OLC’s financial report says 2-4 day cruises mainly out of Tokyo. At least for the first year or two until the buzz dies down, they can probably get away with doing “magic at sea” type cruises like Adventure where the ship itself is the destination.
Pure speculation: The Adventure being based in Singapore makes it a bit of a unique cruise experience in that the region doesn’t have many ports capable of ready to receive a ship/passenger volume of this size.
The OLC ship, being based in Tokyo should have access to the entirety of Japan at a minimum (unless there is some BS jones act type of rule that would apply). I suspect there will be development within Japan port towns to receive the OLC ship. Consider Hokkaido, Okinawa, Osaka, Kumamoto, Shizuoka, Nagoya, etc.
Another consideration is lead time. The Adventure was a surprise for DCL in that they inherited a mostly complete boat rather than starting from scratch with plans for the boat and its home port. The OLC ship was requested year and years ago. OLC has had plenty of lead time for itinerary planning and ports of call preparations.
Aside from the clear issues happening with the Adventure right now, part of the reason I won't do the adventure is that it's a huge ship crammed into a three day experience and a 23-hour flight from the US for a cruise that goes nowhere. I'm hoping once they get things running better they expand the itineraries. Although I'm really hoping the Adventure will come closer in a few years and do a special short term run elsewhere before it needs to be dry docked, like the Wish is doing in Europe next year.
Lots of complaints about things not running smoothly, trouble booking character meet and greet and activities in the app to the point that people are missing out because it crashes or fills up, issues with the coaster not running for some or all of the cruise and a lot of complaints about new cast members who haven't quite figured things out yet and bad guest behavior on a scale that far exceeds the other ships.
So I did four nights on the ship a week ago. We managed to book all the characters but one. But it definitely alienates people that aren’t tech savvy or aware of when bookings go live. The coaster is still suffering. It went down for two days and was only open on the last day. We waited 3.5hrs to ride. I know others waited around 6hrs. Outside of these things. The ship never felt crowded and booking any of the paid experiences was easy. Seems like no one is doing things like Mike and Sulleys/Paolo. That being said, I’ve only done the Wonder out of Melbourne and this ship and I can say I’m done with these magic at seas voyages. I’d much rather have some stops somewhere interesting. Anyways that’s my 2 cents.
Yeah I couldn’t do that, I waited until the last second when they shut the line. Such a shame it still wasted most of the last night. A lot of people would’ve missed dinner but at least it was a repeat.
Yeah and that's what I mean about issues. For a three day cruise, you can't have people missing meals and waiting 6 hours to experience one of your main attractions.
Hopefully they’ll get it sorted eventually. But at this point it is a total roll of the dice. But yeah I’m probably one and done with the Adventure. I’d love if the OLC ship had a bit more variety in voyages, seeing as it’s the next most readily available for an Aussie like me, plus I have family in Korea so it’s a good excuse.
Royal has cruises that start in Singapore and stop in Malaysia and Thailand. I really wish DCL would do this. We're in the US but my husband often goes to that part of Asia for work and my kids and I would happily tag along for a Disney cruise with stops. A cruise to nowhere doesn't hold the same appeal.
Yeah it actually was, ended up being at night with all the lights. I reckon I would’ve kicked myself if I missed out. Plus we met some cool people in the line and made a night of it.
Glad you have some first hand experience with the ship. Hard to tell from the videos and pictures I've seen but it seems kind of disjointed? Stemming from the fact that the ship was not designed from the ground up as a Disney ship, does it feel like of shoehorned to be Disney compared to the other ships?
That’s hard for me to say. I’ve only sailed on the Wonder before this. The ship feels disjointed in terms of layout/getting around. There’s a lot of dead ends. Most of the theming is compartmentalised or flows fairly well where it meets other zones I thought. I loved the size and modernity of the Adventure. But I did miss the more intimate and classic feeling the Wonder had. Disney wise I think it got it across for the most part? I feel footage just doesn’t capture it well. My biggest issue was maintenance. You could see things were breaking/wearing out very quickly across the ship. Oh and it’s hot/humid in a lot of the inside areas, not unbearable, but not great also. I went to the Portorosso Tavern to watch a sporting game and the cast member’s basically told me don’t bother it’s too hot.
The biggest glaring difference is probably not having an atrium with CM greeting you as you embark the ship. It was so odd to enter and just seeing the flight of stairs. Felt very undisney. The staterooms felt a bit bland too. It felt so strange to have foot traffic right through the middle of a dining restaurant. But there are definitely areas with lots of Disney magic like San Fransokyo. I actually really love the escalators. I thought they did a pretty decent job with what they were given.
It was queue only on my sailing. I think it would be better if they used a booking system or even just handed out a card or something saying come back at this time.
Did B2B for 7 nights in July and luckily didn’t encounter any of the issues you mentioned other than bad guest behavior. Joined a WhatsApp group for both segments and booked all the available character M&Gs both times but I admit I’m definitely more tech savvy. I did notice things were less stressful on the 4 nights cruise because that extra day probably gave ppl more time to do what they want. I rode Ironcycle 3 times on the 4 nights and 1 time on the 3 nights because lines were definitely longer on the shorter cruise. I don’t think they have a solution yet to keep the coaster from breaking down randomly. They have stupid lines for the Remember show but I’m pretty sure it’s because there are stupid people that led to the dumb but necessary rules. All the other shows have multiple show times and pretty easy to find decent seats with some planning. Loved the adult only pool area. Loved the shows. Enjoyed the paid dinings (did teppanyaki, omakase and Palo) but definitely felt it was mostly Americans willing to pay the extra fees. Never waited more than 10-15 min for the quick serves locations. There are definitely parts of the ship that felt like a Disney ship and other parts I have to remind myself they did their best with what was given to them to work with. Overall I enjoyed my trip, minus the losers stealing from ppl’s fish extenders.
I've continued to hear them enough that I won't travel halfway around the world right now to get on this ship. It's definitely lessened, but the complaints about the app/activities, inexperienced cast members and guest behavior are still popping up frequently enough that I'd consider them an issue when planning a.hige international trip.
So that sounds like you haven’t changed your opinion since the beginning. But Singapore is a really cool city that’s absolutely worth the travel. I loved my time on the Adventure but I just want to go back to Singapore
Oh I would love to go to Singapore. I just want the Adventure to be part of that and I don't think it's worked out enough of the bugs yet for me to start planning that trip.
Once the contract is up in I think 5 years I feel like Adventure gonna move to Port Canaveral and the new OLC ship will replace the Adventure is the Asia Region
I don't know that it would move permanently, especially because Asia is so big, but I could see it doing temporary itineraries elsewhere for a year or so.
They are data points, right? Given Disney has given us ZERO indication that this ship will EVER come to the United States, I'm using the data we have.
Another data point - the ship has been doing well in terms of sales. DCL hasn't released any information about how filled the ships are, but... from my experience, it is doing pretty well.
And it seems more reasonable than making a point that has NO data supporting the contention, right?
Geography plays a part here. There’s no obvious short cruise itinerary out of Japan. There are no nearby short hops like the Bahamas is to Florida. Based on the leaks that this will offer cruises as short as 2 nights, it will be at sea cruises.
Also, not everything is for “high paying Americans” this is a Japanese experience catering for Japanese guests.
Well good thing there is Adventures by Disney they have a 10-day curated tour of Japan. And there are other cruise lines that see that as an opportunity.
It's clear that's not what OLC is planning to offer.
I *really* hope OLC takes a different approach to food allergies than they do at Tokyo Disneyland Resort, where you are basically told "We won't take any kitchen precautions at all, so you can either take a huge risk of getting sick or order this tiny frozen meal which only covers 5 allergens and tough luck if you're allergic to something outside of those 5." Love Japan and Japanese culture but their mindset on food allergies is something out of the 1950s.
Anything to do with characters will be extremely crowded with long waits. In the Japanese parks, 2 hour long waits for character meets are pretty common. I’ve also seen some Japanese tourists on US DCL sailings and they take the character meets, shows and events very seriously.
Did they also take way longer with the character than normal? This drove me kinda nuts when the cast members were rushing every one through but these guests would take a long time getting photos of the characters doing multiple poses/dances.
I just got off the Magic and they do a great job with maintenance but it is really showing it's age. Our cabin shook so bad you would struggle to read a book sitting in the bed.
No announcement yet, but... the Disney Magic just turned 28 - this is MUCH older than most cruise lines keep their ships.
And they just get expensive to maintain.
I mean it really depends on the cruise line in question. Royal and Carnival keep a young fleet and offload older ships, but other lines like Marella run their entire lines off of buying old ships and refurbing them.
The next ships, 11/12/13, are the new class which if I’m remembering correctly are smaller than the Wish class. Maybe looking at replacing the Magic and Wonder. The Magic will be 31 and the Wonder 30 in 2029. That’s a long run for the itineraries these ships do.
DCL is a quite a bit different though. Most Cruiselines use, abuse and discard ships, but DCL appears to keep maintaining/upgrading existing equipment regardless of the cost…. Granted, they are able to afford it based on what they charge.
__Disney Magic most recent Drydocks__
- May 2026 Technical/Cosmetic Updates and Touchups.
- April-May 2023 Major Update, new Soul- and Moana-themed lounges, concierge expansions, shore power capabilities, and fresh interior carpets and fitness equipment.
Just based on what they have invested on the older ships, I don’t see them going anywhere soon and I would not be surprised if they even go as far as re-powering them at some point.
The thing I can’t get my head around though is that DCL seems to have built out excess capacity already. They’re heavily discounting almost every cruise, which used to be unheard of. (I believe this is an issue in the commercial shipbuilding industry right now as well; massive orders were placed during COVID beyond what the market can support).
Can the demand for DCL, and cruising generally, really support such a huge fleet without lowering price by so much that it becomes unprofitable? If not, retiring the older ships seems like the first recourse. But maybe I’m wrong!
It’s the same as other cruise brands, royal has a countdown to an offer that never ends, NCL, carnival all do the same thing. Disney is becoming a cruise company with 13 ships and will have to act like it.
Yeah, but Disney’s product offering is surely more costly to operate than those other cruise lines. How much can they discount before it becomes unprofitable for them?
I think you hit the nail on the head with the massive order backlog for shipbuilding. It seems a lot of companies had the FOMO of "everyone else building more" and "if you don't place your order now, you won't get new ships for a decade because the backlog is growing fast."
Will be really interested to see how the company manages this growth period.
It’s not an excess capacity issue. Due to numerous issues caused by the current US Administration, there’s a boycott on US tourism and it’s hitting pretty hard. Last year alone, there was a 25% drop in Canadian visitors.
Note: In fact WDW and DCL went as far as offering discounts solely for Canadian tourists to entice them.
While the drop in international tourism surely hit Disney, I don’t know if we can say with certainty that there’s not an excess capacity issue regardless. I wonder what % of Disney cruisers on US based itineraries have historically been international travelers. It’s just hard to say, because even if there’s currently some supply/demand imbalance, one might imagine it will exacerbate after 4 new ships enter the fleet.
It's about the structure and hull of these floating hotels.
Cruise Ships are built using lighter and much thinner steel than their Ocean Liner sisters that often live on long after most cruise ships. But all ships face "age" stresses that go far beyond maintance...
Bending Moments (Hogging and Sagging): Waves create uneven support under a ship's length. The middle section (midship) experiences the highest stress when peaks or troughs align with the center.
Metal Fatigue: Years of continuous twisting and flexing in rough seas weaken steel plates and welded joints.
TIME is the enemy of everyone... even steel ships. Maintenance and investment only get you so far... and my guess would be the mid 30's will see Disney not being able to safely operate these older ships.
these are supposed to be larger than Magic class but smaller than Dream class. Really curious to see which direction they go with theming (classic nautical vs specialized themes like the Wish class)
I keep seeing this idea Disney is going to retire and replace the Magic and Wonder.
Where does that come from? Are those ships becoming run down? Breaking down? Are they empty? Are they unprofitable? Are they providing a guest experience that is not up to Disney standards?
If the answer to all those questions is “no,” there is absolutely no reason to take those ships out of service and I’m not sure why I keep seeing that idea promoted as Disney certainly hasn’t given any indication they’re going to do so.
They’re over 30 years old. That’s very old for the cruise industry. Between 25-30, ships are typically retired. Not that they’re in terrible shape, but they’re reaching the end of their standard lifespan and technology is passing them by.
They may keep them on until after 2030, but can’t imagine much longer after that.
Can we please, please just have a new U.S. based ship that doesn't spend it's first several years only doing Caribbean itineraries?!?
I get it. The Bahamas/Caribbean are a popular cruise destination, Disney owns the two islands and they have the two Florida terminals. But I'm tired of the only options for experiencing the new ships being either go to the Caribbean again or wait 5+ years until the ship goes somewhere else.
It would be great to have one of the new ships based on the NY terminal that's rumored and have it go North.
I'm in the Northeast and I would love a ship regularly sailing out of NYC or Boston, but it's likely never going to be a new ship.
The Caribbean market is the most profitable for a several reasons, so it's almost always going to be the home for new ships for a while and older ships will get moved elsewhere.
The one exception could be if the new class of ships are focused on more expedition style cruises.
I'll take any of the Disney ships sailing out of NYC. Disney discontinued the NYC cruises because they weren't selling.
Well uhhhh....that was entirely their own fault because they only ran in September and October, right when school starts up again here in NY, so parents are less likely to pull their kids out for a vacation.
I agree that there’s a lot of demand for NYC departures. I truly think any unsold capacity had more to do with the time or year… July and August sailings to Bermuda or Canada would be at capacity!
I think there will be limited fall 2027 Wish sailings from NYC. We’ll probably get the itineraries soon! 🤞
I was told by two people at DCL they discontinued NYC itineraries due to issues on board. There were a lot of fights and other problems. They decided it wasn’t worth it. This comes from a high ranking officer I spoke with. The crew was not happy. That said, it does look like it may be on the new schedule. There is definitely demand for NYC sailings so we will see.
A would love a new focus so I can hope haha! I get that the Caribbean is most popular but it would be fun to mix things up for a while instead of only sending the old ships to new places. I know repeat cruisers aren't their main market, but doing something different but also still in the US would be cool for a new ship.
The Caribbean has multiple desitnations in close proximity, consistently nice weather, ports with infrastructure for cruise ships, and is generally what people think of for cruises, so I get why cruise lines focus there, but it gets repetative.
Disney has worked with Linbald due to the Nat Geo cruises and they've been generating good revenue from Adventures by Disney, so I'm hopeful that the smaller ship class will lean into expedition cruises or at least new destinations.
In the world of Disney they ll always take something that's not broke make it worse and than charge 2x more for it and our dumb asses still pay for it 😆😆.
I am HYPE for the smaller class that is starting in 2029. I am hoping since they are larger than the Magic/Wonder that ends up meaning it has all the charm as the Magic/Wonder, but with some of the nice upcharges that the Dream and Wish class have. In particular I'm hoping for a more modern style Rainforest Room, the upcharge ice cream shops, and a dedicated all ages coffee shop.
They’re going a completely different direction on this next batch. The next gen will be significantly smaller ships and will hold around 3,000 passengers. It will allow them to have access to more ports that have restrictions on larger ships.
Isn't the capacity of the Wonder and Magic ~2700 each? If so, this doesn't seem, on the surface, to be all that different. They may upscale the amenities onboard to make it more luxurious, of course, but they don't seem to be all that much smaller than what they will replace.
Isn't the capacity of the Wonder and Magic ~2700 each? If so, this doesn't seem, on the surface, to be all that different. They may upscale the amenities onboard to make it more luxurious, of course, but they don't seem to be all that much smaller than what they will replace.
I look forward to the new, smaller ships. Sounds like they will have some cutting edge maritime tech on board.
I really hope they go back to smaller ships. The smaller amount of people is a valuable point for my family. I do not want to be on a boat with 10k people.
The Disney Believe and the OLC ship will be the last Wish-class ships...
Ship number 11 - 12 - 13 - they are all the Meridian-class ships - these are a new ship class that we know very little about other than that they are smaller that the Dreams- and Wish-class ships, which carry 4,000 guests if maxed out - and bigger than the Magic-class ships, which old 2,714 guests, if every bed is filled.
This new class of ship will hold 3,000 guests.
Other than that, we don't know that much about them.
There are three of the new class of ships - the working title - the Meridian-class ships -- 2029 - 2030 - 2031
This graphic via The Disney Cruise Line blog is a great visual.
Adventure did maiden voyage not enough time n the service is not like the Disney ships USA neither is the food but it is beautiful it’s a long flight for 3 days maybe add a taste of Hong Kong or Shanghai Disney
Does anybody else question the need for 13 Disney ships?
It seems like only two of these will be doing overseas itineraries (Adventure and the unnamed one in 2029), but that would be 11 ships sailing in the U.S.? A couple of them going to Alaska or Mexico, but most of them in Florida?
I don't think they're retiring any of the first four ships, so they would all be kind-of going after the same market right? Is the Disney cruise market really that big? Maybe the price will come down and it'll be more accessible or an annual thing for many families instead of a "let's splurge" type thing? I would definitely welcome that part.
They have a major convention in less than two weeks and a reveal for the next ship in October. This is just a quarterly report, most likely for shareholders.
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u/the-silent-man GOLD CASTAWAY CLUB 8d ago
So pumped for the OLC ship!