It was amazing from start to finish. It was our second time on the Fantasy so we were a little more familiar with the ship this time around. We were a big group of 20 so there was a big range of ages but everyone had a great time. The kids went to the kids club and had a blast, they were very easy to check them into and had a great range of activities. The adults went to both Palo brunch and dinner and a mixology class, all of which were phenomenal. We rode the AquaDuck plenty of times both during the day and at night (I thought it was more fun at night). Overall I would say to try everything from the midship detective agency to mini golf to the adult pools (they're much less crowded).
In Grand Cayman we chartered a catamaran through a company called "Stingray Sailing" and went to Stingray City and some snorkeling. I would hands down recommend them, they were professional, very well priced and offered a small group 24 total on the boat. It was nice to see Stingray City with a smaller group and the guides were very informative and laid back. Overall I'd go back to them in a heartbeat. Next in Cozumel we went to Paradise Beach, a beach day resort that offered paddle boards, kayaks, a pool and most importantly water inflatables. It was less than $20 to get in and use the activities and inflatables and they asked that you spend $10 on food and drinks. It seemed a bit crowded to me but it wasn't too bad in the water. The inflatables were a ton of fun for both adults and kids. It was great for kids and teens because it offered a lot of different things to do and the wait staff was very attentive. It was clean and not too far away from the port. Then in Falmouth our group split up and did two different excursions. The group I was not in went to Blue Hole and loved it. They said it was far away but worth the drive. They said it was a great experience to jump off of each of the falls and take some great pictures. I went to Chukka for zip lining and river tubing. It was just alright in my opinion, I probably would've rather go to Blue Hole as it was cheaper than ours. It wasn't a bad drive there but once there it felt crowded because there are so many options at the estate. The river tubing was a little dull, its pretty slow moving and the water was a murky brown color. We didn't really see anything so I felt like we weren't getting anything out of it. We then went on the ziplines, which had what I felt like were long. There were only four of them which albeit were long than other ziplines I've done, were over quickly because there were so few of them. Overall I wouldn't go back. Lastly in Castaway Cay we jet skied. I would say that was my favorite experience. We went first thing in the morning so that we weren't leaving the beach halfway through the day. We got to really go fast on them and see what they could really do. There was a really cool stop at an empty beach on the other side of the island where we got to see sand dollars and star fish.
The captain was Captain Fabian and the cruise director was Natalie, both were great. And there was no matinee of Aladdin on Sunday, just the 6:15 and 8:30 evening shows.
The food was amazing. There was an outstanding variety of it and always more than enough. Cabanas had a great selection of both normal breakfast foods that appealed to kids and picky eaters and more adventurous things for adults. It was very similar at lunch with the typical things you'd expect to see plus some new items and fun items every day. Dinner was also nothing short of amazing, there was always a good variety of seafood, meat and vegetarian options. Also they were extremely accommodating to the vegetarian of our group, those with allergies, and a family member with a gluten intolerance, they were always willing to adjust a dish to help them out which I thought was great customer service.
The pirate party on our cruise was at 7:45, it says on the Navigator that it only goes until 8:15 which would be enough time to do both I would say. We had the second seating three years ago and went to the pirate party and made it to dinner on time. I felt like they were good about making sure that it was timed correctly so that people were able to do both, I also felt like there was a bit more of a grace period that night just in case you were a few extra minutes at the party or needed to stop by your stateroom.
Our head waiter was Cedomir, who we didn't see a ton but in my experience you never see them a lot just a quick "hello how was your day" each night. Our server was Onur and he was outstanding, he was funny and great with all the kids in our group, he did magic tricks with them and made them dolls out of napkins. He was always very conscious of people's allergies and had great insight about what was the best thing to order that night. Our assistant server was Suki who was a little shy but always brought drinks before you were even done and asked if we needed anything. Lastly our stateroom attendant was Shena who was such a delight. Whenever she saw me in the hallway she'd ask how I was and how the room was and if there was anything she could do to make my stay better, definitely made it feel like home. Overall my interactions this cruise were very positive and very memorable.
At the Royal Court and Animator's Palate we were split up into one table of 8 and another of 12 so I would image they'd keep your group together especially if you asked. In Enchanted Garden we were just one long table.
Overall I think the ship looks really good especially for a ship that is four years old. There's definitely just wear and tear things that need to be done like replace the carpets on the stairs or I thought that the turf on the mini golf was looking a little tired but overall it was pretty clean. In a perfect world these would happen but..
