WDW then the Fantasy...the Fantasy part: the great, the bad, and the eh

[Mendelson]

Cruise
Rather than day-by-day I’ll try to just give some highlights and themes. This was our second cruise ever, the first being Western Caribbean on the Fantasy in 2013.

We chose this itinerary (eastern) because it stops at St. Thomas and we took the opportunity to go to St. John, where my wife and I got married (on Cinnamon Bay) in 2004. I was very careful to manage our day heading to St. John and Cinnamon Bay on our own, but we made it over and back just fine, although our three hours on the beach were far too few! This was, however, the highlight of our trip, despite some stings from sea lice and jellyfish and the marked decline in coral health (and thus, stuff to see while snorkeling) over the last 11 years. But it was a really, really nice day. Perhaps the most memorable part of the whole vacation is that on the ferry ride back over, sitting up on top, in the wind, a woman a few rows ahead of us lifted her pina colada and the wind took it away, giving my family a delicious bath, with a lime wedge landing in my wife’s ear!

St. Maarten was just fine – my daughter and I did a kayak-snorkel trip and my wife and son did a beach excursion. Nothing fantastic.

Castaway Cay was…what it is. I guess I’m one of the very few who don’t love it, but to be brutally honest, Disney has, well, Disney-fied this island so that it’s nothing like being at the beach, meaning that when you’re in the water there are no waves and very little ocean life. The beach aspect is thus kind of boring and just crowded. On the positives, my son really liked the whale dig area. Mickey was there digging and a handful of kids were just hanging out with him…he wasn’t mobbed and it was a great opportunity for interaction. My son also liked Spring-a-Leak. The food at Cookies isn't bad and I had a bunch of ribs, but I find it ironic that the dessert - cookies - is not very good there. Very industrial.

My wife and I ran in the 5K and as such we sacrificed our chance to get any beach chairs at all. Our bad, I know, but I mean, we walked around for about 10 minutes and there was not a single unclaimed chair. Not one.

So that’s Castaway Cay.

Onboard entertainment was great. Aladdin was fantastic, of course, and other than the opening-night show the rest of the shows were pretty good. Magic Dave was quite entertaining (we saw Magic Dave walking the boat and stopped to chat. My son was on my shoulders. Dave reached out and put his hands under my son’s shoes, so about four inches from my eyes, and even with me watching that closely he STILL managed to amaze me with some sleight-of-hand, pulling a coin from underneath my son’s shoe and then making it disappear again) and we also enjoyed the ventriloquist and some really spectacular performers who showed up around the boat, particularly a pianist and a guitar player/singer.

The food is remarkably mediocre. We live in Washington, DC and have any number of great restaurants to enjoy. Perhaps if we didn’t I would be more impressed with the food on the cruise, but of the four courses each night usually only one was good and I don’t think any were memorable. And a few were downright bad. Our servers were very gracious and eager and kind and efficient and we had a great seat in Animator’s Palate, so those are a couple positives. And pretty much every night I asked for a Mickey Bar to be delivered around the time of the second course - a pre-dessert, if you will - which was always accommodated. That was the dinner highlight!

It took me about 11 nights on this ship to find this, but kind of tucked away near the BBB on deck 5 (or 4?) is one of the magic screens where you can steer a boat around using one of those boat steering wheel things. This kept my son occupied for a long time, and it rarely drew a crowd.

On Wednesday we had dinner at Remy, which was worth the money and the food was wonderful (though the service a little off). This was our St. John day, so it was totally a great day.

The Pirate night stuff was pretty great.

I would definitely sail on a smaller boat next time...it just felt very crowded the entire time - even the lines for the characters just felt much longer than our last cruise (again, on the same boat). One interesting piece of magic – there are hundreds and hundreds of chairs on deck 11, but – poof! – you will never, ever be able to find two or more that are free together. In addition, several are apparently only built to withstand the weight of a towel. I’m speculating on this, simply on the fact that that’s the most substance I ever saw many of them hold. It was like the tag on the chair said, "WARNING - only place your towel here and then go do something else for six hours. Made in China."

The service in general was over-the-top incredible. One thing I don’t remember from last cruise is that even tiny little restrooms with two stalls and two urinals had an attendant, keeping it clean and tidy. The boat was just spotless, top-to-bottom (okay, I didn’t really see the bottom, but I’m extrapolating). All the cast members are quick with a smile and a friendly interaction. It makes you feel spoiled and very pampered.

I’m really not sure if we’ll do a cruise again anytime soon, though. Overall it’s a fun time, but the opportunity cost is just so high. And when I think about what I’m paying for it comes down to: food, destinations, entertainment, and sleeping quarters. As I’ve said, IMO the food is very average. The destinations are okay - you essentially get off the boat and then (even if you’re going on your own) get in a cab to go to one place/site and then head back to the boat. You don’t really get to know a place or the people who live there or its culture in four or five hours. I have no idea what St. Maarten is like, for example, or Costa Maya, where we went last cruise. And I’ve expressed my opinion of Castaway Cay. The entertainment onboard is good and the sleeping quarters are cramped, though the beds are pretty great. Making my way around a crowded boat is okay for awhile but when I think about what else I could do for $8k for four people for a week (what the cruise portion of this vacation cost) I’ll almost certainly lean away from a cruise in the future, particularly as my son gets older.

[faline]

Sounds like your cruise was a mixed bag. I have to agree with your comments about Castaway Cay. That was the day of the cruise I was looking forward to the most and, to be honest, wasn't overly impressed. We did fare a bit better, shipboard, with seats etc. as we always used the adult only section which seemed to always have chairs available somewhere.

We found our cruise very relaxing and didn't really take advantage of any shore excursions but that was the way we planned things.

Thanks for reporting on your trip!!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Thanks for sharing! We're planning a Fantasy cruise next year, so hearing both the good and bad is quite helpful!

[magicofdisney]

I appreciate your report.

I've never cruised partly because my husband and cruises are incompatible and partly because no one has ever convinced they're worth the expense. In theory they seem fantastical, but then reality steps in. I'm not trying to bash them or say they're a complete waste of money I just think they may not be my cup of tea.

I do feel it's wonderful that you and your family were able to spend this much time together. At least with a cruise, family activities are highlighted and encouraged. That alone is priceless.

[Mendelson]

Thanks, all.

Pre-cruise my (non-WDW) trips have taken the shape of going to one place and staying put for a week or so - St. John in the USVI, Nova Scotia, Vancouver Island, etc. And I think I have found that for my wife and I, personally, it's just better to go to a place like that and settle in. Yes, there is more planning on our part and some cooking and cleaning and other odds and ends, But I just think I like that better for us, and for much less than the price of a cruise.

That said, there is a lot of great stuff on a cruise.

[Mickey'sGirl]

Castaway Cay didn't turn my crank either. It was very crowded, the beach wasn't as nice as I thought it could be, and the food at the BBQ was just fine. So for our next cruise in August, we have reserved some snorkeling equipment to do a little bit of a looksee. Then our plan is to return to the ship.

We cruised this past Christmas on the Fantasy, and the ship was full, but we never felt crowded (except at Castaway Cay). We were always able to get a couple of chairs at the pool, but we aim for the shade, so maybe that's the key?

I agree that the food was average, but I went in expecting that. We were all fed (and with growing boys, this is no small feat!!) This trip we have reserved a brunch at Palo, just to up the stakes a bit, and we are both looking forward to the experience.

Thanks for the report!

[BrerGnat]

Thanks for sharing your insights with us. I really want to do a week long cruise on the Fantasy, and we have done 2 Dream cruises in the summer, so I am familiar with the size of the ships and crowd levels. And, to be honest, I LOVE the size of the Dream and never found any place unbearably crowded. Castaway Cay is much more enjoyable if you go down to the SECOND family beach and settle in there. We have done it 3 times now (first cruise was a double dip) and we have gotten off the ship around 10am all three times and taken the tram to the second family beach stop and had rows upon rows of empty chairs to choose from. And, we actually love the cookies at the BBQ. Well, my kids and husband do...I kind of agree that they are just "okay".

As for whether it's worth it or not, let's just say that we sailed using a VERY generous military discount, and even then, I thought it was expensive, although totally worth what we paid. Would I pay Disney's prevailing rates? Absolutely not. I completely agree with your assesment of the price vs. what you get.

We have always enjoyed the food just fine. For me, any meal that I don't have to think about, shop for, cook, or decide where to go for is A-OK. But, fine cuisine it is not (unless you go to Remy, I suppose).

I'm a bit different than a lot of people in that I go on cruises to actually enjoy the ships. I honestly don't really like getting off in the ports all that much. It's more about enjoying what the ships have to offer, which is actually quite a lot when you really get down and explore.

[candace flynn]

It was like the tag on the chair said, "WARNING - only place your towel here and then go do something else for six hours. Made in China."


This is just hilarious!

[Mendelson]

Thanks!

It was like the tag on the chair said, "WARNING - only place your towel here and then go do something else for six hours. Made in China."


This is just hilarious!

[BrerGnat]

Oh, and as for chairs with JUST towels on them and NO personal belongings of any kind...

I use those chairs. I plunk myself and my stuff down and enjoy. I've never once had a person come back and want "their" chair back.

If all you put down is a towel, how do you know which one is "yours?"

[CanadianWDWFan]

Thanks for your report. We too sailed on the Fantasy's eastern itinerary though we stopped in St. Maarten and San Juan. Nothing planned at either stops but loved our self directed walking tour of San Juan. We had wonderful service from our servers and never felt like we were lacking. They even brought out second dinner plates for our oldest who had no problems putting it away!

As for the towels on the chairs, on the Fantasy, I noticed that after a short while the CMs would remove the towels. We never had a any issues getting the deck lounges.

[Celakip]

We were on this same cruise with you. Fifth cruise overall, but first on the Fantasy. While the ship itself was extremely nice, we found the service to be a bit lacking this time. Two examples: our stateroom host never bothered to come by and introduce himself, and our drink server at dinner definitely needed more training as we were constantly left with empty beverage glasses. On all of our past cruises our dinner drinks were brought out as soon as we arrived at the table, even without us having to ask for them, and were always refilled promptly. I know these are minor nitpicks, but we always expect the BEST from Disney and didn't always get it on this cruise. We enjoy cruising and will again, but at least some of the Fantasy crew has room for improvement...

[Mendelson]

I remember seeing you Celakip! :-)

Funny, while our stateroom guy was fine, he was not very personable or friendly either. On the previous cruise our guy was always around, knew us by name, etc.

[dtootsie42]

Enjoyed reading all your insights about the cruise