A little over a year ago, Disney Cruise Line announced they placed an order for two new cruise ships which would arrive in 2021 and 2023. These two ships would join Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy and would be the largest ever built for the line.
Saturday, at the D23 fan expo in Anaheim, Disney announced that they were adding a third ship to the order. The Meyer Werft shipyard will deliver the vessels in 2021, 2022, and 2023. These new Disney cruise ships will weigh in at 135,000 gross tons, will have 1,250 staterooms and will more than likely carry a maximum of 4,000+ passengers (2,500 double occupancy).
Each of the new ships will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), a shift rival lines such as Royal Caribbean, MSC, and Carnival are making as well.
The surprise announcement was made by Bob Chapek, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and caught many by surprise, as most of the other announcement made at the fan convention concerning Disney’s theme parks were scooped weeks in advance.
“We decided two ships wouldn’t be enough to hold all of the exciting new experiences we have been dreaming up to take family cruise vacations to a whole new level with immersive Disney storytelling, world-class family entertainment and imaginative innovations that are fantastically fun and uniquely Disney,” Chapek said at the announcement.
This additional ship will nearly double Disney Cruise Line’s existing fleet once all are in service.
The first ship in the Disney fleet, the Disney Magic, entered service in 1998.
No further information has been shared about any of these three new builds, including the price, which is estimated to be around $900M each.