Magic vs. Wonder

[flytimefl]

What are the pluses and minuses for these ships? So far, all of our Disney Cruises have been on the Dream or Fantasy. I know that they are smaller, older ships so how do they compare for children's activities such as Oceaneer's Club and Edge? I seem to recall some posts that said one of the ships was really showing its age but I can't remember which one.

Thanks in advance.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What are the pluses and minuses for these ships? So far, all of our Disney Cruises have been on the Dream or Wonder. I know that they are smaller, older ships so how do they compare for children's activities such as Oceaneer's Club and Edge? I seem to recall some posts that said one of the ships was really showing its age but I can't remember which one.

Thanks in advance.

You've been on the Wonder? Or did you mean the Dream & Fantasy?

The Magic & Wonder are the older ships in the fleet. But both had major dry dock changes not long ago. Personally, I preferred the look of those ships before the changes, but between the two I think the Wonder got the better look after dry dock.

Cruise ships are built/designed to last many years. The Magic & Wonder are still in great shape.

You can check out the Navigators for past cruises here to see what sorts of activities were available in the kid's clubs: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/personal-navigators/

 

[flytimefl]

Oops, you were right! Only Dream and Fantasy so far on the Disney line. Just booked the West bound Panama Canal Cruise for Feb. 2019 and am curious about the ship.

 

[ForMyBoys]

I've been on the Fantasy, Magic and Wonder. Of the three my favorite is the Wonder, then the Magic, then the Fantasy. I do love the rainforest room on the fantasy, I actually haven't seen the rain forest room on the Magic/Wonder so can't compare, maybe someone else can weigh in. I don't recall a significant difference in the Oceaneers club. The pre-teen club (Edge) is smaller on the Magic/Wonder but still plenty big. The Teen club (Vibe) has its own pool on the Fantasy, but not on the Magic/Wonder but still its great on both. My boys never ran out of stuff to do and honestly I don't think we really noticed a huge difference. To me it seems the public areas were similar in size between all the ships.

The pool set up seems very similar to me between the ships, except on the Magic/Wonder there are less people so more seats available. The Walt Disney theatre does not have a balcony. They all have a dedicated movie theater and funnel vision. I think you will love the ship. I'm a bit bummed they are building larger ships as I really do like the feel of the Magic/Wonder.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Oops, you were right! Only Dream and Fantasy so far on the Disney line. Just booked the West bound Panama Canal Cruise for Feb. 2019 and am curious about the ship.

We just returned from the Eastbound Panama Canal on the Wonder, our third cruise on that ship. We’ve also done two cruises on the Fantasy and six on the Magic. DW also sailed on the Dream one time. The Magic and Wonder are our favorites, although we have booked another cruise on the Fantasy to do a Very Merrytime sailing next year. We’re also booked on that February WBPC cruise in February 2019. We prefer the scale of the smaller ships with fewer passengers. Doing longer cruises while school is in session also means there are usually fewer children on board, so everything seems to be a little calmer. We would echo many of the earlier comments from this thread.

I think the recent major drydock of the Wonder did a good job of refreshing the ship, although I mourn the loss of the Outlook Cafe due to conversion of that space into concierge lounge space. Otherwise, things seemed quite clean and bright. Stateroom upgrades included a new duplex outlet by the desk with two USB ports. It was suitable for DW to plug in a curling iron that had required an extension cord to accomodate the GFCI plug when we last sailed the Wonder and the USB ports allowed charging phones and tablets. This was very convenient.

We last sailed the Magic in January of this year, and I think the condition was similar to the Wonder post-drydock.

One place where the Dream and Fantasy have an advantage over the Magic and Wonder is the on-demand TV on the new ships. Although there are movies on the TV running continuously on all the ships, the older ships just cycle through movies and you have to get lucky to catch the start of a particular film you want to watch. On the new ships, you can see the listing of what’s available and start it up when you’re ready for some lazy stateroom time. This can be an extra diversion on those sea days on a long cruise like the Panama Canal or Transatlantic sailings.

 

[cmwade77]

Currently out of the two, I think the Wonder is better if for no other reason than Tiana's Place, but with the Magic getting a Tangled restaurant that will hopefully be on par with it, I think we are bound to see both being equally good. My guess is the Dream and Fantasy will eventually get similar upgrades and the three new ships will have them out the door.

 

[BartmanLA]

Sailed on both Wonder and Magic only, with the majority of the cruises being on the Wonder (3 so far) both pre and post major dry dock. I think the changes on the Wonder enhanced the style of the ship more, updating Parrot Cay to Tiana's was a major upgrade, a much nicer and comfortable atmosphere, the Adult areas saw a lot of changes and the new design and style of Azure and the Crown & Finn Pub were much needed in my opinion. The Atrium is much more open with the removal of the starboard staircase (it wasn't used anyway) giving the raised landing by Triton's a larger and much more appealing area and opened up the entire area in a lighter airier way. Cabana's also is better with a smoother flow and better seating arrangements along with 2 complete food service lines to speed things up. Studio Sea became D Lounge and is much nicer and more open and lighter than before, Edge was relocated to Deck 9 and really enhances the accessibility for the parents and kids to the area, while removing so much of the noise and traffic on the lower deck where it used to be. That being said the Magic got some upgrades on it's last big Dry Dock but I really didn't see them as as drastic as the Wonder. But we had a good time none the less on her for the one cruise we took. Our preference is for the smaller "Classic" ships with the Wonder being our "Home" ship since she was the first one we sailed DCL on. Keep in mind on the Magic/Wonder the passenger compliment is smaller so the crowds will not be as large as on the Dream/Fantasy, but the venues, elevators, atrium, hallways and other common areas will also be smaller than on the larger ships. It's a trade off but something that should be considered when booking your next cruise. Good Luck and have a Magical time what ever you do decide to sail on!

 

[hanscarlet]

I sailed the Wonder before dry dock and sailed the Magic twice post dry dock, I prefer the classic ships over the Dream class ships because I like the smaller crowds. I thought the service on the Wonder was much better than my experiences on all of the ships so I am looking forward to sailing her post dry dock. Our favorite ship is the Magic because she's perfect after the dry dock but now with the Tangled restaurant, super pumped about that!