Disney Magic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Disney theme park | |
 |
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| The Disney Magic | |
|---|---|
| Location | Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA |
| Opening Day | July 30, 1998 |
| Resort | Disney Cruise Line |
| Theme | Cruise ship |
| Website | Disney Cruise Line homepage |
| Operator | The Walt Disney Company |
The Disney Magic is the original of two cruise ships operated by The Walt Disney Company under its subsidiary Disney Cruise Line. Its sister, launched in 1999 is the Disney Wonder.
Built in 1998 by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, the Disney Magic can hold approximately 2,400 guests. It currently sails on 7 day itineraries including Disney's private island Castaway Cay, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Key West, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel (depending on specific cruise).
Disney Magic and its sister ship are the first vessels to be designed, from the keel up, as family cruise ships, with the precise goal of accommodating parents and children. Low tech things like split bathrooms, even in small cabins, and high tech services like the parental pagers are two of the many design features that set them apart from other cruise ships.
The general allure of the ship is its classical designs, including the presence of two stacks instead of one (though one is false and houses a teen club.) This gives a silhouette which is reminiscent of the golden age of the ocean liners. Other details, such as the large round portholes instead of the window-like openings common in other cruise ships, also show a desire to foster a nostalgic image of the luxury and prestige of sea travel of the past.
The interior is a mix of the opulent but clean art deco streamline style of the transatlantic liners of the 1940s and 1950s and the graphic signature of all the Disney movies of the last decades. The Disney characters are also there in abundance, though usually very subtly. There is no risk of having the impression for more than a short moment of being on the Normandie or the Queen Elizabeth, given such things as a large bronze statue of Mickey Mouse, right in the middle of the entry foyer to the Lumiere's restaurant. The ship's horn plays When You Wish Upon a Star.
The Disney Magic and its sister ship serve also as supply vessels for Castaway Cay, the private Disney island in the Bahamas. The ships even provide data services for the island when in port allowing guests to charge gift and other purchases to their cabins continuing their cashless vacation.
In June 2005, the Disney Magic was dispatched to the West Coast in honor of Disneyland's 50th Anniversary, It offered 12 cruises from Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera with port calls at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas before rejoining the Disney Wonder in the Caribbean in fall 2005.
The Disney Magic entered scheduled 10-day drydock refurbishment on October 1, 2005 at the Norshipco shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia. Several enhancements took place during this time. The Vista Spa and Salon received a 1,700-square foot expansion including three new spa treatment suites. Three conference rooms on deck 2 were transformed into an additional children's area called Ocean Quest. A 24-by-14 foot LED screen was affixed to the forward funnel in the family swimming pool area where movies and major sporting and broadcast events are shown. Subtle enhancements have been added to Parrot Cay restaurant that change every evening during dinner.
On March 21, 2006 Disney announced that one of its ships, the Disney Magic will travel to Europe for several months in the summer of 2007. The itineraries will include stops in:
- Barcelona, Spain
- Palermo, Sicily
- Naples, Italy
- Olbia, Sardinia
- Civitavecchia, Italy
- La Spezia, Italy
- Marseilles, France
- Villefranche, France
- Cadiz, Spain
- Gibraltar, United Kingdom (situated off of Spain)
- Tenerife, Canary Islands
[edit] Facts
- Gross Tonnage: 83,000
- Registry: Bahamas
- Length: 964 feet
- Beam: 106 feet
- Draft: 25.3 feet
- Horsepower: 100,000
- Propellers: 7
- Rudders: 2
- Cruising Speed: 21.5 knots
- Max speed: 24 knots
- Staterooms: 874
- Crew: 945
- Fuel storage capacity: 20,000 gallons
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Disney Cruise Line homepage
- Google Maps link to Port Canaveral, shows the terminal where the Disney Wonder and Disney Magic dock
