Just off the Wish - my long form review for no reason

[jjsmouse]

Do you know if the ship was at capacity? Another recent cruise on the Dream it was pretty clear that the boat was not full. I know many folks want to try out the WISH but I wonder if DCL might be holding back a bit over staffing etc.

 

[Mahusky]

I guess we were lucky. On our past 8 cruise I would say the Head Server was non existent. On the Wish we had Simone. He was flat out awesome. He spent a long time at our table each of the 3 MDR nights, engaging on; service, food quality, the boat and a number of times I saw him helping the serving teams getting food out hot and on time.

With regards to food... Arendelle Scallop puff pastry thing was amazing. The Meatballs were great noodles with it not so much and my wifes Salmon was eh. 1923 - the peppered Filet was excellent perhaps a bit over peppered but I ask for medium rare and that is exactly how it was cooked (like it was cooked to order) and the Rack of Lamb was amazing and my wife ordered the Lobster Salad which was excellent . Marvel - gets a bad wrap on food, Bao Bun was good not great, my wife got the gnocchi which was very good and I had the ribeye which was the best Disney Cruise MDR meal I had on any of the 9 cruises, yes it was that good!

I also see alot of feedback on 1923 being split, actually we loved the smaller space layout of 1923 (and Marvel). I listened to and Disnet Cruise Imagineer on a recent podcast and the layout was based on survey feedback for more intimate dining spaces versus the big room feel on the other ships. We loved it but I get it why others don't.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Thank you for your review. We are trying to decide whether to keep our Wish cruise or not ( two adults only sailing).

 

[cfisherjr]

Speaking of, I noticed several clearly digital picture frames on various decks that look like they could be future interactive or midship detective. I hope that’s the case!

The digital picture frames are along the same theme as the other ship's detective game. You have to look it up on the app and learn from the app how to play this adventure. Nothing simple about it. The detective game was so easy to learn and do.

 

[cfisherjr]

We were on the July Maiden voyage of the Wish. Marceline Market was only open for buffet meals (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner). It was suppose to be used as a sit-down dinner, not a buffet. We could not get a reason from our servers. On you ish cruise, did DCL have the Market opened to sit-down table service, or was it still a buffet service?

 

[Disneygirlxo91]

We were on the July Maiden voyage of the Wish. Marceline Market was only open for buffet meals (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner). It was suppose to be used as a sit-down dinner, not a buffet. We could not get a reason from our servers. On you ish cruise, did DCL have the Market opened to sit-down table service, or was it still a buffet service?

Marceline Market was a buffet for breakfast; and lunch not open for dinner on our 9/9-9/12 sailing. I have never heard that it was suppose to be used as a sit down dinner option.

 

[Disneygirlxo91]

Thank you for your review. We are trying to decide whether to keep our Wish cruise or not ( two adults only sailing).

My husband and I went on a 3 night on the wish 9/9-912 just two adults for what we enjoy for a Disney cruise it was not our favorite. The cruise lacked entertainment offerings we felt compared to our other 4 cruises this year, we felt the service wasn’t up to Disney standards we are used to on the other ships, the adult area is lacking but there is plenty of space on the rest of the decks, there is even a semi hidden area up near the chip and dale pool that we never saw that many people at, I feel it would of been smart to also make that an adults only area. We did this cruise last minute in addition to a 7 night, and 5 night we have booked later this year had it been our only Disney cruise this year I would have been even more disappointed. It’s still a Disney cruise and still a wonderful time, the ship is beautiful, just has some things that need to be worked out. I believe in another post you said you aren’t sailed until next sept so some of the smaller things like service, entertainment offered, and things like that hopefully would improve by then.

 

[cfisherjr]

Marceline Market was a buffet for breakfast; and lunch not open for dinner on our 9/9-9/12 sailing. I have never heard that it was suppose to be used as a sit down dinner option.

Thank you. The promenade deck lounge chairs did not have the proper size cushions, so they just put regular cushions, undersize, on them. If you wanted the full length cushions you had to take short cushions from another lounge chair to make a full length lounge cushion chair. That meant the lounge chair you borroed a cushion from would be short a cushion. The other problem on some decks, especially the promenade deck, the wood stain had a patchwork of brush stains, different color tone. Made it obvious that the decks still had work to do. Did you come across this?

 

[Kwami]

Marceline Market was a buffet for breakfast; and lunch not open for dinner on our 9/9-9/12 sailing. I have never heard that it was suppose to be used as a sit down dinner option.

The website for Marceline Market says that it will be used for sit down dinners, just like Cabanas. Once Disney (and the rest of the world) sort out the staffing situation, I'm sure that we'll see dinners at MM to train the new servers.

 

[tidefan]

Marceline Market was a buffet for breakfast; and lunch not open for dinner on our 9/9-9/12 sailing. I have never heard that it was suppose to be used as a sit down dinner option.

I was on the Maiden Voyage and MM was never open for dinner.

 

[tidefan]

I was on the maiden voyage and Marceline Market was not open for dinner.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I was on the maiden voyage and Marceline Market was not open for dinner.

Would love to hear your review of the ship. Our last cruise was on the Dream. We had a great time. I know the ships are different.

 

[jjsmouse]

Wife and I just finished 4 nights on the Wish on Friday. It is a beautiful, beautiful ship and we enjoyed our trip very much. Long time Disney cruisers (15 trips but never on the Fantasy) and the Wonder is likely our "home" ship if there is such a thing. Can report that our water glasses were never empty and the Head Server stopped by our table every night. The food was as good as any Disney cruise we have been on and the new Walt Disney theater live shows were terrific.

The vibe that came through to us was that they are about 5% short on crew and/or they are training a relative new crew which is causing them to not do somethings and to be "short" on some others. I hadn't ever thought about what it would take to put a new boat into service as it happens nearly never. We are so used to the polished processes that seem to happen effortlessly on the other ships, and which have been in place and fine tuned for years, that we quickly notice even the slightest differences. A New York first cruise to Canada (for Disney) on the Magic comes to mind as I remember the ground crew struggling mightly to get customers to the port and on the boat. It was a cluster but they learned and now do much better. "We" know better than the "new" crew what should happen cause we have been on so many cruises. COVID changed somethings (we traveled the Dream last fall) and somethings are different because the Wish is different. We strongly recommend the hour long guided tour. They did several of these tours and they should have done smaller groups for a long time period or broke it into two tours. Take the A tour and then come back for the B tour. This ship is different and needs a little explaining to appreciate it's differences from the rest of the fleet. The tour helped us understand. This boat got the benefit of 20+ years of Disney cruise ship expericine and also had to cope with the same thing the rides in the park do. We love certain things and do not want them to change or go away (Palo brunch as a buffet ) but we want new wondrous improvements as well. Sometimes there is a "hit" and sometimes there is a miss. Clearly messing with the running/walking path was a miss. Having two cinema theaters with (finally) adequate leg room between the rows was a hit. The fact that the seat bottoms seemed to slope down toward the floor was a miss. Somethings can be corrected while others become the personality of the ship. The crew is still finding their way and defining that personality. It will take awhile but the Wish will become home to a contingent as time goes on.

Glad to answer specific questions. A few details for us:
- Yeah the TV thing in the state room is likely a miss but I studied it a bit and I understand why. Doesn't mean it's right but not sure how they would fix it.
- Cabanas, Oops! MM should be open for a sit down dinner but likely not enough crew just now.
- New laundry is terrific! I know, on vacation why would you care about the laundry but this is a hit for whoever heard and understood from those of us that use it.
- At the end of the cruise we agreed that we were good with two sets of elevators. Not having mid-ships was not an issue. The buttons need some fine tuning though. Breath too hard and you are stopping on every deck.
- The specialty dinning on deck 11 was a hit though it needs to stay open longer in the evenings. Also, bring more like it as time goes by. Walking tacos/burritos and the BBQ were great.
- Not exclusive to the Wish but why does Sweetness Shop keep scooping out large amounts of ice cream in trays in the freezer case. It half melts and doesn't look appealing.
- Adult sun bathing area on deck 12 seems smaller.
- Customer service seemed to do a pretty good job managing the continuous waiting line but no appointments offered on the App.
- New internet plan was a hit. Not well explained before hand but we took the plunge and it was a far better service than before. Next time we will pay for one device and share it among us instead of two devices. That would have cut our cost in half to about $70 for unlimited use for the entire cruise. More than sufficient and just about everything but streaming included.

I could go on but will stop. Our next cruise is in March back on the Wonder in San Diego and then hopefully Alaska for the third time in August. Australia, mmmm that is tempting....

 

[PlutoIsHerFav]

Thanks for the great review!

I’d love to know your thoughts. DH and I are planning a fairly last minute adults only cruise. We’ve sailed the Fantasy, Dream and Magic so far (always with our young kids). We’re debating on a 3 nt Wish cruise (with the Christmas Party at MK the night before) vs a 4 nt on the Dream. We’re really torn. The Dream is better cost wise but we’d love to try the new ship (along wit) taste of the parks)! Any thoughts on if you’d recommend either ship for adults only trip?

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Wife and I just finished 4 nights on the Wish on Friday. It is a beautiful, beautiful ship and we enjoyed our trip very much. Long time Disney cruisers (15 trips but never on the Fantasy) and the Wonder is likely our "home" ship if there is such a thing. Can report that our water glasses were never empty and the Head Server stopped by our table every night. The food was as good as any Disney cruise we have been on and the new Walt Disney theater live shows were terrific.

The vibe that came through to us was that they are about 5% short on crew and/or they are training a relative new crew which is causing them to not do somethings and to be "short" on some others. I hadn't ever thought about what it would take to put a new boat into service as it happens nearly never. We are so used to the polished processes that seem to happen effortlessly on the other ships, and which have been in place and fine tuned for years, that we quickly notice even the slightest differences. A New York first cruise to Canada (for Disney) on the Magic comes to mind as I remember the ground crew struggling mightly to get customers to the port and on the boat. It was a cluster but they learned and now do much better. "We" know better than the "new" crew what should happen cause we have been on so many cruises. COVID changed somethings (we traveled the Dream last fall) and somethings are different because the Wish is different. We strongly recommend the hour long guided tour. They did several of these tours and they should have done smaller groups for a long time period or broke it into two tours. Take the A tour and then come back for the B tour. This ship is different and needs a little explaining to appreciate it's differences from the rest of the fleet. The tour helped us understand. This boat got the benefit of 20+ years of Disney cruise ship expericine and also had to cope with the same thing the rides in the park do. We love certain things and do not want them to change or go away (Palo brunch as a buffet ) but we want new wondrous improvements as well. Sometimes there is a "hit" and sometimes there is a miss. Clearly messing with the running/walking path was a miss. Having two cinema theaters with (finally) adequate leg room between the rows was a hit. The fact that the seat bottoms seemed to slope down toward the floor was a miss. Somethings can be corrected while others become the personality of the ship. The crew is still finding their way and defining that personality. It will take awhile but the Wish will become home to a contingent as time goes on.

Glad to answer specific questions. A few details for us:
- Yeah the TV thing in the state room is likely a miss but I studied it a bit and I understand why. Doesn't mean it's right but not sure how they would fix it.
- Cabanas, Oops! MM should be open for a sit down dinner but likely not enough crew just now.
- New laundry is terrific! I know, on vacation why would you care about the laundry but this is a hit for whoever heard and understood from those of us that use it.
- At the end of the cruise we agreed that we were good with two sets of elevators. Not having mid-ships was not an issue. The buttons need some fine tuning though. Breath too hard and you are stopping on every deck.
- The specialty dinning on deck 11 was a hit though it needs to stay open longer in the evenings. Also, bring more like it as time goes by. Walking tacos/burritos and the BBQ were great.
- Not exclusive to the Wish but why does Sweetness Shop keep scooping out large amounts of ice cream in trays in the freezer case. It half melts and doesn't look appealing.
- Adult sun bathing area on deck 12 seems smaller.
- Customer service seemed to do a pretty good job managing the continuous waiting line but no appointments offered on the App.
- New internet plan was a hit. Not well explained before hand but we took the plunge and it was a far better service than before. Next time we will pay for one device and share it among us instead of two devices. That would have cut our cost in half to about $70 for unlimited use for the entire cruise. More than sufficient and just about everything but streaming included.

I could go on but will stop. Our next cruise is in March back on the Wonder in San Diego and then hopefully Alaska for the third time in August. Australia, mmmm that is tempting....

Thanks for your reply. We love doing laundry on our Disney cruise LOL. Can you expand on the laundry ? What floors? Do you have to pay for it ( last spring we found out they now charge on the Drea, used to be free). Any theatre show better than the other? Did not know about the ship tours. Thanks for posting that!

 

[jjsmouse]

Thanks for the great review!

I’d love to know your thoughts. DH and I are planning a fairly last minute adults only cruise. We’ve sailed the Fantasy, Dream and Magic so far (always with our young kids). We’re debating on a 3 nt Wish cruise (with the Christmas Party at MK the night before) vs a 4 nt on the Dream. We’re really torn. The Dream is better cost wise but we’d love to try the new ship (along wit) taste of the parks)! Any thoughts on if you’d recommend either ship for adults only trip?

To each his own I think but I would be/am happy on either ship. We took the Wish cruise to check it out and I would say you would enjoy either one for an adults only trip.

 

[jjsmouse]

Thanks for your reply. We love doing laundry on our Disney cruise LOL. Can you expand on the laundry ? What floors? Do you have to pay for it ( last spring we found out they now charge on the Drea, used to be free). Any theatre show better than the other? Did not know about the ship tours. Thanks for posting that!

Sure. One laundry for the entire ship on deck 8. Entry doors at the forward elevators. I didn't count them but 20+ washers and dryers. You use your room card to pay ($3.00) for each use of a washer or a dryer. Probably half a dozen ironing boards and irons. 2-3 instances of sinks and counter tops for folding etc. and of course machines that dispense soap, softener, etc. but we usually take our own. Also machines notify you via the cruise app text messages when they are done so you can start them and leave them. Great facility.

Hard to grade the shows as better than each other. I am partial to Aladdin and the family likes Aerial. Both were very good.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Thank you for your review. We are trying to decide whether to keep our Wish cruise or not ( two adults only sailing).

Thanks for the great review!

I’d love to know your thoughts. DH and I are planning a fairly last minute adults only cruise. We’ve sailed the Fantasy, Dream and Magic so far (always with our young kids). We’re debating on a 3 nt Wish cruise (with the Christmas Party at MK the night before) vs a 4 nt on the Dream. We’re really torn. The Dream is better cost wise but we’d love to try the new ship (along wit) taste of the parks)! Any thoughts on if you’d recommend either ship for adults only trip?

We just got off the Wish--4 adults. We've been several times on the other ships. We really liked the Wish, and would choose it again. It's beautiful. The way the lounges are spread out seems to make people pop in more often; they always had people in them unlike the other ships where sometimes it was dead in that area. The food is better. Palo is beautiful and we had the best service. We got the Rainforest pass and really enjoyed that area. The adult pool area was a let-down, but we didn't really mind that with all the other areas we enjoyed.

If you've been on other ships, I say go on the Wish. After several cruises on the other ships, we were excited to see what was new. And now that we've seen the Wish, we would choose it again.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Thoughts on the adult areas of the wish? All the reviews say it is so small and all the loungers are in the sun. This is keeping us from booking the wish!

We just did a b2b and debarked last week. It's really small and yes, ALL of the loungers are in the sun around the pool. There is some loungers on the side that will be shaded at certain parts of the day, but they are away from the pool.

The only way to get in the pool is ladders. So you have to climb up steps, turn around and climb down the ladder. If you have any mobility issues, forget about getting in that pool. The pool was universally hated. The only positive is the loungers themselves. They're very nice.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Thoughts on the adult areas of the wish? All the reviews say it is so small and all the loungers are in the sun. This is keeping us from booking the wish!

This was one big complaint I had--yes, the adult pool area was a total let-down. We did purchase the Rainforest pass, and that became our adult area.