Why Disney is plowing cash into a cruise line expansion

trains of "When You Wish Upon a Star" drifted across lower Manhattan on a recent November evening, echoing from Disney's newest cruise ship on its path south down the Hudson River toward Florida.

- Robbie Whelan

Chief Executive Bob Iger had christened the 1,119-foot-long Disney Treasure the previous evening while 1,000 drones hovered overhead in the shape of a Champagne bottle. The fleet of drones transformed into shapes of images from "Aladdin," "Coco," "Moana" and other movies as pop star Jordin Sparks belted out a song written specially for the new ship.

The spectacle was a coming-out party of sorts for a business that for years has played a bit part in Disney's overall entertainment empire, but is now increasing in prominence. Growth is slowing in the entertainment company's parks businesses, and its legacy TV business is suffering from cord-cutting, but Disney fans worldwide can't seem to get enough of cruises.

When Disney announced plans last year to "turbo-charge" investment in its Experiences division, which includes theme parks, resorts and consumer products, the company said 20% of the $60 billion over the next decade would go toward its cruise business and other projects that haven't been announced yet. Disney plans to more than double its fleet from six to 13 ships by 2031 and further expand its service internationally.

"Given the fact that we are still a relatively small player and we see this strong demand, it's only natural and actually the best time to invest in this business," said Thomas Mazloum, who leads the part of Disney's Experiences division that includes cruises.

Cruise travel overall surpassed prepandemic levels last year, attracting 31.7 million passengers, up from 29.7 million in 2019, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group.