Just back from Fantasy - 3/9-16/19

[DisneYE]

This was our 8th cruise... 4th on the Fantasy.
Really enjoyed it overall but there were pros and cons as with every cruise.

A few that stand out:

PROS:

1) Stateroom: Got a VGT room and it was way better than I expected. SR 6524, FWD, unobstructed verandah. Quiet SR, close to the elevators, the verandah was really nice.
Had Pat as SR host and he was the fastest, nicest & most efficient host we ever had.

2) Dining: Had 2nd seating originally, requested change by email only to be declined several times.
As soon as we board, request the change to 1st dining and: No problem, done immediately.
Had "Toto" (a nickname, can't remember his real name) from Philippines as HS.
He was super nice, fast in bringing food. Often when in doubt about to order, he'd bring 2 entrees or 2 desserts to try different things.
I really enjoy 1st dining rotation as I get to have time to do other things like doing exercise, read, go to the hot tub, etc.

3) Had amazing table mates. A younger family of 5, they were incredibly nice, fun and easy going.
We had great chemistry and are already in touch about sailing together on a future cruise.
We've been incredibly lucky in always having charming table mates. Never had a single bad experience.

4) The "Caribbean Sea safari and beach day" at St Thomas - Best port adventure we ever had. The crew of the ship was amazing, the snorkeling really fun, the visit to the honeymooners beach (name?) were all incredible.
Only complaint: it was way too short at 4 hours.
I highly recommend it.

CONS:

1) Terrible adult entertainment:
Here is where someone fun as Club host is really key in having a better cruise experience.
Chris was CH and he was kind of boring, not engaged, not as fun as others we've had (Jo from the UK being the best - but she's in a different galaxy altogether and whoever sails with her is guaranteed a better experience)

The 'adult activities' were so boring, almost bordering on insulting, in the sense that adults were being treated like kids with juggling acts and contrived 'family' games that were so cringey.
Only exception to this was John Charles, who is really great but he only did 1 night for 1 hour in the entire 7 night cruise. WTH is up with that?

2) The pools and encountering my biggest pet peeve on the DCL: (again)
Toddlers pooing in the bigger kids pool:
We saw toddlers and even babies in diapers in their parent's arms, but in the water, at the bigger kids pool.
I called CM's attention to this ...twice they shrugged and fake-called someone else, and only once did they tell the parent to go to the kiddie pool.
The result: we saw the pool closed twice a day daily (one day 3 times) due to toddlers pooing in it.
So the older kids were deprived of enjoying the pool during peak sun hours, sea days or funnel vision.
And that's so incredibly bad by DCL. Some kids enjoy the pool the most at the cruise, and by trying to accommodate everyone and 'be nice' to all, they end up doing more damage than good.
I will be writing a complaint to DCL about this. They need to enforce the rule of no diaper swim suits, no babies in the bigger pool.

3) Edge - our DD13 said that the club had really boring CM's this time, that they let the kids do whatever they pleased, they hardly organized activities, were chatting amongst themselves or looking at their computers. She didn't enjoy it and as a result she spent more time with us going the pool (when it wasn't closed), bingo, sports deck, etc. Which is good, but she didn't have as much fun this cruise as she did on others. So her excitement about future cruises is dwindling (which is good for my wallet)

4) Tastings:
I didn't get to book any tastings online due to them being 'sold out' but once on the ship i booked several of them.
Only to discover that there are twice as many (but shorter) tastings as before, each being at least 25 ppl.
We once were on a tequila tasting that had 30 ppl(!!)
Tastings have become really crowded, and more people in them means CM's need to move faster, explain less and you need to gulp every sample real quick and move to the next one.
So they're not as fun anymore. - To me anyways.
Guess more ppl found out tastings are a real good way to get your drink on for cheap, although prices went up I'll say at least 10-20% on average from last year.

Summary:
Overall had a great time.
Weather was really nice, always sunny & warm, was smooth sailing the entire trip, food was good or great and that's basically what we cruise for.

Would have been nice to have better adult entertainment and more time in the pool with my DD but all in all I'm fairly happy with our latest cruise.

I will be posting some pictures on the PODD thread as the days go by.

 

[lklgoodman]

We had John Charles on our last cruise, we also enjoyed his show. That's a shame about the pools, so far we've had good luck with the pools not being closed too much on our cruises, I still won't go in them though. Have you done the mojito tasting before? We did it on our last cruise. It was held at CC(Heads Up bar, I think that was the name of the bar) and only had 6 people at it. I wasn't sure if I would like doing it at CC, but it was a lot of fun. The bartender gave a lot of info. My dd will be old enough for Edge on our next cruise, I hope she likes it. What does PODD stand for? I 'd love to see your pics

 

[ScooterScott44]

Glad you had a good cruise and thanks for the great summary.

As a side note about your CON’s , there is a tread complaining about folks coming on the boards to bash DCL. Anyone who has been cruising for a while will attest that things have been changing and not always for the better. Your assessment seems to be fair and honest. The declines mentioned are items we have also noticed over the past 11 years of cruising with DCL.

 

[n2mm]

Jo is also one of our favorites.....sailed on the Wonder with her in February. John Charles is also a favorite, esp in the adult lounge. I’m always checking his schedule to see if he’s on a future cruise. That’s terrible about the pool enforcement (or lack of).

 

[islandsnoopy]

Were Personal Navigators in your stateroom each evening? Or did you have to visit Guest Services for a copy?
Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Pens Fan]

4) Tastings:
I didn't get to book any tastings online due to them being 'sold out' but once on the ship i booked several of them.
Only to discover that there are twice as many (but shorter) tastings as before, each being at least 25 ppl.
We once were on a tequila tasting that had 30 ppl(!!)
Tastings have become really crowded, and more people in them means CM's need to move faster, explain less and you need to gulp every sample real quick and move to the next one.
So they're not as fun anymore. - To me anyways.
Guess more ppl found out tastings are a real good way to get your drink on for cheap, although prices went up I'll say at least 10-20% on average from last year.

That's interesting. We have only done the wine tastings in the past, as we really don't drink much hard alcohol. But we have really enjoyed them and thought they were really well done. Here's a funny tidbit, though. We have sailed a couple of times on NCL - with their "Free" at Sea drink package. I'm not an NCL bean counter, but I would assume that a large majority of their passengers get this perk when they book, so most alcohol is already included in their cruise fare. Their tastings, however, are not included in the drink package. You have to pay extra for them. They only open reservations for them the day of the tasting and even then, there is no need to reserve a spot. You can simply show up and there will be plenty of open seats. We've done three wine tastings on those cruises and there was less than 10 people in each of them.

You hit the nail on the head with your last sentence.

 

[DisneYE]

Were Personal Navigators in your stateroom each evening? Or did you have to visit Guest Services for a copy?
Thanks for the feedback!

Had a paper navigator the 1st day, and was asked by your SR host if we wanted the paper one every day
We said we're ok with the app.
So, it seems if you ask your host, you can get it every day.

 

[DisneYE]

That's interesting. We have only done the wine tastings in the past, as we really don't drink much hard alcohol. But we have really enjoyed them and thought they were really well done. Here's a funny tidbit, though. We have sailed a couple of times on NCL - with their "Free" at Sea drink package. I'm not an NCL bean counter, but I would assume that a large majority of their passengers get this perk when they book, so most alcohol is already included in their cruise fare. Their tastings, however, are not included in the drink package. You have to pay extra for them. They only open reservations for them the day of the tasting and even then, there is no need to reserve a spot. You can simply show up and there will be plenty of open seats. We've done three wine tastings on those cruises and there was less than 10 people in each of them.

You hit the nail on the head with your last sentence.

That's good to hear.
After this past cruise we've started talking about other cruise lines (gasp!) for the first time ever. And NCL is being discussed, so it's good to hear about the options you mentioned. Not a big alcohol drinker either but I used to enjoy the tastings at DCL, as they were more intimate and fun. not so much anymore after this cruise.

 

[DisneYE]

Jo is also one of our favorites.....sailed on the Wonder with her in February. John Charles is also a favorite, esp in the adult lounge. I’m always checking his schedule to see if he’s on a future cruise. That’s terrible about the pool enforcement (or lack of).

We would cruise twice as much with DCL if we knew what ships Jo is sailing with and what dates.
Cruising with her makes our cruise experience many times better.
I wish DCL would publish names of club hosts, cruise directors, youth activities councillors, etc so people would have extra information towards booking their future trips
I'm sure they'd see an uptick in bookings if they did this.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

I share your pool concerns! DD loves to swim and did very little on our Wonder cruise in 2017 because the pools were closed multiple times per day to deal with accidents. DCL needs to enforce its own policies - there were probably 4 times on that cruise that we got ready to swim, hit the pool deck, and found the pools closed because of cleaning.

 

[bcwife76]

We love Jo! However, we had Chris on the Fantasy at the end of October and he was fantastic!!! I wonder what happened this time, end of his contract and getting burnt out

That sucks about the pools, I only remember a pool being closed once or twice our entire trip on the Fantasy this last time. However, I also recall being on a 4 day Wonder cruise where the pools were closed multiple times

We did two tastings on our last Fantasy cruise, neither of which felt rushed. Another bummer for you I'm sure.

We've never done a GTY room because I'm too much of a control freak I'm so glad it was a positive experience! I should probably try that sometime if the price difference is substantial

 

[cheermom2four]

We saw toddlers and even babies in diapers in their parent's arms, but in the water, at the bigger kids pool.

Im dreading our cruise on the Fantasy for this same reason. You shouldnt have to complain to the CM but we saw CMs turn away when a lady had a diapered kid in with her and I even nicely mentioned to her that this was a potty trained kid pool only and no diapers and boy she lit me up like no other. CM just ignored us and I was like wow. Yes I put this on my end of cruise comment card but obviously nothing is done with those. And what happened 1/2 hour later? Yep, had to drain the pool. Oh well, Im not employed by DCL and honestly I shouldnt have to even point it out. Whats the point of having CMs (lifeguards yes I know) around.

 

[Erica1016]

We love Jo! However, we had Chris on the Fantasy at the end of October and he was fantastic!!! I wonder what happened this time, end of his contract and getting burnt out

We also loved Chris on the Fantasy in December! I think we'll have Jo on the Wonder in May and have heard only great things, we're looking forward to that!
OP - I'm sorry that part wasn't so great. Glad to hear that you had a great time, though!

 

[pezgirlroy]

We have not had Jo. We had Tony (#Tony from Spain) on the Fantasy last year and he was wonderful. I am so curious who we will have on the Magic in two weeks.

 

[DisneYE]

I share your pool concerns! DD loves to swim and did very little on our Wonder cruise in 2017 because the pools were closed multiple times per day to deal with accidents. DCL needs to enforce its own policies - there were probably 4 times on that cruise that we got ready to swim, hit the pool deck, and found the pools closed because of cleaning.

It drives me nuts!!... kids want to be in the pool all the time, especially during movie time/funnel vision at night.. its so cool to watch a movie in the water, I've seen their happy faces in the pool and their sad faces sitting on the deck when the pool is closed.
It frustrates me so much because Disney seems to just not care about enforcing rules.

 

[DisneYE]

Im dreading our cruise on the Fantasy for this same reason. You shouldnt have to complain to the CM but we saw CMs turn away when a lady had a diapered kid in with her and I even nicely mentioned to her that this was a potty trained kid pool only and no diapers and boy she lit me up like no other. CM just ignored us and I was like wow. Yes I put this on my end of cruise comment card but obviously nothing is done with those. And what happened 1/2 hour later? Yep, had to drain the pool. Oh well, Im not employed by DCL and honestly I shouldnt have to even point it out. Whats the point of having CMs (lifeguards yes I know) around.

Good to see I'm not the only one that has told a parent about their kids' diaper in the pool.
like you, I had a similar incident a couple of cruises ago when I politely told a mom that kids in diapers shouldnt be in the pool. She told me to mind my own business & proceeded to call a manager to complain about my complaining to her. Some people are insane.. I guess DCL is a microcosm of society. you have really nice people and really rude & selfish ones as well.
So I stopped talking to ppl when I see these types of incidents, I just tell the lifeguard, a CM nearby & guest services. Now I will start sending emails.

 

[DisneYE]

We've never done a GTY room because I'm too much of a control freak I'm so glad it was a positive experience! I should probably try that sometime if the price difference is substantial

Yeah I'm the same, I like to know the exact location and type of room.
But this time it was a short-notice trip, about a month before the sailing so not much for room selection .
We saved about $2K and had almost the exact same SR I would normally pick if booked a few months in advance.
Totally worth it.

 

[DMMarla07860]

We have not had Jo. We had Tony (#Tony from Spain) on the Fantasy last year and he was wonderful. I am so curious who we will have on the Magic in two weeks.

I know Matt is on right now, don't know if he's be on in two weeks, but he is cool. Not as great as Tony. I was lucky enough to Have Tony on the Disney Dream he's funny, Jo on the Wonder who was even better and Matt on the Magic not funny or wonderful in the way the first two are, but he was awesome in his way

 

[mevelandry]

CON #2 is the reason why I won't swim in kids friendly pools.

 

[darnheather]

Also recently sailed with Jo. She's hilarious!