Returned from Fantasy, Eastern Caribbean

[MickeyAB]

Where did you have the Ice Champagne? Where is it from?

 

[kathrynlip]

Where did you have the Ice Champagne? Where is it from?

Its a new champagne made by Moët. Best with some orange peel in it. The idea of ice in champagne is bizarre to me. But imagine sitting out on the back patio or deck in the summer. Perfect!

It was part of the champagne tasting we did on board or I still would never have heard of it

The ice cuts the sugar and removes some of the sweetness. Ends up right in between sweet and dry.

Bottle is all white and hard to find. I have not had it since the cruise but I can promise you it will be on the patio soon

 

[Chrisd12]

I asked specifically for this at Guest Services and was told it did not exist for this ship. They said they only had them on the classic ships.

Thank you for the information.....though not what I was hoping for. I am not at all creative and was hoping to incorporate into my fe gift. Will have to think of something else. Still Ancy with anticipation .

 

[dvcdisney]

That's her! I will be so sad if she is not there for our next cruise

Thanks so much. I'm so glad she's there. I did request her. My kids loves her! They still talk about her.

She mentioned that she would be there this August during our cruise, but you never know - plans change etc.

 

[livingis2me]

Day 4:

Sint Maarten. Spelled many different ways based upon location/language. This was my favorite so I am going with it.

Could not get an excursion through Disney so it was suggested (thanks again!) to go to shoreexcursions. Booked a 54 foot sailboat called the Rando Wind for my family and 20 others. What a day -- sailing from cove to cove to snorkel, lie on the beach and just basically have lots of fun. Rum punch was flowing; great lunch on board; trapeze swing to fly off the boat and do tricks.

My 8 year old proceeds to have motion sickness and every time the boat is moving he is throwing up off the back of the boat. Then when we stop, he jumps off and starts swimming and snorkeling. Happens 3 seperate times -- I am impressed as I know I would be curled up in the fetal position.

We feed a big school of Amber Jacks -- so cool to have them swarming you and feel them all over you while they are eating out of your hands.

My 15 year old spends a little more time on one beach than usual, as typically he would rather be in the water. I am not sure why until I realize, fancy that, it's the French beach and is topless. He comes back to the boat, my wife just shakes her head, and I give him a covert high 5.

I'm glad to hear a review about the Random Wind. We are booked on it for our cruise in September. A couple of questions if you don't mind... How long did it take you to taxi over to Skipjacks (the place where you meet for the excursion)? I've heard that the ride back can take a long time due to traffic... Do you remember how long? Approx what time did you get back to port? I'll have to get the family to dose up on seasick meds the night before as my daughter felt sick on a similiar excursion in St Thomas. Getting in the water and swimming around helped her a lot. That is probably why your boy was eager to get in and snorkle even though he was feeling bad.... I'm glad to hear the Lunch was great. Do they make any other drinks to order? Or is it rum punch or beer? Not a big deal, just wondering...

Thanks!
Ron

 

[GEK209]

Thanks for this wonderful info! DH and I will be on the July 14th Fantasy cruise - 3weeks!!! I am so excited. We definitely will be doing some tastings, have reservations at Palo and Remy and have booked a couples villa for the massages (plus I'm doing an extra massage while DH will most likely hang out by the pool).

 

[IrishCowboy]

Great review! Thanks for sharing

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Day 2:

DW and I then did the champagne tasting -- FANTASTIC! Learned lots and really enjoyed it. The new Ice Champagne is amazing!

Great review. We were on the same cruise. We did the Remy Champagne Lunch. They served the ice champagne with the dessert course. I didn't think I was a fan of Champagne, but we enjoyed all six glasses at Remy!

Day 3:

Now it is time for brunch with DW at Palo. Yeah ..... spectacular. Caviar, crab, scallops, etc. If you go, get the strawberry soup -- one of the best foods I have ever eaten. As usual the desserts are obscene. Why choose? Just eat until you cannot eat anymore (and then have one more bite HAHA).

I think we were in Palo the same time as you that day (Monday the 4th). I agree about the strawberry soup. I also really enjoyed the Mango Panna Cotta! I normally get my Panna Cotta fix at Palo dinner, but we skipped it this time and opted for lunch instead.

A good time for some short notes before I get to day 4 (Sint Maarten)

I felt a little sea sick the first couple of days, but only at dinner. You are low on the ship and really feel the rocking. I wore sea bands on my wrists and that helped. By day 4 I had my sea legs and enjoyed the slow movement.

10518 is high up and forward. One afternoon we could really hear the gym (right above us) but besides that it was perfect -- great location! We have already rebooked this room for our next cruise.

We had a verandah. Did we use it every day -- yes. But not lots. At the same time being able to just step out, or just see out, whenever we wanted to was worth the price for our family.

That's odd about your sea sickness. It seems that everything you read is that the lower and more center you are, the less movement. Forward and high up should have had more movement than the dinners. That said, I don't get sea sick, so I really don't seem to notice too much either way.

We are now verandah people too. Our first three cruises were inside or a porthole only. We opted for a verandah on cruise 4 and have had one ever since. We spend a lot of time on our verandahs in the morning and evening.

Day 6:

Oh, and we went to breakfast that morning at one of the restaurants. Very nice, but I think room service with a limited menu was even better for our needs.

We had a relaxing afternoon sitting in the sun and playing. Then at 6:30pm DW and I went to Remy. We had already changed our reservation twice as I first booked it on line, then changed it to the last night, and then changed it again so we would not miss Animators on the last night. I had requested Gustav's room, but Zoe (what a great host) had called that morning to say a large part was taking it. What a surprise we had when we walked in and ended up in Gustav's room! Oh thank you Zoe -- you are the best!

We were at Remy for over 3 hours. I have been fortunate to eat at some amazing restaurants -- Remy is the finest meal I have ever had. I wish we could have gone more than once! My wife got a wine pairing and I just stuck to one glass I knew I would enjoy. Literally there were moments when we would taste one of her wines, dislike it, then find it perfect after we had the food it was paired with. We each got a tasting menu, but replaced things as we wanted. I just cannot adequately say how nice it was.

Our experience with room service breakfast on this cruise was not good. We only used it one morning (St. Thomas day due to the early excursion meet time at 7:30 at the Tube). We scheduled breakfast room service between 6:30 and 7:00 am and it did not arrive until well after seven and they never came to the kid's room at all. I called them and complained, but it still never showed up in time. Plus, our breakfast was missing some items we ordered such as the cream cheese for the bagels and jelly for the muffins and cream for the coffee. We ended up sharing a small breakfast and fortunately a family had brought some extra muffins to The Tube. When we realized that they probably weren't going to take them on the excursion, we asked if they would mind letting our boys have one. I was happy as we didn't get back from the excursion until after one pm. We won't be ordering room service again. We'll just make a quick run up to Cabanas. Plus, we can get some real protein and my daily bowl of Muesli!!

We seemed to do the speciality restaurants on the same days as you. We didn't do Remy dinner, but instead opted for the Champagne lunch. It was $50 and included the champagne pairing with each of the six courses. We too ate in the Gusteau room. What beautiful views. We were sailing close to some islands that day and their was a sailboat on the horizon as we ate an awesome six course lunch.

Day 7: Castaway Cay

I think we were allowed off the boat about 9:30am. That morning was the only thing I think Disney needs to work on. I was "assigned" the task of getting up and being ready, so we would get a good place by the water. At 9am I was by the doors ready to disembark and was probably 50th in line. Soon the area was overfilled, and then elevators were full and stopped there also -- actually felt dangerous how stuffed in we were with more people coming all the time. VERY claustrophobic. Finally the doors opened and I walked quickly and got us chairs right by the water slides.

We went to Animator's that night -- what a cool show! Do not miss your last night in Animators -- thats when they do the show no matter what your rotation is for dinner.

Well that's about it. I missed telling you about wine tasting (did not like it) and my wife doing mixology (she loved it).

I had never been on a cruise before and now we are already booked in 10518 leaving January 26, 2013. In the adjoining room will be my mom and stepdad. She turns 75 on January 27th. We cannot wait for a great celebration!

My DW complained about getting off the ship that morning too. She said it was the only time she felt the crowds on the new ship. I actually went on the CC 5K so missed the chaos!

I agree about Animator's show. I've only read a couple of reviews from those who didn't appreciate it. It's a lot of fun and the various "food" clips being shown that night were fun to watch too.

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. We are hooked on Disney cruises. Six down and one booked for next summer!

 

[kathrynlip]

I'm glad to hear a review about the Random Wind. We are booked on it for our cruise in September. A couple of questions if you don't mind... How long did it take you to taxi over to Skipjacks (the place where you meet for the excursion)? I've heard that the ride back can take a long time due to traffic... Do you remember how long? Approx what time did you get back to port? I'll have to get the family to dose up on seasick meds the night before as my daughter felt sick on a similiar excursion in St Thomas. Getting in the water and swimming around helped her a lot. That is probably why your boy was eager to get in and snorkle even though he was feeling bad.... I'm glad to hear the Lunch was great. Do they make any other drinks to order? Or is it rum punch or beer? Not a big deal, just wondering...

Thanks!
Ron

Only about 20 mins or so. Was not bad at all getting there. We were back on the boat by 4pm

Rum punch, beer, sodas and water was what I saw

 

[kathrynlip]

KSDisneyDad,

I crushed some panna cotta! The mango was the best

 

[BoosGram]

Thanks for the review. We're doing this cruise in Sept. I'm on the fence about booking an excursion for St. Thomas since it seems like there's a lot of things to do near the ship. I'd appreciate any insight you have on this stop.

Remy's sounds amazing. DH says the upcharge is too high, but I'll bet you get what you pay for. Glad you had such a good experience!

 

[kathrynlip]

Thanks for the review. We're doing this cruise in Sept. I'm on the fence about booking an excursion for St. Thomas since it seems like there's a lot of things to do near the ship. I'd appreciate any insight you have on this stop.

Remy's sounds amazing. DH says the upcharge is too high, but I'll bet you get what you pay for. Glad you had such a good experience!

We did not do a St Thomas excursion as it is so easy to get to a beach or downtown on your own

The Remy decision is of course completely personal, but I would challenge any couple to get a meal that compares for under 400-500 dollars anywhere in the world.

 

[BoosGram]

We did not do a St Thomas excursion as it is so easy to get to a beach or downtown on your own

The Remy decision is of course completely personal, but I would challenge any couple to get a meal that compares for under 400-500 dollars anywhere in the world.

Thanks for confirming; that's pretty much what I thought. And I'm still trying to talk DH into trying Remy's. We'll see what happens. Bottom line is I know we'll have a wonderful time regardless!

 

[Fºoºz]

Do you recall what the price range for the massages were?

 

[*Flower*]

Its a new champagne made by Moët. Best with some orange peel in it. The idea of ice in champagne is bizarre to me. But imagine sitting out on the back patio or deck in the summer. Perfect!

It was part of the champagne tasting we did on board or I still would never have heard of it

The ice cuts the sugar and removes some of the sweetness. Ends up right in between sweet and dry.

Bottle is all white and hard to find. I have not had it since the cruise but I can promise you it will be on the patio soon

We did a tasting event last year during F&W, and this wine was introduced as an 'extra'. I found it in the F&W shop and picked up a bottle. YUM!!

 

[kathrynlip]

Do you recall what the price range for the massages were?

Anywhere from 150-225

 

[BrettW]

Muesli on board is amazing. One of my favorites on board.

 

[Coconuts]

You said your 8yo gets seasick. What meds do they take? We are cruising in August and I want to be prepared in case the kids get sick. Thanks. Love your short, sweet, and to the point TR.

 

[disney1990]

We are doing our first 7 day Eastern in October. Thank you for a wonderful trip report - gave me some great ideas.

 

[Trinity524]

Only about 20 mins or so. Was not bad at all getting there. We were back on the boat by 4pm

Rum punch, beer, sodas and water was what I saw

Just asked for more information from their website. Do you take a taxi to the place?