Disney Cruise Line has announced the name of its fourth Wish-class ship, scheduled to enter service at the end of 2027.
Disney Believe will follow Disney Wishes in 2023, Disney Treasures in 2024, and Disney Destiny in 2025. The name was announced Wednesday by new Walt Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, his first day on the job as Bob Iger’s successor at the company’s annual shareholder meeting.
The name is touted as “celebrating dreamers and doers who have the courage to pursue their own happiness,” according to a press release from the cruise line. Each class ship name reflects a theme within the ship, with Wish associated with magic, Treasure associated with adventure, and Destiny associated with heroes and villains.
“Disney Believe has its own unique story of promise and possibility,” the release states.
Like her sister ships, she will continue to take shape at the Mayer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. The first steel cuts were made in August last year. At 144,000 gross tons, the Wish-class ships are slightly larger than the older Disney Dream and Fantasy, but have a passenger capacity of 4,000.
Although specific details about what the new ship will offer have not been revealed, the cruise line has mentioned several characters and movies that some of its features will be themed to.
“With powerful stories of Disney characters who believe in themselves, their dreams, and the promise and possibility of a better tomorrow, Disney Believe brings to life like never before the magical worlds of Encanto and Frozen, the wishing well of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the deep-sea worlds of Moana and The Little Mermaid.”
The ship will be the ninth ship in the fleet, with four more scheduled to debut by 2031. This includes the fifth Wish-class ship that will depart from Japan in 2029 in partnership with Oriental Land, which operates Tokyo Disneyland. The first of three ships in the new class is also scheduled to be built in 2029, but details have not been disclosed.
Disney Cruise Line began operating the Disney Magic in 1998, followed by its sister ship, the Disney Wonder, in 1999. The size has since doubled from two to four ships with the Disney Dream in 2011 and the Fantasy in 2012. That number has doubled this year with the debut of Disney Adventure, the company’s largest cruise ship, which arrived in Singapore this month for its christening with Godfather Robert Downey Jr.
While most ships in the fleet make their debut sailing season out of Port Canaveral, Disney Destiny disrupted that trend last year by starting operations from DCL’s second Florida home in Port Everglades, while Disney Adventure only made a pit stop in Florida en route to its Asian homeport.
