4-Night Cruise On the Disney Wish - 9/16/24 - 9/20/24

My family and I recently took our third (son's second) cruise with Disney Cruise Line. Recreating our 4-night Bahamas itinerary from our first cruise, this time we sailed aboard the Disney Wish. We were obviously excited because, well, Disney Cruise Line is undefeated in delivering the best vacations, but mixed reviews of the Wish had left me wondering if it wouldn't quite stand on level ground with the other two ships we'd sailed, the Dream and the Fantasy.

Spoiler alert: some people are just curmudgeons, haha. The Wish is a fantastic ship in her own right, and even while there were some tradeoffs compared to the other two we've sailed, it's still a magnificent vessel.

I'll break this report up into several parts, and to emphasize the fact that Disney Cruise Line is borderline unimpeachable, let me just get the bad, or said better, less impressive, out of the way first. There's so little of it and the effects were so minimal that it's best to just knock it out right here and then focus on the myriad of excellence that permeated the cruise.

I want to emphasize here, and I'll do it below, that much of what you see below is for reference. The bulk of it is purely minor and little more than the most minute of imperfections, so please don't take the length or detail as some indication that I genuinely disliked large portions of the experience. I didn't. This cruise was absolutely wonderful in countless ways and I absolutely can't rave about it enough. I just want to make sure I provide proper detail.

Part 1: Not So Much the Bad, But Rather Just the Less Impressive

One somewhat prominent issue was with character meet-and-greets. I could see how this could really compromise some key experiences for people. The lines for the meet-and-greets could get long, but what they did was rotate out characters and replace them with others at regular intervals without any indication to the folks in line. Simply put, you could line up for Mickey, and depending on how far back you were in the line and how many different photos the people in front of you wanted, you could end up with Donald by the time you got to the front. My son and I had this happen once with Minnie, which was hardly the end of the world as it wasn't planned and was just him and I passing a little time, but I thought it was bad form to not have the handlers/entertainment staff either cutting off the lines past certain points or at least communicating well in advance. I'm sure people were in some lines for over forty-five minutes with no clue they'd be missing the character they wanted.

Now, I don't recall if this happened on our previous cruises. It likely didn't matter on our first one because it wasn't packed, but even on the Fantasy, which was, I don't remember this type of issue. It might have just been better planning on my part so that we were never that far back in a line to notice, but regardless, I could see this being a guest experience problem.

Another point of concern was the promenade deck. As someone who never used it for running on the previous ships, it not being a full loop was not necessarily a problem. My issue was more that it could be very difficult just trying to find your way out there. I remember having to take a pretty long walk on deck four just to find a non-crew-only door to get out there, or even back inside. This was compounded by the fact that the promenade deck actually alternates at points between decks four and five, so it gets even trickier. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but still, it would be nice to have more ready access.

Another less-than-impressive part of the cruise was the Worlds Of Marvel restaurant. I can't speak to the Magic and Wonder as I've not sailed those two, but one thing the Dream, Fantasy, and Wish have is one restaurant that really isn't quite like the others. On the Dream and Fantasy, it's Animator's Palate, which lacks the elegance of the other two, the Enchanted Garden and Royal Palace. That said, it's less an issue of it not looking nice (it's actually wonderful and a great concept) and more an issue of it just being more casual. In the case of Worlds Of Marvel, the difference is more, forgive me, stark. The castle-at-sea design of the rest of the ship exacerbates the contrast, but still, it looks almost like a galley with TV screens playing a big Marvel commercial with the show scenes of the actual entertainment popping up from time to time. The show was not nearly as intrusive as I was expecting, and I left the restaurant feeling that my prejudices against the idea were a bit too harsh. I also acknowledge that its interactive elements are nice to have to keep the kids entertained. That said, it stood out, and not in a good way, compared to the other two restaurants, and quite frankly, compared to most of the ship.

Now, I freely admit to some bias against the MCU given that it seems like it will just go on forever with a character roster that keeps growing at a rapid pace and basically wiping out the significance of any one particular storyline. However, it just doesn't flow stylistically. For such a key part of everyone's cruise experience, it sticks out like a sore thumb. I don't think I'd mind a Marvel restaurant in all manner of other places throughout various Disney properties, but I just don't think it fits well on the Wish.

Again, credit where credit is due: the actual show was not nearly as intrusive as some reviews made it out to be, and I credit the design team for that. I was under the impression that it would pervade nearly the entire dinner service, and it didn't. Much like Animator's Palate, it was sporadic.

Side note: I could also fault the Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge for this, but it was small and closed-off, so if you don't want to go to it, it's not going to be noticeable. I did check it out, and I actually found it to be better than I expected, but I won't miss it on the future Triton-class ships.

Lastly, I want to note my issues with the guest survey. I'd say that this is actually a genuine negative about the whole experience. First off, and I admit that this is more anecdotal from things I've ready than anything I heard onboard, but the crew's careers live and die with these. I've never once had a crew member pressure me in any way to rate them a certain way, and I commend them for that. I'd also say that this is probably a key driver of the excellent service as well as the proactive nature of problem-solving on the part of the crew, but still, I hope that the pressure put on them isn't so severe that they don't really get a chance to relax and breathe a bit.

However, my other main survey concern is that everything on it, or what seems to be everything, falls on the crew. Don't like a venue? Don't like a particular design choice? The crew will take the blame. Case in point: Worlds Of Marvel. Our head waiter had done a great job of explaining things, but still, I wanted to ding that restaurant because I didn't like it from a design perspective, or even its inclusion onboard, as much as the other two. Unfortunately, every question about it, I learned, would still somehow fall on my service staff, leading me to run up to Guest Services on disembarkation morning to have my survey reset so my crew's scores wouldn't take hit. It sounded like a nearby table was trying to clarify those questions on the survey as well because they had the same opinion of Worlds Of Marvel that I did. I even found out that, at least anecdotally, Worlds Of Marvel isn't as highly thought-of as 1923 or Arendelle. I just wish that there was a way to indicate that on the survey without the staff's rating taking a hit. I opted to just rate it all excellent because I was more concerned with the crew getting the recognition they deserved, but I'm disappointed that they're disadvantaged by things for which they have no responsibility or ability to control.

With those issues out of the way, though, let's move on to the good.

We did our fifth lap on the Wish last month. It still doesn't feel like the other ships, and at risk of sounding like a broken record, the adult areas are too far away and spread out, and yeah, the promenade deck. The latter matters less on those 3/4 night itineraries, but anything longer and I'd miss it more.

We aged out of character stuff, but I'm surprised at how many photos we have. It's rarely been intentional. It used to be that the Nassau day was ideal, but people seem to know that it sucks and stay onboard.

I like the Marvel thing. It's kinda funny and completely original to the ship. Arendell would be my favorite for the live music, but it's so loud in there with horrible acoustics.

Hyperspace sucks if you're a cocktail enthusiast because they don't have everything due to the themed bottles. The Rose is really our favorite.

The survey pressure has been implied enough that we get it. The negative is that if something isn't right, their solution is to throw a ton of food at you, which is wasteful. I had a very long conversation with a shoreside exec about this after having issues in Northern Europe. I think it was just training issues, which to your point isn't really a front line problem. Fortunately, there's an email address to send more nuanced feedback.

Looking forward to the rest!

Part 2: The Crew and the Food

This cruise, like the two I'd taken before, was absolutely exceptional. Start to finish, Disney Cruise Line and its exceptional staff delivered in spades. It is precisely those staff and crew that I want to mention first, because more than anyone or anything else, they deserve to come first in the recognition I provide.

On each cruise, you'll obviously come into contact with countless crew members. I could go into the little details of the various miscellaneous crew we encountered, like a photographer who helped us to first aid when my daughter scraped herself up in a fall on Castaway Cay and got us set up with some bandages and ointments, or like the awesome tour guide on what is called "The Art of Design" or something like that on the other ships (I forget what it was called on ours, but it was a different name). However, there were four key crew members that were considered our service staff: our three restaurant staff of our Head Server, Server, and Assistant Server, and also our Stateroom Host. These four are the ones most focused on you directly. Obviously, you aren't the only ones they're serving, but still, they're effectively assigned to you. On each cruise, we've been absolutely blown away by how awesome they've been, and this time was no different. From the Servers having the drinks our kids liked ready before we ever got to dinner, to the Stateroom Host always doing an amazing turnaround service, they just never miss. Our Server in particular was very social, and we had a number of fun chats over the course of the cruise. The personal touch they all provided really made the difference, and it's incredible how you can know that they're doing this for several families onboard the cruise besides yours, and how they're doing it cruise after cruise, but still somehow feel like you're so very special to them. They were certainly special to us, and it doesn't matter if they're just doing their job: they really were what separated a Disney cruise from just about any other vacation experience.

Side note: Jeff, I recently read your Cruise Trip Report where you mentioned a Head Server named Kruno. He ended up being ours as well, so that was pretty cool.

Having referenced the crew, I want to also discuss the dining, since the restaurants are where we often interacted with them.

For the main dining restaurants, Worlds Of Marvel was our first dinner stop. As I mentioned above, my prejudices against it were a bit harsher than they should have been, and the food was obviously good. The show was not as intrusive toward the meal and service as I was expecting. You all have read my additional thoughts above, so I won't belabor them. Suffice to say that in spite of my higher opinion of it, it was still the least exciting of the three, but that's all there really is left to say about it.

Well, there was a cool cameo in the film, and a character darted through the restaurant that my kids really liked, so bonus points there.

Arendelle was our home for nights two and three, as well as an impromptu visit for lunch on embarkation day (more on that in part 3), and it was a great venue. The first night in Arendelle included the restaurant's dinner show, which was essentially just a musical revue of the songs from the two Frozen movies. The musicians were exceptional, and the finale of Into the Unknown with full audience participation really ended the meal on a high note. The second night at Arendelle was for Pirate Night, which is where every restaurant shares a Pirate-themed menu and the shows, in the restaurants that have them, don't take place. Lunch didn't have a show, either, but I liked the venue enough on its own that the show was just a bonus.

One point I'll also make in its favor: I don't know if that's something they did for the later dinner service, but I was under the impression that the curtains for the windows in the back were always closed. For the three meals my family and I had there, however, they were open, giving gorgeous panoramic views out of the back of the ship. In addition, the restaurant sat right above the Rapunzel stern character, so we got some cool views of that by walking up to the windows.

The other main dining restaurant, which was where our final dinner and embarkation morning breakfast were, was 1923. 1923 was very classy, themed to the history of Disney. It was packed to the gills with artwork and relics, and yet in spite of the prevalence of it all, it never came off as being too much or too cluttered. I would liken this restaurant to an elevated Animator's Palate, one that balanced the focus on art with the look of a refined Beverly Hills restaurant. We didn't wander it too much (something for next time, I suppose), but they did encourage us to take a look around. In a case visible in the atrium, there was the wooden model of the of the ship constructed by one of its Imagineers and highlighted in the ship's Disney+ documentary, used as a reference for how many of the "blocks" of the ship were installed at a given time during its construction. That was an awesome thing to see. This was the one restaurant without any sort of show, but that was hardly an issue. The restaurant itself was show enough.

But what of the food? I suspect, and Jeff, please correct me if I'm wrong, each restaurant has a fixed menu that you get to try whenever you pass through it. I used to think that maybe the menu was the same per night and not per restaurant, but I got a different impression this time. This in some ways worked in our favor, as it meant going from one of the best desserts (the sticky date pudding) on the first night to the best steak of the cruise (a delicious filet) on the final night. The exception to this rule is Pirate Night, where the menu is the same regardless of location. Pirate Night has been one I've generally looked forward to ever since the first cruise since the menu includes some exceptionally tasty lamb shanks.

Each menu generally included some signature items, from desserts to cocktails, but honestly, I can't really remember which were which. I never had a bad meal at any of them, and having tried a different cocktail each night, they were all pretty good.

I should also note that one of the main restaurants was open for breakfast and lunch service. On our sailing, it was 1923 in most cases, with Arendelle being an exception on embarkation day. These had menus that included anything from things you'd see at the buffet (waffles and pancakes at breakfast, for example) to some nicer options. One of my favorites was a southern hash for breakfast. I can't speak as much to the nature of the lunch as I don't have enough experience eating that meal at these on previous cruises, but at least on embarkation day in Arendelle, it was essentially dinner-caliber. I had a delicious cut of roasted steak, plus the full bread service and all that excellence.

Beyond the main dining restaurants, there are several other options from casual to fine dining. We didn't do the two fine dining restaurants, but I only ever hear good things about them. One day.

Casual-wise, there was the buffet, which only opened at meal times (I don't know about dinner, but breakfast and lunch for sure), and a selection of quick-service counters that were open for the better part of the day. Touching on those, each ship has one that serves pizza, one that serves hot dogs and hamburgers, one that serves a few healthier options, and one that serves soft-serve ice cream. On the Wish, they added two additional offerings: barbecue and Mexican.

In every case, let's be honest: they aren't that exciting. I'd say the burgers and fries remained the best-quality of the bunch, because they were fresh-grilling them for you and the quality of the beef, while maybe not exceptional, was certainly enjoyable. I never tried the pizza, having learned on previous cruises that you either need to get it fresh or not at all.

For the new ones, the Mexican one might have been fine had I tried to get a burrito. I instead opted to have the food served as tacos, which were...eh. The salsas were decent, and I fear what might have happened to my cholesterol had chips been on offer. The barbecue was kind of eh as well, although I credit the pulled pork for being respectable.

An interesting note was that unlike at least the Dream and the Fantasy, the ice cream was not self-serve on the Wish. The only real drawback was that it meant it could take a bit longer to get some than on the others, but whatever. I do credit them for having solid soft-serve, though. This has always been a highlight, and I indulged...a bit more than I should have.

For the buffet, this was one of the areas where the Wish clearly had evolved in a great way. Trading away the tropical theme of the ships on which I'd previously sailed, this buffet was known as the Marceline Market, with a theme that looked like a refined farmer's market. It was really elegant and classy, and even beyond any food, it was just a nice place to spend time. I really, really liked it there. The food itself varied depending on what items you'd get, so an overall rating would be difficult. I'm now realizing that I missed out on some desserts I wanted...

Finally, there was one dining experience that didn't take place onboard the ship at all: the lunch buffet on Castaway Cay. This one is hit-or-miss as well depending on the items you pick, and I confess that this has never been a part of the cruise experience for which I've been overly excited after the first time trying it. Still, you can get some good stuff here, with the chicken and ribs being respectable, and some chocolate chip cookies that can have addictive properties.

Beyond food items, there were self-service water/soda/coffee stations up on deck eleven, where you can get as much of it as you want whenever you want. I'm told such things cost money on other cruise lines, but nope. On Disney, help yourself to what you want when you want. I've always loved this feature.

To give an overall rating to the food quality would be a little difficult as it varies between what I'd call the signature meals and the quick-service options. The main restaurants are borderline unimpeachable, though. The quality is always solid at a bare minimum, and more likely than not it's phenomenal. The fact that you can try multiple items means you really get a great culinary experience every time, and the only thing standing between you and missing out on something is your appetite. The presentation is always great, too. I really look forward to that aspect of every sailing, and Disney nailed it this time as they always do.

I've always tried to balance practicality with indulgence, but as proof of how good the food is, I skewed more toward indulgence on this sailing. There's so much to try that isn't always so easy to get without a hefty price tag here on land, so I am very grateful to Disney for the effort they put into the culinary experience at sea.

This isn't the end of my review, though. In the next and final part, I'll focus on the ship itself, the lounges and facilities, and the experiences.

Dinner menus are unique to the dining room your first time through, and on 4+ night itineraries, the menus are the same in every room for second plus visits. Pro tip: If you like something on another menu during those first three, they will get it for you. Also pro tip: If you don't want second dining, ask to be wait listed when you make the reservation. We've never been denied.

The food on Castaway is always terrible. I'm not sure why they still allow for that. It's better on the new island, but I think it's because much of it is prepared there instead of on the ship.

After 10 cruises, you'll be getting Palo for free.

Art of the Theme Show is the best tour, free, and very different on each ship.

I plan on finishing up the report tonight, but I've been wanting to reply to your posts and figured I'd rather not wait on these.

Jeff:

We did our fifth lap on the Wish last month. It still doesn't feel like the other ships, and at risk of sounding like a broken record, the adult areas are too far away and spread out, and yeah, the promenade deck. The latter matters less on those 3/4 night itineraries, but anything longer and I'd miss it more.

The adult areas being spread out turned out to be more of an advantage than I'd expected in that it drove more exploration of the ship, but I still don't remember which places were on which decks, haha. For the promenade deck, even on the short itinerary, I do wish it was more accessible.

Jeff:
We aged out of character stuff, but I'm surprised at how many photos we have. It's rarely been intentional. It used to be that the Nassau day was ideal, but people seem to know that it sucks and stay onboard.

I'll touch on this later, but I had indeed planned to use the Nassau day to do things that might otherwise be crowded. Maybe not so much the character stuff, but getting a lap on the Aquamouse was one. I didn't get mine until the Castaway day, though.

Also, I'm sure the excursions are nice, but it was money I didn't feel like spending, and yeah, the port area in Nassau isn't anything exciting. Even if we weren't trying to do things in the absence of crowds, I just didn't have much of a desire to do anything in Nassau.

Regarding character stuff, my kids are five and two, so we'll be in that boat for a while, if you'll pardon the pun.

Jeff:
I like the Marvel thing. It's kinda funny and completely original to the ship. Arendell would be my favorite for the live music, but it's so loud in there with horrible acoustics.

Is it possible that seating location in Arendelle makes a difference? I'm no expert on acoustics, but I didn't find the sound bothersome. As for Marvel, I realize it may be my own curmudgeonly nature that drives some of my disappointment with it, but I still felt like it didn't fit. Maybe in one of the parks?

Jeff:
Hyperspace sucks if you're a cocktail enthusiast because they don't have everything due to the themed bottles. The Rose is really our favorite.

Didn't try the rose, but I felt like my desire to explore cocktail culture wasn't hindered too much in the Hyperspace Lounge. That said, there are so many different spirits and mixers that I don't know that I wouldn't know if I was getting something themed or not. I tried the Coruscant and found it to be fine. I'm still learning a lot, though, so I don't necessarily know what I'm missing.

Jeff:
The survey pressure has been implied enough that we get it. The negative is that if something isn't right, their solution is to throw a ton of food at you, which is wasteful. I had a very long conversation with a shoreside exec about this after having issues in Northern Europe. I think it was just training issues, which to your point isn't really a front line problem. Fortunately, there's an email address to send more nuanced feedback.

The food waste is something bothersome to me, but as I realize it is often guest-induced, I don't fault Disney for it. I was tinged with guilt every time my kids didn't finish something. I feel like it's a bad look when the folks serving you often come from nations with rampant poverty, to say nothing of how I just don't like the waste.

Also, while we didn't end up in a situation where things were disappointing (my lower opinion of Marvel didn't really develop until later in the cruise, when I'd had more experience with other locations), I agree that that isn't necessarily going to fix problems. We've never been in a situation on any cruise where we actually had one, so I've never had to address anything. Still, I feel like getting the food you like is so incredibly easy that it wouldn't feel like much of a resolution to me.

And for those training issues, I wonder if that was part of the issue with the character meets. I didn't get the impression that it was the fault of the crew, but rather a procedural gap. I do realize that as the character meets happen in open areas, having multiple Mickeys, or any character, could result in an hours-long endeavor before people stopped showing up for the photo. My concern more was the lack of a procedure for cutting the line off and/or communicating with guests in line where the switch point would be.

I'll need to look into that e-mail address. I try to be careful with the few negatives I have as situations where I'm not the target market are situations that I don't think warrant a formal communication from my end, but I also think it's fair to address certain things. More so than that, though, I've made it a point to recognize great crew by name, and I am ALL about bombarding Disney with compliments and commendations for great cast and crew.

Honestly, I find most of the ports in the tropics to be similar, and all sketchy. It wasn't until I did Alaska and Northern Europe before I really realized the power of cruising and sampling different places.

Arendelle aft by the windows (shades down) is a little better for noise. Problem is that there's an algorithm that puts us in the same area every time (we've been in the "Roy" 1923 exclusively, too, and always the starboard side of Marvel), unless you're in concierge.

If you book enough in advance and pay, try to get into the mixology session. It will open new worlds for beverages. Kirk (Jamaica) in The Rose is currently the guy, and he's really good.

Jeff:

Dinner menus are unique to the dining room your first time through, and on 4+ night itineraries, the menus are the same in every room for second plus visits. Pro tip: If you like something on another menu during those first three, they will get it for you. Also pro tip: If you don't want second dining, ask to be wait listed when you make the reservation. We've never been denied.

Thank you for the clarification. I was never sure what the breakdown was, and I just made some incorrect assumptions. As for getting the first dining, we've done the wait-list for it every time and also had success on each sailing. It took a bit this time around, but it worked. However, this was the first cruise where we were actually seated with another family, but more on that later.

As far as getting something from a different menu, I guess I'd never really thought about doing it. Besides, I enjoy trying something different each time. Keeps me interested. :)

Jeff:
The food on Castaway is always terrible. I'm not sure why they still allow for that. It's better on the new island, but I think it's because much of it is prepared there instead of on the ship.

Wait, the Castaway food is prepared on the ship? Then why doesn't the ship have those awesome cookies?

Okay, now I'm REALLY mad, hahahaha.

As for why they still allow for the quality to be what it is, I wonder if it might be that people are just okay with it. That, or they don't want the crew getting blamed for something that isn't really their problem.

Jeff:
After 10 cruises, you'll be getting Palo for free.

I've got a ways to go on that one. I should've started cruising earlier.

Jeff:
Art of the Theme Show is the best tour, free, and very different on each ship.

Totally agree on this. We've done it each time. It's a can't miss.

Jeff:
Honestly, I find most of the ports in the tropics to be similar, and all sketchy. It wasn't until I did Alaska and Northern Europe before I really realized the power of cruising and sampling different places

I do want to sample other areas, but especially with small kids, Port Canaveral and Port Everglades are really the most viable options right now. Northern Europe probably tops my list of places further afield, especially with the things I hear about some of the Mediterranean ports not exactly being fond of visitors right now.

I also agree on the port areas themselves, at least with the limited experiences I've had so far. I do think that the islands I've visited all have their different characteristics, of course, but the tourist-trap nature of the ports is well-documented. Saint Maarten's was quite small, but that island is so mountainous that everything was a drive.

I'd consider San Juan an exception, though. The port there is minutes away from the old city, where you can get a great local experience. I'd totally disembark there without hesitation, and I don't think that an excursion would be even remotely necessary to enjoy the place.

Jeff:
If you book enough in advance and pay, try to get into the mixology session. It will open new worlds for beverages. Kirk (Jamaica) in The Rose is currently the guy, and he's really good.

I tried. I wanted this one so badly, but it was full. Do you have any recommendations for places to get a similar experience here in the Orlando area? I seem to recall you mentioning something about one at Disney.

Three Bridges at Coronado Springs has "sangria university," which is like mixology for sangria. It's solid.

I should have excluded San Juan. While I haven't been there, it's high on my list. Had a friend in school who grew up there. There's usually a sailing between NYC and San Juan, which I think would be amazing, but it's always during the school year.

Puerto Rico and the rest of the Eastern Caribbean islands are way more interesting than most of the west.

Part 3: The Ship, Experiences, Lounges, and More

Coming in for the final installment, I'd like to review the Disney Wish itself, the lounges, facilities, and experiences, and basically everything else not yet mentioned. This portion of the report will at some points move along chronologically, so please bear with me on that.

Even before getting onboard, things went really well. For the first time, we did embarkation day right. We got to the port much earlier than the past two sailings we did, ensuring we'd have more time onboard that first day. Sure, it might be an hour or two in the grand scheme of the whole cruise, but it makes a difference, and the lower crowds with the earlier port arrival time started things off on the right foot and allowed us to really enjoy the whole experience of arriving at the ship. The terminal itself looks really nice and really heightens the anticipation. We got to wait a bit in there before our group got called, but we still got to board nice and early. Once onboard, walking into the atrium that I'd seen so much in the Disney+ documentary and in various photos was a really cool experience. Even if it's the first one designed to look like something other than a ship (in this case, a castle), it still had so much in common with the others that it maintained much of what makes them so beautiful while adding a new twist on the concept. As this was a Halloween-themed cruise, there was also the Wish's version of the Pumpkin Tree, but somehow it didn't contrast as much as one would expect. It felt like it belonged there.

We had intended to go straight for the buffet to get some lunch, but we basically got directed into Arendelle. It was a pretty cool surprise, as it meant trading buffet food for a dinner-caliber sit-down experience. Having a nice cut of beef was a pretty great way to kick off the cruise.

The rest of embarkation day was a bit of a flurry of activity between the muster drill, the sail-away party, dinner, and the first theater show. I did a bit of exploration and was very impressed with the pool deck, which is one area where these new Triton ships handily best the others. There are many more pools than the other ship classes, and it really helped spread crowds out a good bit.

Also, one highlight of exploration was working our way to the bow of the ship, access to which isn't available on the other ships in the fleet. We spent much of the journey out of Port Canaveral standing out there, due partly to the fact that we left so early that by the time our sail-away party even started, we'd pretty much reached open waters. I presume this is due to how the port controls traffic and that there's probably a pretty broad window in which the ship might actually leave versus a specific time. Either way, despite the fact that we were well underway, and the horn was sounded halfway through the countdown instead of the end, the sail-away party still gets me a little emotional. Much of that stems from a lot memories made and memories about to be made, especially as a family, but yeah...I'm not ashamed to say that it brought a tear to my eye.

The first theater show was a nautical-themed show that combined the theme of sailing with a sort of Disney jukebox revue. Despite the fact that it felt like the priority was fitting in the songs and the rest of the show was just a way to tie it all together, we really enjoyed it. The other two shows we had onboard were interestingly both what I'd consider signature shows, i.e. ones built around specific movies. The Fantasy was like this as well. In this case, our shows were The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. I made it through about two-thirds of The Little Mermaid before my son was clearly ready for bed, but what I did see what spectacular. My wife and daughter saw Aladdin by themselves when it played on the last day of the cruise, but I skipped it so that my son could get a nap. Besides, I saw it on the Fantasy, so I was fine sitting it out this time.

The entertainment and technical teams are top-notch, I must say, and among the finest, if not THE finest, live entertainment Disney delivers. These shows were the ultimate showcase for it, and my skipping some of them was due more to time constraints than lack of interest. On an itinerary this short, there are some trade-offs, and I figured that missing some of what I've seen, regardless of how good it was, was the way to go.

Speaking of skipping things, our first full day involved the stop in Nassau. We decided well in advance that we'd stay onboard. The port area of Nassau isn't really anything to write home about, and spending money on an excursion just wasn't worth it to us. Besides, I look at it this way: I can get to Nassau without going via the ship. I thought it would be nicer to enjoy the ship itself, especially with many of its occupants ashore. My wife and daughter did a lap on the Aquamouse, the crowds for which didn't really seem to be affected by the fact that there was an island to distract them. The pool crowds weren't too bad, though, which was a prevailing theme.

Regarding the pools, this was an area where the Wish showed some clear evolution and enhancement. There were more pools, spreading out the crowds nicely. There was a nice variety of depths available, too, meaning that everyone from kids to adults had plenty of options. Even towards the end, I was actually discovering pools until the very end of the cruise. I never did get the opportunity to really try the infinity pool or the pool on the top deck at the forward end of the ship. However, I still really enjoyed the variety of pool selections.

Rounding out the pool deck discussion, I'd be remiss if I glossed over the Aquamouse. A master-blaster style water slide, much of its length is completely enclosed. Beyond the lift hill, I suppose it was necessary to keep light from flooding in to the lift itself. Once you hit the jets on the opposite side, you get some open air, and the final stretch of the slide is transparent. It's good fun, with a surprisingly decent splash where the jets hit. I'm impressed with my daughter, who was apprehensive, for riding it twice so both my wife and I could get a chance to experience it.

Focusing on things back indoors, I want to briefly mention the kids areas on deck two. Disney ships have clubs/facilities for kids all the way up through teenagers. For the younger set, there's the "nursery" and the kids club located on deck 2. The nursery is the lone upcharge facility, but the cost is minimal. We only took advantage of it for about an hour per day on three of the days, but it was an excellent service that helped my wife and I get some time for ourselves.

The other, much larger facility on deck two was the Oceaneers' Club. These are some of the most impressive facilities onboard, and I cannot commend the design teams and the crews enough for how awesome these offerings are. Unlike the Dream and the Wish, which have them more or less divided into two areas, the Oceaneers' Club and the Oceaneers' Lab, each of which have their own subsections, the Wish just has the one. That being said, it is massive. There are so many different play areas of varying themes, some of which include areas for character meet-and-greets. The Wish also included the option to check in for the club up on deck three and take a slide down, which my daughter pretty much insisted was the only way to properly enter it, haha. She would spend stretches of several hours there and still not want to leave when we came to retrieve her. I attribute much of this to the crew members that operate the club as well, because they're fantastic.

As far as the rest of the facilities onboard, well, that would take an eternity to cover. Instead, I'd like to focus on some highlights.

First, the movie theaters. Instead of one theater as on other ships, the Wish has two somewhat smaller ones. Even though I only spent a few short stretches in them, I found them oddly fascinating.

The lounges were also great. There are many of them scattered throughout the ship. Some of the ones I really liked were The Bayou, which is an open lounge on deck three themed to The Princess & The Frog. I liked the look of it a lot, and I had a nice serving of beignets and a Sazerac to complete the New Orleans touch, haha.

I also liked the various specialty coffee locations onboard. Both decks four and five had ones right off of the atrium, and my goodness, the fragrance put forth by that coffee...ooh la la, it was...intoxicating.

That may have gotten weird, but I'm not sorry.

There was also the Cove Cafe, tucked away way upstairs on deck thirteen (or was it fourteen?) aft. You really had to go looking for it, and judging by the coffee prices, you really had to want it, too, but it was a nice, secluded spot, and the crew we chatted with there were fantastic.

Even beyond all those, there were so many other areas that I couldn't begin to cover them all, so I'll move on to the final few pieces of this trip report: Castaway Cay and the non-theater show events.

Castaway Cay is covered pretty well in many areas, so I don't want to touch on too much other than the fun of renting a bicycle for the first time to explore other areas of the island. I got to briefly check out the secluded Serenity Bay adults-only beach, which was both quiet and gorgeous, and I also got to finally check out the observation tower. I do not recommend the latter activity after a long bike ride unless you like some serious leg-wobble heading up the stairs, but it was cool to finally see it.

Back to onboard matters, there were several non-theater shows that took place. Two of them were due to the Halloween theme of the cruise. The first was the Pumpkin Tree lighting ceremony. On my previous cruise aboard the Fantasy, this was an awesome, almost Haunted Mansion-style event. It was a bit eerie and spooky, and an unexpected highlight of that one. This one was tailored more toward a Cinderella theme, and quite frankly, not really as interesting. The other Halloween event that we attended was Mickey's Mouse-querade dance party up on the pool deck. This was a good time with the characters making their way through the audience, dancing with guests in several areas. My daughter in particular absolutely loved this event, and kudos to Daisy Duck who absolutely tore the place up, haha.

For the non-Halloween shows, there were the requisite Pirate Night events, with the later show that included fireworks trading the usual sea shanty songs for a mini-rock concert. The band was really good, and it was cool to get a bit of a different experience in this show than I've had in the past. Finally, there was the closing show late on the final night. I really liked this as it's a nice sendoff, but what was also exciting was the unexpected opportunity to get some final photos with characters. My daughter ended up getting some photos with princesses Tiana and Moana with no wait at all, and she was able to even throw in one final trip down the kids club slide.

Beyond all of that, well, I could go on forever. Quite frankly, I probably already have. I realize I rushed through things there at the end, but I had to end this at some point. I'd like to think I've covered the bulk of it, but really, no explanation or trip report I provide could ever do it justice. Disney Cruise Line delivered the ultimate vacation experience yet again, and I hope to sail them again one day soon. I can't recommend them enough.

If you think those shows are good, you should see the touring shows for Lion King, Frozen and Aladdin. Those shows are next level. My favorite thing about Wish entertainment is that the house band plays the Pirates of the Caribbean theme live during the "fireworks," and you didn't even realize it was meant to be played on an electric guitar.

As your kids get older, they'll have great experiences in Edge and Vibe, too. The youth counselors are always very kind, and my kid has gotten to know a few of them pretty well across the fleet (pretty sure there's a crush there). We got him a "burner" phone to run the DCL app, for the onboard chat, when he was 9, and at that point let him free range, checking in and out of the clubs himself. That was a game changer, and now it's almost like going without him, seeing him only at dinner.

A friend was asking me yesterday if I thought Disney cruises were good for tweens/teens. Not having kids in that demographic, I wouldn’t know personally, but I did mention the feedback that you’d provided in your TRs that they were really great.

Jeff:

you should see the touring shows for Lion King, Frozen and Aladdin. Those shows are next level.

I've seen Lion King and Aladdin. Lion King was very good. Aladdin was great.

I saw the original cast of Frozen on Broadway, as well as "The Carolines" on tour after Covid. The tour didn't have that many compromises despite not being able to drill holes in the stage! I'd say Lion King is my favorite though.

Teens seem to have a good time on DCL. Last year, disembarking in Copenhagen, a bunch of young women were shouting Simon's name at Tivoli Gardens. Turned out it was the Vibe crew on a quick day trip.