Update: According to news outlet capital.de, Disney Cruise Lines paid roughly $42 million for the Global Dream mega cruise ship. That’s a massive discount of 97% below what the ship was originally projected to cost.
The ship is only 75% complete though, Disney is projected to spend more than $900 million finishing the ship. Captain Mickey and team will have to add in DCL’s famous level of detail and rework some of the top-deck features that weren’t targeting Disney’s typical audience of passengers.
Disney is also expected to convert some of the staterooms into other spaces as the announced guest capacity for the ship was 6,000 but the Global Dream was originally planned to host 9,000 guests.
What sort of features would you like to see on the Global Dream when it sails again, with a new name, in 2025?
Original story below
In order to expand the Disney Cruise Line vacation experience to new international locations, Disney has been negotiating to acquire a mega cruise ship that was only about 75% complete when the original company went bankrupt. The cruise ship then known as the Global Dream will be finished in Wismar, Germany, by Disney and the prestigious Meyer Werft shipbuilding business.
“Our cruise ships give us the unique opportunity to bring Disney magic to fans no matter where they are, and the addition of this ship will make a Disney Cruise Line vacation accessible to more families than ever before,” said Josh D’Amaro, chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.
As the company that was building the ship went into insolvency, Disney was able to get a good deal from the creditors. So even with the cost of expected upgrades and new finishes, it will be a quick and affordable way to bring the Disney fleet to 6 ships.
Disney is working with Meyer Werft to complete the construction at that MV Werften shipyard in Wismar, Germany. Meyer Werft is the Papenburg-based company that built the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wish and is scheduled to build two sister ships to the Disney Wish.
The ship will be given a new name and have some of its features redesigned by the world-famous Walt Disney Imagineers. As you can see in the concept art above, the exterior will be adorned in the iconic, Mickey Mouse-inspired colors of the fleet, complete with signature red funnels.
Some of the original concept art for the Global Dream reveal that the top deck was originally planned to be very much like an amusement park at sea, which would be a big departure from the Disney Cruise Line experience, so we expect a lot of changes to happen there.
Plus Disney Cruise Lines are known for their interior theming and attention to detail when it comes to the guest experience from the cabin and its furnishings to things like carpeting and those character based touches.
Disney Cruise Line expects the passenger capacity to be approximately 6,000 with around 2,300 crew members. The Disney Dream, Fantasy, and Wish currently hold around 4,000 passengers. At a huge 208,000 gross tonnage that would make this ship the 7th largest cruise ship world-wide if it were sailing today.
The new ship, which Disney plans to base outside of the United States, will be updated to include Disney quality experiences along with the usual dazzling entertainment, world-class dining and legendary guest service that guests expect from Disney Cruise Line.
The ship was originally intended for the waters of China and The Walt Disney Company has expressed interest in finding a home port for one of its ships closer to its patrons in nations like Japan and China. So that would be our guess as to a final destination.
The ship will be among the first in the cruise industry to be fueled by green methanol, one of the lowest emission fuels available. While it’s not emission free, perhaps Disney will buy carbon offsets to make it a net-zero carbon ship. That would be great for the battle against climate change.
Disney has said the new ship is scheduled to set sail in 2025.
Previously: Disney rumored to be rescuing Global Dream after company building it went bankrupt.