The Disney Wish Cruise: My unsolicited review, tips and tricks
Well folks, hell finally froze over. I went on a cruise. I never thought I’d see the day but for several reasons, including my niece’s 7th birthday and getting some much needed quality time with my sister, I took the plunge and hopped on board.
So here’s my unsolicited review and a few, what I think are pro, tips.
The first thing I’ll tell you, like on any trip, it’s the people who you surround yourself with that will bring the fun. For my first cruise, my co-travelers were my sister Mandy, her kiddos Dylan + Rhye, Luke and his best friend Michael. There were 6 of us so we each had a partner which was key.
Now to book this trip, it’s nice to work with a Disney travel expert. They will guide you to ensure you don’t miss anything (because there is a lot) and they will help with all pre-check in which is very important to do prior to boarding. We work with Meg of ET Family Travel who was recommended to me by several of my followers on instagram. She’s awesome!
Maybe it’s because I’m an old goat now, but I really love how the itineraries are fully planned out for you for each day of your cruise. What I also like is while you are assigned to specific dinner times and meals, you have a lot of choices that you can make during the day so you can tailor the trip to do everything that you want to. I also really love that this cruise was only 48 hours. I was so happy with one day on the boat and one day on the island + some free time to rest and hit the spa. Last but not least, the Wish Boat is BRAND SPANKING NEW. It was so clean I would have eaten off the floor. AND…there were hand washing stations everywhere which made me extra happy.
So here’s the scoop starting with what to know before you go:
You’re allowed to bring 2 bottles of booze. DO IT. You have a really cute little fridge in your room and they rope you into buying EVERYTHING on the boat so it’s nice popping open a bottle of whatever you like to drink on your downtime on the Verandah or in your room.
Use the Disney Wish Cruise packing list. It’s very helpful! We planned our outfits based on the dinner themes that were listed on their website which was fun. If you’re going on this cruise, do it right and go all out!
Make reservations in advance: These cruises get booked up with a lot of people and we learned that you NEED reservations for some of the special activities such as: The Hyperspace Lounge (worth going to!), bibbidi-bobbidi which Mandy booked for Dylan’s birthday and she LOVED IT), The Spa (TREAT YOURSELF!) and the fancy dinners (which we did not do and that was the right move, the dinners that were pre-arranged were AMAZING. More on that below).
On the boat…
I’ll tell you this and I may have already said it but I will say it again: This boat was immaculate. Granted it was brand new and just started sailing at the beginning of August but boy was it nice. A lot of people asked me about the rooms and if they were claustrophobic. That was a huge fear of mine. I have to say, the rooms on this cruise ship were brilliantly designed. They maximized the space in the room so beautifully I never felt cramped and we were a total of 3 people in the room. I also really liked how clean they kept the room. There was no delay in room service so when we would get to our room for a mid day rest, it was ready for us. Bathrooms were spotless, main bed was made and the kids beds were put away each day so there was extra room to move around and get dressed for dinner. Personally, I think a room with a verandah is very important. I absolutely loved having the option to sit outside as we were sailing and enjoy the fresh air. It was really gorgeous and made for the perfect backdrop for our pre-dinner photo shoots each night.
Couple other notable points regarding the room which were quite meaningful to me were the abundance of hooks. I love this feature because we had a lot of wet bathing suits and towels to hang up each day. Plus there were tons of shelves which was so great for organizing all of our things and always knowing where everything was. Lastly, every night they would fold your towel in a character from the show that night. NICE TOUCH!
Now as I’m sure you can imagine, this specific boat is designed with children in mind and it’s so apparent and thoughtful. From the food to the entertainment to the kids clubs. The kids club was incredible. There were themed areas for the kids to enjoy and then there were actual clubs for kids in different age ranges. For Luke and Michael, they joined the Edge which is a tween club. It’s for 11-14 year olds. They are only 10 but parents are allowed to sign a waiver for them to join which was incredible because they have video games, card tournaments, karaoke challenges and so much more. Luke and Michael maximized this boat like you wouldn’t believe. They knew when to ride the slide with no lines. They found a basketball court that they hit up till 1:30am each night. They knew all the ice cream locations. They just did it right.
For the littles, they loved the kids club but they did not like getting dropped off there…they wanted mom with them. Not when they are with Aunt Seri though…when Mandy took Dylan for her Bibbidi Bobbidi, I offered Luke and Michael 10 bucks each to babysit Rhye. They slid down the slide into the kids club and I didn’t see them again for 2 hours. Was pure bliss. I went back to my room and popped open a bottle of champagne that I brought on board and enjoyed the peace and quiet.
My one critique of the kids club, which Mandy pointed out, is the Star Wars room. Disney went through the trouble of building this incredibly detailed play space with 40,000 buttons and not one button has a function! They are all just for show. Like huh??? What a waste! C’mon Disney….ok ok it was one thing we’ll get over it.
Let’s talk about the food. Oh the food. I LOVE all you can eat I just love love love it. Without going through every food option on the boat (because there are so many!) I’ll highlight my faves. First off, in the morning, there’s a buffet in the market that is outrageous. My advice: Don’t go at prime time. Gets pretty packed and it’s hard to find a seat and there are lines for food. I’m not into this.. Go early or late! With my boys sleeping till 11am every morning, I was able to hit up the market around 10am which was such a lovely time to be there. I’d load up on eggs, hash browns, bacon, fruit and coffee and parked myself outside in the beautiful sun. There are TONS of staff working on this cruise so the tables are always clean and the food is always plentiful. Everyone working there is so helpful!
There were always great options for lunch as well. On deck 11, you have the large slide ride, pools, splash pads for the kids and a huge food court with BBQ, Pizza, Burgers and soft serve ice cream. The food was incredible and there were 2 bars so you could add on a cocktail if you were up for it.
Dinners were pre-organized and when you got on board you could log into the Disney cruise app and get your assigned table # and dinner itinerary for the weekend. I am telling you honestly, each dinner was better than the next. There was entertainment for the kids and the food was actually divine.
Last but not least, let’s talk about the room service. So it’s there as an option but it’s not great. The breakfast is slim pickings BUT nice to pre-order your coffee for the morning if you know what time you’re going to wake up. Room service is also great for snacks like a cheese board if you are hungry in the late afternoon before you go to dinner or late night when you’re having wine on the verandah with your sister.
VERY IMPORTANT
On the last day, there is NO room service. You can disembark around 7:30am and breakfast doesn’t open till 7:30am SO prepare accordingly. We wanted to get right off the boat so we could get the kids to school that day so we had to stop for food on our drive.
Getting off the Boat - to get off or not to get off…
We had decided we wanted one day on the boat to enjoy all that there is on it and one day off. Of course we chose to get off the day of the Disney private island which was in the Bahamas and called Castaway Cay. Once again, I was blown away by the cleanliness and thoughtfulness on this day trip. The water was bright turquoise and gorgeous, there were plenty of chairs on the beach, they gave us towels as we got off the boat, the food was delicious and extremely plentiful and there was tons for the kids to do. We spent the day in the sun going down the water slide 4000 times, rode a paddle boat and went on a long bike ride. It was so lovely.
The Spa…
Mandy and I each enjoyed an hour massage at the spa and it was heaven. I highly recommend taking a little ME time and going if you can.
The Entertainment…
Every night they put on a show that you get assigned to either before or after your dinner. We were slotted for 5:45pm dinner each night and the show would follow at 8:30pm. This was the time of the day where we really split off with our partner. Dylan and I were night time partners. The first night, we had time to kill after dinner so we went up to Deck 11 where all the action is. We hit the candy shop for a special dessert (this will cost you but it was so worth it for my little Princess) and then watched the movie playing on the big screen while she enjoyed her treat. Then we went to the show, got popcorn on the way (also a charge which was kinda not cool…popcorn should be included!) and it was amazing. The actors in the show are so talented and entertaining so it was super fun to watch. That night, while Dylan and I were doing our thing, Mandy was putting Rhye to sleep and Luke and Michael had discovered that the water slide had no line in the evening! So the second night, after we got all dolled up for dinner, Dylan and I changed into our swim suits and hit the slide. We were squealing with joy…it was SO fun to ride and even better not waiting in a line! Our timing was tight that night so we had to grab towels and run to the show to make it on time. We were lucky enough to find seats and sat through it wet which was fine because we brought sweatshirts knowing the air conditioning would be pumping in there. It was the Little Mermaid that night and felt like we were watching a Broadway musical. Totally worth it!
The last night they showed Aladdin. It was so well done. The singers were incredible and the production of the show was phenomenal.
To cap the trip off, Mandy and I hit up the Hyperspace Lounge which is as cool as it looks in the photos. They have super fun cocktails and you feel like you’re on the moon.
I could keep talking on and on about this cruise. We did so much in such a short amount of time. Overall, I had an incredible time. I can’t say enough good things about this cruise. I was blown away by how well organized it was, how great the food was and how much enjoyment was to be had by all ages.
