Disney Wonder

 

The Disney Wonder is a cruise ship operated by Walt Disney Cruise Lines since its launch in 1999. Built by Fincantieri in Italy, she can hold a maximum of 3,325 passengers.

Disney Wonder and sister ship Disney Magic are the first vessels to be designed, from the keel up, as a family cruise ship, with the precise goal of accommodating parents and small children on holiday sea voyages. Low tech things like the 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 two ships have been outfitted with meeting rooms and other business conveniences following the custom of Walt Disney World Resort and other Disney hotels of taking potential corporate clients and their conventions into account.

The bulk of the clientele is made up, as expected, of nuclear families. In addition it is popular for family reunions of medium to large sizes, given the convenience of the business meeting rooms. The ship also attracts honeymooners.

The Disney Wonder is 294 meters long (965 feet) and has diesel-electric propulsion with five motors feeding 58 megawatts of power to the two propellers. Her maximum speed is 24 knots and her average speed 21.

The general allure of the ship follows that of other Fincantieri designs, except for the presence of two chimneys instead of one. This gives a silouhette which is reminescent 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. 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 Ariel, the the little mermaid right in the middle of the entry foyer to the Triton restaurant. Also, Mickey Mouse is everywhere and the foghorn sometimes plays When you wish upon a star.

The Disney Wonder and her sister ship serve also as supply vessels for Castaway Cay, the private Disney island which is their exclusive port of call.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

References

• Durand, Jean-François. Autour du Monde Paquebots / Cruise ships around the world Editions marines, 1996. [bilingual text]
• Schwartzman, M. T. ed.. Fodor's 99 the best cruises. New York : Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc., c1998.
• Ward, Douglas ed.. Berlitz ocean cruising & cruise ships. London : Berlitz, 2003.