Empress Room
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 15, 2007
I was fortunate enough to sail on the Disney Wish on her maiden voyage. I have cruised on all four Disney ships (27 in total) and consider the Magic and Wonder to be the standard that Disney should have used as blueprints for each successor. The Dream failed a bit in that regard, as did the Fantasy (although it attempted to address some of the design oversights made on the Dream). The Wish, unfortunately, took several steps back.
First, I understand that its layout is completely different than its predecessors and takes some time to get used to (e.g. the Spa is on Deck 5 and not on the top deck Forward, the Adult pool and Quiet Cove are Aft, not forward, etc.). There is nothing inherently wrong about wanting to change things up a bit, but why? The layout and familiarity of the previous ships did not need to be altered, and one is left with the impression that the WISH, as gorgeous and technologically advanced as she is, appears to have been designed by a committee, none of whom communicated with one another. I spoke with one of the ship's designers. He said that the approach was to create all of the children's areas first and then address everything else, including adult spaces. It shows, and he surprisingly conceded to me that mistakes were made. Mistakes that may be too late to address in the next ship, as the outside structural design has already been confirmed. Many of the designs appear to be afterthoughts.
Second, there are some hits and plenty of misses, and I heard more than one person complain that "it's the adults that are paying for these cruises, why are we being shortchanged?" I couldn't agree more. The Aft Adult pool area is, frankly, a joke. Although it has a pretty infinite pool, it is entirely too small. Surrounded by two wet sitting areas, a couple of lounge chairs and a small bar, on a cruise that only had 2500 guests and not the typical 4000, it was impossible to find space in that pool, which only comfortably accommodates about 15 guests as it is. The Wish apparently has 10 "pools" (I put that in quotation marks because they all are only about 12 inches deep). Why not have less pools but make them actual pools. There is only one hot tub on the ship, it's an afterthought on a narrow hall leading to the adult area. That's it. Shade is almost non-existent on the Wish, except in the stiflingly hot food court area where no breezes pass, particularly at low speeds. The promenade deck, such as it is, sits between the fourth and fifth decks, and does not create a full circle around the ship. This bizarre layout eliminates any option to walk or jog around the deck. And locking gates are employed to prevent even that partial use during portions of the day.
But there are some real hits that could have been the backbone of the design had they been carried out throughout the ship. The Rose Bar is gorgeous, and serves as an introduction to Palo Steakhouse and En Chante (although guests must walk through the bar to get to either restaurant, causing constant traffic). Palo was fantastic. The Keg and Compass pub was also a design masterpiece and serves great fish and chips (although we are now seeing up charges for food in these specialty bars and spaces. The days of "all your food and soft drinks are included" in your fare are apparently over.) 1923 is a beautiful rotational dining room, as is Arendelle. The show in Arendelle was awesome. Worlds of Marvel was pretty meh, and failed in its attempt to be Animator's Palate 2.0. The food throughout all three dining rooms, Palo and the food court areas was outstanding and the shows and talent were up to Disney broadway standards (although technical issues affected The Little Mermaid, causing it to stop twice during the 6:00 p.m. performance). Luna appears to be a very cool, two-story trivia-based venue. All of these, if carried out, could have made the Wish a homerun.
What I was left with was the impression that the design was rushed and reconfigured after the (rumored) original design team quit about 1/3 of the way through the design to join Virgin Atlantic. Again, it shows. I was excited to see a dedicated piano bar a la Cadillac Lounge or Keys (Sessions) on the classic ships. Unfortunately, like so many spaces, it's just too small. And The Hyperspace Lounge was virtually inaccessible for the whole cruise for a majority of guests. You needed a reservation for a 45-minute visit. Ridiculous. There is vast space available for better use then the Cartier, Diamonds International and TagHuer stores that were empty almost all the time (while Mickey's Mainsail and Disney themed stores remain packed). For a 144,000 gross ton ship, larger than even the Fantasy and Dream, its use of space is atrocious could have been done much better. In short, I cannot wait to get on that 84,000 ton Wonder to Alaska for the Members' Cruise at the end of August. Real pools, real use of space and a real Adult area.
First, I understand that its layout is completely different than its predecessors and takes some time to get used to (e.g. the Spa is on Deck 5 and not on the top deck Forward, the Adult pool and Quiet Cove are Aft, not forward, etc.). There is nothing inherently wrong about wanting to change things up a bit, but why? The layout and familiarity of the previous ships did not need to be altered, and one is left with the impression that the WISH, as gorgeous and technologically advanced as she is, appears to have been designed by a committee, none of whom communicated with one another. I spoke with one of the ship's designers. He said that the approach was to create all of the children's areas first and then address everything else, including adult spaces. It shows, and he surprisingly conceded to me that mistakes were made. Mistakes that may be too late to address in the next ship, as the outside structural design has already been confirmed. Many of the designs appear to be afterthoughts.
Second, there are some hits and plenty of misses, and I heard more than one person complain that "it's the adults that are paying for these cruises, why are we being shortchanged?" I couldn't agree more. The Aft Adult pool area is, frankly, a joke. Although it has a pretty infinite pool, it is entirely too small. Surrounded by two wet sitting areas, a couple of lounge chairs and a small bar, on a cruise that only had 2500 guests and not the typical 4000, it was impossible to find space in that pool, which only comfortably accommodates about 15 guests as it is. The Wish apparently has 10 "pools" (I put that in quotation marks because they all are only about 12 inches deep). Why not have less pools but make them actual pools. There is only one hot tub on the ship, it's an afterthought on a narrow hall leading to the adult area. That's it. Shade is almost non-existent on the Wish, except in the stiflingly hot food court area where no breezes pass, particularly at low speeds. The promenade deck, such as it is, sits between the fourth and fifth decks, and does not create a full circle around the ship. This bizarre layout eliminates any option to walk or jog around the deck. And locking gates are employed to prevent even that partial use during portions of the day.
But there are some real hits that could have been the backbone of the design had they been carried out throughout the ship. The Rose Bar is gorgeous, and serves as an introduction to Palo Steakhouse and En Chante (although guests must walk through the bar to get to either restaurant, causing constant traffic). Palo was fantastic. The Keg and Compass pub was also a design masterpiece and serves great fish and chips (although we are now seeing up charges for food in these specialty bars and spaces. The days of "all your food and soft drinks are included" in your fare are apparently over.) 1923 is a beautiful rotational dining room, as is Arendelle. The show in Arendelle was awesome. Worlds of Marvel was pretty meh, and failed in its attempt to be Animator's Palate 2.0. The food throughout all three dining rooms, Palo and the food court areas was outstanding and the shows and talent were up to Disney broadway standards (although technical issues affected The Little Mermaid, causing it to stop twice during the 6:00 p.m. performance). Luna appears to be a very cool, two-story trivia-based venue. All of these, if carried out, could have made the Wish a homerun.
What I was left with was the impression that the design was rushed and reconfigured after the (rumored) original design team quit about 1/3 of the way through the design to join Virgin Atlantic. Again, it shows. I was excited to see a dedicated piano bar a la Cadillac Lounge or Keys (Sessions) on the classic ships. Unfortunately, like so many spaces, it's just too small. And The Hyperspace Lounge was virtually inaccessible for the whole cruise for a majority of guests. You needed a reservation for a 45-minute visit. Ridiculous. There is vast space available for better use then the Cartier, Diamonds International and TagHuer stores that were empty almost all the time (while Mickey's Mainsail and Disney themed stores remain packed). For a 144,000 gross ton ship, larger than even the Fantasy and Dream, its use of space is atrocious could have been done much better. In short, I cannot wait to get on that 84,000 ton Wonder to Alaska for the Members' Cruise at the end of August. Real pools, real use of space and a real Adult area.
