Julie's Family Cruise on the Disney Wish

Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. 

I recently sailed on the Disney Wish with my three little ones. Today we're going to give you all the tips and tricks to make your cruise a stress free family vacation.  

Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts Ryan and Julie. He is your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. She's a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family travel. 

Whether we're  discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing our personal stories, it's always all things travel.  I

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Transcript

Julie: 0:00

Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. I recently sailed on the Disney Wish with my three little ones. So today we're going to give you all the tips and tricks to make your cruise a stress free family vacation. Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts Ryan and Julie. He is your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. And I am a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, Top vacation tips or sharing our personal stories. It's always all things travel. I'm so excited to finally talk about my cruise on the Disney wish This was our first cruise. My kids were four two and eight months at the time of sailing So I learned a lot that I'm excited to share with you about sailing with kids It

Ryan: 0:54

because I know you've been talking about this trip forever. We did kind of a preview episode. This was a big trip for your family, and I know you've got, you've

Julie: 1:03

We had initially booked it for May of 2020 and it took so long to finally get on the ship that by the time we went there was a new ship.

Ryan: 1:11

So speaking of big trips for families, if people are interested, go back to last week's episode and listen to our friends Lynn and Dawn as they talk about their family trip to Japan. All right, Julie, so I've got several questions here to kind of talk you through helping us learn about your cruise. The first is, why did you choose, first, Disney Cruise Line, and secondly, The Wish specifically?

Julie: 1:38

So Disney Cruise Line, obviously, because we're a Disney family and I just felt like after all the research I had done, there would obviously be the most for my kids to do on that ship. And a Disney cruise is just kind of like, you know, the best of the best for family vacations. I

Ryan: 1:55

Especially for kiddos your age, it makes a lot of sense.

Julie: 1:59

Right, and the Disney Wish, obviously, because it's the new ship but also because of the itinerary it was sailing, and I talked a little bit about that in the previous episode that we did about the cruise that it was going on a four night and it matched up with our December vacation to Walt Disney World but I will say, I, just loved the ship so much.

Ryan: 2:21

So, I think a four night cruise is perfect for the first time cruiser. After, after cruising for four nights, what did you think?

Julie: 2:28

Yes, I thought it was great. I have a couple of clients that had done the three night and they all felt like that was just a little too short, especially on the

Ryan: 2:37

that was my first cruise and I felt exactly the same.

Julie: 2:40

when you think about it, yes, you're on there for three nights, but that first day you're not really doing anything until four to 5 p. m. And then you're eating dinner and then trying to figure out where to go for your nighttime show. That's the one night, and then you've got the next day, and the next day, and then you're getting off

Ryan: 2:58

And often times you wake up and you're already back at the port.

Julie: 3:03

Exactly. Exactly. So, I really felt like the four night was a good mix for us. We had an early port arrival time because we used Disney Transportation. So that, that kind of gave us that whole first day to be full. And then we did not get off the ship in Nassau, so we also had that whole day to enjoy the ship. I felt like four nights was perfect, for the first cruise. But I did leave the cruise thinking, okay, the next one needs to be longer.

Ryan: 3:29

As your family was getting ready, I know, again, you've got kind of a spread of, you know, you and your husband at different ages, but what was your family most excited about?

Julie: 3:39

We were really looking forward to, oh my gosh, I mean so many things. It's really hard to pick one, so I'll name a couple. The kids clubs, I really was looking forward to seeing those in person because the concept art and the pictures look so amazing. I was looking forward to, because it was my first cruise, I think I was really Looking forward to seeing how I felt about cruising.

Ryan: 4:03

Yeah, absolutely. I totally get that. Yes.

Julie: 4:05

our family? I was, I was a little anxious about that, but I was overall mostly excited to see, are we gonna like this experience or not?

Ryan: 4:15

How did you prepare for the cruise?

Julie: 4:18

We, we did a lot of things because with the kids, obviously there's a lot of variables. We actually had them watch a lot of videos. I wanted them to be prepared because they are so used to just staying at a hotel on Disney and like taking the bus to the park or the monorail to the park. It was very different to try to explain to them, we're going to be on this ship and the ship is going to take us to an island and then we're going to do something at the island. That was like really difficult for them to wrap their head around. Obviously, the eight month old is not getting in this conversation, but like my four year old, she was, she's very curious, full of questions. So she was really. Asking me a lot about how this was going to work. We watched so many YouTube videos. This is what our room is going to look like. These are what the kids clubs look like. This is what the, slides in the pools look like, stuff like that. That is something that for my kids, that really helps them.

Ryan: 5:09

My kids were older when we took our first cruise, But no, the same thing showing those YouTube clips of, Hey, this is our specific ship. This is what it's going to look like. I think that really helped with the excitement.

Julie: 5:20

Right.

Ryan: 5:21

So before we, so before we talk about the cruise. Get us there. I know you said you used Disney Transportation. How did you get to the boat and, and what were the logistics there?

Julie: 5:34

so we had done a Walt Disney World trip. Beforehands, and I would, if you're sailing out of Port Canaveral, I would always recommend doing a very, some sort of short Disney trip, even if you're just doing a resort trip because they just make it so much easier for you if you can take Disney transportation. Obviously, you can take private transportation, but if you are booking Disney transportation, you're automatically getting an earlier port arrival time because of all those guests that are going on that Disney transportation with you. They're not going to have you arrive and say, well, you can board at 11, but you have to wait until two and just sit there for a couple hours. It really took the stress off of checking in for the cruise at whatever date, midnight. So, you know, if, if that's something you're worried about, how early are we going to get to the port? Just booked the Disney

Ryan: 6:23

yeah, I like that. As far as luggage, did they take care of your luggage and everything? Or did you have to get that off the

Julie: 6:29

little bit of a snafu for us. They should have taken care of our luggage. But there was a bit of a mix up of, they actually had us on the list for coming from the airport instead of coming from the hotel. And it worked out fine. We were still able to get on the bus. But Everyone else, they had taken their luggage, like, previously, so, ours had to stay with us, and then we had to physically, like, give them to the porter

Ryan: 6:56

But that's easy to do.

Julie: 6:58

And then it was, it wasn't a big deal at all. it was like no one's mistake. I had called it in and told them where we were coming from, but something had gotten kind of lost in communication there. No big deal. It worked out great. I will say though, that if you're not going to do a Walt Disney World trip before, and you're sailing out of Port Canaveral and you stay at the Hyatt, have you done this before Ryan or have clients do it?

Ryan: 7:20

Not the Hyatt, no.

Julie: 7:21

So if they stay at the Hyatt in the airport, it's the same thing. They will come get your luggage from outside your room and take it as long as you call and let them know, this is where I'm coming from the Hyatt.

Ryan: 7:32

I'm excited to get into the actual cruise and hear all about your family's experience, but you know what I want to do first. I want to talk about where in the world does all things travel. So Julie, as I look back at locations before this show, I wanted to find a place where we hadn't talked about before, and I found one of our top locations was Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Julie: 7:54

Ooh, that sounds fun.

Ryan: 7:55

Yeah, and when I looked at things to do in Virginia Beach I've been to Virginia Beach once and it just kind of stuck out like hey, this is what we got to do, right? I want to meet our listener at the Virginia Beach boardwalk So hit Virginia Beach three mile long oceanfront promenade To people watch shop and eat in a relaxed ambiance the boardwalk features separate bike paths Perfect for cycling and rollerblading. There's a statue of King Neptune. That you can spot from miles away. When you're hungry, there's restaurants on the neighboring streets. And it's also worthy to visit during the winter, because they put Christmas lights all up and down.

Julie: 8:38

Oh, that's awesome.

Ryan: 8:39

I'm excited to meet our listener there. Check out the sights, check out the beach, maybe have some good seafood. But hey, listener from Virginia Beach, thank you so much for listening to All Things Travel. We really appreciate it. Do us a favor, reach out to either me or Julie via Facebook or email because I have a thank you gift for being featured on today's show. All right, Julie, so I know one of the things that we've talked about with cruising before is staterooms, especially with a family your size, a family of five, so tell us about your experience on the Wish when it comes to your stateroom.

Julie: 9:17

so that is another thing about Disney Cruise Line is they make it very easy for a family of five to cruise. they have so many rooms that sleep families of five and sleep them comfortably. I was so surprised by how big our stateroom was when we got to it. We had watched all the videos. We had a good idea of where all the beds were going to be and I was still shocked. So we had a deluxe family. Oceanview stateroom with veranda

Ryan: 9:44

Perfect. Perfect for your family.

Julie: 9:46

it was it really was a lot of people have concerns about the veranda and their little kids and I had, maybe a little bit of a concern in the back of my mind, but at the same time, I'm like, Disney is not going to have verandas that are going to be. a safety hazard to kids there's a lock at the very top that I can barely even reach. And then the handle also has to be a certain direction. So there's really no concern. My bigger concern was if my kid took a toy out on the veranda and it slipped under and fell out that way, then it was definitely long gone. But I really loved having that extra space and it being the family size of the room. I mean, there was so much space for us. I did not feel cramped at all. I loved it. They also have like that split bath situation. So also really helpful, tons of storage, so much more storage than I thought. Really, really well thought out state room design on the wish specifically. And I did not know this going in. Like, obviously I knew where I booked my room, but I had actually chosen my room because that was the only. set of connecting rooms left when I booked. So we were connecting with my parents who were joining us on the cruise, and then we had friends on the other side. So we needed to find three rooms together. That was how I picked my stateroom location, but it was the best location ever, and I would recommend it to everyone.

Ryan: 11:09

All right, so give us the hint.

Julie: 11:10

This is only for the family sized of the ocean view veranda rooms, you go on deck 11 and you stay right outside the elevators there, because what happens, it's not loud. I was a little worried it would be loud, but you come out of your room, you go through the little elevator lobby area there and you walk right out into Mickey's festival of foods, which is where. You get, you know, most of your lunch and probably your dinner. You keep walking and you are at the pools where they have the movies going on, there's the refillable drink stations and coffee and water, a couple of bars right there, and then you keep going through the pool deck and you're at Marceline market for your buffet. And it was just. The perfect location for the kids because it was so easy to run out and get a drink. And I just kept thinking, man, I can't imagine people on lower decks having to take an elevator or rock up the steps just to have to come get a drink. Because it was so convenient for us, I could see how inconvenient it could be to be on

Ryan: 12:10

Yeah. Good tip. Good. Good tip. Yeah.

Julie: 12:12

That's the room. It was lovely. It was not loud at all. I didn't hear anything from the pool deck at all. It was great.

Ryan: 12:20

So, activities on board. Obviously with your small kids, that's what you're thinking about. Disney, puts a lot of effort in their on board activities. What are your takeaways from that?

Julie: 12:31

My biggest takeaway is to not stress about the activity is because that's what everybody does and we've talked about this before your booking window opens at midnight X amount of days before you sail and you log on and if it's your first cruise, maybe things are already booked, but there is so much that opens up when you open up your app when you're in the port. You're like, Oh, my gosh, where did all this come from? Right? There's so Character meets all day. There's events going on in the kids club and

Ryan: 12:58

and you're right. A lot of that does not occur until the day of your cruise. And so don't freak out. There will be plenty of things to do.

Julie: 13:07

yeah, I was personally overwhelmed by the amount of things that we could do and I liked that you could kind of like click it, that you're interested in it and it would add to your plans. I think my parents went a little overboard with how many things they put on their plans. They wanted to do it

Ryan: 13:22

I do the same thing my schedule is to put everything in one place, but I don't plan on going to everything. I just want to, I just want to whittle it down, if you

Julie: 13:31

Yeah, and it'll send you like a notification like hey, such and such is starting soon if you want to go. I will say that if you want to do character meets, don't show up at the time it starts. Show up a little bit early because there's going to be a line. I will also say there's a couple of things that are kind of like a hidden gem. Like it'll say sort of, I forget what they called it, maybe the farewell party? But really what happens is, there's like this big dance party in the atrium. And then Next thing you know, all these characters are out just openly greeting. And you can just run to whatever line you want. And that was a great time for the girls to meet a lot of the princesses. The only thing is, it's short. It's like 10 to 15 minutes and when it's over, it's over. But that's kind of a cool thing that even I barely even knew about before we got on board. if you don't get anything booked in advance at the day that your booking window opens, I think Ryan, I think you had told me to open it when I got to the port. And when I did that, I was able to book a mixology class and the royal gathering to meet the princesses. So that was really a good tip to do that too. But

Ryan: 14:39

What mixology class did you do?

Julie: 14:40

I don't know. It was just mixology. What do you, what do you mean?

Ryan: 14:45

Like, was it, oh, it wasn't like a tasting class. It was a

Julie: 14:48

Oh, it was a tasting class.

Ryan: 14:50

So you don't know what you did?

Julie: 14:52

Oh, he made so many drinks. It was like a wide variety.

Ryan: 14:55

It wasn't like whiskey tasting

Julie: 14:57

Oh, no, no, no, it was straight mythology and he made so many drinks, but it was amazing. It was so cool. So cool. Other than, taking the kids to the kids clubs and doing some activities there, we did a lot of time. My kids loved the pools and I love there was a lot of smaller pools. I really liked that. And I also liked this. I did not know before the cruise, they were not deep. They're

Ryan: 15:20

not at

Julie: 15:21

Three feet. Three feet, maybe one is four feet, maybe. But I really, I thought that was really cool. I had no idea about that. We did the aqua mouse a couple times. Sometimes the adults, we went to the hyperspace lounge or a couple of the other lounges, a couple trivias. Stuff like that. We also had rainforest length of cruise passes, so I went there a couple times. We did acupuncture in the spa. There was so much to do. There's no

Ryan: 15:46

can be as busy or bored as you want to be on a cruise.

Julie: 15:49

Absolutely. I just loved that there was such, such an array of activities. You could go sit in the movie theater and watch movies all day long. And the thing is, it's so informal. My daughter wanted to go see a movie. So we went and then halfway through she was done. So we left. And it wasn't a problem. It wasn't a big deal at all. Now, if you want to go to the movies that are the first run movies that are playing at 8 PM, you probably need to get there early and plan a little bit,

Ryan: 16:15

yes, and that's that was my experience on our Disney cruise because Frozen 2 was out and our group was going to go and it ended up only being my daughter and I because we couldn't find

Julie: 16:26

Oh, yeah. So you definitely need to do earlier for something like that. I felt like there was so much to do on board. And the, one of the other really great things about Disney Cruise Line is they make sure that all ages are included. And this is, Kind of a pet peeve of mine with other cruise lines that I won't name, they have an amazing toddler splash pad that's appropriate for kids that are in swim diapers. And a lot of cruise lines do not offer anything for kids in swim diapers. So a huge thing to consider if you have little kids, you think you're going to get on a ship and your kid's going to get in the pool with you. No, they don't let you do that. There has to be a splash pad.

Ryan: 17:04

So let's extend this a little bit and let's talk about the kids clubs. So what, what did your kids think of this? What did you think of this as a parent?

Julie: 17:14

I was so amazed, we had watched so many walkthrough videos of it, but like, seeing them, especially on the Wish, that takes up half the deck. they are huge. Like, they just keep going and going, and there's so many, little innovative things, like the hand washers, like, Right? Like this thing that you stick your hand in and it washes your hands to encourage the kids to do it. Of course, my child is scared of it whereas every other kid is like, Oh, this is so fun. Don't worry. She still used hand sanitizer, but she was concerned about that. My kid, you know, I see home with my kids. They don't go to daycare. The oldest goes to preschool a couple hours a week. So they are not used to being in like a daycare type situation where I drop them off and leave. And I thought they did pretty well.

Ryan: 17:58

Good.

Julie: 17:59

We utilize the kids club a lot more than I thought I would and it really Made the cruise what it was.

Ryan: 18:07

Did your youngest use the nursery at all?

Julie: 18:10

So both of my younger to Luca

Ryan: 18:11

Oh, that's right, yes.

Julie: 18:12

Luca was only two he was also in the nursery. And they did really well in there I think With the kids clubs the day that you board the kids clubs are open house So make sure that you walk through it with them They kind of get a familiarity with it and also for you, you know, like what they're gonna be involved in I loved that they could just ping you on the app and say like hey Eliana wants to come be picked up right now That was really great. You had a secret word that you had to give to the the cast cast members

Ryan: 18:44

Yes.

Julie: 18:45

The cast numbers that were working in order to check out your Children. So other people could check them out like we had friends with us and we had them listed as being able to check out our Children,

Ryan: 18:54

And FYI, when you go to Ilani soon, it's the exact same

Julie: 18:59

Oh, great. That's so good to know. Awesome. I will say sometimes my kids were a little hesitant, but they always had a great time and it got to the point that When we were on the ship, the movie Wish was playing. That was new. It was in theaters and I had tried to take my oldest multiple times and every time I tried to take her she chose to go to the kids club instead. Now if you asked her today, did you like the kids club? It's 50 50 if you're gonna get a yes, but on the cruise she really loved it. I think she didn't like being in there for like a super long period of time. But again, she was still only four. I will say with the younger ones, I did not pre book any times in the nursery because the nursery, you do need to reserve and you do need to pay per hour. I didn't pre book anything because I truly had no idea what to expect with how much I would use it and I had no issue getting any times that I

Ryan: 19:49

Great. That's

Julie: 19:50

very easy to do that. And especially putting two of them in. I will say I, I did not want to look at my bill by the end of the cruise on how much I spent on the kids club. Worth every penny. My daughter was only eight months, so if you were taking a very young one that still naps multiple times a day, the best time to take them to the kids club is during their nap. I would drop her off at 10 a. m. till 11. 30. She would take her nap. I'd pick her up. You know, it was, it was perfect.

Ryan: 20:19

That's a great idea because then you're not in the state room watching her sleep.

Julie: 20:24

Yeah, and I was fully prepared to be that was part of the reason

Ryan: 20:27

Yeah, yeah, sure.

Julie: 20:28

you brought books, but even still it was phenomenal and she's a fairly good sleeper. So it worked out really well. Even my 2 year old took a nap. 1 of the times, even though it really wasn't planned that way we would. So we would either put them in for their morning nap or their afternoon nap worked amazing. The other time we really like to take them was. We had early dining, which is at 545. So we would reserve the kids club from like 730 to 930 or 8 to 930 and take them out for dinner. They kind of get all their wiggles out, and we can go to a lounge. I mean, we don't have a ton of time, we can't go see a whole show, but we could still breathe for a minute.

Ryan: 21:07

Yep. I like that. Yeah.

Julie: 21:08

I really liked having that option. Of course, you know, we would always say, do you want to go to the kids club? And if they didn't want to go, we're not going to force them to go. But every time that we tried it, they were excited.

Ryan: 21:18

Great. Well, hey, you talked about dining, so you know you're not going to talk about a cruise with me without talking about dining, and Disney Cruise Line is known for their dining. What were your thoughts?

Julie: 21:31

I really was impressed by the food. again, I had no idea what to expect. I didn't want to have high hopes, but I didn't eat anything that I didn't like. Disney does rotational dining, which we've mentioned before, where basically it means there's three main dining rooms or restaurants on the ship. And, So on a four night cruise, you're going to experience each one of those and then one of them twice. But really, the big thing is that your waitstaff moves with you and that was a lot better than I anticipated. At first, I was kind of like, well, what's the big deal? But it is a big deal when you have little kids. And the waitstaff knows, okay, so and so wants milk when they sit down. And this one likes to sit next to this one and they move there and, you know, that. Kind of one less thing to think about a little bit. And this is like a funny little aside. One of my friend's daughters, the first night on the cruise, she fell asleep at dinner while my friend was holding her. Our wait staff offered to set up a bed on the floor. He was bringing out blankets and sheets and all this stuff. And she was like, no, it's fine. It's fine. But it was just like, wow. That's like, that's really

Ryan: 22:37

that's next level, right? Yeah, yeah.

Julie: 22:40

Wait, is he really offering to do that? She declined that offer, even though it was very kind and thoughtful of him, so he came back and cut up all her food for her instead. So that mom could still eat while holding this sleeping child. It was amazing. It was so great. Things they do to go above and beyond was, was really wonderful to make the dining more enjoyable. I liked all the restaurants, you know, 1923 is really kind of like elegant ish

Ryan: 23:03

Yeah, that'd be the one that I think I would be most excited about.

Julie: 23:06

We had that the first night and I was happy to have that the first night because I knew there was no type of show or interaction and so I just wanted a low key dinner the first night. It was amazing. Everything was so good. The artwork in there was so amazing. And then we had Marvel the next night, which was cool. It wasn't as cool as I thought it would be, there is a little surprise guest that comes running through the restaurant afterwards. They don't stop and do like pictures and meet and greets. But he does run through and you get to kind of wave and say hi. And then the last night we had frozen, which was our favorite. And did I share the video with you of our frozen dinner?

Ryan: 23:46

think so, yes.

Julie: 23:47

So there's a lot of dancing and singing. And my Luca, who's two, was wearing this oversized Hawaiian type shirt. He looked ridiculous, but he insisted on wearing it. And he is standing on his chair, just singing and belting out, Let it go,

Ryan: 24:03

Well, now you know you have to post this the week that this episode

Julie: 24:07

I do. I do have to do that.

Ryan: 24:08

everybody needs to see it.

Julie: 24:10

He loved it. And then at the end, they have everyone like swinging their napkins around and dancing. And he is just like, he is all in, loving life. It was just really, really great to see. The one thing we didn't do is we did not get to do the buffet at dinner or lunch at any time. That just never worked in our plans. And honestly, the food at Festival of Foods was so good.

Ryan: 24:32

that's great.

Julie: 24:33

was there. There was barbecue. There was pizza. It was so good. So

Ryan: 24:37

probably for kids your age, that's easier than a buffet anyway.

Julie: 24:40

oh my gosh. Yes. Cause you could just walk up and grab a slice of pizza and then get them situated, have an adult stay and someone else go back and get the rest of their stuff. It was, it was a lot easier than having to go and didn't want to do that. Yes.

Ryan: 24:52

this is great. It sounds like it was a really positive first cruising experience for your family.

Julie: 24:58

I would say we are all in. We absolutely love Sailing Unleashed. We're really excited for our next Disney cruise now that we know what to expect. And if anyone has questions about sailing with little ones, please don't hesitate to post that on the Facebook group or message me and I'm happy to talk to you about it.

Ryan: 25:14

I just want to throw a quick plug in for folks. One thing we asked you to do from time to time is if you're a fan of the podcast, make sure to share an episode or two with friends and families to hear them talk about travel. You want to plan a trip to an amazing destination, but you don't know how to get started? As your travel advisor, we work with you to create a customized itinerary for your vacation and take the stress of planning away. So you can focus on fun and creating memories. You can reach out to me, Ryan, at CreatingMagicVacations. com.

Julie: 25:46

And you can reach me at Julie at CreatingMagicVacations. com.

Ryan: 25:51

Join us next week on All Things Travel as we share our March Live episode where Julie and I share some of our favorite travel gear that you may want to get for your next trip.