A review of the Fantasy (August 11 7-night Eastern itinerary)

[SoThisIsLove]

Our experience with the unsupervised children had no affiliation with the kids club. (thank goodness!). Our broken dishes experience happened at aprox 230 am and the other was in the pool at approx 9pm. The children in the kids club were always supervised appropriately for their age level. I think a lot has to do with parental behavior as well. Many adults were rude too...many had no elevator etiquette, pushing their way into an elevator when others were waiting first and having no regard for the capacity of the elevator and small children they are pushing into or even worse sticking their bottoms in front of.....or even worse....after the matinee of one of the shows, a parent had her 2 kids go up on the stage for pictures in front of the curtains.....the lighting director of the show kindly announced that for the safety of the children and upcoming performances please do not stand on the stage....this mother continued to keep her children on the stage until she got the picture she wanted...even though the announce ent was made TWICE!.....or the parents that speak rudely or condescendingly to crew members because they feel they are there to serve them....like a gentleman at Castaway Cay who stopped a waiter on the beach and asked him for soda....the crew member was kind enough to tell the man that there is a drink station near the BBQ in which the soda was free and that if he were to get his family soda he would have to charge him....so instead of a thank you, what was the man's response??? He told the waiter...not asked him....told him....to go get his family the soda from the free drink station and bring it back to them at the beach! That's what his job is....isn't it? I was floored! This is a grown man speaking to another grown man....a peer! I felt so bad..,,the waiter went and got the drinks for the family and the man did not give him any tip! Unbelievable! The last time I checked my cruise documents I did not see personal servant in the list of included services! Of course my 5 year old saw the drinks coming to the chair and she wanted one....but I loudly told her we are capable of walking to the drink station ourselves....and we did! The waiter smiled at me as he walked away. Children learn what their parents teach them and sometimes people differ in their beliefs, I guess??? To me respect and courtsey are the same no matter where I travel or who I encounter... Many people feel they have paid a lot for their vacation and expect certain things....which I understand....but rules apply to EVERYONE and respect and courtesy should be shown to EVERYONE...no matter how much they paid for their cruise or what position they fill onboard the ship to help make your cruise special!

 

[SnackyStacky]

Our experience with the unsupervised children had no affiliation with the kids club. (thank goodness!). Our broken dishes experience happened at aprox 230 am and the other was in the pool at approx 9pm. The children in the kids club were always supervised appropriately for their age level. I think a lot has to do with parental behavior as well. Many adults were rude too...many had no elevator etiquette, pushing their way into an elevator when others were waiting first and having no regard for the capacity of the elevator and small children they are pushing into or even worse sticking their bottoms in front of.....or even worse....after the matinee of one of the shows, a parent had her 2 kids go up on the stage for pictures in front of the curtains.....the lighting director of the show kindly announced that for the safety of the children and upcoming performances please do not stand on the stage....this mother continued to keep her children on the stage until she got the picture she wanted...even though the announce ent was made TWICE!.....or the parents that speak rudely or condescendingly to crew members because they feel they are there to serve them....like a gentleman at Castaway Cay who stopped a waiter on the beach and asked him for soda....the crew member was kind enough to tell the man that there is a drink station near the BBQ in which the soda was free and that if he were to get his family soda he would have to charge him....so instead of a thank you, what was the man's response??? He told the waiter...not asked him....told him....to go get his family the soda from the free drink station and bring it back to them at the beach! That's what his job is....isn't it? I was floored! This is a grown man speaking to another grown man....a peer! I felt so bad..,,the waiter went and got the drinks for the family and the man did not give him any tip! Unbelievable! The last time I checked my cruise documents I did not see personal servant in the list of included services! Of course my 5 year old saw the drinks coming to the chair and she wanted one....but I loudly told her we are capable of walking to the drink station ourselves....and we did! The waiter smiled at me as he walked away. Children learn what their parents teach them and sometimes people differ in their beliefs, I guess??? To me respect and courtsey are the same no matter where I travel or who I encounter... Many people feel they have paid a lot for their vacation and expect certain things....which I understand....but rules apply to EVERYONE and respect and courtesy should be shown to EVERYONE...no matter how much they paid for their cruise or what position they fill onboard the ship to help make your cruise special!

The responsibility to fix this issue is on our society, in my opinion. This one I can't fault Disney for. I brought it up more as a way to say: "Be ready for this."

 

[SnackyStacky]

Our experience with the unsupervised children had no affiliation with the kids club. (thank goodness!). Our broken dishes experience happened at aprox 230 am and the other was in the pool at approx 9pm. The children in the kids club were always supervised appropriately for their age level. I think a lot has to do with parental behavior as well. Many adults were rude too...many had no elevator etiquette, pushing their way into an elevator when others were waiting first and having no regard for the capacity of the elevator and small children they are pushing into or even worse sticking their bottoms in front of.....or even worse....after the matinee of one of the shows, a parent had her 2 kids go up on the stage for pictures in front of the curtains.....the lighting director of the show kindly announced that for the safety of the children and upcoming performances please do not stand on the stage....this mother continued to keep her children on the stage until she got the picture she wanted...even though the announce ent was made TWICE!.....or the parents that speak rudely or condescendingly to crew members because they feel they are there to serve them....like a gentleman at Castaway Cay who stopped a waiter on the beach and asked him for soda....the crew member was kind enough to tell the man that there is a drink station near the BBQ in which the soda was free and that if he were to get his family soda he would have to charge him....so instead of a thank you, what was the man's response??? He told the waiter...not asked him....told him....to go get his family the soda from the free drink station and bring it back to them at the beach! That's what his job is....isn't it? I was floored! This is a grown man speaking to another grown man....a peer! I felt so bad..,,the waiter went and got the drinks for the family and the man did not give him any tip! Unbelievable! The last time I checked my cruise documents I did not see personal servant in the list of included services! Of course my 5 year old saw the drinks coming to the chair and she wanted one....but I loudly told her we are capable of walking to the drink station ourselves....and we did! The waiter smiled at me as he walked away. Children learn what their parents teach them and sometimes people differ in their beliefs, I guess??? To me respect and courtsey are the same no matter where I travel or who I encounter... Many people feel they have paid a lot for their vacation and expect certain things....which I understand....but rules apply to EVERYONE and respect and courtesy should be shown to EVERYONE...no matter how much they paid for their cruise or what position they fill onboard the ship to help make your cruise special!

Let me also add that I LOVED the way you handled that arrogant tool at Castaway Cay!!! I'm sure it didn't get through to him, but that was perfect.

 

[GoHabsGo]

Children learn what their parents teach them and sometimes people differ in their beliefs, I guess??? To me respect and courtsey are the same no matter where I travel or who I encounter... Many people feel they have paid a lot for their vacation and expect certain things....which I understand....but rules apply to EVERYONE and respect and courtesy should be shown to EVERYONE...no matter how much they paid for their cruise or what position they fill onboard the ship to help make your cruise special!

Amen!

 

[Joanna71985]

Great review! I'm looking forward to sailing on the Fantasy in Oct

 

[DVC Jen]

I repeat: fine the parents/stateroom!

Such behavior is beyond unacceptable -- it's destructive.

Of course, we want to permit our children to have some freedom, but not at the expense of all of the other paying passengers on the ship.

Currently, I keep an eye on my 7 y/o son at all times (when he is not in the club/lab).
When he is old/mature enough to earn some free time, he will be provided with clear instruction as to appropriate/inappropriate behavior.

If I were ever informed that he ran up and down hallways, or engaged in any type of destructive behavior, such as breaking dishes, I would have him spend the entire next day confined to the cabin, writing notes of apology to each and every stateroom on our deck (or the deck that he was running rampant), as well as the deck below.

He would be required to pay, out of his own funds/allowance, for any broken dishes/items (after he cleaned it up, himself).

He is taught to respect himself, and those persons around him. If he does something wrong, he is expected to make it right. That's it. Before anyone accuses me of being a Tiger mom, please understand that I/we serve up ample amounts of hugs and kisses and and laughter and "I love you"s and all kinds of (specific) positive reinforcement. But bad behavior is not to be tolerated, under any circumstances! My $2.

You are a fantastic parent. I wish there were more like you out there.

 

[Lujackdisney]

Thank you for the TR, very informative. My husband, Mom and kids 4 and 8 will be on Fantasy 10/20 and can't wait! I think the take away is to be prepared, have patience and relax...we are on vacation. We are doing a disney snorkel trip in St Thomas and private tour in St Maarten. You confirmed what I was thinking, not a whole lot to do in St Maarten. My kids are night owls so I think we will take advantage of the popular areas during the more regular dinner/show times where maybe more of the kids and chaos will be. Thanks again!

 

[NAB]

We were on the same cruise as you. My daughter said the same thing about the upper bunk. We had all the extra pillows from the main bed up there with her to lay on it was so hard. I was going to ask if they had an egg shell thing to put under the sheets but didn't. For a new boat it should have good mattresses.

I agree with the person who said rude adults just pushed into the elevator or you could be waiting with your family there first and people run you over to get to the elevator. We used the stairs as much as we could but the times we didn't ... Or adults that let your kids run all over the atruim while people are trying to get pictures done. I know it is a disney boat but some manners have to come in to play. I had a kid scribble all over my Animator's placemat with an orange crayon while we were getting our picture taken with the statue too. I was not happy I tell you and the parents didn't say a thing just stood there and let there kids touch other people stuff.

 

[sftnslky]

Great trip report! May I ask what tour you took for St. John? We sail Oct. 20th, and have booked the St. John Island Tour for St. Thomas/St. John day.
I'm a little worried about dining, hearing how the food allergies were handled. I have a seafood/shellfish allergy, and DH can't have anything with alcohol in it, like wine sauces, etc. I hope this issue gets addressed.
Thank you for your info, we who are waiting to cruise LOVE reading trip reports!

I also have a BIG allergy to any alcohol. On our last 4 Magic cruise's I had no problem just asked our servers if there was any alcohol in the sauces. The one time we had any issue was at Palo's and the Chef came out and walked me through the brunch items and told me what I could and should not eat. Hope this helps.

 

[SnackyStacky]

I also have a BIG allergy to any alcohol. On our last 4 Magic cruise's I had no problem just asked our servers if there was any alcohol in the sauces. The one time we had any issue was at Palo's and the Chef came out and walked me through the brunch items and told me what I could and should not eat. Hope this helps.

Your experience had been our experience in the past. I really don't know why all of a sudden, having an allergy was a culinary death sentence in the main dining rooms and with room service.

We DID have that same experience and at Palo and Remy this time. At Palo, we got the brunch walk through, and we were advised what to avoid at dinner. At Remy, a menu had been pre-developed. For the most part, it took dishes already on the menu and put them together beautifully. The one sub out was the fish course. My wife got a piece of the best chicken breast she's ever eaten.

 

[jfahome]

We were on this sailing as well. We had an AMAZING time. No complaints about anything. We requested our server from our last cruise and didn't get him, but they made the adjustment once on board. We told him we wanted quick dinners and we were always done very quickly. Our friend works in the character field and so we wanted to be sure we didn't miss an opportunity to see her each evening.
Like I said, I had nothing to complain about. We sailed in May as well on the Fantasy and did have a room attendant problem, but not this time.

It's been weeks now and I'm still going through cruise withdrawls!!

 

[SnackyStacky]

We were on this sailing as well. We had an AMAZING time. No complaints about anything. We requested our server from our last cruise and didn't get him, but they made the adjustment once on board. We told him we wanted quick dinners and we were always done very quickly. Our friend works in the character field and so we wanted to be sure we didn't miss an opportunity to see her each evening.
Like I said, I had nothing to complain about. We sailed in May as well on the Fantasy and did have a room attendant problem, but not this time.

It's been weeks now and I'm still going through cruise withdrawls!!

Me too! And there's only one cure. Alas, I don't think my health insurance covers a cruise!

 

[dooledoo]

We were on the same cruise. Spent every night at Skyline with Novak....so much so you'd probably recognize us. He's our favorite bartender ever after 10 cruises!!

We didn't have any service issues. Cami and Steve in the dining room were AWESOME. We let our 11 year old daughter go around the ship with her friends, but they were a pretty subdued bunch. Maybe some of the running around you saw was actually instigated by the Tween Club. I know they had several activities where they would send the kids off on scavenger hunts, and things around the ship.

Another fellow culprit here Jess - it's Alex! Yes, my daughter was one of the posse as well but I believe they were all old enough to be sensible and polite. None of the group were around late either! Yes, Novak was great - the mixology group was a real laugh and I would recommend it to anyone.

We were very lucky and had an aft cabin and experienced no trouble at all so would recommend these to anyone.

Agree about St Maarten. Very poor and dare I say, not sure why the ship stops there? It is very pretty but so are a lot of other islands.

The language issue did make mealtimes entertaining. Luckily we had no allergies but sometimes humour went right over their head! DH did say he preferred the servers on the Magic but that mey be because one of them was English

However, I would go back on the ship in a heartbeat, a truly beautiful ship and a wonderful vacation

 

[MiaSRN62]

Was Witt Asian/Pacific? I think that was the name of our head waiter on the Wonder in 2011, and he was AMAZiNG. My daughter was 15 weeks old, and he bent over backwards to make things as easy as possible for us.

Witt from Thailand was our "assistant" server on the Wonder back in Fall 2002 ! He was AWESEOME back then !!!! Wonder why he changed so much ? Maybe DCL is pressuring them in some way ???? But our recollection of Witt was a highlight of that 2002 cruise.

Our server on our last cruise (Magic Western Oct 2011) was Sandor. He was terrible.......if you want details I will write them out.....but too numerous.....we wrote down our concerns/complaints on the survey card and we HATE giving someone bad marks. Made us feel terrible to do it---but in part, our cruise was really hurt by his service and actions.