Disney Fantasy Floats Out – the countdown begins

Under the watchful eyes of thousands of visitors, Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship Disney Fantasy hit the water in Papenburg, Germany on January 8th, 2012.

All eyes on Disney Fantasy

Although Captain Mickey Mouse was in attendance, the real “star” of the show was Disney Fantasy. The Disney Fantasy is the fourth cruise liner in the expanding Disney Cruise Line fleet. She features 14 decks, a ship length of 1,115 feet and a maximum width of 125 feet, the 130,000-ton vessel includes 1,250 staterooms and has the capacity to accommodate 4,000 passengers.

The countdown begins

View Disney Fantasy Countdown to Maiden Voyage in a larger map

Disney Fantasy,  floated out of her enclosed building dock at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany to begin a series of milestones marking the way to her maiden voyage on March 31, 2012. Disney Fantasy will will convey down the River Ems, in about 2 weeks, to the North Sea for the start of sea trials.

The Disney Fantasy is the second of two newly designed Disney Cruise Line ships. It has many of the features found on its sister ship, the Disney Dream, which started sailing out of Port Canaveral in 2011.