Which would you choose?

[tgarre06]

Need your advice! We're trying to choose between the Wonder (after enhancements) and Dream. 3 night cruise, same itinerary. Traveling with:
Father, late 40s, first cruise
Brother, 16, first cruise
Husband (Cruised before, first Disney)
Myself (Same as husband)
Daughter (4 yo)
Son (1 yo)

The price difference is not significant enough to weigh in on decision. Which would you choose for our group? TIA!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Need your advice! We're trying to choose between the Wonder (after enhancements) and Dream. 3 night cruise, same itinerary. Traveling with:
Father, late 40s, first cruise
Brother, 16, first cruise
Husband (Cruised before, first Disney)
Myself (Same as husband)
Daughter (4 yo)
Son (1 yo)

The price difference is not significant enough to weigh in on decision. Which would you choose for our group? TIA!

If those were my only choices, I'd choose the Wonder. Mostly because I would be interested in seeing her changes.

But, it's moot - we don't do short cruises, if we can help it.

 

[PlanoNana]

None of the above. I like 7 night cruises. But if those were my only choices, I would choose the Dream because I've already been on the Magic and will be on the Wonder after Thanksgiving. Have fun whatever you choose.

 

[mevelandry]

If you into fine dining, the Dream has Remy & Palo and the Wonder only has Palo.

The Dream has the aquaduck. The Wonder doesn't.

If you don't care about the fine dining or the aquaduck, go with the cheapest rate.

I haven't been on the Wonder yet but I've been on the Dream twice. Amazing ship.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I agree with mevelandry. If you want fine dining, go with the Dream and go to Remy. It is AMAZING!! Also, look at the slides (if they interest you). My DS loved both the aquadunk and the aquaduck, but if you have people in your party that want a slide, but not one that drops vertically, go with the Dream.

My personal preference would be the Wonder but that is because I like the smaller ships. You really can't go wrong either way.

 

[NeverSayNever]

I like the smaller ships....

Given its a short cruise I would pick the Wonder... Lots of time spent go back and forth on the larger ships - maximize your time and have fun! More to do, you migh t feel overwhelmed(?).

Either way you can't go wrong!

 

[shellymo]

We have done both the Dream and the Wonder. I would pick the Dream for a family trip, a few more things to do and seemed to have more activities. Either way you can't go wrong!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We had the same debate for our very first cruise. I wasn't sure if we would even like cruising so we chose a 3 night. It was between magic and dream at the time for very little $ difference. I really wanted to do the aqua duck but ultimately we decided to go with the Magic because we figured it was more manageable for a short cruise.
Of course we ended up falling in love with cruising and ended up taking 2 more shortly after...
If you think there is a chance you may go again start small . But really can't go wrong with either. Mind you we have not done the dream but did fantasy.

 

[tee11]

We loved both, and you could surely be happy with either of them.
However, for your group I would choose the Dream - because your one year old may enjoy Nemo's Reef on the Dream (4 year old may as well!). And your 16 year old may love the Aquaduck!

 

[amanda ek]

If price, itinerary, date, etc is all the same, then I agree about picking the dream bc of nemos reef. Not sure if the wonder is going to get a splash area but the one on the refurbished Magic is not good.

 

[PAGA2003]

We just went through this same discussion and ended up booking the 3 night Wonder for a quick weekend getaway We have previously sailed on the Dream 4 night and picked the Wonder this time for two reasons-first, it was the least expensive (I believe by $300) and second because we're excited to see the changes after dry dock. I also think it will be nice to experience a smaller ship especially for Castaway Cay day. I really don't think you can go wrong either way because both options have things that are unique to them and in their favor so I would suggest just picking the one with the best price.

 

[Bishoparc]

Mostly because I would be interested in seeing her changes.

That's the exact reason we're doing one on the Wonder if February. We've only done the Dream but I'm super excited to see the Wonder for the first time. It's the itinerary where it has a sea day, a day at Castaway, and then another sea day.

I'm very partial to the Dream because it's all we know and we do love her. Up until this past cruise we've only done the 3 nighters, this was our first 4. I must say I do like the 4 nights having that last day at sea, especially due to this one being the Halloween cruise. Last year on our first sailing, which was a 3 night on the Dream and also a Halloween cruise, all of the Halloween activities and pirate night were crammed into the same night so you literally run around all night and then there's really nothing that last night. I would definitely recommend for any of the special holiday cruises the 4 night just because it breaks everything up a little better.

That being said, the 3 nights fit in our schedule very well. It's hard for me to get off multiple days due to my job and I wouldn't trade my little 3 night trips on the Dream for anything. I will say with this 4 night I've got the feeling I'm still on a cruise ship even after being home for a day as to where I've never experienced that with the 3 night. It was a little worse last night than it is today but I still feel it just a little bit.

 

[rwthompson82]

I prefer the Magic to the Dream, so I would say the Wonder.

As for the splash zones, I think for. A 1 year old, the nephews splash zone (or whatever the Wonder equivalent will be) is great, but not as great for a 4 year old. Personally, when we were on the Dream, there were too many 8-10 year olds in the splash area running around, and I had to carry my one year old for the most part. That said, my 4 year old loved it.

My 4 year old also liked the kids clubs much better on the Magic (she cruised the Magic at 2 and the Dream at 4). The renovated club on the Dream I found too video-gamey.

I preferred the smaller ship. Although, we loved the 5E rooms on the Dream.

 

[tgarre06]

Thank you all for your help! We decided on the Dream. We were able to book two split layout connecting rooms, which we are really excited about. Plus the Nemo splashpad for my youngest tipped the scale. Can't wait!

 

[Otimon]

Dream.

 

[jeepnjudy]

Dream because my kids love the Aqua Duck and the new Star Wars area in the kids club!

 

[m3owbox]

I prefer the size of the smaller ships and would be interested in seeing the new enhancements on the Wonder.