Disney Cruise Line has announced it has bought what is expected to be the world’s largest cruise ship when it is finished. Global Dream, the sister ship to the now-scrapped Global Dream II, has been sitting partially finished since German-Hong Kong shipbuilder MV Werften went bankrupt earlier this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Disney says it will work with Meyer Werft, another German shipbuilder who the mouse has worked with before, to finish the yet-to-be-renamed Global Dream. It’s expected to set sail sometime in 2025 with a capacity of around 6,000 passengers and 2,300 crew members. That’s down from the 9,000 passengers Global Dream II was expected to be able to carry. Sadly, that will take Global Dream out of contention for “world’s largest cruise ship” itself.
When it’s done, Global Dream will become the seventh-largest cruise ship in the world by gross tonnage.
We previously reported that Global Dream II cost about $US1.4 ($2) billion to get to the point it was when it was scrapped, and it would have taken another $US230 ($319) million to complete it. Unfortunately, we do not have word on exactly how much Disney paid for its sister or how much it will cost to complete. However, the company does say it was a “favourable” price.
The mouse says the 208,000-gross-ton ship is expected to be the first in the cruise industry fuelled by green methanol. Disney says it’s one of the lowest-emission fuels available for this sort of application.
Exact amenities on the ship are yet to be announced, but its sister was expected to have an outdoor waterpark, movie theatre, 20 decks and a 341.99 m monastery. Time will tell if Disney’s completed Global Dream will have any of that.
Global Dream, or whatever Disney decides to call it, will become the company’s eighth (and largest) cruise ship.