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, England, with their operational headquarters located in Celebration, Florida. Disney Cruise Line operates six ships: '' Disney Magic'', '' Disney Wonder'', '' Disney Dream'', '' Disney Fantasy'', '' Disney Wish'', and '' Disney Treasure''. Two ships will join the fleet in 2025: '' Disney Destiny'', and '' Disney Adventure''. Castaway Cay, a private island in the Bahamas, is exclusively operated by Disney Cruise Line and is designed as an exclusive port of call for Disney's ships. A second private destination, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, a 700-acre property on the southern end of Eleuthera, Bahamas opened on June 6, 2024. Disney Cruise Line operates two Disney Cruise Line Terminals in Florida.

Background

In 1985, Premier Cruise Line became Disney's licensed partner cruise line. This allowed Disney characters on their ships and combined cruise, hotel, and theme park packages. In 1993, Premier ended their relationship with Disney and signed a new one with Warner Brothers, utilizing the Looney Tunes characters. Premier continued to offer Disney Land and Sea packages while adding Universal Studios as an option. Thus, Disney approached both Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruise lines to replace Premier as an exclusive sea partner.

History

When Disney's negotiations with two major cruise lines, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, did not produce results, Disney had cruise ship designs drawn up by February 1994. Meanwhile, Walt Disney Travel Company started signing up other cruise lines to offer Disney hotels and resort packages. In May 1994, Disney announced that they intended to start cruise line operations in 1998. Arthur Rodney was selected to serve as the first president of the cruise line tentatively called Disney Vacation Cruises.

In 1995, Disney Cruise Line commissioned ''Disney Magic'' and ''Disney Wonder'' from Fincantieri in Italy. The cruise line was incorporated as Devonson Cruise Company, Limited in February 1996, in the United Kingdom, and was renamed Magical Cruise Company Limited in October 1996. The cruise line cost as much as a theme park to start up. In 1996, Magical Cruise Company purchased Gorda Cay as the line's private island. The company spent $25 million over 18 months on the island and renamed it Castaway Cay.

The ''Disney Magic''s first cruise was originally scheduled for March 1998 but was postponed twice. The ''Disney Wonder'' was scheduled for December 1998. On July 30, 1998, with the first voyage of Magic, the Disney Cruise Line was operational. A 10-year contract was signed with Port Canaveral for its home terminal. With the August 1999, resignation of Rodney as cruise line president, the senior operating officer Matt Ouimet was named as his replacement in July. In 2002, the line added seven-day cruises and western Caribbean cruises.

In May 2005, ''Disney Magic'' moved its port for the summer cruise season to the Port of Los Angeles. This was temporary for the company's 50th-anniversary celebration of Disneyland and as a test for California expansion. The transfer cruise sold out quicker than expected. Bookings from first-time Disney cruisers were up for these cruises by at least 60%. While Disney had wanted additional ships, shipbuilding costs had increased by at least 33% since it built its first two ships. The ''Disney Magic'' was transferred to the Mediterranean for an extended stay in 2007. In 2007, Disney announced the building of two new cruise ships. ''Disney Dream'' set sail in January 2011, followed closely by ''Disney Fantasy'' in 2012. Meyer Werft shipyard, based in Papenburg, Germany, built the new ships.

New Vacation Operation unit

In February 2009, Tom McAlpin left the Disney Cruise Line presidency and was replaced by Karl Holz as president of Disney Cruise Line and New Vacation Operations. In early 2009, Disney and Canaveral Port Authority extended their agreement to 2022 with expansion to the terminal to handle the new class of ships. A re-posting of the ''Disney Magic'' to Europe in 2010 added DCL's first North European cruises to its existing Mediterranean cruises.

With the arrival of ''Disney Dream'' in 2011, ''Disney Wonder'' was relocated to Los Angeles. With the arrival of ''Disney Fantasy'' in 2012, ''Disney Magic'' was relocated to New York City in May 2012 for only the Summer season, before relocating to Galveston, Texas.

In late 2012, ''Disney Wonder'' began sailing cruises out of Miami, Florida. In 2013, the ''Disney Magic'' relocated to Barcelona, Spain and the ''Disney Wonder'' relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the summer season. In autumn 2013, the ''Magic'' and the ''Wonder'' returned to the United States but switched home ports, with the ''Magic'' leaving out of Miami and the ''Wonder'' leaving out of Galveston. In January 2014, the ''Wonder'' took over for the ''Magic'' in Miami and the ''Magic'' joined the ''Dream'' and ''Fantasy'' in Port Canaveral, placing all four ships in the state of Florida for the first time. Since then, the ''Magic'' and the ''Wonder'' have again switched places.

At the February 2016 Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards, three of Disney's ships won 11 category awards. The company ordered three ships of a new class of ship, Triton, in 2016 and 2017. At the company annual meeting in March 2016, Walt Disney Company Chairman Bob Iger announced the first two new ships of the new line which were planned to be built larger than the previous two ships. The first ship, Disney Wish joined in 2022. And the second, Disney Treasure joined in 2024. In July 2017, Bob Chapek, President of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, announced at the D23 Expo that a seventh unnamed ship would join the fleet.

In 2016, the cruise line was looking to buy Egg Island, Eleuthera, the Bahamas, as another destination for the additional cruise ships. However, opposition from nearby island residents and potential damage to the islands' reefs stopped plans.

In April 2017, it was announced that Karl Holz would retire as president of Disney Cruise Line in February 2018. Anthony Connelly assumed the role of president in October 2017. The Canaveral Port Authority Board of Commissioners in January 2019 approved work for Disney's Terminal 8 and adjacent Terminal 10, which would handle more ships when the new class arrived.

With the October 2017 cruise of ''Disney Magic'' from New York to the Bahamas, the cruise line held its first Marvel Day at Sea. In October 2018, the cruise line began showing ''Disney at Sea with D23'', a 30-minute entertainment news show that covers the many Disney subsidiaries with input from D23, starting with the ship.

Disney Signature Experiences unit

Soon after a March 2018 conglomerate reorganized the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products segment division, Disney Cruise Line and New Vacation Operations were renamed Disney Signature Experiences along with Jeff Vahle being names as the new president.

Disney Cruise Line purchased in early March 2019 another Bahamas destination, the Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point property on the island of Eleuthera from the Bahamian Government. The cruise line was looking for another Bahamas location since the announcement of the third ship expansion in 2016.

In 2020, Jeff Vahle transitioned to become the president of Walt Disney World Resort. Cruise industry and Disney veteran Thomas Mazloum was then announced as the new president of Disney Cruise Line and Disney Signature Experiences. In 2025, Mazloum became the new Disneyland Resort President and Joe Schott was announced as the new President of Disney Cruise Line under Disney Signature Experiences.

In February 2020, ''Disney Wonder'' moved its home port to New Orleans. From March 14, 2020 until July 2021, Disney Cruise Line ships suspended operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sailings resumed in the form of " Staycation Cruises", closed loop cruises of 2 to 4 nights from the United Kingdom ports of Liverpool, Southampton, Newcastle, and Tilbury for London.

Fleet expansion

In July 2024, The Oriental Land Company ordered a fourth ''Wish''-class vessel, licensed by Disney, for a planned completion date in 2028. A second ship is in discussion.

An additional four ships were ordered from the German Meyer Werft shipyard in August 2024. They are planned for delivery between 2027 and 2031, which would bring the fleet to a total of 13 ships. The shipyard claimed that it was the highest value order they had ever received.

It was confirmed in January 2025 that the four new ships ordered in August 2024 would consist of an additional Wish-class ship, scheduled for delivery in 2027, and three new ships, sized in between the Magic- and Dream-class vessels.

Related facilities

Disney Cruise Line Terminals

Port Canaveral

Port Canaveral's Cruise Terminal 8 is located in Port Canaveral in Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States. It is used to transport passengers on and off of the Disney Cruise Line ships. This port has seen the departure of the '' Disney Magic'', the '' Disney Wonder'', the '' Disney Dream'', the '' Disney Fantasy'', the '' Disney Wish,'' and the '' Disney Treasure''.

The terminal is a large building owned by Port Canaveral and operated by Disney Cruise Line. At , this massive building includes the base for Disney Cruise Line check-in, security, and boarding. The terminal was designed loosely on the old Ocean Terminal in Southampton.

Disney Cruise Line had negotiated with the Port Canaveral port authority in early 2009 to extend their contract until 2022. As part of this contract, the port authority expanded and upgraded the dock in order to accommodate the new ships (both of which will be home-ported there), the terminal was enlarged to accommodate more passengers and luggage, and a parking garage was built. In 2019, a new contract agreement of 20 years was negotiated.

In June 2018, Port Canaveral officials approved pursuing a study about how to best upgrade Disney's Terminal 8 and other nearby terminals. With the Disney fleet expected to expand with more ships, Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Murray stated that, without expansion, "we'll have more activity than Terminal 8 can handle". The Canaveral Port Authority Board of Commissioners in January 2019 approved work for Disney's Terminal 8 and adjacent Terminal 10, which would handle more ships when the new Wish-class ships arrive. The upgrades would allow Disney to base three ships year round at the port. The current plan sees two ships at Terminal 8 and one ship at Terminal 10.

Port Everglades

In April 2022, it was approved by the Broward County Commission that Port Everglades' Cruise Terminal 4 would be transformed into a second homeport for Disney Cruise Line, alongside Disney's original homeport. This marked the first time that Disney Cruise Line sailed from Port Everglades. DCL markets the departure point as "Fort Lauderdale". This port began embarking guests on November 20, 2023. ''Disney Magic'' is currently homeported at Port Everglades. The full-time ship is currently slated to be changed to the upcoming Disney Destiny, which will begin sailing at the end of 2025.

The terminal is owned by Broward County and operated by Disney Cruise Line. The building is and includes passenger check-in, security, and boarding, as well as a 1,818-space parking garage. The terminal's exterior design is based on Disney's original homeport, while the interior features a '' Finding Nemo'' theme.

Disney Cruise Line has negotiated with Broward County for a contract agreement of 15 years with options for three 5-year extensions. The agreement also includes one ship to be homeported year-round as well as a second seasonal ship in 2025.

Disney's 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 Disney Company purchased a 99-year land lease (through 2096) for the cay from the Bahamian government, giving the company substantial control over the island.

Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point

Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, or simply Lookout Cay, is a private peninsula in the Bahamas which serves as an exclusive port for the Disney Cruise Line ships. It is located in the south-eastern region of Bannerman Town, Eleuthera. In March 2019, The Walt Disney Company purchased the peninsula from the Bahamian government, giving the company control over the area.

Market Share

The cruise line has experienced some growth over the past several years as depicted below.

Fleet

Disney Cruise Line currently operates six ships, with three more set to join in the coming years. As of January 2025, all of Disney Cruise Line's ships are officially registered in Nassau, Bahamas. It is expected that '' Disney Adventure'' will be the first Disney Cruise Line ship to be registered in Singapore. The Disney Adventure cruise ship is scheduled to commence operations from Singapore on December 15, 2025. There are six vessels in the current fleet: ''Disney Magic'', ''Disney Wonder'', ''Disney Dream'', ''Disney Fantasy'', ''Disney Wish'', and ''Disney Treasure''. Two vessels will be added in the near future: '' Disney Destiny'' (November 20, 2025), and '' Disney Adventure'' (December 15, 2025), in addition to four as-of-yet unnamed vessels.

References

External links

*

{{Authority control

Cruise lines
Transport companies established in 1996
1996 establishments in Florida