modisneychick
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2011
- Messages
- 246
We are just back from a week on the Fantasy. This was our 9th Disney cruise (1 Wonder, 5 Magic, 2 Dream and 1 Fantasy). Overall we had a great time. We are at Disney's Vero Beach Resort now, but I wanted to share info for those cruising soon.
Pre-paid Tips On Day 5 we received a letter in our room with our completed tip tickets (the standard pre-charged) and envelopes. If you are planning to change your tips in any way, know that your stateroom host will see the amount you are leaving them on this day when they deliver the letter and actual tickets and envelopes. The tickets were stapled to the letter. Because we did some room shuffling, I had to go to Guest Services to change amounts. I was asked if all the service so far had been excellent. Just so you know.
Weather this was the worst weather of any cruise I have done (and 5 of our cruises were done during active hurricanes!). We had some sunshine on our sea days and a little on Costa Maya (between showers). Not a great cruise for lots of fabulous sunshine. It was mostly overcast. There were plenty of inside activities however, so no lack of things to do!
The unusual On our 1st sea day we stopped to pick up some people stranded at sea on a raft. Rumor was they were from Cuba and had been out at sea for 3 days. There were a lot of cheers as they were rescued. They were dropped off in Grand Cayman. On Day 5, we lost power for about 15 minutes in the late afternoon. No reason was given, but they were obviously working on the ship that day; there was a lot of banging going on at Port. On Day 6, we again stopped after viewing a raft, but there was no one on the raft or located in the surrounding water. They stated the raft had been reported to the Coast Guard.
The Food Palo was very good. We had great service from Michael. The dining room food was mostly good. Probably having Palo later in the cruise would be good (then you wouldnt have that to compare to the regular dining). The best dinner I had in the dining room was the Captains Gala dinner on semi-formal night. Cabanas food was good with several choices.
The rooms we had two, one an 8 (forward-7012) with porthole and one a 6 (aft-7682) with verandah. I used my verandah a lot this trip since there was no sunshine on the upper decks. The porthole room seemed large as it had a Murphy bed and the regular verandah area was inside the room. This room also has a rainfall shower head and slightly different configuration, not really a bathtub. Overall the location forward is great if you are an adult and want quick access to the adult areas. The aft location was convenient to Cabanas. However, the room we had was very far aft and was loud with engine noise and constant vibration (sometimes much worse than others). We can sleep almost anywhere, so it was no issue to us, but others would perhaps have a problem with the vibration. We had an aft room on the Dream (10142) and while we felt and heard noise arriving and leaving ports, we never had these vibrations.
Service - Our stateroom hostess was not so great. She kept her cart parked at our door and was always in our face when we were coming in or leaving our room, which we didnt like. She was trying to be friendly. She would open our door just before we got to the room and would help bring in FE gifts. I know it was her way of providing great service, but it was just a little too helpful for me.
The people from room service were great. Very fast and efficient!
We requested our dining wait and he was very friendly and efficient. His assistant is new and it showed. I am sure he will improve with time. Around the ship everyone was friendly and very helpful.
Activities we didnt participate in many onboard activities, so I have no idea how those were overall. The ones we did attend were great. We did have issues the first couple of days in that so many things we wanted to do overlapped. We missed two big things, DVC member celebration (ran over the allotted time and so I missed the giveaways and drawings) and Castaway Club reception due to brunch. If these particular events are important to you, be sure to schedule brunch later in the week.
Teen Clubs Vibe has a smaller group this cruise it seems. They were off track from the schedule a couple of days, which really frustrated my son, but seemed to get back on track by Day 4. He went to the club on a regular basis, but didnt spend as much time in there as my dd did in the past (he is 14).
Club 18*21 was much more active on this cruise. They met the first night and had a group of about 20. There were actual activities on the Navigator for them each day. They also met every evening and Mattie (the CM) was sure to stop and chat with our girls (both 18) every time he saw them. So for those who have commented, I would say you ARE being heard! It seems about ½ the group is showing up for the activities outside of the evening stuff. My dd thought this was her best cruise ever and she ALWAYS loves the cruises.
AquaDuck If you want photos, they are only taken on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It is not as daunting as it seems everyone should try it once!
Ports From my personal opinion:
Grand Cayman go on an excursion, to the beach or stay on the ship. There was free wi-fi advertised in a couple of restaurants.
Costa Maya Prices for most things will be cheaper in Cozumel. The dolphin excursion here was one of the cheaper ones, but yet very good. Plus observers can watch here for free! I will post some pics in another thread. We have taken the taxi to the local beach in the past and have enjoyed that (both on hurricane cruises when this wasnt a planned port).
Cozumel some cheap shopping if you need little souvenirs. I hate the constant approaches and haggling though, so again here go an excursion if you dont want to shop or haggle.
Castaway Cay - the island was beautiful as always, though we didnt have a single bit of sun all day. We saw a small stingray at Serenity Bay before the winds ran us off. I also saw the cat (some call him Casey) on our way off the island.
The Fantasy vs. the Dream I love the changes they have made. They have definitely improved the adult area with the addition of Satellite Falls. The AquaLab looked like so much fun, but the few times I was that way, there was no one playing in there. The more centrally located drink stations make sense and seemed to work well. They have converted part of the art gallery (where the auctions were on the Dream) to be viewing stations for Shutters, that does seem to help traffic congestion in that area. The adult district seems more inviting overall. We were also told that some crew areas were also improved from the Dream to the Fantasy and those who had been on both seemed to really like the changes.
It was a fabulous cruise and we cant wait to go back! Feel free to ask any questions. I will post some pics in this thread later too.
Pre-paid Tips On Day 5 we received a letter in our room with our completed tip tickets (the standard pre-charged) and envelopes. If you are planning to change your tips in any way, know that your stateroom host will see the amount you are leaving them on this day when they deliver the letter and actual tickets and envelopes. The tickets were stapled to the letter. Because we did some room shuffling, I had to go to Guest Services to change amounts. I was asked if all the service so far had been excellent. Just so you know.
Weather this was the worst weather of any cruise I have done (and 5 of our cruises were done during active hurricanes!). We had some sunshine on our sea days and a little on Costa Maya (between showers). Not a great cruise for lots of fabulous sunshine. It was mostly overcast. There were plenty of inside activities however, so no lack of things to do!
The unusual On our 1st sea day we stopped to pick up some people stranded at sea on a raft. Rumor was they were from Cuba and had been out at sea for 3 days. There were a lot of cheers as they were rescued. They were dropped off in Grand Cayman. On Day 5, we lost power for about 15 minutes in the late afternoon. No reason was given, but they were obviously working on the ship that day; there was a lot of banging going on at Port. On Day 6, we again stopped after viewing a raft, but there was no one on the raft or located in the surrounding water. They stated the raft had been reported to the Coast Guard.
The Food Palo was very good. We had great service from Michael. The dining room food was mostly good. Probably having Palo later in the cruise would be good (then you wouldnt have that to compare to the regular dining). The best dinner I had in the dining room was the Captains Gala dinner on semi-formal night. Cabanas food was good with several choices.
The rooms we had two, one an 8 (forward-7012) with porthole and one a 6 (aft-7682) with verandah. I used my verandah a lot this trip since there was no sunshine on the upper decks. The porthole room seemed large as it had a Murphy bed and the regular verandah area was inside the room. This room also has a rainfall shower head and slightly different configuration, not really a bathtub. Overall the location forward is great if you are an adult and want quick access to the adult areas. The aft location was convenient to Cabanas. However, the room we had was very far aft and was loud with engine noise and constant vibration (sometimes much worse than others). We can sleep almost anywhere, so it was no issue to us, but others would perhaps have a problem with the vibration. We had an aft room on the Dream (10142) and while we felt and heard noise arriving and leaving ports, we never had these vibrations.
Service - Our stateroom hostess was not so great. She kept her cart parked at our door and was always in our face when we were coming in or leaving our room, which we didnt like. She was trying to be friendly. She would open our door just before we got to the room and would help bring in FE gifts. I know it was her way of providing great service, but it was just a little too helpful for me.
The people from room service were great. Very fast and efficient!
We requested our dining wait and he was very friendly and efficient. His assistant is new and it showed. I am sure he will improve with time. Around the ship everyone was friendly and very helpful.
Activities we didnt participate in many onboard activities, so I have no idea how those were overall. The ones we did attend were great. We did have issues the first couple of days in that so many things we wanted to do overlapped. We missed two big things, DVC member celebration (ran over the allotted time and so I missed the giveaways and drawings) and Castaway Club reception due to brunch. If these particular events are important to you, be sure to schedule brunch later in the week.
Teen Clubs Vibe has a smaller group this cruise it seems. They were off track from the schedule a couple of days, which really frustrated my son, but seemed to get back on track by Day 4. He went to the club on a regular basis, but didnt spend as much time in there as my dd did in the past (he is 14).
Club 18*21 was much more active on this cruise. They met the first night and had a group of about 20. There were actual activities on the Navigator for them each day. They also met every evening and Mattie (the CM) was sure to stop and chat with our girls (both 18) every time he saw them. So for those who have commented, I would say you ARE being heard! It seems about ½ the group is showing up for the activities outside of the evening stuff. My dd thought this was her best cruise ever and she ALWAYS loves the cruises.
AquaDuck If you want photos, they are only taken on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It is not as daunting as it seems everyone should try it once!
Ports From my personal opinion:
Grand Cayman go on an excursion, to the beach or stay on the ship. There was free wi-fi advertised in a couple of restaurants.
Costa Maya Prices for most things will be cheaper in Cozumel. The dolphin excursion here was one of the cheaper ones, but yet very good. Plus observers can watch here for free! I will post some pics in another thread. We have taken the taxi to the local beach in the past and have enjoyed that (both on hurricane cruises when this wasnt a planned port).
Cozumel some cheap shopping if you need little souvenirs. I hate the constant approaches and haggling though, so again here go an excursion if you dont want to shop or haggle.
Castaway Cay - the island was beautiful as always, though we didnt have a single bit of sun all day. We saw a small stingray at Serenity Bay before the winds ran us off. I also saw the cat (some call him Casey) on our way off the island.
The Fantasy vs. the Dream I love the changes they have made. They have definitely improved the adult area with the addition of Satellite Falls. The AquaLab looked like so much fun, but the few times I was that way, there was no one playing in there. The more centrally located drink stations make sense and seemed to work well. They have converted part of the art gallery (where the auctions were on the Dream) to be viewing stations for Shutters, that does seem to help traffic congestion in that area. The adult district seems more inviting overall. We were also told that some crew areas were also improved from the Dream to the Fantasy and those who had been on both seemed to really like the changes.
It was a fabulous cruise and we cant wait to go back! Feel free to ask any questions. I will post some pics in this thread later too.
We'll be on the Western this summer - tonight is my 75 day mark and I was wondering which day would be better for Palo brunch. You've convinced me to try for our second sea day. And last night we were wondering how the shopping would be in Cozumel. Perfect post at the perfect time for me! 
