In 2022, Disney Cruise Line introduced their first new cruise ship since the Disney Fantasy in 2012. This eagerly anticipated cruise ship is the first in the new Wish Class and is currently the largest in the five-ship fleet.
While Disney Wish does offer many of the same stateroom types and amenities as the older ships, she also has some differences. These include more Concierge rooms and fewer interior rooms, with more verandahs (balcony rooms).
As someone who always loves booking a balcony, I have found that I book the same type of room on Disney Wish that I would book on any of the other cruise ships.
Last December, I sailed on Disney Wish on a post-Christmas cruise with my husband, 17-year-old son, and 19-year-old daughter.
While we’ve typically booked a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah, now that my kids are older, we booked the Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah.
These rooms are slightly larger than a traditional Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom and offer a pull-down Murphy bed.
Like most cruise lines, Disney Cruise Line does allow you to select the specific room when booking, unless you choose a GTY stateroom.
On the Wish, it’s especially important to consider the elevator placement, if you don’t want to walk too far. There are only two elevator banks, rather than three, with no midship elevator bank. Because of this, we opted for a room in the aft of the ship.
Read more: Best rooms on a cruise ship: Deck, location, & category
Entering the Stateroom
The first time you approach your cabin, you’ll find your Key to the World cards on what is known on the Disney Cruise Line as the “fish."
This decorative hanging outside the door is meant to handle any communications from the ship and is named for the fish that sits outside the older Disney Cruise Line ships. On the Wish, the “fish” are fairy-tale themed (ours was an owl).
As a recent modification, Disney Wish rooms can now be opened by the DisneyBand+, which is essentially the same thing as the MagicBand+ used in Disney theme parks. These are not included in the cost of your Disney cruise and are optional; the key cards work in the same way.
Upon entering the room, you’ll need to insert your keycard in the slot by the door to operate the lights.
You’ll immediately notice the whimsical Disney-themed decor. All of the staterooms are fairy-tale-themed after popular movies like The Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, Frozen, the Little Mermaid, Moana, and Sleeping Beauty.
The themes are muted and subtle, though.
Along the wall as you enter is the closet space in the stateroom.
There are two separate closets for hanging clothes, with a middle section for folded items. This section is open - not drawers that close, so we recommend bringing packing cubes to keep things neat and secure.
This is also where you will find the life jackets and the safe.
Split bathroom
One of the great family-friendly stateroom features of the Disney Wish is the split bathroom. Located across from the closet, the split bathroom is comprised of two completely separate areas.
One has a shower (larger than many I’ve seen on cruise ships) and a sink, while the other has a toilet and a sink.
I love this option for families because two people can get ready at the same time without sacrificing privacy.
Main Stateroom
The main area of the stateroom includes a comfortable queen-sized bed with deluxe Frette bedding. There are outlets and single drawers/shelves on both sides of the bed, making it convenient to charge all of your devices at the end of the night.
Across from the bed is a large television, which offers on-demand movies and TV shows, as well as live television from Disney-owned stations including Disney Channel. My kids would always put the TV on when we were in the room and found lots of classic Disney movies to watch!
We were surprised that our television didn’t swivel towards the sofa and, instead. faced the bed. It is a large television, however, and is convenient for everyone to see.
Next to the bed is the sofa bed. It serves as a sofa for most of the day, but in the evening, your cabin steward will turn it down to be a twin bed. Above the sofa bed is a pull-down berth (offered in most staterooms). This can be pulled down if you request it. Since my kids no longer like the upper bunk, we didn’t use it. As younger kids, however, they fought over it.
Across from the sofa bed is a large desk/vanity area. This space includes a large lighted mirror, drawers (including one holding the hairdryer), open shelves, more outlets, and a cooler drawer (similar to a mini-fridge). There’s also a small fabric stool by the mirror that you can sit on when getting ready.
Because we had a Deluxe Family Stateroom, our room also had a pull-down trundle bed. During the day, this was stored up on a wooden cabin and completely out of the way.
During the evening turndown service, our stateroom host would pull it down. When down, it does somewhat block the verandah, so this bed should be only pulled down when needed.
Along the pull-down bed is another narrow set of drawers. There’s also a small bed light that can be used as a reading light.
At the very end of the stateroom is the single floor-to-ceiling door leading to the verandah, as well as the windows that surround it. The verandah itself has a small table and two chairs, with lots of space to sit outside and watch the waves around you.
Overall, this room is very comfortable for a family of four. If you have older kids (especially those who don’t want to sleep in a bunk), it’s worthwhile splurging for the larger room with the Murphy bed.
Jodi Grundig
Jodi Grundig has loved traveling since she was a child. As the mom of a seventeen-year-old son and eighteen-year-old daughter, she has spent much time traveling with kids, and has taken many cruises over the years. Jodi lives in Massachusetts with her family and is the founder of Family Travel Magazine.
