My Review of the Three-Night Disney Wish

Disney Wish Review

I was lucky enough to get a last-minute sailing deal on the Disney Wish. This would be my first cruise with Disney since I went on the Magic in 2005. Just a quick disclaimer, I am a 26-year-old travel agent with no kids. My experience could slightly differ. I had heard nothing but good things about the cruise line, so I had to give it a try. A three-night cruise to Castaway Cay and Nassau from Port Canaveral. My favorite port and my favorite weekend getaway.

With all of that inro out of the way. Let’s talk about my experience on the Disney Wish.

The trip always starts with the stress of embarkation and this cruise line was no different. I came late so there wasn’t enough signage to get to the ship. Plenty of cruise line staff told me I was being dropped off at the incorrect location. Once inside the terminal, the wait for security was minimal and getting checked in was a breeze. Probably a total of 15 minutes from being dropped off to on board. The service to check-in was good, and the terminal was clean. It was the terminal that I got on the MSC cruise with. Not the fancy Disney terminal next door. Overall, there were no headaches with the terminal experience.

Once aboard, they announce every group’s name when they step into the main atrium. A classic area on cruise ships that usually holds different shows and activities on a multiple deck viewing area. Greeting me was the Cinderella statue that is the ship’s icon, and the character Cinderella was waving to me on a balcony. This is her ship. The picture above the bed, the small details of the carriage on the lighting fixtures in the hallways, the room number is posted on the carriage as well, along with many other details on the ship. Even the glass slipper is on display right next to the statue in the atrium. She was also available for a meet and greet on all three days of the cruise.

The first meal of the cruise was the buffet, Marceline Market. A dining room was open for lunch on debarkation day and the other quick service locations of barbecue, grill (chicken tenders), cantina (tacos), and pizza were also open. This first meal would introduce some unluckiness on the first night of the cruise where supplies would be short. Shell cracking utensils for the crab legs they offered took a few minutes to locate. I ate a couple of crab legs, but they weren’t worth the effort. They were cold. I would go to the dining room for lunch if I had to do it over. I did have a salad with lettuce which was crisp and tasted probably the freshest I have ever had on a cruise ship. This was common with the buffet. I also had the introduction of the drink station where they had Sprite, Coke, Tea, Lemonade, coffee, water, and a couple of other options. This was included in the cruise fare. This buffet experience and drink station made it clear that this ship was for the kiddos. They were EVERYWHERE. Kids don’t really have the spatial awareness that MOST adults have.

After lunch we began the exploring phase of any cruise. A good way to get your bearings and it’s fun to explore all the nooks and crannies. This ship smacks you in the face at every corner that you are at Disney. The Disney World hotels have more muted Disney touches, especially on the deluxe side. Disney Cruise Line is FOR Disney fans. I appreciated all of the character references, but that ship hits you in the face with DISNEY. I love the movies so I can enjoy these. Some are huge and some are small details that can be missed at first glance. My favorite of these details is in the Alice in Wonderland movie theater. The doorknob from the movie were the doorknobs on the doors. Some other highlights of Disney intellectual property were the Star Wars Lounge, the Bayou, and both movie theaters. They themed these experiences wonderfully Disney. It just looked beautiful, and the ship plays Disney songs on repeat. From instrumentals to full songs.

I just have to repeat this is a DISNEY SHIP. I have heard that the older ships are less DISNEY but this ship was all Disney.

After exploring, it was time for the muster drill. After sailing on Royal Caribbean, one of my favorite COVID additions is the new muster procedure. Watch it on your phone or stateroom TV, walk to the muster station, scan your key card and boom. Enjoy your cruise. Disney did not do the same. I love that they push the safety more but being on deck in the hot sun standing shoulder to shoulder and not moving for 15-20 minutes wasn’t too much fun. Once it was over we finished up some more exploring and I took a nap for 20 minutes before the sailaway party. I woke up to the engines coming alive as my whole bed vibrated before we started to set sail.

The sail away party had to be one of the worst at sea. I am also 26 years old so Disney characters singing and dancing didn’t do it for me. They also danced for only a few minutes and then it was done. A little bit disappointing in deck entertainment like sail away parties.  After I watched a little of that I went exploring the adult section of the ship which was nice and peaceful. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as other areas and a nice pool area with a bar nearby. I popped into the Cove Café but typically, I never put any charges once I get on a cruise, but specialty coffee is a nice addition. I tried to do a loop around the back of the ship in the adult area when the pathway just stopped. This happened quite a few times throughout the ship where pathways just end and you have to change directions or go up or down.

I got an ice cream cone to hold me over before dinner. It was much better than the soft serve on most other cruise lines except Virgin where they have more unique flavors and scoop their ice cream. I also loved that Disney had a few other options for ice cream flavors than most other cruise lines.

The first night’s dinner was the Marvel dining experience. It looked incredible in there and we started with some bread and a red bell pepper dipping sauce that was pretty tasty. Downhill from there. For my appetizer I got the bao bun. It was not great, I had bao buns on Royal Caribbean and it was much better. For entrée I got the beef tenderloin which was just as bad. There was no seasoning on any of the plate and the asparagus on the side was completely bare. One of the worst entrees I had in a long time. There was also no salt or pepper in our shakers. We got that taken care of and it improved the meal. For dessert I got the ice cream sundae which was a daily option that changed to fit in each restaurant’s theme. It was good. I also tried the berry cheesecake and the key lime pie which were very mediocre typical cruise line buffet desserts.

The entertainment aspect of the Marvel dining room was just as mediocre as the meal. Throughout the meal they would have bits and pieces of a storyline with Ant-Man the Wasp, and other Marvel characters. The storyline was nice but in between the show scenes, the TVs would just show random characters in the Marvel franchise and random scenes in their respective films with basic EPIC music playing throughout the restaurant. At the climax of the storyline, Spiderman came in on the TVs and he also came in and walked around the restaurant saying hi to every table.

The restaurant was slightly disappointing. After dinner the cruise picked back up. We watched Disney: The Adventure which was a cute show. Plenty of Disney songs and characters in a high energy performance. My least favorite of the offerings but still a good show. After the show, I was exhausted. I worked a half-day before the cruise, drove an hour and a half, and walked 15,000 steps of exploration. I pushed through with another ice cream cone and the nightly chicken tender meal while watching the movie on the pool deck. That night was The Jungle Cruise, and I made it probably halfway through until I was exhausted. I explored the top decks a little bit more at night time where the lighting is really nice on a Disney ship and eventually made my way to the movie theater where I watched a little chunk of the Mufasa movie. This typically filled my days, bouncing around from one intellectual property to the next. After I watched a few scenes, I went to check out the Karaoke but unfortunately it was in a tiny venue and standing room only. An issue that I have seen on newer ships. I miss having large karaoke venues. They did have it in a larger venue for one night, but the late-night karaoke was in the small venue. I slept like a rock that night.

The next morning was the port of Nassau which usually is a stay on ship or a ten-minute walk around type of port. We went with the latter. Before that we went to the 1923 dining room to have breakfast. This was a really good meal. I had a parfait that was really good, and I had a potato egg scramble with sausage and peppers. They were both very good and a good reset from the meal the previous night.

We got off the ship, took a lap around the terminal area and walked back. I didn’t even walk into the main part of Nassau. A classic cruise tip is to get back on the ship early to take advantage of all the activities on board. Shorter wait time for water slides, and other cruise only experiences. Unfortunately, for the port of Nassau most people typically stay onboard for a “sea day” which made all the lines still hover around the same.

I decided to enjoy the sun a bit and sit in the adult area which was a ghost town. The Utopia of the Seas blocked most of my ocean view, but I got to listen to the World’s Sexiest Man competition that I had watched just a month earlier. Not the most peaceful sound but it was enjoyable.

We had lunch at the barbecue stand instead of the buffet and it was pretty good. The sauces were all tasty and the meat wasn’t bad at all.

This lunch lined up perfectly with our movie showing of the live action Lilo & Stitch in the large theater on the ship. This movie had not been released for streaming yet so it was nice to watch it and have a movie theater experience. The movie was also good, one of the best live action remakes to date.

After the movie, it was my daily nap time, and it was great. Not incredibly long but a good enough time to power through all the rest of the activities. It was pirate night, so we got our bandanas which were provided in the room for us.

Dinner that night was at the Arrendale dinner show. A big improvement from the Marvel dining experience. The food and entertainment were much better. For appetizer, I got the scallops puff pastry. Later to find out that this is a Disney cruise favorite and rightfully so. It was great. For entrée I got the ribeye which was the prime rib with not much seasoning again. For dessert I got the ice cream sundae again which was Mint flavored. Can’t complain.  I also got the chocolate bar. I took one bite. My palate was in an all-sugar mode and I got a 100% cacao chocolate bar dropped on my plate. It had a very sharp flavor and I just couldn’t eat it.

Throughout the meal they sang different Frozen songs and put on a nice performance to have with dinner. After most of the songs the characters came out to each table. Elsa came by, Anna and Kristoff, and finally, my favorite was Olaf and the “yoohoo big summer blow out” guy. There was a cast member pushing the Olaf animatronic around.

After our meal we went to watch The Little Mermaid show which was based off the live action. It was enjoyable, not as good as the show on the final night but still a fun show with good singing and sets.

After The Little Mermaid we got a chance to see what Pirate Night had to offer. A big performance that ended with a firework show at sea. And a proposal right behind my deck chair. Overall, my nightly chicken tenders and the firework show were the standouts. I didn’t get an amazing seat for the performance on stage but it was just a few songs, some narration, and then Jack Sparrow jumps from the top of the funnel to the stage. Once that happened, the fireworks started. It wasn’t a long show but it was impressive being in the middle of the ocean watching fireworks.

To conclude the night, there was a “Match Your Mate” adult show which was the typical Love and Marriage show. One set of questions to each partner and see how many matches they get. This show is always a highlight with adult entertainment when it is available, but I haven’t seen one in a couple of years. Mostly due to going on three-day cruises. This show is one of my favorites. It was hilarious on this cruise too.

The final day on the Wish brought us to Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. I had not been in almost 20 years, so I didn’t know what to expect. Would it be better than my favorite private island Coco Key? Maybe. For breakfast to start the day I had my typical parfait and a Disney cruise staple, Mickey Churro Waffles. This was the day of the churro as I started eating those cinnamon sugar pastries within the first hour of being awake.

We started our walk to the beach after, walking by Pluto and other characters heading towards their meet and greets. The island was clean, themed, with all sorts of things to do. We decided to start our day at the family beach where the snorkeling is. It is the first beach you have come to and the different props located around the snorkeling area was fun to see. Not many fish when I got in the water but maybe that’s because I got a late start as I walked around the entire island to see what was on offer.

It was a long walk to see what they had. I walked by the bike rentals, the mini waterpark, the splash pad, several bars and restaurants, the sad teen corner, volleyball courts, the adult beach, and the lookout point. I looked at everything on the map. Which looked like the lookout was close by, but I walked miles to and from the lookout point. The bike path that I walked on is part of the 5k jogging route. I did neither. Bikes were zooming around me and maybe it could be what I do next time. After I finished looking around the island at the lookout point, I was tired and ready to sit down in my beach chair on vacation. Unfortunately, I had another walk to the adult beach. This adult beach possibly sways my opinion on Coco Key vs Castaway Cay. Disney cruises are more catered for families with small kids, so the adult section of the beach was a complete ghost town. You could bring a chair right to the water and sit out there all day. I thought it was beautiful there. Beautiful water, beautiful sky, no kids screaming. It was nice. In typical public fashion someone came and sat right in front of me with the entire beach available. Reminded me of when someone parks right beside you in a parking lot when there is no shortage of spaces available. I could have moved no problem. It was almost comedic in the way they sat right in front of me. Other than that, it was a great, peaceful area.

Luckily a tram pulled up right when I was leaving. It got me back to the family beach and the rest of the amenities in less than five minutes. A journey that took me 45 minutes.

Once back at the family beach I ate a meal at the private island restaurant which I believe are three in the public areas. One by Pelican Point, one by the family snorkel area, and one in the adult section. I wasn’t able to look inside the cabana area but there should be a buffet for them there as well.   I got almost all the offerings, and they were mediocre. It was quite a feast but not a strong meal. Immediately after, cramps are a myth, I went snorkeling. To go snorkeling you need a blow-up vest around you even though you don’t need it. The amount of salt in the water is unreal and you float with or without it.

When it was time to pack it up we decided to go check on the water slide wait time. It was still 30 minutes, so we decided against it again. I got a banana ice cream cone and walked back to the room for my naptime. This was the best one of the trip and I felt amazing for the rest of the night.

For our last dinner we went to the restaurant 1923 which was the quietest meal of the trip. It also happened to be the best meal of the trip. I had the wedge Caesar salad, the filet mignon, the ice cream sundae, a Bavarian cream dessert and the churros. This meal had no weak points. My only gripe would be for the wedge salad. Why do I have to cut my own lettuce up for a salad. This was a lovely dinner that reminded me of normal dining rooms on other cruise lines. I am glad that they added a more muted experience for people that can get overstimulated. The Frozen and Marvel experience were fun but I’m glad I only had a three night cruise.

After dinner, it was time for our show of the night that was the climax of the cruise entertainment. Aladdin was an incredible show and one that I would love to watch again. I want them to bring this show permanently to the Magic Kingdom and destroy the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. This show blew the other two shows out of the water with its incredible effects, story, and show design. The “Friend Like Me” sequence was incredible to watch, and I wish I could watch it again. Carpet and Genie were incredible characters and really made the performance. “A Whole New World” was cute and all but now the How to Train Your Dragon show at Epic Universe did flying better. No complaints.

After the show, my group was feeling unwell, so I had the night to enjoy all by myself. I decided to just keep up the nightly routine of watching the funnelvision movie while eating my chicken tenders. But first, the AquaMouse was closing in ten minutes, along with my chicken tenders so I had a decision to make. I decided to hop right on the AquaMouse. No wait at all and it was a fun slide. A really different waterslide that I would like to call a baby Volcano Bay water coaster with a little special effect. The climb up to the drop was fun with plenty of water effects and screens. It was also cool to go into the funnel while it was glowing with the night lighting. This was a fun experience and one that I would like to do over and over again.

I finally rode the ride, but I came up onto another decision point. Do I stay on my float as no one was in line and the people in front of me did that or do I go get chicken tenders?  The chicken tenders won again and the movie that night was the Mary Poppins remake. The second Emily Blunt movie on funnelvision for this three-night cruise. It was always such a relaxing way to end the night. Rode an attraction, ate chicken tenders, watched a Disney movie, on a deck chair with a nice breeze in the Caribbean, with an ice cream cone for dessert. This was THE Disney cruise Night. A perfect way to end the vacation. Once I finished there it was time to go back to the room. Quite a bittersweet feeling. On the way down I stumbled upon the final send off where there were so many characters available for meet and greets with minimal wait times. The classics were all there, a few Disney princesses and once again, the smallest wait times I saw on the ship. The Nassau day especially had some really long lines for characters that went throughout multiple floors sometimes.

That was my experience on a three-night Disney Wish out of Canaveral. I am excited for my five-night Disney Magic vacation in October. I am going to dive a little bit deeper on some items.

Let’s talk about the room. We were located on deck 6 at the very front of the ship. When I say very front, I mean it, our window view was the walking deck on the bow of the ship. No ocean in sight. Our deluxe Oceanview with no view of the ocean. It had a nice comfortable bed for two and a pull-out chair for a kiddo, or 26-year-old to sleep. That bed was not so nice. These two beds could be separated by a curtain so you can watch TV while the kid is sleeping. Curtain is not soundproof so be aware of that. The TV was very nice for a cruise ship. It had plenty of on-demand movies and TV shows that only Virgin Voyages was close to replicating. The Disney detail was seen throughout with Cinderella nods on several of the walls. The safe and refrigerator were a fun difference with them being similar to drawers instead of a typical hotel room. Plenty of storage for water bottles. Also, plenty of drawers and shelves for storage. The split bathroom was also a great idea to maximize getting ready time. The shower was a typical shower you get at a regular hotel room. It wasn’t the glass cylinder that most cruise lines have. This was a nice change. It was my first shower on a cruise ship that felt spacious. The bathroom with the toilet was nice as well. A more private experience that doesn’t ruin your cabin’s day if they have to go in after you. Overall, the room was a great room. Other than the view.

The theater shows were incredibly Disney. If you don’t love Disney intellectual properties, you probably won’t love the entertainment. On the first night it was Disney The Adventure that had Goofy front and center as he travelled throughout different Disney stories with the characters popping up here and there. It was a cute show but not my favorite. They increasingly got better with The Little Mermaid on night two. This was the retelling of the retelling of the live action. Nice sets, talented singers, and a great story to follow along with. It was an enjoyable show that I would watch again with no problem. The best show didn’t come until the last night when they had Aladdin. This was the best one by far. The genie, the carpet, all the characters were great. They were talented and put on a great show. With a classic narrative to navigate the special effects and talented vocals, it is a must-see show. The genie and the carpet were standouts. Friend Like Me is one of the best sequences I’ve seen on a cruise. I’m ready to watch them again.

The other entertainment cruise classics were limited. The Love and Marriage show didn’t disappoint and ended up being one of the funnier ones I have seen. It is sad to see that show has started to get cut on most short cruises. The karaoke was in such a small venue, it has the same issue as the Utopia of the Seas. Standing room only. No comedy shows and no casinos were sad to see as well. On the day we were in Nassau, I had to listen to the “World’s Sexiest Man” competition from the Utopia and definitely missed it on the cruise. I understand why it didn’t make the cut. Instead of the cruise classics they packed their ships with Disney staples. We had fireworks at sea to end the night after Nassau. This included a performance that PACKED the ship. I enjoyed the fireworks. The other performance wasn’t for me. Two movie theaters that played currently in theaters Disney movies was a nice offering. I only got a chance to see a portion of Mufasa in the theater, as most of the time it was showing Lilo and Stitch. The movie that was shown in the main theater for one of the days. There was always so much to do that I didn’t really want to sit down and watch Thunderbolts in the movie theater. On the top deck, the AquaMouse was an incredibly fun attraction. It had a long wait throughout the cruise but on the last night I finally got to ride it right at closing time and I was impressed. The largest attraction at sea might be overselling it but they put a lot into it with how small of a footprint it had to fit into.

Laundry was another section of the ship that I was blown away by. Plenty of machines, plenty of ironing boards. It was incredibly spacious.

Being 26 years old, I wasn’t able to get much of the kids’ clubs other than the section with the basketball court. An indoor basketball court on a cruise would have had me going crazy when I was a teen. I loved playing basketball on cruises, but the wind always made it not as enjoyable so making it indoors would have blown my mind. Cornhole, Ping-Pong, and other games surrounded the court.  I also saw the sad teen corner of Castaway Cay during my exploration. Maybe it got busier, but it just looked sad and empty when I walked by.

I have always been a Royal Caribbean type of guy. Why pay double just for some Disney characters has always been my thoughts. RCL delivers a great product too. More stuff to do on the bigger ships, but I feel a little conflicted now. Disney Cruise Line was an excellent product. Chocolate on beds for turndown service. Two daily cleanings. Unique towel animals and that is just the room! The split bathroom was an amazing thought. The private island rivaled Coco Key. The entertainment offerings were strong. There was a Love and Marriage show and three different great shows on a three-night cruise. The Utopia of the Seas is still my favorite. I am about to go on it for my third time and the price point is much cheaper than Disney while still delivering a quality product. The Wish has easily pushed its way into my top three and probably comes in second. The service and the options reminded me of cruises when I was younger. It woke up a nostalgic love in me for not only cruising but for Disney from boarding to disembarking. I see plenty of cruises in my future and I think Disney will be a staple for a long time.