Today, Disney Cruise Line shared more details on the expansion of its award-winning fleet, including the introduction of a new class of vessel and the addition of a fourth ship in the Wish class. These ships, which will debut between 2027 and 2031, will be constructed at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, and designed by Walt Disney Imagineering which were announced at D23 Expo last August.
The three vessels in Disney’s new ship class will feature industry-leading technology and design to expand Disney Cruise Line’s global reach and support its environmental goals. Able to carry 3,000 Guests and measuring approximately 100,000 gross tons, they will be 20 percent larger than the Disney Magic class and smaller than the Disney Dream and Disney Wish classes, ultimately allowing Disney Cruise Line to access more ports and destinations across the globe, bringing its world-class entertainment, incredible dining, Guest service, and uniquely Disney experiences to more families in more places. The three ships are planned for delivery in 2029, 2030 and 2031.
“As we expand our fleet, it is important that we continue to provide a variety of experiences for our Guests. Families enjoy the diversity of vacations we offer, from our classic vessels to our Wish-class ships. They also expect to explore a broad range of destinations, including those that prefer to host smaller ships,” said Thomas Mazloum, president, New Experiences Portfolio & Disney Signature Experiences. “At the same time, we are focused on implementing new technology and designs that align with our longstanding commitment to the environment.”
Among the lightest cruise ships of their size in the industry, the new vessels will save fuel with a streamlined hull, next-generation power and propulsion systems, and numerous other operations optimized for energy efficiency. In addition to an innovative design and the efficient use of building materials from bow to stern, the ships will be outfitted with energy-efficient systems and a battery system to support and supplement the main engines.
When in port, the new vessels can rely on shore power technology to turn off their engines and “plug in” to a port’s energy grid to run onboard systems. They will also have the capability and flexibility to operate on a variety of fuels, including hydrotreated vegetable oil and renewable methanol fuels, while remaining adaptable to additional fuel options that become available to the cruise industry. The new class will also continue Disney Cruise Line’s long-standing initiatives to minimize waste, conserve water and align with The Walt Disney Company’s 2030 environmental goals.
“Our team of Disney Imagineers is dreaming up this new class of ships to be as fuel and energy efficient as possible, and our Guests will see the difference – from a more hydrodynamic design to lighter materials and energy-efficient technology throughout the ships,” said Philip Gennotte, Portfolio Project Management Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering. “We’re very proud to continue to support Disney’s broader environmental goals, now and into the future.”
In addition to this new class of vessel, Disney Cruise Line will introduce an additional sister ship to the Disney Wish (2022), Disney Treasure (2024), and Disney Destiny (2025). The ship, set for delivery in 2027, will be approximately 144,000 gross tons, accommodate 4,000 Guests, and be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
This expansion continues a period of growth for Disney Cruise Line, which currently has a fleet of six ships. The Disney Destiny, which will homeport at Port Everglades, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the Disney Adventure, which will homeport in Singapore, are slated to set sail in late 2025, and the recently announced relationship with Disney and Oriental Land Co., Ltd. (OLC) will bring Disney cruise vacations to Japan in 2029.
Along with these ships, the four detailed today will expand the Disney Cruise Line fleet to a total of 13 by 2031. The four ship names, onboard experiences, itineraries and designs are still in development and will be announced at a later date.
Interesting. Glad they went to a smaller class vs the new planet sized ships other lines have decided deploy. I prefer the more intimate environment of a smaller ship.
I think the smaller ship is the way to go, I just hope the “streamlined hull” does not mean the ugly bow on ships like Icon of the Seas, and Norwegian Prima!
I also hope that they will remove the duck bill on the back of the magic, it looks ugly
The duck bill isn’t being removed those ships need it due to the weight that they have put on over the years.
I was thinking the exact same thing! However, hope is not lost. Project Meridian will just be the next thing for Disney Cruise Line, technological wise, exterior design will assumingly be similar to the classic ocean-liner inspired look, just with improved hydrodynamic efficiency…
I hope that they design the ships to be more like the Magic/Wonder/Dream/Fantasy. They whiffed badly with the Wish class, probably because they hired an architect to design them who had never set foot on a cruise ship before.
You misspelled “accountant”.
I heard way back in 2023 that DCL had re-registered the names Wonder & Magic as NEW builds, so this more or less confirms my speculation that they’ll be replacing the current M&W once they hit the water.
My first thought when I saw this was that DCL would retire the Magic and Wonder. They are beautiful ships with many special memories but I suspect that just like my older car, they are getting increasingly difficult to maintain and trading them in for more energy efficient ships with newer technology may prove too tempting. We had one cruise on the Magic where we eventually had to be moved to a new cabin because of (what I hope was only) gray water backing up in our bathroom. Apparently it was a chronic problem that was fixed in dry dock. We noticed the next time we sailed the Magic that the bath drains seemed to have been blocked off. I’m sure there are many other ongoing issues with these two grande dames and I only hope that they have a dignified retirement.
The Magic was the first ship my wife sailed on in 2008 when it was brought to the west coast, then in 2009 out of Orlando. We have sailed more on the Wonder out of California. I hope they still keep these fine ships in service as we would sorely miss the Wonder.
I have sailed with DCL 9 times with number 10 coming up later this year when my wife and I will be celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary on the Magic. I have sailed 6 times on the Magic, once on the Wonder and twice on the Dream. I too prefer the smaller class ships.
I prefer the Magic & Wonder and am happy to hear that they are building smaller ships. I personally feel that the Wish class was a big mistake.
Weren’t 4 new ships, in addition to the 4th Triton Class for OLC, announced at D23? Does this mean that DCL reduced the number of new ships to 3 (not counting OLC one)?
It says a 4th Wish class for the DCL fleet in 2027, additional Wish class for OLC in 2029, and 3 ships for the new class in 29, 30, and 31. So there are indeed 4 additional unnamed ships coming to the DCL fleet. 5 if you count the OLC Japan based one.
Check out the Ship Class overview page for a breakdown of the ships on order by class.
I thought the same thing when I read this. However of the four ships announced at D23, one of them will be a Wish class and the other three will be the new class. That means there will be five Wish class ships: Wish, Treasure, Destiny, Japan and D23 1.
The press release is confusing, but as far as I can tell, Meyer Werft shipyard is now contracted to build a total of five Triton/Wish class ships: 4 sold to Disney and 1 sold to OLC. Following those ships, Meyer Werft will build 3 more ships of this newer class for Disney.
The Meyer Werft shipyard website says “the Oriental Land Company (OLC) has commissioned MEYER WERFT to build a Disney Wish-class cruise ship for the Japanese market. The new ship is scheduled to be delivered in 2028. OLC, which operates the Disney theme parks in Japan, is expected to commence operation of the ship by early 2029.”
So it seems OLC is buying the 5th Triton class and not Disney, and thus that ship is technically not being built for DCL, but for a different corporate entity. It muddies the water somewhat. It doesn’t help that a recent DCL press release says “We are more than doubling our fleet to 13 ships by 2031” and that number 13 seems to include the OLC ship as well as the Adventure.
I was hoping perhaps there would be only 4 Wish/Triton class and 4 of the newer class, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
And the graphic accompanying this press release shows 13 ships. So again, that seems to mean 5 Wish/Triton class ships will be built prior to the 3 next class ships.
Fabulous news! We much prefer the Magic and Wonder to the Dream and Fantasy (much less the more recent ships) and were beginning to fear that due to the age of the Magic and Wonder the days of our sailing on DCL were numbered.
I was really hoping that they would go back to either the Dream or Magic class ships I love the idea of them going back with the design of the magic and wonder but magic it a bit more bigger I hope they put one in Galveston permanently.