Monday, Disney announced a new partnership with AmaWaterways to create a Disney-branded river cruise experience. Sold through the company's Adventures by Disney's arm, the first steps will be small -- only five sailing in 2016. Given the millions of Disney devotees and their very loyal cruise customers, selling out those first five cruises will not be an issue. They could double their capacity in the first few years and still not scratch the surface of Disney-river cruising demand. The unknown is Disney's long-term plans in the space.
The partnership is a great way to test demand. But are there enough young families that want the River Cruise experience to support a full-time Disney River Cruise ship? Even those customers who enjoy the Adventures by Disney tours might find the smaller, river cruise ships limiting. Will it ever make sense for Disney to build its own ship?
Like Viking expanding from river cruises to ocean cruises, this is good news for the industry and cruise fans. It is also only a matter of time before ocean cruise company announces an expansion into river cruising.
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