Disney Treasure Western Caribbean Cruise Review – Day 2: December 28, 2025

It’s our first full day aboard the Disney Treasure, and we’re spending it at sea while we head west toward our first port of call, Cozumel, Mexico. This gave me the perfect opportunity to get some early-morning pictures around the ship while most guests were still staring at the inside of their eyelids.

My traditional routine of heading to Cove Cafe to grab coffee, then heading to the Satellite Falls area on deck 13 forward, is in a state of disruption for this sailing. For starters, the Dream Class ships have Cove conveniently located on deck 11, right between the midship and forward elevators, making it easily accessible from any direction. On the Wish Class, it has been relocated to deck 13 aft. All. The. Way. Aft. To make it even more inconvenient, you have to walk around from the starboard to the port side after exiting the elevator or stairwell, as the port side is blocked by a partition midway that separates the adults-only section of the deck from the AquaMouse entrance. It’s not the end of the world, but it isn’t quick and easy either. This relocation is one of my bigger issues with the design of the Wish Class. And I’m not alone in this, as I’ve heard any number of comments in this regard.

While we’re talking about Cove, let’s cover what the area features are, with some pros and cons. Exiting the deck 13 aft elevators on the starboard side leads you out to the Quiet Cove Deck. There are a number of cushioned loungers lining the deck with open views of the sea. Wrapping around the stern, you’ll find two large sitting pools with an infinity pool that offers fantastic views off the back of the ship. While they are all on the small side and during sea days become rather crowded, they grant a spectacular opportunity to relax and get some cooling relief from the Caribbean sun.

There is a solid amount of seating, with options of lounge chairs, rockers, and a sitting area between the infinity pool and the bar itself. Quiet Cove is aptly named, as there isn’t any loud music playing overhead, and even when the area is busy, the tranquil space stays a soft murmur of conversation, kid-free. Yup, this is the only area of the ship that is kid-free 24 hours a day.

What’s missing from the Quiet Cove Deck? Shade. While there are some small overhangs, the only area that is adequately covered consists of about 16 chairs. Comparing that to the Satellite Falls sun deck on Dream Class ships is a drastic difference.

Both have advantages and disadvantages. While Satellite Falls is located on the bow and allows views of where you’re going, Quiet Cove is on the stern and shows where you’ve been. And as the saying goes, “you can’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been.” That was deep.

Satellite Falls is a larger area and provides both more chairs and a better split between sun and shade. Quiet Cove, however, being more compact, incorporates the walk-up bar, pools, chairs, and the indoor cafe right at your fingertips. The main reason we decided to purchase the Rainforest pass for the spa was due to this smaller space and wanting another option for somewhere to relax that has a combination of comfortable loungers and a quieter ambiance for reading, writing, and napping.

So far, I’d say Satellite Falls is a clear winner, but Cove is growing on me. We’ll revisit that race at the end of the week.

Inside the cafe itself is one of my go-to places for morning and afternoon (well, anytime) lattes. The service is always exceptional, and this ship is no different. Kevin already knows us and has our drinks down after only a few visits. That’s a sign of a top-notch barista.

There is a subtle Moana theme within the cafe that is there but not in your face. In fact, you may not even notice until looking closer at the decor on the walls and within the display shelves. With seating for around twenty guests in cushioned chairs or a few loveseats, it’s a nice spot to sit and relax if you need some shelter from the heat.

Rainforest Room on Disney Treasure

The spa opens at 8, and we wanted to get there right away to scope out the best spots to camp out for the day, as we’ve heard that it can fill up quickly on sea days. With the limitations mentioned above for quiet areas to relax in Cove, it has quickly become a popular option, and we have heard many people get the Rainforest pass for either the weekly pass or on a daily basis. We lasted about an hour.

The chairs were okay for sitting but weren’t the kind you could kick your feet up and recline. For that, you needed one of the large round day beds. It looked great in theory but didn’t have the versatility of a traditional lounger to alternate between sitting up and laying back. The kicker, though? The “serene music” was anything but. While it was about what you would expect in style for a spa or massage room, it was very loud. As in, even with noise-canceling earbuds playing, you could still hear it. What you would expect to be playing at a volume level of around a nice, soothing 2, just enough to lull you into a state of zen, was playing at an 8. The three of us all agreed this was not what we were expecting for a peaceful retreat.

While beautiful, it just wasn’t relaxing. In fact, my mother had to leave and go back to the room with a headache. Leading us to:

It didn’t take long to realize there were other, better options to lay back and enjoy the ship without having the upcharge of using the spa. With that decided, we went to the reception desk of Senses to inquire about canceling our weeklong pass, expecting to be told we’d incur a one-day use charge and have the rest prorated and refunded.

The spa manager himself was manning the desk as we approached, so we figured it should be an easy fix. No go. He wasn’t interested in even giving consideration to any refunds, pointing out the fine print in the pre-purchase. No room for discussion or even asking why we changed our mind. Yeah, I get it, there was an agreement upon purchase, but not a high mark for customer service or satisfaction. It boiled down to “we have your money already and have no interest in giving it back.” The best option he proffered was to swap the funds to credit toward other spa services like a massage or facial. This really didn’t interest us either, but without any other choice, we decided to just go ahead and schedule those to at least get something out of our investment.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out here that the Senses Spa on all DCL ships is a third-party operation and not directly owned or operated by Disney. They have their own set of standards and operational policies. So even going to guest services would not have done any good, as Disney didn’t have any control over the issue. Lesson learned, buyer beware.

If this is something you are considering, make sure to do your research (which we had) and commit. I’d say to wait until onboard to do the embarkation day tour, then make your decision, but the caveat to that is that they only sell a set number of the weeklong passes and often sell out with pre-purchases. That is why we booked it in advance and took our chances.

Imagineering the Disney Ships

There aren’t many ship tours on DCL these days, and the backstage areas of touring the bridge, engine room, and galley are a thing of the past. One that has become popular, though, is either the Art of the Show or Imagineering the Disney Ships. These focus on the theming and inspiration that goes into all the fine details of designing a Disney Cruise Line vessel. From the obvious statues that adorn the Grand Hall to artwork in the stairwells, even the carpeting has hidden meaning.

This tour, lasting around 45 minutes, is a guided walk through the main decks, starting in the Grand Hall around decks 3, 4, and 5, with frequent stops to give an in-depth look at the finer details along with those that are in your face. More often than not, you think, “yeah, I already noticed that,” only to then have some of the hidden Easter eggs pointed out or realize that even the shade of paint used for the walls and ceiling is actually telling a story in itself.

There was so much information and exposition given in that short time, I’ll break it up and include it with my overview of each area throughout the week.

I can’t leave you without at least a little peek, though, so here are a couple of pieces of artwork that adorn the halls. The first is called Under the Seas Treasures. Created by an unknown Imagineer. You really need to zoom in to see all the callbacks to Disney classics.

Another piece by an anonymous Imagineer is a cross-section of the ship depicting the location of all the innards of the Disney Treasure, with a few friends joining in the fun, of course.

Finding Nemo (Delphina)

Scott often mentions that when you cruise, and especially when you frequent certain ships and specific times of year, you see familiar faces in both the crew and other guests. This has happened to us many times with crew, and we’ve also made “cruise friends” (not the upside-down pineapple kind!) the past few years while on NYE itineraries. Last year, while waiting in the terminal to board the Disney Fantasy, we bumped into a family that my daughter befriended the previous year on the Dream. Complete coincidence, but it turned out great that they had each other to hang out with once again and were almost inseparable for that week. As this week has become a holiday tradition for their family as well, they are once again reunited on the Treasure this week.

My wife and I first met Delphina on our first NYE sailing in 2022 while hanging out in Satellite Falls. As this was also “her spot” and base of operations, we ran into each other almost daily and enjoyed getting to know each other throughout the week.

It’s easy to bond with other DCL enthusiasts. We are definitely a breed of our own. She was traveling with her then college-age daughter and an entire entourage of families that had met and grown into an annual gathering of the kids over the years. As Delphina explained, it had grown to the point that the kids made the arrangements and informed the parents which week they were going to converge on the ship. I feel like I’ve seen a glimpse of our future as our daughter is following a similar path; it’s only a matter of time.

While traveling on the Dream Class ships, we knew that deck 13 forward was where we’d be reunited each year to catch up. But what happens when they swap ships around and introduce a new vessel to take over the seven-day itineraries? Do we stick to a ship and settle for where they are going, or stick to the itinerary and change ships? And then, once you decide that, to realize that deck 13 forward is no longer the Satellite Falls adult area? Life’s little challenges.

Well, it only took a day of exploration to run into our old friend Delphina lounging in the Quiet Cove Deck after we gave up on the Rainforest and were in search of our new spot. Excited greetings and hugs were exchanged. The next hour or so was spent catching up and, of course, comparing notes on the new ship. I’m sure we’ll spend plenty of time over the week hanging out while our daughter is out expanding her horizons.

Dining with the MCU on Disney Treasure

The next new dining adventure to join the Wish Class ships is Worlds of Marvel. It’s like dining in Avengers Campus and has screens all around that show clips of various Marvel films before Ant-Man and the Wasp appear to give a demonstration of the Quantum Multiplier. Some hijinks follow, then the ship is attacked by Ultron, requiring assistance from some of the Avengers B squad to save the day. It’s a cute little show that helps break up the time between courses and keeps the kids entertained in a similar way to talking with Crush in Animator’s Palette on the Dream and Fantasy.

Did I say time between courses? I meant feature film length. For some reason, the service tonight was extremely slow, to the point I started to wonder if they forgot to submit our order to the kitchen. Over twenty minutes after ordering to even get our beverages, let alone the first course. Night one was sort of expected; night two should start to go smoother. This was definitely not the case here. In fact, this was bordering on the worst service, or lack thereof, we’ve experienced.

Finally, the food started to arrive. The appetizer of marinated shrimp was solid. There are a number of variations of marinated shrimp across all the menus, and they are all fairly similar and equally good. There’s not much you can do to mess it up after all. I tried the cheddar broccoli soup, and it was okay. I’d say more broccoli than cheese, though, as it could have used a better ratio.

Per usual, I had the roasted beef tenderloin, and we shared a plate of the gnocchi. Ever since the first time we dined in Palo and had the gnocchi, we’ve searched for anything close to it. After many failed attempts at making it at home with store-bought variants, this was the best we’ve come across. It’s a good thing we got that as a side dish, though, as with about nine little pieces, it was hardly enough to qualify as a standalone entrée.

Shortly before our entrées were delivered, our head server, Deniz, came by to ask how everything was going. We’re generally not ones to complain and weren’t trying to throw anyone under the bus, but I think he read the expressions on our faces as we replied with “fine.” He inquired further, and we admitted to him that the service seemed exceptionally slow this evening, and he quickly sprang into action.

It then went from slow to rushed as they tried to make up time, to the extent that they even brought out the rest of the family’s desserts as I was still finishing my entrée. That generally doesn’t happen. It’s not even like I had half a plate left, only a few bites. He also placed my dessert silverware while I was taking my last bite of steak. Traditionally, they would clear the plates of a course, then replace silverware for the next course, then bring the course itself. This ended up being a jumbled mess. There was also a lack of clearing unused wine glasses and empty drinks when bringing fresh ones. This just created a lot of clutter on the table that grew as the meal went along. We weren’t entirely sure if this was because Deniz had said something to them, the fact that the other tables in their section had finished and left, leaving fewer guests to accommodate, or if they realized that they had dragged it out so far that it was nearing time for the next dining time and needed to flip the table. Likely all of the above.

They have four more nights to redeem themselves, but so far we are going to categorize this all under: Things that would NEVER happen with Ida.

Seas The Adventure

Its style is reminiscent of Mickey’s PhilharMagic at Magic Kingdom. Captain Minnie hands the wheel off to Goofy, and he veers off course. With assistance from Crush, Elsa, Mirabel, Moana, Tiana, and Hercules, he finds his way back through song and dance. With his dreams of someday becoming a captain restored, Captain Minnie grants honorary status to all who helped him find his way.

I’d say this show is targeted more at the younger sailors in attendance, but it was still well worth the time.

Magician Fab Fox Take One

On seven-day sailings, there are always a few variety acts to fill the stage on nights that don’t have Broadway shows in the Walt Disney Theater. Generally, they offer the family-friendly version, then on other nights they perform more adult-oriented shows in one of the lounges.

For this sailing, we have magician Fab Fox from Austria mystifying the audience with sleight of hand and illusions. I settled in to catch his adults-only show, hoping to be wowed. I wasn’t.

Being that it was an early evening show, and his first of the week, it lacked punch. Most of the tricks he performed I’ve seen before. In all fairness, there is only so much you can do when on a small stage with limited props. It usually boils down to variations of the same basic tricks. That’s not on him, as he did them very well. There was just a general lack of pizzazz in his delivery, which seemed to cause a lack of enthusiasm from the relatively small audience. It seemed those two factors fed off each other, and the show was okay, but it was apparent that he was a little disappointed in his inability to liven things up before the set concluded.

He’ll have a chance to redeem himself tomorrow night as the main attraction in the theater.

I was hoping to find one of the bars or lounges to relax in for a bit before calling it a night. Stopping in Cat Scat Café was brief, as it was standing room only, so I left after two songs. The Haunted Mansion Parlor was even more packed in. Seeing that this was going to be a fruitless endeavor, I threw in the towel and went back to the room.

Once I got there, I found the kid bored and not wanting to go to bed yet, so we quickly found a round of late-night trivia challenge to fail at before really calling it a night.

Tomorrow we’re in Cozumel, Mexico. Thanks for sailing along. Buenas noches, amigos.

Daily Planner

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