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Naming the new Disney Ships

Strategic Name Development talks about the naming of cruise ships and is particularly interested in Disney’s announcement of the soon to be expanded fleet.

As a naming consultant, I suggest that the name of the new ships resonate with passengers and reflect the size. I must say that Disney seems to be leaving its competitors in its wake which puts the field wide open for some more adventurous naming.

Disney cruise liners are, from one perspective, an incredible way to build the Disney brand name. As Brent points out, the weight of nautical tradition and the onus of making the name “sound like a cruise ship," as well as a a need to “be all things to all people” are the impediments here.

I like the idea of some adventurous naming. Disney Dreams has been mentioned as one possible name, but that doesn’t convey the majestic nature of these two ships.

24 thoughts on “Naming the new Disney Ships”

  1. Bellboy

    It is all about proper branding, but they are way way out there when they say,
    “Disney cruise liners are, from one perspective, an incredible way to build the Disney brand name. ”

    The Disney brand is suffering from more than a decade of rapid brand dilution. Creating mass amounts of recognizable sub-brands around the core Disney brands often create a short term gain; the long term effect is horrible. When a cling-on brand fails, or is spun off, it often disassociates young generations that were force fed the brand through Disney’s many marketing channels.

    I sound so pessimistic, but I am watching my 3 and 5 year old kids associate Disney with things I never ever would have. My son doesn’t think of Castles, Mickey, or Walt, he thinks Power Rangers, and Jetix. Will those things be around when he grows up? Will they be timeless?

    Sorry about the rant, I am just very tired of these people abusing and slowly destroying one of the most incredible brands.

    The Starbucks Chairman wrote an incredible memo to the CEO of the Starbucks company, detailing some of the long term damage they incurred due to short-sided decisions. It applies, check it out.

    http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/_/2007/02/starbucks_chair_2.html

  3. John Frost

    Great Link! I had seen reference to that letter before, but hadn’t clicked through and read it yet. It really does speak to the Disney Brand problem. When it comes down to it these days everybody is in the entertainment business. Disney’s strength has always been that they knew this and did it better than anybody else. What separates Jetix from the hundreds of other anime/manga shows?

    Someone on another Disney site recently tried to make a case that we should all layoff Disney and stop finding fault in everything they do. So what if the company is ‘declining by degrees’, we should enjoy the product and not question its direction. The author does not deny that Disney is declining by degrees (but thinks we’d all be happier ignoring it). He’s even right when he points out that subsequent visits make the errors more apparent.

    But ironically in his need to live a life free of Disney criticism, he bashes those who choose to enjoy the Disney product while still demanding the excellence promised by the Disney name and brand. Say what you want about whether Disney is going in the right direction or not, but don’t be hypocritical.

    When Disney chooses to water down their product with shoddy maintenance, off brand shows, cheap-quels, bad merchandise, etc… we point it out because, as the Starbucks CEO says, “success is not an entitlement”. That’s just as true for Disney as it is for Starbucks.

    See. I can rant too. ;-)

  8. Harvey D. Braswell

    I think one of the names should be “Imagineer”. It fits into Walt Disney’s idea of imagineer’s, which he call’s employee’s who created his parks, resorts, movies and characters. Just use your imagination,it will take you on a wonderfull, magical and dream of a life time!

  10. John Ruschmeyer

    It seems to me that “Fantasy” and “Imagination” are non-starters as they are both the name of Carnival Cruise Line ships.

    “Princess” is even more a non-starter for the same reason.

    Personally, I like some variation on “Enchantment”.

  11. Joanna

    I have been on 11 Disney cruises and as a cruiser i think the best names would be “Disney Imagination” and “Disney Dreams” from there awadrs winning show Disney Dreams. Think how good hat all sounds together, Disney Magic, Wonder, Imagination, and Dreams. personaly if they did something think imagioneer they would have to change the “eer” to “ear” lol

  15. Randall Rodrigues

    i think “Disney Ecstacy” or “Disney Dazzle” or “Disney Marvel”.
    Hope these would do some help.

  22. Mike

    I’ve just learned that Disney Fantasy and Imagination could be considered since Carnival is building the Carnival Magic for 2011. Dreams and Enchantment are both good.

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