Just returned from Fantasy today

[jenushkask8s]

Did you buy the data package? Did you notice what it was and how much?

I only used the free 100mb concierge package. I don't remember the prices for the other packages. Sorry.

 

[GTRARNP]

Nope, we didn't get anything.

I would complain and see if they offer you something after the fact. That is terrible.

 

[GTRARNP]

View attachment 641419Here you go. They were really much nicer then I expected inside. Had flowers and hotel-ish looking inside for a portable bathroom.

How long did testing take?

 

[GTRARNP]

Yep this week was supposed to be an Eastern with stops in Tortola and St Thomas. They changed it on us last week. We were supposed to be on it until my DH got a positive hit on his Covid test at home.

I’m so sorry to hear this. What was the procedure once you tested positive at home? Did you call DCL/TA and did they give you a problem changing so close to your sail date? We are sailing 3/17 and hubby and I were just discussing “what ifs”. TIA!

 

[GTRARNP]

Now I'm intrigued...headed off to listen!

What is this?? Podcast? Where do I find it?

 

[GTRARNP]

Happy to answer any questions. We booked an Eastern Caribbean. Were supposed to go to St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, ad CC. We found out 48 hours out that it was going to Cozumel, Costa Maya and Nassau. We knew it might happen. We've been re-routed on lots of cruises - both Disney and other cruise lines. We're very much used to it We were on the Bahamas/WDW cruise a few years ago that got re-routed to Canada 2 days before because of a hurricane. We knew we would need to be flexible so we were totally OK with it and decided to just go and enjoy ourselves.

We have been to Cozumel lots of times. We'd never been to Costa Maya so we did some very quick research and found a resort called Maya Chan. We booked it and were on our way. We stayed at the Hyatt the night before for the first time and really liked it. Extremely convenient! The testing at the port was stressful but went just fine. We had tested a couple times before we left so we felt pretty confident about it.

There were only 1300 on board according to the crew. It was a ghost town - even quieter than our surprise Canada cruise. As soon as we were on board we saw that the itinerary had changed again! All of the days were moved around and we were only at Costa Maya until 12:30! We were super bummed because we'd gotten very excited about Maya Chan. We had to quickly get a hold of the owners and cancel before we lost our cell service.

We went to Nassau early in the week and only got off the ship for about 30 minutes since my daughter had never been there and was curious. She'd had enough almost immediately. But when we got there we looked at the itinerary and it had changed again! We were back to being at Costa Maya until 4:45 so we hurried and reached out to the Maya Chan owners and asked if we could reinstate our reservation.....again. Yay!

The next day we pulled up to Castaway Cay. Everyone was giddy with excitement. With the itinerary changes this was by far the stop that we were looking forward to the most. We pulled up...saw the glorious island....then just sailed away. No one knew what was going on - including the crew. They said it was too windy. At this point and after all of the changes we were extremely sad. That was possibly our only planned beach day since the other ports were booked too late to really plan anything. The entire ship was so quiet and sad for the rest of the day.

To top it off the itinerary had changed AGAIN. We were once again leaving Costa Maya at 12:30. It was insane. Why bother going to a port for a few hours? There's not enough time to do anything there. When I chatted with Guest Services they said it was so we could try and get back to CC for Day 6 and leaving Costa Maya early was the only way we could get there in time. I hated sacrificing another port. But, I loved the idea of trying for CC again. So, we looked at the bright side and carried on.

Star Wars Day at Sea was fine. We enjoyed it and had a fun pool day. No Vader take-over. But we had a good time. The constant changes were making everyone's plans pure chaos. Salon reservations, port excursions, tastings, Palo, etc. were all over the place the whole week.

At Cozumel we went to Paradise Beach at the last minute and really enjoyed it. We'd never been there before. As we were pulling up I was doing quick searches to see what our options were. We usually go to our favorite restaurant when we're in Cozumel. But, because we missed CC and couldn't do anything at Costa Maya we wanted to find a beach. We also spoke to some of the local taxi drivers about the beaches. In the end we loved Paradise Beach and will definitely book it again if we go back.

Costa Maya was a quick blur. We were literally there for a few hours. We walked around the port. Went to a restaurant and got back to the ship at 12. It was so beautiful there. I would have loved to have had more time and want to go back at some point.

Once back on the ship I saw that Day 6 still said that it was a Sea Day. I chatted with Guest Services and they said that there were never any plans to try CC again. We wouldn't be going back. And, they said that we were leaving Costa May because of weather??? But, it had changed a few days before so that was clearly not correct. But, it sunk in that this was it. No CC or anything else. Outside of Nassau we had one port.

I absolutely LOVE DCL. I'm hard pressed to find any fault with them. But, part of me wishes we had cancelled. We made the best of it and had a great time because we made up our minds to do so. The crew was amazing as always. But, we just watched one thing after another get removed throughout the trip. There was a very long line at Guest Services pretty much at all times. There were some extremely unhappy people on the ship. Especially over leaving Costa Maya so early and changing things back and forth so many times throughout the week. And, not because ports were turning us away. Changes would just appear on the itinerary without any announcement. And no one was being given consistent information.

All in all we had a great week. I still love DCL and of course cruising during a pandemic means you need to be flexible. But, all of the changes were downgrades. We booked an Eastern Caribbean and in the end got Nassau and Cozumel. It felt like we went to Costa Maya so they could say they took us somewhere. Even the crew said it seemed silly to bother going and couldn't understand why it kept changing back and forth. I really wish Guest Services hadn't told me that we were going back to CC at the end of the week as it became clear from others in GS that this was not correct and had never been the plan. That was just painful since we all got our hopes up.

We had a great time being with our kids. Enjoyed the dining and crew. It is what it is. I know the entire cruising industry is in a tough spot right now. Just wanted to share how the last week went and our take on it. Let me know if there are any questions!

Thanks you so much for this report! We are scheduled 3/17 on Fantasy Eastern itinerary, so I will watch closely what happens over the next 6 weeks. How long did testing take at the port? I just want to prepare my kiddos for this since we have not sailed since 2018. Did you kids go to the kids club? How was that? Was there ever a time they were “full” due to the limited capacity right now? TIA! Erin

 

[mzspaz]

I’m so sorry to hear this. What was the procedure once you tested positive at home? Did you call DCL/TA and did they give you a problem changing so close to your sail date? We are sailing 3/17 and hubby and I were just discussing “what ifs”. TIA!

Our TA handled everything. We had already picked out a backup cruise that worked with our schedules (unfortunately it isn't until October and not a SWDAS), so I was able to give him that information. It is slightly less expensive, so we will be getting a refund (that I will just leave on the Disney Gift Card and use that on the cruise) but we did lose our placeholder deposit of $200. Not sure why as I haven't reviewed all the paperwork yet. I've spent the last week like an ostrich with my head buried trying not to think about the missed opportunity.

On a good note, my husband only felt like he had a cold. He never really had any symptoms other than a stuffy nose. On day 5, he did a rapid antigen test and that was negative, so he was cleared to go back to work and picked up a shift yesterday.

 

[Geomom]

Our TA handled everything. We had already picked out a backup cruise that worked with our schedules (unfortunately it isn't until October and not a SWDAS), so I was able to give him that information. It is slightly less expensive, so we will be getting a refund (that I will just leave on the Disney Gift Card and use that on the cruise) but we did lose our placeholder deposit of $200. Not sure why as I haven't reviewed all the paperwork yet. I've spent the last week like an ostrich with my head buried trying not to think about the missed opportunity.

On a good note, my husband only felt like he had a cold. He never really had any symptoms other than a stuffy nose. On day 5, he did a rapid antigen test and that was negative, so he was cleared to go back to work and picked up a shift yesterday.

As far as your placeholder, if it's from pre-covid, those were extended out to 9/30/22, so October would be just past that extension. Our placeholder is from our 2018 cruise, so I'm happy we're still able to use it for our June 2022 cruise (hopefully!)

So sorry you had to move the cruise due to covid, but glad your DH had mild symptoms.

 

[Cheburashka]

It could indeed be they were hoping to try again for CC but the weather did not cooperate.

It seems very likely to me that this was the case. They probably did plan to try again, and that's where those rumors came from. But as time passed they looked at the weather patterns & decided it was no use.

 

[Gatrcruzer]

I am so sorry to hear about your experiences - that is so disappointing! How shocking that the captain didn't provide better communication. In the past, when there were issues on Royal Caribbean cruises we were always kept informed about issues, reasons for missed ports, etc. by the captain. And no provision of any credit for the changes is pretty weak. At the very least they should be refunding for differences in port charges. I guess this is just what travel is like right now, particularly cruising. Just expected Disney to perform at a slightly higher standard.You have my sympathies.

 

[*pixie*]

Hey, we were on the fantasy Jan.8-15. We missed the port at St. Thomas, but had 2 days at Castaway Cay. Had we not made it the day before we would have missed it all together. The 2nd day, which was our day to be there, the winds were extreme. The ship was moving while docked. Our itinerary changed constantly also. It was beyond annoying. There were no shows on the itinerary and then all of a sudden they were doing Believe, which is my least favorite show Disney Cruise does, but I was glad to have it after only having a juggler and a group that was talented but not a good show. We were thrilled they were able to throw in Frozen, which had not been on the itinerary either, for 2 days straight. Frozen was superb, we loved it. We have done a Star Wars themed cruise before and ours was decent, but no where near what it was in 2019. We are to go on the Disney Magic for the Hawaii Cruise in May, and I'm nervous the same will be the case, the only hope is that we make all of the ports. My husband and I made the best of the cruise as well, but we did get very bored. I will say the food was amazing, better than the last few DCL cruises we were on. The staff was very nice and helpful, but there was a sadness about the ship. We had 1468 or 1464 passengers, per the DVC guy.

We were also on this cruise. We had an amazing time, but I was beyond frustrated with the lack of communication with all the constant changes. I feel like we missed out on a lot because we weren't constantly checking the app to see the changes. I think it was Thursday night when I realized they were doing outdoor photos without masks. I wish I would have noticed this earlier when we were more dressed up and could've gotten more photos. Luckily my daughter happened to catch that they added Frozen so we did get to see it. I also completely missed the scavenger hunt on SWDAS? We didn't find out we were skipping St. Thomas until the night before when we were leaving dinner. Not sure when they made that announcement. Another one of my kids also fortunately caught on the app that when St. Thomas was cancelled, they also shifted some of our tastings around. No notification, you just had to catch it on the app.

I really, really, miss the paper navigators and the little cards they used to leave in the room reminding you of your booked events, changing time zones, etc. I felt like I just couldn't keep up with checking the app all the time, and quite frankly, I didn't want to be checking the app constantly. I can't imagine being first time cruisers right now.

Fortunately all the crew were beyond fabulous and more than made up for all the other annoyances.

 

[Snowwhyt]

How long did testing take?

From the time I walked over the street near parking to the first line, to back over the street to the terminal was 11:46-12:53 my Fantasy sailing had extra customers to avoid the new vaccine required for children on 1/13.

 

[MickeyT]

Did you buy the data package? Did you notice what it was and how much?

I bought the 'medium' package and it was 300MB for $40. It was enough to check emails and use Messenger to communicate with family.
They did offer small, medium and large. It is pretty expensive as data gets gone pretty fast.

It seems very likely to me that this was the case. They probably did plan to try again, and that's where those rumors came from. But as time passed they looked at the weather patterns & decided it was no use.

I was on this cruise and two points.

It wasn't rumors. Guest services messaged me through the app on Monday that we would be going back to Castaway Cay on Friday. Every crew member echoed this. Servers. Cabin steward. Granted, no ship announcements.

We knew through mere logistics on Wednesday it would be impossible to return to CC on Friday with the abbreviated stop at Costa Maya. The weather on Friday coming around Cuba up to Port Canaveral was beautiful.

I'm sure there was some reason we didn't return. We knew the itinerary had changed from Eastern to Western before we boarded. Then the port days changed again after we boarded (flipping CC from Friday to Monday). Just a little information high level on the changes and what was going on would have been more in line with what we have grown accustomed to with DCL.

Still enjoyed and will be going back. Just an unusual trip in unusual times for DCL.

 

[Cheburashka]

It wasn't rumors. Guest services messaged me through the app on Monday that we would be going back to Castaway Cay on Friday. Every crew member echoed this. Servers. Cabin steward. Granted, no ship announcements.

The non-official information that you just described is what I referred to in verbal shorthand as "rumors".

 

[Kwami]

The non-official information that you just described is what I referred to in verbal shorthand as "rumors".

I don't know. I think information from guest services is official enough to be "official". GS wouldn't be saying things like that if the higher-ups hadn't told them to.

 

[scroogie]

I would complain and see if they offer you something after the fact. That is terrible.

Tip: if you hit the "+ Quote" button on every post you want to respond to, it will allow you to respond to all of them in a single post, rather than 5 posts one after the other.

 

[FigmentSpark]

How many weeks (days?) before your cruise were you notified that it changed from Eastern to Western? Were you able to find excursions you wanted easily or were they booked up quickly?

 

[Kwami]

How many weeks (days?) before your cruise were you notified that it changed from Eastern to Western? Were you able to find excursions you wanted easily or were they booked up quickly?

They announced it about two days before sailing.

 

[jenushkask8s]

How many weeks (days?) before your cruise were you notified that it changed from Eastern to Western? Were you able to find excursions you wanted easily or were they booked up quickly?

We found out about the initial change 2 days before sailing and then were handed a letter while boarding informing us of the 2nd change.

Since it changed so close to the sail date, we weren't able to see what excursions were available until roughly mid-afternoon on embarkation day.

 

[lanejudy]

… but we did lose our placeholder deposit of $200.

Did you actually get penalized the $200? Or just lost the OBB benefit (discount)? October is past the extended deadline for using a pre-Covid OBB, but the $200 should just roll-in with the rest of your funds to go towards the new cruise. No discount but no loss of actual funds paid.