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

I've had friends/family who've done repositioning cruises (a few days at sea on the boat as they move it from A to B at a steep discount). They say it's an affordable getaway if you're just interested in the point of origin and the destination and hanging around on a giant boat.

I've heard from a number of people that there are virtually no kids on the Disney Wonder when it does its Panama crossing. I'm very interested in trying that some year.

Jeff said:

Go short and cheap to at least get a feel for it, and then go from there.

This is what I recommend doing. You can find 3 and 5 day cruises in 2022 right now for less than $50 a day. At that rate you really can't hate the trip unless you are the type to find a negative experience in anything. Because at the end of the day that's still cheaper than getting a hotel somewhere and relaxing at its pool for a weekend.

The "bored to easily" comment always comes up when I talk to people about cruising. I thought I was the same type of person but then I realized after cruising that I am not. Just exploring a new ship could take you all day. Most ships still have plenty to do though, always laid out by the hour each day, if you do need something to keep you occupied. The majority of 3 to 6 day cruises from Florida also don't have more than 1 full day cruising so you are in a new port almost daily. The longest cruise I have taken was 14 days and not once was I ever bored.

Jeff said:

I've heard from a number of people that there are virtually no kids on the Disney Wonder when it does its Panama crossing. I'm very interested in trying that some year.

My parents did a Panama cruise (not a crossing, went through the east end and turned around) on Carnival in 2019 and I believe they said there were around 30 passengers under age 40 on the ship.

I went on my first cruise kicking and screaming and I really enjoyed it. I've done 1 on an older Royal Caribbean ship and 2 on fairly new Carnival ships. Part of what I want on a vacation is to unplug and maybe even allow myself to be a little bored. I enjoy eating and I do that in short spurts throughout the sea days. On our last cruise, I had a Ruben from the deli on the ship every night before bed time. I was on a first name basis with the guy behind the counter by the 3rd night. The first 2 cruises I went on were with friends and family and the last 2 was just with my wife and daughter. That was my favorite where we were really able to unwind. We stayed up late, slept in, camped out at the pools, hit the water play area, and just did a lot of nothing. We stayed on the ship in Jamaica and had it almost to ourselves since it was the first port. We passed on the expensive excursions and went to public beaches in cabs for a third of the price.

I get the disdain for Carnival. It is indeed the value line and you definitely get what you pay for. That said, it was enough for me and I honestly didn't think RC was all that much better. I really want to do a Disney cruise soon.

The forced disconnecting is truly one of the best aspects of cruising.

It really is and it's one of the reasons I love cruising. Nothing like locking your phone in a safe for 14 days. Nothing on land will disconnect you anywhere near as much as being at sea.

NCL has been giving you free wifi, and except for checking in to my flights I don't even use it. I love being consciously absent from the world.

I've never done the smaller ships, so maybe there's less to offer on them, but I've never been bored on an NCL ship. There are professional level shows, comedy and music clubs, waterslides, casinos, ropes courses, movies and parties under the stars, craft beer bars, dance clubs... pretty much any kind of activity you're looking for. And you can go on a 7-day cruise and not have dinner in the same restaurant twice.

I like visiting 4 or 5 different countries, exploring cultures a bit, and not having to unpack and repack. It's great for highlights and big attractions, and if you like the place it's a great preview for doing an actual vacation at a destination. If you booked a vacation to the Bahamas in Nassau, you may be very disappointed, but if you're only there for one day then no big loss. (However if you're there it's worth hopping off to go to Pirate Republic brewery, only a few blocks from the port. Then get back on the ship.)

I only went on the first one because my wife wanted to, but I was hooked immediately. I never considered myself a cruise kind of guy, but there really is no other vacation that can relax me as much. Food, drinks, shows, everything included in the booking price. Leave your phone and wallet in the safe.

I like the way DCL does their dinner rotation. There are three restaurants to rotate through, but your servers follow you. By the third night, they know that you want before you do, and it's fun to get to know these interesting people from around the world. (Menus change after the third night, the same at all locations.)

We almost always see at least one movie, since Disney owns half of what's in theaters anyway and gets to show them. Evening bars and music never lets us down. Tastings (wine, rum, mixology, etc.) are always worth the price. I often get a massage. And honestly, just finding a quiet place to do nothing or read is awesome.

I have stayed in national parks which pretty much disconnected you from the outside world. Cell reception in many of them is worse than horrible.

And do some phones not have off switches? ;)

kpjb said:

It's great for highlights and big attractions, and if you like the place it's a great preview for doing an actual vacation at a destination.

Cruising is a great way to do this. I have made notes of cities I want to go back to for more exploring. A friend of mine loved Curaçao so much from one visit on a ship that he and his wife fly down yearly for a vacation.

For some reason I just can't get excited about how DCL does their dinning. I imagine it's because I am use to how every other ship does it but it just doesn't excite me. I don't hate it, just not in love with it.

I'm not a foodie, so dinner is not as much an event for me. Not part of the rotation, but we met a server in Palo (the up-charge restaurant, free to Platinum Castaway members), that we're still friends with, has stayed at our house, kind of an adopted European daughter. I cherish those kinds of opportunities. We've even requested repeat servers. I dunno, I know they're employees, but I feel like there's something deeper than that. And no, I've never encountered strippers who I thought liked me. 😂

GoBucks89 said:

I have stayed in national parks which pretty much disconnected you from the outside world. Cell reception in many of them is worse than horrible.

I actually took a Zoom meeting from the floor of Yosemite Valley two weeks ago. There’s a tower somewhere that gives strong reception in the most popular spots. The rest of the park was basically a wasteland.

Does DCL tell you what restaurant you can eat at? i.e. Do you eat at restaurant A on day 1, restaurant B on day 2, etc?

Yes, for dinner there is a rotation. After the third night, you keep rotating, but the menu is the same in all three locations. There are also two fancy up-charge restaurants, and sometimes the buffet is open certain nights. Lunch is in the buffet and sometimes another restaurant. Counter service (pizza, burgers, chicken, deli, etc.) is open a lot, and room service (included) I think is 24 hours.

Oh, and pro tip is that if you want something from the other restaurants, they'll get it for you. They have a really good tomato soup recipe (and I generally hate soup), and I get it the first three nights in every location. They'll also bend over backwards for any dietary need you have. I remember Diana had sushi once, which is not on the menus at all, and I'm not sure why or how that happened. Also, you can have a Mickey bar every ****ing night if that's your thing (it's my thing).

That would absolutely be my thing. At WDW I manage at least one a day.

Princess had a restaurant that you could drop in anytime with some really great food. We ended up eating at that restaurant every night. With a party of 10 we usually had the same table. They had a basic fixed menu but a few entrees that changed every night. The restaurant also served lunch and breakfast but we didn't go there often. The buffet was open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Room service was also available 24 hours a day as well.

I'm not sure I would like being told where I had to eat. But I could see the convenience of not having to worry about reservations if you eat at a popular time.

Like I said, you can technically get whatever is being served in any of the restaurants. The other reason for the rotation though is that certain venues have shows. The Animator's Palate for example has a light and video show, and on the Fantasy they actually animate the drawings you make on your placemats. The Wonder has Tiana's Place with live music, and that's easily the best of any of the venues (if a little loud). The Wish is going to have some kind of Frozen dinner show and World of Marvel, so you have to rotate everyone through the three venues. Each of the three venues can also seat something like 700 guests, so that's another reason to distribute the crowd. I wouldn't think of it as, "Animator's has steak and Enchanted Garden has seafood..." that's not how they're set up. Like I said, on 4+ night itineraries, it's the same thing in every restaurant anyway.

There are also two dinner seating times, and when one group is eating, the other can see the main show in the theater.

I'm pretty sure I averaged more than 1 Mickey Bar per day last time we were at WDW. They sell them in Target but they're (literally) not the same.

Yeah, I can’t imagine going to anything at Disney and having a specific, daily plan. Lol.