TK Brown
Disney Jedi Master
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2003
- Messages
- 228
Just got off of the Disney Fantasy and wanted to post a short trip report.
Overall, the cruise was outstanding! The food was great, the service was outstanding and the ship was beautiful. This was our first sailing on the Fantasy and it more than lived up to our hopes. The ship was fully decorated for Christmas and it really got us in the festive mood.
Our itinerary was departation day, day at sea, day at sea, Tortola, St. Thomas, day at sea (Christmas Eve), Castaway Cay (Christmas Day) and disembarkation day.
The first few days were a little shaky. There was a cold front that had pushed through Florida and it was very windy until we reached Tortola. How windy you ask? We had winds, according to the bridge update on the TV in our room, that were consitantly at 50 MPH. The highest we saw was 62 MPH. That was the "apparent wind". Not sure if that added in the speed of the ship or not. Regardless, it made for a somewhat rocky ride. You could clearly see any curtains or decorations not tied down, swaying back and forth. I was not affected, but I heard several people were very sick from it. The aquaduck was closed for our first two days at sea due to the wind.
Our cabin was 8679, a deluxe inside stateroom. It was in perfect condition and we had no problems with our room whatsoever. There were only 3 of us staying in the room, each with a full size suitcase and carry-on. My son slept in the lower bunk and we used the fold down cieling bed to store some of our bags. I can see if we had another person in the room, that storage space would have been an issue.
Our dining rotation was Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace, Animators, Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace, Animators and Enchanted Garden. Our server was Nicholas, our assistant server was Francis and our head server was Alberto. These guys really made our trip great. They were the best trio of servers that we have had in 5 cruises. Not saying the other ones were bad, its just these guys were that good to us. The food was outstanding each night. For those of you that have not seen the show in Animators on the second night, you have to go back. For our group, that was one of the highlights. It was very cute and clever. Our whole table was laughing at how our drawings came to life. I forgot to take pictures of the menu's each night, so I cant remember all of the offerings. What I do remember is that there was lobster tail on Christmas Eve, and there was ham and turkey offered on Christmas Day.
As far as our ports went, that was the only issue we had on the trip. Tortola was not anything that we expected. When we first heard about the stop there, we did some research and read where they were expanding and making changes to the port area. We had planned to do an excursion, but decided to do some exporing instead Well all that was done was to clear some land. There was one building with one shop (Diamonds International) there. As we continued to walk through downtown, we noticed a smell. The smell was like the one you got walking past the porta-johns at sporing/music events. Its not s smell you want to have when you are on vacation. One part of our group did a tour, and their impressions were the same as ours, with one of them getting sick from someting he ate there. We spoke with some of the crew and they were pretty disappointed with the island as well. Later in the cruise, we heard that Disney was taking Tortola "under its wing" and trying to bring it up to the level of some of the other islands in the area. For us, we wont be going back (or getting off of the boat if we do port there) until we hear some better reviews.
On the other hand, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay were awesome. My son and I did the legendary kon tiki cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. The crew on the boat were fun and the beach we went to was great for swimming. I would definately do that one again. My wife and mother went shopping in ST Thomas and had nothing but postitive things to say about it.
Castaway (as always) was awesome. The weather temps were in the mid to upper 80's, light wind, a few clouds and water temps in the upper 70's. Peter, our cruise director, said it was the best Castaway day (weather wise)they had in over a month. We did not do any excursions, except for floats and snorkle equipment. It was the best way to spend Christmas day away from home.
Short and sweet, there it is!! If you have any questions, let me know!!
Overall, the cruise was outstanding! The food was great, the service was outstanding and the ship was beautiful. This was our first sailing on the Fantasy and it more than lived up to our hopes. The ship was fully decorated for Christmas and it really got us in the festive mood.
Our itinerary was departation day, day at sea, day at sea, Tortola, St. Thomas, day at sea (Christmas Eve), Castaway Cay (Christmas Day) and disembarkation day.
The first few days were a little shaky. There was a cold front that had pushed through Florida and it was very windy until we reached Tortola. How windy you ask? We had winds, according to the bridge update on the TV in our room, that were consitantly at 50 MPH. The highest we saw was 62 MPH. That was the "apparent wind". Not sure if that added in the speed of the ship or not. Regardless, it made for a somewhat rocky ride. You could clearly see any curtains or decorations not tied down, swaying back and forth. I was not affected, but I heard several people were very sick from it. The aquaduck was closed for our first two days at sea due to the wind.
Our cabin was 8679, a deluxe inside stateroom. It was in perfect condition and we had no problems with our room whatsoever. There were only 3 of us staying in the room, each with a full size suitcase and carry-on. My son slept in the lower bunk and we used the fold down cieling bed to store some of our bags. I can see if we had another person in the room, that storage space would have been an issue.
Our dining rotation was Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace, Animators, Enchanted Garden, Royal Palace, Animators and Enchanted Garden. Our server was Nicholas, our assistant server was Francis and our head server was Alberto. These guys really made our trip great. They were the best trio of servers that we have had in 5 cruises. Not saying the other ones were bad, its just these guys were that good to us. The food was outstanding each night. For those of you that have not seen the show in Animators on the second night, you have to go back. For our group, that was one of the highlights. It was very cute and clever. Our whole table was laughing at how our drawings came to life. I forgot to take pictures of the menu's each night, so I cant remember all of the offerings. What I do remember is that there was lobster tail on Christmas Eve, and there was ham and turkey offered on Christmas Day.
As far as our ports went, that was the only issue we had on the trip. Tortola was not anything that we expected. When we first heard about the stop there, we did some research and read where they were expanding and making changes to the port area. We had planned to do an excursion, but decided to do some exporing instead Well all that was done was to clear some land. There was one building with one shop (Diamonds International) there. As we continued to walk through downtown, we noticed a smell. The smell was like the one you got walking past the porta-johns at sporing/music events. Its not s smell you want to have when you are on vacation. One part of our group did a tour, and their impressions were the same as ours, with one of them getting sick from someting he ate there. We spoke with some of the crew and they were pretty disappointed with the island as well. Later in the cruise, we heard that Disney was taking Tortola "under its wing" and trying to bring it up to the level of some of the other islands in the area. For us, we wont be going back (or getting off of the boat if we do port there) until we hear some better reviews.
On the other hand, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay were awesome. My son and I did the legendary kon tiki cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. The crew on the boat were fun and the beach we went to was great for swimming. I would definately do that one again. My wife and mother went shopping in ST Thomas and had nothing but postitive things to say about it.
Castaway (as always) was awesome. The weather temps were in the mid to upper 80's, light wind, a few clouds and water temps in the upper 70's. Peter, our cruise director, said it was the best Castaway day (weather wise)they had in over a month. We did not do any excursions, except for floats and snorkle equipment. It was the best way to spend Christmas day away from home.
Short and sweet, there it is!! If you have any questions, let me know!!
