Just Off The Wish

[SandyinMonterey]

Just off The Wish the other day. Had a very nice time. Thought I'd post about our experiences: Embarkation and Disembarkation seemed disorganized. Especially embarkation day. We headed to Arendale for a sit down lunch and thought it was good and much more relaxed. Stopped at Luna after lunch to see if there was any Palo Brunch reservations to be had. I wasn't even going to go in, but I was there. Hardly anyone there. Was able to get a reservation. We had Palo Steakhouse our last night of the cruise. On Navigator App, a whole bunch of reservations beccame available. Got texts if I wanted to come earlier and a phone call too. Our dinner time was 8pm, when we got there, the place was practically empty. Heard Brendan Fraser was on the ship. He was seen taking pictures with people on Serenity Bay and was mentioned by the Genie in Aladdin musical. Merchandise a little disappointing. Nothing great, new or exciting...for us. Plenty of Disney Wish spirit jerseys (white and magenta) to go around. Loungeflys too. Nothing really seemed to be selling out/high demand. The 25th merchandise on Deck 3. Only had ears, loungefly & Pandora charm. No 25th spirit jerseys, did not get any in. Nothing sold out. Talked to some CM's about the Disney Treasure. Consensus seems to be: some CM's think The Magic is going to be retired and the Treasure will take it's place. The other is the the Wish takes over the Fantasy and takes the Wish's place. We liked the ship. Not going into what has been discussed many times. We enjoyed it. My daughter especially and that was a plea sant surprise. She's 18 now and really enjoyed Cove Cafe. Getting a coffee and reading there. Four nights is not long enough. Couldn't get to everything.

 

[holula]

Just off The Wish the other day. Had a very nice time. Thought I'd post about our experiences: Embarkation and Disembarkation seemed disorganized. Especially embarkation day. We headed to Arendale for a sit down lunch and thought it was good and much more relaxed. Stopped at Luna after lunch to see if there was any Palo Brunch reservations to be had. I wasn't even going to go in, but I was there. Hardly anyone there. Was able to get a reservation. We had Palo Steakhouse our last night of the cruise. On Navigator App, a whole bunch of reservations beccame available. Got texts if I wanted to come earlier and a phone call too. Our dinner time was 8pm, when we got there, the place was practically empty. Heard Brendan Fraser was on the ship. He was seen taking pictures with people on Serenity Bay and was mentioned by the Genie in Aladdin musical. Merchandise a little disappointing. Nothing great, new or exciting...for us. Plenty of Disney Wish spirit jerseys (white and magenta) to go around. Loungeflys too. Nothing really seemed to be selling out/high demand. The 25th merchandise on Deck 3. Only had ears, loungefly & Pandora charm. No 25th spirit jerseys, did not get any in. Nothing sold out. Talked to some CM's about the Disney Treasure. Consensus seems to be: some CM's think The Magic is going to be retired and the Treasure will take it's place. The other is the the Wish takes over the Fantasy and takes the Wish's place. We liked the ship. Not going into what has been discussed many times. We enjoyed it. My daughter especially and that was a plea sant surprise. She's 18 now and really enjoyed Cove Cafe. Getting a coffee and reading there. Four nights is not long enough. Couldn't get to everything.

From the port schedule for Grand Cayman, it looks like the Treasure is going to take the Fantasy’s place. This was posted a few weeks ago.

4 nights is never enough onboard! It’s interesting that some other cruises are reported merch selling out super fast but the Wish doesn’t seem to have that issue right now.

 

[epcotrulz]

They just made some upgrades to the Magic (port electric), I don’t think they will sunset her anytime soon (thank Mouse)

 

[CarolynFH]

They just made some upgrades to the Magic (port electric), I don’t think they will sunset her anytime soon (thank Mouse)

What is/are “port electric” upgrades?

 

[epcotrulz]

What is/are “port electric” upgrades?

Go read some of the Magic dry dock threads. But basically it is that they can plug the ship into the port electric … my understanding of it.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

The Treasure will be replacing the Fantasy-

Where the Fantasy goes is the question.. If I remember right Canaveral will have 3 then Lauderdale gets 1-2 but it’s been awhile since that’s come up..

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I also forgot to mention that CM's said The Wish was about 80% full.

 

[Cheburashka]

some CM's think The Magic is going to be retired and the Treasure will take it's place.

I was just on the Magic and saw the amount of work they're putting into keeping her looking beautiful, so I find that hard to believe. Also, our Magic cruise was completely sold out. Why retire a ship that looks great, runs great, and is still booking up solid?

 

[auntlynne]

What is/are “port electric” upgrades?

When docked, connect and utilize the electricity supplied by the port instead of burning the ships fuel. Less pollution, assuming the port’s electrical source is created by greener sources.

 

[auntlynne]

From the port schedule for Grand Cayman, it looks like the Treasure is going to take the Fantasy’s place. This was posted a few weeks ago.

4 nights is never enough onboard! It’s interesting that some other cruises are reported merch selling out super fast but the Wish doesn’t seem to have that issue right now.

From the Grand Cayman Port Authority’s website: December 2024.
December 17 - Disney Fantasy
December 31 - Disney Treasure and then every other week (on the schedule until at least March 2027 - I stopped looking there).

 

[Cheburashka]

From the port schedule for Grand Cayman, it looks like the Treasure is going to take the Fantasy’s place. This was posted a few weeks ago.

4 nights is never enough onboard! It’s interesting that some other cruises are reported merch selling out super fast but the Wish doesn’t seem to have that issue right now.

I wish they'd leave the Dream class ships in the U.S. They're my favorite ships.

 

[epcotrulz]

I wish they'd leave the Dream class ships in the U.S. They're my favorite ships.

Me too, but my hope is more unique itineraries … I don’t see myself enjoying the Triton class ships. The random mishmash of themes doesn’t appeal to me …

 

[Cheburashka]

Me too, but my hope is more unique itineraries … I don’t see myself enjoying the Triton class ships. The random mishmash of themes doesn’t appeal to me …

I want at least one Dream class ship to keep sailing to Castaway Cay. That's my favorite port. Interesting itineraries are nice, but flying halfway around the world to get to an embarkation port in Europe or Oceania is too expensive for me to do regularly.

 

[randomguymike]

I also forgot to mention that CM's said The Wish was about 80% full.

Is 80% high? I posted my trip report for last week and noted it felt REALLY crowded. It was my DCL first cruise, though, so I wasn't sure how that compared to "normal'.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Is 80% high? I posted my trip report for last week and noted it felt REALLY crowded. It was my DCL first cruise, though, so I wasn't sure how that compared to "normal'.

I did not feel like the ship was crowded. Many times just us walking the hallway. Seats at dinner not filled.

 

[DCLMP]

I did not feel like the ship was crowded. Many times just us walking the hallway. Seats at dinner not filled.

Maybe the price of summer cruises and lack of discounts is the reason. Our cruise in January was full, but it was also half the price.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

They will probably keep either the Dream or the Fantasy at Port Everglades, right?

 

[Lesverts]

I want at least one Dream class ship to keep sailing to Castaway Cay. That's my favorite port. Interesting itineraries are nice, but flying halfway around the world to get to an embarkation port in Europe or Oceania is too expensive for me to do regularly.

You can do interesting without going far. Just in the Caribbean you have Martinique, St. Vincent, Grenada, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Trinidad, Turks and Caicos that not a lot of cruise lines regularly go to. Some consistent 7 night southerns from Puerto Rico would be nice.

 

[auntlynne]

They will probably keep either the Dream or the Fantasy at Port Everglades, right?

The contract with Port Everglades has a guaranteed passenger count that would require one of the larger ships to be based there - in addition to the Magic. Fantasy, Dream, or Treasure?

 

[Calantha]

From the Grand Cayman Port Authority’s website: December 2024.
December 17 - Disney Fantasy
December 31 - Disney Treasure and then every other week (on the schedule until at least March 2027 - I stopped looking there).

View attachment 766660

Not that I'm disagreeing with Grand Cayman (but I am). I guess the Treasure could be launched earlier in the fall and then take over that route, but I can't believe that it's first week of service would be over the holidays. Disney isn't going to miss out on a chance to overcharge on 2 cruises.