Photos from Fantasy Eastern Concierge cruise

[speedo]

Looks like my sister had the photos afterall. Oh well - sorry for the duplicate photo posts. I'll go back to text


My sister and I had originally planned to just step off the boat and then get back on for a rainforest day but our parents wanted to do more. So we were off the boat at 9am for a tour my mom booked privately with Joyce Prince. My sister and I were pretty tired and I was coming down with a sore throat and our mom didn’t didn’t tell us that the tour actually started at 10!

So too early for the tour and half awake we went into a port store. My sister had needed a new camera since her old one didn’t focus very well anymore (as you can tell from some of the photos) She ended up buying one after negotiating the price down. Later, I found out that it would still have been cheaper to buy it direct from Nikon. That was a huge disappointment and a lessoned learned not to shop at the ports or at least do online research first!

The tour with Joyce Prince was good. We saw much of the island. And she was able to take us to nice lookout points and we stopped by Maho Beach to see the airplanes land. Overall it was a great tour but I think I am not one for port excursions. I’d rather just get off, look around and head back to the ship. No shopping, no eating.

We were back at the boat by 2pm. We grabbed a bite to eat at Tow Mater’s Grill. I love Disney’s chicken fingers. We headed back to our room where we put in the Muppets DVD we brought then promptly fell asleep.

Between lunch and napping through the Muppets, we didn’t have much time to get ready for Remy before the 4:30 showing of Avengers started.

Concierge left a complimentary bag of popcorn for us in our room so we took that along with the specialty drinks they serve in the concierge lounge at 4:00. These drinks don’t have alcohol and are made with fruit juice and ice cream – yum! A refreshing late afternoon drink.

The Avengers was playing on the big screen in the Walt Disney Theater. It was shown in 3D although for us it was 4D. At the end we could feel the Hulk as he was stomping through the city. Okay so maybe it was the engines starting up as we were leaving port but it still made a great effect at the climax of the film : )

The movie ended just in time for us to get across the ship to Remy. It was absolutely fantastic. I had never thought of rats being elegant before but somehow Disney did just that. There are two menus Saveur and Gout. I had the Gout menu and my sister had saveur so we could taste each. My sister did one substitution. She ordered the Norwegian royal lobster instead of the jumbo shrimp. That was a really good substitution. I enjoyed each of my courses except the saveur menu included the Wagyu beef which was so good! I wish that had been the main course on the gout menu. Incidentally online right now the Remy menu does list the Wagyu under the gout menu. I would recommend that. Definitely something very special that you don’t see often along with the royal lobster also. My dad, mom, and sister each had the wine pairings. Which they all raved about. Since I am not much of a drinker, I nursed the specialty champagne cocktail.

Our server asked us if we wanted to see any of the pirate show because he would time our meal accordingly. We said that we were only interested in the fireworks so we had a leisurely dinner since fireworks weren’t until 10:30
We made it back to our rooms in time for the fireworks. Our verandah had an excellent view of them!

We had a bit of a surprise in the Navigator for that day – the aqauduck would be open after 10pm that night! They closed it during the pirate show and fireworks but reopened after the fireworks. So we changed into our suits and headed to the duck after all we were told we have to try it at night. We also suspected, PJ might have been behind the pixie dust that made it open late one night. Honestly, we were just suggesting for future cruises but what a great surprise that they made it happen for our cruise!

I must say it was absolutely amazing at night. There are lights inside the tube which just make the experience even more exciting. I hope the Fantasy does continue to keep the aquaduck open late on pirate night. It is great for the late diners to have this experience too.

We met our friends on the 12th deck and all got to ride it twice before the line got too long for us so we headed back to our rooms and went to bed. (eventually other people noticed it was open and ran down to their rooms to change. At the start it was only one or two other families and us.

[davmill]

Very nice looking ship. Haven't been on that one.....but some day....

[jegsnakkernorsk]

On our four hour tour of St. Martin the only thing I really thought was worthwhile seeing was the planes landing over Maho Beach...





The planes come in right over your head and then they take off just across the street. The jets taking off at Princess Juliana Airport can knock a person over if standing next to the fence.









best arrival board ever

[oybolshoi]

thank you for sharing - I've really enjoyed everything so far and your parents vow renewal looked just lovely!

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Mom booked this tour online with Joyce Prince from the internet. She drove the four of us in a large van to both sides of the island and shared with us stories about the country.



She stopped for restrooms when we needed it and would have taken us where we wanted to go.







the island is very beautiful in places.



One of the things I always hate is when tours take you to places you feel pressured to buy over priced things. Here mom and dad buy some $22 guavaberry rum ($17 at the port!).



Here's the port shops




St. Martin used to export a lot of salt - at least that's what we learned on our tour.

[jegsnakkernorsk]

I didn't want to eat on the island because I figured I had spent so much money on this cruise that I only wanted to eat on the ship. But I could always drink.

here's Joyce with her secret recipe rum punch.


honestly, it was kind of gross.













my favorite sign! I couldn't wait to get back on board. I was tired and just wanted to relax. Sis and I had planned to take today off to enjoy the Rainforest room, but we rallied since mom had wanted to do this tour and we changed our plans to do the spa day tomorrow in st. thomas.





Here's the buses lined up to take excursioners.

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Loved having such an incredible view!!!

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Originally Posted by davmill

Very nice looking ship. Haven't been on that one.....but some day....

Clearly I loved it! Thanks for reading.

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Originally Posted by oybolshoi

thank you for sharing - I've really enjoyed everything so far and your parents vow renewal looked just lovely!

Thanks! They were really thrilled and amazed with how elaborate it was. Since Sis and I paid for it, we did most of the planning (I got input from Mom, but she wasn't really involved in all the details). But mom and dad wrote their vows and really that's all they needed to worry about.

[figment52]

Originally Posted by jegsnakkernorsk

That afternoon we got a nice note from our server at Palo.

I think we were in Palo at the same time. We were a table of six right by the windows that had Laszlo laughing a lot near the end of brunch. Ok, we were all laughing a lot. What can I say, we enjoyed the champagne at brunch .

Added - now that I see the VR pictures I'm sure it was you guys that were sitting near us. I hope we were not too disruptive and that you were able to enjoy your meal.

Congratulations to your parents on their Vow Renewal.

[speedo]

Originally Posted by figment52

I think we were in Palo at the same time. We were a table of six right by the windows that had Laszlo laughing a lot near the end of brunch. Ok, we were all laughing a lot. What can I say, we enjoyed the champagne at brunch .

Added - now that I see the VR pictures I'm sure it was you guys that were sitting near us. I hope we were not too disruptive and that you were able to enjoy your meal.

Congratulations to your parents on their Vow Renewal.

I do remember your table. I always laugh a lot too so I can't say anything about anyone else laughing! Actually on Friday at happy hour. I laughed so loud that the bar actually became noticiably quieter after. I was so embarrassed. But then again why ever be embarrassed for being happy and having a good time - right!

[figment52]

Originally Posted by speedo

I do remember your table. I always laugh a lot too so I can't say anything about anyone else laughing! Actually on Friday at happy hour. I laughed so loud that the bar actually became noticiably quieter after. I was so embarrassed. But then again why ever be embarrassed for being happy and having a good time - right!

ITA. Little did we know at that time that that would set the tone for us for the week. More than once people came up to us and commented on how much fun we were having. It was a great cruise!

From what I have read so far you guys are going to love the Panama crossing cruise. We did it in 2008 and it was the most relaxing cruises I have taken. So many sea days and time to just enjoy the ship. I hope your father changes his mind and goes with you.

[wishuponastarforever]

Thank you so much. I am enjoying your pictures and descriptions very much.
Your Mom and Dads renewal vow pictures and description was so amazing, I did what I do at every wedding, I cried. So beautiful - what a great family.

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Originally Posted by figment52

ITA. Little did we know at that time that that would set the tone for us for the week. More than once people came up to us and commented on how much fun we were having. It was a great cruise!

From what I have read so far you guys are going to love the Panama crossing cruise. We did it in 2008 and it was the most relaxing cruises I have taken. So many sea days and time to just enjoy the ship. I hope your father changes his mind and goes with you.

So it's a good thing I deleted that paragraph about the rude table at Palo's brunch. Just kidding! Glad you posted. And glad you had a fabulous cruise. We laughed at lot through out the cruise too. I really enjoy the cast members with a sense of humor and the other cruisers who like to laugh too.

I'm glad you say that about the Panama. Mom only knows people who have taken other cruiselines and they have all said the panama is "boring". I think I would find it boring on another cruiseline too.

As far as dad changing his mind... you'll just have to keep reading!

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Originally Posted by wishuponastarforever

Thank you so much. I am enjoying your pictures and descriptions very much.
Your Mom and Dads renewal vow pictures and description was so amazing, I did what I do at every wedding, I cried. So beautiful - what a great family.

Very sweet. Thanks for posting!