After Fantasy, I will NEVER go on Magic or Wonder Again! (Or will I?)

[LCoulter]

DH, DD3.5 and I experienced our first Disney cruise 3 years ago on Magic. It was a great cruise but as experienced cruisers with other lines, I always booked the newest and largest ships so when Dream and Fantasy came out, I knew I wanted to sail on one of those ships. I figured that once I sailed the large, new ships, I wouldn’t want to go back to the older classic ships.

We initially booked Fantasy for June 2012 but we had to postpone it until November 2013 so by the time our cruise rolled around we were very anxious to go.

DH, DD6.5 and I flew out the day before, on Friday morning at 6am. Of course there was a wind storm that hit Thursday night and into Friday with high gusts of wind so I was worrying all night about flights getting canceled or delayed. We were also preparing ourselves for driving but it ended up fine and we arrived in Orlando at 11am which was on time. We stopped at a store to get a few groceries and headed to BCV for our first stay there in a one bedroom. We were really tired so we relaxed a bit and then headed to the quiet pool since SAB was jam packed, according to DH.

We headed over to MK and arrived close to 4pm for the Halloween Party. It was going to be a long day since we were up at 4am…..I did fall asleep on the plane but DD did not. Since we had a car rental, we didn’t need to be up really early to head to the ship so we figured we would sleep in. We ended up leaving the Halloween party around 9 or 9:30pm so we didn’t get a good value from the tickets but we were really tired and it was crowded. We did have a good time and got lots of candy even though we only did a few treat stops. It was nice to ride HM, POTC, SW, ETWB.

The next morning we were up around 8am, had a light breakfast in the room and headed to SAB only to find out it didn’t open until 10am ….my fault, I should have checked. DD and I headed to the quiet pool for a little while and it started to rain. I finally convinced her it was time to head out. We needed to stop at the store again because we weren’t able to get her more Sudafed the day before. We stopped at several different stores trying to find it but the problem we were running into is that not all drugstores have an actual pharmacy with a pharmacist to sell us the Sudafed. By now it is pouring out and we are getting grumbly. Then the low tire pressure light comes on so we stop at the nearest gas station (we are still just outside WDW) and DH fills the tires in the pouring rain. Finally, off we go and we decide to head right to Budget to drop off the car and take their shuttle. It was exciting to see the ship appear in the distance. When we got to Budget, two shuttles were already leaving…I think we waited about 20 minutes for the next shuttle.

Check in for boarding went smooth and we boarded at 2pm…much later than we intended. We went to our cabin, dropped off our stuff and headed to the lounge for the 2:30 DVC presentation. We were starving by now but for some reason, DH really wanted to go to this and it took priority over eating. The presentation ended at 3:30 and the muster is at 4:00 so we raced up to the buffet to eat a little something before the muster drill….only to find out the all food is closed down for the muster. So I remembered that our TA left us a gift of rice krispie treats so off to the cabin we went….those were the best krispie treats we have ever had. Off to muster drill and then after, to the grill for a quick bite to eat and then we wondered the ship until dinnertime and showtime.

Up next....The Rant.

 

[jilliusc]

Joining in Looking to try our first cruise and Fantasy in 2015!

 

[LCoulter]

You will have a great cruise! There are a few negatives that we had but we still had a great cruise and we will do another Disney cruise so don't let anything negative that I say make you doubt that.

If you have any problems with your dining team or table mates, ask to be moved.

 

[LCoulter]

For those of you that smoke or don’t want to hear another smoking rant, please skip this section. Once I state my rant, I will shut up about it in the rest of the review.

I don’t remember what time we headed back to the cabin for bedtime that first night. I got DD ready for bed and then tried to step out onto balcony but it was smoky out there so I didn’t stay and just got ready for bed, then I tried to step out again before I got into bed but our neighbor was still smoking so I went to bed.

Parts of this review I started writing on the ship and now I’m filling in. I started the review at 2am that first night when I couldn’t sleep. I just discovered that I can’t go on the balcony even at 2am because our neighbor forward of us is smoking again and I tried stepping out a few more times between 2am and 2:30 but she was still out there smoking. This was a reoccurring theme for the next 4 days…no matter the time of day or night, either she would already be out there smoking or I would just get settled in my chair and she would come out. On day three I had to go to guest services to check lost and found and I figured I would say something and voice my support of the balcony policy change that would take affect two cruises from ours.

On day four, I needed to return to check lost and found so I figured I would say something again about not being able to use the balcony. Later that day, the floor housekeeping manager spoke to DH and said that they had mentioned it to our neighbor and asked that she be considerate of others on their balconies. After that, things finally improved and she wasn’t out there constantly and if she did come out, she wasn’t out there for longgggg periods of time smoking.

Out of all our cruises, this was the worst problem that we have ever had with smoking. It was such a disappointment because I usually use the balcony a lot. If I had know prior, I would not have bothered with a balcony.

Ok, rant out of the way.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Joining in. So sorry you had problems with the neighbor smoking. I would be pretty upset if I weren't able to use the balcony. I hope it got better for the rest of the cruise.

 

[jilliusc]

Such a bummer. That would REALLY bother me. On the DCL website, it looks like verandahs went smoke free as of 11/15/2013. Hopefully it is enforced!

 

[SKEEWEE 96]

I am so glad to hear that Disney is recognizing the needs of smokers and non-smokers. I have an allergy to smoke and am glad I will be able to use my verandah without fearing upwind or downwind smoke issues.

Such a bummer. That would REALLY bother me. On the DCL website, it looks like verandahs went smoke free as of 11/15/2013. Hopefully it is enforced!