New ship rumors afloat & well!!!

[Mjasp]

Hey, WHAT ABOUT US???????? Can't we share and do NY to Bermuda in the summer and CA. the other months. PLEEEEZE

Joanna

 

[Cheryl Loyless]

Hey guys
We were on the Magic for the Eastern cruise just this past June and while we were on board we booked again for the following June (2003), Western itenerary. The cast member that booked us told us that is was definately in the works for 2 ships to be sent out to the west coast but they were having a hard time finding a shipyard to build the ships. This reason being that neither the Magic or the Wonder was finished on time with the shipyards they used to build them. I for one hope they can find a good shipyard and start building. I live on the east coast but would love to go the the west coast and see a little part of that side of the world. And what better way to do that than on a Disney cruise!

 

[Señor Ferrari]

I wonder where some of these CM's get their information. I can't believe that the shipyard is the reason they haven't signed a contract yet. Fincantieri is one of the most respected shipyards in the world. They are currently building, or have contracted to build, 5 ships for Holland America, 4 for Carnival, 2 for Costa, and one each for Princess and Cunard.

Building and delivering a ship on time isn't an exact science. Fincantieri even built the Magic in two pieces in order to speed up the process.

 

[shmoogrrrl]

My husband and I support an itenary that goes from Disney World (Port Canaveral) to Disney Land Then a different sailing could go the other way.

I also vote that new ship be called "The Hundred Acre Boat" and that we have Captian Tigger!

Kathy

 

[albiats]

Originally posted by Señor Ferrari

Building and delivering a ship on time isn't an exact science. Fincantieri even built the Magic in two pieces in order to speed up the process.

Senor Ferrari -
You seem to be at least as interested in ship building as I am.

I'm curious if you noticed the info that is discussed on the Port Canaveral Website about the possibility that they could be involved in building cruise ships in the U.S. - as part of building a huge ship in several different places. The ship(s) would qualify to sail under the U.S. Flag, which is also interesting.

I found the article under the 'future plans' heading. The name of the corporation is 'The World City Corporation' and the first ship is to be called 'The America World City'. The ship will be 250,000 gross tons and have 6,200 passengers.

Here's the link to the Port Canaveral announcement: http://www.portcanaveral.org/news/future.htm

It will not be a new Disney Ship, it's just an interesting idea.

 

[akterrye]

A reply from the AK Dept. of Tourism:

"Hello Terrye,

I had not heard that news-- but we'd love the Disney Cruiselines to sail Alaskan waters. You would need to contact the following to ask about permitting.

Division of community & Business Development
Diane Hunt, Admin Manager
907-269-4535
Diane_Hunt@dced.state.ak.us


Jane Dial
Alaska Travel Industry Assoc.
Visitor Information Center
Phone: (907) 929-2200
Fax: (907) 561-5727
Email: jdial@alaskatia.org
Website: www.travelalaska.com"

I emailed Ms. Hunt and hope to have a response from her soon. Again, I'll post as soon as I hear anything.

 

[Boomerwon]

My family is going to be sailing with the Imagineer, the man who designed the Oceaneer's Lab and Club, in the next couple of weeks. His DD is friends with my DN since they met on the Magic last year. We'll have to grill him on the possibilities of new ships and itineraries!!! LOL

 

[mmouse37]

Don't go getting your hopes up for a new Disney ship just yet. I am onboard the Magic now and someone again asked that very question in the Captain Corner's talk and Captain Tom said they would love to expand the fleet, but just not now.

They are still waiting to see how the economy and tourisum trade will hold up in the near future.

He did say that as of last August, things were almost finalized and plans were being drawn, but everything was put on hold since 9/11.

Anyway, we are having a blast and I can't believe it is almost over already.

Check out my thread about the excitement we had onboard last night!!!

MJ

 

[disneyholic family]

no no no...
if they are building another ship i hope they sail it in Europe/the Mediterranean........
then i'd only have to travel a little bit to get to it....
only problem.....chances are it would be full of europeans, meaning no one would stand in line......(imagine the times you have to stand in line onboard and then imagine it with people who are missing the gene for line standing......not a pleasant thought)....

so my ultimate dream would be a disney ship in europe filled with american passengers......probably not in the cards....

 

[TnRobin]

If they do build another ship and If the Magic then goes to CA, I want to be on the Panama Canal passage trip from Port Canaveral to LA.

 

[akterrye]

Would the Magic even fit through the Panama Canal?

 

[TnRobin]

yes that was a question asked at out Captain's discussion. She was designed to ensure she would fit (Barely) through the Panama Canal

 

[triple7]

Just got off the Wonder yesterday.

Much "rumor" talk by CMs of the new ship.

Some of the things they said:

Announcement of new ship to come in October time frame.

New ship will be about as long as the Magic/Wonder, but might be 1 1/2 decks taller.

New ship will do the Carribean routes, while the Wonder or Magic will switch to a new route.

West coast, Alaska, Japan and Med were all mentioned.

This seems to be the general concensus of what I heard.

 

[Señor Ferrari]

Originally posted by albiats


Senor Ferrari -
You seem to be at least as interested in ship building as I am.

Yes, I am very interested in all things nautical. I have Disney Cruise Line to thank for that, for the most part. I try to keep on top of the cruise industry in general. There are all kinds of great itineraries and cruises out there (and so little time!). I'll have to take a look at the article you cite.

It sounds like something I saw on the Travel Channel the other night. It was a special on shipbuilding, dealing mostly with the building of RCI's Voyager of the Seas. They did have a note about the group trying to gather capital to build a huge "city at sea". It may be the same thing.

I hope that passenger ship building does revive in the US. I liked the idea of building two ships for Hawaii in Pascagoula, MS for American Classic Voyages, but that project failed miserably when the line went bankrupt. I'd love to see a US flag ship do cruises in Hawaii. The NCL ship that is there must spend almost half the week going to and from Fanning Island in order to comply with the Passenger Services Act requirement of stopping at a foreign port.

Thanks for the link!

 

[TnRobin]

I too was sadden to hear about the Hawaiian ships being cancelled. We were looking at cruising Hawaii on their new ships once they were built.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

The Panama Canal can accommodate ships up 1000 feet in length and up to 110 feet wide. The Magic and Wonder are 964 feet long and something like 105 feet wide. If you check the dimensions on most of the cruise liners in the Caribbean, you'll find that they almost all are just barely under the 110x1000 dimensions.

 

[Hopkins]

The actual term is PanaMax ships. Ships that are built to the maximum and still be able to fit thru the Panama Canal. I read or heard that somewhere, but not sure if the spelling is all in capitals or what.

Tina

 

[Señor Ferrari]

The Canal's Website lists the maximum dimensions for ships as:

Length - 965 ft.
Beam - 106 ft.
Draft - 39.5 ft

The Magic and Wonder just do make the first two requirements. I can't remember what the draft (depth of the keel) of the ships is, but I recall that it is much less than 40 ft.

The locks themselves are 1000 ft. long, 110 ft. wide, and 83 ft. deep.

They are actually researching the idea of improving the canal to accomadate bigger ships (called post-PanaMax ships). There's an article on the canal's website here.

Anyone interested should check out this website. It's got a lot of cool information on the canal and an animated view of how a transit works.

 

[taswira]

The Magic and Wonder are
Length - 964 ft.
Beam - 106 ft.
Draft - 25

 

[randytenn]

Here is my question / observation. If the Magic were sent to the west coast for an alaskan cruise, a large part of the ship is swimming pools. Do you spend a lot of time swimming on an Alaskan cruise??? Seems like in the winter, alot of the ship would go unused. Additionally, do they have a way to heat the ship? Just curious.

I'm up for as many different Disney cruise ships as possible! Gives us more places to go.