First Time Cruiser - Magic from NYC or Fantasy Western Caribbean?

[lovewdwfun]

i would love some advice/insights from the experts. I am planning to book a cruise next week for Fall 2018 and have narrowed it down to the 7-night Bahamas cruise from NYC or the 7-night Western Caribbean from Port Canaveral. I would love any advice on which to do or any insights. I will be traveling with 4 kids, including a 2YO, and my husband. We are in the Midwest, so would drive to NYC or fly to Orlando. Somebody specific questions I have are:

How stressful is the driving into the port in NYC? Do we need to drive through the city to get there?

Fantasy seems to have more character greetings available, which is a plus. Are the lines significantly longer than on the MAGIC?

BEsides more characters and better shows, what would I miss by going on the smaller Magic?

Will we want to use the pool if cruising out of NYC? I am concerned it will be too cold, particularly the water play area, since my daughter couldn't go in the pool.

For first-timers, is it better to have more days at sea or at ports? I am nervous 4 days at sea will be too much for us and we will be bored (we aren't huge pool people, but will try it). On the other hand, I want a relaxing vacation.

What would you choose? Any other tips on MAgic vs Fantasy?

 

[Main Street Matilda]

I've never been on the Magic but have sailed on the Fantasy out of Port Canaveral. I did, however, take a Royal Caribbean cruise out of northern NJ and did not enjoy that experience. The ship was lovely (although not as nice as the Fantasy IMHO) but the two days at sea going down and coming back were rough. Inasmuch as I really do enjoy the days at sea, having 4 out of 7 on-board got us all a little stir crazy. Also, because the ship is moving, it was windy on deck which made it too cool to comfortably enjoy the sunshine on deck or the pools. As a result of that experience, we decided it was worth the extra expense to travel to Florida for a cruise - even though the NY/NJ ports are less than an hour from where we live. This is just a consideration based on my experience - either way, I'm sure you'll enjoy the cruise.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

i would love some advice/insights from the experts. I am planning to book a cruise next week for Fall 2018 and have narrowed it down to the 7-night Bahamas cruise from NYC or the 7-night Western Caribbean from Port Canaveral. I would love any advice on which to do or any insights. I will be traveling with 4 kids, including a 2YO, and my husband. We are in the Midwest, so would drive to NYC or fly to Orlando. Somebody specific questions I have are:

How stressful is the driving into the port in NYC? Do we need to drive through the city to get there?

Fantasy seems to have more character greetings available, which is a plus. Are the lines significantly longer than on the MAGIC?

BEsides more characters and better shows, what would I miss by going on the smaller Magic?

Will we want to use the pool if cruising out of NYC? I am concerned it will be too cold, particularly the water play area, since my daughter couldn't go in the pool.

For first-timers, is it better to have more days at sea or at ports? I am nervous 4 days at sea will be too much for us and we will be bored (we aren't huge pool people, but will try it). On the other hand, I want a relaxing vacation.

What would you choose? Any other tips on MAgic vs Fantasy?

Don't know for sure, but I would think you'd have to drive through the city to get to the port, if coming from the midwest.

Lines on the Fantasy could be longer, primarily due to the larger number of passengers onboard.

I don't know that the Fantasy has "more" characters, but the "better shows" thing - the Magic shows are miles better (yes, in my opinion) than the Fantasy ones.

Using the pool - depends on the time of year and the weather. Kids tend to like pools more than adults when the weather is colder.

I'd suggest you take a look at past Navigators here for an idea of what's been available on the different ships in the past. Onboard activities are fairly abundant.

 

[Dug720]

The port is on the west side of the city, so to park at the port if you're coming from the Midwest, you would have to drive in the city only from NJ (vie either the George Washington Bridge (GWB) or the Holland or Lincoln Tunnel which would mostly be the Westside Highway. If you wanted to park at a garage close to the port, you'd have to deal with those streets. And PLEASE take pictures of the cross street signs so you know which of the zillion parking places that all look alike you are at.

 

[mlayton14]

We would Pick the fantasy - bigger and nicer ship in just about every way possible. Plus 4 days at sea on the smaller ship not ideal at least for us

Also , you will get more variety of Ports in western Caribbean vs Bahamas