Where will the new Disney ships go?

[logan1_2000]

They put a lot of money into building that dock for CC, I can't imagine them abandoning it the more I think about it. (Which is what would happen if it couldn't accomidate the larger ships and the smaller ships go elsewhere b/c they fit thru Panama canal.) CocoCay (RCL island) wasn't big enough for Freedom but was big enough for Voyager class ships so maybe we can assume CC will be able to handle the larger Disney ship. I think DCL new ships will still be a little smaller than RCL Voyager class.

 

The voyager class have been listed at (and I'm going from memory, sorry for not looking it up) 138,000 -- 142,000 G.R.T., with I think at least some of the difference being the architectural changes to the balconies and the definitions of what space is measured and what space isn't. Or not. But that is the general range. I thought I recalled the new Disney ships being described as somewhere around 122,000 G.R.T.

 

Agree, they would be wise to continue to make the most of Castaway Cay.

[logan1_2000]

This is a complete and utter guess, but just for the heck of it:

 

Either the Wonder will move to the West Coast for 3-4 day cruises OR the Magic will move to Tampa for 7 day cruises. Whichever one doesn't move will stay in Port Canaveral for 3-4 night cruises. One of the new ships will go in Port Canaveral for 7 night cruises and the other will go to the Mediterranean full time.

 

Like I said, complete guess. Although it wouldn't surprise me if at some point in the future, all of the ports above host Disney ships at the same time.

 

When I was on the Wonder May 27-30, 2007, Captain John announced at the Castaway Club reception for returning DCL cruise guests that after the two new ships had been delivered, BOTH the Magic and the Wonder would be permanently relocated from Port Canaveral, as the facilities there can really only support two ships. No decision had been made on where the relocation ports would be, and so Capt. John was speculating that in consideration for new home ports for Magic and Wonder would be LA/west coast, as has happened for a couple summers including next year, possible alaska seasonal with mexico in the winter from there, as well as europe or even san juan for southern caribbean itineraries.

 

I would not think Tampa would be of much use--it would fail to allow DCL to broaden its itineraries very much to offer more variety--Tampa is useful for western caribbean, which is already offered from Port Canaveral. I don't know if there would be an issue with the sunshine skyway, though there might be as RCI, for example, has never brought anything newer than a vision class to that port, including the Radiance class which is somewhat close to the size of the DCL ships, maybe 10% more gross tonnage at 90,000 approx.

[Ellanora]

I would not think Tampa would be of much use--it would fail to allow DCL to broaden its itineraries very much to offer more variety--Tampa is useful for western caribbean, which is already offered from Port Canaveral. I don't know if there would be an issue with the sunshine skyway, though there might be as RCI, for example, has never brought anything newer than a vision class to that port, including the Radiance class which is somewhat close to the size of the DCL ships, maybe 10% more gross tonnage at 90,000 approx.

 

Don't know enough about the size limitations and the bridge to say, but my thought was that with Tampa, they could still run a bus from the Orlando parks just as they do with Port Canaveral, allowing for easy land/sea vacation packages, and also, would still be able to utilize Castaway Cay if they wanted. Also, if they hit all Western Caribbean from Tampa, they could add on some Southern Caribbean out of Port Canaveral, not just Eastern.

 

At any rate, like I said before, all guesswork. I'm just having fun with the possibilities. :)

[ronandannette]

I think the ships would stay on the East Coast. I think that maybe Disney would move one of the ships over to Tampa. Disney will still want families to make a Disney land and sea vacation so keeping the ships close to home will help families do just that.

 

Long Beach is also "close to home". We'd SERIOUSLY enjoy a land/sea package to Disneyland similar to the DW/Wonder ones from Florida. We love Disneyland and unlike DW, 3 days there is perfect to see and do pretty much everything. Carnival and RCCL are wildly successful with their Baja itineraries; I don't see how it could miss for Disney, providing the 3 DL hotels can handle the capacity.

 

We'd also like to try DCL to the Mexican Riviera, but against the competition they'd have to bring the prices into line. The few trips they've made for the past couple of summers are WAY, WAY too steep to pay just for the novelty of the ship. I imagine there would/will be similar issues with Alaska. (We actually ended up choosing Mariner of the Seas last summer over DCL as the price difference simply couldn't be justified).

 

Happy Sails,

 

Annette

[rrfsteve]

That is a good question, and one I think that has yet to be asked. Does anybody have an answer for the question?

 

Yes. The answer is... depth - yes & width - no. But that can be fixed easily.