Big ships...should I worry?

[Disneybridewifemama]

my family has been on two Disney cruises-one Caribbean and one Alaska-both on the wonder. We LOVED that ship.

We are looking in to booking our 3rd cruise and the itinerarys keep leading me towards the fantasy. But I hesitate. Does so many more people=crowded castaway cay and kid soup pools? Are the lines for character crazy long? (This is what my daughter has up spending most of the cruise doing,lol) does the ship just feel crowded?

We loved the small feel of the wonder. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

The Fantasy is great, thry handle the people well, minimal queuing, you will have a great cruise. Castaway cay, no problem, the pools can get busy.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

I've only done the Wonder and Magic so far, but the only real complaint I've heard about the Fantasy and the Dream is the pools getting crowded. CC and characters both seemed to be fine for people and I've never heard of any complaints. I think you should do it- it'll be fun to experience a new ship!

 

[scgustafson]

my family has been on two Disney cruises-one Caribbean and one Alaska-both on the wonder. We LOVED that ship.

We are looking in to booking our 3rd cruise and the itinerarys keep leading me towards the fantasy. But I hesitate. Does so many more people=crowded castaway cay and kid soup pools? Are the lines for character crazy long? (This is what my daughter has up spending most of the cruise doing,lol) does the ship just feel crowded?

We loved the small feel of the wonder. Any advice is appreciated!

I have sailed all four ships for a total of 7 cruises. I do notice the greater number of people on the newer ships, not to the extent it ruins my cruise, but it still feels more crowded than the classic ships. I have never been to Castaway Cay with a classic ship itinerary, so I only know it with a newer ship's load of passengers, which does feel a bit crowded at the beaches closer to the ship and the Pelican Plunge. As for the character experiences, most have started transitioning to ticketed meet and greet events, so that will limit the lines for some. Since all of my classic ship itineraries, except the Med, have been on colder itineraries, those pools are usually empty, but on the newer ships, I have never seen the pools not packed to capacity with kids or adults, as appropriate, since those itineraries have always been warm. Ultimatedly, I am happy that I am on a Disney Cruise, so I just adapt to changes between the classic and newer ships, but I will always prefer the classics. Enjoy your trip.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I've been on the Magic, Fantasy, and Dream. The pools seemed a lot more crowded on the Dream and Fantasy, but I was always able to find chairs somewhere on the pool deck. On the Magic, I had a tough time finding chairs on the pool deck, but the pools were slightly less crowded. I didn't notice a difference in character lines, but we usually try to get there before the greet is scheduled to start so we were near the front of the line. I did notice a big difference on CC. But even with the larger ship, we were able to find chairs and do everything we wanted on the island without issue.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I've been on the Magic, Fantasy, and Dream. The pools seemed a lot more crowded on the Dream and Fantasy, but I was always able to find chairs somewhere on the pool deck. On the Magic, I had a tough time finding chairs on the pool deck, but the pools were slightly less crowded. I didn't notice a difference in character lines, but we usually try to get there before the greet is scheduled to start so we were near the front of the line. I did notice a big difference on CC. But even with the larger ship, we were able to find chairs and do everything we wanted on the island without issue.

I thought the atrium feels more crowded on the Wonder and the midship elevators are much larger on the Fantasy than the riduculously small ones on the Wonder. I also feel Cabanas has a lot more space than Beach Blanket.

I can't comment on CC because my Wonder cruise didn't stop there but I can say we never thought it was too crowded on our Fantasy cruises.

It all will boil down to your attitude going in. When we went on the Wonder after 3 Dream class cruises I just had to tell myself it was going to be different and don't have expectations. We were just fine, I still prefer the Dream class ships but won't let that stop me from sailing the classics.

 

[RedSox68]

I've been on all four ships -- yes, the classic ones are more intimate and less crowded, but compared to much larger ships we've been on with 3,000+ passengers, the Fantasy and Dream are very manageable. When we first sailed the Dream it was frustrating because the ship is so much bigger and has so much more to see that we thought four days was not enough to really partake in everything. We really enjoyed the Fantasy with the extra days. The only "problem" we encountered was boarding in ports. If boarding is forward and your room is mid or aft, it seems like a football field of walking to get to your room. What we started doing was taking the elevator (or stairs) to the guest services deck, then walking back from there as there is more to look at then just staterooms and it seemed to make is less tedious. But the Fantasy is just beautiful and her restaurants are far and above the older ships with decor and technology. You will enjoy her -- play miniature golf on the top deck -- very fun.

 

[xavier2001]

The only complaint we had about the Fantasy was the kid soup in the pools. If we did it over I would not let my kids in the pools except on port days when they aren't so crowded. Our best afternoon was castaway cay day, we left the beach early and had the pools and aquaduck to ourselves for a good 2 hours before people started trickiling back in.