Construction of the Disney Dream, the first of two new Disney Cruise Line ships, has begun at a shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, with plans for the 1,240-stateroom vessel to begin service from Port Canaveral in 2011, the cruise line announced Wednesday.

The Disney Fantasy will begin service a year later from the Florida port, with the combined capacity of the two ships more than doubling the capacity of Disney Cruise Line.

An expansion project is under way at the port to accommodate the larger ships and additional guests.

Disney Cruise Line also will expand its itineraries in summer 2010 from Europe. It plans to add Tunis, Tunisia, in North Africa and Malta to theports of call for the Disney Magic sailings from Barcelona, Spain, to Italy and France.

Disney Magic also will visit in northern Europe for the first time, withports of call at Warnemünde, Germany, which is the gateway to Berlin; St. Petersburg, Russia; Oslo; Copenhagen; and Stockholm on sailingsfrom Dover, England.

Disney Wonder, which sails from Port Canaveral, will sail from the Port of Los Angeles beginning in 2011.