Cruised with wife, two sons (2&4) and inlaws.
First time being on the Fantasy. We've been on the Dream 3 times before and Magic twice for me and my wife. Kids and inlaws have done the Dream.
Dining:
I thought the food was subpar when compared to our other cruises. Nothing was oustanding. Nothing was bad either, but nothing stood out. Disney just seems to be going with the flow.
We did both Palo brunch and dinner. I don't know when this changed, but the buffet at brunch is no longer self serve? You point out what you want at the buffet and someone puts it on your plate. I, and the rest of my group, did not enjoy this at all. It was more awkward than anything.
Palo dinner was also not as enjoyable as I remembered. Nothing wrong with the actual food, the osso bucco was probably the most enjoyable dish on the whole cruise. The server seemed mad that we wanted to try a second entre. I remember our first time at Palo on Magic when the server was upset that we didn't want to try MORE than we ordered. He was also taken a back when my wife and I wanted share the "all mighty" soufle and not each have our own. He made it feel like that was the only dessert we were aloud to have.
The MDR dinners were fine. Again nothing with wow. I could do without the Crush show at AP. I guess seeing it for the 4th time was enough for me. We had AP on our last night and did not enjoy the slim pickings for appetizer and soup. "Yes I want it, or no I don't." No other choice.
The Captains Gala menu, which was describe by our server as the best on the cruise, was the worst to my wife and I. We don't like lobster, so that was out. There wasn't a signature steak, the selection, for us, was just bad.
Our assistant server never once had our "normal" drinks waiting for us at the table. She did have chocolate milk waiting for the kids, but nothing for the adults. Our server was just back from vacation. He seemed to have no rust and was very attentive.
Ports:
Did Playa Mia in Cozumel. Very enjoyable for the price. All you can eat and drink. The food was good enough for me (to mix with the all you can drink) The bartender "required" a tequila shot whenever I went to the bar...
The kids really enjoyed the pool and splash park. The beach very rough with broken rocks/shells. Couldn't build sand castles or walk comfortably on.
We stayed on board the ship during Grand Cayman. What a difference in the crowds onboard. We had walk ons for the AquaDuck and the pool basically to ourselves.
Jamaica. My wife and MIL did the horseback riding. They enjoyed it. My FIL did White Witch golf. I stayed on with the kids until the wife got back. We walked around the port. Beautiful port area. It got insanely windy towards the afternoon.
Castaway. No issues on Castaway. We snorkeled their for the first time. Man, it is tiring getting all the way out the the Mickey statue...
Entertainment:
We saw all the theater shows except 'Believe'. We've seen it 3 times before and didn't want to see it again.
'Wishes' was alright. Too sappy, even for Disney standards. The musical numbers were great though.
We made it to a few caberet shows. The comedian "magicain", I can't recall is name, was a bomb. Very old school comedy. He didn't not really click with the crowd.
This was our 4th time on a Dream class and we've never seen the Mickey pirate show. I don't know if it's the timing or what. The Capt Jack show and fireworks are something I will skip next time. Another seen it, done it type of deal for us.
We did the Italian cocktail tasting, which was nice. Selami, the bartender was entertaining and knowlegable. Also did the tequila tasting. Wasn't anything to write home about. I did the whiskey tasting. I'm new to whiskey but sat with two whiskey "snobs" which didn't make it any fun.
Halloween:
The Halloween decorations are nice. Not too overbearing. The Halloween "party" with the trick or treating, was an overcrowded nightmare. They didn't do much. Just a bunch of dancing, handing out candy, and it was done. We didn't really go out of our way to participate in anything Halloween based. I love Halloween, but I didn't "feel it". Maybe it was being at sea, or it was too early in the month for me? We normally cruise in October, and are doing the Magic next October. I'm kind of dreading having to see the new Magic decked out in Halloween decor. I want to see it "normal". I would like to see the Halloween decor maybe shortened to maybe only the week before and of Halloween. It's kind of disapointing that you can't avoid it during these sailing times.
Odds and ends:
The ship had computer problems before leaving port. We waited on line for Anna/Elasa tickets for about an hour because of the issues they were having. No crew seemed to know what to do without the computer. They finally started writing down our info with pen and paper.
We didn't sail way until 5:30 or so. I don't know if that had to do with the computer issue or not. The sailway show was cut short. No numbers with the different characters. They welcomed them all out, and did the ships horn, and then we didn't sail way for another hour...
Even though I seem to be negative, we still had a great time. We have a Magic cruise booked for next Oct. We've cruised 4 times in the last five years, which for us is a lot. Maybe we just need to away from it longer to enjoy it better, maybe we're now jaded or maybe Disney is just dropping their standards.
First time being on the Fantasy. We've been on the Dream 3 times before and Magic twice for me and my wife. Kids and inlaws have done the Dream.
Dining:
I thought the food was subpar when compared to our other cruises. Nothing was oustanding. Nothing was bad either, but nothing stood out. Disney just seems to be going with the flow.
We did both Palo brunch and dinner. I don't know when this changed, but the buffet at brunch is no longer self serve? You point out what you want at the buffet and someone puts it on your plate. I, and the rest of my group, did not enjoy this at all. It was more awkward than anything.
Palo dinner was also not as enjoyable as I remembered. Nothing wrong with the actual food, the osso bucco was probably the most enjoyable dish on the whole cruise. The server seemed mad that we wanted to try a second entre. I remember our first time at Palo on Magic when the server was upset that we didn't want to try MORE than we ordered. He was also taken a back when my wife and I wanted share the "all mighty" soufle and not each have our own. He made it feel like that was the only dessert we were aloud to have.
The MDR dinners were fine. Again nothing with wow. I could do without the Crush show at AP. I guess seeing it for the 4th time was enough for me. We had AP on our last night and did not enjoy the slim pickings for appetizer and soup. "Yes I want it, or no I don't." No other choice.
The Captains Gala menu, which was describe by our server as the best on the cruise, was the worst to my wife and I. We don't like lobster, so that was out. There wasn't a signature steak, the selection, for us, was just bad.
Our assistant server never once had our "normal" drinks waiting for us at the table. She did have chocolate milk waiting for the kids, but nothing for the adults. Our server was just back from vacation. He seemed to have no rust and was very attentive.
Ports:
Did Playa Mia in Cozumel. Very enjoyable for the price. All you can eat and drink. The food was good enough for me (to mix with the all you can drink) The bartender "required" a tequila shot whenever I went to the bar...
The kids really enjoyed the pool and splash park. The beach very rough with broken rocks/shells. Couldn't build sand castles or walk comfortably on.
We stayed on board the ship during Grand Cayman. What a difference in the crowds onboard. We had walk ons for the AquaDuck and the pool basically to ourselves.
Jamaica. My wife and MIL did the horseback riding. They enjoyed it. My FIL did White Witch golf. I stayed on with the kids until the wife got back. We walked around the port. Beautiful port area. It got insanely windy towards the afternoon.
Castaway. No issues on Castaway. We snorkeled their for the first time. Man, it is tiring getting all the way out the the Mickey statue...
Entertainment:
We saw all the theater shows except 'Believe'. We've seen it 3 times before and didn't want to see it again.
'Wishes' was alright. Too sappy, even for Disney standards. The musical numbers were great though.
We made it to a few caberet shows. The comedian "magicain", I can't recall is name, was a bomb. Very old school comedy. He didn't not really click with the crowd.
This was our 4th time on a Dream class and we've never seen the Mickey pirate show. I don't know if it's the timing or what. The Capt Jack show and fireworks are something I will skip next time. Another seen it, done it type of deal for us.
We did the Italian cocktail tasting, which was nice. Selami, the bartender was entertaining and knowlegable. Also did the tequila tasting. Wasn't anything to write home about. I did the whiskey tasting. I'm new to whiskey but sat with two whiskey "snobs" which didn't make it any fun.
Halloween:
The Halloween decorations are nice. Not too overbearing. The Halloween "party" with the trick or treating, was an overcrowded nightmare. They didn't do much. Just a bunch of dancing, handing out candy, and it was done. We didn't really go out of our way to participate in anything Halloween based. I love Halloween, but I didn't "feel it". Maybe it was being at sea, or it was too early in the month for me? We normally cruise in October, and are doing the Magic next October. I'm kind of dreading having to see the new Magic decked out in Halloween decor. I want to see it "normal". I would like to see the Halloween decor maybe shortened to maybe only the week before and of Halloween. It's kind of disapointing that you can't avoid it during these sailing times.
Odds and ends:
The ship had computer problems before leaving port. We waited on line for Anna/Elasa tickets for about an hour because of the issues they were having. No crew seemed to know what to do without the computer. They finally started writing down our info with pen and paper.
We didn't sail way until 5:30 or so. I don't know if that had to do with the computer issue or not. The sailway show was cut short. No numbers with the different characters. They welcomed them all out, and did the ships horn, and then we didn't sail way for another hour...
Even though I seem to be negative, we still had a great time. We have a Magic cruise booked for next Oct. We've cruised 4 times in the last five years, which for us is a lot. Maybe we just need to away from it longer to enjoy it better, maybe we're now jaded or maybe Disney is just dropping their standards.
