Random musings…
Our 3rd cruise (all in cabin 8188 – dead center aft), 2nd on Fantasy, first Western
Serving team was Devendra from India (head), Josh from Philippines (lead), and Santiago from Columbia (assistant). Most interaction we’ve had from a head server (Devendra) – he was very personable. Josh and Santiago were very solid (that’s not a bad thing, and I’m not using Disney’s ‘Excellent’ rating system for my comments) – I’d be perfectly happy to have them again. They weren’t our original team though. First night we were seated at a table for 8 (we’re 3) – which we prefer to dine alone (since it’s the main time we’re together during the cruise). We were even more concerned because one of the seatings was a high chair. The servers said they sat us with that family because they had 2 teens (our daughter is 14). We talked to the restaurant lead (whatever his title is), and got moved to a 4 top. We saw the other family – they did have one teen girl, but the other non-infant looked to be 8-10 years old. So it wasn’t quite the matchup we thought we’d get if we ever were seated with others.
Food – we thought the MDR food was fine to good on most things. We only ate a Cabanas a couple times for breakfast and lunch – wasn’t really impressed by it. We found a new home for breakfast – Enchanted Garden. It has 75% of what’s at Cabana’s, but doesn’t have the stress. We also found ourselves eating at the quick places on 11 more than Cabana’s for lunch-type meals.
Weather – we’ve had perfect weather our other cruises, not so much this one. It rained pretty well in the morning at Cozumel (through lunch), and absolutely poured the entire time at Grand Cayman (up until about the time it was to take off). The sea days were perfect, and thankfully the CC day ended up absolutely perfect too (forecast had been pretty iffy).
Port excursions – we went to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel, which was very nice and we would absolutely go to again (hopefully with better weather). Grand Cayman we planned on going to Royal Palms, but skipped it with the rain. Jamaica we did the Rose Hall zip line (our first time zip lining) – was fun. CC DW and I spent the day at Serenity Bay (it was pretty packed), outside of going over to the main beach to snorkel (we also snorkeled at SB). Thankfully we didn’t come back with a souvenir this time (we both stepped on an urchin last year)
Our daughter is 14, so I don’t have any comments about the kids clubs or character things.
No comments on the shows either – we skipped them all since we’ve seen them.
I think DW and I watched 4 movies. Big Hero 6 (great), MacFarland USA (surprisingly good), Cinderella (OK), and Tomorrowland (didn’t get it). We also dozed through the last hour of Avengers one night.
Adult activities – since DD was off on her own, DW and I did a lot of adult things. Tisa was running the Tube at night (we like her), which we went to every night. Lots of fun activities and shows there for the adults. There seemed to be a lot more adults taking in the Tube than our previous cruises - the place was pretty full every night. We spent the sea days on the adult deck around satellite falls – it’s amazing how calm/quiet that area feels with the main pool area as close (and noisy, and hectic) as it is. We also did a Mixology for the first time – that was fun and we’ll likely do one again (DW got pretty tipsy at it).
We’re booked on one of the Western Star Wars cruises next spring break (already booked before this cruise, so no 10% discount and no OBC). We did book a placeholder - the price is starting to get to me though.
Lastly, our house seems to be rocking with the waves…
Happy to answer any questions I can.
Our 3rd cruise (all in cabin 8188 – dead center aft), 2nd on Fantasy, first Western
Serving team was Devendra from India (head), Josh from Philippines (lead), and Santiago from Columbia (assistant). Most interaction we’ve had from a head server (Devendra) – he was very personable. Josh and Santiago were very solid (that’s not a bad thing, and I’m not using Disney’s ‘Excellent’ rating system for my comments) – I’d be perfectly happy to have them again. They weren’t our original team though. First night we were seated at a table for 8 (we’re 3) – which we prefer to dine alone (since it’s the main time we’re together during the cruise). We were even more concerned because one of the seatings was a high chair. The servers said they sat us with that family because they had 2 teens (our daughter is 14). We talked to the restaurant lead (whatever his title is), and got moved to a 4 top. We saw the other family – they did have one teen girl, but the other non-infant looked to be 8-10 years old. So it wasn’t quite the matchup we thought we’d get if we ever were seated with others.
Food – we thought the MDR food was fine to good on most things. We only ate a Cabanas a couple times for breakfast and lunch – wasn’t really impressed by it. We found a new home for breakfast – Enchanted Garden. It has 75% of what’s at Cabana’s, but doesn’t have the stress. We also found ourselves eating at the quick places on 11 more than Cabana’s for lunch-type meals.
Weather – we’ve had perfect weather our other cruises, not so much this one. It rained pretty well in the morning at Cozumel (through lunch), and absolutely poured the entire time at Grand Cayman (up until about the time it was to take off). The sea days were perfect, and thankfully the CC day ended up absolutely perfect too (forecast had been pretty iffy).
Port excursions – we went to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel, which was very nice and we would absolutely go to again (hopefully with better weather). Grand Cayman we planned on going to Royal Palms, but skipped it with the rain. Jamaica we did the Rose Hall zip line (our first time zip lining) – was fun. CC DW and I spent the day at Serenity Bay (it was pretty packed), outside of going over to the main beach to snorkel (we also snorkeled at SB). Thankfully we didn’t come back with a souvenir this time (we both stepped on an urchin last year)
Our daughter is 14, so I don’t have any comments about the kids clubs or character things.
No comments on the shows either – we skipped them all since we’ve seen them.
I think DW and I watched 4 movies. Big Hero 6 (great), MacFarland USA (surprisingly good), Cinderella (OK), and Tomorrowland (didn’t get it). We also dozed through the last hour of Avengers one night.
Adult activities – since DD was off on her own, DW and I did a lot of adult things. Tisa was running the Tube at night (we like her), which we went to every night. Lots of fun activities and shows there for the adults. There seemed to be a lot more adults taking in the Tube than our previous cruises - the place was pretty full every night. We spent the sea days on the adult deck around satellite falls – it’s amazing how calm/quiet that area feels with the main pool area as close (and noisy, and hectic) as it is. We also did a Mixology for the first time – that was fun and we’ll likely do one again (DW got pretty tipsy at it).
We’re booked on one of the Western Star Wars cruises next spring break (already booked before this cruise, so no 10% discount and no OBC). We did book a placeholder - the price is starting to get to me though.
Lastly, our house seems to be rocking with the waves…
Happy to answer any questions I can.
