Twice Upon A Disney Wish...
We - Allan, 11-year-old AJ, 7-year-old LJ, and I - enjoyed a back-to-back cruise aboard the Disney Wish! We combined a 4-night cruise and a 3-night cruise, which gave us one week aboard this brand spanking new ship! We’ve been enjoying sharing our experiences through lots of great vlogs on YouTube and content on Instagram and TikTok, so it’s only right that we share highlights from our experience here on our blog. Let’s jump in to this cruise aboard my fifth Disney Cruise Line (DCL) ship!
For the full experience, we of course invite you to head over to our Disney Wish playlist on YouTube, and enjoy!
Why A Back-To-Back Disney Cruise?
For starters, we are super thankful that we booked a back-to-back because it allowed us to have a mix of a fun and active vacation and a restful one too! See, if we only did a 3-night or 4-night cruise, we wouldn’t have had the slower, laid-back days on our balcony and in our stateroom like we did on Days 2 and 3 of this sailing. We would’ve come in the door swinging like we did on Day 6… doing the most! However, with a high-demand new ship like the Wish, we may not have had the opportunity to do the most because things book up FAST!
**Major Tip**
One major tip for you if considering a back-to-back cruise is to head to Guest Services on the last night of the first leg of your cruise to book events for the second leg of your cruise. The same rule applies if you would like specialty dining on the second leg of your cruise - head to the welcome desk right next to the Rose where you can make reservations for Palo and Enchanté throughout your cruise, but also on the last night of your first cruise for the next cruise if you’re doing a back-to-back. On the last day of the first leg, we booked the times we wanted for Hyperspace Lounge [reservations were required for Hyperspace Lounge during our sailing, but DCL soon did away with that requirement]. We also made our reservations for Palo and Enchanté for the second leg on the last day of the first leg. Prior to that, we could have possibly gotten in, but at times that conflicted with something else that we would have had to forego. Doing this back-to-back, we didn’t have to forego those things. On the last day of the first leg of our cruise, we also got on the waitlist for Olaf’s Royal Picnic for the second leg, and we were very happy to have received our call from that waitlist to say that we got in.
A Castle At Sea
From entering into the wide open Grand Hall, to looking up at the gorgeous Wishing Star, and taking in the decor of blues and crystals that sparkle and shimmer throughout the ship, guests aboard the Disney Wish truly feel as though we’re in a castle at sea! Unlike the Magic, Wonder, Dream, and Fantasy, the theming aboard the Wish is not nautical, but rather, light, airy and regal, yet still fun with all the fantastic Disney details throughout!
Our stateroom, 6078, which is a Category 4C, Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom With Verandah was our home at sea for the week, and it was very comfortable for the four of us. That said, I do think this stateroom felt a bit smaller than the other verandah staterooms I’ve had on the Dream, Fantasy, and Wonder. On the Magic, I had an interior room, so we won’t compare this to that. Nevertheless, we highly recommend Stateroom 6078 for families of four or less, with its split bathroom, bunk beds, and larger-than-usual balcony. If you’re concerned about noise because the stateroom sits above Deck 5, which is a busy deck with various public areas, let us help to put you at ease - we found Stateroom 6078 to be very quiet.
**Major Tip**
When booking your cruise, pay attention to the ship’s deck plan - truly, this advice goes for any ship on which you’re sailing - as you can often find staterooms in the same Category 4C that have larger balconies because they are positioned on a bump out on the ship. Stateroom 6078 is one such room, and although there are other staterooms in the category with a tad larger balcony, the balcony that comes with Stateroom 6078 is a bit larger than most other Category 4C staterooms.
How’s The Food Aboard The Disney Wish?
The Disney Wish offers the BEST selection of food when compared to the other four existing Disney ships!
I won’t lie, as a fan of Animator’s Palate since my very first cruise in March 2005, I was sad to hear that Animator’s Palate would be missing from this Disney ship, but truth be told, I did not miss it at all. Instead, I enjoyed every dinner menu during this cruise, and I was immersed into the Worlds of Marvel through the exciting Quantum Encounter, sang excitedly during dinner and Olaf’s Royal Picnic at Arendelle, and enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere at 1923 for our welcome aboard lunch and dinner.
Adding to the three rotational dining restaurants is Mickey & Friends’ Festival of Foods, which offers what is now my favorite pool deck “quick serve” spread on any ship we’ve sailed on - that includes DCL and non-DCL ships. At Mickey & Friends’ Festival of Foods, guests can enjoy delicious Mexican food at Donald’s Cantina… quick, easy, and tasty pizza from Daisy’s Pizza… mouthwatering barbecue from Mickey’s Smokestack BBQ… our boys’ “go to” hot dogs, burgers, and french fries from Goofy’s Grill… and multiple flavors of yummy soft-serve ice cream from Sweet Minnie’s Ice Cream! Oh my goodness! I can go for a burrito bowl from Donald’s Cantina right now, with a side of brisket with Mac and cheese from Mickey’s Smokestack BBQ… mmmm… yummmmm!
Of course, our family wanted to try the buffet… this Disney ship doesn’t have Cabanas though… instead it has Marceline Market, which we enjoyed for breakfast and lunch a few times during our sailing. Allan and I also enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Palo and brunch at Enchanté. Both were truly magnificent!
**Major Tip**
If you see vlogs and/or other reviews of Enchanté that portray the food to be too fancy or experimental for your taste buds, we encourage you to try brunch at Enchanté, rather than dinner, as we too watched a few Enchanté dinner vlogs that led us to the conclusion that we did not want to have dinner there. Nevertheless, we wanted to experience this new addition to Disney’s restaurants at sea, so we decided on Enchanté brunch, and we are very happy we did!
We invite you to watch our Day 6 vlog for a real look at Enchanté brunch… then, you can decide if it’s for you.
How’s The Entertainment Aboard The Disney Wish?
Even prior to our Disney Wish sailing, we would tell you that DCL offers some of the BEST entertainment at sea! Our experience on the Disney Wish reinforced that. In addition to the immersive experiences in the restaurants mentioned earlier - Worlds of Marvel and Arendelle - there are three wonderful shows in the Walt Disney Theater: Disney Seas The Adventure, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin! As with all DCL ships, the schedule allows every guest to see a show and have dinner because those scheduled for early dining can see the later show, and those scheduled for late dining can see the earlier show.
In addition to formal performances in the restaurants and at the Walt Disney Theater, the Disney Wish also seemed to have way more character meet and greet opportunities than I’ve experienced on any of the other four Disney ships, which is such a wonderful touch! If you love photos from your cruises, grab that unlimited photo package on the DCL Navigator app in advance of your cruise date because you can easily get your money’s worth on the Disney Wish. For example, in addition to the princesses, and of course, Mickey and friends, we saw characters that we’d never seen on a Disney ship before, including the Black Panther, Ant Man, Chewbacca, Rey, and StormTroopers. Well, to be fair, we had seen StormTroopers on the Disney Dream as a part of a presentation in the Oceaneer Club, but I don’t recall seeing the opportunity on the schedule to actually meet, greet, and take photos with them before this cruise. I honestly think that some of these characters were previously reserved for Marvel Day At Sea and Star Wars Day At Sea cruises, but this cruise was a regular Disney Wish sailing during its inaugural season.
Additionally, the fun, twisty slide from Deck 3 to the Oceaneer Club is a hit with children and parents alike! Also, at night, right there on Deck 3, but also on Decks 4 and 5, in the Grand Hall, guests can enjoy the beauty of the Wishing Star as it sends sparkles and shimmers throughout the entire Grand Hall!
DCL really put lots of thought into imagineering this gorgeous first-in-its-class ship, and we love it!
**Major Tip**
If you think that your children will enjoy having confetti rain down on them during a show, then grab seats on the lower level towards the very front of the theater for Disney’s Aladdin. We sat on the upper level when we watched Aladdin during the first leg of our cruise, and we saw that confetti came streaming down towards the front of the theater during two parts of the play. Our 7-year-old LJ expressed that he would enjoy sitting there to have confetti rain down on him, so we got to the theater early on the evening that the Aladdin play would be on during the second leg of our cruise, and sure enough, we had confetti rain down on us, and we were able to take pieces of confetti with us as a little souvenir.
Conclusion
From this Disney Wish cruise, Allan’s favorite part was the Worlds of Marvel experience; AJ’s favorite part was Edge, which is the kids’ club for pre-teens and younger teens; LJ’s favorite part was the AquaMouse; and my favorite part … well, it’s honestly hard to choose just one, but if I must… I’d say it was the abundance of character meeting opportunities throughout the cruise, including the immersive experiences at Worlds of Marvel and Arendelle. If you’ve already been aboard the Disney Wish, please leave a comment letting us know what you enjoyed most! If you haven’t yet experienced the Disney Wish for yourself, please leave a comment letting us know if you have any questions about the Wish, and what you’re most looking forward to if you’re planning to sail the Disney Wish soon.
The Disney Wish is a gorgeous ship, and compared to the other four existing ships in the Disney fleet, the Wish offers the BEST variety of food, the most elegant decor throughout the ship, and the most exciting onboard experiences from character meetings to sliding into the Oceaneer Club to the wonderful shows in the Walt Disney Theater!