Disney Adventure delay: Travel agencies assist affected cruise passengers; many express disappointment

SINGAPORE – Travel agencies such as Klook, Traveloka and Trip.com will help passengers affected by the delay of Disney Cruise Line’s (DCL) first Asia cruise with rebooking and refunds.

This comes after DCL announced on Sept 11 that the Disney Adventure’s maiden voyage

will be postponed by three months

– from Dec 15 to March 10, 2026 – due to shipbuilding delays.

An official statement from DCL stated that voyages scheduled from Dec 15 to March 12, 2026, will be impacted. DCL has informed affected travellers that they can receive a full refund as well as book a future sailing on a date of their choice at half-price.

Travellers had either booked direct with DCL via its website, or through travel agents such as Klook, Traveloka and Trip.com.

“We understand the inconvenience this disruption has caused our customers who trusted us with their travel plans. Our priority right now is supporting affected travellers, in partnership with DCL, by providing timely updates, prioritising rebooking assistance, and ensuring they receive the compensation they’re entitled to,” said Ms Li Baidi, Traveloka’s vice-president for commercial.

A Klook spokesperson said: “We are providing all affected customers with full refunds. Klook will also be honouring all previous promotions and perks tied to original bookings, and our team will assist with all rebooking requests. For those who choose to rebook with us, we will also be providing additional incentives as a gesture of appreciation.”

Klook had offered promotions during the initial Disney Adventure cruise sales, such as $150 worth of Klook vouchers with each cruise booking.

Within an hour of the announcement, Trip.com received more than 50 queries.

“Our users are mostly concerned about the compensation they are entitled to, how to rebook their voyages, and how to utilise the discount they are now entitled to on future cruises,” said Trip.com Singapore general manager Edmund Ong.

Since the announcement at 11am, travellers have expressed their disappointment online, with many posting queries about rebooking and refunds on Disney Adventure Facebook groups.

International guests have bemoaned their pre-booked flights and hotels, with many wondering if they will be able to seek compensation for those costs. In the letters sent by DCL to all affected travellers, it states that the company “will automatically refund any amounts paid to Disney Cruise Line to the original form of payment”. This excludes the cost of flights or hotels.

However, some travellers such as Singaporean Alvin Choo accepted that the 50 per cent discount is a good deal.

Mr Choo, the owner of a soya sauce company, said he was looking forward to spending his 32nd birthday on the Disney Adventure. He had booked a three-night cruise for his family of four in March 2026 on the day bookings opened.

“The Disney e-mail was very clear in its instructions. I almost immediately called their hotline to rebook. I just wanted to quickly do it because many of the dates available for booking that we wanted were already quite full,” he said.

He was able to rebook a four-night cruise in a concierge-tier room with the 50 per cent discount.

Ms Dionne Ng, 39, a Singaporean who lives in Jakarta, had been looking forward to a five-night sailing between Dec 22 and 27 with her extended family. On Dec 10, 2024,

when bookings opened

, her sister had managed to snag tickets for their group of 12.

“I was very sad when I heard about it. My first thought was how disappointed the children will be when we tell them that we will not be able to go on the cruise for Christmas,” she said.

“We now have to think of making other plans for the December school holidays because that Disney cruise was going to be the main highlight.”

While the cancellation is upsetting, she said the compensation DCL has offered has helped to soften the blow. She had not booked flights to Singapore yet.

“I’d rather we can go ahead as planned because I was hoping it’ll be a special Christmas for the children. Since there’s really no choice and they cannot sail in time, then the discount definitely helps us take the news better, as parents,” she said.

“But to the children, the discount doesn’t matter, and they’ll be just as disappointed.”

In March 2023, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and DCL announced that the Disney Adventure would be homeporting in Singapore from 2025.

Ms Jacqueline Ng, director of the cruise division at STB, said the delay will not impact DCL’s partnership with STB. However, she added: “STB recognises the disappointment and inconvenience the adjustment has caused to visitors who have made plans to visit Singapore around their cruise itineraries.

“STB is working alongside DCL to support affected travellers. For those who choose to proceed with their travel to Singapore, we will be working with our travel industry partners to facilitate their discovery of our attractions, events and destination experiences.”

The Disney Adventure opened to bookings on Dec 10 to overwhelming demand, with its inaugural sailing selling out within the same day. Currently, sailings for dates between March and December 2026 are available for booking.

The ship is one of the largest in DCL’s fleet, with a passenger capacity of 6,700. 

It will feature 2,111 staterooms, from its entry-level Inside rooms – which will be 19.4 sq m in size and have no windows – to its premium concierge category of rooms, which starts at around 98 sq m in size.