Disney Dream Begins to Take Shape

Disney Cruise Line® is celebrating the keel laying of the Disney Dream Cruise Ship, the first of two newly designed ships destined to expand family cruise options to more places around the world in 2011.

Video: Keel Laying Ceremony (Adobe Flash)

Shipyard Ceremony
In the maritime industry, the keel-laying ceremony marks a momentous occasion when the first block – or section – of the ship is lowered into the building dock and a coin is placed under the keel for good fortune.

Captain Tom Forberg had the honor of placing the coin. With a distinguished maritime career, Forberg was the first crew member hired and the captain who launched the Disney Magic® and Disney Wonder® Cruise Ships. Recently, he was named as the future Master of the Disney Dream Cruise Ship.

The ship will continue to take its form through a block-construction process at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

Designing the Disney Dream
The Disney Dream Cruise Ship is scheduled to join the current fleet in 2011, followed by the Disney Fantasy Cruise Ship in 2012. Together, the two new ocean liners will more than double the capacity of Disney Cruise Line, each having 1,250 staterooms and a tonnage of 128,000.

Bringing together innovation in superb shipbuilding and creativity in imaginative storytelling, Disney Cruise Line and Walt Disney Imagineering, along with the Meyer Werft shipyard, have created a truly distinctive design.

Like the existing ships, these ocean liners are designed to deliver a unique vacation that every member of the family believes was created just for them. Design details will be revealed later this fall.

Homeports
Both new ocean liners will homeport in Port Canaveral, Fla. Expansion efforts are underway to accommodate the larger ships and additional Guests.

In addition to an extension of the dock and enlargements to the one-of-a-kind Disney terminal building, a new multi-level parking structure is being built, complementing the design and storytelling elements of the ships..