Livin on a Fantasy!! September 29, 2012 Disney Fantasy

[jonisane]

Lori. Did you see on the chocolate factory website that kids under 12 are free? We might do that.

 

[LoriS]

Lori. Did you see on the chocolate factory website that kids under 12 are free? We might do that.

Yes, that was one of the draws for me. I just emailed them to reserve. They are on vacation and said I should hear back in a few days.

 

[gometros]

Hi - this is our first DC and am just wondering about the Palo brunch. I was not able to book anything until July 16 and when that day came, the Palo brunch options were already sold out. Why is the brunch more popular than the dinner?
So I booked Palo for Thurs night but I wasnt sure if we would be missing something exciting ? Also someone recommended Palo on Pirate Night...why is that? I'm thinking our family of 3 will dress up and it will be fun together. Am I missing something? I was also disappointed I could not get Madison (age 9) in the Bippidity Bobbiti Boutique on pirate night because it was full as well.

What do you all mean when you say you can sign up for your next cruise in a few days? Is there a special offer to book your next cruise while on the boat and what are the in's and out's of it?

On Port Excursions I signed us up for the Pirate Encounter in Grand Cayman - Is this too babyish for a 9 year old? I liked the idea of it and it sounded fun!
Oh, when talking to a Disney rep I decided to change to the later dining time because it sounds less rushed. Any insights on this move? And finally (sorry!) how do I sign up to participate in the Fish Extender ?! Thanks everyone!

Palo brunch is very popular and hard to get because it's only available on sea days, where Palo dinner is available to book every night. I hadn't heard the comments Lori did about differences between the brunch on the Fantasy versus the Magic/Wonder, but I can tell you that we've done the brunch a number of times and it was one of the highlights of our trip. You can always try to see if there are openings when you board. You can go right up to Palo when you board. They sometimes hold back some reservations for people that cannot book online.

As far as dinner on Pirate night, many people feel the Pirate night menu is the least desirable. There is also no real show on pirate night, so you don't have to worry about missing anything. we booked Remy that night for that very reason.

 

[wendiwinn]

Hi Wendiwinn....
We don't have too much booked :
Bamboo massage for hubby, couples massage, Ionithermie Cellulite Reduction treatment for me, Palo Brunch (on first sea day) and Stingray City Snorkel in Grand Caymen. On Cozumel day we have a non-Disney excursion at an all-inclusive beach resort.

We are cruising with another couple with no kids tagging along. This is only my husband and my 2nd vacation in our 26 yrs of married life ! We married young---at ages 22 and 24 (we're in our late 40's now), so we never got to do all this fun stuff couples do until last year on a Magic cruise. So we're enjoying the spa....something we never did until last Oct. Our TA is getting us a Rainforest pass too

So on Castaway Cay day we are doing absolutely nothing but R&R at the adult beach (this will be only our 2nd time on this beach). We will probably snorkel at the family beach for an hour or so first.

Your excursions sound fun....have not done either one. I know we did the Fury Catamaran in Cozumel one year with the kids and they loved it.

i hope you have great grown-up time!

I am not booking any Disney excursions this trip. In Costa Maya, we are just going to look around the port a little bit and grab a drink in the swim up pool bar.
Grand Cayman I am going to book a Royal Dolphin Swim with Dolphin Cove.
In Cozumel we want to do Paradise Beach, but I have also read about a Chocolate Factory Tour that I really want to do as it will tie in well with school.
Castaway Cay is just a relax and deny we have to go home the next day.

i've never booked an excursion outside of disney? do you just research places online and then book directly with them? or do you have a travel agent do it for you?

i have to check out the link for the chocolate factory!

I booked bikes for Castaway Cay...that's about the extent of our excursions for now

I had looked at a couple of the private beaches for the ports...I should probably update the family on cost etc for those and see if they're still up for it.

bikes sound fun! my youngest doesn't know how to ride yet - so i'm thinking she wouldn't really enjoy running after the rest of the fam as we ride off without her.

 

[LoriS]

i've never booked an excursion outside of disney? do you just research places online and then book directly with them? or do you have a travel agent do it for you?

i have to check out the link for the chocolate factory!

Yes, I have just done the research and booked on my own.

 

[gometros]

There a lot of good suggestions on this board for excursions on our three stops and there are some things you really should do on your own. I can't see paying for a beach break, when you can just grab a cab to the beach of your choice on your own. We do Paradise Beach in Cozumel, but people have also recommended Nachi Cocum and Mr.s Sanchos.

On the other hand, excursions I would recommend doing through DCL are those in port where we don't have a lot of time and the excursion could get you back to the ship too close to the boarding time to take the chance. You are protected if you do the excursion through the cruise line, but not if you do it on your own and the tour company gets you back late.

Another good discussion board site to research excursions is Cruise Critic. They have the boards broken down by ports of call.

 

[LoriS]

There a lot of good suggestions on this board for excursions on our three stops and there are some things you really should do on your own. I can't see paying for a beach break, when you can just grab a cab to the beach of your choice on your own. We do Paradise Beach in Cozumel, but people have also recommended Nachi Cocum and Mr.s Sanchos.

On the other hand, excursions I would recommend doing through DCL are those in port where we don't have a lot of time and the excursion could get you back to the ship too close to the boarding time to take the chance. You are protected if you do the excursion through the cruise line, but not if you do it on your own and the tour company gets you back late.

Another good discussion board site to research excursions is Cruise Critic. They have the boards broken down by ports of call.

We are doing Paradise Beach too, and I completely agree on using DCL on short port days. The saving wouldn't be worth the risk of missing the ship.

Sandy, on the FB page someone asked if there would be a cut off for FE's. I don't recall one being discussed, but if I may give my 2 cents. I would say August 15, that way we have about 6 weeks to get everything together and if people are traveling before the cruise they will still have a month. Also, do you have any idea how many cabins we are up to now?

 

[Golf1007]

Good points!

 

[Golf1007]

I'm on Facebook and would like to join the page i (and the FE) f someone could invite me? Mary Bley is the name from Bloomington IL - thanks!!

We are doing Paradise Beach too, and I completely agree on using DCL on short port days. The saving wouldn't be worth the risk of missing the ship.

Sandy, on the FB page someone asked if there would be a cut off for FE's. I don't recall one being discussed, but if I may give my 2 cents. I would say August 15, that way we have about 6 weeks to get everything together and if people are traveling before the cruise they will still have a month. Also, do you have any idea how many cabins we are up to now?

 

[LoriS]

I'm on Facebook and would like to join the page i (and the FE) f someone could invite me? Mary Bley is the name from Bloomington IL - thanks!!

Mary, here is the link to the FB page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/227155167348330/
gometros (Sandy) is organizing the FE, fill out this form and he should get you added.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFFycTJxY0thUjduTDR0ck5wWUhwX3c6MQ#gid=0

 

[Golf1007]

Thanks Sandy and Lori!

 

[jonisane]

The DCL reservations let me book Palo brunch for the day we are in Costa Maya. I thought you could only do the brunch on sea days. Anybody know about this? I guess it wouldn't let me book it if wasn't available! !! Lori what time are you planning to do the chocolate factory tour? Want to do the tour together? Both families?

 

[LoriS]

We want to do 9:00, that way we can get our chocolate back to the ship & still have time for Paradise Beach. Sounds like fun going together.

 

[jonisane]

Sounds good. My husband and I went to Paradise Beach a couple of years ago. It was fun but we may just go back and enjoy the boat...we'll just see how we feel and then decide.


QUOTE=LoriS;45542328]We want to do 9:00, that way we can get our chocolate back to the ship & still have time for Paradise Beach. Sounds like fun going together.[/QUOTE]

 

[LoriS]

Sounds good. My husband and I went to Paradise Beach a couple of years ago. It was fun but we may just go back and enjoy the boat...we'll just see how we feel and then decide.


QUOTE=LoriS;45542328]We want to do 9:00, that way we can get our chocolate back to the ship & still have time for Paradise Beach. Sounds like fun going together.

[/QUOTE]
We did Paradise Beach in 2009 and had a blast. The girls loved all the water climbing toys. That will be our big beach day.

 

[gometros]

We are doing Paradise Beach too, and I completely agree on using DCL on short port days. The saving wouldn't be worth the risk of missing the ship.

Sandy, on the FB page someone asked if there would be a cut off for FE's. I don't recall one being discussed, but if I may give my 2 cents. I would say August 15, that way we have about 6 weeks to get everything together and if people are traveling before the cruise they will still have a month. Also, do you have any idea how many cabins we are up to now?

Since my participation is only collecting the information and I have no experience with FEs, I'll defer to those that are participating in it. Although, as somebody pointed out on my other cruise thread, we should try not to leave anybody out if they join after the deadline.

The DCL reservations let me book Palo brunch for the day we are in Costa Maya. I thought you could only do the brunch on sea days. Anybody know about this? I guess it wouldn't let me book it if wasn't available! !! Lori what time are you planning to do the chocolate factory tour? Want to do the tour together? Both families?

That is odd. I wonder if they opened up a third day for Palo brunch because of its popularity? Or it could just be an error on DCL's part.

 

[magicimaginear]

The DCL reservations let me book Palo brunch for the day we are in Costa Maya. I thought you could only do the brunch on sea days. Anybody know about this? I guess it wouldn't let me book it if wasn't available! !! Lori what time are you planning to do the chocolate factory tour? Want to do the tour together? Both families?

Since the Fantasy does not get to Costa Maya until after 12:30 it is considered a half sea day

 

[savin4WDW]

Hi everyone!

I just booked this cruise, and am so excited to join you all on this thread!

We are: DH (Evan), me (Stacey), DD (Jessica, 9) and DD (Samantha, 6). I'm so happy to see so many kids that are the ages of our kids on this sailing! I saw in one of the posts that there is a separate thread for kids so I'm going to get our girls on that to say hello.

This will be our 5th Disney cruise, but our first on either of the newer ships. I so can't wait to see the Fantasy for myself!

I usually book pretty far ahead (yes, I'm one of those Type A, spreadsheet-lovin' Disney folks), so doing a relatively last-minute booking is new to me. We have a GTY cabin (cat 5E). I have no experience with how GTY works. Does anyone know when GTYs get assigned?

We'll go to the parks for a few days after the cruise. I'm hoping some discounts for Disney hotels come available at some point, but since it's a holiday weekend, I'm not counting on it, and we'll probably end up off-property.

I've glanced at the pages from this thread, and want to say thanks to you all for all the great suggestions you've posted!

We definitely want to join the FE, and the SM if there is one, so I'll go find the link to sign up.

Looking forward to getting to know you all!

 

[TaniaU]

Hi Stacey, Welcome aboard!

Use this link to sign up for the FE stuff

I'm not sure when the GTY cabins are assigned, but I've seen a thread on the board for it...15 days out maybe?

 

[TaniaU]

As for a cut-off date for the FE, August 15th sounds like as good of date as any.

I should probably get cracking on mine (and see if I should add Mom and Dad to the list)

On a totally different topic...does anyone know why we get into Costa Maya so late?