Fantasy Western Feb 6 - 13 2016 feat. SWDAS *complete 12/31*

[Cheerio]

We are Canadian, so we swam in all the water. Castaway Cay was cool, but refreshing and everyone in our party got into the water at some point. Our kids were on the aqua duck in Florida

 

[Cheerio]

Following as we are doing the same itinerary in Sept even though it wont be a SWDAS but same ports. We were looking into doing that excursion also and glad you posted about it. WE do need to stop at the Mega Mart in Cozumel right by the port to get my dd who will be turning 5 on the cruise kinder eggs since they are illegal in the US. Thats the ONLY thing she said she wanted to do other than all the princess gathering meet and greets.

OOhhh kinder eggs, yes we forget how lucky we are here to have them in Canada

 

[Cheerio]

Thursday February 11th 2016 - Day at Sea - Hangover City...

Haha the title says it all. Apparently, we had so.much.fun the night before that I woke up at 6am for some lemonade and advil (thank goodness I grabbed some on my way back from wherever we were the night before) and went back to sleep for a few hours. Kids started to stir about 9:30 so we went up to Cabanas for the first of a few coffees I'd down that morning. Our cruise crew slowly started to wake too, they all looked like I felt as we nursed a coffee and non-greasy food, we had our 2nd private mixology at 2pm so we needed to get it together soon. We watched the kids swim for a bit, took them to play mini-golf, relaxed up on deck 13 as we sailed past Cuba while they did kids club stuff.
After a quick lunch, we had our meet n greet with Anna & Elsa in AP, it's about the only thing we took photos of today.

We met our friends in Skyline for mixology which was amazing - can't remember what we made but it was good! Late afternoon was 90's trivia in O'Gills which we rocked, I wish I had brought more friends along with me, it was fun - next time! Dinner tonight was in Animators Palate - our show night! So exciting to watch the kids, many of which were seeing it for the first time. We took the kids for a quick swim and then went back to the room to begin the saddest part- packing. I hate doing it all when we come back from spending the day on Castaway Cay, so I pulled out suitcases and tossed in our FE gifts going home, dirty laundry, figured out what we'd need out for our car ride home and packed up our bag for the island. 10:45pm Mike Super was back in the WD theater for adults so we watched that and ended our evening in Meridian. Another late night, next up - why aren't we docked yet?!?

 

[LindyWebb]

We are going to all these ports. So great to read about. I am not planning on getting off at Grand Cayman either!

 

[Cheerio]

Working on getting my final day posted! I want it complete in 2016

 

[Cheerio]

Castaway Cay day. It's so bittersweet since we LOVE the day on the island but we know it's the last time we'll be getting back ON the ship - it's sad. The day always goes by so quickly as well. Woke up at about 8:30am, grabbed our day bag and headed up to Cabanas for breakfast. Got everyone fed and first layer of sunscreen on while the ship docked and they called all ashore. We grabbed our day bag (always bring an extra empty bag for towels, we pack them on the pool deck but they'll have them when you get off the ship as well, you can't get them by the beach) and got off the ship. We always wait for a bit after all ashore is called, we never have to wait like cattle! Hopped on the tram and went to the 2nd beach by pelican plunge, found a section where we could grab chairs for those in our party and set up shop.

I may, or may not have filled my water bottle with the rest of my sparkling champagne and OJ, mimosa's on the beach - yes please! Some of the kids went to line up for the slide, others grabbed our floats we reserved. We spent the day swimming, snorkeling, grabbing drinks from the bar, eating and just soaking up the sun. Around 4pm we started gathering our stuff and hopped on the tram for our ride back to the ship. There was a small line up to get back on board, but wasn't a big deal at all, it took longer to get in the elevator. We got back to the room and I started to wash sand out of our stuff, while the kids went up for a quick swim (as if they didn't swim enough on the island....) I finished up packing our bags so they were ready to be put out that evening except for what we'd need before the next day. We made sure to drop off our info for booking a future cruise, loved that we didn't need to set a date, just do a placeholder.

Last sunset

Our last dinner was in Enchanted Garden, I had a salad, beef wellington and apple pie - so good. After dinner, we said our goodbyes to our amazing dining team Erhan and Yoga, the three older kids went to their clubs, Daddy went to his "club Meridian", I took Lauren to go see Wishes. After the show we got the two younger kids showered, into PJ's and ordered our last round of warm cookies and milk. Put out our luggage, kids had a treat and then we went to the lobby to watch the see ya real soon party. While we love to see all the characters one more time, it sucks because tears are always stinging my eyes - we don't want to be kicked off the ship! I put the kids to bed and then headed to the Tube for a little bit, danced a little then back up to meridian until it was way too late, saying goodbye to all our friends.

Getting off the ship was super easy. We planned to sleep in a bit since we were eating in the buffet and driving home, no rush for a flight but that didn't quite work out. They started announcements about 5:45am - may as well start getting ready to go home. We showered, watched TV for a bit, grabbed our day bags, tossed on hoodies, met our group up in Cabanas for breakfast. We got to the atrium about 8:30am, there was a bit of a wait to get our alcohol that we bought at various ports. No line for customs and we were off the ship just after 9. In the car and driving away by 9:30am. The drive home wasn't too exciting, we drove for 11 hours before stopping in Beckley WV for the night. Arrived home Sunday evening, took a few days to unpack, thankfully we re-booked on board or I'd be *really* sad! Thanks for reading!!

 

[TestingH2O]

Great report and a fun NYE read. We leave for our Star Wars Western in 77 days!

 

[Cheerio]

So exciting! I'll be watching for your trip report

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Just finished up! Loved reading about your adventures!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks for sharing your trip report! We're in the GTA also and are heading to the Fantasy in 5 1/2 weeks! Glad you had such a great trip!

 

[ForMyBoys]

We were on the same trip I think a fun thing was that it was predicted to be cold and windy at Castaway Cay but it ended up being sunny and gorgeous, that was my favorite day of the trip (other than star wars day which was also super fun for my 3 boys). My best friend also came on the trip and talked me and my oldest son into getting photos with the princesses, which I've never done since I don't have a girl. I was quite impressed with the princesses. Belle had a long conversation with my 12 year old about her favorite books!

Your trip report was fun!! Glad you had a great trip.

 

[Cheerio]

We really lucked out on Castaway day, are you booked for another cruise? We are going Feb 2018