2/9/2013 - Fantasy Mardi Gras Cruise *****

[DakotaDisneyLover]

This will be our first 7-night cruise. We have done two 4-night cruises on the Wonder. It will be me, DH, and our then 12 year old son. Can't wait!

 

[PhotoLisa]

So far it looks like the 12 yr old kids are going to be the greatest in number within the disboards group! How exciting! I remember when my youngest was 11 and on her first DCL!

Now, my then-11 year old is 22 years old and will be traveling with her 28 month old (at the time of the cruise). Courtney will tell you that being a young teen/pre-teen on the ship is a great adventure! However, Courtney got lost within 10 minutes of getting on the ship and she totally blames her older brother for losing her! At 11, she found her way to the customer service deck and they sent her on to our room! In the 11 years since that fateful day, she has never gotten lost on another Disney ship! Ask us how to make sure your young 'un will be able to tell which door is yours!

Let's make this cruise an event to remember! Who else has sailed on DCL several times? Let's make some plans to make this a great trip!


Lisa

 

[PhotoLisa]

If Jordan, Landyn, Ashley and Jordan want to correspond, moms, please let me know and we'll see if we can get these soon-to-be 12 yr olds connected.

I'll bet those four preteens would have a great time corresponding for the next 10 1/2 months!

 

[plutojudy]

Anyone thinking about excursions yet? Since it will be our first visit to San Juan I think we will probably do an island tour in the morning and walk around the area near the pier in the afternoon to do a little shopping or a beach. On our last two trips to St Thomas we had to tender and did not like it as well as when we dock at Havensight. If it is our turn to anchor again we will probably stay onboard. On Castaway Cay we just go to Serenity Bay to spend some time in the water and eat lunch there. I love that they added so many more picnic tables. The food always tastes great on the island.

 

[plutojudy]

Welcome to all the new cruisers!

 

[GinCar]

Anyone thinking about excursions yet? Since it will be our first visit to San Juan I think we will probably do an island tour in the morning and walk around the area near the pier in the afternoon to do a little shopping or a beach. On our last two trips to St Thomas we had to tender and did not like it as well as when we dock at Havensight. If it is our turn to anchor again we will probably stay onboard. On Castaway Cay we just go to Serenity Bay to spend some time in the water and eat lunch there. I love that they added so many more picnic tables. The food always tastes great on the island.

I am one of the new cruisers, thanks for the welcome. My DH's only excursion request is snorkeling. Do you have any suggestions of which place/s would be the best.
ALL information about the cruise is appreciated. 3 other families are joining us that are newbies, as well. They are looking to me for advice, because I know Disney. Disney cruise is a whole new world for me, though!
Just the fact you stated that food on Castaway Cay is good helped me know to tell our group to plan to eat there that day.

I look forward to hearing replies about excursions.

 

[robinpgma]

Hi All,

We just booked this today....I am very excited to sail on the Fantasy. This will be our 2nd Disney Cruise....we have cruise many times but wanted a 2nd Disney cruise...AWESOME!!

We are waitlisted for 1st seating...YUCK....Hopefully with will change before final booking....

Robin

 

[PhotoLisa]

Welcome aboard Robin!

Thanks for adding your information to the spreadsheet!

Lisa

 

[busdriverbrad]

Hope everyone has a happy Easter.

 

[Lsugirl2508]

Gin- my husband and I snorkeled in Castaway Cay. My son was 5 and didn't want to go so we were able.to leave him with the kids club on the island until we returned. It was just snorkeling, no other entertainment or alcohol.

 

[DakotaDisneyLover]

I am one of the new cruisers, thanks for the welcome. My DH's only excursion request is snorkeling. Do you have any suggestions of which place/s would be the best.
ALL information about the cruise is appreciated. 3 other families are joining us that are newbies, as well. They are looking to me for advice, because I know Disney. Disney cruise is a whole new world for me, though!
Just the fact you stated that food on Castaway Cay is good helped me know to tell our group to plan to eat there that day.

I look forward to hearing replies about excursions.

We have snorkeled at Castaway Cay at both the family beach area and Serenity Bay (adult only beach). Both are fun. However, I don't know what the water temp will be in Feb. in the Bahamas? From what I hear it can be a bit cold, but we will still probably give it a try. At Castaway Cay we have done the Stingray Adventure (recommend), rented bikes (did once, it was fine, but wouldn't do a second time) and went parasailing (loved). Now we just like to hang out and snorkel a bit and enjoy the beach/island. We eat lunch there and shop a bit too, as there are items exclusive to CC that you can't buy anywhere else, including the ship. We are planning on snorkeling at St. Thomas for sure. It is supposed to be great (sea turtles and all) and I think it may be a bit warmer. Haven't been to St. Thomas before and am super excited to go there. We haven't been to San Juan before either, and haven't decided what to do there yet for sure. DH and DS want to go ziplining, and we will probably walk around Old San Juan. Can't wait!

 

[GinCar]

Thanks for the snorkeling tips. All of this information is great.

As much as I want to see the different ports of call, I think I am more excited to experience CC. Thanks for letting me know there is CC specific merchandise.

 

[PhotoLisa]

Ginger:

We've done the Doubloon Snorkel and Sail thru Disney for snorkeling in St. Thomas before.

We were trying to book our usual private day sail that we've done the last few times but our vendor is already booked! UGH! The Doubloon is always our fallback.

St. Thomas has some really NICE snorkeling that you won't get at Castaway. I've been to Castaway in February before and being a southerner, we barely put a pinkie toe in the water because it is too cold for our liking.

St. Thomas is also one of my favorite ports and I've done plenty of different ports throughout our cruises.

 

[GinCar]

Ginger:

We've done the Doubloon Snorkel and Sail thru Disney for snorkeling in St. Thomas before.

We were trying to book our usual private day sail that we've done the last few times but our vendor is already booked! UGH! The Doubloon is always our fallback.

St. Thomas has some really NICE snorkeling that you won't get at Castaway. I've been to Castaway in February before and being a southerner, we barely put a pinkie toe in the water because it is too cold for our liking.

St. Thomas is also one of my favorite ports and I've done plenty of different ports throughout our cruises.

Thanks for the information.
So, do I need to prepare the kids for NO swimming? I would love to hear thoughts from people who have been in February.
Although I was raised in the south, my kids only know Colorado mountain weather. (They are the kids, you know the ones, that are swimming at the hotel pool when it is really not appropriate. But when you are so used to cold, anything over 60 degrees feels hot to them.)
When you went in February, were others swimming? I understand it is preference and weather can be so unpredictable, but I really like hearing others opinions.

Can't Wait!

 

[busdriverbrad]

Hi Ginger. We r from Minnesota and went last feb same week. It was cold the day we left port but was nice the other days. We went swimming on CC. The water was initially cold but we got used to it after the initial shock. It was nice especially in the sun as long as we stayed in the water but it was cool right when we got out and then fine once we had a towel. It was warm enough air temp wise for everything else. I was comfy in swimsuit and no shirt most of the day. As I'm sure you know it WILL be warmer than home no matter what so it was all good.

 

[skylynx]

Hey, GinCar

We're in Colorado, too...Loveland at the moment. Where are you?

We've been to Castaway Cay several times in February and I can only remember one time where the water felt uncomfortably cold in the morning.

Was just there this past February and thought the water was a perfect temperature. Felt cool initially, but once you got it in was great! The couple times we went closer to summer I thought the water was too warm...didn't feel refreshing when it was so hot outside. But maybe I'm just weird.

 

[robinpgma]

Hey GinCar,
We've been to CC in Feb and the water was great and we had an awesome time. Being from New England anything is better than low 20-30's...so CC was great.

 

[GinCar]

Thank everyone, already crossing our fingers for great weather!

Skylynx- we are practically neighbors! I live in Estes Park and find myself in Loveland once every other week. We have friends from Estes joining the cruise, as well.
Most everyone here thinks we are crazy for going to Florida (Disney) so often. I just can not go too long with such cold weather before I have to get South! (I grew up and lived in Texas my whole life.) My skin cries out for humidity!

 

[DisneyDream2B]

We live in Estes Park!

 

[Lsugirl2508]

I didn't think about the water in CC being cold!! We've never been to St. Thomas so I guess we will try to snorkel there. I'm waiting to see the excursions in San Juan too!! Counting down the days!!