Disney Cruise Line: Disney Wish Review Very Merrytime Voyage

When you Disney Wish upon a star, you get Disney’s newest Cruise Ship, the Disney Wish. We recently took a voyage aboard Disney’s newest cruise offering which also happens to be our first Disney cruise. Fear not though we have cruised on other cruise lines so we have references as to what Disney does better, and worse than their counter parts.

As we go through this article which is quite long we will attempt to give you a sense of the Disney Cruise experience, and our thoughts on each piece of those. They will be centered around the ship overall, rooms, food, and entertainment. So grab a cocktail, or mocktail and get settled as this article will be a long journey with lots of photos!

The Disney Wish Ship Itself

What can I say about Disney’s newest cruise ship? It’s big, and beautiful of course, but it isn’t all amazing either. Let’s start with the amazing. Just look at this ship it is amazing looking, and the details are everywhere. Even with 5 days on the ship we were seeing little easter eggs we hadn’t noticed before. Just walking around the ship is an attraction itself.

The main highlight of the ship has to be the way Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) themed it out. From when you enter mid-ship grand hall to all of the nooks and crannies around the ship, the level of detail is what you would expect from WDI.

Grand Hall

Let’s start with the grand hall. Here as with any cruise ship you have been on is the most picturesque section of the ship. One thing seasoned cruise goers may notice, and even complain about is the lack of elevators near midship. On one hand it makes this part of the ship beautiful, however when the main staircase is closed, (which is a lot) you will miss the midship elevators when you are simply trying to navigate from one floor to another.

The pool deck which has a stage and pool combo as well as several pools to partake in all around and up on the adult only areas. One thing many people who haven’t been on Disney Cruise ships told us is how kid centric Disney Cruises are. We are here to tell you that is simply not true. We found that they had more than enough adult only areas as well as a wide variety of lounges with live entertainment to keep adults entertained.

Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge

My personal favorite was the Hyperspace lounge which of course was themed to Star Wars. Now while they could have themed it up more we enjoyed our time in there. Having been on the Star Wars Starcruiser in August though, our expectations needed a bit of adjusting as this Star Wars themed area wasn’t as elaborate.

Also sticking with the Star Wars theme let’s talk about one of the sections of the Disney’s Oceaneer Club, Star Wars: Cargo Bay. Here we stepped in to meet Chewbacca. The theming in this area is on par with the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser. We loved the details and interactive areas here. Chewie was nice even if he had a bad hair day!

Continuing our trip around the ship you can enjoy some photos below. There is a lot to see and do on the ship it will take several sailings to even cover it all. The ship is really beautiful.

The Rooms on the Disney Wish

We’ll step away from the ship photos and talk about the room. We opted to reserve a room with a Verandah also known as a balcony. The room layout for Disney cruise lines are more spacious than average cruise lines, and a huge plus feature of a split bathroom! This is something I wish every hotel, not just cruise line would adopt. One room is the shower/tub, and a sink, while the second room is the toilet, and another sink. It really helps for getting ready as you have two private spaces. Now that we have experienced this it will be hard to get us on other cruise lines ever again.

Each floor of the wish has different theming and ours was to the tune of Cinderella. The painting behind the headboard was very detailed and even used paint that would sparkle and light up windows in the picture when the lights dim. Also around the room are sketches and other artwork tributes to Cinderella. Other floors feature Tangled, Moana, and The Princess and the Frog themes from what we have read. Again best themed room we have ever stayed in on a cruise ship, and spacious!

The Food

I know you all want to see our famous food pictures! Below I will attempt to show off a lot of what we had on the ship, but before I get there I will go over what Disney does with their main meals. All cruise lines we had been on before put you in the same dining room night after night, but with different food options. Disney rotates you through multiple themed restaurants. Each of these restaurants have a show accompanying them. They are presented below in the order to which we ate at each of them, and also commentary on if the show is good, or bad. Think of this section as a tale of two reviews as the show and food are different.

First night we had Worlds of Marvel dinner. We already had some reservations about the presentation of this dining room as Disney hasn’t figured out how to theme the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in the parks to make them interesting, and what do you know this dining room was awfully themed as well. For some reason Disney thinks we want to see bland serious colored fixtures to represent the Avengers to the point you can see this blandness at Disney’s California Adventure, Disneyland Paris, and now aboard the Disney Wish.

World of Marvel

I didn’t take many pictures of this restaurant as it is very bland, and the show was horrible. It features Ant-Man and the Wasp. Both characters are awesome, but this screen heavy dinner show was just plain bad. And when we finally get the characters into the dining room, they just run through real quick and don’t stop for pictures. We give this show an F-.

Now the food on the other hand was delicious! Below you will see photos of the menu and multiple food items from it. I opted for Steamed Bao Bun, the Berbere Spiced Pork Chop, while Emma ordered the Chicken Schnitzel. All food items were superb and definitely make up for the show. Don’t be shocked if this show gets a total overhaul sometime after the newness wears off.

Arendelle

Next two nights will be in the Arendelle dining room. The first night is themed to Frozen, and the second night is the famous Disney Cruise Line pirate night. Pirate night dining does not feature a show, so all show related comments are about the Frozen dinner. Let’s get it out of the way, this show was awesome! It is the story of Frozen and it is hosted by the very funny Oaken! After the letdown of the Marvel show this one came in very strong. All the characters minus Olaf come and visit your table. Also during the evening they perform music from both Frozen 1 & 2.

The décor of this restaurant is top-notch versus the blandness of Marvel, and what you would expect from Disney. Food for both Frozen and Pirate night which are all pictured below was nothing short of amazing. Frozen had a Norwegian inspired menu, whereas Pirate night went Caribbean! Both were very different from each other and delicious!

1923 Dining Room

For the final night we had 1923 scheduled, now while this dinner has no show, the dining room itself is an attraction. 1923 of course is named after the year Walt & Roy Disney founded the company. In fact this upcoming year will be the 100th celebration of that. The 1923 dining room on the Wish has a lot of tributes to different animation feature from the Walt Disney Studios. The food on this night was by far our favorite as it had filet minion!

As with most other cruise lines you can actually book adult only theme restaurants which come with a dress code and an extra price. Palo which is 45 per person, and Enchante which is 60 dollars per person. We decided against booking either so we could enjoy the dining room shows, but if we ever go back to the Wish we would love to try them both. Below are some pictures of them, and the surrounding areas.

Odd & Ends

You are undoubtably hungry after that last section so we will show you a couple more pictures of food here. On the pool deck there is your standard food court section of the ship. This place is named, Mickey & Friends Festival of Foods. This is where you will find the free ice cream, free soda, and free coffee. I really loved not having to buy a soda and coffee packages. Take note other cruise lines, split bathrooms and free soda and coffee, and we will never book with you again!

This area offers multiple food options that we found to be a lot tastier than the normal buffet area which is name Marceline Market, to that point we only ate at the buffet once and was not impressed. Festival of Foods kept bringing us back. Donald’s Cantina was our favorite, think of it like an on ship Chipotle! You can get a burrito/tacos/bowl, and customize it from there. Also in the area is a smokehouse BBQ which is very good, and a burger stand, and finally pizza!

As mentioned above there is so much detail on this ship we can’t even cover it all, but below you will find more pictures and experiences that we tried out. I even got a haircut at Hook’s Barbery! Even this little space has a ton of little details in it which are fun to explore.

Hook’s barbery doubles as a speak easy bourbon tasting bar from 5pm -8pm daily. They have a great selection of bourbons you won’t find other places but bring your wallet it is expensive. While I had a great conversation with the host in there about Bourbon I decided against the 400 dollar Pappy Van Winkle 23 drink (that isn’t the most expensive thing in there either) Hard pass from me but your miles may vary!

Continuing around the ship we really enjoyed the Inside Out themed treat shop. Now everything in here is an extra charge so we passed on it, but it is great to just step in and look around. Let’s face it these companies want to make money, but this very well themed treat shop was empty every time we walked by. They should just keep the theme and put included items in there or drop the prices severely on what they offer.

Port of Call & Entertainment

Our 5 day cruise included 2 stops, one at Nassau, and of course Disney’s private island Castaway Cay. Nassau was a first time visit for us and we found it to be very welcoming, and exactly what you would expect of a culture that is built on pirate stories. Colorful buildings, and of course the famous Atlantis resort.

Next stop is Castaway Cay which is Disney’s private island. We loved this stop as it really did not feel crowded at all. You can just stroll around the island and lunch is provided in the form of all you can eat BBQ which was decent. We swam in the ocean, relaxed on the beach, and even squeezed in a 5k for our Dopey Challenge training. They even have an unadvertised medal to collect!

Back on board the ship we will take a moment to talk about the nighttime shows. There are three of them and they are all Broadway comparable performances held in the Walt Disney Theatre. The first one is a lovable tale of Goofy piloting the Disney Wish, and during his adventure we get multiple Disney songs from their more famous movies. All the singers who are recycled throughout the week are amazing!

Each night the performances get better. With night two we get the telling of the Little Mermaid, and for the third night Aladdin. The Aladdin show has something for everyone, and should not be missed! The Genie is always on point for this show.

Final Thoughts and Conclusions

You still with us? There is a lot to be said about the Disney Wish and Disney Cruise line in general. A lot of my family and friends have asked us if it is worth it. People hate my answer, but it really depends on what you are looking for in a cruise. The first thing to ask yourself is do you like Disney?

I know it sounds obvious, but it is at the heart of the whole ship, and I don’t just mean for kids. No matter what you read, or think, Disney does not equal just for kids. In fact I felt like this cruise had more adult spaces and things to do than other cruise lines I have been on, but main point you need to like Disney as most the entertainment is centered around their brands.

Second question to ask yourself which applies to my dad is can you live without the casino on board? While I could care less about it I know some people would miss it, but don’t worry they have karaoke. Mentioned already are how amazing and standard the split bathroom in the staterooms are. Also not having to buy a coffee and soda packages are positives. Fireworks at sea are awesome as well!

Negatives about the experience would be the elevator situation on the Disney Wish. Not only are there only two banks of them, but they tried to get fancy with the buttons making them non-touch. So if you lean to far near them all buttons get activated. Very horrible execution.

Also we mentioned the Marvel show is awful, but that can be addressed easily. Overall we recommend Disney Cruise line over all other brands at this point. We will never sail some of the competitors again based on past experiences. You pay on average about 10% more for Disney Cruises, but I felt I got that money in entertainment back, so I have no regrets on any of this trip we paid for.

What are your thoughts on Disney Cruises? Let us know in the comments below.