Magic vs Wonder vs Fantasy

[orangecuse]

I’m hoping some vets can compare these ships for me. I’ve searched around a lot but most posts and articles are from pre-refurb for one or more of the ships which is not super helpful.

Party of 3- Me, Husband, 1 year old. Looking for a 6+ night cruise. We just did a 4 night on the dream.

Magic- doesn’t have a sailing that works with our preferred date but does have one we could make work if its a great ship. My husband wants as many sea days as possible so this sailing also works toward that.

Fantasy- easiest port/dates for us but too similar to Dream? (Cruises will be about 3 months apart)

Wonder- good dates but little far to the right port. Too old? I see a lot of reviews saying its similar but less than the Magic

 

[Shanti]

I’m hoping some vets can compare these ships for me. I’ve searched around a lot but most posts and articles are from pre-refurb for one or more of the ships which is not super helpful.

Party of 3- Me, Husband, 1 year old. Looking for a 6+ night cruise. We just did a 4 night on the dream.

Magic- doesn’t have a sailing that works with our preferred date but does have one we could make work if its a great ship. My husband wants as many sea days as possible so this sailing also works toward that.

Fantasy- easiest port/dates for us but too similar to Dream? (Cruises will be about 3 months apart)

Wonder- good dates but little far to the right port. Too old? I see a lot of reviews saying its similar but less than the Magic

All of the ships are very beautiful, and we've enjoyed sailing on each of them. That said, here are some differences:

Magic:

• Oldest ship
• Well maintained, but shows a tad of wear and tear in spots
• Like Wonder, bathrooms can occasionally have mild odor
• Aqua Dunk drop-down water slide instead of Aqua Duck
• Tangled is the main show & one restaurant is themed to that, too.
• Like Wonder, no Midship Detective Agency, mini-golf, Remy, candy shop, simulators, or hot tubs in the Rainforest Room
• Navigator verandahs have smaller openings than Nav verandahs on the Wonder

Wonder:

• Only ship with no on-demand Disney programming on stateroom TVs
• Only ship with no major water slide, but all guests of a certain height can ride the Twist & Spout slide
• Like Magic, stateroom bathrooms occasionally have mild odor
• Frozen is the main show
• Like Magic, no Midship Detective Agency, mini-golf, Remy, candy shop, simulators, or hot tubs in the Rainforest Room
• Navigator verandahs have larger openings than Nav verandahs on the Magic

Fantasy:

• Layout is like the Dream
• Has all the bells & whistles, & better pools than the classic ships
• Only ship with no Family Pool Deck hot tub
• Like on the Dream, inside staterooms have "magical portholes"
• Unlike other 3 ships, aft staterooms sometimes get reports of severe vibration issues
• Aladdin is the main show

 

[tlprice]

We did the Wonder in January, the Magic in June, and will be back on the Fantasy for our 2nd time in 2 weeks. My favorite ship of all of the ships has been the Wonder. There was just something about the atmosphere on the ship that I loved. The person above forgot to mention that Tiana's Place restaurant is on the Wonder. It is my favorite restaurant. My daughter's favorite ship is the Dream because they are the only one with the Infinity room (which doesn't matter since you have a 1 year old). The Fantasy is my least favorite. I'm not really sure why. I think it's because it is by far the least comfortable bed that I've had. I hope I get a better bed this time and change my mind about the Fantasy. We'll see in 2 weeks. I loved the Magic too, but our trip was the Mediterranean so it was very port intensive so I didn't spend as much time on the ship.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We’ve only been on the Wonder, which we liked so much we decided to sail on again. From what I’ve read and experienced here’s what I think the various pros of each class are:

Classics Pros -
Less people so Castaway Cay experience may be better
Less kids in the clubs so they’re potentially less overwhelming
Adult pool area is better (IMO)
Better Animator’s Palette show (so I’ve heard)

Dream class pros -
Newer ships
Bigger ships with more bells and whistles (mini golf, midship detective, water slides, etc.)
Inside staterooms have magic portholes
More options for adult areas
Better rainforest room (ocean views and hot tubs)

We really enjoyed the Wonder and loved Tiana’s Place and the Frozen show (well, DH and DS did, I was in the room with our toddler). The ship was beautiful, we didn’t have any bathroom smells or notice any wear and tear from age. We originally thought we’d do the Fantasy next, but we like the idea of doing a southern Caribbean + repo on the Wonder better than the Fantasy itineraries.

We love the ships but we cruise for the destinations just as much or more. Many people cruise purely for the ships and don’t care if they get off at the ports. For those people the ship amenities are much more important. Personally, I have zero interest in the Dream itineraries, especially at Disney prices. But lots of people stay on the ship and have a fabulous time. So I’d say decide what is important to you. Do you need all the bells and whistles? Will you feel like something’s missing with no aquaduck or midship detective or Remy?

 

[Shanti]

We’ve only been on the Wonder, which we liked so much we decided to sail on again. From what I’ve read and experienced here’s what I think the various pros of each class are:

Classics Pros -
Less people so Castaway Cay experience may be better
Less kids in the clubs so they’re potentially less overwhelming
Adult pool area is better (IMO)
Better Animator’s Palette show (so I’ve heard)

Dream class pros -
Newer ships
Bigger ships with more bells and whistles (mini golf, midship detective, water slides, etc.)
Inside staterooms have magic portholes
More options for adult areas
Better rainforest room (ocean views and hot tubs)

We really enjoyed the Wonder and loved Tiana’s Place and the Frozen show (well, DH and DS did, I was in the room with our toddler). The ship was beautiful, we didn’t have any bathroom smells or notice any wear and tear from age. We originally thought we’d do the Fantasy next, but we like the idea of doing a southern Caribbean + repo on the Wonder better than the Fantasy itineraries.

We love the ships but we cruise for the destinations just as much or more. Many people cruise purely for the ships and don’t care if they get off at the ports. For those people the ship amenities are much more important. Personally, I have zero interest in the Dream itineraries, especially at Disney prices. But lots of people stay on the ship and have a fabulous time. So I’d say decide what is important to you. Do you need all the bells and whistles? Will you feel like something’s missing with no aquaduck or midship detective or Remy?

If you've only sailed on the Wonder, how would you be of the opinion that its adult pool is better than the others?

 

[DietCokeMommy]

If you've only sailed on the Wonder, how would you be of the opinion that its adult pool is better than the others?

From photos and videos the style of those pools don’t appeal to me as much. A huge portion of them seem to be devoted to very shallow areas with benches up out of the water. I like the more traditional pool style the Wonder has where you can be more submersed. The Dream/Fantasy does have a deeper section too but it seems small.

Again, this is just my opinion. Feel free to weigh in and disagree.

 

[Rachfamilyof5]

I’m interested in the responses here as well. We r sailing a southern itinerary in January on the Wonder. We’ve been on dream and fantasy and my kids loved it. They are disappointed about no aqua duck and midship detective. As they spend a lot of nights doing this. I just hope we made the right choice and enjoy the smaller classic ship as much. For the price it costs I hope I have no regrets!
It would be nice to find out that there is something (more than the restaurants) that is specific to the classic ships that fantasy/dream don’t have.

 

[Rachfamilyof5]

Magic:

• Oldest ship
• Well maintained, but shows a tad of wear and tear in spots
• Like Wonder, bathrooms can occasionally have mild odor
• Aqua Dunk drop-down water slide instead of Aqua Duck
• Tangled is the main show & one restaurant is themed to that, too.
• Like Wonder, no Midship Detective Agency, mini-golf, Remy, candy shop, or hot tubs in the Rainforest Room

Wonder:

• Only ship with no on-demand Disney programming on stateroom TVs
• Only ship with no major water slide, but all guests of a certain height can ride small Twist & Spout slide
• Like Magic, stateroom bathrooms occasionally have mild odor
• Frozen is the main show
• Like Magic, no Midship Detective Agency, mini-golf, Remy, candy shop, or hot tubs in the Rainforest Room

Fantasy:

• Layout is like the Dream
• Has all the bells & whistles, & better pools than the classic ships
• Only ship with no Family Pool Deck hot tub
• Unlike other 3 ships, aft staterooms sometimes get reports of severe vibration issues
• Aladdin is the main show

When you say the wonder has no on demand Disney programming. What does the tv have? I’ve been in fantasy and dream and remember kids watching Disney shows and movies. Was this all on-demand?

 

[TRTRguy]

When you say the wonder has no on demand Disney programming. What does the tv have? I’ve been in fantasy and dream and remember kids watching Disney shows and movies. Was this all on-demand?

On Wonder there are the usual TV channels that offer live programming, as well as a few channels that offer Animated Classics, Animated Features, and Featured films on a set schedule. Where as on Dream and Fantasy you can select any of the films whenever you want.

 

[tlprice]

I’m interested in the responses here as well. We r sailing a southern itinerary in January on the Wonder. We’ve been on dream and fantasy and my kids loved it. They are disappointed about no aqua duck and midship detective. As they spend a lot of nights doing this. I just hope we made the right choice and enjoy the smaller classic ship as much. For the price it costs I hope I have no regrets!
It would be nice to find out that there is something (more than the restaurants) that is specific to the classic ships that fantasy/dream don’t have.

We did the Southern on the Wonder this past January. Before that we had only been on the Dream and Fantasy. My daughter was worried about missing the Aqua Duck and Midship (and mini-golf). She got over that by the 2nd day on the cruise. She made some fantastic friends and they had a blast. She was never bored or felt she was missing anything. The ports were also pretty fabulous.

 

[dcassetta]

From photos and videos the style of those pools don’t appeal to me as much. A huge portion of them seem to be devoted to very shallow areas with benches up out of the water. I like the more traditional pool style the Wonder has where you can be more submersed. The Dream/Fantasy does have a deeper section too but it seems small.

I prefer the layout and structure of the adult pool on the classics. I also like the fact that you don't routinely have children walking through coming from the concierge area. I think that was a really poor design element on the Dream class ships.

 

[eva2015]

Our first cruise was a 5nt WC on Magic March 2017. We loved it so we booked EC Fantasy with SWDAS for January 2018. We put the deposit on a placeholder and looked at dates when we got home. We really wanted to sail Magic again or try Wonder. Magic felt more classy all around while Fantasy seemed more chaotic. We preferred the shows on Magic too. We almost booked Wonder 5nt Baja but didn't feel comfortable with those ports after researching. Magic didn't fit our dates so we are doing Fantasy again March 2019. We are hoping it will be better next time. Maybe fewer "once in a lifetime" cruisers on a non-SWDAS cruise.

The pools, Aqua Duck, Midship etc on the new ships won't matter to a baby/young toddler.

 

[darnheather]

The Magic is an absolutely beautiful ship. Unless you sail on a brand new ship on another line I don't think you will notice her age. She has been well maintained and the dry docks do a good job of updating. She had a new restaurant installed just this past March.

 

[tidefan]

Also, the staterooms on the classic ships tend to be slightly larger than their counterparts on the Dream/Fantasy...

 

[Quellman]

Sailing with a 1 year old? Small World Nursery is something you'll want to take advantage of no matter the ship. Can't go wrong with the Fantasy for itinerary (eastern has 3 sea days) and amenities. The dining might sway you one way or the other. The Fantasy is quite similar to the Dream in that regard. The magic and wonder will be quite different as they do not have an enchanted garden option.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I personally don't choose based on ship. I chose based on dates so I'm up for whatever ship happens to fall in our date range. We have been on the fantasy once and the wonder 3 times. We love them both. I'd be happy on any disney ship.

 

[orangecuse]

I personally don't choose based on ship. I chose based on dates so I'm up for whatever ship happens to fall in our date range. We have been on the fantasy once and the wonder 3 times. We love them both. I'd be happy on any disney ship.

We normally would but we’ve actually now found dates that work for all three! Hahaha

I think the classics appeal to me more so we have narrowed that down at least. Anyone ever fly from San Juan?

 

[tlprice]

We normally would but we’ve actually now found dates that work for all three! Hahaha

I think the classics appeal to me more so we have narrowed that down at least. Anyone ever fly from San Juan?

Our trip on the Wonder in January was into and out of San Juan. It was fabulous! We only spent one day prior to our cruise there, but would love to go back and see more. I ended up buying our flight tickets each way separately and it wasn't very expensive. I watched tickets like crazy to get good deals though.

 

[mmmears]

I have sailed on 3 of the ships, Wonder, Dream, and Magic. My family definitely prefers the classic ships, even though we all thought that the Dream was beautiful. I'll take the smaller ship, fewer passengers and IMHO larger and nicer adult pool area any day. We book by itinerary, not by ship though. If you have narrowed it down to the Magic and the Wonder I would seriously go with whichever cruise you prefer. We'd sailed on the Wonder twice and really liked the ship, but switched to the Magic this summer for the Norway/Iceland cruise and we really loved the Magic. I'd have no issues going back to the Wonder next trip or booking again on the Magic. The Dream/Fantasy would have to offer some kind of spectacular itinerary to get us to book there.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

We've sailed in all four and to be honest, they're all fantastic. Yes, there are bits that are bothersome (the comment about concierge proximity to the adult area on the Dream class is spot on), but the differences are usually great in their own way. We love the AP shows on the Magic/Wonder, but prefer the pool deck layout on the Dream/Fantasy. We love the cosyness of the Magic/Wonder, but also love the expanded size of Cabanas on the Dream/Fantasy (remember when it was Beach Blanket Buffet on Magic/Wonder?). Our kids love the proximity of the Edge on Magic/Wonder, but like the hot tub on Dream/Fantasy. There are very few things that we 'dislike' about the ships; they're just different. All four are beautiful, all four have areas they excel at while are just 'acceptable' otherwise.