Favorite to Least Favorite Ship for a 1st Timer

[MouseTriper]

We find the service and food on the Magic has gotten a bit sloppy

Oh yikes, that doesn't sound good. Sloppy in what way, if I may ask?

 

[Moonspinner]

Oh yikes, that doesn't sound good. Sloppy in what way, if I may ask?

I think they have sent most of their experienced staff to the new ships. Things like repeatedly not getting our drinks. Servers acting “over it.” No one filling water glasses. The table not being fully set up. Dishes being served all at once sometimes. Never had that happen before until our last two magic cruises during the last 6 months. Just messy and lacking attention to detail.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Thank you, I understand what you are saying. I think I should have just asked what are the main differences between the ships. I really appreciate all the information though! And I agree, if we do end up on a Disney cruise, it will definitely have special meaning!

Exactly

All the ships have unique themeing and shows.
There are ships in various parts of the world, some in Caribbean / Bahamas, some on the West Coast California and Alaska, one ship does a summer season in Europe and one ship is on its way to Singapore.

The 4 original ships are classic overall Disney, with a little bit of everything

The Wish is Princess themed.

The Destiny is Heroes and Villains Disney, Pixar, and Marvel characters

So someone recommending The Wish, due to THEIR personal prefrences may not align with what your party would like.

Someone saying the service has gotten sloppy or not not what it was should not influence your choice because you have noting to compare it to, your first experience will be your base line.

Someone recommending The Destiny because they have been cruising for 20 years and have been there done that and want something new, should not influence your choice because the restaurant experiences, the shows, character meets etc may not align with what your party would like.

 

[MouseTriper]

I think they have sent most of their experienced staff to the new ships. Things like repeatedly not getting our drinks. Servers acting “over it.” No one filling water glasses. The table not being fully set up. Dishes being served all at once sometimes. Never had that happen before until our last two magic cruises during the last 6 months. Just messy and lacking attention to detail.

Oh I gotcha. Thank you for explaining your experiences there.

Exactly

All the ships have unique themeing and shows.
There are ships in various parts of the world, some in Caribbean / Bahamas, some on the West Coast California and Alaska, one ship does a summer season in Europe and one ship is on its way to Singapore.

The 4 original ships are classic overall Disney, with a little bit of everything

The Wish is Princess themed.

The Destiny is Heroes and Villains Disney, Pixar, and Marvel characters

So someone recommending The Wish, due to THEIR personal prefrences may not align with what your party would like.

Someone saying the service has gotten sloppy or not not what it was should not influence your choice because you have noting to compare it to, your first experience will be your base line.

Someone recommending The Destiny because they have been cruising for 20 years and have been there done that and want something new, should not influence your choice because the restaurant experiences, the shows, character meets etc may not align with what your party would like.

This is all great information, I really appreciate it. It truly helps because I can see there are some ship's themes that would not be the first choise for me and my kids. And yes, we are all different and enjoy different things so no two cruises will ever be the same thing for different people. I appreciate your viewpoints.

 

[holula]

Thank you so much. I am curious what you mean about the layout issues in poor weather. Sorry if that is a dumb question. And I agree that a Disney "anyting" is better than a non-Disney something. Hahahaha.

So on the Wish class the adult area is at the back of the ship on deck 13. None of it is covered. If it’s raining you can’t get to Cove Cafe without walking outside around the edge of the ship so you get wet. We had a day where it was really windy and it was impossible to sit outside as there was nothing protecting you from the wind.

The other ships aren’t set up like this - the adult area is between forward and mid ship elevators and you can get to Cove Cafe walking under the shelter from the deck above. There are also loungers on that deck and that deck has plastic panel covering on the outside of the ship so it’s not as windy. The Dream and Fantasy also have an additional outdoor area but they have done a better job at at least having some protection from the wind in certain directions.

 

[sponica]

Thank you so much! Yeah, I think if we go we would want longer than 3/4 nights.

I think what I would do is start with number of nights, see what ships are sailing and where they are sailing from and go from there.

Off the top of my head the fantasy does some 5 night itineraries out of port canaveral, the treasure is doing the 7 night Eastern/Western Caribbean itineraries, Magic/Wonder will be doing Alaska in the summer 2026/2027. In the summer there's European itineraries (I think on the Fantasy this summer and next summer is the Wish)

 

[MouseTriper]

So on the Wish class the adult area is at the back of the ship on deck 13. None of it is covered. If it’s raining you can’t get to Cove Cafe without walking outside around the edge of the ship so you get wet. We had a day where it was really windy and it was impossible to sit outside as there was nothing protecting you from the wind.

The other ships aren’t set up like this - the adult area is between forward and mid ship elevators and you can get to Cove Cafe walking under the shelter from the deck above. There are also loungers on that deck and that deck has plastic panel covering on the outside of the ship so it’s not as windy. The Dream and Fantasy also have an additional outdoor area but they have done a better job at at least having some protection from the wind in certain directions.

Oh okay, I totally see what you are saying. Thank you. Definitely makes sense now!

 

[MouseTriper]

I think what I would do is start with number of nights, see what ships are sailing and where they are sailing from and go from there.

Off the top of my head the fantasy does some 5 night itineraries out of port canaveral, the treasure is doing the 7 night Eastern/Western Caribbean itineraries, Magic/Wonder will be doing Alaska in the summer 2026/2027. In the summer there's European itineraries (I think on the Fantasy this summer and next summer is the Wish)

Great information! Thank you. I think I would love a European cruise but that might have to wait awhile. LOL

 

[KelleyH]

Mammoth Club is a Youtube channel that does a great job of letting you see what it's like being on the different ships- food, entertainment, staterooms,etc. They also do great parks content as well!

 

[MouseTriper]

Mammoth Club is a Youtube channel that does a great job of letting you see what it's like being on the different ships- food, entertainment, staterooms,etc. They also do great parks content as well!

Aww thank you so much!! I will check that out for sure! Appreciate the info, thanks again!

 

[Newsies]

When we booked our first Disney cruise, we looked at basically every factor except for the ship itself and went from there. For example: sailing from Port Canaveral and going to both private islands was non-negotiable for us, so we started there and then filtered by the time of year we wanted to sail and the number of nights we wanted to sail. If budget is a factor, you'll find that sometimes a similar itinerary can be a few dollars cheaper between different ships.

Sometimes, that will only leave you with one option. Sometimes, you'll have a few options (I think Dream and Fantasy are both running similar itineraries next summer from Port Canaveral next year) and you can do a little more research on the specific ships from there.

In our case, the only ship that was sailing from PC, on the dates we wanted, to the islands we wanted, and for the number of nights we wanted was the Magic. She was not my personal first choice but I ended up falling in love with her and I'm really glad we chose her! You will love your cruise no matter which ship you sail on, so I recommend playing with the filters on the DCL website first to get an idea of which sailing will work for your family. Let us know which ship you end up sailing on!

 

[meremac]

Like others have said, this is subjective and depends on a lot of factors like budget, individual interests, where you want to sail, how long you want to sail, etc. But I've sailed on eleven DCL cruises and I've worked with lots of people over the years, so here's my general framework for first-time families.

If there are cruises on both the Dream Class (Dream/Fantasy) and Wish Class (Wish, Treasure, Destiny) that appeal to someone, I will go over the offerings/features of both classes, but I typically lean more toward the Dream Class for first-time DCL cruisers. I think these ships are easier to navigate than Wish Class ships, but they've got more to offer than the Magic Class ships, making them a perfect introduction to the DCL fleet IMO. If there's nothing on the Dream Class that interests them, I'll go with Wish Class. I typically don't recommend Magic Class (Magic/Wonder) for first-time cruisers unless there's a very specific itinerary that people want or another compelling factor. Don't get me wrong: I personally love the Magic Class, and I think the Wonder may be my favorite ship in the fleet. But they're small compared to the others, there's no AquaDuck/AquaMouse (I don't count that horrifying drop slide on the Magic, lol), and my kids would start to get a little bored on them by the end of the cruise when they were in later elementary/middle/high school.

 

[Disneyworldlocal]

Mammoth Club is a Youtube channel that does a great job of letting you see what it's like being on the different ships- food, entertainment, staterooms,etc. They also do great parks content as well!

I would echo this Mammoth Club is awesome and would also add the Cruise with Ben and Dave is also a funny yet detailed bunch as well