I recently came across a youtube video on the Disney Wish by Alan and Molly and now my wife and I are planning our first cruise. Are there any good places to research the differences between ships and what to expect?
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I also just realized I maybe should have posted this in a different forum, but shrug
No this works here - you’ll get the best visibility in the WDW category (where you’ve posted) but you can edit your original post if you want to be in the DCL part of the page where you might get the most info.
I think the first thing you’ll want to consider is where you want to cruise - either from, or which ports you’re interested in. That will narrow down your ship choices pretty immediately. The ships are in pairs, so aside from theming and decor they are similar to one another:
- Fantasy and Dream
- Magic and Wonder
- Wish
Truly I find the DCL launching page to be a good place to get tons of information. You can see details of each ship including deck plans (often helpful when choosing your stateroom), ports of call, stateroom categories and details, and “what to expect”.
If you have specific questions, ask away - we are here to help!
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Agreed! Once we decided to take our first cruise on the Dream, my son and I spent a few hours reading everything on DCL’s site about the ship and studying the deck plans. I thought it was really informative, and we didn’t feel confused or lost at all once on the ship.
Also a great point. Since we were only going on a short cruise to get a taste of it/see if we liked it, where we went didn’t matter as much to me (it was to Nassau and Castaway Cay), but I knew we wanted to leave from Port Canaveral as that was the cheapest and easiest port for us to get to. Now that we know we liked the cruise, where we’d go matters much more to me now for whenever we go again.
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The Unofficial Guide is a good place to start.
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We are regulars at WDW and just took our first cruise last month on the Wish. Be sure to join the facebook group for your cruise (search for the ship name and departure date). I also read the unofficial guide and found that helpful, as well as trip reports. DCL is its own beast entirely from WDW, so its good to read up a bit. We were not sure if we would even like it or not but we looooved it, and will do another likely next year. Its not WDW, but it was fantastic.
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We watched YouTube videos of each ship we’ve been on. Just searched “Dream” or “Fantasy” or whatever ship you are taking for walk thru of the ship. Also look at Disney’s cruise page.
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DFB has a youtube video comparing all of the ships which they just posted the last month or so. Lots of good information there!
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I started on the Disney Cruise line website and that was really good for helping me visualize staterooms and deck plans.
I also bought the Unofficial Guide (back when it was 2020 & then bought the new 2023 when it actually looked like that might be the year we first get on a cruise).
Disney Cruise Blog is also a very good source for figuring out the daily schedule of the trip (I’ve combed through so many Personal Navigators on there & I feel like that helps tremendously with knowing what’s potentially available to do). There’s stuff here on the DCL forum, but not a huge offering. But the people who are here are lovely & will help with everything they know!
We started out with wanting a 4 day cruise (long enough that wasn’t a total whirlwind but short enough that if anyone hates it, they wouldn’t feel stuck there) and our only criteria was that it stop at Disney’s private island. We’ve had to rebook a few times & the dates that worked out (we finally get to go later this month!) for us are now a 5 night cruise and after how many years I’ve spent waiting for it, I’m starting to feel like that might be too short lol.
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Watch cruise walk thru videos on YouTube. It’s personal but of each class my order of preference would be Dream, Wish, Magic. However, I think the Adventure is coming out soon and maybe they’ll improve on the Wish class.
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Watched allllllll the videos and we are sold on the Wish. Primary deciding factor? Star Wars bar…
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Word of caution: unless there have been changes it’s very very hard to get in there. Based on that I am not sure I would plan a whole vacation around it.
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It just would suck to plan the whole trip around that and then find it was difficult at best to enjoy the thing you’re there for.
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It’s not the only reason, but it was a helpful deciding factor
Friend went on the Wish the days before Christmas. Easily walked in.
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It wasn’t hard for us. Just go sign up once you’re on board. And I actually think I just signed up from my phone app while at lunch. Easy peezy.
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Are ya gonna buy the $5k cocktail? The bar was alright but I prefer the adult bar outside of the adult restaurants. More drink choices and hubby found a good deal on a scotch flight up there. Plus I preferred the ocean views. It’s just something. I think it’s called The Rose. I enjoyed the water slide too. I thought the film elements along with the synchronized water sprays was fun. I was not a fan of the mermaid show though. And I prefer the Dream class for the spa as well. We could hear the engines as it was right above them on the wish. But the movie theaters are adorable. And 1923 and the Frozen restaurant too. I didn’t like the Marvel restaurant. Personally I’d make that adult dining night if that’s your thing. Palo and Enchante are both great.
Good to hear access seems better
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The one that comes with a trip to Skywalker ranch? Absolutely not
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