The Global Dream: A Chapek-Era Carryover
Let’s be real: this is the weirdest review I’ve ever had to do. We are talking about one of the most bizarre projects in the history of The Walt Disney Company. To understand why the Disney Adventure is what it is, you have to understand where it came from. This wasn’t a ship designed by Imagineers from the keel up. This was the “Global Dream,” a half-finished mega-ship that Disney bought at a deep discount during the Bob Chapek era. At the time, they thought it was a total coup—a way to supercharge Disney Cruise Line’s growth in Asia without the years of lead time a new build requires.
But as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. As Imagineers and engineers started digging into the guts of this thing to make it a “Disney ship,” they realized they hadn’t actually saved any money. A few weeks ago, a Wall Street Journal piece confirmed what we all suspected: Disney ended up spending just as much, if not more, to “Disney-fy” this vessel as they would have spent just building a brand-new Wish-class ship from scratch. So, instead of a bargain, they ended up with a burden—a massive, 6,000-passenger beast that they had to force into the Disney mold.
It’s a ship of compromises, and while those compromises are visible everywhere, the passion of the creative teams that are the heart and soul of the Disney company did what they could to save it. The results are a deviation from a beloved brand in common spaces and the exterior of the ship, but new standards in theme and storytelling in the places where show is at the forefront.
Exterior Design: A Blocky, Harsh Departure from Tradition
If you know Disney Cruise Line, you know the “design etiquette” of the product well. Since 1998, Disney ships have been synonymous with elegance—the twin funnels, the Mickey colors, and that gorgeous Art Deco or Art Nouveau interior that feels like the golden age of ocean liners. They changed family cruising by making it classy. Even the Wish class, for all the layout issues I’ve complained about, kept true to that exterior design language.
The Disney Adventure? Not so much. From a distance, they did their best to dress her up, and she looks okay. But the second you get to the “medium shot” or the “close-up,” the illusion falls apart.
Aesthetically, this is one of the uglier modern cruise ships from any cruise line, not just Disney, and I prefer the Disney Cruise Line aesthetic the same way I prefer the aesthetic of a Disney park to a Universal park or other theme parks. The Adventure reminded me a lot of looking at the fleets of lower-end cruise competitors.
There just was not a lot of care put into what the open decks looked like from a guest perspective, or at least there wasn’t much they could resolve from the original plans. This is a blocky, harsh-edged monstrosity. On a real Disney ship, everything is curved; the walls have flow, and the upper decks feel integrated. Here, the upper decks, specifically Toy Story Place and Marvel Landing, are hideous. We’re talking sharp angles, flat walls, and spaces that feel like a lower-end competitor’s ship. They tried to fix it with paint, decals, and wall decor, but it just doesn’t work. It’s “counter-culture” to everything Disney Cruise Line stands for.
The Interior: Where the Bountiful Budget Actually Shows
Now, while I’m going to keep ragging on the exterior, I have to give credit where it’s due: the inside of this ship is where the money went. It’s clear that when Disney realized they were stuck with this layout, they handed the Imagineers a “bountiful and plentiful” budget to make the individual spaces shine, and the money shows for sure.
While it is apparent that the Imagineers could not change anything layout-wise, they worked hard with their budget to make the spaces ‘Disney,’ and the effort paid off. The spaces are absolutely gorgeous, and they did their best to hide what was there before.
Yes, there are still weird vibe-killers, like the fact that there are escalators or that the elevator lobbies look like a Marriott or Hilton (and not in a good way). But the actual themed venues? They are on par with, or better than, anything on the Wish-class ships.
The Oceaneer Club and “it’s a small world” Nursery are indistinguishable from the fantastic youth activity centers on the other ships. The lounges are magnificent spaces dripping with detail, especially the Spellbound Lounge themed to Snow White’s Wicked Queen. It is a wonderful spot to sit and relax with a (hopefully non-poisonous) cocktail. It’s these moments of high-level propping and storytelling that remind you that, yes, this is still a Disney vacation, even if the stairs are in the wrong place, there’s no clear way to get to a venue from certain decks, and that there’s no real Grand Hall or atrium.
San Fransokyo Street: The Future of Disney Cruise Line
If there is one thing you take away from this review, let it be that San Fransokyo Street is a triumph. This is the highest height this ship reaches. It’s an immersive streetscape themed to Big Hero 6, and it is unlike anything on any other Disney Cruise Line ship.
Traditionally, Disney separates kids and adults into their own “silos.” Kids go to the clubs, adults go to the lounges or segregated pool decks, and they meet back up for dinner. San Fransokyo Street breaks that mold in the best way possible. It’s an incredibly immersive space themed to a lively street at night, with storefronts (including the Duffy & Friends store), snacks, an arcade, the Baymax cinema (the ship’s movie theater), and a “Hero Training Zone” with interactive floors.
But the genius part is how they handled the teen and tween clubs, Vibe and Edge. Instead of being hidden behind some “secret” nondescript door, I love that they are integrated as facades on the streets of San Fransokyo: Vibe is a funky ’70s-style record store, while Edge is a cool coffee shop. Just the consistent flow of young guests going in and out of these spaces adds life to the streetscape.
This area creates a “free-form play space” where parents and kids can actually hang out together all day. It has the Disney level of detail and storytelling we have come to expect, and it’s so thoughtfully done. And they have created a space that works for everybody, adults and children of all ages will fall in love with “vibing out” in this area. Walt Disney dreamed of a place where the parents and the children could have fun together. This faux avenue offers a “floating Disneyland” moment that I hope becomes the blueprint for every ship Disney builds moving forward.
Counter-Service Lunch & Rotational Dining
Let’s talk about food, because this ship is a massive departure for Disney Cruise Line in that respect as well. Usually, if you want lunch, you go to Cabanas or Marceline Market or head to the Festival of Foods or similar food court on the pool deck. On the Adventure, they’ve replaced those standard pool-deck eateries with themed counter-service cafes in the “Imagination Garden” and “Discovery Reef” sections: Mowgli’s Eatery (Indian cuisine), Gramma Tala’s Kitchen (Polynesian offerings like Huli Huli chicken and rice), Cosmic Kebabs (Middle Eastern dishes), and Stitch’s Ohana Grill (burgers and standard fare).
As far as these four locations are concerned, I was blown away. I’m an Indian food fanatic, and the quality of the dishes here was staggering. Also, the Hainanese chicken I had on this ship was actually better than what I had in the famous markets of Singapore. It’s clear they hired regional chefs who know these flavors. You absolutely have to eat at these; all four were anywhere from very good to absolutely fantastic. And even if they’re a bit small, they’re worth a visit just to see the well appointed interiors.
The big issue is that they were typically overwhelmed every time we went, with return times and capacity problems. You have to choose a dining time in the app for your chosen restaurant (yes, they are quick-service), so there was no guarantee you’d get a time you wanted, and the restaurants were very busy regardless of this system. At least the pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow quality wise when you fight to book these experiences.
My rotational dining experience was the same “hit or miss” I usually feel on the other ships, but the “fast food” on the Adventure is so good that I’m honestly planning to just skip the main dining rooms on my next cruise and load up at the cafes instead.
That being said, as much as I didn’t love the food at our dinner rotation locations, I did thoroughly enjoy the Hollywood Spotlight Club restaurant. This venue has a 1930s glitz and glam feel, but also offers a dinner show with Disney characters and live music. Mickey and friends will also make a brief stop at your table. Animator’s Table was pretty much a typical Animator’s Palette experience from the other ships, while Enchanted Summer – Olaf had the general vibe of Arendelle on the Disney Wish with less immersion and no show elements.
It’s worth noting that each of these venues has a sister-restaurant on board for capacity reasons, so there’s actually 6 rotational dining space ship-wide. The decor and experiences do vary at each of these, while the menus are the same.
Themed Areas and Adult-Only Spaces
This cruise has a totally different audience in Asia, and for a ship and a region where there’s more of a Disney adult audience than guests with children, there are not a lot of adult-only spaces.
However, the themed areas of the Disney Adventure are really where this ship sets itself apart. Instead of traditional sections, everything is divided into these distinct themed areas that function as the core gathering spaces onboard.
You’ve got Disney Discovery Reef and Disney Imagination Garden, two big open-atrium spaces like on other mega ships. We stayed on the Disney Discovery Reef side, and Disney Discovery Reef makes it look like you’re underwater. Someone said it looks like a Disney Value Resort, and yeah, it does look like something out of Art of Animation. I don’t hate it, I think it’s cute enough; a space to decompress or dine in with open seating and drink stations.
Around the reef, you’ve got a mix of things packed in: Treasures Untold, Stitch’s ‘Ohana Grill, Cosmic Kebabs, and the upcharge Bewitching Boba and Brews experience. Then you also get Palo Trattoria and Taverna Portorosso, which honestly is another venue they knocked it out of the park with. It really feels like you’re in Italy, very much themed to Pixar’s Luca. The vibes are similar to EPCOT’s Italy pavilion or Mediterranean Harbor at Tokyo DisneySea.
Then there’s Disney Imagination Garden, which has the main stage, more counter service, a bar out in the garden, and even a castle, the first castle on a Disney Cruise Line ship. It’s more of a dimensional piece of art that protrudes from the back wall, but it still works as a visual “weenie” to draw guests out towards it.
Entertainment: “Remember” and the Magic of Puppetry
Even if I was constantly frustrated with the ship’s layout, my mood was constantly lifted by the quality of the onboard entertainment. Disney definitely put their A-team from Disney Live Entertainment on these shows. Remember, the new show in the Walt Disney Theater exclusive to this ship, is now my personal favorite Disney Cruise Line show of all time. It’s a movie clip show of sorts, but it’s wrapped in this incredibly emotional framework hosted by Wall-E and Eve in puppet form.
The puppetry is on the level of the Hercules or Moana shows, and the musical arrangements are fresh takes on Disney standards that actually make you feel like you’re hearing them for the first time. I’d travel halfway across the world just to see this show again.
There’s also the Avengers Assemble stunt show in the garden, which turns the ship into a Stark Expo. It is action-packed and full of kitschy fun straight from the comic books. It is easily one of the best deck shows they’ve ever done.
Honorable mentions go out to the Baymax Super Exercise Expo and Duffy and the Friend Ship for being worthy diversions. Also, Moana: Call of the Sea is short and fun, a new kind of show for DCL as it takes place around and in a pool at Wayfinder Bay. It’s reminiscent of the Moana show at Hong Kong Disneyland, using a troupe of performers accompanying Moana to quickly recount her tale from the first film in the franchise.
Shows carrying over from the Wish class ships include Let’s Set Sail and Seas the Adventure. Both of these are solid offerings on the other vessels, and they remain enjoyable despite their venue changes.
In total, the amount of exceptional vocalists, puppeteers, and dancers onboard is staggering, a result of continued exceptional casting for the cruise division at Disney.
Beyond that, the Adventure skips the traditional Pirate Night in favor of offering the first-ever The Lion King fireworks show. Given the repetitiveness of the shells fired in a typical Disney Cruise Line fireworks show, I don’t really need them to be 12 minutes long, but the magic of pyro on the open sea is never lost on me. This is a good show, and gives guests their money’s worth more than ever at this length.
Marvel Landing: The First Rides at Sea (Sort Of)
We have to mention Marvel Landing because it’s home to the first legitimate “rides” at sea for Disney. You’ve got Pym Quantum Racers, which are little electric cars that go roughly 2 mph, Groot Galaxy Spin, a Dumbo-style spinner, and the Iron Cycle Test Run, which is supposed to be the first roller coaster at sea.
Unfortunately, the coaster wasn’t ready for the maiden voyage, which was a huge disappointment. As for the others? Pym is seemingly for babies; if you’re an adult, you’re just driving in a slow circle behind someone else because you aren’t allowed to pass or collide with them. It’s a bit lame. But for a little kid to have a spinner ride like Groot on the deck of a ship? That’s good harmless fun.
We’re still waiting for the verdict on the coaster, but I can’t imagine it being enough to save this particular area. The lack of shade and the lack of much theme leaves a lot to be desired.
The Final Verdict: A Beautiful Mess
At the end of the day, the Disney Adventure is a “terrible ship with a big heart.” It fails on so many traditional Disney Cruise Line levels: the arrival experience is cold because there’s no grand atrium for them to announce your family’s arrival to, the wayfinding is impossible because they didn’t even put the usual directional art in the carpeting, and the layout is a nightmare.
But what do I mean when I say it’s a terrible ship with a big heart? They were forced to take on this massive ship that is not the shape or the standard that Disney Cruise Line believes in. But wherever they could, the heart and the money were poured in to make things as right as possible. And that does go a long way. It goes a long way to making you feel something about this cruise vacation, and to making it feel like it was worth it in the end. It doesn’t fix the engineering problems, it doesn’t fix that the elevator lobbies are hideous, and it doesn’t fix a lot of the layout issues that just don’t feel like Disney. However, there’s so much heart in the venues and so much heart on the stage. Even in shows that weren’t my favorite, it was very clear how passionate the performers were and that they were giving it their all. That’s where the real Disney magic comes in. The cast members are the magic, and they’ve taken this big, awkward mega ship and made it so much more than the sum of its parts.
At the end of the day, the Adventure is never going to be my favorite Disney Cruise Line ship. It just can’t overcome some of those fundamental problems. But what they’ve done with it, what the creative teams and cast members have done, really says a lot about what’s possible at Disney, even under the worst circumstances.
By the end of the cruise, all the anger from fighting online experience booking systems, not getting to ride the roller coaster I was very excited for, and continually getting lost despite following maps and signage has subsided thanks to the efforts of the crew and the pure enjoyment that came from space like San Fransokyo Street and Taverna Portorosso.
If you are a Disney Cruise Line regular, I would temper your expectations, but know there are plenty of unexpected surprises and delights aboard The Global… I mean, the Disney Adventure.
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