Disney Cruise Line Fleet Expansion

[jme]

At the D23 Event tonight, it was announced that the Disney Cruise Line fleet will be adding ANOTHER 4 new ships to the fleet, bringing them to a total of 13 ships by 2031.

With 5 in the current fleet, and another 4 currently in the works (Treasure, Adventure, Destiny, and unnamed OLC ship for Japan), adding another 4 between 2027-2031 is very aggressive growth.

 

[vikescaper]

I would love it if Disney decided to add another port in Florida and base a ship out of Tampa. The Port of Tampa recently announced that they will be building a new cruise terminal. I don’t think it will happen but a boy can dream!

 

[Indy_UK]

That’s quite a boost in fleet ships and doesn’t give sign of the magic and wonder being taken out anytime soon.

Hopefully it will lead to a year long ship from the UK/ Europe, New York trips back and more for the west coast

 

[Robbiem]

Did they say if this includes the Tokyo Disney ship, or is that an another one, making 14?

Will be interesting to see where these end up. I’m guessing they may go to Florida and cascade the older ships to new markets.

Looking forward to see how they end up design wise, I just hope they dont end up as big bulky bland boxes like some of the more recent hotels have been

 

[BrianLo]

Did they say if this includes the Tokyo Disney ship, or is that an another one, making 14?

4 more beyond OLC’s ship, but 13 in total so I’m not sure what you are double counting.

2x Magic Class
2x Dream Class
3x Triton class - Wish, Treasure, Destiny
1x Triton Class for OLC
1x DCL Adventure (ex-Genting)

4x More. Not announced is if it’s a new class or not. I would assume it is, but 2027 is pretty aggressive.

 

[BrianLo]

I’ve been aggressively pounding the DCL needs to upscale drum for a number of years now and I’m glad they’ve conceded. This is going to drive a lot of the Experiences growth this decade.

DCL is now scaling up to be an actual major and not a niche player. I won’t delude myself that it will make them cheaper, but perhaps not so aggressive with pricing now that they actually will own a proper fleet.

I think the Magic and Wonder should stick around until later 2030’s, with one more good refurb left to go to give them some longevity. But they’ll get replaced by the next mid-late 2030’s wave of 3-4 ships. Inevitably.

 

[jme]

Not announced is if it’s a new class or not. I would assume it is, but 2027 is pretty aggressive.

It would be a wild decision to make 8 of their most criticized layout. It’s one I won’t rule out, but I would be genuinely shocked if it ends up the case.

 

[mickEblu]

Anybody else hoping one of these new ships is for Southern California?

 

[SplashJacket]

It would be a wild decision to make 8 of their most criticized layout. It’s one I won’t rule out, but I would be genuinely shocked if it ends up the case.

Definitely shocked. Even if were a roaring success/hugely loved, such little fleet diversity is a huge negative.

As @BrianLo mentioned, 2027 is very aggressive if it is a new class of ships.

The only caveat to using Triton class ships, is they do feel more like a "theme park" than the original 4 ships, so if they plop a ship permanently/semi-permanently in a new market, like a Brazil or Oceania, they can expose themselves to those markets and build a generational relationship to the Disney brand without the exposure/commitment that a new resort brings.

Once upon a time, Disney did literally have a plan for a floating theme park where they could sail to countries and dock for a couple of months, but while it didn't come to fruition, I could see the next class taking what works well with the Triton class and doubling down on what works while trying to return to form with the other components.

 

[BrianLo]

As @BrianLo mentioned, 2027 is very aggressive if it is a new class of ships.

I was the one aggressively predicting new ships, but I didn’t have them pegged until 2029/30!

2027 means the first one starts construction… within 6 months.

Now they could be triton class but stretched with added tonnage. Triton+ as it were, that’s been a pretty recent phenomenon. One Norwegian really likes to pull. Which would allow them ‘possibly’ to change the ships up in a meaningful guest facing way. Without the usual lead time of an entirely new class.

 

[jme]

Press Release is in from Meyer-Werft.
Not a lot of new information, but it can be read on their official site

 

[Andrew C]

I was the one aggressively predicting new ships, but I didn’t have them pegged until 2029/30!

2027 means the first one starts construction… within 6 months.

Now they could be triton class but stretched with added tonnage. Triton+ as it were, that’s been a pretty recent phenomenon. One Norwegian really likes to pull. Which would allow them ‘possibly’ to change the ships up in a meaningful guest facing way. Without the usual lead time of an entirely new class.

They could have designed/planned a whole new class without telling us...

 

[HauntedPirate]

I have no inside information but you likely heard it here first - Four more Triton class ships, all practically identical to the design of the Wish.

 

[invader]

Interesting MW release says designs are still in development. Hopefully that means either a fixed Wish class or return to Dream class style.

 

[JaxFLBear]

Interesting MW release says designs are still in development.

The announcement yesterday from the Disney Parks Blog says the same thing.

Five ships are currently in the fleet, with four others already in the works. These new, four additional ships will bring the fleet to a total of 13, giving you 13 different opportunities to experience everything that Disney Cruise Line is known for. The ship names, designs, and exciting itineraries are still in development, but go ahead and start dreaming about your next sailing!

Disney Cruise Line Announces Four New Cruise Ships - Disney Parks Blog

What’s better than one new Disney Cruise ship? How about four brand new Disney Cruise Line ships joining the fleet? Four is the magic number! Announced during the Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase, Josh D’Amaro (with a little help from musical group All-4-One) revealed that four ships will...

disneyparksblog.com

 

[LittleMerman]

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the new ships were based outside of the US, kind of like what they originally wanted with the S.S. Disney - places that don't have a Disneyland like Australia.

 

[vinnya1726]

I am thinking they are going to continue to cycle the new ships into Florida first and then cycle ships to new areas. I would think maybe the Magic and Fantasy go to Europe, maybe the Wish and Treasure eventually head to the west coast with the Wonder. The smaller class ships are able to get in more of the ports in Alaska and Europe from what I have read. With both Port Canaveral and Everglades DCL could probably keep 5 to 6 ships just sailing from Florida. It will be interesting to see what they do.

 

[Two Ears]

west coast surely gets two ships now. No more in florida would be good. The ships need to be more international.

 

[ToTBellHop]

The Wish class is similar to Royal’s Quantum class in many ways and could sail in cold climates. NYC year-round, for example. I’m sure Galveston will go year-round. Second ship in Europe (one for northern, one med), perhaps an old ship sails year-round from San Juan to get those desirable ABC island itineraries. And two, year-round, for both PC and Port Everglades. Two West Coast.

 

[Henry Mystic]

I’ve been aggressively pounding the DCL needs to upscale drum for a number of years now and I’m glad they’ve conceded. This is going to drive a lot of the Experiences growth this decade.

DCL is now scaling up to be an actual major and not a niche player. I won’t delude myself that it will make them cheaper, but perhaps not so aggressive with pricing now that they actually will own a proper fleet.

I think the Magic and Wonder should stick around until later 2030’s, with one more good refurb left to go to give them some longevity. But they’ll get replaced by the next mid-late 2030’s wave of 3-4 ships. Inevitably.

I wholeheaertedly agree with this.