CRUISE NEWS: Check out newcomers Disney Dream and Oceania Marina

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Disney Dream at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island paradise in the Bahamas.

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Oceania Marina

It was 2008 when ships for this year would have been ordered, so it was all about the economy at the time.

That doesn't mean we won't see some tantalizing new ships in 2011.

The two that will garner the most notoriety and certainly are early favourites to be ship-of-the-year: the Disney Dream and the Oceania Marina. Both will be launched within the next three weeks. These are the only two from the major lines that are built from scratch. Others launching this year are siblings, with some modifications, to sister ships already sailing.

The Dream, of course, is in the family class of ships. Marina is in the deluxe category.

For Disney, this is the first new ship since Disney Wonder in 1999. With the Dream's arrival, it means Wonder and Magic will be able to open up Disney cruising in new markets, such as Alaska (Wonder) for the first time this summer.

Designers and engineers push the envelope every year, and Disney's Dream is no exception. A water coaster will sweep around the ship and out over the sides and you can bet that will be the most popular attraction for both kids and adults.

Although it only has 1,250 staterooms, this ship is much bigger than the 2,500 passengers it would figure to carry. With family-type cabins, the maximum capacity on this ship is going to be 4,000. That will be duplicated when Disney launches Fantasy, a sister ship, in 2012.

Oceania Marina is more than twice the size of anything in its current three-ship fleet.

With 629 staterooms creating room for 1,260 guests, it will be interesting to see if Oceania can step up and match the service offered on the smaller vessels. So far, this line has a solid niche in the deluxe market.

Food has always been foremost on Oceania ships and, with 10 restaurants -- some for only 29 diners -- this ship will have plenty of choices for its longer voyages. If you want to combine cooking with your cruise, there is also a culinary centre, with 24 individual, full cooking stations.

Marina's sister ship, Riviera, will launch next year.

I will be on board both Disney's Dream and Oceania's Marina and will review them here and online at portsandbows.com, along with lots of pictures.

Sister ships and river cruisers fill out the 2011 launching parade. There will be five new boats on the rivers -- AMA Waterways and Uniworld with two each, and Avalon with one.

As for the new sisters, Carnival Magic will be the second in the Carnival Dream series. Carnival left the European market two years ago, but is coming back this season with the Magic, in May. Next winter, it will be based in Galveston, Texas.

Seabourn Quest will be the third ship in the Odyssey series for this luxury brand (Sojourn was second).

Silhouette's launch this year will make the fourth member of the Celebrity Solstice class of ships. While the first three had a few modifications, Celebrity will be making several interior changes to Silhouette and the final one in the series, Reflection.

Visit portsandbows.com for daily updates on the latest cruise news, best deals and behind-the-scenes stories from the industry. You can also sign up for an email newsletter on the site for even more cruise information. Phil can be contacted directly at portsandbows

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 5, 2011 E3