Disney Cruise Line’s newest cruise ship, the highly-anticipated Disney Wish, arrived in her new homeport of Port Canaveral shortly before sunrise Monday, June 20, 2022.
She was escorted by a flotilla of Port-based tugboats and the Port Canaveral Fire Rescue Fireboat 2 providing the traditional water cannon salute. The ship sailed from Bremerhaven, Germany, on June 9.
Disney Wish was welcomed to her new Florida home by cruise ship fans lined up at Jetty Park, a popular area for viewing cruise ships sailing into Port Canaveral. In the coming days, the vessel will be preparing for her first voyage, which will set sail on June 29.
Disney Wish Arrives At Port Canaveral
As Disney Cruise Line’s new ship Disney Wish sailed into Florida for the first time today, it delighted fans gathered in Jetty Park to see its arrival.
Hundreds of fans woke up early or didn’t sleep at all to watch Disney Wish arrive at its new home port. Disney Cruise Line’s first new ship in more than a decade has been highly anticipated and is packed with firsts for the cruise line.
The ship had been scheduled to commence operations as early as January this year. However, supply chain issues and delays due to COVID-19 meant the ship only left the shipyard for final outfitting and sea trials in March. On June 9, the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany officially handed over the vessel to Disney Cruise Line.
Port Canaveral CEO Captain John Murray: “We have anticipated this homecoming of the Disney Wish for some time and know that our entire Port community is excited to have her sailing from our Port.“
“We are proud of the longstanding partnership we have with Disney Cruise Line, and the arrival of the Disney Wish adds to the growing number of impressive cruise ships providing high quality guest experiences from our Port.”
As the first of three new Trident-class ships, Disney Wish has a 4,000-passenger capacity like Dream and Fantasy, but at 144,000 gross tons is larger than the earlier Disney Cruise Line ships.
The last two ships of the Trident class have yet to be named and will not arrive until 2024 and 2025.
Disney Wish will initially operate year-round from Port Canaveral, taking over the shorter sailings that Disney Dream handled. That ship left Port Canaveral for Port Miami earlier this month so that Wish could take her place.
Disney Wish Covers All The Bases
When guests finally board Disney Wish on June 29 for her maiden voyage, they will be encountering a wholly re-imagineered Disney Cruise ship.
Although Disney Wish has kept many features that have made the vessels so popular with the fanbase, the company has also incorporated many new features that will surely bring the Wow-factor.
As with all Disney ships, one of the key features is the stern figurine, which for Disney Wish is Rapunzel from Tangled.
The cruise line has also chosen to bring the fun of the Disney theme parks onboard with a first-of-its-kind water coaster called AquaMouse. This future fan-favorite could be seen this morning as Wish made her way into port.
On the inside, there are new Frozen and Marvel-themed restaurants, a Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge, and a Walt Disney Imagineering Lab.
Disney has also thought of the adults onboard who need some peace and quiet away from the kids. There is an adults-only zone with bars, restaurants, a spa, an open deck, and swimming pools, which are only available to the young at heart, but over 18’s.
