Is the New Disney Believe Cruise Ship Worth Sailing On?

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Hey traveler, welcome back to Talk Travel to Me. I'm your host Kristy Ouellette. Quick note before we dive in, we're trying something new today and recording video of the podcast. So whether you're listening or watching, welcome! Now last week you may remember I mentioned I was heading to Disney's big reveal event for their newest ship, the Disney Believe. I was there. Now I'm back with everything. The announcements, my honest reactions, and the answer to this week's question. Now that Disney has revealed the Believe, is it worth booking? Should you be looking to jump on the maiden voyage, a later sailing, or skip it entirely? By the end of this episode you'll know exactly where I stand. So let's talk about it. So the Disney Believe is the ninth ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet. I can't even believe. that. It's the fourth and final in the Wish Class, which I'm not sad about. I'm kind of glad that we've got these beautiful ships, but then we're going to move on to something different. So I love that aspect. The overarching theme for the Believe is promise and possibility. And they're saying that it's inspired by a variety of Disney IP, like Snow White, Moana, Frozen, and Encanto. Big Hero 6. There's all kinds of things kind of incorporated into this ship. And I think that that is a win. I will say I'm a little skeptical about the back of the ship, and we will share some photos of that with you. But they've changed the way it looks on the back, and I love the addition of Toy Story characters. But at the same time, I'm a little put off by the font right out the gate. I'll just say it. I know it's a geeky thing to be concerned with, but that's what we are. The maiden voyage has been set for December 18th, and it'll be a five night sailing from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. The ship will be doing four and five night. itineraries out of Fort Lauderdale for the foreseeable future. And I kind of love that. So if you are a Disney Cruise aficionado, you'll know that the Wish has done three and four nights out of Port Canaveral. The Destiny has done kind of a variety, but you know, five night-ish, you know, kind of in that range. And I personally think a three night cruise is not worth the airfare to get there. And I know that sounds kind of silly, but you really basically just get on and then you're off again. So I prefer, even for my new sailors, a five night. Sometimes seven can feel too long for your first cruise. So I love the idea that this could be an introductory ship doing a four or five night sailing. So I think that's great. Fort Lauderdale has a lot going for it. And I think that it can, it's actually becoming more of an easy place for families to access. And so for me, when they announced that it would be out of Fort Lauderdale, I was not surprised because the Destiny is currently there and it has been announced the Destiny is moving to. Port Canaveral. So I wasn't surprised that we were going to go to Fort Lauderdale with it, but I was kind of relieved that that's where it ended up. I've always got a little bit of worry in my system that we're going to put a Disney ship in Miami again. And that is just not, it's not easy for families to navigate. So Fort Lauderdale is a win in my opinion. Now, there will be some itineraries like the maiden voyage that is five night that goes to Nassau, Disney's Castaway Cay and then Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, Disney's other semi-private beach area. And then going back to Fort Lauderdale. I love that itinerary. But for people that might want to go to thing, go a little bit further west and do Cozumel, they are doing some Western Caribbean, some Bahama sailings. They're mixing it up a little bit. So that's going to make it even more interesting. when you go to plan a trip for someone. You're not looking at just ship or just dates. You're thinking which itinerary is actually what you want to do. So the general bookings for the Believe are going to open this coming Monday, October 19th. They are currently open now. And today is for Gold Castaway. We've already passed platinum and pearl days. The maiden voyage is getting close to selling out. So by the time you hear this on October 15th, that might not be a possibility anymore. But that's OK. And I'll get to why in just a little bit. So let's talk about the ship. I will say that my initial reactions to the ship were that we created a wish to. It is very, very similar to the Wish, which I guess if it's not broke, don't fix it. Maybe. But one of the things that I loved about the Wish class ships is that each of them had their own personality. They had a lot of extra things added. For example, the Disney Wish has the Arendelle dining dinner show where you are basically going to Anna and Elsa's engagement party. So you had Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Frozen, Frozen, Olaf, Oaken was there. And it was a really cool experience, especially the Fiddler. Love the Fiddler. But when you went on the Treasure, you had the dinner show is actually Coco themed. And that's a longer itinerary. That's. always a seven night on the Treasure. And they have two nights of Coco in that same space, which that show is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. On the Destiny, we have Pride Lands. So it's built around the story around the Lion King. And so that was great. They announced for the Believe they said that that dinner show area is actually going to be called Oaken's Table, a Frozen family feast. What? Now, don't get me wrong. I love Frozen, so I'm not giving them any shade. I was just thinking there been some rumors swirling around that we were going to see an Encanto dinner theater, which that had me so excited and that there were a whole bunch of different possibilities in that space. So when they announced the Frozen one, I thought to myself, we already have a Frozen family feast on the Wish in Arendelle. Why are we doing that? They also announced that the Worlds of Marvel is coming back, which even the Marvel fans are saying they're a little tired of that from the Wish, Treasure and Destiny. They all have it a little tweaked, a little bit different depending on the ship. But for the most part, it's the same. And so people are kind of like, now, 1923 is also coming on the Believe, which is on all of the other wish class ships as well. But that's a steakhouse experience. It doesn't feel like there's a need to make that different, if that makes sense. Like, it's not overly themed. It's just Walt and Roy, and it's the whole Walt Disney Company history with artifacts. And it's kind of like a museum, actually. So I wasn't expecting that to change. So I will say that that that kind of makes me feel a little, you know. But then as far as other dining options, we have these are things that you would pay for. Joyful Sweets, which is the sweet shop themed to Inside Out. We've been there, done that. They are saying it's going to be Inside Out, too, so we might see some different decor in there. We also, the one thing I will say, and I think this was kind of clever for an IP that is well loved and not used very often. They are going to have one of the coffee bars on board is going. to be called Big Hero Sips. I think that actually is kind of cool. I will say I like that one. And then we also have Moana themed coffee bar. Well, I should say it's not just coffee. They have everything. I go there for coffee, I guess. Maybe that's why I'm thinking that. Is Cafe Kakamora? I think that's how you say that. It's Moana themed. It reminds me of like the Heihei Cafe, which we have already. But really the theming of those spaces is less important. And then up on the pool deck where we have had fantastic options on the Wishclass ships. So we have like Donald's Cantina, which is kind of like Chipotle. We have the pizza restaurant. We have burgers, of course. They're adding something called Pluto's Pita Platters. And it's a Mediterranean inspired casual food stall. What I don't know is though, they must have taken something away from the offerings because the setup is the same. The physical setup of the Believe is exactly like every other Wishclass ship. So there wasn't like room to add a new stall, but it's there. So we'll see what happens there. I'm hoping they didn't. take away Donald's Cantina though, because that's one of my favorites. So that is the dining spots. We still have Palo Steakhouse on the ship. That is one of my favorite spots to go. So that was cool. I will tell you of all of the things I'm excited about, actually it's the Grand Hall because they are going to have a Moana Atrium as the centerpiece. And then the chandelier, which is always something interesting. In fact, if you remember way back, I talked about the Destiny and I did not like what looked like purple french fries from the ceiling. This Grand Hall actually has a dynamic moving chandelier that's going to mimic ocean waves with the heart of Te Fiti concealed inside of it. That right there is worth a price of admission. If you don't want to listen anymore, you can stop here and let's get you booked on the Believe. That looks amazing. So I love that idea. And on each of the Wish-class ships, you have they're like traveling storytellers, it's kind of like the schtick of each of them. And on the Believe, they're actually going to be called Seekers. S-E-A-K-E-R-S. And it's. Percival and Professor Philomena. And I think that is going to be really cool. They actually were at the event that I was at at Walt Disney World and they were leading the discussion about each of the individual pieces on the ship. So I thought they had great spunk. It felt very energizing. So I can't wait to get on board and listen to that part. Now, the lounges. Let's talk about the lounges because even as someone who doesn't partake typically in adult beverages, I love the lounge spaces on all the Disney ships. They're all so cool. I'm very excited about the Wishing well, which is going to be snow white themed. And so that feels like it's going to be such a cool little space. If you've been on the other wish class ships, that's the one that kind of sits in the middle of deck three. We have it's Tiana's on one, it's Dr. Strange themed bar on another. So that'll be the Wishing well. That sounds really cool. We also have on this ship, it's going to be called Sky Gazers. And that is going to be up, I believe that's deck five in. the corner. And that is going to be like an observatory themed pub all about looking towards the sky. You guessed it. And then back on deck three, we have C notes and that's the piano bar inspired by Ariel's underwater grotto. This looks gorgeous. And I will say that one of the things that I think is going to be really cool about that space is the specialty drinks that they make. They're actually concocting containers, cups that look like seashells that you're drinking out of. So that's really cool. Now, let's talk about the one that I'm not happy about. I told you all the ones I'm greatly excited for. And then there's one that felt like a knife to the chest for me when they announced that on the Disney Believe, we would be having the third haunted mansion parlor. I literally was like, are you for real? Now, don't get me wrong. I loved, absolutely loved the haunted mansion parlor on the Treasure. I thought it was an incredibly well done space. They thought of everything. I mean, everything, though, the photos in the room, their eyes chase you like it is just an amazing it's. like being in the ride long term. Then they brought it to the Destiny. And I thought, why? Why? The Destiny is about heroes and villains. Why are we not doing like Dr. Faciliers lair or making it some sort of like another concept? But they just, oh, here's the haunted mansion. Copy paste. We're done. OK, fine. So as the rumors started to build about the Believe and they were talking about what it was going to look like, somebody said, I think it's haunted mansion again. And I said, there's no way. they got so much feedback about this before. There's no way. And then I heard somebody saying that it might have the haunted mansion holiday overlay. For those of you that haven't been there in Disneyland during the holiday season, they actually turn haunted mansion. Into an expression of the Nightmare Before Christmas. It is amazing. It is. Everybody loves it out there. People like me go out there just to be able to see that and experience it. And I thought that would be excellent. Well, unless it's the best cast kept secret at sea, it doesn't look like they're doing that. Looks like we're. just going to get another haunted mansion parlor. But the grand scheme of things, I guess it's just one space on a very gorgeous ship. So, OK, I guess so. But Disney, if you're listening, do that haunted mansion overlay, please. It's not hard. You can bring in all the decor and just write it on top, change the music and we'd be good. All right. In other news, somebody said in one of my comments of the video that I did on my TikTok about this subject, and I said, well, at least I can wear my haunted mansion. And I was like, yeah, you got your haunted mansion shirt for the last cruise. So, yeah, you could just wear it on the Believe to. And also, it did make me think maybe it's time I get a haunted mansion dress, since all the ships seem to be going in that direction. All right, moving on. Let's talk about entertainment, because Disney, after all, is an entertainment company. Their ships are built because they are telling stories. And the entertainment on the ship is going to be epic. The Broadway style show, the signature one for the Disney Believe. is going to be Encanto the musical. I'm so excited. As Lin-Manuel Miranda said, now we can finally talk about Bruno. I'm so excited about this. Disney's signature shows are amazing. They knock it out of the park. Moana on the Treasure still have goosebumps and it's been like two and a half, almost three years. It's amazing. So I'm super excited to see how that goes and how they bring the story to life on stage. It's, of course, the first ever stage adaptation of Encanto. So that is going to be just spectacular. I can't wait for that. They're also going to be showing Tangled the musical, which is going to have new special effects. That show actually is on the Disney magic already, but it's not uncommon for them to kind of bring the same shows across the fleet that they're not the signature show. They all have usually a signature show and then these other ones that are more of the fillers. The space that they are going to have on the Believe where they do game shows and bingo and they use it for a lot of different things is called Gazelle and it's Zootopia. themed. And they're going to have Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde and it looks adorable. On the other ships, the this space is really used for so many different things that they can change up the decor and the feel of it. But I just love the fact that they are going with Gazelle. I think that's going to be so cool. Let's talk a little bit about kids club areas. We have the Oceaneer Club. We have Edge and Vibe. Those are all going to be available on the ship as well. The only thing they've really said about this so far, which I thought was interesting, is that they were very excited. I mean, very excited to share that the entrance to the kids club is going to be Monsters Inc themed. Okay, that's great. And they showed us some images of it and I thought, great. I mean, we have like a Wreck-It Ralph entrance. that they do something different all the time. Doesn't feel like a big highlight to me. So I'm interested to see if they build somehow Monsters Inc into the Oceaneer Club. But that remains to be seen. So we'll see. The staterooms. and the suites. This was really cool because they on the Wish class ships, they have always have themes by deck. So on this ship, we're going to have the staterooms. on decks two, six and seven are going to be either Moana themed or Lion King themed. And on deck eight and nine, we've got Coco or Zootopia. And actually, it seems like it's going to be Zootopia 2 because the art samples that we saw showed the Tundra town setting from Zootopia 2, which if you're a fan of that, that was kind of exciting to see. There are other themes confirmed across the ship, but we don't have the specific deck numbers yet. But they include Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story and Inside Out. I'm a huge Inside Out fan. So hearing that they were going to have rooms with that on it really, really excites me. I can't wait. They are saying there's going to be about 1250 staterooms total, which is exactly what we have with the other three wish class ships. But for anybody you know, and maybe it's you, maybe as you're listening to this, you're thinking, I want to stay on. a in a suite on a Disney Cruise Line ship. I do, too. The Believe Tower suite on the Disney Believe is going to be Magic Kingdom themed. It'll sleep eight people and it has a bit of Jungle Cruise inspiration in parts of it, which sounds really cool. We also are going to have the two smaller, I think smaller, but smaller suites. There's a Royal Reef suite that will be themed to Little Mermaid and then a Royal Rose suite, which will be inspired by Beauty and the Beast. I will say, even though they believe Tower suite that the one that's in the funnel is always what people think of first, like, oh, that's the best. Those are not the best rooms on the ship. Those the Reef suite and the Rose suite are where you'd really want to stay. And if you're curious about why we can get into a whole bunch of that, but those rooms actually have gigantic balconies with hot tubs on them. And the Tower one has no balcony. You have a gorgeous view through the window, but everybody eating their pizza or maybe here eating their pitas are seeing you in. your room. So that's not really what I'm looking for. But those Reef suites and the Rose suites are going to be amazing. All right. My overall take. What surprised me the most is how they didn't deviate and create brand new themed spaces. That surprised me. I thought, especially when they were talking up before they actually gave us the information, they were talking about the creativity and innovation and all of that. And I thought, oh, great, we're going to have something new. And they didn't deliver on that part. I'm just going to say it. That was disappointing to me. However, the moment I got over that kind of like feeling is like, wait a minute, even if we made an exact carbon copy of the Disney Wish, this is still a gorgeous ship. There's still so much to explore and enjoy. I am not going to be disappointed on the belief, right? It's just that when you're in the weeds a lot, like I tend to be because this is my full time job, you think about things a little bit differently. If you are looking for your first Disney Cruise or your 28th Disney Cruise, you're still going to have incredible spaces, great service, all of that. So it really does not have an impact overall. So there's a Haunted Mansion bar. So maybe you just start investing in some fun clothing to go along with the Haunted Mansion bar. And like I said, you could go on any of the ships that have it. Maybe that's how you do it. What I am most excited about about this ship by far is the Encanto signature production in the theater that I'm super excited about. I do think that the coffee bars are going to be cool. I also believe, see what I did there, that I'm going to end up spending a lot of time in the atrium, the Grand Hall on this ship. I love Moana, but even more than that, I love the ocean and the idea that we are going to see in that chandelier ocean waves and all of that. I already feel like my Zen coming on. So those are the two things I think I would say I'm the most excited about. But I'm interested to hear what you think too. So let me know what your thoughts. are, your takeaways. My advice to you is if you are considering the maiden voyage and it's still available when it goes on sale to the public, which is October 19th, I would actually recommend that you don't do it. And I have a real good reason for that. The maiden voyage almost always, but not always, gets rescheduled because they are really aggressive in their timelines. So sometimes you book that and then they end up having to change things around. And while they do do the best they can to make it right, it's just a hassle, right? Especially if you had to put in PTO and all of that kind of stuff to get to your destination. But the bigger issue is I have been on several preview sailings as a travel advisor. And what I have noticed is that the ship is not running perfectly at the outset. So on a maiden voyage, you are going to spend the most, right? The maiden voyage is the most expensive because everybody wants to be first. This one has the unique setup where the first sailing, that December 18th sailing, is most expensive because it is a maiden. voyage. The very next sailing is over Christmas. And so that's expensive because of that. And then the third sailing is over, yep, New Year's. The three most expensive times that we can expect throughout the year are those three dates. My suggestion to you would be let the crew work out all of the kinks, figure out everything, and travel in late January, February or beyond. That's really where I'm thinking. And I know that the mouse probably doesn't want me to say that, but I don't work for him. I work for you. And I think it's really important to kind of have that expectation. If you do do a maiden voyage, and even if it goes off as scheduled, you are likely to have things interrupted because the paint might not be dry in certain spots. Or one of our agents, Shalon, was on the maiden of the Wish and said she would never do that again, even though the ship is gorgeous and now she's gone several times and loves it. So give them time and space to work out some of the kinks before you pay your hard-earned money to go on that. All right. I think I've said enough about the Disney Believe for now. So we're going to call that one more question unpacked. Next week, I'm hoping to have a little surprise for you, specifically looking at a question I get asked a lot about Universal Orlando. Fingers crossed it all comes together like I'm planning, but you definitely want to be subscribed so you don't miss it. If today's episode has you ready to book a Disney Believe sailing, whether you do want to go for that maiden voyage or any of the inaugural seasons through spring of twenty twenty eight, please don't wait. General Bookings open Monday, October 19th, and the best state rooms go fast. So you want to reach out to us as soon as possible so we can gather all the information we need and be ready to get your room the moment it's available to you. All right. Until next time, traveler, I'll see you real soon.

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