Tag Archives: disney dream

Disney Cruise Line to return to  New York and Galveston in 2016

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Disney Dream enters New York.

Disney Cruise Line is to return to the US ports of New York and Galveston, and offer new seven-night cruises from PortMiami to the Caribbean in 2016.

Departing from New York on 2 October, Disney Magic will sail a five-night cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick in Canada. The ship will then return to New York to offer an eight-night Bahamas cruise on 7 October, which will include calls at Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay; Nassau, Bahamas; and Port Canaveral, Florida.

On 15, 22 and 29 October, Disney Magic will offer seven-night voyages from New York to Castaway Cay and Port Canaveral. Each guest will receive a one-day Walt Disney World Park Hopper ticket and roundtrip transportation between the ship and Walt Disney World Resort when the ship calls at Port Canaveral.

Disney Magic will then offer the line’s first season of seven-night cruises from Miami to the Caribbean in November and December.

On 20 November and 4 December, the ship will sail from Miami to destinations in the Western Caribbean including Key West in Florida, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Castaway Cay. Meanwhile, on 27 November and 11 December, she will offer sailings to Tortola, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay in the Eastern Caribbean. On 23 December, Disney Magic will sail to Tortola, San Juan in Puerto Rico and Castaway Cay.

Additional Miami sailings include a four-night Bahamas cruise departing on 16 November, a five-night Bahamas cruise departing on 18 December and a six-night Western Caribbean cruise departing on 30 December. Each sailing will include call at Castaway Cay.

Meanwhile, Disney Wonder will return to Galveston in Texas to offer a series of seven-night itineraries to destinations in the Bahamas, Mexico and the Caribbean. These include Key West, Castaway Cay, Nassau, Falmouth, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Costa Maya. The ship will also offer two four-night roundtrips from Galveston to Cozumel on 10 and 14 November.

The Disney distinction

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The Christening of the Disney Dream

Walt Disney Co. and its cruise line are on a roll.

The entertainment and media giant reported earnings rose 10% for the second quarter of this year with the fastest growth at its Parks and Resorts unit (which includes Disney Cruise Line), where operating income grew 24%.

What is Disney doing right?

First and most directly, it is raising prices. Disney said its earnings growth at parks and resorts was “primarily due to increases in average ticket prices at our theme parks and cruise line,” along with more spending on food and merchandise and higher average hotel rates.

Single-day tickets at Walt Disney World in Orlando cracked the $100 barrier last year.  And Disney Cruise Line prices are generally much higher than competitors on similar routes.

Tom Stieghorst
Tom Stieghorst

A random comparison shows a balcony cabin on a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise departing Port Canaveral on Dec. 5 listed at $1,814 per person on Disney’s website and $912.50 on Carnival Cruise Line’s site.

Several things that underlie Disney’s pricing power are qualities that other cruise lines are also trying to achieve.

One is brand strength.  On a 2014 ranking compiled by Interbrand, a unit of ad giant Omnicom, Disney held the 13th strongest global brand, just behind Intel and just ahead of Cisco Systems. Interbrand said Disney’s power as a brand stems from its “use of technology and data to understand what customers want and personalize their experiences.”

A second pillar of pricing power is capacity control.  Disney has resisted the temptation to expand its fleet of four ships, the last of which was delivered three years ago. Unlike many lines, Disney has no ships on order.  That helps keep supply scarce and drives demand.

But that doesn’t mean Disney gets stale. It frequently upgrades the experience, especially with new entertainment including shows from hit movies like Frozen and Tangled.

And Disney has a pipeline to first-time cruisers through its theme parks, where much of the programming on a Disney ship can be experienced.  Disney cruise customers know what they’re getting even if they’ve never been on a cruise ship before.Of course, we don’t know exactly how Disney’s higher pricing translates into profits, as those vital numbers are buried in the results of the overall parks and resorts division.
My guess is that Disney Cruise Line makes a solid contribution.

Disney Dream getting new spaces, including Star Wars play area

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When the Disney Dream emerges from a 20-day drydock in late October, the cruise ship will have new spaces, including a Star Wars play area in the Oceaneer Club and a sweet shop.

Star Wars: Millennium Falcon, a play area open to kids ages 3 to 12, is inspired by Han Solo’s spacecraft from the first three Star Wars films.

Upon entering the area, kids can “pilot the spaceship through hyperspace and trigger light-speed jumps to different locations around the galaxy,” Disney said.

Children also can do Star Wars-themed crafts, games and activities; watch episodes from the Disney XD animated series “Star Wars Rebels” on a large screen; and play video games.

The Disney Dream also will feature a shipboard version of the Jedi Training Academy, a popular activity at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida.

In the Disney Infinity Toy Box area, the complete set of Disney Infinity character figures will be on display and available for gameplay. Kids visiting the room will be able to unlock Disney Cruise Line content that they can continue to enjoy when playing Disney Infinity at home.

On a life-sized Disney Infinity Base, children take the place of character figures for a group gaming experience. An interactive floor will light up in response to gameplay on a large screen.

On the pool deck, Vanellope’s Sweets & Treats will resemble the whimsical candy land of the Sugar Rush race car game in the film “Wreck-It Ralph.” The sweet shop’s decor will feature nods to the film, including a race track and checkerboard patterned floor, gas pump-style gumball dispensers, Vanellope’s race car and King Candy’s throne.

Vanellope’s will serve gelato and ice cream and an assortment of candy and novelty treats for purchase.

Photo of Paige having her Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique Experience.

Also, there will be a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at sea. The salon for kids, located on land in the Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney, is known for pixie-dust makeovers.

Adults will have their own splash pool on the Dream, called Satellite Falls. It will have benches and a gently falling rain curtain.

The Dream sails three- and four-day cruises to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral, Fla. The ship will make its debut with the new spaces on four-day voyage departing Oct. 26.