This was in our local paper today

Disney cruise ship to dock in Los Angeles

March 30th, 2009, 3:16 pm · posted by Adam Townsend, Staff Writer

In a move that officials expect will create 2,600 jobs in the Los Angeles area and generate millions of dollars in tax revenue, Disney Cruise Line announced today that it will move one of its two ships from Florida to Los Angeles. The Port of Los Angeles will become the home base for the Disney Wonder cruise ship, pending approval of a two-year contract with an option to extend it another three between Disney and the port.
Disney estimates the move would mean 250,000 cruise-ship passengers here over five years.
The ship’s original home base is Port Canaveral in Florida, said Disney Cruise spokeswoman Christi Erwin Donnan.
“Having a ship on the West Coast will allow us to diversify our fleet,” she said.
The itinerary for the ship, which won’t move to Los Angeles until 2011, is pending. But Donnan said it’s a safe bet that cruises would include trips along the Baja coast.
The ship has previously done three- and four-day jaunts around the Caribbean, including trips to Disney’s private resort island called Castaway Cay (pronounced “key”).
The economic figures describing all the jobs estimated to come to L.A. as a result of the cruise business came from Port of Los Angeles officials.
Unclear are the specific types of jobs and salary ranges for the potential employees Disney would hire directly — the paperwork necessary to approve the contract is as yet unfinished.
“We’re just not ready to share the details on that yet,” Donnan said.
The move to Los Angeles is part of Disney Cruise Line’s larger expansion plans announced in 2007 — shipwrights in German are busy welding together the Disney Dream, slated for delivery to Canaveral in 2011. Disney also contracted another new ship called Fantasy that is supposed to be ready to sail in 2012.
Meanwhile, the second of Disney’s two existing ships is setting off for the Mediterranean, where it will be based for a year or so.
The photo above pictures the Disney Wonder cruise ship that will soon make its home in the Port of Los Angeles.



Disney cruise ship to dock in Los Angeles - Around Disney - OCRegister.com

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