The Walt Disney Company is raising the bar for cruise ships once more, announcing during its annual shareholders meeting on Thursday that the company would be adding two new, highly advanced cruise liners to its already impressive fleet.
The two new Disney ships, which have not been given names as of writing, are set to be built by German ship maker Meyer Werft. The new cruise liners are scheduled to debut by 2021 and 2023, respectively.
Though very little information is available about the two newest additions to the Disney Cruise line, Disney has nonetheless announced that the two ships would weigh 135,000 tons each, making them slightly larger than the company's newest liners, the Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasy, which made their debuts in 2011 and 2012.
Despite their slightly larger size, however, the new additions are set to feature the same number of cabins as the Dream and Fantasy, with 1,250 cabins each.
Disney Cruise Line has been widely successful since being launched in 1998. During that time, it only had two vessels, the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder. At 85,000 tons and equipped with 877 cabins each, the two cruise liners effectively raised the bar for international cruises as they travelled to locations around the Caribbean, Alaska, Canada, Europe and the Panama Canal.
Apart from its premium amenities, the Disney Cruise Line is also famed for having one of the most advanced and innovative ships in the world. The company is credited with creating the first roller coaster at sea, and its interior staterooms have also gained much fame, thanks to technology which allowed guests with rooms in the interior of the ship to have a live view of the ocean outside.
The Disney Cruise Line operated for more than a decade with just two ships, until the launch of the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy, which more than doubled the guest capacity of the cruise line. With the launch of the two new ships by 2021 and 2023, the company's capacity is set to be raised another 50 percent.
Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Robert Iger is highly optimistic about the project.
"We pride ourselves on the unforgettable vacation experiences we deliver to our guests each and every day, and the expansion of our Disney fleet will allow us to create even more magical memories for families at sea and in incredible cruise destinations around the world," he said.
