Why does Disney need 13 ships?

[Pea-n-Me]

No, I don’t want to post this on the cruise board.

Was just wondering from a general Disney fan perspective why that many? I thought six was a lot!

Do they expect to fill them all to remain profitable? Does anyone think it will help keep things affordable, from a business standpoint?

 

[Tatebeck]

I mean anything at scale is supposed to get cheaper. So I'm sure their cost for building, stocking, and maintaining should get cheaper for each one. They are probably just building about as many as they can keep reasonably full and maximize their profit. If each has various different shows, entertainment, etc then it give cruisers more FOMO. You have to cruise 13 times now to see it all instead of 6

 

[Karin1984]

Probably to really expand their market in Asia. Lot of people in Asia who looooove Disney.

 

[wabbott]

I've never done a Disney cruise, and for that matter I've only been on 1 ocean cruise and 2 river cruises. But the folks who post on the cruise threads seem to think the extra price for DCL is worth the price. Cruises and parks are 3x more profitable than TV and movies, so it would make financial sense to put the money in those places.

One other point someone made is that the older ships may be approaching the end of their useful life and will be taken out of service.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Disney cruising is not just about the ships being based in Florida and Americans going to the Caribbean and Bahamas. Disney is recognizing that people around the world want to experience Disney cruising but not in Caribbean and Bahamas. The new cruise ship they bought and retro fitting to Disney theming and the expansion to Australia is just the start.

The summer season in Europe is now expanding, the 2021 UK staycation cruises on The Magic opened up Disney cruising to the UK market.

The winter Mediterranean cruise season is popular. More ships in the fleet give Disney an opportunity to have a ship full time in Europe , not just 6 months. It would also mean that the Canary Islands, Gibraltar, North African routes would be possible, not just the South Spain, South France, West Italy routes.

More ships also opens up the Eastern Canada, New England routes and the California Mexico Hawaii routes.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I've never done a Disney cruise, and for that matter I've only been on 1 ocean cruise and 2 river cruises. But the folks who post on the cruise threads seem to think the extra price for DCL is worth the price. Cruises and parks are 3x more profitable than TV and movies, so it would make financial sense to put the money in those places.

One other point someone made is that the older ships may be approaching the end of their useful life and will be taken out of service.

We’ve only cruised with Disney and it is a unique and amazing experience!

Positioning them around the globe makes sense. Eliminating airfare would make it more affordable for many.

Disney cruising is not just about the ships being based in Florida and Americans going to the Caribbean and Bahamas. Disney is recognizing that people around the world want to experience Disney cruising but not in Caribbean and Bahamas. The new cruise ship they bought and retro fitting to Disney theming and the expansion to Australia is just the start.

The summer season in Europe is now expanding, the 2021 UK staycation cruises on The Magic opened up Disney cruising to the UK market.

The winter Mediterranean cruise season is popular. More ships in the fleet give Disney an opportunity to have a ship full time in Europe , not just 6 months. It would also mean that the Canary Islands, Gibraltar, North African routes would be possible, not just the South Spain, South France, West Italy routes.

More ships also opens up the Eastern Canada, New England routes and the California Mexico Hawaii routes.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Positioning them around the globe makes sense. Eliminating airfare would make it more affordable for many.

Exactly. I have been on 2 Disney cruises in Europe. The flights to England cost me about €100 and its 1 hour flying time. The flights to Florida would cost me about €1000 with around a 9 hour flight time.

I remember a few years ago when Disney announced the UK staycation cruises. People on here said it would never work, as Disney cruises in Europe have been mainly Americans going to Europe. But it was a huge success, and Disney have now changed to more short cruises which sell out with UK people. Most of the UK passengers drive to the cruise port.

 

[tvguy]

No, I don’t want to post this on the cruise board.

Was just wondering from a general Disney fan perspective why that many? I thought six was a lot!

Do they expect to fill them all to remain profitable? Does anyone think it will help keep things affordable, from a business standpoint?

Even at 13 ships Disney would be one of the smallest cruise lines operating. Their ships are sold out well in advance, so the answer as to why they are adding ships is basic supply and demand. They have more potential customers than they can handle. And given their higher prices, that is saying a lot. And given they don't have casinos which are a huge draw on other cruise lines, that even makes it more remarkable. But I have already stuck my neck out and predicted Disney ships built for the Asian market will have a casino. As one cruise vlogger put it, that market demands casinos on their ships.

 

[Smugpugmug]

It's all about supply and demand and following the money.

I would only be into a Disney cruise if they did a 100% adult's only cruise but that seems unlikely so I'm skipping on DCL.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

13's my lucky number

 

[kdonnel]

To make an immense amount of money.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Because 12 or 14 is boring. That 13th ship is where all the luck is going to be.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I would love if one were based in NY, NJ, or Boston for most of the year for Canada/NE trips and Bermuda trips.

By the time these come online, they may have retired Magic and Wonder. So maybe it will just be 11 ships.

 

[lanejudy]

With more ships DCL can repeat some itineraries that are currently only offered 1-2 cruises. And as a small cruiseline DCL can’t always get the “preferred” berths/piers at some ports. More ships doing more cruises can help them get there, which in turn draws more passengers.

 

[Karin1984]

For the European market they are probably aiming at rich families who like all inclusives. It is probably less about the routes than having everything taken care of.

Issue is, for the Southern European routes, there are so many cheap alternatives to cruise with. I do not see Disney cruising here the entire year. They might add one ship here for the Summer season, but can't imagine it will be more.

 

[Dug720]

I must have missed where they said one was going to be permanently in Europe?

I could see them having 2 do alternating Eastern and Western itineraries - like just as an example using names of the ships we know of (absolutely NOT saying these are the ships they'd use): Week A, Treasure does Eastern and Destiny does Western; Week B Treasure does Western, Destiny does Eastern. Many lines do this. And there can be variations in ports on the itineraries.

And given that they have that behemoth they bought mostly done that they're putting Disney lipstick on and the other one that is mostly under OLC but just using the Disney name (like Tokyo Disney and Tokyo Disney Sea), I don't know that a true DCL ship will go to that part of Asia either.

 

[HopperFan]

As long as it's profitable, maintains a market and keeps a boost to my stock I'm fine with it.

 

[ChrisFL]

I must have missed where they said one was going to be permanently in Europe?

I could see them having 2 do alternating Eastern and Western itineraries - like just as an example using names of the ships we know of (absolutely NOT saying these are the ships they'd use): Week A, Treasure does Eastern and Destiny does Western; Week B Treasure does Western, Destiny does Eastern. Many lines do this. And there can be variations in ports on the itineraries.

And given that they have that behemoth they bought mostly done that they're putting Disney lipstick on and the other one that is mostly under OLC but just using the Disney name (like Tokyo Disney and Tokyo Disney Sea), I don't know that a true DCL ship will go to that part of Asia either.

I can't wait to go on a cruise ship owned by OLC!!

 

[hopemax]

Building new cruise ships is cheaper than building new theme parks. That division still needs to demonstrate growth. Plus, the labor pool is worldwide, so it is unlikely to be exhausted like Orlando, or expensive like Anaheim.

 

[SteveH]

Why? It's the Disney Motto, "It's all about the Money!"