Alex: Today, we’re kicking off a very special two-part Disney Cruise Line series that we’ve been so excited to record. Between the three of us, we recently sailed on Disney’s newest Wish class ships. The Disney Wish, the Disney Treasure, and the Disney Destiny. They may be sister ships, but they each have their own personality.

In this episode, we’re diving into the first impression side of the experience. Overall vibe, theming, staterooms, dining, and entertainment. Whether you’re planning your first Disney cruise or you’re a Disney Cruise Line veteran wondering how the new ships stack up, this is the episode for you.

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Alex: Hey, I’m Alex.

Jess: And I’m Jess. Let’s talk points. If you’re viewing this on YouTube, you will notice that all three of us are wearing our Mickey ears and some themed gear. Alex has her Disney Destiny Cup. So, we are so excited.

Alex: My Disney Destiny shirt in my Disney Destiny ears.

Jess: Megan’s got her… is that?

Megan: I have my Treasure ears and shirt.

Alex: We’re on theme today.

Jess: I have my Taylor Swift Midnights ears that look like Cinderella-ish and a Cinderella shirt. So, we are all on theme today. Super excited for this two-part series where we are diving into the Wish class ships. So that is the Disney Wish, the Disney Treasure, and the Disney Destiny.

Megan is joining us today because she is the one from our team who sailed on the Disney Treasure with her family back over the summer, her first cruise ever. I sailed on the Wish with my family in July, and Alex just got back from sailing on the Destiny. She was on the media preview sailing for the Destiny in early November. Again, her first Disney cruise and her first cruise ever.

So before we get started, I do want to say that Disney hosted Alex and I on our respective cruises, which means that they took care of our cruise fare, but all the opinions expressed in these episodes are our own. I am actually, if you have been listening for a while, you know I am a loyal Disney cruiser. I would choose the cruises over the parks any day. This was my, I think, fourth Disney Cruise that I’ve been on. I actually have another one coming up later this month. And so I’m a Disney Cruise lover, but I’m excited to hear about what Alex and Megan thought of their first Disney Cruise and first cruises ever. So we are going to get into it.

Alex: You know what? Jess, just when you were saying that you’re a Disney cruiser over the parks, I have not been able to get Mitch to go to the parks. Granted, like I haven’t tried very hard because I’m like, whatever, I’ll, I go with my mom and my sisters. We take the kids. The kids go with their cousins. It’s super fun, and he’s like, that’s perfect. Because he doesn’t really have interest, any interest in going to the parks.

He loved the Disney Cruise. And I’m like, see, Mitch, like there’s so much magic in Disney. We you need to try the parks. He’s like, yeah, but the cruise doesn’t have lines that I have to wait in, and I can just see, get in the Disney magic without all of that. And I was like, well, yes, but we still need to get you to the parks. So he’s on the same team as you, Jess.

Megan: Yeah, and the air conditioning.

Jess: Well, that’s the thing. There’s air conditioning. Like if you have to wait in line to meet a character on the cruise, you’re either outside on a deck and like the wind is blowing in your hair, or you’re inside in air conditioning. So, I don’t know. I’m team, I’m bringing Mitch over to my side. We are going to be Team Disney Cruise together. But we are really excited to compare notes on these ships and kind of help you decide which one or ones are for you.

I personally would go on any of these three ships, but I feel we’re going to kick it off with theming because I feel like the two biggest factors in deciding which of these ships is best for you or your family are going to be either the theming or the itinerary.

And so we’re going to get into itineraries in part two, but for part one, we’re going to talk about the theming because while the layouts of all three of these ships are the same, the theming is very different across the three. And so the Wish…

Alex: Jess, and just really quick, these three are the newest ships, right? That Disney has come out with too. And you know we love new. We’re all about new.

Jess: Yeah, they are the newest. And so they are nice and pretty. Although all of Disney maintains their ships ridiculously well. Like the cruise that I’m going on next month is on the Magic, which is the first-ever Disney cruise ship. I think it came out in 1998, and it like a lot of people say, it’s their favorite Disney Cruise ship. And so I’m excited to.

Alex: So really you don’t need to worry about like if you go on any because that’s was my thing. I was like, Oh, the Destiny is literally like weeks old. And so I’m like, oh, this is so nice. But that’s good to know that, like any Disney Cruise, like the ship’s going to be amazing. It sounds like.

Jess: Yes. It is going to be amazing. So the Wish, which is the ship I was on, the theming is more fairytale, enchanted, okay? So the grand hall, which is the room that you walk into when you enter the ship, has a huge chandelier. It was actually inspired by Cinderella’s gown turned upside down. And so it is like twinkly and sparkling. There is a Cinderella statue in the Great Hall. And so I think if you are trying to cater to the prince or princesses in your life, then the Disney Wish is a great choice for your family.

The Treasure, Megan can chime in a little bit more about this, but the Treasure has more of an adventure or exotic locales theme. And so the grand hall has an Aladdin theme, and there’s a statue of Aladdin and Jasmine on the magic carpet in the Great Hall. So what did Megan, what did I know how old were your girls when you sailed?

Megan: Eleanor and Amelia were just before they turned nine, and Rose was like 10 and a half. So they were like the perfect ages, I felt, because we don’t have a lot of experience in like kid club stuff, and they loved it. And I thought like they were the perfect ages to just be like, okay, yeah, we’ll love, we just see you later.

Jess: Okay. So they did, so they liked the theming of the Treasure.

Megan: Yes, oh my gosh, yeah. Like when we walked in, there’s like a balcony up on the top, and Aladdin and Jasmine were up there like waving to everybody as like they announced the families as you come in. And I think before our cruise, I actually texted you and I was like, Do I need to have autograph books ready? Like, are we going to see characters right away? And you’re like, you’ll have time. And we walked in immediately, the girls were like, What do we need to do? We need to get our autograph books. Like they were just so pumped, and it was just it was it, I honestly didn’t know if we would like it, and from walking onto the ship, I was like, this is awesome.

Alex: You know what, Megan, we were the same. When we got on the ship, I actually texted these two, and I was like, you guys, what do we do now? Like, there’s so many things to do. Where do we start? Like this is almost overwhelming because it’s like you’re entering a whole new world that you’ve never experienced. It’s you’re like, okay, whoa, what do we do? What’s what’s the protocol here? But then you get the hang of it so fast, and it’s like everything is like there’s so many options. It’s just so cool.

Jess: Okay, Alex, I really appreciate the Whole New World reference when we are talking about Aladdin on the magic carpet.

Alex: Yes. Look what I did. I didn’t even mean to do that, but let’s just pretend I did.

Jess: All right, and then the Destiny, which is the one Alex was on, has a heroes and villains theme. And so the grand hall is Black Panther theme. The chandelier there is meant to be vibranium. And so very much heroes and villains. There’s like Hercules and Cruella de Vil and Maleficent, and I feel like maybe caters to the older crowd of Disney Cruises or Disney cruisers or I don’t know, but how.

Alex: There’s still was young kids’ stuff there too. Like, but I definitely think like it was the perfect ship for my family, being a household of boys. Like, of course, they would love the Wish, and it’d be so fun. But being like, okay, a fairytale theme or heroes and villains? Like that speaks to the boys much more. When we came in, and they were like calling, you know, introducing the families as they walked on board, Spider-Man was the one welcoming everybody. So it was like, it was literally the perfect cruise for a family full of boys.

Jess: I feel like it worked out perfectly with me being hosted on the Wish and you being hosted on the Destiny because we, we, it was me, my husband, Molly, and then she was able to bring a friend with her and so it was four of us and they are just, I mean, they’re a little bit, they’re not, they’re not in, they’re 12, you know, and so they’re not like, oh, let me dress up like a princess, but they still appreciate the princess vibes, you know? And so I feel like we each kind of, it was meant to be for us to each be on the ship that we…

Alex: No, I totally agree.

Jess: …that we got. All right, so Megan is going to go into a little bit more about the staterooms now. 

Megan: Okay, so each of the ships, since they have their own themes, the staterooms also have themes that kind of match that overall theme. Um, so the Wish has Cinderella, Frozen, Princess and the Frog, Sleeping Beauty, Moana, Little Mermaid, and Tangled. So very much the princesses.

Um, the Treasure, we had Aladdin in our room, which that’s my favorite movie. Jasmine’s always been my favorite princess, so I was very excited. And the other ones are Pocahontas, Encanto, Up, Finding Nemo, Luca, and Lion King. Um, we didn’t get to see any of the other rooms, but I’ve seen pictures online, and they’re all the theme of the room is not so much like it doesn’t take over the room. It’s kind of like over the headboard of the main bed, and that’s like it.

Alex: It’s very like very classy done. That was my whole thing with everything on this ship. I was like, everything feels classy and high-end. Nothing is like corny and cheap feeling. Everything is just like, oh, this is nice.

Megan: Or like in your face. Yeah. So, like and like we didn’t pick a room like specific to a theme. It was just kind of like we picked a room in an area that we wanted, and that’s just what we ended up with. Um, and the Destiny has Hercules, Mulan, Raya, Brave, Big Hero 6, Incredibles, and Fantasia, which again, like Alex said, I feel like for the boy crowd, there’s a lot more options there than maybe the Wish has.

Alex: Yeah, our rooms, we had Big Hero 6 and Incredibles, because we had connecting staterooms.

Jess: And we had Moana, and I am a huge Moana fan, and so I really appreciate it. I appreciated our decor also.

Megan: So the different room types, there’s inside staterooms that don’t have any outside windows or verandas or any way to kind of see the outside, but they’re still very nice. Um, there’s the ocean view rooms, the lux family ocean view, ocean view with a veranda, and family ocean view with a veranda. And that’s actually the room that we had that slept up to five, and we had a balcony, which I really appreciated. Tim spent a lot of time out there. 

The first day I was kind of nauseous. I was like, I can’t even just close the curtains. I can’t even look at the water right now. But after the first day, I woke up, and I was totally fine. But I actually really enjoyed having the veranda once we kind of got away from the land, and it was just water.

Alex: I think the room types is a really good thing for people to know, though, because if you’re wanting to save money, you can, based on the room type you book. Obviously, the inside stateroom is going to be cheaper than the family ocean view with a veranda. So if you’re looking to save, that’s a good area to, you know, consider saving.

Megan: Yeah, and to be honest, sometimes when you look, if you got like, if you have a family of five or six and you got two inside staterooms, that can sometimes be cheaper than the veranda family room that sleeps up to five people. Um, so there’s so many different configurations to make it work. 

So our family room slept up to five and had a queen bed and then a convertible sofa bed that turned into like bunk beds. And then we had a pull-down Murphy bed that was towards the balcony. And so it worked out perfect.

And I think my favorite part was that there’s a curtain that closes between, so the queen bed’s like on the bathroom side, and then when you close the curtain, that’s like where all my kids were. And I was like, this is so nice to be able to like just pull those curtains shut across. They can’t see any light while we’re like getting our stuff set up for the next day, and like just kind of vegging out before going to bed.

Alex: Yeah, I thought that was really nice too. We had that same, similar setup with the, I think ours, I don’t remember quite right if we did have the bunk beds, because so we had two ocean view family ocean views with veranda, and so technically, I guess they could have slept like 10, which is a lot. So Mitch and I were in one room, and then we had the boys in another room, and it would, they connected, which is nice if you have the verandas. Jess told me this, you can remove that piece so your verandas connect as well. So that was really nice.

But, um, yeah, so it was the bed, the big bed, and then the bunk beds that they, which is so nice, is they come and pull those down for you every night, and then in the morning they put them back up, and then they pull them back down every night. So your room gets like there’s day use and night use.

So that was really nice. And then I feel like there was maybe a little small couch that could be made into the bed, but maybe it wasn’t Murphy bed. I don’t know because we never set it up to sleep five. We just had four in one.

But I think it’s so, so nice that there’s rooms that sleep five because there are so many families of five out there, when it’s like you’re looking for a hotel to stay and you’re like, guess we have to get two rooms. It’s so nice that Disney’s thinking about families and making it work in a lot easier way than, oh, you just have to get two rooms.

Jess: If you do have to get two rooms, like I do because… 

Alex: You’re six. Yeah, same. 

Jess: I’m a family of six. Same. So we’re always going to have to get two rooms, but what we’ve done to save a little bit of money, A, I’ve always wanted to be in a room with a veranda because my happy place is sitting on my veranda with my cup of coffee, looking at the ocean, like that sitting in my Disney robe, like that is chef’s kiss for me. But my kids don’t need a veranda. Like, I’m the one paying for it, they don’t need a veranda.

So what we’ve done in the past, what this is what we did when we went to Alaska, and this is what we’re doing on our upcoming cruise. Ted and I get a veranda room, and then the kids are in an inside stateroom across the hall. And so they are directly across the hall. So, a little step down from being connected, but you save a ton of money by having one veranda and one inside versus connecting veranda rooms.

Alex: Yeah. And you have, I mean, and your stepkids are like adults.

Jess: Yes. Obviously, if you have like four young kids. Unless you and your spouse want to split up, you’re not going to do that. But they are all older, and so it works out to be able to do that.

Alex: And like so nice too for them to just, you don’t even have to go in that stateroom. You’re like, I don’t care what that looks like. It’s your room, you can keep it a mess. I don’t need to know.

Jess: No, their stateroom smells. I’m like, when we need to get together, y’all come to our stateroom.

Megan: And I think the other thing that I really loved is that in the ocean view and the veranda rooms, the bathroom is split. So there is a toilet and a sink in one like door, and then the next door has like a shower and a sink.

So when you’re five people in one room, it was so nice to have like one room for like just use the toilet, brush your teeth, and then everybody else was like running through the shower like one after the other. And that was so convenient, and they even had, it had a bathtub. I mean, it wouldn’t fit an adult in it, but if you have toddlers and babies that need baths, like it is it’s real, they’ve thought of everything.

Jess: The other thing I wanted, I forgot to point out is, so the first Disney cruise we ever took was when Molly was three, and it was just Molly, Ted, and I. And another nice thing about the veranda option, if you have a baby or a toddler, is we would put her to bed, and then we would go sit on the veranda. And I know that’s often an issue for parents when they’re like, the baby needs to go to bed, but we’re not ready to go to sleep yet, and we don’t want to be moving around and waking them up. Boom, go out on the veranda, have a glass of wine, listen to the waves crashing, perfect.

Alex: Jess loves her veranda.

Megan: I’m not sure I could go back.

Jess: I know. It’s like once you do the veranda room, you’re like, I can’t go. Although I do, I did watch a lot of the content from the Destiny preview sailing and I saw some videos of the ocean view rooms, and I was like, those actually look really nice, and I think I could do that. Like, yeah.

Alex: I think I could do it too. We were so busy like doing all of the things that are available to do on the ship that we really didn’t spend much time hanging out in our stateroom. I think if our cruise was longer, maybe we would have, but ours was three nights. And so we were like, okay, we want to get in all the things. And so I think an ocean view would have been fine because we didn’t really just hang out in our room. So that’s like, if you if you’re not, if you’re wanting to, if you’re a go, go, go, then maybe you can save on that way too by skipping out on the veranda.

Megan: Yeah.

Alex: Okay, next up is rotational dining and restaurants. So here are the things that are included in your cruise fare, all your meals in the main dining rooms, quick service dining, and snacks. There’s classic buffet restaurants. Even room service is included. All of your soft drinks, tea, coffee, water, all of that’s included.

What is not included are your alcoholic beverages, premier non-alcoholic beverages like smoothies or espresso drinks. And then there’s some special, you know, dining options that are an extra paid. Like, I know when Jess and I went, we got to go have brunch at Palo Steakhouse, and that I think is like $55 a person for brunch. So there are a few little extra things like that. But if you don’t want to spend any extra money on food, you definitely do not have to. There are so many great options.

So one thing they do for dinner, which I think we all really love, is rotational dining. So they will sign up your sign you up for your dining arrangements, and then each night you will go at the same time. And you get to choose between 5:45 or 8:15. And what’s really fun is you’ll have the same server at each of the different restaurants. So, you know, I think we had two. Is it usually two?

Jess: It’s usually two. Yeah.

Alex: Yeah. So every night we had the same two people, and it’s really fun because you get to know them, they get to know you. Like, they’ll make little jokes with your kids, and it’s pretty fun. I also think it’s really cool. A lot of the staff is from all over the world. So they’re getting to know people from different countries, and it’s just pretty cool.

I know, like the first, our cruise ship, our cruise was a little different because it was the media preview. So the first night, we didn’t have like a dining rotation. We could kind of choose where we want, but then the last two nights, we had the same, we had like the set dining rotation.

But the first night, the waiter was from or our server was from Brazil, and so my husband and him were able to speak Portuguese to each other. And my husband doesn’t get a lot of opportunity to speak Portuguese. And so my kids just thought that was like the coolest thing that like their dad was speaking Portuguese. So that was really fun. Um, yeah, the food, we were like, we thought the food was really good. It was, we were really, really happy with it.

Jess: So all three Wish class ships have a couple of overlapping restaurants, and then they also have a unique dining experience. So some of the ones that they all have, first is 1923. This is the year Disney’s animation studio was founded, and so in the restaurant, you’ll see drawings and props, other animation tools scattered behind like these glass cases.

Alex: And it’s really nice. Like, I think it’s it’s a different vibe than the other restaurants. My kids loved it, and it was great, but it’s like it’s not as kid-friendly. 

Megan: It’s definitely more formal. It’s more formal.

Alex: It’s like fancier, I would say. But it’s totally, but it is so kid-friendly. Like, there’s kids’ menus at all these restaurants. Everyone’s fantastic. Like the food here was our favorite. We enjoyed the meal here the most. What did you guys think?

Jess: I agreed that this was actually Molly’s favorite, Molly and her friend. They were, they had after the cruise, they did little rankings of everything. And so 1923 was both of their favorite restaurant. I just think I really like that it’s there’s like portholes along the wall in the restaurant, so you can if like, we were lucky enough to get a table next to the porthole so we could look out at the water while we ate, and we all agreed that the food quality here was the best. Like my favorite meals were at 1923.

Megan: Yeah, and the food was definitely more elevated. Like the one night that I had lobster tail, and like our, they would bring it over to the table, and then like the server would and like pull the meat out for you, and it was definitely more high-end, but the best part about the Disney Cruises is there’s no dress code for the main rotational dining restaurants. So if you are just bringing your cruise clothes and you just have shorts and t-shirts, that is totally fine to wear at any of these three rotational dinings on any of the ships.

Alex: Yeah. So there is a little bit of variation in the restaurant between the three ships based off the animation sketches that you will find in the dining room. So for the Wish, they’ll have Snow White and Frozen. The Treasure is Lion King and Tarzan. And then for the Disney Destiny, it’s Hercules and Big Hero 6.

So the next restaurant that all three of these ships have is the Worlds of Marvel. So this, because this was my kids’ favorite one. They loved Worlds of Marvel, which is not a shock, you know, house full of boys. I think that’s maybe to be expected.

So the food’s the same, like the layout, the room looks the same, but there’s different interactive things going on that are a little different depending on the ship you’re going. So on the Disney Wish, you’re going to have an interactive show featuring Ant-Man and the Wasp. It’s called Avengers Quantum Encounter. And how it works is in the dining room, there’s just these screens all over and that’s where they play this interactive show.

So in the Avengers Quantum Encounter, it’s like there’s this demonstration that goes wrong. It requires the guest to help the Avengers stop a villain using these quantum cores that are on your tables. So they’re just these cores on your table, and they have buttons that you can press.

And that is what my kids loved was the was the buttons you could press.

Megan: It’s so simple, but it’s like exciting, and it’s engaging for them.

Alex: 100%, yeah.

Alex: For the Destiny, so the ship that I was on, our show was called Marvel Celebration of Heroes, and it’s a Groot remix. So it features Groot and Rocket, and there’s music, you know, the classic Guardians of the Galaxy music, which I think everybody loves. And a trivia game. So you answer the questions on the Quantum Core, and it glows green if your answer’s correct and red for incorrect.

My kids were obsessed with this game, you guys. There was actually a table next to us that nobody was at, and so we just took the Quantum Core so we could have two. So our kids could both answer because you know, Noah’s five and he doesn’t get that like, oh, we’re going to take turns. You can’t answer all the questions.

But that, like it’s so simple, like you’re saying, but they loved it. And I think that’s what’s so great, is sometimes you think of, oh, we got to go out to eat with the kids. Like, this is going to be a little painful. Like they don’t want to just sit here. But that’s what’s so great about going on these, you know, Disney takes care of everything. There’s so much entertainment while you’re just eating dinner and waiting for your meals to arrive that it’s like, it’s over before you know it, and you’re like, oh, we’re done. Okay. But it’s so, it’s like a it’s a dining experience. You’re not just going and having dinner. 

Jess: Well, and I don’t know about y’all, but the one of the things I dislike the most about living my everyday life is the classic, so what’s for dinner tonight conversation, you know?

Alex: Oh, gosh. Yes.

Jess: So the fact that…

Alex: And even on vacation, too. On vacation, you have to still be like, okay, where does everybody want to go tonight? Like…

Jess: That is legit… Like when we went on our first Disney cruise when Molly was three, I was like, this is, it was a seven-night cruise. I was like, this is life-changing that they tell us where to go. Our servers follow us and get to know us, and know like Molly would get a Shirley Temple for her drink every night. By the second night, it was sitting there with her little bowl of cherries waiting for her. And every night after, you know, and so it just takes the stress out of so much of what normally goes into vacation, that’s the rotational dining is one of my favorite things about Disney cruises.

Megan: Yeah, and there’s still choices. So like you still get a menu at these restaurants and you get to pick from like a couple different entrees, you get to pick an dessert. So you’re not getting just what they give you. You still have a couple selections.

Jess: And you could technically get one of everything because when I was on the Wonder, I was at dinner one night, I was like, I don’t know which dessert to get. And the server was like, Why don’t I just bring you all of them? And I was like, oh my god, that is amazing. Yes, please, let me have a sample. So yeah.

Alex: Well, and it’s great too. Like kids don’t have to order off the kids’ menu. Like my boys, they don’t want a kid’s steak. They want an adult steak. So every night they were ordering an adult steak. And even still, like they would be, they would offer even to my 13-year-old, Do you want me to cut your steak for you? And he’s like, Oh no, that’s okay. But they come over, and they just cut Noah’s up, and I was like, wow, this is, I feel a little like weird that you’re cutting my kids’ steak. Like, I feel like I should be doing this, but also I really appreciate it, and that’s really nice that I can just enjoy my meal.

Megan: Yeah.

Alex: Yeah, what were the shows that you guys had for Marvel, Megan?

Megan: I think we had one of each. So our so our ship was seven nights. So we doubled up on every restaurant and had one restaurant three times. So it was a lot. And something else to note, too, is like on a longer sailing, like, okay, maybe you go to each restaurant the first three nights. By night four, you’re just like, I’m over it.

You don’t have to go. You don’t have to go to your rotational dining. You can get, go to the buffet, you can go to the quick service. I think they do like for you to at least like give them a heads up, like maybe tomorrow we’re not coming, but that’s not required. Um, and we saw plenty of families by like the fourth, fifth night that they just stopped showing up to dinner. And that and it was totally fine.

Alex: Yeah. And then they also have unique restaurants by ship. So on the Wish, they have Arendelle, a Frozen dining adventure. Jess, do you want to kind of mention what that one was like?

Jess: This is my favorite restaurant on the Wish. Y’all, I love Anna and Elsa. Like I can’t even begin to describe it. So it is so fun. The theming is so on point. And there’s a little show in the middle of dinner. Um, Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf, Sven, they all come out, and they sing, and they perform. And so, you know, talk about keeping kids’ attention. There’s a whole live performance going on in the middle of dinner. And even I, I was singing along. I mean, I was clapping, I was singing.

At one point, one of them came over with a microphone and held it in my face, and I knew all the words, and they were like, Oh my gosh, I’m impressed like this 40-year-old woman knows all the words. I’m like, hey, I’ve seen Frozen like 12 times, okay? So yes, I do know all the words.

Alex: You’re like, hey, if you guys need a someone to fill in, I’m here for the next four nights.

Jess: Do you need me? Do you need me to come up on that stage right now? Because don’t tempt me. I will. Um, but yeah, so if you’ve got a Frozen lover in your family, I think you’ll really enjoy this experience.

Alex: And then on the Treasure, it was Plaza de Coco. So Megan was at another live show.

Megan: Yeah, so it was a live show, and so we ate there twice. The first night was like a mariachi band and a singer, and then the second night was like Coco, like he, like Miguel was there, he played his guitar, they did like this whole and your dinner lasts over an hour, and the show lasts almost that entire time.

So it’s just, it’s just so fun. And then our, we ate there three nights, but our, actually our second night was Pirate’s Night. So our Pirate’s Night dinner was at Coco restaurant, so there was no show, but we and the food was the typical Pirate’s Night food, which is I think is the same on all the ships, so it wasn’t the Coco like Mexican style food. Um, but it was still really good and fun.

Jess: I want to go to Plaza de Coco so bad. I remember seeing when the Treasure came out, I was watching everyone’s stories who was on it, and I was like, because I love Coco too. I was like, Oh my God, that is so cute. I need to go to this restaurant. So the Treasure is very high on my list for a ship that I want to book next. 

Alex: Yeah. And then on the Disney Destiny, it’s Pride Lands Feast of The Lion King. And just like with the Treasure and Wish for this show or for this dinner, there is a live show where there are a couple of different singers that are, you know, singing the songs from Lion King. There is a girl dancing, there is a band playing. It was so good. Lion King is my favorite Disney movie. And so I really love this.

Like, it’s kind of interesting. So, like our favorite actual food was 1923. The kids’ favorite like experience was Marvel. Mine was Pride Lands Feast of the Lion King because I just love hearing the Lion King songs. And they did the songs not just from the movie, but from like the musical as well. Like the “He Lives in You” song, too, you know? And I like love that one. It was it was really, really good.

What were your guys’s favorites from your, what just you said it was Arendelle. Food-wise, 1923, experience-wise, Arendelle.

Megan: Yeah, I’d say the same. Food-wise, 1923, then experience-wise, we liked the Coco show.

Alex: Yeah. All right. So Jess is going to start talking to us now about entertainment and stuff. One thing I do want to say that I didn’t know this, but well, I knew they had Broadway-style shows, which Jess will talk about, but when you’re eating dinner, so we had the 5:45 dining time, the people that have the 8:15 dining time are then able to go watch the Broadway shows. And then at when they’re eating at 8:15, we go watch the shows.

And so I was kind of always nervous, like, oh, am I going to be able to get a seat at this? They’re like, Oh no, you’ll be fine. Like, you don’t just go like 15 minutes early, and you’ll be fine. But anyway, Jess will talk more about that in just a bit.

Jess: Yeah, so I’m going to cover entertainment, kids’ clubs, and nightlife. I feel like kids’ clubs are where Disney really shines and where you are not going to find a comparable experience on another cruise line. I cannot, I’ve never cruised on another cruise line because, you know, once I drank the Disney Kool-Aid, I was like, that was so amazing. I don’t even want to try anything else because I’m worried it’s not going to live up to Disney’s standards.

Alex: I am 100% with you on that. Like I was like, I don’t know if a cruise is for me. And then I went on a Disney cruise, and I’m like, yeah, this is for me, but only Disney. I’m not ready to branch out.

Megan: I don’t know that our budget agrees, but I don’t think I can do another cruise line.

Jess: Yeah. Well, the thing is like I’m in a Disney Cruise Facebook group and you know, hundreds of thousands of people in this group and there are people, I constantly see posts from people that are like, y’all, I strayed from Disney and I went on X cruise line because I was trying to save money and I regret my decision and I wish I could take it back. And I’m like, okay, this is all the validation I need to never even try another cruise line.

Megan: Yeah, I don’t need to try it.

Like yeah. One of the really nice things though is, okay, so in lieu of something like a casino, Disney has their huge Oceaneers Kids’ Club, which is for ages three to 10. I feel like three, this kids’ club is amazing. Like, I cannot even explain, like I wish I could spend time in the kids’ club, honestly. That’s how amazing it is. So, no casino on Disney cruise ships, but if you have kids and they want to go to this kids’ club, I mean, this is the star of the show.

They also have, It’s a Small World Nursery, which is for kids six months to under three. There is an additional fee for this, and reservations are required. So if you are traveling with a child, you know, under three, up to as young as six months, you can make reservations for them to go to It’s a Small World Nursery.

All the rest of these that I’m going to talk about, the Oceaneers Club, Edge, and Vibe, are included with your cruise fare. So there is no additional fee. Your kids could literally go to the kids’ club when you wake up in the morning, and you could pick them up at night before you go to bed, and you’re not going to get charged anything. Um, and so it’s really great.

So for the Oceaneers Club and Lab, that’s what I mentioned was 3 to 10 years old. They have to be potty-trained to go there. There is a controlled check-in and checkout process. I know a lot of parents worry like, oh, I’m nervous that I’m going to drop my kid off and they’re going to somehow escape the club, and you know, whatever.

I have never felt, like anytime Molly has gone to the kids’ club, I have felt 100% safe with her going there. They have so many counselors, like the counselor-to-kid ratio, the ratios are small, and so your kids get a lot of attention. They have so many safety features in place. Like you have to have a secret code word that you use when you pick them up. And so I’ve never once worried about my child’s safety in the kids’ club.

And what’s really great is once they’re old enough, they can just check themselves into the Oceaneers Club. So there were times on our cruise, not this past one because Molly was too old, but the one before that, where you know, the adults are all at dinner and the kids are like, we’re done. We want to go to the kids’ club. And we’re like, bye, see you later. And they just got up from the dining table, went to the kids’ club, checked themselves in, and then we picked them up after we finished eating.

So, you know, gives them some independence, gives them somewhere to go if you want to go to Palo, the adults-only restaurant for brunch, you know, your kids can go to the Oceaneers Club, or you want to go watch the Broadway show and your kids’ not into it, whatever the case may be. 

Alex: It’s nice too, like if you have older kids, I think it’s 13 and up, they can check your kids in and out too, if you would like them to. So that was nice because Eli’s 13. I could be like, okay, you can go check, like if Kai’s in there, he’s nine, like he could go pick Kai up for us. So that was nice.

Megan: Yeah, and you have to give them permission to do that. So it’s not like your kid can just like check themselves out and peace out. 

Alex: Yes. Well, and they have the magic bands, and they know exactly where your kids are. So it’s like if I check them out, they’re like, okay, Kai is in the Cargo Bay in Star Wars. So then they’d know exactly, like they call someone, can you get Kai from Cargo Bay, Star Wars? And then they come, they bring them over.

Can I tell you my favorite thing about the kids’ club, which there’s a lot, but the I love that they wash their hands when they go in and they wash their hands when they come out. I loved it.

Megan: Yeah, I agree. And the magic bands, you don’t have to buy those. That is, there is a deposit, I think, on the ship, but when you turn it in at the end, that just gets wiped from your account. But when you get on the first day, you go check your kids in, and they make sure that their picture matches their name, and they get their magic band assigned to them. That is all included as well. So you don’t have to like buy these ahead of time and worry about that. 

Alex: Yeah.

Jess: And then for Edge, so Edge is for kids 11 to 14 years old. So that’s where Molly and her friends were for the first time on our sailing. So with this one, kids check themselves in and out. So there’s no drop off, there’s no pickup. It’s just like, you go, you come out when you’re ready. It’s not controlled in any way. It’s a lot smaller. They definitely dedicate the most space to the Oceaneers Club. So for those ages three to 10.

Edge is a lot smaller, um, and Molly and her friend didn’t spend a ton of time in there just because they were like, it’s awkward. There’s just a bunch of boys playing video games. And so they didn’t spend a ton of time in there, but it is an option if, you know, you have kids who want to meet other kids their age on the ship or if you want them to have a dedicated place to go while you’re out and about.

And then Vibe is ages 14 to 17 years old, and this is another, um, you know, teen club where they check themselves in and out. Again, a smaller, a smaller space similar to Edge. I just think the demand for these two is much lower than for the 3 to 10 crowd. And so, you know, that’s why the space is smaller, but still a great option if you have teens who want to make friends or go hang out with their friends away from the cringe adults, as my child would say.

Megan: Yeah, and so Rose is 10, so she’ll be 11 on our next cruise, and she’s very sad that she’s aging out of the Oceaneers Club because they loved it so much. But the one thing she’s looking forward to is that in the Edge Club, she was like, they’re allowed to have beads because there’s no little kids. So you can like make bracelets and do that kind of…

So there are like bigger kid activities, and they have like open house and meetup times, and they also have like trivia times and stuff for these different age groups. So we saw, like on the first day, there was a meetup time in Edge for the 11 to 14 year olds, and then, like the next three days, I saw a group of kids who didn’t even know each other until yesterday, just hanging out all over the ship and like they made their own friends. So it’s a really great place to take advantage of at least those first couple days to meet some people.

Alex: One thing I noticed, too, is they would have times where it’s like, Star Wars Cargo Bay, like set aside for Edge. So, like the Edge kids could go check it out because it is true, like the theming in the Oceaner Club is it’s amazing. It’s it’s truly incredible. Like you’ll have to go check out our stories. Jess has a highlight for the Disney Wish story highlight on Instagram, where she walks you literally through the entire Oceaneer Club. And the Oceaneer Club is the same on the three ships. And so if you see one, like they’re exactly the same.

So that’s pretty cool that I like that they do that because my older boys like thought that was really cool. Like the Marvel stuff, the Marvel area they have there was really cool too. Like, you get to make your own suit, and then you go to do like these fights with it. And so it’s really fun that they have that option where they set aside time for the older kids to check it out. I will say, though, that Kai and Noah were in there, and they’re like, Oh, we can’t go to the Star Wars room because it’s open for the older kids now. And so they were kind of bummed about that, but yeah.

Megan: Oh, I have one more thing to add. So the staff in the kids’ club also really get to know your kids. Like they will know their names by like day two, and then my kids started like having favorites. They’re like, we really love Sarah. Like, let’s like, let’s find out what her schedule is, and we’ll go when Sarah’s there. That is so great.

And on our one stop at Castaway Cay, the Disney Island, Rose actually went to get a drink and got turned around. So she kind of got lost, and she was like, I got a little nervous and then I just did what you told me to do, and I found a cast member, and they like have a code that they get the kids. And so they took her to the kids club, and she was like, yeah, and I got there, and Sarah was there.

And so it was all better because she recognized the worker from the ship that comes off and works on the Disney Island and they were able to like ping me on my phone from the from the computer and I was like, they have just thought of everything and they have made this so seamless for parents and like for me, logistics is like 90% of how my brain works. I’m like, I love when things just flow, and Disney just nails it every time.

Alex: Yeah, they really have. The other, the other thing that I love is on all three ships, kids can check in at the level above and then take a slide in that drops them right in the kids’ club. And that they thought that was so fun.

Jess: Yeah, I thought that was fun. I know, I think you went down it. I went down it too. Yeah, I mean, I think I’m a little like it was making… it was like, and I was like, oh, I probably shouldn’t be on this.

Alex: And you know what, my kids actually loved the hand washing station too, because they just stick their hands in these little things, and it does everything. It does the soap, it does the water, and then when the machine stops, you take your hands off and dry them off, and my kids were like, they loved it. I’m like, how do I get one of these in my house?

It’s like a car wash for your hands. Like that’s what it feels like because there’s like the little bristles that go around. Oh my God, I’m obsessed with it.

Alex: I know.

Jess: So next up, like Alex mentioned, they have true Broadway-style shows on these ships. They are so good. Again, included with your cruise fare. And so you’re getting, you know, two, three amazing, high-quality Broadway shows. And then on longer cruises like Megan’s, that was seven nights, they have some other, I don’t know, what were your, did you go to any of the other like filler, fill-in shows?

Megan: Yeah, so they had like a variety act that was kind of like a magician and like a singer, and like a comedian. And then like the one night, actually one of the women that was in The Lion King on Broadway, she was there one night and singing.

And we had Tim and I were actually sitting at the bar one night, and she was sitting next to us drinking like warm tea, and we’re like, and we were just like started chatting with her, and she’s like, oh, I have a show tonight. And we’re like, oh, like they like just brought her in, and she probably met them at the port, and she comes on for her one or two nights and then gets off at the next port. And I was like, That is really cool.

Yeah, so there was like endless opportunities of entertainment every single night and it was all family-friendly. I think there was only one show that was adults only, but that was a later one in the evening. 

Jess: Yeah, so they have, like I said, Broadway-style shows. These will vary by ship. And so for the Wish, they have The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. On the Treasure, they have Moana and Beauty and the Beast. And then on the Destiny, they have Hercules and Frozen. I would love to see any of those. Um, we saw…

 

Alex: Oh, no. When you say them again, I’m like, oh, I want to see the, I want to see the ones on your guys’ boats. They’re incredible.

Jess: Yeah, we saw Aladdin, and it was amazing. And then it’s like, like Alex, our cruise is only three nights. And so we saw Aladdin, and then I love The Little Mermaid, but I was kind of like, I want to go like explore the different bars and, you know, other areas of the ship. And so we did not see The Little Mermaid, but I’m assuming it’s amazing.

Alex: I can’t believe you didn’t go. 

Jess: I know, I failed. I had to go to, I had to go bar hopping.

Alex: The bars are open till late. You should have done it. You’ll just have to go back.

Jess: Megan, did you, did you see both on your ship?

Megan: Yeah, we saw both. And one thing I learned is that the shows on the ship don’t change. So from the time these ships sail the very first time, that is, those are their shows, like the whole time, because the stages are built for that specific show. So like there’s like different way that the things move around.

Alex: That makes sense. 

Megan: Yeah. So and the cast pretty much stays the same. And I think they said on ours that, like, for the Moana show, they had been like testing it, like with different audiences and stuff, for like over five years before they even launched the ship last year. I was like, That is so much work. They are putting so much work into making this like the best. 

And in the Beauty and the Beast show was also really cute. They had at the very end, when they all become human again, there’s they took a little kid from the crowd to play Chip, and I was like, this is so cute.

Alex: That is so cute. That’s adorable.

Megan: I was like, this is adorable. That is so cute. I was like, I don’t even know this stranger, but this is adorable. 

Alex: That’s awesome. Yeah, ours was Hercules and Frozen. Hercules was so good. It was so funny because it’s brand new. Like this, you can only see Hercules live on Disney Destiny. Frozen was really good too, but our whole family liked Hercules more. I think it’s just like, we’ve never seen Hercules played live, you know, like I’ve seen Frozen at Disneyland when they used to do that there.

Both, so good. Like Mitch was kind of like, oh yeah, I don’t know, like we’ll see how it is. And then my boys were the same, and everybody was like, especially with Hercules, like that was so good. They were blown away. And Mitch said the same thing about Frozen. My boys, older boys, didn’t love Frozen as much, but I mean, what do you expect from a teenager and a tween-age boy? You know, but…

Jess: I probably would have loved it.

Alex: The talent, the like set design, all of it. Like, especially Hercules, they have like these, you know, the Titans in Hercules? They like, they’re they’re amazing how they made those. And then the there’s like this dragon that Hercules chops off the heads, and then more heads appear, and I was just like, this is incredible how they made this show come to life on this stage. So if you go on the Destiny, do not miss Hercules.

Megan: Yeah, don’t. Oh, and I also just remembered there was one night, I think our very first night where it was like, um, so the Treasure is Captain Minnie and there was a whole like character show. So it was like all the Disney characters, and they sang a bunch of different songs, and that was like our very first night show. 

Jess: Oh, that was our first night, too. I forget what it’s called, but I know what you mean.

Megan: Yeah, but it was really cute.

Jess: Yeah, it’s super cute. Um, okay, and then as far as nightlife goes, there is no shortage of nightlife on any of these ships. And I also wanted to point out that there’s two movie theaters on the ships that are constantly playing Disney movies. And if you happen to be on a ship when a movie is released, you get to see that movie too.

Megan: Yeah, we saw Freakier Friday, like the day it came out.

Jess: Yes, when we were on our very first Disney cruise back in 2016, it was when Moana came out. And so we got to see Moana on our Disney cruise ship, like before anyone else got to see it. So I thought that was really, really cool.

But as far as bars and lounges, so many options. Again, the layout of all these is the same. It’s just going to be the theming that’s going to vary by ship. So on the Wish, no surprise, it is more princess themed, and so there is a piano bar called Nightingales that is a Cinderella theme. There is a Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge, which is really cool. And then there’s a lounge called The Bayou. It is an open lounge, and it’s a Tiana, Princess and the Frog theme.

On the Treasure, there is a Scat Cat Piano Bar, which is Aristocats theme, a Haunted Mansion Parlor, a Skipper Society open lounge, which is Jungle Cruise theme.

And then on the Destiny, there is Deville’s piano bar, you know, Cruella Deville, 101 Dalmatians theme. We got to have our villain. Our Disney villain. The Haunted Mansion Parlor is also on the Destiny. There is Cask and Cannon, which is Pirates of the Caribbean theme, and then the Sanctum, which is Doctor Strange theme.

And all three of these ships have a bar called The Rose. It is one of my favorites. It’s on one of the top decks, floor sweeping floor to floor-to-ceiling windows with ocean views, and you can basically like sit along the windows, have a cocktail or a mocktail, and it is Beauty and the Beast theme, very tastefully done.

And so I would say from the Wish, our favorite place to go was Nightingale’s Piano Bar. I just love the Cinderella theme. There was a pianist every night who would take requests, and he came over and said, You know, do you have any requests? And I said, Do you know any Taylor Swift? And he was like, actually, I do. And so he played Love Story on the piano for us. Um, so that was kind of my favorite place to hang out.

But if you have any Star Wars fans in your life, the Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge is really cool, and it is open to all ages until, I think, 9, 8 or 9 p.m. And so kids can go into the Hyperspace lounge during the day. They have…

Alex: Is that the one that’s kind of like on the main deck that’s like open, or is that..?

Jess: No, it’s not open. It’s closed, and like when you’re in there, I don’t know the Star Wars terminology really well, but I still thought this was really cool. But there’s like a wall, and it like it’ll make a sound, and then it’ll start, it looks like you’re like flying through the galaxy. And so like they start.

Alex: Yeah. That’s cool.

Jess: So it’s really, really cool. And they have kid-friendly mocktails, um, during the day if you want to bring your whole family. We went there twice, I think, because I was like, I’m so obsessed with this space and I’m not even a huge Star Wars fan, but it was really cool. So what did y’all..?

Megan: Haunted Mansion Parlor was the same. Like the kids could go during the day. And I think that is where the Star Wars one is on the Wish.

Jess: It’s probably the same space, I bet. So what, did you go to any or all of these, Megan? We checked them all out. And actually, the Treasure has another one that’s called Periscope Pub, and it’s like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea themed, and Tim really liked that one. Um, for me, I was in bed, like when the girls went to bed, I’m so exhausted at the end of like doing all the activities all day.

But there was a couple nights like he went out and just went and sat down there with his like iPad and just like got caught up on emails and had a drink and he was like, this is just such like a nerd’s like, he’s like, I just love being able to sit there and you’d look up and it looks like you’re like under the ocean. And it was really cool.

Alex: That’s really cool.

Jess: Which ones did you check out, Alex? I like checked out all of them. I walked through all of them. I don’t have a favorite. I mean, you guys know me. I know there’s mocktails, but I’m not spending a ton of time in like a bar or lounge just because I would rather go and do and see other things.

But the theming is like unreal how well Disney does theming. I walked through all them. Haunted Mansion Parlor was so cool. Cask and Cannon was really cool. I really like the Sanctum. I mean, guys, I can’t choose which one I like the most. They’re all just so cool.

Jess: Yeah. I know. I really want to go. I really want to go to the Haunted Mansion Parlor. So I’m going to have to get on the Destiny or the Treasure because that sounds so, that’s like right on my alley.

Megan: Yeah, it was really cool. And the cool part I thought was I actually learned this after the fact, but the music in the theming kind of like plays for like a specific amount of time, like maybe like 30 minutes or so. So it kind of helps you in your head of like, oh, I already heard this and it kind of triggers you to be like, all right, time to move on so that keeps the crowds like flowing.

Alex: See, they think of everything. It’s actually crazy.

Megan: Yeah, and then like the Skipper Canteen that was like the Jungle Cruise theme, we did trivia in there two times, and they also had like drawing classes, and so even though it’s like a bar, it’s more of like a lounge, so they have so many different activities just like happening through these spaces too.

Alex: That’s kind of how, like at the Sanctum, that’s the one that’s on the main level. It’s kind of open, and they would like have during the day craft time where the kids could come and do crafts or trivia games. I think if we had more time, we only had three nights, and I was like, I got to do and see everything because you guys, there’s no way you can do and see everything, probably even on a seven-night cruise. And so I was just like really had to prioritize what we were, what we were going to do. So I wish we would have had another night. That would have been perfect, but yeah.

Well, that wraps up our part one of our Disney Wish, Treasure, and Destiny comparison. We covered the vibes, the staterooms, the food, the shows, and more, but we’re not done yet. I mean, I’m going to be honest, you guys, I had to like try to say less, and we still talked for like 55 minutes probably.

But anyway, in part two, we’re going to get into the practical stuff. So make sure you tune in for that. We’re going to talk about pools and water attractions, day-to-day activities, itineraries, pricing, and yes, our final verdicts. So make sure you tune in to part two next week. And until then, share this episode with a fellow Disney lover and start planning your next or first Disney cruise.

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