Just off of Fantasy Western 6/9-6/16

[bksaffle]

This cruise was fantastic. This was our 8th Disney cruises (5-Magic, 2-Dream), and this ranks up at the top as the best (our favorite was the Trans-Atlantic). I just thought I would put together some info for anybody who is interested in reading.

Traveling Party: 10 (4 Adults, 6 kids: 7-12 years)
Staterooms: 7000,7002,7006
Dining Rotation: AERAEER
Head Server: Ivo (Croatia)
Server: Ivica (Croatia)
Asst. Server: Mircea (Romania)
Palo: Zusy (Poland)
Shore Excursions: We book outside of Disney
Capacity: 3632 guest / 1458 crew

Embarkation: We arrived at the Terminal at 10:30 and boarded by 11:30, very fast and efficient.

Shore Excursions: Grand Cayman - We booked with Jet Ski Safaris, where we rented wave runners and rode out to Sting Ray City (Private time with the sting rays was great, because you are not competing with the 100's of people on the chartered boats), we then went snorkling and found starfish. It was amazing. Costa Maya - we stayed on the ship while everyone got off, and then we went into the port area, not much to do we stayed there for an hour and then got back on the ship (it was hot). Cozumel - We booked directly with Dolphin Discovery (way cheaper and received a discount), did the royal swim and then snorkeled. Castaway Cay - we just did the beach all day, snorkeled, and kayaked.

Dining: We had the late seating....which worked for us, because we were not rushed to get back from shore excursions, and we had time to get ready for the early show times. The food was excellent. If you want a great serving team call ahead and request ours...they were amazing. They spent so much time with us. The 6 kids even went to dinner in the Main Dining Room all by themselves, because all of us adults were at Palo, and they had such a great time. The kids even cried when we left because they liked our dining team so much.

Evening Shows: All of the shows were really good. Everyone in our party enjoyed them.

Pools: yes at times it felt busy, but the kids didn't complain. At around 3:00 the pools start to get less busy, because people have used it all morning. The AquaLab was not used very much, we didn't spend any time up at Satellite Falls or even in the Quiet Cove, we were enjoying our time with the kids.

Palo: Dinner was amazing, definitely love those Sgroppino drinks at the conclusion. Brunch was good as always, but if I had to choose....definitely do the dinner. Zusy was very personable and wonderful.

All in all it was an amazing trip. We have already booked our next Fantasy cruise. Weather was perfect the entire trip with th exception of a 20 minute down pour right at the time we were supposed to have the sail away party...which was moved inside, so that was a bummer.

If you have any questions, I will try to answer them. My only advice - have a great time, don't get discouraged by some of the posts on this board, everyone will have their own experience...My family just chose to have an EXCELLENT one, and not let the little things get to us.

Happy cruising to those who will be getting on the ship in the future. I am so sad it is over.

 

[wishuponastarforever]

Thank you for a fun upbeat post. Glad you had a great cruise. Good to know even with a crowded ship.

 

[Princess Row]

This cruise was fantastic. This was our 8th Disney cruises (5-Magic, 2-Dream), and this ranks up at the top as the best (our favorite was the Trans-Atlantic). I just thought I would put together some info for anybody who is interested in reading.

Traveling Party: 10 (4 Adults, 6 kids: 7-12 years)
Staterooms: 7000,7002,7006
Dining Rotation: AERAEER
Head Server: Ivo (Croatia)
Server: Ivica (Croatia)
Asst. Server: Mircea (Romania)
Palo: Zusy (Poland)
Shore Excursions: We book outside of Disney
Capacity: 3632 guest / 1458 crew

Embarkation: We arrived at the Terminal at 10:30 and boarded by 11:30, very fast and efficient.

Shore Excursions: Grand Cayman - We booked with Jet Ski Safaris, where we rented wave runners and rode out to Sting Ray City (Private time with the sting rays was great, because you are not competing with the 100's of people on the chartered boats), we then went snorkling and found starfish. It was amazing. Costa Maya - we stayed on the ship while everyone got off, and then we went into the port area, not much to do we stayed there for an hour and then got back on the ship (it was hot). Cozumel - We booked directly with Dolphin Discovery (way cheaper and received a discount), did the royal swim and then snorkeled. Castaway Cay - we just did the beach all day, snorkeled, and kayaked.

Dining: We had the late seating....which worked for us, because we were not rushed to get back from shore excursions, and we had time to get ready for the early show times. The food was excellent. If you want a great serving team call ahead and request ours...they were amazing. They spent so much time with us. The 6 kids even went to dinner in the Main Dining Room all by themselves, because all of us adults were at Palo, and they had such a great time. The kids even cried when we left because they liked our dining team so much.

Evening Shows: All of the shows were really good. Everyone in our party enjoyed them.

Pools: yes at times it felt busy, but the kids didn't complain. At around 3:00 the pools start to get less busy, because people have used it all morning. The AquaLab was not used very much, we didn't spend any time up at Satellite Falls or even in the Quiet Cove, we were enjoying our time with the kids.

Palo: Dinner was amazing, definitely love those Sgroppino drinks at the conclusion. Brunch was good as always, but if I had to choose....definitely do the dinner. Zusy was very personable and wonderful.

All in all it was an amazing trip. We have already booked our next Fantasy cruise. Weather was perfect the entire trip with th exception of a 20 minute down pour right at the time we were supposed to have the sail away party...which was moved inside, so that was a bummer.

If you have any questions, I will try to answer them. My only advice - have a great time, don't get discouraged by some of the posts on this board, everyone will have their own experience...My family just chose to have an EXCELLENT one, and not let the little things get to us.

Happy cruising to those who will be getting on the ship in the future. I am so sad it is over.

Thanks for the post! Glad to hear you had a great time! We leave in three weeks and are so excited!

1) What movies were playing?
2) What characters did you see around?
3) Do you know if there was any tea with alice?

Thanks! :]

 

[bksaffle]

Movies: Buena Vista Theater: Chimpanzee, Avengers, Real Steel, Tangled, Muppets, Lion King, The Help. I know Brave will be on the screen starting this week. Funnel Vision: Toy Story, Tarzan, Pirates of Carribean, Disney Classics, Princess & Frog, Little Mermaid...those are the ones that are standing out for me

Characters: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, Tiana, Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Arial, Auroa, Fineas, Pherb, Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Hook, Mr. Schmee, Chip & Dale, Jack Sparrow. The main characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Chip & Dale) all change with different costumes throughout the cruise, depending on the "Theme" (Formal Wear, Carribean, Pirate, Sailor, etc...)

Tea Party: I did not see this. A lot of the "parties" tht they offer on the Magic are not available on the Fantasy, just too many kids. There is not a character breakfast or princess tea party.

 

[ATLMinnie]

Do you happen to have any Navigators from this trip? I would really like to see them. We're scheduled on this trip for next year.

Thank you.

 

[jahber]

Navigators would be great! We are going in September.

 

[bksaffle]

We have all the navigators but they are pretty much the same as the ones already posted. If you select "Staterooms" in the above red bar and choose navigators you will see a Western set of navigators posted. The movies and the entertainment (comedy, juggles, magicians) will most likely be different.

 

[Toria]

Glad an excellent time was had by your family. I can not wait to sail on her. Thanks for posting.

 

[jpwest]

Is the Formal/Casual/Semi-Formal schedule predictable? We're on the Fantasy July 21-28.