Wish B2B vs. Treasure?

[DCL<3]

Hello! I have been reading here for over a year and gotten so much good help/advice, but this is my first post!

My family (me, husband, and 6 year old daughter) recently returned from our first Disney Cruise on the Wish, 4 day sailing. We absolutely fell in LOVE and cannot wait to sail again! I am an extremely type-A planner who researches things to death before making a decision, but I need some help deciding on our next trip which will be anywhere from January 2025-May 2025 due to my husbands work schedule. 4 days on the Wish was simply not enough time to do/see everything we wanted to do so we are considering a B2B on the Wish or 7 days on the Treasure. At this point I am only interested in the 2 newer ships. I made a list of some pros and cons of each and I would love to hear your thoughts/input.

B2B:
Pros - already saw all the shows so we can go to other activities during show times, early to board on 2nd sailing, we already know and feel comfortable with ship layout, princess obsessed daughter, 2 castaway cay days. We stayed on the ship to explore on Nassau day last time, but this time we could get off one of the days
Cons - no new shows, same food/menus, 2 muster drills

Treasure:
Pros - new food menus & shows, same kids in kids club and longer time to make friends, longer time with same dinner servers
Cons - port intensive (this may be a pro though because we are primarily cruising for the ship and Disney experience and not the ports so if we stayed on the ship it would be less crowded), 1 day at castaway cay, our sail dates would be within 1-5 months of the inaugural sailing so I am worried about things not running as smoothly and working out the kinks as well as less time to read trip reports, reviews, and plan, not as "castle" themed or princess themed

Thank you so much for reading and offering your insight!

 

[angel's momma]

How does the cost compare? A 7 night is typically cheaper per night than shorter cruises.

You can usually keep the same dinner servers on B2B.

The layout of the Treasure is likely to be very similar to the Wish.

You lose a morning's worth of activities on the B2B on the 1st debarkation day.

We've never done a B2B, but have considered it a couple of times. Each time we've planned to do a B2B there was a longer option unexpectedly offered that we've chosen, like Panama Canal. Thanks for listing out your pros & cons - in all our comparisons we never thought about having muster drill twice.

ETA: There will be additional activities on a 7 night.

 

[FightingIrishman]

I would recommend the Treasure for 7 days. If your only experience is the Wish for 4 nights, let Disney dazzle you with everything a 7 night cruise entails in addition to the 4 nighter plus the new experiences and shows on another ship.

We did a Disney Dream B2B (4+3) because it was the only ship we had not sailed. It was nice the second half of the vacation to enjoy the ship rather than the shows at night. We enjoyed having the same server team at the MDR. You do lose time the morning you have to disembark and everything resets. Nassau is my least favorite port.

 

[Husker Mike]

I would presume that if you are able to be in the same room for both Wish cruises, the chances of having the same serving team on both cruises would be pretty good. Getting the same menus wouldn't bother me that much, unless there was only one thing on most of the menus that you'd want. The shows might be the big thing that I can see. You could flip it around by pacing yourself and then mixing up an in-room movie or night in the kids club.

Getting two days at Castaway would be a lot of fun. Also, while the disembarking and reembarking would be a small pain, it wouldn't be a terribly long time...and then you'd have about an hour-plus of "run of the ship" uncrowded in the pools. The last morning, you could do a late(r) breakfast at Cabanas (if you have early dining) to minimize your time sitting around at the port.

I will say that port excursions can be awfully pricey, so while a western cruise would give you three port stops, getting off to do the beach will cost you a few hundred dollars. Eastern cruises have a shortened day at Castaway due to the time it takes to travel back from the Virgin Islands, which is something to consider as well.

But if your daughter is awfully princessy, that would lean me heavily towards the Wish B2B if you can swing the same room and the numbers work out for you. A side benefit is that if you like DCL, that's two cruises for your Castaway Club status.

 

[Mom2Anna&Elsa]

We just had a 5 night on the Dream and loved it. Decided 5 nights wasn't enough and we want to do a longer cruise next time. I was thrilled that the Treasure is doing 7 nights and I pondered whether we wanted to do a B2B on the Wish since my girls do like Frozen more than Coco but ultimately we decided on the Treasure.

Reasons? Don't want to deal with having to disembark and get back on. Don't want to repeat the same itinerary and same dining, a 7 night gives us more variation. We love St. Thomas (husband and I have been before) so that was a plus. While my girls love Frozen, I think the idea of Mexican food at the Coco restaurant is more appealing to our palettes.

I also love that there will be a Haunted Mansion bar on the Treasure. We made sure to select a room that has Aladdin theming since we love that movie.

Lastly, 7 night cruises offer up a formal night with the characters in gowns and tuxedos and I'm honestly so excited for that.

 

[princesscinderella]

I would pick the 7 day as my kids have always enjoyed making friends in the kids clubs and they would have to do it twice on a wish b2b and its just not the same.

 

[DCL<3]

Thank you everyone for your insights! Cost is pretty comparable between the two (within $100-$200 difference, so not a deal breaker either way).

I didn't think about keeping the same dining team on the B2B and the same menu doesn't bother me since we really enjoyed all the food we got to try. Having 3 cruises after the B2B is also a plus for Castaway status.

As for the Treasure, it is true the layout will be similar on both ships. The Treasure sailings we are looking at are the Western itinerary with stops at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, and Castaway Cay. We love a good beach day but live on the east coast so we are frequent beach goers in the summer any ways. We loved Castaway Cay since everything was included and easy, I'm not sure which of the other 3 ports we would get off and explore yet. I like the idea of the additional activities on the 7 night, love Mexican food and excited to try Coco, and would be excited to see the characters in their formal wear!

I'm sure either way we will have a magical time and there is no right or wrong answer it's just so hard to decide!

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Thank you everyone for your insights! Cost is pretty comparable between the two (within $100-$200 difference, so not a deal breaker either way).

I didn't think about keeping the same dining team on the B2B and the same menu doesn't bother me since we really enjoyed all the food we got to try. Having 3 cruises after the B2B is also a plus for Castaway status.

As for the Treasure, it is true the layout will be similar on both ships. The Treasure sailings we are looking at are the Western itinerary with stops at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, and Castaway Cay. We love a good beach day but live on the east coast so we are frequent beach goers in the summer any ways. We loved Castaway Cay since everything was included and easy, I'm not sure which of the other 3 ports we would get off and explore yet. I like the idea of the additional activities on the 7 night, love Mexican food and excited to try Coco, and would be excited to see the characters in their formal wear!

I'm sure either way we will have a magical time and there is no right or wrong answer it's just so hard to decide!

We have done multiple B2b cruises (and one B2b2b as well). Every time, our head server has asked if we want to stay with the same dining team or prefer a change. The one time we asked to change because we just didn’t connect with our dining team in the way we usually do, we were assigned to a different MDR rotation than that of the dining team from the first leg, so we avoided any awkwardness in that regard.

 

[peder]

I would find a b2b on the Wish very boring because there'd be no variety in port stops. Castaway Cay might be fun, but a bit part of cruising is seeing new places.

Also, the Treasure is actually less port intensive, no? Because you'd get 2 sea days? Whereas with the Wish itineraries you'd only get 1 sea day between the two sailings?

 

[auntlynne]

I am most intrigued by the similarity in price for your options, having heard that the Treasure was expensive.

I’m not one to say you must do 7 nights or even more nights is better, but I think I would pick 7 over 4+3. There is a difference, whether we just think that or it’s true.

But Western Caribbean v a B2B. Look at those ports and make sure there’s something to do or you are happy with a Sea Day while in port (my bias against that itinerary is coming through.).

You can maximize the transition day on a B2B by enjoying pool time. Kids clubs go back to Open House again for that day - that could throw off some people.

As for things not being ready, I think that issue is for a short time. Several months in, any infrastructure issues will hopefully be settled and the Cast Members will be familiar with the ship.

Either one, sounds like you will have a great cruise.

 

[Cfabar1]

given the options I'd pick the treasure all things being equal....

 

[Lillebelle]

I don't think you could go wrong either way. We did a B2B on the Wish and there were things I liked and didn't like. We actually stayed on the ship the second Castaway Cay day since most people get off and really enjoyed having the ship to ourselves. But, I had expected that we'd get all this time with the ship being empty once we re-boarded for the second leg, when in fact that time was pretty short. I also felt like we really did lose a lot of time on that day, both with the disembarking and then the repeat muster drill. So, all things being equal, I'd generally take the 7 night over the B2B and just be able to keep the cruise momentum going.

That being said, if the more princess theming really matters to your daughter, I don't think you'd be wrong to choose the Wish instead.

 

[auntlynne]

B2B - they want you out of your cabin by about 8:30 and really don’t want you to come back until they have finished cleaning all the rooms in the hallway - about 2, 2:30. Some stewards allow it, but they seem to work better when not having guests coming and going in the cabin areas.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

Personally, I would go for a 7 night over a B2B in that situation.

 

[ThinkTink91]

B2B - you can request to have the same servers (it's not a guarantee but they usually try to even if you don't formally request it) I love Castaway and I loved when we would transition to double dips in the summer. (I know someone mentioned seeing ports being a draw but I'm the opposite, I'm more about ships, if I want to see a place, cruising is not how I want to do it as it's too fast but my mom is opposite, she loves ports)

If it was the dream, id probably still go see the shows as I love every single one (I have lost count of how many times I've seen The Golden Mickey's over 3 yrs) but I'm not a fan of The Little Mermaid on the Wish so that would be a factor for me, as the Treasure will have new shows.

Treasure - there is a chance that they could still be working out kinks, when I worked on the Wish there was constant changes to the ship, the GOOD thing is that the Treasure is the 2nd so while there will still be kinks, it'll be MUCH less as we've learned from the Wish.

As a cruiser I'd probably choose the treasure, just cause I haven't done it and I love comparing ship, to ship. But I feel like you can't go wrong with either.

 

[Marthasor]

My inclination was to vote for the 7-night Treasure until you mentioned it was for the Western Caribbean itinerary. Honestly, I would rather have two days at CC than have any days at the Western Caribbean ports. We are far bigger fans of the Eastern Caribbean itineraries.

 

[peder]

On another cruise, we did the got a rental car and visited the botanical gardens in Grand Cayman (you could also get a cab for this, but we wanted to practice driving on the left side of the road and wanted to see the island a bit more), and in Cozumel we did Xcaret. Great days in both places.

I think if you get off the beaten path slightly both locations are amazing. Plus you still get a day at Castaway Cay, so it's not like the sailing on the Treasure is devoid of private-island time.

 

[auntlynne]

On another cruise, we did the got a rental car and visited the botanical gardens in Grand Cayman (you could also get a cab for this, but we wanted to practice driving on the left side of the road and wanted to see the island a bit more), and in Cozumel we did Xcaret. Great days in both places.

I think if you get off the beaten path slightly both locations are amazing. Plus you still get a day at Castaway Cay, so it's not like the sailing on the Treasure is devoid of private-island time.

Port Adventures in the Yucatán Peninsula no longer seem to be offered for a Cozumel port day. I don’t know if it’s a safety concern, a post-Covid issue or the terribly rough ferry transfer (oof- I was green doing it for Tulum).

 

[peder]

Well, yes, to be fair, our day was nearly ruined by the fast ferry. Our kids were troopers through it. Too bad they've ended those excursion offerings and definitely a point in favor of B2B on the Wish.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

We’re booked on the Treasure.
$3K for 7 days is well worth it.
No bad cabins on DCL ships, the rest is a bonus.
The Haunted Mansion Theme bar is my main destination.

Something about DCL we love over all the rest.