I know there’s been a lot of love for Oasis in the mainstream media (and even here lately!), but I’d like to talk about another new ship on the horizon – the Disney Dream. I’ve been meaning to write this post for awhile, and to say it’s a long overdue would be an understatement. Disney announced details for its two newbuilds, the Disney Dream (2011) and Disney Fantasy (2012) a month ago on their site. You can see it here. If you do nothing else, at least watch the video at the end of the blog post, it’s great and gives an idea of some innovations to expect on these new ships.
Personally, I’m in love with the AquaDuck watercoaster and the virtual portholes in inside cabins. Actually, the latter sounds more to me like an RCI-ish innovation, so I’m surprised they didn’t come up with it first. You don’t have to really sell inside cabins – they sell by virtue of their cheap pricetag usually – but I appreciate that Disney’s efforts there. I’m not one to sail cruise ships for waterslides, but that AquaDuck looks intriguing (and kind of scary!) The renderings of the kids and teen areas look very impressive (rooms modeled after Toy Story and Monsters Inc, so cool), and it looks like they’ve expanded the adults only sections as well. I love the idea of the Skyline bar, and watching different city skylines materialize each night. Though I’ve never sailed on Disney, I’ve always been impressed by their ship interiors, and it looks like these two will be no different. From the renderings in the video, the majority of the public rooms have that ocean liner feel in their design. It’s not over the top Disneyfication and tackiness inside, but rather refined and classy instead. As a fan of ocean liners and that old fashioned style, I appreciate that.
Disney hasn’t introduced a new ship since the Disney Wonder in August 1999 – that’s over a lifetime in cruise years. I don’t mean that to make Disney sound lame. It’s a compliment, really. I think it’s testament to both good planning in building Magic & Wonder and smart business management that they’ve stood the test of time and Disney hasn’t been releasing ships every year. They know their market and have done a good job catering to it. Magic and Wonder, despite their small size (relatively speaking nowadays), have served them well and now Disney feels confident enough to expand and improve upon those designs in the Disney fashion. Disney knows their audience and I’m positive these new ships will please the diehards and attract new fans too. I know I’m almost sold on a Disney cruise right about now. Good job, Disney!
