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Disney Wonder is a cruise
ship operated by Disney Cruise Line. The second ship to join the
Disney fleet, it entered service in 1999. It is nearly identical
in construction to its sister ship, Disney Magic. Both ships
have 11 public decks, can accommodate 2,400 passengers in 875
staterooms, and have a crew of approximately 950. The Disney
Wonder was built in the year following completion of the Disney
Magic. As of 2012, the Wonder is based out of Los Angeles, CA.
History
Disney Wonder had its first voyage from the Fincantieri shipyard
in Italy, stopping in Southampton, U.K., Ponta Delgada (Azores),
arriving in Port Canaveral, Florida two weeks later.[citation
needed] Its maiden voyage was a four-night Bahamian cruise that
commenced on August 15, 1999.
Disney Wonder originally sailed three- and four-night cruises to
The Bahamas. In 2011, the Disney Dream took over these
itineraries and Wonder was repositioned to the Pacific Coast.
Disney Wonder currently sails week-long Mexican Rivera cruises
and Pacific Coast cruises out of Los Angeles from October to
April, calling on such ports as Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas
and Ensenada in Mexico, as well as San Fransciso and San Diego.
On sailings in April and October 2012, the Disney Wonder will
make its first-ever calls on Hawai'i, with stops at Hilo,
Kahului and Honolulu.
From May to September, the ship sails Alaska cruises, out of
Seattle, Washington, although its voyages in 2011 departed from
Vancouver. These sailings normally call on Ketchikan, Skagway,
and Juneau. The Seattle voyages scheduled in 2012 will make an
additional stop at Victoria, British Columbia on the last night
of each voyage to satisfy the Passenger Vessel Services Act of
1886.
Following a repositioning cruise in December 2012, the Disney
Wonder will be based out of Miami, FL for about 5 months, with
four and five night sailings to the Bahamas and the Western
Caribbean. In late May 2013, she will return to Vancouver,
British Columbia as her home port for three months of Alaska
sailings. In September 2013, the Disney Wonder will be moved to
Galveston, Texas to replace the Disney Magic.
Disappearance of crew member
On March 22, 2011, while the ship was off Mexico, crewmember
Rebecca Coriam was reported missing when she failed to report
for her morning shift. An investigation both on and off the
vessel was fruitless. Her last known location had been in the
crew lounge in the early morning hours, where security camera
footage showed her talking on the phone, apparently upset, and
then walking off. It was the first incidence of a disappearance
from ship in Disney's history.
The case has been investigated by Bahamanian authorities, who
have jurisdiction due to the ship's registry. No conclusions
have been made public. Coriam's parents have been critical of
how Disney has handled it, believing the company knows more than
it has claimed to. They have set up a website seeking
information, along with a Twitter feed. Activity on Coriam's
credit card two months after her disappearance has fueled
speculation that she might be alive.
British journalist Jon Ronson took the same route later that
year and talked to crew members. None spoke for the record, but
they believed Disney had more evidence than it had suggested
publicly. One told Ronson that in the days after Coriam went
missing, some flowers were left on the railing by the crew pool,
suggesting awareness that she may have gone overboard from that
spot. Another told Ronson that Disney had a tape of the phone
conversation she had been engaging in when she was last seen |
