New York Is Getting Disney Cruises Back, With Bermuda, Puerto Rico and Southern Caribbean Sailings

Disney Cruise Line is returning to New York with 7 Disney Wish voyages, including 5 Bermuda sailings and a cruise to San Juan, Puerto Rico, before expanding its Southern Caribbean program from one of the region’s fastest-growing cruise destinations.

Disney Cruise Line is coming back to New York City for the first time since 2023, with 7 special voyages aboard Disney Wish, including 5 cruises to Bermuda and a 5-night sailing that ends in San Juan, Puerto Rico. From there, the ship will head deeper into the Caribbean on a 7-night voyage to Aruba, St. Maarten, Bonaire and Dominica.

The newly announced program begins in late September 2027, after Disney Wish completes its inaugural European season, and is part of Disney Cruise Line’s Fall 2027 and Spring 2028 deployment. Early reservations open Aug. 31 for select Castaway Club members, with general reservations beginning Sept. 8.

It’s a significant return for New York, but the bigger Caribbean story stretches well beyond the city. Disney is linking New York directly with Puerto Rico, adding more sailings from San Juan aboard two ships and building itineraries around some of the most sought-after ports in the Southern Caribbean.

Disney Wish Is Returning to New York

The New York comeback will center on Disney Wish, which will operate voyages ranging from four to seven nights during its limited run from the city.

Bermuda will be the main Caribbean-adjacent destination in the New York program, appearing on five of the seven sailings. Three will include an additional day in Bermuda, giving passengers more time to explore the island beyond a standard port call.

The destination has been part of Disney’s New York strategy before. Disney previously offered Bermuda cruises from New York, pairing a major northeastern gateway with one of the region’s easiest short-cruise escapes.

The new program also brings Disney back to New England and Atlantic Canada for the first time in nearly four years. Disney Wish will call on Boston, St. John in New Brunswick and Halifax during the autumn season.

The Caribbean connection becomes more interesting at the end of the New York deployment.

From New York to Puerto Rico

Disney Wish will leave New York on a 5-night voyage to San Juan, stopping in Bermuda before arriving in Puerto Rico. The itinerary effectively turns San Juan into the bridge between Disney’s northeastern season and its next run of Caribbean cruises.

Once in Puerto Rico, Disney Wish will operate a 7-night Southern Caribbean sailing with calls in Aruba, St. Maarten, Bonaire and Dominica. It’s one of the most destination-rich itineraries in the newly announced schedule, putting four very different islands into a single week.

Aruba offers the beaches and dry desert scenery of the southern Dutch Caribbean, while Bonaire brings one of the region’s best-known diving and snorkeling environments. St. Maarten combines the energy of Philipsburg with beaches and the option of crossing to the French side, while Dominica adds rainforest, waterfalls and volcanic terrain.

The route also shows why San Juan remains such an important cruise homeport. Starting in Puerto Rico puts a ship far enough south to reach the ABC islands and Lesser Antilles during a weeklong trip while still leaving room for time at sea.

Puerto Rico’s homeport business has been surging. The island recorded 371,536 homeport cruise passengers between November and April, up 76.6 percent from the preceding winter season, part of a period in which Puerto Rico welcomed more than 1.36 million cruise passengers overall.

Disney has already been increasing its presence on the island in other ways. Disney Destiny made its inaugural San Juan call this summer, bringing another Wish Class ship to Puerto Rico as part of an expanding Disney Cruise Line presence in the destination.

Disney Wish Is Heading From San Juan to The Bahamas

After its Southern Caribbean voyage, Disney Wish will leave San Juan on a 4-night sailing to Port Canaveral.

The trip will call at both of Disney Cruise Line’s Bahamian island destinations: Disney Castaway Cay and Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. It gives passengers another option for pairing Puerto Rico with The Bahamas rather than continuing farther south.

The sequence makes San Juan an important part of a much larger Disney Wish itinerary map. The ship will arrive from New York, operate in the Southern Caribbean and then head to Florida through The Bahamas before settling into its Port Canaveral program.

Once based in Florida, Disney Wish will operate three- and four-night Bahamian cruises featuring Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay.

Disney Fantasy Is Adding More San Juan Cruises

Disney Wish won’t be alone in Puerto Rico.

Disney Fantasy will also sail from San Juan during the newly announced program, beginning with a 7-night Southern Caribbean cruise in December 2027. The ship will then operate a 5-night Eastern Caribbean sailing from Puerto Rico to Fort Lauderdale.

Disney Fantasy will come back to San Juan in late April and May 2028 for two more 7-night Southern Caribbean voyages. Disney says those sailings will include destinations such as Curaçao, Bonaire, Barbados and Antigua.

The ports make the Fantasy program especially compelling if the goal is to explore several of the southern Caribbean’s major destinations in one trip.

Curaçao brings Willemstad, beaches and the island’s Dutch Caribbean character into the itinerary, while nearby Bonaire is a natural choice for diving and snorkeling. Barbados adds Bridgetown, west coast beaches and a deep rum tradition, while Antigua brings its famous beaches along with Nelson’s Dockyard and English Harbour.

San Juan will have company as a major cruise homeport during the same period. Norwegian Cruise Line is also planning to base Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva in Puerto Rico for Southern Caribbean itineraries, an unusually large two-ship San Juan deployment beginning in November 2027.

Three Wish Class Ships in Port Canaveral

Florida remains the heart of Disney Cruise Line’s Caribbean program, and the company will have three Wish Class ships based in Port Canaveral beginning in November 2027.

Disney Destiny will homeport there for the first time, operating three- to seven-night Bahamas and Western Caribbean sailings. Before relocating, the ship will begin the fall season in Fort Lauderdale with three- to five-night Bahamas and Western Caribbean cruises.

Disney Treasure will continue its 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean program from Port Canaveral, including calls in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and Falmouth, Jamaica. The ship will also operate an 8-night Eastern Caribbean sailing and a 6-night Bahamian voyage with two visits to Castaway Cay.

Disney Dream will sail three- and four-night Bahamas trips from Port Canaveral before repositioning to Fort Lauderdale in November 2027. Its South Florida season will include three- to five-night Bahamian cruises and a 6-night itinerary with two Castaway Cay calls.

Disney Fantasy will also spend September through November 2027 sailing from Port Canaveral before heading to San Juan. After its Puerto Rico voyages, it will operate from Fort Lauderdale on Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean itineraries ranging from four to seven nights.

The Fantasy schedule includes another first: an 8-night cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Bermuda, the ship’s first sailing to the destination. The itinerary will also visit both Disney Castaway Cay and Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point.

Disney Magic Is Crossing the Panama Canal

Disney’s wider deployment includes another Caribbean connection aboard Disney Magic, with two 14-night Panama Canal voyages.

The first leaves San Diego in November 2027 for an eastbound cruise to Galveston, including Disney Cruise Line’s maiden call at Fuerte Amador in Panama City. The second departs Galveston in March 2028 for a westbound voyage to San Diego, including a maiden call at Colón, the Caribbean gateway to the canal.

The sailings add two new Disney ports in Panama while connecting the line’s California and Texas programs.

Disney Magic will otherwise spend much of the season sailing from Galveston on four- to seven-night cruises. Select 7-night Bahamas itineraries will visit both Lookout Cay and Castaway Cay.

Which Disney Cruise Is Right for You?

If Bermuda is the priority, the new Disney Wish departures from New York offer the simplest choice, especially the three itineraries that spend additional time on the island. They also give northeastern passengers a Disney cruise option that doesn’t begin with a flight to Florida.

If you want a broader Caribbean trip, San Juan is where the new schedule becomes much more interesting. Disney Wish’s Aruba-St. Maarten-Bonaire-Dominica itinerary and Disney Fantasy’s Southern Caribbean program put several islands into a single 7-night trip.

A Puerto Rico departure also opens the possibility of adding time in San Juan before the cruise. Old San Juan, Condado and Isla Verde can turn embarkation day into part of a longer Puerto Rico vacation rather than simply the beginning of the voyage.

Families who primarily want Disney’s Bahamian destinations have more choices from Port Canaveral and Fort Lauderdale, including itineraries that visit Castaway Cay twice or combine Castaway Cay with Lookout Cay.

“Disney Cruise Line is proud to be a leader in family cruising,” said Tracy Wilson, senior vice president and general manager of Disney Cruise Line Operations.

The new schedule gives that growing fleet a much wider Caribbean footprint. New York gets Disney cruises back, Bermuda gets a series of extended visits, and San Juan takes on an even larger role as the gateway to Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Barbados and some of the most compelling island-hopping routes in the Southern Caribbean.

The post New York Is Getting Disney Cruises Back, With Bermuda, Puerto Rico and Southern Caribbean Sailings appeared first on Caribbean Journal.