Site Inspection
Cruisin’: Disney Ramps up Cruise Ship Offerings for Meetings Market
by Chad Emerson | Published in March 2007 Departments
Ramona Christen likes the fact that her meeting venue did not cut corners. “The food was spectacular, the rooms were amazing and so was the staff,” said the sponsorship services manager for Indiana Pacers Sports & Entertainment.
Technically, though, it could have cut a few corners, and she probably wouldn’t even have noticed — the venue was one of the Disney Cruise Line’s two cruise ships.
These days, more and more cruise lines are marketing on-board event options, ranging from small incentive meetings to large corporate gatherings. One company that’s taking the lead is the Port Canaveral, Fla.-based Disney Cruise Line.
As with the company’s flagship Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Disney has recently ramped up efforts to position its cruise line as a leading venue for all types of events.
Each of Disney’s ships offers a wide array of options. With a 977-person seating capacity, the Broadway-style Walt Disney Theater includes the latest in staging and lighting technology and is available for event buyouts. Ships also include Buena Vista Theaters — on-board movie halls offering state-of-the-art video projection technology and a small stage.
Additionally, Disney’s ships offer smaller conference centers, each containing three separate 1,000-square-foot-plus conference rooms, the largest of which is the 1,450-square-foot “Steamboat Willie Room,” named after one of Walt Disney’s earliest animated characters.
Of course, most meetings aren’t all work, so the Disney cruise line offers attendees some of the cruise industry’s largest rooms, as well as a stop at Disney’s private Caribbean island, Castaway Cay. And, despite its kid-oriented reputation, each ship offers an adults-only pool area, spa and entertainment district.
Whether it’s a full ship buyout (roughly 2,400 people) or a small corporate retreat, the Disney Cruise Lines offers a unique opportunity to take your next event on a highly immersive high-seas adventure, without sacrificing all the technical services that a great event requires.
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