March 23, 2013 FANTASY - The Final Inaugural Cruise of the Disney Fantasy

[lbgraves]

Well, count us in! After waiting and waiting on the Magic 2013 European itineraries, they turned out to be largely repeats of the 10-night we did in 2010. So, we moved our dummy booking to this cruise, which is my DD's Spring Break 2013. Yay! Looks like a great group of people to sail with!

to the crew!!! How old is your DD going to be on the cruise?

 

[lbgraves]

You're just making this harder

But the two-week PC will generally be during the girls' school year and I think we're almost at the time when we can't take them out for that long. But this is such a hard decision!

I really need to win the lottery

Well, it would really depend on how old they will be. It is more difficult at the end of the year once they start with the end of grade tests. One thing that made us decided on the EB was that it started before school started & we could spend some time in CA at DL. [They were in 3rd & 4rd grade that year.] The kids and I had never been to the west coast so it was our first trip to DL. I didn't want to do the WB, rush to get on a plane to get the kids back to school and never see anything in CA except for the port & the airport. It's like going on the TA. We were going to spend a week in Barcelona to make it worth the cost of the plane ticket.

 

[Kirbo]

Well, it would really depend on how old they will be. It is more difficult at the end of the year once they start with the end of grade tests. One thing that made us decided on the EB was that it started before school started & we could spend some time in CA at DL. [They were in 3rd & 4rd grade that year.] The kids and I had never been to the west coast so it was our first trip to DL. I didn't want to do the WB, rush to get on a plane to get the kids back to school and never see anything in CA except for the port & the airport. It's like going on the TA. We were going to spend a week in Barcelona to make it worth the cost of the plane ticket.

They are seven now and will be eight, almost nine, when the WBPC happens. The end of 3rd grade. We are also thinking that the following year, 2014, might be our last chance for a transatlantic. Once they go to middle school (that starts in 5th grade here) we won't be able to take them out of school for this stuff.

We actually are still up in the air about doing the EBTA or the WBPC. But if we do the TA we would need to stay in Barcelona for a few days. We couldn't just come right back home. That will make the trip almost three weeks with flights in and out . So we're leaning toward the PC, we really don't need to spend extra time in Miami or in LA (we're doing the MR again in three weeks).

It'd be nice if we could just take a few cruises each year .

It's nice to have such hard choices

 

[Boutilier]

Just wanted to say Hi. I just cancelled our September Fantasy cruise due to a change in fall break dates. Fortunately this cruise is on my kid's spring break. This will be our 3rd DCL cruise. We did Alaska & Mexico last year.
Our family consists of me - Jennifer, DH, DS (12) & DD (10). My parents and brothers will also be joining us. This is their first cruise. We are hoping to spend the week prior to the cruise at WDW.
My family enjoyed the FE on our last cruise and would like to do it again. I'm not sure my parents or brothers will participate yet but we'll see.
We are headed to Aulani this March for spring break and I am very excited to see the resort!
Hope you all are having a great weekend!
Jennifer

 

[FabFivePA]

Jennifer! I will have a 10 yr old DD on this one as well.

Definitely would love to hear a report on Aulani!! Have a great trip!

 

[FabFivePA]

Hey! My ticker says 1 year, 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day! We're gettin' there.

 

[lauriegs]

Hi everyone! well I now feel safe posting on this thread - just found out the kids' spring break dates for next year, and thankfully I guessed correctly, so we WILL be joining you all on this cruise! Yea!

I'm Laurie, dh is Mark, we have a son Josh who will be almost 15 at time of sailing, and Katie will be 13. This will be our 3rd disney cruise, and we are dvc members as well. Boy we got hooked after our first cruise, and finding out about the great onboard booking advantage!

We've been on a 5 night cruise on both the Wonder and the Dream, so really looking forward to a 7 night!

 

[willy3002]

Hi everybody their will be four of us on this cruise first time on a Disney DD will be 10.

 

[lbgraves]

to all the newcomers!!! I am getting pretty excited about the MV. Can't wait to share with you guys.

 

[lauriegs]

I confess I'm a bit jealous you are going on the MV, but am very excited that we can get a firsthand account of the new ship from you when you return!! I'm sure it will be an amazing time!

 

[lbgraves]

Honestly, I still can't believe we are going!!!

 

[FabFivePA]

Laurie and Willie! Great to see our group growing!
Lisa, it's getting so close for you!!

 

[hbg4]

to all the newcomers!!! I am getting pretty excited about the MV. Can't wait to share with you guys.

Yes please let us know when you post pictures and a trip report of the Fantasy.


BTW does anyone know when the NYC school calendar for 2012/13 comes out ?
I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I didn't book this cruise in the wrong week. I got such a deal that I'm willing to .......

 

[lbgraves]

I have set up a FB page for this cruise and will be able to upload pictures and short reports there pretty easily. I don't post trip reports here, but will probably do a blog/note there. It is listed under "DCL Fantasy Spring Break March 23, 2013". Send me a PM here to let me know that you are a part of the DIS group if you send a request. I've found that a FB group has helped to keep some discussions grouped and easier to keep up with, along with a private group being a bit more secure than an open forum for planning and information.

 

[FabFivePA]

Awesome, Lisa! Thanks! I just messaged you.

 

[DetailGal]

Phew, well I just read through all 9 pages to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I see an FE list hasn't been started yet. It is early. =) When we get to the point of putting one together I think we'll want to be included.

We are
Kara
Jeremy DH
Ethan DS10
Owen DS8
Maella DD4

(kids ages are at time of march 2013 sailing)

We (DH & I) did a 3n cruise in Dec to check it all out (dream to nassau and CC). Loved it and rebooked while on OB for march 2013. As January of this year brought us closer to this year's spring break we wanted so badly to do it this year, so we last minute planned a cruise for this spring break as well. We'll be on the magic 3/17 this year (our spring break moves to a week later next year). So this march will be our kids first cruise ever and our first one for anything longer than 3-4n. We did a 4 nighter on RCL about 7 years ago and at that time thought cruising wasn't for us. After our DCL trip in dec we are excited to start cruising with our kids. We've done lots of WDW the past several years.

 

[willy3002]

I have set up a FB page for this cruise and will be able to upload pictures and short reports there pretty easily. I don't post trip reports here, but will probably do a blog/note there. It is listed under "DCL Fantasy Spring Break March 23, 2013". Send me a PM here to let me know that you are a part of the DIS group if you send a request. I've found that a FB group has helped to keep some discussions grouped and easier to keep up with, along with a private group being a bit more secure than an open forum for planning and information.

Hi is their any other way of doing this forum then with FB??

 

[willy3002]

Phew, well I just read through all 9 pages to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I see an FE list hasn't been started yet. It is early. =) When we get to the point of putting one together I think we'll want to be included.

We are
Kara
Jeremy DH
Ethan DS10
Owen DS8
Maella DD4

(kids ages are at time of march 2013 sailing)

We (DH & I) did a 3n cruise in Dec to check it all out (dream to nassau and CC). Loved it and rebooked while on OB for march 2013. As January of this year brought us closer to this year's spring break we wanted so badly to do it this year, so we last minute planned a cruise for this spring break as well. We'll be on the magic 3/17 this year (our spring break moves to a week later next year). So this march will be our kids first cruise ever and our first one for anything longer than 3-4n. We did a 4 nighter on RCL about 7 years ago and at that time thought cruising wasn't for us. After our DCL trip in dec we are excited to start cruising with our kids. We've done lots of WDW the past several years.

Can you tell me what is a FE list is?

 

[DetailGal]

I'll reply but don't call me an expert yet b/c I'm still to take part in my first FE Exchange. We'll be doing it this March. FE stands for Fish Extender. On the Wonder and Magic there is a fish outside your stateroom door. A Fish Extender then is something that hangs from your fish (search for it on etsy.com and you'll see some cool pics). I don't remember from when we were on the Dream in Dec, or for that matter what it will be on the fantasy but I am sure there is something like the fish outside your stateroom door. The FE becomes something your room steward or others can put things in. And thus was born I guess the exchange. Prior to a cruise people form a list saying if they are interested in being included. It's kind of like a secret santa thing, or you can include names too. So if say we have 40 rooms who want to participate, each room would put together a small gift for the other 39 rooms and deliver them at some point during the cruise. In turn they would get 39 gifts from the others. I've read of some people setting it up with parameters like homemade gifts, one gift per room, one gift for each person (think dollar store type gifts for kids, practical stuff for mom, etc). I believe a group could decide however they wanted to do it. Before the cruise sets sail and with enough time to put together gifts, everyone on the list would get the full list of people participating, along with which stateroom you'll be in so they know where to deliver the gifts. If a stateroom changes or you're on GTY category you can just slip a note in everyone's FE on night 1 to say which stateroom they'll find your FE hanging at. Hope that helps!

 

[lbgraves]

I just learned that I can post a link to the FB group so you can find it!!! It's at https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/171229406326099/.

The FB page is not a replacement for the thread here. This is still great for chatting and getting to know each other. The FB page is simply a more secure place. For example, on the current cruise we have names, room numbers, where we are from, and kids names included on the crew list. This has helped several people meet up prior to the cruise where they may not have realized they were so close otherwise. It also resulted in two people who work at Hopkins Medical Center to be able to give personal support to fellow cruisers when their daughter was admitted there for a critical injury.