Does Disney Cruise Line Have Plans to Purchase Abandoned Cruise Ship?

[RAD]

Many, yes. That is the West Coast.

If it wasn’t for moving the ships for Alaska would they still be moving as many ships for just some Mexican cruises?

 

[tvguy]

If it wasn’t for moving the ships for Alaska would they still be moving as many ships for just some Mexican cruises?

Disney thinks so with the Wonder.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[AvidDisReader]

Personally, I am not assuming this ship does not have a casino. If Disney decides to keep the casino, I could see this being an Asia only cruise ship.

 

[Kwami]

Previous reporting in German media, where the ship is being built, suggests that Disney is going to remove the casino.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...lobal-dream-cruise-ship.3901850/post-64433825

 

[nikem3]

They really aren't having to do any reconfiguration to lower the capacity to 6,000. At 2,500 rooms, the ship already had less staterooms than an Oasis-class ship (Oasis has 2,800 rooms, capacity 5,600) The original owners calculated a "max capacity" assuming most rooms were full with 4 people (3.6 people per room to be exact). DCL sets it max capacity much lower...for comparison, the Wish has 1254 staterooms but a "Max capacity" of only 4,000 passengers (3.2 people per room).

They COULD be reducing the number of rooms, but they probably don't NEED to unless they are trying to recover space for other needs.


Seriously doubt it. The cruising market on that coast is meager, largely because all cruises have to go to Mexico (Or Canada') There just simply aren't enough international destinations within sailing distance of that coast to satisfy the Merchant Marine Act. From FL, a ship can visit any of over a dozen foreign ports on a 7 day cruise. Many cruise lines have tried and failed to get a serious cruise business going on the West coast. They send them there seasonally, but a ship this size would not be possible...plus how would they get it there? Panama Canal not really an option.

That is part of the problem with this ship. If its home ported in Asia, it seems most seasonal Asia cruises split time in Alaska or Hawaii. It would be too much of a logistical nightmare to get the ship back to Florida. However, if they ARE removing the Casino and the smoking areas, it will be interesting to see how this ship does. Obviously if it does poorly, you could see it repositioning to Florida eventually. If it does very well, you could see them try and commission bigger ships in the future for the Florida market specifically.

 

[Kwami]

That is part of the problem with this ship. If its home ported in Asia, it seems most seasonal Asia cruises split time in Alaska or Hawaii. It would be too much of a logistical nightmare to get the ship back to Florida. However, if they ARE removing the Casino and the smoking areas, it will be interesting to see how this ship does. Obviously if it does poorly, you could see it repositioning to Florida eventually. If it does very well, you could see them try and commission bigger ships in the future for the Florida market specifically.

A bigger ship in the Florida market is problematic unless Lighthouse Point can handle substantially more guests than Castaway Cay or Disney is willing to skip their private islands for Florida-based cruises.

 

[jrapps]

A bigger ship in the Florida market is problematic unless Lighthouse Point can handle substantially more guests than Castaway Cay or Disney is willing to skip their private islands for Florida-based cruises.

I would imagine that Disney is future-proofing Lighthouse Point to be able to handle more daily visitors than Castaway. I have doubts that a ship this size could even pull into the dock at Castaway. But Lighthouse has a longer pier (like Royals Coco Cay).

If the ship is intended to homeport in Asia, I expect they will do a few sailings a year to Hawaii, or US West Coast. If it is to homeport in Europe, it could visit the East coast more regularly. All Disney has said is it will homeport internationally. We have assumed that to mean Asia per the original design of the ship.

But I think Disney also has backup plans on top of backup plans, if the ship does poorly, or if Asian markets ever get shut down (like they did with Covid), they at least have the ability to move it back to US and do regular FL sailings.

 

[Kwami]

I would imagine that Disney is future-proofing Lighthouse Point to be able to handle more daily visitors than Castaway. I have doubts that a ship this size could even pull into the dock at Castaway. But Lighthouse has a longer pier (like Royals Coco Cay).

If the ship is intended to homeport in Asia, I expect they will do a few sailings a year to Hawaii, or US West Coast. If it is to homeport in Europe, it could visit the East coast more regularly. All Disney has said is it will homeport internationally. We have assumed that to mean Asia per the original design of the ship.

But I think Disney also has backup plans on top of backup plans, if the ship does poorly, or if Asian markets ever get shut down (like they did with Covid), they at least have the ability to move it back to US and do regular FL sailings.

They'd have to go around the long way to get to Florida. That ship surely won't fit through the Panama Canal. And, I can't imagine that there's much point in staying in Europe outside the cruise season. Keeping the ship in Asia makes the most sense to me.

 

[happycamper47]

They'd have to go around the long way to get to Florida. That ship surely won't fit through the Panama Canal. And, I can't imagine that there's much point in staying in Europe outside the cruise season. Keeping the ship in Asia makes the most sense to me.

Not just Asia, but also Australia as well as Hawaii, so the West Coast has the potential for many variations.

 

[jrapps]

They'd have to go around the long way to get to Florida. That ship surely won't fit through the Panama Canal. And, I can't imagine that there's much point in staying in Europe outside the cruise season. Keeping the ship in Asia makes the most sense to me.

Well the ship's in Germany right now so it's taking a long way trip when it's done one way or the other. If they decide to start with Asia it will have to sail out of the way and well.

A lot can happen in the 1 to 2 years it's going to take to finish building this ship. When Royal built Wonder of the seas they of course thought it was going straight to China. Ended up in Florida. Not saying that's what's going to happen here but anything is possible.

 

[JWelch62]

They'd have to go around the long way to get to Florida. That ship surely won't fit through the Panama Canal. And, I can't imagine that there's much point in staying in Europe outside the cruise season. Keeping the ship in Asia makes the most sense to me.

The post panamax ship dimensions are 365 meters long and 49 meters wide. This ship is 348 m x 46.4 m. It will be able to transit the canal in the new locks.

 

[happycamper47]

The post panamax ship dimensions are 365 meters long and 49 meters wide. This ship is 348 m x 46.4 m. It will be able to transit the canal in the new locks.

But it may be too tall to clear the Bridge of the America's which is around 200' at high tide. The Centennial Bridge is around 250' or so. Also if any of the decks extend over the side, like the Wonder of the Seas, there could still be a clearance issue above the water line.

 

[Sykes]

They'd have to go around the long way to get to Florida. That ship surely won't fit through the Panama Canal. And, I can't imagine that there's much point in staying in Europe outside the cruise season. Keeping the ship in Asia makes the most sense to me.

It’s definitely not practical to do the long way regularly, but doing it for a one-time oops-this-didn’t-work-out cruise is reasonable. A bunch of ships did that as cruising resumed after the COVID shutdown. I imagine a one-time-only trip around South America would sell out pretty quickly.

 

[JWelch62]

But it may be too tall to clear the Bridge of the America's which is around 200' at high tide. The Centennial Bridge is around 250' or so. Also if any of the decks extend over the side, like the Wonder of the Seas, there could still be a clearance issue above the water line.

I have not been able to find any data on the height above the water line, so perhaps that's a concern. And it's a fairly boxy design that doens't seem to have much in the way of protrusions.

Here is the description on cruisemapper

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I like the idea of transpacific (or RT Hawaii) sailings, but is this ship built for rough seas? I know that all cruise ships are built to be able to withstand high seas but I suspect that many of the new megaships aren't being purpose built for maximum stability in high seas.

 

[Flossbolna]

Going from Europe to Asia is not a big hassle. Cruises through the Suez Canal are quite popular I think and several cruise lines offer them. I actually think going from China via South East Asia through Suez back to the Med is a far more interesting route than crossing the very very empty Pacific.

 

[jrapps]

I have not been able to find any data on the height above the water line, so perhaps that's a concern. And it's a fairly boxy design that doens't seem to have much in the way of protrusions.

Here is the description on cruisemapper

Any specs that are out there wouldn't include any modifications Disney is making anyway. They are adding funnels to the top, possibly a waterslide/aquaduck style attraction. We wont really know the height until Disney announces more info. I'm guessing it will be too tall (as are the Oasis ships)

 

[nikem3]

Castaway Cay is technically undeveloped. Only 55 acres of the 1000 acres are currently being used. Compare that to Cococay that is 125 acres in total. You could also technically tender to the island with a bigger ship. Options are obviously there if Disney wanted them. And then of course we have no knowledge on what the plans are for Lighthouse Point. Its about 700 acres of land. I can see them going one of two ways. Making Lighthouse Point the smaller, more natural island and developing Castaway Cay for bigger ships. Or just making Lighthouse Point able to handle capacity of more guests. You could host multiple cruises or double the capacity at Lighthouse Point if you used only 1/7th of the island.

 

[soniam]

Castaway Cay is technically undeveloped. Only 55 acres of the 1000 acres are currently being used. Compare that to Cococay that is 125 acres in total. You could also technically tender to the island with a bigger ship. Options are obviously there if Disney wanted them. And then of course we have no knowledge on what the plans are for Lighthouse Point. Its about 700 acres of land. I can see them going one of two ways. Making Lighthouse Point the smaller, more natural island and developing Castaway Cay for bigger ships. Or just making Lighthouse Point able to handle capacity of more guests. You could host multiple cruises or double the capacity at Lighthouse Point if you used only 1/7th of the island.

I don't think there will be much, if any, significant development done to Castaway Cay. It is very close to the currently rising sea levels. They have a lot of issues with flooding, and the storms are becoming worse and more frequent.