Disney Cruise Line's recently acquired mega-ship will be based in Singapore

Mar 29, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Disney Cruise Line Announces Acquisition of Ship

Posted: Wednesday March 29, 2023 9:08am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has today announced that the Disney Cruise Line is heading to Southeast Asia for the first time, under a collaboration to homeport their brand-new ship exclusively in Singapore.

Under a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding, Disney Cruise Line and Singapore Tourism Board agreed to collaborate to homeport a brand-new Disney cruise ship exclusively in Singapore for at least five years beginning in 2025. More details about the maiden voyage, itineraries and onboard experiences will be announced at a later date.

Disney says that Singapore’s strategic location, world-class air connectivity and port infrastructure make it a thriving cruise hub in Southeast Asia, a diverse region that is home to over 40 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The addition of a Disney Cruise Line ship in Singapore has the potential to add millions of local and foreign cruise passengers across the five-year period, including fly-cruise passengers who arrive in Singapore by air. It is also expected to bring about significant spillover benefits for the wider economy. These include greater demand for port and ship-related services, as well as on-ground spending in Singapore for the lifestyle and hospitality sectors.

Disney Cruise Line Announces Acquisition of Ship

“This is a very exciting year for The Walt Disney Company — 2023 marks our 100th anniversary,” D’Amaro said. “As part of this, Disney Cruise Line is currently undergoing an ambitious expansion with new ships and new destinations around the world. We are incredibly excited to make Singapore the home port to our seventh-launched ship, which will sail from here year-round starting in 2025.”

“We look forward to welcoming the magic of Disney Cruise Line to Singapore in 2025,” said Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board (STB). “This is an important milestone for STB and reflects Disney Cruise Line’s strong confidence in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The new Disney cruise ship will be an attraction itself and is expected to boost the tourism sector in Singapore for many years to come.”

The new ship, based in Southeast Asia, will feature innovative Disney experiences and the exterior will be adorned in the iconic, Mickey Mouse-inspired colors of the fleet, complete with signature red funnels.

The 208,000-gross-ton ship is expected to be among the first in the cruise industry to be fueled by green methanol, one of the lowest emission fuels available. Disney Cruise Line expects the passenger capacity to be approximately 6,000 with around 2,300 crew members. In comparison, the new Disney Wish can carry 4000 passengers.

Construction will be completed at the former MV Werften shipyard in Wismar, Germany, under the management of Meyer Werft, the Papenburg-based company that built the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wish. The ship’s previous owner filed for bankruptcy before completing the vessel, enabling Disney Cruise Line to secure it at a favorable price and within the capital expenditure guidance The Walt Disney Company provided on its recent earnings call. The project also secures employment for hundreds of former MV Werften employees and will provide opportunities for numerous maritime industry suppliers in the region.

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KeithVH21 days ago

Getting on at 'Diego isn't any better🤪. And Galveston can be right up there with them.

C33Mom22 days ago

Embarkation keeps getting better as we work our way up the loyalty tier list (though having to remember the exact date you can check in and race through it is annoying, I think by Gold level it’s lower stakes now that they stagger check-in time). Disembarking has been very unpleasant (more than an hour from attempting to get off the ship to clearing customs) at least 2 of our 6 cruises and run of the mill inefficient (say 30-60m) another 3 times, with only once off the ship and straight to immigration line without waiting more than 20m for the Disney portion. I know that some of it is out of Disney’s control, but we getting off Wish and Fantasy in Port Canaveral means waiting to get off the ship, then they queue us again in the terminal before we can get our bags, then there’s often several switchbacks to get to the immigration desk. Port Everglades/Miami has been middle outcomes, and the Wonder at San Diego was awful getting off the ship and then queuing the whole way through the terminal. I have done dozens of non-Disney cruises in Florida and did not experience the same issue more than 2x all the other times combined. I know some of it is luck and disembarkation habits— I think if you’re willing to wake early and get off a DCL ship before the first breakfast concludes it goes a lot smoother.

peter1143522 days ago

With the exception of San Diego following a repositioning cruise, I’ve never had any challenges with embarkation/disembarkation.

C33Mom22 days ago

We enjoy DCL, but of the 10+ lines we’ve sailed (from Carnival to Seabourn) they are among the worst at embarkation/disembarkation…I’m not looking forward to trying to get on and off this giant ship…but we love Singapore and we will almost certainly give this ship a shot during it’s inaugural year, unless they decide to allow smoking throughout the ship.

Stitch's Grandfather24 days ago

I'm not sure about that. If they treat this ship like another park, the ship IS the destination. Very different strategy, I agree. Would signal that DCL is not about cruising to new places and more about curated Disney experiences the entire voyage.

BrianLo25 days ago

I would strongly presume the cruises go to Penang and Ph-uket (really don’t know why the forum wants to censor that one). But maybe we’ll actually see some itinerary variety. All cruises to nowhere would be unusually shocking. Royal doesn’t really offer Asian itineraries of value either, IMO. They are all quite short and basic.

Stitch's Grandfather29 days ago

Agreed, they're making the ship more of the destination. And it looks like it'll have a lot of typical park-like attractions: an AquaMouse, a rollercoaster, and maybe even a flowrider. Going to be the most park-like ship in the fleet by far. And that's just one portion of the top decks where all this will be located.

MoonRakerSCM29 days ago

I haven't dug too much into the details of this thing (if there that many yet). But I think this is either really smart on Disney's part or really stupid if it doesnt work. I see this... Disney wants to tap in the huge SE asian market. For a multitude of reasons, they're not willing to build infrastructure in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok etc... But seeing this 'theme park map' style presentation of the boat... I think they're trying to tap into the market by bringing a hybrid cruise/Disney 'park' to the region. No destinations/ports, the destination IS the boat and its experiences/attractions... If this is the case, they can have it in the region for a few years, then move as needed to other regions where there's market potential but not enough for investing in infrastructure. Just my thoughts.

Stitch's Grandfather29 days ago

Agreed that the language very much suggests cruises to nowhere. Very much an emphasis on magic days at sea. Plural. Elsewhere Disney uses the singular like "Pixar Day at Sea".

DCLcruiser29 days ago

The language makes it sound like a cruise to nowhere. Then again, the best days on a DCL itinerary are the Days at Sea. I am not really sure where they could go. Thailand? Indonesia isn't safe, the South China Sea is a mine field, Vietnam is communist, Cambodia is a political powder keg. Not that the Caribbean is really that great (besides Grand Cayman).

Disone29 days ago

Idk. Both Royal Caribbean with Quantum of the Seas and Norwegian Cruise line with the Norwegian Joy thought the same thing. Both Built those ships specifically for the Asian market only to pull them out of that market fairly quickly. The Disney adventure is even bigger than both of those ships.

Stitch's Grandfather29 days ago

Given how much DCL concentrates on the Bahamas, in order for DCL to actually branch out a bit, it seems they'd need 15+ ships. Which I don't think they'll ever hit. So I don't believe they'll ever have a 2nd ship in the region.

Stitch's Grandfather29 days ago

It feels like even the North America itineraries seem to echo the same thought: the ship is the destination, not the port stops. It's almost like DCL thinks they're worried they're just a tour guide and they need to be something vaguely more. So it's quite frustrating. The Adventure was the one ship I really thought I'd be booking, but there's zero chance if they dole out exclusively uninspiring itineraries.

Indy_UK29 days ago

I get why they are doing 3 and 4 night cruises because the demand for a Disney ship there is high. 7 nights would be cool but maybe once they add a 2nd ship. In the next years 10 years I still plan to do all the Asian parks and will try and add a cruise onto that trip too