JayhawkCruiser
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2017
**Update Below**
Wanted to give some thoughts on the Wish after a 3 night sailing, now two months into full operations, just in case it may help someone trying to decide between ships to sail on.
First - what a beautiful, magical, lovely, nearly perfect, missed opportunity, frustrating ship. It’s not really a love-hate thing for me, as there’s truly nothing to hate, but more of a love-‘why in the seven seas did they go this route?’. I kept trying to ask myself if this was a case of being used to the look and flow of the other ships, and my frustrations were my own fault for projecting my expectations - but after more thought now off the ship I don’t think that’s the case, and there’s some truly head scratching, mostly minor, things that are just off.
Staterooms - not a single flaw. They’re perfect in every way and a welcome upgrade from the placement of the larger flag panel TVs, to the updated showers with glass doors, and the lovely lighted mirrors. It’s all well thought out and familiar yet refreshed. We were lucky enough to have a balcony room on the forward bump out, and while not really any larger on the balcony area it did provide an interesting change from the other ships. I’d book this type of room again, but wouldn’t get bent out of shape if it wasn’t available or change a preferred floor even just to get it.
Senses (specifically the rainforest room) - nearly $500 for a couple for a 3 day cruise pass? Hard pass. We did opt for a single day pass though which was a much more palatable $90/person. Price aside, it’s a very lovely experience completely unlike the rainforest on the other class of ships. The new ice room is a welcome change, and the outdoor area is a great retreat if you’re into sun bathing or relaxing on their giant outdoor swing chairs. Two larger hot tubs was also a great idea. My only gripe is why didn’t they bring over the scented storm showers from the Fantasy? They’re beloved. The showers they installed here aren’t nearly as fun.
Bars - such a different experience from say the Dream or Fantasy, as there’s no ‘district’ but they’re nearly all super fun and a great excuse to explore the ship as you hop around. The Bayou in particular is a lovely lounge, and I almost never enjoy the lounge bar(s) on the other ships.
The Rose was also another aesthetically pleasing spot for a refreshment with great drinks and views.
Throwing cove in here too, which is another example of nearly perfect, but is frustratingly difficult to get to compared to the other ships, and missing the Moka pot experience
.
Wishing Star and Enchanted Sword Cafes… did they really just stack nearly identical bars in identical places just one floor apart? Kinda weird, kinda lazy?
Hyperspace is super cool, especially if you’re into Star Wars. It’s worth checking out all the same, but it’s not a proper cocktail bar like Skyline, which would have been welcomed on this ship’s lineup.
Keg & Compass is a homerun, but they made the peculiar decision to try and host a beer tasting class during the middle of an NFL Sunday which nearly caused a riot until the class was moved/cancelled lol. Also they told us to ignore the draft menu as it didn’t remotely resemble what they had available on tap, which is fine but not in line with many experiences we’ve had on DCL.
Luna - love the upper deck aspect of this multipurpose longe and bar, very cool.
Nightingales - could have been a homerun too, but it looks like it comfortably seats 6, is too exposed on the main deck to lights and those passing by for the swanky piano bar vibe it’s going for. Also no piano player our cruise - what’s that about?
Premium restaurants - didn’t opt for either as we wanted to experience each MDR first, but after exploring Enchante I don’t think we will anyway on our next booking. I’ve done Palo on the other ships for a lifetime, and if they truly are no longer doing a flat fee for everything at this restaurant it’s even less worth it to me. But Enchante is one of the biggest gripes for me. We absolutely love Remy, it’s dining experience, and would have been perfectly fine with a copy paste from the Fantasy to the Wish. After all, the restaurant is beautiful and happens to be an appropriate Disney IP that works with a fine dining setting without being ‘too in your face Disney’. Enchante, while pretty, just kind of lacks any magic and I didn’t find its decor to be any more elevated that Remy.
Elevators - deserves its own shoutout for two silly reasons. 1) if you’re going to have a bank of elevators that goes from deck 2-11 next to a bank that goes from 2-13…make separate call buttons. And 2) make the buttons, buttons. Whoever designed these hover buttons could never have actually ridden in a crowded elevator with people before as people lean against whatever surface they can. In this case that means someone leans against the button panel and suddenly you’re stopping on every floor. I’m convinced Buddy the Elf designed this.
Gym - the layout is a bit tight for those looking to lift. Kind of a running theme on this ship. But, what you lose in space there you gain in a cycling studio which was awesome - highly recommend signing up for a class or two.
Shopping - meh. Why the 5th floor for Mickey’s mainsail? Also, why so small/tight?
Quick Service Food - mostly good! The cantina and BBQ are surprisingly good (mostly). The chicken tenders and burgers stand are what they are and have been. The pizza is consistently atrocious across all ships
. Marceline Market is so beautiful, but wow can it get tight at times. Also it appears to have more seating (at the expense of proper walkways) but yet I always struggled to find a table or bar stool? Lastly, and most importantly, the food was just okay. Did happen to see some lazy repeat options carried over all three days which I didn’t recall happening at any Cabanas.
MDRs - saved the best/worst for last.
Marvel - I love the MCU, particularly Ant-man. I do not however really care to dine in an entire restaurant devoted to either. The whole show story was kinda lame, but I did laugh for a solid 5 mins since they referenced a very not safe for Disney internet meme that only Twitter/Reddit obsessed degenerates like me would get. That was wild and surreal. But the food was forgettable at best, and the whole time I’m thinking “this could have been an animators palate”. Seriously, that could have been the one thing that Disney could have used to tie all of its ships together. It’s universally beloved. This was by far the biggest mistake they made with the ship. Moreover, what’s the end game (no pun intended) here? Reshoot this restaurant story with new characters every 5 years or so as the MCU changes? Let it age and hold us captive to a show that eventually goes the way of the Figment ride? Animators Palate once again would have solved this, and just a textbook example of fixing what isn’t broken or looking for solutions to problems that don’t exist.
Arendale - gorgeous. The layout was perfect. The show was nothing short of amazing. The food… kinda meh but better than Marvel.
1923 - undeniably beautiful. Amazing theme. But for the love of Walt why did they decide to split a MDR, especially the “grand one” in half? I felt like the vastness of the main floor MDR on all the ships is what helps make the primary MDR feel so magical and elegant. The tight corners, nooks and crannies of this restaurant really don’t let it live up to its potential. All for the sake of putting in a hallway down the middle of the ship when off to the side has always worked just fine? In any case the food was probably the best here.
All three though were lacking the magical service we’ve come to know and love from DCL. To be honest, it’s what makes you justify opening up your wallet a little more for sailing DCL. I’m trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and chalk this up to still being a relatively new process for everyone, as the servers looked stressed and flows just not there yet. This was a similar theme at most of the bars across the ship too. The service level just isn’t quite up to Disney standards - though I’d never go as far as to request tips be removed like one person I saw doing at guest services.
Overall - design where beauty over function or change for change sake was clearly a running theme in the drawing room. It’s not as if the other ships are without their flaws, it’s more like this was a missed opportunity for a perfect ship. They nearly got it completely right, but alas it’s still beautiful, still fun, and still Disney.
The very TL;DR - if this is your first DCL experience, I’d highly recommend any other ship as you owe it to yourself from a service perspective to see what makes DCL special. If you’ve been on any other ship, especially the Fantasy or Dream, I think it’s worth sailing at least once.
**UPDATE**
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.
Wanted to give some thoughts on the Wish after a 3 night sailing, now two months into full operations, just in case it may help someone trying to decide between ships to sail on.
First - what a beautiful, magical, lovely, nearly perfect, missed opportunity, frustrating ship. It’s not really a love-hate thing for me, as there’s truly nothing to hate, but more of a love-‘why in the seven seas did they go this route?’. I kept trying to ask myself if this was a case of being used to the look and flow of the other ships, and my frustrations were my own fault for projecting my expectations - but after more thought now off the ship I don’t think that’s the case, and there’s some truly head scratching, mostly minor, things that are just off.
Staterooms - not a single flaw. They’re perfect in every way and a welcome upgrade from the placement of the larger flag panel TVs, to the updated showers with glass doors, and the lovely lighted mirrors. It’s all well thought out and familiar yet refreshed. We were lucky enough to have a balcony room on the forward bump out, and while not really any larger on the balcony area it did provide an interesting change from the other ships. I’d book this type of room again, but wouldn’t get bent out of shape if it wasn’t available or change a preferred floor even just to get it.
Senses (specifically the rainforest room) - nearly $500 for a couple for a 3 day cruise pass? Hard pass. We did opt for a single day pass though which was a much more palatable $90/person. Price aside, it’s a very lovely experience completely unlike the rainforest on the other class of ships. The new ice room is a welcome change, and the outdoor area is a great retreat if you’re into sun bathing or relaxing on their giant outdoor swing chairs. Two larger hot tubs was also a great idea. My only gripe is why didn’t they bring over the scented storm showers from the Fantasy? They’re beloved. The showers they installed here aren’t nearly as fun.
Bars - such a different experience from say the Dream or Fantasy, as there’s no ‘district’ but they’re nearly all super fun and a great excuse to explore the ship as you hop around. The Bayou in particular is a lovely lounge, and I almost never enjoy the lounge bar(s) on the other ships.
The Rose was also another aesthetically pleasing spot for a refreshment with great drinks and views.
Throwing cove in here too, which is another example of nearly perfect, but is frustratingly difficult to get to compared to the other ships, and missing the Moka pot experience
.Wishing Star and Enchanted Sword Cafes… did they really just stack nearly identical bars in identical places just one floor apart? Kinda weird, kinda lazy?
Hyperspace is super cool, especially if you’re into Star Wars. It’s worth checking out all the same, but it’s not a proper cocktail bar like Skyline, which would have been welcomed on this ship’s lineup.
Keg & Compass is a homerun, but they made the peculiar decision to try and host a beer tasting class during the middle of an NFL Sunday which nearly caused a riot until the class was moved/cancelled lol. Also they told us to ignore the draft menu as it didn’t remotely resemble what they had available on tap, which is fine but not in line with many experiences we’ve had on DCL.
Luna - love the upper deck aspect of this multipurpose longe and bar, very cool.
Nightingales - could have been a homerun too, but it looks like it comfortably seats 6, is too exposed on the main deck to lights and those passing by for the swanky piano bar vibe it’s going for. Also no piano player our cruise - what’s that about?
Premium restaurants - didn’t opt for either as we wanted to experience each MDR first, but after exploring Enchante I don’t think we will anyway on our next booking. I’ve done Palo on the other ships for a lifetime, and if they truly are no longer doing a flat fee for everything at this restaurant it’s even less worth it to me. But Enchante is one of the biggest gripes for me. We absolutely love Remy, it’s dining experience, and would have been perfectly fine with a copy paste from the Fantasy to the Wish. After all, the restaurant is beautiful and happens to be an appropriate Disney IP that works with a fine dining setting without being ‘too in your face Disney’. Enchante, while pretty, just kind of lacks any magic and I didn’t find its decor to be any more elevated that Remy.
Elevators - deserves its own shoutout for two silly reasons. 1) if you’re going to have a bank of elevators that goes from deck 2-11 next to a bank that goes from 2-13…make separate call buttons. And 2) make the buttons, buttons. Whoever designed these hover buttons could never have actually ridden in a crowded elevator with people before as people lean against whatever surface they can. In this case that means someone leans against the button panel and suddenly you’re stopping on every floor. I’m convinced Buddy the Elf designed this.
Gym - the layout is a bit tight for those looking to lift. Kind of a running theme on this ship. But, what you lose in space there you gain in a cycling studio which was awesome - highly recommend signing up for a class or two.
Shopping - meh. Why the 5th floor for Mickey’s mainsail? Also, why so small/tight?
Quick Service Food - mostly good! The cantina and BBQ are surprisingly good (mostly). The chicken tenders and burgers stand are what they are and have been. The pizza is consistently atrocious across all ships
. Marceline Market is so beautiful, but wow can it get tight at times. Also it appears to have more seating (at the expense of proper walkways) but yet I always struggled to find a table or bar stool? Lastly, and most importantly, the food was just okay. Did happen to see some lazy repeat options carried over all three days which I didn’t recall happening at any Cabanas.MDRs - saved the best/worst for last.
Marvel - I love the MCU, particularly Ant-man. I do not however really care to dine in an entire restaurant devoted to either. The whole show story was kinda lame, but I did laugh for a solid 5 mins since they referenced a very not safe for Disney internet meme that only Twitter/Reddit obsessed degenerates like me would get. That was wild and surreal
. But the food was forgettable at best, and the whole time I’m thinking “this could have been an animators palate”. Seriously, that could have been the one thing that Disney could have used to tie all of its ships together. It’s universally beloved. This was by far the biggest mistake they made with the ship. Moreover, what’s the end game (no pun intended) here? Reshoot this restaurant story with new characters every 5 years or so as the MCU changes? Let it age and hold us captive to a show that eventually goes the way of the Figment ride? Animators Palate once again would have solved this, and just a textbook example of fixing what isn’t broken or looking for solutions to problems that don’t exist.Arendale - gorgeous. The layout was perfect. The show was nothing short of amazing. The food… kinda meh but better than Marvel.
1923 - undeniably beautiful. Amazing theme. But for the love of Walt why did they decide to split a MDR, especially the “grand one” in half? I felt like the vastness of the main floor MDR on all the ships is what helps make the primary MDR feel so magical and elegant. The tight corners, nooks and crannies of this restaurant really don’t let it live up to its potential. All for the sake of putting in a hallway down the middle of the ship when off to the side has always worked just fine? In any case the food was probably the best here.
All three though were lacking the magical service we’ve come to know and love from DCL. To be honest, it’s what makes you justify opening up your wallet a little more for sailing DCL. I’m trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and chalk this up to still being a relatively new process for everyone, as the servers looked stressed and flows just not there yet. This was a similar theme at most of the bars across the ship too. The service level just isn’t quite up to Disney standards - though I’d never go as far as to request tips be removed like one person I saw doing at guest services.
Overall - design where beauty over function or change for change sake was clearly a running theme in the drawing room. It’s not as if the other ships are without their flaws, it’s more like this was a missed opportunity for a perfect ship. They nearly got it completely right, but alas it’s still beautiful, still fun, and still Disney.
The very TL;DR - if this is your first DCL experience, I’d highly recommend any other ship as you owe it to yourself from a service perspective to see what makes DCL special. If you’ve been on any other ship, especially the Fantasy or Dream, I think it’s worth sailing at least once.
**UPDATE**
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.
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