I've traveled on all 5 Disney cruise ships. I have 2 clear favorites, and there's only one I'm not in a hurry to book again.

Jill Robbins
·3 min read
7
Jill and her family in front of the Disney Wish cruise ship.
My family and I have traveled on all five Disney cruise ships.Jill Robbins

  • My family and I have been on nine Disney cruises and all five ships.

  • We love the fleet's two smallest ships, Disney Wonder and Disney Magic.

  • Although we had a great experience on board Disney Wish, it was my least favorite ship to travel on.

I've been on nine Disney cruises with my husband and two teenage sons. We've sailed on other cruise lines including Carnival, Celebrity, MSC, and Royal Caribbean, but Disney Cruise Line is always our top pick.

Stellar service, subtle theming, top-notch kids' and teen programs, and a dreamy private island in the Bahamas are some of the reasons we keep returning.

So far, we've been on all five Disney Cruise Line ships — Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy, and Disney Wish. We'll soon have more ships to explore, with Disney Treasure planning to set sail in December and Disney Destiny set to embark on its maiden voyage in 2025.

Out of the five ships we've been on, two stand out as favorites, and there's only one I'm not in a hurry to travel on again.

My favorite ships are Disney Wonder and Disney Magic

The Disney Wonder cruise ship docked.
Disney Wonder is one of my favorite ships.Just dance/Shutterstock

Disney Wonder and Disney Magic are my favorite ships in the Disney Cruise Line.

They have nearly identical deck layouts and are the fleet's two smallest ships. Some may see this as a negative, but I prefer the smaller, more intimate size and the ease of getting around the ships.

Disney Wonder also has my favorite Disney Cruise Line restaurant, Tiana's Place. It offers a delicious, Cajun-inspired menu and a fun "The Princess and the Frog" theme. There's even a lively floor show with jazz music.

I love Disney Magic, too, but I thought it was more dated and in need of an update than Disney Wonder.

I also didn't love the Magic's Rapunzel-themed restaurant nearly as much as I love Tiana's Place.

The food at Rapunzel's Royal Table was just so-so, but the entertainment and theming more than made up for it. The in-person appearance of Rapunzel and Flynn, capped by a lantern processional to the tune of "I See the Light," was glorious.

Although Disney Wish was great, it was my least favorite ship to travel on

Huge Disney Wish cruise ship docked at dusk.
I'm not in a hurry to book another trip on Disney Wish.Orlando Sentinel/Getty Images

Although I had a great experience on board Disney Wish, it was my least favorite ship to travel on.

The Wish is unarguably beautiful — everything is sparkling new, and the atrium is decked out with a life-size Cinderella sculpture — but I thought the layout was a little clunky.

I may have felt this way because many of Disney's ships are laid out very similarly, and after nine cruises, we're pros at finding our way around.

Disney Wonder and Disney Magic have nearly identical deck layouts, as do Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. Disney Wish, however, is laid out much differently.

Unlike the other Disney cruise ships we've been on, Disney Wish doesn't have a specific area for adults-only lounges.

Instead, the adults-only bars and lounges, which are off-limits to kids after 7 p.m., are scattered throughout the ship. This means the Wish doesn't have that true kid-free haven that the other ships have.

I also found that many parts of the ship, from the dining rooms to the pools, felt crowded

For all that criticism, my family and I enjoyed sailing on Disney Wish. But now that we've crossed it off our list, we won't be in any hurry to jump on board again unless the route is one we can't pass up.

Correction: June 7, 2024 — An earlier version of this story mislabeled a photo of Disney Wish as Disney Wonder.

Read the original article on Business Insider