Disney Confirms Cruising Will Be The Last Arm Of The Company to Return, and The Disney Wish Cruise Ship Has Been Delayed

We’ve had our suspicions that the Disney Cruise Line will take a long time to be sailing again.

Disney Cruise Line

Despite the fact that a few Disney Cruise ships have been cleared for commercial travel, the cruise sector still seems to have a while before it returns. Sailings have been canceled as far out as December and now, Disney has confirmed the effect that the global health crisis has had on its cruise division.

As a part of the 2020 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference, Disney Senior Executive Vice President & CFO Christine McCarthy spoke with Bank of America Securities Managing Director Jessica Reif Ehrlich about the state of the Walt Disney Company — including Disney Cruise Line.

Castaway Cay

McCarthy confirmed the lengthy return of cruising noting, “One of the businesses…that will be the last to come back for us will be the cruise business.” She explained that this is due to the nature of cruising as well as the fact that the booking period for cruises tends to be longer, which will elongate the return.

Castaway Cay

The Disney Cruise sailings as a whole aren’t the only aspect of the sector to be delayed. McCarthy also confirmed a delay from the original completion date of January 2022 for the upcoming fifth cruise ship, the Disney Wish. Currently, Disney is “In negotiations and discussions with the shipyard to finalize dates,” and will announce the release of the new ship when everything is finalized.

Disney Wish Concept Art ©Disney

It’s super interesting to hear confirmation about the ways that the global health crisis has affected schedules for the Walt Disney Company. As always, stay tuned to DFB for the latest updates!