The rapidly expanding Disney Cruise Line plans to offer voyages out of three new ports in 2012: New York, Seattle and Galveston, Texas.
The cruise division of the Disney theme park empire says the 1,754-passenger Disney Magic, currently alternating between home ports in Florida and Spain, will move to New York in May 2012 for a series of 20 voyages through the fall. The ship then will reposition to Galveston in September for a series of 12 voyages.
The company says the 1,754-passenger Disney Wonder, which is spending this coming summer sailing to Alaska out of Vancouver, B.C., will move to Seattle for the summer of 2012 as it continues sailings to Alaska.
The announcement comes as the line is in the midst of unveiling two new ships that are more than doubling its capacity and allowing for a wider array of itineraries. The 2,500-passenger Disney Dream, which debuted in February, has taken up the line’s traditional three-, four- and five-day sailings out of Port Canaveral, Fla., and will be joined in Florida in 2012 by a sister ship, the 2,500-passenger Disney Fantasy.
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Disney’s new voyages out of New York, to be announced today at a press conference in the city, will include three different itineraries:
– Eight-night Bahamas cruises that include stops in Nassau, Bahamas; Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island in the Bahamas; and Port Canaveral, Fla., as a gateway to Disney World near Orlando. Disney says passengers will receive a one-day Disney World Park Hopper ticket and roundtrip transportation between Port Canaveral and Disney World to use during the Port Canaveral stop. Fares for the trips start at $1,240 per person.
– Five-night cruises to Canada that include stops in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Saint John, New Brunswick. Fares for the trips start at $715 per person.
– Two-night sampler cruises that offer a single day at sea and no port calls. There will be three such departures in 2012, on June 15, July 13 and Aug. 10. Fares start at $370 per person.
The new Galveston sailings on the Magic, beginning Sept. 22, 2012, will be seven-night trips to the Western Caribbean. The ship will call in Grand Cayman and Mexico’s Costa Maya and Cozumel. Fares will start at $840 per person.
The Disney Wonder’s new sailings to Alaska out of Seattle will be similar to this summer’s sailings out Vancouver. Starting on May 28, 2012, the ship will sail a total of 14 seven-night cruises from Seattle with stops in Tracy Arm, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan, Alaska, as well as Victoria, British Columbia. Fares will start at $917 per person.
Disney says the Disney Wonder also will sail a series of four seven-night Pacific Coast cruises in 2012 from Los Angeles to San Francisco, San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico (scheduled for Sept. 16, Sept. 23, Sept. 30 and Oct. 7). Rates for those voyages will start at $770 per person.
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In addition, for the first time, the Disney Wonder will offer a single 15-night voyage to Hawaii from Los Angeles, with calls on Hilo; Kahului, Maui; Honolulu, Oahu; Nawiliwili, Kauai and Ensenada, Mexico. Rates for the voyage, which begins on April 29, 2012, will start at $1,800 per person.
The Disney Wonder also will continue to offer a number of sailings to the Mexican Riviera out of Los Angeles in 2012.
The line will open bookings for the new voyages on Friday.
