Wish review, 9/19 sailing

[BamaGuy44]

It was me and DW, early 50s. We love Disney and DCL. This was our 6th DCL cruise, so first as Gold. Been on all the other ships, Dream twice.

Pre cruise:

• Drove down to Orlando, around 600 miles (9.5 hours). This was our first long road trip in my Tesla EV. If anyone's interested I can give details about that experience.
• Stayed 2 nights at Riviera which we loved, with one day at Epcot to try out GOTG, which now is in my top 3 rides in Orlando. Very fun.

Basic cruise facts:

• Last Wish sailing to require Covid testing for vaccinated adults
• First or second sailing where the crew didn't have to wear masks
• I was told 3,080 passengers out of ~4,000 capacity
• They have opened the beta for the "Uncharted Adventure" interactive game thing. Didn't get a chance to try it but sounds fun. I guess this is Wish's version of Midship Detective.
• Hyperspace Lounge no longer requires reservations.
• For trivia fans: I'm happy to report the different trivia subjects were being listed in the app instead of just saying "Trivia", like some have reported on other sailings. The ones I remember are:
  • Disney level 1, level 2, and Ultimate
  • Star Wars
  • Marvel
  • General Trivia
  • Disney Songs

We had a 11:15 PAT and timed it pretty well that we were pulling into the parking deck at 11:10. Cruise terminal was much less crowded than the last cruise we did, Pre Covid on Dream. Boarding started at 11:45, and we boarded at 12:10 (group 6) Ate lunch in Marceline Market, which we thought was on par with Cabanas. I like that the crew is serving the food. The way MM is set up, I don't think they ever plan to do self-serve buffet in there. Rooms opened promptly at 2.

I won't rehash reviewing all the spaces, as I don't have much to add over what others have shared. The ship is more similar than different to the other ships, IMO despite the changes. Some highlights for us were:

• The Rose lounge. Very cool theming and view. Super relaxing space. The way they have that whole deck themed to BATB is well done, IMO
• Our stateroom hostess, Shin, was amazing. Very attentive without getting in your face and handled a couple of minor requests happily. I'm always floored how the CMs can stay so upbeat and friendly, working such long hours
• I'm probably a weirdo to notice, but I'm a tech geek so.... the funnel vision screen is MUCH higher quality than the other ships. Brighter with a higher resolution. the sound system on the pool deck has been upgraded too. The additional screens are a nice touch.
• Festival of Foods is a 1000% upgrade for QS food. The Cantina seemed to be the most popular
• We actually liked the pool layout with the multiple smaller pools.
• Chip n Dales pool on deck 13 ( I think) is a hidden gem, don't tell anyone about it!
• WD Theater with the projection mapping and upgraded LED screen is very well done, even if the decor is a little more plain than the other ships IMO
• Palo Brunch
• Characters: Lots of character meets, and they were run very efficiently by the crew.

My experience with some common complaints people have:

• Getting around the ship: Not the disaster that has been reported by some, IMO. Some reviews made it sound like you had to wander around aimlessly in a maze until you accidentally stumbled on your destination. Deck 11 is awkward with all the different levels for sure. And we did see a couple of dead ends to unmarked doors, which is strange. And the Promenade deck is not the greatest to walk. But If you can't get around in general with signs like these everywhere, I don't know what to tell you:
  
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• Elevators:
  • Yeah the buttons are weird, but after you've pressed them a few times not a big deal. We did have someone lean back and hit a bunch of buttons once. But it was not a common occurrence at all.
  • Some of the elevators don't go to all the upper decks, but they're clearly marked. some reviews made it sound like you had to just jump into a random elevator and hope it went where you wanted to go.
  • Lack of a 3rd elevator bank didn't seem like an issue. I spent less time waiting on elevators than any DCL cruise I've been on. Maybe that was capacity, but the ship was not at low capacity by any means.
• Stuff being unfinished:
  • Didn't notice anything, but I don't go looking for that stuff either. Everything seemed "ship shape" to me that I saw.
• Reservations: Chatted with a couple of ladies who are travel agents, and they say it's a big problem on Wish. With so many concierge rooms, pretty much everyone is shut out of Palo and alcohol tastings, cabanas, etc. Even platinums can't get them for the most part.

That's all I got for now, feel free to ask any questions.

 

[emmabelle]

We booked a placeholder while on that cruise so I just booked the Fantasy for 10/21/23. (Didn't want to worry about hurricanes as much as I worried about Fiona.) We had a verandah on the Wish, just did an OV on the next one. Paying $360 less and gaining 3 nights. Now only have to wait 11 months.

 

[BamaGuy44]

We booked a placeholder while on that cruise so I just booked the Fantasy for 10/21/23. (Didn't want to worry about hurricanes as much as I worried about Fiona.) We had a verandah on the Wish, just did an OV on the next one. Paying $360 less and gaining 3 nights. Now only have to wait 11 months.

Yeah I forgot to mention it in my review, we did a placeholder as well. We enjoyed Wish, but for just the 2 of us we will pick Dream/Fantasy. However we are dying to take our granddaughter on Wish in a few years. She will be in awe of the princess stuff and the Frozen show, and the kid clubs.

We had a verandah but have been happy in OV on other cruises. Honestly we get a verandah more for the location of the room, and because you really don't save that much going OV on DCL.

Looks like we got out just ahead of this this massive storm Lucky for us, but best wishes for our friends in Florida right now!

 

[emmabelle]

I do love a verandah even though we really didn’t spend much time on it.

I booked one of the forward OV corner rooms. Hopefully I don’t walk into the pole during the middle of the night!