After not setting foot on a cruise ship for over 15 years, we decided to take the little vacationista on the Disney Wish - her first cruise and our first Disney cruise! It was a last- minute trip so I didn't have the amount of time I normally have for planning - we booked on January 4 for a January 13 departure! I made the skeptical husband watch the Nat Geo special on Making the Disney Wish and even he was a little less skeptical afterwards. I could not wait to see the ship in person!
KEY TIPS:
Watch the Nat Geo Making the Disney Wish special to get extra excited for the cruise!
Don't stress out if you can't get the early seating for dinner or an early port arrival time. We couldn't get either and it actually turned out to be better for us.
Refresh, refresh, refresh: If the activities you want are fully booked, keep checking back as they may become available as people cancel.
Download the Disney Navigator app before you get on the ship. This is where you'll find all of the ongoing events and a wealth of cruise information throughout the cruise.
Lines for character meet and greets can get long so make sure you are in line during the 15-minute window shown in the app. They will cut off the line after that time and turn any new arrivals away.
This was our first Disney cruise so we really didn't have expectations going in. I read a lot of reviews from people that are not a fan of the Wish, but most seemed to be because it is very different from the other Disney ships. Arrive with an open mind, especially if you've done a Disney cruise before.
Check out events on the itinerary - you might find a new favorite and you can always leave if it's not your cup of tea. The little vacationista loved the "Heard That?" trivia game and wanted to do it every day of the cruise.
Practice walking stairs before you go (just kidding, kind of). The elevator lines can get long and we ended up taking the stairs throughout the cruise.
ITINERARY: Port Canaveral -> Nassau, Bahamas -> Castaway Cay -> Port Canaveral
PRE-CRUISE: Refresh, refresh, refresh. Given that we booked less than 2 weeks before the trip, most of the popular activities were full. Did I let that deter me? Of course not, it was just an extra planning challenge. With much refreshing, I was able to book both activities that I really wanted: the Royal Gathering and Olaf's Royal Picnic (more on these later).
However, I was never able to get the early seating for dining, even though we did waitlist it (we had 8:15pm instead of 5:45pm, which we ended up really liking in the end). We also weren't able to get anything earlier than a 1:45pm arrival time for embarkation day (which also actually worked out for us).
ORLANDO: Since we couldn't get the earlier port arrival time, we decided to use our Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points to book the night before the cruise at Saratoga Springs so we could visit WDW before getting on the ship. We arrived late on Thursday, January 12 and rented a car to get around. The next morning, we headed over to Epcot to ride two of our favorite rides - Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Test Track (did I mention that the little vacationista is a thrill-seeker?).
We happened to be near the Moderne booth (Festival of the Arts) after we got off Test Track, which had a long line. Naturally, we decided to follow the crowd and then proceeded to get at least one of everything from the booth.
The little vacationista is not as adventurous when it comes to food so we got her the Tropics.
She enjoyed it but nothing seemed particularly noteworthy. We also tried the pan-seared scallops, but not worth dedicating blog space to that one IMO.
EMBARKATION DAY/PORT CANAVERAL: The time at Epcot flew and it was already time to head towards Port Canaveral. We hopped in the rental car and drove the ~1 hour to the port. We rented from Budget because they have a drop-off facility near the port with a free shuttle (8401 Astronaut Blvd. location). Rental car drop-off was easy and, because we had the later port arrival time of 1:45 pm, we were the only ones at the facility. The super-friendly driver took us right over to the port. He noted his prior drop-off took him over 45 minutes because of the long lines to enter the port. It took us about 5 minutes so we lucked out! We checked our bags, first rummaging through them at the port to take out our swimsuits, since it would take 2-4 hours to deliver them to the room. Check-in lines were still somewhat lengthy, but they were efficient and we were soon on our way onto the ship!
Once onboard, we stared in awe at the lobby and grabbed a few pics. Belle was on the balcony greeting us. We headed over to check out our stateroom (another benefit of late arrival is that cabins are ready for you when you get on!). Because we booked so late, we had a guaranteed verandah stateroom with restrictions, which I understood to mean we'd probably have an obstructed view from the verandah. We ended up in stateroom 6674 and loved it!
The obstructed view verandah didn't bother us at all.
Being January, the weather can be unpredictable and it was cold and windy that day. Of course, we headed straight for the AquaMouse, as we had heard that the lines can get long. The line was short but you had to have two riders because of the wind, so the little vacationista and I hopped on. We're glad we checked it out but we didn't want to go again afterwards - it was so cold! Luckily they have towels right off the ride that you can grab, right next to cubbies to store your belongings. After the AquaMouse, it was time for the muster drill. You don't have to bring your life jacket, but you do have to show up in person at the muster station and then watch a safety demonstration.
Next up was our first meal! We decided to check out Mickey and Friends Festival of Foods, a casual dining food court-style area, home to Mickey’s Smokestack Barbecue, Donald’s Cantina, Daisy’s Pizza Pies, Goofy’s Grill, and Sweet Minnie’s Ice Cream. This was the first time that we were glad that we had late dining since it was already probably close to 4:30pm at this point.
After a quick meal, it was off to the Sail Away party. It was super cute with Mickey and Minnie and friends and various princesses. But it gets super crowded, so get there early if you want a good spot!
We still had time before dinner so we decided to check out Hyperspace Lounge. The lounge is first-come first-serve but there wasn't a wait (we went during the first dining seating, yay for the late seating). The lounge is open to everyone before 9:00 pm (adults only after) and serves the coolest drinks.
Still wasn't dinner time so we were off to the Disney Seas the Adventure in the Walt Disney Theater. There's a popcorn stand right outside; get the bucket so you can get refills each day! The show was cute and about Captain Minnie handing over the helm to her friend Goofy - what could go wrong?
Now it was off to our first dinner! Disney Wish does rotational dining so you dine in a different restaurant each night of a 3-day cruise. Our first restaurant was Arendelle. You are at Kristoff and Anna's engagement party and get to meet several characters from Frozen. They don't do the typical character meet and greets that we are used to at Disney World, but they come by each table to chat and you can get up to take pics.
Surprisingly, Oaken was one of my favorites from the evening.
Phew, made it to the end of the first day and it was amazing.
NASSAU, WELL KIND OF: Our first port was supposed to be Nassau. We woke up to an announcement that, after trying to dock twice, we couldn't because of the high winds so we'd now have a day at sea. Not a big deal for us, as we had planned to spend the first full day onboard so we could check out the ship anyway (we already had the Royal Gathering and Olaf's Royal Picnic booked for this day). This just meant the ship would be a little more crowded than we had anticipated.
First up was the Black Panther meet and greet. We showed up to a very long line that ultimately took about an hour to get through. We did get to see the Avengers room in the kids club, which was pretty cool (note you can also go check it out during open house hours throughout the cruise).
Next was breakfast (well second breakfast for the hubby since he already went before we woke up). We headed up to Marceline Market, which is the buffet restaurant on the ship. They had a great selection with different eggs benedicts throughout the cruise, pancakes, waffles, congee, fried rice, yogurts, etc.
Then it was time for the Royal Gathering. You need a reservation for this, which you can make through the app (refresh, refresh, refresh), and we were able to meet Moana, Belle, Cinderella, and Rapunzel.
Then it was over to the Rey and Chewbacca meet and greet, which also took close to an hour. We were able to check out the Star Wars section of the kids club.
We went to the DVC members celebration next, which was a fun trivia game with a special appearance by Pluto!
Note that, if you are a DVC member, you can stop by the DVC desk every day for a gift (things like luggage tags, pirate tattoos, etc.).
We skipped lunch since breakfast was late and we had Olaf's Royal Picnic, which was at 3:00pm in the Arendelle restaurant. Olaf's Royal Picnic is another show where they serve picnic type food, but the kids get a bunch of presents throughout the show.
Food is mediocre (think sandwiches, scones, desserts) but you basically get a private Frozen performance and a bunch of gifts to bring home. And don't forget the character photo afterwards, which gets delivered to your stateroom in a fancy frame!
The picnic itself took about 2 hours (did I mention I'm glad we did the late dining since there's no way we could have gone to dinner at this point), and then it was off to more character meet and greets. Since it was pirate night, the characters were dressed in pirate gear, and we even got to meet Captain Hook.
The show for tonight was a production of the Little Mermaid, which was very good. Right after, we headed up to Mickey's Pirates in the Caribbean show on the pool deck (super cute!). Then we had dinner in the 1923 restaurant. Definitely had a more laid-back vibe since there wasn't a show during dinner, which we appreciated after a busy day! Next was the Pirate night party complete with fireworks - don't miss this, there's something magical about being able to see fireworks on a cruise ship!
CASTAWAY CAY: We were able to dock at Castaway Cay, but it was another windy day so not the best for beach activities. After breakfast at Marceline Market, I decided to head over to do the Castaway Cay 5K while the fam stayed in the stateroom to watch Aladdin (an attempt at education since tonight's live show was Aladdin). It's about a mile walk to even get to the start of the 5K (just keep walking until you get to the bicycle shop) or you can take a shuttle. The 5K is a run/walk-at-your-own-pace-whenever-you-want activity. The path has markers but it can get a little confusing. Note that bikes use the same paths, but the paths are wide. Towards the end of the 5K, you run near the adults-only Serenity Bay. If you time it right, you can try to time the 5K so that you can join the yoga session at Serenity Bay!
By the time I was finished, the family had made their way off the ship so we did a little shopping and then grabbed lunch at Cookie's BBQ. Honestly thought the food on the ship was better so could have skipped this.
Once back on the ship, we headed back to Mickey's Festival of Foods to grab drinks (including hot chocolate). They had the Lion King playing at the pool so we stayed for a bit and then hung out around the ship. Then it was off to see the Aladdin show, which I thought was spectacular. Before dinner, we headed over to the Bayou for some beignets and drinks (additional cost) and listened to some great live music.
Tonight's dining was the Avengers restaurant. They have a cute show during dinner and you can grab this cool Quantum Core sipper (additional cost).
After dinner, we rushed to the room to pack our bags so we could leave them outside for collection (you can also carry them off the ship with you, but you'll have to fight for elevator space if you do this). If you do this, don't forget to leave a change of clothes for the next day out!
DEBARKATION: On debarkation day, we went straight to breakfast at our assigned location (ours was the Avengers restaurant). We had breakfast and waited for our luggage group to be called. Debarkation was pretty uneventful, which is a good thing! Our luggage was ready for collection as we got off the ship and we waited in line to clear customs. Once outside, it was easy to grab an Uber back to MCO. We were the last luggage group called and were past security before 10am.
It was back to DFW and time for me to plan our next Disney cruise!
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