The Wish is Terrific

[scoobysgirl]

We love the other 4 ships. The wish is great too. People often like to just complain on this forum. They are basically just talking to each other — without regard for the other 99 percent who are perfectly happy. And thrilled to be on vacation! And don’t care about cove cafe! And don’t care about so-called design flaws raised by people who certainly don’t have an engineering degree! And don’t care about the number and size of jewelry shops onboard!

These people would be mad it was the same style as the others ships - boring they would say. Or they are mad that there are some differences - how dare they move my coffee bar?! Haha.

So I wanted to add some balance and perspective with my original post. My wife and I have had a blast on our 10th Disney cruise. My 16 dsughter (her 9th cruise) has had a good time too with bingo, Vibe, fitness, trivia, meals, the Aqua mouse slide, etc. We’ve gone on the slide 3 times; once was enough for Star Wars lounge (fun though). The lines for entry into dining rooms have not been long. The lines for food by the pools have been fine, too. The shows during the dinners have been fun. After dinners, we liked the Seas show. We see Mermaid tonight.

We are bummed to be leaving the ship tomorrow. Off to Disney World. But you haters can keep on posting your hate here. We will still be having fun.

Good for you...hope you are having a marvelous time...lots of jealous people out here...but you just have a good time and makes lots of good memories!

 

[SnappySerape]

I agree with much of what you said except about 100% DCL fans should experience the Wish themselves. I only budget so much for DCL and the cruises are expensive spending it on a ship that I might have issues with seems like a waste to me.

That's a really good point Insureman and I appreciate the added perspective. It wasn't something I thought of while writing my post. There are a lot of people who can't afford to cruise DCL often and use these forums to help make informed decisions. I think what you said just further solidifies the need of trip reviews to avoid unnecessary attacks/snark on others, over-dramatization on both ways and for readers of the forum to take the good and bad with a grain of salt. As Kwami said, what one person hates, another person might love. Even if it is an expensive bejeweled ship replica

I have no problem with people who have been on the ship sharing their feedback. I do have an issue with people who haven’t experienced it going off the deep end based on someone else’s review and then making assumptions.

We are going on the Wish at the end of September and I am excited to see it. Do I think we will be frequent cruisers on the Wish? No, because the short trips and ports aren’t of great interest to us anymore… but everything I have read seems to point to it being great for those who are adding a first cruise to a WDW trip or just want to try a short cruise to test it out.

We can’t wait to see it ourselves - and then we shall see!

I'm not trying to defend those who pull an Oscar (man overboard on RCCL) and attack others or the Wish without experiencing it but I understand posters being skeptical or critical about what they've seen in videos prior to being on it. Much like folks get excited about things they've seen prior to being on the ship. Like Insureman pointed out, some families really have to save to afford these vacations so things are bound to be scrutinized. I'm excited for you and hope your family will enjoy yourselves!! I think you will. Please post your review too! I enjoy and appreciate the different perspectives people bring to the ships.

 

[insureman]

That's a really good point Insureman and I appreciate the added perspective. It wasn't something I thought of while writing my post. There are a lot of people who can't afford to cruise DCL often and use these forums to help make informed decisions. I think what you said just further solidifies the need of trip reviews to avoid unnecessary attacks/snark on others, over-dramatization on both ways and for readers of the forum to take the good and bad with a grain of salt. As Kwami said, what one person hates, another person might love. Even if it is an expensive bejeweled ship replica


I'm not trying to defend those who pull an Oscar (man overboard on RCCL) and attack others or the Wish without experiencing it but I understand posters being skeptical or critical about what they've seen in videos prior to being on it. Much like folks get excited about things they've seen prior to being on the ship. Like Insureman pointed out, some families really have to save to afford these vacations so things are bound to be scrutinized. I'm excited for you and hope your family will enjoy yourselves!! I think you will. Please post your review too! I enjoy and appreciate the different perspectives people bring to the ships.

Just to preface we have been on 23 DCL cruises and I have never been on another ship (except for a big gray one in the early 70s) so I didn't have any cruise ship experience to compare DCL to. We had come to like cruising on the Magic and Wonder and then Dream and Fantasy because their layout and theming. So in my opinion I think the issues coming back about the Wish are from seasoned DCL cruisers who just wanted DCL to keep the same formula going with the updates of a modern ship. That being said new or novice ( 1 or 2 sailings) cruisers to DCL will probably like the Wish and have few complaints because like me sailing in 2004 they have nothing to compare it to.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Thanks Doob. Very much enjoyed your review! I am a platinum cruiser and I plan to keep a positive attitude. I truly think that people going in and comparing to past ships are opening themselves up for disappointment. I plan to take the approach that I am on a new ship and look for the good and not what's missing or what is different.

 

[Bestdisdad]

The Disney wish is awesome! So many cool and new things. Fresh of our 3 day sail I will say my wife and I had a blast . Our dining team was awesome and the entertainment team was amazing! We loved the pool layout and never felt overcrowded, aqua mouse was fun. But we like the aqua duck more. The mdr we like the arrendelle frozen dinner the best everything about it was top notch. 1923 food was exceptional. The adult venues were great although there is no district all the bars for the most part are fairly close to eachother so wasn’t a big deal . I don’t understand people not being able to navigate the ship it was pretty simple and we had it down on the first day . The
Food on the pool deck is awesome and the layout is great wrapped around the front of the pool deck but it does get hot in that area like a green house. We had room 8618 a family room on the bump it had a nice big balcony which was real nice . The storage was fine you just have to utilize the closet and move the life jackets around if you’re traveling with kids not that big of deal. Bed were comfortable. We had a blast and we already are planning a b2b with our kids because we did a lot of the adult activities so next time we can focus on our kids and just had a wonderfully amazing time. Wish is a great ship with a great team. Ask me any questions.

 

[BStieers]

Thank you for your thoughts. Are CM or some passengers wearing masks?

On our cruise the 8/5-8/8 yes, all CMs were in masks and a number of passengers were

 

[BStieers]

For the record, there are those of us that care about cove cafe. I really appreciate those who have come on and given their honest opinions of their Wish experience. Saying everything is amazing is not very helpful. But sharing the details of where DCL has provided what they promised and where they have fallen short is helpful. This way those of us waiting to board can adjust our expectations. Honestly when someone feels the need to write a review so they can ridicule and insult those who have a different opinion, it diminishes the value of their own review.

Why don't you list the details that have made this cruise so "amazing" for you. And let others have their own opinions....

As an avid coffee drinker and a loyal Cove fan, I will say having so many other pretty & much more convenient places to get the extended coffee menu was really very nice.

 

[BStieers]

To be fair, a lot of them included phrases like "never sailing the Wish again", "one and done", "total failure", and so on. And a bunch of other "reviews" were just copy/pasted from Facebook or somewhere else. I've seen a very small number of well-reasoned, thoughtful reviews posted here and they seem to all find good and bad things about the ship, as you'd expect. But a lot of the negative reviews are just parroting what they read somewhere else, including factually incorrect statements.

I'm sure that there are plenty of things to criticize. For example, the service seems to be a bit lacking, probably because of so many new hires and because everyone's getting used to the new ship. Aladdin wasn't ready on time. Castaway Club members can't get Palo reservations because there are so many concierge staterooms. Etc.

And certainly, Disney can't please everyone. Some people might like the new spread our bars while others preferred having them clustered together. Some might not like the lack of a running track while others are excited to stand on the deck 6 prow. I'm not into high-end jewelry stores and I think that they're a terrible waste of space, but I bet that some other folks absolutely love them and would be sad to see them go. And so on.

I think that it's OK to talk about what you liked and what you didn't like, but I think it's silly to say something like "total fail" or "this ship is only good for kids". Saying "terrific' without really explaining why isn't very helpful either, though.

I am not sure that the Palo limitation was due to Concierge - when we were there for brunch the place was EMPTY and service was still very slow. I think it is a staffing issue, honestly.

 

[Kwami]

I am not sure that the Palo limitation was due to Concierge - when we were there for brunch the place was EMPTY and service was still very slow. I think it is a staffing issue, honestly.

Sure, that's probably also a big part of it. There were reports that Enchante was supposed to be limited to 40 guests, but that management pushed them up to 50 and the staff couldn't handle it. Disney isn't immune to the staff shortages that every company is facing.

 

[SnappySerape]

As an avid coffee drinker and a loyal Cove fan, I will say having so many other pretty & much more convenient places to get the extended coffee menu was really very nice.

Yessss! This was one of my favorite things about the Wish too! So many more espresso machines! I need to be wired up for my trek to find a chair around Castaway Cay lol (I am not a morning person)! My room was on deck 6 forward so I would jaunt down to the Bayou real quick on 3, grab my iced shaken espresso with oatmilk and start my day!

 

[MrsScooby]

As an avid coffee drinker and a loyal Cove fan, I will say having so many other pretty & much more convenient places to get the extended coffee menu was really very nice.

Did you see any teas on the menu? My favorite is Chai and the menus I have seen don't list it.

 

[EddieK76]

The Disney wish is awesome! So many cool and new things. Fresh of our 3 day sail I will say my wife and I had a blast . Our dining team was awesome and the entertainment team was amazing! We loved the pool layout and never felt overcrowded, aqua mouse was fun. But we like the aqua duck more. The mdr we like the arrendelle frozen dinner the best everything about it was top notch. 1923 food was exceptional. The adult venues were great although there is no district all the bars for the most part are fairly close to eachother so wasn’t a big deal . I don’t understand people not being able to navigate the ship it was pretty simple and we had it down on the first day . The
Food on the pool deck is awesome and the layout is great wrapped around the front of the pool deck but it does get hot in that area like a green house. We had room 8618 a family room on the bump it had a nice big balcony which was real nice . The storage was fine you just have to utilize the closet and move the life jackets around if you’re traveling with kids not that big of deal. Bed were comfortable. We had a blast and we already are planning a b2b with our kids because we did a lot of the adult activities so next time we can focus on our kids and just had a wonderfully amazing time. Wish is a great ship with a great team. Ask me any questions.

Do you have pictures of your balcony? We are in room 8616 so trying to gauge how much bigger the balcony will be.

 

[Bestdisdad]

Do you have pictures of your balcony? We are in room 8616 so trying to gauge how much bigger the balcony will be.

The balcony size of 8616 is completely different than 8618 much smaller and more angled. The family stayin in that stateroom had 2 rooms with the veranda door open. But it is bigger than a normal veranda just not the size of 8618 but overall it’s an exceptional spot on the ship. You’ll love it.

 

[EddieK76]

The balcony size of 8616 is completely different than 8618 much smaller and more angled. The family stayin in that stateroom had 2 rooms with the veranda door open. But it is bigger than a normal veranda just not the size of 8618 but overall it’s an exceptional spot on the ship. You’ll love it.

Thank you so much!

 

[Bestdisdad]

Thank you so much!

You’re welcome. One thing I’ll add was we didn’t have our kids this time and opted to watch the fireworks from our balcony and it was awesome.

 

[EddieK76]

You’re welcome. One thing I’ll add was we didn’t have our kids this time and opted to watch the fireworks from our balcony and it was awesome.

Thanks. We are adult only for this cruise (our 1st ever). Although I'll probably wanna go up on deck to see the Pirate show...Gotta get my dance on!

 

[anjuan]

Did you see any teas on the menu? My favorite is Chai and the menus I have seen don't list it.

I had Chai tea in Cove Cafe. It was the powdered kind so not the best I've had but it wasn't bad.

 

[anjuan]

We just finished our 10th cruise after a b2b on the Wish and had a great time. I think it is beautiful ship! There are both things I liked better and not as much as the other ships. I think it's helpful to go in with the mindset that it's going to be different than the other ships. I thought the food was better than the other ships by far. Especially the Festival of Foods but also really enjoyed the MDR menus. I really didn't think it was difficult to find my way around the ship. There were plenty of signs and maps when needed. I thought that the upper decks were great for the deck parties. Because of the multiple levels a lot of people could see the deck shows. The new pirate show was a lot of fun. I thought that Seas the Adventure was really cute and tied into the sailing theme really well. I enjoyed it a lot. I agree that the Little Mermaid needs some more work, but is still a good show. I think it will improve over time.

Even though I don't have a little one anymore I toured the kids clubs and thought they were amazing- they blow the other ships out of the water in this area. My teen wished that she was still a kid. After seeing them she thought that Vibe was a let down and prefers it on the other ship. That said she generally doesn't spend a lot of time in the club after meeting other kids so she still had an amazing time. I didn't spend any time in the Hero zone area but my daughter did and said her and other teens spent some time there late at night so it was good in that regard.

I paid for the rainforest room pass for our 4 day cruise. The space is was very peaceful and relaxing. The only time I spent in the adult deck area was right after we got back on for the second leg of our b2b. The pool was fun then when there were only a few of us in it. I do agree that there is very little shaded area in the adult section which was a big problem for me since I burn easily.

The service was just as top notch as on the other DCL ships. We even saw one of our favorite servers from the Wonder onboard! (If anyone wants to request a server I highly recommend Christian from Costa Rica!)

With that being said there are things that I do like better on other ships that others have mentioned. I prefer longer cruises so I don't see us going on the Wish for a while again. Plus as others have mentioned the other ships are cheaper right now than the Wish.

 

[MrsScooby]

I had Chai tea in Cove Cafe. It was the powdered kind so not the best I've had but it wasn't bad.

Thanks, I'd settle for the powdered kind. As long as they don't ruin it with espresso LOL In the past the bartender would sprinkle some cinnamon on it and that helped.

 

[mmouse37]

Did you see any teas on the menu? My favorite is Chai and the menus I have seen don't list it.

I had a chai tea latte at the place near Marceline Market (not Cove Cafe). I thought it tasted different and when I asked I found out it was made from a liquid concentrate and not the powdered chai they use on the other ships. Not a complaint, just a comparison. What I didn't like about it was that it was a much smaller cup than the other ships. It also was served lukewarm and not hot. I politely asked if they could make it hotter and they graciously made me another one....that one was the same temperature as the first so I thanked them and went on my way. I don't enjoy paying the same price for less product. I think that is a valid complaint. I did not have any other Chai lattes at other places onboard but I did notice larger cups at the bar/coffee bar on Deck 4 (forget the name).

MJ