On the morning that we returned to Port Canaveral at the end of our first cruise onboard the beautiful Disney Wish, I woke up at 6:00am to find that we were already docked and when I walked onto our verandah after getting out of bed, it was absolutely freezing outside so I was very grateful that I had brought a hoody with me as it was definitely needed.

It was also a nice feeling after four days offline to have mobile data back (even though the 4G at Port Canaveral is painfully slow) so after getting a cup of tea from a completely deserted drink station on Deck 11, we both sat in bed catching up with the outside world until we had to move. As we had now completed ten cruises with Disney Cruise Line (something that years ago I never thought would even be possible), we were both already showing as Platinum Castaway Cay members online and we also quickly filled in the Health Questionnaire that had been sent to us overnight which we had to complete before we could reboard the ship later that morning. An announcement for Express Walk-Off (when you carry your own bags off the ship) was made just after 7:00am and it felt very strange that we were not disembarking at this time like we usually do on each cruise.

We had never originally intended to book a Back to Back (two consecutive cruises) sailing onboard the Disney Wish as our original plan was to disembark the four night Disney Wish cruise, collect a rental car and drive down to Miami and board Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady the following day for a five night Western Caribbean cruise to Cozumel and Bimini. We were both looking forward to going from a Disney family cruise to a Virgin adult only cruise and experiencing both extremes as well as a new cruise line on one trip.

However there was a little voice at the back of my head that kept saying that we did not have enough time on the Disney Wish to be able to do everything that we wanted to do especially as we also wanted to enjoy dinner at Enchanté which would mean missing out on one of the main dining rooms or Pirate Night (all of which are completely different on the Wish compared to the other four ships) which we did not want to do. Then one night I jokingly said that we should just cancel the cruise on the Scarlet Lady and stay onboard the Disney Wish for the next cruise instead. The next morning my boyfriend was sat there looking at his iPad asking if I had been serious as our stateroom was also available on the three night cruise so we took that as a sign that it was meant to be and booked it straight away.

As much as we were both looking forward to sailing onboard the Scarlet Lady, we realised that it was not the right time because neither of us wanted to disembark the Disney Wish feeling sad that we had not been able to do everything we wanted and then board the Scarlet Lady (which is such a different experience but in a good way) as we wanted to fully enjoy every minute of that trip as well. So we simply postponed the Virgin Voyages cruise and we are now booked to sail onboard the Valiant Lady early next year to Costa Maya, Roatan and Bimini (all brand new ports for us) which I cannot wait for as it will be incredible.

We finally dragged ourselves out of bed and left our room as requested at 8:00am. The best thing about staying in the same stateroom on a Back to Back cruise was not having to pack so we could leave everything in the room as it was. All I took off the ship with me that morning was a tote bag which had my passport, iPhone, camera and portable charger inside as well as our Yellow Back to Back card that had been in the envelope with our Back to Back letter.

The Starboard side of Marceline Market was open for breakfast and even though there are limited food selections available on disembarkation day, there was still a lot more choice than on our last cruise on the Disney Dream. It was extremely busy and crowded that morning and finding an empty table inside took a few minutes (it was a little too cold and windy to sit and eat breakfast outside at this time) but we eventually found a table in one of the “hidden” areas near the entrance to Marceline Market.

After we finished our breakfast we still had an hour to kill as we did not have to disembark the Disney Wish until 9:40am as stated in our Back to Back letter. It was a very strange feeling (and you did feel a little bit naughty) as we were just hanging around onboard whilst everyone else was disembarking and whilst they were making announcements asking passengers to leave the ship as soon as possible. We did see a few other people just walking around the ship with no bags which we guessed were also sailing Back to Back so we were definitely not the only ones.

Despite it being a little cold that morning, the sun was shining brightly so we decided to walk around the outside decks of the Disney Wish though one side of the ship was roped off due to refuelling which was taking place. It was so peaceful and quiet and it was so interesting at this time to watch the ship being prepared ready for the next cruise in a few hours time. We both got a cup of tea and sat on the comfortable chairs by Currents on Deck 13 enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine until we had to disembark.

This was actually our fourth attempt at a Back to Back sailing on Disney Cruise Line due to all of the cancellations during the pandemic so it felt so good that it was finally happening. The next cruise was also going to be our first ever three night weekend cruise out of Port Canaveral (something that I would usually avoid if possible) but as we had done most of what we wanted to do on the four night cruise, this was going to be our cruise to take it easy and enjoy everything else onboard the Disney Wish as we had dinner at Enchanté, the Enchanté Dessert Experience as well as dinner at Palo Steakhouse to look forward to.

We walked down towards the Grand Hall just after 9:30am and there was still a lot of people onboard (including large families with all of their suitcases) just hanging around and trying to not disembark the Disney Wish until they absolutely had to leave.

We disembarked the Disney Wish onto an empty gangway at 9:40am and it really was a great feeling knowing that it would not be long before we were back onboard. The baggage hall in the terminal was very busy and there was a long line for customs however we were directed to a much shorter line (where our passports were barely looked at) as we were sailing Back to Back.

We were standing outside the front of the terminal in Port Canaveral just under ten minutes after we had disembarked the Disney Wish. After stopping to take a few photos we walked straight back inside where there was no else waiting to check in and went through security once again before taking the escalator up into a nearly empty terminal.

Before we sat down, I made sure to quickly get as many photos of the empty terminal as I could before it started to get busy and we also walked out onto the Observation Deck whilst it was still quiet as it can easily get very crowded there whilst waiting to board.

There is a separate seating area inside the terminal especially for Back to Back guests and at a guess there was approximately fifty people that day getting straight back on the Disney Wish! The wait until you can reboard the ship is the hardest part as it feels like forever and I was very grateful that there were no delays that day as there had been a Coastguard inspection four days previously which had delayed boarding. A top tip is to make sure that you have a portable charger with you for your phone if the battery starts to get low whilst you wait and if travelling with children, make sure to bring an iPad or something similar to help them pass the time.

Just after 11:00am (and fifteen minutes earlier than expected) we were invited to reboard the Disney Wish. We were off the ship for just over an hour in total and we let everyone else rush ahead of us and after handing over the yellow Back to Back card that we had been given on the first cruise to the Cast Members in the terminal, we walked along an empty gangway and back towards the ship. One thing to know is that when reboarding the ship, there is no welcome onboard announcement and no fanfare – it is simply like you never left the ship.

After we had boarded, we took the elevator straight up to Deck 11 and waited for a few minutes for Marceline Market to open where there was complimentary speciality teas and coffees as well as pastries available for all Back to Back guests.

With our Daisy Duck and Captain America lattes in hand, we walked around outside before it got busy and it truly felt surreal that we were back onboard the Disney Wish. After having so many cruises and trips cancelled during the pandemic, these were our first cruises where everything was back to the old normal that we once knew with absolutely no testing, vaccination proof, masks or any other restrictions onboard.

At Midday we walked back to Marceline Market to get some lunch as soon as it opened and we found a nice quiet corner inside to sit down and eat. As we had dinner at Enchanté booked for that evening, our plan was to have a slightly bigger lunch as early as possible so that we would have no need to snack during the afternoon. I decided to try all of the different Shrimp that they had along with some Sweet Potato Fries and a Plant Based Beef Stir Fry which was absolutely delicious – I really hope that all of the amazing plant based options that I tried on the Disney Wish that week make it to the other ships as it really was so good and such a nice change to have a lot more non meat options available.

I also had to get another Celebration Cake for dessert as they really are so good and only available on embarkation day along with a Strawberry Creme Pot which I enjoyed before we left Marceline Market just before 1:00pm as it was now both incredibly noisy and extremely busy.

As we were sailing Back to Back and staying in the same stateroom for both cruises, we were able to access our room at 1:00pm before everyone else – all we had to do was walk under the barrier. We dropped off the few bits that we had with us and collected our new Key to the World cards that were in an envelope outside our stateroom door along with a card from Captain Andy thanking us for sailing on Back to Back cruises and welcoming us back onboard the Disney Wish.

We had also been left our welcome back gifts as Platinum Castaway Club members and it was a little bit of a surprise to see the standard Platinum cooler bag and luggage tags as it was not what we were expecting. It turned out that the previous cruise was the final cruise that received the Disney Wish Inaugural Sailing gifts so I was incredibly grateful and felt very lucky that we had sailed just in time to receive those gifts earlier that week.

We walked down to the Grand Hall to watch the small welcome show with Lord Leopold (along with Rapunzel and Flynn Rider) as we had not seen it on our first embarkation day earlier that week. We also saw a sign at Guest Services to say that the ship was completely full and it was already noticeable as there was people absolutely everywhere you looked – it was definitely one of the busiest cruises that we have been on. However we were prepared for this and we did not have much that we needed to do on this cruise at all as we had done the majority of it on the first one so we could really sit back and enjoy the next three nights onboard.

Another huge advantage of sailing on the second cruise of a Back to Back sailing was that we already knew our way around the ship whilst everyone else around us was looking very lost. It was also lovely being able to walk around the ship without having to carry any heavy bags and knowing that we did not need to unpack later that day either.

Our next stop was the Oceaneer Club on Deck 2 as it was Open House at this time to look at everything else that we had not been able to a few days previously. After having an amazing dinner the previous evening at Worlds of Marvel, I was really looking forward to exploring the Marvel Super Hero Academy as there are a lot of details in this one small area of the ship – in fact this is where Ant Man and the Wasp are presenting Miracles from Molecules from during the Avengers: Quantum Encounter dinner.

On the noticeboard is a letter from Pepper Potts at Stark Industries to Hope Van Dyne and Scott Lang thanking them for accepting the invitation to be guest speakers onboard the Disney Wish – as well as reminding Scott not to overpack which is funny as during the presentation at dinner, he wants to shrink his suitcase as it is too big to fit underneath the bed in his cabin!

Scott Lang’s Key to the World is also on display along with his “World’s Greatest Grandma” trophy that was given to him by his daughter Cassie for his birthday. However it is Scott’s packing list which is written on X-Con Security Consultants notepaper that contains even more details related to both the Quantum Encounter dinner as well as the cruise itself. As well as packing his Ant Man suit, a swimsuit, a “Pirate-y” suit and a formal night suit, there is also a reminder for him to ship the 156 Quantum Cores and the Regulator which are found on all of the dining tables inside the Worlds of Marvel restaurant. Scott has also written down that he wants to do a towel folding class onboard as well as get Chicken Tenders for lunch which are both references to the Quantum Encounter dinner as well.

There is also a yellow piece of paper on the noticeboard with a drawing of a Swarmbot saying “Watch Out for These” and “Bad News” which is a reference to the Ant Man and the Wasp: Nano Battle attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland as well as an EMP Blaster gun in a storage case on the desk from the same ride.

The next area that we explored was the Star Wars Cargo Bay and even though I know hardly anything about Star Wars, it was incredibly fun and detailed and I know that I probably missed a lot of the details in there as my Star Wars knowledge is limited to Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland as I have only ever watched one of the movies much to the annoyance of my boyfriend.

There are various creatures to be found throughout the Star Wars Cargo Bay including a Worrt from Tatooine, a Dokma from Atollon, a Loth-Cat from Lothal holding onto a cuddly Porg as it sleeps as well as an actual Porg guarding a nest of eggs.

Mickey and Minnie Captain’s Deck is a nautical themed play area for younger children where there is a map on the wall with castles showing the locations of all six of the different Disney Parks around the world as well as six ships even though there is currently only five in the fleet – unless the Disney Treasure is already included as well!

It was 2:30pm when we left the Oceaneer Club and as we had seen everything that we wanted to, we decided to get a coffee to take back to our stateroom where we sat on the verandah just enjoying the peace and quiet (as well as the mobile data) whilst overlooking Port Canaveral as it was very busy everywhere else on the ship. It was such a nice feeling to be able to have a relaxing embarkation day especially as we knew we had a long evening ahead.

Just before 3:50pm, we collected everything that we needed ready for the sailaway party before being guided down the crew stairs to our muster station in Worlds of Marvel on Deck 4. The emergency alarms sounded at 3:55pm and there were two cabins missing from our muster station – one was actually already there and had not scanned their Key to the World cards when they arrived and the other family turned up ten minutes later at 4:05pm and had to do the walk of shame with everyone in the restaurant watching as they walked to their seats. This is the one thing the entire cruise that you cannot be late for!

The only thing more painful than the full muster drill (after experiencing the virtual muster drill on four cruises) was two full muster drills in the space of five days. I really wish that it would go back to the virtual way as it was so simple and stress-free and I really felt that I personally learnt a lot more by watching the much more detailed and informative safety video that was shown at that time as soon as possible after boarding.

As already mentioned in my previous embarkation day blog, if you want to get a good spot for the sailaway party, you will need to go straight there (and make sure to use the stairs instead of waiting for the elevators) as soon as the muster drill is completed. One of the things that I am most looking forward to on our next cruise which as already mentioned is not with Disney is not having sailaway or deck parties like this where I always feel the pressure to get there early to get a good view – it’s going to be so relaxed that I won’t know what to do with myself!

Unlike on our first cruise earlier that week when we watched Set Sail on a Wish from a front row spot next to the Deck 11 stage, on this cruise we had already decided that we wanted to watch it from Deck 12. Even though standing right next to the stage was so much fun and I am so glad that I finally got to do it at least once, it was so in your face that I personally prefer standing on the higher deck to watch from as I find it a lot more enjoyable.

Once again we had perfect bright blue skies and sunshine for the sailaway party and after always experiencing bad weather every time we have sailed from Florida, getting two perfect weather embarkation days and sailaways that week was the best feeling ever. There is definitely something to be said for cruising during the winter months when there are a lot less thunderstorms than in the summer.

Watching the sailaway party is one of my favourite things to do on a Disney Cruise and I really felt so incredibly grateful to sail on two cruises in a row as watching Set Sail on a Wish twice in five days was an amazing feeling. The only difference to the sailaway party on this cruise was that Darren was now our Cruise Director onboard as Jimmy had disembarked the ship that morning and before we knew it, he was asking Captain Minnie to start the countdown to sound the ship horn to signal that our cruise had begun!

As we had some friends and family watching the Port Canaveral Webcam that afternoon, as soon as Set Sail on a Wish had finished we walked over to the side of the Disney Wish to wave at the webcam which is located on the top of Fishlips Waterfront Bar and Grill. We also walked to Deck 13 Aft as we noticed that there was something on fire at Cape Canaveral and the resulting smoke and haze on the horizon was looking very dark and mysterious.

After we had sailed out of Port Canaveral and past Cocoa Beach, we each grabbed a cup of tea and walked back to our stateroom to watch the sunset from our verandah as we still had two and half hours until our dinner at Enchanté. It was really nice to have this time as we did not need to meet any characters, see any theatre shows or go to any of the shops onboard as we had already done everything that we wanted to which is one of the best benefits to sailing on a Back to Back cruise.

After having a shower and as we were getting dressed, Almost There started playing on the stateroom television which we for some reason always tend to hear at the most appropriate times – with this one being that we were finally about to have dinner at Enchanté which we had both been looking forward to since it was announced. Even though the dress code has been relaxed onboard, we still wanted to make an effort and had brought clothes with us especially for this one evening of the cruise – there was no way I could ever have dinner there wearing my normal everyday clothes as it just would not feel right.

Our dinner reservation at Enchanté was at 7:30pm and at 7:20pm we took the elevator up to Deck 12 Aft. Both The Rose as well as Enchanté were very quiet and a complete oasis of calm on an otherwise very busy ship. As we had experienced all three of the main dining rooms onboard during our first cruise, we could simply enjoy every minute of the evening ahead without thinking that we were missing out on something elsewhere on the ship.

In the corridor between The Rose and Enchanté, maître extraordinaire Lumiere guided us towards the entrance of the restaurant and we were seated at a table by the window and introduced to Anthony who was our incredible server for the evening.

I have written about our dinner at Enchanté in a separate blog post as like our dinner at Remy on the Disney Fantasy, it definitely deserves it. We truly had a wonderful and perfect evening and it was definitely worth the wait and simply the best start to our second cruise onboard the beautiful Disney Wish. Dinner at Enchanté is not an experience that you can rush through as there are so many different courses that you have to savour and enjoy – we happily spent just over three hours at Enchanté which simply flew by.

We were both completely full when we left Enchanté (you could never leave there hungry) so we walked back down to our stateroom to quickly change into some more comfortable clothes before we walked around the ship for a little bit before bed to help try and work off some of the wonderful food that we had enjoyed that evening.

After watching the Kiss Goodnight in the Grand Hall, we went out onto Deck 4 and walked around as much of the deck as we could which was not far at all as you cannot walk a complete lap of the ship which is something that I really missed being able to do onboard the Disney Wish – even the walk out around the bow of the ship is closed as soon as it gets dark.

When we got back to our stateroom I wanted to try and stay awake for a little longer so I could write my travel diary but once again I fell asleep whilst sitting up in bed as it had been such a long day. The Disney Cruise Line beds are so comfortable and I really wish that I could fall asleep that quickly in my normal day to day life!

Next stop – back to Nassau!

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