Disney Wish Floats Out

 On Friday (February 11), Disney Wish floated out of the covered building dock at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany. 

Photos courtesy of Meyer Werft. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Disney Wish Begins to Take Shape

Disney Wish began to take shape yesterday at Meyer Werft in Papenburg (Germany) when the keel was laid with a traditional coin ceremony and the first block of the ship was lowered into the covered dry dock. 

The B-Roll below was provided by Disney, which is meant to be chopped up and used individually, so only some of it has sound. It includes footage of the newly named Captain Minnie, the coin that was placed under the keel, the keel laying itself, construction footage, and comments by DCL executives.  

(More) New Orleans Comes to Disney Wonder

Disney is going to expand upon the New Orleans theme aboard Disney Wonder which they started a couple of years ago with the Tiana's Place restaurant conversion. That restaurant has a French Quarter and jazz theme based on “The Princess and the Frog” story.

This fall, Disney will debut the French Quarter Lounge aboard Disney Wonder, and Disney says it will be a natural complement to dinner at Tiana's Place or the perfect destination for drinks and entertainment.

The complete story appeared in the June 13 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Port Canaveral Inks New Deal with Disney

Disney has three new ships (Triton-class) being delivered beginning in 2021 (through 2023), and a new long-term contract with Port Canaveral will have at least two of them homeported at the Central Florida port for their first five years in service.

The new contract will give Disney the exclusive use of their new upgraded terminal and the possible use of a second terminal. In return, the line is guaranteeing more passengers and paying increased fees.

The complete story appeared in the May 22 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Minnie Gets Promoted

Somewhere along the line recently aboard Disney Cruise Line, Minnie has received her fourth stripe, because she's now Captain Minnie Mouse, and encouraging girls to be like her and pursue maritime careers aboard the Disney ships. Disney is counting on the power of the Mouse - Minnie Mouse - to do it.

The complete story appears in the April 18 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Photo courtesy of Disney Cruise Line. All rights reserved. Photo may not be copied or used without express permission.

Disney Headlines Early 2020 with New Orleans & Hawaii

Disney Cruise Line released information about their itineraries for the first part of 2020. They include the line's first homeporting at New Orleans and a return to Hawaii as a cruise destination.

There will also be short series of cruises from San Juan, San Diego to Mexico, as well as a continuation of the line's traditional Caribbean and Bahamas programs from Florida home ports.

The complete story appeared in the September 27 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - September 10, 2018

CND subscribers also read about:

• A German pop singer went overboard from AIDAluna off the coast of Newfoundland. 
• Disney is considering expansion at Miami with two large ships and a new terminal.

Details appeared in the September 10 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Port Canaveral Counting Chickens Again

With Disney planning to add three new large ships to their fleet annually beginning in 2021, Port Canaveral is believing at least one of them will be homeported at the Central Florida port.

That has sent the port into another round of studies of how to expand.

Details appeared in the June 27 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Mickey Is Already Planning His Halloween Fun

Disney seems to be the first out of the box this year talking about Halloween aboard their ships. Of course on Disney, Halloween isn't so much a really scary affair; it's more of a fun time with stuff that's supposed to be scary but really isn't.

Take a look at this b-roll for an extended look at the detail that's incorporated into DCL's Halloween features. It is b-roll so there is just some background sound, and clips from this are meant to be used in other video productions or with voiceovers.

The complete story appeared in the June 19 edition of Cruise News Daily.

The Fall of Disney 2019

Disney has set their fall 2019 programs, which is a bigger deal than most lines, because two of Disney's ships float around and home ports change seasonally.

They give Disney Fans a varied selection of itineraries and bring the Disney ships to a new set of fans in local drive markets.

The complete story appeared in the May 18 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - April 23, 2018

CND subscribers also read about:

• Carnival announcing the senior officers for Carnival Panorama
• TUI Cruises' 10th anniversary
• New man at the top of Disney Cruise Line
• More of our look around Symphony of the Seas (video below)

Details appeared in the April 23 edition of Cruise News Daily.

First Look at Disney Newbuilds

Disney gave the world its first look at their 140,000-ton ships they will begin receiving in 2021 when they revealed a rendering at The Walt Disney Company's annual shareholders meeting today.

The complete story appeared in the March 8 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Rendering courtesy of Disney Cruise Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Disney Keeps Things Moving

Disney just announced their summer 2019 programs, and like usual, some of their ships will be moving and some will be making itinerary changes just to keep things fresh for their regular customers - and so they can sail to new places without having to leave the Disney family.

Details appeared in the March 1 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Rapunzel to Have New Disney Restaurant - and Hopefully Hairnet

Next March when Disney Magic returns from dry dock, it's going to have three new features.

The big new feature is going to be Rapunzel's Royal Table, inspired by Disney's “Tangled.”

The complete story appeared in November 14 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Free Gift Cards from Disney - Until Arrested

Federal agents boarded Disney Wonder in San Diego Friday to arrest a Brazilian crew member who worked in the gift shop alleging he embezzled at least $275,000 from the line.

The government says the 32-year-old man has been transferring Disney funds to gift cards since October 2015, and that he used $35,000 worth of the gift cards to take his family on a two-week trip to Disney World last April.

The complete story appeared in the October 31 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Disney Sets Early 2019 Programs

Disney Cruise Line has set their schedule for the first part of 2019, and the line will have ships in the Caribbean and from March to May on Mexico's west coast sailing from San Diego.

Details appeared in the October 26 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - October 24, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• Carnival celebrating having a Build-A-Bear Workshop At Sea on each of their 25 ships. 
• Mini Babybel is the official snack cheese of Disney Cruise Line. Mickey pronounces it "Delicious!" He's an expert with cheese. 

Details appeared in the October 24 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - October 2, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• Disney Dream allides with the pier while docking in Nassau opening a hole in the stern
• Carnival Corp agrees to more responsible sourcing of chickens

Details appeared in the October 2 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - August 7, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• Tropical storm Franklin suddenly appeared headed for the Yucatan, but has only caused one ship to change course.
• Disney Magic assisted ten migrants in the Mediterranean and waited with them until the Italian Coast Guard came to assist. 

Details appeared in the August 7 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Disney Increases Order with Meyer

Disney made a lot of announcements about upcoming additions and enhancements to their theme parks and resorts over the weekend at the D23 expo for Disney super-fans, but no one saw the announcement coming about their Disney Cruise Line unit.

Chairman (Disney Parks & Resorts) Bob Chapek announced Disney was increasing their order with Meyer Werft from two to three of the 135,000-ton ships the line ordered in the spring of 2016. When they are all delivered, it will bring the Disney fleet to seven.

Details appeared in the July 17 edition of Cruise News Daily.