New Disney cruise ship, Fantasy, on its way to New York
It"s official: The Disney Cruise Line is now a four-ship company.
Disney executives on Thursday formally took possession of the line"s newest vessel, the 2,500-passenger Disney Fantasy, at a ceremony in Bremerhaven, Germany -- one of the last major milestones before the ship"s maiden voyage in March.
The 130,000-ton Disney Fantasy has been under construction for more than a year at Germany"s Meyer Werft shipyard. It"ll remain in Bremerhaven for several days before setting sail for New York, where it will officially be named on March 1.
A sister to the much-heralded Disney Dream, which debuted last year, the Disney Fantasy is arriving as Disney gears up for a major expansion that includes its first cruises out of New York, Seattle and Galveston, Texas. The two new ships are Disney"s first in more than a decade and together are more than doubling the line"s capacity.
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The Disney Fantasy will be similar but not identical to the Disney Dream. In December, the line unveiled plans for a new show on the Fantasy called Wishes, and the ship also will have a new nighttime entertainment district for adults called Europa and an elaborate new dinner show. See illustrations of what Disney is planning.
Like the Disney Dream, the Disney Fantasy also will boast an innovative "water coaster" called AquaDuck that wra