Get Off The Ship - we are running out of towel animals! Update 10/25 Day 31

[jenseib]

Well, I'm sorry you had to say good-bye to Jeff and his crew, but nice you had your favorite breakfast.

You are finally on the ship! I'm excited to see the Fantasy through your eyes - DS is wanting to plan a cruise together and I would love to try Fantasy!

Hi Jane!!!! Jen here!

 

[JKSWonder]

Hi Jane!!!! Jen here!

Hi there Jen! You I think I would have no problem going up to....I know I would recognize you on sight!

 

[dizneeat]

Me too!

Your first day is looking good so far.

You have my curiosity piqued though....were some of the people on your disboard meet not nice? We've been lucky so far with everyone being perfectly lovely on our cruise threads, but I have seen other threads where that's not always the case.

We were lucky, no hickups getting onto the ship.

Since you asked ....
Our meet thread was really fun until they decided they needed at FB page. Nothing was communicated to the DISboards and it really hit a new low when they decided to take the FE over to FB.
Some people on the FB page kept us in the know by PM, but what they told us was NOT nice at all.
I was so NOT looking forward to meet some of those who ran the FB page. So, so not to start the trip on a bitter note, we decided to just skip the meet and hoped not to run into any of the members we did not want to meet.

I hate when real life interferes!

I've had to avoid a Dis meet before due to drama...its sad since I really enjoy getting to know new people via our meet list

Your report is getting me ready for my cruise on Sunday!

Jill in CO

All the DISmeets we have been to have been a lot of fun and we met some of our best friends there. Jeff and Michelle and their families for instance. But this group was different.
It was funny as the group for the second leg of the cruise was a really wonderful one and we made a lot of friends.

Have an awesome cruise, Jill! I will be watching you sail out.

Your lunch looked delish !!That asparagus looked heavenly !!!I know it was on the Dream from Cabanas !!! Be heading to bed soon have to up VERY early I have a plane to catch to DISNEY!!!!!

We usually have lunch at Enchanted Garden! Mostly the same food as in Cabanas but they will assign you a table.
Can't wait for you to get back from Disney, Rosie, and read all about your adventures.

Yay...you on the ship, ready to have some lunch, see your stateroom, etc.

I'm sorry you didn't go to the DIS meet due to others being there.

Lovely gifts that were in your Stateroom.

Getting onto the ship is always so exciting.
And not going to the meet was the best decision. I guess I would have let them know I had been feeling all along.
The Castaway Club gift is neat and now that we are platinum there are even more of them.

 

[JKSWonder]

We were lucky, no hickups getting onto the ship. Since you asked .... Our meet thread was really fun until they decided they needed at FB page. Nothing was communicated to the DISboards and it really hit a new low when they decided to take the FE over to FB. Some people on the FB page kept us in the know by PM, but what they told us was NOT nice at all. I was so NOT looking forward to meet some of those who ran the FB page. So, so not to start the trip on a bitter note, we decided to just skip the meet and hoped not to run into any of the members we did not want to meet. All the DISmeets we have been to have been a lot of fun and we met some of our best friends there. Jeff and Michelle and their families for instance. But this group was different. It was funny as the group for the second leg of the cruise was a really wonderful one and we made a lot of friends. Have an awesome cruise, Jill! I will be watching you sail out. We usually have lunch at Enchanted Garden! Mostly the same food as in Cabanas but they will assign you a table. Can't wait for you to get back from Disney, Rosie, and read all about your adventures. Getting onto the ship is always so exciting. And not going to the meet was the best decision. I guess I would have let them know I had been feeling all along. The Castaway Club gift is neat and now that we are platinum there are even more of them.

I'm actually worried that might happen on my cruise. There is a disboard thread, but the FE is on a Facebook page. I'm worried that not everyone has Facebook and this could cause some problems. I'm not in charge of either, however. So far everyone seems very nice, so I hope my fears end up being unfounded. I do think the Facebook page has reduced the traffic on our Disboard thread, since it seems like people are opting to post there instead of here. I have Facebook, so this isn't a problem for me, but like I said, I'm worried for those that don't and want to participate.

 

[dizneeat]

You are sailing!!!wooohooo!
The ship looks great so far. I alughed when you said there were people in your meet you didn't want to meet. I felt that way on our Magic cruise. I was debating on doing the beauty and the beast cocktail party because I found some people irritating, but others were so nice. We did go and had a good time, but we mostly stuck to our own group of friends.

We were impressed when we got on the ship. But then I always are in awe when we enter one of the DCL ships.

We had a really nice meet thread going on in the beginning. Then some first time cruisers joined, asked a gazillion questions and then finally decided they needed a FB page. They all swore they would communicate back and forth. I didn't join their FB page and let them know that as long as the FE, which I ran stayed on the DISboards it was fine. About 3 weeks after they had started their FB page and with that had killed most of the chatter on here I got several mails letting me know that one of the new cruisers was now "running" the FE. It led to a very split group and in the end I just didn't even respond to their questions on the DIS. I had had it. Thank god, it was the only thread that ran like that.

I am such an idiot! Something about the green color, I think, just caused me not to even notice the dates!!!! I am laughing so hard!!!!

Your first-day lunch looked great, and I'm so excited for you to be sailing away on your two-week adventure!

Sorry to hear you had to miss the DIS meet. I don't know what happened, but I know how much you enjoy meeting folks, so I know it must have been disappointing.

We love to have lunch at Enchanted Garden on sailaway day. More laid back than Cabanas for us.
If I had known that just a few of the cruisers would not be there I would have loved to go to the meet, but I would have had to bite my tongue hard, knowing who I would have to face. So, much easier to NOT meet them. And we did have a lot of fun on the cruise anyway.

Well, I'm sorry you had to say good-bye to Jeff and his crew, but nice you had your favorite breakfast.

You are finally on the ship! I'm excited to see the Fantasy through your eyes - DS is wanting to plan a cruise together and I would love to try Fantasy!

It was pretty hard saying goodbye to Jeff and his family. It had been two years since we had last seen them and I would just wish there was a way to get to see them more often. It's hard if your friends live on another continent.
Tammie, tell your DS that any of the Disney ships are wonderful, but the longer itineraries on the Fantasy were just awesome. So relaxed, so much time to explore and wind down. We loved it.

I always feel so freaking awkward going to the dismeet to tell you the truth. Even when some of the people seem really nice. I always find it strange to have to introduce myself by my screen name before/at the same time I say my real name.

It's Jane, by the way people. Just so you know in case we meet!

Hi Jane! VERY nice to get to know your first name.

Most cruises we get to know a few groups a bit more, so it is not all that akward, but for us it is even more "different" as there is the language barrier too.
But it is even more strange when someone comes up to you and asks you if you are Karin from the DISboards.

 

[dizneeat]

WOW Karin I had a lot of catching up to do but I finally got all caught up!!!
I have to say the fireworks cruise was with out a doubt the best time our family had in a very long time. Thank you for making such happy memories with our family!!!!
The saddest part of your trip report so far was that we did not get to see each other again
Jeff and his family living so close to where I grew up prove that it is a small world after all!!!
I really need to try the breakfast at WPE that looks so YUMMY!!!

No problem falling behind, Michelle, you have A LOT of other things to think about.
We just loved having you on the fireworks cruise, we have always had so much fun together, I consider you part of my family.

I know, not getting together lateron was a bit sad for us too, BUT, there is always next time. And we will return for longer time period in 2015! So we definitely have to make plans for that.
You haven't tried WPE for breakfast yet? You should, it is so yummy - but go there VERY hungry or share, the portions are HUGE.

I'm actually worried that might happen on my cruise. There is a disboard thread, but the FE is on a Facebook page. I'm worried that not everyone has Facebook and this could cause some problems. I'm not in charge of either, however. So far everyone seems very nice, so I hope my fears end up being unfounded. I do think the Facebook page has reduced the traffic on our Disboard thread, since it seems like people are opting to post there instead of here. I have Facebook, so this isn't a problem for me, but like I said, I'm worried for those that don't and want to participate.

It's only a problem if it isn't communicated enough. We had FB groups during other cruises as well and they always came back to the DIS to chat and let us know what was going on on FB.
I think as long as communication is good and no one wants to take over from someone else (without telling the person ) then you should be okay. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

You need to let me know about Jamaica on your Fantasy cruise - we went to Costa Maya and thankfully it was a short visit - we were not impressed.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 4, August 10

A sad Goodbye and off we go …….. - Part 3

We didn’t hear these whistles all that much. Once we had made it out to the open seas we returned to our stateroom again and stood out on the balcony for a while, while watching the pilot ship get close to pick up the pilot.
We had a drink, sitting on the veranda and watching the ship pull further and further away from the beach and then headed inside to turn on the TV.















But we didn’t have much time to enjoy our lovely balcony as all too soon we had to get changed to get ready for tonight’s show. We found nice front row seats and about 15 minutes later Clayton, the cruise director opened “A Fantasy come true”.
It was a nice show, but got a bit long and boring, with all of Clayton’s comments. Once the show was over we strolled through the shops, had a look at all the Chamilia charms that were still “missing” from my bracelet and finally walked back to our stateroom to get ready for dinner.
When we got to the door



we were surprised at how full our Fish Extender already was. We emptied it out and opened the door to be greeted by a towel animal dog, wearing my sunglasses.



We “inspected” the gifts we had gotten





and then, after freshening up and searching for our dining “tickets” we headed to the Enchanted Garden for dinner.

To be continued ............

 

[dizneeat]

Day 4, August 10

A sad Goodbye and off we go …….. - Part 4

We “inspected” the gifts we had gotten and then, after freshening up and searching for our dining “tickets” we headed to the Enchanted Garden for dinner.
Knowing that there usually is a line we took our sweet time and arrived in perfect time to check in and be taken to our table immediately. We had just sat down when our assistant server came by to introduce himself and take our order for our drinks. He returned a minute later with the bread service of the day,



the Multi-Grain Loaf and Country Currant Bread served with a



Chickpea-garlic puree. In the meantime our server came by, introduced himself, explained the menu, gave recommendations and left us a few more minutes to decide. Our assistant server brought our drinks, Diet Coke for both of us and Tom had ordered a



Corona, while I had ordered the



Golden Leafs, Rum, Pomegranate, Peach Schnapps, Cranberry juice and Soda water. And after ordering our dinner we were left to enjoy our drinks and watch the hustle and bustle in the dining room.
Soon our appetizers arrived. Tom had ordered the



North Atlantic Lobster Ravioli with roasted garlic and sweet basil in a light tomato broth and I was served the



Thyme and Garlic Brioche, filled with lobster, morels and porcini mushrooms and Leek Stew in a light buttermilk cream. Both were really nice, but we had had them before and knew what to expect. We were on a cruise, so we ordered soup and salad as well. Tom had the



Romaine Wedge, fresh crisp romaine topped with creamy Romano dressing and homemade spiced croutons and I got another old favourite, the



Cream of Green Asparagus Soup with crabmeat and asparagus tips. Then our main courses arrived.
Tom had ordered the



Caramelized Sea Scallops, with roasted asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, and pearl pasta, garnished with caramelized leeks and veal jus reduction, while I again got another one of my Enchanted Garden favourites, the



Pan-seared Sea Bass, with Fava Beans and pea risotto with a sweet chili glaze. We loved our choices and were stuffed, but were told by the servers that we needed to start off our cruise right, with a dessert. So I ordered the



Banana Foster Sundae, rum glazed bananas, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and caramel sauce, while Tom surprised me with his choice, the



Steamed Lemon Buttermilk Pudding with citrus reduction. And to top it all off, the servers brought out a plate of 8 small sweets.



Four fruity jelly cubes, which had been dipped in caster sugar and 4 pieces of chocolate fudge, all covered in cocoa powder. We both tried one of each, but were too full to have any more.
So, when we had finally finished our dinner we said goodbye to our servers and wobbled back to our stateroom. Initially we had thought of handing out the first lot of our Fish Extender gifts, but we were too full and too tired, so we retreated to our stateroom after inspecting the new gifts we had found in our fish extender.
We stood out on the veranda for a while before deciding that we would call it a day and get a good night’s sleep.

To be continued ............

 

[MEK]

All caught up again! Wow - I got pretty far behind.

So - love that you got to spend so much time with your friends pre cruise. I bet it was hard to say good bye. The kids look like they were having a wonderful time! Love all the ears they tried on.

That godiva flight looked really interesting.

And the breakfast pizza - you know I'm a fan!

Sounds like an uneventful ride to the port and the start of your cruise went off without a hitch. Your cabin is so cute and you did a great job with your door! Very nice!

Looking forward to more!

 

[jenseib]

Diiner looks good. We are heading out of town today to a town call Frankenmuth. We go every year. It's sort of a German town, though I am sure it does not represent the real Germany at all. But they have a great all you can eat chicken dinner, so I will return a few pounds heavier and is a family tradition each year.
I am glad you are getting your FE gifts this year and not having a little set of theives taking them!

 

[Teri1]

Karin our DIS meet thread ended up on FB too, so there was not much going on in the thread, so once we got on the ship we were so busy we decided to forgo the meet time. I loved the fudge dusted with cocoa at dinner! Hey, I didn't get to tell you that we ran into Slaven our assistant server from our Wonder Cruise in 2010. He told us that Alex the Server was back in Russia working.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Your updates make me want this next year to whiz by so we can experience all the grandeur of the ship!!! Love the detail that you write about....I am grinning from ear to ear and can't wait to read more!!! The food looks AMAZING!

 

[eandesmom]

Your last morning at DTD looks like so much fun!

Very sad about the DISmeet and thread going a bit south. There is a thread for the cruise we are currently booked on. It's a little less than a year away and some folks on it were very upset that a FB page got started. We aren't even really at the FE level yet so I'm not sure what the big deal is, as long as everyone keeps each other looped in as there are many folks who aren't on FB.

Luckily our 2 cruises had both FB and a DISthread and all played nicely together but ugh, that is frustrating!

Lovely first evening.

 

[PizzieDuster]

I'm enjoying your trip report very much. I'm so excited there will 2 weeks so it will take a long time!

 

[Linda67]

What a great first day aboard the Fantasy you are having Karin
I didn't know that Galley Tours were offered on the Fantasy so I look forward to seeing your review and hope it's still offered when we cruise next May
Shame about the DIS meet but it sounds like you still had fun with the FE

 

[YukiPhnx]

Sounds like a fantastic start to your cruise! How many of those Castaway Club bags do you have? Haha, seems like a lot. Do you have a place at home where you put all your lanyards?

When I was in WDW in Feb, I finally tried your favourite breakfast at Wolfgang's! And it sure did not disappoint. Yumm-o!

Love your TR, can't wait for more!

 

[dizneeat]

All caught up again! Wow - I got pretty far behind.

So - love that you got to spend so much time with your friends pre cruise. I bet it was hard to say good bye. The kids look like they were having a wonderful time! Love all the ears they tried on.

That godiva flight looked really interesting.

And the breakfast pizza - you know I'm a fan!

Sounds like an uneventful ride to the port and the start of your cruise went off without a hitch. Your cabin is so cute and you did a great job with your door! Very nice!

Looking forward to more!

With your workload lately it is no wonder you fell behind. Good thing I don't get around to posting much during the week.

We all had so much fun and it was really hard to say goodbye.

Thankfully the ride to the port WAS uneventful and we got onto the ship in a very short period of time.
Thank you for your comment on the door. I have to give credit to Tom, who does all the designs and we got quite a few comments while on board.

Diiner looks good. We are heading out of town today to a town call Frankenmuth. We go every year. It's sort of a German town, though I am sure it does not represent the real Germany at all. But they have a great all you can eat chicken dinner, so I will return a few pounds heavier and is a family tradition each year.
I am glad you are getting your FE gifts this year and not having a little set of theives taking them!

We really enjoyed dinner at the Enchanted Garden.

Jen, I looked at the pics of the German town on FB and it does look Bavarian.
Hope you got your money's worth at the chicken dinner.

Yes, we got a lot of FE gifts this summer. But there also were a few items stolen off our door. Thankfully we had brought seconds .... and thirds.

Karin our DIS meet thread ended up on FB too, so there was not much going on in the thread, so once we got on the ship we were so busy we decided to forgo the meet time. I loved the fudge dusted with cocoa at dinner! Hey, I didn't get to tell you that we ran into Slaven our assistant server from our Wonder Cruise in 2010. He told us that Alex the Server was back in Russia working.

Most threads nowadays end up on FB and I am not against it, but there are still some people who do not do FB and as long as they communicate to both sites it's okay.
In our case it just killed the DISboards thread.
How fun that you should run into Slaven! So Alex is back in Russia? We talk about him often and remember how nervous we made him when we chatted so much instead of eating.

Btw, did you get a chance to meet Ophelie and give her the "present"?

Your updates make me want this next year to whiz by so we can experience all the grandeur of the ship!!! Love the detail that you write about....I am grinning from ear to ear and can't wait to read more!!! The food looks AMAZING!

As long as the days crawl while we are at Disney in January (Paris) and February (WDW) I don't mind the year to whizz by.

The Fantasy is another amazing Disney ship. We love them all. They look so familiar and then so different. And they are all so beautiful.
The food is pretty good on all the ships and there is A LOT of it!!!

 

[dizneeat]

Your last morning at DTD looks like so much fun!

Very sad about the DISmeet and thread going a bit south. There is a thread for the cruise we are currently booked on. It's a little less than a year away and some folks on it were very upset that a FB page got started. We aren't even really at the FE level yet soI I'm not sure what the big deal is, as long as everyone keeps each other looped in as there are many folks who aren't on FB.

Luckily our 2 cruises had both FB and a DISthread and all played nicely together but ugh, that is frustrating!

Lovely first evening.

We all had a blast at DTD that day. And for us it was so fun to see the kids get so excited while running through the water play area.

Thankfully this was the only DISmeet thread that ended up that way. I don't think it's the fact that there is another "venue" but the communication back and forth and leave things at where they were started or have the same person run both.

Once we got on board and had skipped the meet we started to relax and wind down and it was such an awesome time we had on the ship.

I'm enjoying your trip report very much. I'm so excited there will 2 weeks so it will take a long time!

I am glad you are enjoying the trip report.
We had two wonderful weeks on board and there is lots more fun to come.

What a great first day aboard the Fantasy you are having Karin
I didn't know that Galley Tours were offered on the Fantasy so I look forward to seeing your review and hope it's still offered when we cruise next May
Shame about the DIS meet but it sounds like you still had fun with the FE

It was a really nice first day.
If you haven't done the Galley Tour you definitely should, Linda. Best to sign up for it right when you get onto the ship - they sell out fast and I think they only had two times when it was offered.

As long as I did not have to face some of the people from the DISmeet thread we were perfectly fine.

Sounds like a fantastic start to your cruise! How many of those Castaway Club bags do you have? Haha, seems like a lot. Do you have a place at home where you put all your lanyards?

When I was in WDW in Feb, I finally tried your favourite breakfast at Wolfgang's! And it sure did not disappoint. Yumm-o!

Love your TR, can't wait for more!

We had a really nice start to the cruise part of our vacation!

To be honest, I think we still have 6 or 7 of the backpacks. We did give some away and I keep one in my Owner's Locker. Same goes for the lanyards. I have one silver set, one gold set and one black set all still sealed to keep and the rest is used for EMH at WDW and Tom keeps his work keys on the DVC one.

Glad you liked WPE breakfast.

 

[Teri1]

Yes Karin, We asked to have Ophelie as our server when we went to Palo for brunch and I told her we had a gift for her from you and Tom, she was so surprised! She told us she got the package you sent her and how she lived on Nutella in France. She hid her gift and then took us on our tour of the buffet. She was a very nice server.

 

[KatMark]

Sorry for the reason your DIS meet went south. I don't know much about the FE...guess I've not paid attention since we probably will never do a cruise.

I'm sitting here drooling over those scallops that Tom had. I do love me some scallops.