Magic v. Dream

[portlyn]

I was browsing cruises trying to figure out when would be the best time to go, and I noticed that there is $1,000 difference between a 4-day cruise on the Magic and a 4-day cruise on the Dream that leave only one day apart. Is sailing on the Disney Dream really worth a $1,000 more??

I have sailed on the Magic 10+ years ago as a teenager. I would like to sail on the Dream, but not for that much of an increase. Thoughts?

Thanks! (I'm typically a podcasting listener and disboards lurker).

 

[cgolf]

As you can tell by my signature I am biased toward the Magic.

Will list the pros and cons for each
Magic
Pros
1. Smaller ship less people and less congested
2. Staff is much friendlier. Did the third trip on the reimagined magic and all the staff were super friendly and personable. 2 months later on the Fantasy the same staff that had transferred back were much less friendly and personable.
3. Quit Cove pool is bigger and you can swim mini laps, and seems to get more sun
4. Dining rooms are more relaxed and the serving stations are laid out better making the server teams more efficient and in a better mood.
5. Aqua dunk is great and the new splash zone in the little kids pool area seemed to be used more than similar area on the Dream or Fantasy.
6. Fathoms is awesome and for us is a much better venue for shows than the tube.
7. Cruisers are more personable, might be due to the smaller number of people on board, and a bit more relaxed pace than the Dream.
8. Gyro station, at least when we were on in January
9. The pirate show includes the fireworks as part of the show.

Cons
1. Rainforest room is nice, but no where near the Dream class.
2. Not as much technology, like no midship detective could be a downer for some
3. No mini golf
4. No satalite falls
5. No skyline lounge, miss that the most, great place to have a martini and debrief the day.

Dream
Pros
1. Satalite falls when they get it.
2. Technology midship detective and magic portholes
3. Mini golf
4. Rainforest room (we did fantasy and assume dream is similar)
5. Skyline lounge

Cons
1. Bigger ship and the pool decks can get crazy
2. Because of the number of people and 2 pirate shows, fireworks are just fireworks.
3. Dining room experience is not as relaxed.
4. Staff not as personable.

For us it is a slam dunk to go on the Magic, we have a B2B scheduled next year. Our favorite ships in order are the Magic, Fantasy and Wonder a draw and the Dream is our least favorite. Saying all this we have enjoyed all of our trips you really can't go wrong on which ship you pick.

 

[portlyn]

Wow @cgolf, thanks for such a detailed breakdown!

This would be the first time I planned a cruise (as I said the last time I went on one I was a teenager... and I should mention sea sick for the majority of it.) There is so much research to do!

 

[DahliaRW]

I haven't been on the dream, but I have been on the Fantasy and the Magic. No way on earth would I pay 1k more for the dream. I actually liked the magic better between the larger fantasy and it (things felt more personal and the shows were better).

 

[Trera]

As you can tell by my signature I am biased toward the Magic.

Will list the pros and cons for each
Magic
Pros
1. Smaller ship less people and less congested
2. Staff is much friendlier. Did the third trip on the reimagined magic and all the staff were super friendly and personable. 2 months later on the Fantasy the same staff that had transferred back were much less friendly and personable.
3. Quit Cove pool is bigger and you can swim mini laps, and seems to get more sun
4. Dining rooms are more relaxed and the serving stations are laid out better making the server teams more efficient and in a better mood.
5. Aqua dunk is great and the new splash zone in the little kids pool area seemed to be used more than similar area on the Dream or Fantasy.
6. Fathoms is awesome and for us is a much better venue for shows than the tube.
7. Cruisers are more personable, might be due to the smaller number of people on board, and a bit more relaxed pace than the Dream.
8. Gyro station, at least when we were on in January
9. The pirate show includes the fireworks as part of the show.

Cons
1. Rainforest room is nice, but no where near the Dream class.
2. Not as much technology, like no midship detective could be a downer for some
3. No mini golf
4. No satalite falls
5. No skyline lounge, miss that the most, great place to have a martini and debrief the day.

Dream
Pros
1. Satalite falls when they get it.
2. Technology midship detective and magic portholes
3. Mini golf
4. Rainforest room (we did fantasy and assume dream is similar)
5. Skyline lounge

Cons
1. Bigger ship and the pool decks can get crazy
2. Because of the number of people and 2 pirate shows, fireworks are just fireworks.
3. Dining room experience is not as relaxed.
4. Staff not as personable.

For us it is a slam dunk to go on the Magic, we have a B2B scheduled next year. Our favorite ships in order are the Magic, Fantasy and Wonder a draw and the Dream is our least favorite. Saying all this we have enjoyed all of our trips you really can't go wrong on which ship you pick.

You forgot some other items I wanted to throw out there.

Magic
1. No concierge lounge (yet)
2. Concierge rooms are on the deck below the pool, so they can be noisy.
3. There are less people on the magic because it's smaller so it can also feel crowded at times. The atrium before dinner gets quite crowded.
4. Palo in the magic is much nicer and wraps around the entire back of the boat.
5. We experienced a sewer gas smell in various parts of the boat. We have heard many people say they had actual back ups due to the sewer problems in this boat.

Dream
1. Concierge lounge
2. Concierge rooms are up front on deck 11 and 12 so noise isnt a real issue.
3. Remy is an amazing resturaunt on the Dream
4. New sweet shoppe coming after the October dry dock.
5. Our DD loved the Nemo show at animators pallete

I am sure many others can offer more differences between the two ships. We did enjoy our Magic cruise but I wouldn't say the boat if far and away better than the Dream. It's a different experience. We love then both.

Good luck.

 

[OKW Lover]

1. Smaller ship less people and less congested

Minor quibble, but smaller ship and less people does not necessarily mean less congested. If they simply scaled up everything then you'd feel the same amount of congestion on any size ship. In fact, the Dream class ships have more space per passenger than the Magic class ships so they should feel less congested.

 

[TestingH2O]

Minor quibble, but smaller ship and less people does not necessarily mean less congested. If they simply scaled up everything then you'd feel the same amount of congestion on any size ship. In fact, the Dream class ships have more space per passenger than the Magic class ships so they should feel less congested.

There is also the difference between German and Italian design. Even our Concierges had obvious preferences for how the ships themselves dealt with large numbers of people. (One preferred the Italian design and one preferred the German.)

 

[portlyn]

Great input. Thanks!

We will not be sailing concierge so that isn't a concern. I was curious if the Dream is worth the $1,000 uncharged and overall it sounds like it isn't. Maybe someday I'll get to cruise on both, but price is a factor I have to consider.

 

[cgolf]

Minor quibble, but smaller ship and less people does not necessarily mean less congested. If they simply scaled up everything then you'd feel the same amount of congestion on any size ship. In fact, the Dream class ships have more space per passenger than the Magic class ships so they should feel less congested.

That may be true in some areas of the ships, but for some reason the pool areas and upper deck always feel less congested on the classics. We do sail off peak for all of our cruises so that may play into it as well, but it was definitely a noticeable difference when we were on board.