Disney Cruise Line Reveals New Style of Ship as Fleet Massively Expands

Disney Cruise Line is in the middle of a massive expansion. When it’s all said and done, Disney will have more than tripled its fleet in less than a decade. Disney revealed a key component in this expansion.

After building five new cruise ships with the same template, Disney announced a new style of cruise ship coming. Keep reading to learn everything we know about this ambitious new era for Disney Cruise Line. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including 13 new ride reveals for Disney’s biggest theme park projects and 14 huge Disney movie and TV show announcements.

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New Disney Cruise Line Ship Class

Disney Cruise Line new ships announcement
Concept art via Disney

Disney Cruise Line is expanding its fleet to a total of 13 ships by 2031. Eight ships are already sailing, meaning five more are on the way.

Disney Cruise Line has four classes, or categories, of ships. Ships in the same class were generally built around the same time and share much of the same size, layout, and amenities.

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The most recent Disney ships belong to the Wish and Adventure classes. The Wish class consists of the Disney Wish, the Disney Treasure, the Disney Destiny, plus the upcoming Disney Believe and a future unnamed ship sailing from Tokyo. The Adventure class’s sole occupant is the Disney Adventure.

If you’ve been doing the math as we go along, that means three future Disney Cruise Line ships had previously been announced, but without specifics about which class they would belong to or what to expect. Walt Disney Imagineers and executives unveiled a small portion of those details at 2026’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, as part of a special presentation called Horizons: A Carousel of Progress, aka the Disney Experiences Showcase.

Disney Cruise Line on screen

Three future ships in Disney Cruise Line’s expansion will belong to a new class, beginning in 2029.

The size of those ships will be in between the classic ships and the most recent, larger ships. In other words, this class of ships will be bigger than the Disney Wonder, but smaller than the Disney Wish.

Disney did not announce the name of the new class or the names of the ships.

Some might wonder why Disney isn’t building more ships in the Adventure Class. The Disney Adventure exists as a one-off design due to Disney having purchased it from a different company while construction was already underway, rather than designing the ship itself. Therefore, when given the choice, Disney would rather craft a new class of ship based on its own preferences rather than build more ships resembling a design that it inherited from someone else.

Timeline for New Disney Cruise Line Ships

Disney Cruise Line ship artwork with calendar
Image via Disney

Disney Cruise Line has five ships coming up.

The Disney Believe will be first, in late 2027. The Tokyo ship and the unnamed debut ship in the new class will both debut in 2029, followed by the second new class ship in late 2029 and the third new class ship in late 2030.

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Breakdown of All Disney Cruise Line Ship Classes

disney cruise grand hall disney destiny cruise ship with marvel loki scene

Magic Class (84,000 tons | 2,700 passengers)

  • Disney Magic, 1998
  • Disney Wonder, 1999

Dream Class (130,000 tons | 4,000 passengers)

  • Disney Dream, 2011
  • Disney Fantasy, 2012

Wish Class (144,000 tons | 4,000 passengers)

  • Disney Wish, 2022
  • Disney Treasure, 2024
  • Disney Destiny, 2025
  • Disney Believe, 2027
  • Ship sailing from Tokyo, 2029

Adventure Class (208,000 tons | 6,700 passengers)

  • Disney Adventure, 2026

The Disney Cruise Line news is one of many Disney announcements just revealed. Click here to see all the news revealed at D23 with our ongoing coverage!

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About Blake Taylor

Blake Taylor is Senior Writer at Mickey Visit. He has been writing about The Walt Disney Company and the entertainment industry since age 12, when Pixar hosted the world premiere of Cars in Blake’s hometown. Thousands of Blake’s news articles have appeared in Attractions Magazine, /Film, Looper, Explore, Rotoscopers, WDW Radio, The Muppet Mindset, and The Main Street Gazette. Blake is an alumnus of the Disney College Program. Education: Communications at Appalachian State University | Favorite Disney attraction: Fantasmic! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

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