2 new ships - what must features should they plan into the design?

[dsnydaddy]

My number one change is making it so that you don't have to walk through Cabanas to get to the pools.
A more Private Adult area would be nice.

Can't think of much else. Maybe it's the late hour.

 

[OKW Lover]

They have before done double dips back to back at cc. Usually because of weather and each time the ship left the pier. The one the thing that keeps coming back to me now that I've seen someone mention it is lack of island staff. I agree it sounds nice and even romantic but is there enough cooks and wait staff to properly man both the ship and shoreside eateries?

Now that you mention it, I had not thought of the water issues.

DCL had a few scheduled double dip cruises in past years. We were on one of them. So it wasn't because of weather.

There really isn't any island staff to speak of. There are a few that do stay there to tend to the infrastructure. But just about everybody you see working on the island during CC days (cooks and wait staff, lifeguards, etc) are actually crew members. Some of the shore excursions are operated by native bahamians who come over from neighboring islands.

 

[deanimal]

I'm not sure about buying another island. Even six ships is pretty small compared to some of the other lines. I'd actually prefer they didn't since it would be more incentive to keep all the ships in the Caribbean and Bahamas all year!I think if they kept their current numbers of four ships in the Caribbean in winter and two in summer that would free up the others for some really interesting options.

How about an Asian Disney itinerary visiting Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo with excursions to the parks?

I'd love to see a Caribbean to west coast repo divided into Florida to Buenos Aires, around the south to Chile (Antarctic islands option anyone?) and then Chile to California. Each leg would be about 14 days, other cruise lines already do these itineraries. Two problems, though. I can't see them going to the region with the Zika situation as it is and there's no way I could afford it at Disney prices!

One way Hawaii from Vancouver. They've done it already, but I don't know if people know how easy it is to transfer from Seattle.

New York to Bermuda in summer.

As I've said before, I probably wouldn't pay what they're asking by that time, but I'd be much more likely to save up to go somewhere really interesting than the boring itineraries they're doing now.

 

[izzinmac]

One thing that bothers me about the Dream/Fantasy is the "Coke bottle" shape of the hull on decks 6 through 10. From the renderings of the new ships it looks like these continue. We were recently on the Fantasy on deck 10, and we had a huge overhang above, and looked down on lifeboats and deck 5 extended verandas. By building those decks flush with 5 and 11, it would give the ships the cleaner profile of the Magic/Wonder, make them look less top heavy, and create tons of extra square footage on the ships. Some of that could be used for larger verandahs, or deeper family cabins and some could be used for new venues not currently available. Essentially, the ship would be wider on those decks.

 

[mlegasse]

I would love an adult only Lazy river, with bar service

 

[truck1]

DCL had a few scheduled double dip cruises in past years. We were on one of them. So it wasn't because of weather.

There really isn't any island staff to speak of. There are a few that do stay there to tend to the infrastructure. But just about everybody you see working on the island during CC days (cooks and wait staff, lifeguards, etc) are actually crew members. Some of the shore excursions are operated by native bahamians who come over from neighboring islands.

We were on 1 also. What I meant was the unscheduled back to back cc. As far as I know when ever they have done a back to back on CC the ship has always left the pier and came back.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

We were on 1 also. What I meant was the unscheduled back to back cc. As far as I know when ever they have done a back to back on CC the ship has always left the pier and came back.

I would guess they wouldn't want to stay docked overnight since the shops onboard can't be open while the ship is in port. They wouldn't want to turn down the money they could make from the shops.

 

[CM Dad]

I would guess they wouldn't want to stay docked overnight since the shops onboard can't be open while the ship is in port. They wouldn't want to turn down the money they could make from the shops.

The have periodically docked at CC around midnight. I've done that twice so they could prepare for the runDisney Castaway Cay Challenge race on the Dream cruise that immediately follows Marathon weekend, and once because they anticipated that the weather would prevent them from docking if they arrived at the normal time.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

The have periodically docked at CC around midnight. I've done that twice so they could prepare for the runDisney Castaway Cay Challenge race on the Dream cruise that immediately follows Marathon weekend, and once because they anticipated that the weather would prevent them from docking if they arrived at the normal time.

Yes, but the shops close up around 11:00pm so docking at midnight doesn't stop them from selling stuff. My point was they wouldn't do back to back days at CC without pulling away from the dock in the evening.

 

[truck1]

I would guess they wouldn't want to stay docked overnight since the shops onboard can't be open while the ship is in port. They wouldn't want to turn down the money they could make from the shops.

But the shops on the island are open. I think it's more of a staffing and safety issue then anything else. A lot of the island staff is from Freeport,like the tram drivers and some.of the shops. But if you look at traditionally what DCL does in most ports, there dropping lines between 430 and 730. There's a handful of exceptions like Hawaii, and 1 or 2 in Europe but for the most part the ships are off the piers as the sun goes down.

 

[phinz]

B) Why the need for separate bathrooms? If you identify and dress as a female you should be allowed to use female bathrooms. If you identify and dress as a male, you should be allowed to use male bathrooms. Simple.

This. All this. All day. Every day.

 

[phinz]

I just want the ability for the ship to turn out the lights on the upper decks at a certain time so those of us who live in areas that are already light polluted can see the stars for a while. Bring on an astronomer to give classes and I'd pay money for the opportunity to experience truly dark skies. I'd love to see this on CC too. Late/very early docking with lights turned out so you can actually see more than a few stars.

 

[phinz]

A lot of the island staff is from Freeport,like the tram drivers and some.of the shops.

I thought they were from Abaco. Freeport would be a really long commute, since the ferry ride itself is over 6 hours from Freeport to South Abaco. Or are you talking about those who actually live on the island?

 

[Starwind]

I thought they were from Abaco. Freeport would be a really long commute, since the ferry ride itself is over 6 hours from Freeport to South Abaco. Or are you talking about those who actually live on the island?

According to the tour guide we had on CC for one of our excursions, most or even all are from Abaco; there is a boat launch that takes the staff back and forth (and at least when we were there, in the afternoon there is an early trip back and a later trip back; we saw staff waiting for and loading the early trip back). We got a great explanation of both the history and contemporary life of the Bahamas -- part as a normal part of the excursion, and part in answer to questions we asked.

SW

 

[truck1]

I thought they were from Abaco. Freeport would be a really long commute, since the ferry ride itself is over 6 hours from Freeport to South Abaco. Or are you talking about those who actually live on the island?

Could be Abaco but I thought I read somewhere they came from Freeport. I'll have to go back and look.

 

[phinz]

Could be Abaco but I thought I read somewhere they came from Freeport. I'll have to go back and look.

There's always the chance that they're housed on Abaco but are from Freeport. That would make more sense, since Abaco is a relatively short boat ride away. I've watched the Abaco crews commute in in the mornings since we're usually on port side and I like to get up to watch the boat dock.

 

[drb116]

I would bet you will not see 6 ships in the US. Two or three years ago, Iger was asked about building new ships and his reply was that they have no intention at the time and when they do it will be to expand into Asia. While there was no mention of Asian with this press release, I would be willing to bet at least one ship (if not two) will be based out of a Southeast Asian port. Disney is expanding in Asia and the cruise industry is expanding quickly in Asia, so I can't see how this will not be a big part of the DCL expansion.

I would assume that they will move an older ship initially, but I would not expect new ships in NY or a new private island to handle additional Florida capacity.

 

[darnheather]

I would bet you will not see 6 ships in the US. Two or three years ago, Iger was asked about building new ships and his reply was that they have no intention at the time and when they do it will be to expand into Asia. While there was no mention of Asian with this press release, I would be willing to bet at least one ship (if not two) will be based out of a Southeast Asian port. Disney is expanding in Asia and the cruise industry is expanding quickly in Asia, so I can't see how this will not be a big part of the DCL expansion.

I would assume that they will move an older ship initially, but I would not expect new ships in NY or a new private island to handle additional Florida capacity.

I totally agree! I can't see these being used in Florida at all. Asia makes so much more sense. Though California would be nice.

 

[CM Dad]

I just want the ability for the ship to turn out the lights on the upper decks at a certain time so those of us who live in areas that are already light polluted can see the stars for a while. Bring on an astronomer to give classes and I'd pay money for the opportunity to experience truly dark skies. I'd love to see this on CC too. Late/very early docking with lights turned out so you can actually see more than a few stars.

One of the cruise we went on did have one of the officers give and astronomy class on the upper deck. They eventually arranged to have the lights turned off on the front of the ship for us.

 

[truck1]

One thing that bothers me about the Dream/Fantasy is the "Coke bottle" shape of the hull on decks 6 through 10. From the renderings of the new ships it looks like these continue. We were recently on the Fantasy on deck 10, and we had a huge overhang above, and looked down on lifeboats and deck 5 extended verandas. By building those decks flush with 5 and 11, it would give the ships the cleaner profile of the Magic/Wonder, make them look less top heavy, and create tons of extra square footage on the ships. Some of that could be used for larger verandahs, or deeper family cabins and some could be used for new venues not currently available. Essentially, the ship would be wider on those decks.

I had the opportunity to talk to Capt Henry on the Dream in July about the shapes of the Dream class. He said the reason was the way DCL worded the contract, an its what the marine engineers came up with. In a nutshell DCL said we want a ship that has 1250 cabins, is 1115' long and 121 feet wide at its widest........
Had they built the balconies out to the shape of the Magic class would have changed those requirements which would put the ship back on the drawing board or cost more. There would have been a lot of dead space on the middle decks, and it would also change the cog of the ship, and her tonnage and therefore her price. So they opted for the current design. Something I did point out to him, was about putting in more water fountains like near a restroom. What had happned was we were waiting for Enchanted to open and I walked up 1 deck looking for a water fountain because I was thirsty. and walked in to the Atrium where I found Capt Henry, talking to 1 couple. I ran back down, and grabbed my son and went back up and he was by himself. We talked ships for prob 15 or 20 minutes. He told me that piping was an issue to put in more water fountains, until I said why not put them on the walls of the public restrooms, like the parks do? They have to have pipes there anyway. So well see what happens.

I would love an adult only Lazy river, with bar service

There was one planned for the in between class that was never built, but one of the drawbacks is the large amount of real estate that it would take up. They thought of putting it in the air, but changed their minds with all of the structural changes that would have to be made. They opted for the Aquaduck instead, when someone mentioned a rollercoaster at sea. This was all from the Fantasys Maiden, from Joe Lanzisero,during one of the special presentations who basically designed all of the interior spaces and saw them long before they were put into the ships. He said at the time there was 10,000 or 100,000 drawings for the Dream class ships, and mock ups of all of the interior spaces from the engine room, to the cabins to the rest, kitchens, clubs, to the bridge. Everything was life scale, and with the same materials that ended up into the final product. In some cases the designs, colors, or materials were changed multiple times, before DCL was happy with the result.