Yet another "Back from the Wish" Review....

[loislane]

I can't really say it was a weird layout, just poorly designed use of space. Empty (and I mean EMPTY) jewlery stores, but other shops are overcrowded.

I don't think we ever saw more than 1 or 2 people in any of those stores during our 8/22-26 cruise. And Mickey's Mainsail was so jam packed - and also laid out strangely - so it was difficult to shop there.

 

[MrsScooby]

Here is my advice...

Explore as much as you can on Day 1. Walk every corridor and every stairwell. There is some amazing artwork and decorations everywhere and it will help orient you to the best ways to navigate the ship (And again, we didn't find it hard to navigate at all, just claustrophobic at times.

The second you get onboard, open the app, connect to Wifi, and try to reserve Hyperspace Lounge. Also go straight to Luna (we waited in line for about an hour there just to be told Hyperspace and Palo were sold out)

In Marceline market, if you cant find a table, go back to the entrance, there are hidden rooms right where you walk in (we discovered this on Day 3). The long hallway you walk down to get into the buffet, there are rooms of seats between those walls and the outside windows but nobody knows because its a solid wall.

There are 2 different videos on the AquaMouse, they alternate by day so on a 3 day cruise, Day 1 and 3 will be the same video.

If you want souvenirs from Mickey's Mainsail, go at an off-peak time. In fact, anything you can do at an off peak time will help with crowd control.

If you are looking for shaded loungers on the pool deck, try Deck 12 by Donald and Goofy pool. There are circular cutouts with lounges in the shade. There is almost no shaded loungers on Deck 11 because of the food setup.

Slide a saurus Rex is open to everyone, not just kids. Its an indoor walkup (similar to Dreams AquaDuck). The Aquamouse is an all new loading system, you get in and out of the float in the same place and they have a winding queue, just like a theme park ride!

In Arendelle, the show is in the center of the room on an elevated stage so everyone can see. In Marvel, there are screens on the wall where most of the action happens.

If you have a Beer Mug token from a previous ship, leave it at home. They have all new tokens on the Wish, I had to buy a new Beer Mug. They did say the old tokens are "still" in use on the old ships but made it sound like they woudl eventually be replaced as well.

Try the Beignets from Lunas. Worth it!

In the festival of foods, the Taco line is the longest because everyone customizes their own ingredients. The other lines move much faster. BBQ is very quick since its all pre-cooked. Pizza gets long because they cant cook the pizzas fast enough.

There is no place on the ship to get a bowl of fruit, salads, or healthy snacks like Flos. Also the many coffee bars around the ship do not have pastry treats like Vista cafe on Dream.

The Wifi is much better (not great, just better). We got the middle tier package, $100 for 2 devices over 3 days. You can't stream video but you can surf most websites, just feels like dialup at times.

This is great and so helpful!!
One thing I am nervous about...in the MDR, I have read that they pack the tables in very close... are they so close that a plus size person would have trouble fitting or sitting comfortably?

 

[loislane]

So venues like Luna and Bayou are open wall...you can see and hear as you pass, its not an enclosed room like D lounge was. So the overflow for trivia and music spilled into the hallways which are already too narrow. Trying to walk past the 2nd floor of Luna while a popular event was going on was ridiculous!

I loved the look of Bayou - but then the whole vibe/feel would be ruined when either a bunch of kids went running by loudly OR when the Hyperspace door would whoosh open. Such potential with Bayou and Disney didn't seal the deal there.

Keg & Compass, while small, was nice in that you were tucked away, quiet, nobody running past your table and you could enjoy the atmosphere.

 

[jrapps]

I don't think we ever saw more than 1 or 2 people in any of those stores during our 8/22-26 cruise. And Mickey's Mainsail was so jam packed - and also laid out strangely - so it was difficult to shop there.

I am so glad it isn't just me. I really went into this sailing with an open mind, I was the person who wrote off the nay-sayers about the ships design. I thought it was going to be my favorite DCL ever, and after Day 1 I knew I wanted to swap my next Wish sailing for a different ship, but I told my wife we'd wait till all 3 days were done before making a decision. By Day 2, my wife and kids were all asking me to swap the next reservation for the Magic (which I did this morning. Same dates, Same Itinerary, $1000 less, and a better ship IMO.

 

[loislane]

This is great and so helpful!!
One thing I am nervous about...in the MDR, I have read that they pack the tables in very close... are they so close that a plus size person would have trouble fitting or sitting comfortably?

I am Pooh-sized these days and it was fine. There is enough room to get in and sit - not so much room for your server to get behind you.
It's more that the table to your immediate left or right will be "thisclose" to your table. At Worlds of Marvel, when I laid my menu on the corner of the table next to my bread plate, it was also on the corner of the neighboring table. You can see it in this picture I took of our quantum core.

 

[SL6827]

Do Platinum cruisers get a free meal in Palo? If so, does the CL rooms on the Wish help Disney not have to pay out on that perk now?

 

[jrapps]

Do Platinum cruisers get a free meal in Palo? If so, does the CL rooms on the Wish help Disney not have to pay out on that perk now?

Basically. Disney would much rather have a concierge book it and pay $$$ than show any kind of loyalty to Platinums.

Of course, I am sure there are plenty of Platinum concierge guests too, and to be fair we could have booked a Palo dinner at the 120 day mark (those were still available) but we chose not to since we wanted to try all 3 main restaurants. But these short 3-day sailings don't have enough Brunch slots for anyone outside of concierge

 

[BamaGuy44]

We heard - unofficially, of course - when we were on the Wish a couple of weeks ago they were sailing at approximately 85% of capacity.

The overcrowding of venues was a problem. When they did trivia in Triton lounge (seemingly, the replacement of D Lounge - but about 30% of the size) people had to stand out in the hallway. Same when they did trivia in the Bayou.

Ugh, that sounds miserable, and would suck the fun out of trivia for me. And I LOVE trivia on cruises. I'll find out for myself in a couple of weeks. D Lounge is so perfect for stuff like that. I've played some trivia on Dream class that was held in the sports bar or whatever, and it was fairly full, maybe standing room, but not packed like sardines.

Personally I don't do the Disney themed trivia, I like general trivia, sports, 80's stuff like that. Maybe those don't get as crowded. I hope not at least

 

[loislane]

I am so glad it isn't just me. I really went into this sailing with an open mind, I was the person who wrote off the nay-sayers about the ships design. I thought it was going to be my favorite DCL ever, and after Day 1 I knew I wanted to swap my next Wish sailing for a different ship, but I told my wife we'd wait till all 3 days were done before making a decision. By Day 2, my wife and kids were all asking me to swap the next reservation for the Magic (which I did this morning. Same dates, Same Itinerary, $1000 less, and a better ship IMO.

This was only our 2nd cruise, but we preferred the Dream over the Wish. The Wish is a stunningly gorgeous ship, but over all we just felt the spaces were not well utilized.

We booked a placeholder and are looking at either the Magic or Fantasy next.

 

[closetmickey]

I didn't hear numbers but we ran into folks that were on the 2nd of a B2B and they said that the cruise we were on (Labor Day weekend) was way more crowded than their first leg, but the ship feels sardine-crowded even on the first cruise when not at full capacity (according to them)

Some of the crowds might be fixable with better scheduling but some it is hard to avoid. Only 1 pirate show so everyone is on top deck at same time.

I can't really say it was a weird layout, just poorly designed use of space. Empty (and I mean EMPTY) jewlery stores, but other shops are overcrowded. Huge atrium even with the new stage, its a really spacious space, but the restaurants you can eat off the plate of the table next to you because it's so close. You cant even squeeze in between the tables.

On the Dream when you walk out on the pool deck (by Cabannas) there are tables by the windows, many lounge chairs that are shaded by the deck above, and plenty of space to walk. Even when you hit the soda machine area it isn't obstructed.

On the Wish, you try walking from Marceline Market to the front and you just scratch your head and wonder. There are almost no lounge chairs in the shade by windows (no space for them), and then instead of the soda area they made a bar, which is nice but the way the railings go around it it just makes no sense. Here is a picture, on a rare time it wasn't crowded, to give you an idea.

You just get the feeling when the design and executive team tested out the ship, they never subjected themselves to a 100% capacity cruise.

Guessing that bar is there to keep up the liquor revenue without having to have CM roving the pool decks selling drinks. Another cutback money grab?

 

[Lillebelle]

There is no place on the ship to get a bowl of fruit, salads, or healthy snacks like Flos. Also the many coffee bars around the ship do not have pastry treats like Vista cafe on Dream.

I don't understand this change. It's good to have a heads up because the fresh fruit from the poolside service has always been a primary component to my kids' onboard diet.

Thank you for the thorough and balanced review! Especially appreciate the tips about where to find seating, etc. We're sailing the Wish in a few months and are excited to check it out but expect this will be a one-and-done for the foreseeable future.

 

[mcd2745]

Ugh, that sounds miserable, and would suck the fun out of trivia for me. And I LOVE trivia on cruises. I'll find out for myself in a couple of weeks. D Lounge is so perfect for stuff like that. I've played some trivia on Dream class that was held in the sports bar or whatever, and it was fairly full, maybe standing room, but not packed like sardines.

Personally I don't do the Disney themed trivia, I like general trivia, sports, 80's stuff like that. Maybe those don't get as crowded. I hope not at least

It seemed it was all Disney trivia, unfortunately. Big problem was, the subject wasn't listed in the app. It would just say at 2pm, "KnowsMore presents - Trivia" and the location.

 

[loislane]

It seemed it was all Disney trivia, unfortunately. Big problem was, the subject wasn't listed in the app. It would just say at 2pm, "KnowsMore presents - Trivia" and the location.

This!
We went four times - once was general Disney trivia, one was Star Wars (all - orig movies, new movies, cartoons, and new D+ shows), one was ultimate Disney (which we did not know was code for "really hard"), and one was Pixar.

 

[CastawayCayLover]

It seemed it was all Disney trivia, unfortunately. Big problem was, the subject wasn't listed in the app. It would just say at 2pm, "KnowsMore presents - Trivia" and the location.

This is one of the areas where I think they went overboard in theming. Not every DCL fan is a fan of every franchise they own or the nitty gritty details of the history of the parks. Trivia is one of our favorite activities on the other ships, we wound up skipping a bunch of them on the Wish.

 

[brentm77]

Did they finish whatever wasn't fully implemented on the AquaMouse on the first couple of cruises? I remember they were telling people that not all the features were done yet. What was added since those initial videos?

Also, does water now spill down lift hill like they presented in the concept art (below)? In other words, it looked like the lift hill on Disneyland Pirates in the artwork, but was dry in the initial videos. Not that the concept art means much - it made it look like much more than a few TV screens in the lift hill. There was animations for long stretches of the downhill parts too. Even on the lift hill, it looks like they originally intended for all those squares to be TV's, but decided to only put TV's in a few spots in the end, leaving blank squares for the majority of spots.

 

[BamaGuy44]

This is one of the areas where I think they went overboard in theming. Not every DCL fan is a fan of every franchise they own or the nitty gritty details of the history of the parks. Trivia is one of our favorite activities on the other ships, we wound up skipping a bunch of them on the Wish.

This!
We went four times - once was general Disney trivia, one was Star Wars (all - orig movies, new movies, cartoons, and new D+ shows), one was ultimate Disney (which we did not know was code for "really hard"), and one was Pixar.

Ugh, so disappointing to hear this is how they are doing the trivia, one of my favorite cruise activities. I'd be down for the Star Wars one or the Pixar or Marvel/MCU, but I'd need the know which one it was. No interest in general Disney Trivia, and it seems that's what almost all of it is. My last RCCL there was general, sports, 80's music, TV show theme songs, all kinds of stuff.

 

[loislane]

Did they finish whatever wasn't fully implemented on the AquaMouse on the first couple of cruises? I remember they were telling people that not all the features were done yet. What was added since those initial videos?

Also, does water now spill down lift hill like they presented in the concept art (below)? In other words, it looked like the lift hill on Disneyland Pirates in the artwork, but was dry in the initial videos. Not that the concept art means much - it made it look like much more than a few TV screens in the lift hill. There was animations for long stretches of the downhill parts too. Even on the lift hill, it looks like they originally intended for all those squares to be TV's, but decided to only put TV's in a few spots in the end, leaving blank squares for the majority of spots.

View attachment 700319

No water running down it. You do get squirted with water where the screens are, but that's about it. I was very underwhelmed with it. The AquaDuck is better IMO.

 

[Ensusieasm]

No water running down it. You do get squirted with water where the screens are, but that's about it. I was very underwhelmed with it. The AquaDuck is better IMO.

Can you ride solo? On the Fantasy you could ride the AquaDuck solo unless it was too windy that day.

 

[loislane]

Can you ride solo? On the Fantasy you could ride the AquaDuck solo unless it was too windy that day.

Yes, you can ride solo in the back of the tube/raft.

 

[SL6827]

Basically. Disney would much rather have a concierge book it and pay $$$ than show any kind of loyalty to Platinums.

Of course, I am sure there are plenty of Platinum concierge guests too, and to be fair we could have booked a Palo dinner at the 120 day mark (those were still available) but we chose not to since we wanted to try all 3 main restaurants. But these short 3-day sailings don't have enough Brunch slots for anyone outside of concierge

Sad. But not surprising. I most likely will never sail Disney again, but they knew they could benefit from some Platinum cruisers not getting their Palo meal.