First Timers - booked Wish early March 3 night. Advice appreciated!

[DCLCruiseFan09]

We booked a 3 night cruise on the Wish 3/3. Fri-Mon suited our schedule and if we enjoy it we’ll do a longer cruise later in the year.

First time cruisers! DW is mid 40ds, I’m late 40s. We don’t have kids.

Palo can’t be booked. I figure that’s the party of 2 issue I’ve read about. I will try to get that on embarkation day. Other experiences we might do (mixology) are sold out. We’ll catch those next time if we can’t get them on the ship.

We have the second dinner seating.

Our interests would be:

1. Soak in as much of the Disney theming as possible. We are very frequent park goers, so I’d like to see how that translates onto a ship
2. Relax and watch the world go by. DW might do the spa
3. Enjoy some nice food
4. Watch the shows

I’ll try for an early embarkation.

What would you recommend two middle age adults prioritize seeing/doing?

And are there any other tips you’d suggest?

Many thanks!!

We sailed on the 11/28 Wish 4 night. Just adults no Kids.

Love the parks, Love cruising even more! One of our favorite things about the wish is that the theming and decor inside are just incredible. The textured walls in Marceline Market and in Senses are just amazing. You'll enjoy just walking the ship and seeing the detail, décor, and artwork in each of the venues.

I would encourage you, since you only have a 3 night, stay on the ship in Nassau and treat that as your destination for this cruise. We really enjoyed the Adult Infinity pool and the hot tub at the back of the ship and found that they weren't too terribly packed throughout the day.

The food on the Wish is phenomenal. We enjoyed the BBQ and Mexican options from the Festival of foods the most.
1923 was my personal favorite of the 3 main dining rooms. Make sure to ask for and trust your server's recommendations. In 11 cruises I've never had a server steer me wrong.

1923 Has two dining rooms (Roy and Walt). Your app will tell you which one you are scheduled to eat in as part of rotational dining. If you can, try to eat lunch or breakfast in the Alternate dining room as the art in the rooms is different.

Seas the Adventure was phenomenal and a must watch in my opinion. Definitely the best of the current DCL original shows. I did not see Little Mermaid because of personal preference. Some seem to love it while others don't care for it. Seems to be a 50/50 Split. Aladdin was enjoyable but now that I've seen it I don't need to go again.

Talk to the Crew! They are incredibly friendly people and always happy to have conversations. They are there to make your vacation better.

Most importantly: Have fun!

 

[Disney_David]

We sailed on the 11/28 Wish 4 night. Just adults no Kids.

Love the parks, Love cruising even more! One of our favorite things about the wish is that the theming and decor inside are just incredible. The textured walls in Marceline Market and in Senses are just amazing. You'll enjoy just walking the ship and seeing the detail, décor, and artwork in each of the venues.

I would encourage you, since you only have a 3 night, stay on the ship in Nassau and treat that as your destination for this cruise. We really enjoyed the Adult Infinity pool and the hot tub at the back of the ship and found that they weren't too terribly packed throughout the day.

The food on the Wish is phenomenal. We enjoyed the BBQ and Mexican options from the Festival of foods the most.
1923 was my personal favorite of the 3 main dining rooms. Make sure to ask for and trust your server's recommendations. In 11 cruises I've never had a server steer me wrong.

1923 Has two dining rooms (Roy and Walt). Your app will tell you which one you are scheduled to eat in as part of rotational dining. If you can, try to eat lunch or breakfast in the Alternate dining room as the art in the rooms is different.

Seas the Adventure was phenomenal and a must watch in my opinion. Definitely the best of the current DCL original shows. I did not see Little Mermaid because of personal preference. Some seem to love it while others don't care for it. Seems to be a 50/50 Split. Aladdin was enjoyable but now that I've seen it I don't need to go again.

Talk to the Crew! They are incredibly friendly people and always happy to have conversations. They are there to make your vacation better.

Most importantly: Have fun!

Appreciate the awesome advice!! Thank you!!!

 

[YourEveryDayAdam]

We booked a 3 night cruise on the Wish 3/3. Fri-Mon suited our schedule and if we enjoy it we’ll do a longer cruise later in the year.

First time cruisers! DW is mid 40ds, I’m late 40s. We don’t have kids.

Palo can’t be booked. I figure that’s the party of 2 issue I’ve read about. I will try to get that on embarkation day. Other experiences we might do (mixology) are sold out. We’ll catch those next time if we can’t get them on the ship.

We have the second dinner seating.

Our interests would be:

1. Soak in as much of the Disney theming as possible. We are very frequent park goers, so I’d like to see how that translates onto a ship
2. Relax and watch the world go by. DW might do the spa
3. Enjoy some nice food
4. Watch the shows

I’ll try for an early embarkation.

What would you recommend two middle age adults prioritize seeing/doing?

And are there any other tips you’d suggest?

Many thanks!!

Hello fellow cruiser! Me and my partner (40 and 38) will be on the cruise immediately after you!

I've only ever done one Disney cruise before, way back when the Dream was still new. I did a 3-night then with a travel companion before a parks trip. Before then, i've done a handful of NCL and Royal Caribean cruises in the 90s as a kid with my parents.

My partner has never done a Disney Cruise before, but he has done other cruises. We both haven't cruised in many years now. We are both DVC members, AP holders, and frequent parks visitors (2-3 times a year, typically)

Some observations based on my perspective:
1) There's too much to do. It's like the parks...Don't try to do it all...you can't. On my one 3-day Disney Dream cruise, It also seemed very rapid fire to me. back-to-back-to-back during the day. I felt like I was running around trying to get everything done. On our Nassau day I finally let it all go, found a day bed in the adult-only area, and took a hard nap in the shade. It was glorious!

2) The Dream didn't feel very Disney themed to me. It felt more like a classic ocean liner, with Disney touches along the way. However, based on the (not insignificant amount of) YouTube videos i've seen about the Disney Wish, this is very different on The Wish. The wish is best described as "A Disney Castle, at sea". To me, it feels more like an extension of the parks. note: I do say this not having been on The Wish yet...just based on videos i've seen

3) The food looks amazing! As someone who hasn't done a Disney Cruise yet, i'd say there's no need to do Palo/Enchante on The Wish. You'll have 4 unique dining experiences already that all look really good! 3 nights of the main menus for each of the rotational dining rooms, plus one of the restaurants will be repeated with a different ("Pirate Night") menu.

4) The Adults-only area on The Wish seems like it's probably more crowded than previous ships. To counter that, we pre-purchased Rainforest Room passes in the app for both of us. We fell it might give us a more quiet/secluded space to relax. If your DW is interested in Spa stuff, it might be a good thing for them or both of you. There's many videos on youtube that will give you a tour of it. But it's mostly various spa rooms (saunas, specialty showers, hot stone loungers) and a private sun deck in a more quiet and relaxed setting.

 

[MomOTwins]

I would very much recommend watching a couple youtube videos. They will give you a sense of where things are on the ship and what activities are available. A few recommendations from me:

—Do late dining (8:15). Without kids it is a no brainer as you’ll have lower crowds at the theater shows and fewer loud kids at dinner.
—The Rose bar on the Wish is the best—perfect happy hour spot and the best ocean views of anywhere on the ship. Note: take the stairs near the hero zone to get from deck 11 to deck 12 where the Rose id as there are only two elevators that go to deck 12.
—Stay up until midnight to watch the light show in the grand hall on deck 3. It’s kind of like the “kiss goodnight” in the parks.
—Don’t sleep in on castaway cay day. You will want to spend every minute you can on the island. Note: I actually prefer the family beach to the adult only beach because family beach is better for swimming, but YMMV.

 

[Disney_David]

Hello fellow cruiser! Me and my partner (40 and 38) will be on the cruise immediately after you!

I've only ever done one Disney cruise before, way back when the Dream was still new. I did a 3-night then with a travel companion before a parks trip. Before then, i've done a handful of NCL and Royal Caribean cruises in the 90s as a kid with my parents.

My partner has never done a Disney Cruise before, but he has done other cruises. We both haven't cruised in many years now. We are both DVC members, AP holders, and frequent parks visitors (2-3 times a year, typically)

Some observations based on my perspective:
1) There's too much to do. It's like the parks...Don't try to do it all...you can't. On my one 3-day Disney Dream cruise, It also seemed very rapid fire to me. back-to-back-to-back during the day. I felt like I was running around trying to get everything done. On our Nassau day I finally let it all go, found a day bed in the adult-only area, and took a hard nap in the shade. It was glorious!

2) The Dream didn't feel very Disney themed to me. It felt more like a classic ocean liner, with Disney touches along the way. However, based on the (not insignificant amount of) YouTube videos i've seen about the Disney Wish, this is very different on The Wish. The wish is best described as "A Disney Castle, at sea". To me, it feels more like an extension of the parks. note: I do say this not having been on The Wish yet...just based on videos i've seen

3) The food looks amazing! As someone who hasn't done a Disney Cruise yet, i'd say there's no need to do Palo/Enchante on The Wish. You'll have 4 unique dining experiences already that all look really good! 3 nights of the main menus for each of the rotational dining rooms, plus one of the restaurants will be repeated with a different ("Pirate Night") menu.

4) The Adults-only area on The Wish seems like it's probably more crowded than previous ships. To counter that, we pre-purchased Rainforest Room passes in the app for both of us. We fell it might give us a more quiet/secluded space to relax. If your DW is interested in Spa stuff, it might be a good thing for them or both of you. There's many videos on youtube that will give you a tour of it. But it's mostly various spa rooms (saunas, specialty showers, hot stone loungers) and a private sun deck in a more quiet and relaxed setting.

Thank you!!

 

[Disney_David]

I would very much recommend watching a couple youtube videos. They will give you a sense of where things are on the ship and what activities are available. A few recommendations from me:

—Do late dining (8:15). Without kids it is a no brainer as you’ll have lower crowds at the theater shows and fewer loud kids at dinner.
—The Rose bar on the Wish is the best—perfect happy hour spot and the best ocean views of anywhere on the ship. Note: take the stairs near the hero zone to get from deck 11 to deck 12 where the Rose id as there are only two elevators that go to deck 12.
—Stay up until midnight to watch the light show in the grand hall on deck 3. It’s kind of like the “kiss goodnight” in the parks.
—Don’t sleep in on castaway cay day. You will want to spend every minute you can on the island. Note: I actually prefer the family beach to the adult only beach because family beach is better for swimming, but YMMV.

Thank you!!

 

[Disney_David]

Thank you all for the amazing advice!!! I really, really appreciate it!!! There’s some really great tips on here!! I’m blown away, thank you all!

As an aside, I almost rode the wish back from Germany (I think it was Germany). My neighbor is a production manager for Disney and was filming on the Wish. A lot was being finished on the journey across and wasn’t open yet. It would have been a very cool experience, but it was 11 days total and I didn’t want to make that our first cruise. She told me it was pretty choppy and she got sea sick, so I’m glad we waited

 

[Flossbolna]

It is one per residential address in your stateroom. My sister and I live together but are not able to get two reservations. Unless it has changed, you can book two staterooms for that future cruise.

Verification, anyone, that this is still the current rules?

Ah, I just realized that we last cruised before we got married and then we had two separate addresses. So never thought about the limitation!

 

[lanejudy]

Every (adult?) passenger can get one. My husband and I often booked one each in case we want to book two cruises.

It is one per residential address in your stateroom. My sister and I live together but are not able to get two reservations. Unless it has changed, you can book two staterooms for that future cruise.

The OBB/placeholder limit is 2 staterooms per address present on the cruise. However the 2 are expected to be used for 2 staterooms on the same future cruise vs 2 separate future cruises. Each placeholder is 1 stateroom. YMMV when it comes to actually booking, but that is the rule.

 

[kiford]

Since it is 3 nights, enjoy each of the dining rooms. Don't worry about Palo til next time when you will have silver castaway club status.

Have fun! We will be on the Wish next Monday!

I concur. Our very first cruise was a 4-night on the Wonder. We skipped Triton’s for Palo and while we totally enjoyed it we’ve never been on the Wonder since so never had the opportunity to experience that restaurant. And I do regret that a bit. We’re going on the Wish next week and I want to experience all of the restaurants so will do Palo maybe some other time if we sail on her again. Since there’s a Palo on board every ship, I’d rather prioritize the unique ones.

 

[loislane]

We booked a 3 night cruise on the Wish 3/3. Fri-Mon suited our schedule and if we enjoy it we’ll do a longer cruise later in the year.

First time cruisers! DW is mid 40ds, I’m late 40s. We don’t have kids.

Palo can’t be booked. I figure that’s the party of 2 issue I’ve read about. I will try to get that on embarkation day. Other experiences we might do (mixology) are sold out. We’ll catch those next time if we can’t get them on the ship.

We have the second dinner seating.

Our interests would be:

1. Soak in as much of the Disney theming as possible. We are very frequent park goers, so I’d like to see how that translates onto a ship
2. Relax and watch the world go by. DW might do the spa
3. Enjoy some nice food
4. Watch the shows

I’ll try for an early embarkation.

What would you recommend two middle age adults prioritize seeing/doing?

And are there any other tips you’d suggest?

Many thanks!!

There is a LOT to be experienced on a Disney cruise. My husband and I sailed the Wish last August. We enjoyed going to trivia, did a "learn to draw" class, played BINGO, enjoyed the shows, enjoyed music in the lounges, and laughed hysterically at Match Your Mate! There weren't any movies that interested us during the cruise, but that's always an option too. We *LOVED* the pirate party on the Wish - it's a good time!
Keep checking for openings if there is a tasting you want to do. People cancel and times do pop up. And you can always check again on board.
Check the Navigator app daily - there are a lot of things going on and you can select favorites to be reminded of when it's time.
You also have your ports to consider for activities. A lot of people don't like to get off in Nassau but we like to pop off for at least a few hours and look around. The straw market is neat if you've never been before. We did the chocolate factory tour this last cruise and while I won't say it was a must-do thing, we did laugh a lot with our group and had fun making our own chocolate bars.
For Castaway Cay, I definitely recommend going ashore and exploring the island. It's gorgeous!

 

[loislane]

Oh - have to add, I think our favorite part of the day was mornings. We'd put out the room service slip on the door the night before for coffee and a few pastries to start our day with. Once delivered, we'd sit on the verandah and enjoy that before getting ready for the day!

 

[Disney_David]

Update: I snagged Palo after all! Thanks for all the amazing tips!!

 

[Disney_David]

Oh - have to add, I think our favorite part of the day was mornings. We'd put out the room service slip on the door the night before for coffee and a few pastries to start our day with. Once delivered, we'd sit on the verandah and enjoy that before getting ready for the day!

You’re speaking my wife’s language, she’ll will love sitting on the verandah with pastries! Great advice

 

[Disney_David]

Hey y’all! The cruise is just 2 days away!!!! We’re very excited.

Am I missing anything?

1. Checkin docs approved. PAT - 11:15AM
2. Palo booked
3. Rainforest spa booked
4. Packing almost done
5. Passport, Documents, tags, sun screen, etc ready
6. I’ll probably take some alcohol and a few favorite snacks
7. Backpack to change on the first day
8. Still thinking about excursions

Couple of questions if I may:

I am considering an Uber. $70 each way. I’ll happily pay a little extra for convenience if this option is quicker?

What do folks wear? I’m planning on taking mostly Disney clothes (pretty much my profile picture shorts, long sleeve tops, polo or shirt), a couple of non Disney outfits for the evening - pants, shirts, and t-shirts and swim shorts for the day.

Do I need anything fancier? Should I take a blazer?

I am trying to not overthink and overpack. But my suitcase is getting there!!! When I travel internationally, I can go for a week of work plus time seeing family with just a carry on (and yes I change every day! Including heavy tops, two pairs of shoes and jeans, trousers in the carry on!)

 

[DCLCruiseFan09]

Looks like you are in great shape! No need for fancy clothes on Embark day unless that's what you want to wear. I usually wear shorts and a nice Hawaiian shirt but certainly nothing dressy.

Don't forget, 2 bottles of wine or a 6 pack per person in your CARRY ON luggage. If you put it in a checked back it won't make it to the room.

I would encourage the Uber. Definitely makes for a relaxing ride to the port. Try to avoid a Taxi, with all the traffic around the port lately a taxi ride could get really really expensive if a meter is running. When we sailed in Nov we could see the ship for about 20 min before we were actually able to get to the drop off area

Some like to pack a swimsuit for when they get on the ship. since I don't have anywhere good to change usually we wait until sail away to go swimming. If you don't have other plans, sailing away in the infinity pool at the back of the ship was one of the highlights of our sailing. I try to pack light and avoid carrying things as much as possible around the ship until the room is ready.

The lotion in the rooms is designed to help sunburn heal faster. I love the smell and don't find the lotion greasy/it absorbs fast. Something to try if you get burned.

Enjoy yourselves! Explore the ship, She's a beauty. Talk to the crew! So many people don't do this. Get to know your serving team and ask for their recommendations. I've never had a server steer me wrong in 11 cruises.

Happy Sailing!

 

[NAB]

No need for a blazer unless your going to Remy . I don’t even remember a formal say on a short cruise.

Where are you coming from? The DCL bus is $78 for 2 people anyway . Your on there schedule so $70 for an Uber doesn’t sound bad. You have to go by your PAT time anyway. Plus on The bus you will have stops at other hotels, Uber is just your party.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[lanejudy]

I’ll probably take some alcohol

You may already know, but "alcohol" is limited to wine or beer. As someone above mentioned, it's 2 bottles of wine or a 6-pack of beer per adult. You can no longer bring a bottle of rum or such.

 

[Disney_David]

Looks like you are in great shape! No need for fancy clothes on Embark day unless that's what you want to wear. I usually wear shorts and a nice Hawaiian shirt but certainly nothing dressy.

Don't forget, 2 bottles of wine or a 6 pack per person in your CARRY ON luggage. If you put it in a checked back it won't make it to the room.

I would encourage the Uber. Definitely makes for a relaxing ride to the port. Try to avoid a Taxi, with all the traffic around the port lately a taxi ride could get really really expensive if a meter is running. When we sailed in Nov we could see the ship for about 20 min before we were actually able to get to the drop off area

Some like to pack a swimsuit for when they get on the ship. since I don't have anywhere good to change usually we wait until sail away to go swimming. If you don't have other plans, sailing away in the infinity pool at the back of the ship was one of the highlights of our sailing. I try to pack light and avoid carrying things as much as possible around the ship until the room is ready.

The lotion in the rooms is designed to help sunburn heal faster. I love the smell and don't find the lotion greasy/it absorbs fast. Something to try if you get burned.

Enjoy yourselves! Explore the ship, She's a beauty. Talk to the crew! So many people don't do this. Get to know your serving team and ask for their recommendations. I've never had a server steer me wrong in 11 cruises.

Happy Sailing!

Thank you!!! Awesome advice. Uber it is!

 

[Disney_David]

No need for a blazer unless your going to Remy . I don’t even remember a formal say on a short cruise.

Where are you coming from? The DCL bus is $78 for 2 people anyway . Your on there schedule so $70 for an Uber doesn’t sound bad. You have to go by your PAT time anyway. Plus on The bus you will have stops at other hotels, Uber is just your party.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you! We live in Winter Garden. About 20 mins north of the parks so we are not coming from a resort.

My hesitation was more about spending an hour in the Uber. I prefer to behind the wheel if it’s that long as I’m not the most relaxed of people! I like to be on the go. DW likes to relax. She has the right idea! This’ll get us started off on the right foot though. Vacation can start when we get in the Uber