Disney Wish - First reviews from the media cruise - biased?

[brentm77]

Inviting media is not new. I retired from TV news and we would get offers from Disney 42 years ago. The things that has changed is with the advent of cell phones. Facebook live etc where Disney can't control what is being recorded and sent out.
Case in point, when Disneyland reopened after the pandemic, no media were allowed in for several weeks. We had a reporter on opening day with his cell phone out on the sidewalk outside the main entrance doing live reports, and he got people who were going inside to send him video THEY shot with their cell phones.

But it was traditionally a mix of media and the normal folks together. Look at the opening day of Disneyland. Now it is media first, than the normal folks. It just rubs me the wrong way, even if it has become the norm.

Are you referring to the guy with like 4 kids? He's so annoying and his excessive overjoy looks so contrived... when he goes on the verandah in his room and says: "OMG you guys look, the ocean!!.... *facepalm*
buddy, you're like 50, not 15, you sound so cringe... I seriously loathe these fake people who constantly hustle for freebies and call themselves 'influencers' ...

Yes, I think that is the one. I didn't see the ocean video yet, but it sounds just like him.

 

[DCLDVC1]

It seems like they had to go to a reservation system as it only holds 50 guests at a time.

Does anyone know if there's a time limit?

 

[brentm77]

They do have Enchante instead of Remy, which I assume hits the same mark as far as upscale dining goes.



I'm trying hard not to feel irked about it, but I don't recall them doing "christening" cruises before either and I admit it is definitely taking some of the wind out of my sails at being "first". Now we feel like second class citizens to their chosen ones. OK I guess I AM obviously irked... I certainly do not feel like its as big a deal as I thought it might be now. It was exciting thinking I could answer questions and get the info out there for the DIS but that is all done, so now its "just" a regular cruise really. First suckers to pay is all, not first guests anymore.



They really did make good on their promise of a castle at sea and not a ship at sea...



I doubt it - the vloggers with any morals are being honest that THIS cruise was free, and are saving their actual opinions for paid cruises. Many of them were already booked on the Maiden before they were invited on the Christening and I imagine they did not cancel. We fully anticipate dealing with self absorbed folks and camera equipment every where we turn in a couple weeks regardless. There are plenty of folks who do this for a living that were not invited.

That spectacle is actually one of the reasons we wanted to cruise on the Maiden; we enjoy a little friendly mayhem. The 50% off we ended up with was very welcome too though; I don't regret picking this sailing over others as much as I would have if we were still paying full price after the Christening was suddenly on the books.

I solemnly swear to give honest opinions on this ship, that is for sure, and if you don't trust me after what I just said above and my history posting then I don't know what to tell you. EasyWDW (RIP) was one of my favourite bloggers for just that reason (that and his always on point humor), though it meant he was never invited anywhere for free.

I will be watching for your coverage and opinions! I have been around these boards long enough to know you will be objective. I get the joy of a little chaos being first. I was at Disneyland the first day Rise was open to the public and it was crazy fun. But even there, we were there the day before and saw Ordinary Adventures and others riding first, and it does take a little something away from being there on "opening day." Either way, I think you are going to have a blast and there are plenty of us here waiting for your report back!

 

[tvguy]

But it was traditionally a mix of media and the normal folks together. Look at the opening day of Disneyland. Now it is media first, than the normal folks. It just rubs me the wrong way, even if it has become the norm.



Yes, I think that is the one. I didn't see the ocean video yet, but it sounds just like him.

The opening of Disneyland was supposed to be entirely media with a few VIP guests. It was supposed to be a controlled TV show in ABC. But people counterfeited the tickets and got in.

 

[LambertLion]

Perfect description of how I feel. - especially the part about Disney inviting vloggers before paying customers.. it's a slap in the face.I get doing a pre-MV cruise with celebrities, Disney executives, but freacking 'influencers' before your loyal clientele? such a bad call.

Are you referring to the guy with like 4 kids? He's so annoying and his excessive overjoy looks so contrived... when he goes on the verandah in his room and says: "OMG you guys look, the ocean!!.... *facepalm*
buddy, you're like 50, not 15, you sound so cringe... I seriously loathe these fake people who constantly hustle for freebies and call themselves 'influencers' ...

I dont know which vlogger you are referring to but I feel you on that bc many are like that, BUT, you know the expression dont hate the player…hate the game right? I dont care for the phony and all, but these vloggers are hustlin, and if people are buying it up and making them money, i cant hate that. Not for me at all, but there’s a reason they get invited to these types of events for free. Disney eats it up all the free advertising and phony gushing and sometimes use it in their own promo material.

 

[Mango7100]

Does any one have any idea how many vloggers/influencers do Disney as their main source of income? I have no idea, but it seems like there are sooo many and they report on the same stuff the same way. do we need 4000 people on one sailing all showing pictures of the Frozen show and dinner and saying how awesome it was? I follow 4–3 were on the ship and their feeds were literally all the same stuff. Even just 3 got repetitive and a bit monotonous.

Maybe they did some of this, but I think it would have been awesome if Disney did a cruise solely for Make a Wish guests since they are the ships godchildren. Even filling it 50/50 with Make a Wish and vloggers instead of 100% vloggers.

 

[brentm77]

The opening of Disneyland was supposed to be entirely media with a few VIP guests. It was supposed to be a controlled TV show in ABC. But people counterfeited the tickets and got in.

You're right. I forgot about that. Maybe it's the fact that the press events were more formal and they didn't pretend to just be on vacation or give the impression they paid to be there? Versus the vloggers essentially being some dude with a camera who is clearly a hack. I don't know.
Admittedly, some are talented, and a couple I even enjoy, but most are pretty bad.

I would prefer a press event with more objective reporting, like a movie critic.

 

[Jason Martin]

I didn’t realize you have to make reservations for the Hyperspace lounge…
It was not listed on any of the on board fun activities that you can reserve…hopefully its something everyone will get a chance to try…we are on the Maiden and by the time I was able to book there was no tastings or Palo brunch and anything in Enchante left to book.

Does anyone know if there's a time limit?

Does anyone know if there's a time limit?

On the Christening cruise they allowed 45 minutes kind of like Ogas. Not sure how they will handle normal sailings. Best way to get in was to show up 30 minutes before opening and request a time

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

Why does Disney keep doing that?! They know it's going to be a popular place so why not make it big enough to accommodate everyone rather than add stress tothe trip with trying to get reservations and feeling like you missed out if you paid all of that money and couldn't get to enjoy it. The same with Oga's or their newer rides.

It creates hype and demand and then even more spend money when in there because they feel they have to. Otherwise it would have likely been people pop in check it out and leave and the hype would wear out fast for future cruises and people wouldn’t think it’s the thing they have to do.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

The loud dinner shows are the one thing that might keep us from trying it. The Marvel one looked particularly obnoxious. Like watching a very bad marvel movie on the screens for 95% of the show.

I thought the Rapunzel show on the Magic would be harmless, if not entertaining. But it was mostly just loud and a detraction. I feel the same way about the Crush show. I mostly just want to enjoy dinner in a relaxing atmosphere. Any entertainment should be subtle and compliment the dining experience. The time to wow me with productions is in the theater. But that's just a personal preference.

We're on the 22 July 3 night. Our dining rotation is as below.
Night 1: 1923 (excited about that)
Night 2: Enchante
Night 3: Palo

Seeing a trend here...?

 

[holula]

It creates hype and demand and then even more spend money when in there because they feel they have to. Otherwise it would have likely been people pop in check it out and leave and the hype would wear out fast for future cruises and people wouldn’t think it’s the thing they have to do.

I feel the opposite, I think it’s just annoying that they didn’t make a space large enough and it makes me not want to spend anything in there at all.

I still will, because Star Wars.

 

[Jhondy]

I love seeing the reviews from the Disney Wish, but have to admit I am a little annoyed (or is it jealous) at all the bloggers that got to go on the cruise for free. I know they work hard for their money, but how much can we really trust any of the reviews? They all had variations of the same headline after the first day ("What I learned after 24 hours on the Disney Wish", "Surprises on the First Day of the Disney Wish", "7 Ways the Disney Wish Surprised me in the First 24 hours"). The titles of their articles all make it seem like they were fed what to write about on their blogs.
If I was on a trip for free, there is no way I am going to write anything negative. I want to be invited back for another trip in the future The reviews all seem to contain glowing reviews with one area for improvement (put in for effect in my conspiratorial mind to make there reader believe they are being truly objective).
I remember one time one of the people on the cruise stayed at Disney Springs area hotel and said it was the best hotel ever - I stayed there afterwards and the place was hands down the worst hotel I ever stayed at. When I actually commented on his blog - he did disclose he got his room for free and was upgraded to a newly remodeled suite - neither of which of course I received. He did not disclose that in his initial review.
I like that they disclose the cruise is free for them, but I don't think disclosing it makes it clear they are going to be objective - they want to please Disney as well as entertain their readers.
Not to say anything is necessarily wrong with what they are doing, and obviously the reviews and blogs work or there is no way Disney would fund such a trip, but I think it is best to wait until the paying customers start reviewing to get a true sense of what the ship will be like. I am on a b2b in September so will have a few months of reviews to enjoy before I board.

I agree. I also got annoyed about hearing how uncrowded the pools feel when the ship is not nearly full or sailing at what it will.

I watched many of the YouTube videos and the “everything is amazing” just got annoying after awhile. I’m looking forward to seeing some videos from normal sailings. However, so far I’m not impressed. I thought I’d be sad that I switched from Wish to Fantasy, even though my cruise is now twice long, I thought I’d be jealous of the Wish….I’m not. Sure it has different restaurants and the decor looks pretty but there is nothing super innovative and some things just don’t seem practical…like the two blow up obstacle course/bounce houses. I don’t see how those could accommodate the amount of kids on board or how they won’t end up damaged.

I’m sure at some point that I might end up trying the Wish if it ever goes to longer cruises and it matches up with date and destinations I want but I don’t see me going out of my way to choose it.

 

[Jhondy]

Agreed. I would even dare and say families with Princess loving kids under 7… I always felt like the other Disney ships were great for everyone. Families with young kids, older kids, teens, grown kids, young adults, adults only and even grandma/grandpa. Our older is a boy 13. He is “young” for his age and loves Disney, always wants to go back to Disney World, loved our 5 Disney cruises (but was 9 on the last one we took in 2018)… and he’s the one that was pushing to try the Wish. I don’t know, I guess we’ll see. I have not said anything to him about my initial thoughts so far, hoping they (my kid and husband lol) won’t notice.
There are many teens coming on our Aug 29 sailing (according to our FB group) so I hope he will still love it, but I worry about my husband. I want to keep sailing on Disney and not have him say “no more” after the Wish.
It’s already becoming harder to convince him to go to Disney world each year after our recent 2 trips.

It’s funny you say families with princess loving kids under 7 because I would fit that since my daughter is almost 3 and loves princesses but from what I saw on YouTube (which I know I haven’t seen everything), I actually thought she would be too young to enjoy a lot of it and, if I wanted to go on the ship (which right now I don’t), I would wait till she is 6 or 7 at least.

 

[dvcjoe]

I don’t trust any of those reviews, except maybe the food parts since the pool deck food does look like an upgrade!

There are definitely some guests who have been tweeting that have been tweeting issues they have come across which I have appreciated. I’ve enjoyed following Carly Caramanna as she seems to have been a bit more honest, especially about the adult area (too small) and Hyperspace Lounge (have to make reservations.)

My cruise isn’t until January but I’m awaiting guest reviews as most of the early cruises will have lots of repeat cruisers on and can compare to the other ships.

I wonder if they will do Lightning Lane for the Hyperspace?

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

It’s funny you say families with princess loving kids under 7 because I would fit that since my daughter is almost 3 and loves princesses but from what I saw on YouTube (which I know I haven’t seen everything), I actually thought she would be too young to enjoy a lot of it and, if I wanted to go on the ship (which right now I don’t), I would wait till she is 6 or 7 at least.

Maybe a little older than that but just “younger” kids in general. Some 3 year olds might not be ready for princess makeovers and stage shows, but by 5 most probably are. By 8 a lot of them will be done with it. Lol. It depends of course, all kids are different. My kid still played dress up at 9-10 but most of his friends were long done with it.. At almost 3 she might not be ready for it. You know your kid best of course
I don’t mean anything bad about younger princess loving families. It’s great. I just hope this ship is not all about that. That’s all.

 

[DLgal]

The loud dinner shows are the one thing that might keep us from trying it. The Marvel one looked particularly obnoxious. Like watching a very bad marvel movie on the screens for 95% of the show.

I thought the Rapunzel show on the Magic would be harmless, if not entertaining. But it was mostly just loud and a detraction. I feel the same way about the Crush show. I mostly just want to enjoy dinner in a relaxing atmosphere. Any entertainment should be subtle and compliment the dining experience. The time to wow me with productions is in the theater. But that's just a personal preference.

ITA. My family all gets stressed out in loud restaurants. One has legitimate sensory sensitivities with loud noises. We wouldn't be able to even eat in these 2 dining rooms on this ship. I really wish Disney would be a bit more chill with the dinner entertainment. People need some downtime too, and it's also hard for the serving team to do a good job with all that noise going on.

 

[randumb0]

I am thankful for the reviews and videos. I can now say that the Wish appears to be very underwhelming. There is technology on other cruise lines that I feel should be a minimum requirement that the Wish is lacking

 

[brentm77]

ITA. My family all gets stressed out in loud restaurants. One has legitimate sensory sensitivities with loud noises. We wouldn't be able to even eat in these 2 dining rooms on this ship. I really wish Disney would be a bit more chill with the dinner entertainment. People need some downtime too, and it's also hard for the serving team to do a good job with all that noise going on.

I'm sorry. That is really limiting on a ship like this, where it's 2 out of 3. At least the Fantasy is only 1 of 3.

I was thinking that exact point on the serving team. It must be terrible taking orders during the loud parts. I also feel bad that they have to do parts in certain shows, when they are clearly already stretched thin and busting their butts.

I am also slightly hearing impaired, and between the noise, the servers in masks, and my hearing, it was nearly impossible for me to understand the servers during the shows

 

[brentm77]

I am thankful for the reviews and videos. I can now say that the Wish appears to be very underwhelming. There is technology on other cruise lines that I feel should be a minimum requirement that the Wish is lacking

I haven't noticed, is it still Key to the World Cards instead of Magic Bands? Even Princess has their version of Magic Bands. I haven't sailed Princess, but it's really cool that your door unlocks upon approach.

 

[auntlynne]

I will be a first time cruiser on the wish...

Now Great. I never cruised ever and Disney is gonna be my first. I canceled my dream cruise cause of Covid last year for the holiday party and got the wish instead for Christmas holiday party for 50 dollars more. I haven’t looked at any photos but this thread now has me worried about even trying

No kids but HUGE Disney fans

Don’t give up hope. I expect you to have a great time. But you may find Out you are just not a fan of Disney cruising. Or any cruising.

I have sailed Disney 19 times, starting in 2007 (and no cruises 2014-2021). I have been in the cheapest cabin and in Concierge. I personally prefer not to be in Concierge, as I don’t like being hovered over (my reaction to attentive workers). So many times I have said I am done with cruising. Or with Disney cruising. And then I go again and have a lovely experience. Again.

As a first-time cruiser, you won’t be comparing what you have experienced on the other ships. You actually might be better holding off on reading reviews! My first cruise was booked 3 weeks before sailing - and I had never heard of forums then. I went in blind and had a great time. I had been to WDW a few times and knew the quality of their product; so my expectation level was set and met.

As with pretty much any cruise line, the pools will be too small - just imagine how cows look out in a field, cooling off in a pond. Dinner in a Main Dining Room will have hundreds of people in a large area (I compare it to a school cafeteria for noise). [The Wish has broken 1923 into two dining room areas - that might be a noise reducer.] The crew (”cast members” in DCL) are almost always polite, friendly, attentive. (That is actually the standard I have experienced on every cruise line I have sailed).

I hope you can go in with a positive outlook and expectations. Make the cruise your own - enjoy the things that appeal to you. Just like doing anything new.

Best WISHes in your cruise.