Utopia vs Disney Wish

[DCLMP]

When we dropped of our car at Alamo. There were a lot of families waiting on a shuttle. I assumed they were sailing on the Wish, but they all got on the shuttle for Utopia. It's definitely attracting the young families.

 

[LordVader]

True. But they aren’t able to have an opinion if it’s the best. (With no experience otherwise)

I mean they can still have an opinion. Like I get I haven't been on any other ship than the Wish but I've also seen hundreds of videos of the other ships and my wife and I agree, we don't see us liking them as much. Granted, we're in the minority where we don't care about adult only sections or a jogging track lol. We do plan on going on the Fantasy sometime next year so we'll see how it goes.

 

[DCLMP]

Thanks all! Wish first followed by Utopia ended up being a ~$700 difference versus the other order, so we are going with that. While originally the two sailings were comparable in price, when we swapped them around, RCCL was running a kids run free sale for the second weekend so it made sense to flip flop them to save the money.

To someone's question earlier, we love Perfect Day at Coco Cay, so don't mind that being our last day of the trip. It will be a lot of moving around in terms of accommodations, but we are ok with this.

I'll definitely post a report when the time comes next year!

Disney never cuts you a deal with the kids. You price out a Disney a cruise for 2 and you may be within a striking distance price wise. You throw in a couple of kids and the price difference grows exponentially. These two ships seem pretty comparable in price, but if you continue to cruise with Disney you'll notice it when it pricing out other cruises.

 

[LordVader]

When we dropped of our car at Alamo. There were a lot of families waiting on a shuttle. I assumed they were sailing on the Wish, but they all got on the shuttle for Utopia. It's definitely attracting the young families.

The price is what attracted my wife and I. Our two kids ages 3 & 5 are excited about splash away bay on the ship, the golf course and that kids section near the back of the ship with the giant slide.

 

[LordVader]

Disney never cuts you a deal with the kids. You price out a Disney a cruise for 2 and you may be within a striking distance price wise. You throw in a couple of kids and the price difference grows exponentially. These two ships seem pretty comparable in price, but if you continue to cruise with Disney you'll notice it when it pricing out other cruises.

We're going in November and with two kids, the whole $600 off, kids sail free and we also got a out of state discount for where we live and it ended up being $1,900 for 4 nights.

We wanted to go back on the Wish but it was nearly $4,300 for a 3 night cruise. As badly as we want to go back on the Wish, I'm not passing up a deal like this and an extra night. I get Disney charged a premium but hard to justify it. We are using the savings instead to go to Disney World for 4 days prior to the cruise, just 2 days at the parks but still!

 

[DCLMP]

We're going in November and with two kids, the whole $600 off, kids sail free and we also got a out of state discount for where we live and it ended up being $1,900 for 4 nights.

We wanted to go back on the Wish but it was nearly $4,300 for a 3 night cruise. As badly as we want to go back on the Wish, I'm not passing up a deal like this and an extra night. I get Disney charged a premium but hard to justify it. We are using the savings instead to go to Disney World for 4 days prior to the cruise, just 2 days at the parks but still!

No three night cruise is worth that. You can occasionally find some deals on DCL so I wouldn't give up and I wouldn't rule out Disney's older ships either. I think they are better.

 

[supercarrie]

Disney never cuts you a deal with the kids. You price out a Disney a cruise for 2 and you may be within a striking distance price wise. You throw in a couple of kids and the price difference grows exponentially. These two ships seem pretty comparable in price, but if you continue to cruise with Disney you'll notice it when it pricing out other cruises.

Correct. We are West Coast cruisers (family of three) and so routinely compare pricing of Navgiator versus the Wonder. The Wonder typically costs 2-3x as much. This is why we haven’t cruised Disney yet as a family.

We have grown our income enough in the last few years to feel like we can afford it now, but it will have to really blow me away to replace Royal as our cruise line of choice. When you can cruise twice (or three times) for the same price, it’s been hard to justify (so far), especially since Navigator is such a nice ship.

Excited to try them out next year and compare!

 

[Flcruising]

You should qualify that with in my opinion. I'm glad you liked it. The great thing is we have options.

Qualifying a statement like that is unnecessary because it is obvious its the writer's opinion since that person wrote it.

 

[Flcruising]

Not if you poll experienced Disney cruisers it’s not.

We just returned from the Wish. We are platinum and it was our second time on the Wish. The first time we were critical but now we love it.We have completely changed our opinion

 

[Hubie]

Probably not what you want to hear, but I don't even understand how anyone would want to do just a 3-day cruise. I would try a little harder to convince your husband to do the 7-day on the Treasure.

 

[Memepoppy]

Disney never cuts you a deal with the kids. You price out a Disney a cruise for 2 and you may be within a striking distance price wise. You throw in a couple of kids and the price difference grows exponentially. These two ships seem pretty comparable in price, but if you continue to cruise with Disney you'll notice it when it pricing out other cruises.

Not necessarily correct on your pricing for 2 comment. DW and I are taking 8 day on the Wonder of the Seas Jan 19-26,2025. Coming from Utah we decided to add another cruise BTB. We haven't sailed Disney since our grandkids outgrew Disney, last cruise was on the Fantasy. We though it would be a good time to try the Wish as we still like Disney. When I priced out both the Wish and Utopia Balcony Stateroom, 2 adults, same itinerary with the exception of their respective private island, Utopia was $2100 vs $3200 for the Wish for the week prior to our RCCL Cruise. For the week following our RCCL cruise, Utopia was $2100 and Wish went up to $4400(this cruise on the Wish skipped Nassau and went to both Disney private island s). Utopia won for us!

 

[DCLMP]

We just returned from the Wish. We are platinum and it was our second time on the Wish. The first time we were critical but now we love it.We have completely changed our opinion

I also have it second try and my opinion didn’t change. On a positive note I have no desire to try the other new ships. Money saved there.

 

[WB1971]

I mean they can still have an opinion. Like I get I haven't been on any other ship than the Wish but I've also seen hundreds of videos of the other ships and my wife and I agree, we don't see us liking them as much. Granted, we're in the minority where we don't care about adult only sections or a jogging track lol. We do plan on going on the Fantasy sometime next year so we'll see how it goes.

It was a simple point that by definition a first time cruiser on the wish doesn’t have a point of reference about cruising other Disney ships, yet someone has to argue it. I also never said 100% of any group would share the same opinion. Initial statement stands, poll experienced DCL cruisers and wish likely in fifth place.

 

[asgur5]

Not if you poll experienced Disney cruisers it’s not.

But that's a very small niche. Op isnt an experience dcl cruiser and says they are big fans of disney/Marvel and star wars. They will get more of that on the wish. Marvel dining. Hyperspace lounge. There is no equivalent on the other ships which have less disney magic.

 

[asgur5]

You should qualify that with in my opinion. I'm glad you liked it. The great thing is we have options.

It's obvious it's my opinion. If we had to qualify our opinions with my opinion.... then every second post on this forum would need that qualifier.

 

[DCLMP]

Probably not what you want to hear, but I don't even understand how anyone would want to do just a 3-day cruise. I would try a little harder to convince your husband to do the 7-day on the Treasure.

I believe the OP is doing 3 nights on each ship. A unique thing to do. I've done WDW\cruise\WDW, never cruise\wdw\cruise. It's sounds pretty fun.

 

[Flcruising]

But that's a very small niche. Op isnt an experience dcl cruiser and says they are big fans of disney/Marvel and star wars. They will get more of that on the wish. Marvel dining. Hyperspace lounge. There is no equivalent on the other ships which have less disney magic.

You are right. On our recent wish cruise I found the star wars cargo bay where Chewbacca and Rey were interacting with guests and the super heros training facility where Black Panther was training guests how to pose and prepare for a fight. These made awsome pictures. The first time on the Wish I missed these areas completely. The cargo bay was especially cool and they only allowed a couple people in at a time so they felt the experience of actually entering the cargo bay.

 

[Flcruising]

I also have it second try and my opinion didn’t change. On a positive note I have no desire to try the other new ships. Money saved there.

Curious if you experienced the Star Wars cargo bay or The super hero traing facility with any of the characters actually training you?

 

[Lisa Lisa]

We are looking at doing a 3 night, spend M-F at WDW, and then head back to PC for our 2nd 3 night cruise. I'm thinking Utopia makes sense to do first (we have already been on Oasis, so know the layout well) but curious if you'd do Disney first instead (and if so, why?)

We've been on several Oasis class ships (not Utopia yet) and the Wish, and we love both classes of ship. That said, 3 nights on either of those ships is not a lot of time to experience all they have to offer (especially Utopia, IMO).

Is it an option to do two 4-night sailings with less time at WDW in between (or first)? I've never been on a cruise shorter than 4 nights because the first day is always so condensed, and I can't imagine packing to disembark a couple of days later.

 

[supercarrie]

We've been on several Oasis class ships (not Utopia yet) and the Wish, and we love both classes of ship. That said, 3 nights on either of those ships is not a lot of time to experience all they have to offer (especially Utopia, IMO).

Is it an option to do two 4-night sailings with less time at WDW in between (or first)? I've never been on a cruise shorter than 4 nights because the first day is always so condensed, and I can't imagine packing to disembark a couple of days later.

Sadly not! We are used to 3 night sailings being West Coast cruisers, so it isn’t as big a deal for us. We do at least one, usually two or more, a year.

We have been on Oasis so on Utopia plan to focus on our favorite things (or new) things - definitely no way to see it all. I am still sort of shocked they even put an Oasis class on a 3/4 night route, but judging by the prices, I guess people are happy!