Niles: More California cruises could be a win for Disney
Disney last week took another step in an unprecedented expansion of its cruise business. But will that expansion reach California?
Disney Cruise Line last week held previews of its new Disney Treasure cruise ship. I sailed on a three-night preview from Port Canaveral in Florida. On Disney Treasure, Disney’s Imagineers have leaned into the parks with lounges themed to Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise and the defunct 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction at Walt Disney World.
Disney Treasure is a sister of the Disney Wish that launched in 2022. A third vessel in this new class of ships, Disney Destiny, will start sailing from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., next November. A fourth ship in the Wish class, yet to be named, will sail from Japan by the end of the decade.
Each ship in the Wish class offers about 1,250 staterooms. Yet Disney will launch an even bigger ship, Disney Adventure, in December 2025. That ship will sail exclusively from Singapore and hold more than 2,000 cabins. Completing this wave of expansion will be four more ships, which were announced at the D23 event in Anaheim in August. Fans are still awaiting details on the size and names of those ships, as well as information on where they will sail.
With the fleet expanding to 13 ships within the next 10 years, might one of them make California its year-round home? I asked that question last month to Thomas Mazloum, who heads Disney Cruise Line as the president of Disney’s New Experiences Portfolio & Disney Signature Experiences.
Right now, Disney sails cruises from San Diego to Mexico for about two months each spring. Those go on one of the cruise line’s two smaller, original ships, Disney Wonder, before it sails north to Alaska for the summer season. But Southern California might be the largest market for Disney fans in the world, with millions of Disneyland visitors and Magic Key passholders.
“The West Coast is, no doubt, one of our priorities in the future,” Mazloum told me. “So without me making an official announcement here — I think you will understand that — I think there’s a lot to look forward to both on both coasts, including the West Coast.”
Disney’s ships are all flagged to The Bahamas. As a result, thanks to the 1886 Passenger Vessel Services Act, any cruise from the United States must call at an international port at some point during its voyage. From California, that means Mexico. Yet Mexico is planning to charge higher port fees for cruise ships. Other cruise lines are pushing back against that to keep fares low, but Disney never has been a low-fare cruise.
With no casinos or unlimited drink packages, but abundant family entertainment designed to appeal across generations, the economics and passenger demographics are very different on Disney. Yet with crowds packing Disneyland throughout the year now, Californians seem to have an insatiable demand for Disney.
More Disney cruises sailing from local ports could help satisfy that demand, filling Mexican ports — even with higher fees. That could make a big West Coast cruise expansion a winner for Disney and its fans.