Do You Wish for a Treasure?

by Daniel L Rappaport

Please read to the bottom, as there is a surprise!

"I believe in being an innovator."

- Walt Disney "Cruising? Ugh. Such a ridiculous human pleasure. I detest it.", complained Morgana. "Morgana.... Why are you even here, discussing human things, then?", asked an annoyed Lazul. "It's obviously so that the half witted witch can just hear herself talk!", exclaimed Kabire. "Exactly and, well, not exactly! Maybe, one day, the rest of you will see how inept humans truly are.", retorted Morgana. "Without humans, well, you wouldn't even be here. How's that for a mystery?", asked Grenadiya? ___________________________________

So, of course, I need to discuss the two newest ships to the line - The Disney Wish and the The Disney Treasure.

The current largest in the fleet is the Wish, and the others that are all sailing are the Magic, Wonder, Dream and Fantasy.

I have been on one cruise, making me a Silver Castaway Club member. I was aboard the Wonder. It was a week cruise, for in and around $3,000, for two people. We started off in San Diego, went to San Francisco for a day, and then ended up in Canada. We then flew home.

Sailing onboard a Disney cruise is totally unlike any vacation that you would ever take.

It is unique in every respect. It’s extremely classy.

The food is amazing the whole way through, and is French inspired.

“After all Miss, this is France, and a dinner here is never second best!” - Lumiere

It’s absolutely true.

Personally, I have travelled on Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line.

Well…. Do you want McDonald’s or Wolfgang Puck?

People say that Disney is expensive and that they don’t want to be around kids. I would encourage you to look around at all of their sailings, and consider what you are getting.

In terms of the kids….

There are areas strictly for kids, and areas strictly for adults, and never the two shall meet.

What? Are you afraid of seeing a kid swim in a pool? It was never an issue.

The guests and the cast members aboard the ship really start to feel like family and the whole place becomes a mini village. I never felt that on Royal. And, of course, Disney is always full of surprises that just aren’t published on the website.

A lot of people talk about the service that you get aboard the ship. One of my most memorable experiences was for our excursion, in San Francisco. On Royal, at your designated time, well, you weren't even told where to go. You just sort of figured out that all of the excursions meet outside of the cruise ship, at your designated time. Good luck finding yours. You then meet whichever third party was leading that particular tour, and off you went. Disney handles it completely differently. They make sure that you know where and when to meet. We didn't meet outside of the ship. We were all, first, collated into one of the entertainment spaces onboard the ship. Once everyone had arrived, there was a Disney cast member to lead us the whole way through. She took us out of the room, off of the ship and then led us to our excursion. But, not only. She also went with us on the excursion, to make sure that we had a perfect time, and was, of course with us until we returned to the ship.

For me, that was absolutely first class.

And then, of course, there is the entertainment. I mean….. If Disney can’t produce a good show, something is woefully wrong.

What sticks out brightest (pun fully intended) in my mind were the onboard fireworks.

You can see it in photos and video all that you want. However, until you experience it on board, in the middle of the ocean, you have no clue or sense of what a true miracle it is.

Before getting into some other points, I will also discuss, a bit, about the merchandise.

There are Disney items that you can only get onboard ship. So, be sure to take advantage, while you are there.

For items that aren’t Disney branded, they definitely keep it classy. Things that stick out in my mind are amazing jewelry and a wonderful selection of high end fragrances.

I will be sailing on the Disney Wish come next year, and I am extremely excited for it. There are a lot of things that you can do on that ship, that you just can't get anywhere else. Disney has their first attraction at sea called The Aquamouse, and from what I've seen, it's absolutely adorable and totally hilarious.

There are brand new, interactive experiences and fun, over the top theatrical shows that are in a class all by themselves.

Nobody else has the world class intellectual property, as well as the advanced technical know how to put together what they call a palace on the sea. I'm extremely excited for it.

Now.... The question that you all have been anxiously waiting for (as if I didn't already answer it!).....

How does Disney Cruise Line inspire Pazzaria Productions.

Well, for me, it all comes back to why this awesome cruise line was even created in the first place. As Disney, as well as other incredibly innovative companies do (Pazzaria Productions not withstanding...), they look around at what is currently being done, and ask themselves... What's missing here and how can we do better?

They have answered that call, several times over.

Also.... In case you haven't noticed, they don't want to be the biggest in the industry, in terms of ship size (at least, not yet), but, provide, with the square footage that they do have, the best.

Disney also wants to provide a complete experience. When Disney comes to a port, where you first board the ship, with décor elements, they want to make sure that you have arrived at Disney, and nowhere else.

It all goes back to that sense of a berm being built around the outside of Disneyland, so that nobody sees the outside of the park.

The consistent attention to detail, the divine food, the warmth of all of the cast members, etc... It's all extremely inspiring to me.

If I had a cruise line, what would I do differently? What bothers me, in this sense, about Disney (and, perhaps, about cruising in general)?

I do have many answers to this, and we will just have to wait and see what will happen, when this happens. For now, please review our mission statement here, and dream right along with us! Oh yes... About the Wish and the Treasure.... Well..... Here and here!

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"See, Morgana.... The humans can be rather interesting!", said Lazul. "But, all it would take is a twitch of my pinky finger, and I could create twenty ships!", exclaimed Morgana. "The problem is, they would all fall apart in five minutes!", announced Kabire. "We shall see about that! Onward!", yelled Morgana.

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