March 23, 2013 FANTASY - The Final Inaugural Cruise of the Disney Fantasy

[chernabogfamily]

Hello Everyone! We will be joining you all on this cruise. This will be cruise #8 for us. We are very excited to get a stop in San Juan, since that is a little different than DCL's regular Eastern itineraries (although, it will be our first Eastern). We are doing the MR Christmas Cruise this year (Kids sail free deal), so we'd love any info from all of you MR cruise veterans!!!

We are me (Kellie), DH, DS 13, and DD 9. We booked the morning pricing was released, and also got in on the Blue-Light Special when we transferred an OBB to this cruise. I was amazed at the price. I had also thought that we would never get to be on the Fantasy since all the cruises seemed to be so outrageously priced...woohoo!! glad to find the glitch for this one! I look every now and then at rooms and think about upgrading our category, but getting a verandah for under $3K for 4 is exciting. I keep telling myself "don't upgrade, use the extra money for a better wine pkg" .

We are booked in one of the new recategorized type rooms (#9652). It's a 7A (Navigator's Verandah). I know this category hasn't existed before on the Dream or Fantasy, so I am completely in the dark as to what the layout is for a 7A. Does anyone here possibly know????

We are so excited for this cruise!!!!!

 

[FabFivePA]

Anyway, it looks as if our Fantasy cruise will also be sold out. Should we be concerned about the newer ships sailing at capacity or do you think it'll be ok? Four thousand folks is a lot

Anyone here sailed on a full Dream sailing? How was it?

AH!! I have the same concerns. We cruised in Jan this year and planned to cruise in Jan again thinking it may not be a full ship, or less kids, as we really enjoyed our cruise this year. I never even dreamed of cruising around spring break thinking it would be way crowded and way expensive. Of course we all know how that ended up. LOL We've talked about it a bit, but it makes NO sense to spend SO much more money on any other cruise. So it is what it is. I guess I am most concerned about the kids clubs/lab/etc and will they be overwhelmed by the amount of kids. But then again we did sail on a KSF as well and I would have to imagine the kids clubs on the new ships were designed to accomodate, well, more kids!! LOL

We did! We were on the Dream June 7th-12th. It was a 5 nighter. The boat was completely sold out. We never felt it was too crowded. We went to the shows, rode the aquaduck 4-5 times, enjoyed the pool, no issues. The funny thing is 4k people and we kept running into the same 3-4 families! I'd say the most crowds we ran into were getting into the dining rooms every night and disembarkment. Even then it wasnt horrible.

Thanks so much for letting us know! I am glad to hear. I definitely had thought about asking on the board!

Hello Everyone! We will be joining you all on this cruise. This will be cruise #8 for us. We are very excited to get a stop in San Juan, since that is a little different than DCL's regular Eastern itineraries (although, it will be our first Eastern).

We are so excited for this cruise!!!!!

We are very excited for San Juan as well!!! (I am envious of all of your tickers!!! )

 

[lbgraves]

N.Lo!!! I have always found that we see the same few families onboard, outside of the ones we know before hand. It is odd.

 

[FabFivePA]

Tammy, what's a magnet exchange? That almost sounds like something I could get DH on board with.

It just dawned on me I never answered this! Sorry!!
You just print out a bunch of the same magnets, and everyone who wants to participate signs up with their cabin number... then you go around and put the magnets on their doors. Most people did it on their FE day, so it was scattered throughout the week and my kids loved seeing magnets add up on our door every day. People did some around a cruise theme and some around where they were from, etc. Super easy to make a pic on your puter and print it on magnet paper.. some laminated and just glued a magnet to the back. We had fun with it and something I could handle other than FE's. LOL

 

[lbgraves]

It just dawned on me I never answered this! Sorry!!
You just print out a bunch of the same magnets, and everyone who wants to participate signs up with their cabin number... then you go around and put the magnets on their doors. Most people did it on their FE day, so it was scattered throughout the week and my kids loved seeing magnets add up on our door every day. People did some around a cruise theme and some around where they were from, etc. Super easy to make a pic on your puter and print it on magnet paper.. some laminated and just glued a magnet to the back. We had fun with it and something I could handle other than FE's. LOL

We have received magnets like this for our FE gift on a few cruises. Little magnets make GREAT FE gifts!

 

[lbgraves]

We are booked in one of the new recategorized type rooms (#9652). It's a 7A (Navigator's Verandah). I know this category hasn't existed before on the Dream or Fantasy, so I am completely in the dark as to what the layout is for a 7A. Does anyone here possibly know????

Kelli! The room has the same setup as a cat 5A. I know that on the Magic/Wonder all of the rooms from cats 9 up to 5 had the same interior setup.

It was just reclassified because of the obstructed view on the verandah. You can see that in this picture.

 

[Kirbo]

We have always cruised on sold out cruises, including the 2008 EBPC repo. That one got a little much due to some of the teens on board and their antics, but it never really felt crowded even for 15 days. We cruised KSF the past two years in January, last minute bookings, and it wasn't crowded then. The one thing we noticed the last cruise in january was the lack of parental control over thier kids in the dining room. We always have early dining and yes we know it gets loud in the dining rooms and we have kids BUT I have never witnessed some of the antics we saw then before. One 2 yo next to us threw a tantrum - and some plates - and all ended up on the floor. It was more of a "we're on the ship now, I put the kid in the seat and he will stay there or whatever while I visit with the person next to me" attitude. A tot on the other side of us was allowed to squeal/shreek repeatedly almost every time we were in the dining room...especially at the CB. Now, I totally understand the excitement kids experience. It's not about that. It was to the point where people in the DIS group who were sitting between our table and the shreeker got and left half way through the CB. My kids have never been angels, but we have always removed them from the situation if they ever did anything that bothered people around us whether it be in church or at dinner. One time is one thing, every single night was excessive. Now what was the question? Usually there are 1600-1800 kids between the ages of 3 & 12 onboard alone [announced at the final kids' show]. We were really surprised by the numbers the first few times, considering that doesn't include the tots or teens.

Sounds like those parents needed a timeout!

Glad to hear that you've also sailed at capacity and it was ok. On the Wonder we really didn't feel it was a problem, I was starting to worry about on one of the new boats.

Hi everybody. I've stopped in a couple of times but figured it was time I chimed in. We will also be on this cruise. It will be me, DH, and DS (10 at the time of the cruise). We are so excited! Is it bad that I'm already pricing rental cars, flights and hotels/

We did! We were on the Dream June 7th-12th. It was a 5 nighter. The boat was completely sold out. We never felt it was too crowded. We went to the shows, rode the aquaduck 4-5 times, enjoyed the pool, no issues. The funny thing is 4k people and we kept running into the same 3-4 families! I'd say the most crowds we ran into were getting into the dining rooms every night and disembarkment. Even then it wasnt horrible.

!

On our MR cruise there was one family that we saw everywhere! It was the funniest thing. By the end we joked we were family. When we got home and I was looking through our pictures, they were even in our first picture from inside the port

I also have been looking into airfare. What I'm finding for the same week next year is insane. I hope the prices come down for 2013.

Hello Everyone! We will be joining you all on this cruise. This will be cruise #8 for us. We are very excited to get a stop in San Juan, since that is a little different than DCL's regular Eastern itineraries (although, it will be our first Eastern). We are doing the MR Christmas Cruise this year (Kids sail free deal), so we'd love any info from all of you MR cruise veterans!!!

We are me (Kellie), DH, DS 13, and DD 9. We booked the morning pricing was released, and also got in on the Blue-Light Special when we transferred an OBB to this cruise. I was amazed at the price. I had also thought that we would never get to be on the Fantasy since all the cruises seemed to be so outrageously priced...woohoo!! glad to find the glitch for this one! I look every now and then at rooms and think about upgrading our category, but getting a verandah for under $3K for 4 is exciting. I keep telling myself "don't upgrade, use the extra money for a better wine pkg" .

We are booked in one of the new recategorized type rooms (#9652). It's a 7A (Navigator's Verandah). I know this category hasn't existed before on the Dream or Fantasy, so I am completely in the dark as to what the layout is for a 7A. Does anyone here possibly know????

We are so excited for this cruise!!!!!

We did the MR early this year. I don't think we're at all veterans, but I'd be happy to try to answer any questions.

AH!! I have the same concerns. We cruised in Jan this year and planned to cruise in Jan again thinking it may not be a full ship, or less kids, as we really enjoyed our cruise this year. I never even dreamed of cruising around spring break thinking it would be way crowded and way expensive. Of course we all know how that ended up. LOL We've talked about it a bit, but it makes NO sense to spend SO much more money on any other cruise. So it is what it is. I guess I am most concerned about the kids clubs/lab/etc and will they be overwhelmed by the amount of kids. But then again we did sail on a KSF as well and I would have to imagine the kids clubs on the new ships were designed to accomodate, well, more kids!! LOL
Thanks so much for letting us know! I am glad to hear. I definitely had thought about asking on the board!

We are very excited for San Juan as well!!! (I am envious of all of your tickers!!! )

They will only allow as many kids on board as they can accommodate in the clubs. From what I've heard they limit each age group to a certain number.

I'm so excited!

N.Lo!!! I have always found that we see the same few families onboard, outside of the ones we know before hand. It is odd.

It's pretty funny how that is. My mom says there are really only 20 people in the world and the rest is done with mirrors.

It just dawned on me I never answered this! Sorry!!
You just print out a bunch of the same magnets, and everyone who wants to participate signs up with their cabin number... then you go around and put the magnets on their doors. Most people did it on their FE day, so it was scattered throughout the week and my kids loved seeing magnets add up on our door every day. People did some around a cruise theme and some around where they were from, etc. Super easy to make a pic on your puter and print it on magnet paper.. some laminated and just glued a magnet to the back. We had fun with it and something I could handle other than FE's. LOL

If anyone wants to do this I'd love to join! But I'd need help and someone to walk me through it. I am the least crafty person out there

Folks, I didn't used to post much, but this cruise has me so excited I may become a post-a-holic. So forgive me ahead of time, please

 

[lbgraves]

LOL! Somehow I just don't see that.

 

[Dream_2011]

Sounds like those parents needed a timeout!

Glad to hear that you've also sailed at capacity and it was ok. On the Wonder we really didn't feel it was a problem, I was starting to worry about on one of the new boats.

!

On our MR cruise there was one family that we saw everywhere! It was the funniest thing. By the end we joked we were family. When we got home and I was looking through our pictures, they were even in our first picture from inside the port

I also have been looking into airfare. What I'm finding for the same week next year is insane. I hope the prices come down for 2013.



We did the MR early this year. I don't think we're at all veterans, but I'd be happy to try to answer any questions.

They will only allow as many kids on board as they can accommodate in the clubs. From what I've heard they limit each age group to a certain number.

I'm so excited!

It's pretty funny how that is. My mom says there are really only 20 people in the world and the rest is done with mirrors.


If anyone wants to do this I'd love to join! But I'd need help and someone to walk me through it. I am the least crafty person out there

Folks, I didn't used to post much, but this cruise has me so excited I may become a post-a-holic. So forgive me ahead of time, please

Hi, this is the moment if you are crafty enogh, this is halloween time they have alot of pirate, skeleton stuff,, at this moment bath and body work have the little hand sanitizer for just .37 cent just label with the cabin num. sometime party city sote or online have discontinue disney stuff unexpensive, you dont need to give the same thing to each cabin just do a variety of stuff.
another idea this cruise will be easter week wait for next easter and the next day after easter they have alot of stuff with deep discount. this is the way that my family do it I have cabins so far and I do all the exchange give, so imagine I have alot of work

 

[lbgraves]

at this moment bath and body work have the little hand sanitizer for just .37 cent just label with the cabin num.

OMG Seriously?!?!?! Wish I could run out today and check.

 

[chernabogfamily]

We are very excited for San Juan as well!!! (I am envious of all of your tickers!!! )

Don't be envious...picture how broke we will be!! We book 1 1/2 yrs out for everything so we can try to pay them off. The summer cruise will likely have to moved to 2013 later (that just gives me more time to pay for it . My kids have a National Competition to go to and a number of the date options given to us fall during that cruise week. It will be a big bummer to have to miss that one, that's the one the kids are most excited for right now (my son love everything Titanic and can hardly wait to go to the seaport where it's voyage would have ended). We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Kelli! The room has the same setup as a cat 5A. I know that on the Magic/Wonder all of the rooms from cats 9 up to 5 had the same interior setup.

It was just reclassified because of the obstructed view on the verandah. You can see that in this picture.

Thanks for the info. I know when we were booking I had originally picked a Cat 6 room, then the screen refreshed for some reason and the Cat 7 popped up for $200 cheaper. We thought about it, and then figured why not try out one of these rooms. But, with the wording about the category (obstructed and/or undersized verandah) we've been a little leery. Oh well, a verandah's a verandah, right?!? This is only the 2nd verandah room we've ever gotten, so just having one is awesome! This just saves us a little cash to put towards a future cruise...since we are incredibly addicted.

 

[lbgraves]

You are saving a bunch of money over what someone else has paid for that same room up to this point on the Dream. It's like a SPH on the Magic. Quite a deal! We usually book cat 8 or 10. We lucked out first day and got a SPH for Alaska or I'm not sure we would have willingly paid that much for an inside room. On our 3rd cruise we were upgraded from an 8 to a 4 along with our friends. Enjoyed the extra room but didn't really spend much time out on the verandah so said we wouldn't book it again for the $$ difference. Last September I checked DCL.com on a lark and saw that there were cat 5s with KSF in January and they were cheaper than we usually pay for a cat 8. The cat 10s on that cruise cost more than the KSF deal!!! I booked it and didn't tell DH until day 76. This time I couldn't pass up the verandah for only $200 more than a 8A. I tell the kids to enjoy it because this probably isn't going to happen again. We are in an 8 on the MV.

 

[Kirbo]

LOL! Somehow I just don't see that.

Seriously. I am so not crafty. It's like I'm breaking the law of SAHM by being so lame with crafts

Hi, this is the moment if you are crafty enogh, this is halloween time they have alot of pirate, skeleton stuff,, at this moment bath and body work have the little hand sanitizer for just .37 cent just label with the cabin num. sometime party city sote or online have discontinue disney stuff unexpensive, you dont need to give the same thing to each cabin just do a variety of stuff.
another idea this cruise will be easter week wait for next easter and the next day after easter they have alot of stuff with deep discount. this is the way that my family do it I have cabins so far and I do all the exchange give, so imagine I have alot of work

That's so cool. And crafty.

It's probably a great thing that DH is against the FE since I'd just buy you guys a bunch of junk and then you'd ban me from sailing with you again.

But the magnet exchange seems like something I could do if you all walk me through it

You are saving a bunch of money over what someone else has paid for that same room up to this point on the Dream. It's like a SPH on the Magic. Quite a deal! We usually book cat 8 or 10. We lucked out first day and got a SPH for Alaska or I'm not sure we would have willingly paid that much for an inside room. On our 3rd cruise we were upgraded from an 8 to a 4 along with our friends. Enjoyed the extra room but didn't really spend much time out on the verandah so said we wouldn't book it again for the $$ difference. Last September I checked DCL.com on a lark and saw that there were cat 5s with KSF in January and they were cheaper than we usually pay for a cat 8. The cat 10s on that cruise cost more than the KSF deal!!! I booked it and didn't tell DH until day 76. This time I couldn't pass up the verandah for only $200 more than a 8A. I tell the kids to enjoy it because this probably isn't going to happen again. We are in an 8 on the MV.

you are Da Man on finding the deals! I aspire to be that good. I'm pretty good, I have twins, you gotta find the deals with twins, but you are the best!

 

[lbgraves]

Seriously. I am so not crafty. It's like I'm breaking the law of SAHM by being so lame with crafts

Um...that's not what I was talking about when I said that I didn't buy it. This is the quote....

**** Folks, I didn't used to post much, but this cruise has me so excited I may become a post-a-holic. So forgive me ahead of time, please ****

you are Da Man on finding the deals! I aspire to be that good. I'm pretty good, I have twins, you gotta find the deals with twins, but you are the best!

LOL! Back when the kids were babies I had a coupon binder...actually I used one of those narrow photo albums that are three 4x6 pictures tall, organized by aisle. I used to know the store managers here, placed orders for deals so I didn't clear the shelves and donated a ton of free stuff to the preschool and soup kitchen downtown. I have gotten away from couponing but have to laugh at some of the things I see now. Saved a lot of money back then... but I still love finding a deal. If it is out there, I will find it.

Oh and a friend introduced me to those priceline type sites this summer. She guided me through getting the Pan Pacific in Vancouver for $135 a night...and in turn I helped some of our cruise friends do the same. That deal was sweet since we were able to look out the window in the morning and watch the Wonder pull into port. LOVED the setup at the port in Vancouver. Much more welcoming and functional than PC. So much room inside the terminal area also where you have queues for customs, then checking in, then waiting to board. The people were so very friendly as well.

 

[Kirbo]

Um...that's not what I was talking about when I said that I didn't buy it. This is the quote....

**** Folks, I didn't used to post much, but this cruise has me so excited I may become a post-a-holic. So forgive me ahead of time, please ****

Oh

I've really become obsessed with this board.

LOL! Back when the kids were babies I had a coupon binder...actually I used one of those narrow photo albums that are three 4x6 pictures tall, organized by aisle. I used to know the store managers here, placed orders for deals so I didn't clear the shelves and donated a ton of free stuff to the preschool and soup kitchen downtown. I have gotten away from couponing but have to laugh at some of the things I see now. Saved a lot of money back then... but I still love finding a deal. If it is out there, I will find it.

Oh and a friend introduced me to those priceline type sites this summer. She guided me through getting the Pan Pacific in Vancouver for $135 a night...and in turn I helped some of our cruise friends do the same. That deal was sweet since we were able to look out the window in the morning and watch the Wonder pull into port. LOVED the setup at the port in Vancouver. Much more welcoming and functional than PC. So much room inside the terminal area also where you have queues for customs, then checking in, then waiting to board. The people were so very friendly as well.

 

[lbgraves]

... at this moment bath and body work have the little hand sanitizer for just .37 cent just label with the cabin num.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
I went by our B&BW store today and snagged a bunch of these in mango and passion fruit to use for a different cruise FE gift! I'm going to print out lables to put over the front one with the voyage date and DCL clip art.

 

[livinthedisneydream]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes! We are really excited for this cruise, but caught up in the planning for our Dec trip right now.

Oh, and I can't believe how cheap our upgrade was--2 cat 8c's to 2 cat 8a's was only around $29 total!! Crazy!

Our last few cruises, since they were on the Dream, were at capacity and though crowded, manageable. Of course, we really haven't cruised "off season" so we may just be used to it!

Sounds like there will be lots of kids the same ages which will be nice. Looking forward to all the planning!
Lisa

 

[wishlounge]

Just booked this morning and so excited!!! It will be myself, husband, son 6 (one week from 7) and daughter 5. It seems so far away so glad to have this thread to keep me in cruise mode.
Shaunna

 

[Dream_2011]

Just got my swap for the fish extender. Omg yes I know is way to early to think about that but went you do stuff with your heart it take time.

 

[wishlounge]

Not even sure if I wanna know the answer because I was not a part of it...but what is the whole glitch thing? ;-)