What's your favorite DCL ship?

[hardcorestitch]

The Dream... because AquaDuck happens.

 

[Geomom]

Ok, I'm curious. Why is the Fantasy winning? Fantasy is the 1 with the extra aft vibrations...so I don't understand why that's getting higher approval than Dream. I've been on 7 nt cruises on the Wonder, Magic, Fantasy, and Dream. (Wonder again next month.). I had a hard time going from smaller to bigger ship... we'll see what I think of going back to small again.

 

[Flossbolna]

I think the appeal of the Fantasy is the Wow Factor of the atrium. The peacock chandelier is just so amazing. Our experience was also that the crew there really enjoys getting to know the guests - probably because they are used to doing long cruises were they have opportunity to build relationships.

At least those are the reasons for me why the Fantasy beats the Dream.

 

[holula]

I think the appeal of the Fantasy is the Wow Factor of the atrium. The peacock chandelier is just so amazing. Our experience was also that the crew there really enjoys getting to know the guests - probably because they are used to doing long cruises were they have opportunity to build relationships.

At least those are the reasons for me why the Fantasy beats the Dream.

Both of these, and I prefer the adult areas on the Fantasy too. And the shows. And I’ve had better service on the Fantasy than the Dream.

 

[Sleepyluke]

Ok, I'm curious. Why is the Fantasy winning? Fantasy is the 1 with the extra aft vibrations...so I don't understand why that's getting higher approval than Dream. I've been on 7 nt cruises on the Wonder, Magic, Fantasy, and Dream. (Wonder again next month.). I had a hard time going from smaller to bigger ship... we'll see what I think of going back to small again.

To me it is probably the itinerary and the overall trip as a whole, but honestly we have been aft and never had any issues with the vibration. Did it move yes, but it never took me an extra second to go to sleep. We have felt movement and had closets rattle on all trips we have been on, was the Fantasy maybe a little more? I can't even say that it was, but we have never done another ship close enough to say definitively.

 

[anjuan]

Fantasy is my favorite. I love the adult only areas such as Satallite Falls, the Tube, etc. I think that the Treausre is my second favorite. They had a lot of extra activities on the ship that this didn't have on the Wish and I really liked the attention to details of the different spaces around the ship. But the adult areas aren't great.

 

[Erica1016]

Both of these, and I prefer the adult areas on the Fantasy too. And the shows. And I’ve had better service on the Fantasy than the Dream.

I agree. We love the Tube. The uncomfortable chairs in Evolution on the Dream are enough to knock it down a few pegs on my list.

 

[Pinkjgray]

Some discussion elsewhere expressing desire for the Magic and Wonder to continue sailing for a long time made me wonder which ships are most beloved by Disboards users. If you can't decide on just one favorite, you can pick more. And if you can, tell us why you like your favorite ship so much!

My favorite is the Dream. It edges out the Fantasy because I prefer the theming of the bars, the Admiral Donald atrium statue and Sorcerer Mickey statue on the back of the ship, and I like the shows a bit more. Plus, it's the one they've been sending to Europe (we've sailed the Caribbean so much already)

The Dream because she was my first. Coming in at 2nd place is the Fantasy. On both ships, I like the layout especially deck 4. The crew and other cruisers were nice. I dislike the Wish only because I fell and sprained my ankle on the first day! Moreover, the ship’s layout is weird and it didn’t feel magical.

 

[asgur5]

I feel like the Dream class ships have several things I would consider upgrades or bonuses from the Magic class: Midship Detective, Goofy Golf, Magic Portholes. I find it interesting that they did not include any of these upgrades on the Wish class. I have not sailed Wish class yet. I can see the Hero Zone being fun for kids of the right age. Uncharted Adventures sounds like a mess based on what I read in another thread. And there is no replacement for the Magic Portholes, which seems like a compelling consideration for sailing in an interior stateroom.

Uncharted adventures is an upgrade on midship detetective. So it is included and in fact better.

They replaced goofy golf with an activtiy zone. Our kids prefer the latter. For them its an upgrade.

Wish class also has lots of other upgrades. The kiss goodnight, the cocktail bar interactivity and theming, the dinner shows, being able to walk to the front of the ship, the pool deck food areas, better kids clubs.

 

[asgur5]

Fantasy is my least favourite ship. Closely followed by Dream.

Treasure and wish are favourites by leaps and bounds ahead of the others. Its not even close.

 

[ShaneDJ]

Uncharted adventures is an upgrade on midship detetective. So it is included and in fact better.

Uncharted Adventures is NOT an upgrade to Midship Detective Agency.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Hands down the Magic is our favorite. She was our first (and 2nd and 3rd).
She will always be special to us. Our kids are adults now but just boarding the Magic brings back so many happy memories of all of us together, and with my parents too. My mom was still alive then.
Now, just waiting patiently for some grandbabies so we can take them cruising Disney style.

 

[asgur5]

Uncharted Adventures is NOT an upgrade to Midship Detective Agency.

Yes it is. By a mile (as long as it works). Midship adventures locations are simply in the same spots on the ships and everything is done through holding a card up to the screens. All activitiy occurs on a screen. Uncharted adventures has genuine magical physical elements that appear throughout the ship.

 

[RedHead0186]

Ok, I'm curious. Why is the Fantasy winning? Fantasy is the 1 with the extra aft vibrations...so I don't understand why that's getting higher approval than Dream. I've been on 7 nt cruises on the Wonder, Magic, Fantasy, and Dream. (Wonder again next month.). I had a hard time going from smaller to bigger ship... we'll see what I think of going back to small again.

The aft vibration issue also only affects a subset of guests (if you're sailing in an aft cabin). We usually don't sail aft so don't really notice it.

 

[aka Charles]

For me it's the Magic.
I have not sailed on the Wonder yet, so it may be a tie, lol.
I like all the Disney ships I have sailed on, but prefer the smaller ships.
I am looking forward to the recently announced new "Mid-Sized" ships.
They have an opportunity to combine all the loved features (and layout) of the smaller ships, with a little extra room for some of the specialties of the larger ships.
And they can use the most up to date technologies to make every cruise comfortable and full of Disney Magic!
.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I voted Wish but I really think it could have been any ship except the Wonder (only because we think Magic is clearly better) and Treasure (haven’t done it, will get around to it after Destiny and Adventure, ideally on a shorter cruise). We started with Wish so we didn’t deal with any of the “transition from classic ships” issues, but I feel that every ship (even Wonder!) has something special we love and would look forward to and would sail again if the itinerary and dates were right.

My theory as to why some people prefer Fantasy over Dream so that it has done longer cruises and also out of Port Canaveral for the last few years…both things (longer duration, closer to WDW) that can make cruising less stressful and more relaxing.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I voted Wish but I really think it could have been any ship except the Wonder (only because we think Magic is clearly better) and Treasure (haven’t done it, will get around to it after Destiny and Adventure, ideally on a shorter cruise). We started with Wish so we didn’t deal with any of the “transition from classic ships” issues, but I feel that every ship (even Wonder!) has something special we love and would look forward to and would sail again if the itinerary and dates were right.

My theory as to why some people prefer Fantasy over Dream so that it has done longer cruises and also out of Port Canaveral for the last few years…both things (longer duration, closer to WDW) that can make cruising less stressful and more relaxing.

I agree with your theory!

And we also choose our DCL trips mostly based on itinerary and dates since we're pretty happy in any of the ships.

Curious: what do you like about the Magic better than the Wonder? I have not sailed on the former yet (but need to ASAP just in case it gets retired first, lol). I ask because above I explained why I prefer the Dream over the Fantasy, yet it's only a narrow preference since they are so similar imo... I thought that was the case for the Magic and Wonder, but you said "Magic is clearly better"

 

[Joanna71985]

The Dream

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I agree with your theory!

And we also choose our DCL trips mostly based on itinerary and dates since we're pretty happy in any of the ships.

Curious: what do you like about the Magic better than the Wonder? I have not sailed on the former yet (but need to ASAP just in case it gets retired first, lol). I ask because above I explained why I prefer the Dream over the Fantasy, yet it's only a narrow preference since they are so similar imo... I thought that was the case for the Magic and Wonder, but you said "Magic is clearly better"

I probably should have said “Magic is clearly better *for us*” but happy to tell you what we like better— first, while we enjoy Tiana’s dining room (Wonder), my daughter and I both adore Rapunzel’s Royal Table (we enjoy Tangled and its soundtrack, but also the specialty themed items for Tangled in the menu). She’s had magical (pun intended) interactions with Rapunzel and Flynn (and Attila!) each time we dined.

My son LOVES Aqua Dunk (which is actually a negative for me, but now neutral that he’s old enough to get in line without me).

My husband and kids think Duck in Diner is the best pool food of all the ships that pre-date Wish (we like Wish class pool food best).

We like Keys better than the Wonder equivalent as well.

We don’t attend the shows as much lately, but I think the Broadway style shows on Magic are less common than the ones on Wonder.

 

[AquaDame]

Yes it is. By a mile (as long as it works). Midship adventures locations are simply in the same spots on the ships and everything is done through holding a card up to the screens. All activitiy occurs on a screen. Uncharted adventures has genuine magical physical elements that appear throughout the ship.

Therein lies the crux; until it works consistently it won't be better. It was unusable at many times on our cruise - lots of lag, lost my progress, etc.