August 10, 2013 Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy

[twacht]

Hello all from snowy and cold NW Ohio. My name is Tracy and my DH and I (Michael) will be joining you on the Aug 10 Fantasy cruise. This will be our 3rd cruise. We enjoyed the Magic last March with our 4 kids (DD Lexi and Alena, DS Sasha and Matthew), relaxed on the Dream for the DVC member cruise in January 2013 and booked this one while onboard for just us again. I love to take the kids but with 4 we have to book 2 rooms and it gets soooo expensive.

I am an RN who subs at a local school and my DH is a software developer. We are off to Disney with the kids in a few weeks for spring break staying at the AKL and can't wait.

We are looking forward to getting to know all of you...this thread is huge! Can't wait to get all caught up!

[dizneeat]

Originally Posted by Jrex21

Hi ya'll!!

We just had to change our Sept. 4 night to a Aug. 7 night (aww how sad ) due to a scheduling conflict with my sister starting patisserie school (YUM!). We took our first Disney cruise together last October after spending a few days at the resort and now we are hooked. We would love to participate in FE, it was so fun last time and the kids loved delivering Mickey Magic to other families! My family is kinda large now and we always travel together so we have 3 staterooms!


My Parents 10636: Dottie and Joe
My sister's family: 10638
Jordan
Anthony
Gia- 3
My family: 10640
Joey--- that's ME!
John---DH
Jayson---DS- 3 at cruise time
Nemo--- TBA Baby due March 22!

My Dad is an avid cruiser with RCCL and has been on the Eastern a few times, but the rest of us are brand new so I'm sure I'll have lots of questions for yall!

Can't wait to start planning now that it's official!!

I am happy to say, I am GLAD you had to change and will now cruise with us!
I will add you to the list of cruisers right away, as well as the FE list! Are ALL of your family members participating?

Fire away with any questions you have. I will try to answer as many as I can and there are some really knowledgeable people on here you can help out!

Keeping my fingers crossed for an "easy delivery" of your newest addition to the family!

Originally Posted by Embraer

Why oh why is booking ADRs so fraught? 180 days out from our World appetiser to the main event on the 10th and here I am skypeing on an iPad and getting everything organised. So far nothing has escaped me including the big one. What dining reservation do you get for your father who's paying for everything and celebrating his 70th 6weeks after the vacation? That's right, the CHEF's TABLE at the V&A!!!! I would have settled for main dining or the Queen Victoria room but I gave the hostess 4 nights and the Chef's Table was free on the 8th. Well at least now I only have to get a Remy reservation for me and the wife because after that the V&A I doubt even with the Rat's restaurant's reputation will disappoint them. Now roll on the 12th May to get Palo & Remy for ourselves

Were you able to do ALL your reservations online? It will only let me do the one 180 days out.
I hate to call and be on hold forever.
Well, at least I only have three WDW days to fill with reservations before the cruise, that leaves them with two weeks (the time until our "after the cruise" ADR window opens) to get things straightened out!
Congrats on scoring the Chef's Table at V&A! You are going to love it!

I just checked and I can start booking Palo and Remy on April 12! It's time I get planning those cruises as well. Guess I will start when we get back from our DREAM cruise in two weeks time.

Originally Posted by twacht

Hello all from snowy and cold NW Ohio. My name is Tracy and my DH and I (Michael) will be joining you on the Aug 10 Fantasy cruise. This will be our 3rd cruise. We enjoyed the Magic last March with our 4 kids (DD Lexi and Alena, DS Sasha and Matthew), relaxed on the Dream for the DVC member cruise in January 2013 and booked this one while onboard for just us again. I love to take the kids but with 4 we have to book 2 rooms and it gets soooo expensive.

I am an RN who subs at a local school and my DH is a software developer. We are off to Disney with the kids in a few weeks for spring break staying at the AKL and can't wait.

We are looking forward to getting to know all of you...this thread is huge! Can't wait to get all caught up!

from one snowy region to another. Austria got dumped yesterday as well.
It's great to have you on board.
This will be our 11th cruise and first one on the Fantasy.

What a great idea to take the kids to Disney for Spring break. Must be fun, even if it must be a little more crowded at that time.

[Embraer]

You can book 180days out from the first day of your stay plus 10 days in advance of that. It's a privilege extended to people staying on site, much like those privileges extended to gold and platinum CC members. You have to make sure your reservation is linked to your Disney website profile and it automatically opens up the extra 10 days. Booked the Chef's Table over the phone promptly at 9am EST (I think the lad at V&A had literally just sat down at her desk!), mainly because although you can book main dining & Chef's Table online you can't with the Queen Victoria room. CT is for my father and his partner as we've 2 kids under 6 but the Fantasy has the Oceaneers club and IASW nursery so we'll be booking Remy when we can

[twacht]

What a great idea to take the kids to Disney for Spring break. Must be fun, even if it must be a little more crowded at that time. [/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]


We don't seem to notice the crowds like other do...we have done spring break for several years and it never really bothers us. Oh we definately use the fasspass option for things like the Rock N Roller Coaster and Toy Story Mania, but overall we just enjoy Disney so much we must look past the crowds.

[dizneeat]

Originally Posted by Embraer

You can book 180days out from the first day of your stay plus 10 days in advance of that. It's a privilege extended to people staying on site, much like those privileges extended to gold and platinum CC members. You have to make sure your reservation is linked to your Disney website profile and it automatically opens up the extra 10 days. Booked the Chef's Table over the phone promptly at 9am EST (I think the lad at V&A had literally just sat down at her desk!), mainly because although you can book main dining & Chef's Table online you can't with the Queen Victoria room. CT is for my father and his partner as we've 2 kids under 6 but the Fantasy has the Oceaneers club and IASW nursery so we'll be booking Remy when we can

You just made my day!
Tom and I had such a good laugh reading your tutorial about booking ADRs. It is something I usually post.
We stay between 5 - 7 weeks a year in the Orlando area, always stay on property, and are very familiar with the DDP and booking ADRs.
I was not sure if you only booked your V&A ressie or if you booked more ADRs online.
Because whenever I try to book an ADR from the "My Disney Experience" site, signed in of course, then it offers me the 10+ days, it lets you click on them, but it never comes up with a possible ADR time.
I emailed Disney about this and got an email back, saying that they are working on it and are hoping to have it fixed soon. My next ADRs are only due in 2 weeks (we go back to back on the Fantasy), so we'll see if it will work then.

Originally Posted by twacht

We don't seem to notice the crowds like other do...we have done spring break for several years and it never really bothers us. Oh we definately use the fasspass option for things like the Rock N Roller Coaster and Toy Story Mania, but overall we just enjoy Disney so much we must look past the crowds.

I completely understand what you mean about utilizing FP. We travel to WDW during President's week every year and it IS crowded then too.
We make use of EMH and early mornings, then head back to the resort to chill at the pool or do some shopping, before heading back to the parks at night. Thankfully we have another 4 week summer vacation which goes into September and the crowds get less and less lateron in the vacation.

[plutoNme]

Well in 6 months we will be halfway thru the cruise and we will be in St. Thomas on a beach renewing our vows for our 20th Anniversary. Getting excited for the cruise. Booked our hotel for the night before the cruise after we fly in. Hoping to get to know some of you before we cruise. Just wish the boards were giving me updates, since I subscribed to this thread.

[Dizney73]

We booked 2 more cruises today for summer of 2014 on the Magic! Wee are actually doing the 4 and 5 night cruises back to back. W would have loved to book a 9 night or 12 night cruise but my husband's schedule just doesn't work out with the cruise dates and i had my heart set on Europe....so we booked 2 instead... Hey, the airfare isn't cheap...better make this worth the trip over!
Did anyone else book anything new?

[dizneeat]

Originally Posted by plutoNme

Well in 6 months we will be halfway thru the cruise and we will be in St. Thomas on a beach renewing our vows for our 20th Anniversary. Getting excited for the cruise. Booked our hotel for the night before the cruise after we fly in. Hoping to get to know some of you before we cruise. Just wish the boards were giving me updates, since I subscribed to this thread.

I cannot believe that we will actually have nearly finished the first half of our back to back in half a year. So unreal ........... we have been counting down for so long.
Sorry about the board not sending you updates.

Originally Posted by Dizney73

We booked 2 more cruises today for summer of 2014 on the Magic! Wee are actually doing the 4 and 5 night cruises back to back. W would have loved to book a 9 night or 12 night cruise but my husband's schedule just doesn't work out with the cruise dates and i had my heart set on Europe....so we booked 2 instead... Hey, the airfare isn't cheap...better make this worth the trip over!
Did anyone else book anything new?

Congratulations! We should be right behind you. We are not booked yet, but we will book as soon as we can when we are back on the DREAM on Sunday.
We have looked at all the itineraries and decided on the 12 night which leaves from Venice and returns to Barcelona. First time we WILL NOT have to deal with horrid airfare.

[Jrex21]

Hey guys!

It will most likely be ALL of the family participating in FE, but I will double check with them this week to make sure they still want to do it! Only one month to go before "Nemo" is here! I'll let yall know boy or girl once they make their appearance!!

As far as excursions go, I've been scouring the threads for good recommendations, does anyone have any opinions on booking on your own? Or do you guys do all Disney excursions all the time? I've done it both ways and don't really have a preference, but I guess DH is worried about safety since we've never been to these ports before!

Have a great day everyone!!

[englishrose47]

Waiting for word on the trip!!!!!

[Minnie&Nana]

Me too!! Hope Karin and Tom are home and sleeping after a great cruise and days at WDW!

[rawolfpack]

My family is new to disney cruises. We typically travel on RCCL but decided this summer to take the kids on the Fantasy. My hubby and I and our two kids (boy 8, girl 6) will be going. I will try to encourage our friends who will also be going to sign on to this board as well. Please include us in the FE as I have been told by others that it is fun for the kids.

Amy

[englishrose47]

Originally Posted by rawolfpack

My family is new to disney cruises. We typically travel on RCCL but decided this summer to take the kids on the Fantasy. My hubby and I and our two kids (boy 8, girl 6) will be going. I will try to encourage our friends who will also be going to sign on to this board as well. Please include us in the FE as I have been told by others that it is fun for the kids.

Amy

Welcome to the Dis , Karin is an awesome lady and has lots of tips ideas and wonderful pix , you are gonna LOVE this thread !!!!

[dizneeat]

First off, please let me apologize for not responding to your posts any sooner, but Tom and I have been on the Disney Dream for our half term cruise and added on a few days at WDW. We returned late last Sunday and it was straight back to work on Monday.
Unfortunately I came down with a bad cold (the temperature difference from 85°F to 28°F didn't sit well with me) right after we returned and it took me a while to get back to health and find time to answer to posts.

Trying to stay on top from now on!

Originally Posted by Jrex21

Hey guys!

It will most likely be ALL of the family participating in FE, but I will double check with them this week to make sure they still want to do it! Only one month to go before "Nemo" is here! I'll let yall know boy or girl once they make their appearance!!

As far as excursions go, I've been scouring the threads for good recommendations, does anyone have any opinions on booking on your own? Or do you guys do all Disney excursions all the time? I've done it both ways and don't really have a preference, but I guess DH is worried about safety since we've never been to these ports before!

Have a great day everyone!!

Hi!
I hope you and little Nemo are doing well. Please let us know when he/she arrives!

I guess we will stick with Disney excursions this summer. We have not been to any of the ports before and don't really know what to expect, so we would like to play it safe and stay with Disney.

As far as the FE exchange is concerned, I will put all of your family members on the list and you just let me know if someone opts out of it. No biggie!

Originally Posted by englishrose47

Waiting for word on the trip!!!!!

Originally Posted by Minnie&Nana

Me too!! Hope Karin and Tom are home and sleeping after a great cruise and days at WDW!

You know us well, Christine!

Originally Posted by rawolfpack

My family is new to disney cruises. We typically travel on RCCL but decided this summer to take the kids on the Fantasy. My hubby and I and our two kids (boy 8, girl 6) will be going. I will try to encourage our friends who will also be going to sign on to this board as well. Please include us in the FE as I have been told by others that it is fun for the kids.

Amy

to the DISboards and to this thread.
I am glad you decided to give DCL a try. We have only ever sailed with Disney and just love it.
Would you please post (or email - there is a link if you click on the member name on the left) everyone's first names and your stateroom number so I can update the list. Tom and I love to personalize some of our gifts so names are necessary.
And YES, FEs are fun. They are fun for everyone, not just kids.

Originally Posted by englishrose47

Welcome to the Dis , Karin is an awesome lady and has lots of tips ideas and wonderful pix , you are gonna LOVE this thread !!!!

Thank you for your kind words, Rosie!

[Embraer]

We've booked a none-DCL parasailing excursion on St Maarten with No1SXM. Main reason was DCL have an age restriction at CC and No1 only have a weight limit (minimum & maximum)