As we all anxiously await the announcement of where the Disney Cruise ships will be sailing in Summer 2025, we have just had a huge clue that there will be a big announcement about the European sailings.
And it seems that Disney Fantasy will be sailing to Europe for the first time in May 2025.
The biggest clue has been there for all of us to see for quite some time.
All of the other Disney Cruise ships show sailings to the end of May 2025.
But the final sailing which shows for the early 2025 season for Disney Fantasy is on May 1, 2025.
This is a 3-night Bahamian cruise sailing from Port Canaveral. This would have Disney Fantasy returning to Port Canaveral on 4 May 2025.
Therefore a Transatlantic cruise from Port Canaveral on May 4th, 2025 to Europe is pretty much a slam dunk. And this from Disney Parks UK brings even more interesting questions!
Where will Disney Fantasy sail to in Europe? The Disney Instagram post confirms that there will be sailings from the UK. Not exactly a subtle hint with the flag behind Donald Duck!
But when is it likely Disney Fantasy will sail from the UK? And will the home port be Southampton or Dover?
Whilst Disney Magic did sail out of Dover, in recent years Disney Dream has sailed from Southampton. Arguably Southampton is a much more accessible port than Dover, and with Disney Fantasy being the same capacity as Disney Dream, this would be the obvious choice.
The Southampton cruise port schedule is not yet showing Disney Fantasy, but on looking at this, there is certainly capacity for DCL to sail from this port in summer 2025.
How long will Disney Fantasy have Southampton as a home port?
If you look closely at the picture above, you can see that there are numbers in the sand, and on Donald and Goofy’s shorts. I can see 1, 0, 8 and either 10 or 70.
I confess I don’t know what these numbers mean – but it could be that the UK cruises will start on August 10, 2025.
This would leave a relatively short UK season unless Disney Fantasy is going to home port in Southampton for an extended period. The usual pattern would be for her to return to Florida in September.
Related: Secret Staterooms on Disney Fantasy
But is it that this big announcement is that Disney Fantasy is going to have a more permanent home port in the UK?
The more I think about it the more I think that might be what is going to happen. By summer 2025 Disney will have 6 ships:
- Disney Wonder
- Disney Magic
- Disney Dream
- Disney Fantasy
- Disney Wish
- Disney Treasure
And 2 more to arrive some time 2025/2026
- Disney Adventure
- As yet unnamed 3rd Triton Class ship
With Disney Wonder likely to be on the West Coast and Australia sailings for the foreseeable future, this leaves 5 and soon-to-be six ships sailing from Florida, and other North American ports.
Does this leave room for a Disney ship in Southampton for an extended period? The European cruise market is rapidly expanding, and this is a market that Disney hasn’t really tapped into, spending only 4 months of the year sailing there.
If Disney had a more permanent home in Europe they could offer year-round sailings with a lot of different itineraries, including possibly, short 3 and 4-night sailings from the UK. They already have a sense of the market there because that is where the first post shut down cruises sailed for DCL.
Everything here is complete speculation, but I and many others would love to see a more permanent Disney presence in Europe. Particularly with a UK home port.
What do you think?
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Alison Meacham is the founder of EverythingMouse Disney Blog. For over 15 years she has shared her love of Disney Parks, Disney Cruises and Universal Orlando. In over 30 years of Disney Travel she has spent countless months in Disney Parks and has sailed on over 45 cruises. A British native and now a United States resident she splits her time between California, Florida and the UK. And spends a serious amount of time sailing the seven seas. She helps over 200,000 people per month follow their Disney travel dreams.