3 Surprising Takeaways From Our First Look at Disney's New Cruise Ship

Disney’s latest ship, the Disney Destiny, is set for its maiden voyage this coming November, and recently, we got to check out certain elements of the ship that SURPRISED us.

Disney Destiny

The Destiny, the latest ship from the ever-expanding Disney Cruise Line, will be themed to Heroes and Villains, with environments based on “on the legacies of beloved Disney stories, characters, and theme park attractions” according to the company. Disney’s Imagineers were “inspired by the dynamic duality of every great Disney story when developing this new ship, where opposing forces of light and dark drive characters to rise to their purpose.”

As we previewed portions of the Destiny, several elements of the upcoming ship caught us by surprise in their scope even if we knew they were coming.

The Multi-headed Hydra Puppet

The Destiny will feature a stage adaption of Hercules that’s a “fresh, contemporary retelling centered around the legendary soundtrack” presented in “incredible live renditions like you’ve never heard before through new musical arrangements inspired by the soulfulness of gospel music with the energy of a pop concert.” The show will also feature “Shooting Star,” a “heartfelt ballad” originally written for, and cut from the film by Alan Menken and David Zippel.

©DisneyCruiseLine

According to new concept art, a highlight of the show will be a MASSIVE Hydra puppet by Award-winning puppet designer Michael Curry, who also worked on the “innovative designs that debuted in “Disney The Tale of Moana” aboard the Disney Treasure.

Doctor Strange Sanctum Lounge

The ship will feature a lounge themed to the Sanctum Santorum, home of Marvel’s Doctor Strange. The lounge will be home to a “magical array of cocktails, spirits and coffees; and unique surprises from Doctor Strange’s New York Sanctum, including a circular mirror behind the bar that evokes the building’s iconic window.” Iconic items such as the Cloak of Levitation and spell books from the library of Kamar-Taj will also be on display.

The Sanctum ©DisneyCruiseLine

We were able to sample two of the Sanctum’s drinks, including Vapors of Valtorr, which was Grey Goose Altius Vodka, ginger beer, fresh lime juice, and butterfly pea flower syrup, topped with berry-flavored bubbles.

These are calling our name ??#disneydestiny #hosted pic.twitter.com/K2brFu9yce

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 14, 2025

The God of Mischief

Continuing the Marvel theme, wheel we knew that the ship would feature a Black Panther statue, Spider-Man stern character, Marvel character appearances, and several Marvel eateries, Disney surprised us by revealing that Loki himself would also be present, as the character will be one of several villains who appear in the ship’s Great Hall.

The Black Panther!

According to Disney, “Intent on clearing his name with the mortals of Midgard, Loki will try to declare himself ruler of this vessel and its occupants. True to his infamous ego and affinity for chaos-making, you’ll never know where Loki may turn up with a grand proclamation of his glorious purpose or a dubious retelling of a well-known story. (He does have a penchant for rewriting history, after all.) The God of Mischief may even recruit unsuspecting guests for a surprise competition to prove their adoration for his royal highness, or command them to explain the strange foreign rituals of ocean cruising. (All-you-can-eat soft serve may be a new concept for the Asgardian, but I’m sure he will approve.

The Disney Destiny has previewed some additions that break the mold of the Disney Cruise Line as we’ve known it! Stay tuned to DFB for more on Disney’s latest ship.

Our Jaw Is on the Floor After Seeing a Preview of the Disney Destiny’s NEW Show

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What elements of the Destiny are you most interested in seeing for yourself? Let us know in the comments below!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney to attend their media preview the Destiny. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ