Disney's first Asian cruise focuses on the Indian market

Sarah Fox, vice president and regional general manager, Asia, Disney Cruise Line (second from left), Laura Cabo, portfolio executive creative director, Walt Disney Imagineering (fourth from left) and Lee Hawkins, cruise director, Disney Cruise Line (second from right) with various characters from the Disney stable. Image: Courtesy Disney

Elsa or Jasmine? Spiderman or Deadpool? Mickey or Minnie? If that sounds like a menu of hard choices, here’s the good news—you won’t have to choose. Disney recently announced their first-ever cruise liner in Asia, called Disney Adventure, set to sail from Singapore in 2025. Drawing on 100 years of the company’s storytelling, families on board will find entertainment by beloved characters from across the Disney spectrum, from Marvel superheroes to Mickey’s gang and Disney princesses, and everything in between.

In fact, this edition of the Disney cruise will feature specifics to attract an Indian audience.

“We’ve done a lot of focus groups in the region, and the response of the Indian guest for Disney Adventure has been phenomenal,” Sarah Fox, vice president & regional general manager, Disney Cruise Line, told Forbes India on a recent India trip. “We’ve seen real interest for multi-night cruise holidays from India. You know, many of our guests have been to our parks in Florida or California or Paris, and we have guests who are already members of the Castaway Club, or the cruise loyalty programme.”

Fox adds that the team has been tracking the growth of outbound tourism in India, and anticipate that this is only going to rise. “The focus groups show that Indian guests have very high expectations from the quality and the guest experience that Disney is going to bring, so that’s a good start,” she says.

Mowgli enters the garden

For the first time ever, a Disney cruise ship will feature an Indian restaurant. Mowgli’s Eatery, a casual diner on board the Disney Adventure, will serve Indian and regional dishes ‘with a special Disney twist’. The restaurant, inspired by Mowgli’s journey in The Jungle Book, will draw on both early concept art from the film and from authentic regional design influences.

“This is my favourite part of the ship,” says Lloyd Machado, director of hotel for new build & dry dock operations at Disney Cruise Line, who is now based in Germany, but grew up in India. “I grew up with the movie and Mowgli, and it resonates so well with us. This is going to be an immersive experience based on India, with regional classics served with a Disney twist.”

Mowgli’s Eatery stands within what’s called the Imagination Garden, the central hub of the ship, built to showcase an enchanted valley inspired by Disney’s 100 years of storytelling.

For the first time ever, a Disney cruise ship will feature an Indian restaurant. Image: Courtesy Disney

The open-air garden is one of seven uniquely themed areas on board the Disney Adventure cruise, each of which will teem with characters based on the themes, and unique experiences.

The other areas include Disney Discovery Reef, San Fransokyo Street, Wayfinder Bay, Town Square, Marvel Landing and Toy Story Place. While more details on these areas are awaited, Disney recently unveiled its plans for the Imagination Garden.

At the Imagination Garden, guests will find decorative foliage of cascading vines, blooming flowers and shaped topiaries, set amidst towering trellises and twinkling lanterns. Planted through the landscape will be a mix of popular characters from Disney, Pixar and Marvel stories.

The Imagination Garden is flanked by a Garden Stage on one end, featuring round-the-clock live entertainment, and a larger-than-life three-storey princess castle on the other.

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The stage overlooks an open ‘lawn’ area, with a large staircase that doubles as amphitheatre seating. The stage is equipped with state-of-the-art theatrical tools, complete with amenities for special effects. One of the signature entertainment experiences at this stage will be an action-packed ‘Avengers Assemble!’ show—and Deadpool will make his Disney Cruise Line debut here.

In addition to Mowgli’s Eatery, this zone also has another Asia-Pacific eatery called Gramma Tala’s Kitchen, reflecting the island flair of Moana. With décor inspired by the Pacific islands, the menu will display diverse flavours from Asia and the Pacific regions.

“We’re highlighting the two dining destinations that come off of Disney’s Imagination Garden today, but dining on board the ship is actually quite extensive,” says Fox. “We have what we call rotational dining, so guests will experience a new restaurant each evening—but what’s special is that your wait staff will travel with you. It’s an incredibly high touch experience where they get to know you and your dining or drinking preferences, and also how to engage your kids.”

Children will be treated to magic, origami and other entertainment through their meals.

“Every menu will carry our international favourites, but also a fair mix of comfort food that’s specific to the region,” Machado adds. “Comfort food is critical to travel, and we’ll offer guests a chance to experiment, and also to fall back on their favourites.”

What’s on board

The Disney Adventure hosts 2,111 guest cabins, with 2,500 crew members. “This is an exciting opportunity for us to think about employment from India itself,” Machado adds. “India is going to be a big base for us to seek crew members, and it’s a brilliant way for staff to experience different getaways while working.”

Disney Imagination Garden. Image: Courtesy Disney

Each cruise itinerary encompasses three or four-night trips, but the exact route or the pricing are yet to be revealed. “We haven’t launched our pricing yet, we are obviously more premium in the market,” Fox adds. “But that said, we have an array of pricing offerings, depending on the number of guests that are in your stateroom and the type of accommodation you are looking for.”

The Walt Disney Company, last year, announced that it will invest $60 billion over the next decade to expand Disney Experiences, a vertical that encompasses theme parks and cruise businesses—double of what it spent in the previous decade. According to media reports, Disney Experiences accounted for 36 percent of the company’s total revenue but 70 percent of its operating income in 2023.

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Disney currently has five cruise lines sailing the seas, from Europe to the Americas and Australia, and has plans to launch eight ships in the next seven years, including its first two in Asia, almost trebling its fleet by 2031.

While the Disney Adventure will launch from Singapore’s Marina Bay Cruise Centre in 2025, the second, unnamed ship will operate from a port in Japan.

The announcements to add more ships to its fleet comes amid the company seeing falling revenue at its theme parks—a 3 percent drop in operating income compared to the same time last year. The company says that its demand for cruise lines remains strong.

“The cruise ships tend to pay back very quickly,” Walt Disney’s CFO Hugh Johnston said to analysts in its Q3 earnings call earlier this month. “We certainly feel positive about those investments.”