The Disney Wish is Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship. It was custom built for the line, as all previous ships have been, so it is absolutely gorgeous. We were in one of the Inaugural Sailings in September of 2022. Which means exclusive cabin gifts and merchandise! There were a few things a little bit different about this ship compared to the others that I wanted to share.
First of all, there’s lots of Figaro! I felt like they really leaned in with putting characters all around. You know on the Disney Dream how they have artwork reminiscent of the golden age of ocean liners? It doesn’t have any Disney IP in it, just helps to immerse you in an atmosphere of an era. I’m not sure I remember any piece of artwork that wasn’t Disney IP on the Wish.
The layout of the ship is definitely odd. Lots of people mention this but have a hard time giving an example, so here’s one. I got turned around 4 times and had to go down stairs, then back up stairs, while trying to make a simple loop around the adults-only area at the end of the ship. Which is only one deck! On most ships, every deck is a big loop. But the Wish has TONS of dead ends, and doors you can only enter, but not exit. I was trying to walk the loop of the adults-only area to see if there were any seats in the shade (there weren’t, the adults area is RIDICULOUSLY small). But the area dead-ends at the Aqua Mouse. There’s an enclosed structure, with a door, so I figure I can just walk straight through there. It’s the top level of the basketball court that goes AROUND the court, not over, like a catwalk. I can see the door I need to get back out on the other side of the court. So I walk around the court…and the door is locked. Fine, I’ll just walk back around the court again and go back out the door I came in from. Nope, locked. So I had to walk back around the court AGAIN, because there are stairs over there leading down. Down the stairs, through a door that finally takes me outside, then back up some outside stairs, and back up to the entrance to the adults-only area where I started. What. the. heck. What should have been a 30 second walk ended up being 5 minutes and a little kid could very easily get lost.
Speaking of that small adults-only area, this ship does not have an adults-only “bar zone” like the others in the Disney fleet. Instead, they’re scattered around. Nightingale’s, the Cinderella-themed piano bar (which we LOVED, the theming with the decor, name, and drinks is so clever) is right off the atrium with big open doors, where obviously there’s lots of kids. So still well within earshot of loud children.
The Bayou (which is not adults-only, but is a bar) is especially odd. It isn’t as much an actual…location as it is a decorated area in the middle of a walkway? It’s situated on deck 3. On both sides of deck 3 (sides meaning port and starboard, not front and back) are the luxury shops. The construction materials and the shops remind me a lot of a mall. And then sandwiched in between these in the middle of the walkway is this themed seating area. Mostly no walls. And because this is the luxury shopping district (there are FIVE luxury shops!), there are almost no shoppers. Everyone stops by in each type of shop once, says “yup, those are expensive purses/jewelry”, and never visits that area again. Plus on port days, they’re closed. So sitting in The Bayou feels like you’re in a dying mall from the 80s that’s desperately trying to not go belly-up. Very odd. Speaking of those luxury shops….
If I had to pick one sentence to describe the Wish, it’s this: Unless you’re sailing concierge, I would seriously consider the Dream or Fantasy instead. Even though the Wish is larger than those two, it’s smaller for non-concierge guests. The Wish has TWICE as many concierge staterooms as the other two ships, which means significantly larger concierge-only spaces, which means significantly less space for everyone else. There was never any room in any pools or any seating areas. So we spent tons of time in the room or on our balcony because there just…wasn’t space for us on the ship. I’ll be sailing in concierge December 2023, so I’ll report back on that topic then. But this was not a problem on Castaway Cay, where there are no classes of guest! That was definitely the most relaxing part.
And Nightingale’s. I loved Nightingale’s and went there every night after we discovered it. Where else do I get to smack an ice ball filled with liquor??
