Why Cook When You Can Cruise?

I may never cook Thanksgiving dinner again.

This year, we tried something a little different for Thanksgiving. We let Mickey Mouse do the work on a 4-Night Bahamian cruise on the Disney Wish. I’ll be honest that when we booked the trip, I had a bit of an, “You can DO THIS?” moment. Thanksgiving is such a traditional holiday for Americans, so the idea of leaving my kitchen for an adventure on the high seas seemed almost … naughty. But once I got on board I saw that I was surrounded by hundreds of other families who, just like me, had a a great idea.

Bring the family.

Pack the tradition.

But, leave the work at home.

The beautiful holiday tree in the Grand Hall.

The Disney Wish sails out of Port Canaveral, Florida, a short drive from Orlando. We opted to fly in a few days early and attend several holiday parties at Disney World, Jollywood Nights at Hollywood Studios and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom. While we rented a car, Disney Cruise Line makes things super easy with shuttles to the cruise port directly from your Disney World Resort (as well as a few other hotels in Orlando).

Disney cruises are absolutely jam packed with fun things to do for all ages. There are crafting and character drawing classes, trivia, whiskey tastings, swimming, the AquaMouse waterslide, multiple movie theaters, and more. On other cruise lines, the first thing my husband and I always do is visit the spa and book appointments for a massage or two. My husband suggested we do the same when we boarded the Wish (yes, they have a spa and a super cool barber shop), but I told him that I didn’t think we’d have time for a massage with everything else there was to do. And, I was totally right!

Relaxing Itinerary

Our cruise stopped at Nassau, Bahamas and Castaway Cay (one of two private islands owned by Disney). We also had one day at sea on Thanksgiving Day. There were ample activities to choose from at both stops. We had been to Nassau before and explored quite extensively, so opted this time for a gentle Swim with Dolphins experience. But, there were so many other options, from snorkeling trips to a visit to a Pirate Museum to a day at the Atlantis resort.

On Castaway Cay, there were activities like snorkeling, bike rentals, aqua-trike or tube rentals, and more. They even have a stingray experience. But, my family decided that this day they would like to sleep in and relax on the ship itself. I’m an early riser, so I took some alone time to visit the island and meet a few characters before joining the gang back later when they woke up. We then enjoyed the pool and the AquaMouse waterslide with a practically empty ship (we rode three times without getting off because there was no line!), explored the ship with the interactive scavenger hunt game Uncharted Adventure, and took a leisurely afternoon nap!

Broadway-Style Shows and Prem-EAR at Sea

Disney doesn’t disappoint when it comes to nightly entertainment. One of my family’s favorite parts of cruising is attending the nightly theater shows, and in our experience, some cruise lines do this better than others. On our four-night cruise, we were treated with three separate Broadway-caliber performances at the Walt Disney Theater that were stunning. Our first night, we saw Disney Seas the Adventure, a fun story where Captain Minnie Mouse turns the ship’s wheel over to Goofy for a few moments. As you can imagine, one should never let Goofy drive anything without hilarity ensuing! Our second night, we saw The Little Mermaid and on Thanksgiving night we ended with Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular.

But, on our third night, we were surprised with something extra special. If you’re lucky enough to be on a Disney Cruise Line ship when a Disney movie premiers in the theaters, you are often treated with a “prem-EAR at sea,” the chance to see the movie on the day it’s released! Disney doesn’t announce this on the cruise itinerary - in fact, when we boarded the ship there was no mention of it on any of the daily activities. But, on November 27th, the day that Moana 2 released, suddenly it was out evening’s show! It was so fun to be in a huge theater full of excited Disney fans watching this movie right as it came out - the excitement in the room was vibrant and people cheered and clapped and had the best time! And yes, they have popcorn!

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day was our Day at Sea, and it turned out to be a day of food and family, just like at home but without the work! We were lucky to score a reservation at Palo, one of Disney’s two adults-only specialty restaurants aboard the Wish. While Palo has nightly dinners, they serve brunch only on days at sea. The $50 per person upcharge was absolutely worth it - two hours of course after course of delicious food. We had an omelet, a charcuterie platter, soup, flatbread, and main (I had eggplant rollatini, husband had lasagna), and dessert. Even sharing some of the courses left us in a food coma at the end, but it was a day at sea, so no reason not to take another nap!

For dinner, we ate at 1923, one of the three main dining rooms on the Wish. Disney Cruises do what’s called “rotational dining,” where you eat at one of the three main dining rooms each night and rotate around so that you get to try them all at least once. Your waitstaff team, however, follow along with you, so you are always served by the same head and assistant server. This is something so lovely, because you get to them and they get to know you. By the second night of the cruise, we arrived at our table to find our beverages of choice already waiting for us!

On the Wish, the first dining room is 1923, themed after Walt and Roy Disney with a beautiful, elegant, art deco vibe. There is beautiful concept art all through the restaurant that shows the history of Disney films. Arendelle is a dinner theater experience based off of Frozen. The food is Scandinavian themed and while you eat, a show takes place in a center stage, complete with a visit from Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Oaken (yoo hoo!). Lastly, at Worlds of Marvel, we got the opportunity to assist Ant Man and The Wasp when something went sideways on their heroic mission. This was an interactive experience where we had to activate a Quantum Core that was on our table to help save the day. And at the end, we got a special surprise hero guest who game to say hello to us at our table!

Because this was a four-night cruise, we knew we’d eat at one of the restaurants two times. We put in a request in advance that our rotation would have us eating at 1923 for Thanksgiving Dinner, because for us, it was the fanciest and felt most like a formal meal. Every restaurant on the Wish had some type of turkey dinner, and ours did not disappoint. There were other offerings, as well, for those who want something a little less traditional. My daughter got the standing rib roast for her main and ordered a second one for her dessert - you can DO THAT!

Sailing on the Wish for Thanksgiving was an amazing experience, so much so that we are seriously thinking about making this a tradition for our family!