Fantasy - November 28, 2015 WC

[Peytonthe1st]

I am very excited about our first DCL cruise and even though it's more than 18 months away I figured might as well get this party started!

Though I have not cruised with DCL before, I am not a newbie to cruising and love interacting with others on my cruise threads before and during our cruise. Maybe we can organize a meetup? I am also definitely interested in participating in FE, so we can plan that here too.

My family consists of me, Michelle (36 on DOS), my husband, Ray (42 on DOS), our daughter, Peyton (7 on DOS) and our son, Paxton (3 on DOS).

Who else is with me???

Let the planning begin!

 

[IrishCowboy]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list
Have a great cruise!

 

[Peytonthe1st]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list
Have a great cruise!

Thanks!!!

AND I will!!!

 

[disny_luvr]

Hi ! We will also be sailing with you on this cruise. We are - me (35), DH (39) and twin boys (9) at time of sailing. This will be mine and DH's third Disney cruise and my boys' second Disney cruise. We are so excited to sail the Fantasy again! I look forward to getting to know you and anyone else that joins us over the next 18 months.

 

[Peytonthe1st]

Woo hoo! I was beginning to feel a little lonely on this thread.

Have you sailed on Fantasy before, or is this your first time?

 

[disny_luvr]

We sailed on the Fantasy one other time last November. We actually sailed the same week as this cruise - the week after Thanksgiving. We had an amazing time and the weather was awesome. I can only hope the weather is as nice this time.

My husband and I also sailed the Magic before it was reimagined. The Magic is a great ship too but we are in love with the Fantasy. I'm a little nervous to sail on another ship now because I'm afraid it will pale in comparison to the Fantasy.

If you have any questions about cruising the Fantasy, just ask. I love to talk Disney and cruising.

 

[Peytonthe1st]

This may seem like a dumb question, but did you find that the cruise last year (week after Thanksgiving) had less kids that usual? I am wondering if maybe there will be less children on board because school is generally back in session.

Since you are a more experienced DCL cruiser, how have you gotten to PC? We'll be WDW for 4-5 days pre-cruise and will need to get transportation to PC and then back to MCO for our flight after the cruise. I am an obsessive planner obviously because I am already starting to this about this. Have you done the Disney transfers, or used some other form of transportation?

 

[disny_luvr]

If my memory is serving me correctly, I think there were about 1000 kids on board. I had read horror stories about how crowded the pool decks are, long waits for the AquaDuck, not being able to find seats at the theater, etc. and I can honestly say we never experienced any of that. I'm contributing that to the time of our sailing. I'm hoping it is the same for this cruise.

We used Disney transportation to and from the airport. Yes, it is a little more pricey at $70/pp round trip vs. renting a car but the ease is so nice. I'm pretty sure we'll be doing the same thing for this trip.

 

[disny_luvr]

One other thing, if you take Disney transfers from WDW to the port, you only get picked up later in the morning/early afternoon. I think I read that most board around 1:00ish. When we took Disney transfers from the airport we were on the first bus and arrived at the port right around 10:15. We were in boarding group 3 and boarded around 11:30. Just something to think about. If it is important for you to be one of the first at port and on the ship you may not want to take Disney transfers from WDW. We haven't decided if we are staying at the airport or WDW the night before, but if we stay at WDW we are okay with arriving and boarding later.

 

[Peytonthe1st]

Thanks for the info....I need to stop planning right now...so much time until we cruise.

 

[disny_luvr]

It's never too early to start planning. Heck, I think the planning is almost as much fun as the trip itself. I'm an obsessive planner, too, so you're in good company.

 

[disny_luvr]

So what things are you planning? Have you looked into any excursions?

 

[Peytonthe1st]

Not just yet. DH and i have already been to St Maarten and St Thomas on a prior cruise so we may just find a beach and relax....but I'd like to go to St John. We're planning to go to Remy one night for our anniversary dinner. I'm definitely running CC 5k and going to look into a cabana on CC if we can snag a reservation. It's all about low-key relaxation for us! You??? What are you planning?

 

[disny_luvr]

Not just yet. DH and i have already been to St Maarten and St Thomas on a prior cruise so we may just find a beach and relax....but I'd like to go to St John. We're planning to go to Remy one night for our anniversary dinner. I'm definitely running CC 5k and going to look into a cabana on CC if we can snag a reservation. It's all about low-key relaxation for us! You??? What are you planning?

We are doing the Western so our cruise doesn't go to St. John. We'll be visiting Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay. I just wanted to clarify before you start making plans for St. John. We did the Eastern last year and visited St. Maarten and St. Thomas. In St. Thomas we ferried over to St. John and visited Trunk Bay. St. John is heaven on earth.

I haven't really looked into excursions but I think we'd like to do something that would include a tour of some ruins. We'll see. We are beach people so we may just find a beach and hang out.

 

[Peytonthe1st]

We are doing the Western so our cruise doesn't go to St. John. We'll be visiting Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay. I just wanted to clarify before you start making plans for St. John. We did the Eastern last year and visited St. Maarten and St. Thomas. In St. Thomas we ferried over to St. John and visited Trunk Bay. St. John is heaven on earth.

I haven't really looked into excursions but I think we'd like to do something that would include a tour of some ruins. We'll see. We are beach people so we may just find a beach and hang out.

LOL...OMG! You are right! I totally spaced out....we specifically chose the Western because we'd been to so many of the other ports. Sorry....so, um yeah....I am not sure what we'll be doing yet. Obviously my brain is not firing on all cylinders.

 

[disny_luvr]

LOL! I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one that spaces out at times. Trust me, my brain isn't always fully functioning.

 

[SacCruiser]

We are planning on joining you on this cruise. The last one we did was great! We loved the fish extender and my wife enjoyed the pink ladies champagne get together. I cant wait to do it again. Hopefully some one will come along and organize some of these fun activities.

 

[Peytonthe1st]

We are planning on joining you on this cruise. The last one we did was great! We loved the fish extender and my wife enjoyed the pink ladies champagne get together. I cant wait to do it again. Hopefully some one will come along and organize some of these fun activities.

Welcome! I definitely want to organize a fish extender for this cruise.

 

[disny_luvr]

I thought I'd bump this thread in case anyone is trying to find it.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

 

[pursuethekingdom]

Seriously considering this cruise. The issue is having 7 kids results in 2 suites. And that ain't cheap. But glad to see a thread already

We cruised 2000, 2001 and 2009. My daughter will be 18 and want 1 more family trip.