Am I Gonna EAT? Or Am I Gonna STAAAARRRRRVE To Death? Eastern Fantasy UPDATED 06/12/15

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Then guess what Chase found? And yes, he followed it around - I would have died!

You could see him from above the water he was huge

The boys headed back over with the camera and then Andy took it out

The girls were still floating in their tubes - Piper

One of the girls must've had the camera out on their tube and captured us on the shore relaxing

Andy snorkeling

And that's it for snorkeling folks!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

I am going to throw in an observation here. TWICE we saw kids completely unsupervised in the water. I'm not talking "distracted" parents. I mean...NO ONE around. One of the incidents was a very young boy sitting on a tube floating out SOOO far - he was just sitting on the top of the tube. And IF he weighed maybe 45 pounds it would be a miracle. This was a SMALL child. He was just floating out calling for I assume a parent who was literally no where to be found. I finally couldn't take it anymore and sent my husband to swim WAY out to get him. Seriously - who does this? Like I mean this kid was farther out than I as an adult would feel comfortable going - almost out to the end of where you are allowed to swim. It was crazy.

But onwards to the end of our amazing day at Castaway Cay!

The big kids headed back to the ship

But we had to wait for Andy and Mr. T to meet us before we got on the ship. They were still in the water snorkeling when we packed up the kids and all of our stuff and started to head back. We had told them we needed to be back to the ship by 4:45. Well apparently they decided they should wait til the VERY last minute. They came strolling up at 4:40. Mrs. B was not amused LOL. They were pretty much the last 2 on the beach. While we were waiting we entertained ourselves with photo ops.

Olaf is in front of the post office - I saw a lot of people wanting to get into the post office last minute but it was closed - so just a tip don't wait til the last second to send your post cards!

they had Christmas decorations up

Once we met up with the men it was time to head back onto the ship and get ready for dinner!

 

[DnA2010]

Thanks so much for reading along and for the compliments on the girls matching outfits. They love "twinning" as much as possible! The lights were amazing - we had a blast and my daughter Piper loved looking for hidden Mickey's in the lights.

Oh my goodness, so many updates, I haven't read TR for a while! Totally going to get reading, especially as we just booked the Fantasy- sailing on our first Disney cruise in 38 days! This report is going to be soooo helpful!

 

[scaryt]

Brilliant update. The jet skis look like an awesome activity.

Do you know if you are able to snorkel in the snorkelling area with your own snorkelling stuff or is it sectioned off for that paid activity?

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Oh my goodness, so many updates, I haven't read TR for a while! Totally going to get reading, especially as we just booked the Fantasy- sailing on our first Disney cruise in 38 days! This report is going to be soooo helpful!

Thank you! I am happy this report is helpful I am enjoying writing it. It is fun "reliving" it! 38 days that is SO exciting! That time will fly by and soon you will be relaxing on your cruise! I loved the Fantasy it truly is a beautiful ship and the service we received from our favorite server Stipe was superb! Our stateroom host Sam was also amazing. What itinerary are you on? Is it the Eastern? Have a wonderful trip!

Brilliant update. The jet skis look like an awesome activity.

Do you know if you are able to snorkel in the snorkelling area with your own snorkelling stuff or is it sectioned off for that paid activity?

Thanks so much! Yes you are able to bring your own snorkeling equipment. You are required to wear one of their yellow vests even with your own equipment but they are free to borrow. They had them hanging from the lifeguard chair and you could just help yourself to one. I think Andy is going to purchase snorkeling gear of his own to bring as he truly enjoyed it and wants to do it on future cruises. They all had fun and saw a lot of neat fish. Next cruise we have to find the Mickey Mouse statue that's underwater.

 

[DnA2010]

Thank you! I am happy this report is helpful I am enjoying writing it. It is fun "reliving" it! 38 days that is SO exciting! That time will fly by and soon you will be relaxing on your cruise! I loved the Fantasy it truly is a beautiful ship and the service we received from our favorite server Stipe was superb! Our stateroom host Sam was also amazing. What itinerary are you on? Is it the Eastern? Have a wonderful trip!

S

Saw a VGT rate come up, figured out flights and that DD wouldn't miss too much school and decided to go for it! How old are your girls? DD is 10 (will be weeks away from 11) and is going to loose it! We are going to tell her this weekend so that we don't blow it! We are curious to see how the club situation goes as she loved the clubs on Royal, but they are separated more by age. Also if she will be allowed to go into the tween club, given she is 11 in a couple of weeks.
We have cruised on Royal twice and the prices of Disney have always made my heart stop every time I looked them up. Seeing the new releases yikes! Might be our last Disney cruise! We are doing the eastern which goes to St Maarten, Puerto Rico and CC- I can't wait to visit CC- it just seems soo amazing. I would love to see that ray that your boys saw! DH and I went to St Maarten on a Royal cruise and loved it, so looking forward to going back.

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Saw a VGT rate come up, figured out flights and that DD wouldn't miss too much school and decided to go for it! How old are your girls? DD is 10 (will be weeks away from 11) and is going to loose it! We are going to tell her this weekend so that we don't blow it! We are curious to see how the club situation goes as she loved the clubs on Royal, but they are separated more by age. Also if she will be allowed to go into the tween club, given she is 11 in a couple of weeks.
We have cruised on Royal twice and the prices of Disney have always made my heart stop every time I looked them up. Seeing the new releases yikes! Might be our last Disney cruise! We are doing the eastern which goes to St Maarten, Puerto Rico and CC- I can't wait to visit CC- it just seems soo amazing. I would love to see that ray that your boys saw! DH and I went to St Maarten on a Royal cruise and loved it, so looking forward to going back.

Piper is 11 and Zoe was 13 on the cruise. Piper and her BFF loved the kids clubs but Zoe didn't really seem to spend much time there. (she turned 14 shortly after the cruise). Piper was in the Disney's Oceaneer Club which I believe is ages 3-12. Piper LOVED the classes they would have there like "super sloppy science".

I would highly recommend signing up online for the kids clubs before the cruise if you think your DD might want to go to them. We signed Piper up and when we went to get her signed up for the clubs all I had to do was tell them the password I had set up online and they gave her a magic band and she was all set. I *think* the magic bands (which the child can't remove themselves) were about $12 which is charged to your stateroom account. As long as you turn it in before you leave the ship at the end of the cruise it gets refunded to your onboard account. We turned Piper's in but in hindsight I am kind of wishing we didn't as they are cruise ones and would have made a cute souvenir.

You also set up whether or not you want your child to be able to sign themselves in and out of the club or not. We allowed Piper to come and go on her own as she was with her BFF and also had a wave phone with her at all times. It worked out great because she could go to activities that interested her and then leave and go grab some lunch, or swim, etc. when she pleased.

The prices for the newly released cruises are insane! Made me super glad we have already booked one of the Star Wars cruises for Feb 2016. Luckily we booked the first day as our stateroom has gone up $2000 since the announcement. SCORE! Would love to hear what you think of Disney vs. Royal after your cruise! I have been looking at other lines as well as I was interested in an Alaska cruise but the Disney prices are through the roof!

Your DD is going to be SO excited when you tell her about the cruise! I would love to be able to snag a VGT rate - might do that in the future now that the prices keep climbing!

 

[udflyer00]

Really enjoying following along with your trip report. I love all the pictures... It's been too long since our last cruise. Lol For our next cruise I want to take an Eastern Caribbean, we've done the Bahamas a few times and I'm ready for some new scenery.

 

[pierresgirl]

First of all you look way too young to have sons that old! How fun to go away with a big crowd, wish I could drag my family along. Laine's TOT reaction is quite similar to mine, I can't stomach it! The headless man was AWESOME lol!

Skyline looks awesome as does Ooh La La, can't wait to go one day! Although the bathroom matador is a bit odd... I get seasick as well so have to make sure I take Dramamine everyday.

The island pics are great, ITA about the beach chairs. They appear from a puff of smoke to collect the money! Gotta love cheap drinks although it's funny that the water cost more than beer and love the 'women no shirt free shot' sign! I loved in Puerto Rico for about a year so the pics brought back memories, I really loved the little cobblestone streets. CC is just so amazing, how lucky for Zach to be there on his bd! They saw some pretty cool fish. That's so crazy that so done left their child in the water unsupervised. Esp sad because of the recent drowning(s) there..Looking forward to reading more!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Really enjoying following along with your trip report. I love all the pictures... It's been too long since our last cruise. Lol For our next cruise I want to take an Eastern Caribbean, we've done the Bahamas a few times and I'm ready for some new scenery.

Thank you for following along! I appreciate your kind words! We are swapping over to a Bahamas cruise in May so we will get to check that out. The Eastern Caribbean was great! Loved the ports!

First of all you look way too young to have sons that old! How fun to go away with a big crowd, wish I could drag my family along. Laine's TOT reaction is quite similar to mine, I can't stomach it! The headless man was AWESOME lol!

Skyline looks awesome as does Ooh La La, can't wait to go one day! Although the bathroom matador is a bit odd... I get seasick as well so have to make sure I take Dramamine everyday.

The island pics are great, ITA about the beach chairs. They appear from a puff of smoke to collect the money! Gotta love cheap drinks although it's funny that the water cost more than beer and love the 'women no shirt free shot' sign! I loved in Puerto Rico for about a year so the pics brought back memories, I really loved the little cobblestone streets. CC is just so amazing, how lucky for Zach to be there on his bd! They saw some pretty cool fish. That's so crazy that so done left their child in the water unsupervised. Esp sad because of the recent drowning(s) there..Looking forward to reading more!

Thanks for joining in! Thank you Going with a big crowd was definitely awesome you could pretty much always find someone to tag along no matter what you felt like doing. Laine definitely did NOT like the thrill rides LOL. How neat that you lived in Puerto Rico - it was a great place to visit! I really could not believe the people leaving their children alone in the water - it was definitely sad! But we had a great time celebrating Zach's bday on CC - I wish I could live there

 

[pepe3penelope]

Loving your TR! Can't wait to hear more! We did the Western itinerary on Fantasy June 2013 & loved it!!!

loved reading about your WDW trip. The matching shirts, headbands & outfits were so cute!

Keep it coming!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Loving your TR! Can't wait to hear more! We did the Western itinerary on Fantasy June 2013 & loved it!!!

loved reading about your WDW trip. The matching shirts, headbands & outfits were so cute!

Keep it coming!

Thanks so much for joining in! The girls really do love wearing matching outfits! The Fantasy is definitely a BEAUTIFUL ship I can't wait to be back on again! Sorry for the delay in updates have had some medical issues so haven't been keeping up but hope to finish up the report ASAP!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Sadly it was our last night on the Fantasy and it was time for the "See you real soon" menu

There are no choices of appetizers they bring you a sampler platter (several for our table) that consisted of duck, mozzarella, and lobster and shrimp. Personally, I did not care for any of this and I usually will eat just about anything.

the platters were barely touched by our group - just not a fan

a cup of soup -

We had really wanted to try the beef wellington. I was definitely not a fan of this. Andy did however eat mine AND his. Stipe noticed right away and brought me out the seafood pasta instead. it was OK.

Some of the deserts

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

The best part of the last night in Animator's Palate was the chance to bring your drawings to life. If you are going on the cruise and want to be surprised you might want to skip this part!

But when you are seated there is a sheet of paper at your place which has an outline of a person on it. You can then draw your character which will later be brought to life on the screens around you at the end of the meal. It was TOO CUTE watching for your drawing to be animated and walk or dance etc on the screen. here are some of the photos

Andy's "Steelers" guy LOL

Zach and Chase's are the two on the left - they look a bit terrifying

my snowman and zoe's mickey

terrible pics but our characters in action

Zoe's Mickey dancing with Mickey LOL

go on with your bad self Mickey!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Well the credits rolled and showed everyone's name who submitted a drawing

And then Stipe showed up to ensure we hadn't starved to death and also do tricks for the girls. You can see Piper leaning on her form where you draw your character. They give them back to you so you can keep them if you like.

The girls got together with Stipe for a goodbye photo as we knew we were going to go to Cabana's for breakfast before heading back to Walt Disney World.

EVERYTHING. WAS. AMAZING. Seriously. Stipe was the best. We headed back to our final towel animal from our fabulous stateroom host Sam. I spoke to him for a while that night - he really was fabulous and took great care to make sure everyone was happy. We couldn't have asked for more it exceeded every expectation I had!

and just like that it was over and we were back on land at Epcot!

 

[TutuWahineLV]

I apologize it this has already been mentioned, cause I'm still reading.... but didja notice the not so "hidden goofey" ...Disney shows up in the strangest places...

So did Mariah

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

I apologize it this has already been mentioned, cause I'm still reading.... but didja notice the not so "hidden goofey" ...Disney shows up in the strangest places...

Wow, I can't believe I never even noticed that! I'm glad you are reading along! I actually am going to try to get going and finish up this trip report ASAP so I can start one on the disney dream cruise we just returned from. Both were sooooo amazing! Thanks for joining in!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

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[PiperGirlInWondrland]

I think it's time to wrap this report up as I am super excited to start a new trip report for the cruise we just took!

We left off in Epcot! I had set up our first fp+ to be the character greeting as I wanted to make sure that Mariah and Laine had a chance to see the main characters since it was their first visit. it ended up only Zach and Mariah went with us so we met Mickey, Minnie and Goofy

Then we hit up Spaceship Earth. I'm not going to lie - my favorite part is making a ridiculous face for the photo then "building our future" at the end. Who could resist this little beauty?

Then we headed back over to the world showcase and we saw Christmas duffy. Piper is a HUGE duffy fan she has several and loves the little outfits you can buy for him. So we stopped for a photo and i really wish the sun wouldn't have been shining the way it was casting shadows on the pics. But Christmas duffy is adorable.

We decided to head over to the fish n chips shop

there were some cute Christmas decorations in the area - love the tea theme

I'll leave you with a few last Epcot photos

Joyful - a gospel celebration - awesome to listen to!

storytellers

topiary

We sat for quite a while listening to this show it was very cute

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

And last but not least some random rockin' ride pics LOL! Magic Kingdom was open LATE so we headed over there also

I hope you had as much fun reading this report as we did on this trip. You can tell by our crazy gang's pic on the Tower of Terror that we try to have as much fun as possible when we're on vacation - I couldn't say what was my favorite part of the trip as it was all amazing. GREAT memories! Thanks for reading along!!