Just off the Wish - my long form review for no reason

[iannovich]

This was one big complaint I had--yes, the adult pool area was a total let-down. We did purchase the Rainforest pass, and that became our adult area.

I honestly think that's what they're hoping for. The paid areas of the ship are definitely a cut above and I do think Disney is trying to funnel people in those monetized directions.

We liked the Wish. We have complaints, but not enough to torpedo the ship (probably a bad choice of words) in our minds. Once things settle down, I think DCL veterans will specifically choose the Wish to 'change things up' a little. We've been on 6 DCL cruises since the restart, including some over 10 night cruises and it's really nice to have some fresh spaces to play in (Azure is just Fathoms, without the 'jellyfish' ceiling decor, Tritons is Lumiere's is Tritons is Lumiere's).

We're glad we did it, but now we'll go back to the Classics until the Wish prices lose their Inaugural Sailings glowup. Once (if) they fall in line with the other ships, we will definitely alternate.

We actually did a 4 night Wish, got of the ship, drove to Miami and got on the Dream for a 3 night. I would totally recommend doing a B2B (or Sideways/Side by Side) this way. It was a good way to be able to compare the two. I'd recommend doing it in that order as well, since the Wish is so new and unfamiliar. No need to compound the confusion by getting off a Dream or Magic class ship and then getting on the Wish right away.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

This was one big complaint I had--yes, the adult pool area was a total let-down. We did purchase the Rainforest pass, and that became our adult area.

Can you comment on the Rainforest pass? What exactly does it include? TIA!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I honestly think that's what they're hoping for. The paid areas of the ship are definitely a cut above and I do think Disney is trying to funnel people in those monetized directions.

We liked the Wish. We have complaints, but not enough to torpedo the ship (probably a bad choice of words) in our minds. Once things settle down, I think DCL veterans will specifically choose the Wish to 'change things up' a little. We've been on 6 DCL cruises since the restart, including some over 10 night cruises and it's really nice to have some fresh spaces to play in (Azure is just Fathoms, without the 'jellyfish' ceiling decor, Tritons is Lumiere's is Tritons is Lumiere's).

We're glad we did it, but now we'll go back to the Classics until the Wish prices lose their Inaugural Sailings glowup. Once (if) they fall in line with the other ships, we will definitely alternate.

We actually did a 4 night Wish, got of the ship, drove to Miami and got on the Dream for a 3 night. I would totally recommend doing a B2B (or Sideways/Side by Side) this way. It was a good way to be able to compare the two. I'd recommend doing it in that order as well, since the Wish is so new and unfamiliar. No need to compound the confusion by getting off a Dream or Magic class ship and then getting on the Wish right away.

Great suggestion! We are excited to sail the Wish. There are enough positive reviews to definitely give it a try.

 

[JayhawkCruiser]

Can you comment on the Rainforest pass? What exactly does it include? TIA!

Access to the rainforest room for the cruise, which includes body scrubs, the rainforest room showers, saunas, cold room, heated tile lounge chairs, sun deck, and hot tubs.

 

[Chaitali]

Access to the rainforest room for the cruise, which includes body scrubs, the rainforest room showers, saunas, cold room, heated tile lounge chairs, sun deck, and hot tubs.

Is that something that can be purchased in advance, and do you know if they did day passes? Thanks!

 

[JayhawkCruiser]

Just off the ship after a 4 day, 4 months since my original review. Thought I'd share some updates I saw in case anyone found them helpful during planning. I edited the original post with the update, but wanted to post it here in the replies as well:

We just stepped off the ship after a 4 day sailing this morning - so roughly 4 months have passed since our first Wish sailing experience described above. I thought it would be nice to provide an update on the notable differences we've already seen in such a relatively short period of time.
Overall, there were a lot of welcomed improvements!

First, the MDR food - WOW. 1000x better. Delicious. We traveled with larger sailing party than just the two of us for once, so our table covered most of each menu every night, and truly there were hardly any clunkers. Even the pirate menu was memorable. Two things to note - 1) Welcome back physical menus! 2) Presently there's a high likelihood that the menu on the app is not the same menu that you'll receive at dinner. Not a big deal, but if you like to preview what's coming before you arrive at the restaurant, just note they may not match.

Entertainment - Insanely good. Every evening show was as good as on any other Disney ship, and truthfully probably even a notch above thanks to the amazing tech they've incorporated into the theatre. The adult evening entertainment is familiar yet always excellent, and the sea day had lots to offer for everyone. One special callout is The Victrophonics shows. Do not miss these. On our cruise it was only offered the first day - however I heard a rumor they are looking to bring this act back multiple days due to the reception it's received. So good.

Dining Service - I think this is limited to just our Server and Assistant Server, so ymmv. It was poor. Really below the Disney standard. I don't think they remembered our names, would disappear for long stretches of the service, and our glasses were often empty for quite a while. There was once where they both forgot to bring one of our friends their drink that they had to request for three times. I think this was DCL cruise number 8 for us, and prior to our last Wish sailing, every evening I recall our servers remembering our drink order from the first night and either bringing them to us without asking, or confirming if we'd still like that beverage right when we were seated.
This was also our first time sailing with a child in our group, which was our friend's 4yo. One thing that stood out to them was both our servers made very little effort to acknowledge or interact with her, and did offer the usual Disney service touches like cutting up the food for small children. I know that sounds petty, because of course it's not a laborious task and I know parents are accustom to doing this for their children daily, but we noticed several other tables with small children were receiving this magical level of service still. But, for that matter they didn't really care to interact with us at all - so maybe we just suck or give off bad vibes? However - nearly all the tables around us seemed to have great service, with fun and engaging interactions from their servers.
What also makes me think that this was limited to just our service is we decided to have lunch on our sea day at 1923. While lunch service isn't nearly as hectic as dinner I imagine, we still had a lovely time with both servers who took care of us. What stood out to me more was even though we only had a few minutes of interaction with our lead server for lunch, and had never met her prior, she made a point to greet my wife and I at Marceline Market the next day when she was working there, with the biggest smile, and even remembered both of our names. That was super impressive and really nice.

Bar Service - Personally, we didn't really have a great experience this time at several bars. I think the worst was at Keg and Compass, which sadly was the bar I looked forward to revisiting the most. Across the ship it seemed a lot of the bar service was just aloof, or not really interested in being there, but one example that really stood out was at Keg and Compass. We placed an order for a Guinness, which typically takes much longer due to the surge needing to settle before finishing the pour, so we weren't concerned at all after 5 minutes or so had gone by without it being delivered. I'd say there were about 5 other people in there with two bartenders and one server, so not overly busy either. We were engaged with a basketball game we were there to see, so at a commercial break I notice 15 minutes have gone by since we ordered, which then was super odd. I look over my shoulder to see if maybe it was waiting to still finish being poured, or on the bar top waiting to be delivered. Neither, and all of the staff had disappeared too. they were gone for another 5 minutes, and when they did they finally started pouring our beer and it was promptly delivered. I presume a keg change was needed? Maybe? And while I'm not owed an explanation or apology, I think in that situation it would have been customary.

Had one last weird, first time experience this trip to note - at Castaway we decided to try and eat lunch back on the ship. We arrived at Marceline at about 1:20ish, but were told the buffet had already closed for lunch, but both the sign and the app said 2pm. Not the end of the world, there's plenty of food elsewhere, but something to keep in mind if you find yourself in a similar situation.

Overall though, I think things are headed in the right direction for this lovely ship.

 

[JayhawkCruiser]

Sorry for all the ramblings of a mad man, but one last thing I forgot…
Some DCL guests have ruined one of the small but nonetheless cool things about this ship which was the beautiful and unique glassware at the various bars and lounges. The Bayou no longer has its beautiful tiny sipper glasses for the Bayou Rum Experience. Nightingales is down to its final 6 bird glasses for its signature cocktail (though some from breakage, which happens). And Keg and Compass no longer has any Horn glasses to serve its signature Northern Lights drink in. The bartenders told me these glasses had a habit of walking off with guests sadly, so there isn’t a plan to bring any of them back.

 

[imbelle]

We came back onboard for a Marceline Market lunch on Castaway Cay day about a half hour before the 2pm cut off. While once side was closed off, further down the other half was open.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Sorry for all the ramblings of a mad man, but one last thing I forgot…
Some DCL guests have ruined one of the small but nonetheless cool things about this ship which was the beautiful and unique glassware at the various bars and lounges. The Bayou no longer has its beautiful tiny sipper glasses for the Bayou Rum Experience. Nightingales is down to its final 6 bird glasses for its signature cocktail (though some from breakage, which happens). And Keg and Compass no longer has any Horn glasses to serve its signature Northern Lights drink in. The bartenders told me these glasses had a habit of walking off with guests sadly, so there isn’t a plan to bring any of them back.

Thanks for all of your comments! It is so sad these changes have happened but as with everything else the many suffer for the bad behavior of the few.
Interesting to hear about the bars. And really great to hear about the food!