Our Fantastical Voyage in the Eastern Caribbean! A trip report to remember! 12/6/2014

[MrDisneyFan]

Hello!

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QUICK LINKS
Day 1 - Onboard, now what?
Day 1 - dinner, a headache and some photos
Day 2 - Sea Day!
Day 3 – Sea Day. Part I - Palo Brunch
Day 3 - Sea Day. Part II - Mixology!
Day 3 – Sea Day Part III – Remy Dinner
Day 4 - St. Maarten - Randomwind Sailboat
Day 4 - Pirate Night
Day 5 - Puerto Rico
Day 6 – Last sea day! (Part I of II)
Day 6 – Last sea day! Part II
Day 7 – Castaway Cay (Part I)
Day 7 – Castaway Cay (Part II)

http://www.disboards.com/threads/ou...member-12-6-2014.3360297/page-4#post-53004848
YouTube Page

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Welcome to my first trip report! I plan for this to be detailed as possible for mostly selfish reasons. This will be not only a way for me to pay it forward to all the wonderful TRs and others here that helped me in my planning but this will extend the magic of our first Disney Cruise for me!!

I have another username here on disboards: campbem. But after I started my pre-trip report I really wanted to change it. Since you can’t change your username I finished out my pre-trip report then created a brand new name to something more appropriate for me on the boards.

You can read many details of my obsessive planning in my pre-trip report but a few brief introductions:

Myself: Mike. A huge Disney fan and planner extraordinaire!
My wife: Diane. My amazing wife, mom to our kids, and social butterfly
Our kids: Jack and Kate – Both lovers of Disney!

Waiting to board at Port Canaveral in the concierge corral:

We were booked on the Disney Fantasy for a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise (Itinerary C). This would take us to St. Maarten, San Juan and Castaway Cay. Our reservation was for a 1-bedroom concierge suite on deck 12: stateroom 12520. As a preface, let me just say that I had some pretty big expectations leading up to this trip. Huge expectations is more like it. And in almost every way, the trip lived up to every one of those expectations!

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After 17 long months of waiting, yes, I booked 17 months in advance, now that’s a wait, our travels were finally starting! We left our home in Bakersfield, CA 2 days before the cruise on Thursday afternoon when I got off of work. Of course the whole work week leading up to our departure felt like a write off. The excitement was palpable for me. I had never planned and anticipated for any trip for quite so long!

It was really difficult to focus on work, there was a part of me that kept worrying something was going to happen! The fact that this cruise was finally here was so unreal my subconscious was convinced that something was going to throw a wrench in the works. One of us was going to get really sick or have an accident or the travel was going to go sideways. Thank goodness everything went just great leading up to the trip!

Thursday came and everyone was feeling great! We had packed up the night before and were 93.5% ready to roll out the door. I got off work and made my way home. I picked up our Starbucks coffees on the way to the house and I was officially on vacation! Back at the house Diane was all ready and we finished putting together the last few items for our trek. I loaded up the car with 5 suitcases, 4 backpacks, 2 kids’ pillow and a couple of bags to carry on. It was a lot of luggage!

Squirrel! – packing and trying to figure out what we needed was really difficult. We weren’t sure how the weather was going to be this time of year so we wanted to bring some warmer clothes for the evening (and were glad we did). In hindsight, I would have packed a few less things and used the onboard laundry service to wash some items. I think we could get away with 1 less suitcase next time.

So just like that we were off to Los Angeles. Our drive was great, no traffic and arrive in good time to the Sheraton down the street from LAX. We grabbed a meal in the lobby lounge/restaurant before retiring up to our room.

Restaurant Selfie!

Tried to get to sleep but honestly the beds were not that comfortable, the bed was disappointing! The alarm was set for 5AM, I hadn’t been very comfortable and I was up at 4:30, before the alarm even went off. I got up, showered and let everyone else sleep. I went downstairs and got coffees from the in hotel Starbucks and some milk for the kids’ cereal. I packed some dry cereal so the kids could eat in the hotel early in the mornings since I knew they would be really early. We saved some money by bringing the cereal for the kids but more importantly time! I had red solo cups, some plastic spoons and some dry cereal so I just needed to get milk from the hotel lobby or in this day’s case, Starbucks . The wife and I would be sustained in these hotel mornings with a little protein powder in a blender bottle and of course coffee. This worked GREAT! I would definitely do that again.

We had to be on the 6am shuttle for LAX so Diane and the kids got themselves ready. A bellman helped us down with our luggage and the shuttle was leaving just as we got to the lobby. A short 5 minute bus ride later we were unloading and making our way to the check in counter. Check in with Virgin America was a breeze and we got through security in record time.

I don't like the fact I have to pay extra for bags but since you do on any airline these days I liked the fact that it was a flat rate of $25 per bag. So I could put all the checked bags under just my name since a lot of other airlines seem to do one price for the 1st bag then a higher price for the 2nd bag.

Waiting to board:

The good thing about checking in and getting through airport security is you don’t have to stand in lines. But now we just had longer to sit in the terminal waiting to board . This was our first Virgin America flight. I guess we were virgins on Virgin… I liked the plane overall as well as the entertainment/food ordering system called Red. the staff were pleasant and they had a fun safety video instead of the standard crew safety demonstration.

The flight arrived on time, a little early actually. We landed in Orlando Friday afternoon about 4:30PM. It was easy enough to collect our luggage and make our way to the Hyatt inside MCO (Orlando International).
They had huge beautiful Christmas trees throughout the terminal and in from of the hotel:

We checked in and got up to our accommodations for the night. It was a good sized room with a king bed and a sofa pull out for the kids. We had a nice dinner at McCoys, the hotel restaurant on the lobby floor. I found the bed in this room was MUCH more comfortable than our previous night’s stay.
I set the alarm for 6AM this time, ugh (that's 3AM Pacific Time). I picked up some milk at Starbucks downstairs again. We had our breakfast again in the room and got all our belongings together. We needed to have our carry-ons packed with everything we needed for the day. We didn’t know for sure when we would have access to our luggage. We were putting our Disney Cruise luggage tags on our bags in the hotel for pickup as they would be magically taken from the hotel and delivered to our stateroom on the ship! What a fantastic service and how convenience was that?

In our carry-ons we packed a few necessities such as bathing suits and the alcohol we were carrying on board . So we left our luggage in our room and although the process was easy there was an element of “are our bags really going to be picked up?” I double checked with the front desk before we checked out to make sure we were on the list. We were, all good!
Checked luggage ready to go!!

I also made sure to bring the filled out the form below which I had to take to the bus check-in area for our luggage transfer (they give you this when you check in and tell them you're taking Disney transportation to the cruise port):

We walked to the B side and took the elevator to level 1 then took a longish walk down to where the bus would pick us up. I had scouted it out the night before just to make sure I knew where we were heading early in the morning. That's my OCD/type A planning at work, I don't want to be scrambling when it's 4am in the morning my time trying to figure out where I need to go

We were at the magical express check in area about 8:15. I will need to double check my photos for some pics. I’ll add some when I find them of the magical express area. Not much to see really, a bunch of seating in an open area.

I took a walk outside to snap a photo of the bus we would eventually be boarding:

A few other families were already there sitting as well. They weren’t setup for people to line up even so everyone was lounging around in the chairs.

About 8:45 people started lining up for the check in and we were about 6 families from the front. The cast member there kept saying not to be in a hurry and check in wouldn't start until 9AM. He was kind of trying to encourage people to not line up. Excuse me? Don't get excited? Tell that to all the people who are here biting nails with excitement!

They started check in about 9am and I think we were on the Disney Cruise bus and driving off at 9:15 leaving the airport behind!

When we got on the Disney bus our vacation felt like now it was real! We getting our first taste of the Disney Magic. The bus was a great way to start the trip and start building up the anticipation. (just in case there wasn’t enough). The bus itself was all Disney’d out. From the outside to the interior. The walls were adorned with characters. Jack and I were with Dewey.

Jack and I:

They had screens up and down each aisle of the bus showing videos and talking about the cruise, showing video clips of Disney Cruises. After a short 45 minute drive we were the first bus to pull into Port Canaveral. It was breathtaking as we came over this last bridge and caught our first glimpses of the Fantasy. What a beautiful ship. After seeing the photos and videos online for so long seeing it closer and closer with our own eyes felt a little surreal in a great way!

First close view of Fantasy from the bus:

We pulled in and were the first bus to arrive so no one else was in port yet. We were the first people to go through port security. It was a snap, no line and just put all our stuff on the conveyor to be x-rayed before taking the escalator up into the DCL cruise terminal.

With no one in line we walked right up and were first to register our kids at the youth club counter. They got their magic bands which would be on them for the duration of the cruise for the clubs.

Jack’s magic band (which he’s still wearing, lol)

Just few steps from the youth club desk was concierge check-in. We were first there as well and it was great. I had the biggest grin on my face all day! When we were checking in at the concierge desk we found out they could have done the kids' bands there. Well no waiting so no worries (I’ll remember next time and yes – there will be a next time!). We got our gold key to the world cards (KTTW cards) and were escorted to the concierge waiting area. It was a small glassed in area with some seating and a door leading outside to a patio where you could see the ship or smoke if that was your thing. We got some photos of the ship and some family shots.

Magic interior:

The terminal:

Our first photo in front of the Fantasy!

We met some people in the concierge waiting area who were doing a B2B (back to back) on the Fantasy (14 days!!!). The B2B cruisers were escorted on the ship first. Probably 10-15 minutes after that it was about 11:15 and it was our turn! We were led through doors in the concierge waiting area to the walkway leading to the ship. And just like that we were steps away from boarding the Fantasy! It really did feel magical to me and nothing could wipe the smile off my face at that moment!

Taking a breath for now. Next up: boarding and day 1!

 

[Benchley]

Loving this. We are looking to take a fantasy cruise in Aug 16 at concierge level, so I am waiting with baited breath on you tr. did you book 499 days out? I think that's the earliest I can.

 

[OSUBuckly]

Great start! Subscribing!

 

[williamspawpaw]

Mike-- We sat next to your family and talked a little at pre-boarding as I was curious about your Go-Pro. I'm looking forward to your trip report as your PTR was fantastic. My family was so excited with everything and everybody that I referred to you as Mr. Go-Pro so they knew who I was acknowledging in the lounge.

 

[daneenm]

I've been waiting for your report, after reading your PTR! We are also left coasters (San Jose) and are cruising for the first time - Fantasy Eastern Concierge (Itinerary A). We sail August 1.

As usual, once I have a reservation, i spent the rest of the year reading EVERYTHING I can get my hands on so i feel prepared when our trip comes.

Thanks so much for sharing the details with us!

 

[MrDisneyFan]

Loving this. We are looking to take a fantasy cruise in Aug 16 at concierge level, so I am waiting with baited breath on you tr. did you book 499 days out? I think that's the earliest I can.

Thanks. August should be nice and hot! I booked 514 days out. I think it was just about the furthest date out available when I started seriously looking.

 

[MrDisneyFan]

Mike-- We sat next to your family and talked a little at pre-boarding as I was curious about your Go-Pro. I'm looking forward to your trip report as your PTR was fantastic. My family was so excited with everything and everybody that I referred to you as Mr. Go-Pro so they knew who I was acknowledging in the lounge.

Thanks! I remember you in the waiting area. Haha, the hosts joked with me about always having my gopro. I wanted to record everything!! And just about did. I've honestly hardly had a chance to go through the footage. I have many many many hours to go through. I felt like a tacky tourist a little but didn't want to miss a thing.

So far the bits I've seen are great. I'll figure out linking some of the videos when I get that far... I have almost 2000 photos as well and trying to get through those first

 

[1Winston]

We sail fantasy concierge in Jan so following along. Loved your pre-trip!

 

[tmarie]

Hi Mike. My husband Jim and I really enjoyed meeting your family on the cruise. Are you suffering from Post Disney Cruise Syndrome like we are?? We are trying hard to get back into the swing of things when all we really want to do is be back on the ship. I am so happy that you had a wonderful vacation and I am really looking forward to reading your report.

 

[MrDisneyFan]

Hi Mike. My husband Jim and I really enjoyed meeting your family on the cruise. Are you suffering from Post Disney Cruise Syndrome like we are?? We are trying hard to get back into the swing of things when all we really want to do is be back on the ship. I am so happy that you had a wonderful vacation and I am really looking forward to reading your report.

We enjoyed meeting you and Jim too! Yes, I'm definitely missing the comforts of the cruise. Already keeping my eyes open trying to see when we can do it again, sigh...

 

[MrDisneyFan]

Okay, this is a moment of confession... I’m a big sentimental sap! Walking onto the Fantasy and hearing the cast members welcome our family by name then stepping into this amazing atrium for the first time was so cool, it really got to me! This was the first moment but wouldn’t be the last where I almost had to hold back tears. It wasn’t just that I was happy; it was that I could see my kids, their happiness and the wonder in their eyes. Knowing that we’ll never get back this time of them being young and amazed by all the Disney magic, It makes me happy to give them these experiences. Awe… okay, enough of that.
We took a few photos in the Atrium:

Giant gingerbread house!

Based on my pre cruise research I knew I wanted to head to the concierge lounge first! This was our first time on the ship so I didn’t really know where I was going except to deck 12. We hopped in the first elevator we saw which were the mid-ship elevators next to the Atrium and they only went to deck 11. Oops, we hopped out and asked a cast member how we get to the concierge lounge on deck 12. She walked us to the forward elevators and sent us up.

Now we found ourselves in front of the main doors to the concierge lounge with another family standing in front trying to get in. We were all waving our cards in front of the reader and couldn’t get the stinkin’ door open! We could see people inside but the door wasn’t opening with any of our KTTW cards. Someone came out after a minute to open the doors and gave us a tutorial on how the lock worked. The sensor wasn’t that easy compared to your stateroom door. You had to slowly slide it in front of the right part of the sensor. With that figured out we entered what would end up being one of our most utilized spaces on the ship. It was peaceful, serene and just very comfortable. They had a welcome reception with an open bar with top shelf liquor. I knew from reading online that we would meet our concierge hosts and go over our reservations and make changes that needed to be made. It was busy in the lounge and it took a few minutes before we spoke with someone. We were actually met by the guest services manager instead of the concierge host. She was good though, she confirmed our reservations and we just had to add a request for an appointment for BBB for Kate on the afternoon of day 2 (formal night).

First moments in the concierge lounge, cheers!! This first morning and the last day were probably the busiest I recall it being. Yummy food and drinks!

By the time we finished with our reservations it ended up being perfect timing because the concierge hosts announced that all the concierge staterooms were ready!! This was probably about noon, I thought it was so great and earlier than I expected! Yay!

I had seen photos & videos and for me it was all that I expect and more. Our stateroom suite really was just beautiful. It was ornate and the décor was elegant and there so much space! Words really don’t do it justice, the photos say it all. Actually only being there really says it all, lol. Take me back! There were several closets down the entry hall including a walk in closet with a full length mirror and a safe. Slide out drawers were in the closets and a few nice amenities such as a long wooden shoehorn and a lint brush. There was a pull down murphy bed that Kate claimed next to the desk/bar. The bar was stocked with glasses for wine, champagne and regular tumblers. Further into the room was a couch that pulled out to a sofa bed which Jack happily took as his new home. There was a nice flat panel display in front of the sofabed/couch. There was a nice plush chair and past the couch was a sliding door to the verandah. To the right of the sofa bed was a good sized dining table with 4 chairs. There was a second sliding door to the verandah behind the dining table. Coming back into the room was the master bedroom with a queen sized bed. It turned out to be extremely comfortable! We slept so well every night. Okay, except for one night but I’ll get into that later. They had a pillow menu, yes a pillow menu! Diane selected one of the alternative options and loved it so much we want to see if we can find it to buy. Even I, who hates hotel pillows, loved the stock pillows which were 100% down. There was a master bathroom with a full size, very deep Jacuzzi tub and enclosed shower. There was another bathroom with a commode and the exact same shower for the kids at the front of the suite off the entry hall.

The shower was incredible! It had a very nice heavy pressure rainfall directly in the middle top. It was fantastic. It also had a second head attached to a hose you could move around. We generally stuck with the amazing top rainfall head. Another thing I want in my dream shower.
[images: I only have a few initial ones. I’m going to check because I know I have more photos of the room during the day (without the beds down).

Room after evening service and beds put down:

The stateroom wasn’t just a place to sleep then leave and I was happy for that. We spent quite a bit of time in there and it really was a joy to be in there! With the space and upscale décor it was really pleasant to sit and visit and talk. In the evenings when the kids were down for the night, we had plenty of space where Diane and I could really enjoy time together and not feel cramped at all. I was usually the first one up in the morning so it was nice to be closed off a bit from the kids’ rooms and close the bathroom door to get ready without disturbing anyone.

Diane and Jack were feeling sleepy but Kate and I were not !! She was ready to go on the Aquaduck and I was ready to see some more of the ship!

Mom and Jack grabbing a quick nap, Kate ready for the Aquaduck!

She got a weird digital artifact on her face from the iphone panoramic photo

Kate and I both rode the Aquaduck but Ms Independent wanted to do it all by herself the first time. She is sooo independent and just wants to grow up too fast! We went on and there were only a few people ahead of us, and it was super fun but the water was cold! The pools are heated but Aquaduck is not! So we jumped into the hot tub after and to be honest not that hot, more like a warm tub. It wasn’t hot enough for me to want to get back in. Public hot tubs are rarely on my top list anyway.

Throughout the week the kids went on the waterslides but didn’t go in the pools at all!! Not once. Neither did Diane or I. while the weather was ok, it wasn’t what we considered hot and didn’t dictate needing to cool down. More often it was a question whether you wanted to be cold by going on the aquaduck. I think I went on 4 times through the week. Jack only went on 3-4 times and Kate went on probably 20 times, lol.

After Kate went on the aquaduck 4 times sitting in the hot tub for a few minutes we decided to go back to the room and check on mom and Jack. Wouldn’t you know it, we bumped into them out on the deck as we were heading back. They were up and exploring the pool deck. So we all went back to the room to change then check out the kids clubs. As we turned the corner towards our stateroom door the last of our luggage was being delivered and we had everything right there, yay clothes!

We got ourselves ready and proceeded down the Oceaneers Club! This was Jack’s new favorite place. It was open house so anyone could go in to check out the club and the lab next door. We all went in and it was great, so much space, so many activities. Jack was in heaven. He loved it, Kate took a while before she really got into it which I was surprised about. Well they weren’t actually opening until 6PM that night so we had to go and couldn’t leave Jack behind. He cried . This became a regular trend through the week. Jack loved it so much he cried almost every time we picked him up.

And okay, party foul... when we went to the club for the first time we didn't bring the camera, doh! I had my trusty gopro and I will link up some footage later. That's taking a long time to sort through.

Edited to add video: Ooooh, you can finally embed video on disboards!

We walked around a bit, checking out the ship for a short while then went back to the room to unpack. Got most of our things unpacked and we went back to the concierge lounge for another cocktail and some snacks for the kids.

Now it was the time for the mandatory life boat drill. We made our way down the stairs from deck 12 to deck 4 and into the Walt Disney theatre. It wasn’t painful at all, probably took about 20 minutes.

So way back as soon as we could make our reservations I had made dinner reservations at Remy for the first night. It was all confirmed but we received a call from Remy saying that someone was off with their reservation system and we were the only people who would be dining. They said they would honor our reservations but Diane and I both agreed that it would be weird eating alone in a restaurant and moved it to Monday night. Was not a problem for us but was going to make day 3 pretty full of activities and yes, food!

Next up was the sail away party. They were dancing and some of the characters came out to the stage on deck 11. The kids had a blast, so much fun…

This cast member I saw all over the place, he was in a lot of the shows.

Sail Away Party Video:

Boarding the ship, concierge lounge and going into stateroom for 1st time:

More to post later and it's going to take a while but eventually I'll upload some video to link for some of the spaces and events. And I just found out there's a 25 image limit so no more photos on this post

 

[MrDisneyFan]

Well I reached my limit on the last post so this is an amendment

Got a video uploaded of kids club here, really just a walk through of some of the areas in Oceaneers club and lab during the 1st day open house. If anyone knows how to embed a video into a thread here, let me know

 

[pierresgirl]

What a great start! Lots of detail and pictures, just what I like! Your wife is really pretty and cute kids! Glad to hear it was everything and more than you thought it would be!

the hosts joked with me about always having my gopro. I wanted to record everything!! And just about did. I've honestly hardly had a chance to go through the footage. I have many many many hours to go through. I felt like a tacky tourist a little but didn't want to miss a thing.

So far the bits I've seen are great. I'll figure out linking some of the videos when I get that far... I have almost 2000 photos as well and trying to get through those first

I just got my ds12 a GoPro for his birthday the other day so I'm excited to see your footage We haven't really looked at it yet to figure out how it's used but I'm excited to have him use it on our cruise (that neither he nor my husband know about yet)

 

[kittymamma]

Your enthusiasm is contagious. We are sailing at the same time next year and was curious about one comment you made in the beginning of your report....about being glad you took some warmer clothes. I have been in a quandary thinking about this very thing in my pre-planning and hope you will expand on this later in your report, particularly from your wife's point of view. It will be our first cruise not during a warm month.

Can't wait to read more about your journey !

 

[unimog]

Subscribed. We are taking this same cruise on Jan 10, so this is perfect to get an overview of what we will see!

 

[dglilbit]

Thanks for the video of the Oceaneers Club! I showed our 3 year old little girl the video and she burst into tears because she wants to go NOW. Oy.

We talked about being patient and part of the fun of the trip is thinking about how much fun we'll have. I might should have waited to show her the video...

 

[lizmit]

Awesome trip report Mike! I'll be waiting with baited breath for the next installment. My husband and I are also sailing next December 5th on Fantasy and we can't wait! We also booked a one bedroom suite so it's great to see pictures of it. I can't wait to soak in the tub
Thanks again
~ Liz

 

[darrenf67]

Hey just subbed in - we did this cruise last year - great memories - same cast member was there for us too! Looking forward to the rest of the TR

 

[MrDisneyFan]

Your enthusiasm is contagious. We are sailing at the same time next year and was curious about one comment you made in the beginning of your report....about being glad you took some warmer clothes. I have been in a quandary thinking about this very thing in my pre-planning and hope you will expand on this later in your report, particularly from your wife's point of view. It will be our first cruise not during a warm month.

Can't wait to read more about your journey !

Thanks for reading! As far as the warmer clothes. I don't want to overstate it, it wasn't that cold. But I pretty much wore pants every evening for dinner and was comfortable. My wife wore a dress and was comfortable as well. I think only one night she had a cover. For me anything more then flip-flips, shorts and a short sleeved shirt constitutes warmer clothes

 

[MrDisneyFan]

Time for a bit of an update before Christmas!

I had read many reports of people saying to skip the sail away party, that it was pure madness! I’m so glad we went and would recommend it, especially if you've never been. Keep in mind, our cruise had only 3500 passengers (compared to capacity of 4000 which our concierge hosts said they would be at the following week). So it might not have been nearly as ‘crazy’ as it could have been on a full boat. We went over after it started and the kids wanted to get into the action down on deck 11 and we had no problems finding some space on the deck for them.

The boat started moving and we decided to go up to deck 12 and make our way back to our stateroom to watch from our verandah. It was a beautiful departure; the sun was setting as we headed into the sea.

Video footage to be added later...

I had reached my photo limit my last update so wasn’t able to add this photo from the life boat drill but this cast member was funny. He did some magic while we were all waiting for the drill to start. Kept the kids very entertained…

With us heading to sea, it was about time to get ready for dinner. Showered and cleaned up we got dressed and headed to Enchanted Garden. Based on reviews I had read I was least excited about this rotational restaurant. And that was the reason I had initially made a Remy reservation for the 1st night. But Diane had a headache and her appetite wasn’t the greatest so I’m kind of glad we didn’t go to Remy with her not feeling 100%.

I failed at most MDRs to take good photos of the food. I did get a photo of the kids Mac n cheese which the kids loved (and was actually pretty tasty).

I thought the food the 1st night was actually okay. I had some sort of cucumber roll for an appetizer that I thought was good, tasted fresh. Also had some tomato soup which my wife and I both thought was too sweet. It was a running theme for any tomato soup we had on board. It tasted artificially sweet, as if a little sugar or a sweetener had been added. I ordered the sea bass for my entrée and my notes say it was great. Diane ordered the scallops which were also really good. Dessert, nothing was appealing to us so we skipped dessert here. So a few misses but the entrees were quite good.

This first night Diane and I both agreed that our servers were a little flat. It just seemed like things were pretty hectic (another reason why I had intended on skipping 1st MDR dinner). Things got much better as the week went on however, and we ended up loving our server, Yusef from Turkey! We really liked him.

With dinner done, the kids were clamoring to be dropped at the kids club. So we took them up and checked them into the club. Diane’s head was still hurting and thought maybe we should see if she could get a massage. Figured it was a slim chance since it was last minute but we walked up to Senses on deck 11. They were able to get her in almost right away! It wasn’t cheap, I think it was $160 for an hour. My wife gets quite a few massages and has had some overpriced ones, especially when on vacation or travelling. After she was done, her headache was gone and she said this was the BEST massage she’s every had! At the end of the trip, she said that if there was one thing she wish she would have done was go back for another massage.

So I had about 90 minutes to kill while Diane was getting a massage before I would pick her up. We missed the first night’s show so I took a walk on the upper decks and took some videos and photos. It was great to walk around the ship with almost no one there. Everyone else was at the show or dinner…

This always looked great but we never made it to this pool with a swim up bar...

This looked nice as well but never made it here either, lol.

Kids ended up here in the Aqualab a few times.

Didn't get to mini-golf this trip.

Didn't play basketball either...

I went down and explored the shops on deck 3. I picked up some Disney Cruise lanyards for the family and took notice of some of the ornaments and goodies I would want to come back for later. With the timing of the massage we weren’t going to make the evening show. I did, however, have time to stop into the concierge lounge for another complimentary cocktail for their evening reception. It felt like most of that first day was complimentary cocktails. I know we didn’t pay for any cocktails that first day

Time to head up and pickup Diane. She was so relaxed and LOVED her massage. She just wanted to slip into a bath. So took her back up to the room and got the giant tub filled and figured out how to turn on the jets and lights. It was the only time she took a bath but loved it.

I went down and got the kids from the club. It wasn’t too late (probably 9:00PM) but it had been a really long first day! We went back to the room, the kids got showered and ready for bed. They were a little hungry so we started what became almost a nightly ritual of ordering a few room service items. We ordered the cheese plate (which was mostly good), some pizza (I really liked the 4-cheese pizza), and a fruit bowl. We turned on an on-demand movie, we had a pick of the on demand movie library complimentary with the concierge room. We used it in the evenings when the kids were settling down and we were all relaxing. It was a very nice feature. They would watch a show in bed and Diane and I would sit on the verandah. This first night the kids and I had a picnic on the sofa bed while we watched a bit of a movie (can't even recall which one it was).

Everyone settled in and relaxed for the evening in our room. After a long full day we were all ready for a good night sleep!

Some thoughts about the first day…

I was glad I planned ahead and made it on the first bus to get settled in port. It puts me at ease knowing that we’re there, checked in and the less lines I have to wait in the better for me. Probably any of the first few buses wouldn’'t have made much of a difference.

I wouldn’'t skip the sail away party, especially not the first cruise. I’m thinking we probably would do it again for future cruises as well. Jack and I don’t care about being ‘in the action’ on the dance floor so the boys would be happy to cheer and watch from deck 12. The girls on the other hand, especially Kate, want to be right in it though.

I don't think I would make a dining reservation for Palo or Remy the 1st night. In hindsight, there was too much going on to plan for a long dinner that first night. Even though the MDR was a little hectic I would probably just stick with that. It was nice to have a pretty relaxing first night and just settle in to our new environment.

Now that we have our bearings I feel like we could make much better use of the extra time we had onboard that first day. We could find our way to the concierge lounge a little quicker and get ourselves settled. It took a while those first couple of days to figure out what was where (kids clubs, restaurants, theatres, etc). It’s a few small things but it’s nice to know the next time we’re on the Fantasy we’ll know where we need to go

Merry Christmas all!