Disney is betting big on cruises. This is why it needs to.

Two of the eight forthcoming ships would have their home ports in Asia, a first for the cruise company. This includes Disney Adventure, scheduled to debut in Singapore in 2025, and another unnamed ship set to be operated in Japan by Oriental Land Company, which runs Disney’s Japan-based theme parks.

“The cruise ships tend to pay back very quickly,” Hugh Johnston, The Walt Disney Company’s senior executive vice president and CFO, told analysts in August. “We certainly feel positive about those investments.”

In the background of this massive fleet expansion, Disney Cruise Line also launched its second private destination in the Bahamas, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, in June. The new port and the cruise line’s first private island, Castaway Cay, are currently scheduled for more than 70% of Disney’s 442 voyages in 2025.

It’s a great time for the entertainment giant to bet big on its vacation-at-sea business. Many major cruise companies have been experiencing record bookings and demands throughout 2024.

Disney, for its part, has seen “strong demand” in its cruise arm, with onboard spending also increasing throughout the summer months. That could help offset some of its amusement parks’ 3% drop in operating income compared to the same time last year, which it pegged to a “moderation of consumer demand” that surpassed the company’s expectations— in step with competitors like Six Flags and Universal.

“The lower-income consumer is feeling a little bit of stress,” Hugh Johnston, The Walt Disney Company’s senior executive vice president and CFO, told analysts in August. “The high-income consumer is traveling internationally a bit more.”

Traveling internationally — hopefully, for the company’s sake, by cruise ship.