Wonder or Magic vs. bigger Dream/Fantasy ships?

[ncurley]

Our family cruised on the Dream for the first time (4 nights in a Concierge Family Verandah). Highlights for DH were renting the Cabana on Castaway Cay and also the Rainforest spa (especially the hot tubs). DH is hesitant to cruise on the Wonder or the Magic because he thinks it will feel too small. I'm interested in hearing whether others agree or disagree with this? For those who have cruised both classes, what are the advantages/disadvantages?

 

[kid-at-heart]

I think it will depend on what your family likes to do. We (adults in the family) like the small ships because all we want to do is sit and relax. The younger ones in our group prefer the larger ships because they say there is more to do. I find plenty to do on the small ships but that may be because I cruise to relax and am not interested in participating in a lot of activities.

 

[anricat]

Our first cruise was on the Dream and then we sailed on the Magic. Everyone in our family, hands down, without a doubt greatly preferred the Magic (and we all had reservations, like your DH).

Now, the Rainforest Room on the Magic isn't as great, I know that. I haven't used it, but I've heard it's not as good. However, we loved everything about the Magic (and because of that, we are very eager to cruise the Wonder this summer).

We liked that it was smaller. It was so much easier to get to every place we wanted to be quickly. On the Dream, it felt so frustrating to get everywhere. At dinner one night, I was cold and wanted to go to our (forward) room to get my sweater. I kid you not, it was 20 minutes round trip.

My DD liked the clubs on the Magic better. Maybe they weren't so overwhelming? We did miss the midship detective agency, but honestly, there was so much to do, we didn't really give it a second thought. DH and I missed the Aqua Duck, but DD preferred the Twist N Spout slide on the Magic to the Mickey slide on the Dream.

In general the ship just felt less crowded, even though it's smaller. And we would often run into the same families, which was nice. We made friends with some and DD often played with the same kids.

I doubt we'll sail the big ships again unless there's an itinerary we REALLY badly want to do. I was pretty disappointed that the new ships will be bigger. I was hoping for something in between but I think, like you (and like me before I sailed a Classic ship) most people assume that bigger and flashier is better.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Our family cruised on the Dream for the first time (4 nights in a Concierge Family Verandah). Highlights for DH were renting the Cabana on Castaway Cay and also the Rainforest spa (especially the hot tubs). DH is hesitant to cruise on the Wonder or the Magic because he thinks it will feel too small. I'm interested in hearing whether others agree or disagree with this? For those who have cruised both classes, what are the advantages/disadvantages?

I've yet to do the rainforest room but from what I've read the dream class ships rainforest rooms are far superior.

We recently were on the Wonder after 1 Dream and 2 Fantasy cruises. She is a pretty ship in beautiful condition but I greatly prefer the Dream class. One thing that really stood out to me and it is very minor, is the hallway walls on the cabin decks. The walls on the Wonder are plain white with a "wood" boarder around the cabin doors, opposed to the Dream class ships that the walls are in the halls being "wood." The halls just seemed more cold and sterile instead of warm and inviting.

As far as getting to places quicker and maneuvering around, the Dream class are only a couple hundred feet longer with a couple extra decks. No matter what ship you're on, if you're an able bodied person, it takes 5-10 minutes to get from top to bottom - front to back.

I also prefer the pool deck layout on the Dream class ships and love Satellite Falls. I'm a huge fan of water slides so the AquaDuck plays a huge role in my enjoyment of the ship.

There are those that claim service is better on the classics but that is really hit or miss. Our best servers were on the Dream, worst were on the Wonder. But our best , by far, cabin steward was Noreen on the Wonder.

If I was in your shoes and wanted to book a second cruise and make sure DH was happy, so you could book a third cruise, I would absolutely be looking at a 7 night on the Fantasy. This is just based on what you said about his favorite things.

 

[TrySomethingNew]

We've done Magic (11night) and Dream (4night). Pick primarily based on itinerary first, including number of sea days (depending on if you want more or less).

Smaller ships are smaller-less people and less distance to travel between areas. Everything else are generally minor differences unless you hold something in particular in higher regard (ex: the spa or fewer people on CC). Remember, same company so same staff training and should have same experience any way you go (of course, experience can vary at anytime on any ship). Same company, so same safety, same food, etc -you get the idea. We liked both ships because they were both new experiences and we loved the itineraries, in addition to getting same level of service etc.

 

[Jennifer777]

We prefer the bigger ships. There is more to do, we felt like it seemed less confined on the pool deck even though there were more people and the kids clubs were bigger with more to do. We also felt like there was a much larger selection at Cabanas (the buffet) than the smaller ships, especially Wonder, and we loved that Fantasy had a coffee shop we could visit with our kids in tow instead of limiting them to the adult only areas. We had excellent service on Magic and Fantasy and the Wonder left us pretty disappointed so I don't know that size of the ship plays a role in service. The only down side to the larger ships that we found is there are a lot more people at Castaway Cay.

 

[bucanoles]

I've yet to do the rainforest room but from what I've read the dream class ships rainforest rooms are far superior.

We recently were on the Wonder after 1 Dream and 2 Fantasy cruises. She is a pretty ship in beautiful condition but I greatly prefer the Dream class. One thing that really stood out to me and it is very minor, is the hallway walls on the cabin decks. The walls on the Wonder are plain white with a "wood" boarder around the cabin doors, opposed to the Dream class ships that the walls are in the halls being "wood." The halls just seemed more cold and sterile instead of warm and inviting.

As far as getting to places quicker and maneuvering around, the Dream class are only a couple hundred feet longer with a couple extra decks. No matter what ship you're on, if you're an able bodied person, it takes 5-10 minutes to get from top to bottom - front to back.

I also prefer the pool deck layout on the Dream class ships and love Satellite Falls. I'm a huge fan of water slides so the AquaDuck plays a huge role in my enjoyment of the ship.

There are those that claim service is better on the classics but that is really hit or miss. Our best servers were on the Dream, worst were on the Wonder. But our best , by far, cabin steward was Noreen on the Wonder.

If I was in your shoes and wanted to book a second cruise and make sure DH was happy, so you could book a third cruise, I would absolutely be looking at a 7 night on the Fantasy. This is just based on what you said about his favorite things.

I thought Aquadunk on Magic was much more thrilling than Aquaduck on Dream. Also line was way shorter allowing many more rides on Aquadunk. I think it was due to many being scared to ride Aquadunk.

 

[jacknsally19]

I have sailed Fantasy and Magic. I think they are both great - I liked the pools / lounges better on the Fantasy. However, the Fantasy could feel a bit crowded and chaotic especially the kids club. I totally thought the aqua dunk on the magic was way better than water slide on the fantasy.

Honestly, I would base it on the itinerary and timing. At least that's whole we roll. Our next trip is back on the magic bc I wanted to do Norway.

 

[Ajojo]

We have been on all 4 ships and choose based on itinerary. But I think that my family prefer the smaller ships because it seems less crowded and we never had issues meeting the characters.