Disney Cruise Line

Disney Cruise Line is an American cruise ship company owned by The Walt Disney Company and headquartered in Celebration, Florida. The business is run by President Tom McAlpin as part of the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division.

It operates two ships, the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder, along with Castaway Cay, a private island in the Bahamas designed as an exclusive port of call for Disney's ships.

The Disney Magic began operation July 30, 1998. The Disney Wonder began operation August 15, 1999. The ships each contain 875 staterooms and are virtually identical in their design, with a few variations in restaurants and entertainment venues. Both contain areas designed exclusively for various age groups, including toddlers, young kids, teens, and adults.

They are the first in the industry to be designed and built from the keel up as family cruise liners, with the goal of accommodating parents and children. Unlike most ships of their type, they do not include casinos.

Unlike most ship's horns, which have a single or two-tone sound, the horns on both Disney ships play a seven-note melody from When You Wish Upon a Star, in addition to the traditional horn.

Disney Cruise Line was created in 1995 when the company commissioned its two ships at Fincantieri in Italy, ending an arrangement with Premier Cruises for the maritime segment of its vacation packages.

New ships

Disney Cruise Lines announced on February 22, 2007 that two new ships are to be added to its fleet in 2011 and 2012. The ships are to be built by Meyer Werft shipyard, based in Papenburg, Germany. They will be 330 m long and 37 m wide. These newest 122,000 ton ships will be 2 decks taller than the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder and will have 1,250 staterooms each. The ships have not yet been named. Disney Cruise Line has negotiated with the Port Canaveral port authority and has extended their contract for 15 more years, through 2022 at least. As part of this contract the port authority will expand and upgrade the dock in order to accommodate the new ships (both of which will be home-ported there) and the terminal will be enlarged to accommodate more passengers and luggage and finally a parking garage will be built and completed by 2011.