Tag Archives: Disney Cruise Line

Dream-class upgrades don’t diminish Disney Magic’s charm

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Dream-class upgrades don’t diminish Disney Magic’s charm

By Tom Stieghorst
Animator's PalateONBOARD THE DISNEY MAGIC — Disney Cruise Line’s first ship has a new story to tell after undergoing the biggest renovation in its 15-year history.

The story is about a ship that got lighter, fresher-looking, with a new water slide and pools, an improved Animator’s Palate dining room, a remade kids’ club with a cool new Iron Man feature and more.

While the Magic’s makeover at the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz, Spain, wasn’t quite as magical as that of Cinderella’s coach and horsemen, it pleased Disney Cruise Line President Karl Holz, especially the new Drawn to Magic show installed in Animator’s Palate.

“This is just a Disney classic experience that exceeded all of our expectations,” Holz said.

Disney top brass including Holz, Disney Parks and Resorts President Tom Skaggs and Disney Imagineering chief wizard Joe Lanzisero, were onboard a two-day cruise recently to inspect the ship, which will be departing from Miami on three-, four- and five-day sailings through year end.

“We tried to take an approach that this ship deserved everything we could give it in terms of what we’ve learned, every way we pushed the needle with the Dream-class ships, and yet retain all the charm that made Disney Magic such a beloved ship for these 15 years,” Skaggs said.

For passengers, the new look begins in the atrium where they step aboard to begin their cruise. Gone is the Dale Chihuly glass chandelier, replaced by an art deco fixture. Paired staircases have been reduced to one, and the gold, blue, coral and aquamarine color scheme brightens the space.

The pool deck has been notably transformed. A new, more daring water slide called Aqua Dunk may become the Disney Magic’s signature. Installed, for now, on no other Disney ship, the 37-foot-tall body slide starts high atop the forward funnel on Deck 13 and ends on Deck 10.

Aqua Dunk slideAfter riders enter a chamber, the floor drops out, sending them plunging through a tube that loops over the side of the ship before ending an exhilarating 10 seconds later in the runout.

A tamer slide, called the Twist ’n’ Spout, and an AquaLab water playground have been added where Mickey’s Pool used to be. Also new as of September are lifeguards to keep tabs on the hoard of kids in the AquaLab pool.

A second space on the Disney Magic that will generate buzz is Animator’s Palate, where all the sound, lighting and video equipment has been updated and a new show created.

The room’s signature trick, going from black and white to full color over the course of a dinner, doesn’t get old. The oversized digital wall canvases start out displaying the most tentative of pencil sketches and end with a symphonic splash of light, color, movement and character. The food is almost beside the point.

Two other restaurants have been revised. The former Parrot’s Cay has become Carioca’s, with a Brazilian theme, pan-Latin menu and snazzy, oversize modern lanterns. And the nautical Topsider Buffet gave way to the beach-themed Cabanas, which has been expanded indoors by 3,400 square feet to a total of 9,460 square feet.

The kids’ clubs on Deck 5 have been redone, with one standout addition being “Become Iron Man,” in which kids virtually test drive the Iron Man armor.

For adults, the old Beat Street nightclub section has been remade into After Hours, with a more minimalist black and silver color scheme and several new bar/lounge concepts.

And the Senses spa and salon has been expanded by an additional 725 feet to 11,500 square feet and now includes a two-chair barbershop that offers men’s haircuts and hot-lathered shaves.

Disney Cruise Line completes improvements to Magic

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Disney Cruise Line completes improvements to Magic

By Tom Stieghorst
AquaDunkDisney Cruise Line has returned the Disney Magic to service after a two-week drydock to overhaul the 15-year-old ship. Pools, restaurants, night spots and children’s play areas were updated.

Disney wouldn’t reveal the cost of the improvements, but said it was a substantial amount.

Probably the biggest change was in the pool deck, where a more intimidating water slide called Aqua Dunk was added. The slide requires a climb through a funnel to get to a chamber that connects to a tube looping out over the ship’s side. The floor of the chamber drops away, plunging the rider into a near vertical fall for the first few seconds.

Along with the new slide, Disney shrank the space for Micky’s Pool, giving it over to the Aqua Lab splash area found on the Dream and Fantasy, and the Twist n’ Spout water slide.

The children’s play areas in the Oceaneering Club were also redesigned, with a big two-story slide being the new highlight of Andy’s Room from the “Toy Story” film.

Another change was the elimination of Parrot’s Cay, one of three rotational restaurants unique to Disney ships. Its space has been remade into Carioca, a Brazilian-themed room with colorful contemporary chandeliers and a pan-Latin menu.

The iconic Animator’s Palette restaurant was outfitted with new light, sound and video technology and is playing a new show, “Drawn to Magic,” that is a personal favorite of Disney Cruise Line president Karl Holz.

“It’s a very touching, heartfelt experience that surprised us,” Holz said.

Elsewhere, the adults-only nightclub section of the ship has been renamed After Hours (formerly Beat Street) and given a more contemporary silver-and-black design.

Topsiders Buffet has been renamed Cabanas, and has expanded by 725 square feet so it doesn’t feel so crowded.

In the salon, a two-chair barber shop has been carved out for men’s haircuts and shaves.

Disney Magic, the line’s original ship, will be doing three-, four- and five-day cruises from Miami to the Bahamas and Caribbean through the end of the year, before shifting in January to Port Canaveral for three- and four-day Bahamas cruises, and later moving to the Mediterranean for cruises between Barcelona and Venice.

Viking Cruises Reveals Details of New Ocean Cruise Line

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Viking Cruises Reveals Details of New Ocean Cruise Line
 
 

 

How would you feel about a cruise line that offered free shore excursions, complimentary ship-wide Wi-Fi and overnight stays in ports of call? One with a small ship (less than 1,000 passenger) ambience, where wine and beer at lunch and dinner were served liberally — and without charge — and with all verandah cabins that were 20 percent larger than the norm?

Oh, and one other twist: We’re not talking not about a super-luxury cruise with fares priced in the stratosphere. This one comes with a strong value-for-money price point. 

Welcome to the new Viking Cruises. At a gala launch event Thursday night in Beverly Hills, California, Torstein Hagen, the visionary founder of Viking River Cruises, the world’s largest and fastest growing river line, told the assembled travel agents, journalists and past passengers the company would launch its ocean-oriented cruise line in May 2015. 

It has placed an order with Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard for two 48,000-ton, 928-passenger ships. The first, Viking Star, will debut in May 2015. The as-yet unnamed second will launch a year later, and Viking has “conditional orders and options for four more additional ocean vessels.” 

In its maiden season, Viking Star will spend spring, summer and fall trawling the waters of northern Europe’s Baltic and fjords, and the Mediterranean. Winter itineraries haven’t been announced. 

With the addition of the ocean line, Viking is undergoing a modest name change. The company will be called Viking Cruises (www.vikingcruises.com), and its two cruise segments will be characterized as Viking Rivers and Viking Oceans respectively. Viking is the first cruise line since Disney Cruise Line to begin its life with purpose-built newbuilds. 

In designing the new ships, Viking has incorporated the best elements of riverboats –- for which the line has been on a record-setting new-build tear, debuting 28 of its new Longships designs between 2012 and 2014. That includes the company’s popular Aquavit Terrace, an alfresco dining venue, and plenty of outdoor space on the sundeck and beyond. All have the same design sensibility: spare Scandinavian decor that’s comfortable, airy and light. 

Viking Star’s blend of fresh, contemporary features with some retro touches will resonate with fans of ocean cruising. Such features harken to Hagen’s stint at defunct-but-fondly-remembered Royal Viking Line, an upscale brand. Looking toward the new, Star features a main pool (with magradome roof that opens and closes) with a fire pit, a Nordic-influenced spa with a snow room and sauna and revolutionary technology that allows for the windows in the ship’s main restaurant to open to the elements in good weather. All cabins come with verandahs. The smallest is 270 square feet, a good deal roomier than the average. 

Ship traditionalists will also appreciate Viking Star’s walk-around promenade deck that fully encircles the vessel. Its Explorer’s Lounge, an airy two-deck top-of-the-ship venue, offers an observation area — a feature that many of today’s newest cruise ships lacks. 

Many travel agents attending Thursday’s event compared Viking’s offerings and price points to lines that at Cruise Critic we call luxury lite (elements of upmarket travel, such as cozy ships that can offer far-ranging itineraries along with superb service and cuisine but at a moderate price point). Those most mentioned were Oceania Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises and Windstar Cruises. But Hagen last night said Viking would distinguish itself with elements that included destination-focused cruising, locally sourced cuisine, an understated and comfortable but elegant onboard ambience, immersion-oriented touring and enrichment and this one: “No nickel-and-dimeing.” 

Viking Cruises’ ocean arm officially goes on sale in North America today. Plans to reveal Viking Star and its fleetmates are anticipated to roll out in the U.K. and Australia later this year.