Does Disney Cruise Line Have Plans to Purchase Abandoned Cruise Ship?

[Winston Wolf]

Yeah, lots of unknowns and rumors floating around.

I think MV Werften WANTS the new buyer to finish the ship there so they can re-hire the 900 or so people laid off over than pandemic. No matter what, MV Werften would have to do some of the work as there are still staterooms, equipment, waterslides, etc that are in storage at the shipyard but not yet installed.

I am sure Disney would prefer Meyer Werft to do it since they have the expertise. I suppose the question is does Werft have the space for it and capacity to do the work? They are scheduled years in advance to build ships, so brining this one to them might only work if they delay Treasure and use the people/shipyard space for this job instead.

Also, moving the ship from Rostock to Wismar was relatively close...I don't know enough about moving cruise ships, but I assume they COULD get the ship to Papenburg?

Or is it possible for Werft to be the company to finish it, but to do the work in Wismar? I don't; know how the relationship between all these shipyards works.

I think this thing is waaaaay too big to transit the Ems river to get it to Papenburg. What I've read was that the ship would be completed at Wismar under the direction of Meyer Werft.

 

[Scalemaster34]

I think this thing is waaaaay too big to transit the Ems river to get it to Papenburg. What I've read was that the ship would be completed at Wismar under the direction of Meyer Werft.

Yeah I get the feeling that a big part of these negotiations center around keeping those 950 workers in Wismar employed... till the new owners restart the yards the first of 2024. And less about how much the Government can recoup from their investment into this.

But based on how the other big Cruise lines are doing financially, I doubt there is much competition for this Hull. Disney might be getting an offer they can't refuse.

I do wonder, most big cruise lines have different brands.... nothing says that this has to be a "Disney" ship. Disney could open a new division, that would operate this ship out of Asia without the normal Disney magic or branding.

 

[jrapps]

Yeah I get the feeling that a big part of these negotiations center around keeping those 950 workers in Wismar employed... till the new owners restart the yards the first of 2024. And less about how much the Government can recoup from their investment into this.

But based on how the other big Cruise lines are doing financially, I doubt there is much competition for this Hull. Disney might be getting an offer they can't refuse.

I do wonder, most big cruise lines have different brands.... nothing says that this has to be a "Disney" ship. Disney could open a new division, that would operate this ship out of Asia without the normal Disney magic or branding.

Except the other major cruise companies subsidiary brands were all thru acquisition. I don't think any cruise line has started their own sub-brand from scratch.

I also question whether Disney would offer a cruise without their magic and branding. Those are their defining features. To offer a product without them doesn't seem like their business model.

I think a Disney cruise can do great in Asia, and I can see them making a "Disney Cruise Asia" division if they need to slightly differentiate the look and feel of the product, but a Disney cruise without the "Disney" just doesn't make sense.

 

[nikem3]

Except the other major cruise companies subsidiary brands were all thru acquisition. I don't think any cruise line has started their own sub-brand from scratch.

I also question whether Disney would offer a cruise without their magic and branding. Those are their defining features. To offer a product without them doesn't seem like their business model.

I think a Disney cruise can do great in Asia, and I can see them making a "Disney Cruise Asia" division if they need to slightly differentiate the look and feel of the product, but a Disney cruise without the "Disney" just doesn't make sense.

I disagree slightly. I think an adult Disney branded cruise could do great. Subtle Disney touches (think hidden mickeys throughout or small characters in the art work) but not overbearing. High end entertainment shows that can still be Disney, no characters except maybe in the kids clubs. I think there would be a large desire for that. Especially for people who LOVE cruising but aren't the biggest Disney fans. This would kind of be that middle ground. Market it under the "storytelling" brand or something along those lines.

I agree that most other sub brands have been from acquisition, but Disney has financial backing to make something like that happen. There is definitely a demographic of cruisers they are missing out on and I'm sure they've thought about ways to try and bring those people in.

 

[iannovich]

I vote for "Pleasure Island Cruises" as a adult oriented subsidiary brand name, lol.

 

[Jocelynaus]

I don’t think this ship is that ship though it has a really garish theme park.

I expect the concierge and spa areas would be luxury first, Disney second and the rest of the ship usual family fare of characters and heavy theming.

It looks in the last video like the main restaurant could have screens over the windows, that could do amazing Star Wars things. It has 2 funnels but they are beside each other, they are not installed, the NPR report shows them on the ground so I expect they will be replaced rather than installed. It looks like the whole top deck may not be done yet.

If you’ve never been to Asian parks, the line for Duffy at Aulani being twice as long as Mickey’s gives an idea. I’d expect a different character offering, more shows, heavy food focus and merchandise galore if it stayed in Asia. Which I would love as it would probably come to Australia.

 

[nikem3]

I don’t think this ship is that ship though it has a really garish theme park.

I expect the concierge and spa areas would be luxury first, Disney second and the rest of the ship usual family fare of characters and heavy theming.

It looks in the last video like the main restaurant could have screens over the windows, that could do amazing Star Wars things. It has 2 funnels but they are beside each other, they are not installed, the NPR report shows them on the ground so I expect they will be replaced rather than installed. It looks like the whole top deck may not be done yet.

If you’ve never been to Asian parks, the line for Duffy at Aulani being twice as long as Mickey’s gives an idea. I’d expect a different character offering, more shows and merchandise galore if it stayed in Asia. Which I would love as it would probably come to Australia.

Just make a giant floating Starcruiser. Can even keep the casino and make it a star wars looking casino (Think the casino in the Last Jedi)

 

[jrapps]

I don’t think this ship is that ship though it has a really garish theme park.

I expect the concierge and spa areas would be luxury first, Disney second and the rest of the ship usual family fare of characters and heavy theming.

It looks in the last video like the main restaurant could have screens over the windows, that could do amazing Star Wars things. It has 2 funnels but they are beside each other, they are not installed, the NPR report shows them on the ground so I expect they will be replaced rather than installed. It looks like the whole top deck may not be done yet.

If you’ve never been to Asian parks, the line for Duffy at Aulani being twice as long as Mickey’s gives an idea. I’d expect a different character offering, more shows and merchandise galore if it was an Asian sailing.

Regardless if this ship is going to the US or Asia, if DCL buys this, that garish theme park will be the first thing to be thrown out! Disney will likely spend more money modifying and re-theming the ship than they spend to buy the hull.

 

[brentm77]

Think the casino in the Last Jedi

Can I please not? I've tried so hard to forget it.

 

[maui2k5]

BREAKING!!! New artwork just released for the Star Wars casino on the Golden Dream - LOL…

 

[iannovich]

The artwork was provided by someone named "DJ".... he looked suspiciously like The Collector.

 

[jrapps]

Does anyone speak German? A news story on German NDR TV but my German is limited to "Pretzel" and "Sauerkraut"

https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendun...isney-die-Global-Dream,nordmagazin100570.html

They did this cool animation where they "repainted" the ship

 

[iannovich]

Very very (very) rough translation thanks to google translate:
She starts out saying it was not going to be completed, but now there is hope that Disney can complete it, and it is easy to imagine what it would look like as a Disney ship, joining the design of the other 5 ships.
She says the insolvency administrator is laying low and the responsible minister won't comment.
The first guy (I'm guessing the insolvency administrator) is saying that he can't comment because the negotiations are very confidential and don't want the information t o become public and they could lose the potential buyer as a result.
The second guy says is a good sign that the transfer contract has been extended a month and is hopeful that it can transition smoothly because it will have a great employment effect in Wismer.
She then says instead of a casino ship for the Asian region it would apparently become a family friendly amusement park for an American customer base and that such a conversion would also come with challenges.
I think third guy is talking about changing the ship for uses in different regions and complying with regulations with the handover (I'm not clear on whether the regulations are environmental or just legally taking ownership. this is the translation: "and that a terrible commercial issue of change of use takes place that another use is experienced then drives that is the area or is the country where the end result is that the regulations are changing that other regulations must be complied with in connection with the handover" (What now?).
Then the reporter says that "according the NDR information" Meyer Werft should take over management of the construction for this challenge (so that points to environmental? or maybe it is just completing the ship in the first place) and Meyer Werft are confident they can complete it.
The next guy is concerned about the jobs for the people in Wismar... that not everyone may be employed and something about wanting additional jobs somewhere (ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems) in connection at the same time (or possibly after the Global Dream is gone and it becomes the potential Submarine facility. (ThyssenKrupp does make submarine systems, so it may be that he's hoping that they workers they bring back for the Global Dream can keep their jobs at the yard after the ship is complete)
She wraps ups by saying if the purchase can go through it will take a few more weeks.

 

[jrapps]

That is awesome, thanks for the translation!

 

[OKW Lover]

instead of a casino ship for the Asian region it would apparently become a family friendly amusement park for an American customer base

Maybe Universal?

 

[darnheather]

Maybe Universal?

Harry Potter and the Cruise to No Where

 

[WaltFanRob]

Yeah I get the feeling that a big part of these negotiations center around keeping those 950 workers in Wismar employed... till the new owners restart the yards the first of 2024. And less about how much the Government can recoup from their investment into this.

But based on how the other big Cruise lines are doing financially, I doubt there is much competition for this Hull. Disney might be getting an offer they can't refuse.

I do wonder, most big cruise lines have different brands.... nothing says that this has to be a "Disney" ship. Disney could open a new division, that would operate this ship out of Asia without the normal Disney magic or branding.

I agree with this completely about the jobs. It wouldn't even surprise me if Disney is able to buy it for LESS than the scrap value because they would be guaranteeing those jobs while it is refitted/completed. If there are no other bidders, Disney will be in an excellent negotiation position and could end up having a completed ship that is twice the size of the Wish for half the price.

 

[OKW Lover]

If there are no other bidders, Disney will be in an excellent negotiation position

I'd have to think that there would be several other bidders. Not just the big lines like Royal, NCL and Carnival, but also several lesser known lines that primarily operate in other parts of the world. It probably makes more sense for those lines as they don't have a unique standard to live up to like Disney does.

 

[Kennywood]

.

 

[mlayton14]

I'd have to think that there would be several other bidders. Not just the big lines like Royal, NCL and Carnival, but also several lesser known lines that primarily operate in other parts of the world. It probably makes more sense for those lines as they don't have a unique standard to live up to like Disney does.

Dunno - those 3 major lines are literally swimming in debt - the most recent bond offering was sold at junk yields I believe - how would they fund this ? Plus Not sure they want more ships especially with a recession staring them in the face.