The year is 2024...

[BigTex1986]

...And all 3 new ships have launched. If Disney asked, what do you do with the whole fleet, what are the embarkation ports, and what itineraries do you assign? I did a mock up of what I thought looked/sounded cool (just a fun opinion).

Magic:
Miami October through March (Trans-Atlantic re-position, Western Caribbean, and Eastern Caribbean),
London April, May, June (Sweden, Norway Denmark, UK, Amsterdam, and Iceland)
Mediterranean July, August, September (Trans-Atlantic re-position, Italy, Sicily, Greece, France, and Spain)

Wonder:
Vancouver in the Summer (PC re-position, Alaska),
New Orleans in the Winter (PC re-position, Western Caribbean, and Bahamian)

Fantasy:
Galveston year round (Western Caribbean, Bahamian, Mexican)

Dream:
Hong Kong in the summer (China, Japan, Taiwan)
Sydney in the Winter (Australia and New Zealand)

New Ship #1:
Port Canaveral year round (Bahamian, Western Caribbean, and Eastern Caribbean)

New Ship #2:
Port Canaveral in the Spring and Summer (Bahamian, Western Caribbean, and Eastern Caribbean)
New York in the Fall (Canadian and Bermuda)
San Juan in the Winter (Bahamian and Eastern Caribbean)

New Ship #3:
San Diego Year round (Alternate between Hawaiian and Mexican Peninsula sailings)

What would YOU do with all 7 ships?

 

[CamColt]

I'm easy...I'd just like one out of the northeast (NY or Bos) heading south (not Canada) in the summer!

 

[Happy99]

Wonder if they will retire the Magic a few years after, I read elsewhere the usual life expectancy of a cruise ship is 30 years.

 

[BigTex1986]

Wonder if they will retire the Magic a few years after, I read elsewhere the usual life expectancy of a cruise ship is 30 years.

That's an interesting theory. Disney seems to keep up on the maintenance of their ships more than most other lines (Along with consistently scheduled dry docks), so maybe that extends the life expectancy? I could also see them building 2 more ships in the mid 2020s to replace the Magic and Wonder, and retire them after a year or 2 of overlap?

 

[yowcruiser]

PC currently has two ships sailing year-round and this is not going down with the significant improvements being made to the port for DCL. PC will see two of the new ships + potentially a third ship sailing seasonally from there. Miami is building a new dedicated terminal for DCL and based on the contract, you can expect to have at least one ship being stationed there year-round, with at least another ship sailing there from time to time- for Miami, nothing smaller than Dream class is expected on a go forward basis. DCL has also committed to an increased presence in New York - may be not year-round but likely extended from what it is right now. Same with Galveston. So if you keep Alaska and Europe more or less as is + the rumoured talks with the ports of San Diego, most of the ships would be accounted for that way. The new build requires easy access to an LNG fuelling terminal and those are not that common at the moment... but who knows in 5 years...

 

[MillauFr]

I would permanently dock one of the ships in Bay Lake and make a hotel out of the ship.

 

[mike314]

Given all the LNG improvements that all the cruise lines are doing in PC I'd have to imagine 2 of the 3 new ships will be PC based. Based on contract it sounds like a Dream class will need to be based in Miami. Wonder will continue Alaska/New Orleans. Magic will continue Europe/Northeast/Caribbean runs. That leaves 1 that can be permanently based out on the west coast and Fantasy will be Galveston based.

Totally agree on the 30 year life span on a cruise ship. The Magic and Wonder will eventually have to retire some day

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

New Build 1 and 2: PC
New Build 3: Miami
Fantasy: fall - spring in PC, Spring - fall, NYC
Dream: fall - spring in Miami, spring to fall in Galveston
Wonder: west coast year round doing Mexico and Alaska mostly but with a couple Hawaii trips every year
Magic: fall to spring in Australia, transpacific to Europe for the spring to fall season.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

OK this is hard!

Magic:
May - Sept - Northern Europe
Oct - April - Mediterranean

Wonder:
May - Sept - Alaska
Oct - April - San Diego / Western Mexico / Maybe Hawaii

Dream: Summer in Mediterranean, NY in fall for Canada / Bermuda, rest of the year out of PC with the 3-4 night Bahamas

Fantasy: Keeps the Eastern/Western Caribbean out of PC

New #1: Southern Caribbean out of PC year round

New #2: Mix of Hawaii from west coast, Asia, & Australia

New #3: Mix of Bahamas, Eastern, and Southern Caribbean out of PC


ETA: Oops I have too many out of PC. Dream can go to Miami after NY.

 

[Karin1984]

Is there a reason why people stick to what Disney is already doing now, aka Magic to Europe, Wonder to Alaska.
Why not mixing ships & destinations?

 

[mike314]

Is there a reason why people stick to what Disney is already doing now, aka Magic to Europe, Wonder to Alaska.
Why not mixing ships & destinations?

Excellent point....I have a feeling Wonder in Alaska is based on ship size but I have no idea.

 

[BigTex1986]

Is there a reason why people stick to what Disney is already doing now, aka Magic to Europe, Wonder to Alaska.
Why not mixing ships & destinations?

A very good question. My initial guess is Disney wants to keep the newer ships in Florida since that is where most of their cruise revenue is now, most of the personnel/HQ is in Lake Buena Vista, and still compliments land and sea vacations with WDW. They want to show them off to as many people as possible and home porting them in PC would be the way to do that. Also, with the 2nd private island/getaway at southern tip of Eleuthera ( Just East of Nassau), they will want to keep as many ships close to Florida to shuffle as many people to and from Eleuthera and Castaway.

The European cruises don't fill up as much as the PC and Galveston embarkation sailings do, so I venture a guess that DCL may not want to send a bigger ship overseas for it to only sail 1/2 or 2/3 full at each sailing. Alaska may be a different story in terms capacity sailings. I know Hawaiian cruises are super popular (although, that may be supply and demand driven). Not sure if the Panama Canal transfer trips are full ( I hear they usually are not), and the jury is still out on New Orleans sailings. Reading up on this last night, once all 3 new ships are in service, the latest news is PC is going to receive 2 of the 3 new ships and have a 3rd part time, Miami will have 1 year round, and another part time.

http://www.everythingmouse.com/new-disney-cruise-ship
My new guesses are:

Scenario #1:
Wonder- Vancouver in Summer, San Diego Fall and Spring, New Orleans Winter
Magic- Northern Europe and Mediterranean in Summer, New York/Bermuda/Canada in the Fall, San Juan in the Winter and Spring
Dream- Full time Miami
Fantasy- Spring/Summer- PC, Fall/Winter- Miami
New Ship 1- Full time PC
New Ship 2- Full time PC
New Ship 3- Galveston Full time

or

Scenario #2:
Same as #1 except the Wonder stays on the West Coast... Wonder- Vancouver in Summer, San Diego Fall, Winter, and Spring (No more Panama Canal trip)

 

[mike314]

Also no one is factoring in the second private island that DCL is working with the Bahamian government on which should be up and running by the time the new 3 are commissioned

 

[BigTex1986]

Also no one is factoring in the second private island that DCL is working with the Bahamian government on which should be up and running by the time the new 3 are commissioned

Exactly, I just referenced that. They are going to want to show off all 3 new ships and Eleuthera to as many as possible.

 

[monkeydawn]

I don’t expect it to happen but I’d love to see them sail out of Charleston, SC.

 

[tankin]

Disney guaranteed PC that they'd have 3 ships ported out of there (Its why PC is doing all the work on the terminal next to Disney's). They've also purchased a second island so any plans would need to incorporate those requirements too....

 

[AquaDame]

I'll be happy to see a ship on the west coast full time... that transcontinental flight is wearing thin on us!

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

I'll be happy to see a ship on the west coast full time... that transcontinental flight is wearing thin on us!

As much as we love the Wonder since she was our first DCL ship, it would be great if they left her out on the other coast year round once the fleet expansion is done. Be a great incentive for us to come see Disneyland and take her on a cruise over that way.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Excellent point....I have a feeling Wonder in Alaska is based on ship size but I have no idea.

Yes, the Wonder was outfitted for the colder waters in Alaska, also. There are ports there that require a "smaller" ship.

Same for the Magic in Europe/Baltic, some ports can't take big ships.

 

[yowcruiser]

Excellent point....I have a feeling Wonder in Alaska is based on ship size but I have no idea.

I'm thinking that showing Frozen on the Fantasy starting later this year may eventually lead to something...