New Disney cruise ship to float out from construction dock

[Isafari]

From the Orlando Sentinel...

The first of the two new cruise ships Walt Disney Co. is having built in Germany will float out of its covered construction dock for the first time next weekend, according to the shipyard building the vessel.

Meyer Werft says the 4,000-passenger Disney Dream will float away from its sheltered dock on Saturday, Oct. 30.

The ship won't go far. Upon leaving the dock, Meyer Werft says the Dream will remain in the shipyard harbor to undergo a series of trials, testing technical systems such as its stabilizers and rudders. It will remain berthed along the yard pier for at least another two weeks, as interior construction continues.

Meyer Werft said it expects the Dream to depart the shipyard on the second weekend in November, when it will be conveyed down the river Ems and into the North Sea. It is scheduled to arrive in Port Canaveral in January.

It's a massive ship — the biggest ever built in Germany, according to Meyer Werft. The Dream will be 128,000 gross tons and 370 yards long. It will have a top speed of 23.5 knots.

Together, the Dream and the Disney Fantasy — which Meyer Werft is also building and which will debut in April 2012 — will more than double the passenger capacity of Disney Cruise Line. The Dream and Fantasy will each have room for about 1,300 passengers more than Disney's existing Magic and Wonder cruise ships.

The twin ships carry an estimated combined price tag of about $1.5 billion.