Surprise Disney Cruise Line announcement will ultimately more than triple the size of the line

What was arguably the most shocking announcement of the night at the Walt Disney Company's D23 fan event last night in Anaheim, California, wasn't about a theme park (although there were tons of those, too).

Instead, we now know that the Disney Cruise Line's recent rapid expansion, where it went from just the same four ships it had operated for about 10 years to a total of nine now either on the water or under construction, was just the beginning.

Related: Every new land and ride just announced coming to Disney

The Disney Cruise Line will welcome four more ships to its fleet of five currently in service and the four already announced and under construction in the coming years, bringing its fleet size to 13 ships by 2031.

That's ultimately more than triple the number of ships it had on the water for many years, until Disney Wish set sail in June 2022.

Disney announced that while ship names and itineraries for the just-announced four additional ships are still under development, it will welcome them between 2027 and 2031.

For those keeping count at home, Disney Treasure will first set sail later this year as the line's sixth ship.

Then, in 2025, two more ships will join the fleet. Disney Destiny will set sail from Florida's Port Everglades. Disney Adventure, a massive 9,000-person ship that Disney Cruise Line purchased mid-construction from Asia-based Dream Cruises, will set sail from Singapore.

And then there's what we thought was going to be the ninth ship, a Tokyo-based ship, which was announced only a few weeks ago and will begin construction in Germany in 2025 and set sail in 2029.

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But with the just-announced timeline for four additional ships beginning in 2027, it sounds like at least one of those ships, if not more, will be ready before the previously announced Japan-based ship that is being created in conjunction with the Oriental Land Company that owns Tokyo Disney.

There's much we don't yet know about these newly revealed four additional Disney Cruise Line ships, including their size, if they will utilize a new or existing footprint and where these additional ships will home port and sail to. There are currently a few U.S. ports, such as Galveston, that the line serves only during a portion of the year.

However, Josh D'Amaro, the chairman of Disney Experiences, did perhaps give a clue to the plans for at least some of the ships, saying, "Expanding our fleet gives more people, in more parts of the world, the opportunity to experience a vacation at sea like only Disney can provide." Perhaps hinting that the ships will serve some parts of the globe that are new to Disney Cruise Line. For example, the line currently does not sail to or from South America, a market that is important to the company in many ways. In fact, the first D23 fan event to be held in Brazil will take place there in November.

Disney has also shared that the current ships are experiencing both high demand and high satisfaction rates, hitting 97% occupancy in Q2 2024.

For comparison, Royal Caribbean currently has 28 ships. So, while 13 eventual ships would still be a significantly smaller fleet than Royal Caribbean, a line that also caters to families, it puts them in a much more similar position for fleet size than when there were just four ships only a couple of years ago.

On an investor call a few days ago, a Disney executive shared that the cruise ships tend to "pay back very quickly," and it's clear that Disney is betting big on the sea and on its ability to attract 'voyagers' to its ships for decades to come.

Planning a Disney cruise? Start with these stories:

• Best Disney Cruise Line tips and tricks
• Review of Disney Magic, the original ship in the Disney fleet
• How much does a Disney cruise really cost?
• Is a Disney cruise fun for adults?