On Monday, February 27th, I stepped foot on Disney’s newest cruise ship, the Disney Wish, for the first time. I love all of Disney’s cruise ships and one of my favorite activities is finding the little spots where I can stop and spend time while enjoying the view or an activity. After exploring the Disney Wish, I had no trouble finding some of those special places. So here I present, in no particular order, five of my favorite places to just spend time on the Disney Wish.
The Grand Hall
Stepping onto the Disney Wish, the first thing you see is the Grand Hall — and it certainly looks very different from the Atrium we’re used to on the other ships. It took me a while to warm up to it, but ultimately it won me over. The highlight is the chandelier which is wired with beautiful lighting effects that are put to use every night with a short light show. But my favorite part was the complete color change they did for Pirates in the Caribbean night where the chandelier and surrounding lights were turned red. And there are plenty of seats on the floor to sit and take it all in.
Decks 4 and 5
Deck 4 has always been my favorite spot on Disney ships. Comfy deck chairs, shuffleboard, shade (it’s located under the lifeboats) and a great view. Every cruise I try to spend at least an hour just relaxing out there. I’m very happy to say the Disney Wish retains Deck 4. But then it goes one better and adds a Deck 5, the first time there’s been more than one deck to lay out on (other than the pool decks). Deck 5 is (obviously) above Deck 4 and extends out over the lifeboats. There’s no shade, which is great because sometimes you don’t want that and if you do, Deck 4 is still there. But there are still the same wonderful deck chairs and views. Rather than make them compete, I’ve decided to love them both.
Shuffleboard on Deck 4
Looking down on Deck 5 from our room
The Infinity Pool
One of the best additions to the Disney Wish is the infinity pool at the back of the ship in the adult area. The biggest complaint I’ve seen about it are the crowds that can gather there. Luckily, my specialty on the ships is being where other people aren’t. On Castaway Cay day just about everyone gets off the ship, so we took the opportunity to check out the pool. We were in there with only about five other people giving us plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the view of Castaway Cay. We love Satellite Falls on the Disney Dream and Fantasy and we were sad to not see it here. But, the infinity pool, at least the way we experienced it on that afternoon, is definitely a worthy replacement.
The Hero Zone
I was very excited to check out the Hero Zone on the Disney Wish. Basketball courts, corn hole, air hockey, ping pong, foosball – all located in an indoor, air conditioned space instead of under the hot sun as it is on the other ships. It’s in a tricky location that can be a challenge to find, but once you do, it’s very cool. Padded seats all around the bottom level if you just want to watch. Gideon and I enjoyed a couple of air hockey games on a well-maintained table on the upper level. They also bring the tween and teens up here at certain times which Gideon assured was a lot of fun. And, of course, sometimes they set up the Incredicourse obstacle course for a completely different experience that’s fun to run or just observe. I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than 10 minutes in the sports zone on the other ships, but the Hero Zone was a great place to spend time.
The Room
I didn’t spend a ton of time in our room, but the time I spent was great. Once again, Disney’s rooms are larger than most other cruise lines. Each room is decorated with one of several princess themes, so it was very exciting to walk in for the first time and see what theme we got (Sleeping Beauty). I was also pleasantly surprised with the “Set Sail” package Rebekah got for us. Seeing that towel in our bathroom now still makes me smile. The bed is extremely comfortable as are the chairs on the verandah. When we ordered room service we had plenty of space to eat. As many have noted, there is a major lack of drawers, but it’s made up for with tons of shelves and hangers so we were easily able to put all our clothes away and out of sight (2 adults, 1 teen), put the suitcases under the bed and feel like it was home for four nights. And the couple of times I had to wait in here for something or other, I was as comfy as could be and in no hurry to leave.
