Disney Fantasy June 22-29th 2013: Boardwalk, Boat, and Boston! 2nd Wedding Annivesary

[disneybarbie]

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Instead, we headed to Europa and went to O’Gills Pub, it was very quiet in there at that time (we found 6-8pm pretty quiet every evening as most people were at dinner or in the theatre!) – so we sat at the bar and got talking to the bartender, Pio from India. He and DH had a nice talk about sports and cricket – to drink I tried a cocktail called the ‘ship builder’s wife’ and DH tried the exclusive ale/beer they served called O’Gills.







A crew member had told us that we had to look at the restrooms in Europa as they were very unique… she was right! They had a flamenco/Spanish theme…


View from the port hole..



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[disneybarbie]

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Dinner that evening was at the Animator’s Palate, it was the show with Crush from Finding Nemo – we had missed this on the Dream two years ago, so I was glad we got to experience it on the Fantasy.



Once again the food was delicious, I had the truffle pasta, soup, pork and sugar-free chocolate cake. Another nice thing about sitting with other guests was that we got to see some of the dishes that we hadn’t ordered!



The Crush show was so much fun too, even as a table of four adults we all got involved in the entertainment (Totally… Awesome… Dude!!).



(A hidden Mickey in the rest room!)



After dinner, we went to explore the shopping district. I bought a pin, a Christmas tree decoration and something that I’d saved up for… a Dooney and Bourke handbag!



A crew member helped me pick one out, she suggested getting one that said ‘Fantasy’ on the front, as that was the ship we were sailing on.

Back in the room, the navigator reminded us to put our clocks back one hour… ready for Grand Cayman tomorrow!



We really enjoyed the day at sea, something I really liked about our cruise itinerary was that the three port days were sandwiched between two sea days - it gave us plenty of time to explore the ship and really relax, before our adventures began the next day.

 

[disneybarbie]

Day 5 – June 24th 2013

Grand Cayman

We woke up early again – the clock said 6am, then we realised that meant it was 5am! So we slept a little more, then went up to Cabanas for breakfast.





There was so much choice, it was hard to decide what to choose! DH had some smoked fish and a bagel, I had some fruit, a Mickey waffle, a mini coconut muffin and a mini cinnamon roll. We sat outside and ate our breakfast, there was no sign of land yet.

Next we went up to deck 13 and sat in the sun for a while, then it was time to meet in The Tube on deck 4 to check in for our excursion.



There were about 30-40 people doing the island tour with us, we checked in and were given Goofy stickers to wear – this is how the crew members keep track of people on each tour once you get off the ship.



We were walked down to deck 1 to get off the ship and onto the tender boats.






This was the first time we had tendered off a ship, the boats were much larger than I had imagined and the ride to the shore was pretty smooth!




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[disneybarbie]

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The colour of the water was amazing, such a deep turquoise – the boat ride took less than 10 minutes, and we were soon at Grand Cayman.







Our tour group was split up into groups of 18 people for each mini bus, and we met our bus driver – Barry.
We set off on the road, Barry pointed out lots of highlights on the island… especially the many laws that Grand Cayman has (for example, if you throw litter from your car – you will face a fine and possibly jail time!), and particularly how many banks there are on the island.




We noticed there was a real mix of British and American influences – such as they drove on the left side of the road (a lady on our tour bus said to her daughter “look honey, they drive on the wrong side of the road” .. we were like “no.. this is the right side!” )
Many people on our bus noticed the price of gas at the petrol stations (around $5 p/g), and gasped.. although we thought that was quite reasonable, in England it costs about $8 p/g at the moment!

Our first stop on the tour was the small village called ‘Hell’. There wasn’t very much there, just a gift shop and a viewing area around the black coral formations – that gave the area its name.



DH and I noticed some fruits on a tree, and asked our bus driver what they were – it was an almond tree! He reached up and pulled one off the tree for us to try, unfortunately we couldn’t as I’m allergic, and DH doesn’t like them!




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[khertz]

So sorry I am late, Emma, but I spent the morning getting caught up! I'm loving all of the updates. It looks like you had a fabulous time in WDW before setting sail on the cruise. Great way to kick off a two week vacation! I always seem to forget that your husband is a Saints fan too until I see him wearing a Saints shirt in your photos. I'm sure he is as excited as DH and I are that they are doing so well this season with Sean Payton back after the abomination that was last season!

Anyway, now that I am all caught up I can be more specific with my replies, since there were so many things to comment on and I started to forget them as I kept reading.

 

[klacey1]

Your spa sounds lovely! I love that post-massage feeling, when you're just super relaxing!
Wow, that water is so clear! Can't wait to hear more about your day in Grand Cayman!

 

[elphie101]

Ok, now I have to do the WC itinerary just so I can say I went to Hell

 

[disneybarbie]

So sorry I am late, Emma, but I spent the morning getting caught up! I'm loving all of the updates. It looks like you had a fabulous time in WDW before setting sail on the cruise. Great way to kick off a two week vacation! I always seem to forget that your husband is a Saints fan too until I see him wearing a Saints shirt in your photos. I'm sure he is as excited as DH and I are that they are doing so well this season with Sean Payton back after the abomination that was last season!

Anyway, now that I am all caught up I can be more specific with my replies, since there were so many things to comment on and I started to forget them as I kept reading.

Hi! Thank you for reading along so far
I am going to do a little 'real life' update soon, as we went to the International NFL game in London last weekend and I thought I'd share it on here! You'll be pleased to know DH and I both wore Saints shirts.. and we even got a 'Who Dat' .. in London!

Your spa sounds lovely! I love that post-massage feeling, when you're just super relaxing!
Wow, that water is so clear! Can't wait to hear more about your day in Grand Cayman!

Hi! I agree, love the post-massage feeling, not sleepy - just soo relaxed
Next update coming soon!

Ok, now I have to do the WC itinerary just so I can say I went to Hell

that was pretty much why we picked that tour too! If you mail anything from the shop there, it will have the post mark 'Hell' on it



Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

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The next stop on our tour was the turtle farm.

There was also a dolphin experience there too, we decided not to do this as our excursion as we’d already swam with dolphins in Nassau during our honeymoon.

The largest turtles there were about 4 foot long!




Up close, they are a really unusual animal – we were able to touch the smaller animals and get really close to all of them.



There was also one alligator there called Smiley. It was found on Grand Cayman, but no one knew how it got there… it was a cross-breed of Cuban and American alligator, so neither country would take it back!



We had a look in the hatchery, each larger turtle lays 100-150 eggs at a time, and they are about the size of table tennis balls.



We had a quick look in the gift shop, and went over the road to the dolphins area. Unfortunately we weren’t able to walk around there without buying a ticket, so instead we had a look in the shops and bought some cans of Coke.



I liked seeing a Union Jack flag among the palm trees.. quite unique!


We got back on the bus, and were driven back to George Town – the tour finished about 1.15pm, so we still had plenty of time to explore the town a bit before we needed to be back on the ship.





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[disneybarbie]

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We definitely felt safer in George Town than other Caribbean towns we’ve visited – so we decided to get some lunch in the town and have a wander around. We found a really pretty café on the water front called ‘Paradise’.

It had perfect views of our beautiful ship!



To drink, DH tried a local beer, Cay Brew, and I had a cocktail called a Tipsy Turtle.



We were a little concerned to see turtle burgers on the menu! DH had a fish sandwich and I had a fish wrap, and shared a side dish of plantains.

The meal was pretty expensive (the menu was priced in Cayman dollars, and the bill was about US $70), but good food and a wonderful location. There was also free wifi there, I didn’t have my phone with me – but DH was pleased to get online for a few minutes and check on the sports news back home!

We walked around the town and looked in a few shops, then we headed back to the ship at 3pm.





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[bitlerzx4]

$70!!! wow!!!!

 

[elphie101]

Those turtles are HUGE! Can't believe how close you got!

I guess you were paying for the atmosphere in addition to you food. I could go for a fish sandwich right about now...

 

[disneybarbie]

$70!!! wow!!!!

I know.. I actually checked my credit card statement when I was writing that section, it was dear! We knew it was an expensive island though, if we were to go there again - we would get back on the ship to eat lunch

Those turtles are HUGE! Can't believe how close you got!

I guess you were paying for the atmosphere in addition to you food. I could go for a fish sandwich right about now...

It was a really fun visit to the Turtle Farm - no barriers between us and the turtles, we were just asked politely not to touch the larger ones!

It was good food, even though it was pricey lol



Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

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We got changed, and then went up to deck 13 to sunbathe.



I was reading my book, and glanced up to see…. Goofy sunbathing next to another guest!



Next thing I know… Goofy is strolling over to us, and lay down on the sunbed next to DH! A crew member took our photo…



It was such a fun moment, so nice that Goofy thought to come up to the adults’ deck to meet his fans

There was a group of crew members sunbathing next to us, I only knew that because I overheard two of them talking and they were British… we seemed to be the minority on the ship as British guests! I think it’s nice that the crew get to sunbathe/relax when the ship is in port and there’s space for them to use the sunbeds too.

We moved sunbeds after a while to get some shade, I went down to the Fro Zone Treats to get an icecream (banana and strawberry swirl). It was so delicious, however the hot sun made it melt really quickly.. and I ended up with icecream melting all over my hands and onto the sunbed… I’m surprised I didn’t get thrown out of the adults’ area!

We cooled off for a while in the satellite falls splash pool, and then got a drink at the Currents bar as the ship sailed away from Grand Cayman.



The bar was dark blue marble and was sooo hot! The bar man joked that he might try frying an egg on it one day



There was a singer/guitar player entertaining by the bar – we saw him a few times during the week and he was really good. The bar tender, Ari, chatted to us for a while – he told us about the sailing when the Fantasy got caught in the tail of Hurricane Sandy last year, pretty scary!

We enjoyed the day in Grand Cayman – our tour was short but reasonably priced and we saw the main tourist sites.

We went back to our room to get showered and changed for the evening.


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[elphie101]

That's so fun! I love the surprise Goofy appearance.

The whole Satellite Falls area looks so relaxing, it's one of the things I'm really looking forward to whenever we end up on the Fantasy!

 

[klacey1]

Poor Smiley-- no one wanted him! Augh, I hope that turtle burger wasn't made from the friends you visited at the turtle farm!
$70 is kind of a lot, but hey, you're on vacation on a beautiful island! I don't mind paying for good food and a good atmosphere.
LOVE the photo of you and Steve and Goofy! Too cute!

 

[Dugette]

Great updates! Those turtles are pretty impressive. And I love that Goofy came to sunbathe with you! Sounds like a nice day so far.

 

[JKSWonder]

Next thing I know… Goofy is strolling over to us, and lay down on the sunbed next to DH! A crew member took our photo…

How cool is that?!

We did a Western on the Magic, an Eastern on the Fantasy and we are doing a Western on the Fantasy August 2014. I'm trying to figure out what excursion to do on Grand Cayman. We already did the Dolphin Encounter/Turtle Farm with the kids. Maybe just a beach visit this time? I don't really want to take them to "Hell"!

 

[teatah]

Great trip report so far. I am really enjoying it!

 

[disneybarbie]

That's so fun! I love the surprise Goofy appearance.

The whole Satellite Falls area looks so relaxing, it's one of the things I'm really looking forward to whenever we end up on the Fantasy!

Satellite Falls was really nice, I wished we'd used it more! It was nice to be able to cool off in the water without getting into a swimming pool.. a lot of people sat in there reading their books

Poor Smiley-- no one wanted him! Augh, I hope that turtle burger wasn't made from the friends you visited at the turtle farm!
$70 is kind of a lot, but hey, you're on vacation on a beautiful island! I don't mind paying for good food and a good atmosphere.
LOVE the photo of you and Steve and Goofy! Too cute!

I felt sorry for Smiley too! During the Turtle Farm tour, our guide did mention something about when they 'harvest' the turtles lol.

Great updates! Those turtles are pretty impressive. And I love that Goofy came to sunbathe with you! Sounds like a nice day so far.

Thank you! I was glad we went to the turtle farm, I think I read that Grand Cayman used to be called 'Tortuga' .. which means turtles, so they were definitely a key thing to see while we were there

How cool is that?!

We did a Western on the Magic, an Eastern on the Fantasy and we are doing a Western on the Fantasy August 2014. I'm trying to figure out what excursion to do on Grand Cayman. We already did the Dolphin Encounter/Turtle Farm with the kids. Maybe just a beach visit this time? I don't really want to take them to "Hell"!

Hi, excited for you to try the Western on the Fantasy next year! Our tablemates didn't have an excursion booked, they just got a cab from the port and went to Seven Mile Beach - they said it was a really beautiful place

Great trip report so far. I am really enjoying it!

Thank you so much for reading so far!


Emma x