Fantasy Notes and Opinions from 9/24 - 10/1

[RafikiTiki21]

Thanks again for all the tips and convos on here as I was preparing for our cruise! I was on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary on the Fantasy 9/24-10/1, and wanted to share some thoughts and feedback based on what I've learned here or think you may be interested in (I won't be doing a formal trip report).

This was my first cruise as an adult, and my husband/sons very first cruise. I had done the Big Red Boat via Disney but first DCL experience.

We had a wonderful week, and will definitely be sailing again!

Arrival/Logistics

• We had room 7520 (7A), partially obstructed verandah and would book it again. Great views, and the obstruction provided privacy, a little shade, and wind protection while on the balcony. Convenient forward location, and quiet. Starboard side was great for Tortola port and Castaway views.
• Stayed at the Hyatt MCO Friday night, and was a great solution for a quick stay the night before the cruise.
• Had 11:15am PAT, was on the DCL bus at MCO around 9:30am and checked in at the terminal around 10:30am. I had boarding group 9.
• There were no upgrade opportunities when I checked in at the terminal.
• Getting off the ship - we had breakfast right at 6:45am, went to Shutters to pick up our USB at 7:15am, and were off the ship getting luggage by 7:45am in the terminal. Easy and smooth at that time.
• I was really glad I brought a personal water bottle for drink refills. The paper cups are small, and then my drink was bigger, stayed cold, and I could have it bedside. Some have questioned carrying it around or other logistics of a personal cup onboard. Mine was leak-proof so I tossed it in my bag, and I wouldn't go without it.

Crowds

• Since it was during the school year, I was told there were approximately 1,000 kids onboard vs the 1,800 that could be during peak vacation times.
• Definitely felt the crowds on the elevators (despite trying not to use midship a lot) and at the main events. Never stressful, but busy and crowded for a full ship.
• We are early risers and getting to Cabanas early for breakfast and lunch, being nearly first in the morning (9am) for AquaDuck and pools, and getting off the ship early was helpful in managing crowd impacts.
• People generally bothered me more here than in WDW. I think because your shared experience is in closer quarters and you end up interacting with them more in the dining rooms, elevators, pool deck, etc. Not stressful but an observation.

Activities

• Loved the Rainforest room and did one day pass, pre-purchased. I wouldn't have had time for more than one day's worth, but did spend 2 separate hours there on our additional sea day (not stopping in St. Thomas). Heavenly! I wouldn't buy a longer pass based on our family's schedule and other priorities.
• I loved the Bamboo Massage-- different but a lovely service and very relaxing. NO pressure to buy anything further from the staff.
• We didn't stay up for Pirate Night fireworks, I was disappointed they weren't until 10:15pm. Had I known then that we would have an additional sea day instead of St. Thomas the following morning, we would have stayed up for it. Bummer. Pirate night stage show itself was cute and fun.
• Halloween -- we enjoyed the pumpkin tree stories and the decor in the atrium. The kids clubs had some crafts and we missed the 3D Sing-a-Long for Nightmare Before Christmas. The spooky sea tales on the funnel vision were too late for us to get to (10-11pm ish). Character dance party was really cute and fun, and my son loved the trick-or-treating (and quality candy given out).
• Enjoyed the rum tasting class - it was different rums in various drinks, and only one straight rum (of 5 tastings).
• Didn't get to any other adult only activities in the clubs or nightlife. Just the three of us on this trip, so once my son went to bed by 9pm we were also in for the night.
• My 5 year old enjoyed a few hours each sea day in the kids club. He was injured one day, ran into another child during a game and had a slightly bloody lip. The counselors notified us right away and took care of it well. (He went back an hour later for more fun)
• We were not interested in trivia, bingo, etc during the day, and really didn't have enough time for it anyway.
• I used the spa locker showers twice before dinner to speed up getting ready and gave my boys space in our room. This was a great option, lots of space, and no lines for the shower when I was there.

Shows

• We went to the family show of Ricky the Hypnotist guy. It was OK, I have seen something similar and it was mildly entertaining but I kindof wanted to leave halfway through. Just not my thing, but it was popular and they added another showing of the family version later in the week. Even though it was billed as "family comedy" my 5 year old didn't really get it. My husband enjoyed it.
• They added some movies on our extra sea day in lieu of St. Thomas -- we caught the only showing of Force Awakens then, it wasn't to be shown otherwise.
• I wish they had movies going continuously. It seems anything we wanted to see was first thing in the morning (prime pool time) or crossing over dinner time, or too late at night.
• Aladdin- overall a great production and a lot of fun with many talented actors. I was very disappointed in the actor playing the Genie, who unfortunately kindof ruined the show for me. He made too many non-Disney irrelevant jokes or comments (i.e. Miley Cyrus/Britney Spears, Hogwarts jokes, pop culture or off color references that were way above the kids heads). He was very into himself, and while the audience laughed at this I felt it completely broke the magic of the Aladdin show and Disney feel. It brought me into modern day and NOT immersed in the Disney magic of the show and story. Totally distracting. He also lacked the heart that the Genie character has, so I didn't feel for him when he was freed. (Robin Williams certainly improvised but kept the heart and kept us in the story). This is a shame because the rest of the cast was great but this guy took the limelight, and not in a positive way (for me). I may be the only one though because he got the biggest applause and was the last actor to bow. I will be writing DCL an email on this topic for their reference and feedback.

Crew/Cast

• Most everyone we encountered was great, wonderful service and caring individuals. They all work incredibly hard in a unique culture of life on the ship and such an international cast.
• Our servers were spectacular and made mealtime something to look forward to, as well as giving my son many magic moments.
• Crew had great attitudes when we didn't go to St. Thomas-- they didn't get a break then and many had additional tasks and jobs they wouldn't have had that day. They all expressed it was part of this gig and continued on with great service and no attitude or regret.

Technology

• I got the 50MB free on the first day, but never went to the tech desk to do so. Simply go to the web browser on your device to activate the First Day 50MB deal (on the first day only). 50MB was plenty to check my email a few times that week and send a birthday text to my dad from sea.
• I closed all apps except DCL and went on airplane mode, signed out of the DCL connect @ sea website, and no issues with data being used unnecessarily.
• I loved being unplugged-- facebook and the news now feels like so much NOISE. It was wonderful to not be connected, and I wouldn't buy the additional data another time.
• The Navigator App and the paper one were not always in sync, and led to a few mix-ups on my family's agenda or disappointments. I'll also email DCL about this so they know the impact.
• We received the full Navigator papers each night. I read them in the evenings but relied on the phone version for menus, schedule, etc.

Meals

• Food was generally very good. Cabanas lunch felt stale after a day or two, and we preferred Flo's or snacking through the afternoon after a full breakfast.
• One juice station (of the four) in Cabanas had POG juice!! Seek it out, it was delicious and very similar (if not the same) as Disney World's version.
• Palo brunch was the best meal of the week! We did the menu and buffet and enjoyed everything. So much depth of flavor, and outstanding service. We were offered to be served at the buffet but I politely asked if I could serve myself-- I was allowed to, and no issue doing so. I am particular and someone putting food on my plate would have been stressful/annoying and not adding to the level of service or experience. If you prefer so, simply ask and you may. No pressure.
• I learned that Uncrustables are another hidden room service item-- I ordered one the night before for my son's poolside lunch a few days, and was a great option. We enjoyed Mickey bars, cookies/milk, cheese plate, and wings a few nights before bed.
• We had main seating and this was better for us. Some days felt rushed once we learned that something began at 5pm (i.e. Halloween party) so that pushed the afternoon back a lot in terms of time to be ready by. Sometimes felt rushed but I wouldn't want to eat at the second seating for my family's schedule.
• We had requested to be sat alone and this request was honored.

Castaway Cay

• After not making it to St. Thomas, we arrived at CC early and could get off the ship at 8am (scheduled 9:45am).
• A storm came around 3:30pm (were to be onboard by 4:45pm), closing the beaches and a mad rush back to the ship. Crew handled the chaos well, and many guests were simply nuts at this time unnecessarily. It wasn't a hurricane, just an average tropical thunder and light rain but people acted like they were dying and saying silly stuff (which then made my son worry and I had to reassure him a lot). People also rudely left a LOT of trash, towels, floats, etc on the beach in their rush.
• We enjoyed the Stingray adventure a lot.
• Next time I wouldn't pay for three snorkel kits and three floats, we just didn't have time to use them all for very long. Even with nearly 8 hours on island, it went by very quickly.
• My son was disappointed he couldn't do Pelican Plunge. Lines were insanely long all day. Late afternoon the boys tried again and then as they were almost to the top, they closed it for the storm. I heard/saw many getting stung by jellyfish near there so it may have been a good thing, but he was sorry to miss this fun. Perhaps next time we rope drop it? We did get to that area shortly after 8am but lines were wrapped down around the bottom platform from early on.
• We sat by the Sand Bar - oddly they didn't have a fun drink menu the way the other large bar on island did. The bartenders were like, "we can make anything, what do you want?". I wanted something unique/tropical and ultimately learned of the Conch Cooler from another guest, but found it odd that the bars were not all created equal.
• I don't feel we were very efficient with our time on the island, and hope to get to more things or more relaxation next time.
• We got to meet Olaf by surprise near his smoothie stand (delicious) but didn't get to any other characters.

Characters

• There are lots of opportunities but I was feeling worn out and defeated with the ship character attempts after a few days. Luckily my son has met many at WDW and wasn't into waiting for them much after that either. The lines formed very early, then the character was out for 15 min so we missed them many times. I wish more unique characters had more frequent showings (Peter Pan, Captain Hook/Smee, for example). It's a shame we didn't get to see them all but there were 4,000 people on this boat so I get it.
• My perception before the trip was that characters are a-plenty, and easy to meet. Perhaps more so than at WDW but lines and timing of some characters was just not happening for us.
  
• If characters are important to you, I suggest planning it out a little and getting in lines very early for them so as not to miss a photo opportunity you may be really wanting.

Onboard Booking

• Couldn't have been easier! We were literally at the desk for three minutes. We understood the terms, gave our room number, and moved on. Nothing to sign or contemplate as a placeholder booking, and my email confirmation came promptly.

We had a great time being together, and I found ways to carve out my own relaxation among the large ship. Sunrise with coffee on the top deck (salted caramel coconut latte from Cove Cafe!), relaxing at Satellite Falls while my son was in the kids club, and spa time was really nice in balance with the activity level of the family pools, dining rooms, events, etc.

We didn't participate in any fish extender group or join in any group events via the other social media site group. I didn't feel left out of FE and wouldn't add that another time (too much to pack!). I understand why people like that, or enjoy making friends onboard as part of their experience. We were friendly with many other families but I didn't feel the need to formally participate in these things to have a good time.

Please ask if you'd like more details on anything. I truly appreciate all I learned to prepare here in advance and am happy to help others!

 

[Flossbolna]

Thanks! What a great summary!

 

[heather4Disney]

Great perspective on so many things, thanks for writing this. I was wondering about the Fish extenders and the characters -- having a bit older kids there isn't the same push to wait to meet each character. How do you wish you could have done Castaway Cay ?

 

[tigerchic89]

We were on the same sailing. For the characters, the handlers keep the line open for 15 minutes, so usually the characters sign for 30-45 minutes to clear through the line. We got pics with almost every character, and found that the lines were less for that character's 2nd or 3rd appearance.

 

[RafikiTiki21]

How do you wish you could have done Castaway Cay ?

I would get off the ship on time (which we did), find a spot quickly (we took the tram to the second stop and set up camp near the cabanas, next to the Sand Bar). From there, we wasted a lot of time in retrospect-- tried Pelican Plunge but left after a while, walked/swam to the other playset with the monkey bar ropes but my son didn't like that much so did the splash area then returned to the beach near our chairs. We swam and played until lunch-- we headed to Cookies Too right at 11:35 but should have been there sooner. Opens at 11:30 and there was quite a wait even just a few minutes after opening.

After lunch we walked to Stingray adventure (should have taken the tram) and were early, but not enough time to do anything else before it so we sat and waited about 15 min. That was an hour long event (which was great), then the walk back. One more hour in the water before the storm came and the day was through!

I would have studied the Castaway Cay map a little more to know whether to tram or walk, and just have a better idea of what we could do (water play-wise) to not waste so much time. We didn't get enough relaxation/sand play/water fun time but will try so next time. Good day overall, but I was surprised looking back that we had most of the day there but didn't really get to much.

 

[TestingH2O]

We had room 7520 (7A), partially obstructed verandah and would book it again. Great views, and the obstruction provided privacy, a little shade, and wind protection while on the balcony. Convenient forward location, and quiet. Starboard side was great for Tortola port and Castaway views.

Thanks! My parents are in this room for our March trip and my daughter and I are across the hall. The navigators verandah looks great.

How much did you use the stairs? We figured going up and down to clubs would be great. Up to the pools doesn't seem too bad either.

If characters are important to you, I suggest planning it out a little and getting in lines very early for them so as not to miss a photo opportunity you may be really wanting.

Our trips so far have been very character driven, but you're right, we've planned it out. I wonder how long that will stay super important to her.

Any favorite kid club activities?

 

[Neptune's Fork]

When did you first find out you weren't going to stop at St. Thomas?

 

[RafikiTiki21]

Thanks! My parents are in this room for our March trip and my daughter and I are across the hall. The navigators verandah looks great.

How much did you use the stairs? We figured going up and down to clubs would be great. Up to the pools doesn't seem too bad either.



Our trips so far have been very character driven, but you're right, we've planned it out. I wonder how long that will stay super important to her.

Any favorite kid club activities?

Stairs were very do-able, depends on the time of day and where you are headed (or what you're carrying!). Stairs are not very steep and have the landings to break it up so it's not a terrible workout. Elevators always came, but people would crowd into them a lot more than necessary.


My son was in the kids club for a few hours on sea days, usually just after lunch. He mostly enjoyed the group play (whatever the counselors were doing at the time) and "video games"- Star Wars Lego. We don't have a video game system at home so this was a novelty and very exciting! He liked the movies and crafts too. For us, we didn't go there for anything specific on the schedule but more as to the best time for us as a family. We enjoyed the mornings at the pool and breakfast/lunch together, then us adults liked that early afternoon at Satellite Falls while he was playing (and out of the afternoon sun and pool crowds). Some of the activities that looked neat were either on port days or into the evening, so not convenient for us but not a problem to miss. They had a luau and sloppy science while he was there, but he preferred to do other things at that time. You can send them in for something specific, but if they aren't interested there are plenty of other distractors! He also had lunch there one day (sandwiches and Cheez-Its) when we had Palo.

 

[RafikiTiki21]

When did you first find out you weren't going to stop at St. Thomas?

The day prior the Captain announced we would need to be back onboard by 3:30pm instead of the planned 4:00pm (I think that was original time) to start moving out earlier.

I woke up around 6:40am and we were approaching, near the harbor, and we could see the details on the island of St Thomas and the Marriott, etc. It was a grey day and the pilot boat came to us, seemed like we were just tooling around for a bit before we could dock.

Family was dressed and ready by 7:15am or so, about to head to breakfast, and the Captain announced that we would not be stopping. He explained that the day would be rainy (no big deal) but that in the afternoon high winds and seas would pick up due to the tropical depression to the south (that would eventually be Hurricane Matthew). He wanted to get ahead of this, so no St. Thomas stop today. At that time he said we would arrive at Castaway Cay earlier than planned so we could get off the ship earlier on Friday.

Lots of white caps, 10ft swells, and wind that day as we headed out. I didn't feel any more motion but it was visible in the open ocean.

 

[lillygator]

thanks for the summary!