out either. And Disney wonders why they have to "give away" their cruises to Hawaii and other places -- because when compared to other lines their prices are usually triple! Brand or no brand, in today's economy I can't justify sailing with Disney and repeating ports just because it's Disney.

 

[KashasMom]

Yes, price and repetitive itineraries had us seek out other lines and have found great new ports and experiences and way better prices -- allowing us to do more cruises in a year.



This -- Disney has always been over the top for the most part with their pricing, which drove us to seek out other lines which we have never regretted. We have been platinum since 2014 and haven't been able to afford to take another cruise to use our benefits. I am not holding out hope for prices to go down when the new ships come out either. And Disney wonders why they have to "give away" their cruises to Hawaii and other places -- because when compared to other lines their prices are usually triple! Brand or no brand, in today's economy I can't justify sailing with Disney and repeating ports just because it's Disney.

I'm not holding my breath that the prices on the current 4 will go down either and I bet the prices for the new ship are going to be insane!!

 

[RedSox68]

I'm not holding my breath that the prices on the current 4 will go down either and I bet the prices for the new ship are going to be insane!!

Unfortunately

 

[All about me]

These have my vote:

Name: Disney Star
Atrium statue: Blue Fairy (for 'If you wish upon a star.')
Stern art: Peter Pan and Wendy flying (for: 'Second star to the right'.)
Bow art: Helmsman Mickey (helmsmen used stars to navigate)

Name: Disney Heart
Atrium statue: Pocahontas (for 'Listen with your Heart')
Stern Art: Tarzan and Jane hanging on vines (for 'You'll be in my heart')
Bow art: Tuxedo Mickey

Name: Disney Wish
Atrium statue: Cinderella's Fairy Godmother (grants wishes)
Stern Art: Genie (grants wishes)
Bow art: no clue

To tie them together, all three names are used in 'If you wish upon a star'.

My 8 years old granddaughter came up with the following ideas:

Name: Disney Believe
Atrium Statue: Tinker Bell
Stern art: Peter Pan and Wendy flying
Character meet and greet: Fairy Gathering with all the fairies from the movies

Name: Disney Ocean
Atrium statue: Ariel in gown
Stern art: Ursula
(I told her they haven't put villains on the ships yet and she said, 'good, it will be something new'.)