Brief Report: Fantasy Apr. 14 Western B Itinerary

[226ra]

Fantasy Apr. 14 Western B Itinerary
Family of 4 (kids ages 7 and 9)

Boarding
Arrived at port around noon for our 12:00-12:30 pm check in window. No wait at security nor at the check in desk. Boarding number (16) called immediately after we finished checking in. Very smooth process.

Lunch at Enchanted Garden (hardly anyone there). Kids on the AquaDuck by 1:15 pm. Hardly any line and very few people by the pool at this stage.

Dining and Dining Rotation
Had a very odd rotation, nothing like I read about on the disboards: RAERAAE. Was disappointed that our two formal/semi-formal nights were in the Animators Palate with its very casual décor and atmosphere. Booked Palo onboard with little problem the first afternoon. Had my choice of nights and decided to skip the second Animators night (also Pirate night) for Palo instead.

Overall the food and service was excellent on the cruise. Worst menu by far was the Captain’s Gala night menu at Animators. Thank goodness the Animator Magic show was amazing otherwise the night would have been a total bust.

Cabin
Had an inside cabin on Deck 5. Very cramped but glad we saved the money, which we could use toward shopping/excursions, as we did not spend very much time at all in the room. Hardest part was when everyone was getting ready for dinner. We were climbing all over each other trying to get showered/dressed/etc.

Entertainment
Overall fairly good. New shows Wishes and Believe are fairly hokey, but good cast, decent music.

Ports
This is not a great itinerary for Disney. Had fun at Grand Cayman-booked stingraysailing.com on our own. Had the Catamaran to ourselves and one other couple. Great day and highly recommended. Costa Maya is a filler port in my opinion. I’ve worked in this area of Mexico and there is very little to do here that is worth doing combined with a very short stop (~4-5 hrs) it is not worth getting off the ship. Upside was that the ship was not very busy so we had plenty of room to sit, no lines for slides/AquaDuck, etc. Went ashore at Cozumel. Area around the port is truly awful. Spent 30 min walking around and could not wait to get back on the ship. Castaway Cay is great-not much needed to be said here that hasn’t already been written in great detail on these boards (drop the kids at Scuttles Cove and do the Yoga at Serenity Bay!).

Sea Days
This itinerary has two sea days and it was absolute pandemonium on Decks 11-13 (esp. 11, where the family pools/slides are located. If you didn’t get up early it was nearly impossible to find a seat or even have a conversation at the tables near Cabanas or the quick serve counters. Very disappointing that on such a large ship there aren’t more quiet areas for families that don’t get up at the crack of dawn to find a seat. That being said, with so many on early dining (we were the late dining) the pool areas tended to clear out in the early afternoon, with plenty of time in the day left for getting some sun (and peace) while the kids ran around and had fun.

Overall
Great experience despite the shortcomings noted above. Very much looking forward to our next cruise.

 

[Wailea]

Thank you so much for the trip report!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Thanks so for the trip report. We're going next year at about the same time, wondering what your weather was like?

 

[226ra]

Thanks so for the trip report. We're going next year at about the same time, wondering what your weather was like?

Decent weather. Sea days and Castaway Cay were gorgeous. Spotty weather, heavy but scattered showers in Cozumel and GC. Costa Maya was a total washout. It's the rainy season in that part of the world so this is to be expected.

 

[ldymcbth]

Decent weather. Sea days and Castaway Cay were gorgeous. Spotty weather, heavy but scattered showers in Cozumel and GC. Costa Maya was a total washout. It's the rainy season in that part of the world so this is to be expected.

Did you experience or witness any illnesses on board? Others are reporting norovirus and strep exposure onboard for the week you sailed...

 

[226ra]

Did you experience or witness any illnesses on board? Others are reporting norovirus and strep exposure onboard for the week you sailed...

Yes. Our daughter had the stomach bug, but the rest of our group (3) managed to stay healthy for the entire cruise. Fortunately, she was only down and out for 24 hrs.

 

[Never to old]

For someone who has never been to these ports, what would you recommend?

 

[226ra]

For someone who has never been to these ports, what would you recommend?

Stingraysailing.com in Grand Cayman, stay on the ship and enjoy the short lines at Aqua Duck on Costa Maya day, and for Cozumel, if you're dead set on doing an excursion, then many of the attractions on the mainland (Playa del Carmen) are quite amazing if a bit expensive.

 

[Redeemed&Loved]

Can you expand on the disappointment with the Captain's Gala menu?

 

[Floridagram]

I have read that embarkation lunch in EG does not have anything for kids. IS that true? If you ate there I guess your kids found something to eat! Can you advise what they had? Our kids eat regular food so I am thinking they would be OK there. Is it a buffet? I would prefer the quiet there, of course we may bring the noise`

 

[226ra]

Can you expand on the disappointment with the Captain's Gala menu?

We (the adults) chose two dishes plus a lobster tail to share. I had the seared tuna and my wife had a chicken dish with pasta and an alfredo-type sauce. The tuna was overcooked and the seasoning overly salty. The chicken dish was a bland disaster with overcooked (mushy) pasta. The lobster tail was huge (to the point of being unappetizing) and prepared on the grill with some kind of seasoning. We prefer boiled with drawn butter. This not to mention the appetizers, which are fixed (no choices). The popcorn soup was really really bad-sounds interesting on paper but in reality just tasted like salt and butter. This should not detract from our other MDR menu experiences. Aside from the Pirate Menu, which we did not sample as we were at Palo, all of the other menu and menu choices we made were really good to excellent, from the appetizers to the main course. We each had the Beef Wellington on the last night (Farewell menu?) and it was AMAZING (this is coming a couple that does not eat alot of red meat). We're still talking about it a week later!

 

[226ra]

I have read that embarkation lunch in EG does not have anything for kids. IS that true? If you ate there I guess your kids found something to eat! Can you advise what they had? Our kids eat regular food so I am thinking they would be OK there. Is it a buffet? I would prefer the quiet there, of course we may bring the noise`

That is true. It is a buffet and my daughter, who is a picky eater, did not fare well for that meal. I agree with others on these boards that it was a less hectic choice than Cabanas on embarkation, however, EG may not be the best choice for folks with kids that prefer less adventurous, kids-oriented menu choices.

 

[SplashMountainManiac]

We (the adults) chose two dishes plus a lobster tail to share. I had the seared tuna and my wife had a chicken dish with pasta and an alfredo-type sauce. The tuna was overcooked and the seasoning overly salty. The chicken dish was a bland disaster with overcooked (mushy) pasta. The lobster tail was huge (to the point of being unappetizing) and prepared on the grill with some kind of seasoning. We prefer boiled with drawn butter. This not to mention the appetizers, which are fixed (no choices). The popcorn soup was really really bad-sounds interesting on paper but in reality just tasted like salt and butter. This should not detract from our other MDR menu experiences. Aside from the Pirate Menu, which we did not sample as we were at Palo, all of the other menu and menu choices we made were really good to excellent, from the appetizers to the main course. We each had the Beef Wellington on the last night (Farewell menu?) and it was AMAZING (this is coming a couple that does not eat alot of red meat). We're still talking about it a week later!

Actually the fixed appetizers and soup course were due to the Animation Magic show. If you had been in another dining room that night you would have had a full selection of apps and soups/salads. They are not able to serve the full menu due to the timing of Animation Magic.

 

[Tinknalli]

I have read that embarkation lunch in EG does not have anything for kids. IS that true? If you ate there I guess your kids found something to eat! Can you advise what they had? Our kids eat regular food so I am thinking they would be OK there. Is it a buffet? I would prefer the quiet there, of course we may bring the noise`

We were on the same cruise and ate at EG for lunch on embarkment day. There was nothing that my DS wanted (picky) and when the head server Brent saw that my saw was not eating he informed us that they had mac and cheese and chicken fingers in the kitchen and they are just not out on the buffet. Was a great start to the cruise when he brought back a huge plate of chicken fingers and fries for DS. We had planned to just go up on deck to get him something after we ate and did not request anything, but I am sure you can.

 

[Tinknalli]

We (the adults) chose two dishes plus a lobster tail to share. I had the seared tuna and my wife had a chicken dish with pasta and an alfredo-type sauce. The tuna was overcooked and the seasoning overly salty. The chicken dish was a bland disaster with overcooked (mushy) pasta. The lobster tail was huge (to the point of being unappetizing) and prepared on the grill with some kind of seasoning. We prefer boiled with drawn butter. This not to mention the appetizers, which are fixed (no choices). The popcorn soup was really really bad-sounds interesting on paper but in reality just tasted like salt and butter. This should not detract from our other MDR menu experiences. Aside from the Pirate Menu, which we did not sample as we were at Palo, all of the other menu and menu choices we made were really good to excellent, from the appetizers to the main course. We each had the Beef Wellington on the last night (Farewell menu?) and it was AMAZING (this is coming a couple that does not eat alot of red meat). We're still talking about it a week later!

The popcorn soup was nasty! Our server said that you eith really like it or you don't.

 

[TDluvsDaisy]

We were on the same cruise and ate at EG for lunch on embarkment day. There was nothing that my DS wanted (picky) and when the head server Brent saw that my saw was not eating he informed us that they had mac and cheese and chicken fingers in the kitchen and they are just not out on the buffet. Was a great start to the cruise when he brought back a huge plate of chicken fingers and fries for DS. We had planned to just go up on deck to get him something after we ate and did not request anything, but I am sure you can.

This is great info to have! We were planning on going to EG for lunch after boarding to avoid the hectic stampede.

 

[226ra]

If you're like me, your kids will want to have you along for the Midship Detective Agency. This can take a long time (up to one hour), depending on on the number of people working on cases (and standing in line at the various paintings). To save time, do all of the fore or aft paintings first and so on, using the elevators to move between decks. It does not matter what painting you start at. Have fun!

 

[226ra]

I haven't read much here about the Sports Simulators so I thought I'd share my experience with you. My son and I booked a half hour a few days after boarding (cost was $12). We showed up and the attendant gave us a quick 2 min primer on how to use the system (located on deck 13 aft near the 8th hole on the mini golf course). While we were under the impression that you would have to choose a sport then stick with that program for the entire half hour, it was even better than that in that you had complete control of the system thru a touchscreen monitor that allowed you to switch between the following:

-soccer (try to score on goalie Goofy)
-football (field goal kicking-which was impossibly difficult)
-football (passing challenge)
-hockey (just like soccer)
-basketball (didn't try this one)
-baseball (pitching only-try and strike out Goofy)

Beneath the computer is a rack full of various sports balls and equipment needed to play. My son and I had a ball and a half hour was more than enough and a great deal for the money.

Golf was a separate event located on the other side of the room. While we were there they had a longest drive challenge which was free to participate (see your navigator for times) and alot of fun as well. I wouldn't recommend the golf simulator for kids. It's quite difficult and less satisfying than the sports simulator (not to mention twice the price).

 

[Dodieauglis]

Thanks for the information. We are gong on a Western Itinerary B in October and wanted to know if you have the Navigators scanned to post? I can post my email address to send them to me if that is easier.

Thanks

 

[226ra]

Thanks for the information. We are gong on a Western Itinerary B in October and wanted to know if you have the Navigators scanned to post? I can post my email address to send them to me if that is easier.

Thanks

I do not but the April 7 Western B cruise (same itinerary as ours) navigators are posted here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2913477