Back from HOTHS Wish Sailing

[dreamer17555]

So I am home from a recent 4 night HOTHS sailing on the Wish. Now the Wish is not my favorite ship but we were already in the area having gotten off the Fantasy two days prior. My son really wanted to try a Halloween cruise which made sense to me- we love MDAS, and Merry Time was nice and we miss both Star Wars and Pixar themed cruises and wish they would bring them back (especially SW). We are also huge Halloween fans (our home has been decorated since mid July for Summerween) and by adding this cruise we would have completed all the themed cruises.

Here is what was offered-
Halloween Tree (which is beautiful but is focused on Cinderella vs spooky fun)
Candy Bags Given Out (no real trick or treating- I was picturing something like MNSSHP but instead they had prefilled bags that some people missed before they ran out)
Mousequade Deck Party (which was cute! It has a strange ending IMO but just needs a bit of tweaking)
A Single Halloween Music Trivia (I was expecting more or villains themed trivia or something)
Characters (Now these were super cute but the Minnie Sanderson Sister Meet Up had a line down the hall 45 mins prior to even starting. I am also a bit sad that Jack and Sally no longer seem to set sail)
Merch to Purchase (the Minnie Sippers were sold out on the previous sailing and they did not restock, the Vampire Stitch sold completely out before 6 pm on the first day)

Also this seems to be a theme with the Wish but she always seems to have far fewer activities vs the other ships (no matter who is the current cruise director). And so, so many of her activities are loaded with the Learn to Draw series where a video plays... I am sorry but to me the live animation is what made it special. If I want to learn to draw from a video I can watch YouTube once I am home. I also find it frustrating that the animator drawing is shown using a special drawing desk that clearly no one on the ship has access to but I digress. When I sail the Dream, the Fantasy, the Magic I am always torn because there are so many activities offered (some overlapping) that I cannot do them all. Even with the Learn to Draw classes the Wish had a lot of down time in the schedule.

This is my 3rd sailing on the Wish and while she is beautiful so much just does not work. Tritons is too small (they were actually playing The Quest in there which is way too tight), and Luna while lovely is not an appropriate space for adult activities. The entire balcony is open on all the sides and there were a few families up there that did not seem to understand what Match Your Mate was until the answer given to what makes a happy relationship was "sex". You could hear that even outside the venue with the open balcony. I LOVE my adult DCL entertainment but it feels icky with 7-11 year olds walking by. Plus the noise from Luna is always so loud! You can hear Bingo while you are at trivia in Tritons or Keg & Compass. Also the adult pool... I finally decided to try to spend some of my downtime in the schedule there and I just don't understand the logic with that space at all, so very small... Also I was wondering- How does a person with mobility issues even access it? Ladder up and ladder back down just to enter seems odd...

Things that we did love- Making new cruise friends, our assistant server (Nedzad), our stateroom host (Nico), the entertainment crew (we have loved them on all the ships), the pool food is amazing, and the Wish's Pirate Parlay Party is my favorite Pirate Night firework show across the fleet. That being said I think we are done with the Wish for awhile.

I also have some real concerns about the Treasure moving forward. Part of what keeps venues even functional on the Wish IMO is so many new cruisers who do not know the lay of the land and aren't making it to the adult pool or 2000's music trivia because they only have 3/4 nights. What happens by day five on the Treasure when kids are more settled into the clubs and everyone has more time to try out the adult pool or activities like trivia? Most of the trivias (except those held in Luna) were standing room only 5-10 minutes before they started. It is just not a design that hold guests well IMO but I guess time will tell...

For us we have a few more DCL cruises booked (two on the Dream, and one on the Magic) but we are also going on our first ever Royal cruise on Allure of the Seas in October. After this last voyage on the Wish I am even happier that we decided to at least try something new.

 

[NAB]

Thanks for your review will be on the Wish next month.

They must have changed the trick or treating because last year we did go to different tables up in the Hero zone . It’s probably faster and easier to hand out bags that are full. Not sure how they could run out unless people were taking more than in the party. That’s sad. Maybe they need to just put the bags on your bed at night…lol

Here you about Luna, is very open. Some venues are very small. They should have made these expensive stores smaller instead.

 

[dreamer17555]

That’s for your review will be on the Wish next month.

They must have changed the trick or treating because last year we did go to different tables up in the Hero zone . It’s probably faster and easier to hand out bags that are full. Not sure how they could run out unless people were taking more than in the party. That’s sad. Maybe they need to just put the bags on your bed at night…lol

Here you about Luna, is very open. Some venues are very small. They should have made these expensive stores smaller instead.

They had 4 tables around the pool deck handing out prefilled bags 15 minutes before the start of the halloween deck party. I saw a few adults grab extras but it looked like they were taking them to their kids that were already waiting in a spot for the show to start. The timing was bad. We had guests on the B2B before ours and they ran out on that sailing as well. Prefilled candy bags is very different than trick or treating. The crew was filling them at the tables 30 minutes prior to handing them out. You could watch them open the boxes of candy and just shove handfuls into the bags as fast as they could.

 

[NAB]

They had 4 tables around the pool deck handing out prefilled bags 15 minutes before the start of the halloween deck party. I saw a few adults grab extras but it looked like they were taking them to their kids that were already waiting in a spot for the show to start. The timing was bad. We had guests on the B2B before ours and they ran out on that sailing as well. Prefilled candy bags is very different than trick or treating. The crew was filling them at the tables 30 minutes prior to handing them out. You could watch them open the boxes of candy and just shove handfuls into the bags as fast as they could.

Not as fun for sure. When is the deck party? Is it after both dinners?

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Thanks for the review, we're sailing a HOTHs Wish cruise next month. Out of curiosity, did you happen to purchase the in-room Halloween celebration package? Haven't seen a review of this year's blanket/decor set yet. That's too bad about the Halloween candy but from last year's reports it was a stressful mob scene on deck as kids went from station to station, so I can see why they changed it. About what time did they run out? I guess we'll try to get there a bit on the early side. I can't seem to commit to a costume, worried it will be so hot and sweaty on deck that we'll be miserable in anything that isn't a tee and shorts. Were people dressed up?

 

[dreamer17555]

Not as fun for sure. When is the deck party? Is it after both dinners?

Yes it was offered twice.

Thanks for the review, we're sailing a HOTHs Wish cruise next month. Out of curiosity, did you happen to purchase the in-room Halloween celebration package? Haven't seen a review of this year's blanket/decor set yet. That's too bad about the Halloween candy but from last year's reports it was a stressful mob scene on deck as kids went from station to station, so I can see why they changed it. About what time did they run out? I guess we'll try to get there a bit on the early side. I can't seem to commit to a costume, worried it will be so hot and sweaty on deck that we'll be miserable in anything that isn't a tee and shorts. Were people dressed up?

Ran out for some of the early dining folks who had the later deck party. We did not get the Halloween decor but we have gotten Marvel and Star Wars and they were nice quality blankets but I can only get so many for the house. Yes plenty of people were dressed up.

 

[tlprice]

The handing out of bags of candy seems really lame. We have been on 3 HOTHS cruises and the trick or treating around the ship was a highlight of all of them. Why do they have to take the fun out of everything?

 

[Snowwhyt]

I can't seem to commit to a costume, worried it will be so hot and sweaty on deck that we'll be miserable in anything that isn't a tee and shorts. Were people dressed up?

I was having a 2 week vacation so space was limited last week. I brought a few accessories and some Disney Bound colors to go with my accessories.
I thought 1923 would have more people dressing up in 1920’s outfits but the two nights that I was there one was Halloween night. The other night was pirate night. So plan a little something but try incorporate it into your wardrobe.
UNLESS you like to get pictures taken. Then go all out!