When should Disney sink the Magic & Wonder?

[zakatak]

So, as ships get older and new ones replace them, some cruise lines sink the older ships to create reefs for sea life.

When do you think Disney will sink the Magic? Should it be a museum at Castaway Cay? Overnight Hotel like the QE?

What are your ideas?

 

[lbuher]

So, as ships get older and new ones replace them, some cruise lines sink the older ships to create reefs for sea life.

When do you think Disney will sink the Magic? Should it be a museum at Castaway Cay? Overnight Hotel like the QE?

What are your ideas?

Today is soooooooooo not a good day to ask a question like that.

 

[DisneyCruiser83]

I don't think DCL will do that for many years. I was at a Captains Q&A on the Magic in October and Captain Thord said that the mechanics of the ship are good, and they just did some good repairs to keep her going for some time. He also stated that they have given thought to completely 100% re-doing the inside from the ground up. So, I think they want to hold on to the Magic and Wonder for as long as they can.

 

[HauntedMansionDiva]

First - I LOVE post #2! So true.

I do like the hotel idea

HMD

 

[zakatak]

Actually, today is the PERFECT day to ask that question!

 

[Mrs. Gumdrop]

Never! I love the Magic.

 

[RedSox68]

OH, what a harsh title thread

I hope they NEVER do this. The hotel and museum ideas are great ones. I could definitely see that working. The Magic is such a glorious lady I could never see Disney "sinking" her! She's considered "home" to thousands. And both the Magic and Wonder are considered some of the classiest ships in the industry....even 12 years later!

 

[Kim&Chris]

Just the thought of the Wonder sinking is bringing a tear to my eye!!!!

I do love the hotel idea though!!!

 

[mkwan]

OH, what a harsh title thread

I hope they NEVER do this. The hotel and museum ideas are great ones. I could definitely see that working. The Magic is such a glorious lady I could never see Disney "sinking" her! She's considered "home" to thousands. And both the Magic and Wonder are considered some of the classiest ships in the industry....even 12 years later!

I agree with you. I love the Magic and I know one day she will retire but I hope this day will not come. She is my floating home.

 

[inkkognito]

They would sell the ships before they would sink them. At least two of the RCCL ships we've sailed on in the past are off to other owners, and one of them had an owner prior to RCCL.

 

[TitanBrett]

Sinking a cruise liner is pretty rare and even then after many decades of service. The Magic and wonder can easily keep going for another 10-20 years. in all likelihood at that point they will be sold off to smaller cruise lines around the world.

 

[lovethedream]

Park her where the flying dutchman was parked at CC!

 

[lovethedream]

Sinking a cruise liner is pretty rare and even then after many decades of service. The Magic and wonder can easily keep going for another 10-20 years. in all likelihood at that point they will be sold off to smaller cruise lines around the world.

Is it not usually old military ships that they sink for reefs? Probably easier to shell them out than a cruise ship.

 

[TitanBrett]

Is it not usually old military ships that they sink for reefs? Probably easier to shell them out than a cruise ship.

either that or older freight ships, cruise ships even 30+ year old ones still have value in developing markets so sinking them usually doesn't make sense

Prepping a cruise ship for scuttling would probably be an expensive proposition as well, you really have to strip the ship to bare bones to avoid polluting the ocean with debris.

I suspect most cruise ships in the end are scrapped. Carnivals 3 original ships were all scrapped.

 

[kcashner]

The functional life of a well maintained cruise ship is 30-40 years. I expect that my grandchildren will sail on the Magic.

From a financial standpoint, it's something like your home after you've paid off the mortgage--there are taxes and upkeep, but the huge chunk is already paid. Not considering efficiencies of size and possible improvements in fuel usage, etc. this COULD make the Magic and Wonder less costly for DCL. I expect they will be around for a good long time.

 

[Gigi22]

Older cruise ships are frequently sold to other cruise lines, then refurbished, and re-named. This is what happened to the France, for example. The ship sails under the new name, and at the end of its' useful life is sailed away and wrecked at a commercial wrecking yard.

 

[mrsklamc]

IF they were ready to get rid of them- which I don't think is happening any time soon- in this economic environment, if they weren't able to be sold, they'd be scrapped rather than sunk. Metal is extremely expensive right now.

 

[Mickeyistheman]

Have we become that jaded that the Magic and the Wonder are "old"

Look at the QE2, that ship was still in service until the end. People still wish the ship was in service.

As a few PP's have stated you have a long time with the Magic and the Wonder in service for Disney. They will definately sell them before scraping them.

I can't recall the last time a cruise ship was sunk because it got "too old"

I am sure Disney will think of something Magical to do with those ships but you will have to wait another 30 to 40 years at least to see that.

 

[CandyMandy]

If the Magic and Wonder are ever "disposed" of, it won't be via sinking them to create an artifical reef. As others have observed, that is only done for vessels that can be economically stripped of hazardous materials, which is why most artificial reefs are made from smaller ships (fishing or cargo under 15,000 tons), not huge passsenger ships.

The ultimate fate of the original DCL ships is almost inevitably going to be scrapping. That will likely come long after they have left the DCL fleet and gone throuigh second-third-fourth careers as cruise vessels run by niche lines in less developed markets.

The sad thought here is scrapping is never pretty and has become uglier, now that most of it is conducted in the Far East in countries with weak environmental and safety guidleines. Here are some examples of what that looks like in Alang, India:

 

[RedSox68]

I could easily see them figuring out a way to park one of them on the west coast as a floating hotel/restaurant/activity center, and another on the east coast -- maybe outside NYC.

But as was said above, I don't see that for years and years and years