Disney previews Disney Wish cruise ship with Aqua Mouse, their first "attraction at sea"

I'm about ready to pull the trigger on an NCL out of Punta Cana to the southern Caribbean in September. 100% vaxed crew and guests, 60% capacity limit, free drinks, upgraded meals, airfare included, and triple points which I believe bumps us up a tier. Just waiting to see if anyone else is going to go with us.

The deals right now are insane for cruises in 2022. I'm looking at a 14 night on Royal from Spain to Florida that for a veranda cabin is $700. That's cheaper than 14 nights in gross Orlando motel.

Looks like the inaugural Wish sailing either sold out or they took it off the web. After being on hold for almost two hours yesterday morning, we still got a pretty choice room, but later in the day, the listed prices kept getting higher. My guess was that they sold about 400 rooms when we booked, so did they really sell 800 the rest of the day, exclusively by phone? That seems hard to believe. And if so, that means everyone onboard will have at least 15 Disney cruises. The entitlement is going to be a nightmare.

Cruise people, help me out. What am I missing?

I went on one cruise (Princess, Alaska inner passage) and would best describe it as fine. The excursions were by far the best part but were definitely on the short side.

You get what you pay for when it comes to cruises. Princess is a Carnival brand, which is the Walmart of cruise lines. They own Costa, as in Concordia. I'm hating on it, but I've not been on any of their ships.

Disney's existing four ships are immaculate. You can't tell that the Magic is 23-years-old unless you look very closely. Service is extraordinary, which is saying something when you have to deal with so many kids, but the secret is that a lot of those families turn in early, creating adult night life that is very exclusive and attentive.

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian seem to have some pretty excellent ships and decent service as well, from what I hear, and Royal's Celebrity brand has been winning a lot of praise as well. These aren't cheap, but if you like being well taken care of in terms of food, stateroom and service, I think you'll see what you're paying for.

That makes sense. We did price the Disney cruise out before deciding on Princess. It was three times the price. We went with Princess because it was the only one that fit in our price range.

We tend to stay in a place for 5-7 days when we vacation and do all that we can during that time. Obviously that doesn't jive well with cruises. But you never know until you try.

I do find it interesting that people vacation in so many different ways!

We've been on 4 Princess cruises and found them to be perfectly nice. Alaska and the Mediterranean in particular were great to see a lot of things without needing to pack up and hop in a bus every two days. I wasn't that excited by the Caribbean itinerary. All beaches are pretty much the same and I don't like any of them.

I'm not one to make much of the quality of the ships themselves. They mostly serve as a place for me to eat and read in between ports.

And that's the key thing... if they're your nightly hotel, they're ideal for sampling different places without having to pack. And you're right that tropical beaches are pretty much all the same, in which case I think the ship matters. The more expensive lines, the ship and the service is part of the attraction. I've been to Nassau in the Bahamas 17 times and got off the ship once, because it's a ****hole.

When we do get to Europe for cruising, there's still a strong chance we'll do it on a Disney ship, because the time spent on it is still non-trivial, especially if you have days at sea. Alaska was amazing in the ports (well, Ketchikan is meh), but sailing up the fjords to see glaciers, or going back for a great lunch when there's nothing good in town, I appreciate the line we were on.

I agree with Jeff about the Disney Cruise Line. My first cruise was on the Disney Fantasy in 2013. Amazing. Then I went on Royal Caribbean's brand new Symphony of the Seas in 2018. An impressive ship for sure, but the experience felt kind of generic compared to the Fantasy.

Jeff said:

The more expensive lines, the ship and the service is part of the attraction. I've been to Nassau in the Bahamas 17 times and got off the ship once, because it's a ****hole.

That's what I'm really not relating to. Were there other stops on the cruise? I hope so or I'm completely lost.

Alaska was amazing in the ports (well, Ketchikan is meh), but sailing up the fjords to see glaciers, or going back for a great lunch when there's nothing good in town, I appreciate the line we were on.

That's the way I felt about Icy Straight Point. Luckily that was our first stop, before Juneau and Skagway. Although, I did catch an amazing sunset from the sports deck. Other than Icy Straight Point our excursions included lunch. By far my favorite part of my time on the ship was sailing through Glacier Bay.

I just enjoy not having to think about anything and having someone serve me at every opportunity. One of the reasons I love Celebrity so much is because they treat you like you are the only one on the ship. In this day and age it's the only vacation that I can truly relax without a care in the world (having no cell service is a plus). I mean I still love a classic vacation that I plan and allows me to explore at my leisure but a cruise is the best way to just book a vacation and not have to think twice after you click "Book Itinerary". But at the same time cruising allows you to be in control of everything you want to do as well if that's your bag.

Everything Chris says. The average tropical cruise is not what I would categorize as "adventure travel." You're not going to take in culture or sights or exotic locales, you're going to turn your brain off and let other people take care of you. The only decision you need to make is whether or not to get room service or eat between meals (both included on DCL).

Regarding my Nassau comments... DCL runs the Dream around the Bahamas on 3 and 4-night loops to Nassau and their private island, Castaway Cay. Sometimes in the summer they do 5-nights, with 2 days at Castaway. That will be the best day on the beach you'll ever have. Beach chairs outnumber people 3 to 1, they do a nice barbecue spread for lunch, and yes, servers walk up and down the beach if you're too lazy to go to one of the bars.

I haven't gotten off in Nassau in years. Once you have done it then there isn't a reason to go back however just about any cruise you take out of Florida, especially from east coast ports, will stop in Nassau. Any other port in the Caribbean at this point I use to find good local food. Cozumel has my favorite tacos and margaritas I have ever had.

When I first started cruising I was the passenger that had to do everything and make sure I got my monies worth. Yeah that lasted about two cruises and then I realized the whole point was to slow down and enjoy what was going on around me. So unless I am on a class of ship I have never been on before or sailing a new to me itinerary, I sit back and take full advantage of the service and using the sh!t out of that room service.

I’ve wanted to go on a cruise for a long time but haven’t yet. I’ve found the decision of which line and which cruise to be by far the most difficult travel decision I’ve ever made.

Most vacations if you find you don’t like where you are you can just go somewhere else but a cruise you’re pretty much stuck. I started researching fifteen years ago and still never pulled the trigger.

I'm already a hotel snob, and very particular about a room being clean and new. I look at a Carnival ship in port and think, "Nah, there's just no way," without even seeing the rooms.

NCL is my current favorite mainly because of their aft dining decks.

I would stay away from the 3 day weekend party cruises for your first cruise, they attract an entirely different clientele.

However a 3 day could be the best way to get an idea if you might like cruising though. The first cruise I took was a 3 day and it was Carnival. Having never been on a cruise or even researched one I went with a group of friends and though it was Carnival, it was enough to get me hooked. I immediately booked a 3 day for the following month on Royal and just changing lines made a huge difference in the type of cruise it was. Ever since that first cruise I have never gone back to Carnival.

I've been on Disney, Celebrity, and Royal and you really can't go wrong with any of those lines. I've always heard good things about NCL and someday will take a cruise with them to round out the major players. Once cruising is allowed in Florida again I hope to finally get on the new Virgin ship too.

So for someone who has never taken a cruise I would just say find one in your price range and book it. Honestly I wouldn't look at much more than price because everything is going to be new for you.

Yeah, more than half of my DCL sailings are 3-nights in the Bahamas. Not party cruises. I have no shortage of photos of us like this in a nearly empty bar (Skyline, on the Disney Dream, in this case)...

Length of cruise is one of my sticking points for a few reasons.

1. I’m pretty certain cruising will be a once in a lifetime deal so I don’t want to go on a shorter cruise.

2. People who know me tell me that I will get bored very quickly so I don’t want to go too long of a cruise.

I’ve thought of booking shorter and then booking a second cruise if I enjoy it but even if I surprise myself and enjoy it enough for a second cruise I’ll still want my first one to be a memorable one and not a test cruise.

I thought I would hate it, ended up being the exact opposite. Go short and cheap to at least get a feel for it, and then go from there.