LittleMissMagic's 2014 Disney Fantasy Western Caribbean Cruise - A Photo Review!

[mylael]

I love your cruise reviews because of all the interesting things you (and your family) try... the 5K, scuba diving, all the on-board activities. The food photos are great, but I'm glad your reviews aren't just "well, here's what we ate and here was the view" -- you actually go out and do fun things. Sitting here in my living room, wishing I was on a cruise... I'm living vicariously through these trip reports. Thanks!:)

[LittleMissMagic]

We were on the Fantasy 2 weeks after you and got to premEAR "Maleficient". On our cruise both theaters were full and folks were lining up an hour beforehand. I agree, it is a very cool thing!

 

Love the review!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Ooh, I bet the Maleficent premEAR was popular! How lucky to be able to go to the premEAR on your cruise!

[LittleMissMagic]

Great review Victoria (AS ALWAYS)! I love the gold bangle bracelet with the anchor charm you wore on the night you ate in Palo - I'm dying to know where you got it from! I love all things nautical! ;)

 

I look forward to reading more reviews of yours in the future!

 

Thank you! The gold bangle bracelet is an Alex and Ani bracelet that Rachel purchased on the Norwegian Dawn. However, they sold the exact same bracelet on the Disney Fantasy (as well as Disney character bracelets).

 

I've already have my next travel adventure planned! We will be going to Disney World over Independence Day. You can follow my travel blog for more trip reviews!

[LittleMissMagic]

I love your cruise reviews because of all the interesting things you (and your family) try... the 5K, scuba diving, all the on-board activities. The food photos are great, but I'm glad your reviews aren't just "well, here's what we ate and here was the view" -- you actually go out and do fun things. Sitting here in my living room, wishing I was on a cruise... I'm living vicariously through these trip reports. Thanks!:)

 

Why thank you! I love to try new things and share my adventures with others!

[LittleMissMagic]

Castaway Cay

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

We could see the character meets from our stateroom. Chip n' Dale rotated turns with Donald.

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Rachel gave Olaf a warm hug!

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The weather didn't look too promising, but that didn't stop us from heading out to enjoy our day on Castaway Cay!

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Something I appreciated about Castaway Cay is that they have a tram (much like the tram that takes you from the parking lots to the parks at Walt Disney World and Disneyland) that takes you to the different beaches. The main tram departs from the Kargo Handling Tram Stop (by the ship) and goes to the Scuttle's Cove Tram Stop (kids' club, Stingray Adventure, snorkeling lagoon, family beach) and Pelican Point Tram Stop (family beach, Pelican Plunge water slide, bike rentals). Adults (18 and older) going to Serenity Bay get off the tram at Pelican Point Tram Stop and wait for the Serenity Bay tram to take them to the Serenity Bay Tram Stop.

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

We were headed to Serenity Bay, but browsed a bit at Buy the Seashore while waiting for the Serenity Bay tram.

 

Pelican Point by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pelican Point by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Disney never misses a marketing opportunity, so they of course sell Castaway Cay exclusive merchandise on Castaway Cay. Being a Disney merchandise collector, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to purchase.

 

Float rentals -

 

Pelican Point by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pelican Point Tram Stop -

 

Pelican Point by vshingl, on Flickr

 

We were quite familiar with the route to Serenity Bay (the airplane landing strip), as we had run it that morning.

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Serenity Bay

 

Serenity Bay is without a doubt the quietest beach I have ever been on. It was actually quite populated - more so than Satellite Falls, the adult-only sundeck on the ship ever was. Yet it was almost completely silent except for the sound of the waves softly coming in and out.

 

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Max and I were eager to explore Castaway Cay, so we took the tram back to Pelican Point. As we hopped on the tram, I had another Deb sighting. This time I creeped a picture.

 

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

You can't miss her - she's in the blue shirt and floppy sunhat.

 

Airplane Landing Strip by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Pelican Point

 

Pelican Point by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pelican Point by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pelican Plunge by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Max and I headed straight for Pelican Plunge. The enclosed tube slide is extremely fast, so using the trick we learned in Cozumel (heels and shoulder blades down with butt lifted up), we flew! The open slide isn't nearly as fast, but it's a much longer slide.

 

Pelican Plunge by vshingl, on Flickr

 

As we were doing the slides, it began to rain. Looking out, I realized that we were surrounded by rain showers. Max and I had to abandon the slides to make sure that the bag we left on the beach wasn't getting soaked. We figured that it would be a great time to eat lunch. Of course, everyone else on the beach had the same bright idea. Cookie's Too BBQ at Pelican Point, was packed!

 

We decided that we would have better luck back at the adult beach, so we took the tram back to Serenity Bay. There was a ridiculously long line at the adult beach barbecue buffet. We waited around 45 minutes for food. Of course, by the time we got food and sat down to eat, the line had dissolved to almost nothing. The barbecue was good, though. And they had their amazing Disney cookies, speaking of which, are better than what I had previously named the "best cookies" at sea on the Carnival Breeze. Sorry, Carnival Breeze, but I must pass your honor on to the Disney Fantasy.

 

Serenity Bay Cabanas by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

My parents and Rachel hadn't eaten, yet, so they went to the barbecue before it closed while Max and I ventured out onto the sandbar. There is a nice, long sandbar at Serenity Bay with many shells and even sand dollars to be found. You aren't supposed to take them with you though, but leave them for more guests to discover.

[LittleMissMagic]

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Serenity Bay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Not long after the rest of the family returned from lunch, we decided to pack up and leave Serenity Bay for Pelican Point.

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

While on Castaway Cay, you can get additional towels at the float and equipment rental stand. You can also return wet towels in "Wet Towel Return" bins located around the island.

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

If you don't want to spend $10 to rent a tube, later in the day, you'll find that many have been abandoned and not returned.

[LittleMissMagic]

Pelican Plunge by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Rachel and Dad also enjoyed Pelican Plunge. I think we each did it a total of 6-7 times.

 

One thing that I learned on this trip is that parents with small children usually choose to go down before their child so that they can catch them at the bottom. The problem with that is that after mom or dad go down the slide, the little one will sometimes chicken out without their parent there to encourage them. The lifeguard then has to signal to the lifeguard at the bottom of the slide to locate the parent, and the parent then has to go back to the top of the slide to retrieve their frightened child. And then when the kid's parent reappears, the child almost always regains his or her courage and wants to try it again.... so it's a never-ending cycle of parents going and then having to come back to fetch the child! I witnessed this with a little girl at Playa Mia and a little boy at Pelican Plunge. I have to say that it works much better if there are two parents or a parent and an older child so that one can lead and the other can bring up the rear. Another option would be to send your child down the open slide and to take the enclosed slide at the same time. With the closed slide being shorter and steeper and yourself being heavier, you will almost definitely make it to the bottom before your child.

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

My family had visited Castaway Cay once before in 2000. This was before the addition of Pelican Plunge and many of the other amenities now offered on the island today. What we did have vivid memories of was making our way all the way across the suspended rope using just our arms across the obstacle course. We were motivated to make it to the end of the rope because our dad promised to buy us plush Disney character keychains if we completed the challenge. It was a true test of upper-body strength, and I remember doing the obstacle course over and over again until I finally made it to the end.

 

Nostalgic of our childhood visit, Rachel wanted to have another try at the rope. Unfortunately, it was closed due to low tide. We'll just have to go back to Castaway Cay so that we can give it another try.

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Sense our obstacle course was closed, we decided to spend our last hour on Castaway Cay at the Heads Up Bar.

[LittleMissMagic]

Heads Up Bar by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The bartenders were really struggling. Or, one bartender was really struggling. He took forever to make drinks. They were doing a buy one/get one drink special, though, so the prices were really good. Max and my dad ordered first. Of course, I got the struggling bartender. When it was finally my turn, I ordered a Konk's Kooler in a souvenir cup. The souvenir cup was of course excluded from buy one/get one. I told him that was okay, and I would have two drinks and two souvenir cups, since you pay for the cup separately. Well, I think he missed the two cups part and he put one drink in a cup and one in a regular glass. I wasn't paying much attention as he made it which was a mistake because when he presented me the bill, I realized he had charged me for a virgin Konk's Kooler. I told him that I wanted alcoholic. That's when the other bartender stepped in and took my drinks and put them back in the blender to make them alcoholic. So they are working on my drinks and my dad is already back with another order! He had ordered two fruity drinks (what, I can't recall) and when the bartender gave them to him, he says, "Can this be frozen?" Yes, it can be frozen. They took the drinks back and puts them in the blender with ice. When dad gets them, now frozen, he takes a sip and says, "This tastes weak." Of course it tastes weaker... they added more ice. So some of the alcohol that was originally in Dad's on-the-rocks drink was now in the blender because they now had more drink than could fit in the cup. When they finally gave me my two alcoholic Konk's Koolers, I didn't even bother with trying to get the additional souvenir cup because I had to get out of there!

 

So I bring the drink to Rachel who is very disappointed that she doesn't have a souvenir cup. That's really all she cares about. We actually still have our souvenir cups from Castaway Cay in 2000 somewhere, I'm certain, but we remembered drinking Konk's Koolers as little kids out of souvenir cups, and Rachel wanted to recreate that memory. Max tasted the drink and really liked it, so he agreed to get her the souvenir cup when he got his own Konk's Kooler. Thank goodness!

 

Konk Kooler by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Heads Up Bar by vshingl, on Flickr

 

We closed down the bar!

[greenie082756]

You bring back fond memories of Serenity Beach on Castaway Cay. It was for us the most beautiful and peaceful hours we had. When I am stressed, I go back there in my mind with my feet in the water and soft clouds with a soft breeze going by. Ahhhh ;)

It was totally worth it and if we do Disney again, Castaway Cay is definitely on our list. :) Beautiful pictures of the area! Thanks again!

[LittleMissMagic]

You bring back fond memories of Serenity Beach on Castaway Cay. It was for us the most beautiful and peaceful hours we had. When I am stressed, I go back there in my mind with my feet in the water and soft clouds with a soft breeze going by. Ahhhh ;)

It was totally worth it and if we do Disney again, Castaway Cay is definitely on our list. :) Beautiful pictures of the area! Thanks again!

 

Yes, it's really a shame that other cruise lines don't have adult-only beaches on their private islands. It was so peaceful and relaxing! I would definitely consider one of the cruises that has two port days in Castaway Cay.

[LittleMissMagic]

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

There was a light rain (hence the water droplet on my camera lens) as we began to make our way back to the ship.

 

Of course, we stopped to do some souvenir shopping and get our Castaway Cay exclusive merchandise. Rachel and Max got matching t-shirts and shot glasses. I picked up a cute yellow Mickey anchor keychain.

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Mount Rustmore by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Mount Rustmore by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Mount Rustmore!

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The beach was almost as empty as it was when we arrived that morning! Rachel and I were among the first on and the last off Castaway Cay that day.

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Disney Fantasy by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Disney Fantasy by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Disney Fantasy by vshingl, on Flickr

 

I don't know who these people are, but they look pretty important...

 

Castaway Cay by vshingl, on Flickr

 

That isn't the typical dress for Castaway Cay.

 

Disney Fantasy by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Disney Fantasy by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The last time we'd be boarding the Disney Fantasy on this cruise! Waaaahhh!!!

 

Disney Fantasy by vshingl, on Flickr

 

We headed to the pool deck to ride the Aqua Duck one last time!

[Godiva5]

Simply loving your review! I'm really looking forward to your last installments. I have one question though. Did you and the family use your wave phones to stay in touch while onboard?

[CamaCama]

LOVE this review!!! Where did you get your pink cover-up in the last set of pics? I'm always looking for something oversized like that (but not a big t-shirt) to go over my bathing suits. Thanks!

[aklee]

Thank you so much for this awesome review! We were on the Fantasy last fall and your pictures take me back to a wonderful vacation!!

[LittleMissMagic]

Simply loving your review! I'm really looking forward to your last installments. I have one question though. Did you and the family use your wave phones to stay in touch while onboard?

 

We did not use the wave phones. We played with them a little, and I think on two or three occasions, someone took one so that they could call the room. But the truth is that we couldn't easily figure out how to use them (I guess we've had iPhones for too long, now) and didn't feel like learning or carrying the things around.

[LittleMissMagic]

LOVE this review!!! Where did you get your pink cover-up in the last set of pics? I'm always looking for something oversized like that (but not a big t-shirt) to go over my bathing suits. Thanks!

 

The pink tank top is from Victoria Secret's Pink collection. They are actually carrying dresses and summer basics in our local Victoria's Secret, and the clothes are cute and easy.

[LittleMissMagic]

Goofy Golf

 

Then we set to do something we hadn't gotten to yet - Goofy Golf! Goofy Golf is a 9-hole miniature golf course located on Goofy's Sports Deck.

 

Goofy Golf by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Goofy Golf by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Goofy Golf by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Goofy Golf by vshingl, on Flickr

 

It is themed so that there is a tee-off for Goofy and a tee-off for Max (Goofy's son). Max's starting spot and route was generally easier than Goofy's. I think the idea is that adults go Goofy and kids go Max.