Just Off Fantasy

[kmedina]

Did the cruise line do anything special that you know of because you were on the ship for Christmas day?

There was a special Christmas dinner menu. There were also services some denominations, like catholic (Mass) and couple others. Santa and Mrs. Claus were out on Christmas morning, which was neat, but I am pretty sure they were out during Merrytime cruises I've taken in the past as well. While there were likely other events, my family and I took it really easy and did not attend much in the beginning. Due to being quarantined for Covid, I did not attend anything in the second half of the cruise.

 

[randumb0]

What were/are the shows?

 

[kmedina]

- Dining has been very uneven. We have late dining. We didn’t finish until 10:30 - over 2 hours? We ordered a second round of drinks and the asst server came around 20 minutes and asked if we had received them / that’s sorta his job? We canceled them. Coffee wasn’t served to any table around us for dessert. The cadence of the meal was off - hopefully it will correct tonight.

Food quality really seems to have deteriorated. The pickup food windows were behind when we attempted lunch mid afternoon. They were out of several things. The pizza and fries were not cooked enough. I ordered a chicken panini with no sauce. The one I was given had no chicken!

In earlier years, the castaway bag or cooler was in our rooms the first day - none were given out and we have gold and plat staterooms.

We did a back to back on the Wish (4 day) then the Fantasy (7 day). On each, I only completed two meals in the main dining room during first dinner two times. Both took over two hours. While both serving teams were friendly and tried very hard, they just seemed very overwhelmed compared to previous DCL cruises. My assumption can only be they were not prepared for full ships or Disney assigned the serving teams too many tables. Our first night on the Wish was in Enchante and even though it was over 3 hours for that 9 course meal, service flowed. It was excellent. Our last night on the Wish, we skipped the main restaurant (Arendelle) and opted for room service. On the Fantasy, I missed most of the first meal (Christmas Eve) because one of our bags was lost, and I was going back and forth between our room and the long line at guest services to find it. It was eventually found, but neither the room steward nor guest services could originally locate it. We made the Christmas meal and the day after. Very slow and off service.The day after that, my family spent the evening in the medical bay as they were insanely busy. Then, I was quarantined with Covid the rest of the trip. My family was negative and moved to another room. They kept the same dining team. Though they did prefer the timing of deck 11 dinners, they did report back that service was as slow as it was when I was with them when they dined without me.

 

[kmedina]

What were/are the shows?

I will leave this question for the OP as I did not watch a single show on the Fantasy and only watched the Little Mermaid on the Wish. I think my son watched Aladdin and another one on the Fantasy though.

 

[tvguy]

- Dining has been very uneven. We have late dining. We didn’t finish until 10:30 - over 2 hours?

No matter the cruise line we always have late dining. We pick it because we want the more leisurely pace, and we expect dinner to last about 2 hours.
Well, my first cruise on Paquet, there was just one seating, 6 pm, and dinner was 3 1/2 hours. But that was a cruise that focused on gourmet food and dinner was 12 courses.

 

[BruinEd03]

We are on the Fantasy now.

This is our 12th DCL cruise and our first since 2015.

- Transfers from Boardwalk and the embarkation process was smooth - best we’ve had. It was very orderly and stress free.

- The NYE cruise we were on in 2001 (Wonder), NYE was a formal night as you might expect. On this trip, it was a casual and we didn’t know until getting on the ship. 1/3 of passengers were dressed formally. I brought my tux and decided to wait until the formal night after reading the navigator. There was no clear direction on what the schedule was going to be. They gave out cool aluminum champagne cups for a toast - but no party favors as we had the last time.

NYE should have been a formal night - and they could have communicated to passengers in advance of the cruise.

- Dining has been very uneven. We have late dining. We didn’t finish until 10:30 - over 2 hours? We ordered a second round of drinks and the asst server came around 20 minutes and asked if we had received them / that’s sorta his job? We canceled them. Coffee wasn’t served to any table around us for dessert. The cadence of the meal was off - hopefully it will correct tonight.

Food quality really seems to have deteriorated. The pickup food windows were behind when we attempted lunch mid afternoon. They were out of several things. The pizza and fries were not cooked enough. I ordered a chicken panini with no sauce. The one I was given had no chicken!

Breakfast was very good.

Other notes - beer mugs are available.

In earlier years, the castaway bag or cooler was in our rooms the first day - none were given out and we have gold and plat staterooms.

Wish I had better thoughts. Weather is great and the crew is friendly. The ship is in great condition. We are on deck 7 forward and love the stateroom location.

Happy New Year!

For the transportation from BoardWalk, what time did they pick up and what time were you at the Port? Also how much was it?

Also, is this a Pixar cruise? If so, what's the schedule like?

 

[BruinEd03]

Got home last night from the Fantasy Merrytime Cruise. If any questions, just ask.

What was the weather like and water temperature like at Castaway Cay? Also, are they back to having strangers being placed in the tables with you? Were the Gold gifts still the sling bags?

 

[randumb0]

No matter the cruise line we always have late dining. We pick it because we want the more leisurely pace, and we expect dinner to last about 2 hours.
Well, my first cruise on Paquet, there was just one seating, 6 pm, and dinner was 3 1/2 hours. But that was a cruise that focused on gourmet food and dinner was 12 courses.

I've heard others say they prefer late dining because they don't want to feel rushed, but don't you have to rush if you want to see the first show?

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

How long were you on the crusie for? We’re going next year for 7 nights I dress similarly to what the characters wear for fun photos

Sailor
Formal
Pirates
Christmas

Did you see them in anything else outside of those?

Day 1: sailor
Day 2: Formal (but Minnie and Mickey not in their formal but in their plaids)
Day 3: casual Christmas sweaters
Day 4: pirates
Day 5: classic
Day 6: during the day casual Christmas, at night Ducks and munks formal, Mice christmas plaid, Santa Goofy and Pluto with a Christmas collar and after storytime with Mrs Claus Christmas sweaters
Day 7: on CC beach wear, late afternoon and early night sailor and sea Ya real soon Christmas sweaters

 

[IcedCoffee52]

We were on the Fantasy the week before Christmas (got off on Christmas Eve). The shows were Aladdin and Frozen and then I think some type of farewell show.

We also had the late dinner, and the timing was off for ours too. For some of the dinners, we got our meals about 4 minutes after we ordered them. For others, it took an hour to get food. Desserts also took a long time.

The drink service (and we didn't get alcoholic drinks) was all over the place. Our drink server kept forgetting our orders. One night, both of my younger sons ordered chocolate milk. He brought one son like 4 chocolate milks in a row (and not in a funny way), none for my other son (which was fine--he just took one of my other son's), and then took my daughter's full cup of apple juice, and when she asked for another, never brought it. It wasn't great.

The weather at Castaway Cay was warmish and windy but cloudy when we arrived. We were on the beach by around 9am. However, the wind caused a lot of chop in the water, and the normally clear, beautiful water was extremely cloudy. You couldn't even see your feet just standing in it. My kids tried to snorkel but didn't see anything.

We stayed on the beach for about 2-3 hours, went shopping, etc. and then got back on the ship around noon. By 12:30pm, it was thundering and lightening and poured rain for most of the rest of the day. This was fine with us b/c we've been to Castaway before (most recently back in March when it was beautiful), but would have been a bummer if it was your first (and only) time. However, because most of the activities on Castaway were cancelled, they did add some new activities on the ship, more character greetings, etc. that afternoon.

 

[disneygeek401]

What were/are the shows?

Frozen, Aladdin, Believe.

Was on the Christmas sailing, Frozen was night 2, Aladdin night 6 and Believe night 7.

 

[dreamer17555]

I've heard others say they prefer late dining because they don't want to feel rushed, but don't you have to rush if you want to see the first show?

The show starts later than 1st dining starts. Also on a five to seven night cruises I am unlikely to want to see the secondary acts, the comedians, magicians, movies etc., so on those nights I technically don’t need to be anywhere till second seating dinner.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

What was the weather like and water temperature like at Castaway Cay? Also, are they back to having strangers being placed in the tables with you? Were the Gold gifts still the sling bags?

The weather at Castaway Cay was beautiful. Very warm when we got off ship (10 a.m.) and continued to get hotter. The water was a bit cool at first and took a little getting used to. This is my second Disney cruise, I do not know about the sling bags.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Who was the cruise director? Thanks!

Trent.

 

[disneygeek401]

Did the cruise line do anything special that you know of because you were on the ship for Christmas day?

As other posters have mentioned, Santa and Mrs. Claus were out to meet and greet and take photos. I think they were out for 2 or 3 hours if I remember correctly. Christmas music was playing, and free hot chocolate and cookies. There were also free coloring pages for kids however don't think they were holiday specific. Christmas dinner menu, and we got a special lithograph in the stateroom.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

What were/are the shows?

Aladin, Frozen and Believe.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We prefer second dinner seating. I think our waiter was faster than others. We'd be starting to eat our dinner already when I notice some haven't ordered yet. Didn't order alcohol at dinner, no complaints about drink service. Most times our drinks were already at the table when we got there. The dining staff did appear to be very busy and under pressure. They work very hard. I didn't think the food in general (dining rooms, buffet, and quick serve) were all that great. I'd say fair for most and average on a couple of things. I like my food hot, I did not find the food hot at all. Luke warm at best. I like breakfast at Cabanas the best. Really wish Disney would improve the food. Server and Head Waiter did tell us that 200-250 people canceled. They were expecting to be at capacity.

 

[lanejudy]

NYE should have been a formal night

Very odd about the non formal on New Years Eve

Most likely because New Years Eve was embarkation day. DCL never does a special dress or costume night on embarkation because luggage doesn’t always get delivered (usually but not always) in time for early/main dinner.

 

[gscott8075]

For the transportation from BoardWalk, what time did they pick up and what time were you at the Port? Also how much was it?

Also, is this a Pixar cruise? If so, what's the schedule like?

845 pickup. At port by 10:30. Among first in terminal and on ship by 12. Very very smooth.

 

[gscott8075]

Most likely because New Years Eve was embarkation day. DCL never does a special dress or costume night on embarkation because luggage doesn’t always get delivered (usually but not always) in time for early/main dinner.

This should be an exception. The formal night was the second night and very few were dressed. Many more were dressed for NYE. I get it the rest of the year, but NYE is NYE!