davidmbfonz

Honestly, Mr. Sanchos has a really good setup, we've found. Really great pools, swim-up bar, tasty food, beautiful beach. Service with a smile. $25 cab ride one-way for a family of 5. We've been twice in the last 18 months. Love it!

I don't know about it only being offered just once on the first night, but I do know that when they do hold it, it's very late (perhaps midnight!).

Been on two HOHS now, and saw it going on one time, but didn't do the meet and greet.

I don't mind the questions - maybe others will answer too.

I don't recall the exact times when the quick-serve counters on the top deck closed, but it DID seem early - much earlier than on the Dream. In fact, that's probably one of the main suggestions I'd have about the Magic (and noted this on the comment card) - leave that top deck (pools, hot tubs, counter service, adult sections) OPEN as long as possible to give us some more opportunity. The Dream seemed to have everything open much later (sometimes 11 pm, if I recall correctly).

Oh boy! Thank you so much - glad you found it useful!

So, we've only been on the Dream (twice) and the Magic (once) - all three trips turned out to be so different (itinerary, theme, ports even) that I think it's hard to do a direct comparison, but I'll try.

I remember being on the Magic and thinking, this is VERY close to the exact same (awesome) experience we had on the Dream, and even in this review I was hunting for differences. The Dream is a VERY nice ship - I think I prefer its near-pristine condition, the AquaDuck, the Rainforest Room, etc. But really, they are so close. I think it comes down to itinerary - the Dream (sans Hurricane re-routing!) does the same thing over and over... we really appreciated the variety of the Magic's (and soon for us, the Wonder's) itinerary. Some folks have mentioned the smaller ships feeling less crowded but we didn't feel that way - fewer people onboard, but it's a smaller ship, so...

So, in short, I'd say - they're very close to the same awesome Disney experience - choose based on the itinerary.

Thanks for asking!

davidmbfonz

Great review! Very much appreciated. I am switching to the Magic after 2 cruises on the Dream. I figured its still a Disney cruise, but with a different look. Time will tell if it was a good move. Can i pin you down as to which ship you prefer?

I'll admit - this is not the first such report of this I've seen in the last couple months on the boards... it's got me quite worried! We've got inside staterooms in the very aft on Deck 2.

I know this is old, but saw it had popped up top and decided to read. Great report! I have been on the Magic several times too and I love that ship! I like how it feels less crowded on deck.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write this all up and let us all cruise a long with you!

Thank you Jenseib - have always enjoyed your trip reports/reviews as well! :hearteyes:

I just came back from a Fantasy SWDAS cruise (western in a 1BR Concierge suite) and I'm booked on the Wonder cruise you are looking at next year, also in a 1BR. We had the option to book the Fantasy again with the same price difference you were quoted We chose to go on Wonder. Here's a few reasons why :

 

- We already did SWDAS full out, with the entire family in costumes from morning to night. While it was really really fun, it took a lot of prep and took over the entire ship. We didn't think it would be as much fun the second time around without the novelty. We are SW geeks, not just fans.

- We prefer the smaller ships in general because everything is closer. We also prefer the pool setup on them, including the fact you can watch funnel vision from a table while lunching, something impossible on Fantasy.

- My son won't ride the Aquaduck, so we don't miss it. The only thing he misses on the small ships is the detective game but he did all the stories twice already so it's not a big draw for him anymore.

- Tiana's is our favorite MDR. It's only on Wonder

- This year, Fantasy was packed, with even more kids than usual if that's possible. The ship was at full-capacity (not only sold out but the staterooms were all filled with max guests) and it showed in public spaces. It surely had to do with SWDAS. It made getting around less enjoyable at times. We skipped a lot of character signings because the lines were so long.

- We truly prefer the lounge on Wonder. On Fantasy, because it lacks windows, we take things and go in our room to enjoy them. On Wonder, we could hang out in the lounge all day.

- The lineup of shows on Wonder is better than on Fantasy.

- This might sound strange but we prefer the way food it setup in Cabana's on the smaller ships, most notably at breakfast. That's minor but we noted it.

 

All in all, the Wonder cruise will be more relaxing for us. Also, we haven't done those ports in a while, so we'll get to experience new things.

 

 

 

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This is about as good a direct comparison as you can get! Nice work, and thank you!

Thanks!

Does anyone know if the inside staterooms have been retrofitted with magic portholes as part of the reimagining?

Thank you!! After I sent my inquiry to you this morning I called DCL myself to ask some basic questions and ended up booking a Disney cruise for early next year! Lol!! I was already excited after reading your review and seeing the utter glee and excitement on the faces of your children! When I spoke to the rep on the phone and he was equally as upbeat I booked it on the spot. I'm super excited and think DCL should give you a finder's fee!! Lol. Thanks for the feedback! I'm gonna finish reading your trip review then head over to the roll call for my pending Disney cruise!! [emoji38] I'm going to "TRY" to keep it a secret from my kids and give it to them as their Christmas gift! Fingers crossed that their grandparents (who may accompany us) won't let it slip! [emoji87]

 

 

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This is all BEYOND AWESOME - how exciting for you and your family!!

Hi Davidmbfonz! Love the review and the pictures!! We've never cruised Disney but have cruised Carnival (3X's), Royal Caribbean (2X's), Holland & Peter Deilmann (European River cruiseline that closed). My kids (DS10 & DD7) have been on Carnival (LOVED IT!) and Royal Caribbean (liked it but not nearly as much as Carnival's kid program). Disney was never on my radar (until recently) as we've been to Disney World several times with them and I wrongfully assumed (it seems from your review) they were similar experiences. One of my coworkers went on a Disney cruise this past summer. Though this is her only cruise ever and her son is 4 she swears by it!!! It made me rethink it.

[emoji16]

As for this part, I'm glad you're considering doing it and I do think it's useful to compare to the WDW park experience - the DCL experience I think is really a more high-end experience (realizing that the price tag of a WDW vacation is already pretty high-end) that you get in the parks - in the same way that the Beach Club resort or the Wilderness Lodge are more high-end experiences than the Value Resorts. You have the Disney theming, but also Disney's non-character take on the environment/context - in the case of DCL, you get to see what Disney does with a nautical theme (just like how the Wilderness Lodge borrows the best elements of classic National Park resorts, etc.). Does that make sense? Basically, I've felt like the Disney is there, but only the best parts, and not as in your face as you might think.

Now for my question, since my kids are 7 and 10 are they getting "too old" for a Disney cruise?! They turn 8 and 11 this year and there's no way we can squeeze in another trip in this year's travel calendar. DH and I are taking a trip next fall for our 15 year anniversary that'll max out all of his vacation BUT I'm toying with the idea of the January 2018 sailing from Galveston to San Juan now that I've read your review! The itinerary looks amazing! Eek! Dare I add one more thing and just take kids without DH so they can experience a Disney cruise while they're still awed by Disney (plus it's cheaper than other sailings given it ends in San Juan)?! OR am I worried for nothing and DCL is so amazing that I can wait a few more years (9 and 12 or 10 and 13 yrs old) and kids will be fine and still love it? Right now I feel like "Hurry hurry!" like I'm chasing their "biological kid clock" to get it in before they are "too big" to enjoy. Any feedback on appropriate DCL age of kids for greatest enjoyment for them would be so appreciated! Thanks [emoji16]

That's a GREAT question, and I'm sure others will weigh-in too. First, I'll state the obvious - only you know what your kids like and will respond to. That said, I think folks who read my two trip reports might think my kids go bananas over the characters, and they actually have a medium-level of interest in them. Across our 14 days on the ships now, I can say that in general, we have never actually gone out of our way to stop and get photos with the characters - we have of course stood in line about a half-dozen times but those were when we had the time and/or were just resting in-between other events. Even the meet-and-greets that require tickets were simple to do (and easy to like because of that) because the tickets meant basically no lines.

My answer focuses on the character greeting part because I really think that's the only real part of the cruise that might be age-dependent (although, I should admit - I'll ALWAYS pose with Goofy if given the opportunity). The clubs have TONS of different things to do - and the biggest hit for the last couple of years, in our experience, has been the organized sports games - gaga ball in particular seems to be all the rage. And they have frequent group activities in the clubs like Super Sloppy Science that is just plain cool. So I don't think you'd have to worry about the kids at 8, 9, 10, or even 11 in this regard. My DS11 enjoyed the Edge club this last cruise in October and made some friends there - he had signout privileges so he had that freedom - went to the waterslides and pool deck with his friends, etc. (He's very responsible). They have a foosball table and video game systems, etc.

The rest of the ship and experience to me is "Disney-themed" if that makes sense, but Disney-themed in the most classy, high-style way - the shows of course feature Disney set pieces, characters and music, but they're live action and so easy to get into. The Sailaway Party has all the main characters, but also humans and they dance to a Top 40 soundtrack... the Pirate show doesn't feature much traditional Disney cartoony details - but briefly has Jack Sparrow. I'm trying to think what else. I think in general, my overall impression is this is high-end fun that is geared for a very broad audience and not even just a Disney audience.

Perhaps others will chime in. And hope this answer helps...

I have been trying to convince my DW to bring our Grand Daughter on a Disney cruise. This review is just what I need to get her agreement. Thanks for sharing with us.

That's great! I'm so glad. It was reading trip reports with lots of narrative and pictures that finally pushed me over the edge back in 2012 - love giving back!

I can still remember reading them, page-by-page, just imagining how awesome the sequence of events would be - was not disappointed by the real thing!

:D

Hi david,

 

Loved reading both your reviews!! Very informative and your family is adorable!! I am indecisive on the Halloween or Christmas cruise, which did you prefer? And how warm was Castaway Cay in November as the Christmas cruise i am looking at cruises around the same time yours was. Thank you again for these reviews! :)

Awww... thanks all around! It's really hard to say we liked one over the other - probably the Christmas theme was nicer and got us more into the spirit - the Halloween cruise though helped us remember it was Fall back home - both were great. The two cruises also were different lengths and different itineraries, so it's a real tossup! Christmas on DCL might edge out - I mean, Santa was in the atrium! And gingerbread house making! And even Castaway Cay was decked out for Christmas!

As for temps - the water was definitely warmer in early October vs. mid-November. We had really nice weather both times and the water was still swimmable (it was the November cruise where we snorkeled for over an hour!).

Thanks again for the kind words!

We've stayed at the Best Western Cocoa Beach Hotel & Suites twice now - they have a free parking and shuttle option. You can see the ship from the balcony (in the distance). Looks like the discount for parking at the port is gone now, but again, they still have the park for free option at the hotel.

It's been a lot of fun, and educational too!

 

I will be leaving it now, but wish all of you safe seas, happy cruising, and memories forever!

 

ex techie

I, for one, hope you come back every now and then and check in with us. The forum won't be the same without you!

Hey folks - so, if I'm reading all this right, would a good summary be that primarily the outside cabins, particularly in the aft of the ship, would be most affected? Would it make sense that the inside rooms would be rather immune (even the aft ones) since extra "padding" surrounding them? Thanks.

Not at all - they have plenty!

And, you don't need to reserve the bikes either - they have HUNDREDS!

Have fun!

We were on the Dream back in October, two years after our first cruise on the Dream. We didn't see really any difference across those two years - almost identical experience (apart from the changed itinerary and the Hurricane!). That's why I didn't write a trip report actually.

The difference for you really could have been the different perceived interaction with your servers - they really do make all the difference. How about your cabin steward? Same? More busy?

Just wondering...

I really enjoyed your review on here and comparison review on the Princess board.

I think you were fair and balanced, and it was very well written.

 

ex techie

I echo Techie's sentiments re: your review.

I do think that you might not have got a full sample of the DCL experience since you had multiple hangups - fog issue, late debarkation, missed ports, etc. I think that if those things hadn't happened, your review might have been very similar, but more "sunny" or "rosy", if that makes sense.

So far, best review of the new Wonder I've been able to find!

We used our pirate outfit for our Halloween costume... I have a review with pics in my signature. Like Moki said, though, it's all in what you choose to do - it's YOUR vacation after all!

We didn't feel any pressure...

Nice summary, Dage. Thanks! I'm thinking/betting in the next year they'll work out the sound/volume kinks with Tiana's Place. The whole concept looks fantastic!

Beignets for dessert?!! :D

Oh, you didn't mention the new "Frozen" show - I'm betting that's good!

Hey folks - I was searching for some video of the enhancements to the Disney Wonder - have been perusing everyone's threads and reviews also.

I came across this pretty good video on youtube - it got me even more excited about our upcoming sailing on the Wonder.

I've seen some of the complaint threads about plumbing issues that remain. Anyone care to comment on what they think of the various new venues? Tiana's Place in particular looks stunning, but I understand it might be loud?

TIA!

Good advice from Moki as usual.

What I would add is that the Rainforest Room can be very relaxing - and it is often under-used (in our experience) - even on sea days in the early afternoon. Love those heated tile loungers!

We were on the Hotel Disney Dream on Saturday and it felt like we and a 1000 other guests (not certain the actual total) had rented it out for a private party. Entertainment, Dinner, Pools, Oceaneer Club/Lab, etc. all running and with very few people in any one place.

 

However, we were fortunate to miss the hurricane completely due to the revised itinerary and we felt for those who were supposed to be on the 10/7 cruise that was canceled. Even more so, we were very saddened to hear of the devastation left in Matthew's path (particularly in Haiti).

I echo you sentiments and have edited my signature!