Would you choose a ship or price

[iluvcruises]

Hi, I am not new to cruising but I am new to cruising on a Disney ship. Would love to hear if there is a favorite ship you like or do you just choose for the best value. Thanks for any info!

[moki'smommy]

We prefer the Magic.

 

The Fantasy is gorgeous, but it is too big, too noisy, and too full of "tweens" running wild with no parental supervision. Specifically, the dining rooms are very crowded and very loud. The entire ship is huge. There is a lot to do and see. But it is too big for our taste. And while I don't hate kids, I do not like them in "adult only" areas which was far more common on the Fantasy. There were kids in the Cove Cafe on a regular basis--it is "adult only" and there is a similar area (Vista Cafe) for families. But the bartender never asked the kids to leave...he wanted his tips. We reported a child about age 6 in the adult pool; the bartender made a phone call and the child was removed. Both ships have an issue with kids walking thru adult areas or coming by "just to talk to mom for a minute," but it is worse on the Fantasy. And we had a couple problems with tweens running the halls noisily. We do like the Midship Detective Agency, which is more complex on the Fantasy than the Dream. And satellite falls is great. (Dream might be getting this at dry dock)

 

For us, the Magic feels like "coming home." The size is more manageable. It does longer cruises which we like. The dining rooms are not as crowded and somewhat less loud. I like the library bookshelf which the Fantasy doesn't have.

 

In fairness, Caribbean cruises are rather "been there, done that" for us. Since that is what the Dream and Fantasy do, they start off as a less attractive vacation for us.

[jalves]

We've been on all 4 of the DCL ships and can't say we really have a favorite. We tend to go more for the itinerary and number of days.

[xlxo]

@iluvcruises: Where have you cruised before? The Wonder offers Pacific ports like Hawaii and Alaska with the smaller size to fit the Panama.

 

B0dplvMRQHQ

 

Value tips...

• do you really need that balcony? I found oceanview offers a climate controlled balcony experience with significant savings.
  
• which month? Storm chasers may choose wetter months for cruise savings.
  
• cruise photo's... plan your availability for daily character appearances to maximize your picture package.
  
• check DCL's latest alcohol and beverage policy... just load up the carry-on's with your favourite fluids as you go through security.
  

[moki'smommy]

Well, you didn't ask me, but....

We have cruised the Panama Canal (return to Florida), Alaska, at least 3 Meds (12 nights each, different ports), several trans-Atlantics, a few 4 nights (Magic and Wonder...and yes, in 1998 and 1999 the Magic did 4 nights out of PC), 2 3 nights on the Wonder (each tied to something else), and lots of 7 nights to various ports (Magic and Fantasy). We've done the "normal" 7 night Eastern and Western as well as those to special ports like Tortola and St. Croix...and a couple re-routed by hurricanes!

 

Total 30+ DCL cruises.

 

Honestly, you can't go wrong with any of them. We prefer longer cruises and smaller ship.

[chictravel227]

my .02. Go with itinerary, then price. I don't think you can go wrong on any of the ships.

 

My one item, and this is my opinion. DCL is not worth it for Alaska. They are not allowed to sail through Glacier Bay. If you can only get to Alaska once, then I would choose a cruise line that has the permits to go through Glacier Bay. It was a most magnificent experience and one I would not want to miss on a trip of a lifetime.

[DaKa2002]

We also prefer the smaller two ships; have sailed multiple times on all four. The big ships are nice, especially if you sail with tweens and younger kids.

 

We sail Disney as "adults only," and the smaller ships seem to be better at keeping the kids out of adult only areas (both by design and the crews efforts). Only disappointment with the smaller two ships is that we miss the Remy adult only restaurant, and Palo is nice but not up to Remy (in our opinion).

[Tonka's Skipper]

All the DCL vessels are great, but if we were to pick, it would be a Magic and the Fantasy. :) However, we tend to go for length of cruise and itinerary.

 

AKK

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

For us it is about logistics, living 50 minutes from the port, so we choose to sail from PC so the Dream or Fantasy. I am not drawn enough to the Wonder or Magic to travel to try it but would look again on the odd occasions they sail from PC so can't comment objectively on the smaller ships.

[NancyIL]

Itinerary and price are most important to me. However, a good itinerary on DCL will usually be expensive. I have been on 6 Disney cruises: 3 4-night Bahamas, 1 western Caribbean, 2 eastbound Transatlantic. The Transatlantic cruises have been my favorite - in spite of the mediocre itinerary in May 2013.

[Loonbeam]

Itinerary should always come first then price, then ship.

 

Conditions on any specific ship can change so fast as regards food and staffing that anything past 2 months in those respects is possibly outdated (for example, there were far more issues with kids on our Magic cruise than on the larger dream, but that also was possibly reflective of the itinerary difference (more sea days) as well as the kids club staff, hotel services management, etc.

[Gardeneroflove]

I choose by port, we don't care where it's going. Then by price without our date range of wanting to cruise.

 

We don't fly to port, but drive.

[scotlandbound]

We choose based on itinerary and price, not the ship.

 

Really enjoyed the Dream, but since we want the European ports the Magic suits us just fine. Haven't been on the Fantasy. The Wonder seemed to have a poor/lax "command climate', not as professional or friendly, and had uncontrolled kids from the Edge club and loud activities at the Edge club with programming until 2am (this was in 2012 so it may have changed). Programming for Edge on the Magic this past cruise ended around midnight and we had no problems with noise from tweens/teens. However this was the end of May, so only some schools were out for the summer and we were going to the Baltics- so less kids in general.