Disney Cruise Line's Dream Begins to Take Shape
Disney Cruise Line celebrated the keel-laying of the Disney Dream, the first of two new ships. “Since our inception, families have come to know and love Disney Cruise Line, and they are looking for additional ways to enjoy all that we have to offer,” Disney Cruise Line President Karl Holz said during the Aug. 26 ceremony at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. “Our fleet expansion will allow us to satisfy demand on both the East and West coasts of the United States while also giving us the flexibility to explore additional global destinations for our guests.”
The Disney Dream is scheduled to join the fleet in 2011, followed by Disney’s second new ship, the Disney Fantasy in 2012. The new liners will more than double the capacity of Disney Cruise Line, each having 1,250 staterooms and a tonnage of 128,000. Both will call Port Canaveral their home, where expansion efforts are underway to accommodate the larger ships and additional guests. In addition to an extension of the dock and enlargements to the Disney terminal building, a new multi-level parking structure will be built. Disney Cruise Line also recently announced that the Disney Wonder will operate from the Port of Los Angeles starting in 2011.
Disney Cruise Line plans to once again sail the Mediterranean region aboard the Disney Magic during summer 2010. In addition to the ports in Spain, Italy and France, the ship will visit Tunis in Northern Africa, the island nation of Malta and Corsica. Disney Magic will also visit the Northern Europe for the first time calling on Warnemunde, Germany; St. Petersburg, Russia; and the Scandinavian ports of Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Holz said the company will begin to announce some itineraries for 2011 in September during the D23 EXPO at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.