Magic or Wonder?

[Limerick]

My family of 5 (2A, 3C) are thinking about a Disney cruise next July or August. I've read about both ships, but am interested in finding out which would be better? I remember reading more positive things about one of the ships before my last trip to WDW, but can't remember which one! My husband and I love to cruise. Nothing too fancy, just clean, good food, and plenty of kid-friendly and safe activities.

We're thinking of 3 day land/4 day sea. I think we can only stay in a Cat 5 family suite b/c we are 5-has anyone ever stayed in a separate room than their 3 kids? How about adjoining room, cheaper than the family suite?

Also, for the land portion, how's the Wilderness? The Dolphin/Swan looked a bit too fancy. I think with a cat 5 (unless we can get 2 rooms for less) we are entitled to either one of those.

I would love any suggestions you could offer. I'm waiting for my quote from DUnlimited, and will work from there to try to beat it.
Thanks for any help!

 

[atigeg]

You will be limited to the Wonder, since the Magic only does 7-dau cruises now (it alternates between an Eastern and Western Caribbean itinerary). But don't worry, the Wonder is the BEST. The majority of our 21 (soon to be 22) Disney cruises have been spent on the Wonder, and I can't say enough about the excellent crew. The ship itself looks very much like the Magic, except that the decor is a bit lighter, but the menus for the restaurants are the same.
Be sure to compare the cost of adjoining rooms vs. the suite. (which is Cat. 4, not 5). Adjoiners give you the added advantage of two sets of bathroom facilities.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[ruvidu]

We have only sailed on the Magic so we can't give an opinion there but for Wilderness Lodge - WOW.
We stayed there for 4 nights this past December. We had stayed in Carribean Beach and Port Orleans before and thought they were great but - WL beat them hands down.
Check the photos on the link below.

http://webpages.charter.net/russpoole/russpoole/december_at_disney.htm

Our first trip on the Magic was the 4 day park, 3 day cruise package. It is still one of the most special trips ever. If you have never cruised this would probably be the trip for you and your family.

Have a great trip,
Russ and Viv

 

[bengals01]

do a 7 day cruise, it is so relaxing, you dont have to fight the crowds, you can do as much as you want or as little as you want. on the 3 day you barely get unpacked and you have to repack.

 

[kplatt]

Our first experience was with the 7 Day combo pkg -- 4 day park and 3 day Wonder cruise last November. We were too exhausted after our park experience to fully enjoy the ship. We went ahead, though, and booked the 3-day park and 4-day cruise for this November. Then we decided what the heck, and went on the Magic's 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise over spring break. The ships themselves are equally enjoyable, but the pace of the 7-day cruise was much more to our liking. Even though the ship was more crowded than last November, we were much more relaxed and enjoyed ourselves more.

So I vote for the 7-day cruise...

Karen
Wonder 11/01
Magic 3/02
Wonder 11/02

P.S. We would change this fall's combo to a 7-day cruise if that week is WESTERN Caribbean, but it's the same Eastern itinerary that we just did.

 

[PiperG]

Hi,

Our family (DH, DW, DS5) went on our first Disney vacation in December '01. We did a 4 day park (Poly) and 3 Day Wonder package. I am now completely hooked!

First, I will say that we had such a great time on the cruise portion that we booked a Magic cruise before getting off the boat! However, we loved the park just as well and are planning a park vacation for '04.

The only downfall of a land-and-sea deal is that it breaks up the vacation. I like the idea of settling in for the length of the stay, so packing up and rellocating was not appealing. Also, the time on the cruise, seemed short in comparison. (BTW, the Poly was AWSOME!!!).

However, the advantage of taking a land-and-sea first is that you enjoy a wide variety of Disney experiences. You can use that information to plan trips as your children age because you know what to expect.

 

[lespaul55]

If you are doing a land/sea 7 day, you will be on the Wonder. The family suites that sleep 5 are Cat 4. You could reserve adjoining rooms in a lower CAT but it could cost more than the family suite. Because Disney charges the first two people in each cabin with the adult fare, you would pay adult fares for one of your kids. I did a quick fare check on the Disney site, cruising in July 2003, 3 day land 4 day sea,Cat 4 family suite for 5, total fare $6924. Adjoining cabins, Cat 5, 1 adult, 2 kids in one, 1 adult, 1 kid in the other, total fare $8170. Now if a verandah is not important to you, if you drop down to Cat 11, adjoining rooms would be cheaper. However your stay at WDW would be in at different resorts. BTW, it's real easy to check quotes on the Disney Cruise web site, though almost any TA can beat DCL rates.

I stayed at the Dolphin last summer with my children. It was a beautiful hotel, we really enjoyed the less frantic pace there. The pool is great and our casual family didn't feel it out of place there.

Leslie

 

[Limerick]

Thank you all so much for the information! Leslie, thanks for taking the time to look up everything for us. I will investigate the web site. We've cruised before, and found that the amount of time we spend in our room is so small, that we don't care. Especially since we're w/ kids, we'll save the "fancy" room for later on in life.

I really do want to do the combo package b/c I LOVE WDW (went there for the first time last year) and I love cruises and want to do a combination so we all get what we want. Luckily, I'll have time to relax when I get home (teacher=summer's off)

Thanks again and keep those suggestions coming. I'll now have to look into the adjoining room thing!

Regina
(not worth posting trips since, pitifully, just one , but working on making it more

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

We booked the 7 day cruise on the Disney Magic and are going to fly down a couple days early to stay at the WL at WDW before we head to Cape Canaveral. If you plan far enough ahead this may be an option. We have to atleast do MK since our 4 year old DD will be tall enough for Splash mountain. We have to wait till Jan 30,2003 before we get to go,but it will take me that long to pay for everything. This will be our longest vacation yet!!
9 days and I can not wait!!!