Disney Castaway Cay. Photo by Steven Diaz

For an enticing incentive or corporate meeting, Disney Cruise Line offers personalized facilities and a fun atmosphere aboard a full fleet of ships that appeal to adults as much as kids. Groups can integrate into their meetings onboard entertainment, whether it’s Disney character appearances at private functions or teambuilding activities onboard.

“I think it makes a lot of sense doing events on these vessels because it’s fun. It adds an element of mystery and a bit of magic,” said Joyce Landry, CEO of Landry & Kling Global Ship Solutions, a leader in booking ship-based meetings and events as well as incentive cruises. “If it’s an incentive program, you’re trying to reward people; you’re trying to have them have an experience that they wouldn’t have elsewhere. Very few people have cruised in general and even fewer people have been on a Disney cruise. It could be a really nice enticement.”

Landry & Kling works as a liaison between its planner clients and the cruise line. “We work with a lot of planners who have never done a program on a ship before,” Landry said. “We help them to understand what they can and can’t do, what they can negotiate, what’s included, what’s not included. We help with that learning curve — help to make it easier for them.”

Landry noted that Disney executes its meetings and incentives with the utmost attention to detail from the very start of the voyage. “It’s lovely for incentives and meetings. As you’re arriving at the vessel, you enter this gorgeous atrium. They have a microphone there and you tell them your name and they introduce you to the whole ship.”

The Disney team is quite creative. If planners tell them what they’re planning on doing, they are open to customizing some of the technology onboard to make it much more customized and to have some of the characters come to your meeting.

Landry is particularly impressed with the technology capabilities on the ships. On one of the ships she booked, she said there was a re-creation of the Star Wars starship, and Star Wars characters were on hand. “It’s like being on a movie set, and it’s done very well. I think that for adults or for children, it can be fascinating and charming. It can be funny because you walk down the hallway and if you’re passing one of the animated pictures, they’ll come to life. And it will be a surprise. You will be passing a battleship and all of a sudden, you’ll hear the ship, and you turn around and then another one comes alive, and then they start fighting.”

A good size group for a Disney Cruise Line meeting is up to 300, and employee events where attendees can bring their families are ideal. “We’ve had a lot of these lately where it’s an employee reward and for extra cost you could bring your kids. It’s a pretty low step-up price. Everyone loves the quality of it.”

The Disney Cruise Line fleet features a variety of ships visiting ports of call at destinations around the globe. The Disney Wish, which first debuted in 2022, the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy, Disney Magic and Disney Wonder all offer everything from a full-time group services manager and catering team to Broadway style lighting and laser systems, which are at their disposal for presentations and group entertainment.

“Disney has several different ships, and they built all their vessels with a very similar platform, so you can count on certain amenities,” said Landry. There are conference rooms available onboard the Disney Dream. The ship features the Fantasy Conference Room at 337 sf; Magic Conference Room with 337 sf; and the Wonder Conference Room, also with 337 sf. All three combined, with air walls open, equals 1,012 sf.

One of the onboard venues on all the Disney ships is the Walt Disney Theatre, which is equipped with an approximately 40-foot-wide proscenium stage and full-flying capabilities for moveable backdrops and scenery. There is also a sophisticated projection system, pyrotechnic capabilities, and state-of-the-art lighting and sounds.

The Walt Disney Theatre on both the Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream ships offers a 1,340-seat capacity theater; and the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder are each home to a 977-seat capacity theater. Landry has used the Walt Disney Theatre for groups on the Disney Dream. “It’s got incredible audio visual and 4D cinema and a nice stage in the front. Planners can take that over privately.”

She has also utilized two of the premium restaurants onboard Disney Dream, Palo and Remy, which offer intimate rooms for private group events. “We worked with a technology group, and we were able to take over one of the restaurants as a trade show. This was a big production. We booked it almost two years in advance.” Landry said the setup entailed placing displays on the dining tables and having meetings in there for the three nights of the cruise. “It worked out incredibly well, but it’s not easy to do and it would have to be offseason. You need to really pick your times to do something like that.”

Advance planning is crucial for something that elaborate, whether it’s taking over a restaurant dining area or a particular lounge for an event or cocktail party, since Disney has extensive programming onboard their ships and planners need to make sure their events can fit in.

Disney ships also offer adult-only areas where groups can gather such as Disney Dream’s The District. Pink is an adult exclusive bar inside The District designed to look like the inside of a champagne bottle. Guests can see within the bar’s walls the pink elephants from the beloved Disney film “Dumbo” dancing. There is also a District Lounge for cocktails and sports bar Pub 687.

“If you have attendees who didn’t bring any children, Disney has adult areas especially at night where no children are allowed,” Landry said. The Route 66 area on the Disney Wonder, includes the WaveBands live music club, Diversions sports pub and The Cadillac Lounge piano bar.

Disney is expanding its fleet later this year with Disney Treasure, which will feature a Grand Hall with decor inspired by exotic locales in Asia and Africa, including the fictitious city of Agrabah from Disney’s “Aladdin.” The space will serve as the ship’s most prominent gathering space and will offer its own dedicated entertainment moments and surprises.

The Disney Wish

The signature suite on the ship will be the two-story Tomorrow Tower Suite, similar to the multiroom suite on the Disney Wish — a nearly 2,000-sf setting themed to “Moana.” The Disney Treasure will look to EPCOT for its design, with art pieces, molten metal and colorful glass accents evoking the atmosphere of EPCOT’s World Discovery neighborhood.

Another feature on the Disney Treasure will be the Haunted Mansion Parlor, pouring craft cocktails and offering an exclusive onboard merchandise collection. Another onboard venue will be the Periscope Pub, which takes a page from Walt Disney’s 1954 film, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and the legacy 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride at Disney World. The submarine-styled interiors include a glass ceiling.

Disney Treasure will also introduce “Disney the Tale of Moana,” in its Walt Disney Theatre with set design and music based on elements of Pacific Islands culture and towering puppets coming to life onstage. The vessel will also feature Plaza de Coco — the first theatrical dining experience themed to the Disney and Pixar film, “Coco.” The theater-in-the-round venue will offer dining tables surrounding a central stage, with performances and show effects that will spread throughout the room.

The Disney Treasure will embark on its maiden voyage, a seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral, Florida, this December, followed by an inaugural season of seven-night itineraries to the Eastern and Western Caribbean from Port Canaveral.

Disney Cruise Line is also building out a new ship, Disney Adventure, that will be homeported in Singapore for at least five years beginning in 2025. Disney Adventure will be dedicated to Asian destinations and markets. The 208,000-gross-ton ship will become the largest in Disney’s fleet and will be the cruise line’s debut in Southeast Asia.

Ports of Call

The destinations and ports of call are broadly varied on the Disney Cruise Line ships.

Disney Dream offers options for groups and incentives on four- and five-night cruises to locations in western Caribbean and The Bahamas such as Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Nassau. Disney Dream also sails to European destinations in the Mediterranean, Greek Isles, British Isles and popular locales in the Norwegian Fjords and Iceland.

Disney Dream sails to the Castaway Cay, a private island in The Bahamas reserved exclusively for Disney Cruise Line. Disney Castaway Cay offers beaches, lagoons for snorkeling, walking trails and BBQ dining locations. Groups can set up private areas on Castaway Cay and host events with music, dancing, Disney characters and a host of other options. They have an entire area of the beach that’s only for adults including a spa.

Groups booking on the Disney Magic can choose three routes in the Caribbean that all stop at Disney Castaway Cay. Its Western Caribbean route offers ports of call in Mexico, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and more while its Southern Caribbean route stopping in Martinique and Barbados among other locales, and Eastern Caribbean offers Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, among others.

Disney Wonder heads to Alaska with stops in historic towns like Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau, as well as glacier viewing along the Stikine Icecap. It also runs itineraries in Mexico with stops at Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos for snorkeling or sailing down the Baja Peninsula. Other options include glass-bottom boat tours on California’s Catalina Island. Its Caribbean itinerary can include the nature island of Dominica, the beaches of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the colonial history of Puerto Rico’s San Juan.

The Disney Fantasy and Disney Wish travel to islands throughout The Bahamas and Caribbean. All sailings on these Port Canaveral-based ships feature a visit to Castaway Cay. Disney Wish offers mainly three- and four-night Bahamian vacations, while the Disney Fantasy sails to popular ports in the eastern and western Caribbean on seven-night cruises.

Disney Cruise Line introduced its new dedicated cruise terminal last year at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. The Disney Dream began sailing from the dedicated cruise terminal last November and will be followed by the Disney Magic this May.

The experience starts when guests enter the terminal, as the experience turns into the Disney and Pixar’s film, “Finding Nemo.” Guests are joined by some of the movie’s favorite characters on colorful murals, including fish, rays and coral. As guests get closer to embarkation, they will be welcomed by characters Nemo, Marlin and Dory. Overhead, the ceiling fixtures are designed to make guests feel like they are undersea and part of the movie.

This year, there are sailings from Fort Lauderdale to Disney’s new island destination, Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point in Eleuthera, The Bahamas, which offers play areas for children as well as adult-only beaches, dining areas, bars and beachside cabanas. At the heart of Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point is a colorful arts and cultural pavilion where special programs and local artists offer opportunities to learn and celebrate the traditions and natural beauty of The Bahamas.

Disney partnered with Bahamian artists, historians and cultural ambassadors when designing Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. Some other local elements infused into the destination include the colors and music of the Bahamian street parade, Junkanoo. Murals, sculptures and other designs created by Bahamian artists, including some from Eleuthera, are integrated into gathering spaces and cabanas, which can be used by corporate and incentive groups.

The growing trend of meetings at sea is keeping corporate event planners sailing away! And looking to keep the cruise community among their venues of choice for meetings and or incentive.

Icon of the Seas

Royal Caribbean: A New Look for Meetings at Sea 

Last month, Royal Caribbean launched Icon of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, nicknamed “The largest waterpark at sea.” It offers meeting and incentive groups new bleisure possibilities. Sailing from the port of Miami, at a length of nearly one-quarter of a mile, the vessel can host 5,600 guests across its 20 decks. It is equipped with a conference center that can accommodate up to 180 people across three rooms that can be combined or separated with airwalls. Besides the new vessel’s eight “neighborhoods,” seven swimming pools, and five sit-down restaurants, Icon of the Seas has seven music lounges and two theaters — one a high-tech domed show venue, the other featuring an ice surface for skating performances that can be rented out by business groups during the day. For a list of other Royal Caribbean vessels, visit royalcaribbean.com.

Celebrity Cruises: Leading a New Era of Corporate Travel

Meeting planners looking to be a star by finding a unique and incredible venue will absolutely be that when they choose Celebrity Cruises. Known as one of the best premium cruise lines in the industry, Celebrity Cruises offers 16 award-winning ships with unique experiences in more than 300 destinations and 3,000 shore excursions on all seven continents. From Asia, Alaska, Australia to Europe, the Caribbean and many more destinations, Celebrity Cruises lead a new era of corporate travel. Attendees can expect unique conferences, fundraisers, product launches, trade shows and more while experiencing the seven seas as their brilliant background for a tailor-made luxury experience. Meeting planners can find the perfect space to host meetings with exclusive access to onboard facilities. They can save time and money with F&B and entertainment, which is all included in the cruise fare. Impressive theaters set the stage for larger conferences, while comfortable lounges can accommodate smaller breakout sessions. For more information, visit celebritycorporatekit.com/group-meetings.

Norwegian Cruise Line: Entertainment Beyond Anything at Sea

With some of the newest ships in the industry, Norwegian Cruise Line currently boasts the youngest fleet among major North American cruise lines. Thanks to a wide range of revolutionary features, in addition to a number of new spaces and interactive experiences meant to excite and inspire, attendees can expect an extraordinary meeting at sea. Norwegian Viva, the second ship of the groundbreaking Prima Class, debuted last fall. Mirroring the design of the award-winning sister ship Norwegian Prima, Norwegian Viva features standout onboard experiences, including the Viva Speedway — the three-level racetrack; Indulge Food Hall, an upscale food market exhibiting 11 unique eateries; the fastest slides at sea, The Drop and Rush; and NCL’s industry-exclusive sustainable cocktail bar, the Metropolitan Bar.

Following the successfully launched Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva, making new waves in March 2025 will be the Norwegian Aqua, the latest evolution of its innovative Prima Class Norwegian Cruise Line. With contemporary accommodations, spectacular dining choices and award-winning Broadway performances like “Jersey Boys” or “Footloose,” attendees will discover entertainment that’s beyond anything at sea. Visit ncl.com for more information.  C&IT