Just back Fantasy SWDAS 1/5-1/12! *With Navigators*

SaraSpringsIsHome

Too excited to sleep!
Joined
Nov 5, 2010
DH and I returned from a fabulous week on the Fantasy!

We were on the first SWDAS cruise- it was fun, but I will admit I was expecting a bit more? There were a few snags on that day (one being the kitchens weren’t prepared for how to plate the meals at dinner, and many tables had to wait a long time for entrees to arrive), but we had a good time. Definitely wouldn’t book JUST for Star Wars day, though.

Our servers were absolutely wonderful: Marcos from Brazil and Nicholas from South Africa. Best I’ve had in 6 DCL cruises. Super friendly and attentive, but not overbearing. We were a table of 5 adults, and we got some magic tricks and puzzles, lots of attention, etc.

We also had a great experience with the food in the MDR. DH and I enjoyed almost everything we had, and I was pleasantly surprised with the prep of my steaks and the temperature of the soup!

Our dining rotation was RAEAARE.

Cruise Director was Lee Hawkins, captian was Captain Marco.

I will say, I was really disappointed in the Disney shows, which bummed me out. The talent of the performers was top notch, but the shows themselves were hard to watch. Wishes was okay? Aladdin was my favorite, however the Genie in Aladdin was so obnoxious I wanted to leave. Believe was the most bizzare show I’ve ever seen? The Disney numbers were good, but they made no sense in the context of the “story.”

We had AMAZING weather for our January Western Caribbean cruise, which made the trip that much better.

I plan on doing a full TR, but any questions I’ll try to answer! :-)

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Did you have any rough days at sea? We’re leaving this weekend on same cruise. Thanks.
 
Did you have any rough days at sea? We’re leaving this weekend on same cruise. Thanks.
In my opinion, it was pretty smooth sailing! I took bonine every day as a precaution, but DH, who has never cruised before, never needed to take any. He felt a little woozy night one at dinner, but otherwise no motion sickness or anything.
 
We leave in a couple of weeks for our SWDAS cruise. Can’t wait to read your full trip report! Disappointed to hear the shows were not great! We loved the shows a few years ago on the Dream. Was there new shows every night or did they repeat?
 


Thanks for posting. We are on the last SWDAS cruise of the year. I am excited to read your full trip report and get pumped for our cruise. Hopefully the kinks you mentioned have now been worked out (though you would think they would have worked them out before the first SWDAS cruise of the year -- it's not as if this is the first year for it).
 
We leave in a couple of weeks for our SWDAS.

Disappointed to hear the shows were not great!

Was there new shows every night or did they repeat?
Have a great cruise!!

The performers, costumes, sets, production value was stellar; DH and I just didn’t care for the “storylines” of Wishes or Believe.

The shows did not repeat. We had 3 Disney shows, 3 variety acts and then Last Jedi showed on SWDAS night. A comedian/magician, a ventriloquist, and a hypnotist.
 


I LOVE the Aladdin show! It’s my favorite across the ships. So glad to hear that Lee is a cruise director now :)
Aladdin was definitely our favorite show of the three Disney shows.

Lee was great. Very friendly and enthusiastic, without being too over the top or obnoxious. The assistant CD, however, was a bit much, lol.
 
Hopefully the kinks you mentioned have now been worked out
I guess having not done the menu in almost a year threw them for a loop?

There was another incident with Boba Fett during the show before the fireworks. He was supposed to come “rappelling” down from above but got stuck. For a very long time. Poor Boba Fett was just hovering and swinging and spinning forever... It was hysterical.
 
We are on the SWDAS in a couple of weeks and I cannot wait! Sure hope we have great weather as well. Can't wait to read your full trip report!
 
Any suggestions for Jamaica tours???
We did the river tubing and adventure falls excursion. We had a really great time! It was pricey for what we got (about 1.5 hour gentle tube ride on the Martha Bear with a great guide. Very relaxing, but also interesting and fun, then time at the pool/water slide.) I thought for $92 lunch should have been included in our cost, even though I knew ahead of time it wasn’t. People seemed to have fun ziplining, too. Our table mates really enjoyed the horseback riding. Dunn’s River Falls didn’t appeal to us.

We are on the SWDAS in a couple of weeks and I cannot wait! Sure hope we have great weather as well. Can't wait to read your full trip report!
Have a great cruise! I hope your weather cooperates like ours did :-)

Where did they hold the SWDAS Meet n Greets?
Vadar met in the Tube. Chewie and the droids both met in Animator’s palate. Some other characters roamed around a lot in the atrium decks 3,4,5; it was hard to get photos with some of them though, like Boba Fett. He just kept walking by and didn’t pose a lot.
 
Thank you for answering questions! We are going on this Western Next January 4th on the Fantasy also! So glad to hear you had good weather! I know January can be hit or miss. Do you remember the name of the head server in the dining room?
 
Question: Did you have the pirate menu on pirate night? They apparently had it on Marvel Day At Sea and didn't have the See Ya Soon/Till We Meet one.
 
Where did you go on Grand Cayman? I saw you were going to hit up a beach on your own. That's our plan, too. I'm curious how it worked out for you and if you would recommend where you went.... TIA.
 
So glad to hear you had good weather! I know January can be hit or miss. Do you remember the name of the head server in the dining room?
The forecast looked hit or miss leading up to the cruise, but we only had a bit of rain late on our Cozumel. High 70’s/low 80’s and lots of sun. Even Castaway Cay was gorgeous- about 74 and sunny. We got on the water twice, despite it being pretty chilly.

Our head server was Nemanja from Serbia.


Question: Did you have the pirate menu on pirate night? They apparently had it on Marvel Day At Sea and didn't have the See Ya Soon/Till We Meet one.
We did NOT have the pirate menu on pirate night. I didn’t really keep up with the menus, but looking at food photos it seems we had the regular rotational menu that night. We had a version of the ‘til we meet again menu Night 5.

Where did you go on Grand Cayman? I saw you were going to hit up a beach on your own. That's our plan, too. I'm curious how it worked out for you and if you would recommend where you went.... TIA.
We took a taxi to Royal Palms Resort. It was super easy to get there, and relatively inexpensive. $5pp taxi ride each way, and $2pp to get in. We brought a bottle of water each, didn’t eat there, and just put our towels on the sand, so our beach day cost $24. We stayed about 2 hours. It was pretty crowded, but we found if we went down the beach a bit, we had some space. I’d recommended it!
 
Hi Sara,

i've read on facebook that there was a bedrunner in the rooms especially for starwars day at sea, from someone who went also on the SWDAS cruise went. - But the question was given if all Castaway Cay club level will recive it or only Gold, Platinum etc.

It is sad that they had such problems with the kitchen. :guilty:

We'll be going in March, getting slowly excited!

Thank you :)
 
i've read on facebook that there was a bedrunner in the rooms especially for starwars day at sea, from someone who went also on the SWDAS cruise went. - But the question was given if all Castaway Cay club level will recive it or only Gold, Platinum etc.
I didn’t think the bed runners had anything to do with your Castaway Club status; I assumed all th cabins got one on Star Wars day. I don’t have a definitive answer, though.

Have a great cruise! March isn’t too far away at all!
 

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