Disney Wish Cruise Ship Delayed & Bookings Paused
Disney Cruise Line’s brand new ship, the Disney Wish, has been delayed from its Summer 2022 debut date. This post will share details about the postponement of the Wish, impacted sail dates, discounts and what to do if you’re impacted, plus our commentary on this and why it’s happening.
Let’s start with the key dates: the Disney Wish was previously scheduled to sail its maiden voyage on June 9, 2022, followed by a season of 3-4 night cruises to Nassau, Bahamas, and Disney Cruise Line’s private island, Castaway Cay, from Port Canaveral, Florida.
Bookings opened to the general public last year on May 27, and the opening season booked up incredibly quickly. In fact, we couldn’t even book the maiden voyage, despite being Castaway Club members eligible to make reservations prior to the general public. Unlike most other Disney Cruise Line sailings over the last several months, the new Disney Wish has been–or was–selling like hotcakes despite the higher prices.
Unfortunately, Disney Cruise Line has been forced to delay the maiden voyage of the Disney Wish by approximately 6 weeks, which will impact the first 12 sailings, through mid-July 2022. This is due to construction challenges by the company’s partners at the Meyer Werft shipyard.
Guests who were booked on the original maiden voyage will be automatically shifted to a new sail date of July 14, 2022 at a 50% discount. If those sailing on the maiden voyage are unable to move to the new July 14 itinerary, they will have the option of either a 50% discount on a future cruise departing by December 31, 2023, with any originally paid funds converted to a future cruise credit or a full refund.
Guests originally booked on the other affected sailings will have the option of either a 50% discount on a future cruise departing by December 31, 2023, with any originally paid funds converted to a future cruise credit, or a full refund. However, these guests will not automatically be rebooked, meaning they’ll have to find (and compete with one another for) availability on other sailings, many of which are already quite limited or sold out.
All impacted sailings are as follows:
- June 9, 2022,
- June 14, 2022 (Disney Vacation Club Member Cruise)
- June 17, 2022
- June 20, 2022
- June 24, 2022
- June 27, 2022
- July 1, 2022
- July 4, 2022
- July 8, 2022
- July 11, 2022
- July 15, 2022
- July 18, 2022
The Disney Vacation Club sailing will be automatically moved to July 19, 2022. The regular sailing schedule of the Disney Wish resumes on July 22, 2022.
Additionally, Disney Cruise Line has temporarily paused the sale of all Disney Wish sailings while processing these changes. As a result, all affected sailings will no longer be visible online or in the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app.
On February 8, Disney Wish sales will resume and new sailings may be booked online. The Disney Cruise Line contact center will also be available to assist in booking new Disney Wish sailings beginning February 8, 2022.
Below is a revised list of Disney Wish itineraries for 2022-2023 that will be bookable when reservations resume:
When it comes to commentary, this is a really big blow for the biggest budget project of the year at Disney’s Parks & Resorts (or whatever they’re calling it now) division.
There’s a lot less reader interest about Disney Cruise Line as compared to Walt Disney World–for those who haven’t been keeping close tabs on things, the Wish has been a bright spot, with a lot of excitement for what looks like a spectacular new ship.
We are booked for one of the impacted sailings, and we’d 100% rather this be done right than on time. The delay is disappointing, but it’s absolutely the correct course of action rather than trying to rush things.
That happened with one of the ship reimaginings several years ago, and paying guests were understandably upset. The same people who are annoyed by this delay would almost certainly complain if they set sail on an unfinished or rough-around-the-edges ship.
Even setting aside the realities of the present environment–when delays are occurring on everything from construction of new homes to video games I wanted to play last year–this kind of thing happens sometimes. Obviously, it’s going to be a letdown for a lot of people, and we’re not trying to suggest anyone be “happy” about this. Just not angry or unreasonable.
Unlike some projects at Walt Disney World that have intentionally had their timelines prolonged, work on the Disney Wish has been moving as quickly as possible. In short, we’re accepting and understanding of this delay–and the 50% discount as guest recovery is very much appreciated. Dealing with the call center will probably be a hassle, but thus far, Disney Cruise Line appears to be handling this appropriately.
Beyond that, we take this delay at face value. Meyer Werft, the shipmaker behind several Disney Cruise Line ships, has had to delay its timetables before, so this would hardly be unprecedented. On top of that, issues have occurred around the world as a result of Omicron, which has caused work stoppages and delays due to sickness-related staffing shortages.
We’re not suggesting that’s what has happened with the Disney Wish–we have no clue. This could be a garden variety construction delay that’s totally unrelated to Omicron illnesses or more stringent workplace rules. (UPDATE: Disney Cruise Line confirmed that this is *exactly* what happened.)
What we are suggesting is that this is almost certainly a bona-fide construction delay, not Disney Cruise Line using construction as a pretense for pushing back the maiden voyage. To our knowledge, Disney Wish bookings for opening season have been incredibly strong, so there’s no reason for the company to voluntarily postpone. This delay will be a big financial hit that is detrimental, not beneficial, to Disney.
Interestingly, just earlier today, Schiffe-und-kreuzfahrten reported that the Disney Wish is expected to be undocked at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany this weekend. Per that, the undocking schedule is unofficial, depends on various factors, and is subject to delay.
On a tangentially-related note, some of the reason I’m okay with the delay might be because I’m not exactly enthusiastic about setting sail with DCL at this point. I shared this in a post last week, but I’m in “wait and see” mode, wanting a greater return to normal. (This has nothing to do with safety. To the contrary, as someone vaccinated and boosted, I’m totally comfortable doing anything now.)
To each their own, but from my perspective there are too many hoops to jump through, compromises to the on-board experience, and the potential risk of being denied boarding erroneously. I realize many of these policies are beyond Disney’s control, but the “why” of the rules matters less to me than their existence. I’ve felt this way about recent deeply-discounted itineraries on the classic ships, and feel even more so that way about setting sail on the Disney Wish, which is going to cost us exponentially more money.
For what it’s worth, Sarah vehemently disagrees with my perspective on hoops and compromises. She got a great rate on a cruise and did it with girl friends instead of me, and said the ship was practically empty—they had a blast. (It’s definitely worth looking at rates if you don’t mind the rules or risks–or are a Floridian–and want to take advantage of uncrowded sailings and lower prices.)
With that said, I am also really, really excited for the Disney Wish. It’s actually a bit difficult to reconcile my general indifference towards cruising right now with my hype for this new ship. Everything that Disney has revealed about this new ship (except the price points) makes me more enthusiastic about the upcoming ship.
The Disney Wish looks amazing, like the next generation of cruising. It’s as if Imagineering took a huge leap forward, iterating on past designs to make technical, functional, and storytelling improvements in the process. It’s still early, but the Disney Wish looks significantly better than its predecessors, which is really saying something since those ships are exceptional.
The dining slate looks formidable and unique, the already-great rooms look even nicer, and AquaMouse is exactly the type of attraction (at sea) that is perfect for Disney Cruise Line–something only Imagineering could do. Reasonable minds may differ, but I’m personally pleased that Disney hasn’t gone over the top in adding crazy recreational options that impinge upon the classic aesthetics of the ship’s design.
In short, I love what Disney Cruise Line has shown of the Wish thus far, and am incredibly pleased with both its style and substance. I’m also fine waiting another month or two if it means a more polished experience and, maybe, a more normal one, too.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about this news that the Disney Wish will be delayed by over a month? Are you impacted by the ship’s delivery being postponed? Excited for the Disney Wish, or is it too expensive/not for you? Do you plan on booking a cruise aboard this ship, or are you awaiting early reviews and more details? Do you agree or disagree with our advice and assessment? Any questions? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We were booked on the July 4th Wish in one of the 1 story Royal 2 BR Suites. I’ve been looking forward to this trip and had a week at Wilderness in a Copper Creek cabin booked for 5 days after, which I booked immediately after I scored the suite. Im so worried we won’t be able to rebook this suite anytime soon. I need a vacation!!! Does anyone know what time we can start calling DCL on the 8th?
Our Mediterranean cruise has been canceled 2 years. We’re now scheduled for this June but I worry about all the restrictions Europe has put on travel. We’re booked for Disney Paris 30th on opening day March 6 but reading all the travel hoops is confusing. We absorbed all your wonderful travel information about that destination and Paris itself. The Disneyland Paris website doesn’t even mention US visitors anymore. We’re confused. Tom, any light you can shed in this would be greatly appreciated
For our family, this is a huge inconvenience & disappointment our cruise was canceled. We already have flights, used DVC points to book a few day stay at WDW before the cruise. We are limited with when we can vacation is this was the only week that fit with our jobs, etc. We had 3 staterooms booked and rescheduling isn’t “easy”. I feel the policy should be get your money back AND get a 50% future discount. My family can not decide on a future cruise right now based off our schedules (kids are in college, some graduating, starting new jobs, etc.) It is frustrating & we now have wasted DVC points and no vacation!
Tom I love this article because you’re spot on. I booked an August sailing so I am not impacted by this but what keeps me up at night is the fear of a positive test right before boarding the ship. My son is SO excited and the thought of not being able to board is scary. We are vaccinated and adults are boosted BUT you never know if and when you’ll test positive or If the results are even accurate. So I’m hoping by then, some things have returned to normal and perhaps the pre-boarding test isn’t a requirement. One can only wish.
We were booked on the June 20th sailing. This is a double gut punch for us. We were denied boarding in January on the Magic after I tested positive. We had flown across country for that trip. I didn’t have Covid, I tested negative the next morning. Turns out that I had Omicron in December and didn’t know it as I had mild symptoms and I never went to get tested. The test they use on Embarkation day is an NAAT PCR test and that will show you positive if you have had Covid within the last 90 days. There was no mention of that in anything I read on both the DCL site and the Safe Passage site. A week after we returned home Disney updated there Know Before You Go page with that information under the header Guests Recently Recovered from COVID-19. I’m not feeling any love from DCL right now. That being said I’ll probably rebook the Wish sometime in the fall.
This is at least the 5th time I’ve heard a story almost exactly like this. Several others requested a retest and DCL refused. I’d be absolutely furious.
I want to know more about Disney
Tom, Since I know you are always on the lookout for the path of least resistance, I wanted to share my tips and tricks that worked well yesterday. Instead of waiting on the phone for 4+ hours, I immediately went to the DCL website and booked another cruise (same sailing date as my canceled itinerary but on the Dream) at concierge level at full price. I then called the super secret concierge phone line, waited a mere 15 minutes, and worked out the payments details after the fact. Everything aligned as promised. Granted, this requires booking a concierge level room to work, but with the 50% discount, it can easily end up being cheaper than the canceled sailing on the Wish. I know this isn’t a one-size-fits-all option, but I was feeling pretty Tom and Sarah about myself yesterday.
This is brilliant–truly well done.
(And you’ve given Sarah an idea…)
We were supposed to board the 15th of July, but you know how that ended! However, after 4 hours on hold last night, we kept our dates to sail out of Miami and even got to add a day at sea. My husband only has select vacation time, or else I wouldn’t have been on hold that long and just waited a few days! The cast members were so patient and helpful, and we were gracious to save that extra 50%! Our 8 year old was fine that it wasn’t the new Wish ship , just as long as she got to cruise again. We entered the Year of Wishes sweepstakes, so we can always ‘Dream’ that it works ….. Disney cruise ship puns are the best.
It seems late in the project schedule for the ship to still be in “construction.” To me, it seems like they should be putting on the finishing touches, going through a series of final inspections, putting it in the water, and taking it out to sea for testing.
I don’t mind at all. They are being more than fair with the 50% which on this cruise for just 2 people is quite a good sum. I paid almost 10 grand for this cruise so I am ecstatic. We have 3 other cruises booked on the Wish so I will have no problem using the additional credits. I would rather wait and have it perfect and who knows the covid situation may be more improved by then. I was actually happy to receive that credit.