Disney Wish - First-time Cruise - Ask us anything!

[stuffandfluff]

Did you catch the cruising bug? Or is it a one-and-done?

Unfortunately not! It wasn't really what we expected! The scheduling seemed all over the place, to the point that we couldn't have possibly have done everything we wanted to do, even if we had 7 days on board. The both of us felt it wasn't as easygoing as we expected, and nothing blew us away. We think we'll stick to the parks for the time being, and keep cruising in the back of our minds for now!

 

[stuffandfluff]

One thing I wasn't able to find anywhere - what time were your fireworks? Did they conflict with the main theater show that evening?

The fireworks were at 10:15 pm on day 2 (for a 3 night cruise). The Little Mermaid show was at 7:30 pm that night, so they didn't conflict. They also had two showings of The Little Mermaid on day 3, so we skipped it on day 2 and saw it day 3.

 

[amervin]

Hey all!
I'm sure threads like this have been done to death, but my mom and I just got back from our first-ever cruise on the Disney Wish, and we would love to discuss and answer any questions you guys have!

Some info:
- It was a 3-night cruise
- We did our Covid testing the day before we left on the cruise (on Thursday for a Friday night embarkation) from our Disney hotel room
- We had a room on deck 6 with a bump-out verandah
- We managed to book Hyperspace Lounge in the Family time-slot for our third day right when we got on the ship and tried the two mocktails
- We tried all three rotational dining locations as well as Festival of Foods and Marceline Market
- We got a massage at Senses Spa
- We saw both The Little Mermaid and Seas the Adventure
- We attended the Royal Gathering
- We rode the AquaMouse and went in the pools for a bit
- We experienced Castaway Cay
- Purchased 24-hour on-board wifi (the posting package) for our last day

Overall, we loved the Wish. We had nothing to compare it to from any company, so I can't speak to the new changes, but overall, we were able to find our way around pretty easily the whole time and had a lot of fun! We would love to answer any questions about what we thought about the Wish and about cruising in general, our experiences and our advice for first-time cruisers (especially on the Wish)!

Edit: We also managed to get a private table!

We head out on our 4-night on Monday! Super excited. What was the best thing you ate? Best overall dining experience? What would you skip if you did it again?

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Did Shutters have any unique or new backdrops any cool photos ops?

 

[stuffandfluff]

We head out on our 4-night on Monday! Super excited. What was the best thing you ate? Best overall dining experience? What would you skip if you did it again?

Omg, have so much fun! These are great questions!

Our favorite things we ate were:
- The barbeque at Festival of Foods
- Donald's Cantina burrito bowls at Festival of Foods
- Anna's Koltbord appetizer at Arendelle
- Ahi tuna appetizer at 1923
- Shrimp and grits appetizer at Worlds of Marvel
- Both the Warm Hugs and Worth Melting For mocktails at Arendelle
- The steak at Arendelle

For best overall dining experience, we would both say Arendelle! All the dining experiences were wonderful, but we don't know much about Marvel, and 1923 wasn't super themed, and we enjoyed the food at Arendelle best, so that added to the experience! The show was amazing too!

For things we would skip, we would say Hyperspace Lounge. There isn't much theming to the bar that you can't experience during the open house, and the mocktails were both pretty bad. It's a cool experience, but I would stick to the open house and save yourself the stress!

EDIT: I forgot to add, we would probably also skip Marceline Market! None of the food sounded good to us, and the variety was wide but strange. Neither of us enjoyed what we got there - it was all either bland or dry. Festival of Foods was a much better option for lunch for us!

Hope this helped! Have a great time on the Wish!

 

[stuffandfluff]

Did Shutters have any unique or new backdrops any cool photos ops?

I don't know how well I can answer this for you since this was our first cruise, but we saw at least two backdrops each night themed to pirate night, the Wish, etc in the main atrium on deck 3. I don't know about anything specific to Shutters either, because we never managed to make our way there! Sorry!

 

[DianaMB333]

Of course! We were in the same boat (haha) in that we love Disney, but never cruised before! I would suggest opting for a 4-night cruise. Since we were first-time cruisers, it felt like we were constantly rushing to get to do everything we wanted to do. It would be like doing a short trip for your first Disney World trip - you feel rushed to do everything, and may leave feeling disappointed that you didn't get to do everything!
I believe typically you do get seated with other people at dinner unless you request a private table, which I've heard is pretty easy to get as long as you request ahead of time. Other people may be able to give you more info on what sitting with other people is like, but we also noticed that at some restaurants, like 1923, the tables all seemed pretty small, and it didn't seem like anyone was being seated with others. In contrast, at Arendelle, most tables were long, and could probably fit between 2-3 parties, depending on size.
We used a travel agent because then we knew we were getting everything we needed done. We've also been using a travel agent for our last two Disney World trips, including the one before the cruise, just for the ease, so I would definitely recommend it for a first-time cruise! Hope this helped!

Did you request the private table through thr travel agent in advance or upon embarkation?
Thanks

 

[stuffandfluff]

Did you request the private table through thr travel agent in advance or upon embarkation?
Thanks

We did it in advance, but I believe that was one of the things we had to complete and call about on our own - the travel agent couldn't do it for us.

 

[xfiles3010]

What were the time slots for Royal Gathering??

 

[stuffandfluff]

What were the time slots for Royal Gathering??

I don't remember exactly! I'm sorry! I know our time slot was 9:00 am - so maybe every half-hour? I think there were some time slots before us too around 8 am. Hope this helped somewhat!

 

[momof2sons]

Thank you for the review.
We are so excited to sail on the Wish
This is our first cruise ever just me and my husband. We have booked a spa treatment on first day at 4:30. We don't want to miss the sail away party. We wasn't sure what time the sail away party is. Can anyone tell us what time the deck party start? I don't think we will have enough time to get to spa.

 

[Cruising Girl]

Are they still putting the cardboard white hands that are attached to a stick in your staterooms to wave at the sail away party?
Still giving out the wishing wands to kids upon embarkation?
Thank You

 

[stuffandfluff]

Thank you for the review.
We are so excited to sail on the Wish
This is our first cruise ever just me and my husband. We have booked a spa treatment on first day at 4:30. We don't want to miss the sail away party. We wasn't sure what time the sail away party is. Can anyone tell us what time the deck party start? I don't think we will have enough time to get to spa.

Of course! According to the timestamps on the photos I took, the sail away party started a few minutes after 4:30. Hope you have a fun time anyway!

 

[stuffandfluff]

Are they still putting the cardboard white hands that are attached to a stick in your staterooms to wave at the sail away party?
Still giving out the wishing wands to kids upon embarkation?
Thank You

We didn't get any hands on sticks, but we also didn't have any kids in our room, if that means anything? But I also didn't see anyone holding them/waving them at the party. They were giving out wishing wands to kids/adults at embarkation though! And they use the wands pretty frequently throughout the other shows on the ship, so definitely keep them on hand!