Let down on Wonder after Dream?!

[Abatts]

We had our first Disney sailing on the Dream 4 night in September. We are looking at going on the 3 night sailing in March on the Wonder. Questions -

Will we be let down??? The dream has midship detectives, miniature golf, etc that Wonder doesn't.

Is there enough to do on the at sea day? This intinerary has an at sea and castaway cay - no Nassau (which is fine with us!). But I do know the pools are WAY too crowded for our liking on the dream. So the at sea day was a lot of sports deck, midship detectives, etc.

We have 2 very active boys. While I know they love the kids club and I don't mind some adult time to lounge on the adult decks, I do want to spend time with them and have fun


Any insight between the 2 ships pros vs cons would be much appreciated!!

 

[darnheather]

I think your biggest regret will be the extra night!

 

[Abatts]

Haha I know! We will most likely be doing a couple days in the parks before though

 

[tee11]

It wasn't an issue for us!
I did miss the Aquaduck a bit- but we enjoyed the noticibly smaller crowds on Castaway Cay...it's a give and take.... there is always so much to do, no worries about that.
I loved both ships!

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

The Wonder is our fave ship. Our friends are platinum DCL and prefer Wonder also. Dream was our first ship and I was worried about going on Wonder. The reimagination looks great. We loved Tiana's and Frozen show. Sea days are filled with activities.

 

[ldo]

we used the sea days on the Magic to relax, see movies, and do a few activities. We did not miss putt-putt or mid-ship at all.

 

[mmouse37]

We have been on all the ships and I love the Magic and Wonder a bit more than the Fantasy and Dream.

We have been on the Fantasy this past August and I very excited to be going back on the Wonder. I do love the the Fantasy and Dream but I have no worries about sailing the classic ships.

MJ

 

[trickiwoo]

We did the Fantasy first, then the Dream, then the Wonder. I wouldn't say we felt disappointed or let down... but we definitely prefer the Fantasy and the Dream. We did enjoy the Wonder quite a bit. But it was very shocking to us how much smaller it was. We did a 5 night on the Wonder and never ran out of stuff to do. I imagine you won't have any problems with that on a 3 night itinerary!

 

[m3owbox]

We were just recently on the Magic, the Wonder's sister ship. We have previously sailed on the Dream before that cruise. We really enjoyed ourselves. And the Wonder just got a whole refurbishment, so it's almost just like new! From the pictures it looks amazing. We loved sea days the most on our last cruise, just because it was a smaller ship did not mean that there weren't plenty of things to do. I also felt there was more room available at the pool on sea days on the smaller ship. It was also much more easy to navigate.

 

[jrabbit]

Calmer is what you will find on the Wonder. You and MANY of your ship mates on the Dream were first timers - "on the once in a lifetime trip" so lots of people having to do EVERYTHING because we wont be coming back

Your sea day should be fine - there are three pools - two of them crowded - the adult pool usually not so much. Disney will have plenty of activities - and there's the clubs for the kids, the shows in the evenings, the Inbetween shows (inbetween the dinner seatings), etc.

The Wonder does have a sports deck that the kids can use - just not the mini golf.

Don't worry. Go with the flow and have a great time.

 

[SillyInventor]

On the PC-Cruise we spent 7 days at sea on the Wonder. Never had a boring moment.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We had our first Disney sailing on the Dream 4 night in September. We are looking at going on the 3 night sailing in March on the Wonder. Questions -

Will we be let down??? The dream has midship detectives, miniature golf, etc that Wonder doesn't.

Is there enough to do on the at sea day? This intinerary has an at sea and castaway cay - no Nassau (which is fine with us!). But I do know the pools are WAY too crowded for our liking on the dream. So the at sea day was a lot of sports deck, midship detectives, etc.

We have 2 very active boys. While I know they love the kids club and I don't mind some adult time to lounge on the adult decks, I do want to spend time with them and have fun


Any insight between the 2 ships pros vs cons would be much appreciated!!

Perhaps you are on the cruise with us? Here's the thread:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/march-23-2017-3-night-wonder-ful-cruise.3563942/#post-56900553

 

[n2mm]

Each ship has things we like. The smaller ships are nice because of the lesser amount of people. The larger ships are nice because of the aqua duck, but find the larger ships to be crowded. We don't have a clear favorite. I agree, going from a 4 to a 3 will be the hardest part. We just booked a b2b for mid February on the wonder. Our 3 night also doesn't have a Nassau stop, but the 4 night does.

 

[Ariel484]

We just cruised on the Magic for the first time after having only sailed the Dream and Fantasy (haven't been on the Wonder yet, but planning to at some point). There were definitely some things that we missed (on-demand movies, Midship detective, etc.) but there were some things that we liked better (larger adult spaces, easier to get around the smaller ship, less people on Castaway Cay). Mostly it was fun to sort of compare and contrast the design in ships and see what Disney had decided to change on the Dream class ships. It was definitely different, but we still had a great cruise!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Our first sailing was on the Fantasy and then we did a 5 night, pre dry-dock on the Wonder. While we enjoyed our time on the Wonder we did miss some of our favourite activities from the Fantasy. My DD loved midship detective and we rode the Aquaduck a couple of times each day so we both missed those.

All this to say we enjoyed the Wonder but due to personal preference of activities, we've chosen to go back on the Fantasy for our next cruise.

After the dry-dock though I would consider the Wonder again if the price makes it more affordable and due to her Frozen show and new additions.

 

[ALCooper3]

We are going on our first trip on the Wonder (also in March) after two Dream cruises. We absolutely love the Dream, but look forward to being on a "less crowded" ship. Also, look forward to new MDR and shows we haven't seen yet. I think it will be different, but not disappointing. DCL is like a magical city on the Sea. I just view it as visiting a new city this time.

 

[havoc315]

We had our first Disney sailing on the Dream 4 night in September. We are looking at going on the 3 night sailing in March on the Wonder. Questions -

Will we be let down??? The dream has midship detectives, miniature golf, etc that Wonder doesn't.

Is there enough to do on the at sea day? This intinerary has an at sea and castaway cay - no Nassau (which is fine with us!). But I do know the pools are WAY too crowded for our liking on the dream. So the at sea day was a lot of sports deck, midship detectives, etc.

We have 2 very active boys. While I know they love the kids club and I don't mind some adult time to lounge on the adult decks, I do want to spend time with them and have fun


Any insight between the 2 ships pros vs cons would be much appreciated!!

Unless you must have the Aqua Duck, I don't think you'll be disappointed. We have done the Fantasy twice and the Wonder once. I can't even say the Wonder feels older, they keep it in such great shape and it is a beautiful ship. It does feel less "advanced" without some of the cutting edge features on the Fantasy/Dream. But it is a stunning ship, still filled with activities for all ages. And the size of the ship is really a nice balance, making it much easier to get around the ship.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We are looking forward to the Frozen show.

Each cruise ship has charm, we have been on all DCL's and book by itinerary, not a particular ship. I like this itinerary because it HAS a day at sea, and it easily fit into our schedule.

 

[Abatts]

We are looking forward to the Frozen show.

Each cruise ship has charm, we have been on all DCL's and book by itinerary, not a particular ship. I like this itinerary because it HAS a day at sea, and it easily fit into our schedule.

Yes - while I would LOVE to go longer, it is a last minute sailing and our kiddos want some time at WDW also (hubby & I prefer cruising).

 

[Abatts]

Unless you must have the Aqua Duck, I don't think you'll be disappointed. We have done the Fantasy twice and the Wonder once. I can't even say the Wonder feels older, they keep it in such great shape and it is a beautiful ship. It does feel less "advanced" without some of the cutting edge features on the Fantasy/Dream. But it is a stunning ship, still filled with activities for all ages. And the size of the ship is really a nice balance, making it much easier to get around the ship.

That's good to know. While the Aqueduck was fun, the lines made it hard to ride often and it wasn't a "must do" for the kids.