Disney Cruise Line today shared a first look at concept images for the Imagination Garden on its upcoming Disney Adventure cruise ship.
Disney Adventure is the new ship that will sail from Singapore starting next year. The former Global Dream will be the largest ship in the Disney fleet and the first to feature a "central park" with interior facing balcony staterooms.
That central area will be the Disney Imagination Garden zone - one of seven themed zones on the ship.
Disney also has revealed that Disney Adventure will feature an "Avengers Assemble!" live stunt and special effects show on the Garden Stage, featuring Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Black Panther, The Scarlet Witch, Ms. Marvel, Loki, Red Skull, Taskmaster, and... for the first time on Disney Cruise Line, Deadpool.
Disney also has revealed the first two restaurants on Disney Adventure: Mowgli's Eatery, inspired by The Jungle Book and serving Indian cuisine, and Gramma Tala's Kitchen, a quick-service restaurant inspired by Moana and serving Pacific-Asian dishes.
Disney Adventure will sail three- and four-day itineraries from Singapore, starting at a date next year still yet to be announced.
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The inner/central park view is a change from the normal Disney ships. I have to admit I'm surprised they went with the interior facing balcony staterooms as many cruisers have complained about the noise and privacy concerns. Often times you can see directly into the cabins across the plaza.
The cruise industry is definitely pumping out mega ships at an alarming rate. Outside of the planned Disney addition, Royal Caribbean will be unleashing at least 3 new ships before 2030, with an additional one planned for 2030. Not to far behind is NCL and VV respectfully, with there new ships coming soon. With so much of the younger generation giving the industry a side-eye due to environmental concerns, I'm just surprised that the demand is so strong for so many new ships, if in fact it is.
The cruising industry is booming and Disney has cornered the market in family cruises, especially catering to those with younger children. Obviously Disney sees significant room for growth in this segment. Not to mention those kids are going to exit the boat wanting their next vacation (or continuation of the current vacation) to be a Disney park.
The courtyard element was part of the Global Dream design that Disney just had to work around, from what I understand. I wonder how those will be priced relative to other staterooms. Heck, I wonder what the price points will be for this ship in general. I know that Disney is developing this for the Asia market, but I wonder how many American/European Disney fans will take the flight to Singapore for this. (It has the best airport in the world.)
And remember, theme park fans, there's a Universal Studios park just minutes away from the DCL dock, too.
Amazing seeing the cruise business bouncing back after pandemic and Disney on top of that.
As someone who has take a number of cruise holidays I can tell you exactly why they are booming: they're fantastic! You check into a luxury hotel resort with a variety of eating options, bars, entertainment venues and live music, and that resort takes you to different places, all without unpacking. Pretty much like any land-based holiday there are choices to be made - family friendly, adult only, cheap and cheerful, decadent and expensive, basic or luxury, and that's before you get to the choices around itineraries. Evidence in the UK shows the cruise market is expanding rapidly and the average age is also dropping significantly.
Disney Cruise Line is an oddity. Disney doesn't do cruises in the sense that any other company does them. They offer a more themed experience that still delivers the comfort, the luxury, the service and the 'unpack once, go to different places' offering that makes cruising so appealing to a lot of people. But I do wonder whether their focus on short cruises will limit their market ultimately along with the highly themed nature of their dining. Dinners in the main dining rooms aren't just nice meals out, they are highly themed shows with food built into the offering. My suspicion is that this would become highly annoying over a longer cruise once these shows started repeating. Other cruise lines expanding their fleet I get, although I think the craze for ever larger ships will end soon as there's already push-back not only from destination ports but also from passengers who are beginning to say they would like some new smaller ships. But Disney's model for cruising, whilst successful, really does limit their appeal.
How clever of Disney to find a way to finally put a ‘castle’ in one of their ships.
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It boggles my mind that Disney is able to expand its fleet to 11 ships considering what they charge and their mostly short (3-4 day) itineraries. I guess the strategy is to give people more of what they seemingly want (themed experiences for the entire family with short attention spans), but I do wonder if DCL eventually hits a wall in terms of growth and taking market share from companies that have been embedded in the industry for decades. That doesn't even take into account the public perception of cruising as an unsustainable model from an environmental standpoint, particularly the new generation of mega ships that overcrowd ports and attractions, leaving in their wake piles of waste and damage to the local ecosystems and cultures.
I don't begrudge people who want to take a cruise as a vacation option, but I do think there are limits to what is healthy for an already mature (and borderline oversaturated) industry and the infrastructure needed to support it.