An article was recently published on the Disney Parks Blog with a special announcement! Disney Cruise Line ranked as the top cruise line in three categories in this year’s Cruiser’s Choice Destination awards: “Top Cruise Line in the Eastern Caribbean, Bahamas and Bermuda,” “Top Cruise Line in the Western Caribbean and Riviera Maya” and, for the fourth consecutive year, “Top Cruise Line Private Island.” Wow! That’s great! To celebrate, here are top Disney Cruise Line fun facts. Enjoy!!
In case you missed it, be sure to check out our posts from last week. We shared tips for staying cool in the Disney theme parks as well as discussed everything you need to know about the Disney World water parks!
1. Channeling Mickey Mouse
The first of our Disney Cruise Line fun facts are the boats themselves! The Disney ships are painted in Mickey Mouse-inspired colors: black hull, white superstructure, yellow trim and two giant red funnels, each with the Disney Cruise Line Mickey Mouse logo. Disney Cruise Line was the first cruise line to have yellow lifeboats, instead of the traditional regulation orange. Disney was granted special permission from the U.S. Coast Guard to paint the lifeboats yellow, to keep with the special color theming of the ship.
2. Making a Whole
The Disney Magic was built in two halves… one hundred miles apart! Part of the ship was constructed in Ancona, Italy then towed 100 miles to meet the stern in Marghera (just outside Venice) to be joined and welded together.
3. Toot Toot!
Disney Cruise Line ships use the iconic first seven notes of the “When You Wish Upon a Star” song melody as their horn signals.
4. Anchors Away
The anchor on the Disney Magic weighs 28,200 pounds – about the same as three full-grown elephants.
5. Tubs in a Stateroom?!
In a cruise industry first, most staterooms on Disney ships feature a split “bath-and-a-half” design, providing families the added convenience of a sink and tub/shower in one room and a sink and toilet in a separate room.
6. Eat Up
On an average seven-night sailing aboard the Disney Magic, the following food items are consumed:
• Beef – 5,000 pounds
• Chicken – 10,000 pounds
• Salmon – 1,200 pounds
• Shrimp – 1,300 pounds
• Lobster Tail – 1,000 pounds
• Melon – 15,000 pounds
• Pineapple – 4,500 pounds
• Eggs – 71,500
• Coffee – 57,820 cups
• Soda – 3,125 gallons
• Beer – 12,385 bottles/cans
• Wine and Champagne – 2,700 bottles
7. Character Greeting
Every Disney Cruise Line ship has an atrium lobby statue celebrating a classic Disney character. Mademoiselle Minnie Mouse, dressed in vintage fashion with a parasol and steamer luggage, graces the Disney Fantasy and Admiral Donald strikes a pose on the Disney Dream. They are the subject of as many memorable vacation photos as their counterparts: Mickey at the helm (Disney Magic) and Ariel sitting pretty (Disney Wonder).
8. Staying Connected
Stay connected, even at sea! Disney ships feature Wi-Fi service in staterooms and public spaces, allowing guests to surf the web at sea from their wireless-enabled device.
9. See a Show or a Movie Premiere!
The main showplace for entertainment, the Walt Disney Theatre spans three decks and can seat 977 guests onboard the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder and 1,340 guests on the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. A leader in family entertainment, Disney is the only cruise line to first-run feature films, including films in 3-D, with movies premiering at sea on the same day that they are released on land.
10. The Private Island
Castaway Cay was the first private island in the cruise industry where the ship docks alongside so guests do not have to tender to land. You can even mail a special souvenir message to family and friends back home by using the Castaway Cay Post Office.
11. Conserving Water
Condensation from the shipboard air conditioning units is collected and re-used to wash the decks, saving more than 30 million gallons of water each year.
12. Marine Friendly
Disney Cruise Line made history by being the first cruise line to utilize an innovative hull coating that is both 100 percent non-toxic to the marine environment, and effective in increasing fuel efficiency. The coating helps reduce the ships’ surface resistance in the water, decreasing the need for propulsion power as the ship glides through the sea.
13. Recycling
More than 1,000 gallons of used cooking oil from shipboard galleys is offloaded and recycled in ports of call around the world each week. Through a unique partnership with Bahamas Waste Management (BWM) in Nassau, the used cooking oil is being converted into biodiesel fuel used to power a local fleet of BWM vehicles.
14. Saving the Coral Reefs
Disney Cruise Line and Disney Animal Programs have partnered with local non-profit organizations, Disney researchers and educators in a multi-year project to restore the health of the coral reefs around Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island, and throughout The Bahamas. Researchers are taking long-spined sea urchins that are native to the area and translocating them to coral reefs endangered by algae overgrowth. The sea urchins graze on algae similar to a lawnmower keeping the grass short.
15. Aye Aye, Captain!
Disney ships are the only cruise ships to have five captains – the ship’s captain, Captain Mickey, Captain Minnie, Captain Hook and Captain Jack Sparrow.
I hope you enjoyed these Disney Cruise Line fun facts! Don’t forget to tune in Thursday with another brand new post!
Cheers!!