My 23 May 2015 Fantasy Eastern Caribbean trip report

Previously, my family has sailed on the Carnival Miracle in 2006 (7 day/balcony), Carnival Freedom in 2010 (8 day/balcony), Disney Dream in 2012 (5 day/deluxe family inside), and RCI Freedom of the Seas in 2013 (7 day/two inside cabins). We almost always vacation in early June. My son is 24 and has mild autism and my daughter is 20. We also like to go to Disney World every 2-3 years and stay on property for a week.

We drove to Port Canaveral the day prior and stayed at the Country Inn and Suits, which is the closest hotel to the ship. We have stayed there two times prior for convenience, but this hotel is showing its age. We paid $129.12 for a Friday night. We always park in the main structure at the port because I like to walk off the ship and drive away without waiting for transportation. They charge $125.00 upfront.

Our scheduled port arrival time (PAT) was 10:30 – 10:45 on May 23rd. We got there at 10:40. We waited in a short line to enter the terminal and then we were immediately checked in. It was obvious many people ignored their PAT and came early, because the terminal was packed. The first group was called at 11:20 and we were called at 11:30 in group three.

As soon as we were welcomed on board I headed to the Port Adventures Desk for tickets to the Princess gathering for my daughter and to sign us up for the 5K run at Castaway Cay, my family headed to The Enchanted Garden for lunch. I had no wait and then met my family at the entrance to the garden. They did not open until 12:00. Their selection is limited compared to Cabanas, but there were no crowds. The only issue was the coke. It had an overly citrus flavor and none of us could drink it. The server tried another dispenser but it was still bad. Everything else on the buffet was very good.

Our room was available at 1:30. Our cabin, #7178 Cat 8C- Deluxe Family Ocean view located aft port, had plenty of room for my family of four. I always make sure that I’m insulated with at least one deck of cabins above and below to minimize ship noise. We also like to be mid deck or toward the rear so my wife and daughter don’t feel the movement of the ship as much. They tend to get sea sick. We had a large porthole with the seat, but I was a little disappointed that you really can't sit in it unless you are a very small child. The seating area just isn't that wide, unlike the portholes on deck 3 like I was expecting. There is plenty of storage for everything. We had a murphy bed for the fourth bed which, I felt would only be comfortable for a teenager. The main bed and sofa bed are very comfortable for anyone. The round tub shower was wonderful, and of course how can you not love the split bathroom. The refrigerator stayed very cold and the room temperature could easily be regulated to any temperature you like. The condition of the room was excellent! However the first night the cabin had creaking sounds coming from several places that kept us from getting a good night’s sleep. It was so bad I asked for another room. They showed me two other options but the locations were not acceptable to me, so they assured me they had technicians that could solve the problem. I was highly doubtful anything could be done, but to my amazement after some Disney magic we didn’t hear any more room noises the rest of the cruise. After the first night, the cabin was quiet except for the crying kids and a man blowing his nose early in the morning in the cabin next to us that we would hear off and on during the cruise.

This is a gorgeous ship! I would compare it and the Disney Dream to 5 star hotels I have stayed in overseas. Even the public bathrooms are amazing. You have to visit the one outside of Remy. Disney ships are uniquely designed like no others and maintained to the highest standards. They have a classic liner feel of days gone by. The service and accommodations were absolutely first class in every way.

All of the dining rooms provide a wonderful unique environment and the food was very good. My daughter can’t have garlic, so she was able to preview every menu in the dining rooms and her meals were specially prepared for her each night. Cabanas buffet was fantastic and the best of all of the ships I’ve sailed so far! There was a vast selection of very good food and some of the most delicious desserts I've ever had. Also, my son said the Mickey waffles and chicken tenders were as good as the ones at Disney World.

The only issue I had is the regular coke and tea coming out of the machines on deck 11 midship and Cabanas was terrible. They couldn’t figure out the problem so after talking to guest services on day two they agreed to stock my room with 9 canned cokes a day for the remainder of the cruise. Now that is customer service! The tea in the main dining room was okay.

I won’t lie -- I like to eat, so I usually ordered four entrees every night. I think I can say some meals were just okay, most were very good, and a few were exceptional. The rack of lamb and lobster come to mind. Also, I was never disappointed with any of the desserts.

There is plenty to do on the ship, so we were never bored. We never waited more than 20 minutes to ride the AquaDuck. We loved the adult pool areas and Satellite Falls -- nice and quiet and no kids. We never had a problem finding seats. We paid $85.00 to play family bingo for the four of us and that was a lot of fun, but sadly we didn’t win anything. We also enjoyed playing Midship Detective Agency and Goofy Golf. The movie theater selections were top notch and we saw several movies I’d been waiting for. Aladdin was Broadway quality and Disney Believe was very good too. However, the first night’s show, A Fantasy Come True was nothing more than a Disney commercial that my whole family thought didn’t live up to Disney standards.

Now my wife and I thought the non-Disney shows were very subpar. I must say these were the worst acts I have ever seen that I’ve paid for. The acts were The Comedy & Magic of David Williamson, The Comedy of Improv Shimimprov, The Comedy & Ventriloquism of Taylor Mason, and the Comedy & Juggling of Michel Holly. These were all disappointing.

We loved Pirate night and we had the perfect spot to see the entire show and fireworks. We were on the port side of deck 12 just above and to the side of the stage against the railing. If you don’t get there at least 1.5 hours prior, forget about it.

Our ports consisted of St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay. We did the Under Two Flags Island adults only Tour at St Maarten. The air conditioned new bus went all over the island and stopped for shopping. It was a good basic tour that provided with some nice scenic views and some history of the island. At St. Thomas we just walked around the shops at the port. No real deals -- just a tourist trap in my opinion.

I don’t know why but we weren’t able to get off the ship at Castaway Cay until 10:30. My son, daughter and I were doing the 5K. It was a lot of fun and it’s a nice medal you get for free. None of us are runners so it took us 52 minutes to complete the course. We all headed to Cookie’s Too in the adult area for lunch afterwards. Now this was the only bad food experience we had on the cruise. We were told on the ship by our head waiter that everything was garlic free for my daughter. Of course we asked at the food stations and they looked at us like we were crazy and no one had an answer. They finally dug up the head chef and he said the only thing that didn’t have garlic was the salad. She ended up eating cookies and chips until we made it back to the ship. I wanted ribs and to my surprise they didn’t have any. It took 30 minutes before any showed up. When I finally got some I must say they were the worst ribs I’d ever attempted to eat. I really didn’t like any of the food except the ice cream and chocolate chip cookies.

We went to the adult beach afterwards and got in the water. Now don’t be a hater, but I thought this beach sucked. Remember though, I grew up in Florida and live walking distance to pure white sand beaches near my house. You definitely need water shoes for this rocky shallow beach! I know the other beach is more foot friendly. For those of you who don’t live on the Emerald Coast I’m sure you will enjoy Castaway Cay, but for my family it’s nothing to write home about.

One note of surprise was this ship had a lot of up and down movement throughout the cruise. Several people, including some crew, commented on the excessive motion even though the seas were pretty calm during the trip. I have not experienced this on any other ship, so I think there may have been a stabilization problem.

Embarkation was painless. I grabbed food from Cabanas and brought it to the room so everyone could sleep in. We were off the ship by about 9:00 and grabbed our luggage and headed home.

Overall, we love the Disney experience. I’m a hard core nonsmoker and the only time I smelled smoke is when I went up the port stairs in Quiet Cove to get to deck 13. Also, I like the fact there are no casinos. I never felt overwhelmed by kids and I never saw anyone drunk or out of control. However, this was a costly trip that we consider a treat. I booked this trip almost a year in advance and my cost was $6,126.92, which included tips of $336.00 and trip insurance through USAA for $264.00. If you can afford it and love Disney, you will have a wonderful vacation and it’s worth every penny/dollar you spend.

I read the Disney Cruise board every day for the past year and I also used the disneycruiselineblog.com for my research. I believe this helped me maximize my whole Disney experience. Special thanks to everyone that answered my questions.

My next cruise will most likely be Carnival at almost half the cost. Yes, it will not be as impressive as a Disney Cruise, but my bank account will appreciate the relief!

Great trip review!

I've heard about the taste of the coke products before. Either DCL isn't flushing the lines sufficiently after running the cleaning agent through, adjusting the mix of the premix right or the desalinated water isn't mixing with the premix right.

I wonder if Coca-Cola need to know about this as it is their product being presented? Just a thought.

The Staterooms tend to develop creaks as time goes by. You did the right thing by reporting it so it could be addressed and I'm glad to hear they could install some padding between the creaking panels. Even better for the next Guest!

The guy blowing his nose...... Did you see him? How big was his nose?!? lol!

Regarding the beaches at CC. Yes, a lot of the beaches are man made, and need constant replenishment of the sand, which again is man made mostly by crushing shells. That and the Coke products should be something to fill out on your cruise comment card.

I'm not going to defend or apologize the bumpiness of you cruise, but just say that undercurrents below the calm surface can effect the "ride", and although not seen to the naked eye, will effect how the ship moves through the water.

It could also be that the sabilizers were not functioning correctly/or at all.

I did hear a rumor once that the Dream lost one..... Take that as you wish.

That and I don't see how fries, a burger/hot dog etc on CC were not garlic free?

Sounds like they treated your daughter as if she would have an anaphylactic attack if she ingested a food source such as chicken tenders that may have been fried alongside the fries?

Glad you had a great trip despite the cost.

ex techie

A good cruise review.

Someone definitely dropped the ball on your garlic free meal. The normal way this is handled is that you are asked to specify a lunch time and are asked to dine at Cookies,Too. Your special diet lunch is prepared on the ship and sent to the island to be ready for you at your selected time. Your head server should have seen to this.

On the other hand, I'm surprised that you were even allowed to go "off menu" at Cookies. You do realize that the reason it took 30 minutes is that they had to send someone to the ship to get your ribs. I can't tell you whether they cooked them on the ship or on the island, but they definitely are not part of the normal island menu and would only have been available on the ship.

Glad you complained about the cabin creaking...and that they could fix it. We had one cabin with a similar issue on the Magic. Just be glad that the nose blowing wasn't snoring. And no, I'm not kidding.

Thanks for the review. Glad to hear you had a great time.

You do realize that the reason it took 30 minutes is that they had to send someone to the ship to get your ribs. I can't tell you whether they cooked them on the ship or on the island' date=' but they definitely are not part of the normal island menu and would only have been available on the ship. [/quote']

 

I've had ribs at Cookies Too on Castaway Cay. Not by special order. They were there with the burgers, etc. They would be the only reason IMHO, to eat on Castaway Cay. Thankfully the one I had was meaty and tender. It was a beef rib I believe (not the pork ribs that you get in a rack but the individual beef ribs).

Sorry, I didn't remember seeing ribs when I was there.

A good cruise review.

 

On the other hand' date=' I'm surprised that you were even allowed to go "off menu" at Cookies. You do realize that the reason it took 30 minutes is that they had to send someone to the ship to get your ribs. I can't tell you whether they cooked them on the ship or on the island, but they definitely are not part of the normal island menu and would only have been available on the ship.[/quote']

 

The ribs were pork and they were one of the main items that day. They were tough with a really bad taste. The operation seemed very disorganized. They ran out of other items too and it wasn't even noon. It just seemed like no one was in charge and they were new. Remember I had been there twice before and everything was fine. This was not the typical great Disney experience.

Unless they are suddenly charging extra for not pre-purchasing online, parking at the main garage at Port Canaveral is still $120 for a 7-night cruise, not $125. It was $120 there when I last sailed a few months ago. They do charge extra for vehicles over 20' though. Port Canaveral (not Disney) sets the rates and operates the parking.

http://www.portcanaveral.com/Cruise/Directions-Parking

You are correct on the current parking price being $120.00. My memory isn't what it used to be so I asked my wife when I was writing this review and she thought it was $125.00. You can park for less than half that price if you are willing to use a shuttle, but I don't mind paying the premium to skip that option and walk straight to my car in covered shade.

I'm with you on being willing to pay the fee for the convenience of parking at the port, and I love the covered parking garage. I'd never do it any other way! :D