Get your suntan lotion and flip flops ready – The Disney Dream is one step closer to sailing its maiden voyage! The massive ship will have its first chance to float this weekend, according to Meyer Werft, the German shipyard building the vessel.
The 4,000-passenger ship will leave the protection of its covered construction dock for the shipyard’s harbor to undergo tests to its stabilizers and rudders. It will remain along the harbor’s pier as construction to its interior continues for at least another two weeks.
The Dream is scheduled to depart the shipyard harbor during the second weekend in November. From there, it will be guided down the river Ems and into the North Sea. It is slated to arrive in Port Canaveral, Florida, in January.
The Dream, reportedly the largest ship that Meyer Werft has ever built, will be forty percent larger than either of Disney’s first two ships, the Magic or the Wonder. It will measure in at 128,000 gross tons and 370 yards long, and will travel at a top speed of 23.5 knots.
Together, the Dream and its sister ship, Disney’s Fantasy, will more than double Disney Cruise Line’s capacity. The Fantasy is also being built by Meyer Werft, and is scheduled to debut in April 2012.
Photo courtesy of Disney Cruise Line
