May 31, 2014 Fantasy Eastern Caribbean Meet thread!

[lovetocruiseDCL]

I realize I'm late on catching up- but just wanted to say that we did Coral World on our own (not through the ship) when we took the Magic back in 2007. It is a smaller 'marine' park- but it was very nice for our 'small' kids (ages 5 & 2 at the time). I don't know that if you have much older kids it would be worth the money. We also walked next door to Coki Beach which was a nice, gentle beach for kids. You do have to 'rent' chairs. (I think it was $5 a chair or something) and they have drinks/food there. I liked the beach... That was also 6 years ago- so things could have changed.

If you do go, I would suggest doing it on your own. It's an easy taxi ride. And will give you time to do the park & the beach at your own pace.

Thanks for the input! It really helps.

 

[jmjmomof3]

How do I get my family added to the FE list?

 

[JnDRader]

How do I get my family added to the FE list?

Contact Kayla either via PM or on the Facebook group.

 

[Alcheramie]

So, I have read that the beaches are topless, etc. I'm not saying don't go, just be prepared that you might have to explain.

Does anyone else who has been to the beaches have something to add? I would like to get an idea of just what to expect on the beaches so I can discuss it with the kiddos beforehand. Or get beach recs from others... Thanks!

We've been on this cruise with these same ports. In St Maarten we went to a beach but stayed on the Dutch side with the kids and didn't see anyone topless. The following info I found on the Internet looking for excursions and thought I would copy and paste.

St.Maarten is an extension of France and Holland, therefore topless sunbathing has become accepted just about everywhere on the island.
Nudity is usually confined to Orient Beach, Le Galion Beach and Tintamere or Flat Island on the French side and to some extent at the far end of Cupecoy Beach on the Dutch side. Although you may encounter nude sunbathing on some of the more isolated beaches, it is adviseable to confine your experience to your private villa or the Orient Beach area.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

So, I have read that the beaches are topless, etc. I'm not saying don't go, just be prepared that you might have to explain.

Does anyone else who has been to the beaches have something to add? I would like to get an idea of just what to expect on the beaches so I can discuss it with the kiddos beforehand. Or get beach recs from others... Thanks!

We've been on this cruise with these same ports. In St Maarten we went to a beach but stayed on the Dutch side with the kids and didn't see anyone topless. The following info I found on the Internet looking for excursions and thought I would copy and paste.

St.Maarten is an extension of France and Holland, therefore topless sunbathing has become accepted just about everywhere on the island.
Nudity is usually confined to Orient Beach, Le Galion Beach and Tintamere or Flat Island on the French side and to some extent at the far end of Cupecoy Beach on the Dutch side. Although you may encounter nude sunbathing on some of the more isolated beaches, it is adviseable to confine your experience to your private villa or the Orient Beach area.

After two visits to St. Maarten with Disney and stops at three beaches on both sides of the island, you may find topless sunbathing on any beach (Dutch or French side). But honestly, it was almost entirely nonexistent (just one person who was easy to avoid) at each of the two Dutch beaches we visited (Maho - the airplane beach and Great Bay - the public beach near the port where the water taxi drops you off). Chances are you wont' encounter topless sunbathers on the Dutch side but don't be surprised if you do.

If you visit Orient, you will encounter topless sunbathers on this huge beach. On the day we were there, it would have been hard to avoid the 1/2 dozen or so topless swimmers and sunbathers scattered about. Our tour guide even pointed out a nudist resort on the beach, but it is fairly secluded and well marked. It is quite far from where both Bernards and Disney stop at Orient.

I would still recommend Maho or Great Bay beaches if you're looking for a beach stop at St. Maarten.

 

[fragas55425]

If anyone is interested, on October 14, 2013 Southwest Airlines will release flight schedules and fares through June 6, 2014.

However, we return in Port Canaveral on June 7, 2014, so I guess we will have to buy one way tickets each way. Unless we wait until fares come out for June 7 to book flights.

 

[jmjmomof3]

Kayla, I sent you a pm about 2 weeks ago to be added to the FE list but it doesn't show up in my messages at all. Did you get it?

 

[lovetocruiseDCL]

Kayla,
I also sent you a PM about the FE groups. You can just add us to group C. We would be happy with that. Thanks!

 

[Linda67]

Hi everyone

On the facebook group page, I have set up a list for people who may be interesting in a private beverage tasting on our cruise

As one of the group has rightly pointed out, not everyone on this thread is a member of the FB group so I thought I would post the details here:

I've been in touch with DCL about setting up a private Mixology/Tasting Session on one of our sea days.

The minimum number for a private session is 25 and the maximum number is 40.

We would need to provide DCL with our preferred date and time (1st choice, 2nd choice etc.) along with a list of names and stateroom numbers of guests.

Once confirmed, each individual participant would automatically be charged $15 to their on-board account and no-shows would not be refunded.

DCL would arrange a private space based on final numbers.

If you are interested please PM me and I will add you to the list; we have 25 interested people already so I am confident we will meet the minimums

I won't confirm dates and times with DCL for a while yet, and we will need to have a poll regarding preferred date and time, but please note that once confirmed you will find the $15 PP fee added to your on-board account and it's non-refundable

Thanks everyone

Lx

 

[scottb8888]

So it's $15pp+ the cost of beverage?

 

[lovetocruiseDCL]

So it's $15pp+ the cost of beverage?

It is $15 total per person. This is just like the mixology beverage seminars offered on ship, but private for our group. Here is a blog post that describes the experience. Just remember that you have to be a part of our group and make your arrangement prior to cruising.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2013/03/mixology-on-the-disney-fantasy/

 

[Linda67]

Just a heads up everyone:
We have 30 confirmed names for the private mixology session already and the max. number of guests is 40 (DCL's restriction) we also have 6 people down as tentative so I have reached out to them to ask if they have made a decision yet
I can set up a reserve list as there are always drop outs but it's filling up fast!

 

[Linda67]

Hi everyone
It looks like I am going to start wait-listing any further requests to join the private mixology session as we now only have one spot left!
I have two people listed as 'tentative' and have messaged them to see if they want to confirm.
If they don't want to be included we would then have three spots left available
I won't send the list off to DCL until probably January and will check back that everyone is still keen before I do so we could still have new spots open up
Best way to contact me is through PM as I haven't been checking this thread very often
Thanks
Linda

 

[laceltris3]

Hello everyone. I know I am late to the party, but we just booked for our family of 5. It will be our first Disney Cruise! My kids will be 8, 5 and 2 when we sail and my parents have decided to come too. I am just starting to wade through the 19 pages to get caught up, but am so thankful to be able to learn from you all who are experienced with DCL. If all goes well, we will probably book Alaska for 2015.

 

[lauralynn0612]

Hello everyone. I know I am late to the party, but we just booked for our family of 5. It will be our first Disney Cruise! My kids will be 8, 5 and 2 when we sail and my parents have decided to come too. I am just starting to wade through the 19 pages to get caught up, but am so thankful to be able to learn from you all who are experienced with DCL. If all goes well, we will probably book Alaska for 2015.

Welcome! Are you on Facebook? We have a very active Facebook page. Facebook is also where we have set up the FE groups if you are interested in joining those.

 

[cluna]

We just booked our family of four today! Our kids ages 14 and 10 will be sailing with us. This is our second Disney Cruise and will be celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary on this vacation.

We sailed on the Wonder in 2011 and can't wait to sail on the Fantasy!

 

[oferiniowa]

I'd love to join the facebook group to discuss things, gatherings, events on the cruise, but for the life of me I can't find it. Can anyone help me out?

 

[lauralynn0612]

I'd love to join the facebook group to discuss things, gatherings, events on the cruise, but for the life of me I can't find it. Can anyone help me out?

The first post of the thread has instructions. You'll have to friend Jason Rader in Atlanta and tell him it's for the cruise. He's the admin.

 

[lovetocruiseDCL]

Hi to all of the new cruisers who have joined us! We look forward to seeing you on the cruise!

 

[scubadiver]

Wow almost 2 months since anyone has posted!!!!