DisneYE
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2013
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.
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.