Third Ship Rumor and "Secret" West Coast Sailing

[Euphscott]

Interesting stuff here.

There are rumblings about a third ship and a West coast sailing that is still wide open currently, with little or no publicity.

Take a read here:

3rd Ship?

 

[Credit Man]

Very interesting. Thanks for the link.

 

[Grumbo]

Great article. I can see the possibilities of it and feel that there IS the market for DCL's third ship. Not sure they'd put the brand new ship on the West Coast but hopefully this rumour does come to fruition.

Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

hmmmmm sounds like it will be "Disney Dream(s)" for the new ship. this is just what i think.

 

[m-sjaxjag]

Very interesting. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens next year.

 

[Euphscott]

A couple things that struck me:

1) I don't believe they would send the new ship out west. It would seem a poor use of resources as ANY ship out west would do well with the Disney brand.

2) It appeared the thinking was to build a similar ship to the Magic and Wonder? All the previous rumors have indicated a larger and different layout.

It should be fun to watch this one develop.

 

[jfs9900]

Why would they plan their announcement of a new ship a year in advance?

 

[Dreamer04]

Dreamin' Disney Dreams....all I can say is WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

 

[RKB]

I so hope that this really happens - and sooner than later!!!

 

[mom2grace]

Last week in the Wall Street Journal, an article ran about how Disney was making a rebound.

Michael Eisner was quoted to the effect that they were preparing to add a 3rd ship.

I am sure they will begin bookings even before the ship is delivered, similar to how they booked the West Coast.

 

[minniemouse1]

WOW! I can't wait to see this unfold. I would love to see a ship that is not identical to the Magic and Wonder and have it go out of Port Canaveral.

 

[WDWLVR]

Well plans could certainly change, but when we sailed last May the word was that the new ship would be built to be a West Coast ship. Meaning it would have more enclosed areas that would work well sailing up to Alaska in the summer and then down to Mexico in the fall, winter and spring.

Time will tell!

 

[Euphscott]

They would plan a year out for an announcement because that is how Disney operates. They planned the anouncements for teh 50th anniversary well in advance. If you are familiar with the big announcement events, they are not hastily thrown together. They are well thought out and designed to maximize the exposure of the new message. (now whether or not you agree with how effective they are - that's an item for the debaters on the Rumors and News Board).

My guess would be the new ship takes over the Magic sailings and the Magic heads west. It would seem to maximze the profit in that method. Especially if the ship is a larger vessel, the Port Canaveral home base makes sense. What will be most intriguing is which ship would take on the longer runs and special holiday sailings which come with a higher premium and profit margin.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I think what WDWLVR says makes sense. If the Magic is the west coast ship and it goes up to Alaska, that means no one can use the pools, right? (don't think it's that warm in Alaska in the summers, is it?) So it would make sense to have the new ship do the west coast.
BTW, my mom and dad are big fans of wolves, and since the governor of Alaska allows shooting of wolves they refuse to even consider an Alaska trip. I myself am only interested in warm, sunny climates on a cruise, although I know Alaska is getting more and more popular.
Now 10 years ago my parents took a cruise from LA to Hawaii, stopping at all the islands and then flying home--THAT cruise I would save up for!
One more thing--if this announcement will be next July, long after the 2006 dates are out, can we assume everything will be back to normal in 2006, sailing out of PC?
Robin M.

 

[erikthewise]

This rumor has the feel of truth to it.

It's no secret that Disney WANTS to build more ships.

It's a near certainty that one is not currently being built. You couldn't keep something that big a secret for very long.

The word has been that Disney has not yet ordered a new ship because of the unfavorable currency rates. But that hasn't stopped OTHER cruise lines from building new ships, has it?

The incredible success of the West Coast sailings is just what was needed to push Disney over the hump. As much as they must enjoy getting premium prices for the Magic on these sailings, they can make even more money running three ships.

 

[RKB]

Would it be feasible to sail from LA to Alaska (ie it would have to be longer than a 7 day cruise right?). It seems that most Alaskan cruises leave from Seattle or Vancouver. I would love to see Disney do both Mexico and Alaska from the West Coast since I am in AZ - heck I would love to see them go to Hawaii also!! We can dream right?

 

[hydster]

Some cruise lines send their ships on a 3 or 4 day repo cruises from LA to Vancouver and THEN start their Alaska cruises that way and do the same coming back. Others do 8-10 night sailings out of LA and back to LA at the end of the Alaskan Cruising season! We did one of the repo cruises from LA to Vancouver and then took a cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage and it was cheaper to do that than to just take the 7 night Alaska cruise for some reason! It seems that Disney would be just like the other lines in that it would be Mexican Riviera from the end of Sept to the Beginning of May and then Alaska from May to September.

 

[m-sjaxjag]

We just helped my DW's parents book an Alaska cruise and they already have a number that leave out of San Francisco. Usually a 9 or 10 night round-trip.

 

[mom2grace]

Originally posted by erikthewise

The word has been that Disney has not yet ordered a new ship because of the unfavorable currency rates. But that hasn't stopped OTHER cruise lines from building new ships, has it?

That's exactly with ME said in the WSJ interview.

 

[invaderzim]

All I can say is -- I hope that with the addition of each new ship also comes a downgrade in price! The more lines, the less money????