»»June 16, 2012 Father's Day Cruise on the Fantasy!««

[triplefigs]

LOVED your pics! I think that is a perfect excursion -gives you perfect time for each thing (sightseeing, beach, shopping). Was that on your own or thru RCCL? I definitely want to go to St. John though too

How was your experience at St. Pete??

We did the tour on our own. We didn't get to to to St. Pete- no $$ left after the cruise!

 

[triplefigs]

Loved your pics Denise! Especially the planes landing at Maho Beach.

That was the highlight of the cruise!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hi Cindy -

My husband and son parasailed at CC in March and they both had a blast. I have done it in Mexico. I was really impressed with how long they kept them out there.

I would love to do a WL challenge with you. Then we can celebrate on the cruise

Did they do a tandem at CC? I am hoping one of my guys might want to do it with me.

As for a WL challenge, definitely - I would like to lose about 25 lbs although I need to lose a lot more than that, but I was thinking that by losing that much, my boys are both growing so much right now that it will balance out whatever they might gain in the year These teenagers are hard to keep their hollow legs filled up!

 

[thegales]

On our Christmas cruise on St. Thomas, I think the name of the excursion was Turtle swim and Honeymoon Beach (I will find the real name later). They separated the DCL excursions into four groups, with a boat for each. We were in the last group, so we probably boarded our boat about 30 minutes after the first.

The four crew members for our boat were great. A lot of good interaction with the guests. When we approached the snorkel site, they indicated with all the other boats already there, the snorkeling would not be as comfortable. They asked if they could take us to another spot for about 30 minutes, then go to Turtle area and spend 30 minutes less there. This was great! One of the crew members took us on a tour at both locations, where he pointed stuff out. We saw so much more than if we had just gone to the one location for the full time.

Then off to the beach, where we had lunch. This was a beach that was difficult for locals to get to via road, so it was mostly cruise people. I was impressed when one of our crew members saw a man who had fallen asleep on the beach. He nudged him enough to get him to wake up and put more sunscreen on. I don't know if the man was a local or from another ship, but it showed the crew wanted all to have a good time.

Our boat was the last to leave the beach, since we were the last ones to arrive. We arrived back to the Magic just after the 'all aboard' time (the relaxing joys of booking a DCL excursion!). The adults knew we were fine for getting on the ship, but the kids were not quite so. I can't remember if someone from the ship blew a whistle or siren, but all the kids heard that and started running towards the ship in a frantic so they would not be left behind. It was fun being the last ones to get on the ship.

The family wants to book this excursion again, but I know a lot of the good time was based on the crew. I would hate to do it again, and have it not be as good.

 

[Kolsrud]

Selina, Ryan, DD (14), DS (8)
Category 08
FIRST cruise ever!!!!!
Celebrating our first cruise.
First Dining

 

[DisneyOHFan]

FIRST cruise ever!!!!!

Very cool. It will be fun.

 

[ssanders79]

Selina, Ryan, DD (14), DS (8)
Category 08
FIRST cruise ever!!!!!
Celebrating our first cruise.
First Dining

Welcome. Once you get up to speed let me know if you want to join the FE.

 

[mousemom11]

Selina, Ryan, DD (14), DS (8)
Category 08
FIRST cruise ever!!!!!
Celebrating our first cruise.
First Dining

to the best cruise ever to happen on the Fantasy! This is a great group of people. Please come and join un on Facebook, too. There is a link to our private Facebook page on the 1st page of this thread.

 

[grits98]

Glad you are ;with us and I appreciate the sacrifice that your husband and family are making for his service to our country!

Sorry - it's been a while since I've been on the boards. Thank you! We're glad to have this cruise to look forward to!

 

[Docjason2]

Selina, Ryan, DD (14), DS (8)
Category 08
FIRST cruise ever!!!!!
Celebrating our first cruise.
First Dining

Welcome to our group!!! Also we have a facebook group that's fairly active if you'd like to join!

 

[Docjason2]

So I was perusing some review sites and reading people's reactions to the Disney Dream. I know it's still early, and the crew is mostly new, but do you guys ever take these bad reviews into consideration for the ship?

I've been reading stories of overcrowded lines and pools, sub par service and food. I know the Fantasy is still a long way off, just wondering if us "Disney enthusiasts" might get blinded by the whole Disney Magic Dust?

 

[DisneyOHFan]

Well, since we expereienced the same thing when we were on the Dream in March and tend to agree with some of the reviews regarding the over crowded pools, rushed service in the restaurants, etc. Because of the "Disney Magic Dust" we were able to see through some of the negative and loved the experience for all of the positive. Therefore, we booked another Dream vacation next January and I am confident Disney will be working through SOME of the issues with the Fantasy and can't wait for our experience in June.

 

[ssanders79]

So I was perusing some review sites and reading people's reactions to the Disney Dream. I know it's still early, and the crew is mostly new, but do you guys ever take these bad reviews into consideration for the ship?

I've been reading stories of overcrowded lines and pools, sub par service and food. I know the Fantasy is still a long way off, just wondering if us "Disney enthusiasts" might get blinded by the whole Disney Magic Dust?

I read the review good & bad, but I take them with a grain of salt. I have no idea where the reviewer is coming from and there experience level with DCL in the past. I also think there are a lot of first time cruisers (not just DCL first timers) with high and sometimes unrealistic expectations.

I am not one to wear blinders when it comes to Disney. However, DCL is/was in new territory with a ship this size and as expected there were complications. I hope to see some of these resolved for the Fantasy and changes made to the Dream. Disney magic can only go so far. For me I am usually willing to give them the benefit of the doubt with the expectation they correct the issue going forward in a logical manner.

Someone once told me that you can BS your way in but it will not keep you there. Same thing applies to the Disney Magic/Pixie Dust/ect.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hi everyone! Haven't posted in several days as I've spent much of this week working on our trip report from our Alaska cruise and reliving it, I've made a few notes to remember for this on next summer.

1. Be sure to read the Navigator - the entire Navigator - even the sections that appear to not change from day to day - because they do! Especially the Operating Hours section. In here, you'll find if there is "a la carte" service in the buffet for dinner or if it's buffet-style. You'll find out when the late night dessert buffet is even if you don't go to dinner that night for your waitstaff to tell you. You'll find out what time the Pirate Party food is being served!

2. If you want to remember what you've done, pick up an extra Navigator each day and take the time to mark it with the activities you actually do. So many of us mark up a Navigator with what we want to do, but often it morphs into something else - this is an easy way to make a note of what activities you participated in, where you ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner that day, and any other special event happening that you want to remember. I have a couple of our mornings mixed up because I can clearly remember what I did, just not sure which day i did them - if I had marked them on the Navigator I would know

 

[tiggerb]

I've been reading stories of overcrowded lines and pools, sub par service and food. I know the Fantasy is still a long way off, just wondering if us "Disney enthusiasts" might get blinded by the whole Disney Magic Dust?

Sometimes I ponder this too... I have never cruised, so I can't compare, but more in lines of service and being in sync, so to say. Yes, this will be the 2nd new ship for Disney and they should be able to sort out various bugs, but in regards to cast members, it still a BRAND NEW SHIP even 2 months in, and chances are 70% or higher will be new cast members too. It's not like they will move many members from exsisting ships to get Fantasy going (unless maybe a request or something ?).

We will just make the best of it, be GRACIOUS for what we do have and get, and THANK our service staff and other members no matter what! (Unless rude members). Maybe Disney will train them more before they step aboard in how to add more magic dust in little ways... I don't know... not sure what they already do/train, nor do I know what to truly expect. JUST FUN!

 

[nzdisneymom]

I think that with all things, you have to remember there are still "kinks" that have to be worked out - what will be nice about being on the Fantasy vs. the Dream is that the Dream will have had over a year to work out some of those "kinks" and DCL will use that experience to avoid some of the same issues on the Fantasy. They can't avoid any that are design issues since the ships are built, but they can figure out how to address traffic flow, congestion, etc.

We won't do inaugural or even overly early sailings of new itineraries because we want to give them time to work out the details that need adjusting.

 

[Susiesark]

I think that with all things, you have to remember there are still "kinks" that have to be worked out - what will be nice about being on the Fantasy vs. the Dream is that the Dream will have had over a year to work out some of those "kinks" and DCL will use that experience to avoid some of the same issues on the Fantasy. They can't avoid any that are design issues since the ships are built, but they can figure out how to address traffic flow, congestion, etc.

We won't do inaugural or even overly early sailings of new itineraries because we want to give them time to work out the details that need adjusting.

I can understand things that cannot be 'fixed' such as an overly crowded pool area. With a ship so much larger, unless you have more pools, restaurants, etc., it's going to be very crowded. Sometimes we couldn't even find a deck chair to sit in on the Wonder.

 

[Docjason2]

Yeah I agree with you guys, I take it all with a grain of salt. No one know what other people experience or what their expectations are. They are always different from someone going on their 20 cruise with multiple lines, to us who have only been on 1 short cruise on DCL only. Honestly for us it's pretty simple....we had never had such an amazing vacation before....ever. The 3 nights on the Wonder were nothing short of amazing...having said that we NEVER go on vacation anywhere other than back home to MPLS, or the occasional trip to Milwaukee or Chicago....so our "perspective" is kind of jaded. So we are looking forward to this next trip more than any of our kids being born!!!! (j/k...don't tell Heather I said that )

 

[Susiesark]

I'm currently scheduled to go on the Wonder MR for Thanksgiving week (not sure if I'll keep it, $$ is tight now) It's almost exactly 4 months away and the number of families participating in FE (are you ready...) 4. You read it right, 4 families (besides myself) currently participating in FE. How lame is that?

 

[GoHerd1028]

I'm currently scheduled to go on the Wonder MR for Thanksgiving week (not sure if I'll keep it, $$ is tight now) It's almost exactly 4 months away and the number of families participating in FE (are you ready...) 4. You read it right, 4 families (besides myself) currently participating in FE. How lame is that?

Makes our group look even better than we already knew it was!!