My Fantasy Experience vs. CCL

[Filmguy]

Just wanted to add my thanks to almost all the posters. I changed from late to early seating at diner. Reading the reports here I am glad I did. I am woried about the reports of sub par food, it was one of the things I was looking forward to. We do have a Remy reservation one night.

 

[Princess Row]

Just wanted to add my thanks to almost all the posters. I changed from late to early seating at diner. Reading the reports here I am glad I did. I am worked about the reports of sub par food, it was one of the things I was looking forward to. We do have a Remy reservation one night.

Don't get your hopes down about the food. I have always loved it and I am sure you will too!

 

[lmhall2000]

Like I said earlier, I LOOK able-bodied....but I can't DO stairs, up or down. You honestly cannot tell by looking at someone. Granted, most likely the teens or young adults that I mentioned probably don't have an excuse....but I even feel guilty using my handicap parking tag sometimes, because people stare at me and shake their heads.

La2kw.....good point.....the elevators ARE for everyone.....
.

Yes! I suffered from tonic clonic seizures in college, every seizure I fell hard directly on my knees...I had mltiple severe swelling (water on the knee)...fast forward 20 years and I can walk more miles a day than most, but I can not do stairs...it causes huge swelling in my knees..I still will take the stairs on the ship, but I am in pain...just try to limit it and take them slowly...

 

[justmestace]

Yes! I suffered from tonic clonic seizures in college, every seizure I fell hard directly on my knees...I had mltiple severe swelling (water on the knee)...fast forward 20 years and I can walk more miles a day than most, but I can not do stairs...it causes huge swelling in my knees..I still will take the stairs on the ship, but I am in pain...just try to limit it and take them slowly...

I'll do one or two flights if I have to....like going down to Deck 1 to get off the ship in port....but I'm slow, and I have to go kind of sideways, and people are always lined up behind me getting antsy.

 

[Never to old]

I am glad to read that Carnival is pretty good. Frankly, they scare me.

I have done 2 Disney cruises (3rd booked for next March), 3 RCCL, 1 HAL, one Celebrity and one Princess which we just got back from.

I love Disney and it is the top of the list. Princess was terrible and is at the bottom. Planning Carnival for Jan. 2014 and since Princess is owned by them, I am doubtful.
Glad to hear it might be alright...........sure hope so.

Can you rate the order for all the cruise lines you sailed on. Unfortunately due to itinerary we need to find another cruise line.

 

[mhsjax]

Liberty now has Guy's (Fieri) Burger Joint and Blue Iguana Cantina around the pool. Those are both way, way better than any of the fast food theme park slop DCL serves around the pool. The buffet area also has a custom order stir fry station, a deli with made to order sandwiches, and a fish and chips joint. It's like a food court, not just a buffet. There's also 24 hour room service and a sushi bar on the promenade deck. We thought the choices were much better than DCL.

. The buffet did have the fry station, it was closed half the time same for fish and chips joint, they actually closed the fish and chips area on several occasions and used it as an additional kids club area. The deli sandwiches also paled in comparison to the wraps and fruit on DCL IMHO. HOt dogs and hamburgers were ok, but the chicken strips on no way compared to DCL and on a cruise this is something that I indulge in. I realize they have 24 hour room service, my complaint is about the food around the pool. I did visit the Sushi bar every night and as a general rule the food in the MDR was better. HOwever, I still prefer the snack options on DCL. In fact I prefer DCL in every way and again, just my opinion but I would never spend another dime on CCL.

On a funny note, on our last night in the MDR they actually played the theme song from "The Titanic". we thought that was very strange and to this day we still have a good laugh about it.

 

[mhsjax]

. The buffet did have the fry station, it was closed half the time same for fish and chips joint, they actually closed the fish and chips area on several occasions and used it as an additional kids club area. The deli sandwiches also paled in comparison to the wraps and fruit on DCL IMHO. HOt dogs and hamburgers were ok, but the chicken strips on no way compared to DCL and on a cruise this is something that I indulge in. I realize they have 24 hour room service, my complaint is about the food around the pool. I did visit the Sushi bar every night and as a general rule the food in the MDR was better. HOwever, I still prefer the snack options on DCL. In fact I prefer DCL in every way and again, just my opinion but I would never spend another dime on CCL.

Delete.

 

[buckeyemom16]

As far as I know, elevators are for everyone's use. Just because you are a parent, or have a stroller, doesn't mean you need it more. I've seen plenty of strollers with kids in them who could easily be walking, hogging up elevator space.

My peeve is someone who takes an elevator down one floor, lol.

No, it doesn't mean we need it more but it does mean we have no other choice but to take an elevator. Several times DH and I carried the stroller with our DS in it one floor up or one floor down because of the horrid wait times and rude fellow passengers.

Then again, there are somethings that I worry I'll miss on another cruiseline. My kids LOVED the kids clubs, and I know no one else's will compare to Disney. DH loved going to the Buena Vista Theater to see a movie late night and the decor and beauty of a Disney ship was amazing. Service was wonderful all around, but I know Disney doesn't have the monopoly on great service.

More than anything, the pools are leading me to look elsewhere. My family loves to swim but the pool decks were impossible unless you were in and out before lunch. The pools looked like bathtubs crammed full of people. Now, if this is true of all cruise ships then perhaps cruising as a whole is not for us. Our favorite part of the trip was the two days at Castaway Cay

To address about the kids clubs, I think this was one of the bigger frustrations for me, that DD wasn't engaged this time. The place looked totally awesome! She begged to do so many things on CCL and we had to tell her no. I expected more of the same and it didn't happen. She couldn't really tell me what the difference was although she is very much into hands on, artsy craftsy things and we just couldn't seem to sync the schedule on DCL that well. As I mentioned before the age ranges are much smaller on CCL therefore the activities are geared more towards their specific age. I will be interested to see what she thinks of the space on CCL next year as it isn't as grand and techy as DCL.

To address the pools, I want to say there may have been one more pool on the Freedom than on the Fantasy and simply due to the lesser number of children they were not "kid soup". Plenty of room to splash around and have fun. The Fantasy's pool looked disgusting by mid-afternoon on our first sea day

 

[Silverfox97]

No, it doesn't mean we need it more but it does mean we have no other choice but to take an elevator. Several times DH and I carried the stroller with our DS in it one floor up or one floor down because of the horrid wait times and rude fellow passengers.



To address about the kids clubs, I think this was one of the bigger frustrations for me, that DD wasn't engaged this time. The place looked totally awesome! She begged to do so many things on CCL and we had to tell her no. I expected more of the same and it didn't happen. She couldn't really tell me what the difference was although she is very much into hands on, artsy craftsy things and we just couldn't seem to sync the schedule on DCL that well. As I mentioned before the age ranges are much smaller on CCL therefore the activities are geared more towards their specific age. I will be interested to see what she thinks of the space on CCL next year as it isn't as grand and techy as DCL.

To address the pools, I want to say there may have been one more pool on the Freedom than on the Fantasy and simply due to the lesser number of children they were not "kid soup". Plenty of room to splash around and have fun. The Fantasy's pool looked disgusting by mid-afternoon on our first sea day

Hmmm....my DD is 5 and went to the kids club every evening (except for night 1 and one other night) from about 8ish until about 9:30ish - except for our night in Palo, it was totally her choice to go. She only did 1 "programmed" event - Pluto's pajama party. However, every single night other than th PJ party night, we went to the club to pick her up, and she was in the lab crafting. The 1st night she made a baby bird out of Pom poms in a "nest" (tissue paper strips), she decorated fans, made a journal, beaded bracelets, and I am sure I am forgetting the other stuff, but we have it all here. This stuff was always just going on in a room in the lab with 2 CMs & was not on the Navigator.

 

[Docjason2]

We took Alex and Lizzie there everyday, they both begged to go in and play. Lizzie loved to dress up in princess costumes, and Alex loved playing games in the Lab. Several times we went up after a show to get them and we ended up walking away empty handed. I think one night I had to drag him out at 11pm since they were closing. It's too bad she didn't like them that much. I swear if it wasn't just for kids, I would've spent a whole day in there myself!!!

 

[buckeyemom16]

Hmmm....my DD is 5 and went to the kids club every evening (except for night 1 and one other night) from about 8ish until about 9:30ish - except for our night in Palo, it was totally her choice to go. She only did 1 "programmed" event - Pluto's pajama party. However, every single night other than th PJ party night, we went to the club to pick her up, and she was in the lab crafting. The 1st night she made a baby bird out of Pom poms in a "nest" (tissue paper strips), she decorated fans, made a journal, beaded bracelets, and I am sure I am forgetting the other stuff, but we have it all here. This stuff was always just going on in a room in the lab with 2 CMs & was not on the Navigator.

Wonder why she didn't get to do any of this? She would show up for an event from the Navigator and hang around for another hour or so and be ready to go. Wonder if she wasn't aware this was going on in the lab because she would've been all over it. I know she was in the lab several times and she went to the pajama party too.

 

[Silverfox97]

Wonder why she didn't get to do any of this? She would show up for an event from the Navigator and hang around for another hour or so and be ready to go. Wonder if she wasn't aware this was going on in the lab because she would've been all over it. I know she was in the lab several times and she went to the pajama party too.

We always dropped her off in the club, but except for PJ party night, she was always in the lab when we came to get her, and was always doing a craft (5 of the 7 nights; pj party night she was coloring a pillow case). And, 2 of the nights, when she saw me coming to get her, she started to CRY because she didn't want to leave!!!

I asked my daughter about what she did and here's what she told me:

"I walked into the Club, put on a princess dress, then walked around the Club, then walked around the Lab to find something I wanted to do. If they were doing a cool craft, I just sat down and joined in." I am guessing this was her nightly routine.

I asked her if the CMs announced any special activities (maybe stuff that was listed in the Navigator) and she told me they did, for example, if it was Storytime in Andy's Room, they would announce it & who every wanted to go did. My DD preferred making those crafts to the magic playfloor, movies, or even making flubber!