3 generations on the Fantasy & cruising concierge: CABANA #10! [updated 10/12/14]

[emmebear]

What a nice solo day is Puerto Rico! It looks peaceful even if it was hot. I love that private balcony/sundeck. They had some nice features. I love how Donald was out!

Great day in San Juan!

 

[emmebear]

What lense do you have for your iPhone?

Love the tr!

i use the olloclip but didn't use that on this trip.

thanks for reading along!

 

[emmebear]

updated 4/23/13



PRINCE & PRINCESS DINNER @ ENCHANTED GARDEN!



after my solo excursion in san juan, it was almost time for dinner @ enchanted garden. this would be our second time eating @ enchanted garden. so far, this dining room had my favorite meal of the trip.

we arrived to table 74 & our servers mr. o'neil & mr. ninja had crayons & a coloring book awaiting emme.

i was kind of tired from the sun beating me down in san juan. but i was hungry even though we all nibbled a bit from the amazing concierge lounge. i love the lounge & so grateful we had access to it all day.

after looking over the menu, i ordered items for my mom & i to share. it was my strategy to order a couple of appetizers to start because some were hit or miss. if we liked a particular appetizer, we would order another one.


we had the sambal also awaiting us at the table.

also, there was bread service as well.

Multi-grain Loaf and Country Current Bread

there were two different types of bread with dinner. emme loved the country bread and of course only ate the insides of the bread. the bread was warm.

at dinner, there was always this butter.

what exactly is "european style whipped butter blend"? curiousity got the best of me so i tried it. it just tasted like butter. i'm glad i solved that mystery.



as i was trying to make up my mind for appetizers, emme was going to town on her coloring book.

and i thought it was always sweet that wrote emme's name on her lid.

finally, i decided on these appetizers:

Slow Roasted Duck & Cheese Quesadilla

this was quite tasty. my mom isn't a duck fan so more for me! it was more of a puff pastry type appetizer rather than a quesadilla. i enjoyed it. so far, so good!

Belle's Blue Cheese & Polenta Cake

this was another winner in my book. i love polenta & the blue cheese flavor was amazing. i could have eaten this all day, every day.



for our main courses, my mom chose this:

Baked Sesame Tofu Steak

another tofu winner on board the fantasy. we love tofu. we eat tofu almost daily in our lives. the sesame oil used in this dish is how we would use it at home. the dish however made me long for my mom's cooking. at this point, i was really missing korean food & spicy korean food. but my mom enjoyed this dish a lot & she didn't enjoy much of the food on board the ship. two thumbs up from us.



and i chose:

Roasted Portabella Mushroom Pasta

this pasta had a butternut squash sauce. i love mushrooms & this dish had a deep mushroom flavor. the color of the orange threw me off. maybe they had some really really orange butternut squashes. but, it was a very tasty dish. it was light & not too heavy. we ordered two servings of this as my mom enjoyed it too.


you can see emme's nuclear orange kids macaroni & cheese dinner which she took two bites of & then wanted....mashed potatoes.



here are some more pics of the cute lights.

overall, this was a great meal from start to finish. it was unusual to like everything that we ordered when eating dinner. i was surprised to have liked everything that we ordered. we did not order dessert as we don't have much of a sweet tooth. but so far, enchanted garden has been our favorite place to eat dinner.



as we were leaving, we ran into a friend:

did i mention that sleeping beauty was out and about the boat A LOT?! she was always randomly walking around the ship. maybe she was an insomniac but she was always out while the other princesses were sleeping.



when we returned to our stateroom, we found this:

and check out the eyes:

super cute!!


i will be doing an entire post soley dedicated to the ridiculously amazing towel origami figures that our hosts left us. they were incredible!


i don't think i've posted what the couch looks like turned down as a bed. the couch was super comfy! i never wished to have slept on the bed as the couch was very very very comfortable. hard to believe but true!

after a delicious dinner, emme & i relaxed & watched a movie. emme had some yogurt and fruit as a snack with some milk. i had an adult beverage and then we finally drifted off to sleep.

 

[emmebear]

More updates soon!!

Palo brunch anyone?!

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Thank you so much for sharing love your tr.....

 

[DeniseMarie526]

Onboard! Loving your TR!

 

[BEYONCE]

Can't wait for the next update!

 

[labela]

I am so loving your trip report! We are going on the same cruise this November except stopping at St. Maarten instead of San Juan. It will be our first time on the Fantasy and I can't wait!!!!

It will be me, my DH and DD8 as well as my mom, dad and grandma! So four generations and a once in a lifetime trip for us as well!

We are celebrating 2013 as the year of our big "5" birthdays...45, 65 and 85 for my gram!!!

 

[cforsythe]

What a wonderful trip report you are completing. I am hooked!!

 

[AustralianJetsetter]

Hi emmebear, I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions about the one bedroom suite? We are thinking of upgrading our Dream 4nt cruise for next year to a cat T from the cat V that we have booked. It will be an extra $2300 though....gulp!!!

However as we are from Australia I can't see us ever sailing the Bahamas again so we are thinking let's do it in style I just want to be clear on what we will get for our $2300.

So we will have loads more room, a spa (whirlpool) tub in the bathroom with a tv in the mirror and the privilege of ordering a hot breakfast and dinner from the MDRs. Is there anything else we could look forward to? We would already have the concierge shoreside and lounge on the ship as we are booked in a cat V room.

Anyway if you can give me anymore feedback on the room and whether it was 'worth' it for you I would be very appreciative

Cheers,
AJ

 

[emmebear]

Thank you so much for sharing love your tr.....

many thanks for reading along!! it's been great fun re-living my cruise through this report & pictures.

Onboard! Loving your TR!

welcome!! hope you enjoy your stay!!

Can't wait for the next update!

i'm going to try & get that done tonight! thanks for reading along!

I am so loving your trip report! We are going on the same cruise this November except stopping at St. Maarten instead of San Juan. It will be our first time on the Fantasy and I can't wait!!!!

It will be me, my DH and DD8 as well as my mom, dad and grandma! So four generations and a once in a lifetime trip for us as well!

We are celebrating 2013 as the year of our big "5" birthdays...45, 65 and 85 for my gram!!!

how wonderful! 4 generations!! that is so lovely!! you are going to have an absolute blast. there is something for EVERYONE on board the fantasy. the ship is absolutely beautiful.

this indeed was my trip of a lifetime too. but it was worth every penny. i don't regret it one bit as we created lifelong memories together.

happy early birthdays to all of you!

What a wonderful trip report you are completing. I am hooked!!

thank you for reading along!! i'm glad i'm just not talking to myself with these updates.

Hi emmebear, I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions about the one bedroom suite? We are thinking of upgrading our Dream 4nt cruise for next year to a cat T from the cat V that we have booked. It will be an extra $2300 though....gulp!!!

However as we are from Australia I can't see us ever sailing the Bahamas again so we are thinking let's do it in style I just want to be clear on what we will get for our $2300.

So we will have loads more room, a spa (whirlpool) tub in the bathroom with a tv in the mirror and the privilege of ordering a hot breakfast and dinner from the MDRs. Is there anything else we could look forward to? We would already have the concierge shoreside and lounge on the ship as we are booked in a cat V room.

Anyway if you can give me anymore feedback on the room and whether it was 'worth' it for you I would be very appreciative

Cheers,
AJ

hello!

don't forget there are changing lights (blue & green) in the whirlpool tub in the HUGE bathroom!! the tub was so nice to soak in with the jets & the water got super hot. i loved it so much as did my mom who suffers from chronic pain.

but to answer your questions, how many is traveling in your party?? there were only 3 in my room. however, we had so much space to enjoy & relax in our rooms. i've read that people don't spend time in their rooms as they spend most of it outside on the ship but we spent quite a bit of time in our room as we had a huge amount of space.

over 685 sq feet plus a very large balcony. there's a king size bed, a queen size pull out sofa as well as a murphy bed. the bedroom can be completely private as well as the doors close on all sides of the room. the couch was also very comfortable as well. we slept great!

speaking of sleep, when you are in the 1 bedroom suites, there's a "pillow talk" program where you can chose between numerous types of pillows during your trip. they have a pillow for everything. also, the bathroom amenities are upgraded and you also have 2 plush robes as well as comfy plush slippers awaiting you.

it was really nice to enjoy the breakfast offerings in the concierge lounge while sitting at our own dining room table. having a table to sit & share a meal together in our own private space was pretty nice. i felt it was a complete luxury honestly. the ship was really busy for most of the day but being able to start our day with such calm & peace was amazing. we opened the balcony and let the ocean air come in as we ate. pretty awesome in my book. there's also two entry ways to the balcony as well. one by the living room and the second by the dining room table.

the extra bathroom in the hall was a nice touch as my mom would sleep in late & emme & i would get ready for our morning using the hallway bathroom.

there's also 3 closets, one being a walk in. my mom & i packed way too much stuff so being able to hang our things & also being able to see our clothes easily was a definite perk in my opinion.

the 1 bedroom suite was larger than my first college apartment. in actuality, you are paying for the extra space so why not enjoy it? it really did feel like a vacation as we were never in each others way, we had plenty of space to move around in & with that, it was total relaxation. i figured we were going to be together for 7 straight nights & 8 days & i definitely didn't want to be in close quarters with a very energetic 3 year old & my mom. we probably would have ended up in many fights or at least gotten on each others nerves. ha!

this was a vacation of a lifetime for us & we really really enjoyed staying in the 1 bedroom suite. it was worth every penny! i would love to do it again soon but my bank account is telling me no!

i hope that helps. if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.

 

[AustralianJetsetter]

Hi emmebear,

Thanks for so many details!! It sounds totally perfect in the 1 bedroom
We are also the kind of travelers who like space. There is only the four of us but with 2 kids 12 & 9 I think having our own space will be just right for us. Usually when we are on holidays we have 'down time' in our room too so I am sure despite being busy with ship activities, that we will spend a lot of time in our room.

Did you order any hot food from the MDR? Do you know does this have to be arranged prior to boarding the ship or can we do this spontaneously on the day? (or night before for breakfast)

The coloured lights in the tub sound exciting

Do you know if the concierge will deliver beer to the suite....& if so do we pay for that?

Thanks again

 

[Linda67]

I'm terribly behind on everyone's TRs!

Lovely photos from the Enchanted Garden. It was certainly our favourite on both The Dream and The Fantasy

The tofu dish looks really good and so does the mushroom pasta, but I agree, the sauce looks a little "too" orange!

 

[emmebear]

Hi emmebear,

Thanks for so many details!! It sounds totally perfect in the 1 bedroom
We are also the kind of travelers who like space. There is only the four of us but with 2 kids 12 & 9 I think having our own space will be just right for us. Usually when we are on holidays we have 'down time' in our room too so I am sure despite being busy with ship activities, that we will spend a lot of time in our room.

Did you order any hot food from the MDR? Do you know does this have to be arranged prior to boarding the ship or can we do this spontaneously on the day? (or night before for breakfast)

The coloured lights in the tub sound exciting

Do you know if the concierge will deliver beer to the suite....& if so do we pay for that?

Thanks again

i'm glad i could help!

concierge gets 2 happy hours a day. there is beer, wine & alcohol. if you happen to miss happy hour, the concierge team will gladly pour you a drink. i really wanted a nice cold pinot grigio before the captain's gala & they poured me a glass. also, the beer is kept in the mini fridges beneath the buffet hatch in addition to the water. i always took a few beers back with me so i could enjoy a cold beer while sitting on my balcony.

also, having access to bottled water is a luxury. given, you paid for all these perks with the high price of the room but having water whenever i wanted (and not shelling out extra cash) was really nice. i would get cases & store it in my fridge. we drank a lot of water on this ship. i remember getting 4 packs of water.

also the coffee machine was fantastic. our room was literally 3 rooms from the concierge lounge so we utilized the lounge A LOT. the food offerings were also very fresh & tasty & changed throughout the day. try staying closer to the lounge so it's easier to take advantage of all that they offer!

the concierge team was also amazing with my daughter. they made sure our fridge was stocked with her low fat milk as well as her strawberry yogurt. they also knew she liked pancakes & ran out into the rain down to cabanas to get her some pancakes. they were incredible.

in regards to eating the MDR dinner in room, i did not do that but i did ask. if i remember correctly, you can order day of. i really wanted to eat in our room but the meals in the MDR were really hit or miss so we ordered multiple items for each course. i also didn't want to miss out on the experience as each night was different.

in terms of privacy, there is a curtain that separates the couch & the murphy bed so you have three "bedrooms" within the room. the master bedroom can be closed off by shutting all the doors. i really loved all the space that we had. it was fantastic!

please feel free to ask me any more questions! i will try & answer them.

I'm terribly behind on everyone's TRs!

Lovely photos from the Enchanted Garden. It was certainly our favourite on both The Dream and The Fantasy

The tofu dish looks really good and so does the mushroom pasta, but I agree, the sauce looks a little "too" orange!

thanks linda! enchanted garden was my favorite MDR of the trip. the tofu was awesome!!

 

[AustralianJetsetter]

i'm glad i could help!

concierge gets 2 happy hours a day. there is beer, wine & alcohol. if you happen to miss happy hour, the concierge team will gladly pour you a drink. i really wanted a nice cold pinot grigio before the captain's gala & they poured me a glass. also, the beer is kept in the mini fridges beneath the buffet hatch in addition to the water. i always took a few beers back with me so i could enjoy a cold beer while sitting on my balcony.

also, having access to bottled water is a luxury. given, you paid for all these perks with the high price of the room but having water whenever i wanted (and not shelling out extra cash) was really nice. i would get cases & store it in my fridge. we drank a lot of water on this ship. i remember getting 4 packs of water.

also the coffee machine was fantastic. our room was literally 3 rooms from the concierge lounge so we utilized the lounge A LOT. the food offerings were also very fresh & tasty & changed throughout the day. try staying closer to the lounge so it's easier to take advantage of all that they offer!

the concierge team was also amazing with my daughter. they made sure our fridge was stocked with her low fat milk as well as her strawberry yogurt. they also knew she liked pancakes & ran out into the rain down to cabanas to get her some pancakes. they were incredible.

in regards to eating the MDR dinner in room, i did not do that but i did ask. if i remember correctly, you can order day of. i really wanted to eat in our room but the meals in the MDR were really hit or miss so we ordered multiple items for each course. i also didn't want to miss out on the experience as each night was different.

in terms of privacy, there is a curtain that separates the couch & the murphy bed so you have three "bedrooms" within the room. the master bedroom can be closed off by shutting all the doors. i really loved all the space that we had. it was fantastic!

please feel free to ask me any more questions! i will try & answer them.




Thanks so much again for your insight I have decided to bite the bullet and book the suite!!! My DS11 has been quite sick with a virus for a couple of days and made me think...life's too short. Let's cruise the Bahamas in style Now we've decided and our TA has made the change to our booking I can't wait!!! We are about 4 doors away from the lounge I think!

The concierge lounge sounds fantastic!! My kids will love getting served....and they also love pancakes so fingers crossed they will get some

I think we too will want to eat in the MDRs just for the atmosphere! It's not every day we are on a cruise ship after all

Did you find there to be too much motion in the high deck forward room? That's probably the thing I am worried about the most. I will be sure to call out if I think of any other questions...thank you so much for your offer to help.

AJ

 

[emmebear]

My mom gets major motion sickness. The trick is to take medication like bonine or Dramamine (I prefer bonine) 24 hours before you step one foot on the boat. Then continue to take it. Also, make sure you eat enough @ stay hydrated.

That saved my mom as dinner at AP @ Enchanted garden were really rocky. I almost lost my dinner the first night as it was super rocky.

The boat rocked hard one time while we were sleeping. It woke me up but then I had some wine & went back to sleep. I did take a few bonines while on board...my mom took it every day & it really helped.

For the most part, I hardly noticed & forgot we were on a moving boat!

 

[AustralianJetsetter]

Excellent. That's what I was hoping to hear. I will definitely be sure to get some of the Dramamine and Bonine for our trip. If I can't get it here in Oz then I will get some once we arrive in the USA as we arrive a day and a half before we sail

Thanks again. Looking forward to the rest of your report!!!

 

[DWGal210]

Hi! Loving your report! I'm sailing in June & I love your reporting on the ship!

Your daughter is adorable - looks like everyone was having a great time!

 

[Kaynic80]

Hello. I have been reading along and have been enjoying reading about your trip. It gets me so much more excited for out up coming cruise in june. I was wondering about the overall temp indoors on the ship in the dining rooms, clubs, theaters etc? Is it comfortable or is more on the cool side? Just wondering as I am trying to make my packing list

 

[Calimum]

I have been having so much fun reading about your amazing trip! I love all the details, am learning a lot! We know we want a one bedroom suite and now just need to pick a date, they go so quickly!