Trip Report When you WISH upon a star

Ok guys, it’s time for another trip report!

This was a fun one and something a little different. First of all, my travel buddy this time was my mom! And second, this was a World / Cruise combo!

I have done one Disney cruise prior to this, my husband and I sailed on the Dream in February 2024 for our 15 year anniversary. I absolutely loved our cruise but like most things Disney, it was a one and done for my husband. I knew I wanted to cruise again, and experience a different class of ship. My mom loves to travel, my dad not as much, so I asked her if she wanted to come along. She of course said yes. She isn’t a huge Disney fan but loves Broadway style shows, loves the beach, shopping and just travel in general. So I knew we’d have a good time!



Day One 4/18

Our flight departed for MCO at 1pm. We did unfortunately have one stop. The week of April 20th is spring break for MA and most New England schools so flights were crazy expensive. We opted for a cheaper Delta flight (I’m usually a Southwest girlie) with a stop.

You know I’m big on timestamps!

Walking to baggage claim at 6:45pm

Boarding Mears Connect at 7:15pm

Driving under the best sign ever at 8pm

Aimlessly walking around Riverside trying to find our room in the dark at 8:18pm

Found our room at 8:25pm!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We then went up to the pool deck for the first pirate show of the night.

I had to purchase this drink, 100% for the light up cup.

The show was cute!

Then on to dinner

Appetizers were carrot cilantro soup and the baby gem salad for me and the crab cake for my mom.

For dinner we both had the jerk chicken

And our shared desserts were banana & Nutella cake, caramel cheesecake tart and my favorite, pineapple & coconut sundae.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Our nightly dinner photo

After dinner, my mom was not interested in staying up for the last pirate show and fireworks so I went alone. I’m not a huge fan of this show but I do like when Jack Sparrow propels himself down in front of the screen.

And of course, the fireworks were amazing!

And goodnight!

 

[Minnie1986]

We then went up to the pool deck for the first pirate show of the night.

I had to purchase this drink, 100% for the light up cup.

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The show was cute!

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Then on to dinner
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Appetizers were carrot cilantro soup and the baby gem salad for me and the crab cake for my mom.
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For dinner we both had the jerk chicken
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And our shared desserts were banana & Nutella cake, caramel cheesecake tart and my favorite, pineapple & coconut sundae.
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That cup looks like it was 100% worth the price; so cool!

 

[Tuvalu]

You could be Sage in this picture!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

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You could be Sage in this picture!

Sage does love to rock a bandana

 

[radiorae]

Our excursion was to Ardastra Gardens.
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Ardastra is a wildlife conservation center and sanctuary, with a focus on the Caribbean Flamingo population. We had a tour guide who took us all around the facility. She was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about her work at the facility. We were able to give little treats to some of the animals, hold a baby turtle and see an amazing flamingo show.

We absolutely loved this excursion. You can tell that the facility relies heavily on the financial support it must receive from these cruise ship excursions. If you’ve been to Nassau, I’m sure you’ve noticed that some areas of the island are clearly struggling. This facility is run by people who love the wildlife on their island and are passionate to provide a safe and beautiful space for these animals to live and thrive. I was extremely happy we were able to visit here.
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This looks so fun! I’m glad you were able to pivot; it looks like you had a great time. I especially love the flamingo and lorikeet pictures

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

This looks so fun! I’m glad you were able to pivot; it looks like you had a great time. I especially love the flamingo and lorikeet pictures

We ended up really loving it! The excursion we originally had booked stopped at 4 different places around the island - a tea factory/ store, a basket weaving store, a rum factory and a restaurant for lunch. My mom is a big tea drinker and was really looking forward to the tea stop so I did feel bad that it was cancelled. But this excursion turned out to be great.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Day six 4/23 Day at Sea

Our final full day and our only day at sea!

The morning started in the best possible way- CHURRO MICKEY WAFFLES!!!

Guest services gifted us two free specialty coffee or teas, probably because we were there literally every day so we cashed in on those as well.

Hung out in the atrium a bit

Love the Cinderella back drop and quote above the stage

And then it was time for the Royal Gathering! My mom chose not to get in on the pictures with me

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We then finally made it to the Bayou for beignets!

Now here is where things got a little dicey

We signed up for the 1:15 Walking the Wish Tour. My husband and I did a similar tour on the Dream and we LOVED it. Your tour guide takes you all around the ship, talking about the artwork and design of the ship. I was SO SO looking forward to this tour.

We were in the Bayou, which is on Deck 3, and we were supposed to meet at a lounge on Deck 5. So at about 1:05/1:10, we walk to the elevator and take it up to deck 5. When the elevator opens, we only have two choices, enter the Senses Spa, or exit through a door that goes outside. I assume that if we go outside, we will eventually a find a door that enters back onto the ship so we can find the lounge. So we walk outside and just keep walking and walking and when we find a door, we are back at the spa where we started

So we get in the elevator, go back down to deck 3, walk past the Bayou, go to the elevators on the other side, go back up to deck 5 and eventually find the lounge where we are supposed to meet. I look at my phone and it is 1:19. And the tour group is no where to be found. How they disappeared that quickly baffles me. This was a tour we signed up for so the cast member had our names on a list. I was shocked they didn’t give us a little bit of a grace period.

We see a cast member standing nearby so we say we are there to meet the tour and she says, they just left and were walking towards the Marvel restaurant. So my mom and walk as fast as we can and when we get there, they are gone. A cast member says she thinks they went to Arendelle next. So we walk over to Arendelle and of course, they are not there. The cast member says he thinks they were headed up to The Cove which is on Deck 12. At that point, my mom and I realized we were never going to catch up with them and gave up. I was so upset. This was the number one thing I was looking forward to. And unfortunately, this was the last tour of the day. There were 3 offered that day. The first was at 9am which I didn’t want to make my mom wake up that early for, the second was at 11:30 but our Royal Gathering reservation was at 11:45, and then this one at 1:15. So I guess lesson learned, if there is something you really want to do, don’t save it for the very end

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Next we went to the pool. No pics there, it was crowded of course being the only sea day. I also did the AquaMouse water slide. I am not a huge fan of water slides but I wanted to do it at least once, just for the experience. I was pleasantly surprised to find the family I used to nanny for was in line right in front of me. We chatted for the 20 minute ish wait and then I rode the slide with my little buddy. I told her I was nervous and might scream but she said she didn’t mind It actually wasn’t that bad, definitely glad I did it.

Some stock photos of the adult pool and AquaMouse

After hanging by the pool & hot tub for a few hours, we went back to the room to get changed. We also ordered room service- cheese and crackers for my mom and a Mickey bar (obviously) for me.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We then went down for that night’s photo session. The show that night was Aladdin so they had some Aladdin backgrounds as well as some magic shots. They also had some Hoppers magic shots- super cute movie if you haven’t seen it yet!

As you can see, I really enjoyed having the photo package and it was well worth the price!

 

[cgersic]

Just LOVING all of the photos!! You are going to have a nice collection for you both

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Just LOVING all of the photos!! You are going to have a nice collection for you both

Thank you! I am planning to make us each a photo book with all my photos from the week

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

While we were waiting in line for the pictures, an announcement was made that we were picking up speed with the intent to dock in Port Canaveral by 8pm. Apparently, a crew member needed medical attention beyond what the ship could provide. Nothing would change for the guests, with the exception of the shops closing early that night.

We then went to see Aladdin and this was BY FAR the best show of the three. The casting was perfect, the Genie was hysterical and Aladdin and Jasmine were amazing. I actually loved the Magic Carpet as well, all the stock photos I found show a man but ours was a young woman and she was an incredible tumbler. This was the only show that I would choose to see again.

Stock photo

Dinner that night was at 1923

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Once again, no complaints with the food, everything was perfect!

Apps- four cheese tortellini, burrata & prosciutto, corn chowder

Entrees- peppered filet & quinoa tacos

Desserts- apple cheesecake, churros, blueberry lemon Bavarian cream

We happen to pass Tiana walking back to our room

Another cute towel animal!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Back in the room, I changed back into my capris and teeshirt and we started packing up. We decided to keep our bags with us instead of putting them out the night before. We really didn’t want to have to stuff our pajamas and morning toiletries into our carry ons. This was definitely much easier and made the evening and morning much more relaxed.

The goodbye show down in the atrium was at 10:15

I went down for it, my mom did not. In addition to the show, they do super quick character meets where you essentially jump in for a quick pic & hug and then move on to the next. The lines were very well organized and the CMs did a great job controlling the chaos.

I was able to meet Pluto, Goofy, Mickey & Minnie in about a 12 minute span.

And then watched the rest of the show and off to bed

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

I don’t have any pictures from the next day, which is weird for me. We had breakfast in 1923, took the Disney transport back to the airport and back home we went!

Overall we loved our cruise!

Our servers and stateroom host were very similar to our experience on the Dream. Some we loved, some were just ok. Our main server Sandra was fantastic. Very friendly and accommodating. Our stateroom host Scarlett was wonderful as well. Our drink server was not the best, he actually messed up our order two nights in a row (we explained the issue both times) and still charged us both nights despite the issues.

The Wish is a very lovely ship and I very much enjoyed the theming. It does feel more busy and chaotic and just not as relaxing. I could not get used to the layout, we got lost many times and had to look at a map anytime we went anywhere.

The Dream just felt more laid back and quiet, but we also had 5 nights on the Dream vs 4 on the Wish.

I don’t really feel the need to cruise again anytime in the near future, if I do it would 100% be an Alaskan cruise on the Magic or the Wonder.

Disney cruises just don’t have my heart quite like Disney World

Thanks for reading and following along! I’ll be back in August - Aria is finally getting her mother/ daughter trip! I just couldn’t pass up the $99/night Disney+ deal!

 

[riverside]

Thanks so much for sharing your trip!! It looks like it was a lot of fun!!
And I know someone who just booked a trip today for that same time in August!!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Thanks so much for sharing your trip!! It looks like it was a lot of fun!!
And I know someone who just booked a trip today for that same time in August!!

 

[cgersic]

I figured out on my one and only cruise, that I'm just not a cruiser. Much more of a destination traveler, but I can't tell you how much fun I have reading Disney Cruise Line trip reports! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this report, and for sharing your mother/daughter time with us. I can't wait for the report on Aria's trip with mom! Happy early mother's day!