Spring break girl’s trip was a Fantasy come true!

[cruizincathi]

After 2 years of cancellations, we finally got to complete our “50th bday” girl’s trip. WooHoo!

Who:Cathi(me) and Dawn. We used to work together as an OT team for home care. We had actually booked the same Disney Cruise before we ever met. This is our 2nd time sailing together, but first time without our families.

 

[cruizincathi]

Day 1:Travel from WI.
We caught a 6am flight out on Friday morning. So glad we did as I had friends sailing on a different cruise from Port Canaveral on Sat, as well, who didn’t get a flight out later in the day due to bad weather on the East Coast. Just a reminder as to why you should fly in the day before your cruise!

We landed at MCO about 12:15, checked into the Hyatt and we’re to our rental car by 1:00. Since we are big girls now, and celebrating milestone birthdays, we decided a Mustang was the only way to go! We stopped at the Disney Character Warehouse on the way to Disney Springs. I highly recommend this to shop some discounts before getting to the full price places at DS. I bought the cutest beach mouse ears and some ornaments. Dawn found a really cute Castaway Cay beach coverups for $20!

We then spent the rest of the afternoon at DS. It was an awesome way to get into the Disney spirit before the cruise! We enjoyed dinner at The Hanger.

 

[cruizincathi]

Day 2:Embarkation day!!
We were using Disney transfers from MCO to the port. We were both up early, so decided to go down to the transport area early. Just a note-the Hyatt will take care of getting your luggage to the port. Currently, if you choose this option, all guests at the Hyatt meet in the lobby about 9:45 and walk down to the transfer area together-and then get their own bus. It left about 10:30. Dawn and I wanted to be to the port earlier, so we carried our own luggage down to the transfer area and were on the first bus out-which left before 9:30!

 

[cruizincathi]

Testing and boarding
We arrived at the port about 10:15. There were 2 buses already unloading passengers. We figured out they were Disney hotel guests. Mental note-if you want to be first at the port, staying at a Disney property is currently faster than coming from the airport or the Hyatt.

As we got off the bus, we were led to the white tents. They take each party to a plastic cubicle and all tests are completed simultaneously and sample vials put in the same plastic bag to keep party tests together. The test itself took less than 10 min for the 2 of us. After the tests were completed, they verified our status online(”pending”) and then sent us to a separate tent to wait. They told us to watch the Safe Passage site starting about 30 min after testing. I kept the page up and kept refreshing. The magical “cleared to sail” status appeared about 35 min after we sat down. Such a fantastic feeling!

We left the tent and headed inside the terminal. The security scan and escalator ride was the same as always, other than they check you in before going through security-no more heading to the counter to the left upstairs, unless there is something missing from your reservation.

We noticed a group near the manager’s desk asking about upgrades. Unfortunately, DCL systems were down and upgraded were being handled onboard. We had boarding group 2, so figured we’d ask when we got onboard.

 

[cruizincathi]

We’re onboard!!
They let concierge guests on about 11:15. By 11:30, they were calling groups 1 and 2. Other than concierge folks, we were the 2nd party to board the Fantasy. Wow, did I miss her!! We proceeded to Guest Services to ask about an upgrade. We were told their system was also down, so things were being done manually. They took our names, current stateroom number, and what we were looking for. They told us to get our vacation started and they would message us with any upgrades once all boarding groups were called.

We headed up to Cabanas for some breakfast, since we hadn’t really eaten yet. At the time, cast members were serving food and drinks. I hear that has now been discontinued and things are back to self serve. While we enjoyed our lunch-and beautiful view-Guest Services sent a message to contact them. We headed back down, only to find we had gotten an upgrade!!

 

[cruizincathi]

Concierge, baby!!
We had been booked in room 9762, and we were happy with our choice as it had an extended veranda…but we knew we’d be happier in concierge! This was my 4th cruise and I’ve always sailed concierge. This was Dawn’s 6th cruise and she had never sailed concierge. Truth be told-the upgrade prices have gone WAY up, but still less expensive than booking concierge directly. Just keep in mind upgrades are not guaranteed-and will become less likely as passenger numbers increase. We paid $3500 for our upgrade. Some may not find that price worth it but, again, we are celebrating.

We made our way up yo the concierge lounge to meet the team and get access to our new room-11022. I’ve never had a concierge room on deck 11, so it was new for me. It was an extended veranda with the plexiglass roof. I’ve seen pics of these rooms before, but wasn’t sure I’d like the covered veranda-I was wrong! Loved the extra room and really enjoyed our veranda throughout the trip.

 

[cruizincathi]

Our week:
We had decided that we were not making a plan. Our only objective was to play bingo daily and get off to shop at the ports. We stayed true to our plan!

When we met with the concierge hosts, we asked about a cabana on Castaway. On day 3, we were notified that we would get one. Did I mention I love concierge!! They also got us a brunch reservation at Remy’s. We had Palo brunch on day 2 and Remy on day 5. Both were fabulous!

Our stops were Tortola, St Thomas, and Castaway. As I said, we explored the ports in the VI but got off at Castaway as soon as we were cleared, but more about that later.

Our days went something like this:get up, head to concierge lounge for light breakfast snack and coffee. Eat on our veranda. Get dressed for brunch(or Cabanas if no brunch). Head to the adult pool to see what towel animals Flavien had made(he is part of the pool crew and is fantastic)! We would lay by the pool or dip in the pool until it started getting busy(around 11), and then we’d head to the concierge sun deck. We lounge/nap/socialize until about 2:30 and then head to the room for showers. About 3:15, we’d head down to get in line to play bingo. Bingo was from 4-5. We had early dining, so we’d either shop or go back to room to change, and then head to dinner. After dinner, we met other cruisers in the concierge lounge and stayed there until they closed at 10. We’d then sit on our veranda and chit chat until we were tired enough to go to sleep.

We found some goodies in the shops and there were new items after our day in St Thomas. I won at bingo once and it was enough to cover the cost of our cabana! We skipped the photographers and did not even visit Shutters. We did not go to the theater for movies and watched the evening shows in our room if they interested us(we’ve both done an Eastern and Western before, so have seen the shows).

 

[cruizincathi]

Tortola:
Weather was beautiful! We were cleared to go shore around 7:45. Dawn and I got off about 8:30. Unfortunately, many shops didn’t open until 10. We went to Beans coffee shop. With a purchase, they give you 30 min of free Wi-Fi. We caught up on things at home and then wandered around. I collect Christmas ornaments from my travels, so bought one at a shop near the pier. Dawn went to the cigar shop for a gift for her husband. We were back onboard before 11 and resumed our daily routine.

The evening of Tortola was pirate night-sort of. Cast members and characters were dressed in pirate garb and the restaurants all had the pirate menu. Over 1/2 of the passengers dressed up too. There was no pirate deck party, but there were fireworks. No pirate buffet at this tie.

 

[cruizincathi]

St Thomas:
All ashore was 7:45 again. This time, more shops were ready for us-although many didn’t open until 9:00. Dawn was looking for a Pandora charm, so we went downtown first. Found the cutest little shop and the worker was from WI! We had a great time talking about home and found some real treasures(all local made and we learned the stories behind the artists). I bought a couple gifts-and my ornaments, of course. I was disappointed that the Louis Vuitton store has closed since my last visit. We were told that between Hurricane Irma and Covid, the island lost soooo many businesses.

We were back to the ship before noon and resumed our daily routine.

 

[cruizincathi]

Castaway Cay:
As I mentioned, we were able to snag a cabana on Castaway. We were so happy we did because about 15 min after getting off the ship at 10:15, it POURED! It was so windy and rainy that we had to shut up the doors in the cabana to stay dry. I’m sure many people got soaked-or waited a long time to get off the ship.

At 11:40, when lunch opened, it was still raining too hard for us to venture out. Around noon, Flavien(who happened to be assigned to the cabanas that day), came and got us from our cabana and said the rain had lightened to the point where lunch was going to be manageable. Our cabana was on Serenity Bay, so we ate at Cookies Too. I had steak and a burger and Dawn had the ribs and chicken. Everything was great!

After lunch, we shed our rain ponchos and walked the 5K. Currently, it’s on your own and you pick up your medal at the bike rental. Since we were in the area, we hit the shops on Castaway, and then headed back to the cabana. There was no one on the adult beach! Dawn tried to snorkel, but it was too windy. I sat on the beach but was the only one out. The lifeguard thought I was crazy as it was chilly and windy. I told him it still was warmer than WI.

All aboard was 3:45 and Flavien made sure to pick us up last. It was still a great day, despite the weather, but I was a little bummed to lose out on a sun day!

 

[cruizincathi]

Last stop-Port Canaveral
We had decided to carry off our own luggage so that we could pack after getting back from Castaway. We were both up by 5:30, so watched us dock. We had breakfast in the concierge lounge, said goodbye to all of our new friends, and were escorted off about 8:15. Because we carried off our own luggage, we got to skip the luggage hunt in port. We got through Customs easily and loaded the bus back to MCO. Unfortunately, our flight home was at 7pm. We weighed our options but decided to just stay at the airport and binge watch some Netflix.

It was an incredible week with a great friend! We are sailing together on the Wish in Aug. I’m doing a back to back with the first leg by myself. Dawn and her husband will join me for the second half-in concierge, of course!

 

[lwilliam]

Isn’t Flavian the BEST!

 

[cruizincathi]

Isn’t Flavian the BEST!

Yes!!!

 

[lwilliam]

Yes!!!

Please tell me Flavian didn’t leave the pool deck (u mentioned he was working your Cabana…we are on the April 23 sailing and was anxious to see him again.

 

[cruizincathi]

He is still in the adult pool area daily. On our Castaway day, he was assigned to the adult beach and was driving folks to their cabanas via golf cart.

 

[Templemom]

Great report! Sounds amazing, gets me ready to enjoy our first cruise later this month.Thanks for sharing!

 

[iloveeeyore]

Thank you so much for your report! DH and I are doing the same itinerary, well the same ports of call, but out of Miami on the Dream in April 2023. Can't wait!