 | |
_(21000557309).jpg) Disney Fantasy | |
| Formerly | Disney Vacation Cruises Devonson Cruise Company, Limited |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Tourism |
| Founded | 1996; 29 years ago (1996) |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Number of locations | 2 |
Areas served | |
Key people | Joe Schott (president) |
| Services | Cruise line |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company (except Japan) Oriental Land Co., Ltd. (Japan) |
| Parent | Disney Signature Experiences |
| Website | Official website |
Footnotes / references House Flag | |
Disney Cruise Line is acruise line operation that is a subsidiary ofthe Walt Disney Company. The company was incorporated in 1996 asMagical Cruise Company Limited, through its first vesselDisney Magic,[1] and is domiciled inLondon, England, with its operational headquarters located inCelebration, Florida.[2] Disney Cruise Line operates seven ships:Disney Magic,Disney Wonder,Disney Dream,Disney Fantasy,Disney Wish,Disney Treasure, andDisney Destiny.[3][4] A new ship,Disney Adventure will join the fleet in 2026.[5]Castaway Cay, a private island in theBahamas, is exclusively operated by Disney Cruise Line and is designed as an exclusive port of call for Disney's ships.[6] They also have a second private destination,Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, a 700-acre property on the southern end ofEleuthera, Bahamas.[7][8] Disney Cruise Line operates two Disney Cruise Line Terminals inFlorida. One inPort Everglades and one inPort Canaveral.
In 1985,Premier Cruise Line became Disney's licensed partner cruise line. This allowed Disney characters to be on their ships and combined cruise, hotel, and theme park packages. In 1993, Premier ended its relationship with Disney and signed a new one withWarner Bros., utilizing theLooney Tunes characters. Premier continued to offer Disney Land and Sea packages while addingUniversal Studios as an option. Thus, Disney approached bothCarnival andRoyal Caribbean cruise lines to replace Premier as an exclusive sea partner.[9]
When Disney's negotiations with two major cruise lines, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, did not produce results, Disney had cruise ship designs drawn up by February 1994. Meanwhile,Walt Disney Travel Company started signing up other cruise lines to offer Disney hotels and resort packages.[10] In May 1994, Disney announced that it intended to start cruise line operations in 1998.Arthur Rodney was selected to serve as the first president of the cruise line[11] tentatively calledDisney Vacation Cruises.[12]
In 1995, Disney Cruise Line commissionedDisney Magic andDisney Wonder fromFincantieri in Italy.[13] The cruise line was incorporated asDevonson Cruise Company, Limited in February 1996, in the United Kingdom, and was renamedMagical Cruise Company Limited in October 1996.[14] The cruise line costs as much as a theme park to start up.[15] In 1996, Magical Cruise Company purchasedGorda Cay as the line's private island. The company spent $25 million over 18 months on the island and renamed itCastaway Cay.[13]
TheDisney Magic's first cruise was originally scheduled for March 12, 1998 but was postponed twice.[16] TheDisney Wonder was scheduled for December 1998.[17] On July 30, 1998, with the first voyage of Magic, the Disney Cruise Line was operational.[13] A 10-year contract was signed with Port Canaveral for its home terminal.[18] With the August 1999, resignation of Rodney as cruise line president, the senior operating officerMatt Ouimet was named as his replacement in July.[19] In 2000, the line added seven-day cruises and western Caribbean cruises.[20]
In May 2005,Disney Magic moved its port for the summer cruise season to thePort of Los Angeles. This was temporary for the company's 50th-anniversary celebration ofDisneyland and as a test for California expansion. The transfer cruise sold out quicker than expected. Bookings from first-time Disney cruisers were up for these cruises by at least 60%. While Disney had wanted additional ships, shipbuilding costs had increased by at least 33% since it built its first two ships.[18] TheDisney Magic was transferred to the Mediterranean for an extended stay in 2007.[21] In 2007, Disney announced the building of two new cruise ships.[22]Disney Dream set sail in January 2011, followed closely byDisney Fantasy in 2012.[3][23][24]Meyer Werft shipyard, based inPapenburg, Germany, built the new ships.[13]
In February 2009,Tom McAlpin left the Disney Cruise Line presidency and was replaced byKarl Holz as president of Disney Cruise Line and New Vacation Operations.[25] In early 2009, Disney and Canaveral Port Authority extended their agreement to 2022 with expansion to the terminal to handle the new class of ships. A re-posting of theDisney Magic to Europe in 2010 added DCL's first North European cruises to its existing Mediterranean cruises.[21]
With the arrival ofDisney Dream in 2011,Disney Wonder was relocated to Los Angeles.[26] With the arrival ofDisney Fantasy in 2012,Disney Magic was relocated toNew York City in May 2012 for only the Summer season, before relocating to Galveston, Texas.[27]
In late 2012,Disney Wonder began sailing cruises out ofMiami,Florida.[28] In 2013, theDisney Magic relocated toBarcelona,Spain[29] and theDisney Wonder relocated toVancouver,British Columbia,[30] for the summer season. In autumn 2013, theMagic and theWonder returned to the United States but switched home ports, with theMagic leaving out of Miami and theWonder leaving out of Galveston.[29] In January 2014, theWonder took over for theMagic in Miami and theMagic joined theDream andFantasy in Port Canaveral, placing all four ships in the state of Florida for the first time. Since then, theMagic and theWonder have again switched places.[2]
At the February 2016 Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards, three of Disney's ships won 11 category awards.[31] The company ordered three ships of a new class of ship, Triton, in 2016 and 2017.[32] At the company annual meeting in March 2016, Walt Disney Company ChairmanBob Iger announced the first two new ships of the new line which were planned to be built larger than the previous two ships. The first ship,Disney Wish joined in July 2022. And the second,Disney Treasure, joined in December 2024.[31] In July 2017, Bob Chapek, President of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, announced at theD23 Expo that a seventh unnamed ship would join the fleet.[4]
In 2016, the cruise line was looking to buyEgg Island, Eleuthera, the Bahamas, as another destination for the additional cruise ships. However, opposition from nearby island residents and potential damage to the islands' reefs stopped plans.[33]
In April 2017, it was announced that Karl Holz would retire as president of Disney Cruise Line in February 2018.Anthony Connelly assumed the role of president in October 2017.[34] The Canaveral Port Authority Board of Commissioners in January 2019 approved work for Disney's Terminal 8 and adjacent Terminal 10, which would handle more ships when the new class arrived.[35]
With the October 2017 cruise ofDisney Magic from New York to the Bahamas, the cruise line held its first Marvel Day at Sea.[36] In October 2018, the cruise line began showingDisney at Sea with D23, a 30-minute entertainment news show that covers the many Disney subsidiaries with input fromD23, starting with theDisney Wonder ship.[37]
Soon after a March 2018 conglomerate reorganized theDisney Parks, Experiences and Products segment division, Disney Cruise Line and New Vacation Operations were renamed Disney Signature Experiences, along with Jeff Vahle being named as the new president.[38]
Disney Cruise Line purchased in early March 2019 another Bahamas destination, theLookout Cay at Lighthouse Point property on the island ofEleuthera from theBahamian Government. The cruise line was looking for another Bahamas location since the announcement of the third ship expansion in 2016.[39]
In 2020, Jeff Vahle transitioned to become the president of Walt Disney World Resort. Cruise industry and Disney veteran Thomas Mazloum was then announced as the new president of Disney Cruise Line and Disney Signature Experiences.[40] In 2025, Mazloum became the new Disneyland Resort President, and Joe Schott was announced as the new President of Disney Cruise Line under Disney Signature Experiences.[41]
In February 2020,Disney Wonder moved its home port to New Orleans.[42] From March 14, 2020 until July 2021, Disney Cruise Line ships suspended operations due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[43] Sailings resumed in the form of "Staycation Cruises", closed loop cruises of 2 to 4 nights from the United Kingdom ports of Liverpool, Southampton, Newcastle, and Tilbury for London.[44]
In July 2024,the Oriental Land Company ordered a fifthWish-class vessel, licensed by Disney, for a planned completion date in 2029.[45][46][47][48] A second ship is in discussion.[49][50]
An additional four ships were ordered from the GermanMeyer Werft shipyard in August 2024.[51][52] They are planned for delivery between 2027 and 2031, which would bring the fleet to a total of 12 ships (13 if Oriental wants a second).[53] The shipyard claimed that it was the highest value order they had ever received.[54]
It was confirmed in January 2025 that the four new ships ordered in August 2024 would consist of an additional Wish-class ship, scheduled for delivery in 2027, and three new ships, sized in between the Magic- and Dream-class vessels.[55]
 Disney Cruise Line terminal in Port Canaveral | |
| Locale | Port Canaveral |
|---|---|
| Official name | Cruise Terminal 8 |
| Owner | Canaveral Port Authority |
| Operator | Disney Cruise Line |
| Characteristics | |
| History | |
.jpg)
Port Canaveral's Cruise Terminal 8 is located in Port Canaveral inCape Canaveral, Florida, United States.[56] It is used to transport passengers on and off of the Disney Cruise Line ships. This port has seen the departure of theDisney Magic, theDisney Wonder, theDisney Dream, theDisney Fantasy, theDisney Wish, and theDisney Treasure.[57]
The terminal is a large building owned by Port Canaveral and operated by Disney Cruise Line. At 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2), this massive building includes the base for Disney Cruise Line check-in, security, and boarding.[58] The terminal was designed loosely on the old Ocean Terminal inSouthampton.[13]
Disney Cruise Line had negotiated with the Port Canaveral port authority in early 2009 to extend their contract until 2022. As part of this contract, the port authority expanded and upgraded the dock to accommodate the new ships (both of which will be home-ported there), the terminal was enlarged to accommodate more passengers and luggage, and a parking garage was built. In 2019, a new contract agreement of 20 years was negotiated.[59]
In June 2018, Port Canaveral officials approved pursuing a study about how to best upgrade Disney's Terminal 8 and other nearby terminals. With the Disney fleet expected to expand with more ships, Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Murray stated that, without expansion, "we'll have more activity than Terminal 8 can handle".[60] The Canaveral Port Authority Board of Commissioners in January 2019 approved work for Disney's Terminal 8 and adjacent Terminal 10, which would handle more ships when the newWish-class ships arrive. The upgrades would allow Disney to base three ships year-round at the port.[35] The current plan has three (Disney Fantasy, Disney Magic, andDisney Treasure) ships at Terminal 8 and theDisney Wish vaugely using Terminal 10.[61]
 Disney Cruise Line Terminal before Disney renovation. | |
| Locale | Port Everglades |
|---|---|
| Official name | Cruise Terminal 4 |
| Owner | Broward County |
| Operator | Disney Cruise Line |
| Characteristics | |
| History | |
In April 2022, it was approved by theBroward County Commission thatPort Everglades' Cruise Terminal 4 would be transformed into a second homeport for Disney Cruise Line, alongside Disney's original homeport.[62] This marked the first time that Disney Cruise Line sailed from Port Everglades. DCL markets the departure point as "Fort Lauderdale". This port began embarking guests on November 20, 2023.[63][64]Port Everglades hosted the official christening ceremony of theDisney Destiny on November 10th, 2025. TheDisney Destiny is the first ship of the Disney Cruise Line fleet to be homeported inPort Everglades year-round.[65][66]
The terminal is owned byBroward County and operated by Disney Cruise Line. The building is 104,162 square feet (9,677.0 m2) and includes passenger check-in, security, and boarding, as well as a 1,818-space parking garage. The terminal's exterior design is based on Disney's original homeport, while the interior features aFinding Nemo theme.[64]
Disney Cruise Line has negotiated withBroward County for a contract agreement of 15 years with options for three 5-year extensions. The agreement also includes one ship (Disney Destiny)to be homeported year-round, as well as a second seasonal ship in 2025.[67]
Disney's Castaway Cay, or simplyCastaway Cay, is aprivate island in theBahamas which serves as an exclusiveport for the Disney Cruise Line ships. It is located nearGreat Abaco Island and was formerly known asGorda Cay. In 1997,The Walt Disney Company purchased a99-year land lease (through 2096) for thecay from the Bahamian government, giving the company substantial control over the island.
Disney's Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, or simplyLookout Cay, is aprivate peninsula in theBahamas which serves as an exclusiveport for the Disney Cruise Line ships. It is located in the south-eastern region of Bannerman Town,Eleuthera. In March 2019,The Walt Disney Company purchased the peninsula from the Bahamian government, giving the company control over the area. This area opened in June 2024 with theDisney Magic being the first ship to dock there.
The cruise line has experienced some growth over the past several years, as depicted below.
| Year | Revenue Marketshare | Passenger Marketshare |
|---|---|---|
| 2011[68] | 1.95% | 1.95% |
| 2015[69] | 2.4% | 2.8% |
| 2018[70] | 2.2% | 2.3% |
| 2021[71] | 2.7% | 2.2% |
| 2024[72] | 4.2% | 2.8% |
| 2025[73] | 3.9% | 3.1% |
.jpg)
Disney Cruise Line currently operates seven ships, with several more set to join in the coming years. As of August 2025, all of Disney Cruise Line's ships areofficially registered inNassau, Bahamas.[74] The current fleet consists of:Disney Magic,Disney Wonder,Disney Dream,Disney Fantasy,Disney Wish,Disney Treasure, andDisney Destiny. Another vessel will be added in the near future:Disney Adventure (March 10, 2026), in addition to four as-of-yet unnamed vessels. TheDisney Adventure was originally scheduled to commence operations from Singapore on December 15, 2025, but it was delayed to March 10, 2026.[75]
With a larger new ship arriving at Port Canaveral in 2011, Disney Cruise Line sent the Disney Wonder to the West Coast and the Disney Magic to Europe
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
