Largest-Ever Disney Cruise Ship Sets Course for Sea Trials

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Disney Journey departed the Meyer Werft shipyard on Monday, September 1, 2025 to move for her sea trials.
The ship is the biggest ever in-built Wismar, Germany. Her deep draft offered technical challenges for safely leaving the harbor.
Initially World Dream, Disney Cruise Line purchased the ship in late 2022 and she’s going to lastly be welcoming her first friends in December 2025.

Greater than seven years after development of the vessel started, Disney Cruise Line’s upcoming Disney Journey has lastly left the shipyard.

The ship is now enroute to start her sea trials, one of many final steps earlier than she might be handed over to the cruise line forward of her public debut.

The World-class ship, which would be the largest ever constructed for Disney Cruise Line at 208,00 gross tons, left the Meyer Werft shipyard in Wismar, Germany on Monday night, September 1, 2025.

In response to North German Broadcasting, the maneuver started at 6:30 p.m. with three blasts on the ship’s horn to alert these close by that the ship was underway.

The ship was initially scheduled to depart on Saturday, however transient delays to Sunday after which to Monday had been essential attributable to poor climate and native water ranges.

Tugboats assisted Disney Journey as she moved away from the docks and into the harbor. To be clear, the vessel will not be but completed, as is customary when setting forth on sea trials.

Even incomplete, nevertheless, Disney Journey is the biggest ship to have ever been in-built Wismar. Her sheer measurement, 1,122 toes lengthy and 152 toes vast, makes even easy repositioning or turning within the harbor a technical problem.

The ship’s deep draft, simply over 31 toes, additionally created some problems. The ship’s completed draft is roughly three toes deeper than the utmost draft sometimes permitted by the harbor.

Happily, as a result of the ship is unfinished with some objects – together with her funnels – not but put in, she was not as deep are her most draft and was in a position to sail safely out of the harbor.

Extra ending work on the outer decks in addition to the vessel’s inside might be essential within the coming weeks forward of Disney Journey‘s December debut.

First, the ocean trials will put the ship by her paces. These intensive exams intentionally stress varied mechanical and technical programs, together with navigation, propulsion, and emergency responses, to make sure the ship responds appropriately.

Relying on the ship’s efficiency, a second set of sea trials could also be essential. In any other case, closing ending work will start and inside a couple of weeks, Disney Journey might be handed over to Disney Cruise Line.

The brand new ship’s 3-night maiden voyage is scheduled to depart on December 15, 2025. She is going to stay homeported from Singapore year-round, providing immersive 3-, 4-, and 5-night sailings to as many as 6,000 friends onboard.

A Very Lengthy Development Timeline

It’s uncommon for a contemporary cruise ship to take so very lengthy from her metal slicing to sea trials. What some Disney Cruise Line followers might not notice, nevertheless, is that Disney Journey was not initially Disney Journey.

The ship was first ordered and meant to be the World Dream for Dream Cruises, an organization of Genting Hong Kong.

Development started in March 2018 with the ceremonial metal slicing, with anticipated supply of the ship in 2021. Three years will not be uncommon for cruise ship development.

For instance, Star of the Seas‘ steel cutting was held in February 2023. The second Icon-class ship sailed through her sea trials in May 2025, and simply welcomed her first friends in mid-August, 30 months after her development started.

Disney Adventure Cruise Ship Floats Out — Disney Journey Cruise Ship Floats Out

Disney Journey is now 90 months previous her metal slicing, and nonetheless has three months earlier than she’s going to welcome friends.

After development started on World Dream, nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic radically disrupted shipyard operations and development was briefly halted in 2020. Many cruise ships had been delayed right now, together with Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras.

Genting Hong Kong filed for chapter in January 2022. The corporate’s belongings, together with the unfinished World Dream, were put up for sale.

Disney Cruise Line purchased the ship in November 2022. Although the ship was roughly 75% full at the moment, the design wanted to be tweaked and adjusted to suit Disney’s signature model.

This consists of such iconic particulars as her stern sculpture characters, revealed to be Captain Minnie and Captain Mickey, which is able to carry the enjoyable of Disney cruises to Asia for the primary time.

The hull was accomplished and floated out at the shipyard in April 2025, a vital step in bringing a brand new vessel into service.

Happily, it seems that Disney Journey is now nicely on her option to clean crusing as her development is accomplished and the one-of-a-kind ship ought to debut on schedule.

Largest-Ever Disney Cruise Ship Sets Course for Sea Trials

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