Favorite ship..

[cgolf]

Favorite Disney ship, the Magic. We sailed both before and after the big re imagining and liked things from both versions, miss rockin bar D. It is just the right size for us and has a little something something that just makes it special.

If I include all ships we have sailed, the new Celebrity Edge is right there with the Magic. Both ships have a similar vibe to them that I like.

 

[Claireywalsh]

Our first trip was the Dream and it was amazing so beautiful
Then we went on the Wonder and was blown away by the difference. You see the staff more and they have more time for you, you see more of your fellow sailors as there aren’t so many of them and the atmosphere was so special. Without having the dream deliver such a great first experience we wouldn’t have ventured on the Wonder but for us the classics are they way forward. We’re heading back on the Wonder in the summer and I’m Looking at finding the right itinerary to experience the magic next year

 

[FSU Girl]

The Fantasy is my favorite, I've sailed on the Magic and Dream as well. I love the bigger ships with more to do and I think the lobby is gorgeous. I am a fan of peacocks, I think they are beautiful birds so it seems like a great design choice. I also really liked the aquaduck and hated the aquadunk. I'm hoping with the new ships they might send the Dream or Fantasy to Europe so I could have that as an option.

 

[tinkerpea]

Hmm well I can tell you the one I dislike the most: The Fantasy. We had a really bad experience with the staff and haven’t been back to that ship since. As far as the classics, they both have their good points. I love the new Rapunzel restaurant on the Magic, but the staff was really nice on the Wonder. The Dream has always been my overall favorite bc of the Aquaduck and the staff. It always feels like home. We will be taking our 15th DCL cruise this May on the Magic EBTA trip. We are very excited!

Oh no, that's such a shame we have booked a 8 night HOTHS for this year, we did the dream in 2015 and while our servers was ok, they was nothing like we had hoped after hearing such amazing reviews of service.

 

[tinkerpea]

My favorite ship is whichever one I’m on.

Now see, the Fantasy is our favorite by far. We’ve never had a bad experience on it. I love the Wonder as it was our first cruise, but we prefer the larger ships for the more things to do. The Dream is nice, but because of the shorter cruises everything seems much more rushed. We found the service less engaging, again I think because they simply don’t have the time.

This is exactly what we found, and was hoping that by booking an 8 night on fantasy that we would get the great service everyone normally talks about

 

[bcwife76]

The Wonder for sure. We will be on the Magic for the first time in October and I'm sure we'll love it as much as the Wonder. We like the Fantasy but in the end it's just too darn big and we don't need all the bells and whistles; we could take or leave the aquaduck (my kids love it but it's not a deal breaker) and they've done mid ship detective several times. Haven't sailed the Dream and unless they change up the itineraries when the new ships come, we never will. Itineraries are too short (and no desire to do a back to back to visit Nassau twice).

 

[jdb in AZ]

The Wonder for sure. We will be on the Magic for the first time in October and I'm sure we'll love it as much as the Wonder. We like the Fantasy but in the end it's just too darn big and we don't need all the bells and whistles; we could take or leave the aquaduck (my kids love it but it's not a deal breaker) and they've done mid ship detective several times. Haven't sailed the Dream and unless they change up the itineraries when the new ships come, we never will. Itineraries are too short (and no desire to do a back to back to visit Nassau twice).

I think we're on the same wave length. The Wonder cruised the shorter itineraries for several years and we waited til they did Hawaii and the Panama Canal to try her. Now we're waiting for the Dream to do something more exciting.

The Fantasy is nice but a ship that big tends to overwhelm the tiny port towns.

 

[mmmears]

The Fantasy is my favorite, I've sailed on the Magic and Dream as well. I love the bigger ships with more to do and I think the lobby is gorgeous. I am a fan of peacocks, I think they are beautiful birds so it seems like a great design choice. I also really liked the aquaduck and hated the aquadunk. I'm hoping with the new ships they might send the Dream or Fantasy to Europe so I could have that as an option.

I understand what you're saying, but I'll give you a different perspective on a port intensive cruise where you really want to see and tour each city (as opposed to Nassau where so many just stay and enjoy the ship). This is just my opinion, and it's definitely one of those YMMV kind of things, but our last cruise kind of made me think about the ships in a different light.

One of the benefits of our Northern European cruise on the Magic was the size of the ship. We docked at several smaller ports and didn't overwhelm the town with a huge number of visitors. We never had to wait in a line to board or disembark at these ports. When we were sailing in through some beautiful areas it wasn't crowded up on deck - in fact there weren't all that many people up there watching (we had a balcony but the views from the front of the ship were spectacular). It wasn't as hard to get excursions or hire private tour guides since the total numbers weren't so high. Of course it depends on the port for some of this, and whether or not any monster ships are docking on the same day. But honestly I'm not sure we could have had the same experience if we had been traveling with an extra 2000 people. It's making me take a closer look at # of passengers as I start thinking about our next big trip. I agree that the newer ships are fancier and look more elegant, but I will lean towards uncrowded any day.

 

[dclpluto]

I like the new ships better but they don’t go to good ports. Same old same old ports. Only castaway a good port imo

 

[FSU Girl]

I understand what you're saying, but I'll give you a different perspective on a port intensive cruise where you really want to see and tour each city (as opposed to Nassau where so many just stay and enjoy the ship). This is just my opinion, and it's definitely one of those YMMV kind of things, but our last cruise kind of made me think about the ships in a different light.

One of the benefits of our Northern European cruise on the Magic was the size of the ship. We docked at several smaller ports and didn't overwhelm the town with a huge number of visitors. We never had to wait in a line to board or disembark at these ports. When we were sailing in through some beautiful areas it wasn't crowded up on deck - in fact there weren't all that many people up there watching (we had a balcony but the views from the front of the ship were spectacular). It wasn't as hard to get excursions or hire private tour guides since the total numbers weren't so high. Of course it depends on the port for some of this, and whether or not any monster ships are docking on the same day. But honestly I'm not sure we could have had the same experience if we had been traveling with an extra 2000 people. It's making me take a closer look at # of passengers as I start thinking about our next big trip. I agree that the newer ships are fancier and look more elegant, but I will lean towards uncrowded any day.

I get what you're saying, but I never felt crowded on that ship. And it's still considerably smaller than some other giant ships going to the same ports. I went on Liberty of the Seas in Europe and it was a big ship and didn't have any issues doing ship excursions or feeling like the ports were overly crowded.

 

[mmmears]

I get what you're saying, but I never felt crowded on that ship. And it's still considerably smaller than some other giant ships going to the same ports. I went on Liberty of the Seas in Europe and it was a big ship and didn't have any issues doing ship excursions or feeling like the ports were overly crowded.

I get that. And I think it also depends on the port. The cities we visited in Norway were small, and we docked right in the center of town, so I know that 4000 people pouring out would change things. In Rome, not at all. It's just something I thought I'd throw out here since I'm trying to figure out what the "right" size is for me on these trips. I'm leaning towards smaller (like Viking sized) rather than larger. We were really fortunate to not ever share a port with a larger ship so I think we really were able to get a good feel for these ports, but of course that was just luck since I have seen pics online when there are 3-4 ships in port all at once. At that point, I guess being on a larger ship might not make that much of a difference.

 

[ForMyBoys]

We've been on the Fantasy twice and Wonder and Magic once. I prefer Magic/Wonder for service and pool layout. We are going on the Dream next month but I'm guessing I'll feel the same after.

 

[daisyx3]

I was on the Wonder in 2003 and the Magic in 2004, and to be honest I don't remember that much about the ships themselves. We were on the Dream in 2016 and the Fantasy last year (3 night) so those are much fresher in my memory. I think I would like to go back on the classic ships once to check out their adult areas, since our kids are grown now, and see the difference. When we are on the Dream double dip in June maybe I'll look at those as well for my OBB.
I do know I look at the really big ships on other lines and don't think I'd like to go any bigger than Dream/Fantasy. Also, unlike most, I do like the shorter cruises because it is easier for my husband to get away from work and I don't have to worry so much about finding a dog sitter.

 

[TestingH2O]

The Wonder. I love Tiana's place and I find the smaller ships to be cozy. I do prefer the pool deck on the newer ships though. We are sailing on the Fantasy this summer, and it's been a couple years since we've been on a larger ship. I'm interested to see how it feels after being on the Magic class for a while.