Disney Cruise Ships: Newest To Oldest

Whether you’re a fan of the Disney company or not, you can’t deny that nobody does family vacations quite like the house of mouse!

DCL is pretty good at innovating – they’re known for their Imagineers, who helped to break new ground in the world of theme parks, attractions, resorts, and of course, cruise ships.

Disney Cruise Line isn’t just some basic cruise line that’s been thrown together by a company seeking to maximise profits. It brings that magical feel of a Disney resort to the sea, aboard ships that are packed with fantastic features and entertainment.

And with each new ship, there are new ideas that will inspire, excite and thrill every guest – the big kids paying for the cruise, too.

Let’s look at all of the ships in the Disney Cruise Line fleet, including those still being put together ready for the next big adventures of tomorrow.

Disney Ships – Newest to Oldest

Here’s a quick list of the Disney ships ranked from newest to oldest, including those that have been ordered from shipbuilders.

Ship name	Class	Launch	Passenger capacity
Disney Adventure	Global	2025	6,000
Disney Destiny	Wish	2025	4,000
Disney Treasure	Wish	2024	4,000
Disney Wish	Wish	2022	4,000
Disney Fantasy	Dream	2012	4,000
Disney Dream	Dream	2011	4,000
Disney Wonder	Magic	1999	2,700
Disney Magic	Magic	1998	2,700

I’ve cruised on both the newest ship, Disney Wish and the oldest ship, Disney Magic and had a great time on each! That said, there’s something a little bit special about new Disney cruise ships.

The Newest Disney Cruise Ships Being Built

There are currently three Disney cruise ships being built for the cruise line, and while we don’t know a huge amount of detail, it’s certainly exciting as each ship will no doubt bring new and exciting features.

1. Disney Adventure

Class: Global*
Size (gross tonnage): 208,000
Passenger capacity: 6,000
Launch: TBC 2025
Godmother: TBC
Character featured on the bow: TBC
Character(s) features in the Atrium: TBC
Character(s) featured on the aft: TBC

This is one of the most exciting developments in Disney’s cruise history. In late 2022, the cruise line announced that it was purchasing the unfinished ship Global Dream from Dream Cruises – a cruise line that had gone out of business.

The ship remains on course to be finished in 2025 and it will be Disney’s first ship over 200,000 gross tonnes. Only Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises have ships of this size, so it’ll be exciting to see how Disney approaches this mega ship.

We don’t know much about the ship yet – even the class name ‘Global’ is a placeholder.

But we do now know that she’ll sail out of Singapore, and offer cruises around Southeast Asia, bringing the magic of a Disney cruise to this exciting region.

2. Disney Destiny

Class: Wish
Size (gross tonnage): 144,000
Passenger capacity: 4,000
Launch: TBC 2025
Godmother: TBC
Character featured on the bow: Captain Minnie (in hero costume)
Character(s) features in the Atrium: TBC
Character(s) featured on the aft: TBC

Disney is breaking tradition with its Wish Class – not that the tradition has been long-held. While prior ship classes have been limited to two ships, the Wish Class will add a third with Disney Destiny coming in 2025.

Originally there were only two ships announced, but at the D23 Expo in 2017, the third ship was revealed, while delivery dates for the ships were shifted later due to the COVID pandemic. They had been due earlier.

While we don’t know a huge amount of detail on the particulars, the ship will have a Heroes and Villains theme and will include character encounters from movies including The Lion King, Hercules, and One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

3. Disney Treasure

Class: Wish
Size (gross tonnage): 144,000
Passenger capacity: 4,000
Launch: TBC 2024
Godmother: TBC
Character featured on the bow: Voyager Minnie
Character(s) features in the Atrium: Aladdin, Princess Jasmine and the Magic Carpet
Character(s) featured on the aft: Peter Pan & Hook

The next ship to launch for Disney, Disney Treasure was fully revealed in September 2023 at the D23 expo.

This ship will be themed around ‘adventure’ – look forward to some thrilling live shows and entertainment facilities, I’m sure. We also know that the atrium will be called the Grand Hall and inspired by palatial themes from across Asia, with references to Agrabah from the Aladdin movie series.

There’s exciting new dining and bar venues themed around Coco and the Jungle Cruise ride, a brand-new AquaMouse adventure and loads more.

Disney Treasure launches in 2025, the same year in which Disney opens Lighthouse Point, its second private island destination in the Bahamas. It, therefore, seems likely that Disney Treasure will call at the new port.

Disney’s Newest Ships Sailing Right Now

1. Disney Wish

Class: Wish
Size (gross tonnage): 144,000
Passenger capacity: 4,000
Launch: June 2022
Godmother: All Make-A-Wish children
Character featured on the bow: Captain Minnie
Character(s) features in the Atrium: Cinderella, Lucifer, Jaq and Gus
Character(s) featured on the aft: Rapunzel and Pascal

Disney Wish is the newest Disney ship currently sailing. The first of the Wish-class ships, she launched for the cruise line in June 2022. While accommodating the same number of guests as the Dream-class ships, she is around 10% bigger, with more space and more features.

It has a host of amazing things to see and do, including the Hyperspace Lounge themed around Star Wars, and the interactive dining experiences at Worlds of Marvel and Arendelle: A Frozen Dining Adventure.

Don’t miss the AquaMouse too – Disney considers it to be their first true ‘attraction’ at sea, as a waterslide with its own soundtrack, video clips, water effects and more.

2. Disney Fantasy

Class: Dream
Size (gross tonnage): 129,960
Passenger capacity: 4,000
Launch: March 2012
Godmother: Mariah Carey
Character featured on the bow: Sorcerer Mickey
Character(s) features in the Atrium: Mademoiselle Minnie
Character(s) featured on the aft: Dumbo and Timothy Q. Mouse

The second Dream-class ship to launch, Disney Fantasy, is almost identical to Disney Dream. The main differences are the addition of the Aqua Lab splash zone and play area, the Muppets Mystery game, and a different experience at the Animator’s Palate restaurant, called Animation Magic – where guests can design their own characters and see them animated on the screens.

The ship did launch with a couple of other exclusive features, including the Satellite Sun Deck and the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique which offers princess transformations for younger guests, but those have since been added to the Dream.

3. Disney Dream

Class: Dream
Size (gross tonnage): 129,960
Passenger capacity: 4,000
Launch: January 2011
Godmother: Jennifer Hudson
Character featured on the bow: Captain Mickey
Character(s) features in the Atrium: Admiral Donald
Character(s) featured on the aft: Sorcerer Mickey

Disney Dream launched a new class of ship for the cruise line, and with it came a wealth of exciting features. The ship is over 50% bigger than the Disney Wonder and Disney Magic, and it shows, with the sheer variety of things to see and do on board.

Expect themed live shows at night, two theatres (one for live Disney theatre shows and the other for screening first-run and classic movies), interactive dining venues and the AquaDuck, a thrilling water slide that loops around the top deck.

4. Disney Wonder

Class: Magic
Size (gross tonnage): 84,130
Passenger capacity: 2,700
Launch: August 1999
Godmother: Tinker Bell
Character featured on the bow: Steamboat Willie
Character(s) features in the Atrium: Ariel
Character(s) featured on the aft: Donald, Huey, Dewey and Louie

Disney Wonder is the sister ship of Disney Magic, and overall she’s very similar, sharing many of the most popular features including the Marvel Super Hero Academy and the Wide World of Sports Deck.

The live show is themed around Frozen, rather than Tangled, and the Wonder is missing the AquaDunk waterslide, although it does still have the Twist ‘n’ Spout slide that also appears on Magic.

5. Disney Magic

Class: Magic
Size (gross tonnage): 84,130
Passenger capacity: 2,700
Launch: July 1998
Godmother: Patricia Disney
Character featured on the bow: Sorcerer Mickey
Character(s) features in the Atrium: Helmsman Mickey
Character(s) featured on the aft: Goofy

Disney Magic is the oldest Disney cruise ship, though she has been updated with refurbishments, the latest in 2018. So while she is a little more dated than the more recent ships, she isn’t tired and she still retains all of that magic (get it?) that made her so special when she first launched as the first Disney cruise ship.

Highlights of the ship include Tangled: The Musical in the ship’s theatre, the AquaDunk waterslide (not to be confused with the AquaDuck on later ships), the varied dining venues including Animator’s Palate, and the Frozen deck party.

Read more: Disney Magic Review

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To Conclude

Every new ship from Disney brings a lot of exciting new features to enjoy, including amazing interactive experiences and attractions to suit all ages.

It’ll be really interesting over the next couple of years to see how the upcoming ships are looking, and whether any more will be announced – so keep checking back here for the latest details.

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.