Have sailed 48 times on
DCL, all 5 ships. We just sailed recently on the Wish (4day) for the second time. We did not love it the first time we sailed so we thought we would try it again. We thought maybe the first time we were just so shocked at how different the ship was from others in the fleet. So, this time determined to give it a fair try knowing our expectations. Well …. We did not change our mind. It is for sure my least favorite ship.
Even though it’s roughly the same passenger count as the Fantasy, it seemed so much more crowded. The venues were always overflowing. The noise level was much louder everywhere. We did not like the dinner “shows”. They were too loud and too long. We felt bad for our servers who had to work around the show and had to shout for you to hear them. The Marvel show was the worst. Our poor servers were trying to sing happy birthday to people in the dining room and had to compete with Spider-Man and the very very loud music. Our head server told us that it is a nightmare for their servers to try and do their job during these shows. our favorite dining room was 1923 and thank goodness we were in there twice during this sailing.
We did not like the adult area at all. It small, sunny during the day, and not much seating. Two evenings we were kicked out, once for the fireworks and once because they were cleaning that side of the ship and there is only one way in or out.
In talking with other passengers, we discovered that most people who loved the ship, it usually was their first sailing with DCL. Others who have sailed many times on other DCL ships, the Wish is not their favorite. I know this may not be true for everyone, but that is just our experience in chatting with others.
Our biggest thing we missed is the walking track found on the other ships. We love deck 4 on the others and really missed it on this ship. It is almost like they designed this ship to keep you inside as much as possible. Oh, and the shopping - those high end stores were always empty and the Disney merchandise store on deck 5 was so small comparatively and usually crowded.
The ship itself is beautiful, the prettiest in the fleet, but we dislike the function. At least for the things we enjoy doing onboard. Others may love it. One of the other things that surprised us was that the crew on this ship were not all that friendly. We are so used to everyone speaking to you as they pass you in the hall or around the ship. Of course, not everyone is unfriendly, but compared to our experience so other ships this was the least friendly. The crew refer to this ship as “the maze”. Lots of small, out of the way, harder to find spaces. But the crew love their cabins on this ship the best! They said they are an improvement from the other cabins on Disney’s other ships.
I will say no DCL cruise is a bad one, we just like some more than others. I won’t say that we will never sail on the Wish again, but it certainly would not be my first, second third or fourth choice. We are sailing on the Treasure next Spring and I already am a bit worried that we won’t love it. I’m hoping that a 7 day will not feel as crowded as a four day. We will try and skip Marvel for sure on that rotation. And who knows, maybe they tweaked some things, although I am aware the layout will be similar.
We are back on the Fantasy very soon and can’t wait. It’s our favorite!
