First Time Disney Cruisers Advice

[moki'smommy]

The first video appears to be the Fantasy....the spa bench leading to the view of the ocean, AquaDuck (not DUNK), the Cozumel shots of the ship....guess I'm not 100% sure, but that's my thinking anyhow. In the Grand Cayman sequence, it clearly says "Fantasy" on the ship.

Edited December 20, 2016 by moki'smommy

[EJanss]

The first video appears to be the Fantasy....the spa bench leading to the view of the ocean' date=' AquaDuck (not DUNK), the Cozumel shots of the ship....guess I'm not 100% sure, but that's my thinking anyhow. In the Grand Cayman sequence, it clearly says "Fantasy" on the ship.[/quote']

 

Yes, that looks like a distinctly Dream/Fantasy waterslide, going out over the edges of the ship.

Not that we'd really know anyway, since both videos are music-montage videos with little information for first-timers who wouldn't know the Fantasy, Cozumel or Grand Cayman if they saw them.

 

Was sort of hoping for something with a little more personally YouTube hosted explanation, like these suspiciously happy travelers

who in fact seem to have been hired by DCL and given backstage all-access to spread viral videos as "real" travelers, a la Disney Parks' Moms-Panel.

 

Another YouTube curiosity would be

which seems to be the undubbed "raw" footage that would be later cut into all the montage clips we've seen for Disney's promotional Wonder-update videos.

Nice to hear what they're actually saying, and let the camera linger a little longer on the post-drydock sights, but it would still be more helpful to trust an actual traveler with a camera.

Edited December 20, 2016 by EJanss

[moki'smommy]

While I'm not aware of any great videos since dry dock, I have seen still photos posted and several lengthy trip reports--all on Cruise Critic by real guests (not agents, board hosts, or paid people).

[Tkerniroc1986]

This is a good one I found. It's the guys first cruise ever and they show a lot of the newly reimagined Disney Wonder! He also has some other videos on his channel showing adult spaces, kids spaces, food, etc...pretty good videos!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited December 20, 2016 by Tkerniroc1986

[EJanss]

This is a good one I found. It's the guys first cruise ever and they show a lot of the newly reimagined Disney Wonder! He also has some other videos on his channel showing adult spaces, kids spaces, food, etc...pretty good videos!

 

 

That was the, quote, "fake" one I already linked in the earlier post.

(And maybe not "faked", but certainly hired by the company, if he just happens to be palling around with Captain Mickey and Restaurant-Tiana on camera, and going backstage at the WDT...)

 

And I don't recall who linked the "How not to fall off of a ship" video in another thread, but anything else from Very Unofficial Travel Guide's channel I've found is ingenious (if irreverent) info for cruise newbies--

Like, for example, whether or not to get a Ocean View cabin, as opposed to an Inside or a Balcony:

Edited December 21, 2016 by EJanss

[Tkerniroc1986]

Agreed, Morgan is fantastic! I love watching his videos and he does live chats here and there as well! He is very down to earth and one of my favorite YouTube channels "Innnn Thhheee Woooorrrlddd!" (If you watch his videos you will get that hahahaha)

 

The video by ajruck isn't done by the DCL for sure, that guys channel has nearly 45K subscriptions. A decent amount, and this was his first Disney cruise and he did it with one of his friends. His videos are very professional and well done. He has a lot of Disney Parks related content on his channel as well. Just stating my opinion. They are certainly good videos of the Wonder though!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited December 21, 2016 by Tkerniroc1986

[sm3ds]

If your kids like to swim it will feel very crowded. This is true for the classics also. The pools are kid soup. The pirate party is earlier on the Wonder 730. They do this to accommodate the younger kids. If the Wonder is a longer cruise for less money I would choose that. 3 nights is too short. We were on the Wonder 2 weeks ago. Its very similar to the Magic except for Tiana's.

Edited December 21, 2016 by sm3ds

[moki'smommy]

If your kids like to swim it will feel very crowded. This is true for the classics also. The pools are kid soup. The pirate party is earlier on the Wonder 730. They do this to accommodate the younger kids. If the Wonder is a longer cruise for less money I would choose that. 3 nights is too short. We were on the Wonder 2 weeks ago. Its very similar to the Magic except for Tiana's.

 

Did they do the kiddie pirate party at 7:30 and the more grown up one at 10 followed by fireworks and buffet or did they just do the kiddie party? On our more recent cruises they did both pirate parties, but I believe that depends on the ship.

[Wheeling TravelingMom]

This summer on the Fantasy they did both Pirate shows. This Nov on the Wonder they did just the younger kid one followed by fireworks.

[Ex techie]

Yes, that looks like a distinctly Dream/Fantasy waterslide, going out over the edges of the ship.

Not that we'd really know anyway, since both videos are music-montage videos with little information for first-timers who wouldn't know the Fantasy, Cozumel or Grand Cayman if they saw them.

 

Was sort of hoping for something with a little more personally YouTube hosted explanation, like these suspiciously happy travelers

who in fact seem to have been hired by DCL and given backstage all-access to spread viral videos as "real" travelers, a la Disney Parks' Moms-Panel.

 

Another YouTube curiosity would be

which seems to be the undubbed "raw" footage that would be later cut into all the montage clips we've seen for Disney's promotional Wonder-update videos.

Nice to hear what they're actually saying, and let the camera linger a little longer on the post-drydock sights, but it would still be more helpful to trust an actual traveler with a camera.

 

Yes Eric, I screwed up and posted the wrong URL. The actual URL i meant to post was the same one you linked to above.

 

Since the Wonder has only been cruising for 40 days since her drydock, I am not surprised there are not more videos from cruisers showing you everything you want to see, from a regular cruiser perspective, and in the style you wish it to be presented in.

 

You are very demanding! All of the time!

People do not post just to satisfy your specific desire for information!

 

ex techie

[Ex techie]

This summer on the Fantasy they did both Pirate shows. This Nov on the Wonder they did just the younger kid one followed by fireworks.

 

So they cut the Mickey slide of life show?

 

ex techie

[ccruisequeen]

For OP' date=' who may not speak the lingo, "Re-Imagining" is Disney code for a 6 week dry dock that includes LOTS of interior work, new decor, etc. This is in addition to the required twice every 5 years required dry dock for engine/hull inspection, work, etc. DCL also uses the normal dry docks to spiff up the ships, but the "re-imagination" dry dock is a HUGE undertaking. As noted, Magic was 2013, Wonder was fall 2016.[/quote']

 

 

Good to know. Wonder will be my first Disney cruise out of San Diego. I can't wait to try a new cruise line

 

 

I cruise for creme brûlée, lobster and warm chocolate melting cake!

[Laurba99]

If you read a bunch of threads it sounds like Wonder has some issues-I would go Dream hands down! I think a newer ship is always better and since its bigger I believe there is just more to explore and more modern things on there like the spy detective game.

[moki'smommy]

If you read a bunch of threads it sounds like Wonder has some issues-I would go Dream hands down! I think a newer ship is always better and since its bigger I believe there is just more to explore and more modern things on there like the spy detective game.

 

I totally disagree. We strongly prefer the "classic" ships over the newer, bigger ones. Yes, the Wonder had some issues right after the "reimagination" dry dock, but hopefully they have been corrected by now. That's not unusual after dry dock.

 

We find that the smaller ships are more personable and friendly and have less crowding. Bonus--better chance to get the excursions you want and lots more space at Castaway Cay.

 

If I had to choose one of the bigger ships, it would be the Fantasy (and yes, I've done it). But I'd choose Magic or Wonder over the big ones despite the Midship Detective Agency and the electronic horn.

[Ex techie]

If you read a bunch of threads it sounds like Wonder has some issues-I would go Dream hands down! I think a newer ship is always better and since its bigger I believe there is just more to explore and more modern things on there like the spy detective game.

 

I also disagree with your opinion that newer and bigger is always best. You cannot really compare the ships without having been on both classes.

 

For every one positive review you read, you will always find several negative reviews. Thats just how humans are. Very quick and encouraged to complain, but also very slow and less likely to compliment.

 

Just read this one post from another site:

 

First impression after only sailed on the Fantasy, I first thought, "wow.." what a small lobby and atrium..." I must admit that I was not too fond of the smaller sized versions of many things, like the Bippity Boppity Boutique, Eye scream station, etc... again, half the size of the Fantasy... but as the days went by, I began to really appreciate and love the size of the ship as we quickly found our way around the boat and often ran into the same people on a daily basis.

 

To be honest with you, the high cost of the trip did not even daunt us as it is the only week that we are able to get off as a family because my husband and I both teach, so the prices seemed almost the same as during the summer, so, it was not a big deal.

 

Our servers were amazing: Ida and Gerda and Vesko. Wonderful people that kept our children entertained and were just so on top of everything! Our stateroom host was not amazing, but not bad... it was quite annoying how he never refilled our soaps and lotions... every other day I had to hunt him to down for some more....

 

Frozen was AMAZING! Better than the one at California Adventures. Get a front row seat as you see such beautiful details in the costumes and props. Did not care much for the dog/comedian. I thought he would be a lot funnier.

 

Midnight Mass was beautiful. It was a wonderful experience that was a highlight to our trip as attending Midnight Mass each year is a family tradition.

 

We received milk and cookies on Christmas Eve for Santa. Santa lines were SUPER short on Christmas morning as so many people were asleep! After taking pictures with Santa, in our family matching pj's (our Christmas pictures for next year) our girls received a DCL calendar.

 

Tiana's Place is AMAZING... this was my husband's favorite place to eat and for the ambiance. The music is perfect, the dishware is beautiful and the interaction that Tiana and Louis have with the children was a picture perfect memory for us!

 

Nassau: Most of the stores were closed as they were observing their Christmas parade and celebration as Christmas fell on a Sunday this year and as college teacher that teaches all about culture, I was a kid in a candy store watching the beautiful floats and costumes that went down the main street. After watching the parade, we walked over to the British Colonial Hilton hotel where I had prepaid a day pass that included a voucher for $100 in food and drinks. ( $40 per adult, and $20 for children ages 5 and up) We used all of our voucher on drinks as the food was over $15 a plate. We walked over to McDonalds directly across the street for lunch.

 

Castaway is beautiful as always. Running the 5k in December versus July is a treat and one I will gladly take any day! It was still a bit humid, but we had plenty of shade to run in!

 

Key West was not so impressive to me personally as you could tell that it is mostly a drinking city.... nothing was really open when we arrived and we had to be on the boat by 1:15 pm. so we mostly walked around.

 

For Christmas Eve, we received a beautiful lithograph, box of chocolates, a peppermint loofah and a little santa hat.

 

Kevin, "yo-yo-yo guy" (Disney Vacation Club Representative) left such a wonderful lasting impression not only to my girls but to my husband and me as well. He always took the time to show our girls yo-yo tricks and is such a kind and caring person. We always loved passing by the DVC desk!

 

The only two things that I would say that we did not like was that the pools were TINY!!! I never even attempted to go in them as it just screamed to me "pee pool...." I have no idea why the pools are so tiny when they have so much deck space....

 

The other thing that started the trip off on a bad note was when we went through security to get on the boat and was told that we would have to take out our alcohol to be inspected. We brought two bottles of Port and two bottles of Sherry.... both wines... the inspector managed to pop open the bottle of Sherry, sniffed it and told us that it smelled like alcohol... "umm... duh... it's wine..." long story short, she took it over to another person that informed that sherry is wine and so we got to keep the other bottle.. HOWEVER... the bottle she opened, she tossed it in the trash telling us that it was an open container and she would have to throw it out.. my husband was LIVID.... to say the least... I was told to talk to Guest Services and was told that they were having many complaints regarding Port of Galveston inspections and that they would speak to their supervisors again. Two days later, we had a nice gift basket in our room with popcorn, soda, and Mickey rice crispy bars.

 

Would we go again over Christmas again? Yes, we would. We are hoping to make it an every other year tradition, as my mother was not a happy camper that we would be gone this year. (we always traveled back to our hometown for Christmas each year) so to wake up as a family on Christmas morning, was quite a beautiful experience.

 

It was a magical experience with the decorations, the activities, the many smiles and giggles on everyone's faces the entire week. You could definitely feel the holiday spirit all around us.

 

We came back to rainy cold weather with sunburns and tans.... in DECEMBER... how neat is that?!?!

 

If you have the opportunity to go over Christmas, I would highly recommend it because the memories that we made as a family last week, are memories that as corny as it may sound, will be memories that we will cherish forever. I'm truly thankful and blessed that we are able to take such wonderful trips with our kids and can not wait for our next adventure together!

 

Also, in regards to size, the Dream class is only 150 feet longer than the Magic class, so walking from one end to the other really isn't that much further, and they are 31 feet wider. 14 decks high compared to 11, on the Magic class. (even if you read in some reviews about how much bigger the ships are, they really are just configured differently, and that is to be expected given the 12 years between construction.

 

ex techie

[Ex techie]

Just to add to my post above, I found the site I was looking for with the passenger to space ratio, and the Dream class has less space per passenger than the Magic class.

 

Disney Dream 2,500 - 4,000 - 1,453 - 32,42

Disney Fantasy 2,500 - 4,000 - 1,453 - 32,42

Disney Magic 1,754 - 2,400 - 945 - 34,71

Disney Wonder 1,754 - 2,400 - 945 - 34,71.

 

http://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/761-cruise-ship-passenger-capacity-ratings

 

ex techie