A long time ago on a Fantasy far far away...Feb 2016 SWDAS TR, 5/17 CRUISE EPILOGUE - The End!

[chunkymonkey]

I think I may have gone in the hot tub once...but it was torturous getting out into the cold! There were kids in the pools all the time though even when the temperature was just above freezing!!

Haha, that's kinda what I expected...good to know! The hot tub sounds fabulous though!

That's so funny. I often wonder how many people you meet are on there and you don't know it. And then there's the rest who just think we are all nuts lol

I know...haha, even my sister has no interest in the DIS. She hasn't read my trip reports. She'll probably yell at me if she found out i've posted all these pics of her, hahaha.

That's the great thing about cruise eating lol you can just get more of what you want. I like it though because you can start with a small serving and just get more if you want. Makes more sense than just starting out with way more food than any normal person can eat, like they do at so many restaurants.

I love that about cruises! It's always nice to have an unlimited bounty of food but get served just enough at first.

Now THAT would be a whole lotta fun!

Gonna pitch that idea for the new ships! LOL!! A dedicated mixology/karoke room!

Hubby and I are high school sweethearts...we've been together for 13 years. Our best friends have been dating for like 7 years or something crazy like that (time to put a ring on it I think ). It was actually hubby best friend who introduced me to my now best friend, we became close and then they started dating. Such an amazing situation, couldn't have asked for it to be better - well maybe if they get married so we can both have kids in a few years together and take them to Disney, *dreaming*. It's just worked out so perfectly - he was hubby best man, she was my MOH (and able to keep best man on top of his duties), they are our go to travel partners, they were then when hubby proposed in WDW. Everything. It's amazing to get to experience all these life events with such awesome people!

Aww, that's so cute! How perfect that your best man and your MOH are together! I guess they should just get married, huh? Then you can all be one big happy family who vacations together!

We've been on Carnival to cruise twice. We had a good time, but I'm sure it's not even close to the Disney cruises. My family are DVC members so the "plan" is to go down on Dec 26, do WDW for a few days, then jump on a 7 night cruise. Hopefully it all works out.

That's a great idea! I went on one Royal Caribbean cruise in 2003. It was fun but I never repeated cruising just because I felt a bit bored on the ship. The Disney ship has so much more, especially because of the themes and characters. I loved our first Magic cruise and now we're hooked! I think doing WDW before or after the cruise is the way to go when doing a cruise that leaves from Port Canaveral! It completes the vacation.

Again, thanks for the detailed reports. You're making me so excited for something I need to wait 1.5 years for haha!

LOL, no problem! Thanks for reading!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Day 7 Part 1: Life's a Breeze on Castaway Cay!

This morning we woke up and we had already docked at Castaway Cay! It was very exciting to be here again! The weather report said it would be a little windy though, in the high 60s, low 70s, so not exactly the hot beach weather we had last time, but hopefully we'll get a bit of beach in.

We went to Cabanas for our last buffet breakfast. It was so sad knowing this was our last full day on the ship! We found sticky buns at Cabanas but they were no where as good as the ones in Palo the day before. Of course nothing will compare to Palo brunch but it was a good substitute!

As we disembarked, look who we saw waiting!

Captain Hook and Mr. Smee! It was pretty cool!

CS wanted to stick around the dock area to wait for Donald Duck who was scheduled to appear so DH and I headed off on our own while CS caught up with us. We agreed to meet at the family beach. We grabbed some towels and headed off. It was nice to be back on CC! It's been less than a year since we were first here, so it was fun to feel that familiar yet new feeling.

I forgot there were Shutters photogs on the island. Their pictures outdoors are better than the ones on the ship. The lighting on the ship needs to be worked on a bit more.

We headed over to the tram stop to take us to the family beach.

The picture below cracks me up. Look at the kid behind us!

As we exited the tram, we saw some characters! So we had to take a picture!

My sister eventually caught up!

The family beach was gorgeous! It was so nice to see the blue waters and white sand.

The water was definitely a little choppier and much much cooler than it was in May of last year.

Despite the cold water it was still beautiful to lay out and enjoy the sun and views.

And see the majestic Fantasy in the distance!

Since it was so windy, we were pretty sure out Stingray Adventure would be canceled. And it was. Oh well, I would have rather not gone in the water anyways since it was cold!

We decided then to head over to Serenity Bay, which is the adult beach. So we all caught a tram and headed over.

So Serenity Bay was anything but serene. The winds were so high on this side of the island that it was really hard to lay out since everything would fly everywhere! We just stayed for a few minutes to take some pictures and then headed to the BBQ area for some lunch.

The pictures below are of Serenity Bay. It was such a different scene than last year. It was so windy and the water was choppier, and lots more seaweed and debris were lining the beach. The family beach was 10x better than Serenity Bay in this case!

It was still really beautiful despite the wind even though no one was laying out. I guess that just means it's time to eat! The Adult BBQ area was a little crowded because everyone apparently didn't want to stay on the beach at Serenity Bay.

We got a lot of food, because...what else were we going to do aside from eat? LOL. There was a lot of variety at the buffets, burgers, chicken, hot dogs, bratwurst, ribs, fish, corn on the cob, salads, fruit, etc. plus all the fixins you'd need!

I enjoyed the tropical fruit like mango and papaya.

AYCE BBQ, you can't go wrong! BTW, the Adult beach area offers grilled steak! Not sure if Cookies or Cookies II had steak but we didn't see it last year.

After lunch we headed back to the family beach where we laid out for several hours. It got much warmer then and that side of the island was considerably less windy. It was a lot of fun but we didn't go in the water! My sister left her flip flops somewhere and she didn't' know where they were. She said Steve was lying on top of them. But of course he wasn't. She eventually found them about 100 yards away. She had taken them off when first stepping into the sand but never picked them up!

It became a running joke for the next few days, with my DH asking CS "Where are your flip flops?" every hour.

We went and browsed the stores too.

These Tervis tumblers were cute but I already got one last year which I barely use.

Got some ice cream

And then headed back to the ship so I could go to my favorite spot, the Rainforest Room!

Coming up...our last evening on the Fantasy! ​

 

[KathyM2]

We headed over to the tram stop to take us to the family beach.

For some reason this surprised me lol ie: that there are trams on the island! I guess I didn't think it was that big that transportation would be required!! From your pics they look a lot like WDW parking trams lol.

I want to go on a Caribbean Disney cruise solely for the opportunity to go there...how relaxing and stress free it looks. Too bad it was not that hot and windy...the food looked good though!

 

[JoAnnPan]

Fantastic pictures!! Flip flop thing -

 

[disneyguy4life]

DANG WIND!! Still the island looked beautiful and the BBQ looked pretty darn good.

 

[cheermom2four]

Yeah when we went to CC end of Feb it was stinking cold!!! my hubby got in just because he loves cold water (he radiates heat 24/7). I cant wait to go in September so it will be nice and toasty!! I loved SB BBQ with all the choices,. This next time we go though we are bringing both our kids so we will be going to the family BBQ side of things.

I giggled at your sister leaving her flip flops where she took them off. I've actually done that with other items.

 

[bcwife76]

It's too bad the weather was as warm as your first visit to CC. Since we will be on CC in mid-January I am more than a little worried the weather won't cooperate

But still, you made the most of the day for sure.

 

[soniam]

Great pictures. I love Castaway Cay. I think I will miss that the most on our anniversary cruise. Luckily, we will be there the year before it, to tide us over I am thinking about doing the 5k on our next cruise in 2017. I think it would be a great way to see the island. We never really got to much except the family beach.

 

[chunkymonkey]

For some reason this surprised me lol ie: that there are trams on the island! I guess I didn't think it was that big that transportation would be required!! From your pics they look a lot like WDW parking trams lol.

Yup, they are exactly like the parking trams! It's so funny, I guess that really makes you feel like you're on a Disney Island!

I want to go on a Caribbean Disney cruise solely for the opportunity to go there...how relaxing and stress free it looks. Too bad it was not that hot and windy...the food looked good though!

It's definitely a reason to book a caribbean/bahamas cruise with DCL! I will surely miss it next year while in cold Alaska!

Fantastic pictures!! Flip flop thing -

Haha thanks! That was a funny moment!

DANG WIND!! Still the island looked beautiful and the BBQ looked pretty darn good.

Yup, the dang wind was annoying but it didn't take away from the beauty of the island, just took away our in the water time...but I guess we just ate our way through the island so it wasn't so bad.

Yeah when we went to CC end of Feb it was stinking cold!!! my hubby got in just because he loves cold water (he radiates heat 24/7). I cant wait to go in September so it will be nice and toasty!! I loved SB BBQ with all the choices,. This next time we go though we are bringing both our kids so we will be going to the family BBQ side of things.

I did enjoy the family BBQ too! They were both great! I know...I wish our day on CC was warmer but I'm glad we even got to go at all and that it was sunny! The cruise a week before ours it rained on CC, but the week after ours, they said CC was warm and gorgeous, so I guess it's hit or miss with weather during that time!

I giggled at your sister leaving her flip flops where she took them off. I've actually done that with other items.

Haha yeah I've totally done that too.

It's too bad the weather was as warm as your first visit to CC. Since we will be on CC in mid-January I am more than a little worried the weather won't cooperate

But still, you made the most of the day for sure.

I think the weather can be hit or miss during the winter months but I'm happy we were there, despite the wind! It was definitely fun to just walk around and eat, shop and check out the manicured areas that are so Disney! And of course there is the Rainforest spa if and when it rains! Hopefully your captain will make the call to pick the right day to go to CC. I've heard them switching up the days i.e. have CC first and then the sea day because of weather forecasts!

Great pictures. I love Castaway Cay. I think I will miss that the most on our anniversary cruise. Luckily, we will be there the year before it, to tide us over I am thinking about doing the 5k on our next cruise in 2017. I think it would be a great way to see the island. We never really got to much except the family beach.

Sounds like a good plan! I'll miss CC if we do Alaska next year. Makes me want to book a short Dream cruise just so we can go back to CC. That would be a real treat, 2 DCL cruises in one year...but it's definitely more of a fantasy than a reality right now, LOL!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I'm so sorry that Cast-a-way Cay day was so windy. That's my little piece of heaven. I wish they would move that day so it isn't the last day of the cruise. At least you have Disney World to look forward to and not a long ride/flight home.

 

[mlegerto]

 

[YukiPhnx]

I'm here for this too. I have so much to catch up on!

 

[Dugette]

You can see how DH and I had different opinions of what semi formal meant!

CS bumped into her buddy who had the same dresses as her and guess what?! They were wearing the same thing! It was adorable so I had to take a picture.

Love the dress (x2)!

That looks amazing!

And just got even better!

Our Animation Magic Show started after dessert time. The lights went dark and our drawings came to life!

Really cool! I had no idea what was going to happen with those drawings when you showed them. Didn't have that on the Dream.

Super cute!

We then checked out the print gallery of our Shutters pics.

Wait, they didn't freak out at you for taking that picture of your pictures?! I may have gotten in some trouble with the Shutters folks...

Maybe they could do a Mixology/Karoake session? Buahaha!

That would be hilarious. And ridiculous.

The picture below cracks me up. Look at the kid behind us!

Sorry it was chilly at Castaway Cay, but at least it was sunny and pretty. Our CC day was rainy. Everyone was huddled under the shelter eating soggy BBQ. I really want to get back there again on a nicer day to experience the things everyone loves so much about CC.

 

[kastoney]

All caught up (we were in the world ) and your review continues to inspire the inner cruiser and soon to be Star Wars fan in me. Thank to you we're looking at doing a cruise next year!!!!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I'm so sorry that Cast-a-way Cay day was so windy. That's my little piece of heaven. I wish they would move that day so it isn't the last day of the cruise. At least you have Disney World to look forward to and not a long ride/flight home.

Yeah the weather wasn't cooperating 100% but at least it was sunny! I'm glad I booked our WDW trip after the cruise. We were fully relaxed and ready to take on the World! It also wasn't so heartbreaking to leave the Fantasy. But it was still sad the cruise was over since it was so much fun!

I'm here for this too. I have so much to catch up on!

Hi Yuki!! So happy to see you back on the Dis! So excited to share our experiences at WDW again!

Love the dress (x2)!

I'm surprised they didn't wear the same dress more than once!

Really cool! I had no idea what was going to happen with those drawings when you showed them. Didn't have that on the Dream

What happens on the Dream? Is it just the crush show?

Wait, they didn't freak out at you for taking that picture of your pictures?! I may have gotten in some trouble with the Shutters folks...

LOL I think they didn't notice us doing it because Shutters was crowded that night and the people working there were helping others. i'm sure if someone saw me I would have been in trouble too. Hehe.

That would be hilarious. And ridiculous.

I'm gonna suggest that for the new ships!! Integrated Mixology Karaoke night! Might as well throw in some trivia too.

Sorry it was chilly at Castaway Cay, but at least it was sunny and pretty. Our CC day was rainy. Everyone was huddled under the shelter eating soggy BBQ. I really want to get back there again on a nicer day to experience the things everyone loves so much about CC.

Sorry you had such a soggy day at CC! I guess it can happen. The cruise before us had a wet CC day. The weather can be hit or miss in the winter I guess.

All caught up (we were in the world ) and your review continues to inspire the inner cruiser and soon to be Star Wars fan in me. Thank to you we're looking at doing a cruise next year!!!!!

Yay! So exciting! You're gonna have sooooo much fun.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Day 7 Part 2: Too Distracted to Run!

When we got back to our room, I decided that since it was still so pretty out that I'd take a quick jog around Deck 4 before heading to the Rainforest room.

View from our verandah:

I was really gonna miss this beautiful view!

DH decided to take a nap and CS went to the Rainforest room first. So I put on my workout clothes and headed to Deck 4 where you can pretty much jog around the perimeter of the ship.

However before I made it half the length of the ship I stopped to take a few pictures.

Because it was just too pretty not too! I ventured a couple more meters before having to stop again. This continued for the entire circle around the ship.

As noted, I did not actually make it far jogging but kept stopping to take pictures and enjoy the view. So I was like, screw this and just went straight to the Rainforest room for some RnR. I tried to exercise. I really did!

Well now it was time for some pure bliss...

Couldn't believe this was my last time in the Rainforest room. I really made the most of it. I went into every shower, every jacuzzi, every steam and sauna room. I was buffed and polished until my skin was smooth and glowing. Another trick I did was to put conditioner in my hair and sit in the steam room for a while to give myself a deep conditioning treatment. It worked wonders for my frizzy hair!

CS went back up to the room earlier than me, so I was by myself for a while. It was actually really nice to have some solo time. I decided to get a snack because, well, why not? I headed up to Deck 9 and got myself a grilled brie and tomato sandwich on whole wheat with some fries. It was delicious and hit the spot!

A snack with a view...it doesn't get better than this!

I ran into Adam Music and his family, (the guy who organized our Mixology class), and he said we should come by La Piazza for a group photo at around 7:30pm with the rest of the DISBoard and Facebook group peeps. So I said sure!

I headed back to the stateroom to shower and change for the evening festivities. The theme tonight...See Ya Real Soon! Also known as....sob sob, why is our cruise over??

I knew there would be a ton of characters out in full force tonight! Chunkysis was gonna go nuts! Tonights show was Believe, which was supposedly one of the best shows to see. Very excited! I headed down to Deck 4 to head to the theater where I was gonna meet DH and CS. DH was already there but CS was doing some last minute shopping.

Oh and who do I run into??

It was a great cruise Captain Mickey!

The Shutters photogs were not out tonight since any pictures taken wouldn't make it in time to your folder so on the last night they take pics with your own camera.

At the theater, I made a decision that I was gonna buy a popcorn bucket. This tie-fighter one is really cool but just super bulky and expensive!

So I got the other bucket, which was the Han Solo Carbonite one.

I asked them to put the popcorn in a separate container so I didn't have to dirty Han Solo.

I can't believe it took me this long to get popcorn on the cruise. I am a huge popcorn fan. But I guess there were just so many other things to eat.

CS came right as the show was about to start. Believe tells the journey of a Dad and his relationship with his young daughter that takes him through different Disney stories and movies. It was a great show, but I can't help but think I like Wishes a bit better just because it is more upbeat and fun, but they were both equally as amazing.

After the show we headed over to La Piazza to take our group pictures with the gang before dinner in Enchanted Garden. Oh but we run into Pluto so had to get a picture...

And then a picture with the first lady herself...

Finally it was on to La Piazza!

We had a big group of us and the CMs working the bar at La Piazza were happy to take our pictures, however there were many cameras so we were all staring in different directions. We can't get it together as a team apparently.

Mixology Forever!!!

After saying our goodbyes to everyone, we headed over to Enchanted Garden for our last dinner on the cruise...

Dinner at Enchanted Garden coming up!!

​

 

[soniam]

That Vespa is so beautiful. It makes me kind of sad to see it stuck on a ship, rather than flying down an Italian country road Hopefully, it was too damaged to be restored properly and that's why it's a prop now. I actually have a modern Vespa (real gas, not lawn mower gas, and automatic). I would love a vintage one someday, but they are a lot of work and maintenance. I just don't have the time now.

I need to do more laps around the ship. That's one of my favorite things to do, but I just walk and take photos. It's really fun at night too. You have convinced me that I have to get at least a day pass to the Rainforest Room. Your cruise looks unforgettable.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

CS came right as the show was about to start. Believe tells the journey of a Dad and his relationship with his young daughter that takes him through different Disney stories and movies. It was a great show, but I can't help but think I like Wishes a bit better just because it is more upbeat and fun, but they were both equally as amazing.

Another great review! I saw Believe for the first time sitting next to my then 13 year old daughter and I cried like a baby during it, it's quite emotional.

Thanks for posting your reviews, they are always so upbeat and so much fun to read!

 

[bcwife76]

Oh my gosh, I applaud you for even trying to jog on the cruise But yes, with those gorgeous views who could blame you for wanting to stop every few feet and take a photo?!

Love the popcorn bowl you chose and even funnier that you didn't want them to use it lol Actually that's pretty darn smart!!

Ahhhh the last dinner.......waaahhhhhh

 

[KathyM2]

How fun that you got such a big group together!!! I love DisMeets...only had a couple but still...it's so great to meet people in person when you already feel like you know them online!! The pictures were funny...always hard with so many people!! Looking forward to hearing about the last meal on the ship!