July 16, 2016 Disney Fantasy, Eastern Caribbean

[IndyMouseFan]

Can't believe how far the countdown has come!!

So excited to only have 7 more days of work (including today) -- it's almost here!!!

 

[mndisfam]

I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one who gets emotional on sail day.......I will have multiple episodes of tears also!

A few years ago I downloaded "Remember the Magic." It's the song they play during the show for the final night. (I think.) I always tear up and my kids won't let me play it when I am driving! Love these ships ... They are very special to me and my family.

 

[mndisfam]

If we dock back at port canaveral at 730 what time is everyone usually off the ship by? Our flight out that night isn't until 6 and I was wondering if I would have time to squeeze in walking around the new Disney springs

You probably will!

As to getting off time ... It's truly "don't let the gangway hit you on the way out." Saturday morning is brutal and utterly depressing! U could probably easily be at the Springs by noon.

My DH tries to drag out disembarking until the last minute ... but by 8:30 it's pretty empty. And the crew kindly makes it very clear ur cruise is over!

Why am I even thinking of that day before the trip! I hate seeing the signs in the terminal as u leave. Going on the board they say something like "Welcome Aboard!"

On the other side those, as you leave, they say "See you real soon!" Bummer!

 

[mndisfam]

Does Disney provide towels at Castaway Cay? I'm assuming they do, but you never know. I just really don't want to pack beach towels.

Don't pack ANY beach towels. Towels are available all around the pools. There will be towels outside the boat when you leave, and come back. There will be a place to drop dirty towels from an excursion before you board.

I have never seen them give a second glance to people taking towels. Sometimes, when u come back, they have iced towels to cool off with after a hot excursion.

I know we pay a lot more for DCL, and I know the towel service doesn't equal the price difference, but I HATE that some cruise lines ration towels and charge you for missing ones. We always get charged, and we ALWAYS return them.

 

[DisneyKitties]

Can't believe how far the countdown has come!!

So excited to only have 7 more days of work (including today) -- it's almost here!!!

I only have 5 1/2 days of work! Woo hoo!!

 

[cdnewton]

Any recs on St Thomas/St John snorkeling? We have booked the Trunk Bay as I hear it is beautiful. But we also have the Virgin Gorda tour on the other day and it sounds like too much Ferry-Taxi-Beach days! Have DS6 so though about Doubloon or full day Turtle Cove/Honeymoon beach. Appreciate any thoughts!

 

[RL Gutz]

Any recs on St Thomas/St John snorkeling? We have booked the Trunk Bay as I hear it is beautiful. But we also have the Virgin Gorda tour on the other day and it sounds like too much Ferry-Taxi-Beach days! Have DS6 so though about Doubloon or full day Turtle Cove/Honeymoon beach. Appreciate any thoughts!

I booked the Trunk Bay trip as well. St John is a special place and used to offer remarkable snorkeling when I visited many years ago. My family has seen St Thomas and I wanted them to experience St John this time around.

 

[SpudsMom94]

With 6 people in our party, we need an SUV. I found a rental company at PC for $150 with drop off at MCO. We are hoping to make it to DIsney Springs for lunch and then back to the airport. It beats sitting in the airport 6 hours!!!
Any good recommendation for lunch?

Lots of good places for lunch at Disney Springs... Some of the new locations that have recently opened are Deluxe Burger, The Boathouse, Morimotos, Sprinkles (cupcakes! Yummy!!), as well as some grab and go's, featuring poutine, crepes and more. And then the standards including Portobellos, Bongos Cuban Cafe, Rainforest and T-Rex Cafes and Raglan Road are still there. If you want to do a sit down, you may want to try and get a reservation to eliminate wait times.

 

[SpudsMom94]

I'm down to the week of "lasts"... Today was my last Wednesday at work before vacation... Tomorrow is my last Thursday... And it goes that way until Tuesday... It's going so fast and yet so slow at the same time!

 

[Jennifer Crunelle]

Well, looks like we are right along with most of you guys and have a flight home scheduled for 6:45pm. I AM NOT sitting in an airport for 6 hours waiting around. So, we've been looking for something kid-friendly to do until our flight leaves. I found a place called WonderWorks that isn't too far from the airport. It has tons of cool science stuff to do for our kiddos. So, looks like that's what we'll be doing. I was debating about going to Disney Springs, but it sounds like it's mostly just shops...and I don't think we'll want to buy even more stuff to take home Now I'm off to go research car rentals...

 

[IndyMouseFan]

Well, looks like we are right along with most of you guys and have a flight home scheduled for 6:45pm. I AM NOT sitting in an airport for 6 hours waiting around. So, we've been looking for something kid-friendly to do until our flight leaves. I found a place called WonderWorks that isn't too far from the airport. It has tons of cool science stuff to do for our kiddos. So, looks like that's what we'll be doing. I was debating about going to Disney Springs, but it sounds like it's mostly just shops...and I don't think we'll want to buy even more stuff to take home Now I'm off to go research car rentals...

Wonderworks is a lot of fun -- the one thing I will say about Disney Springs -- if your little ones like Legos, it's worth the trip to see the Lego store. The creations outside the store built out of legos are incredible (as tall as the building!) My son is 15 and he still likes to go see what new creations they've built out of legos. Just a thought

 

[DisneyKitties]

http://disneybrochures.com/869c

 

[DisneyKitties]

Couple of questions.

Is the photo package worth it?
Are the photos from your excursion included in the package?

 

[DCLSummerof16]

Any recs on St Thomas/St John snorkeling? We have booked the Trunk Bay as I hear it is beautiful. But we also have the Virgin Gorda tour on the other day and it sounds like too much Ferry-Taxi-Beach days! Have DS6 so though about Doubloon or full day Turtle Cove/Honeymoon beach. Appreciate any thoughts!

We did the snorkeling

Any recs on St Thomas/St John snorkeling? We have booked the Trunk Bay as I hear it is beautiful. But we also have the Virgin Gorda tour on the other day and it sounds like too much Ferry-Taxi-Beach days! Have DS6 so though about Doubloon or full day Turtle Cove/Honeymoon beach. Appreciate any thoughts!

we have been on a few DCL eastern cruises. We did one snorekel trip to shore of SJ. It was a catermeran trip and really great! Downfall to me - you are on shore but never really get to see the island. Now that I've "vacationed" on St. John's the excursions didn't interest me as much so we decided on zip lining on St Thomas with the kids (19,17,14). We loved the incline on St Thomas. Kids really liked it too! They had birds up top and we had lunch.

While on Tortola - we signed up for the baths as it's something I've always wanted to do!

 

[SpudsMom94]

Couple of questions.

Is the photo package worth it?
Are the photos from your excursion included in the package?

I love getting the photo package. I have kids, so it was always nice to get all the characters pictures as well as the pictures they take in the restaurants. There are different options, to either get prints, digital images or both. Most excursions/ports have their own photos that need to be purchased separately, with the exception of Castaway Cay. There are photographers on the beach (and in the water!) that will take pictures there.

The other nice thing about getting the pictures through the ship is they come with the cool borders and logos. Also, the opportunities are there, but you need to make the time to have your pictures taken - like stopping for the picture before you get on the ship, posing in front of the backdrops in the evening, visiting with characters, etc. I'm usually the one taking the pictures, so I'm grateful to have someone else snap a couple of shots of the entire family!

 

[Madzac]

Couple of questions.

Is the photo package worth it?
Are the photos from your excursion included in the package?

Just my opinion but I would wait. You can purchase on board at anytime. Our last cruise I was going to do the 10 photo package but I honestly didn't have 10 I wanted. I'd wait and see how many pictures you have first.

And as above the ship photographers are on castaway cay but not other excursions

 

[DCLSummerof16]

Everything is till good with us! We are so excited! Can't believe it's less than two weeks away!

All is good with ours as well - 8 daysssssssssssssssss and counting down!

 

[DCLSummerof16]

Hi everyone! Two weeks from today we will be on the ship!!! How is that possible? So very exciting!!! So I know we talked a little before but what are peoples pre and post cruise plans? When are you arriving and what are you doing? Please check in, I know we have lots of people lurking, I'd love a quick check in from people!

We are flying in Thursday the 14th and staying two nights at art of animation. We will be at magic kingdom friday and then are doing a private transfer to port in the morning saturday. After we will fly home later that same day. I have to work sunday!

We fly in the day we sail and fly out the day we port BUT....... we will be back in FL for Thanksgiving to visit my parents and their new home

 

[DCLSummerof16]

Has anyone visited St. Thomas before? I was wondering if the Skyride to Paradise Point is within walking distance to the ship? We are planning a lazy day of walking around (doing the butterflies, too) and thought it might be something fun to do if it is close.

We did this our first Disney Cruise in 2008 and really liked it. I remember taking a taxi there?

 

[DCLSummerof16]

ALL FISH EXTENDER PARTICIPANTS:
Please double check the main list on page one. I reordered the last two groups to be in order by floor to hopefully make things easier. Please check that I have your cabin number, family details and any allergies correct on the list as well. I know we have some families who signed up for FE some time ago and havent been back posting and I just want to make sure everything is still correct. Could you all take a moment to look and then come back and either post all is good in the thread or simply like this post so I know you have seen things and are good with it all? Thanks much!

A few details... if for some reason DCL changes your cabin number or you upgrade at port, please let other group members know ASAP by either leaving messages on cabin phones or by dropping a note in their fish extenders. I will also print a list of the groups and post it on my door in case someone forgets or if someone has a change they can update the list on our door (7514).

All is good with our information in our group. Thanks for doing this!