| more speculation on new ships
I thought the speculation posted was right on for the most part, but I would question whether they would put one of the big new ships on the West Coast at all. If you look at what other cruise lines have in the California/Mexico Market, they usually offer their smaller, older vessels. Since Disney could easily fill bigger ships in their established Carribean/Bahamas market, it seems more likely they would put one of the older ships on the West coast, where it could easily compete with most of the other cruise lines' offerings there. Meanwhile the bigger ships could compete head to head with the Carribean mega ships like RCL's Freedom of the Seas etc. (Disney's ships are still unique, but their competitors have come a long way in adding children's facilities and so forth, so I'm sure they have begun to draw away the family crowd from DCL at least a little.) I realize the west coast Disney cruises have sold out quickly, but they are special cruises... Once they have a permanent ship there, I would think demand would settle down a bit. In short, I imagine the new ships taking over the current Wonder and Magic itineraries, with the smaller ships available for the West coast and more exotic cruises. Just my humble opinion. I do agree that it's a disticnt possibility that they will lengthen the existing ships, in order to add competitive features to keep up with other newer ships. After all, by the time the new Disney ships come on line, Magic and Wonder will be middle aged by cruise line standards, and will be in need of major updates. |