''Disney Dream'' is a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

operated by

Disney Cruise Line Disney Cruise Line is a cruise line operation that is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The company was incorporated in 1996 as Magical Cruise Company Limited, through its first vessel ''Disney Magic,'' and is domiciled in London, Englan ...

, which is part of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

Disney Experiences Disney Experiences, commonly known as Disney Parks, is one of the three major divisions of the Walt Disney Company. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort. Led ...

division. She is the third ship of the overall fleet and the first of the ''Dream'' class, and was followed by a sister ship, the ''

Disney Fantasy ''Disney Fantasy'' is a cruise ship owned and operated by Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Entering service in 2012, she is the second ship of the Dream-class, and the line's fourth vessel overall; the other five shi ...

''. The other ships of the company fleet are the ''

Disney Magic ''Disney Magic'' is a cruise ship owned and operated by Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. She is the line's first vessel, later followed by the ''Disney Wonder'', ''Disney Dream'', ''Disney Fantasy'', ''Disney Wish'', ...

'', ''

Disney Wonder ''Disney Wonder'' is a cruise ship operated by Disney Cruise Line. It was the second ship to join the Disney fleet on entering service in 1999. ''Disney Wonder'' is of the same class as . The other four ships in the fleet are the , , , and . The ...

'', ''

Disney Wish ''Disney Wish'' is the fifth cruise ship owned and operated by Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. She is the largest ship in the fleet and the first of the ''Wish''-class. She entered service in June 2022 and was foll ...

'', and ''

Disney Treasure ''Disney Treasure'' is the sixth cruise ship owned and operated by Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Her sister ship, , was launched in 2022. ''Disney Treasure'' is the second ship of the ''Wish''-class (Triton class) ...

.''

History and construction

In February 2007, Disney Cruise Line announced that it had commissioned two new ships. The first steel cut, for scrollwork on the ship's hull, was in March 2009, at the

Meyer Werft Meyer Werft (; ) is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. It was founded in 1795, as a builder of small wooden vessels. It has been owned and managed by the Meyer family for seven generations. Since ...

shipyards in

Papenburg Papenburg (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Papenbörg'') is a city in the district of Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners. Ge ...

, Germany. Later that month the two ships were named, with ''Disney Dream'' set to enter service first, followed by her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

, ''Disney Fantasy''. The design of ''Disney Dream'' was unveiled at a press conference in New York City, on October 29, 2009. The keel of ''Disney Dream'' was laid on August 19, 2009. On June 1, 2010, the final section of the ship, the bow, was put into its place, completing the exterior, with work continuing on the interior of the ship.

Float-out Float-out is the process in shipbuilding that follows the keel laying and precedes the fitting-out process. It is analogous to launching a ship, a specific process that has largely been discontinued in modern shipbuilding. Both floating-out an ...

took place on October 30, 2010. The ship left the yard in November and had her maiden voyage on January 26, 2011. Disney Cruise Line took possession of ''Disney Dream'' on December 8, 2010. She arrived in Port Canaveral, Florida on January 4, 2011. ''Disney Dream'' was christened on January 19, 2011, by

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, producer, and talk show host. Having received List of awards and nominations received by Jennifer Hudson, numerous accolades for ...

, who began her career as an entertainer on ''

''. ''Disney Dream''s maiden voyage began on January 26, 2011, calling on

Nassau, The Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

, and Disney's private island,

Castaway Cay Disney's Castaway Cay, or simply Castaway Cay (), is a private island in the Bahamas which serves as an exclusive port for the Disney Cruise Line ships. It is located near Great Abaco Island and was formerly known as Gorda Cay. In 1997, The Walt ...

. Since the ship's launch, the ''Disney Dream'' has sailed almost exclusively on three and four-night sailings to Castaway Cay and Nassau. It announced plans to debut itineraries for European destinations as of summer 2023. This included the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. On June 7, 2022, ''Disney Dream'' temporarily relocated to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. On November 20, 2023, ''Disney Dream'' moved to her new home port at

Port Everglades Port Everglades is a seaport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located in Broward County. Port Everglades is one of South Florida's foremost economic engines, as it is the gateway for both international trade and cruise vacations. In 2022, Port Eve ...

' Cruise Terminal 4. On June 29, 2025, a girl fell into the water from the fourth deck of the ship. Her father jumped into save her, and an overboard alert was issued on the ship. Crew from the ship rescued the pair 10 minutes after they had entered the water.

Design

''Disney Dream'' is 40% larger than the two older ships in the

family, ''

'' and ''

'', with a

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...

of , a length of and a width of . ''Disney Dream'' has 1,250 staterooms, carries 2,500 passengers (double occupancy) or a maximum of 4,000 passengers, and a crew of 1,458. The ship has 14 floors, a black hull, a white superstructure, twin red funnels, and yellow lifeboats. The ship’s interior includes a combination of Art Deco design and features from the world of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

. The interior cabins are fitted with virtual portholes ("Magical Porthole") that broadcast the view of the outside and animated Disney characters. ''Disney Dream''’s

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

-style chandelier, located in the atrium, was created with thousands of hand-crafted crystal beads along with colorful glass work. Crafted in

Brixen Brixen (; , ; or , ) is a town and communes of Italy, commune in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography Brixen is the third-largest city and oldest town in the province, with a population of nearly twenty-three t ...

, located in Northern Italy, the chandelier is 22 feet in diameter at the ceiling plate and comes down 13 feet from the ceiling. It is 24kt gold plated with a total of 88,680 Swarovski crystal beads ranging in size from 6mm to 12mm. Every Disney Cruise Line ship has an atrium lobby statue celebrating a classic Disney character; ''Disney Dream's'' is Donald Duck portrayed as an admiral.

Recreation

On-board activities

There are many activities on the ''Disney Dream'', including a 9-hole mini-golf course, a walking track, digital sports simulators, and a full-sized basketball court that can be converted for use as a soccer pitch, volleyball court, or football/table tennis area. There are also two smaller sports courts and two hangouts for younger children. The ship features the

AquaDuck AquaDuck (on the '' Disney Wish'' and '' Disney Treasure'' as AquaMouse) is a water coaster with similar turns, drops and g-forces to a roller coaster that is located on the deck of two Disney cruise ships. It was first constructed on the '' Di ...

, a 765-foot (233-meter) long winding water slide with a four-deck drop and a course that winds over the edge of the ship and through the ship's forward funnel. The AquaDuck runs the width of the ship and the length between the funnels, almost the size of a U.S. football field. In addition to pools of various sizes, there are also hot tubs for adults & families, some of which have glass in the floor.

Entertainment

''Disney Dream'' also includes two theaters: * Walt Disney Theater (1,340 capacity; live original productions: ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'', ''Believe'' and '' The Golden Mickeys'') * Buena Vista Theater (399 capacity; motion pictures) Among the leading-edge technical effects in the Walt Disney Theater is an infrared camera with motion tracking, allowing the movement of performers to be blended with projected digital animated effects.

Rotational dining concept

Every night of a ''Disney Dream'' cruise, guests dine at a different restaurant. This is called "rotational dining". The rotational dining restaurants on the Disney Dream are Enchanted Garden, located on deck 2 midship, Royal Palace, located on deck 3 midship, and Animator's Palate, located on deck 3 aft. As well as rotational dining, the Disney Dream also has two specialty restaurants: Palo and Remy, respectively serving Northern Italian and French cuisine. Specialty dining is an additional cost and is exclusively for adults.

Youth Clubs

The ship features a nursery, Oceaneer Club, Oceaneer Lab, Edge, and Vibe for kids entertainment. In December 2023, Disney Cruise Line abruptly changed the age ranges for Oceaneer Club and Lab from 3-12 to ages 3-10, with some guests receiving less than a week notice of the change without any option to cancel or re-book.

References

Picture of keel laying, retrieved 16.09.2024

Bibliography

* * {{coord, 28.4100, N, 80.6100, W, source:wikidata, display=title

Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

2011 ships Ships built in Papenburg Art Deco ships