Two New Ships or Two “New” Ships

This week, rumors of Disney Cruise Line building two additional ships began to pick up steam on the internet after an article was published on Inside The Magic. My wife and I first heard rumors of two new ships with the same 2015-2016 timeline from a bartender in Skyline during our June 2012 cruise on the Disney Fantasy. Over the years, we have heard our share of crew rumors with respect to various aspects of the company, but none have really come to fruition.

Personally, I feel the rumor of building two new ships does not seem to fit at this time with the Magic & Wonder headed for extensive renovations over the next two years. Although unannounced, the Disney Magic will be undergoing an extensive overhaul in early September. The Disney Wonder has a similar itinerary gap in October 2014 signaling its dry dock as well.

UPDATE June 2013: The Disney Magic will be reimagined and the Disney Wonder overhaul is on hold due to the delay in the Panama Canal expansion.

Disney Cruise Line does have an option with Meyer Werft for two additional ships which I think often add to these new ship rumors. Meyer Werft’s schedule is currently full through 2015 with two ships each for Norwegian Cruise Line (Getaway ’14 and Project Breakaway Plus ’15) and Royal Caribbean International (Quantum of the Seas ’14 and Anthem of the Seas ’15). If Disney did have plans for new builds and wanted to return to Meyer Werft, the earliest would be 2016.

Disney Cruise Line's Disney Magic • A Magical Key West Night

This latest round of new ship rumors seem to run parallel with the Magic & Wonder refurbishment rumors. More than likely, there will be two “new” ships in the Disney fleet; a brand new Magic & Wonder. Earlier this year, potential concept renderings were found online from the same firm which designed Remy, and the California Grill at the Contemporary Resort (currently closed for renovations). In fact, just last month there were a couple mentions of Cabanas on the Classic ships.

Earlier this week, I received a comment from a passenger who sailed on the Disney Wonder last week, and heard directly from Captain Thord during the Castaway Club reception that Disney Cruise Line would be making an announcement on April 26, 2013.

I reached out to Disney Cruise Line today in an attempt to set the record straight on the new ship building rumors as well as confirmation on the the date of the announcement. The response I received from Rebecca Peddie, Public Relations Manager for Disney Cruise Line, stated “Our current focus at Disney Cruise Line is on our existing fleet. We are excited about an announcement we are making in a few weeks, but it is not about building more ships.”

The response did not confirm the date, but it looks like an announcement regarding the Magic And Wonder refurbishment (dry dock) will be made during the Monstrous Summer press event being held at Walt Disney World on April 25-26th.

What do you think – two new ships, two “new” ships or both?

17 Replies to “Two New Ships or Two “New” Ships”

  1. Pam Mills

    So what do you think the big DCL announcement on 4/26/13 will be? Will it be announcing the dry dock plans for the Magic and Wonder? I understand the reasoning to hold off on building 2 more ships. However, even with the renovations on the Magic and Wonder, the ships are getting up there in age. They are 14 and 15 years old now. If I were Disney, I would certainly be considering adding new ships in preparation of retiring the Magic and Wonder. My main focus is still having a ship on the West Coast. It is frustrating to me that Disney has 4 ships now and they all have Bahamas and Caribbean itineraries! It would be so fabulous to have a ship permanently assigned to the West Coast! If new ships are built for release in the 2015 to 2016 time frame, perhaps the Magic or Wonder could do some 3 or 4 day Pacific Coast sailings. I think I need more pixie dust to make that dream come true!

    Reply
  2. Chris Laliberte

    Having been on the Fantasys Maiden and having heard directly from Bob Igers mouth, that DCL had no new builds in the works ( thats the short version and was asked specifically during a q/a)I think the new ship rumor is a combination of the 2 ship option, which most likely won’t be exercised in the next year or 2 at least, if at all, and crew rumor. From talking with the a few bridge crew members that we know, they are thinking that the wait between ships won’t be as long this time around as the 13 year wait between the Magic and Dreams first sailings. Something interesting to think about is that assuming DCL does decide on 2 more Dream class ships, all the prep work, designs, plans already exist which would lead to a shorter build as opposed to the 4-5 year plan and build of the Dream. They would basically take a number in line.

    Reply
  3. Claire

    Crew have known about the Magic’s dry dock plans for months, and have made no secret about it.
    The only thing they haven’t told us is concrete plans for the design of the club and lab

    Reply
  4. T

    I am sailing on the Magic right after it returns from dry dock and I know it is silly, but I think my 3yo daughter would love to play on Captain Hook’s ship in the Oceaneer Club. We went on the Dream back in January and she enjoyed Andy’s Room but I personally think from the pictures I’ve seen she would enjoy Captain Hook’s ship more. So I’m hoping that doesn’t change.

    Reply
  5. Claire

    the slide is a huge health and safety issue and offer to be consistently monitored by multiple crew members so i doubt it will stay. From comments made by imagineers when they’ve been aboard, the pirate ship theme has had it’s day and they are looking at newer options. Don’t count on a magic playfloor appearance either, rumer has it the company that originally produced them has gone bust and there is enough trouble maintaining the current floors on the dream and fantasy.

    Reply
    1. tricky micky

      Disney’s
      Wishes and Hope
      Dreams and Fantasy
      Wonders and Magic

      If you were on the boat and paid a bill it was on the leather folder…come on give some credit and find the hidden mickeys

      Reply
        1. Chris Laliberte

          Interesting. Im going in July on the Dream. Ill have to look and see. Ill see if I can get anyone from the ships bridge crew to say something also. I know the last time we were on the Fantasy, I asked Capt Marco about any new ships and he said he hadn’t heard anything. This was in Oct of 13, and a lot could have changed in between.

          Reply
          1. Scott Sanders Post author

            Chris, The last I heard the earliest an order would be made in 2017. This information also included multiple scenarios for a ship deployment to the Asian market.

            As for the names, those could be what was decided previously when the plans were drawn up for the class between the Magic & Dream class.

            Reply
  6. Shady

    Its happening. Moves in staffing are already in talk among the entertainment staff on who is willing to be on a new ship that can fit through the panama canal

    Reply
  7. Thomas Debraggio

    I personally think that Disney Cruise Lines should BUILD two more cruise ships to their fleet because it can help increase passenger turnovers and gain more profit. Sure, they have 4 ships however, they only have one for the west coast- Alaska cruise and three for the Bahamas and Caribbean. If they add two more ships, they can move the wonder or fantasy to the west coast to help increase cruising there since Disneyland is there. With the new ships, they can keep both of them at Port Canaveral and move the dream or magic to the north (New York, Boston, Baltimore) where guests who love disney can drive to port which is easier and efficiently. So in my opinion, I think they should BUILD 2 new ships!

    Reply
  8. Chris Laliberte

    Thomas I agree with you. I think DCL is severely handicapped by having only 4 ships, but also by a lack of imagination. For instance, when all 4 ships were/are here on the east coast, they all did almost the exact same itineraries. The Wonder and the Dream were doing the same thing from different ports. If it were me, the Wonder should have been doing something like a 5 day Jamaica cruise or a 10 dayish cruise to the southern Carribean from Miami. That puts them almost a full day ahead of where the Fantasy would be coming from PC. Other cruise lines seem to be able to do it.

    Reply
  9. Andrew Day

    we got confirmation from a cast member at animal kingdom two week ago saying that they where just told that 2 new midsize ships are coming

    Reply
    1. Chris Laliberte

      Anything is possible. I know when I worked for Disney Transport in 2001, I saw the letter DCL sent out internally saying 2 new ships were coming. They were supposed to be larger then the Magic class but smaller then the Dream. After 9/11 they were quietly shelved. From asking Joe Lanzisero face to face on the Fantasy Maiden his words were the Dream class came from the best parts of the Magic the best of the unbuilt in between class and some new.

      With that said, I’m curios as to how an Animal Kingdom cast member would know. As of the last stockholders meeting no money has changed hands to DCL to do preliminary work and Bob Iger even said no new ships.

      Reply

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