Review: Disney Treasure cruise ship leans into adventure for unique feel
The Disney Treasure may be a sister ship to 2022’s Disney Wish, but it has enough unique features to give it its own identity.
The ship made its maiden voyage out of Port Canaveral on Dec. 21 beginning a spate of seven-night, year-round Caribbean voyages, taking on longer sailing duties while the Wish continues three- and four-night Bahamas itineraries.
Just like its sister ship, the Treasure features the signature AquaMouse water slide on the top decks amid a bevy of pools and hot tubs. The interior is carved up with a similar footprint for kids play areas, adult spaces, restaurants and theaters.
Feeding its unique identity, though, is the theme of adventure, which Jason Roberts with Walt Disney Imagineering, credited to Walt Disney.
“It was Walt’s love of travel and exploring new, unknown, mysterious places and learning about the culture, learning about their storytelling,” Roberts said. “We really have a truly rich history of storytelling at Disney, and so we focus on all those amazing stories that we’ve told throughout the decades, and focusing on the adventure aspect.”
So for the first time on a cruise ship, Disney has dedicated spaces from theme park rides such as The Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as well as a high-end, two-story suite themed to Epcot. There are spaces on board themed to films like “Zootopia,” “Coco” and “Aristocats” plus the debut on stage of a Broadway-style “Moana” musical.
“So when you think about all of the animated films, they all have a bit of adventure to them,” he said. “Being able to tell those stories in three dimensions aboard the ship … being able to create these places and have it brought to life by our Disney Cruise Line crew and the entertainment crew. That’s just really exciting to give them the palette on which to tell their stories.”
Here are 10 of the best features on board that make Disney Treasure special:
“Disney The Tale of Moana”: This new stage production takes Disney’s impressive combination of props, puppetry and digital production to new levels pulling from one of the most iconic recent animated films.
While it features a jaw-dropping climactic moment involving a massive puppet of the character Te Fiti, it’s the grace and creativity of the choreography throughout the production, such as the actors on stage becoming the waves of the South Pacific, that arguably makes this the highest quality show in the fleet.
Plus, everyone who sees the show will be singing memorable tunes like “How Far I’ll Go” for the rest of the night.
Plaza de Coco: Only one of the three rotational dining spaces is new on Treasure with a dinner theater space themed to the Pixar film “Coco” that leans into the food and pageantry of Mexico. The beauty of the space showcases the theme of family with the film’s young guitar-loving protagonist Miguel now a young adult leading two different shows. One of them is centered around Dia de los Muertos.
The food is equal to the authenticity of the performers including mariachi and traditional folkloric dance.
The “ofrenda” altar filled with photos and offerings to Miguel’s “familia” at the entrance to the dining space invites careful perusal with Disney’s impressive attention to detail in full display.
Haunted Mansion Parlor: Taking the place of the Star Wars bar found on Wish is one themed instead to Disney’s popular ghostly theme park attraction. The Imagineers in charge of expanding the space onto a cruise ship had a field day incorporating a new main character and theatrical elements with equally macabre drink selections.
The space could take hours to examine, but suffers from overwhelming volume levels from what is a popular, crowded space. So some of the unique sound effects get lost in the calamity. It’s still sure to please any fans of the original rides at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.
Scat Cat Lounge: The adults-only space just off the Grand Hall themed to “The Aristocats” acts as the ship’s piano lounge. So while it has whimsical touches such as paw prints on the piano and a bevy of cat-themed beverages, the chill vibe allows for what the Haunted Mansion Parlor does not — carrying on a conversation amid a kinder, gentler approach with varying performances that range from jazz classics to a modern selection of Coldplay songs.
Periscope Pub: Acting as the ship’s sports bar, this space pulls theming from the film and retired Magic Kingdom attraction “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
The nautical theme features walls adorned with trinkets from the Jules Verne yarn including a model of main character Captain Nemo’s submarine, the Nautilus, and a ceiling with projected sealife swimming about as if its patrons were indeed underwater.
The on-tap selection though is a bit of unique engineering with 16 brews housed in a circular bar that has its source kegs housed one deck below. TVs at the venue for the most part will be tuned to whatever live sports are available and the food selection has “pub grub” such as a giant Bavarian pretzel, fried coconut shrimp and bangers and mash.
Skipper Society: Dads will be right at home at this bar themed to the Jungle Cruise with its pun-heavy menus items amid props and design from the popular ride found in Adventureland.
While its menu is heavy on beverages with names like the “Hippopotomai-tai” and “Safari So Good,” it’s also home to sweet waffle treats served with maple syrup or Nutella.
“Choose Wisely: An Indiana Jones Comedy Adventure”: A surprise offering beyond the main theater stage on board takes place in the two-story Sarabi venue, which is home to family-friendly entertainment during the day such as trivia, but targets adults at night.
At the top of the must-do list is a mad-cap retelling of the five Indiana Jones films by a comedic team using low-rent props on an overhead projector with its two main performers turning to the audience to make it like a choose-your-own-adventure style of performance.
The Grand Hall: Home to a variety of gatherings, character appearances and performances, the ship’s atrium impresses with its Aladdin-themed design. Architectural features that lean heavily on Morocco as well as other parts of northern Africa and the Middle East become part of the show during some sailing events.
And a selfie-must is the bronze statue of Aladdin, Jasmine and Carpet.
The artwork: As always, Disney artwork is around every corner, but for those who don’t want to wait for the elevators, walking up and down the forward and aft stairwells is like touring a museum with panoramic murals at most landings.
One of the must-see pieces is from Los Angeles-based artist Nikkolas Smith who followed up his Cinderella-themed mural that highlighted Disney Wish with an Aladdin-themed three-paneled mural titled “Jasmine and the Bazaar.”
“Jasmine’s self determination to write her own life story, adventurous spirit, and heart of gold are the virtues I wanted to radiate from her eyes, into every element of the space in this triptych,” Smith wrote on his Instagram. “I really want this piece to inspire the child in all of us to blaze our own unique trails, while stopping to take in all of life’s wonders along the way.”
The desserts: Twenty flavors of gelato. Sixteen flavors of ice cream. Forty toppings. And there’s more, all themed to the film “Zootopia!” found in Jumbeaux’s Sweets complete with figurines of characters Judy Hopps the rabbit and Nick Wilde the fox.
There’s shakes, cakes and even chocolate-covered strawberries that look like carrots. The best feature might be similar prices one might find on land.
Is it worth it? There’s plenty of up-front cost, though, with the cheapest option for a seven-night Caribbean sailing coming in at nearly $4,400 for a couple for an interior stateroom including taxes and port fees. A balcony stateroom for a family of four for many sailings tops $10,000 with the cheapest coming in at just over $8,100.