Just back from the Fantasy...here are some notes and highlights

[Sytrace]

We just got back this morning from the 9-24 to 10-1 cruise to Tortola, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay. I miss the ice cream cones already.

1. The full Navigators were back in full force on this cruise. We had them every single day. It made me think I was dreaming from the week before on the 3 night Dream cruise we took.
2. Vista Café snacks and treats were back to being self serve. (this changed from a June cruise on Dream where it was not a help yourself situation)
3. We did not stop at St. Thomas due to some weather/wind issues...which was okay by me. Although my husband and son were sad for a few minutes as they had planned to do the Ziplining excursion.
4. The weather was beautiful but the second sea day we ran into some heavy whitecaps and winds.
5. We were lucky to have Captain Fabian guiding our journey.
6. Darren was CD (fantastic as usual) the entertainment team consisted of Kaitlyn, Maxx, Cody. Holly, Raff, and quite a few other really funny and entertaining folks.

I am trying to think of other things that I know folks were buzzing about the last few weeks.

Let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer them based on our experiences this cruise.
Tracey

 

[FigmentSpark]

Wait, what happened to the ice cream cones?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Wait, what happened to the ice cream cones?

I think she's just saying she misses them (since she's off the cruise). Not that anything happened to them.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Oh! That had me worried.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We just got back this morning from the 9-24 to 10-1 cruise to Tortola, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay. I miss the ice cream cones already.

1. The full Navigators were back in full force on this cruise. We had them every single day. It made me think I was dreaming from the week before on the 3 night Dream cruise we took.
2. Vista Café snacks and treats were back to being self serve. (this changed from a June cruise on Dream where it was not a help yourself situation)
3. We did not stop at St. Thomas due to some weather/wind issues...which was okay by me. Although my husband and son were sad for a few minutes as they had planned to do the Ziplining excursion.
4. The weather was beautiful but the second sea day we ran into some heavy whitecaps and winds.
5. We were lucky to have Captain Fabian guiding our journey.
6. Darren was CD (fantastic as usual) the entertainment team consisted of Kaitlyn, Maxx, Cody. Holly, Raff, and quite a few other really funny and entertaining folks.

I am trying to think of other things that I know folks were buzzing about the last few weeks.

Let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer them based on our experiences this cruise.
Tracey

Glad to hear it was a great cruise and everyone was safe.
I wonder if the full Navigators are back for good
I have a couple of questions if you don't mind.
Was there a lot of Halloween merchandise on board?
Did you buy a refillable popcorn bucket? What was the design?
Also wondering what the current CC gift is, not sure if I should bring my beach bag.
Thanks in advance

 

[Sytrace]

Glad to hear it was a great cruise and everyone was safe.
I wonder if the full Navigators are back for good
Was there a lot of Halloween merchandise on board?
Did you buy a refillable popcorn bucket? What was the design?

I am not sure...I read that the cruise before ours did not have full Navigators.
There was a nice amount of Halloween product on board AND a new tee shirt, Baseball cap and sweatshirts for Gold and Platinum members. I think they were fairly new because I did not see them on the Dream the week before. I spoke to the Merchandise officer (Jamie from Canada) and he told me they were brand spanking new.
I did not get a popcorn bucket this time ...sorry.

I think she's just saying she misses them (since she's off the cruise). Not that anything happened to them.

Yes, nothing happened to the ice cream...I just miss it. lol.

 

[Savikins]

Glad to hear it was a great cruise and everyone was safe.
I wonder if the full Navigators are back for good
I have a couple of questions if you don't mind.
Was there a lot of Halloween merchandise on board?
Did you buy a refillable popcorn bucket? What was the design?
Also wondering what the current CC gift is, not sure if I should bring my beach bag.
Thanks in advance

We didn't get a popcorn bucket this time because we got so many amazing gifts from our FE group that we didn't feel the need to purchase souvenirs. However, they had some pretty cool designs. My favorite was a black doghouse with Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas. They also had the creepy poisoned apple with a skull kinda thing from Snow White as a bucket, and a normal cylindrical bucket with Disney characters wearing Halloween stuff and doing Halloween things.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We didn't get a popcorn bucket this time because we got so many amazing gifts from our FE group that we didn't feel the need to purchase souvenirs. However, they had some pretty cool designs. My favorite was a black doghouse with Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas. They also had the creepy poisoned apple with a skull kinda thing from Snow White as a bucket, and a normal cylindrical bucket with Disney characters wearing Halloween stuff and doing Halloween things.

Thank you! I was wondering what the cylinder bucket was - last time someone posted it looked like a regular non- Halloween one. Which happens to be the one we have at home. If they have a new Halloween version we'll be buying one.

 

[tee11]

So this was a B2B 3N Dream and then 7N Fantasy?
Nice!
If so, did you drive to port and park, and what kind of advice do you have for B2Bs on two different ships? TIA!

 

[Sytrace]

We didn't get a popcorn bucket this time because we got so many amazing gifts from our FE group that we didn't feel the need to purchase souvenirs. However, they had some pretty cool designs. My favorite was a black doghouse with Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas. They also had the creepy poisoned apple with a skull kinda thing from Snow White as a bucket, and a normal cylindrical bucket with Disney characters wearing Halloween stuff and doing Halloween things.

There were reports of an engagement on the staircase. Sounds so romantic.

 

[Sytrace]

So this was a B2B 3N Dream and then 7N Fantasy?
Nice!
If so, did you drive to port and park, and what kind of advice do you have for B2Bs on two different ships? TIA!

Not exactly B2B. We were on the Dream from September 16 to 19th and then went home for a few days then Fantasy 7 night.

We are thinking BTB Dream though. We live 45 minutes from port so we always drive and park at the terminal. So much easier and we still like the preferred lot as it is much more convienent.

 

[mmouse37]

I am not sure...I read that the cruise before ours did not have full Navigators.
There was a nice amount of Halloween product on board AND a new tee shirt, Baseball cap and sweatshirts for Gold and Platinum members. I think they were fairly new because I did not see them on the Dream the week before. I spoke to the Merchandise officer (Jamie from Canada) and he told me they were brand spanking new.
I did not get a popcorn bucket this time ...sorry.



Yes, nothing happened to the ice cream...I just miss it. lol.

Yes, I saw the t-shirts for Gold and Platinum on the Fantasy in August and they had them on the Magic last week. They also had Gold Tervis cups and said they were getting the Platinum ones soon.

MJ

 

[heather4Disney]

Do you find out on the cruise what your dining rotation is ?? We are going on the Fantasy in Dec. I've booked by restaurants but no idea what rotational dining I will be missing on those nights.

 

[Sytrace]

Do you find out on the cruise what your dining rotation is ?? We are going on the Fantasy in Dec. I've booked by restaurants but no idea what rotational dining I will be missing on those nights.

you would get your dining rotation at the terminal when you check in and get your KTTWC. This time we had AERAERA

 

[Sytrace]

Yes, I saw the t-shirts for Gold and Platinum on the Fantasy in August and they had them on the Magic last week. They also had Gold Tervis cups and said they were getting the Platinum ones soon.

MJ

They had the tumblers this time too. I almost bought the Gold one, but figure I can get both Gold and Platinum next cruise...which is the big 11 for us.

 

[Ofinn]

Glad you had a great time. I'm a little burned out on DCL at the moment, but I would love to get back on that ship. There were some good GT rates this October, but we already had other plans. I think you probably reached platinum as fast as we did. When is your next cruise? I have the WBTA booked for next year, but not sure. I tend to change my mind a lot. If I could get a good rate on this ship I wouldn't think twice about booking it.

 

[Sytrace]

Glad you had a great time. I'm a little burned out on DCL at the moment, but I would love to get back on that ship. There were some good GT rates this October, but we already had other plans. I think you probably reached platinum as fast as we did. When is your next cruise? I have the WBTA booked for next year, but not sure. I tend to change my mind a lot. If I could get a good rate on this ship I wouldn't think twice about booking it.

It took us about a little under 3 years to hit 10.... lol And 4 of them were just in 2016 alone.
We booked the same itinerary for September 23rd of 2017, but I am quite sure there will be at least 2 more before that.
We are pondering Alaska in May or maybe a 10 night Southern Caribbean when it is offered in May/June. We are sort of back and forth on it. Thank goodness we have a placeholder waiting to go.
My son is the only one who has not had a birthday cruise (it is 2 days after Christmas and the rates are so darn high) We might grab one and call it his birthday cruise in January.
We were also pondering Europe...so hard to decide right now.

 

[Savikins]

There were reports of an engagement on the staircase. Sounds so romantic.

You heard correct! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I have to say, that was the most magical moment of my entire life!

 

[Sytrace]

You heard correct! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I have to say, that was the most magical moment of my entire life!

My wish for you and fiancée is that that was just the beginning of a lifetime of magical moments.

 

[Ofinn]

It took us about a little under 3 years to hit 10.... lol And 4 of them were just in 2016 alone.
We booked the same itinerary for September 23rd of 2017, but I am quite sure there will be at least 2 more before that.
We are pondering Alaska in May or maybe a 10 night Southern Caribbean when it is offered in May/June. We are sort of back and forth on it. Thank goodness we have a placeholder waiting to go.
My son is the only one who has not had a birthday cruise (it is 2 days after Christmas and the rates are so darn high) We might grab one and call it his birthday cruise in January.
We were also pondering Europe...so hard to decide right now.

It took us 4 years to reach platinum. After the first cruise we didn't cruise again for a year. In 2014 we did four cruises with three on the Fantasy. I would look at something different than the Caribbean. Europe is such a great experience for the kids. Have you considered a TA or a Med cruise. Some people are getting some great airfare on Norwegian air to BCN. Under 200.00 one way. The EBTA looks good too. 15 nights for about the same price as a Caribbean cruise. I don't think we'll be cruising as much in the future maybe two a year and not always on DCL. I'm running out of places to go on DCL.