The Disney Magic cruise ship leaves the Tyne, North Shields
Disney Magic is the first cruise ship owned and operated by Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. She has 11 public decks, can accommodate 2,700 passengers in 875 staterooms, and has a crew of approximately 950. The interior of Disney Magic is decorated in the Art Deco style.
The ship has 20 bright yellow lifeboats which, along with the black, red, and white colors of the ship itself, match the colors of Mickey Mouse. This change from the standard safety orange took a waiver of international maritime rules. As with other Disney cruise ships, the ship’s horn blast plays a snippet of ‘”When You Wish upon a Star”. Disney Magic‘s Godmother is Patricia Disney, former wife of Walt Disney’s nephew, Roy E. Disney.
Disney had cruise ship designs drawn up by February 1994. Disney Cruise Line in 1995 ordered Disney Magic and Disney Wonder from Fincantieri in Italy. The ship was built in two halves with the bow built at Fincatieri’s Ancona shipyard and the stern at their Marghera shipyard.
The planned maiden voyage was for March 12, 1998. In January 1997, the first ticket for Magic‘s first trip was raffled off on Lifetime channel, while ticket sales would begin in September 1997. Delays on the construction of MS Rotterdam kept additional workers from the Magic. Thus, by November 1997, the cruise line initially rescheduled the ship’s initial voyage to April 30, 1998. However, further delays from suppliers and poor weather conditions at Fincantieri pushed back the maiden voyage even further by a few months. The bow was towed to the Marghera shipyard where the halves were joined.