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

[Aby]

Thank you very much to all who have read my report so far and for the compliments on my photos. Had a wonderful time and glad to share with others!

Aby

 

[Princessjenny1225]

Thanks so much for sharing! 1st cruise is coming up and can't wait. Stayed at wilderness lodge and animal kingdom.....brings back lots of great memories. Never been to AK but can't wait to go there!

 

[Sneezie]

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!

Loving your trip report but I just had to tell you, Madé was our room steward on the Wonder in 2005!

 

[Aby]

Madé was very wonderful. We're low maintenance people with no kids and we don't fuss too much, but he took very good care of us. I wish there was an easier way to find out which crew members were on each of the ships - I'd request some that i've had in a heartbeat for my next cruise if they were available!

Again, thanks all for reading!

Aby

 

[JJsmama]

Great review! So glad you had a great time!

Couple questions:
Did you buy a weeklong or daily rainforest pass? Recommend or not? and did you buy them before the cruise? I have heard they sell out.

On your St Thomas excursion: How long was the boat ride to your snorkeling destination? Also, was there any beach to rest on or were you in deep water the whole time? I think DS8 would need a resting spot and I cannot sit in a boat which is not moving forward. Thanks

 

[Aby]

We bought the weeklong couples pass for the rainforest room. Unfortunately, you can't buy these ahead of time online, so we've always just gone down to the spa for the open house on embarkation day for the raffle, and bought our passes at that time. Hubby and I totally feel that the passes are worth it - we make sure to spend some time in there every day, but I've read that if you miss even a day the daily passes make more sense financially. I 've also heard that they can sell out, but we've always bought early so we never had a problem.

For the St Thomas excursion, I'd say that the boat ride out was about 15 minutes to the first site, then less that 5 minutes to the second site. You cannot actually go on shore at all on this excursion - the island is a protected nature site, so you can't set foot on land at all. You do have snorkel vests though so you can just float around with no effort - each snorkel site was only about 50 minutes long but if you get tired you can just float or you can get back on the boat early. At the second site, we chose to stay closer to the rocks and shore (but still deep water) because further out where the shipwreck was was much deeper water and was less calm so it took more effort to swim and we got tired very quickly.

I hope this helps!

Aby

 

[JJsmama]

That does help. Thanks! i love the shorter transit time to the sites, but I think I would like some land to rest on. it definitely helps in my decision making.

 

[JoAnnPan]

Hi Aby - loved reading your report - my sister & I are going on our first cruise November this year (Fantasy).
Your pictures were gorgeous - what camera do you use? did you have a separate one for underwater?
Thanks!

 

[Aby]

Thank you for your kind comments on my report and my pictures - I am a hobbyist photographer and really enjoy reliving my experiences through my pictures. I invested in a DSLR a few years ago for my 1st Alaskan cruise as well as some higher end lenses, but I found it got very tiring lugging it around all the time. I got great photos but besides being heavy it took a lot more luggage space than I cared to spend. So, I invested in a high end point and shoot - the Canon G7X - all of the pictures in this trip report (except the underwater ones) were taken by this very compact, powerful little camera. So light and easy to carry around, but good in low light and excellent for outdoor photography.

The underwater photos were taken by a Canon D10 waterproof camera, which is quite old but takes very good photos, even above water. A very sturdy camera - I think there is a new version, the D20 out now, but I don't use it that often so didn't think it was worth the cost to upgrade when this one still does so well.

Again, I appreciate your kind words. You will so totally enjoy your trip in November! If you have any other questions I'm happy to help!

Aby

 

[tigger536]

Great report! Love the details!

One note about late August - schools in the south start back in the first or second week of August, so if you are wanting summer with less than full on crowds (still more than January) you picked a good time.

Again, great report and photos!

 

[Rabb it]

Awesome report! Definitely the best I've read so far

 

[jdrobinson06]

Thank you for the detailed report. I have definitely learned even more things about the Fantasy now. I can't wait to get on board

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

I just read your report, wow!!!! Your photos are stunning and I really enjoyed reading about your trip. The turtle pics were absolutely incredible! I love turtles and that excursion looked fantastic. If we do that itinerary I am definitely going to check it out my kids would love that!

 

[DisneyEcho]

Great tip about the showers in the spa. I never would have thought of that. I'm gathering tips about sailing on the Fantasy for an Eastern Caribbean cruise next year. Thanks for sharing your great trip report!