Just off the Fantasy Eastern - any questions I can answer?

[kbovenizer]

Oh so glad to see this. I am totally considering this cruise for our second one. We have 2 boys, 3 and 9.

What kind of activities happened at Edge? What did your boys like about it? Did they find it easy to make friends? What did they say about the cast members there? Did they ever go to Edge seperately or were they always together?

Our next cruise will have one at Edge and another in Oceaneers. Kind of wondering how this will work.

The activities at Edge are more competitive in nature (like scavenger hunts, game competitions, brains and brawn games, etc.) than the Oceaneers. Because the kids all come and go as they please there aren't as many cast members. I DO think they interact just as much though. We were down by the pool and one of the CMs saw my son and stopped to say hi and ask him if they would see him that evening.

As for separate vs together... I kind of laughed about this. My older boys are only 16 months apart and spend LOTS and LOTS of time together at home. They used this as an opportunity to do their own thing. Boy #1 is kind of a loaner by nature. He spent more time watching movies by himself or reading on the balcony than in the clubs. I was worried that he wasn't having fun, but he really was - in his own way. He's a 40 year old soul in a 12 year old body.

Boy #2 is a social butterfly. He makes friends everywhere he goes. But they do things at the Edge on the first night to really help spur those friendships. Don't miss the ice breakers and activities the first night. The boys went together the first night, but after that DS2 regularly just took off to go hang with his friends. He left us partway through dinner at least twice so he wouldn't miss some activity he wanted to do. He even went and found the group at Castaway Cay. When I asked the 4 boys what their favorite thing was about the trip, DS2 said Edge without hesitation.

(In case you are wondering, DS1 said the food! Our 5 year old claimed Aquaduck, but also really loved going to club. The 3 year old said his favorite was the beach. I think there weren't too many 3-4 year olds at Oceaneers clubs this time and I think he was overwhelmed a bit. He didn't spend as much time in the clubs as the 5 year old.)

 

[debbiechels]

Hi there!! We have 5 cruises under our belt but all were on The Magic!! This time we are going on The Fantasy! I saw where you mentioned the Mickey slide - is this different than the aquaduct?? Are adults allowed on the Mickey Slide?? The aquaduct looks a little intimidating to this chicken but I love a slide!! Thanks!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Hi there!! We have 5 cruises under our belt but all were on The Magic!! This time we are going on The Fantasy! I saw where you mentioned the Mickey slide - is this different than the aquaduct?? Are adults allowed on the Mickey Slide?? The aquaduct looks a little intimidating to this chicken but I love a slide!! Thanks!

Not the OP but the Mickey slide and Aquaduck are two different slides. The Mickey slide is just for kids. I can't remember if its restriction is by height or age.

 

[kbovenizer]

The Mickey slide is for little kids. You have to be between a certain height range - and age limits. My oldest was too tall to ride it, but he's 5'8". The littler kids had a blast on it!

The aquaduck is fun. It's not TOO fast. It's worth doing at least once because the views are pretty cool. My 5 year old loved it! He had to go with an adult, but really enjoyed the ride. The lines for the aquaduck can be quite long. We rode it a bunch on St. Maarten day because we stayed on the ship and it was gloriously empty.

 

[KABoom]

What was your dinner rotation for the cruise? Glad you had a great time. We're looking forward to our Eastern in July.

 

[kbovenizer]

What was your dinner rotation for the cruise?

We were ERAERAE

We did Palo on our second E night and went to Cabanas on the second R night - due to sleepy kids and lack of interest in the menu choices.

 

[KABoom]

We were ERAERAE

We did Palo on our second E night and went to Cabanas on the second R night - due to sleepy kids and lack of interest in the menu choices.

Thanks! I wanted to confirm the rotation (1231231) for itinerary A. We have requested that same rotation and have Palo set for night 5.

 

[MUN]

I am pleased to hear you enjoyed your cruise! Can you tell me the name of the current captain?

Also, do you remember how much the taxi to Magens Bay was?

MUN

 

[kbovenizer]

I am pleased to hear you enjoyed your cruise! Can you tell me the name of the current captain?

Also, do you remember how much the taxi to Magens Bay was?

MUN

Current captain - I haven't a clue. Like the cruise director, I know I should pay attention to these things, but I didn't. We never saw him (although I am sure he was around). It's just not our thing... Sorry.

Taxi to Magen's Bay - They wanted 8/person one way. We had 8 people - 4 adults and 4 kids. My dad bartered with the taxi driver to let us ride for 60 dollars since some of the boys were small. They had a minivan at port and it was very comfortable. When we got there the driver arranged to pick us back up. We chose to leave earlier than expected and called to try to change, but had to just cancel. There is a different taxi company who controls Magen's Bay, so we rode back in a 15 person van with a different driver/company. We were able to get the same rate of 60 for all 8 of us. On the return trip we were with 2 other families as well.

Taxis were plentiful at both places. There was not a need to arrange for a specific driver/pick up time. This may be different on crowded days. The day we were at St. Thomas Disney was the only ship in port. That made the beach phenomenal if you like small crowds.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Did you by any chance notice the availability of the golf simulators? Everything online is already booked and I am imagining there has to be something available once on board, but was curious.

 

[kbovenizer]

Did you by any chance notice the availability of the golf simulators? Everything online is already booked and I am imagining there has to be something available once on board, but was curious.

We didn't try to do the sports simulators, but other things (like Palo/Remy reservations) that looked like they were totally booked online did have availability, so I would guess they hold some simulator times as well. I'd look into it on the first day though. We thought we would be able to decide on things like drink tastings after a couple of days and by the time we decided we wanted to try the martini tasting they were all fully booked.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I read on another thread about dining rotation on the Fantasy someone asked:

But then doesn't that put you in Animator's Palate for the 2nd formal night?

Are there two formal nights for dinner?

I don't really care what our rotation is (a big group of 6 adults and 3 kids), but want to make sure I am packed and dressed accordingly.

I looked at the navigators from September and was operating under this assumption:

Night 1 - cruise casual - likely jeans and a button up shirt or polo
Night 2 - Formal - suit
Night 3 - Cruise casual - either jeans or slacks and a button up shirt
Night 4 - Pirate Night
Night 5 - Cruise casual - either jeans or slacks and a button up shirt
Night 6 - Semi formal - suit
Night 7 - Cruise casual - either jeans or slacks and a button up shirt

 

[kbovenizer]

I looked at the navigators from September and was operating under this assumption:

Night 1 - cruise casual - likely jeans and a button up shirt or polo
Night 2 - Formal - suit
Night 3 - Cruise casual - either jeans or slacks and a button up shirt
Night 4 - Pirate Night
Night 5 - Cruise casual - either jeans or slacks and a button up shirt
Night 6 - Semi formal - suit
Night 7 - Cruise casual - either jeans or slacks and a button up shirt

So trust me when I say that just about anything goes - unless you are going to Palo/Remy. We had main/early seating - maybe things were more formal during the later seating.

I never saw a tux. I saw a handful of jackets and a couple of ties, but in general things were more casual than I expected.

My husband wore a suit coat with a polo shirt on formal night (and to Palo). He wore khakis and a polo for semi-formal night. All other nights he wore shorts and a polo shirt.

My boys wore long pants on formal night and shorts on all other evenings.

I wore a little black dress on formal night, sundress on semi-formal night and capris all other nights.

Wear what makes you comfortable!!! You will see it ALL there.

 

[kbovenizer]

I looked at the navigators from September and was operating under this assumption:

Also - if you look back through this thread, I posted updated navigators (minus Tuesday, which I lost) in one of the replies.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Wear what makes you comfortable!!! You will see it ALL there.

Yeah, thats the plan. I was curious if there were two formal nights though?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Are there two formal nights for dinner?

I don't really care what our rotation is (a big group of 6 adults and 3 kids), but want to make sure I am packed and dressed accordingly.

I looked at the navigators from September and was operating under this assumption:

Night 1 - cruise casual - likely jeans and a button up shirt or polo
Night 2 - Formal - suit
Night 3 - Cruise casual - either jeans or slacks and a button up shirt
Night 4 - Pirate Night
Night 5 - Cruise casual - either jeans or slacks and a button up shirt
Night 6 - Semi formal - suit
Night 7 - Cruise casual - either jeans or slacks and a button up shirt

You are correct with the schedule. There is one formal night and one semi-formal night. You are allowed to wear shorts in the MDRs so you could consider that for the cruise casual nights. I will warn that the MDRs seemed really cold to me so you might be more comfortable in long pants. I wore capris and a short sleeve blouse with a light sweater over top to the MDRs and I was glad I wasn't in shorts due to the air conditioning, but I'm usually on the cold side anyway.

 

[MUN]

Also - if you look back through this thread, I posted updated navigators (minus Tuesday, which I lost) in one of the replies.

When you are walking around the outside decks of the ship at night, did you need a jacket?

MUN

 

[LSUfan4444]

There is one formal night and one semi-formal night

Perfect...thanks.

 

[kbovenizer]

When you are walking around the outside decks of the ship at night, did you need a jacket

I had jackets and light sweaters packed, but never used them. If we were going to sit outside (like to watch Tunnel vision movie) I would have wanted a jacket, but we never did that. One morning while sitting on the balcony it was particularly windy and I was chilled enough to throw a towel around my shoulders, but it was probably only 6am. I didn't think the MDRs were cold, but it's probably because I was prepared. If I had left the sweaters in the room, I'm sure I'd have frozen to death.

 

[MUN]

I had jackets and light sweaters packed, but never used them. If we were going to sit outside (like to watch Tunnel vision movie) I would have wanted a jacket, but we never did that. One morning while sitting on the balcony it was particularly windy and I was chilled enough to throw a towel around my shoulders, but it was probably only 6am. I didn't think the MDRs were cold, but it's probably because I was prepared. If I had left the sweaters in the room, I'm sure I'd have frozen to death.

Thanks!