New Disney Ships: News, Rumors, Speculation.....and Names!

[Flossbolna]

Yes, air draft is the usuall limiting factor in the canal. Air draft is rarely published for any ship. So I did some looking and some math. The Fantasy is 217 feet tall. That's from her keel to the top of her radar mast. The Bridge of America's maximum allowable air draft at any time, any tide is 190. If we take the Dream class draft of 27.8 feet, her air draft is 189.2. She can ballast if needed to change that number but shes still at the max. The Bridge of America's is actually 201 but the canal gives it a 11 foot buffer for the oops calculation.

So, that means that Dream and Fantasy would indeed fit under the Bridge of Americas? To me the 189.2 feet air draft looks like this might have been chosen with exactly that "new limit" for the Panama Canal with the new locks in mind. Kind of a new panmax class, this time height, not length.

 

[RedSox68]

I doubt Fantasy will be able to get into some of the Alaskan ports or the inlets - and certainly not through Panama Canal.

All of the following is purely my own opinion.

I expect two ships to be in Alaska in the summer. At least one of them will be Magic or Wonder - and maybe both. One will operate in Alaska from Vancouver and the other from Seattle. Magic or Wonder will trek through Panama Canal to spend the rest of the season in the Caribbeans. The other will likely stay back in San Diego.

Two ships will be in Europe for the summer (one doing Northern Europe and the other the Med itineraries). At least one will be back in the Caribbeans for the winter. The other might stay back for Med and/or the Canaries at least in the fall / spring (but possibly the winter as well).

One ship will eventually make its way to Asia. But you will still have 4-5 ships in the Caribbeans in the fall / winter / spring - operating from a mix of PC, Miami, NYC, and Texas (depending on the season - can't imagine an NYC sailing in the winter).

Since Europe has a better developed LNG infrastructure, at least one of the new ships should make its way over.

I really doubt that Disney will lock in two ships each summer just for Alaska when there are so many other options for a second ship on the West coast -- like cruises to Hawaii or partial Panama Canal cruises with Caribbean ports. I do see them keeping a ship on the West Coast longer though, I do like the speculation previously about making one ship permanently out of NYC (or even Baltimore). That would be awesome.

 

[truck1]

So, that means that Dream and Fantasy would indeed fit under the Bridge of Americas? To me the 189.2 feet air draft looks like this might have been chosen with exactly that "new limit" for the Panama Canal with the new locks in mind. Kind of a new panmax class, this time height, not length.

Yes they should fit with no problems. like I said, they can ballast if they need to which means taking on water or fuel so they sit lower. the other limiting factor is draft. the max allowable draft for any ship for any reason is 39 feet. So theoretically they could ballast the ship 3 or 4 more feet easily without any issue. Now whether Disney did that deliberately or it was a product of design is anybody's guess. but I would guess that there was a stipulation that she needed to fit through the canal

 

[apple9117]

Ahhhh love this thread!

 

[Intr3pid]

I don’t see why the Fantasy would have issues. Norwegian Bliss, Ovation of the Seas and many Celebrity and Princess ships of similar size sail to Alaska with no problems. They visit Tracy Arm, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Ketchikan, etc.

Bliss is a thin and tall ship - purpose built for Alaska. (Its capacity is a bit misleading.) Neither Bliss nor Ovation sail to Tracy's Arm. They can do Endicott Arm, which is much much easier to sail.

Glacier Bay is wide open for physical access. If Disney does go after the Glacier Bay licenses, it can ditch Tracy's Arm and, yes, Fantasy can do that job. You still would have to stay a distance from the calving glaciers, and the bigger question is, why limit yourself anyways?

Also the Panama Canal was just expanded, can hold ships larger than the Fantasy. I don’t think that Disney will send a ship you asia, cruise lines have had to move ships back from Asia because the market hasn’t met the prediction (example Ovation of the Seas, Norwegian Encore).

Asia is by far the fastest growing cruise market.
https://www.cruising.org/docs/defau...-2017-asia-cruise-trends-report.pdf?sfvrsn=0/
Disney itself has 3 theme parks in Asia and is looking to add a 4th one.

I really doubt that Disney will lock in two ships each summer just for Alaska when there are so many other options for a second ship on the West coast -- like cruises to Hawaii or partial Panama Canal cruises with Caribbean ports.

Alaska currently provides some of the highest profit margins for the cruise industry - and it only lasts 3 or 4 months. Princess, for example, will have nearly a dozen ships deployed in Alaska this summer.

Disney can do Hawaii outside of the summer season or even while in Alaska. It's going to be limited, as you must sail one-way. Hawaii blunts pretty much every cruise line, as there is never a good itinerary for it (NCL Pride being the one exception).

Panama Canal transit is costly. And, again, you don't need to be in that latitude during the summer.

 

[dmunsil]

I really doubt that Disney will lock in two ships each summer just for Alaska when there are so many other options for a second ship on the West coast -- like cruises to Hawaii or partial Panama Canal cruises with Caribbean ports. I do see them keeping a ship on the West Coast longer though, I do like the speculation previously about making one ship permanently out of NYC (or even Baltimore). That would be awesome.

Alaska is a very profitable cruise destination; Holland America routinely puts roughly half of their ships in Alaska each summer, as does Princess. Two Disney ships in Alaska would sell well. Heck, they could probably fill three.

 

[truck1]

Bliss is a thin and tall ship - purpose built for Alaska. (Its capacity is a bit misleading.) Neither Bliss nor Ovation sail to Tracy's Arm. They can do Endicott Arm, which is much much easier to sail.
.

Bliss is shorter then the Dream class, barely but wider and 4 decks taller. Ships dimensions are dictated by the stability requirements.. Since Bliss is 40 feet taller and 30 feet shorter,then the Dream class she needs to be wider to compensate for stabulity.

 

[WDW&DCLADDICT]

Ok so here is what i think:

Disney Imagination (Figment on a cruise ship why not?)
Disney Wishes
Disney Liberty
The Magic will stay in Europe and East coast
Fantasy will be Bermuda and Florida
Dream East coast and Hawaii (Maybe)
Wonder will be in Alaska and G.O.M.
Imagination/ wishes will be port Canaveral: Liberty will be Europe and Bahamas

 

[FigmentSpark]

I wouldn't count out a Disney Star and a Disney Marvel

 

[Intr3pid]

Bliss is shorter then the Dream class, barely but wider and 4 decks taller. Ships dimensions are dictated by the stability requirements.. Since Bliss is 40 feet taller and 30 feet shorter,then the Dream class she needs to be wider to compensate for stabulity.

Not the comparison with Fantasy - but rather its 4000 capacity compared to other large and wide ships which don't/can't come to Alaska.

Good topic nonetheless. I see Bliss's max beam listed at 136 ft, pretty much the same as Fantasy's max. I can't find Bliss's height, but it does have more decks which - all else equal - means a taller ship. (Four extra deck would roughly equal 40 feet.)

Stability is a function of the center of gravity. While it is true that the max dimensions will influence it, you can find ways to lower the center. Using 40 feet, Bliss is ~20% taller but also ~4% shorter in length than Fantasy. Yet, it has 30% more gross weight, which means it need not keep its width in the same proportion with its height as would Fantasy.

 

[truck1]

There is still no info as to the Bliss' height. But one thing that is of interest: That funnel was installed after the float out. The Dream and Fantasy floated out of the dry dock at Meyer Werft with the funnel installed. There might be other reasons for the funnel not being installed inside the dry dock, but one reason could be that it would not have fit through the gate otherwise.

Bliss is about 205 feet tall, using Breakaway as a reference and starting point. Realistically she might be closer to 220.

 

[RedSox68]

Alaska is a very profitable cruise destination; Holland America routinely puts roughly half of their ships in Alaska each summer, as does Princess. Two Disney ships in Alaska would sell well. Heck, they could probably fill three.

Having seen their pricing compared to what you can get on the other lines for thousands less, I think from previous posts that many people are wising up to cheaper deals and better amenities on other lines

 

[jdb in AZ]

Ok so here is what i think:

Disney Imagination (Figment on a cruise ship why not?)
Disney Wishes
Disney Liberty
The Magic will stay in Europe and East coast
Fantasy will be Bermuda and Florida
Dream East coast and Hawaii (Maybe)
Wonder will be in Alaska and G.O.M.
Imagination/ wishes will be port Canaveral: Liberty will be Europe and Bahamas

In order for the Dream to do Hawaii she'd have to go through the Panama Canal, and that's cost-prohibitive for just one or two sailing to Hawaii per year. It makes more sense for the Wonder to do Hawaii.

DCL will most likely continue to keep two ships in the Caribbean year round.

 

[Spork24]

Having seen their pricing compared to what you can get on the other lines for thousands less, I think from previous posts that many people are wising up to cheaper deals and better amenities on other lines

Alaska cruises are a premium for all lines, and Disney doesn’t seem to be struggling to fill their ships. I will be shocked if we don’t see a second ship in Alaska at least for a trial once the full fleet is deployed.

 

[dclpluto]

I wouldn't count out a Disney Star and a Disney Marvel

I like Disney Star not for the Star Wars but Disney star sounds good imo.

 

[RedSox68]

Alaska cruises are a premium for all lines, and Disney doesn’t seem to be struggling to fill their ships. I will be shocked if we don’t see a second ship in Alaska at least for a trial once the full fleet is deployed.

And we can only hope that Disney's prices start to align with other lines and make it affordable

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

And we can only hope that Disney's prices start to align with other lines and make it affordable

I hope so too.... but something tells me DCL is not building 3 new state of the art ships to bring their pricing down.... One can only hope!

 

[dclpluto]

And we can only hope that Disney's prices start to align with other lines and make it affordable

The prices will be

Magic and wionder expensive

Dream and fantasy very expensive

The three new ships very very expensive.

Being serious dcl is going to have to attract a lot of new customers to keep their prices up. Hopefully they will come down in prices but I’m sure Disney has plans where they will be able to keep the prices up.

We have already seen dcl trying to get more dvc members to go on cruises with the early booking with the silver members. Disney has more things planned is my guess. But I do see the prices coming down some or at least don’t go up like they have been.

 

[Spork24]

The prices will be

Magic and wionder expensive

Dream and fantasy very expensive

The three new ships very very expensive.

Being serious dcl is going to have to attract a lot of new customers to keep their prices up. Hopefully they will come down in prices but I’m sure Disney has plans where they will be able to keep the prices up.

We have already seen dcl trying to get more dvc members to go on cruises with the early booking with the silver members. Disney has more things planned is my guess. But I do see the prices coming down some or at least don’t go up like they have been.

I think pricing during peak times and top iteneraries will likely stay In the same range, I think some of your off peak may level out a bit. Fall, jan/feb/May could see a noticeable reduction.

More ships will certainly mean more profit but not necessarily on every itenerary.

 

[mmmears]

IMHO the prices will be in line with the itineraries, not the ships themselves. Even now, we're paying much more for our upcoming Magic cruise than long cruises cost on the Fantasy.

I also think/hope they will put more ships in Alaska in the summer. It's a beautiful itinerary and as others have noted, Disney's competitors generally have 6 or more ships there each summer. Also they can charge more for Alaska than the Caribbean, so it would make sense financially and I don't think they would have any trouble filling the ships.

As for names, I thought there would be a Dream and a Wishes last time, so I'm still holding out for Wish or Wishes even though it's been a long time.