It's no coincidence that at the center of the elaborate
scrollwork on the prow of the first ship for Disney Cruises is Mickey Mouse
in his role as the Sorcerer's Apprentice. It serves notice that Disney is
determined to sprinkle its special kind of pixie dust on everything to do
with its venture into cruising.
Externally, the Disney Magic, and its sister, Disney Wonder, which enters service towards the end of this year, have classic lines reminiscent of the great liners of the past. Inside, the ships offer all the entertainment and amenities of today's most advanced cruiseliners and shoreside resorts-except, that is, for a casino. And, everywhere there are Disney touches. Innovations include "rotation dining." Guests dine in different dining rooms on successive evenings, but their table companions and servers move on with them. Disney claims the Magic will offer "more entertainment than any ship afloat," and facilities include a 975-seat three-deck-high theater offering a different Broadway quality show on each night of the cruise. What travel industry insiders will look for from Disney Cruise Line, though, are some of the less obvious, but equally significant Disney skills-management of people and baggage movement.
Disney Magic cruises are being sold as a component of a "seamless" resort and cruise vacation consisting of three or four days at a Walt Disney World resort followed by a three to four day cruise round trip from Port Canaveral to Nassau and Castaway Cay, Disney's private Bahamian island. When guests check at the resort hotel, they have already checked in for the entire vacation-the hotel room key is also the key to the Disney Magic stateroom. The transition from resort to cruise is made even simpler by the fact that Disney is the first cruise line to design and build its own terminal.
Disney Cruise Lines determined what it wanted in the ships long before it went shopping for a shipyard and eventually selected Fincantieri. President Arthur Rodney, says "we approached it in a new way. Our design work was done far in advance of the shipbuilding contract to take into consideration our three distinct audiences-children, families, and adults-to determine the size and feel of our ships."
Rodney is a 25 year cruise industry veteran, whose professional career began as a certified accountant. In 1970, after he successfully negotiated the purchase of Princess Cruises from Boise Cascade, he became the line's VP finance. By 1981, he had become chairman. In 1987, he was asked by NYK to develop a luxury cruise line. That led to the founding of Crystal Cruises, where he became president and CEO. He joined Disney in 1994.
At 85,000 grt, the Disney ships are not the largest in the world, but at 964 ft long and 106 ft wide, they are at the very limit of what can transit the Panama Canal. The design effort drew on a broad spectrum of talent. The exterior architecture of the ships is the work of Norway's Njal R. Eide while the naval architecture and marine engineering are the responsibility of Deltamarin of Finland. Other designers involved include Yran & Storbraaten of Norway, the Rockwell Group (responsible for the interiors of nearly all the Planet Hollywood restaurants ), and Walt Disney Imagineering, which was responsible for the children's areas and for adding "distinctly Disney detailing" throughout the ship.
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