Disney Wonder?

[uandmfan]

Hi

I just asked a travel agent about a 5 day Caribbean cruise. Currently, those cruises are on the Wonder. She seems to be steering me away from the Wonder and said that the kids clubs are much, much better on the Dream and Fantasy. The 5 day cruise is a lot less than the 7 day cruise and as this would be our first cruise, we were thinking it's a good way to check them out.

Does anyone have any comments on this? What about the Magic? Is the difference that huge? Our kids will be 3 and 6 so they can't go on the huge slides or anything - I figured it didn't matter too much.

Is the Wonder scheduled to be 'fixed up' any time soon?

Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi

I just asked a travel agent about a 5 day Caribbean cruise. Currently, those cruises are on the Wonder. She seems to be steering me away from the Wonder and said that the kids clubs are much, much better on the Dream and Fantasy. The 5 day cruise is a lot less than the 7 day cruise and as this would be our first cruise, we were thinking it's a good way to check them out.

Does anyone have any comments on this? What about the Magic? Is the difference that huge? Our kids will be 3 and 6 so they can't go on the huge slides or anything - I figured it didn't matter too much.

Is the Wonder scheduled to be 'fixed up' any time soon?

Thanks!

The Wonder is scheduled for a dry dock this fall. No word on what will be worked on.

I think for your kid's ages the Wonder kid's clubs would be fine. If you want a 5 night, your TA should be working for you, not against you to get you the trip you want.

There are several differences between the Magic and the Wonder, since the Magic has had her re-imagining done, and the Wonder hasn't.

For me, I prefer the smaller Magic class ships over the larger Dream class ones.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Our very first cruise with kids was on the Wonder. We liked the size of her, not too many passengers, easy to navigate. Cozy. The Dream is beautiful, has all the bells and whistles, but I would choose the classic ships over the others, if my planning allowed.

 

[jcarwash]

I think your children will have a wonderful time in the clubs regardless of the ship. I think Disney does a remarkable job providing a consistent cruising experience across the ships.

To make some more critical comparisons (I've sailed on the Fantasy and the Magic) -- in my experience, I found the Fantasy kids clubs to lose some charm because of the larger size and capacity. I also think the original classic ship kids clubs had a cooler, more intimate feel that I assume the Wonder still retains. With the Magic, the revamped kids clubs have bigger open spaces that are great, and I assume are easier to manage (like you can actually find your kid!) but lose some of the "secret tree house" vibe I saw on the Magic during my first cruise. So if you do choose the Wonder, you may still get to experience that original classic ship design for the Oceaneer spaces.

 

[KAS_73]

We just got off the Wonder and my kids loved it. They are 9 and 7. Your kids will love it as well. There are some things that the Fantasy/Dream have that it doesn't (for example the Boutique for Princess makeover), but your kids will have a blast. The Mickey pool is great for little ones

 

[kiford]

If you've never done a cruise and are not sure about how well you will fare on it (seasickness-wise), if you will be bored, if you like it, etc., then a 5-day is probably a good start. We did a 4-day as our first one to try it out. Now I would no longer do a 4-day one unless it was a B2B paired with at least one other one because we now love the longer cruises, but I'm not sure we would have been willing to commit to a 7-day one at first. I wasn't sure about seasickness (turns out I've never had a problem) and DH was sure he'd be bored. That 4-day totally convinced us we were cruising people.