Disney Believe construction advances as first giga-block floats out at Meyer Werft

Disney Cruise Line has floated out the first of three major construction blocks for Disney Believe at Meyer Werft ahead of the ship’s planned debut in late 2027.

The milestone marks the latest stage in construction of the 144,000-gross-tonne vessel, which will become the fourth Wish-class ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet.

Disney Believe will have capacity for approximately 2,500 passengers at double occupancy and will join sister ships Disney Wish, Disney Treasure, and Disney Destiny.

The vessel is being assembled from three large sections, or giga-blocks, at Meyer Werft in Germany, with the first now floated out as construction progresses towards completion of the ship.

Like the other Wish-class vessels, Disney Believe will feature its own theme for the Grand Hall, which serves as one of the main interior spaces aboard the ships.

The Grand Hall aboard Disney Believe will draw on the Moana films, with a theme centred on exploration and design influences inspired by the films’ South Pacific setting.

A bronze statue of Moana accompanied by Pua and Heihei will form the focal point of the space.

Disney Cruise Line has also previously revealed the characters that will feature on the ship’s stern.

Large sculptures of Woody and Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story films will be incorporated into the stern design, continuing the cruise line’s practice of featuring different Disney characters on each ship.

The ship’s bow will feature Tinker Bell and Peter Pan.

Disney Believe forms part of a wider expansion of the Disney Cruise Line fleet, with Meyer Werft also building another Wish-class vessel for Oriental Land Company in Japan.

That ship is scheduled to enter service in 2029 and will be operated as part of Disney’s expansion into the Japanese cruise market.

Disney will subsequently introduce a new class of smaller vessels, also being constructed by Meyer Werft.

The new class will be approximately 105,000 gross tonnes, compared with the approximately 144,000 gross tonnes of Disney Believe and its Wish-class sister ships.

The first two vessels in the new series are scheduled to enter service in 2029, followed by a third in 2030.

Further construction work on Disney Believe will continue at Meyer Werft ahead of the ship’s planned introduction in late 2027.