Our First Disney Cruise on the Wish
Earlier this year, Dani and I were scheduled to take our first ever cruise, a five day mediterranean cruise from Barcelona on the Disney Magic. Unfortunately the week before, covid finally hit our house. We made a quick pivot and rebooked for a cruise our friends had already scheduled; a 4-Night Very Merrytime Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral. It was really just the best time.
Because we have to travel so far to get to and from Orlando, we decided to bookend the cruise with a couple of days at Disney World. We spent the first two nights at Coronado Springs. It was our first time staying there. It’s a really nice resort, beautiful and nicely themed. Our room was The Three Caballeros themed, which is one of my favourites. We didn’t get a chance to use the pool, but the mayan themed pool and water slide looked really cool. The resort also had really beautiful Christmas decorations all over. Absolutely stunning.
For our parks day, we started at Epcot before heading to Magic Kingdom in the evening to meet our friends for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Epcot currently has the International Festival of the holidays happening, which is like the International Food Festival, but holiday themed. We sampled a few of the items, including the donut box (amazing eggnog cream doughnut) and the holiday beer flight. Also, we FINALLY got to try out the Space 220 restaurant for lunch. It did not disappoint! The experience was great and the food was really good. We are going to try out the dinner service in January for Marathon weekend.
The Christmas party at MK was also quite fun, though the fireworks show was a bit obscured with fog. We got to ride quite a few rides with the girls. I was excited to take Ella on my favourite ride, Haunted Mansion, for the first time. The parade was great, and we grabbed a few of the “free” cookie and hot chocolate treats around the park.
The next morning we boarded a bus from our resort which took us out to the cruise terminal in Cape Canaveral. Check in was pretty easy and you had to pass through a small airport style bag security. I think by noon we had boarded the ship and started the adventure (in the buffet for lunch, haha).
There’s so much to say about the cruise, so I’m just going to mention some highlights.
Onboard Dining. We had four meals at three different themed Restaurants on board. World of Marvel, Arendelle, and 1923. All three were excellent, but I think 1923 was the best food, though the Marvel entertainment was fantastic. I think we might have enjoyed Arendelle more if we weren’t literally as far from the stage as you possibly could be.
Entertainment. The shows in the Walt Disney theatre on three of the nights were all amazing. The three shows included: An Embarkation Celebration, Little Mermaid, and Aladdin. Aladdin was my favourite of the three.
Biggest Disappointment. The Hyperspace Lounge. The space didn’t really have a Star Wars vibe. The window was cool, but not enough to make up for the boring theming. I wasn’t terribly impressed with the drinks either.
Biggest Surprise. Castaway Cay. I was not expecting to enjoy the time on the island as much as I did. The swimming and water slides were fun and relaxing. The BBQ lunch was delicious. Dani and I even took part in the self organised 5k on the island and received our official medallions.
The cruise kicks you off the boat pretty early. So by 9am we were on a bus heading back to Disney World. We. stayed one more night, but at the Yacht Club this time. We even got upgraded to a water view room, which paid off later when we sat on our balcony and watched the Harmonious fireworks. First thing, we took the skyliner over to Riviera Resort where we enjoyed brunch at Topolino’s Terrace. We all really enjoyed the food and the characters in their special costumes. The rest of the day was spent at Hollywood Studios. And finally for our last day, we enjoyed a few hours at Animal Kingdom before beginning our trek back to Amsterdam.
It was a much needed vacation and recharge for the soul. Spending time with chosen family, especially with the munchkins. Disney is a bit different when you experience it with kids. I’m so thankful that we were all able to share this trip together.
