Nov. 16 2013 7-night Fantasy Eastern Carribean Cruise

[mariaelenak]

We have booked this cruise with my parents and my kiddos...this will be our second DCL cruise and we CAN NOT WAIT!!! We would love to join the FE group!!! ALready filled out the form, but hoping its not too late!!!!!!

Is anyone else doing WDW before or after cruise?http://www.wdwinfo.com/images/smilies/cool1.gif

You can get on the Roll Call list by filling out the form by following this Link

 

[charliez]

Did you book?

Yep!!! We're good to go, but evidently there's still no way to do so via the DVC member site. No worries... we did it the old-fashioned way, by phone.

 

[charliez]

New topic: 2013 WDW Radio Show Cruise

I was listening to a WDW Radio Newscast today, and learned that Lou Mongello is planning to have another WDW Radio Cruise on the Fantasy in the Fall of 2013... date TBD.

So I said to myself... "Self, wouldn't it be cool if it happened to be OUR cruise?" I agreed whole-heartedly with myself... Lou's a cool guy, he has an awesome show, tons of Disney knowledge and the ability to get awesome guests.

(Seriously... this year's cruise, leaving this Sunday on the Dream, features none other than Richard M. Sherman!)

So... I don't know if Lou is open to lobbying (his own logistics and Disney surely have more weight), but I let him know that he'd be welcome to join us here:

http://www.wdwradio.com/2012/10/wdw-radio-2013-events-in-the-world-on-the-road-on-land-and-at-sea/

What do you all think? Do you listen to Lou? Would this not be awesome???

 

[mariaelenak]

Yep!!! We're good to go, but evidently there's still no way to do so via the DVC member site. No worries... we did it the old-fashioned way, by phone.

Yay!! Welcome aboard for real this time!!

New topic: 2013 WDW Radio Show Cruise

I was listening to a WDW Radio Newscast today, and learned that Lou Mongello is planning to have another WDW Radio Cruise on the Fantasy in the Fall of 2013... date TBD.

So I said to myself... "Self, wouldn't it be cool if it happened to be OUR cruise?" I agreed whole-heartedly with myself... Lou's a cool guy, he has an awesome show, tons of Disney knowledge and the ability to get awesome guests.

(Seriously... this year's cruise, leaving this Saturday on the Dream, features none other than Richard M. Sherman!)

So... I don't know if Lou is open to lobbying (his own logistics and Disney surely have more weight), but I let him know that he'd be welcome to join us here:

http://www.wdwradio.com/2012/10/wdw-radio-2013-events-in-the-world-on-the-road-on-land-and-at-sea/

What do you all think? Do you listen to Lou? Would this not be awesome???

I agree that it would be awesome for Lou to be on our cruise!!

 

[mariaelenak]

Hi everyone!
Today we are exactly

weeks away from our Fantasy Cruise!

When checking in here for the first time, please be sure to follow this link to Post # 12 for information on our Roll Call List, Group Meet, FE List and Facebook Group Page.

 

[mariaelenak]

Hi everyone!
Today we are exactly

weeks away from our Fantasy Cruise!

When checking in here for the first time, please be sure to follow this link to Post # 12 for information on our Roll Call List, Group Meet, FE List and Facebook Group Page.

 

[GusGus77]

Hello everyone!

We will be joining you! This will be our second DCL cruise. We got off of the Dream on Oct 25 just as Sandy was really started to churn up the waters! My family (self, DH, DD who will be 5 1/2 at the time and DS who will turn 3 the week before!) will be traveling with my parents, my sister, and my brother, sister-in-law and two nieces 6 and 4. It will be the first DCL cruise for all of them. My daughter is THRILLED to be going on another cruise. She told me if she had to pick one she would pick DCL over WDW!!! I am very excited to go to CC as I was not feeling well when we were docked there and pretty much spent two hours sleeping on the beach so I could say I was there and at least see it and then went back to the cabin.

(Oh and I recently changed my screen name as the one I originally joined the boards with gave too much personal info in my opinion. So please ignore my low post count. I'm trying to get it back up there!!!!)

 

[mariaelenak]

Hello everyone!

We will be joining you! This will be our second DCL cruise. We got off of the Dream on Oct 25 just as Sandy was really started to churn up the waters! My family (self, DH, DD who will be 5 1/2 at the time and DS who will turn 3 the week before!) will be traveling with my parents, my sister, and my brother, sister-in-law and two nieces 6 and 4. It will be the first DCL cruise for all of them. My daughter is THRILLED to be going on another cruise. She told me if she had to pick one she would pick DCL over WDW!!! I am very excited to go to CC as I was not feeling well when we were docked there and pretty much spent two hours sleeping on the beach so I could say I was there and at least see it and then went back to the cabin.

(Oh and I recently changed my screen name as the one I originally joined the boards with gave too much personal info in my opinion. So please ignore my low post count. I'm trying to get it back up there!!!!)[/QUOTE

Welcome Aboard Lori!

 

[mariaelenak]

Hi everyone!
Today we are exactly

weeks away from our Fantasy Cruise! Or ONE YEAR!!!

When checking in here for the first time, please be sure to follow this link to Post # 12 for information on our Roll Call List, Group Meet, FE List and Facebook Group Page.

 

[gomagic]

Just got off Fantasy this morning. Beautiful weather to go along with a beautiful ship. Looking forward to our next cruise in March and then this one!

 

[mariaelenak]

My grandson arrived on the 18th! One day after his sister's birthday! I guess he decided he would rather share his birthday with Mickey Mouse instead of his big sister. Now I can call DCL and give them his name and DOB! So excited that we'll be celebrating two birthdays on our cruise next year!

 

[GusGus77]

Congratulations!

 

[mariaelenak]

Hi everyone!
Today we are exactly

weeks away from our Fantasy Cruise!

When checking in here for the first time, please be sure to follow this link to Post # 12 for information on our Roll Call List, Group Meet, FE List and Facebook Group Page.

 

[GusGus77]

51 weeks to get my ds, just turned 2, completely potty trained so he can go to the kids club because he hates the nursery and wants to be with his big sister! (As well as it being n additional cost and more flexible!)

 

[mariaelenak]

51 weeks to get my ds, just turned 2, completely potty trained so he can go to the kids club because he hates the nursery and wants to be with his big sister! (As well as it being n additional cost and more flexible!)

Good luck with that! My granddaughter just turned 3 on the 17th and refuses to potty train. If you find a trick that works, please share! Her godmother gave her princess panties for her birthday and when she opened the present she looked at them and said, "NO!" and tossed them aside.

 

[GusGus77]

Good luck with that! My granddaughter just turned 3 on the 17th and refuses to potty train. If you find a trick that works, please share! Her godmother gave her princess panties for her birthday and when she opened the present she looked at them and said, "NO!" and tossed them aside.

My dd potty trained with no problem at 25 months. I am very concerned ds won't be as easy. We did potty training boot camp (3 days) with her. She was an all or nothing girl, though, and she hated diapers. My ds has a very different personality.

 

[mariaelenak]

My dd potty trained with no problem at 25 months. I am very concerned ds won't be as easy. We did potty training boot camp (3 days) with her. She was an all or nothing girl, though, and she hated diapers. My ds has a very different personality.

Both my son and daughter were so easy. This kid has a stubborn streak.

 

[motroc]

Hi Everyone:
We wanted to check in as we have decided to tempt fate another time.

We were on the fabled 10/20 Fantasy cruise that chased Superstorm Sandy. While there may have been some poor decisions made at the time and lack of communication and planning that caused nightmares at disembarkation and beyond, we are hopeful that DCL learned from this (we know they won't publicly admit anything), and better protocols are in place. Beyond all that, the truth is, the ship survived sailing into and through a hurricane. It says a lot to the engineering and construction. We love the Eastern itinerary and especially St. Maarten, which was why we sailed on 10/20/12 (so glad they brought it back starting May 2013). We've had great luck sailing in November in 2010 and 2011, so we're banking on the fact that 2013 will be no different.

As far as the Fantasy goes, we were blown away by it and the initial 5 days on board. It is by far, the best ship in the fleet, and dare we say, the best ship at sea. It would be very difficult for us to sail any other cruise line, even with our recent experiences.

This time, our DD and DSIL will be joining us as they have not had an opportunity to sail on the newer ships. They are not DISBoard members (yet), but wanted to include them on the check-in.

Fortunately, we have some time to decompress after our recent voyage and the first bouts of sea-sickness. We're sure by the time Winter really kicks in, we'll be counting the days.

 

[mariaelenak]

Hi Everyone:
We wanted to check in as we have decided to tempt fate another time.

We were on the fabled 10/20 Fantasy cruise that chased Superstorm Sandy. While there may have been some poor decisions made at the time and lack of communication and planning that caused nightmares at disembarkation and beyond, we are hopeful that DCL learned from this (we know they won't publicly admit anything), and better protocols are in place. Beyond all that, the truth is, the ship survived sailing into and through a hurricane. It says a lot to the engineering and construction. We love the Eastern itinerary and especially St. Maarten, which was why we sailed on 10/20/12 (so glad they brought it back starting May 2013). We've had great luck sailing in November in 2010 and 2011, so we're banking on the fact that 2013 will be no different.

As far as the Fantasy goes, we were blown away by it and the initial 5 days on board. It is by far, the best ship in the fleet, and dare we say, the best ship at sea. It would be very difficult for us to sail any other cruise line, even with our recent experiences.

This time, our DD and DSIL will be joining us as they have not had an opportunity to sail on the newer ships. They are not DISBoard members (yet), but wanted to include them on the check-in.

Fortunately, we have some time to decompress after our recent voyage and the first bouts of sea-sickness. We're sure by the time Winter really kicks in, we'll be counting the days.

Wow!! We can't wait to sail on the Fantasy. We have sailed 5 times on the Magic, twice on NCL, once on Holland America, once on Carnival and our first cruise ever was on The Big Red Boat (Premier Cruise Line) when it was affiliated with Disney. Every one of our sailings has been during hurricane season which I think most people don't even realize goes from June 1st to November 30. We have hit rough seas twice. Once out of NYC on NCL and the other time on the Magic. Both were BAD. We were on the Magic Oct. 2011 and we were able to leave PC but the Carnival Dream had to stay docked because the storm got so bad they were not able to leave until the next day. I think almost everyone was sea sick. They had elevators closed because they had to keep cleaning up. Even the crew was getting sick. My DH who never gets sick was a little sea sick, but my dad and I were fine. My daughter wasn't feeling too well either but the only one who actually tossed her cookies was my 2 year old granddaughter. But compared to most other people we were fine. Day 2 most people were still sick, but we were all fine. However, lesson learned. My DSIL gets really sea sick and we were glad he wasn't with us on that fateful trip or he would have sworn off sailing. So this past June, we started him on Bonine 2 days before we left on our cruise and he was fine. We'll never sail without putting him on Bonine!

Anyway, welcome aboard!

 

[motroc]

Fantasy is amazing. We love the Magic for it's intimacy, but there is just so much more to do on the newer ships. We were on the Dream in 2011 and yet we both feel Fantasy blows it away. Dream is still beautiful, but they made changes to the Fantasy from issues brought up during the Dream's first year and it shows. Europa just flows perfectly compared to the disjointed district on the Dream. The Tube is awesome. Ooh La la is gorgeous. O'Gills is really warm and inviting, La Piazza is quaint, and they expanded Skyline in size. The one thing they need to bring to Fantasy is pub night with the "If I Were Not Upon the Sea" skit. Satellite Falls is a great addition, although it's really windy on sea days. Animators is a great in its new design and the shows especially the animated characters, however the food is still probably our least favorite in terms of quality and consistency. We also love the aft cabins with their huge verandas, what a difference. The extra sea day on the Eastern itinerary is needed with how big the ship is. We still have not been able to do and see everything.

LOL... the Sea-Eaze they gave away at Guest Services did nothing. We found out though that cocktails definitely work. It was hard getting the first one down, especially that last night, but after that, it helped balance out the equilibrium. For those who love cocktails out there, go to Skyline and purchase their Passport. It's a drink package that you pay about $60 plus tip but you basically get 7 drinks for the price of 6.

For those who don't drink alcohol, Bonine is probably your best bet. We needed that during our post-cruise stay as we were actually having some land-sickness for several days. We were still rocking back and forth at the parks. Bonine will definitely be packed next year. Our DSIL gets very motion sick, so we'll be getting him on the Bonine before the trip as well.

As far as Hurricane season goes, absolutely, not many people realize it goes through November. The year Katrina hit, they actually ran out of names, so they had to go to Alpha, Beta, etc. and there was a Hurricane that formed in early December. Statistics show though, that the peak for Eastern is August/September and the peak for Western is October.

We all know, or at least should know, the risks when cruising during Hurricane season and that usually means itinerary changes, missed ports of call, or even the potential for a complete cancellation. However never did we imagine that we'd sail directly into one. It's not like we couldn't outrun it and the only solution was to turn directly into it and push through. Not to beat a dead horse here. Definitely more in our comfort zone in November though and another plus sailing in November is the fact that the Stone Crab claws are back in season at Cabanas and Palo Brunch!

Bottom line is you won't be disappointed in the Fantasy.