Happy Spring, everyone!
My family just returned from a 7-day voyage aboard the Disney
Fantasy cruise ship, and a short stay at Walt Disney World Resort. This was my son
Camden’s first-ever cruise, and boy did he love it! A cruise is a such a different way to vacation, and honestly, it took ME a day or so to get used to the pace. The day-and-a-half that we spent at Walt
Disney World before our cruise was jam-packed (on our one full day at WDW, I was up at 3:45am for the Disney Princess 5k, and was at the Magic Kingdom until after 1am enjoying a Disney Vacation Club event with a family friend), and so waking up on our first
full day at sea and having NO plans was a bit of a shock! My three-year old,
however, had no problems relaxing, as you can see!
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| (Relaxing in a lounge chair on our first sea day- he was actually very happy, he's just squinting due to the bright sun reflecting off the Atlantic!) |
(1) The legendary Disney service- Everyone we encountered, from
the porters at Port Canaveral, to the Head Server in the dining room, was
friendly, personable, and seemed to take an interest in our little family. Our
servers in the dining room continually made sure that my husband and I loved
our meals and we were satisfied with the service that was being provided. Our
server Lucio asked us several times if the speed of our meals was acceptable,
and every night, the Head Server Ali (he seemed to be the
restaurant manager) came to our table and asked us (by name) if we were pleased
with our cruise. Our stateroom host Filip asked us MULTIPLE times daily if everything
was perfect in our rooms, and offered to get us anything we needed to make us
more comfortable.
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| (Enjoying dinner on our first night at Royal Court) |
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| (Juan and Lucio- our servers whom we got to know very well during meals- saying good-bye to Camden after our last breakfast before departing the Disney Fantasy) |
(2) The attention provided to children- In the dining room, our
server Lucio and assistant server Juan did magic tricks for Camden, offered to
get him any dinner he wanted, even if it wasn’t being served that night, and
every single night, placed ketchup on his plate in the shape of Mickey Mouse,
which he LOVED! Filip our stateroom host told Camden one evening as we went off
to dinner that he would have a surprise waiting when we came back at the end of
our night, and the surprise was Cars bedding- Camden’s favorite movie is Cars,
and he has a Lightning McQueen suitcase that Filip had undoubtedly seen!
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| (The 'Cars' bedding that our stateroom host Filip surprised our son with!) |
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| (We were celebrating our son Camden's 3rd birthday, and during our Star Wars dinner, our serving team surprised Camden with a small cake and sang Happy Birthday to him!) |
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| (Ketchup in the shape of Mickey Mouse every night!) |
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| (After seeing Lucio perform a magic trick with a few crayons, Camden became VERY interested in these particular crayons) |
(3) The childcare areas- Camden turned 3 in January, and so we
could choose between the nursery, which accepts children up to and including 3
years old, and the Oceaneer Club and Lab, which takes kids age 3-12. My husband and
I checked out the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab on our first day, which is
free to use, as well as the nursery, which is $9 an hour. We chose the nursery,
which will change diapers if needed since Camden is not perfectly
potty-trained, and we were VERY happy with this decision. Unless a 3-year old
has an older sibling or two that would go into the Oceaneer Club and Lab with
them (or you have a very independent 3-year old), my recommendation would be to send him into the nursery instead. Every
time we went to pick up Camden, all of the ladies knew what he’d done and how
he had acted as soon as we walked in. They always offered him snacks and juice,
per our request, and we knew that if there was a problem or they had any
questions, they could contact us via our Wave Phone (there are two per room
that are free to use during your cruise to keep in touch with the children’s
areas, and with other family members). There were many toddler toys in the nursery which Camden had fun playing with, and I saw that Disney Junior (which is what he watches at home) was on if kids wanted to watch television. We also chose the nursery because, while all
of the children’s areas are amply staffed, the nursery just seemed to provide
more personalized 1:1 attention to the children, and they only accept a certain
number of children per hour (whereas the Oceaneer Club and Lab do not have limits).
Once Camden is older, I will have no problems sending him to the Oceaneer Club
and Lab, but for a toddler, the nursery seems to be the best bet!
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| (The 'It's A Small World Nursery' aboard the Disney Fantasy) |
(4) The entertainment- We had four Broadway-style shows during our cruise,
including Aladdin, and they were all FABULOUS! The cast of these shows do not
disappoint! The shows are played multiple times on TV in the staterooms the
same day if you aren’t able to catch one of the two shows in the theatre. Each
show had favorite Disney characters, and songs from Disney movies, which is
RIGHT up my alley! We also had two fireworks at sea shows, one on Pirate night, and another on our Star Wars Day at Sea- these displays also had a show by the pool before the fireworks, with lots of characters and music. There were also plenty of shows and dance parties in the atrium, again, with lots of Disney characters as the stars!
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| (Captain Mickey was simply adorable!) |
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| (Enjoying a show by the pool on Pirate Night) |
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| (Camden and my husband watching the Star Wars fireworks show) |
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| (Enjoying ourselves on deck during a dance party) |
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| (Enjoying Pirate Night) |
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| (Waiting for the Pirate Night show on the outdoor stage) |
(5) The food- I swear I can’t write one blog post without
mentioning food. But the Disney Fantasy had many, many choices. For breakfast,
the buffet Cabanas serves everything from fresh fruit to made-to-order omelets, and of course,
Mickey Mouse-shaped waffles! We only did a sit-down breakfast on our last morning (which was in Enchanted Garden) before disembarking the ship, but this option is available every morning if you are looking for a breakfast experience other than Cabanas. For lunch, Cabanas served crab and
shrimp, sandwiches, salads, among many other choices, and the Cars-themed grill
and pizzeria served hot pizza, wraps, and your choice of hot sandwiches. A
restaurant is open for lunch as well, but again, we stuck with the self-service
options. For dinner, we loved checking out the three themed-restaurants,
Animator’s Palate (our favorite!), Enchanted Garden (a close second), and Royal
Court (which we still loved!). On Star Wars Day At Sea, the post-fireworks
late-night buffet served tacos, burritos, nachos, and CREPES- yum! We also utilized
the free room service twice during our cruise- once for breakfast on a port day,
and once for hors d'oeuvres before dinner.
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| (Enjoying a Mickey Premium Bar for dessert) |
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| (Enjoying breakfast in the stateroom before our excursion in Tortola, British Virgin Islands) |
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| (Our lunch on Star Wars Day At Sea even came served on this Star Wars liner!) |
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| (Jeff ordered Han Solo's carbonate sundae for dessert on Star Wars Day At Sea- if you look closely, the chocolate has Han Solo in carbonate on it. If you're gonna do something, do it right- Disney sure does!) |
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| (Enjoying the late-night buffet during our Star Wars Day At Sea) |
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| ('All Hands on Deck', which we ordered one early evening from room service) |
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| (Camden decided one night that my dessert looked pretty good- luckily, our server Lucio brought me another one right away!) |
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| (Just a few of the breakfast items offered at Cabana's, the breakfast buffet) |
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| (Enjoying a hot dog from Tow Mater's Grill before heading to the beach in St. Thomas) |
(7) Disney’s Castaway Cay- Disney’s own private island in the
Bahamas is idyllic. I LOVED it. I was one of the first off of the ship, as I
had signed up for the free Castaway Cay 5k run. Once I completed this fun run,
I briskly walked back to the ship to change and retrieve my family. We left the
ship together, and took a tram to Cookie’s BBQ, where we enjoyed a delicious,
filling lunch. After lunch, we headed to the beach to enjoy the Bahamian
weather and water. Unfortunately, the water was a bit cold on this early March
day, but this didn’t stop our son from enjoying the water! We also visited Spring A Leak,
a water play area for children, which my son loved. We enjoyed shopping and
some drinks on the island before calling it a day as the afternoon rain shower
headed toward us. My #1 requirement for a future cruise is that the ship docks
in Castaway Cay for the day- I can’t wait to return to Disney’s little island of paradise!
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| (Enjoying the family beach at Castaway Cay) |
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| (The cute scenery at Castaway Cay) |
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| (Heading into the water at Castaway Cay) |
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| (Enjoying the beach at Castaway Cay) |
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| (Lunch at Cookie's BBQ on Castaway Cay) |
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| (My sweet family enjoying Castaway Cay) |
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| (It's Olaf!) |
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| (Playing at Spring A Leak on Castaway Cay) |
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| (Enjoying our afternoon, watching our son playing at Spring A Leak) |
What an amazing week we had aboard the Disney Fantasy! Right
now as I sit here, sipping my hot coffee, I am reminiscing about sitting by the
window in Cabana’s watching nothing but ocean, as my little family and I
enjoyed breakfast together. I often think of walking into the beautiful dining
rooms, and being greeted by name by Ali, who often personally showed us to our
table, and then seeing the smiles on the faces of our servers Lucio and Juan
when they saw us each night.
Please stay
tuned for next month’s blog post, ‘Disney Cruise Line Tips & Tricks’ to read even
more about our magical cruise. Happy Travels, everybody!
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| (Coffee and the ocean. Is there anything better? Shortly after I took this photo, I was off to run the Castaway Cay 5k.) |
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| (Our menu for Star Wars Day At Sea dinner) |
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