5 nights on Fantasy or 7 nights on Treasure?

[Cinderella94]

This might become a moot point, because I am planning on cruising in December 2026 and I know the itineraries might be different than this December's. But, I'm pretending the same options will be available and am trying to make my hypothetical decision. Between two Merrytime Cruises, would you choose the 5-night Fantasy itinerary (stops at Lookout and Castaway) or the 7-night Treasure itinerary (stops at Castaway)? I don't really care about the non-Disney ports.

Our only Disney cruise experience so far was a 3-night Merrytime cruise this past December on the Wish. We loved it and it was way too short.

I feel like I'm having a hard time deciding between stopping at Lookout vs. getting to see a newer ship plus a longer cruise. Our cruising party will be me and husband, our almost 2.5 year old and a 15-ish month old. My mom would likely also join and we would get adjoining verandah rooms.

Thank you in advance!

 

[CamColt]

I'm usually in the longer the better camp. However, given the ship choices and the ports (I feel the same, only care about Disney's islands), I would choose the 5 night Fantasy.

 

[DCL58]

After sailing on the Treasure, I would pick the fantasy. Such a better ship.

 

[OKW Lover]

We've been on both the Fantasy and the Treasure. All things being equal we would go with the longer cruise. The OP's desire to see both private islands might tip the scales in favor of the shorter sailing.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This might become a moot point, because I am planning on cruising in December 2026 and I know the itineraries might be different than this December's. But, I'm pretending the same options will be available and am trying to make my hypothetical decision. Between two Merrytime Cruises, would you choose the 5-night Fantasy itinerary (stops at Lookout and Castaway) or the 7-night Treasure itinerary (stops at Castaway)? I don't really care about the non-Disney ports.

Our only Disney cruise experience so far was a 3-night Merrytime cruise this past December on the Wish. We loved it and it was way too short.

I feel like I'm having a hard time deciding between stopping at Lookout vs. getting to see a newer ship plus a longer cruise. Our cruising party will be me and husband, our almost 2.5 year old and a 15-ish month old. My mom would likely also join and we would get adjoining verandah rooms.

Thank you in advance!

I'm firmly in the "longer is better" camp. And, my goal is to cruise on all the (DCL) ships at least once. So the Treasure would probably win this one. Another plus for the Treasure - don't have to navigate that lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ng pier at Lookout. Generally I'm not a fan of the bigger ships, but it is what it is. The Fantasy & Treasure are both big ships.

 

[Cinderella94]

Thank you all for your replies! Can I ask a follow-up question to anyone who prefers the Fantasy over the Treasure? Why is that? We did really like the Wish and in my mind it is similar to the Treasure, but I also don't have any other ships to compare it to.

 

[DVC Deac]

Our cruising party will be me and husband, our almost 2.5 year old and a 15-ish month old.

Assuming cost isn’t an issue, this would be a major factor for us. Will your kids be those ages at time of sailing? We have young children and our kids very much prefer the Oceaneer Club on the Wish and Treasure to the Dream and Fantasy. Assuming your kids are old enough and are ok with going to Oceaneer Club, having some quiet, adult time is always nice.

 

[jwalk03]

I would pick the 7-nights on the Treasure. Longer is better. Now I do love Lookout even more than Castaway- so I agree this one is a close call but if you enjoyed the wish I’m sure you will enjoy the treasure as well. First time cruisers seem to really love the wish class it’s only the long time cruisers that seem to prefer the older ships to the newer ones.

 

[asgur5]

Thank you all for your replies! Can I ask a follow-up question to anyone who prefers the Fantasy over the Treasure? Why is that? We did really like the Wish and in my mind it is similar to the Treasure, but I also don't have any other ships to compare it to.

Choose the treasure. Really its not even a tough decision.

Fantasy is a downgrade on the wish if you like the wish in terms of disney magic and the treasure is an upgrade on the wish. Fantasy has no dinner show and its restaurants are literally falling apart with poor maintenance. Also fantasy has aladdin which you already saw on the wish.

And you are going in winter. Lookout cay is about the beach but it will be too cold to properly enjoy. Treasure goes further south where it will be warmer and give you more time to enjoy the pool area on the deck if not the beaches at the ports.

 

[Cinderella94]

Assuming cost isn’t an issue, this would be a major factor for us. Will your kids be those ages at time of sailing? We have young children and our kids very much prefer the Oceaneer Club on the Wish and Treasure to the Dream and Fantasy. Assuming your kids are old enough and are ok with going to Oceaneer Club, having some quiet, adult time is always nice.

Oops, I did math wrong in my original post LOL. At the time of sailing we will actually have an almost 3.5 year old (born Aug 2023) and a 15-ish month old (I'm due in Sept.).
That is good to know! Our older one has no experience in daycare or with babysitters he doesn't know yet, so I'm not sure how much we would try to use the clubs. He is starting 2-year old "preschool" this fall though, so he will be used to it after a year.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you all for your replies! Can I ask a follow-up question to anyone who prefers the Fantasy over the Treasure? Why is that? We did really like the Wish and in my mind it is similar to the Treasure, but I also don't have any other ships to compare it to.

Another point - I've only been on the Fantasy between the two, but the Fantasy has an actual promenade deck, which is a big consideration for those of us who walk laps on a cruise. On the Treasure/Wish the so-called "promenade" deck requires some up and down (3 decks worth) of stairs to accomplish a full walk around of the ship.

 

[Skippyboo]

Treasure has same layout as the Wish. 1923 and World of Marvel are the same night 1 as the Wish , with night 2 being different menus and a cute Groot based interaction show on Marvel on night 2. Arendelle becomes Coco on the Treasure. Broadway shows Beauty and the Beast and Moana - both outstanding.

Fantasy is getting a dry dock after doing Europe this summer where they are adding the build your own Mexican bowl/taco place to pool food court. No live entertainment dinner show but animators palate does a turtle talk style show and there’s a your drawing comes to life show. The adult spaces are the front part of the upper deck is bigger than the Triton class ships, there’s a big movie theater instead of 2 smaller ones, the lounges are all grouped together in back of the ship on deck 4. There is a miniature golf course and outdoor basketball court inside of indoor sports area on Wish, Treasure.

You also have the Destiny sailing out of Ft Lauderdale that is Triton class and going to Disney islands.

 

[UnderDog_808]

Fantasy has no dinner show and its restaurants are literally falling apart with poor maintenance. Also fantasy has aladdin which you already saw on the wish.

Just curious. When was the last time you cruise on the Fantasy? We sailed this past August and didn’t notice any issues with the restaurants looking dated or falling apart. In fact, everything still looked just as nice as it did when we were on the inaugural voyage.

As for the dinner show, we’re sailing on the Treasure this summer. Based on the videos I’ve seen, I think I prefer a quieter, less distracting dining experience. I’m sure the shows are good because it's Disney, but we look forward to dinner as a time to talk and connect one another. From conversations I’ve had with others who have already sailed on the Wish and the Treasure, it sounds like the dinner show is quite loud. They said that it's so loud that it’s hard to hear anything, let alone your servers.

And we love the Aladdin show on the Fantasy, especially when the super talented cast member DJ is performing. He was also performing for the first 3 months on the Treasure (Coriander and Sage) show.

 

[DVC Deac]

and a 15-ish month old (I'm due in Sept.)

First- congrats! Second, I forgot to mention this in the first post, but 7 nights may be a long cruise for a 15-month old. We stepped our kids up gradually from 3-night to 5-night, and so on to make sure they can hang. Of course, every child is different and there are quite a few very young children on most cruises who make it through without issue. Still, it’s something to keep in mind when booking very far in advance.

 

[Cinderella94]

Thank you everyone! This is all really good to think about!

 

[Skippyboo]

As for the dinner show, we’re sailing on the Treasure this summer. Based on the videos I’ve seen, I think I prefer a quieter, less distracting dining experience. I’m sure the shows are good because it's Disney, but we look forward to dinner as a time to talk and connect one another. From conversations I’ve had with others who have already sailed on the Wish and the Treasure, it sounds like the dinner show is quite loud. They said that it's so loud that it’s hard to hear anything, let alone your servers.

You do have down time in the World of Marvels shows because they are screen based. In Coco, the servers will take your complete order at the beginning because of the show instead of doing dessert separately. We started in Coco in my sailing in February so we had Pirate night there also without any entertainment. We were right by the stage

 

[asgur5]

Just curious. When was the last time you cruise on the Fantasy? We sailed this past August and didn’t notice any issues with the restaurants looking dated or falling apart. In fact, everything still looked just as nice as it did when we were on the inaugural voyage.

As for the dinner show, we’re sailing on the Treasure this summer. Based on the videos I’ve seen, I think I prefer a quieter, less distracting dining experience. I’m sure the shows are good because it's Disney, but we look forward to dinner as a time to talk and connect one another. From conversations I’ve had with others who have already sailed on the Wish and the Treasure, it sounds like the dinner show is quite loud. They said that it's so loud that it’s hard to hear anything, let alone your servers.

And we love the Aladdin show on the Fantasy, especially when the super talented cast member DJ is performing. He was also performing for the first 3 months on the Treasure (Coriander and Sage) show.

Sections of lights in enchanted garden no longer work. And now reports in past month that crush isnt working properly in animators plate and has been scaled back.

Aladdins a great show. But if you have seen it already then different shows are a better choice.

And ive never got why some posters prefer no dinner shows. For me thats a big part of the appeal. I get ordinary dinners at home and other cruises. On disney i want disney experiences. The frozen dinner show on the wish is fantastic. The music is A grade. Not just for disney. But full stop. My wife was literally crying with joy during it and she aint even a big frozen fan. Its sharing those experiences that make me want to go on disney cruises. Also love the kiss good night with the cinderella lights and music, the star wars lounge, the giddiness of my kids as they laugh at all the mickey shorts while going up the aqua mouse. Disney fantasy doesnt have those wow moments. Wish and Treasure do.

 

[Skippyboo]

I just got back from WDW today but the other day I shared a Skyliner car from CBR to Epcot. I ended having a DCL conversation with the couple in car they were going on the Treasure the next day. They were a big DCL couple did maiden Treasure, doing the maiden Destiny. One of the things that they said they loved about DCL was interaction with the crew but they felt you didn’t get as much interaction with your server on the Triton class ships compared to the Fantasy.

 

[dreamer17555]

The price differences between the two will likely be substantial- is budget a factor at all?

 

[DCL58]

Another point - I've only been on the Fantasy between the two, but the Fantasy has an actual promenade deck, which is a big consideration for those of us who walk laps on a cruise. On the Treasure/Wish the so-called "promenade" deck requires some up and down (3 decks worth) of stairs to accomplish a full walk around of the ship.

You can’t do a “full” walk around the treasure. You have to walk thru the inside of the ship to complete the loop. The whole back side of the ship is closed off. And yes, the partial loop includes decks 4, 5 and 6 and all the stairs going up and down between the decks. A terrible downgrade from the other ships.