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B4May

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  1. There was a big shopping mall type area right at the pier in Tortola. I didn't particularly see any liquor stores but I'm sure there was one there.
  2. We did not see any trolleys operating while we were there. There were several excursion companies offering city tours - both through DCL and right as you got off the boat.
  3. A few tips that we learned from this trip - Do not feel like you have to buy a photo package unless you are really wanting to stand in all the lines for the character photos. Yes, there are photographers everywhere but you really have to be intentional (get in line) to get your pictures taken. They don't walk around taking candids. They do take pictures at dinner, but they never make it to all the tables - we only got photos taken twice at dinner. Cast members are also more than happy to take pictures with your phone for you, even with the characters. If you do buy the photo package, you can get a refund if you aren't happy with the photos they took. You just have to request it at Shutters before the last night. I bought a 10 photo package but got the refund because at the end of the cruise we only had 15 total photos to choose from. They do give you Pirate Mickey bandanas on pirate night so don't feel like you'll be totally left out if you don't pack pirate outfits. Though some people go ALL OUT dressing for pirate night, which is fun to see! Look for ducks everywhere, all throughout the cruise. People bring small rubber ducks and hide them all over the ship - searching for them was one of my boys favorite activities. Next time we'll bring our own to hide as well. That's it in a nutshell. It was a great trip that we'll never forget! If anyone has questions, feel free to ask. Happy cruising!
  4. We used Google Maps on my phone. There is also signage with the area map posted in several locations throughout the city. Old San Juan is pretty compact and easy to navigate. El Morro is the farthest out but it only took us maybe 10-15 minutes to walk there.
  5. Onboard Activities/Entertainment - We felt like there was a lot to do on the ship, more than on other ships we'd been on in the past We thought the kids clubs were AMAZING, as expected with it being a Disney cruise. My boys loved the Marvel and Star Wars theming in the Oceaneer Club. Neither of them were really into the character meet-and-greets so we did not wait in the long lines for any of that but we did get to meet Dr. Strange randomly in the kids club, and Pluto and Daisy Duck when they were wandering the ship, so that was really fun. If you're kids aren't able to stand in the lines, I wouldn't worry about it too much because you can definitely catch the characters just out and about. The teen club had its own pool which I thought was very cool though my shy kiddo wasn't having any of that. The only drawback of the kids club was that my 9 year old definitely felt like it was hard to do all the things he wanted to because there were just so many kids in there at the same time. A lot of waiting for a turn. He only went in the evenings though, so it might have been less busy during the day. The Midship Detective Agency was a favorite of my boys, and led us to see some fun things on the ship we would have missed otherwise. We also really enjoyed the shuffleboard, mini golf the classic Disney movies on FunnelVision over the pool, and the various family trivias. The pools were just ok - pretty busy most of the time but we found a few times to get in and enjoy them. There was also a tiny splash pad/shallow pool on one side near the big pools, nice for those with younger kids. My 9 year old also really liked the two big splash pad areas - the Aqualab and Nemo's Reef, though technically he was a little too old for Nemo's. The third family pool was up on Deck 13 in the family zone, which was weirdly sandwiched between the two adult areas. It was more of a splashpad/fountain type thing and I never really saw anyone in it. Both slides, the Mickey slide for kids and the AquaDuck were super fun. My youngest went on the Mickey slide dozens of times as the line was never very long for it. The line at the AquaDuck did get long, but if you paid attention, you could get on it with a less than 10 minute wait. Our favorite was riding it at night when it was all lit up - zero line and we probably went on it about 10 times in a row. It's really fun! That's a perk of early dining and skipping the show after dinner. We only attended one show, Aladdin, which was awesome - maybe more for mom than anyone else. 😂. We had no trouble heading there about 15 minutes before the late showtime and getting seats in the balcony but I heard several complaints about the shows filling up and people in long lines waiting. The others just weren't of interest to us - a ventriloquist, a juggler, Frozen and Disney's Believe. The pirate night was really fun, along with the fireworks at sea. My only complaint is that they start so many of these things LATE. We are generally early risers so staying up for something like the fireworks that started at 10:30 pm is a stretch for us, especially when worn out from spending all day on the beach. I was really surprised that they would do this on a cruise with so many kids. There were also lots of movies to see in the movie theater throughout the cruise - many new releases including Antman: Quantumania, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avatar: Way of Water. The only one we hadn't already seen was Avatar and my oldest and I enjoyed watching it on ship one sea day afternoon - all 3 hours and 15 minutes of it. 😳
  6. Ports of Call/Excursions - If there is anything I want to impart in this review, it is to not get caught up in the frenzy for booking DCL excursions, or be totally heartbroken when the excursion you are set on is sold out. In all of our cruising, we have rarely done a ship excursion - they are just too pricey compared to non-ship options. I know people worry about missing the ship if something happens, but in my experience, just pick a reputable operator or DIY so you can control the timeline and you'll be just fine. We visited Tortola, BVI and had THE BEST beach day by just DIYing our own excursion. We had a leisurely morning, and walked off the ship with no lines and no crowds around 10 am. There were many taxi operators at the end of the pier just waiting to transport people so we grabbed one and headed out. I had done research before the trip and wanted to avoid the crowds so we went to Brewer's Bay Beach for $24pp round trip, about a 20 minute drive. It is a gorgeous uncrowded beach with one open air bar and grill, Nicole's. You could rent chairs or snorkeling equipment there as well. We found a shady spot under a palm tree and had the best day just hanging out, swimming, having drinks at Nicole's, etc. There were maybe 20 other people on the beach with us all day. Our driver asked us what time we wanted to be picked up, and she was right on time at 2:30 pm. She was also super knowledgeable about the island and pointed out all kinds of interesting things on our drive there and back. So basically we got a private tour of the island for $100 + tip. The boys were tired so we took them back to the ship to relax in the room while we walked back into Road Town to the famous Pusser's Road Town Pub for a drink. It was maybe a 10 minute walk, the Painkiller was fantastic, super friendly bartender - a great way to end the day! In Puerto Rico, we docked in Old San Juan in easy walking distance of the downtown area. We visited both Spanish forts, El Morro and Castillo San Cristobal. $10 pp, kids are free and one ticket gets you in to both. We stopped at Barrachina, the birthplace of the pina colada, for a to-go drink while we were walking around downtown - we did have to wait here for about 20 minutes to get the drinks. There is also a cool little pigeon park that my boys enjoyed as well as lots of opportunities for shopping, dining, etc. So another great day spent for less than $100 total. Our last stop was Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. There is lots to do here, but it is very spread out so be prepared for A LOT of walking. I got around 20,000 steps on this day alone, but we did participate in the 5k race as soon as we got off the ship. That was super fun if you are a runner! You complete it on your own, no set start time and you get a medal at the finish. The course is not well marked though so be prepared to improvise if covering the whole distance is important to you. We also had not booked anything in advance at Castaway Cay and had no trouble getting activities. We rented SUPs (30 minutes for $16 ea), an innertube ($13 for the whole day) and my boys had fun on the waterslides. We had planned to snorkel but ended up not doing it - I thought it was pricey ($34 each for the equipment) and heard several people say they didn't see much. Lunch was included but be aware they shut down at 2pm - we almost missed it because we were paddleboarding from 1-1:30. All in all, we had three excellent port days by just winging it! It can be done! Pic below of the stunning Brewer's Bay.
  7. Yep - thank you WorkingForOBC! As I understand it, DCL discounts are very rare so we felt really fortunate that it happened to be available on a cruise the week of my kids' spring break AND the itinerary was for two ports we had not visited. I had to jump on it.
  8. Dining - This is where the biggest differences between lines are apparent, IMO. Disney does not have "anytime" dining like many other lines, and we really missed it. We had early dining at 5:45 pm and depending on what we did that day, sometimes it was easy to get there, sometimes not. One evening my husband and I went alone because the boys had both fallen asleep from our busy day and one evening we skipped it altogether. The problem with skipping is that there is only one other place to eat, Tow Mater's Grill, that is open during dinner time. The buffet is closed, pizza is closed, the sandwich place is closed. You can order room service 24 hours but we were disappointed in the limited choices available. McGill's Pub was also available with a limited menu and at an additional cost; also most of the time this is an adults only venue. We were also disappointed in the quality of the food from the dining rooms - we really only had one or two meals that we were impressed with. Enchanted Garden was our favorite for the ambiance and one of our best meals was there. We also enjoyed the entertainment at Animator's Palace, but again, the food was mediocre at best. The Cruisin' with Crush show during dinner there was really fun, and both my boys loved the animation show on the second night there. A few tips - there is no need to arrive early to your dining time; we saw all kinds of people lined up for the dinners but we always arrived right on time (or even 5-10 minutes late!) and walked right in. You can order Mickey ice cream bars from room service at any hour, which we did several times during the cruise. Also, ordering room service the night before to bring coffee and a couple breakfast pastries for the kids when we woke up was really awesome and made our mornings stress-free. Overall, the best thing about any of the restaurants were the desserts - we often ordered one of each to share at the table. We've had MUCH better food with many more options on Norwegian.
  9. Cabin - We had an oceanview stateroom in the forward area of deck 6, category 8A. There are only a few cabins of this specific category and they are awesome if you can snag one. They are HUGE with two enormous porthole windows. Big enough for my 9 year old to stand in. We normally book balcony rooms but saved money by going with oceanview and didn't miss the balcony at all. There are several video tours of these staterooms online if you want to check them out in detail. This category doesn't have the split bathroom so if that's important to you, look elsewhere. We've never had a split bath on any cruise so thought the standard bathroom set up was fine. It was nice to have the tub/shower combo, though we didn't use it. Deck 6 forward was out of the way and quiet, except for the vibration and noise when docking. We were always awake by the time it happened so not a big deal for us, but if you are a late sleeper you might want to avoid this area.
  10. Check-In/Embarkation/Pre-cruise Transportation - Disney's check-in process is the worst I've ever experienced. Staying up until midnight (11pm CT) and then having the website/app constantly freeze, not save information, etc. was unbelievably frustrating. It took me nearly two hours to complete everything. There has to be a better way. Everyone tells you to fly in the day before but we always fly in the day of the cruise without issue. This time was no different. We took an early flight, landed at MCO just after 9 am, picked up our luggage and took the Disney transportation to the port. Disney transport is more expensive but worth it to not have to worry about a port arrival time. We arrived at the port just before 11 am. You do however still have to wait for your boarding group to be called before you can actually board the ship. Hence the need to be online at midnight for check-in. 😓 Check in at the port was easy and efficient, no waiting there. We were in boarding group 9 so had to wait about an hour to board, but the cruise terminal is comfortable so waiting wasn't bad at all. We were on the ship just after noon. The actual boarding is where the Disney magic begins - my kids really enjoyed hearing our last name as we walked in to the atrium. You don't get your ship cards until your room is ready at 1:30 pm. We had plenty of time to get lunch and explore the ship before then. Think about what you'll carry on with you since you'll be stuck with it for the first few hours. Backpacks worked well, especially if you plan to bring wine or beer onboard.
  11. We are just back from our very first Disney Cruise on the Fantasy, a spring break trip for our family of 4 - my husband and I with our two boys, 14 & 9. Our itinerary was Tortola, BVI / San Juan, Puerto Rico / Castaway Cay. We have been on 6 other cruises together in the past, both on Carnival and Norwegian. TBH, I likely never would have spent the $$$$ for a Disney cruise without the Disney+ discount deal, but I'm glad we did. Overall, we had a great time! Disney is very different from any cruise we've been on in the past - in some great ways and some not so great ways. I'll try to highlight all the differences I noticed and share some tips we learned over the past week. Feel free to ask any questions you may have and I'll try to answer them if I can. TL;DR - I think DCL is a one-and-done thing for us; we will definitely cruise again but didn't feel the extra value was there for such a premium cost over other lines. I like to separate my reviews into sections to make them easier to read, so stay tuned for more posts with specifics in this thread.
  12. Thanks, that is helpful! I found another resource online that has a list of the lines with cabins that hold 5 people. Will share it here in case anyone else is interested - https://www.militarycruisedeals.com/are-there-any-cabins-that-hold-5-people/
  13. I personally never thought I'd pay the premium for a Disney cruise, but these discounts seem too good to pass up. We ended up booking a 7 nt in a Family Deluxe Oceanview on the Fantasy for spring break with the kids sailing free. Came out to right at $200 pp/ per day which seemed like a great deal to me (for Disney anyway)! What other deals are you guys snagging?
  14. Which lines/ships have the ability to sleep 5 people comfortably in a cabin? Are there any ships with two bedroom cabins? I'm thinking of the Family Oceanview (category 1K) on RCCL - what other lines have big rooms with separate sleeping areas like that? Or are there ships with a balcony or oceanview adjacent to a studio single? Trying to plan a cruise to Alaska for next year with my family (me, my husband and our two boys) and my single mother. We've done side-by-side balconies in the past, but that's not ideal as one of my sons has to share a room with grandma. What would you do for a family of 5? Thanks!
  15. Around the Ship - There weren't as many hidden gem type places on the Freedom like we've found on other ships. We enjoyed the Serenity Deck when the kids were otherwise occupied - there was a tiny bar there that was never very busy. The clamshell loungers up there are way overrated - most of the time there were people sleeping in them but on the one occasion I found one empty, it was very uncomfortable to sit in because the cushion just slips out from under you. I could not understand why they were so popular. 🤷‍♀️ Serenity is a great place to have coffee and watch the sunrise though, if you don't have a balcony (or your balcony is facing the wrong way in the morning.) We did also enjoy the ping pong and pool table on Deck 11; that was the first time I'd seen a pool table on a ship so that was a fun surprise. Overall, the Freedom is looking very dated and in need of an overhaul. It's very hard to tell that it underwent dry dock as recently as 2019. I'm not sure if it was because this was a summer cruise, but it definitely had a more loud, raucous party atmosphere than I anticipated. It felt like spring break without the college kids. We still enjoyed our cruise, especially for the cheap price that we paid but we will likely look elsewhere in the future for more dining options, updated cabins, a little more upscale atmosphere, etc. I would definitely visit Amber Cove and Grand Turk again as they were easily the highlight and among the best ports we've visited on any cruise. If anyone has specific questions about our sailing, feel free to ask!
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