The main differences between the DCL fleets?

[HollowxBastion]

Was going through my desk for an old hard drive and found my old DCL card. It was from my first ever Disney Cruise back in March 2009 when i was in grade 8. That week, i sailed on the Disney Wonder with my family and had the time of my life.

I've had many Disney trips since but haven't been on a cruise ever since then. I'm heavily considering doing a Disney Cruise with my girlfriend before we book our next WDW excursion after all the refurbs/new additions. Having only ever been on the Wonder, what are the main differences between the fleets? especially the newer fleets.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Was going through my desk for an old hard drive and found my old DCL card. It was from my first ever Disney Cruise back in March 2009 when i was in grade 8. That week, i sailed on the Disney Wonder with my family and had the time of my life.

I've had many Disney trips since but haven't been on a cruise ever since then. I'm heavily considering doing a Disney Cruise with my girlfriend before we book our next WDW excursion after all the refurbs/new additions. Having only ever been on the Wonder, what are the main differences between the fleets? especially the newer fleets.

Well, there's only one fleet. That's all the Disney ships.

There are 4 different classes within the fleet.
Magic Class - Magic & Wonder
Dream Class - Dream & Fantasy
Wish Class - Wish, Treasure & Destiny
Adventure Class - Adventure

You can read all about them on the DCL website:
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships/

 

[Travel60]

Short answer:
Magic and Wonder, originals, are smaller. They are built to look like classic sailing ships. They were twins when built but refurbs have made a few differences.
The Dream Class is significantly larger - taller, wider, longer, hold more people. Still fairly classic in styling. They have more activities, especially water slides, more shops, one more premium dining venue. More people means the islands can be more crowded.
I have not sailed Wish class - don't like the itineraries. They are slightly larger than the Dream Class. They seem to be themed and significantly different. Some people love them. People who like the classic style usually don't.

Look at the itineraries to help you make a decision about which ship to sail.

 

[imbelle]

The Magic is sister ship to the Wonder so it's very similar. The Fantasy and the Dream are sister ships and they are similar design-wise to the prior ships but are larger. The Wish, Treasure, and Destiny are larger ships, but with individualistic themes (Wish-Princesses/castle, Treasure-Arabian/jungle, Destiny-Heros/Villians/Marvel). The Adventure is it's own class as it was partially built when Disney took it over. Apparently, the Adventure will only be doing short days-at-sea cruises from Singapore for the next 5 years. Each ship has some unique theming for some of the same corresponding areas.

So which ship you choose to sail depends on your priorities and itinerary preferences. If you and your girlfriend plan to spend a lot of time in the adults only areas, know that the Triton/Wish class ships have smaller adult pool areas with not a lot of shade. They also get a lot of flack for a non-continuous jogging track (I supplement with a length of cruise Rainforest Room pass).