August 10, 2013 Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy

[AussieBeth]

Congrats on your first Disney cruise
I'll try to help you out here. I'm assuming that your staying at a WDW resort before the cruise?

So I've determined that my family will have to take a flight in the night before our Aug 10 eastern caribbean cruise and stay in a hotel because we can't get into Orlando with time to make it aboard the Disney Cruise Line magical express bus and to the ship before it disembarks. I've already booked my flight and hotel as well as my ground transportation.

Do I check my luggage at my airport and pick it up at baggage claim in Orlando and have to take it with us everywhere we go or will I be able to put the tags on my checked luggage and let it stay at the airport and be transported the next day?

You should get some yellow Magical express luggage tags if you are staying at a WDW resort hotel. If you place those on before your bags before you check them in then the magical express people will collect them in Orlando for you and take them to your hotel. If you didn't get these tags or if you are not staying at a WDW hotel then you will have to collect your own bags and carry them around to the magical express yourself.

How does the magical express work? Can I leave my hotel at anytime and go to the airport and check into the bus or is there a specific time that I have to go? How do I know when I can check into the ship or when I can get the bus?

The magical express will pick you up at a pre determined time from your hotel if your staying at WDW. WDW resorts will drop off some extra luggage tags along with a letter telling you to place your packed bags outside the door by a certain time and then you just meet the bus or the bus rep later in the day.

If your not staying at WDW then you will have to find out from your travel agent what time your booked on the magical express for and take your luggage with you back to the airport to board the bus.

Once your on the bus you won't see your bags again until you get to your stateroom onboard ship. Your check in on the ship will be determined by what time your magical express bus gets you there. usually it's just after 12pm on the day you set sail. You will be checked in as you arrive.

I've been onto my account with Disney and its saying I can't check in until may 27! I've seen that other people have been able to check in and sign up for reservations. Is this because I am a first time cruiser? Approximately how much are reservations and what kind of excursions can I book off ship in port?

If you have cruised with Disney before then you are automatically a castaway club member. Castaway club membership has 3 levels - silver, gold & platinum. The number of cruises that you have done determines your club status. The higher your status the earlier you can check in to reserve excursions. As this is your first cruise you will have to wait until the 27th to reserve anything.

You should be able to search shore tours (excursions) via the disney cruise website. price ranges from about $30pp to $500pp depending on the type of activity. You can choose to do a couple or none while your away. You can also contact some companies directly for a price when you get to your destination or book privately through them before you go but i've never done that.

I'm not quite sure how the reservations work! I'd like to book a dinner or lunch for the hubby and I. I know that almost all the food is included, are the adult restaurants excluded from this?

The disney fantasy has 3 set restaurants for dinner that you rotate through for the duration of the cruise. Some of these are open for lunch along with the buffet at Cabannas. There are 2 specialty resturaunts on board that cost a little bit extra. These you have to reserve if you want to eat there. These places usually book out by platinum & gold castaway club members but on the day you board the ship ask a crew member where to go for reservations and they can usually get you in. Last time we had to go to Royal Court and we got 2 palo brunches.

I've seen people talking about onboard credits! Are these prepaid? Can I prepay, if so, how? How do I go about getting an onboard credit and how much should I have for an onboard credit? Can I designate some money for the kids to be able to charge on a daily basis or should I not give them any charging privileges?

Onboard credit is an amount of money that you have in your account to charge purchases while onboard. The only things you pay for are candy, specialty coffee, alcoholic beverages, soda pop if you get it at the bar otherwise it's free from the self serve machines & anything in the gift shops. You can use it to pay for DCL shore excursions too. You have the option to pre pay for some onboard credit by calling DCL or you can add a credit card to your room and it will be charged at the end of the cruise for everything you have spent. There is no cash on board the disney ships and you just charge everything to your room using your room key card. You can opt to make your kids cards non chargeable so they can't run up a big bill. this just means you have to approve of anything they buy.

Your travel agent can sometimes offer some to you as a perk of booking. Not all travel agents are able to do this though. It usually varies from $50 - $200 per cabin.

Am I correct in saying, if I buy alcohol once I reach my hotel, I can bring whatever I've bought onto the ship for my own consumption in my room?

You can as long as it's unopened and you can carry it onboard.

Is there anyone who happens to be around mine or my family's age? I'll be 27, at time of cruise, hubby will be 29 and my kids will be 10 and 5 (one month away from 6). I'd like to make some connections or some friends to have on the ship who can help me should I need, I'm not particular about age as I feel I'm much more mature than my age but it would be nice. Also I'm from Whitby, ON, is anyone from the general area on this cruise as well?

Sorry for the long post!!!

I can't help you much here but i'm 31 and my husband is 32 and we have a 2 year old but we're always on the look out for a new friend

 

[dizneeat]

Karin - For the FEs, we will be in cabin 9064.

I updated your information!

Hello fellow cruisers

I have just booked our family onto this cruise yesterday. It's an add on before we do Alaska on the wonder 19th departure. This will be our 2nd Fantasy cruise. I'm so excited! There are 3 of us. DH & DS (2) plus myself. We are flying from Queensland Australia. Can we join the FE group please? I don't have a cabin number yet as we are GTY.

So great to meet you all.

Hey,

Oh yeah my name is Beth, DH is Chris & DS (2) is Daniel. *edit because cabin was for our 2014 Disney Fantasy cruise*

Cheers

How exciting to go from the Caribbean to Alaska!
I added you to the list of cruisers and the FE list. I have a problem with uploading the detailled list at the moment, but will do so as soon as I can.

So I've determined that my family will have to take a flight in the night before our Aug 10 eastern caribbean cruise and stay in a hotel because we can't get into Orlando with time to make it aboard the Disney Cruise Line magical express bus and to the ship before it disembarks. I've already booked my flight and hotel as well as my ground transportation.

Do I check my luggage at my airport and pick it up at baggage claim in Orlando and have to take it with us everywhere we go or will I be able to put the tags on my checked luggage and let it stay at the airport and be transported the next day?

How does the magical express work? Can I leave my hotel at anytime and go to the airport and check into the bus or is there a specific time that I have to go? How do I know when I can check into the ship or when I can get the bus?

I've been onto my account with Disney and its saying I can't check in until may 27! I've seen that other people have been able to check in and sign up for reservations. Is this because I am a first time cruiser? Approximately how much are reservations and what kind of excursions can I book off ship in port?

I'm not quite sure how the reservations work! I'd like to book a dinner or lunch for the hubby and I. I know that almost all the food is included, are the adult restaurants excluded from this?

I've seen people talking about onboard credits! Are these prepaid? Can I prepay, if so, how? How do I go about getting an onboard credit and how much should I have for an onboard credit? Can I designate some money for the kids to be able to charge on a daily basis or should I not give them any charging privileges?

Am I correct in saying, if I buy alcohol once I reach my hotel, I can bring whatever I've bought onto the ship for my own consumption in my room?

Is there anyone who happens to be around mine or my family's age? I'll be 27, at time of cruise, hubby will be 29 and my kids will be 10 and 5 (one month away from 6). I'd like to make some connections or some friends to have on the ship who can help me should I need, I'm not particular about age as I feel I'm much more mature than my age but it would be nice. Also I'm from Whitby, ON, is anyone from the general area on this cruise as well?

Sorry for the long post!!!

Heather, AussieBeth answered all your questions. There are just a few things I would like to add.

Excursions: You can look up the excursions they are offering at the DCL site. If you cannot find them right away, put port adventures into the search on their site. There is LOTS to choose from.

Reservations:
Once your booking window opens (75 days from sail date) you can make your reservations online.
There are only two restaurants (and a few bars and cafes) where you have to pay an upcharge. The two restaurants are adult only and have a dress code.
There is Palo - an Italian restaurant. They offer dinner and brunch and both are an upcharge of 20$ per person.
Then there is Remy - a French restaurant. The upcharge for dinner is 75$ per person and there is a wine pairing for an additional charge.
The Champagne Lunch at Remy is an upcharge of $50 and it includes the champagne.
While dinner is offered every night, brunch and lunch are only offered at sea days.

Onboard credit:
Onboard credit refers to a certain amount of money your TA might put into your account (some do offer this, not every TA does) OR if you book your next cruise while on board they will give you a 10% discount on the cruise AND an onboard credit! I think it is $100 for cruises under 7 nights and $200 for 7 nights and up. This money in your "account" is referred to as your onboard credit.
Guess I won't be much help about the charging privileges as I do not think they do cards with a certain amount on it. What about giving the kids a gift card, so they have their own spending money?

Bringing alcohol on board is NO problem as long as the bottles are unopened and you carry them on.

As for age - I am WAY past your age group, but if you have any more questions, just ask!

 

[Embraer]

Yes, the speciality cruises for Wishes and Illuminations are a bit on the pricey side. We did a Wishes fireworks cruise in February and it was just such and awesome experience (invited some DISfriends to join us ). Now, we are repeating that experience on our first full day at WDW prior to the cruise, again with some friends and I have been thinking about the Illuminations one. So far I have one booked for the last part of our stay, but still not quite sure if I want to keep it.

I've heard that the 7 Seas Lagoon cruise is pretty cool and comes with a pirate theme. For another time for us, I think our toddler would freak if he saw Capt Hook!

I'll listen out for some European voices under the bridge the week before, we'll be in the parks from Monday and intend to catch Illuminations a couple of times if we can

 

[Embraer]

The disney fantasy has 3 set restaurants for dinner that you rotate through for the duration of the cruise. Some of these are open for lunch along with the buffet at Cabannas. There are 2 specialty resturaunts on board that cost a little bit extra. These you have to reserve if you want to eat there. These places usually book out by platinum & gold castaway club members but on the day you board the ship ask a crew member where to go for reservations and they can usually get you in. Last time we had to go to Royal Court and we got 2 palo brunches.

I wouldn't sweat it with the availability at 75 days unless there's a huge rush in the next 10, there appeared to be plenty of different time slots available when I booked and a quick look just now shows Dinner availability at both restaurants with Brunch having limited availability at both - and that's just for the Sunday

 

[dizneeat]

I've heard that the 7 Seas Lagoon cruise is pretty cool and comes with a pirate theme. For another time for us, I think our toddler would freak if he saw Capt Hook!

I'll listen out for some European voices under the bridge the week before, we'll be in the parks from Monday and intend to catch Illuminations a couple of times if we can

That's the Pirates and Pals fireworks cruise that has the pirate theme, complete with a meet up with Captain Hook and Peter Pan.

But that is not the one we are doing - I am renting a pontoon boat for the evening, complete with driver and they drive all over Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon, filling you in on history and behind the scenes info. There are drinks and snacks on board and you can have up to 10 guests. They position themselves in front of the railway station for the fireworks and the premium cruises (the ones for up to ten people) even pipe in the sound. It's awesome! We invited some friends to come with us in February and we had a blast. It was one of the most memorable evenings!
We have some friends from NY coming in in August and they have been going through some rough patches lately - so this will be our treat for them.

 

[heatherpenni]

Wow everyone! Thanks so much for your answers and your continued help and support.

Unfortunately I am NOT staying at WDW resort! We are staying at the bohemian hotel in Orlando, less than a km away from the airport. It was the closest one that was available to me. So I'll just have to pick up my luggage and take it back with me the next day.

These gift cards that someone mentioned? Where can I find them because that sounds like a great idea for the kids instead of giving them charging privileges. My eldest daughter has taken after myself, her mother, with her shopping addiction and the ability to spend money on the ship kind of scares me a little.

Also, would anyone happen to know what stateroom 9648 looks like or where it is located? Good area? Bad area? I've gathers its at the back of the ship and there are elevators and stairs near by, but is there anything else I should know about my room?

 

[yellowrosedtxn]

Hi Beth! So glad you are going on the cruise with us!

And I am glad that you all answered Heather's questions as I am LITERALLY in the same boat (or ship) as this is my first trip so I had a lot of the same questions. I do have another question, for the magical express, how much does it cost from the airport to the ship? Where do you go to look for that information? I inquired about a town car and got quoted 220.00 round trip from the airport to the ship. The good thing about them was after we get off the ship, we wanted to go to DTD before heading to the airport. He said it was no problem and we could put our luggage at the hotel that the town car works for and they did this all the time. I thought that was pretty cool. But is that about the "going rate"? We have five people that are going to be headed for the cruise. I will also be in Florida for a week, and found it cheaper to rent a car that I return to the airport rather than returning it at the port.

I hope I haven't confused you with this. Thank you for your help in advance.

 

[Zeppelin]

Karin - For the FEs, we will be in cabin 9064.

KJansen - We also booked the zipline adventure. We have a boy, Cameron, who will be 11 and a daughter, Jordan, who is 13. We did the stingray adventure a couple years ago. The kids loved feeding them.

ha...we are in room 9060...

 

[dizneeat]

These gift cards that someone mentioned? Where can I find them because that sounds like a great idea for the kids instead of giving them charging privileges. My eldest daughter has taken after myself, her mother, with her shopping addiction and the ability to spend money on the ship kind of scares me a little

I mentioned the gift cards. Regular Disney gift cards.

Your best bet will be to call DCL and ask if they accept gift cards in the shops. I have just done a quick google search and come up with conflicting answers.

 

[heatherpenni]

Can I find these gift cards in Ontario?

 

[dizneeat]

Can I find these gift cards in Ontario?

I didn't realize you were from Canada. Not sure if you could buy them there, but I am SURE the gift shops at MCO do carry them.

 

[heatherpenni]

I didn't realize you were from Canada. Not sure if you could buy them there, but I am SURE the gift shops at MCO do carry them.

Awesome! I'll have to call DCL and see if that's sufficient currency for the children to use in the kids clubs. From what I understand from their website is that they can be used to pay off some of the bill or buy merchandise aboard at the shops. I'm not sure if they can use it in the kids clubs or towards whatever they can do in there but definitely something I would like to know

 

[AussieBeth]

Hi Beth! So glad you are going on the cruise with us!

And I am glad that you all answered Heather's questions as I am LITERALLY in the same boat (or ship) as this is my first trip so I had a lot of the same questions. I do have another question, for the magical express, how much does it cost from the airport to the ship? Where do you go to look for that information? I inquired about a town car and got quoted 220.00 round trip from the airport to the ship. The good thing about them was after we get off the ship, we wanted to go to DTD before heading to the airport. He said it was no problem and we could put our luggage at the hotel that the town car works for and they did this all the time. I thought that was pretty cool. But is that about the "going rate"? We have five people that are going to be headed for the cruise. I will also be in Florida for a week, and found it cheaper to rent a car that I return to the airport rather than returning it at the port.

I hope I haven't confused you with this. Thank you for your help in advance.

Were going to have so much fun on this cruise. You all sound like awesome people to me I made so many good friends on our last Fantasy cruise that we have all rebooked together for new years 2014/15. It's all part of the Disney magic.

Town car rates vary a fair bit but as there is a lot of you travelling it's a good way to go. The magical express is $35 pp each way so $70 per person round trip. For your group of 5 that would be $350 bucks so town car is cheaper.

You can rent a car for around $30 a day and i believe budget have a rent a car spot at the port so you can do 2 one way drives if your interested in going solo. Then you can leave your luggage in the car while to shop at DTD. look out for coupons if your going to hire a car too.

 

[AussieBeth]

Also, would anyone happen to know what stateroom 9648 looks like or where it is located? Good area? Bad area? I've gathers its at the back of the ship and there are elevators and stairs near by, but is there anything else I should know about my room?

The last time i cruised on the Fantasy i had room 9638 and i can't say enough good about it. Being at the AFT of the ship you have the elevator that opens directly into cabanas so sneaking up for a coffee and a tray of pastries for breakfast in bed is easy. It's also the elevator that takes you directly to animators pallet and the night clubs

It's on the starboard side of the ship so you get an awesome view of Castaway Cay when we get there. It has a nice Queen bed with a curtain to close off the kids sleeping area and a balcony. There is room under the bed for storage and you get the bath and toilet separate.

The only thing with the rear of the ship is that you may feel the movement a bi more than if you were in the middle but i only had one night (as we sailed around a storm) where i felt it and you may get a bit of noise outside your room as your closer to the elevators and stairs than i was.

I hope that helps.

 

[gilliland1997]

Hey does anyone know anything about collecting charms at some of the stores in st. Martin. I'm always looking for fun gifts for my dd and I had heard that if you go to certain stores they will give you free charms.

 

[thefamilyford]

Is there anyone who happens to be around mine or my family's age? I'll be 27, at time of cruise, hubby will be 29 and my kids will be 10 and 5 (one month away from 6). I'd like to make some connections or some friends to have on the ship who can help me should I need, I'm not particular about age as I feel I'm much more mature than my age but it would be nice. Also I'm from Whitby, ON, is anyone from the general area on this cruise as well?

Welcome to Disboards! We definitely live your general area. We are in Toronto...a few fellow Canadians who cannot wait for the Caribbean!

 

[heatherpenni]

The last time i cruised on the Fantasy i had room 9638 and i can't say enough good about it. Being at the AFT of the ship you have the elevator that opens directly into cabanas so sneaking up for a coffee and a tray of pastries for breakfast in bed is easy. It's also the elevator that takes you directly to animators pallet and the night clubs

It's on the starboard side of the ship so you get an awesome view of Castaway Cay when we get there. It has a nice Queen bed with a curtain to close off the kids sleeping area and a balcony. There is room under the bed for storage and you get the bath and toilet separate.

The only thing with the rear of the ship is that you may feel the movement a bi more than if you were in the middle but i only had one night (as we sailed around a storm) where i felt it and you may get a bit of noise outside your room as your closer to the elevators and stairs than i was.

I hope that helps.

Thank you very much! This helps greatly... All information is helping very much. It's making me that much more exited!!!

 

[yellowrosedtxn]

Were going to have so much fun on this cruise. You all sound like awesome people to me I made so many good friends on our last Fantasy cruise that we have all rebooked together for new years 2014/15. It's all part of the Disney magic.

Town car rates vary a fair bit but as there is a lot of you travelling it's a good way to go. The magical express is $35 pp each way so $70 per person round trip. For your group of 5 that would be $350 bucks so town car is cheaper.

You can rent a car for around $30 a day and i believe budget have a rent a car spot at the port so you can do 2 one way drives if your interested in going solo. Then you can leave your luggage in the car while to shop at DTD. look out for coupons if your going to hire a car too.

I will look into that. As renting a car would be a LOT cheaper than doing the town car. And we wouldn't "need" it for anything more than transport to and from each destination. Well, other than the last day and we want to go to DTD. Thanks!

Hey does anyone know anything about collecting charms at some of the stores in st. Martin. I'm always looking for fun gifts for my dd and I had heard that if you go to certain stores they will give you free charms.

I would like to know more about this as well. It would be fun to do this for my girls and myself as well to go on my charm bracelet! What a neat idea!

 

[englishrose47]

Just checkin' in !!!

 

[Embraer]

Well here's one more thing that's exciting my 5year old - Planes - it comes out on the 9th August