Trip Report **Completed** Last Minute Cruise - Disney Wish February 2025

Seriously, this trip was incredibly last minute. We had been throwing around the possibility of taking a cruise since the December 2024 trip and we had cancelled several prior to that. Disney released great deals on select cruises so it was becoming more of a reality. However, the husband kept dragging his feet and only made a decision a week or two before the cruise departure date AFTER the sale had ended on the cruises we were watching so he ended up paying more than necessary. Which meant plane tickets were expensive for those still available. And that meant a road trip from Virginia would be required. This was my first ever cruise and only his second (and he hardly remembered the first one when he was a teenager lol).

Who: Me and the husband, R
Why: He said it was for his birthday and was discouraged with our home search
When: Road trip started Feb 1st, Cruise started Feb 3, and a road trip back home
What: Besides the cruise, we had absolutely no idea what we were going to be doing or staying (major anxiety from me ensued)
Where: Disney Wish, All Star Music, and various places along I-95

I'm still having issues with my technology (must get a new computer!) but it's doing better than it was in December. And with no surprise trips planned, I should be able to finish this one much more quickly. I promise I'll try

 

[LeighM]

Our fantastic server made us some origami animals - a fish and a butterfly. I did take pictures but can't find them either (notice a trend?). Sometimes technology hates me. I had already placed my order for dinner the night before so she only needed R's.

These are the allergy friendly menus

This was the cucumber, potato, and carrot salad. R even liked the pickled cucumber. I don't think the lingonberry jam was included on this plate but I don't think it was needed.

This was the cod. It was good but either the vinaigrette was missing or it needed a little big more. But it's something I would get again.

The server recommended the GF carrot cake and it was one of the best gluten free carrot cakes I've ever had. Don't go in expecting it to be a duplicate of a normal cake but for gluten free it wasn't bad at all.

Here are the servers doing their thing

 

[LeighM]

This was R's view of the show - there's the column that blocked most of my view!

Here are pictures of R's dinner

R didn't know how he was supposed to eat this so Marleny showed him how

His dessert was really good. Very light! Because I had it as his birthday celebration in the reservation, they came around and sang him happy birthday. I thought he was going to kill me and I have a video of the whole thing. This was his birthday cake slice.

The candy candle is a great touch. We had to wait a while after dinner until Marleny had time to take my dinner for the next day's dinner, which was going to be Pirate Night at the same MDR. We went back to our room and saw this cute towel animal

Which reminds me, this is the one we had in our room earlier in the day.

He was able to find a pillow that R had asked for to see if it would help his back. I was surprised that he didn't forget from the day before. Our stateroom host was just beyond fantastic at everything.

And I was able to find another picture that reminded me a little bit of what we did that afternoon and it was to watch this show in the lobby. But I remember nothing at all about it LOL.

Up next - Wednesday - Nassau and Pirate Night

 

[MinnieM123]

For some reason, I was up bright and early this morning, just in time to wake up R so that he could see the sun rise.

Your collection of sunrise photos was outstanding. (Actually, all of your photos throughout your TR are great!)

 

[LeighM]

Your collection of sunrise photos was outstanding. (Actually, all of your photos throughout your TR are great!)

Thank you. A lot of them didn't turn out as well as I was hoping because I was still having that weird pixelated issue from the last trip. I can't figure out how to stop my phone's camera from auto changing. I have so many moving shots that I wanted to be a still photo

And I wasn't sure if anyone was still paying attention to this report LOL. Technology issues have been a real pain!! It's official - I need a new computer. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[LeighM]

Wednesday - Nassau and Pirate Night

It was exciting to wake up someplace new, not knowing what would be outside of our window. We slept late since we didn't have any excursions booked. We had a Royal Caribbean ship parked next to our verandah. And let me say that it sounded extremely loud to me after the quiet of the verandah the previous day LOL.

Originally, we were just going to stay on the ship but R got it into his head that he wanted to look for a specific watch in Nassau. The day before, he talked to one of the castmembers on the ship and got her recommendations (we also got the free ship charm but I don't have a picture of it - I can take one later, if anyone is interested). We went up to Marceline Market (no pictures of the food because we were looking at the view).

We went on to the top deck to get more pictures of the area....

It was this day we learned there was a whole other pool at the front of the ship that was right above the concierge area. This area stayed quiet most of the trip. And they had a great view from there too!

A Carnival ship on our other side and another after that. Nassau port was packed this day!

I do think we want a fully aft veranah next because their view really is the best

And this is the rest of the RC ship - blocking our view of Atlantis.

Which is how we discovered the quieter pool in the front We had to hunt for a better location spot.

Soon, I would be walking along those streets.

There was no line to disembark the ship because we left after our lunch.

 

[LeighM]

And I have to admit that I hated our time in Nassau Walking around a crowded, humid, loud, chaotic Bay Street is not my idea of fun. I hate shopping on a good day and being dragged to every jewelery store in the vicinity trying to avoid the people hawking goods was not fun. Unfortunately, my bad moods are always very facially expressive and soon all the sellers started to leave me alone. Sorry, sales people I'm not a good mark. I don't like diamonds and I can't wear gold. No commission will be earned from me. I did, however, like the John Bull store because they had a very good perfume selection even though their prices aren't always the best. I also liked the AC in this store. I had forgotten my bottled water and I didn't want to wait in the long Starbucks lines everywhere to get a bottled water. I had wanted to walk to and see the Pirate Museum and Parliament Square but the crowds this day were very overwhelming. The sidewalks are not wide enough for all of the people that were in port. We did pick up a free charm of a seahorse (which was really nice because I had lost the one I used to wear decades ago). I did like the shops in the port area but we didn't get a chance to really explore the places because people were legit everywhere. And the music was way too loud. If we go back to Nassau, I will definitely be doing things differently. And it will NOT involve going to every single jewelry/watch store along Bay Street!

I attempted to see the Straw Market but quickly noped out of there

We made our way back to the ship for lunch. The lines going thru customs back to the dock wasn't so much a "line" as a massive crush of people all trying to be the first ones through. We finally made it and I gave a HUGE sigh of relief to have a space bubble around me again.

I was not able to get the entire ship in the frame but it gives a good idea of the size of the Wish.

We made our way back to Marceline Market for lunch (and LOTS of water, Powerade, and lemonade). Our MDR server was manning one of the stations so she had to find out whether the curry was okay for me to eat. She somehow managed to remember what I had ordered for that night's dinner so she knew I could tolerate some amounts of gluten. The head waiter came out to handle the order. I was going back to the station to get the food but I saw him bringing it to me.

The rice wasn't GF because of spaghetti water or something but I told him that it was fine, that I had consumed limited amounts of gluten so far and I had a good dinner planned. But if anyone out there has to be strictly gluten free, definitely ask about rice dishes before assuming it's safe.

We got back to the room and saw them doing cleaning outside of our verandah.

And we had Mickey and Minnie pirate bandanas waiting for us on the bed.

R didn't notice that he took the Minnie one and happily wore it all night. The Mickey one had an eye patch over the eye and didn't have extended eyelashes.

And now that I'm looking at today's pictures, the schedule is becoming a little bit more clear. This was the day that R wanted to watch Moana 2. I started watching it with him but the theater was too cold for me so I decided to meet up with him later and I would go to Triton's Lounge to do the adult only learn to draw Captain Hook.

It felt a little impersonal and boring without someone next to me to laugh at the horrible job I was doing. I'm not even going to share my attempt.

Here it is for anyone who wants to try it for themselves. Afterwards, I went back to the room to relax and wait for R. I was sitting out on the freshly cleaned verandah when he got back and decided he needed a nap.

 

[LeighM]

I was sitting outside and heard a commotion, which was really odd considering where we were. I told R to come watch it for another first on our cruise

We got to see Nassau police in their boat go intercept a fishing boat that had "parked" behind the RC ship who was trying to leave. The guests on the back of their ship kept yelling at them to move their boat. When the police got there, they were yelling at the people on the boat to get the heck out of the way.

The fisherman quickly moved their little boat out of the way. It was all very interesting to watch. That's another reason to have an aft room - first row seats for any drama that might commence. R decided to stay outside and watch us leave.

This was the view after RC left the port.

It's hard to see in the below picture, but there are 3 cruise ships off in the distance.

See the RC one on the left? Someone in the FB cruise group I'm a member of shared this picture of the Wish and she said that I had permission to use it.

Turned out that we were the last ship to disembark!

These were the pictures that R's hands were taking in a previous picture.

The skies and sunset were gorgeous and I could not get my camera to do it justice! The pixelation strikes again

It was at this point that I realized that the cruise was half over. And I wasn't ready!!! Turns out that I like cruising after all At least when the seas were as calm as these were! Seriously, couldn't ask for more perfect weather and conditions for a first ever cruise.

 

[LeighM]

I totally forgot to talk about the first show on Tuesday!!!! It was Little Mermaid and we both thought it was fantastic! The woman who plays Ursula has a great voice and real talent. I think she was my favorite from both shows. We watched all shows from the second floor balcony and we had a great view of the stage. When you're looking at the direction of the stage, the women's bathroom is right outside the theater on the left which made convenient quick exits once I realized these shows were an hour long instead of the 20-30 minutes of the show the first night.

And another quick edit - I remembered that the night before we also went to a Match Your Mate game and then another adult only activity. The Match Your Mate game was hilarious and I think one man left questioning if he really knew his new girlfriend I remembered this because the woman who took this picture for us was actually in the room with us during the other activity. We kept running into the same 4-5 groups during the entire 4 days. Always the same people.

We did not want to wait in line to meet any of the characters (the lines for the characters were always crazy yall!!). I cannot understand why you would want to line up an hour before a character comes out when there is no need. Have fun, show up, and get in line then. I was glad we didn't do the photo package because we would not have gotten our money back from it. Maybe if it wasn't our first time on the ship or if it wasn't completely sold out.

The lines were low for the Starcruiser so we hopped in. I don't know what time it becomes adults only. But tonight, parents had their 2 little kids in there screaming while they had their alcoholic beverage. If it wasn't for that, it would've been a highlight of the trip.

I can't remember what drinks we ordered but mine had the foam design visible under a black light. Both were very good and I thought they were reasonably priced for a Disney cruise ship.

There was a Pirate Deck party before our dinner, I think.

Afterwards, it was time to go back to the Arendelle MDR for our Pirate Night dinner.

 

[LeighM]

We were the first ones seated at our table and Marleny made us both origami animals. She really was the best!

Here was the allergy friendly menu for the night

I wanted to take this menu with me and use it as wall decor LOL.

It all sounded very good but I wasn't as hungry tonight because of the extra large lunch I had. And the 2 different soft serve ice cream cones that I had throughout the day.

The chicken was a tad bit dry but still had great flavor.

R said it was fine but not memorable.

However, the mango soup he ordered was memorable. He loved it.

I had the pasta, shrimp, and scallops again. I forgot to take a picture of it earlier

It was still good but I do wish they could do something else with the GF spaghetti besides using a marinara sauce.

R said his entree was good and enjoye the plantain strips on top.

 

[LeighM]

My GF cake was extremely good and I was glad that she ordered it for me. She said I didn't have a choice LOL.

His cake was also very good

We had to wait for a bit so that I could look over the GF lunch menu that was available for pickup from Castaway

I skipped over placing an order so that I didn't feel constrained for timing, etc on a day that I just wanted to relax. But it was good to know what sides were gluten free so that I could play my lunch around the dinner at 1923 that I had to pick out tonight too.

We didn't have time after we left dinner to make our way to the top deck for the Parlay Party. We wanted to watch from the adult only deck but we couldn't see the screen or stage very well.

We ended up going down a level on the left side of the ship in an area that didn't have many people. Which would've worked if one family had watched their children that were running around in between people and stepping on their feet. I shot one of the older girls a look and they quieted down a little bit. I missed Jack rapelling down bc of my camera.

I thought the show and singers (along with music choice) were very good. And it seemed like the adults enjoyed it more than the kids

We didn't have a great view of the fireworks but we still really liked it. After the fireworks ended, I was very happy to be on Deck 10 and we only had one flight of steps to walk down to the room because the lines for the elevator were INSANE!!!

We got back to the room and this towel animal was waiting for us. I can't remember if I included them all so I will have a post at the end of the trip that includes all of the ones we had.

Up next - Castaway Cay and the last full day

 

[Swissmiss]

Enquiring minds want to know: did R find his watch?

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Your Nassau experience has confirmed that I’ve made the right decision when visiting there. In four cruises that have stopped there I’ve never got off the ship.

Enjoying the report, looking forward to reading about your Castaway day.

 

[LeighM]

Enquiring minds want to know: did R find his watch?

No, the search continues

 

[LeighM]

Your Nassau experience has confirmed that I’ve made the right decision when visiting there. In four cruises that have stopped there I’ve never got off the ship.

Enjoying the report, looking forward to reading about your Castaway day.

I'm curious about trying an excursion next time away from the port area to see what else Nassau has to offer before fully making up my mind about no more Nassau. But I cannot suggest staying in the port area and shops for those that are overwhelmed by people and noise, if the dock is full of ships. I didn't realize how tense I actually was until I got back to our room.

 

[LeighM]

Thursday - Castaway Cay

This was the day that I was most excited for!! And I was really sad knowing that today was our last day I woke up bright and early with excitement. I looked out of our window to see what was happening and this was our view.

I started to get ready and I was WAY too excited to eat breakfast. By the time I was finished, it was time we were supposed to disembark. But when we got to the first floor, they weren't allowing us yet and told us to wait on floor 2. R remembered he forgot his tablet so he went back to the room. He wasn't gone for very long when they allowed us off the ship. I waited, and waited, and apparently R wasn't in any rush. I sent him a message that I was leaving for Serenity

These are the name plates for the families that are pearl (?) level.

I got to the tram and R was still no where in sight

Because I was only the second or third person off the ship, they waited here for a while for more people to show up. Then I see R doing an (extremely slow) mosey up to the tram. Luckily, he caught me in time because the driver left soon after.

We were the first ones at the adult only beach

We picked out our chairs and I was dragging the beach chair to one of the few sunny spots.

This was my view. The water was chilly but not uncomfortably so. A few more people showed up and everyone stayed quiet, not making a sound, while we all soaked up the sounds of solitude. For over 10 minutes, all we could hear ws the sound of the waves, birds, and leaves in the slight breeze. It was my heaven! It's been soooooo long since all I could hear were the sounds of nature without human noise in the background. I may have shed a few tears - or several. I didn't realize how much my soul needed that kind of peace.

The water was so clear. Excuse my mismatched bathing suit but I couldn't find the right top when I was packing LOL.

We sat here for a long time and more adults slowly starting appearing. But the noise level always stayed very low throughout the morning.

 

[LeighM]

This was my first time seeing water this clear. The beaches in Virginia and along most of the East Coast do NOT look like this

Soon, I got the urge to explore. Because we were driving, I was able to bring my KYSS bag and I had a change of shoes for walking but not anything that would allow a lot of exploring. And bc the husband didn't listen, he didn't pack the shoes I recommended. He locked up his Kindle and off we went to see new things.

This was how busy the beach was when we left for our short exploration

And if anyone was curious, they did have a handicapped path down to the beach

Because of the shoe situation, I knew we couldn't do the path to the observation area so we kept it short along the path that led to the cabanas.

There is a lot of construction going on in this area building more. This was the view at the end of the path.

The beach is very different and you can still see the scars from past storms. The camera also couldn't properly photograph the color of ths water. In the picture, it looks a deep blue. But in actuality it was a deep green. And it was gorgeous. The correct color didn't show on R's iPhone either. By the time we got back to Serenity Bay, the shadows had shifted and the beach was now sunny and water was much warmer, although still had a slight, but refreshing, chill.

I had to lure R off of his beach chair and Kindle to take this picture.

The water was so blue on this specific beach!

These were the only fishes I saw

Skipping breakfast was catching up to both of us so we decided to wait at the lunch spot until they opened. I was also really thirsty and wanted to stay near the drink machine.

 

[LeighM]

They were doing construction on the other side of the fence building even more cabanas. Listening to construction noise while eating was not very pleasant especially after the tranquility of this morning.

It wasn't really a buffet like we were expecting - the sides and toppings were buffet but the area with the meats were roped off and they were serving you. It wasn't clearly marked so there was a lot of confusion for those cruising here for the first time since they started this practice. I did not stay to the GF diet at all LOL.

All of the sides were very good especially that potato salad. I was still hungry but didn't want to wait in the line that was now extending towards the bathrooms. And I was very thankful that we got there early.

R got everything he wanted at once because he anticipated the long line LOL.

I got another soft serve cone and while eating, we decided to explore the other parts of the island while heading back to the ship. A tram just then showed up so off we went!

This picture was mandatory as Olaf is his favorite.

Not many people were enjoying this cute little bar during lunch hours

Great view of the ship!

We stopped by a few of the gift shops and I got a pin for Castaway Cay. They said they don't take the Disney Visa discount there for anyone wondering.

On the way out, I remembered to get a picture of this sign for our photo album.

This was closer to the green water in the other location.

And I almost forgot to take a picture of Rapunzel!

When got back on deck the ship was mostly empty and we had a pretty view.

Because it was so empty, and were already wearing our bathing suits, we decided it was a good time to ride the AquaMouse. The first time we rode, R was in the front. We were not expecting to be hit in the face with so much water. And because my eyes were closed so much, I didn't see much of the video And at the end of the ride, I got hit with a wall of cold water down my back that I was NOT expecting. We rode one more time but switched positions. When he got hit with that water, he was like "now I see why you were surprised." We had a fun time. We stayed on the adult only deck while we got dried off.

 

[LeighM]

We went back to the room to shower and nap. This is the towel animal that was waiting for us when we got back.

We had the Donald luggage tags and were undecided whether we wanted to place our luggage outside of the door that evening or do express walk off. I still had no idea what the plans were or where we were staying. I hadn't been able to do any research because my WiFi stopped working. Not sure if I mentioned that earlier in the trip report but we purchased the WiFi streaming for my phone only when we embarked and were eating at Marceline Market. That way, we could be reached in case of emergency but his coworkers wouldn't be blowing up his phone all the time.

While R was getting his beauty rest, I went downstairs and booked a placeholder for a future cruise. I couldn't do it in the app because he had used his regular credit card on the reservation instead of the Disney Visa, which I didn't know at the time. This reminds me of something else. The day before my WiFi stopped working and I had to go to the desk to find out what was wrong. Instead of R downloading the DCL app and using his own Disney account, he logged in using the Disney/travel email that I use. So every time he logged into the app, he was kicking me off of the WiFi. Once the CM figured that out, I never had another issue with it. I didn't have to wait in a long line for the placeholder either. I don't know when we will use it but figure we will at some point. Spoiler alert - I'm currently torn between cruising on Fantasy 5 night or Treasure 7 night.

I took this picture on the way back to the room.

I sat outside for a little while feeling very sad that the trip was pretty much over.

We went to the Tiana's bayou themed bar to wait for tonight's show, Aladdin. Ordered the beignets. It was crowded because a lot of people were listening to the live band. I give him points for trying, but the singer should not have picked a Josh Turner country song. He didn't have the voice for it. But the beignets were very good but I liked the ones at PO Riverside better.

We left for the theater and saw there was already a line forming. We got inside and paused in confusion. Then we realized we entered on the main floor and not the balcony. By the time we got up there, our favorite seats were taken by a big headed couple. Seriously, that woman's head was HUGE. It reminded me of Granddaddy and the way Grandma would tease him. Luckily, the couple was short like us so the stage wasn't blocked. I had to sneak in a picture before the CM got into the nightly position where they could see everyone. And they never hesitated to tell people to turn off their phone!

We were really excited for tonight's show. The woman who played Jasmine had a weaker voice compared to the other actors and I think that detracted from it a little bit. And there was a cute child sitting somewhere near us who kept asking where was Abu I had to agree with the litle one - it was strange to have the magic carpet but not have an Abu puppet make an appearance. But the men who portrayed Jafar and the Genie were fantastic. I have some criticisms of Genie but it's probably just me. After the show, R and I talked and we both agreed that between the two shows, The Little Mermaid was our favorite.

We walked outside the Deck 5 (?) deck before dinner at 1923. We were already near the coast of Florida and could see the lights.

I thought the darkness of the ocean would scare me more (I'm afraid of the dark) but it never bothered me. Now ask me that again if the ship ever lost power and we were left incomplete darkness LOL!!! I wasn't happy about going back to land with the lights, the constant noise, all kinds of pollution. I was turning into a Debbie Downer so we fought our way through an extremely crowded lobby for 1923.

 

[LeighM]

For some reason, I wasn't able to attach this picture to the previous post but it worked here. This was one of the large ships we could see from the deck.

So much light We were seated in the Roy Disney section.

We were the first ones to the table and we had a seat right by the window. We couldn't see much through the reflection but it was nice not to be surrounded by people.

This was the GF menu I was shown the night before

This was my dinner:

The gnocchi was good but not memorable at all. I had forgotten about it until I uploaded the picture.

The filet was butterflied (or whatever the term was) to ensure even cooking. We thought it would be dry and tough but it actually wasn't. R ended up ordering the same entree as me so there won't be a second picture for him.

The brownie was excellent!

Here are R's appetizer and dessert, don't ask me what it was because we never took a picture of the regular menus.

I just asked and he has no memory of his appetizer. But he said the dessert was very light. I snuck and taste and I have to agree that it was best. But then the servers came out with a special gluten free dessert for our anniversary. Marleny wasn't sure if we would be able to get one but she told me earlier in the trip that she would try.

Yall, this chocolate cake was better than most regular chocolate cakes I've eaten. I wish I hadn't eaten so much of the brownie but we still ate all of this cake because it was just that good. Thank goodness my issue is odd celiac and not diabetes!

After dinner, we decided to walk around the ship and walk off some of that dinner. R remembered that we had never gone to Senses during the open house and despite all of his good intentions he never saw the inside of the gym. So off to the gym we went. I didn't get pictures of anything, or the nice deck right outside because of borderline food/sugar coma. When I looked at the map of the ship, I realized that there was whole other deck on the front of the ship we had never known was there. And that's when I realized about the Dole whips on the upper deck. I really don't think 4 nights on a ship as large as the Wish is enough time to see the entire ship and do what you want to do. While we were out we decided to do Express Walk off and let our room attendant know when we saw him in the hallway on the way back to the room.

 

[LeighM]

Friday - Disembarkation and Kennedy Space Center

We woke up all kinds of sad. I had to look out the window to see what was outside. And it was the Fantasy. And it was definitely smaller than the Wish.

We had told our servers we probably wouldn't be at breakfast so hugs (and extra tips) were given. We really did have some great people this trip and they set the bar very high for future cruises!

We didn't get any pictures after leaving the room. The elevators were busy, the lobby was full of people waiting for breakfast at 1923 and for the group to be called to disembark. We got into the line that wrapped around the ship but it was constantly moving. And soon enough we were off the ship and outside facing the garage. We were really confused because we were like "did we go through customs?" Why are we here??? It was unlike all we had heard and was none of our expectations. But we were in the garage by 8AM. I was unable to find an affordable room anywhere we wanted to stay in Orlando (cheer/dance competitions) so we decided to go to Kennedy Space Center and check that off R's list.

I purchased tickets online while driving there. It was only about a 20 minute drive so we got fantastic parking right at the front.

These were the prices and the astronaut that was meeting that day. I almost choked on those prices!!!!

R was worried because we were there so early but a line was already forming.

The wait went by really fast and soon we were inside. First thing we saw.

It was extremely foggy again this morning, which you can see later in a picture. I can't remember which exhibit this way but it was really neat seeing everything.

We then went to the IMAX building to use a bathroom. While looking for R, I started talking to an employee. She gave me a wonderful compliment when she said I didn't look 44 and I told her if she could see the gray hair coming in under my hat, she might change her mind. Then R came up to me and she really didn't believe that we had been together for 22 years because she didn't think he was almost 45. Thank you wonderful lady for both making us feel good about ourselves that day LOL. She told us we needed to hurry up and get in line for the bus to Apollo/Saturn. She told us that it was Field Trip Friday and they were expecting thousands of kids that afternoon.