Disney Dream, the first of two newly-designed ships for Disney Cruise Line, is starting to take shape.

The maritime industry tradition of keel laying, when the first section of the ship is lowered into the building dock and a coin is placed under the keel for good fortune, took place at a German ship yard this week.

Disney Dream is due to join the existing two-ship fleet in 2011 and be followed a second new ship, Disney Fantasy, in 2012. Together the two vessels will more than double the capacity of Disney Cruise Line, each having 1,250 cabins and a tonnage of 128,000.

Design details will be revealed later this autumn but Disney claims Disney Dream will be ‘truly distinctive’.

Details of some itineraries for 2011 are due to be unveiled next month. But both new ships will call at their home base of Port Canaveral in Florida where work is being carried out to accommodate the larger ships and additional passengers. 

The company has already announced that Disney Wonder will operate from the Port of Los Angeles in 2011. Disney Magic is returning to Europe in summer 2010 to sail in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.

Speaking at the keel laying ceremony at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, the line’s president Karl Holz said: “Our fleet expansion will allow us to satisfy demand on both the East and West coasts of the United States while also giving us the flexibility to explore additional global destinations for our guests.” 

The ship will continue to take its form through a block construction process in which pre-fabricated complete hull sections are joined together in block units and are then brought together to form the ship. 

Disney Dream will be made up of 80 blocks, with the first block weighing in at approximately 380 tons.