Third Ship Rumor and "Secret" West Coast Sailing

[EmmasGrammy]

Don't hold your breathe waiting for lower prices!! As long as they continue to fill up those ships, you won't see a reduction in the prices!! This new west coast service will take off like a wildfire!! Look how quickly the repo and summer of 2005 cruises booked!! I am excited to see a 3rd ship, and I will be first in line if they offer an Alaskan cruise!!

I love the way these "secret announcements" sneak out!!

 

[invaderzim]

My DH won't cruise any other ship. Said won't need to until Disney runs out of itineraries. Then they added Panama Canal. Now if they add Alaska, we'll be going again!

 

[pppiglet]

YAY...just what we needed here on the west coast. I have heard that the Alaska cruise is a great one to take. Thank you for the article!

 

[GOOFY D]

Originally posted by 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.

I was just on the 8/7 cruise and spoke to a Disney Imagineering representative on the cruise. He said that there are plans for a 3rd ship "on the table" and that it was a bigger ship with some changes. He said that the plans are on hold now due to the strength of the Euro. As the ships are built in Europe, the strength of the Euro has caused production costs to rise 30-40%.

 

[jellybean87]

I was just on the 3 day Wonder and the 7 day Magic and from both cruises I herd the same thing. One of the officers said that Disney is building a 3rd ship. The new ship will take in place of the Magic and the Magic will relocate to the west coast. Also the new ship would be called Disney Dreams.

 

[Euphscott]

Keep in mind the rumor (for what it is worth) never mentions Alaska. As has been discussed in this thread, Alaska is a tough sail unless you are going out of Vancouver or Seattle. Disney as well all know is all about synergy and maximum exposure to and for it's product. The liklihood of anything not leaving from a port near it's theme parks is a longshot. While many have called for and speculated about an Alaskan run, it just does not fit with the marketing strategy that DCL and Disney overall employs.

While my intent is not to be a buzzkill, I just like to point out the general line of thinking. That way if Disney sticks to the norm, a lot of hopeful Alaska sailors won't be so disappointed.

 

[invaderzim]

jellybean87 ~~~

They actually told you the name of the ship already? Of course, Disney Dreams is the one that had the highest rating on the poll here a while back, but I can't believe they would disclose that already.

It would make sense, however, to move the older ship to the West Coast and give us the newer ship since it would get more traffic on the east coast.

Can't wait to see when they start booking! Maybe we'll be able to book on our repo cruise next year!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by Euphscott
Keep in mind the rumor (for what it is worth) never mentions Alaska.

Euphscott, Thank you for reminding everyone that this is just a rumor (and thank you for posting the link to the rumor).

Now for a reality check...

The article is based on the premise that the most logical explanation for the one day delay in the departure of the mid-July 2005 Disney Magic cruise from Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera is that DCL has already scheduled a press event for July 16 to announce a third ship.

Actually, there's a far more logical explanation. July 17, 2005, is the 50th anniverasry of Disneyland, which will include major press events in hopes of getting millions of dollars of free publicity. Disneyland needs a place for members of the press to stay the night before. By using the Disney Magic as a floating hotel for one night, Disneyland can house the visiting press without messing up the ability of regular, paying guests to stay at the onsite hotels at Disneyland that week -- and Disney will let the visiting press experience the ship, which may provide even more publicity.

If and when Disney is able to reach an acceptable agreement with a European shipbuilder, they won't wait a year to announce the contract. I doubt Disney could legally hide such a large financial obligation from stockholders for that long.

I hope we'll see a DCL fleet expansion in the next few years, but there's nothing in this rumor that I would consider to be "news" that the expansion will soon be a reality.

 

[invaderzim]

But it doesn't appear that they are hiding it -- several previous posters said that CMs and even the captain on their cruises mentioned it. So it must be in the works.

 

[tezb]

Originally posted by invaderzim
jellybean87 ~~~

They actually told you the name of the ship already? Of course, Disney Dreams is the one that had the highest rating on the poll here a while back, but I can't believe they would disclose that already.

It would make sense, however, to move the older ship to the West Coast and give us the newer ship since it would get more traffic on the east coast.

Can't wait to see when they start booking! Maybe we'll be able to book on our repo cruise next year!

As someone from the West Coast, I'm starting to take offense and get a complex here. Why must everyone assume that the new ship will be for the East Coast and the West Coast gets a used ship? We don't deserve a new ship? We would use it just as much here on the West Coast. Whatever DCL decides is for a reason but don't assume that the East Coast deserves better than the West.....or at least that is how I am starting to interpret this thread.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by invaderzim
But it doesn't appear that they are hiding it -- several previous posters said that CMs and even the captain on their cruises mentioned it. So it must be in the works.

Yes, CMs have been mentioning that a 3rd ship called the Disney Dream (or Disney Dreams) is being built. They've been mentioning it for at least four years now. Just because someone spreading a rumor is wearing a DCL nametag does not make it true.

I've heard two different captains explain that there are plans for a fleet expansion, but that no new ships are on order. There's a big difference between having drawings and actually signing a contract with a shipbuilder for US$400-500 million per ship.

When there is a contract -- a signed, legal document committing the shipbuilder to build one or more ships and for Disney to pay for those ships -- it will be announced to the press and published in financial documents filed with the SEC and provided to stockholders.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by tezb
As someone from the West Coast, I'm starting to take offense and get a complex here. Why must everyone assume that the new ship will be for the East Coast and the West Coast gets a used ship? We don't deserve a new ship? We would use it just as much here on the West Coast. Whatever DCL decides is for a reason but don't assume that the East Coast deserves better than the West.....or at least that is how I am starting to interpret this thread.

It's not that the East Coast deserves better. It's that DCL needs to provide compelling reasons for previous DCL cruise passengers to book future cruises out of Port Canaveral. That's why they added the Western Caribbean itinerary a couple of years ago. A new ship would encourage return business at Port Canaveral. (If the Magic and Wonder were based on the West Coast today, and Disney wanted to expand to the East Coast, it's likely they would put the new ship on the West Coast and move a current ship to the East Coast.)

As others here have noted, the only real reason why a new DCL ship might be based on the West Coast would be if it were designed for summer cruises in Alaska. Ideally ships serving Alaska have a retractable cover over at least one pool and they have public areas with large expanses of glass.

 

[hydster]

Originally posted by tezb
As someone from the West Coast, I'm starting to take offense and get a complex here. Why must everyone assume that the new ship will be for the East Coast and the West Coast gets a used ship? We don't deserve a new ship? We would use it just as much here on the West Coast. Whatever DCL decides is for a reason but don't assume that the East Coast deserves better than the West.....or at least that is how I am starting to interpret this thread.

Tezb---I thought the same thing! This whole thing happened earlier during speculation about the possiblity of DCL coming West for the 50th but everyone doubted the idea because why would they send something out west when they have a good base where they are?? Well they did and the cruises sold out at an unbelievable rate. Even Disney was shocked at how popular it was.

It's that DCL needs to provide compelling reasons for previous DCL cruise passengers to book future cruises out of Port Canaveral. That's why they added the Western Caribbean itinerary a couple of years ago. A new ship would encourage return business at Port Canaveral

Sorry I respectfully disagree with that statement! Disney MAY want to put a new ship out to the West coast to encourage more people to go to Disneyland! They already have a huge base of people out of PC maybe they would like to have a new base of people out of LA? It's possible for Disney to keep return cruisers out of PC and woo new cruisers into the LA area and re-stimulate Disneyland in people's minds!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by hydster
Disney MAY want to put a new ship out to the West coast to encourage more people to go to Disneyland! They already have a huge base of people out of PC maybe they would like to have a new base of people out of LA? It's possible for Disney to keep return cruisers out of PC and woo new cruisers into the LA area and re-stimulate Disneyland in people's minds!

I totally agree with you Heidi.

 

[DisneyJam]

Well this is all just rumor, but the article said the Magic and Wonder were actally designed to fit through the canal. Another poster then mentioned that a CM said the plans are for a bigger ship. If that's true, perhaps the new ship will not fit through the canal and thus, they will send the Magic to the west coast

Just random thoughts... It would be nice to see a third Disney ship!!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Not throwing a big spanner into the east/west coast debate, but how about a Europe cruise?

The Med,or coming into London? We are already getting big cruise liners into the port of London, one is in this week, could tie in with Disneyland Paris.

Just think of the Disney magic coming up the thames into London now that would be a cruise worth doing!!!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by DisneyJam
Well this is all just rumor, but the article said the Magic and Wonder were actally designed to fit through the canal. Another poster then mentioned that a CM said the plans are for a bigger ship. If that's true, perhaps the new ship will not fit through the canal and thus, they will send the Magic to the west coast

Just random thoughts... It would be nice to see a third Disney ship!!

The word is that the new ship design is larger than the 83,500 gross-registered-ton Magic and Wonder, but that it will still adhere to Panamax dimensions, allowing passage through the Panama Canal. The new design is likely to be essentially the same length and width as the Magic and Wonder, but would achieve greater capacity by having proportions more like RCCL's 90,090 gross-registered-ton Radiance of the Seas.

I'd like to see a DCL fleet expansion too. But I chuckle when someone insists that a new ship is already secretly under construction.

 

[erikthewise]

If a new ship were already under construction, it would be big enough to be visible from satellite photos.

I think the West Coast deseves a new ship for filling all the summer 2005 sailings at ridiculously high rates.

If the new ship didn't fit through the Canal, they could have a 4-week repo cruise through the Straights of Magellan. Based on the response to the 14-day repo cruises, it should sell out instantly.

"A man, a plan, a canal -- Panama"

 

[jgalecpa]

the only way to book it up until now has been to call the cruise line and ask for the date specifically. It's almost like Disney has been trying to keep this sailing a secret. On July 17, 2005, there will be a 6-night cruise departing from Los Angeles, following the same route and itinerary of the 7-night cruises with the exception of the deletion of the port of Puerto Vallarta.

This part is NOT, Repeat NOT a rumour.

I just called DCL and asked if there were a 6 night Calif. Cruise on the 17th of july and there was and there was plenty of availability!

(Priced a Cat 9 for 2 adults and two kids at $5,400)



Hmmmmm......

 

[WDWLVR]

Originally posted by Andrew DEREK UK
Not throwing a big spanner into the east/west coast debate, but how about a Europe cruise?

The Med,or coming into London? We are already getting big cruise liners into the port of London, one is in this week, could tie in with Disneyland Paris.

Just think of the Disney magic coming up the thames into London now that would be a cruise worth doing!!!

While I wouldn't be a fan of a Med cruise I would love to sail from London and hop over to Disneyland Paris!