Back from Fantasy 6/10-6/17--let me know if your have questions.

[fredandkell]

I would skip Dunn's. We were there in 2002 for our honeymoon and while the resort was delightful, going off property wasn't. The experience is very unsafe - google "Dunn's River Falls accidents" and you'll see what I mean. Also the water socks that they tell you to wear were truly the grossest things I've ever seen. I refused to put them on my feet and bought my own. This website called it the #1 tourist trap in the world: http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/15-worlds-worst-tourist-traps-077541/ Also, the minute we stepped off property from our resort a man on a bicycle tried to sell us drugs, so I would be leery of arranging your own tours/cabs, etc. in Jamaica. It's a cool country but it has an "underbelly" as well.

 

[Bsmitty]

I certainly think a different tour guide would have improved the experience.

At Dunn's River Falls, to exit the park you have to go through a marketplace of merchants trying to sell their goods to tourists. Nearly all are cheap, touristy junk. You know how Disney parks rides exit into a gift shop? Well this is like that times 100 except if I stuck my arms straight out, I could hit the stalls on both sides. It really is running a guantlet to get out of there. To put it mildly, my wife and kids were not going to be more than 2 feet away from me the entire exiting process.

I second this exact same experience. I would stay on the ship in Jamaica.

 

[Snurk71]

Who were your Cruise Staff team members (support the Cruise Director by running the family and adult activities like karaoke, trivia, bingo, etc.)?

We were on the fantasy the week before. Trent (from Australia) was the club host - i think it was his first week on (Tisa had just departed).

We did a lot of the trivia events and such, but i don't remember the other names as well. I know Maxx was on, a Kelsey/ Chelsea from the US, maybe a Mallory from Australia, another blonde from Ireland.

 

[crazy4wdw]

back now from our second DCL vacation. We sailed on the Fantasy again and in the same stateroom as before, 8596. Let me know if you have any questions.

I was on the three night cruise just after the dry dock was completed. Was the adult jacuzzi/hot tub near quiet cove pool repaired? Maintenance was working on it for the entire three days. I would check every day and would be told it would open before the day was over - never happened.

 

[DisneySunPrincess]

back now from our second DCL vacation. We sailed on the Fantasy again and in the same stateroom as before, 8596. Let me know if you have any questions.

Here are a few tidbits I know some are interested in:

Cruise director was Natalie. Nothing special or bad about her.

Cars 3 premEARed on board.

Sweet on you has a large variety with reasonable prices and serving sizes.

Avoid the "Dole Whip" like the plague. There was nothing frozen or yogurt about it.

Servers Daniel and assistant server Mitho were fabulous.

Loved Playa Mia in Cozumel. Grand Cayman dolphin and Stingray City trip was great. Did the sharks and Dunn's river falls in Jamaica. That was by far the worst part of the trip. Not the sharks, just everything else involved with the Jamaica excursion.

LOVE Natalie!! She was the cruise director on our last cruise and we are excited to have her again....so long as that doesn't change by September

 

[DisneySunPrincess]

Honestly, we didn't spend aquatic time in any areas outside the Aquaduck and Mickey and Donald pools. I think my kids used the new splash areas. They looked pretty small only a few kids can fit in at a time. To be honest, I am not sure what the purpose of them is. Not sure about the swim diaper question.

Are all the family hot tubs gone from Fantasy now?

 

[PE4]

No, she means who was the Cruise Staff Team member that was the host of the club activities in The Tube at night?

I was on this cruise. The club host was Deano

 

[mcurrence]

Are all the family hot tubs gone from Fantasy now?

Are all the family hot tubs gone from Fantasy now?

My understanding is yes. They've been replaced with the new Splash are (similar to the Funnel Puddle) The adult area still has the hot tub Concierge and the Spa also have adult hot tubs.

 

[jfahome]

Do you happen to know which Princesses were on the ship, doing Meet n Greets I mean most specifically. We leave in two weeks and curious which ones will be there. Other characters great too, but mostly the princesses. THanks!

 

[Goofy&Sleepy]

We did same cruise 2 weeks earlier ...not to hijack but wanted to put in my .02 about Jamaica. DH & I did falls YEARS ago and knew our 2 girls 15 and 12 might not like it. We did jeep excursion in Coz, fun, and stringray/dolphin in GC so I didn't want to spend much $$ or time in Jamaica. We got off and if you don't know, I didn't, the port area is like a mini Disney Springs, VERY safe w/a Jimmy Buffett Margarettaville. My oldest HATED Bahamas and all the people approaching you so I knew she would be apprehensive about going outside the gated area. We took the TROLLEY tour around Falmouth $25 each, kid $15 and it was nice to see a little area and have history and HAVE THEM APPRECIATE their living situation even more. Stopped at an old church and there were some vendors there , haggling, but nice , and stopped at a beach for about 15 min. AMAZING water and walked in the surf and took pics. It was just enough for us ...one hour...back on board for lunch and DH went back to shops later while we enjoyed quiet ship. The shops in the port did "haggle"/negotiate but they were safe...there was a DQ there and some other food places.

 

[GeneralTso]

I am going into Jamaica eyes WIDW open. Everything I've read here, plus friends' experiences are accurate.
It's very similar to parts of Mexico. Abject poverty, locals just trying to eek out a living. It's hard. They live in terrible conditions and most are very poor.

If you hate being hustled (and I do), it's miserable just to walk through and have people pawing at you and yelling at you. I have zero interest in purchasing a cheap souvenir or rasta anything.
I was disappointed when I saw they added Jamaica back on the itinerary. For a hot minute, it was a 2nd stop at Castaway Cay.

 

[TestingH2O]

We had a lovely experience in Jamaica. We found the port area to be very clean to the point that it felt artificial. PP said it reminded them of Disney Springs and I agree. We booked a food tasting tour through a highly rated local company. We walked out of the secured area and saw some of the actual town.

Was it poor? Yes. Were there people who might like us to buy their wares? Yes. However our guides efficiently kept us on track, no one tried to touch us, my 4 year old daughter was completely safe, and we learned a lot about the area and its history. At the same time, we were not going to tourist destinations so there wasn't a crush of people looking to make a quick sale. It was just everyday folks going about their business.

PP mentioned that the guide dropped the ball, and that does seem to be true. I don't think it's necessarily fair to judge the whole country by one tourist spot.

 

[DCLMacro415]

We were on the same cruise and did the Fury Catamaran in Cozumel, Tiki Beach Day in Grand Cayman, and did not do any excursions in Jamaica. It was my wife, son (10 years old) and myself.

- Fury Catamaran was fun and easiest to get to. We literally walked off the ship, went about 100 feet up the dock and got on the Catamaran. It returned to the same spot as well. The catamaran was fun, about a 30 minute cruise to the snorkel spot. We were the second of 3 Fury catamaran's to pull up. The crew did a great job keeping the groups together and after about 20 minutes or so of snorkeling we were back on the catamaran for another 20 minute cruise the beach. Getting to to beach we had to go down the steps of the catamaran into about waist deep water. At the beach we were the 4th out of 5 Fury catamarans. The beach was nice, lots of chairs was not over crowded. About 10 minutes after we got their the crew of the first catamaran was calling them back to their boat. The beach itself was ok lots of rocks and shells, they have a lot of slides in the water, etc. and there was a decent undertow. After about 90 minutes on the beach we climbed (literally) back up the stairs and onto the catamaran for the 45 minute sail back to the Fantasy. Forgot to mention both on the sail out, at the beach, and on the sail back was an open bar of beer, rum punch, and sodas. The crew was great, and on the way a lot of guests and crew were dancing and having a good time. Was a good experience.

- Tiki Beach Day - The beach was great, soft sand, little to no undertow, clear water. Lots of beach chairs and you can rent an umbrella for $20 (you get $10 back when you return the umbrella). Getting to the beach was a little chaotic. Once we tendered off the Fantasy, they grouped us to together, there were several other excursions going on with about 8 or so other groups, plus locals and other tourists. They handed our bracelets for the excursion and move us to another area. No one really seemed to know what was going on or next, after about 15 minutes they came back and we walked as group out of the port area, down the street, and behind a shopping mall. All in all about another 10 minute walk. Not bad, but didnt have any real idea what was going on or who to follow for while there. Once we got on the buses, it was about a 20 minute drive to the beach. The driver was good, explaining the local area and about the island, etc. The beach was great, there was a bar that you got a free rum punch or fruit punch. You can also purchase more drinks as well if you like. They did have a restaurant that we did not order from. Others did and it looked good. We did have a small rain storm and a water spout that showed up further down the beach. That cleared out pretty fast and shortly after we were on the bus back to the Fantasy. They dropped us off right in the port.

- Jamaica - we did not do any excursions. We did get off the ship for a bit and walked around the market. I would agree with others, its very clean and nice. We did some shopping and did not feel pressured or haggled to buy anything. We were back on the ship within an hour or so before a couple rain storms came through.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

We did same cruise 2 weeks earlier ...not to hijack but wanted to put in my .02 about Jamaica. DH & I did falls YEARS ago and knew our 2 girls 15 and 12 might not like it. We did jeep excursion in Coz, fun, and stringray/dolphin in GC so I didn't want to spend much $$ or time in Jamaica. We got off and if you don't know, I didn't, the port area is like a mini Disney Springs, VERY safe w/a Jimmy Buffett Margarettaville. My oldest HATED Bahamas and all the people approaching you so I knew she would be apprehensive about going outside the gated area. We took the TROLLEY tour around Falmouth $25 each, kid $15 and it was nice to see a little area and have history and HAVE THEM APPRECIATE their living situation even more. Stopped at an old church and there were some vendors there , haggling, but nice , and stopped at a beach for about 15 min. AMAZING water and walked in the surf and took pics. It was just enough for us ...one hour...back on board for lunch and DH went back to shops later while we enjoyed quiet ship. The shops in the port did "haggle"/negotiate but they were safe...there was a DQ there and some other food places.

Great tip!! I think we'll try the trolley tour That sounds about our speed and price point.

 

[MickeyD]

I was on the three night cruise just after the dry dock was completed. Was the adult jacuzzi/hot tub near quiet cove pool repaired? Maintenance was working on it for the entire three days. I would check every day and would be told it would open before the day was over - never happened.

I was on the 7 day right after you. They finally got the adult hot tub up and running about the second at sea day. Not sure what they were doing, but they had it all roped off.

 

[SunDevilFanAZ]

Do you happen to know which Princesses were on the ship, doing Meet n Greets I mean most specifically. We leave in two weeks and curious which ones will be there. Other characters great too, but mostly the princesses. THanks!

I did see Cindarella and Tiana a couple of times.

 

[aksearaven]

on the seven night cruise did you still get to do the animation at AP on the second nights dinner?

 

[SunDevilFanAZ]

on the seven night cruise did you still get to do the animation at AP on the second nights dinner?

We actually had Animators Palette three nights. Therefore our third night was the animation part. Otherwise it should be on night 2 of AP if you only have it twice on your rotation.

 

[Miggee]

Avoid the "Dole Whip" like the plague. There was nothing frozen or yogurt about it.

sorry to hear that, I was on the same ship/cruise as you! and I had the dole whip and really enjoyed it! it was towards the last days of the trip, maybe it got better?

 

[Miggee]

Do you happen to know which Princesses were on the ship, doing Meet n Greets I mean most specifically. We leave in two weeks and curious which ones will be there. Other characters great too, but mostly the princesses. THanks!

princess gathering was: cinderella, tiana, belle and ariel if you do the royal tea, it's cindy, belle and ariel