Two New Ships for Disney Cruise Line (Announcement + Article by Dave) About This Page:

[WFMA]

Anyone have any new news

[Disneybine]

Neat!

[Dave Marx]

The names haven't been released. Someone saw those names in the background of a photo of the announcement of the new agreement with Port Canaveral. It's not official until Disney officially announces it. Meantime, anything seen in an artist's rendering is not necessarily final. Those may turn out to be the names, but we won't know for, perhaps, several years.

[Disneybine]

Oh, that's too bad. I really liked those names. Here's hoping that's what they'll actually be called

[emagould]

My kids have talked off and on for over a year about the names.
Those names are okay. I guess you have to get something that people will remember, but to me they sound like the names of the "other" cruiselines that were always parked next to us in port. You know, ,the ones with the rowdy (and drunk in the middle of the day) teenagers/young adults, on who screamed inappropriate things at the little kids on our Ship that were unfortunate enough to be looking that way.
Made me realize I would probably never go on any other line....

[dmpyron]

There really aren't many names left. I kind of like the Solstice, but I've never been a fan of the Constellation. The Princess names all drag out a little and too many first timers have trouble pronouncing the HAL names. And now we've got two Freedoms and two Liberties.

I'm dead certain they won't use character or movie names, so that really doesn't leave many choices.

[mouseclub4]

I just got a email and in there was a story or news update. You have to log into you castaway club account with Disneyto read it........but the have given the Disney flag to the ship yard and it will fly there until the ship is done. Looks like they are working on it. I can not wait......We want to sail so bad on the new ship and are already planning on it.

[mouseclub4]

Here is a copy of that news story for those of you who have not sailed yet......

On Board News!
It's never been easier to check in...onboard!
A brand-new airline service allows eligible guests to check in for their post-cruise flights while on board Disney Magic® or Disney Wonder®. Boarding passes will be delivered to Guests' staterooms the day prior to disembarkation. No collecting or checking luggage. It will be picked up and transported directly from the ship to the Guest's flight.

New Ship News A new flag makes it official. In a ceremonial welcome, the Disney Cruise Line® team presented Meyer Werft Shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, with an official company flag. It will fly there for the next few years as work continues to move forward on the design, development and build for the company's two new cruise liners.

Youth Activities Update
It's spread across the nation. It's invaded countless households. Now...it's onboard Disney Cruise Line: the Nintendo Wii™.

Guests will find Nintendo Wii™ onboard Disney Magic® and Disney Wonder® in select areas: Aloft and The Stack (teens), the Oceaneer Lab (8-12 year olds) and in Diversions (family activities).

Kids, teens and whole families can take part in competitions in racing, tennis, bowling and even Disney-themed games. The latest installments and games will continually be added for Guests' enjoyment.

[Dave Marx]

Is nothing sacred? It seems one of the Carnival ships currently on order for delivery in 2011 will be the Carnival Magic. So much for being worried that someone else is already using a name that Disney might want to use.

[Dave Marx]

Yes, it's legal. It's very hard to get trademark or copyright protection for simple words like wonder and magic. The words are already out there in common usage, so trademark and copyright law treat them as something in the public domain. Adding a trademarked name (such as Disney) to a common word only gives protection to the entire title - it can't be used as a tactic for claiming sole ownership of that common word.

Probably, a judge would say something like this, "Including the brand names 'Disney' and 'Carnival' in the ships names is enough to avoid possible consumer confusion between one and the other."

It's one of those situations that cuts two ways. Disney does lots of this itself, so if they brought a legal challenge against Carnival, Disney might be shooting itself in the foot regarding names such as "Disney's Animal Kingdom."

[sueh818]

Would they want to? The name doesn't exactly inspire confidence!

[Dave Marx]

Yes, they might be able to. First off, did White Star Line obtain a trademark on the name? If they did, were they able to maintain ownership of the trademark after the ship went down, and did White Star's successor, Cunard, continue to do what was necessary to maintain this hypothetical trademark (continue to use it in commerce and renew the trademark registration)?

Outside of trademark law, there are maritime customs regarding ship naming, and for all I know, there may be some international maritime law that addresses it. That's beyond my particular expertise as a publisher who holds a trademark and various copyrights.

Regardless, why name any cruise ship Titanic, Lusitania, Andrea Doria, or Poseidon? I don't think any sailor would consider that to be a good omen, and it'd be as commercially viable as Hindenberg Airlines.

[Hartster]

Probably urban legend, but the story is that Paramount - owners of the Star Trek franchise - tried to register USS Enterprise as a trademark, until the US Navy said, "Nope." If anything, the tale has credence because when Kirk's ship is mentioned in print by Paramount or in Paramount works, it's usually as Starship Enterprise.

[Dave Marx]

Trademark applications are always open to a public comment period before the Patent and Trademark Office rules on the application. Perhaps things did happen as you describe with Star Trek. I suspect that, even without the Navy's comment, the trademark examiner would have rejected the application. When a name is already out in common usage, a trademark applicant has to show how their particular use of the term has already become the public's dominant association with that name. In other words, if Paramount had used "USS Enterprise" (rather than "NCC Enterprise" or "Starship Enterprise" or "United Federation of Planets (UFP) Enterprise") Paramount might have had to demonstrate that the fame of their "USS Enterprise" was so great that all other ships by that name were forgotten. The story is somewhat questionable, though, simply because "USS" wouldn't be used by a United Federation of Planets, and the notion of a united community of planets is pretty fundamental to the back story of Star Trek. Also, science fiction writers understand that creating new cultural/governmental institutions is one of the ways they establish their story is set in the future, rather than the present. While I can't say "busted" with any authority, I (obviously) think the story is questionable.

[mouseclub4]

Anything new on the ships. I can not wait. We are planning on sailing in 2011 on the new one if we can.