Castaway Cay in the Bahamas

22 January 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Flying Dutchman at Castaway Cay © EmbraerSkyPilot

Flying Dutchman at Castaway Cay © EmbraerSkyPilot

Castaway Cay is a private island in the Bahamas which serves as an exclusive port for the Disney Cruise Line ships Disney Wonder, Disney Magic, Disney Dream, and Disney Fantasy. It is located near Great Abaco Island, and was formerly known as Gorda Cay. It is owned in full by The Walt Disney Company, giving them substantial control over the experience of visitors to the island. A post office on the island has special Bahamian postage specific to Disney Cruise Line, and a “Castaway Cay” postmark.   read more…

The Disney Dream

23 December 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships Reading Time:  15 minutes

© www.schiffgiganten.de - Patrick Martini

© www.schiffgiganten.de – Patrick Martini

The Disney Dream is Disney Cruises’ newest cruise ship and was launched in January 2011 at a gala inaugural christening celebration with past Disney singer and Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson as her godmother.   read more…

The Disney Fantasy

1 January 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  7 minutes

Disney Fantasy arriving in New York © Stjanss and mriedel/cc-by-sa-3.0

Disney Fantasy arriving in New York © Stjanss and mriedel/cc-by-sa-3.0

Disney Fantasy is a cruise ship of the American cruise company Disney Cruise Line, part of The Walt Disney Company. Disney Fantasy is the fourth ship in the cruise line. In February 2007, Disney Cruise Line announced that it had commissioned two new ships for its fleet. The first steel-cut, for scrollwork on the ship’s hull, took place in March 2009 at the Meyer Werft shipyards in Papenburg. Later that month, the two ships were named, with the Disney Fantasy set to enter service on March 31, 2012, a little over a year after its sister vessel, the Disney Dream.   read more…

The Disney Wonder

11 February 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships Reading Time:  7 minutes

Disney Wonder at Castaway Cay with Flying Dutchman © EmbraerSkyPilot

Disney Wonder at Castaway Cay with Flying Dutchman © EmbraerSkyPilot

Disney Wonder is a cruise ship operated by Disney Cruise Line. The second ship to join the Disney fleet, it entered service in 1999. It is nearly identical in construction to its sister ship, Disney Magic. Both ships have 11 public decks, can accommodate 2,400 passengers in 875 staterooms, and have a crew of approximately 950. The Disney Wonder was built in the year following completion of the Disney Magic. As of 2012, the Wonder is based out of Los Angeles until December 9th. Her “godmother” is Tinkerbell.   read more…

The Disney Magic

23 July 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships Reading Time:  6 minutes

Disney Magic at Cozumel, Yucatan © Altairisfar

Disney Magic at Cozumel, Yucatan © Altairisfar

Disney Magic is a cruise ship operated by the Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Disney Magic is over 80 feet longer than the RMS Titanic. Scattered throughout the ship, there are Mickey Impressions, known as “Hidden Mickeys”. People like to search for them.   read more…

The Meyer Werft

12 August 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships Reading Time:  7 minutes

Disney Dream - Meyer Werft, Papenburg © Patrick Martini - www.schiffgiganten.de

Disney Dream – Meyer Werft, Papenburg © Patrick Martini – www.schiffgiganten.de

The Meyer Werft is one of the remaining large German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg. Since 1997, it has been part of the Meyer Neptun Group together with Neptun Werft in Rostock. Founded in 1795 as a wharf for the construction of wooden ships, Josef Lambert Meyer started the construction of iron ships in 1874. Until 1920 there were more than 20 dockyards in the Papenburg area. Today, Meyer Werft is the only remaining shipyard in Papenburg. For more than six generations, it has been a privately held and family-owned company. It gained international recognition through the construction of roll on/roll off ferries, passenger ferries, gasoline tankers, container ships, livestock ferries and most recently luxury cruise ships. Meyer is one of the largest and most modern shipyards in the world with 2300 employees, and home to the by far largest roofed dry docks in the world. The first covered dock was inaugurated in 1987 and was 370 meters long, 101,5 meters wide and 60 meters high. In 1990/91 the dock was extended by an additional 100 meters. In 2000, a second covered dock was built, which is announced to be extended to a full length of 504 meters, a width of 125 meters and height of 75 meters in order to compete with Asian shipyards. Meyer Werft will as a result of this be able to build 3 cruise ships a year.   read more…

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