Disney Cruise Line Expanding to Southeast Asia & Basing New 7th Ship in Singapore
Disney Cruise Line announced a new ship coming to Southeast Asia for the first time, with the 7th addition to the DCL fleet being based out of a home port in Singapore starting in 2025. This post shares the announcement from the company, plus our commentary about this ship, whether it’ll have a casino, and more!
This seventh ship in the DCL fleet was revealed by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro and Singapore’s Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, S. Iswaran. The new ship is presently unnamed, and will join the existing 5 ships plus the Disney Treasure after that sets sail starting in 2024.
Under a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding, Disney Cruise Line and Singapore Tourism Board agreed to collaborate to homeport a brand-new Disney cruise ship exclusively in Singapore for at least five years beginning in 2025. More details about the maiden voyage, itineraries and onboard experiences will be announced at a later date.
“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’s strategic location, world-class air connectivity, and port infrastructure make it a thriving cruise hub in Southeast Asia, a diverse region that is home to over 40 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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 ship will feature innovative Disney Cruise Line experiences along with the dazzling entertainment, world-class dining, and legendary guest service that set DCL apart from the competition. Guests of all ages will find dedicated spaces and activities designed just for them, and families will create unforgettable memories with beloved characters such as Captain Mickey Mouse and Captain Minnie Mouse, Disney Princesses, Marvel Super Heroes and more.
Disney Cruise Line estimates the passenger capacity of the 208,000-gross-ton ship to be approximately 6,000 with around 2,300 crew members. It is expected to be among the first in the cruise industry to be fueled by green methanol, one of the lowest emission fuels available.
Construction is projected to be completed at the MV Werften shipyard in Wismar, Germany, under the management of Meyer Werft, the Papenburg-based company that built the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wish and is constructing two additional Wish-class ships.
In terms of commentary, we’ll start by addressing the obvious but unstated: this is the former Global Dream ship.
Back when Disney announced that it had acquired this partially-finished ship, the press release stated that Disney Cruise Line was able “to secure [Global Dream] at a favorable price and within the capital expenditure guidance the Walt Disney Company provided on its recent earnings call.” At the time, we thought that was noteworthy because that’s not the type of language that would usually be included in Disney’s sometimes-overly-flowery press releases.
Well, we learned why a few weeks later. According to reporting at the time that was later confirmed by regulatory filings, the Walt Disney Company about $40 million for the Global Dream, which is especially staggering given that the $2 billion ship was approximately 75% complete when Disney acquired it.
The Global Dream’s previous owner filed for bankruptcy before completing the vessel, and Disney was rumored to be the only interested buyer after negotiations with two other parties failed. This gave Disney complete leverage, with the insolvency manager’s choices being Disney or selling the ship for scrap metal. There was reportedly resistance to the latter route, as it hurt morale at the shipyard.
Disney Cruise Line thus acquired the ship for a tiny fraction of its original price tag and even value as partially-built. However, that came with the asterisk that Disney would take over without warranty claims and would need to spend considerably sums modifying and “reimagining” significant aspects of the ship with the expertise of Walt Disney Imagineering. Reported estimates put Disney Cruise Line’s costs with the ship as nearly $1 billion to finish and redesign the Global Dream to turn it into a Disney Cruise Line vessel.
Still, this has gotta be categorized as a rare Chapek win. At the time of the announcement, this seemed completely out of left field, and impulsive, very much inconsistent with Disney’s normal methodical and risk-averse way of doing business.
We openly wondered whether Disney Cruise Line was betting too boldly on the future of cruising, especially with multiple ships already under construction. Even with this sailing exclusively in Asia and have little-to-no overlap with the current DCL ships, it felt like a big leap. (Especially since it stood to reason that one of the existing ships would be relocated to Asia once the Wish-class is completed.)
Upon learning the price that Disney Cruise Line had paid, it all made complete sense. It was too good of a deal to pass up, with minimal downside risk and a significantly lower total cost even after retrofits and finishing than Disney Cruise Line would pay to build a comparably-sized ship from the ground up.
The rumored price (and subsequent confirmation) came right as Chapek was being shown the door at Disney, but he and D’Amaro definitely deserve kudos for pulling off this deal. Like me at the Disney Character Warehouse Outlet looking at 90% off prices, it was a “buy now, figure out the purpose later” kinda scenario.
Beyond that, I’ll be curious to see what’s cut and what’s kept. The Asian market is very different from the domestic one, both with cruising preferences and knowledge or expectations of the Disney brand. Most interesting to us is that the Global Dream was designed by its original owners to have considerable casino space.
That’s not really unique to the Asian cruising market, although it does seem more pronounced there. Obviously, Disney has resisted the temptation to add gambling to its fleet; the company as a whole has been willing to leave money on the table by avoiding sports betting, despite flirting with the idea repeatedly under Chapek.
Casinos are incredibly lucrative for cruise ships. By not having them, Disney Cruise Line has taken the financial hit to avoid taking the reputational one. Even in the United States, the tides are turning on that in terms of consumer expectations and preferences. And fast!
I remember a time when sports betting was verboten, and in just a few short years, it became totally normalized and actively promoted by the networks and leagues. ESPN eventually embracing the same seems inevitable–the bigger question is who will own the brand when that happens?
Maybe Global Dream will be the Walt Disney Company’s first foray into gambling on a large scale. Given that the space is already there, the Asian market has different expectations and brand-knowledge of Disney, and that this ship will fly under the radar of most American audiences, it seems to me more likely than not that the reimagined and renamed Global Dream will have casino space.
It really comes down to how strongly Bob Iger feels about Disney’s association with gambling, the financial upside to including casinos, and whether it’ll hurt the brand. Personally, I’d bet on it happening…and I don’t even gamble!
Ultimately, I’m really intrigued by all of this. Singapore has been on our travel bucket list for years as the next new-to-us place we want to visit in Asia. It was never previously on our radar as a cruise destination–more a stopover for a few days en route to or returning from Japan–but plans can change. Between my desire to visit Singapore and Sarah’s love for Disney Cruise Line, we’ll definitely be checking this out in 2025.
I also have a tremendous amount of curiosity about how this ship will be reimagined from the Global Dream, and specifically designed to appeal to the Asian market. That’s one of the things that I found most interesting about Shanghai Disneyland, which is Disney’s first truly targeted park in Asia. (As much as we love them, the parks in Tokyo and Hong Kong are largely Americanized.)
Even though I don’t gamble, I don’t really care one way or the other whether the ship has a casino. (It’s not a moral aversion, more recognition that the house always wins. We’ve visited Las Vegas, Macau, and Monaco–I love the energy around casinos, just not the “losing money” part.) It’ll be fascinating to hear the thought process behind that decision one way or the other, see what else is built and left out, and so much more.
Shanghai Disneyland is simultaneously similar to but very different from the other castle parks, and I’m expecting the same familiar-but-unique vibes from Disney Cruise Line’s seventh ship. As much as I’m looking forward to the Disney Treasure, I’m really looking forward to this!
Planning to set sail aboard one of the DCL ships? Read our comprehensive Disney Cruise Line Guide to prepare for your voyage, plus plan entertainment, activities & excursions, and learn what to expect from your Disney cruise! For personalized planning & recommendations, click here to get a cruise quote from a no-fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. They can find you all of the current discounts, and help you plan the details of your cruise!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on Disney Cruise Line’s seventh ship being based out of Singapore? What do you think about the company acquiring the partially-completed Global Dream ship? Think this is a good addition to the fleet or at-odds with the existing ships? Confident that Imagineering can transform this into a ‘Distinctly Disney’ (Cruise Line) ship, or think it’ll stick out from the rest? Thoughts on DCL’s plans for growth and expansion? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
With a Disney Cruise planned for Singapore, and various Disney events and exhibits held here, I guess they are testing the market to see if a Disneyland can be built in Singapore, whether the southern coast or islands, or the land stretch in Yio Chu Kang. Hope the magic come here and allow many South Asians and Australasians to come visit. What new attractions could be thought of? Maybe Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Muppet, Fox, Star Wars characters and scenes … classic ones as well as those not seen before. The other nature parks such as Mandai and Gardens by the Bay can be a great link. Universal Studios Singapore would complement and attract tourists there rather than compete. What do you think?
This is really exciting! I’ve only been to Singapore once, back in the 90’s, but absolutely loved it. And I’m very keen to get back to that part of the world. It will definitely be interesting to see how this ship compares to the ones built fresh by Disney. I’m 100% going to try it as soon as possible!
Singapore and Disney mentioned together makes my heart sing! Singapore is one of our favourite places in the world for many reasons…Gardens by the Bay, the amazing food, its spot as a jumping off point for visiting Vietnam, Cambodia, Bali, etc. Now, if I could only convince my husband who is resistant to trying a Disney cruise to give it a try. I really hope you get to go, Tom!
I am absolutely excited for this and was hoping Disney would fleet east! I love the idea of expanding the market and offering sailings through Asia and see a huge demand. Not to mention a way to attract more international visitors to their three Asian parks and expand the Adventures by Disney offerings.
We had been eyeing a Tokyo Disney trip in ‘25… May need to add a little oceanic tour in there as well.
What I actually dislike most about casinos is the seemingly deeply-held cultural standard that smoking must go hand-in-hand — ugh! It’s difficult to avoid the smoke even in the beautiful super fancy Las Vegas casinos. So I really hope that IF gambling is a feature of this new ship, it will remain non-smoking!
^^^ THIS.
So very much this.
I live in Singapore and am really excited about this as have always wanted to go on a DCL cruise! I always think about doing a DCL cruise whenever I visit Orlando, but end up just spending more time in the parks instead… Had actually been hoping for some time that DCL might make a stop in Singapore (especially after they announced the Aus/NZ sailings last year) – using Singapore as a home port is basically more than I had been hoping for!
Side note about travel here from the USA: I’m not sure Singapore is really in the right place geographically as a stopover for travelling between Japan and the USA – instead Japan is usually a stopover destination for a number of flights between Singapore and the USA (Singapore-Tokyo-LA for example)! But there are a number of direct flights between Singapore and the USA now so might make it easier for you to get to Singapore…
Awesome news for you, then!
I didn’t really mean stopover in the traditional (layover) sense of the term. We often do LAX->HK->Osaka…Tokyo->LAX, which is technically a stopover in Hong Kong and open-jaw between Osaka and Tokyo before returning to Los Angeles. Simply works better for us that way in terms of weather and time spent in each location. Looking forward to swapping Singapore for HK soon!
We have a sailing this summer, I will book a rebound cruise in hopes of sailing on this ship! Very excited, I would not mind the gambling on board if it is there either. Never been much for that, but if there we will probably play a little bit just for fun.
I don’t really understand the allure of cruising (we have been on one cruise on the Dream and several family members have been on cruises with different lines). It was fun, but is far down my list of ways to spend vacation time and money. That said, I must be in a minority as the industry has exploded (passenger capacity has double in the past 10-15 years) so Disney is probably making a safe bet here.
Cruising is one of those rare things that has growing appeal with both baby boomers and millennials, two outsized and influential demographics.
So it certainly makes sense from that perspective, especially since the preferences of millennial consumers will be the main driver for the travel industry for decades to come.
Thanks, Tom…his was a fascinating read. Pretty savvy move by the Disney brass for sure, and keeping this ship permanently based in SE Asia definitely makes me feel like a casino is a foregone conclusion.
I’ve actually been thinking for years that Singapore is probably the next (and possibly last) frontier for adding another castle park to the Disney roster. I feel like this ship will allow the company to gain some footing and build the parks/resorts brand in that market – and in the decades ahead, with new park(s) it could be the first locale that offers true “land and sea” packages that feel like a cohesive vacation.
I really wonder where the next castle park goes, and whether it’s built in my lifetime. Singapore sounds like it would be a great option, but also a “safe” one with less upside as compared to potential alternatives.
I’d hope that Shanghai Disneyland serves as a cautionary tale, but I fear that Disney might be willing to overlook a degree of instability and uncertainty to gain a toehold in an emerging market with a growing middle class audience.
I would absolutely love it if they ever built a Disney park in Singapore, but I suspect the main barrier to this is going to be cost and the amount of land they might be able to have especially given how small Singapore is. Universal Singapore is absolutely tiny compared to Universal Orlando and they don’t have much space for expansion, which is very sad as I would have loved a larger Universal park here.
(Side note – there are rumours and occasional articles written that apparently there was some negotiation between Singapore/Disney in the 1990s to build a Disney park in Singapore. Supposedly this is why there is an inordinately long stretch of distance between two of the MRT stations in Singapore as the space between these two stations was where the Disney park would have been built. But given that the cost of living and the cost of land have risen exponentially in Singapore since the 1990s I feel like a Singapore Disney park is even less likely now than it was then…)