I’m off to Papenburg, Germany next Monday (January 9th) to get a first look at the soon to be launched Disney Fantasy at the shipyard. Stay tuned for photos and reports here.
Just hours ago, the Disney Fantasy met water for the first time as it was floated out from the massive ship building warehouse at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany. After final outfitting and crossing the Atlantic, the Disney Fantasy’s maiden voyage is scheduled to make way on March 31, 2012.
(Copyright © Meyer Werft)
Our hotel’s internet connection was down last night, but I’m back with a couple of shots from the new Disney Fantasy at night.
We have yet to tour the actual ship. That is on today’s agenda. Yesterday, we toured the shipyard facility.
The ship’s a beauty!
Yesterday we were treated to a first look onboard the new Disney Fantasy. We boarded the ship at the finishing dock at Meyer Werft just feet away from the massive warehouse where it was primarily assembled. The ship is still very much under construction, and the photos below are not entirely indicative of what the final product will look like.
Our tour began by walking up an industrial gangway and then climbing up a flight of stairs within the ship itself. Our first reveal of any of the ship’s public interiors was the nearly completed gallery of shops that lead towards the Walt Disney Theatre.
We reversed, however, for the time being towards the main atrium of the ship. On the Fantasy, this space has been enlarged by removing some offices that were here on the Dream.
Here details like this beautiful mosaic are already in place.
Artisans are hard at work to finalize stairwell treatments.
Plus, whimsical character friezes.
It’s the overall view that most impresses with the art nouveau colors and architectural flourishes.
The ceiling colors in these photos are particularly more vibrant than they will appear once the crystal chandelier is fully lit. Once illuminated, softer pastel colors consistent with the art nouveau styling will be revealed.
The colors will be truer in appearance to these on the exquisite floor.
We also took a peek at the Royal Court restaurant with its Disney princess inspired details.
The beginnings of the detailed scroll work in the flooring are very well crafted.
Wallpaper is more prevalent than the painted walls on Dream’s restaurant counterpart.
The captain’s table in the center of the dining venue has a raised ceiling with improved sight lines across the restaurant.
The room exudes a gentle chromatic purity.
While we were not given permission to photograph the installation of the high-tech Animator’s Palate, the venue with its new Animation Magic show is sure to please. We were given a brief demonstration onsite that was very impressive. One of our Imagineer guides, Bob Zalk, posed with an example of the placemats where guests will draw their own character before seeing it come to life on screen later in the evening.
The adults-only area of the ship, Europa, is the farthest away from completion of any of the spaces we were shown.
The French champagne bar, Ooh La La, has some ceiling details that are coming along. In this photo the Disney Cruise Line president, Karl Holz, very proud of the new ship, can be seen taking it all in just as we are.
It’s very difficult to imagine it now, but this will soon be the site of La Piazza carousel bar in the heart of Europa.
O’Gill’s Pub is currently receiving it’s faux finish ceiling paint.
Here you find the Skyline Bar with a frame in the background that will eventually receive a relief map.
And the currently very dark space with its bar equipment already in place. Skyline Bar is larger on this ship than on the Dream, having expanded into previously outdoor areas found on the sister ship.
The Union Jack inspired ceiling is about all that has made its way into The Tube nightclub thus far, but the space does appear nice and roomy.
Some of the signage has been installed too.
The most complete portion of Europa is actually the bathrooms featuring truly stunning Spanish-inspired mosaic work.
The Walt Disney Theatre is the most finished space on the ship thus far as the production team has already begun preparing the venue for its repertoire of shows.
The technical wizards at Disney are well on their way to programming and rehearsing the new productions.
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, the new princess and pirate makeover retail area, is just barely emerging from the rough space once used as meeting rooms on the Dream.
Hamm has a good eye on inspecting the construction in Andy’s Room, just part of the massive kids area known as the Oceaneer Club.
And although dimly lit and full of boxes currently, Monster’s Academy is really far along already.
The floral lighting fixtures in the Enchanted Garden restaurant, unlike the manual ones on the Dream, are now fully and automatically mechanized to open…
And close…
We also were presented some finished staterooms onboard that are mostly unchanged from the Dream’s but will this time include an expanded list of Magical Porthole character animations on the longer 7-night voyages.
The bulk of the changes between the Dream and the Fantasy are apparent on the upper decks. Here, a space once only home to a bare stage is now home to a wading pool soon to include a unique water and fog feature as well as new canopy shade structures.
The most inventive use of space I have ever seen on a cruise ship is found on the forward portion of the upper deck where the usable amount of deck space was better outfitted with additional canopies and Satellite Falls – the brand new adult-only wading pool that architecturally features and effectively disguises one of the bulbous television receivers. From the rim of the satellite drops a current of water that falls into a relaxing reclining pool.
The jovial Imagineer, Peter Ricci, demonstrates in the ‘tropical’ temperatures of Papenburg, Germany.
Small but very helpful changes like relocating the beverage and condiment station more centrally around the pool have also been made since the Dream.
While there is unfortunately nothing much to be seen of it yet, the Aqua Lab interactive water play area will be a major addition from the Dream that will further tell the backstory of the Aqua Duck in a fun new wet zone that has since displaced an underused bar found on the sister ship.
Finishing up, we were taken by the alternative restaurants onboard. Again, not much has changed, but the banquettes in Palo have been enlarged to facilitate more people.
The same modifications have been made to the banquettes at Remy.
Where the titular character greets those in crystal form adorning the light fixture.
Otherwise, the restaurant is the same with the only further addition being dividers added to the banquettes to better delineate dining parties.
Dividers have also been extended at the casual food court to better emphasize individual food stations and to avoid buffet style lines.
That’s all for now folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of the Disney Fantasy under final construction.
Until next time…