Disney Believe will homeport at Port Everglades, giving Fort Lauderdale a second Disney cruise ship in December 2027

Disney Cruise Line's next ship is coming to Fort Lauderdale. The company announced Oct. 7 that the Disney Believe will homeport at Port Everglades beginning in December 2027, with a maiden voyage set for Dec. 18, 2027, and four- and five-night sailings to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Bookings open to the general public Oct. 19, 2026.

The decision gives Broward County a second Disney ship. The Disney Destiny has sailed from Port Everglades since its debut in November 2025, and the Believe will extend a 15-year agreement between Disney Cruise Line and the county-owned port, according to Port Everglades. Disney's two other Wish-class ships, the Disney Wish and Disney Treasure, sail from Port Canaveral in Brevard County.

The announcement

Disney had promoted the Oct. 7 date for weeks as the moment it would reveal the ship's details and homeport. The Disney Parks Blog and Port Everglades released matching announcements that day, with Disney also unveiling the ship's restaurants, lounges, shows and suites.

Tracy Wilson, Disney Cruise Line's senior vice president and general manager of operations, said in the port's release that the company looks forward to "bringing even more families the opportunity to experience the magic of a Disney vacation at sea." Port Everglades CEO and Port Director Joseph Morris called Disney's choice of the port for a second new ship "an excellent outcome of our strong relationship."

Ship at a glance

The Disney Believe is the fourth and final ship in Disney's Wish class, being built at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. Its key details are summarized below.

Construction is well underway. The first of three gigablocks, the midship section that includes the Grand Hall, floated out Sept. 18, and Meyer Werft held the keel-laying ceremony Oct. 5, placing a custom coin with a Tinker Bell portrait beneath the keel, according to Disney. The forward and aft sections come next.

What's on board

Disney says the ship's theme is belief in magic, family, nature and oneself, drawn largely from Walt Disney Animation Studios films. The headline additions include:

• "Disney Encanto": the world's first stage adaptation of the 2021 film, exclusive to the Believe in the Walt Disney Theatre, which will also stage "Tangled: The Musical" and the Wish-class show "Disney Seas the Adventure."
• Oaken's Table: A Frozen Family Feast: a new rotational dining room set in a Scandinavian summerhouse courtyard, with a dinner show and visits from Anna and Kristoff. The Marvel-themed Worlds of Marvel and the 1923 dining room return from the sister ships.
• Grand Hall: the ship's atrium, inspired by "Moana," with a bronze statue of Moana, Pua and Heihei and a chandelier hiding the heart of Te Fiti.
• Gazelle: a "Zootopia"-inspired entertainment venue with family shows by day, including a new detective show starring Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, and adults-only entertainment at night.
• Lounges and cafes: the Wishing Well lounge based on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the Sea Notes piano lounge inspired by Ariel's grotto, the Skygazers pub, Big Hero Sips, Cafe Kakamora and a returning Haunted Mansion Parlor.

About 70% of staterooms have verandahs, and the ship will have more than 450 connecting doors for families, Disney said. Exclusive to the Believe is a two-story Believe Tower Suite in the forward funnel for up to eight guests, with rooms modeled on Magic Kingdom lands. Outside, Woody and Buzz Lightyear will appear at the stern, and a hand-painted Tinker Bell will decorate the bow.

Trent Hitchcock, a nearly 20-year Disney Cruise Line veteran who helped open the Disney Destiny, will be the opening cruise director. He called the job of closing out the Wish class "an honor and a privilege."

What it means for Broward County

Port Everglades is already one of the busiest cruise ports in the world. It handled a record 4.7 million cruise guests in fiscal year 2025, with cruise activity up 21.7%, according to a Martin Associates study the port released in June. That study put the port's total statewide economic impact at $48.3 billion and linked it to about 295,000 jobs, including roughly 13,100 that depend directly on the port.

With four- and five-night itineraries, the Believe will turn over its roughly 4,000 guests several times a month, creating demand for pre-cruise hotel stays, restaurants, ground transportation and airport traffic at nearby Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The port's release said the new ship will support tourism, jobs and local businesses in Broward County and that Disney will continue its community giving and VoluntEARS volunteer programs there.

Florida's growing Disney fleet

The move cements Florida's place at the center of Disney's cruise business. Port Canaveral, the closest port to Walt Disney World, is home to the Wish and Treasure, while Port Everglades will have two Wish-class ships once the Believe arrives. Disney Cruise Line has eight ships in service and plans to reach 13 by late 2030, including a new class of ships expected in 2029 and a partnership with Oriental Land Co. for a ship based in Japan, according to the company. It has also signed an agreement with the Port of San Diego that will roughly double its West Coast sailings.

For Central Florida, the announcement means the newest Disney ship will not sail from Brevard County, though families from the Orlando area are within a few hours' drive of Fort Lauderdale.

What's next

Public bookings open Oct. 19, 2026. Disney and Port Everglades said more details about the ship's onboard experiences, itineraries and community partnerships will be released closer to its arrival. Meyer Werft will continue assembling the remaining gigablocks in Germany before the ship's delivery and its transatlantic trip to South Florida ahead of the Dec. 18, 2027, maiden voyage.