Just off the Fantasy, some observations

[funfam]

I just got off the Fantasy and thought I would share my observations:
As always, the cast members were awesome. Our stateroom host and serving staff were great. The kids loved the staff in the Oceaneer's Club and Vibe. The only staff that were less than magical were the Guest Services staff.
The character interaction was great when they were out. Never in all my times sailing on DCL have I seen such a small amount and variety of character meet and greets. Also, we were very disappointed to see almost no greetings before the Late Dining. There were several before the early dining but not before the late dining. In the past, we have had plenty of characters available in the 6:30-8:15pm hours. Not this cruise. For example, I found an old Navigator and from 7:15-8:30pm there were 5 different character meet and greets! When I spoke to guest services about this, they just blew me off.
Remy was fantastic as usual though I was disappointed to see the same menu as we had in April. I had hoped they would change it up a bit. We will skip it on our next cruise since three times with the same dishes and wine pairings makes no sense to me.
There were decidedly less adult activities on this cruise, especially during the day. If you didn't want to do an alcohol tasting, your options were quite limited. There were many more options on our cruise in April.
The cost of merchandise is really getting out of hand. I just won't spend $30 - $40 for a Tee Shirt!
The food on Castaway Cay was not very good at all. We ate at Cookies since we had our 9 year old and I was less impressed than ever. The burgers were overcooked and pretty tasteless. I was never a huge fan of Cookies and this was the worst it has ever been.
The hours for the pool and Aquaduck were not good if you like a night swim.
We did snorkeling excursions on both Cozumel and Grand Cayman. Both were very well run with good staff. The snorkeling at Devil's Grotto in Grand Cayman was much better than any of the three reefs we did in Cozumel. If you only book one snorkeling excursion, I would do it on Grand Cayman. The snorkeling was great and even my 9 year old had no issues.
We very much enjoyed the Halloween night activities and dressing up. This was a lot of fun for the whole family!
The professional photographers did a wonderful job on our cruise photos and I was glad I had pre-purchased the CD of all the pics.
All in all, the Magic just wasn't there as much as in the past. When you factor in the early pool closings, lack of Mickey Mail, less character greetings and the new alcohol policy, I think our Star Wars cruise in April may be our last DCL cruise for quite awhile.
Feel free to ask me any questions!

 

[IAMASTITCHER]

Thanks for the update - we will be on the Fantasy in November.

 

[awilliams4]

Thanks for the feedback. We got off the Fantasy a few weeks ago and we are not drinkers and I also noticed there was not tons of adult things to do during the day.

 

[MsJiminyCricket]

We were on the Med cruise on the Magic two summers ago and while our kids had tons of stuff to do each night, we often found ourselves with nothing to do. All of the clubs were just filled with music - no game shows, etc. We had a lot to do each night on the Fantasy this past summer - so I hope we have it again next summer. Were there no adult shows in The Tube?

 

[funfam]

There were activities and shows at night, but during the day, it was sorely lacking.

 

[STLEdge]

Thanks for this - we're going on the Fantasy in a couple weeks. We haven't been on the Fantasy in a few years, so I'm looking forward to the new Remy menu (we're doing a brunch and a dinner again). Good to know about the daytime lack of adult activities; maybe we'll try to book a tasting or two in advance to compensate.

 

[mcd2745]

The character interaction was great when they were out. Never in all my times sailing on DCL have I seen such a small amount and variety of character meet and greets.

Also, we were very disappointed to see almost no greetings before the Late Dining. There were several before the early dining but not before the late dining. In the past, we have had plenty of characters available in the 6:30-8:15pm hours. Not this cruise. For example, I found an old Navigator and from 7:15-8:30pm there were 5 different character meet and greets! When I spoke to guest services about this, they just blew me off.

I found the same thing when we were on the Fantasy a year ago. It wasn't just the lack of character greets, though, it's all activities. Once it came to the time for the first seating dinner (and showtime for those with second seating dinner), the rest of the ship, for all intents and purposes, shut down. They either just assume everyone is going to the show or to dinner, or they want to force everyone to do that by providing no alternatives for you to enjoy. Maybe they'll be a movie on funnel vision...that's about it. If you forego your designated dinner/showtime, there's very little to do.

The hours for the pool and Aquaduck were not good if you like a night swim.

Don't get me started on this. Aquaduck should be open until 1-2am every night. Pools and hot tubs (all of them - not just in the adult area) should be open 24/7, only closing one at a time briefly for cleaning and maintenance. (same goes for pools at WDW too)

 

[n2mm]

We just got off the fantasy on 9/19. We found ourselves at most of the trivia events. We didn't do the tastings. Mostly we lounged. We ate at serenity bay on our castaway cay day and we had ribeye steaks and salmon, along with ribs, and burgers. When we cruise with the family we eat eat cookies and have never been impressed. You can imagine my surprise to the menu on the adult beach. We took our own adult drinks on this cruise since the old rule was in effect. We were booked in a 5E cabin so had an oversized veranda with 2 lounge chairs, 2 sitting chairs and a small table. We found our way back there every afternoon for drinks and quiet time. I will miss not being able to make our own drinks. When not in our cabin we enjoyed the different drinks of the day. We loved the adult lounging areas on the fantasy, which is different than the other ships. We generally found our way to the aqua duck on port days. We always came back early from our island visit and hit the aqua duck with no wait. We find each ship is so different. We did like the fantasy, but we really enjoy the smaller ships too.

 

[lillygator]

thank you for the feedback. we set sail on the fantasy next year. our first time. I am disappointed in the hours of the hot tubs and pools, seems ridiculous especially if there is not much offered for adults later in the evening. we have late dining and would love to be able to enjoy the hot tubs after dinner. also disappointing is the new alcohol policy. seems ridiculous.

 

[kittylady1972]

We have our first cruise on the Fantasy in just over a week. I saw some of the more recent personal navigators for our E. Caribb cruise and I'm trying to plan out activities that we want to do. We really enjoy BINGO on the ship and many of the Trivia activities as well. I didn't see as many draw a character classes as I was hoping, but that's an activity I've wanted to do on the last two cruises but the timing has never worked out so hoping to get that in this time. We also enjoy movies and have refrained from going to see Inside Out just so we can see it together. Between those activities and just relaxing by the pool, and maybe joining up with our kids to do some fun stuff (mini-golf, shuffleboard) I'm hoping we'll be well entertained. My kids are the ones that want the constant entertainment anyway. As an adult, I'm happy to spend plenty of time just relaxing by the pool and maybe reading.

Looks like the pool and Aquaduck are open until 10pm and 11pm our last night of the cruise, and some earlier closings on nights like Pirate Night. Most nights it looks like the pools are open until 10/10:30pm and Aquaduck until 11pm so that will hopefully be good for us.

Sorry there wasn't more to keep you busy.

 

[arielmomma]

I also just got off the Fantasy this past weekend. I agree with you on daytime activities for adults. Don't get me wrong, my hubby and I found things to do, but there weren't as many activities as they were in the past. I also agree with you about the hours for the pools and slides. It seemed like whenever we had the time to swim, they were closed.

I do disagree with you about Cookies though. In the past, I've never much cared for it, but this time, I actually thought it was okay. My spicy chicken sandwich was pretty good. I also liked the German potato salad and sauerkraut. Another thing, my kids enjoyed the addition of the Disney Junior Character meal. That was a nice new touch. Plus, we had a member of our waitstaff from a previous cruise at the breakfast and she remembered us. That was fun.

Overall, it was a wonderful cruise. We came home several pounds heavier, exhausted, and filled with magical memories. Still, some things have changed and not all of them for the better....

 

[Carie Baker]

We just got back from Alaska on the Wonder and the lack of Adult entertainment that is not tastings or night clubs is just as lacking on that ship as it sounds like from this post. We haven't been on the Fantasy before and are booked for the Star Wars cruise in March. I'm a little bummed that it doesn't sound like the adult factor will be much better.

 

[mlayton14]

What kinds of adult activities were missing that previously existed?

 

[holula]

We felt the same as you last time we sailed DCL, which was on the Wonder in December. The amount of activities and characters they have cut back on makes it not worth the price point for us any more. I definitely agree about there being nothing to do during the show if you don't want to see it but that's always been an issue on DCL IMO.

 

[Spart02]

I'm also curious about what specifically they dropped for adult activities compared to before.

 

[DisneyDreams16]

Thanks for the info, sailing in 3 weeks.