In Your Opinion, Which Ship Has the Best Customer Service?

[MommyMeNDisney]

The good thing in mixing up the ships is you can get different shows, some are exclusive to each ship.

Twice Charmed -Magic.
Toy Story- Wonder
Aladdin -Fantasy.

Ooh, Toy Story!!! I think DS would enjoy that! Yet another reason to try the Wonder next. Thx DF!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Ooh, Toy Story!!! I think DS would enjoy that! Yet another reason to try the Wonder next. Thx DF!

Yes a great show and a favorite with children and an exclusive on the Wonder.

 

[Chrisey]

We have been on the Dream, Wonder and Magic and I would say Wonder. We made great connections with the CMs and our serving team. But we also went during a very slow period where there were less kids, so that could be why.

 

[twopeasonepod]

If you are looking for a more unique experience, I highly recommend the classics for a more intimate feeling and really getting to know CMs. The Wonder is my fave, but we also love the Magic. Plus, the itineraries are fabulous. And an extra bonus is they will add in shows like Villans or the Frozen experience only on the classics -- I think because of the longer sailings but they also might not think that fits in when you're cruising in the Caribbean haha.

I love the CMs on the Wonder. Especially the entertainment hosts. They were so so so good with my kids. Plus, if anyone has ever had Vikash as their stateroom host, you know what I mean. He was our first and set the bar so high no one will ever compare. When I personally spoke with his supervisor, he told me that Vikash's style cannot be taught on the ship -- that it was embedded in him long before he started with DCL. Whenever we go back, I always look for him to give him gifts and a tip, even if he's not cleaning my room!

 

[MommyMeNDisney]

If you are looking for a more unique experience, I highly recommend the classics for a more intimate feeling and really getting to know CMs. The Wonder is my fave, but we also love the Magic. Plus, the itineraries are fabulous. And an extra bonus is they will add in shows like Villans or the Frozen experience only on the classics -- I think because of the longer sailings but they also might not think that fits in when you're cruising in the Caribbean haha.

I love the CMs on the Wonder. Especially the entertainment hosts. They were so so so good with my kids. Plus, if anyone has ever had Vikash as their stateroom host, you know what I mean. He was our first and set the bar so high no one will ever compare. When I personally spoke with his supervisor, he told me that Vikash's style cannot be taught on the ship -- that it was embedded in him long before he started with DCL. Whenever we go back, I always look for him to give him gifts and a tip, even if he's not cleaning my room!

THIS is the experience I want to have! That's awesome! I AM looking for a more intimate experience.

I'm excited to sail on the Wonder next. I need to start looking at some Wonder itineraries for our placeholder.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

[twopeasonepod]

No, really....they are magnificent! At Bingo, one of the (recurring) prizes was a DVC pop up tent. They told my sons to set it up and play Bingo from inside it. At EVERY SINGLE session haha. Then, at the final session in the Walt Theater, they set it up for my sons on stage! They played with them, my sons were up doing the B11 dance, etc. etc. etc. Plus, if you go on the longer sailings (Panama Canal is my all-time favorite cruise), there will be far less kids onboard and they will pay very special attention to your kiddos.

And Vikash? Let's just say that he FOLDED my sons' dirty laundry when they forgot to put it in our hamper, wound up my flat iron cord like it comes out of the box, and arranged every single toiletry item like a display at a department store. Every day he impressed me more and more. I really felt like royalty in his stateroom!

 

[MommyMeNDisney]

No, really....they are magnificent! At Bingo, one of the (recurring) prizes was a DVC pop up tent. They told my sons to set it up and play Bingo from inside it. At EVERY SINGLE session haha. Then, at the final session in the Walt Theater, they set it up for my sons on stage! They played with them, my sons were up doing the B11 dance, etc. etc. etc. Plus, if you go on the longer sailings (Panama Canal is my all-time favorite cruise), there will be far less kids onboard and they will pay very special attention to your kiddos.

And Vikash? Let's just say that he FOLDED my sons' dirty laundry when they forgot to put it in our hamper, wound up my flat iron cord like it comes out of the box, and arranged every single toiletry item like a display at a department store. Every day he impressed me more and more. I really felt like royalty in his stateroom!

Wow! As a mom, that's what I want to walk away saying..."They were GREAT with DS!" It's nice when people take special interest in your children.

Hmmm Panama Canal...that might be a good idea. I haven't been on an Alaska cruise or a Panama Canal cruise. So, those are two options for us on the Wonder.

Gosh, after your description of Vikash, I hope we get him on our next cruise!

 

[kiford]

We prefer the Magic because of the size but not because of staff. We had great servers on the Dream. In fact, I'd say that our assistant server was the best assistant server we've ever had. The nights that I had juice for dinner she'd replace just as I drank the last sip out of the glass. The nights that I ordered a cocktail, she'd be asking me if I wanted another one almost at the same time I just started to think about it. And for breakfast on the last day of our first leg (we did a 3/4 day B2B) I was going to ask her for more coffee as I saw her pouring more out for DH and discovered that she'd already filled my cup without me even seeing her. Our server did magic tricks every night at the table driving one of our tablemates crazy because he couldn't figure out how it was done. We kept them for both the 3 and 4 day cruises. The head server was really good too - he not only got us reseated on the second leg so that we would have the same servers but managed to pair us up with a couple we'd sat with the prior year. We met a bartender in the Cove Café who remembered us from the Magic the prior year. We had a fabulous server in Palo for both brunch and dinner.

But we also had really good servers and head server on our 2013 Med cruise on the Magic. We've had room attendants who adapted very quickly to how we liked our covers arranged on the bed (I hate having them tightly tucked in), who knew that we liked to keep a little army of towel animals lined up on the back of the couch so that I can take a picture on the last day of all of them, who would put all of my toiletries in a neat line on a towel on the shelf so that they wouldn't move, etc. - a variety of these things on the Wonder, Dream and Magic.

I would say that they're all trained to the same level; some may be better than others and some may have more experience than others but I don't think that you can pick a ship based on perceived overall level of quality of staff as I think that, in general, they're all at the same level.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Wow! As a mom, that's what I want to walk away saying..."They were GREAT with DS!" It's nice when people take special interest in your children.

Hmmm Panama Canal...that might be a good idea. I haven't been on an Alaska cruise or a Panama Canal cruise. So, those are two options for us on the Wonder.

Gosh, after your description of Vikash, I hope we get him on our next cruise!

Be careful that you don't set your expectations too high that this experience will happen to you, just because you're on the Wonder.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

No, really....they are magnificent! At Bingo, one of the (recurring) prizes was a DVC pop up tent. They told my sons to set it up and play Bingo from inside it. At EVERY SINGLE session haha. Then, at the final session in the Walt Theater, they set it up for my sons on stage! They played with them, my sons were up doing the B11 dance, etc. etc. etc. Plus, if you go on the longer sailings (Panama Canal is my all-time favorite cruise), there will be far less kids onboard and they will pay very special attention to your kiddos.

And Vikash? Let's just say that he FOLDED my sons' dirty laundry when they forgot to put it in our hamper, wound up my flat iron cord like it comes out of the box, and arranged every single toiletry item like a display at a department store. Every day he impressed me more and more. I really felt like royalty in his stateroom!

I agree. By far, for me, but Wonder had the best entertainment staff. They were so much fun at the trivia and at the bingo. The Magic is also really good entertainment staff but not as memorable as fun as the Wonder.

The best head server I've ever had was on the Magic (Cedomir); second-best was on the Wonder, but he's normally on the Magic he was just on the Wonder for the Panama Canal cruise. I've had excellent service every cruise, but I definitely felt like on the Magic and the Wonder the servers had more time for us and weren't as rushed. Or maybe it was just because the dining room just so large on the Fantasy and felt more rushed.

As far as the OP's concerns regarding character lines, I usually don't stand in line, but instead hope to run into them with my kids around the ship. Also if your child is in the kids club, I'm not sure about the nursery, the characters come there a lot and will meet the kids in the clubs. Do they till do character breakfasts on the smaller ships, or was that just for longer cruise? We did it on the Magic in September on the WBTA, I believe. At least, I remember all the characters coming to our table for pix, can't think what that would have been but a character breakfast.

I've seen lines on every ship, but it stands to reason that they probably do pretty much the same number of character showings in a 24 hour period whether on the larger ships or the smaller ships, but there are less people on the smaller ships.

 

[KristiMc]

I agree. By far, for me, but Wonder had the best entertainment staff. They were so much fun at the trivia and at the bingo. The Magic is also really good entertainment staff but not as memorable as fun as the Wonder.

The best head server I've ever had was on the Magic (Cedomir); second-best was on the Wonder, but he's normally on the Magic he was just on the Wonder for the Panama Canal cruise. I've had excellent service every cruise, but I definitely felt like on the Magic and the Wonder the servers had more time for us and weren't as rushed. Or maybe it was just because the dining room just so large on the Fantasy and felt more rushed.

As far as the OP's concerns regarding character lines, I usually don't stand in line, but instead hope to run into them with my kids around the ship. Also if your child is in the kids club, I'm not sure about the nursery, the characters come there a lot and will meet the kids in the clubs. Do they till do character breakfasts on the smaller ships, or was that just for longer cruise? We did it on the Magic in September on the WBTA, I believe. At least, I remember all the characters coming to our table for pix, can't think what that would have been but a character breakfast.

I've seen lines on every ship, but it stands to reason that they probably do pretty much the same number of character showings in a 24 hour period whether on the larger ships or the smaller ships, but there are less people on the smaller ships.

I agree with this. I have loved all of our cruises, but feel like the staff on the Magic/Wonder get to know you better.

 

[swooshbear]

Be careful that you don't set your expectations too high that this experience will happen to you, just because you're on the Wonder.

To be fair, our first cruise was on the Wonder and our server/assistant server were just okay. We had a great server on the Dream, he got my favorite dessert every night, even going out his way to get it from other MDRs.

But we really made more connections on the Wonder, especially the staff at Palo (Leo is awesome and the new manager Sal is great). Wawan is a fantastic bartender, he was stationed in Wavebands but we first met him at the Cove Cafe. He made up this drink for me (vodka, triple sec, agave nectar, mint and a splash of champagne), we call it the Wawan special:

 

[Four Swampers]

For us, the Wonder. Several times on Wonder, several times on Magic, once each on Fantasy and Dream. Consistently the staff on Wonder has worked harder to please in our experience. That said, maybe our next cruise on a different ship will have greatest service ever

 

[stitchlovestink]

All ships are equal in customer service imho.

I think DCL sets high standards and normally 99% of CMs are very very good.

I would say there is a slight difference in Cruise directors, some excellent like Christian and some more managerial and less touchy feely.

To consider booking I would say whittle it down by.

• The Month when you want to cruise.
• Where the ships are at that time.
• The ports of call you want to go to.
• If you do not mind crowds then the bigger newer ships are good, if you prefer less crowds the older ships.

For example, I have sailed most on the Magic that's as (1) it comes to Europe (20 has more interesting schedules. I haven't sailed the Dream that's because it does short 3/4 day trips, and goes to Nassau. I do not think Dream is a bad ship i just do not like short cruises and Nassau.

I didn't go on the Wonder for a long time due to that reason but went on it in Alaska for Alaska not customer service.

And I respectfully disagree....
I wish there was a way to find out who the CD was going to be because I personally don't want to cruise with Christiian EVER again...

They are normally better on the older/smaller ships.

Dream/Fantasy 4000 cruisers
Magic/Wonder 2400>2700 cruisers,

Big differences.

And of the 4 times I have been on the Dream and Fantasy, the HIGHEST number of passengers has been slightly over 3700. They don't necessarily always sail at a full 4000.

 

[MunFam]

We just got off the WBPC cruise so we had 15 days to get to know our crew...or suffer through the cruise with them in some areas. The poster that said that who you are assigned to you makes all the difference in the world. Its SOOOO true!!! We were "full occupancy" as in every room was sold, but most rooms only had 2 passengers vs. 3 or 4, so we had a low guest count. Only 300 kids!

Here are our observations:
-The characters (and the handlers who are characters too) were phenomenal. Hands down, the best part of the cruise. They got to know our DD by name and what her little quirks were. Like she loved to twirl with the princesses and tell all the characters a secret. She HAD to kiss each of them goodbye at the end of their visit...and they knew this by about day 4...so there would be Pluto bending down so she could kiss him on the nose. It was truly magical.

-The same thing goes for the Shutters Staff or "Mickey's Camera" as they call it on board. They knew my kid didnt like to smile, and brought her shoulders up to her chin for pictures...they would get her to lower her shoulders and got some of the best shots ever. Additionally, they knew her little character routines, so they always caught those special kisses, dances and secrets on camera! The characters and Shutters staff were the only two departments on my guest comment card that got "excellent" ratings on my card.

-Our stateroom hostess was downright awful. I expected, yes expected, more from a stay at a Best Western. For example, three people staying in a stateroom should have more than 1 large shower towel after the morning cleaning, right? After turn down, still only one towel? Yup...this went on for three straight days. We had to use our towel animals to shower with. Godforbid you asked for ice...her response "call room service if you want ice in your stateroom". Also, we were leaving her extra cash each day as a thank you for cleaning our room...then as the cruise progressed we started chatting with other families, we found out that other kids had cute kids sheets on their beds. Not our DD. Bandannas for Pirate Night, forget about it! We had to go ask guest services for those right before dinner. They showed up in our room the day after with a nice attitude from her saying "here are you bandannas ma'am" and she would not even make eye contact with me! Seriously?!?!

-We also struggled with our serving team. Multiple times, food came to our table that was not safe for our DD. She is allergic to eggs, peanuts and treenuts and they knew this way in advance, we went over it again on board...and still...lots of problems. That in and of itself was frustrating, but then when we would hear that other people were getting crab legs or tuna appetizers or even cheese sticks EVERY.NIGHT because they loved it so their servers continued to bring it for them every night without asking...but when I asked if we could get something we loved, even if it was another night (and I asked for a few different things, that I knew others were getting), we were told no. Other people had their favorite drink on their table every day when they came in. We ordered the same drink 14 nights...never once was it waiting when we came in. Was I expecting more? Perhaps, but if Disney wants to provide top notch service, then they need to be consistent. If no one gets special orders, fine. But when we know darn well, that the kitchen is making it, but our server just will not make the effort...not cool. Or when it is left up to the server's discretion to make those "service policies" it just leaves room for comparison and disappointment. Breakfast and lunch were a complete joke. One day, Triton's closed before our food came out...and we had been waiting for over an hour. They kept saying "your food will be out soon"...how long does it take to make an omelet?

-We felt that the shows & entertainment were very adult centered and the movies played over and over again on a loop on the TV...for 15 straight days without mixing it up a bit. Movies in the theater were packed, but they rarely added additional showings. This is a cruise director thing...

-When we had to skip a port for security reasons...which in my opinion were lame, because I had friends in Puerto Vallarta the day we were supposed to dock and they said it was completely fine and no one would have ever known anything was going on...but that a whole 'nuther issue...anyways, they did not open the kids clubs earlier or add activities to the day. Some people on the cruise thought they added Frozen because of it...but that was planned months ago, it was just top secret information. An executive at the Q&A session confirmed that for me.

Anyways, what I am trying to say is that a bad experience is not ship based, or weather based, or even itinerary based. Its the luck of the draw. Who your dining staff are and who your SR host is make a large difference in your experience. Did we have a string of really bad luck, you bet! Will we cruise with DCL again, perhaps. Maybe even on the Wonder again. The ship was beautiful...but next time, I think I will be a lot more proactive in expressing my dissatisfaction early on about the things that are not okay vs. hoping that things change. One of our tablemates had been on 20+ cruise with DCL and they felt that our dining team was the worst they had ever had.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

And I respectfully disagree....
I wish there was a way to find out who the CD was going to be because I personally don't want to cruise with Christiian EVER again...



And of the 4 times I have been on the Dream and Fantasy, the HIGHEST number of passengers has been slightly over 3700. They don't necessarily always sail at a full 4000.

4000 is its stated limit.

 

[stitchlovestink]

4000 is its stated limit.

I understand....my point being that we have never sailed with a full cruise. Everyone wants to elude to the fact that there are 4,000 guests on the ship. That IS how many it can hold but we have never had that many on any of my sailings. That is the point *I* am trying to make.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I understand....my point being that we have never sailed with a full cruise. Everyone wants to elude to the fact that there are 4,000 guests on the ship. That IS how many it can hold but we have never had that many on any of my sailings. That is the point *I* am trying to make.

I have been on two Fantasy cruises both had 4,000 people on them yes others may be less, but it can hold 4,000 so people need to prepare for that. They cant prepare for slightly over 3700 as it could well be 300 more than that.

 

[stitchlovestink]

You are missing my point....NOT EVERY SAILING is 4,000. That is all. Yours were....mine weren't. Does not make you right and me wrong. I am done debating this issue with you.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

You are missing my point....NOT EVERY SAILING is 4,000. That is all. Yours were....mine weren't. Does not make you right and me wrong. I am done debating this issue with you.

Understand but when referring to ships its customary to refer to its maximum passenger numbers Dream and Fantasy often sail full and the DCL quoted figure is 4000.