Rate the Cruise Ships

We will be first time Disney cruisers - first time ANY cruisers, to be honest - and my kids are dead set on the Disney Dream because of the water slide. I'm partial to the Dream because it is newest and I'm a reluctant cruiser and prefer the newest technology to take me out on the (treacherous) seas. My husband would like to do the Key West/Nassau itinerary and according to the schedule, only the Disney Wonder does that trip.

From the seasoned cruisers out there - what is your favorite ship and why?

Or does it really matter?

Thanks!

The Fantasy is actually newer..

Very little difference between the two though. We actually liked to Fantasy better, Animator's Palate has a vastly better show than Dream, but everything else is pretty dang close.

The Aqueduck is great. I do t think I'd do the version on the Magic, but couldn't get enough of it on our last cruise on the Fantasy.

You won't get me on the Wonder until it's rehabbed. I was on the Magic a few years back and it was terribly musty compared to the newer ships. The Magic was in dire need of a drydock, I imagine the Wonder is too.

being gold members now and being on all 4 Disney Ships here is my order:

1. Magic- this was our 1st cruise so for this reason this ship will always be 1

2 Fantasy- we did the eastern trip and were just impressed beautiful ship top to bottom

3. Wonder - just came back from a 5 day that went to key west 2 days at castaway and nassau we really enjoyed this ship and cruise not musty at all as disneyrox said, true the ship does need to get up to the snuff and it will soon be but in no way did this hamper the ship the overlook cafe which is a part of cove cafe that no other disney ship has was an excellent spot to enjoy the great coffee and ocean views we spent allot of time in this area the resturants were fine and palo blew us away for the brunch and dinner and we've done palo on all the ships but this version was the best

4 Dream- did a couple of 3 day cruises couldnt really enjoy all the ship had to offer but never the less still a wonderful ship

hope this helps

Victor

For me, my order is: Fantasy, Magic, Dream. I absolutely loved the Fantasy (and prefer the longer cruises)

For me:

MAGIC!!!
Fantasy
Wonder
Dream

Consider the smaller ships. Yes, the larger ships can accommodate more passengers, but Castaway Cay has not grown! Sharing the island with less people makes for a more pleasurable experience IMHO.

We've only been twice so we can only speak for smaller vs. larger. Yes newer, larger ships (Dream & Fantasy) had some cool updates and nice new features, however overall we prefer the quaintness of the older, smaller ships (Magic & Wonder). It may not sound like a lot, but the extra 1.5k people makes a difference. I couldn't even imagine sailing on those Royal Caribbean ships that hold 6k+ people. I think it would feel like a was in the Navy. Good luck!

I've not really had any issues with the size of ships and the amount of people. The public areas are bigger on bigger ships so I've never been impacted by congestion. There is a huge difference between Cabanas on the Magic vs Dream/Fantasy though. It was a while couple years ago almost did back to back cruises on Dream an the Magic and I had forgotten how cramped that restaurant is on the classic ships. Not sure if they addressed that at drydock, but you can really do much with limited space.

We haven't been on the Oasis class ships, but the class down on RCCL was big and it was fine. No unmanageable lines to speak of.

It's not all about the headcount though, and I see what you're saying about the intimacy. I do think it's still there on the Dream/Fantasy.