Trying to Convince My Wife to Do 2nd Cruise

[kcbonnies]

A year ago we had a great vacation on a 5 night cruise on the Disney Wonder. It was a great trip and we got a good deal. I am now trying to convince her to take a second cruise next year during our kids spring break, the week of April 7. It appears we have two options: 1) a four night on the Dream or 2) a 7 night on the fantasy. The four night just does not seem long enough, so I am focusing on the Fantasy. She has three major concerns. First is price, but that is what it is. The next two are ones I am hoping you guys can help me with!
1) She is concerned about the size of the ship. We all loved the intimate feel of the Wonder. Though we understand the ship was booked, it never seemed overly crowded. The itinerary we are looking at has 4 sea days and 3 port days. She is concerned the sea days will be crazy crowded and that it won't be the relaxing trip we had last time. She is a pool deck person (though she does not need to be right at the pool). Upshot question, just how crowded does the Fantasy "feel" on sea days? Will we see a noticable difference between the Fantasy and Wonder?
2) This will be a Star Wars Cruise. While I love Star Wars, the four ladies who will travel with me have no use for it all. Will they be overwhelmed by Star Wars stuff?
Any useful arguments from those who can compare the two would be welcome! Neither the Magic or the Wonder are oftening cruises during the time we are looking so it is the new ships or Bust.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

A year ago we had a great vacation on a 5 night cruise on the Disney Wonder. It was a great trip and we got a good deal. I am now trying to convince her to take a second cruise next year during our kids spring break, the week of April 7. It appears we have two options: 1) a four night on the Dream or 2) a 7 night on the fantasy. The four night just does not seem long enough, so I am focusing on the Fantasy. She has three major concerns. First is price, but that is what it is. The next two are ones I am hoping you guys can help me with!
1) She is concerned about the size of the ship. We all loved the intimate feel of the Wonder. Though we understand the ship was booked, it never seemed overly crowded. The itinerary we are looking at has 4 sea days and 3 port days. She is concerned the sea days will be crazy crowded and that it won't be the relaxing trip we had last time. She is a pool deck person (though she does not need to be right at the pool). Upshot question, just how crowded does the Fantasy "feel" on sea days? Will we see a noticable difference between the Fantasy and Wonder?
2) This will be a Star Wars Cruise. While I love Star Wars, the four ladies who will travel with me have no use for it all. Will they be overwhelmed by Star Wars stuff?
Any useful arguments from those who can compare the two would be welcome! Neither the Magic or the Wonder are oftening cruises during the time we are looking so it is the new ships or Bust.

To address #2 first - if the group isn't into Star Wars, it may be a bit over the top for them. There are activities on most days geared for the Star Wars themeing. But it's certainly possible to avoid most of the activities that aren't of interest.

Pools onboard the Dream class ships are different than onboard the Magic class. The adult pool area on the Magic class is actually fairly nice, with a decent sized pool.


On the Dream class the adult pool is more enclosed, and smaller:


However, depending on how may kids are onboard, the adult area may be pretty full, or not. My guess, with a Star Wars cruise, you're going to have a lot of single adults filling the space.

 

[MickeyD]

Having been on both the Fantasy and the Wonder (and heading back to the Fantasy in May!), I can say that you will notice a difference in crowd size and ship size. The Dream class ships are not all that "intimate." However, they do have flair and elegance that the older classics seem to lack. The Fantasy has the adult pool area, but it also has the Satellite Falls area and that is a great place to hang out and it was usually very quiet. I never had a problem finding a chair to lay out on. The key times you will notice the increase in crowds are: deck parties, atrium gatherings, Castaway Cay, and (sometimes) in Cabanas. Is it ever overwhelming? No. There are so many places you can retreat to for space and quiet. The Fantasy has become my favorite ship. I can't speak to the SW's stuff as we haven't sailed one of those, my theory is though that you could effectively ignore it. It would probably be like any other character interaction, you can participate or not. I agree with Shmoo that there may be more adults on a SW cruise and thus the adult areas would be more full, however, it being a Spring break cruise, maybe not?

 

[stacaka4321]

I will be on the April 8th SWDAS cruise....I'm sure you've check but last I looked it may have been sold out or only very very high price rooms left. But, we'd (I speak for the whole ship) would love to have you join us!!


EDITED: SORRY...you are talking about NEXT YEAR...oppps!

 

[mevelandry]

4 nights is not as bad as you might think. It has a lot to do with your planning.

Suggestion: You have the option to do a back to back (adding a 3 nights cruise before or after the 4 nights) on the Dream.

It might end up being cheaper than a Star Wars Cruise (Not sure what the price is) and you won't have to bother with a theme you don't care for.

We have tried the Dream twice. Never felt crowded in any of the adult sections (Quiet Cove, Palo, Remy, Serenity Bay...)...

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

A year ago we had a great vacation on a 5 night cruise on the Disney Wonder. It was a great trip and we got a good deal. I am now trying to convince her to take a second cruise next year during our kids spring break, the week of April 7. It appears we have two options: 1) a four night on the Dream or 2) a 7 night on the fantasy. The four night just does not seem long enough, so I am focusing on the Fantasy. She has three major concerns. First is price, but that is what it is. The next two are ones I am hoping you guys can help me with!
1) She is concerned about the size of the ship. We all loved the intimate feel of the Wonder. Though we understand the ship was booked, it never seemed overly crowded. The itinerary we are looking at has 4 sea days and 3 port days. She is concerned the sea days will be crazy crowded and that it won't be the relaxing trip we had last time. She is a pool deck person (though she does not need to be right at the pool). Upshot question, just how crowded does the Fantasy "feel" on sea days? Will we see a noticable difference between the Fantasy and Wonder?
2) This will be a Star Wars Cruise. While I love Star Wars, the four ladies who will travel with me have no use for it all. Will they be overwhelmed by Star Wars stuff?
Any useful arguments from those who can compare the two would be welcome! Neither the Magic or the Wonder are oftening cruises during the time we are looking so it is the new ships or Bust.

We've done the Wonder, Dream and Fantasy and greatly prefer the Fantasy. The only time it ever felt crowded was at the pool but even that was fine because people were spread out.

Cabanas on the Fantasy has way more open space and is easier to move around than on the Wonder. The main elevators on the Wonder are crazy small and the hallways on the Fantasy feel larger.

I can't help with the Star Wars dilemma though, that's just something you'll have to decide on, but overall, I think you'll be very happy with the Fantasy, and so will your kids. Also, the Aquaduck is great!!

 

[FigmentSpark]

On the SW day, they play music from the movies... not the famous stuff, but the background music. It's a definite vibe, but no more intrusive than any of the other hallway music. You can avoid all the SW character meet and greets, if you want. The pools might even be more available, as people are busy at their meet and greets or at least walking around in costumes. I posted this year's MDR menu for SWDAS, but I see the thread is on page 4 or 5. It was all good, just like all the other meals. We also had 2 days of fireworks, so maybe the ladies will like that, even if they aren't interested in the story.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I posted this year's MDR menu for SWDAS, but I see the thread is on page 4 or 5.

Did you send the menu to Scott? He can include it in the menu section.

 

[FigmentSpark]

No, just made a thread. https://www.disboards.com/threads/swdas-menu-03-16-17.3592529/

I don't know where to send it otherwise. They were screen grabs from the navigator.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

No, just made a thread. https://www.disboards.com/threads/swdas-menu-03-16-17.3592529/

I don't know where to send it otherwise. They were screen grabs from the navigator.

From Scott's blog: If you have any updated or new menus you would be willing to share, please email. Feel free to send them via email in whatever format works best for you.

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

Try the Fantasy. 7 night trip is worth it.

 

[tink1970]

Just going to say "good luck!" It took a couple of cruises to convince DH (maybe Alaska wasn't the best first cruise since he hates the cold ) but now he's a bigger fan than I am

The Fantasy is nice--I took DD on a spring break trip in 2013 and true to form, she ditched me upon embarkation. I spent a lot of time alone in the adult areas and it was quite relaxing!

 

[FigmentSpark]

Thanks, PrincessShmoo. I have sent him the link.

 

[mernin]

We are booked on this cruise for next year. The date & ports is why we booked, SWDAS is a bonus. We aren't huge Star Wars fans, but we all like it. I'm not sure we'll love 4 sea days but the ports are very exciting for us.

We've only been on the Dream which we loved. We are pretty excited about sailing on the Fantasy!

 

[kcbonnies]

Thanks all!

 

[lbus42]

#2 During my SWDAS cruise, the activities were mostly located on the lower decks. This is where the die hard SW fans will be. The pool deck was not very crowded. BTW it is not a Star Wars cruise. It is a Star Wars day. Although you will see SW merchandise and people wearing SW T-shirts all week long, the activities are only on one day.

#1 The Fantasy is larger, but the MDR's, kids clubs, lounges, and other activity spaces are also larger. The only time I felt overly crowded was getting on and off the ship at ports, debarkation, and at the SW costume contests. My daughter went to the sail away party and the star wars deck show and said that they were pretty crowded as well.