Disney Cruise Line will add another ship to its fleet after acquiring the partially built Global Dream, a megaship abandoned due to bankruptcy.
The roughly 6,000-passenger ship will be renamed and based outside of the U.S., sailing to new destinations for the cruise line, although Disney did not say where. The ship is expected to set sail in 2025.
The Global Dream was 75% finished when Genting Hong Kong’s MV Werften shipyard ceased operations and filed for insolvency at the beginning of 2022. Genting was building the mega ship for the Asian market; it was to sail for its now-defunct Dream Cruises brand.
Weighing in at about 208,000 gross tons, the ship is expected to be the first to run on green methanol, an emerging fuel source with lower emission levels than liquefied natural gas.
Construction of the ship will be completed at the former MV Werften shipyard in Wismar, Germany, under the management of Meyer Werft, the company that build the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wish.
Genting Hong Kong ships sail again
The Global Dream is one of many ships reabsorbed elsewhere in the cruise industry due to the financial woes of Genting Hong Kong. After the collapse of Crystal Cruises, a former Genting Hong Kong company, the Crystal Endeavour expedition ship was acquired by Silversea Cruises.
Meanwhile, its two ocean-going ships, the Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity, were acquired by Abercrombie & Kent Travel Group, which is resurrecting the Crystal brand and plans to begin sailing in 2023.
A German hospitality group bought the former Crystal Mozart river ship and will launch a new cruise line with the vessel.