This guest trip report was written by Cynthia, who sailed the Disney Fantasy on July 27, 2019, on the 11 night Southern Caribbean itinerary. You may remember her as the guest blogger who shared her previous experience with the medical center on the Disney Fantasy, which you can read about here. She has now graciously offered to share her adventures with us! This is a unique itinerary not often offered on the Fantasy so I am very excited to get to share this with you!
Day 1
You can start this trip report from the beginning by clicking here.
You can see the daily navigators for this sailing here.
It’s cruise day! We were up bright and early and anxious to start our day. The weather was perfect for cruising – sunny and warm. We had a 10:30 a.m. port arrival time so we had plenty of time for a relaxing breakfast.
The Residence Inn offers a very nice complimentary breakfast buffet of cold and hot items. The dining room was filled with fellow Disney cruisers and everyone was in a very good mood. After enjoying our breakfast, we headed back to the room to finish closing our suitcases.
Getting to the port from the hotel is easy and you have several options. The Residence Inn arranges for the optional use of a shuttle service to the port for its guests. For $5.00 a person ($15.00 for our family), an independent service will take you and your luggage directly to the Disney terminal. However, the shuttle makes only one trip from the hotel at 9:30 a.m. and you have to go to several other hotels to pick up other passengers before getting to the port. We had a 10:30 a.m. port arrival time, and being that the terminal was only a five minute drive from the hotel, we elected to go to the port via Lyft at 9:45 a.m. For $18.00 we had a wonderful, quick ride to the port and were inside the terminal at 10:05 a.m.
Even though this was our third cruise aboard the Fantasy, our first glimpse of the ship was very exciting!
Check-in was a breeze. We made our way through security and up to the check-in area with little effort. Usually there is a separate check-in area for Castaway Club members, but because this cruise was mainly Gold and Platinum cruisers (even the Cruise Director commented on board that there were very few first time cruisers sailing), there was only a separate Platinum check-in area and everyone else went through the regular guest line.
We hopped in line with other cruisers, received our gold lanyards and Key to the World cards, and waited for boarding group 2 to be called.
We had a chance to see Mickey and Minnie in the cruise terminal. They were looking as good as ever!
Before we knew it, boarding group 2 was called, and we were going aboard.
As one of the first groups on board, we decided to head to Cabanas before it got really crowded. We had no problem getting a table and our lunch. When we were done with lunch, we walked around the pool deck. It was still early so the ship was not very crowded.
We also had time to head up to Vibe to check-in my 15 year old daughter. She practically lives in Vibe during the cruise and never has a problem making new friends. Often she finds herself getting re-acquainted with kids she met on previous cruises. The Vibe entrance is on Deck four. You have to look real hard for the sign, and then walk through the hallway to enter the club where you will find a great hangout/social area and private outdoor space. It’s a great place for the older teens.
By the time we were done at Vibe, our cabin was available so we headed up to the Deck 10 to find cabin 10114 (stateroom review here). Our cabin was a category 4A deluxe family oceanview stateroom with verandah in the aft of the ship on the port side. We received one piece of our luggage very early, so we were able to do some unpacking and organizing. Our other luggage was not far behind, so we got everything put away before heading to the safety drill. My oldest daughter also had an opportunity to unwrap her gift that was delivered to the cabin – a Marvel blanket. I pre-ordered this for her through the Disney onboard gift and amenities service. We also checked out the Disney Cruise Line robe I ordered for my youngest daughter and the Castaway Club member gifts placed in our stateroom. We finally got the luggage tag (and another bag)!
I also pre-ordered a case of water. Our 24 bottles of water were all set out in the stateroom when we arrived and ready for the refrigerator. Although it comes at a hefty price, I love the convenience.
We also had a chance to meet our cabin hostess Air. She was wonderful. We found out that she has been with Disney Cruise Line for 16 years and she is part of the training crew. This means she goes aboard the new ships and trains the cabin crews.
After the safety drill, we went directly to Deck 11 for the Sail Away Party. Although it was the same party as previous cruises, complete with Mickey and all his friends making an appearance, we noticed that as soon as the party started the ship began to sail. Usually the ship begins to sail at the conclusion of the party. We found out later that the captain wanted to get out of port ahead of an incoming rainstorm.
The trip out of the port into open waters was beautiful and not a raindrop in sight.
After the Sail Away party we visited Senses Spa, Tiffany & Co., and Sweet on You ice cream shop (extra fee). It is very important to scope out the important locations onboard and start making plans!
We had the 8:15 p.m. second dining rotation so we had time to explore the ship for a while and then go to Disney Tune trivia in the D Lounge. We were very close to winning. The winners scored 29 out of 30 and my daughter and I (really only my daughter as she answered everything) scored 28 out of 30. Close, but not close enough.
After trivia we went to the early show of A Fantasy Come True: A Welcome Show in the Walt Disney Theatre. It was a very entertaining show.
We also had some time to take our first character pictures. Minnie loved my daughter’s “Minnie Jacket.”
We also ran into Pluto.
After the show, we headed to dinner at Royal Court to locate Table 42 – our assigned table number for the cruise. We were right next to Table 43 and, although we were not assigned to the same table, we had wonderful dining neighbors from Illinois the entire cruise. If you are reading this, hello to table 43! Dinner was very good and the service was wonderful. Our servers Hazel and Vane were a lot of fun and we could tell they would take care of us throughout the cruise. I selected the couscous salad as my appetizer, and was not disappointed. For my main course I decided to try the pork tenderloin wellington. It tasted fine, but was not very pleasing to the eye. For dessert I had the dark chocolate bombe. As my kids say, it was the bomb.
Following dinner we went to Marvel Trivia and then walked around the ship a bit more before deciding that we were ready to call it a night. Day 1 was a success and there is a lot on the schedule for Day 2: Palo Brunch, movies, character meet and greets, and so much more. Day 1 was an absolute success!
Up Next: Day 2 – At Sea
Yay table 43!! It was nice having y’all as our dining neighbors!
Also, great photos, especially Vibe! I never knew! Very cool!
Ironically, we were Table 43 late dining seating. But we had a different rotation than you.