New details about the next Disney Cruise Line ship, including the vessel’s name and theme, were announced during the 2026 Walt Disney Company Annual Shareholders Meeting by new CEO Josh D’Amaro during his first day at the helm. Here’s the latest, along with our commentary about the next wave of DCL fleet expansion.
Fittingly revealed during an exciting moment of optimism and transformation for the company, the next ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet will be named the Disney Believe, honoring the dreamers and doers who dare to pursue their own happily ever after.
The Disney Believe is the fourth installment in Disney Cruise Line’s Triton or Wish class. A signature design feature of the Wish class is each ship’s motif, a theme that informs the guest experience, from live entertainment to venues and décor.
The Disney Believe will join the enchantment-themed Disney Wish, adventure-themed Disney Treasure, and heroes and villains-themed Disney Destiny. Like its sister ships, the Disney Believe has its own unique story to tell: one of promise and possibilities.
Filled with powerful stories of Disney characters who believe in themselves, in their dreams, and in the promise and possibility of a better tomorrow. To that end, DCL revealed that the Disney Believe will bring to life the magical worlds of “Encanto” and “Frozen,” the wishing wells of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” and the depths of the sea with “Moana” and “The Little Mermaid.”
Here’s the reveal for the Disney Believe logo/name:
“It begins with a WISH. That WISH becomes something you simultaneously have to let go of and hold on to.
It turns into hope and WONDER, and at times can feel like a far-off DREAM. Maybe even a FANTASY.
But when your WISH comes true, it’s MAGIC, taking you on an ADVENTURE you… pic.twitter.com/2MRmwdbRZL
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) March 18, 2026
The Disney Believe is just the latest ship that’s part of DCL’s aggressive expansion plans. This is the fourth and final ship that’s part of the Wish-class for the Walt Disney Company (that distinction is meaningful–see a few paragraphs below), and is expected in late 2027.
Construction officially began on the Disney Believe during a steel-cutting ceremony in August 2025 at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany. The event featured Disney and Meyer Werft representatives, including Captain Mickey Mouse, who initiated the symbolic cutting of the first piece of steel.
All ships in the Wish-class are powered by liquefied natural gas and, at approximately 144,000 gross tons, are slightly larger than the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. As with its sister ships, the Disney Believe should measure 1,119 feet in length, and accommodate up to 4,000 passengers in 1,254 staterooms with a crew of around 1,555. It’s structurally the same ship, which regrettably means no material changes in layout, either. Just different themes and concepts in the same spaces.
Prior to this, the Disney Adventure debuted earlier this month (not to be confused with Disney Adventure World, also opening in March 2026). That ship is a bit of an outlier. The Adventure is not part of the Wish-class (hence the larger size and actual attractions on the top decks), but rather, it’s the former Global Dream ship that Disney acquired partially completed in a fire sale.
Following the Disney Believe, another ship is coming to Asia with the new Disney cruise ship announced for Oriental Land Company, which is the fourth in the Wish-class and will set sail in 2028/2029 out of Japan. There are rumors of another OLC ship after that, too.
But wait, there’s even more. During the last D23 Expo, Disney announced that Disney Cruise Line is Adding 4 New Ships between 2029 and 2031 on top of all those, bringing the total fleet size to 13 ships.
Turning to commentary, I don’t have much to say about the Disney Believe.
There are a total of, like, a dozen words (at most) left in the Disney buzzword lexicon, and Believe was one of them. If anyone didn’t have this name on their bingo card, I’d question whether they’re a real fan who knows which words Disney loves to use. Of course Disney Believe was going to be a ship name. I’m honestly shocked it didn’t come earlier.
Spoiler alert: upcoming names will include Inspire, Imagine, Explore, Enchant (all the other Magic Keys), Spirit, Legacy, Harmony, Star, Symphony, Discovery, Majesty, Hope, and…that’s honestly about it in terms of realistic possibilities unless they really surprise us? After that, it’ll be time for the Disney Magic+ and Disney Fantasy 2 Fast 2 Furious.
The name and logo reveal also teases some other IPs that could appear on board the Disney Believe.
Based on that: Tangled, Inside Out, Iron Man, Monsters Inc, Zootopia, Fantasia, Star Wars, Toy Story, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Guardians of the Galaxy.
I wouldn’t necessarily put much stock into that being accurate. Some of those seem like givens. There will presumably be something Star Wars, and Zootopia is too big to ignore on the next ship. It’s getting something major. I hope Nightmare Before Christmas doesn’t get a themed space, but if anything, an entertainment offering.
As for the confirmed IPs, I’d expect some of that to be cloned from previous Wish-class ships. One such offering is likely to be Arendelle: A Frozen Dining Adventure, which is one of the highlights of the Wish. One of the lowlights is the Little Mermaid stage show, so I really hope that’s not being recycled unless it receives completely new creative direction.
For the Grand Hall theme, Moana makes a lot of sense both in terms of its appeal and aquatic quality. Although I wouldn’t necessarily rule out Disney flipping the script and opting for Frozen. Either one would be good picks.
Otherwise, it doesn’t really seem like it’s worth speculating about the Disney Believe. This is a really open-ended theme. It’s hard to think of any movie that doesn’t satisfy the “promise and possibilities” premise or contain a character who believed in themselves. Disney movies aren’t exactly known for characters who give up on themselves, and that’s the end of the story.
There are elements of the Wish-class ships that I really like, especially aboard the Disney Treasure. That’s my favorite ship of the current trio, and of the entire fleet. That’s in large part because it draws so much inspiration from the parks and is fairly focused in its execution of storytelling and theme.
I was also excited for the Heroes vs. Villains duality of the Disney Destiny, and a decent amount of this is present on the actual ship. At the same time, it doesn’t fully follow through on that compelling concept, outside of the Marvel characters in the atrium. It doesn’t actually lean heavily into heroes vs. villains or themes of good vs. evil, but instead uses franchises with heroes and villains. Hardly groundbreaking since that’s like 90% of Disney movies.
The upside to all of them is their entertainment programming, which surpasses the legacy ships. The downside is the layout, which is been discussed/derided at length already. Beyond that, I’m concerned with the 4 new ships having a ‘sameness’ problem, especially the Wish and Believe.
Right from the jump, the Disney Believe sounds more like the Disney Wish than even the Disney Destiny or especially the Disney Treasure. I hope to be wrong about this and the ship has a tighter focus, but my first thought with the reveal is that it’s going to be a grabbag of whichever IPs they feel like incorporating.
I’m also concerned about oversaturation of Disney Cruise Line.
My expertise is much more limited when it comes to the cruise industry than theme parks, so I want to be careful to caveat this that I’m stepping outside my comfort zone. What I will say that this seems like a lot of expansion for Disney Cruise Line all at once, and without seeing the actual market appetite for more of its ships.
The argument has been made that Disney Cruise Line expansion is largely being made as opposed to building new theme parks, and I agree with this perspective. It’s a more nimble and flexible approach, especially when it comes to expanding to new regions of the world that may lack the economic stability or be borderline in terms of the income-qualified population to sustain a ship (nevermind a theme park).
At the same time, it already appears that DCL is somewhat struggling to add new ships to international markets. It’s one thing to have surveys and internal projections about consumer demand and brand power–it’s another entirely to commit to building ships. The fleet has already grown significantly since 2022, with a lot more on the horizon.
It’s nevertheless impossible for Disney to have foresight about what this expansion will do to their demand and pricing. It’s almost the equivalent of not just building Disneyland Abu Dhabi, but also a multi-park Texas Disney World…oh and Disneyland Brazil and Disneyland Jakarta, and DisneySky Guangzhou, too!
From that perspective, the approach to Disney Cruise Line fleet expansion doesn’t seem consistent with Disney’s normal methodical decision-making process. I recognize that part of this is out of necessity, as other cruise lines are growing significantly, and if DCL doesn’t commit to slots at the shipyards, it may not have the option later.
Moreover, I have trepidation because I consider Disney Cruise Line to be Parks & Resorts’ best product. It has the highest guest service standards, maintenance, and attention to detail. While I love all of the parks, I think Disney Cruise Line is the best current exemplar of the fabled “Disney Difference” of the 1980s-1990s.
Others obviously agree with me, which is a big part of why they’re willing to pay premium prices for DCL. It’s not just for the characters, themed design, stage shows, or other entertainment. Part of the appeal is that attention to detail and service. Disney Cruise Line is a premium product charging premium prices.
Part of me worries that such rapid expansion will spread Disney Cruise Line’s talents too thin, and in the process, dilute the brand. I’m not suggesting that this will happen, or even that I expect it to happen. It’s just a concern, and not an unreasonable one given what can happen as business units go from their lean stage to a more bloated, larger scale. This has arguably already played out at the parks, but hopefully it doesn’t happen here. The advantage DCL has is being able to pull from a global labor pool, so there’s that.
Ultimately, most of the growth that has occurred with Disney Cruise Line so far has been for the positive. I may not love everything about the Wish-class ships, but the Treasure was fantastic and even the Destiny was very good–even if it didn’t quite fulfill the potential of the heroes & villains dichotomy.
It’s also fair to say that Disney has learned lessons as it has gained more experience in the cruise industry, allowing the company to iterate on past designs and make technical and functional improvements in the process. If that trend continues with the Disney Believe, plus the 4 ships in the next class and Disney Cruise Line maintains its exceptional guest and soft services, the bar will be raised even further.
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Your Thoughts
Thoughts on the Disney Believe? Are you a fan of the name or ship theme? What do you think of Disney Cruise Line adding so many new ships to its fleet in quick succession? Are you simply excited about the prospect of more variety or expansion driving down pricing, or do you share any of the same concerns as me? Have any name ideas for the new ships? Any other thoughts or ideas about this? If you have questions or thoughts, please share them below and we’ll try to respond!