There’s even more changes coming to the cruise industry but, fortunately, almost all of it is nowhere near as disappointing as Princess Cruises price hike last week. While most of these bits of news are not going to be impacting you in the next few days, they are worth keeping an eye on because they’re fairly significant over the next few years.
Disney Believe Announcement
Just last week, Disney made a big announcement about their upcoming ship in the Wish-class, Disney Believe. This will be the fourth ship in the class with one more Wish class expected in 2029. While that 2029 ship is set to operate in Japan, opening Disney to a whole new market, the Believe is playing it safe by starting out with 4- and 5-night sailings in the Caribbean. While this isn’t exactly a bold beginning, and there are online grumblings about the rather staid itinerary, this isn’t really a bad thing. Keeping the brand-new ship close to home gives the company plenty of time to give it a long shake-down. Every ship comes with some quirks and being near territory with plenty of support helps to ease that process.
Disney announced that operations on the Believe will begin in December 2027, with sales opening on October 19th of 2026, so just over a week away at time of writing. The company spent quite a bit of time in the announcement going over the theming for the Believe. While that might be an odd choice of emphasis for other lines, it makes a lot of sense for DCL. After all, if you’re going on a Disney Cruise, you are there for the theming.
The Grand Hall in the center of the ship is going for a Moana theme this time around, something already shown at this year’s D23 convention, which we covered when it happened. There’s plenty of new information released too.
This is the Grand Hall on New Disney Ship, The Disney Believe. It Features Moana Theming.
For Entertainment, they are debuting an Encanto Musical which will be exclusive to the Believe. The show already has some buzz around it, featuring hit Lin-Manuel songs from the astoundingly popular film. Parents, be warned, if you only recently stopped not talking about Bruno, sailing on the Believe will make you start not talking about Bruno all over again. They are also bringing the popular Tangled and Disney Seas the Adventure stage shows from the other lines.
Character encounters and trivia, because what is a cruise ship if not a floating trivia game, will take place in an entertainment area themed to Zootopia. Operating under the name “Gazelle”, it will include the first on-ship appearances of Judy and Nick as meetable characters. The space will also host some evening activities for adults, like a silent disco as well as some fan-favorite activities being brought on from other ships.
Guests will be able to dine at a new Frozen experience set at Oaken’s which, Disney made clear, is a new story rather than a repeat of the Wish’s Arendelle Dining Adventure. For anyone who might be confused about the phrase, “new story,” and dinner being next to each other, I will explain. The Wish class ships all have a dinner and a show style restaurant on them and, on the Believe, the show will be a second story set withing the world of Frozen. Other restaurants on The Believe will be the 1923 and Marvel dining rooms that exist on other ships in the line, as well as some smaller venues like two new cafes, Big Hero Sips and Café Kakamora.
The Sea Notes Piano Bar on the New Disney Ship, The Disney Believe.
For adults, they will have Sea Notes, a Little Mermaid themed Piano Bar, Wishing Well for Snow White theming, and the Haunted Mansion Parlor, a very popular bar that is already on the Treasure and the Destiny. Disney drew some modest ire from fans who were hoping for some new theming for these spaces.
Overall, we felt like Disney announced a lot of new things for the Believe that didn’t really feel all that new or distinct for the line. On a line where you are expecting deep theming, where many of their clientele want to sail all the different ships to see the different settings, most of the dining was largely similar, and I didn’t feel like there was much that makes the Believe stand out amongst its sister ships. Nothing bad, but nothing amazing. She should still be a solid addition of the Disney Cruise Line fleet, it just feels like a missed opportunity.
Queen Anne Leaving Cunard
To the surprise of, well, most people who follow these sorts of things, Cunard has recently announced that they will be moving the brand-new Queen Anne out of the Cunard fleet and over to P&O Cruises. Both lines are owned by Carnival Corporation, so this is akin to an internal transfer.
Formal Night on Cunard Ships is the Sort of Thing Their Customers Love. Image credit Cunard.
If you are unfamiliar with P&O Cruises, it’s likely because, like me, you’re an American. While they are not well known to us Yanks, they are fairly well-known in the UK. Similar to Cunard, they are an older brand, which both companies love to boast about. P&O dates back to 1837 which, technically, makes it an older line than Cunard, but that’s a little bit of creative interpretation, since P&O started as a shipping company, but didn’t start doing passenger sailings until 1977. Meanwhile, Cunard loves to tell you about their history dating back to1840 and their merger with the White Star line and that legendary company’s famous ships, like the Oceanic, the Olympic, the Titanic… okay maybe forget that part.
While the move isn’t entirely without some sense, P&O is a very British-y line, they even feature fish and chips on their About Us page, this is a fairly concerning move for the well-being of Cunard as a company.
Cunard just received the Queen Anne in 2024 and it cost them 500 million pounds to build. It was a risky design as the ship was a departure from the style of vessel that Cunard was known for. Cunard loyalists definitely had mixed feelings on the Queen Anne and they ways it differed from the others, but only giving it two years to get its sea-legs seems a little rash.
This move will bring Cunard’s active fleet down from 4 ships to 3, keeping them in the small line category when we thought we were seeing some growth. It’s even more puzzling when you consider the marketing push that the company has made in the last few years. NPR listeners couldn’t get through a broadcast without hearing from the cruise company until somewhat recently.
The Library on The Queen Mary 2 is a Major Draw for Many Guests.
Although no one at any of the companies involved mentioned this, my hope is that Cunard will take another stab at a fourth ship. The Queen Anne was considered, by many of Cunard’s passengers, to be much more contemporary than the line’s other ships, and not in a good way. Cunard sailors are looking for ships that feel more like classic ocean liners, like the Queen Mary, and not like something from Princess or Celebrity. The Queen Anne seemed to venture too far afield from the desire of the customers. With any luck, Cunard will be back here in a few years with a new ship, presumably named The Queen Anne’s Revenge.
This isn’t the end of the Carnival Corporation ship shuffle, though, as P&O cruises is sending one of their ships away to Holland America. The Arcadia, which began operating in 2005 for P&O, was part of a class of vessels originally intended for Holland America. Its sister ships were meant to be the Oosterdam, Noordam, Westerdam, and Zuiderdam. During construction, it was reassigned to Cunard where it was supposed to be the Queen Victora, but that didn’t happen either. Ultimately, it went to P&O and became the Arcadia, but not before picking up a mast featured on all Cunard ships.
The size of the ship does fit with Holland America’s fleet. Which is rather obvious given that Holland America originally ordered it but, the size of HAL’s ships remain closer in capacity and tonnage than other similarly sized cruise fleets. While many lines have moved towards ever larger ships, Holland America stays fairly similar.
It should also be mentioned that the Arcadia will be undergoing a major refit and seeing upgrades as part of Carnival Corporation’s announced $500 million Evolution program announced last April.
Ups and Downs in Cruise Environmental News
Hydrogen power has been touted for some time as a way to reduce greenhouse gases but has come with a lot of logistical and cost issues associated with it. With ships, which are one of the leading greenhouse gas emitters, the idea of hydrogen power has been thrown around a lot.
Well, one of the biggest cruise lines in the world is making the jump into more sustainable cruising with Viking’s investment in hydrogen powered ships that hold around 1,000 guests. Just last March, the Viking Libra became the world’s first hydrogen powered cruise ship to sail, with delivery expected in November. Signaling Viking’s commitment to the brand-new propulsion system, they just did the cord cutting last month on the Libra’s sister ship, the Viking Astrea. While the details on just how much all of this will reduce environmental impacts from the ships remains unknown, especially as it looks to be a hybrid system, it is, nonetheless, a major move in the right direction from one of the biggest players in one of the most polluting industries. Hopefully, this signals more to come.
In tragic environmental news, a second endangered fin whale was found on the prow of a cruise ship in Alaska. This time it was on the Norwegian Joy in Sitka and was an adult male, as opposed to the pregnant female that was hit in Seward earlier this year. This news shows just how much of an environmental impact the travel industry can have, and how important it is for the cruise lines to work with scientists and governments on solutions to avoid these sorts of incidents in the future.
Explora Dips a Toe into River Cruising
Even more companies are getting into the river cruising sector with a recent announcement. Last year, Celebrity announced that they would be moving into River Cruising with an eventual fleet of ten ships. Now there’s another newcomer into the river cruise market since Explora started the ball rolling. A relative newcomer to the cruising world, MSC’s Explora line has been very well received in the luxury cruising market, with their high-end, new ships, and their longer sailing itineraries.
At this point, all we know is that they have signed a letter-of-intent with Den Breejen Shipyard, making a statement at the same time that said:
“Since launching, Explora Journeys has sought to change the way people experience ocean travel through its Ocean State of Mind philosophy — combining the freedom and discovery of travelling by sea with the elegance and refinement of European hospitality and design. The brand now intends to bring that same approach to Europe’s most iconic rivers.
“Further details regarding ship design, onboard experiences, delivery schedules and initial itineraries will be announced in due course with sales planned to open in 2027.”
The Press Release from Explora Journeys on Their New River Ships Deal.
Since river ships are considerably smaller with a much less complicated operation environment than their ocean-faring siblings, a 2027 sales date seems very reasonable, even at this early stage.
If you’re thinking about taking a cruise with any of these lines and are having a hard time keeping up with the changes, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. As you might have guessed we are a travel agency and if you are looking to book a trip to a resort, take a cruise, or just get away for a few days we can help with that! Each year we book hundreds of vacations for individuals, families, and large groups. We’ve got years of experience and firsthand knowledge to make sure you get the best trip possible with support all along the way. Our team of travel professionals can help find and book the best rates and discounts for your trip because it’s our job. So don’t book on your own, use our expertise and book with us so we can help get you, far, far away.
