by Beth Keating
News
DisneyBizJournal.com
March 30, 2023
Disney Cruise Line and the Singapore Tourism Board, under a new Memorandum of Understanding, have agreed to bring a new Disney cruise ship to Singapore for at least five years, it was announced yesterday (March 29, 2023).
The ship, the recently purchased Global Dream, will homeport exclusively in Singapore beginning in 2025, bringing Disney cruising to Southeast Asia for the first time. Disney has said that details about the maiden voyage, itineraries and onboard experiences will be announced at a later date. The Global Dream was acquired in November by Disney when its former owner declared bankruptcy, and was purchased with the intent to visit new global destinations, with a planned base outside the United States. The ship will be renamed as part of the Disney Cruise Line fleet when Disney takes the helm of the partially-completed vessel.
“This is a very exciting year for The Walt Disney Company — 2023 marks our 100th anniversary,” D’Amaro said. “As part of this, Disney Cruise Line is currently undergoing an ambitious expansion with new ships and new destinations around the world. We are incredibly excited to make Singapore the home port to our seventh-launched ship, which will sail from here year-round starting in 2025.”
“We look forward to welcoming the magic of Disney Cruise Line to Singapore in 2025,” said Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board (STB). “This is an important milestone for STB and reflects Disney Cruise Line’s strong confidence in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The new Disney cruise ship will be an attraction itself and is expected to boost the tourism sector in Singapore for many years to come.”
Singapore is already a busy cruise hub in Southeast Asia. According to Disney, “the addition of a Disney Cruise Line ship in Singapore has the potential to add millions of local and foreign cruise passengers across the five-year period, including fly-cruise passengers who arrive in Singapore by air. It is also expected to bring about significant spillover benefits for the wider economy. These include greater demand for port and ship-related services, as well as on-ground spending in Singapore for the lifestyle and hospitality sectors.”
The new 208,000-gross-ton ship will be the seventh to launch in the Disney fleet, and is being built by Meyer Werft at the MV Werften shipyard in Wismar, Germany. Meyer Werft built the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wish. Two additional “Wish-class” ships are also on order. The new vessel has a passenger capacity of approximately 6,000, with around 2,300 crew members. (Current Disney ships clock in at 4,000 guests or under.)
In addition to its larger size, the new ship will run on green methanol, one of the first in the cruise industry to use the low-emission fuel. The Disney Cruise Line first launched in 1998. Its current fleet boasts five ships, including the Disney Magic (1998), Disney Wonder (1999), Disney Dream (2011), Disney Fantasy (2012), and Disney Wish (2022), with more to come. The Disney Treasure, the sister ship to the recently launched Disney Wish, is expected to arrive in 2024. The Disney Cruise Line fleet sails to destinations in The Bahamas, the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Mexico, Canada, Hawaii, the South Pacific, and Australia and New Zealand.
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
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