Our experience on Fantasy Dec 26-Jan 2

[jujubiee4]

On board
-We were told by senior crew member that there were about 2100 people on board, which is about 45% capacity. They said there were a lot of late cancellations and also 400 people turned away at the port due to positive covid tests

P.S. - Ask for the curry at dinner!

This 2100. Was that passengers and crew or just passengers?

 

[goofballs]

freshmanjs - you mentioned a few times your refuge/oasis from the craziness. What kind of craziness are you referring to?
With less than 50% passenger capacity on the ship, I was hoping it might be better than previous craziness.
Although our travel party will not be utilizing the kids’ clubs, I am wondering how limited kids club availability and other mitigations are impacting the other of the areas ship.
Thank you!

 

[varkgirl]

freshmanjs - you mentioned a few times your refuge/oasis from the craziness. What kind of craziness are you referring to?
With less than 50% passenger capacity on the ship, I was hoping it might be better than previous craziness.
Although our travel party will not be utilizing the kids’ clubs, I am wondering how limited kids club availability and other mitigations are impacting the other of the areas ship.
Thank you!

We were on the Fantasy 12/19-12/26 - now hearing that the teen clubs were closed the last two nights of our cruise, a LOT of things make more sense.

There were "packs" of teenagers all over the place, but especially in D-Lounge after dinner until late. We like to go to karaoke (to watch others sing, not to sing ourselves) and each night karaoke got more and more packed with teens just hanging out. They were there to hang with their friends/talk. Some of them did some very silly karaoke. Very few were actually paying attention to the karaoke though.

(We had a GREAT cruise, all of this is simply an observation - not a criticism of the teens trying to find a place to hang out! We were confused why there were soooo many teens hanging in there but now it all makes a lot more sense.)

 

[Cheburashka]

400 people turned away at the port!??! That's ... 20% of the sailing population? Seems insane!

No, it isn't. Whole families get turned away when one unvaccinated 4 year-old tests positive. So it isn't as severe as it sounds.

 

[lanejudy]

So we sail January 22 on The Magic, we are 9 total with 3 rooms we are linked together but have different reservation numbers, would we all be denied boarding if one of us tests positive?

If you all travel to the port together, yes you will all be denied boarding if 1 tests positive. If you are separate family family units and arrive at the port separately and meet onboard, the whole group will not be denied just the party with the positive test.

 

[unrequited23]

We'll be taking a PCR test for everyone in the family before we leave since our 2 kids under 5 need one anyways and they're free and quick in Colorado,

If you haven't already, make an appointment for your tests now. I'm in NE Ohio and the ease and availability of getting tested shifted from having to drive 20 mins to get a same day appointment any time you wanted, to the earliest appointment being 6 days out in the span of a week.

 

[Billybob7]

Can you tell me who the cruise director was? Thank you!

 

[Cruzin’Sisters]

Overall, we had a great cruise. We were in Concierge. A few things that might be useful for others:

Arrival / Boarding
- We drove to terminal. Covid testing was done in the parking deck. It was stressful to wait. Took about 40 minutes to get the all clear. After a mini-celebration, we went straight in and had a very quick trip through security and to the concierge lounge to wait
- We were refreshing the embarkation page in the safe passage app to get our status. Cell reception for AT&T is not good in the garage, so that wasn't ideal, but it worked well enough

On board
-We were told by senior crew member that there were about 2100 people on board, which is about 45% capacity. They said there were a lot of late cancellations and also 400 people turned away at the port due to positive covid tests
- Cabanas had limited selections, but was well run and quick
- Having the staff serve everything at buffets is a little awkward, but much much cleaner and less chaotic
- Flo's area had 1 line for all stations. You can order any item from any window. You have to ask for all condiments, no self service
- Cold drink station was self serve. Hot drinks were served by crew
- Palo and Remy were operating normally. At Palo, we got printed menus (this was the only place where we did)
- Masks were required indoors but not outdoors
- Movies and shows filled up early because they are using about 1/3 of capacity. Every other row is kept empty and 3 seats are left open between groups
- They will not seat a partial group at the WD theater. You can easily wait for everyone to arrive or you can sit separately. Other venues (movies and bingo for example) would allow part of the group to arrive early and save seats for the rest
- For movies, arriving 15 min before start time seemed to be sufficient for the movies we saw. Eternals and West Side Story were the most crowded
- Crew was awesome all around. They have very tough conditions. We talked to several who have not been allowed to leave the ship (other than to work at Castaway Cay) for 7 months!
- As you probably know, we were not allowed to leave the ship at St. Thomas. We stayed in port for an hour or 2 and then left for a surprise sea day. The crew did a great job of adding new activities and making the best of it. We got a $200 credit per room and a 20% discount on a future cruise

Concierge
- Crazy expensive, but wow, what a great experience
- Concierge lounge and sundeck are a great refuge from the craziness on board
- Staff is absolutely outstanding

Departure
-Express walk-off is awesome. We were among the first people off the ship once the all clear announcement was made at 7:10am. We were in our car by 7:25, at the airport at 8:10. Easily made our 10:25am flight
- We found that renting a car and parking at the terminal was a lot easier than dealing with the busses. Highly recommend this option. The cost ends up being pretty close to a wash.

Happy to answer any questions!

P.S. - Ask for the curry at dinner!

What kind of curry? I love curry! Was it at all the MDR’s?
Thanks!

 

[Freeman867]

If you haven't already, make an appointment for your tests now. I'm in NE Ohio and the ease and availability of getting tested shifted from having to drive 20 mins to get a same day appointment any time you wanted, to the earliest appointment being 6 days out in the span of a week.

The Denver metro area is amazing at testing availability and turnaround times. I’ve gotten tested dozens of times, including 3 members of my family this week (all got sick but just was some stomach bug going around and all tested negative) and even during this crazy time, never waited more than a day for an appointment.

 

[melmel]

Were you assigned a specific night to see the shows or was it just first come first serve, and each show ran 2 nights?

 

[tvguy]

Cool.. thanks for sharing!
Anything special for NYE? Would you recommend taking a Disney Cruise for that date?

Well, no way to know. I haven't hear how things went yesterday with covid. We went on a NYE cruise pre-covid and it was well worth it. But those type of gatherings may be endangered in the post covid era

 

[tvguy]

The Denver metro area is amazing at testing availability and turnaround times. I’ve gotten tested dozens of times, including 3 members of my family this week (all got sick but just was some stomach bug going around and all tested negative) and even during this crazy time, never waited more than a day for an appointment.

We have a drive up/walk up clinic at the State Fair Grounds. They take appointments and walk ups and on the news tonight some were complaining that there was a 40 minute wait if you walked up without out an appointment. Not sure how long the results take, that wasn't mentioned.

 

[freshmanjs]

This 2100. Was that passengers and crew or just passengers?

Passengers

 

[freshmanjs]

freshmanjs - you mentioned a few times your refuge/oasis from the craziness. What kind of craziness are you referring to?
With less than 50% passenger capacity on the ship, I was hoping it might be better than previous craziness.
Although our travel party will not be utilizing the kids’ clubs, I am wondering how limited kids club availability and other mitigations are impacting the other of the areas ship.
Thank you!

Just noise and people. The concierge lounge feels like another world vs. the rest of the ship.

 

[freshmanjs]

Can you tell me who the cruise director was? Thank you!

Matthew

 

[freshmanjs]

What kind of curry? I love curry! Was it at all the MDR’s?
Thanks!

Yeah on night 3, our server asked if we liked spicy food. Then she said she'd have some curry for us the next night. We had different curries on nights 4,5,6, and 7. Indian, thai. Shrimp, chicken, potato, lentils. All good.

 

[varkgirl]

Yeah on night 3, our server asked if we liked spicy food. Then she said she'd have some curry for us the next night. We had different curries on nights 4,5,6, and 7. Indian, thai. Shrimp, chicken, potato, lentils. All good.

Interesting... on our 12/19-12/26 sailing on the Fantasy our head server (he was from India) also brought us curry one night...

 

[lorimay]

If you all travel to the port together, yes you will all be denied boarding if 1 tests positive. If you are separate family family units and arrive at the port separately and meet onboard, the whole group will not be denied just the party with the positive test.

We are all driving to the port in separate cars, but at the same time. It will be best to all leave the port if this happens, I pick my grandkids up from school so we will be in close contact all week before the cruise. We will have to reschedule I guess.

Thanks.

 

[mousefan73]

Overall, we had a great cruise. We were in Concierge. A few things that might be useful for others:

Arrival / Boarding
- We drove to terminal. Covid testing was done in the parking deck. It was stressful to wait. Took about 40 minutes to get the all clear. After a mini-celebration, we went straight in and had a very quick trip through security and to the concierge lounge to wait
- We were refreshing the embarkation page in the safe passage app to get our status. Cell reception for AT&T is not good in the garage, so that wasn't ideal, but it worked well enough

On board
-We were told by senior crew member that there were about 2100 people on board, which is about 45% capacity. They said there were a lot of late cancellations and also 400 people turned away at the port due to positive covid tests
- Cabanas had limited selections, but was well run and quick
- Having the staff serve everything at buffets is a little awkward, but much much cleaner and less chaotic
- Flo's area had 1 line for all stations. You can order any item from any window. You have to ask for all condiments, no self service
- Cold drink station was self serve. Hot drinks were served by crew
- Palo and Remy were operating normally. At Palo, we got printed menus (this was the only place where we did)
- Masks were required indoors but not outdoors
- Movies and shows filled up early because they are using about 1/3 of capacity. Every other row is kept empty and 3 seats are left open between groups
- They will not seat a partial group at the WD theater. You can easily wait for everyone to arrive or you can sit separately. Other venues (movies and bingo for example) would allow part of the group to arrive early and save seats for the rest
- For movies, arriving 15 min before start time seemed to be sufficient for the movies we saw. Eternals and West Side Story were the most crowded
- Crew was awesome all around. They have very tough conditions. We talked to several who have not been allowed to leave the ship (other than to work at Castaway Cay) for 7 months!
- As you probably know, we were not allowed to leave the ship at St. Thomas. We stayed in port for an hour or 2 and then left for a surprise sea day. The crew did a great job of adding new activities and making the best of it. We got a $200 credit per room and a 20% discount on a future cruise

Concierge
- Crazy expensive, but wow, what a great experience
- Concierge lounge and sundeck are a great refuge from the craziness on board
- Staff is absolutely outstanding

Departure
-Express walk-off is awesome. We were among the first people off the ship once the all clear announcement was made at 7:10am. We were in our car by 7:25, at the airport at 8:10. Easily made our 10:25am flight
- We found that renting a car and parking at the terminal was a lot easier than dealing with the busses. Highly recommend this option. The cost ends up being pretty close to a wash.

Happy to answer any questions!

P.S. - Ask for the curry at dinner!

400! positives at port! wow what a differencea few weeks make

 

[Erica1016]

400! positives at port! wow what a differencea few weeks make

I think it was 400 denied, not 400 positives. Remember that an entire party is denied if only person tests positive.