2 Adults on the Disney Fantasy - Eastern Caribbean Itinerary A - August 2015

[Aby]

Introduction

While I’ve been on two cruises with DCL in the past, this will be my first trip report! I spent many, many months on the DIS reading, planning, and enjoying the trip reports of others, so I thought it only fair to return the favour and write a report of my own to help any others out there with their planning.

THE 5 W’s

WHO - We are husband and wife, no kids, in our late 30’s/early 40’s. I work in the animal health care field, and I love all things Disney. My husband is a heavy duty mechanic, and although he’s not in love with Disney nearly as much as I am, he truly appreciates the level of customer service and attention to detail that comes along with a Disney vacation.

WHAT - An 11-12 day trip including a 7 day cruise.

WHERE - Round trip from Northern BC, Canada to Orlando, including a pre-cruise stay at the Wilderness Lodge, a 7 day DCL Eastern Caribbean Cruise (itinerary A), a post-cruise stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and one day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

WHY - While we try to take at least one big vacation together every year, this one was extra special as it was part of our 10 year anniversary celebration. Also, while we’ve sailed twice with DCL, both were to Alaska, and we wanted to try out a warm (hot!) weather cruise. We also wanted to see if we could handle tackling WDW in the heat and crowds of the summer.

WHEN - August 12th to 24th, 2015.

Trip Planning

We booked this cruise fairly late, sometime in February of 2015. Normally we would have booked much earlier, however we weren’t really planning on a cruise this year. In fact, I had an OBB from our previous DCL cruise to Alaska that I actually cancelled late last year when we sure we wouldn’t be taking a cruise in 2015, because I wanted to use the money from the deposit for a last minute trip to WDW in January. You can imagine how mad I was at myself that I did that as we lost our discount and our OBB! I won’t make that mistake again!

I always book my WDW and DCL vacations myself, without the use of a travel agent, as we’ve been multiple times before and I really like being fully in control of my reservation. I tend to change my mind often too, so I’d rather be able to just go in and fix things myself without going through a TA. I had no problems booking the cruise on the DCL website - I booked a cat 5 at first, but ended up switching to a 7A cabin when I saw one available that had only minimal obstruction (9664). I booked our pre and post cruise stays in mid April when the summer room-only discounts came available online, and I was able to get a fairly good deal on airfare in the middle of May. My parents, who live all the way across the country and were planning on visiting us before our trip, graciously offered to stay in our home and pet-sit for us while we were gone.

We were able to get both a Palo brunch and dinner reservation at our 90 day booking window, along with the only shore excursion we were planning. After that, the only thing left was to wait (for what seemed like forever!) for our vacation time to come!

 

[Aby]

Orlando - Here We Come!

The day of our departure finally came after what felt like an eternity after booking. I had two days off prior to us leaving, and since our flight didn’t leave until 6:50pm I had plenty of time to pack and re-pack to satisfy my worry that we weren’t forgetting anything. For the past few years, my hubby and I have started travelling carry-on only for all of our trips. It can occasionally be difficult to fit everything in, but heading to a warm destination was certainly much easier than Alaska, and we planned to do laundry a few times on the trip, so we ended up with lots of room to spare.

My parents dropped us off at the airport at about 5:30pm, and there was no line at security so we just breezed right through, with the exception of hubby being selected for a random extra screening (just a hand swab). I had to laugh a little as it’s usually my luck to get plucked out of line for these things! Our first flight was on time and brought us to Vancouver, where we had almost 3 hours of waiting before boarding an overnight flight to Toronto. It was a very full flight, but we still landed on time (even a bit early!) and our trip through customs was quite quick with their automatic passport scanners and customs paperwork. After another long layover we were finally on the way to Orlando.

I was originally nervous about booking an overnight flight, as we’ve never taken a red-eye before, however, this option allowed us to arrive in Orlando by early afternoon, rather than at almost midnight, so we thought we’d give it a try. It wasn’t much of a problem for hubby, as he can sleep almost anywhere, but I’m sure that I did not get more than 1-2 hours of sleep in almost 36 hours. But, as we had a full day to rest before our cruise I do think it was worth it.

We landed in Orlando in the middle of a thunderstorm - pouring rain & lightning! We were very happy at that point that we had only carry on luggage, because one of the passengers said that they won’t unload the luggage from the planes during a storm like that. We headed right down to the Magical Express waiting area, and within 20 minutes we were on a bus and headed to the Wilderness Lodge. Our plane landed at 1:20pm, and we were in our resort room by 3pm.


Wilderness Lodge Pre-Cruise Stay

We chose to stay at the Wilderness lodge for our pre-cruise resort for a couple of reasons. One, we’ve stayed there before and enjoyed the layout and location of the resort. But more importantly, we really wanted to eat at the Whispering Canyon Cafe as many times as possible during our stay, so staying here was the most convenient (you can see what our true priorities are!). We did the online check in 60 days in advance, and the only choice i requested was the highest floor. We we were given a room up on the 6th floor, but after a few minutes in the room, we discovered that a large section of the carpet was soaking wet, so we went back down to the front desk and we were quickly moved to a room just a few doors down with many apologies. Room 6510 was in a great location. Although we booked a Woods View room, this was actually a Courtyard view overlooking the Villas pool and building. The balcony was a dormer style and mostly enclosed, but we liked that as it added to the privacy of the location. At first we though it was quite a trek to the room from the front desk, but a different set of elevators took us right down to the pool area just a short walk from the quick service restaurant.



After settling in to the room, we went downstairs to purchase the refillable mugs and relaxed a bit before our ADR for dinner. At 5pm we were promptly seated in the Whispering Canyon Cafe where we enjoyed their all you can eat family style skillet. This is one of our favourite meals in all of WDW and the primary reason we stayed at WL pre-cruise. Taking the red-eye flight also gave us the opportunity to eat here for dinner on our first day, another reason we thought it was worth travelling overnight. Stuffed to the gills, we headed back to our room and tried to stay awake as long as possible before heading to bed. We managed to stay up late enough to watch the Electrical Water Pageant but after that we finally gave up and went to sleep.



The following day we took it very easy. We had a wonderful breakfast at WCC (their banana bread french toast is to die for!) and hopped on a bus to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping. This was our first experience in the Florida heat and humidity in the summer. I myself love heat and humidity in general, but hubby definitely does not. Thankfully at DTD most of the time we were in and out of the shops with AC, and the only hard part we found was going from the Marketplace to the next section of shops and restaurants, and waiting for the bus to return to the resort, which felt like it took forever. We had lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express - which I highly recommend as it has excellent food and wasn’t very busy even at the lunch time peak. When we got back to the resort we took a dip in both pools and I wandered around the resort for some photo opportunities. We did a bit of laundry, then headed to WCC again for another skillet dinner. We had planned to try to go to the TTC to watch the Wishes fireworks, but it started raining and we just decided to stay in and prepare for the cruise the next day. When we got back from dinner we had a letter in our stateroom outlining our pick up time (11:30am) the following day for our DCL bus to the port. After rearranging our bags for embarkation we watched the Electrical Water Pageant again (I just love the music!) and headed up to bed.

 

[MickeyD]

Hopping onboard (lol, pun intended) to read along on your trip report. Hubby and I travel DCL as adults only and I love to read other trip reports from this perspective. Especially since you also did the Fantasy Eastern, which is the one we did in Feb of 2015.

looking forward to your report!
Lisa

 

[Aby]

Cruise Day 1 - Embarkation

Since our DCL transfer pick up time was not until 11:30am, we had plenty of time for another breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe. As we were travelling carry-on only, we simply let the bell services desk know the night before that we did not need them to come to our room to pick up any bags. After breakfast, we went down to the lobby and checked in with the DCL agent who was wandering around the area. We found a comfortable seat and relaxed until we were called to board the bus. There were probably only about a dozen people on the bus with us, but we made a stop at Port Orleans French Quarter to pick up some more, and then we were off to Port Canaveral.



We arrived at the terminal at the same time as a couple other DCL busses, so there was a bit of a wait to get through security, but it wasn’t too bad. In the main terminal open boarding had already begun so the waiting area was quite empty, however there were still some fairly big lines for check in both for new and returning cruisers. Even though the lines appeared long, it only took about 15 minutes or so until we were checked in, and then we were walking through the Mickey ears onto the ship at 1:06pm.



Hubby and I had a plan of attack all lined up before we boarded and we split up to get a few things accomplished. He headed over to La Piazza to book the Chocolate and Beverage Tasting, and I headed to Royal Court where they were handling dining assignments. I had placed a request on our reservation to sit at a private table at dinner if possible, so I wanted to check whether that was granted or not, and I wanted to see if I could snag a second Palo dinner. I only had to wait a minute or two to be helped, and I was able to confirm another dinner and received instructions to check in with a manager at our first nights dinner to be assigned our private table. Hubby and I, both successful, headed up to our cabin to drop off our bags, and then went straight to the Senses Spa to book our week-long pass to the rainforest room ($227.74 for couples pass including gratuity). We had lunch at Cabanas, which we didn’t find crowded at all, then headed back to the spa for the raffle. We didn’t win anything, but hubby did book a discounted Acupuncture treatment later on that evening as he had been having some back pain for the past month or so.

Before the lifeboat drill, we headed back to our cabin to check it out. We booked room 9664, category 7A, a deluxe oceanview stateroom with navigator’s verandah. This room is aft and on the starboard side, and the verandah has a small obstruction on the forward side due to the lack of a verandah next door on that side and the decoration of the ship. The obstruction was minimal, and I actually liked it a lot as it provided a nice windbreak as we were sailing and made it feel a little more private. The only thing some may not like about it is that there is a maintenance cage that stays parked just above the verandah unless it is being used in port to clean the sides of the ship. The cage is visible when on the verandah, but didn’t really obstruct the view at all unless you were trying to star-gaze or take some wide angle photos as it would end up in the shot. The location of the cabin was great - close to the aft elevators (by far the least busy elevators), and just a short ride up or down to cabanas and the adult clubs on deck 4. There was very little foot traffic, and the room was in great shape. I would definitely book this room or it’s twin on the other side of the ship again with no hesitation.







The muster drill started at 4pm - our stateroom belonged to the “P” station, which was located in The Tube club on deck 4, aft, so very convenient. Right after the drill, we decided to skip the craziness of the sail away party and went to enjoy the rainforest room instead! The rainforest room on the Fantasy was a lot bigger and better equipped than on the Wonder. When you check in, you trade in your ID card for a green, waterproof wristband that opens the door to the private area. There are two hot tubs in an enclosed solarium with open air windows, about a dozen heated tile loungers, one dry sauna, two steam rooms, and 4 shower experiences with 3-4 settings each. There were only a few other people besides us in there at sail away, and that trend would continue for most of the cruise - they only sell a limited # of cruise passes on each sailing, so it was never crowded.





On a side note, the spa has very large, beautiful changing rooms and showers that anyone can use at any time, free of charge. We used these every day for our main showers as we didn’t like the cramped quarters of the shower in the stateroom. For those sailing with larger groups in their stateroom, consider using these instead of having to wait while everyone else is showering in the room. The showers were very spacious, and everything was provided including toiletries, razors, heavy duty blow dryer, etc; and the changing room even has a mild steam room that anyone can enjoy.



While my hubby went to his acupuncture treatment, I picked up a couple bottles of water and headed back to the stateroom to unpack. I explored the TV options, which included many short videos about the ship and crew, an entire library of Disney movies, a few non-Disney movies, and a few regular TV channels. I met our stateroom host, Madé from Indonesia, who we didn’t see that often but too very good care of our room for the entire cruise.

We had second seating for dinner at 8:15pm, and our dining rotation for this cruise was AERAERA, so we headed to Animator’s Palate and talked to Ivo at the door for our private table. We were assigned table 29 for the rest of the cruise, with Chatcha from Thailand as our assistant servier, Oppie from Indonesia as our server, and Alberto from the Phillipenes as our head server. The table was near but not too close to the entrance, and we had good views of multiple TV screens for the Crush dinner show. We both had the truffle purisettes appetizer (excellent), hubby had the butternut squash soup followed by the thyme lemon chicken, and I had the tenderloin with wasabi potatoes (all very good). For dessert, I ordered a Mickey bar and hubby had the walnut crunch cake. The turtle show was very cute, and interactive for those sitting closest to the screens. I loved the decor in AP - so much more bright and colourful than on the Wonder.





After dinner we headed to The Tube for “Match Your Mate” with the host “Tisa” who was excellent through the entire cruise. The show was hilarious, and the older couple who had been married the longest won. All the couples revealed some very hilarious things during the game, and it seemed like everywhere we went we kept seeing them for the rest of the cruise. Definitely a fun way to end the night!

 

[EastCoastCdn]

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip. We're booked in room 9666 on the Fantasy next August. It will be our first cruise so I enjoy reading these reports.

 

[Aby]

Cruise Day 2 - Sea Day

We had Palo brunch scheduled for early this afternoon, so we ate only a light breakfast at Cabanas this morning. I was very impressed with the variety of the food available at the buffet, and since we were up fairly early at 7:30am, it wasn’t busy at all. After breakfast, we indulged in our daily ritual relaxation hour in the rainforest room; again, the place was virtually empty, and from my seat in the dry sauna I observed a beautiful rainbow and some amazing flying fish! Afterwards, we explored the shops, listened in on some Disney trivia in La Piazza, and then I headed off to the first Bingo session of the cruise.





Bingo is one of my all time favourite activities on the cruise. I grew up playing with my family when I was young, but now that I’ve moved away from home I don’t play at all. So now I get my fix while I’m on DCL. Of course, it’s so different than “normal, serious” Bingo, but it’s so much fun all the same. Most sessions this cruise were held in the D Lounge on deck 4, but the two jackpot sessions were held in the Buena Vista Theatre instead due to the anticipated crowds. You can play paper cards, electronic cards, or a combination of the two - most people play electronic because you get many more chances to win - prices for the early sessions were $30/6 paper cards, $40/24 electronic cards, $50/48 electronic cards, and a family pack for $80/2x24 electronic cards and 2x6 paper cards. One session in the middle of the week you got double the # of cards for the same price, and for the final session the prices changed - there was no more family pack - you could buy 6 paper cards for $40, or 36/72 electronic cards for $70/90, with a $10 loyalty discount if you played at least 3 times before the final session. The Bingo master on this cruise was Lee from England, and although he was good in general, I just didn’t find he and the rest of the Bingo team had as much enthusiasm and fun as the previous crew I had on the Wonder. Unfortunately, I didn’t win any cash during the cruise, but I did win a raffle bag with various DCL gear such as a hat, luggage tag, flashlight, etc (unfortunately it was all quite cheaply made). Everyone always seems to have so much fun at Bingo - I always recommend people to go to at least one session on their cruise!



After Bingo it was time for our brunch at Palo! Our server today was Pamela from Peru, who was super nice and who we would also have later in the cruise for dinner. We had a gorgeous window view of the ocean from our table, and there were very few diners besides us at that time (we went at 12:30pm). We were given a choice of a mimosa, sparkling wine, or apple cider with our meal (we both chose the mimosa) and our server showed us around all the various buffet tables - there was one for pastries, one for seafoods, and one for meats, cheeses and antipasti, - and then she showed us our choices for the a-la-carte menu. The servers at the buffet loaded our plates with whatever we wanted (at first I thought this would be very awkward but it really wasn’t, they were very helpful and didn’t hesitate to offer suggestions), and I enjoyed lots of my favourites - cured meats, cheeses, bread, crostini, fruit with whipped cream, and warm sticky buns - while hubby enjoyed lots of meats, seafoods, cheeses, and pastries. From the menu, I ordered the chicken parmesan (to die for!), the fried mozzarella (so rich!) and the chilled strawberry soup (so refreshing!), while hubby had the grape & gorgonzola pizza which he thought was great. After a whole plateful of wonderful desserts including an amazing nutella chocolate cup, we were stuffed to the gills and had to stop. For $30 per person plus a tip (we tipped $25), it was such an excellent value, and our server made it extra special by bringing out a decorated “Happy Anniversary Plate” at the end of our meal.

After a satisfying brunch, I went to the port shopping information session with Kevin from Ireland. I’m not a big shopper, so I don’t normally go to these talks, but I didn’t see anything else of interest in the navigator so I figured I’d see if I could learn something and maybe win a door prize. The host was super nice and was a very engaging speaker, and he had lots of good info to give out. I heard that sometimes these talks can be very cheesy and pushy, but I really didn’t find it so, and listening to him gave me the idea to maybe look for a pair of diamond studs to replace the ones I lost that hubby gave me years ago, so it was definitely worth going for me.

I followed up with a bit of shopping in the gift shops where I purchased some of the Frozen Vinylmations, and then it was time for Bingo again! One of the nice things they did during most of the sessions was they gave everyone in attendance a password/phrase to qualify for a free set of paper cards during the next session - something like “tell us what your power would be if you were a super hero” - this was great because while I didn’t want to play a full set of paper cards, having one small one was nice to keep me busy besides just staring at the electronic card.

We took a rest in our cabin for about an hour before heading to the Walt Disney Theatre for the Aladdin stage show. We sat in the upper section, on the end of the back row in the middle section, which gave us a perfect view of the stage. The show was absolutely wonderful - beautiful set, great effects (the carpet ride was amazing), and the characters were great, especially the Genie. By the end of the show, the seas were starting to get a bit rougher; this evening and some of the following day were the only times the entire cruise we even noticed any movement. After the show walked around outside on deck 4 all the way around the ship after picking up a free full sized drink rom the captain’s reception before heading off to dinner.

Dinner tonight (formal night) was in Enchanted Garden - we really enjoyed the theming of the restaurant, but our table was off in a far corner where it was a bit difficult to appreciate. However, I really ended up liking the location as it was a bit more private and less noisy than the rest of the dining room. Tonight the menu was just okay, but nothing really stood out as excellent. I had the lobster ravioli, romaine wedge, prime rib, and apple cinnamon crunch sundae, and hubby had the lobster ravioli, sea bass and the sticky date pudding.





After dinner we went to The Quest in the tube, which was basically a fast paced adult team scavenger hunt. We don’t usually participate in activities like this but we do like to watch and laugh at everyone else - and my purse ended up “participating” a few times as teams that couldn’t find what they needed had to beg, borrow and steal from others in the audience. Unfortunately it looked like one of the teams had played on numerous occasions before, so they had many of the objects asked for ready before they were called, so I felt that it took some of the fun out of it when they “won”. After that, I picked up a bucket of popcorn from Preludes to take back to our stateroom to watch a movie for bed. A note about popcorn - if you know you are going to buy it at least 2x during the cruise, go ahead and buy the refillable bucket - it costs $7.25, and although refills are the same cost as buying an new container of popcorn ($3.50), the refill bucket holds more and you get a nice little souvenir out of it.

 

[Aby]

Cruise Day 3 - Sea Day

This morning we didn’t have any big plans so we slept in a bit and then headed down to Royal Court for a relaxed sit down breakfast. Hubby had the waffle sandwich (cream centre) and I had a cheese omelette with bacon and a hash brown on the side. I felt that the menu was a bit limited here, and service took awhile (but was very friendly!) so I preferred eating at Cabanas in the morning. We saw our head server Alberto during our meal, and he came over to make sure we were doing okay while we were waiting for our food. Through the entire cruise we felt he was very attentive - he always made sure to stop by our table anytime he saw us in one of the restaurants, and he took great care of us. This was the first cruise where we actually got to know and recognize our head server - on previous cruises we saw them so infrequently that I don’t even remember their names.

As per usual, we enjoyed some time in the rainforest room, which was a bit busier than it had been so far, probably because we were up later. There were a few people in there that weren’t respecting that it was a quiet zone - carrying on full, loud conversations, not even bothering to whisper when others were around. It made it a bit difficult to relax, but this is really the only day we had a problem.





After another unlucky session of Bingo in the D Lounge, hubby and I headed to Oh La La for our chocolate and beverage tasting. We loved this tasting on our last Alaskan cruise, so we were really looking forward to it. After the sommelier gave us a brief introduction to the history of chocolate, we had 4 different pairings to work through. For each, he had us taste the beverage first, then eat the accompanying chocolate (or cheese for one of the pairings), and then try the beverage again, to see how the flavours changed. The first pairing was a rose sparkling wine and melted chocolate caramel. Next, was merlot from the Lasseter Family Winery (as in John Lasseter from Pixar), which is apparently pretty rare, paired with solid pieces of white, dark, and caramel chocolate. The third pairing was a port wine with parmesan regganio cheese, and the last was a single malt scotch whiskey with melted dark chocolate (this one was so strong that he didn’t advise anyone to try the drink alone, only after tasting the chocolate first). By far our favourite was the port wine with the cheese, which was so very creamy and salty and really enhanced the port. In all honesty, I’m not much of a drinker and besides the port I didn’t really enjoy the beverages that much, but the atmosphere, the heavenly chocolate, the history and thegeneral experience still made it worthwhile to me, and I recommend it to anyone who likes trying different wines and/or loves chocolate.





We ate lunch at Cabanas and afterwards we wandered around the ship for some more photography. Since I was thinking about purchasing some diamond studs while at port the next day I decided to attend the diamond and gemstone seminar put on by the on board shopping guides. The information was very interesting and well presented again by Kevin from Ireland, and everyone received a coupon for a free pair of tanzanite studs. After the presentation I attended Bingo once again, which was in the Buena Vista theatre this time as it was a big jackpot day. Handily right after Inside Out was showing in the theatre, so hubby and I enjoyed watching this for a second time (we had seen it on release day back at home). Once the movie was over we headed over for the tube for a “game show” we’d never seen before, called Majority Rules. In this family oriented game, each team was set up with paper and pencils and had to pick a unique team name. The host would ask us a question and we would have to write down the answer we thought the majority of the rest of the teams would pick - such as “name a Disney hero”, and “what is the best Disney song”. It was surprisingly fun.

Dinner was in Royal Court tonight with their signature (french) menu. I had the baked brie appetizer while hubby had the escargot, which we thought were both good. The entrees, a filet steak with potatoes and green beans, and lamb with potatoes were both very good, but the best was yet to come with desert. This was by far my favourite night for desert options in the main dining rooms with lots of great choices - the grand marnier soufflé was heavenly and I also had an apple desert which was also very good. The restaurant itself is very beautiful, and our table was along one of the edges along the promenade which wasn’t right in the middle of everything - we prefer being off to one side as it gives us a great view of the rest of the restaurant and it feels a little less hectic.





After dinner we got some photos with Pluto on the atrium balcony - love that dog! - and went back to the room to relax and plan for the following day. We watched Toy Story on demand on the stateroom TV before finally heading off to bed.

 

[Aby]

Cruise Day 4 - St. Maarten

Today was our first port day for the cruise - St. Maarten. We docked around 7:45am, followed shortly after by the Carnival breeze. As we did not have an excursions planned for this port, we had a leisurely breakfast at Cabanas, and debarked the ship at around 8:30am. Since I was on the hunt for a new pair of diamond studs I went straight over to the shops in the port area and started in Tanzanite International. A nice salesperson took my VIP card which had a brief list of what I was looking for, and started showing me my options. I found it strange that he did not start by asking what my budget was, but he had me try on one stunning pair first. Unfortunately I could only get one earring in as my piercings were starting to grow over - but I quickly found out that they were about more than 12x my budget at 8k for the pair! I can say for sure that those were the most expensive things I’ve ever worn - they sure were beautiful, but after that I let him know my realistic budget and I started looking at other things. Unfortunately, due to the weak Canadian dollar I had to consider the poor exchange rate when deciding what to buy, and eventually I decided to go with a nice pair of Tanzanite studs and a matching pendant to stay within my desired price range. I also received another free promotional tanzanite necklace with my purchase, which I planned on surprising my mom with after the cruise.





Next, we hopped on the water taxi to the downtown shopping area. The water taxi is very close to the port shopping area, and it costs 7$ per person for a round trip ticket, which you can use as many times as you like all day long. They put a coloured paper bracelet on each of our arms to indicate our all day passes, and there was a ferry waiting at the dock so there was no wait (but I’ve heard the waits are rarely more than 5-10 minutes max). We looked around at the shops downtown for awhile, and I bought a pair of sunglasses from Del Sol - these are an amazing buy! For 50$, you get a pair of quality, polarized sunglasses that change colour in the sunshine, and, they come with a full no questions asked replacement warranty - if you break or lose your glasses, they will send you new ones! You only need to pay 10$ for shipping (worldwide!) and enter the little tag code in the case the glasses come in online. They had lots of choices, including some for kids, and they are very stylish.We wandered up the road and looked at a few more shops and the Yoda guy museum (it was kind of neat, but it was 10$ to go into the museum part so we didn’t bother), then we took the water taxi back to the port shopping area. I ended up popping into another store for a quick look and came out with a Swatch watch and a beautiful Marahlago Larimar (the caribbean gemstone) turtle pendant.








Overall I found the shopping in St. Maarten to be a mostly pleasant experience. All the jewelry stores would offer free drinks (water, soda, beer, etc) while you were browsing, which was especially nice as it was very hot during our visit. Although there was a salesperson at almost every door trying to entice you in with coupons and flyers, they weren’t extremely pushy so we’d just say “no thank you” and pass on by. The one thing I wish was different though is that I just think it would save a lot of time and hassle if they would just put a realistic price on the tags to begin with in the jewelry stores. On every piece they would offer a “special” discount so the final price was way lower than advertised, but they discount everything so it just seems silly to me. While we were in port, the shopping guides from the ship were in some of the stores, available to ask for advice or for general help, which I thought was nice. I realize that they are paid by these stores, but even so, they seemed genuinely helpful and I enjoyed listening to their input. In the end I was very happy with my purchases so that’s all the mattered!



We got back on the ship around 1pm, and had lunch at Cabanas, then headed off to the rainforest room for our daily dose of relaxation. Since it was pirate night, the characters were out in their pirate costumes through the afternoon and evening, so we went and got pictures with Chip and Dale and Stitch. Afterwards, we went to “A Pirates Life for Me” in the D Lounge, a family game show where two teams competed in various pirate tasks like swabbing the deck and singing pirate songs. After a break in our cabin, we took in the pirate show on deck, Mickey’s Pirates in the Caribbean deck party. We watched from a spot on one of the side railings on deck 12 near the stage, which I snagged quite awhile (1/2 hour) before the show started - I’d suggest showing up quite early, especially if you want to be right in front of the stage on deck 11, maybe a bit later for deck 12 at the rail. Many people showed up right as the party was starting and were upset that they couldn’t see over the rest of the crowds. We got to see Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Goofy, Hook & Smee in their pirate gear and learn how to be honorary members of their pirate crew - it was very cute and fun.





Dinner tonight was the pirate night menu in Animator’s Palate. Originally we had a Palo dinner booked for tonight, but we decided that we wanted to enjoy dinner in the neat AP atmosphere, so we ended up cancelling the night before with no problem. I ordered two appetizers, the jerk chicken salad which was good, and the pot stickers which I really didn’t care for as the sauce was just way too sour/vinegary for me, and hubby got a yummy crab cake. For entrees I had the short rib and hubby the Mahi Mahi, both of which were good. For dessert I had a Mickey bar and he had the rum cake. There was no special show tonight in the dining room, but the screens showed various art, scenes, and characters from the Pirates in the Caribbean ride & movies, and they piped in some music from the same - it was a nice atmosphere and one of the reasons we didn’t want to miss it in this restaurant - had we been assigned to another MDR that night, we likely would have went to Palo instead.



After dinner we got pictures with pirate Mickey in the lobby and went back to the room to do some laundry and plan for tomorrow. While I was writing in my journal I heard these weird popping noises and quickly realized that they were the fireworks! We rushed up to deck 11 but unfortunately I was only able to see the last big bang as they ended. I completely forgot about the fireworks among all the other things we were doing even though I had them planned as a must do, so needless to say I was very disappointed. Hubby let me know that they were only fireworks after all, and that we’d just have to come back again in the future to make sure we got to see them. So, I tried to cheer up and we watched Toy Story 2 while waiting for our laundry to finish and going through our plans for our second port visit tomorrow.

 

[Aby]

Cruise Day 5 - St. Thomas

This morning we had an early excursion so we were up bright and bushy tailed and at breakfast in Cabanas by 6:45am. On early port days like this one, the cold buffet was open very early, and hot food was available before 7am. Our meeting time was 7:45am in O’Gills pub, where the cast members split us up into groups based our excursion (we were the Rapunzel group) and verified tickets and ID. Shortly after, we were escorted down to the gangway to meet our tour guides.



We chose Captain Nautica’s Snorkelling Expedition as our only planned port adventure of the cruise as I really wanted to snorkel in the famous blue caribbean waters. I had read many excellent reviews of this tour, and I liked that it visited 2 different snorkel spots, and most importantly, that it got you out to the spots quickly. We were so happy with this choice! Once we were off the ship, we were split into two groups, and got to meet our captain and crew, who led us on a short walk down the pier to the launch site. Our captain was Molly and the first mate was Valerie, and before we got on the boat they gave us a run down of what we could expect on the tour. We boarded our vessel, a rigid inflatable power boat, stored our gear in dry bags, and Valerie started handing out masks and fins. Once the boat was clear of the harbour area, Molly turned on the gas and we flew through waves to our destination - Buck Island.





The first side of Buck Island we anchored at is nicknamed “Turtle Cove” due to the many sea turtles that feed in the area. We were given instructions and pointers before jumping in, and within just a minute or two, we saw our first turtle! Since our groups boats were the first to arrive, we had the area to ourselves for at least 30 minutes - it was very tranquil. It was amazing watching the turtles feed at the bottom (about 15 ft down), and even more amazing when they would come up to the surface to air right beside you! At one point, I felt a funny “poke” on my ankle. I thought at first that I nicked the edge of the boat propeller since I was snorkelling nearby, but when I turned around to see what it was, hubby told me that I had a turtle right beside me! Either it nibbled at my ankle or brushed against it quite strongly as later on I discovered a little red mark that lasted for a whole week. This same turtle swam with hubby and I for quite awhile and I got some amazing photos with my underwater camera as she came quite close many times. I asked Molly later about this turtle as she seemed extra friendly, and it turns out that she was rescued by their group a few years ago when she had a broken shell. After the turtle was released, she still recognized the colour of their boat hulls and has since been very friendly with their snorkelers.









After a little less than an hour, we got back on the boat, enjoyed bottled water, soda, shrimp cocktail, and melon, and headed over to the other side of the island, nicknamed “Shipwreck Cove”. In the 1980’s, some smugglers were found out by the coast guard, so they lit their ship on fire and sank it near the downtown area, and afterwards, the wreck was relocated to the far side of Buck Island as an artificial reef. Then, a few years ago, a hurricane washed the wreck ashore, so they had to pull it back out to sea. We were told what not to touch (spiny urchins and fire coral), and that we weren’t allowed to step foot on the land (the entire island is a nature preserve), and we were again free to snorkel for an hour. Hubby and I didn’t go over to the shipwreck area, as the waters were a bit rougher there, but we enjoyed snorkelling around the natural coral near the shore. We saw many beautiful coloured fish, numerous urchins, and lots of sea birds (mostly laughing gulls) on shore. After another hour (which went by just as fast as the first) we got back on the boat and headed back to the pier.

This excursion was 79$ per person, and we would absolutely do it again. I would recommend going on the earliest excursion of the day even though it means a very early morning as it meant much more one on one time with the turtles; once the crowds started showing up the turtles seemed to be more difficult to find. The small size of the groups was also a big plus - I believe that there were no more than 10 people on our boat, which made it a more low key experience and I believe helped us see more turtles. Molly and Valerie let us know that they worked entirely for tips, so we made sure to tip them 20$ as we got off the boat and headed back to the Fantasy.



We ate a quick lunch at Cabanas and then got off the ship again to do some shopping. There were lots of shops right next to the docks, and another strip of shops about a 5 minute walk away. It rained lightly for about 5 minutes (which was the only rain we had for our entire cruise) but otherwise the weather was sunny and hot. We thought we might walk along the shoreline to downtown (our excursion guides told us that it was about a 20 minute walk) but we were quite warm so we decided to take an open air truck taxi to downtown, which left from a pickup area near the dock shops and cost $4 per person one way. We’re very happy we chose to take the taxi because it looked like the walk would have been longer than 20 minutes and there didn’t appear to be much shade along the path. We really only went to one store - Del Sol - where hubby picked up some sunglasses and I got a keychain and a St. Thomas colour changing tote
bag. We didn’t go to many other shops because we were getting quite tired by that point, so we headed back to the port shops in a taxi, and made one more stop at a shop we had seen before heading downtown. There, I bought my dad a St. Thomas pirate t-shirt, and some coins called “Zombucks” caught hubby’s eye. These were one ounce copper and silver US coins that were designed by a father and daughter as the currency of the apocalypse. Hubby got two of the silver coins (the “Zombuff” and the “Dying Eagle”) and I got a matching set in copper. They are quite unique, and a great collectible for my hubby who really likes zombie stuff.



We had thought about taking the Sky Ride up to Paradise Point - it was only about a 5-10 minute walk from the pier, but it was $21 per person, and when we walked by earlier in afternoon, it was overcast. The main reason I wanted to go up was to take photos of the ship, and I wasn’t sure if there would be a good view with the darkening skies. When we came back later and it was sunny, I was just too tired and decided not to spend the money, so we just headed back to the ship to relax. Overall we really enjoyed St. Thomas. We had a wonderful view of the harbour from our cabin, and the scenery all around was just beautiful. We did find the prices a bit better here than in St. Maarten, but we didn’t buy much so I can’t say that it applies to everything. Next time we return, we will most definitely do another snorkelling excursion as the water and wildlife were just perfect!



After returning to the ship we enjoyed some quiet time in the rainforest room and then grabbed a hot dog and ice-cream to enjoy in our room while waiting for the next session of Bingo. This session, the cards were “doubled up”, so you got twice the number of electronic cards for the same price as previous sessions. I was close to winning a few times, but unfortunately no luck again.

Tonight, dinner was the Prince & Princess menu in Royal Court. I had the salad with apples & pecans, which was okay, followed by the turkey breast dinner which was very good. Hubby had the prawn jambalaya rice (okay) and the mushroom soup (good), followed by the veal trio which was very good. The lemon cheesecake for desert was so yummy - I would have ordered more but I was just so full after the rest of the meal. After dinner we wandered around the gift shops and just happened to see Stitch in the preludes area with absolutely no line, so I got a cute photo with him, then got a refill on my popcorn bucket which I thoroughly enjoyed while watching UP in our stateroom before heading to bed.

 

[Aby]

Cruise Day 6 - Sea Day

This morning we slept in until 8:30am before heading to breakfast in Enchanted Garden. This was the first (and only) time we saw breakfast being offered in this MDR, so we wanted to try it out. It was a buffet style breakfast, except that a server brought your drinks to your table. We found there wasn’t as much selection as in Cabanas so we probably wouldn’t go again, but we did enjoy the nice atmosphere of the restaurant.

After breakfast we enjoyed our daily trip to the Rainforest room, which was mostly empty, so I took some pictures of all the areas while we were in there. We enjoyed watching the beautiful calm waters and blue sky from the hot tubs and spent some time enjoying the dry sauna and the various showers. I found the steam rooms way too stifling for me, but hubby enjoyed them. I’d say that most days we visited the rainforest room for at least an hour - it was a really great way to relax and unwind and probably the most peaceful spot on the ship.

I didn’t have any luck at the morning bingo session, and afterwards, we spent some time in our stateroom getting organized since the next day was our last day on the ship knew we’d be busy as we would be in port. We had lunch in Royal Court, and our head server Alberto, came to the rescue when my burger was very undercooked - within just a few minutes I had a fresh, well done burger, and I was a happy diner again. After lunch, we wandered up to the port adventures desk to double check that there were no excursions we wanted to do the following day in port, and while we were there, Daisy was wandering around and we got a few great photos as no one else was around.



One of my goals this cruise was to play mini golf, as it was always one of my favourite “sports” while I was a kid. Unfortunately, when we went up to try today, it was crazy busy so we headed down to D lounge to the “Anyone Can Cook” apple strudel cooking demo. We got lots of great tips, the chef was very engaging, and it was so cool seeing him stretch the dough for the pastry over the entire surface of the table. The free full sized sample was appreciated too!





Later in the afternoon, it was time for the final, giant jackpot session of Bingo, again in the Buena Vista Theatre. For this session there was no more family pack pricing, just 36/72 chance electronic cards for $70/90 or 6 paper cards for $40. However, if you attended 3 previous sessions, you got $10 off your purchase. The last full card game was for the must go jackpot, and one lucky person won over $8000! Unfortunately it wasn’t me, but I did win the last raffle prize of the cruise - not the cash I was hoping for but I’m glad that I at least won something!

After Bingo, we stayed for the showing of Ant Man, then it was time for our semi formal dinner in Royal Court. Our servers were dressed up to the nines, and Royal Court is so elegant that it was a truly beautiful setting for dinner. We both enjoyed the aged prosciutto appetizer, hubby had the lobster entree, and I had the parmesan crusted chicken breast. For desert the banana creme brûlée was very yummy, and afterwards, we managed to get a group photo with our serving team which is so cute with everyone all dressed up.

After relaxing in our cabin for awhile, we ordered Mickey bars and cookies from room service to enjoy while watching A Bugs Life and then it was off to bed to rest up for our final port day - Castaway Cay!

 

[Aby]

Cruise Day 7 - Castaway Cay

Our last day on the cruise came quickly, and it was time to hit Castaway Cay! We woke up early, headed to Cabanas for breakfast, and as we were finishing up, the ship was pulling into port. We actually arrived about 1/2 hour early, so we were able to go ashore at 9:15am instead of 9:45am. Once on the island, we walked to the first part of the family beach and found a set of chairs surrounded by beautiful shady palm trees very handy to the snorkel rental hut.





After picking up our snorkel vests (mandatory but free), we went ahead and went snorkelling in the lagoon before the crowds arrived. The snorkel lagoon is separated from the swimming area, and although it looked quite small, it was actually very large. Close to shore, we saw the occasional fish, but not much else. However, deeper out, white buoys marked areas where Disney has enhanced the areas with sunken objects meant to act as artificial reefs to attract fish. Out at these buoys, we saw plenty of fish of all different kinds, some of which were very friendly! We went from buoy to buoy, but started getting quite tired before seeing them all, so we began heading back to shore. We didn’t realize how far out we were until it seemed to take forever to get back to the beach and we were very wiped out by the time we got there. It felt like we were only out snorkelling for about 30 minutes, but it turns out that we were out there for almost an hour and a half!





After a short rest, we hopped on the tram to Serenity Bay around 11:30am, hoping to catch lunch at the adult BBQ before the crowds arrived. The food options were excellent, with grilled rib eyes, hot dogs, hamburgers, various salads, fruit, and yummy desert & ice cream, and there was plenty of shaded seating all around. After eating, we picked up a famous Konk Cooler to share and wandered down the whole length of the beach taking in the beautiful sun and gorgeous views. There were quite a few people on the adult beach, but most people stayed close to the bar and BBQ areas, and just a short walk down the beach we had it almost to ourselves. We were so tired from our swim in the snorkel lagoon that we decided not to swim at Serenity Bay, and after our walk, we took the tram to Pelican Point and each got another Konk Cooler in plastic souvenir cups at the Heads Up bar. After enjoying our cold drink, we looked briefly in the shops, and then decided to walk back to the ship along the paths for the great photo opportunities. Unfortunately, by the time we made it to the Post Office, it was closed - I’ll have to remember next time to head there earlier in the day so I can mail myself some postcards.







Overall it was a very gorgeous, hot day at Castaway Cay - but we were so tired by the early afternoon that we went ahead and got back on the ship at about 2:30pm. We headed back to our stateroom and watched Lilo & Stitch while I started packing up our things. Around 4:45pm we went up to the Rainforest room so that we could watch the ship sail away from Castaway Cay while lounging in the hot tubs. We practically had the place to ourselves so we were free to enjoy the tubs as long as we wanted and I got lots of great photos of the ship as we pulled away from the island. After a nice relaxing time, we went to the gift shops one more time and I picked up two pins, one of Olaf, and one of Stitch playing in the sand - I don’t formally collect pins for trading, but I like to get one or two during all of our Disney trips and display them on my purses & backpacks.









We had Palo dinner booked tonight and we were lucky enough to have Pamela from Peru as our server again. We couldn’t believe how quiet the restaurant was - Pamela said that the first and last nights of the cruise are usually pretty quiet, especially the latter since it’s a port day. Darkness was falling as our dinner progressed, and we saw a beautiful sunset give way to the lights from the Bahamian islands as we sailed by. We enjoyed an antipasti plate first - our favourites on this plate were the cured meats and the parmesan cheese with balsamic vinaigrette. Next was a wonderful choice of breads, and then for appetizers I had the white bean soup with prosciutto & cabbage slaw, a 1/2 serving of the lobster mascarpone ravioli, and hubby had the calamari. I’m not normally a soup person at all, but the white bean soup was heavenly; again, lobster isn’t something I normally eat, but I love it in their cheese ravioli. Hubby said the calamari was excellent, some of the best he’d ever had. For the main course, I had the Palo tenderloin with gorgonzola cheese sauce, while hubby had the osso bucco - both of which were absolutely amazing! Pamela also brought out a 1/2 order of their gnocchi with gorgonzola cheese sauce as an extra to share - we were so full at this point but we did try a few bites and it too, was amazing. Of course we both had the divine chocolate soufflé for dinner and even though we didn’t think we could possibly eat another bite we both ended with a delicious panna cotta. It was a wonderful dinner, and looking back we probably should have kept both our dinner reservations instead of going to the MDR for pirate night - we will remember this if we have the same opportunity to book an extra dinner on our next cruise!



After dinner it was unfortunately time to head back to our stateroom to finish packing and prepare for leaving the ship in the morning. We handed our tip envelope to our stateroom host when we saw him in the hall, and thanked him for taking good care of us. I sat out on the balcony for awhile enjoying the sounds of the sea and lovely warm weather wishing that we didn’t have to leave. We finished off our evening watching Monsters University and then drifted off to sleep.

 

[Aby]

Animal Kingdom Lodge - Post Cruise Stay

This morning the ship was cleared by customs around 7:40am for anyone who wished to disembark, but we had decided to attend our 8am dinner in Animator’s Palate so we could say goodbye to our servers as we had missed them in the MDR last night. The breakfast menu was pretty basic - I just had toast and yogurt while hubby had cream of wheat with brown sugar. Despite a simple menu, the meal took quite awhile, and by the time we gave our tip envelopes to our servers and said our goodbyes (around 8:45am), there were long lines to disembark and the line for customs was crazy. Once we got through customs, we boarded a bus destined for the resort right away but it took about half an hour before it got underway. If I had to do it again, I would probably have gone to the Cabanas buffet early in the morning for breakfast and do the express disembarkation to avoid the lines.

We arrived at the Animal Kingdom Lodge around noon - we were the 4th stop out of 6 on the resort bus from the port - and lucky enough a room was ready for us when we arrived. We were in an Arusha view room near the end of the zebra trail, #4517, which was quite a hike from the main lobby, but had a great view of the savannah, specifically of one of the main watering holes. We didn’t stay in our room long, as we wanted to do some shopping at Downtown Disney. Specifically, I was after an ornament that I saw on the Fantasy (Sven!) but didn’t want to buy as it was quite fragile, and I figured they’d for sure have it at the Disney Christmas store - unfortunately, I was wrong and they didn’t have the same ornaments that were on the ship. I just hope they still have them next time we sail as it was so cute. Disappointed, we headed over to the World of Disney and picked up a window decal, then shared a pretzel and indulged in a sundae from Ghiradelli’s.





After about 2 hours, which is all we could stand of the heat, we headed back to the Lodge, where we spent some time relaxing in our room watching the animals and exploring the rest of the resort. Although our room was quite far down the hallway from the lobby, we were quite close to a set of elevators that led almost directly down to The Mara quick service restaurant and the pool, which was very handy. We were able to see so many animals from our balcony - zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, river hogs (so cute!), cranes, Thomson gazelles, and more. I would definitely request this area of the resort again.







For dinner, we had ADR’s at the Flying Fish Cafe at the Boardwalk resort, so we took the bus to Hollywood Studios and then hopped on the friendship boat. Earlier in the year we had dinner at this restaurant, and it was absolutely fantastic, despite the fact that we were soaking wet from being caught in the rain during our visit to Epcot. We both had the caesar salad with cheese frico (my favourite part!), while for entrees, I enjoyed the amazing char crusted New York steak and hubby had the potato wrapped snapper. It was a very nice meal, and afterwards we looked around a few shops on the boardwalk, then took the boat & bus back to our resort. We spent a bit of time getting ready for the next day then watched a bit of TV before heading off to bed.

 

[Aby]

Animal Kingdom Park

Since we’ve never visited WDW in the summer, we decided to try a one day visit to a park after our cruise to see if we could handle the heat and humidity for future trip planning. Since Animal Kingdom is my favourite park, and Everest is hubby’s favourite ride, the choice was easy. We got up very early and had a quick continental breakfast at The Mara, and were at the bus stop by 7:15am so that we could take advantage of the morning extra magic hour at 8am. The bus arrived shortly after and we were first in line at the far right turnstile at 7:30am, with crowds starting to build shortly after.





We were let into the park 5 minutes early, and we headed straight through Asia to Everest, where we entered the line at 8:05am. On our first ride, we were lucky enough to get the first train car which made for an amazing ride. We were back in line for our second ride at 8:10am, and for our 3rd at 8:20am. After this the line was starting to get longer, and we wanted to start heading over to Kilimanjaro Safaris before the end of the extra magic hour, so we took a quick bathroom break and started heading towards Africa. We were on our first safari vehicle at 8:55am, and rode twice before heading over to the 10am Festival of the Lion King show. Although we only arrived 5 minutes before the show, there was still room in the theatre and since we were one of the last seated, we got to sit on the end of a row and didn’t have to squish in with everyone else. This is one of my favourite shows ever - it’s so beautifully done and the music just moves my heart.







Immediately after the show, we walked back over to Asia to the Flights of Wonder stadium and arrived about 5 minutes before the show, and there were still plenty of seats available. This is another one of my favourite shows - I love the educational aspect around it - and I got a great shot of a majestic crane during a fly by. After the show, we headed over to the newly renovated and recently re-opened Flame Tree BBQ, and each enjoyed a 1/2 chicken dinner.



After lunch, we headed back over to Everest again with FP+, then watched It’s Tough to be a Bug, and then headed back to Africa for one last Safari ride with FP+. By this time, the heat and the humidity were really starting to get to us and we were getting very tired. We did some shopping on the way out of the park, then headed back to our resort around 2pm. This experience taught us that we could never handle an entire week at WDW in the summer - to us the heat would make it impossible to enjoy long days at the parks, and the crowds definitely impacted our ability to repeat our favourite rides with minimal waits (for example in January, we were able to ride Everest about 5-6 times before any lines built up at all during EMH). We would consider a single day like this one before or after a cruise, but we will likely stick to winter visits in the future.







After returning to the resort, we relaxed in our room for awhile and started packing a bit. I took my camera around the resort to get some photos, and then it was time for dinner at the Boma. We always enjoy the food at this restaurant, but it’s gotten quite pricy - it was $125 for the two of us including the buffet and the tip - so we didn’t feel that the value was as good as at the Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. Despite the price we still left happy with full bellies and afterwards I relaxed on the balcony watching and photographing the animals until the sun went down. After sunset, there was a wicked lightning storm which we watched for awhile and then we watched some TV and headed off to sleep.

Homeward Bound

Unfortunately the last day of our vacation came too fast, but thankfully our flight out wasn’t until the afternoon so we had time to enjoy our last morning at the lodge. We had a great breakfast at the Boma - made to order omelettes, african fruit salad, Simba waffles, and more - and then we returned to our room to finish packing. Our Magical Express pick up was scheduled for 10:35am for our flight out at 2pm, so we headed down around 10am to wait for the bus and take a few more pictures of the resort. We got to the airport in plenty of time and our flights home were uneventful. We had an absolutely amazing holiday and thanks to booking on board, we are already planning next years trip (another DCL Alaskan Cruise in August 2016!)

Thank you all for reading my trip report! I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have!

Aby

 

[mtchurchmonica]

Thank you for sharing your trip report and pictures. Reports with good pictures are my favorite ones to read.

 

[SixtoMouse]

Thanks for the report really enjoyed it

 

[dmiuliucci]

Cruise Day 1 - Embarkation

Since our DCL transfer pick up time was not until 11:30am, we had plenty of time for another breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe. As we were travelling carry-on only, we simply let the bell services desk know the night before that we did not need them to come to our room to pick up any bags. After breakfast, we went down to the lobby and checked in with the DCL agent who was wandering around the area. We found a comfortable seat and relaxed until we were called to board the bus. There were probably only about a dozen people on the bus with us, but we made a stop at Port Orleans French Quarter to pick up some more, and then we were off to Port Canaveral.



We arrived at the terminal at the same time as a couple other DCL busses, so there was a bit of a wait to get through security, but it wasn’t too bad. In the main terminal open boarding had already begun so the waiting area was quite empty, however there were still some fairly big lines for check in both for new and returning cruisers. Even though the lines appeared long, it only took about 15 minutes or so until we were checked in, and then we were walking through the Mickey ears onto the ship at 1:06pm.



Hubby and I had a plan of attack all lined up before we boarded and we split up to get a few things accomplished. He headed over to La Piazza to book the Chocolate and Beverage Tasting, and I headed to Royal Court where they were handling dining assignments. I had placed a request on our reservation to sit at a private table at dinner if possible, so I wanted to check whether that was granted or not, and I wanted to see if I could snag a second Palo dinner. I only had to wait a minute or two to be helped, and I was able to confirm another dinner and received instructions to check in with a manager at our first nights dinner to be assigned our private table. Hubby and I, both successful, headed up to our cabin to drop off our bags, and then went straight to the Senses Spa to book our week-long pass to the rainforest room ($227.74 for couples pass including gratuity). We had lunch at Cabanas, which we didn’t find crowded at all, then headed back to the spa for the raffle. We didn’t win anything, but hubby did book a discounted Acupuncture treatment later on that evening as he had been having some back pain for the past month or so.

Before the lifeboat drill, we headed back to our cabin to check it out. We booked room 9664, category 7A, a deluxe oceanview stateroom with navigator’s verandah. This room is aft and on the starboard side, and the verandah has a small obstruction on the forward side due to the lack of a verandah next door on that side and the decoration of the ship. The obstruction was minimal, and I actually liked it a lot as it provided a nice windbreak as we were sailing and made it feel a little more private. The only thing some may not like about it is that there is a maintenance cage that stays parked just above the verandah unless it is being used in port to clean the sides of the ship. The cage is visible when on the verandah, but didn’t really obstruct the view at all unless you were trying to star-gaze or take some wide angle photos as it would end up in the shot. The location of the cabin was great - close to the aft elevators (by far the least busy elevators), and just a short ride up or down to cabanas and the adult clubs on deck 4. There was very little foot traffic, and the room was in great shape. I would definitely book this room or it’s twin on the other side of the ship again with no hesitation.







The muster drill started at 4pm - our stateroom belonged to the “P” station, which was located in The Tube club on deck 4, aft, so very convenient. Right after the drill, we decided to skip the craziness of the sail away party and went to enjoy the rainforest room instead! The rainforest room on the Fantasy was a lot bigger and better equipped than on the Wonder. When you check in, you trade in your ID card for a green, waterproof wristband that opens the door to the private area. There are two hot tubs in an enclosed solarium with open air windows, about a dozen heated tile loungers, one dry sauna, two steam rooms, and 4 shower experiences with 3-4 settings each. There were only a few other people besides us in there at sail away, and that trend would continue for most of the cruise - they only sell a limited # of cruise passes on each sailing, so it was never crowded.





On a side note, the spa has very large, beautiful changing rooms and showers that anyone can use at any time, free of charge. We used these every day for our main showers as we didn’t like the cramped quarters of the shower in the stateroom. For those sailing with larger groups in their stateroom, consider using these instead of having to wait while everyone else is showering in the room. The showers were very spacious, and everything was provided including toiletries, razors, heavy duty blow dryer, etc; and the changing room even has a mild steam room that anyone can enjoy.



While my hubby went to his acupuncture treatment, I picked up a couple bottles of water and headed back to the stateroom to unpack. I explored the TV options, which included many short videos about the ship and crew, an entire library of Disney movies, a few non-Disney movies, and a few regular TV channels. I met our stateroom host, Madé from Indonesia, who we didn’t see that often but too very good care of our room for the entire cruise.

We had second seating for dinner at 8:15pm, and our dining rotation for this cruise was AERAERA, so we headed to Animator’s Palate and talked to Ivo at the door for our private table. We were assigned table 29 for the rest of the cruise, with Chatcha from Thailand as our assistant servier, Oppie from Indonesia as our server, and Alberto from the Phillipenes as our head server. The table was near but not too close to the entrance, and we had good views of multiple TV screens for the Crush dinner show. We both had the truffle purisettes appetizer (excellent), hubby had the butternut squash soup followed by the thyme lemon chicken, and I had the tenderloin with wasabi potatoes (all very good). For dessert, I ordered a Mickey bar and hubby had the walnut crunch cake. The turtle show was very cute, and interactive for those sitting closest to the screens. I loved the decor in AP - so much more bright and colourful than on the Wonder.





After dinner we headed to The Tube for “Match Your Mate” with the host “Tisa” who was excellent through the entire cruise. The show was hilarious, and the older couple who had been married the longest won. All the couples revealed some very hilarious things during the game, and it seemed like everywhere we went we kept seeing them for the rest of the cruise. Definitely a fun way to end the night!

We had your rooms twin in 9012 and loved it. I don't believe we had the cleaning cage but saw it during the day when they used it in Port. The cruise was great. I think I like your side of the ship for better views though. Thanks for sharing. We booked the August 13th cruise next year. Hoping I can save for it

 

[Kari0180]

Thanks for sharing, I also work in the animal health care field, nice to see someone else out there too with a love for Disney! Loved your photos and your report. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge last year for our trip and also requested a high level room, unfortunately they put us on the ground floor in a handicap room where the shower leaked out into our room...oh well, willing to give it a try again! We'll be on the Fantasy in January, but on a western, but we're staying at AKL for one night pre-cruise so thank you for your photos!!

 

[Mickey4me!]

Loved your report! We also travel as adults sans children so could really relate. You also stayed at two of our favorite resorts! Glad you had a good trip and thanks for sharing!

 

[lookingforthemagic]

Thank you for your report. Enjoyed it!

 

[jamal]

Thank you for your helpful trip report! Your pictures are beautiful!