Ask It: Your Favorite Disney Cruise Line Ship

Julia Mascardo March 1, 2017

Share This!

It’s Wednesday, and time for another round of Ask It.

Last week we asked you:

Which Disney Cruise ship is your favorite?

Folks, it doesn’t get any closer than this. With more than 300 votes, here are the results (in order from least to greatest).

Disney Wonder (16%)

Disney Magic (20%)

Disney Dream (31%)

Disney Fantasy (33%)

Tiana’s Place is an amazing addition to the Disney Wonder.

Until the last five minutes of voting, it was a tie. But one last minute Twitter vote gave the Fantasy the edge.

Let’s take a look at all these great nominees for the category of best Disney Cruise Line ship.

Disney Wonder

Full disclosure, I recently sailed on the Wonder for the first time. At first, it was a bit difficult to get used to a smaller ship, and there didn’t feel like there was as much to do, even on a sea day. That said, there is one aspect of the newly refurbished Wonder that may be my favorite experience on Disney Cruise Line: Tiana’s Place. I cannot speak highly enough of the experience there. The food, the entertainment, the surprises, even the water glasses (which I implore Disney to sell!)…everything was flawless. After dining there, I told my husband that I would sail on the Wonder again just to eat there another night. So although I’m not surprised that people chose the Magic over the Wonder likely for the nostalgia factor, I think that as more people get to experience the enhancements that have come to the Wonder, it will become a favorite of many others.

Disney Magic

Time and time again, I hear many people say that there’s a certain amount of intimacy that comes from sailing on one of the smaller ships. As the first of its kind in Disney’s fleet, the Magic captures the true power of nostalgia among those who have sailed with her. Because I’m a bit of a backwards person, it is the only DCL ship that I haven’t sailed on yet (starting on Fantasy, then Dream, and most recently Wonder). Looking ahead to my cruise on the Magic, I’m eager to try out Carioca’s. Another benefit of the smaller ships is the lower crowd levels at Castaway Cay. So it isn’t a surprise in the end that the two smaller ships earned a respectable amount of votes.

Smaller ships means fewer people. Fewer people means lots of serenity at Castaway Cay’s Serenity Bay.

So between the Fantasy and the Dream, it was the Fantasy who pulled off the win in the last few minutes.

But wait….what’s this? Please standby. (Or, please FastPass if you choose.)

The accountants who tabulate our votes have noted that there was one write-in vote on last week’s Ask It blog post, officially making it a tie!

Let’s take a look at our co-winners.

Disney Fantasy

Walt Disney’s quote about the blessing of size certainly could apply to the Dream and the Fantasy. With more space, there’s so much more to see and do. From the larger Senses Spa (and especially the Rainforest Room) to more adults-only space (including the upscale adult-only restaurant Remy), and from bigger kids’ clubs with the Magic Playfloor to more shopping, everything just seems so much bigger, starting when you arrive to the huge atrium. Additions like the AquaDuck, mini golf and the Midship Detective Agency help pass time on sea days, and exploring the ship just to look at all the Enchanted Artwork could take the better part of a morning itself. The Fantasy really does bring about a sense of grandeur, making it no surprise to see it tied with the Dream.

Disney Dream

Because they are sister ships, they are similar in almost every way. But how are they different? For me, two things came immediately to mind. First, is the revamped kids’ clubs. Yes, all ships have the Oceaneer’s Club and Oceaneer’s Lab, and they are all amazing play spaces for the kids. But the Dream has something that the others do not–a Star Wars area where you can sit in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon and fly it on missions. I am not too proud to admit that I begged my daughter to take me with her during open house hours. The other addition to the Dream that I’m in love with is Vanellope’s Sweets and Treats. I honestly didn’t think that it would be that big of a deal for me, because there’s always so much free food (and treats) to eat on a Disney cruise. But after trying one of their specialty gelato flavors, I found myself stopping by more than once. Another possibility for the Dream’s popularity is that it is the easiest ship to take a quick cruise on, whether you are a local in Florida or want to add on a sea voyage to a land trip at Walt Disney World. The short itineraries around the Bahamas make this a great first-time cruise for anyone who is trying to see if cruise life is for them.

So there you have it. Truly edge-of-your-deck-chair thrills to the end.

Now for this week’s Ask It. First, a congratulations to all runners who competed in last weekend’s Princess runDisney weekend. On that note, let’s see what your favorite runDisney set of events are at Walt Disney World.