The Royal Voyage: Fantasy Eastern Caribbean Nov. 3 10, 2012!!! (with Pictures!!!)

[SCMouseFans]

Really enjoying this so far! We sail on the Fantasy in one week and your TR is adding to the excitement!

 

[Tami0220]

More, more, more, please And fabulous pics cant wait to see more

 

[Shazzasmd]

Enjoying your report! I remember reading your Beach Club TR when I was researching photography at WDW - looking forward to seeing the Fantasy through your lens.

 

[SrisonS]

Day 2: Starting Early & Ending Late


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I can’t go on a cruise and NOT get out at least once for a sunrise. It’s such a beautiful sight to see the sun come up, out in the open sea. Photography-wise, this ending up being a perfect morning to try and capture that moment. But as chance would have it, I probably almost missed it. Under normal circumstances, we would’ve set our clocks back 1 hour, for Daylight Savings Time. But an announcement was made the day before for us to not do this (probably because we were approaching another time-zone). Because I didn’t think to fix the settings in my iPhone, it automatically adjusted the time. Luckily for me, I kept waking up anyway. So when I saw that the room clock didn’t jive with what my phone was displaying, I immediately remembered the announcement from the previous day. So I was able to head out at a decent time.


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To shoot a sunrise, I usually get out there about 30 minutes beforehand; because of camera issues in the past. Going from a very cold room to the very humid air would cause my lens to fog up inside. So it wasn't something I could wipe away. I just had to give it time to clear up. But there wasn't any humidity this particular morning. It was actually nice and cool out; at least up there with the wind whipping on me. Also, I happened to see the ship lights turn off (the exterior nice ones) at 7:00 AM. I guess I should also mention that the “up there” is Satellite Falls, on Deck 13. I believe that this is the only non-Concierge area where you can look off the front of the ship.



Satellite Falls
IMG_0779 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



After heading back to the room, it was just about time to get ready for “Wake Up With Disney Junior”, in the D Lounge. This is basically a little dance party featuring Disney Junior music. A CM directs the little ones in various dances; and a special guest comes out near the end. Today, Pluto was there to make a showing. He comes out, and of course, the kids get all excited. Then Pluto dances with them for a song or two, before exiting. Throughout most of this “party”, our DD wasn’t all that active. She did enjoy Pluto making an appearance. But other than that, she didn’t do much dancing; until the last song, when they played her jam….. the theme from Little Einsteins. As soon as she heard the ‘pat pats’, it was game on!!!! She immediately got in on all of the little motions. And when they lined up to act they were Rocket, she fell right in place. She even kept “flying” when everyone else had stopped!!!! It was quite a delight to see.



IMG_0785 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



My Disney Pics on Flickr!!!

 

[SrisonS]

So after waking up with Disney Junior, we head back to the room to take a nap. A little while later, we head to Cabanas for lunch (a stuffed chicken thing was very good). And then, we decide to finally give Nemo’s Reef a try. Nemo’s Reef is the water play area for toddlers. This is a HUGE improvement over the little splash pad that is on the Magic. And as you can tell from the name, it’s very nicely themed around Finding Nemo. The water itself appeared to be very cool at first; but that was mainly from the splashes I was getting. When the water was coming out of the various fun faucets, it was actually quite warm. All of Nemo’s Reef is also covered. This is good to keep the little ones from getting burnt. But it also doesn’t seem as refreshing to be in the water. So some good and bad there.



IMG_0832 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



I also said ‘try’ this area, because we didn’t know how our daughter would react. Over the summer, we took trips to both of Disney’s water parks. Neither one went over well. We don’t know what it was, but she was completely impossible both times. And when it came to trying to put her on the sand…. Forget about it!!!! It could’ve been hot lava for all she cared. She wanted NO part of it. And doing Nemo’s Reef pretty much had the same effect as the water parks. She stood and cried for a bit; then only played for a couple of minutes. Maybe she doesn’t like the weird soft surfaces of all of these kiddie areas?!?!?! I have no idea.



IMG_0787 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



So 3:00 is almost upon us, and it’s time to take our DD to her 1st stay at the ‘It’s A Small World Nursery’. One “nice” feature to the nursery is a 2-way mirror that parents can use to see how their child is getting along. I put ‘nice’ in quotes because it’s kind of hard to see through it, and you don’t get the best view into the main play areas. It’s also right near the door that leads to the heart of the nursery. So you’re probably better off just peeking around the doorway.

We kept her in IASW for a little over an hour, and sort of made the most of our time. We didn’t do anything that we couldn’t have done with her though; like any Adults Only activities, or hang out in the Adult areas. But we did do most of our shopping. My father-in-law is a CM at Hollywood Studios. So luckily for us, we were able to take advantage of his limited time 40% off discount. We didn’t go super overboard with our spending. But we still managed to get quite a few souvenirs.



IMG_0858 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



Later on, we went over to check out the in-laws’ room. They were staying on the same floor as us; but their room had a balcony. Overall, there didn’t seem to be any major difference between their room and ours. Where we had a chair and a space for the pack-n-play, they had that balcony. And I’m not sure if their bathrooms were any different. Space-wise, I think our room was the better bet. Sure, we needed an area for our daughter to sleep. But we also ended up sticking our dirty clothes, bags of goodies, and other stuff all around that chair.

 

[MomToPrincePhillip]

So happy I found your TR! We are going on the Fantasy in May with DSS 5 and 9. I'm really enjoying reading about your adventures, your tips and your daughter is gorgeous. I'm home after surgery and a short hospital stay and I think reading your updates will be a great way to spend my "couch rest".

 

[SrisonS]

IMG_0793 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



So tonight was our Formal Night. And one thing I was looking forward to was taking pictures with the characters, before dinner. To see Mickey and Minnie dressed to the nines is pretty cool. Unfortunately, they weren’t wearing anything that was special to this particular night. On the Magic, Mickey had on a nice tux, and Minnie was in a snazzy little dress. But here on the Fantasy, it was Sailor Mickey (the version we saw quite often), and Minnie in a really nice dress that we had seen her in on other nights as well.



IMG_0796 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr


Edit: Since some people have inquired about my wife's dress, I feel I should mention that she got it at Dress Barn.
IMG_0800 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



The 2nd stop in our dinner rotation was Enchanted Garden. The look and feel of that restaurant perfectly fits the name. I can’t for the life of me remember what I had for dinner that night; but I’m sure it was very good. (Note: I took notes throughout the cruise; but not on this meal for some reason.) But the bright spot of this dinner was that our DD was an absolute gem. We had no problems with her this night. I’ll just mention here that she was great for the rest of our trip. It was just the first night that was a disaster.

This is also the first night we started to really talk to our Australian tablemates about the differences between their country and ours. Over the course of the cruise, we found out things such as: kangaroos aren’t as prevalent as some might assume (at least not in suburban/city areas); by law, they have to vote; their murder rate is super low; they know us Americans are sue happy (their joke about Americans is saying “I’ll sue you” to each other); you’re guaranteed at least 4 weeks of vacation a year, no matter what type of job you have; as well as other little fun facts.



Fountain at Enchanted Garden
IMG_0810 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



The show for this night was “Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular”. Not figuring in the show from the first night…. UGH!!!!... this was the best performance that we saw. Sure, the story is familiar; but it was well executed, and very entertaining. And like the movie, the Genie was the absolute star!!!!!! It was fun to try and find that actor during the other shows. He really gave it his all; even in the small roles.

So that was basically the end of our night. We eventually headed back to the room. My wife and daughter went to sleep, while I went out to do some nighttime picture taking.



IMG_0813 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr

 

[Sereina]

Great update! Awesome pictures, as usual.

 

[MomToPrincePhillip]

Love those formal night pictures! What a beautiful family, and I love your wife's dress!

 

[All American]

Subscribing...

I can't wait to read through your trip report! I've seen some of your pictures of the Photography Forum, and I look forward to seeing what you share on this thread. Your daughter is adorable! TIA for sharing!

 

[swalesfamily]

Loving your pictures! You are inspiring me to get up early on my cruise in Jan to try to capture some spectacular shots. Really enjoying your TR

 

[SrisonS]

Fantastical Night by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



Going into this trip, one of the main things I wanted to do was to do some night shooting with my tripod. Wanting to get creative, but having to use a tripod, is something Im not completely used to doing. I tend to shoot at a lot of unique angles, and I can get pretty impatient sometimes. So taking the time to setup a tripod, and also making sure the camera is in the exact position I want, is still a struggle. But the only way to get GREAT night shots, or super sharp indoor ones, is to use a tripod. So the pros outweigh the cons there.



IMG_0820 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr


IMG_0843 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



Overall, the shooting went pretty well this night. I did find it hard however to get a shot that shows off the length of the ship. Because the Aquaduck is something that must be in the shot, its hard to find a spot where you can accomplish this task. I did find an area next to Currents (the adult outdoor bar) that was suitable though. Also, for anyone that might be thinking out going on a night outing with their tripod; you should know that it can get VERY windy on the top decks. Mine blew over a couple of times (luckily, when my camera wasnt on there). But the various wind barriers can help to fight that issue.


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A Quiet Night at Quiet Cove by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr


IMG_0879 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr


IMG_0859 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr

 

[Kandjandj]

Wow, your pictures are gorgeous.

 

[FloridaNative8]

LOVE your photos!!! And what a beautiful family! We have just over 3 months until our Fantasy cruise, and this report has been super helpful so far! Thanks for taking the time to write it!

 

[SrisonS]

Thanks for all of the great comments.

This report might start rolling along a little more steadily soon. Work is kind of slowing down now, so I have more time to "think" during the day.

 

[indychristine]

Loving your TR! Cant wait to read the rest. We went on the Fantasy last May and are sailing her again on March 9th for our anniversary!
Thanks so much for sharing! It helps to build the excitement of our upcoming cruise!

 

[indychristine]

Forgot to subscribe!

 

[Subi WRX]

You have some great photos. However, my favorite is the one of the lady who kept hitting your daughter in the head with her camera. What kind of idiot isn't aware their camera is swinging into a young child ... on a Disney ship? Sweet revenge.

 

[SrisonS]

Day 3: The Art of Fine Dining


IMG_0885 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



So, because of my late night of fun, I decided to sleep-in a little. Well actually, my wife seemed to really be rushing to get out that morning, and I didn’t want to argue that early. But my DW and DD went to breakfast with my father-in-law; and also went to a “Wake Up With Disney Junior” type of thing, featuring Jake and the Neverland Pirates music (with an appearance by Jake).



IMG_1458 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr


IMG_1455 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



When they finally came back, we all went out for some quality family time. During the previous couple of days, my wife kept saying how she wanted to do the Midship Detective Agency game. So that’s what “we” did. She’s the one that actually did everything for it. Me and the DD just tagged along. There are 3 versions of this interactive experience (The Muppets, Classic Disney Characters, and 101 Dalmatians); each with a different difficulty rating. We (she) decided to do the Muppets one. And I gotta say, it’s a pretty cool game. The basis of the Midship Detective Agency is that there’s a mystery that needs to be solved. But to conclude the investigation, you have to eliminate various suspects along the way. To determine who you’ll have to scratch off your list, you visit quite a few locations all throughout the ship. The coolest part is the interactivity of it all. The screens you interact with are the same ones that house the Enchanted Art. So if you stand in front of one of those “pictures” without the game card, the normal Enchanted Art sequence plays. But when you have the game card in-hand, it knows to start that part of the Agency game for you. And it’s not just an indicator of “someone needs some clues now”. But you also move the card around to help uncover those clues….. move a flashlight around the screen… melt some ice in a fridge… light fireworks… etc. I’d definitely recommend doing this on one of your Sea Days; maybe even better on a Port Day, with less people on the ship.



IMG_0882 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr


IMG_0884 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



IMG_0602 by Scott Smith (SRisonS), on Flickr



My Disney Pics on Flickr!!!!

 

[SrisonS]

You have some great photos. However, my favorite is the one of the lady who kept hitting your daughter in the head with her camera. What kind of idiot isn't aware their camera is swinging into a young child ... on a Disney ship? Sweet revenge.

Well, she's lucky I didn't get her name. Like I've heard one lady say, "that Facebook is evil!!!".