From Fantasyland to the Fantasy: We came, we saw, we kicked it's AFT! UPDATED 1/10!

[loveysbydesign]

Lovin this TR!!!
I gotta ask!!! Would you pay over 2k more to cruise on the Fantasy instead of the Allure or Oasis?? Trying to answer that question and I'm driving myself nuts!

 

[loveysbydesign]

We are excited to try Carnival! They've had some bad luck lately, that's for sure... But this could happen on ANY cruise ship, even our beloved Disney. I have got to give Carnival a nod toward how they are handling the situation. A total refund, paying for everyone's transportation and a free cruise in the future...

This is going to be fun! We originally wanted to go on the Disney Dream for the same date, but it would have been about $3700 for a 4 night. We got this for less than $2300 and its a 6 night and on a brand new ship! I don't think we are going to become "Carnies", but we love trying new things! Besides, Jen (and the rest of us) could sure use a break.

Ron

Have been pricing out Allure/Oasis and the Breeze! Can't wait to hear what you think of the Breeze! Waiting for them to open up pricing for June 2014.

 

[maggs1035]

Is this EVER going to be updated?

 

[disneysunshine85]

Have been pricing out Allure/Oasis and the Breeze! Can't wait to hear what you think of the Breeze! Waiting for them to open up pricing for June 2014.

I went on the Disney fantasy in dec of 2012 and on the carnival breeze in jan of this yr. the breeze was a beautiful ship I was impressed with the decor, staff and food. My only dislike was the entertainment. The shows in the main theater pretty much stunk and we werent the only ones saying that. Other than that I felt it was a great value for the money and we had a great time.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

Is this EVER going to be updated?

I'm sure OP will get to it as soon as it is feasible.

Real life sometimes interferes with Net life. Given that OP is doing this sans compensation, it's understandable that other things will take priority.

 

[luvslikepi]

Finally all caught up. Hope things are going well and looking forward to your next installment! We know you've got a ton going on with your job changes so no worries on updates!

 

[livingis2me]

My apologies for Jen... She'll be back... hopefully sooner than later...

Ron

 

[iloverags2]

My apologies for Jen... She'll be back... hopefully sooner than later...

Ron

No apologies necessary! Hope life is settling down for her.

 

[livingis2me]

I went on the Disney fantasy in dec of 2012 and on the carnival breeze in jan of this yr. the breeze was a beautiful ship I was impressed with the decor, staff and food. My only dislike was the entertainment. The shows in the main theater pretty much stunk and we werent the only ones saying that. Other than that I felt it was a great value for the money and we had a great time.

Good to know. I've been reading reports about the shows being poor... Oh well... That is not really why we cruise anyway, just an added bonus. Believe me for what we paid for this cruise they could have a puppet show for all I care. I've heard the comedy shows are good though.

Ron

 

[Luv2Diz]

I just finished reading your TR of the Allure. You almost have me convinced to try a line other than DCL! Can't wait to get caught up on this TR.

 

[livingis2me]

Lovin this TR!!!
I gotta ask!!! Would you pay over 2k more to cruise on the Fantasy instead of the Allure or Oasis?? Trying to answer that question and I'm driving myself nuts!

That is a hard question to answer... The Allure is a completely different experience. The ship is extraordinary! It's a much more of a "complete" family resort style cruise ship. The entertainment is top notch and thrilling. I could go on and on about how awesome that ship is.... If you read Jen's Allure trip report I think you'll get the idea.

Now with the Fantasy. Yes the ship was awesome! The pools were frankly pathetic in comparison to the Allure. But the Aquaduck is fun! As fun as the Flowrider? Well not to me and the older kids, but to Jen and the little one it was more fun! The entertainment is cute and very family friendly, not necessarily the most talented performers like on the Allure, but still fun... The camraderie on the Disney ships is what kind of makes it special to me. If you are going on a Disney cruise, then you like Disney and Mickey and all that... That gives everyone something in common right off the bat... It's easier to hit it off with others, especially Dis-ers...

$2000 though... To put it in this perspective, you can go on the Allure and still have enough left over for a Carnival Breeze 6 night cruise... That's about what we paid for our Breeze cruise for all 5 of us.

We'll still keep alternating between Disney and Allure/Oasis even though Disney is a little more $. Only about $1000 in our case. We just like the different experiences...

If you've been on a Disney Cruise already, I'd say try the new experience. If not, and you absolutely love Disney, I think DCL would be worth the $. Or you can always use that extra $ to have a few days at WDW prior to your RCL cruise.

Ron

 

[JustTJ]

That is a hard question to answer... The Allure is a completely different experience. The ship is extraordinary! It's a much more of a "complete" family resort style cruise ship. The entertainment is top notch and thrilling. I could go on and on about how awesome that ship is.... If you read Jen's Allure trip report I think you'll get the idea.

Now with the Fantasy. Yes the ship was awesome! The pools were frankly pathetic in comparison to the Allure. But the Aquaduck is fun! As fun as the Flowrider? Well not to me and the older kids, but to Jen and the little one it was more fun! The entertainment is cute and very family friendly, not necessarily the most talented performers like on the Allure, but still fun... The camraderie on the Disney ships is what kind of makes it special to me. If you are going on a Disney cruise, then you like Disney and Mickey and all that... That gives everyone something in common right off the bat... It's easier to hit it off with others, especially Dis-ers...

$2000 though... To put it in this perspective, you can go on the Allure and still have enough left over for a Carnival Breeze 6 night cruise... That's about what we paid for our Breeze cruise for all 5 of us.

We'll still keep alternating between Disney and Allure/Oasis even though Disney is a little more $. Only about $1000 in our case. We just like the different experiences...

If you've been on a Disney Cruise already, I'd say try the new experience. If not, and you absolutely love Disney, I think DCL would be worth the $. Or you can always use that extra $ to have a few days at WDW prior to your RCL cruise.

Ron

Fantastic Answer to that Diser's question! Couldn't have said it better myself

 

[anewmac]

Good to know. I've been reading reports about the shows being poor... Oh well... That is not really why we cruise anyway, just an added bonus. Believe me for what we paid for this cruise they could have a puppet show for all I care. I've heard the comedy shows are good though.

Ron

asa carni alum LOL I agree the shows arent good at all. Maybe on the new ships they are but we were on the freedom and it didnt wow us. we walked out. But yes the Comedy shows are great!!!! A few Adult games on the serenity deck are also hilarious. Kids had an ok time in the clubs when they were there too.

 

[livingis2me]

asa carni alum LOL I agree the shows arent good at all. Maybe on the new ships they are but we were on the freedom and it didnt wow us. we walked out. But yes the Comedy shows are great!!!! A few Adult games on the serenity deck are also hilarious. Kids had an ok time in the clubs when they were there too.

From what I hear the Breeze has the worst shows on Carnival. Oh well... I'm looking forward to the comedy shows!

Ron

 

[Patrickprincess]

Good to know. I've been reading reports about the shows being poor... Oh well... That is not really why we cruise anyway, just an added bonus. Believe me for what we paid for this cruise they could have a puppet show for all I care. I've heard the comedy shows are good though.

Ron

i saw belive when i was on the fantasy back in september and i was crying buckets. it really is a great show.

 

[Cj1977]

Looks cool

 

[nenner1]

Alright guys I need to let you know where we are at the moment and why there has been nothing...nada...zilch posted for so long.

Some of you may be aware of the changes to Photobucket, which is the photo site I have used for years now to do my Trip Reports. I have hundreds of thousands of my photos on Photobucket, and they are now being held hostage...

See, it used to be Photobucket had unlimited storage space but very limited bandwidth (which is the number of views it gets when linked or embedded in a thread). This was super reasonable for someone like me, I would just pay for a Pro account to upgrade the bandwidth while I had a TR going. Easy peasy.

But NOW they have gone and not only severely throttled the bandwidth that the lowest priced Pro Account, but they have limited the storage as well. Since I had sooo many pictures already, prior to the changes...do you think I'd get grandfathered in? Heh. I did, but apparently not. So I am already waaaaaaay over the free account's limits on storage from the get go and in order to pay to cover the amount of storage I need to re-up all of my links it is a ridiculous $40/month or something like that.

So needless to say I am NOT a happy camper. I'd like to leave my old photos in PB where they are and just add new photos from a different source, like FLickr as the report continues...but some of my old photos and links may not work, and I'm not sure if they ever will. Frankly I am not inclined to pay the highway robbery that Photobucket now wants to charge me.

So, now I am looking into alternatives. I think Flickr may work, their prices are much more reasonable for unlimited bandwidth and storage on a monthly basis.

And, on top of that my laptop hard drive is full yet again. I am trying to come up with a solution for that as well that does not involve buying yet another (#8...#9?) EHD.

So obviously right now I am in a holding pattern. I apologize profusely..this whole thing has been a serious headache!

If anyone knows of any good alternatives or options I'm happy to hear it! Thanks!!!

 

[superme80]

So sorry to hear that. I am enjoying your report. I hope you can get things figured out.

 

[JustTJ]

I know you do scrapbooking and you can post gallery pages here from mousescrappers. How about Make a few simple templates without a lot of embellishments (that takes time ect to choose just the right ones), that you can just slide your photos into from your computer, upload them into your gallery on Mousescrappers, then post that page here in your trip report? I can help with that if you'd like.

 

[threeiscrazy]

And, on top of that my laptop hard drive is full yet again. I am trying to come up with a solution for that as well that does not involve buying yet another (#8...#9?) EHD.

I feel your pain. My Mac keeps telling me it's full. I've had a friend look at it and then tell me I have a very expensive photo album on my desk. It's gotten so bad that my iphone won't let me take pictures because it is full too! I'm down to bare minimum apps so I can keep pictues

Good Luck figuring it all out.