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

[LittleMissMagic]

Their stateroom had the full bathtub (but no rainfall shower head) -

 

Magical Porthole Stateroom by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Magical Porthole Stateroom by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Magical Porthole Stateroom by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Magical Porthole Stateroom by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Magical Porthole Stateroom by vshingl, on Flickr

 

My parents got the Castaway Club gift, too. One per stateroom.

 

Magical Porthole Stateroom by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The Magical Porthole Stateroom is the most spacious inside stateroom that I have ever seen. My parents have actually only stayed in an inside stateroom once - on the Carnival Imagination in 2007 - and this was quite an upgrade from that. My parents enjoyed the room, and I think that I would be comfortable booking that stateroom the future.

 

Magical Porthole Stateroom by vshingl, on Flickr

 

This guy....

 

Magical Porthole Stateroom by vshingl, on Flickr

[bear3412]

Great review.

Love the headstand in the porthole.

Can't wait to hear your final thoughts on DCL's newest, considering your varied cruise history.

 

:)

Edited May 20, 2014 by bear3412

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the nice review.

[purplethorn]

Awesome start ... i am following .. love the pics!

 

The magical porthole you mentioned is not on all the time? Just randomly will turn on and off??

 

PS. How come you got gifts ? Are some special status or something :D :D :D .. that bag looks great ... cannot wait to sail the Fantasy one day

Edited May 20, 2014 by purplethorn

[beej]

That's that, just gotta do a Disney cruise, adults only, too!

[cbsmama]

Subscribed! I've followed you over here via your Breeze review!

 

I am hoping to do a 7-day on the Fantasy sometime soon! Keep up the great work! And congrats on your graduation!

[LittleMissMagic]

Awesome start ... i am following .. love the pics!

 

The magical porthole you mentioned is not on all the time? Just randomly will turn on and off??

 

PS. How come you got gifts ? Are some special status or something :D :D :D .. that bag looks great ... cannot wait to sail the Fantasy one day

 

The Magical Porthole has a switch which so that you can turn it on and off. Like in the first few photos where it is black, the porthole is off.

 

The characters that come by do so randomly. My mom said that sometimes you can go an hour without seeing a character - that's why she wanted a switch to make a character to appear. Sometimes Tinkerbell would fly by and make pixie dust, or Winnie the Pooh in a hot air balloon. Also, the starfish from Finding Nemo will stick to the glass. My mom did say there were several characters that she didn't recognize (she hasn't seen a lot of the newest Disney movies).

 

The tote on the bag was from the Castaway Club which is Disney's loyalty program. They remembered us from fourteen years ago!

 

The Fish Extender exchange is just something that anyone can sign up for with their cruise "Meet"/Roll Call/or Facebook Group.... or you could organize your own! It looked like the AllEars group was doing their own FE Exchange.

Edited May 20, 2014 by LittleMissMagic

[ReggaeRoy]

Another LMM review. Gotta love it!

[LittleMissMagic]

While we were in Mom and Dad's room, the Muster alarms sounded. We were directed down "Crew Only" stairs to the fourth floor. I've never taken crew-only stairs before. We then split up because Max, Rachel, and I were Muster station "M," and Mom and Dad had "O."

 

Disney lines everyone up outside on the promenade deck by muster station and family. I haven't done that since Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas in 2012. Everyone was supposed to line up tallest to shortest, but there was a man on the left of us who was shorter than his wife... and standing behind her. Because he couldn't see, he squeezed Max out of our line... so Max just scooted back and chilled by the wall.

 

The Carnival Sunshine pulled away at the end of our drill. I was really disappointed that she left so soon, because I thought there would be a horn battle or something of that sort. Sunshine didn't even blow her horn. Maybe she knows better...

 

Carnival Sunshine by vshingl, on Flickr

 

We retreated to O'Gills for a moment, as we were being stampeded by people leaving the muster drill.

 

O'Gills by vshingl, on Flickr

[bransworld]

Hey, Brandon!

 

I'll be doing Eastern on the Fantasy in February. Does yours include San Juan? Mine is San Juan, St. Maarten and Castaway Cay.

 

Mine does include San Juan, St Thomas and Castaway Cay!

[calikid50]

Thanks, Victoria! Loving the posts/pics!! Congrats on your graduation and wishing you all the best for the future!!!

[LittleMissMagic]

I wanted to finish decorating my door before the Sail Away Party because we were supposed to have our Fish Extenders hung by 4PM (that's when Muster was).

 

Door Magnets by vshingl, on Flickr

 

I knew all about the door magnets before the cruise because I am a retired "DISigner" on a Disney message board and used to get many requests for designs to use as magnets.

 

I did all of the magnets myself, though not without inspiration from other Disney cruisers and DISigners. If you need ideas or want designs personalized, I'd recommend that you visit the "Creative DISign" board and meet DISigners there who would love to help you. Also, there are a few design groups on Facebook - "Graphics for All Lovers of Disney" and "Magical Mickey Graphics & More" that I know of. I'm going to give my old DISigner spiel... I do not recommend that you purchase graphics from sites like Ebay or Etsy. Not only are these sellers distributing copyrighted Disney graphics illegally, but many have actually stolen graphics from DISigners, profiting from something that is not their own work and was never intended to be sold.

 

Now if you're curious as to how I made my magnets...

 

For my door, I wanted to commemorate my graduation, and I love how other cruisers have been putting ears on the stateroom porthole number. The portholes on the doors are 7.5" in diameter.

 

To make my Mickey ears, I used AutoCAD (you can download the student version - what I use - for free from Autodesk). I simply imported and traced over an image of a graduation hat and added Mickey ears, fitting around a 7.5" circle.

 

I then saved as a 2007 DXF and opened in Adobe Illustrator (do not scale). There, I colored the cap "Regalia" (Clemson Purple), the tassel Clemson Orange, and added the tiger paw.

 

I then saved as a PDF and opened in Adobe Photoshop where I added shadows to the hat (by selecting the areas I wanted to shade using the polygonal lasso tool, shading with black paint set at a light opacity and no hardness) and texture to the tassel (by selecting the tassel with the polygonal lasso tool and adding a tassel texture I found on the internet, changing the layer to "overlay" and masking with my tassel selection).

 

I then saved as a PNG and opened again in Adobe Illustrator where I had to cut the hat in two pieces so that it could fit on an 8.5x11" sheet of paper.

 

All other body parts were much easier because they didn't have to fit around the porthole, and I did not add shading. I simply Google-searched "Mickey's Gloves," "Mickey's Pants," and found silhouettes that I liked which I imported into AutoCAD and traced, then saved as a 2007 DXF and opened in Illustrator to scale and paint.

 

All of the magnets were printed on magnetic sheets that I had ordered a long time ago from a website called "Print on It." And by a long time ago, I mean four years ago. I know now that I should have sprayed a fixative on the magnetic sheets because the ink (most noticeably black) was easy to rub off. However, to be honest, I didn't have time for that because I was scrambling to make magnets the night before my graduation!

 

My mom sewed my Fish Extender

 

I looked into buying them off Etsy (I said don't buy Disney graphics from Etsy... personally, I think other crafts are okay), but they were all $40+, and to be honest, I wasn't impressed by the craft of many of them. The ones which I found to be well-crafted were simple, and the more elaborate ones were just too many prints for my liking. Bottom line was that I knew I would not be happy with shipping my request off to someone across the states who makes hundreds of Fish Extenders a year. I knew exactly who I wanted to make my Fish Extender.... someone with a high standard of excellence who would do it for absolutely free..... my mother!

 

Luckily, she agreed! I asked her if she wanted me to purchase a pattern from Etsy, and she said no need - the dimensions were simple. We did download the Mickey Ear Hat font which had to be converted to 16 floppy disks for her Husqvarna Viking! We worked together to design the FE. I wanted something simple, traditional, and clean. Because our stateroom isn't actually a family, but rather an odd combination of myself and my two favorite people, I opted for the DCL logo, rather than "The Shingleton Family (+Max)".

 

I didn't see it until she gave it to me on the ship, and I am so happy with how it turned out! Thanks, Mom!!!

[LittleMissMagic]

After I put up all of our magnets, we headed to the Sail Away Party.

 

Sail Away Party by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Sail Away Party by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Sail Away Party by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Sail Away Party by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Sail Away drinks were surprisingly difficult to obtain. My dad purchased two ahead of me and wouldn't get out of the way as he was signing the check, so another lady passed me on the other side of the bartender. When she was finished, he didn't have any alcoholic drinks left, so he went to get me one. Well, I waited and waited... we decided to move over to the little bar beside the ice cream where Max bought a beer mug and had his first glass of Michelob Amber Bock (which he became obsessed with). The blender was broken at the bar, but the bartender I had ordered from had finally returned with a drink. I learned later that he was probably going back and forth from the wave bar which was up a deck and quite a walk through the crowd of people.

 

Sail Away Party by vshingl, on Flickr

 

There is child-proofing everywhere on DCL (I forgot to mention that all of the drawers in the stateroom are slam-proof... you can push it closed, and it will stop and then slowly close the final inch so that no little fingers are jammed). Well, the glass barrier was above my head (I'm only five feet tall), so I had to shoot through glass and got all kinds of reflection. After the first day, I held the camera over the glass and no-scoped it. Looking back, I could have turned my LCD screen on live-view. That probably would have been smart.

 

Cape Canaveral by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

After seeing Max's beer mug, Dad had to go get his own.

 

Sail Away Party by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Sail Away Party by vshingl, on Flickr

 

They really enjoyed their mugs throughout the cruise. The initial cost is $14.95 for the mug + the cost of draft beer. After that, you get 22 oz refills for the price of 16 oz.

 

Aquaduck by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Cape Canaveral by vshingl, on Flickr

 

After sailing away, we went back to our stateroom to unpack. Well... we went back to the stateroom so that Rachel and Max could do whatever they do while I unpacked them both.

 

Max - "Are you going to unpack me, again?"

Rachel - "Ooh, can you unpack me? Mom does!"

Me - "Sure, fine. I'll unpack both of you."

 

In all honesty, I was glad that they let me unpack them because I knew if I had left it to them, Max would have just lived out of his suitcase, and Rachel would have just put her stuff everywhere. I did myself first, then Max, and I was unpacking Rachel when I realized that we needed to leave for the show. She was really annoyed that I had unpacked Max before her because now her clothes weren't unpacked and his was. "I'll do it later!"

 

We changed quickly - I just slipped on some heels with the dress I was wearing - and met Mom and Dad in the theater. They were seated on the left side of the theater in the forward section, and this became our spot for the week. It's a good view, and you don't have to get there too early. Also, we lucked out because since we had the late dinner seating, we had the early shows which weren't that crowded.

 

The Welcome Aboard Show - "A Fantasy Come True" features a family of four - a mom who needs a break from work, a teenage son that doesn't want to be there (he was my favorite), a daughter who is really excited about everything (played by a petite Asian cast member who might be more energetic than an actual child), and a nerdy dad (an actor who is probably the same age as the actor playing his teenage son) who just wants to do everything with his family... and is soon abandoned by all of them. The show functions as a sort of preview/advertisement for the ship. The mother goes to the spa, the daughter rides the aquaduck, the teenage son ends up having the time of his life in Vibe, and the parents party it up in the Tube. The narrative is incredibly corny. The musical numbers, however, are fabulous. They do pale in comparison to the numbers in the three main shows later in the week, but I couldn't help but be impressed by the incredibly talented cast. It is by far the most talented entertainment cast that I have ever seen for main theater shows on a cruise ship.

 

Between the narrative of the Disney Cruise family, the Cruise Director (whose name I cannot remember, though he spoke to us every night) came out to speak to us about what was going on that evening, as well as the rest of the week. We also met Shawn Farqhar, the guest magician/illusionist. His act was very cute. First he found a father which he took on stage and had try to keep up with him as he flipped a bottle - it was quite funny. At the end, he gave him a balloon animal. Then he brought his daughter on stage and taught her a magic trick. He asked her if she wanted a balloon animal just like her dad's, and she said yes. He told her that she needed to take it from him.... but probably needed something to trade... something he'd like very much. How about his watch? :D:D:D Very cute and funny, and I hate that I missed his show later in the cruise!

[iloverags2]

Oh my gosh! I love your FE gifts! Inspiration!!!

 

Congratulations on your graduation! What are your future plans? Or are you just starting to come down from the whirlwind of finishing up college?

[LittleMissMagic]

Disney Cruise Line has "rotational dining." You alternate between three restaurants each night throughout your cruise, but you have a set dining time, and your wait staff travels with you. One thing that I left out about my pre-cruise planning was that I learned that you can call in advance to request a certain dining rotation. I learned that dining rotation "ERAERRA" (E=Enchanted Garden, R=Royal Court, A=Animators' Palate) puts you in Royal Court, the most formal dining room, for formal and semi-formal nights, so I called to request that rotation, as well as request that my stateroom be linked with my parents'.

 

So our first dinner was in Enchanted Garden. We were seated at table 56 for six (set for five) right behind the last cute circular booth on the right when you enter the dining room. We were disappointed that we didn't get one of the round booths, but learned later that those are only set for four people.

 

Our waiter was Tanaphong ("Tana") from Taiwan, and our assistant server was Jelena from Serbia. Tana was really outgoing and funny, and Jelena was more quiet, but I think she got a kick out of our conversations because she'd be quietly circling the table, giving us silverware or whatever when you'd see her smile and hold back a chuckle.

 

Enchanted Garden Menu by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Enchanted Garden Menu by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower by vshingl, on Flickr

 

For an appetizer, I ordered the Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower. I really liked it, but that's probably because I like ahi tuna and avocado...

 

Cream of Green Asparagus by vshingl, on Flickr

 

For a soup, I had the Cream of Green Asparagus. It was pretty good, but not the most amazing thing I've ever had.

 

Pork Medallions by vshingl, on Flickr

 

I got it right with the entree. Everyone else ordered the Sea Bass or Sea Scallops, but after tasting each other's dishes, we all decided that the Pork Medallions were the best. They were extremely good - well seasoned and flavorful.

 

Apple Crunch Sundae by vshingl, on Flickr

 

For dessert, I got the sundae. I believe there was always a sundae on the dessert menu, which I really appreciated. Normally, I feel that cruise line desserts are too sophisticated or rich for my taste, so it was nice to have the option of getting something as simple but delicious as a sundae!

[LittleMissMagic]

Oh my gosh! I love your FE gifts! Inspiration!!!

 

Congratulations on your graduation! What are your future plans? Or are you just starting to come down from the whirlwind of finishing up college?

 

Thank you! This fall, I will begin working towards my Master's of Architecture at UCLA.

[LittleMissMagic]

The dining room changes from daylight to twilight as the meal progresses.

 

Enchanted Garden by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Enchanted Garden by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Enchanted Garden by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Enchanted Garden by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Enchanted Garden by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Enchanted Garden also opens as a breakfast and lunch buffet.

[purplethorn]

The Magical Porthole has a switch which so that you can turn it on and off. Like in the first few photos where it is black, the porthole is off.

 

The characters that come by do so randomly. My mom said that sometimes you can go an hour without seeing a character - that's why she wanted a switch to make a character to appear. Sometimes Tinkerbell would fly by and make pixie dust, or Winnie the Pooh in a hot air balloon. Also, the starfish from Finding Nemo will stick to the glass. My mom did say there were several characters that she didn't recognize (she hasn't seen a lot of the newest Disney movies).

 

The tote on the bag was from the Castaway Club which is Disney's loyalty program. They remembered us from fourteen years ago!

 

The Fish Extender exchange is just something that anyone can sign up for with their cruise "Meet"/Roll Call/or Facebook Group.... or you could organize your own! It looked like the AllEars group was doing their own FE Exchange.

 

Thank you for answering! We are Castway club members ,maybe we'll get a small gift next time we cruise :D:D

[LittleMissMagic]

Match Your Mate by vshingl, on Flickr

 

After dinner, we went to see "Match Your Mate" in the Tube. The nice thing about Disney is that they have this great adults-only area (Europa) after 9:00 PM. Therefore, there were no children at any of the adult shows. That being said, the Disney adult entertainment was still quite tame in comparison to that of other cruise lines I have sailed.

 

Match Your Mate was interesting because they had trouble getting newlyweds! This was obviously not a popular choice for a honeymoon cruise. The newlyweds that they ended up finding were married in October.... and were near the age of my parents. Then they had trouble finding a longest-married couple. I believe it was just 34 years that the couple had been married - usually there are couples who have been married 40-50+ years. For the middle category, there were no real rules... just get on the dance floor and prove yourselves. Rachel was trying to get Max and I to do it (they didn't say that you had to be married - just a couple), but we declined because we didn't want to answer awkward questions in front of my parents. Only two couples went to the dance floor, so we had a fair chance. Of the two couples, one was way too drunk and incoherent to be able to play the game. The man had beer dribbling down his chin. Luckily, the audience chose the sober couple... who had been married 24 years. They were also about the same age as the other two couples. Never before have I seen a marriage game show with the newleyweds, middle-of-the-road, and longest married couple all so close in age.

 

The prize that they gave to the winning couple (longest married) was awesome - a spa pass, photo, and other goodies were among the prize. MAX AND I SHOULD HAVE PLAYED! (Eh, I don't know about those questions, though..) Usually cruise lines just give away a bottle of champagne to everyone, but this was an amazing prize of real value.

 

We sat in The Tube a little bit after the show, and Guest DJ Day-na was really good, and the sound system in The Tube was very nice. However, we were pretty exhausted and decided we weren't up for partying. Rachel went to bed, and Max and I decided to check out the hot tub in Serenity before retiring.

 

Family Porthole Stateroom by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The cabin steward made down both beds. Max slept in the little one by the window, and the sofa bed went unused, but Rachel and Max liked to have it made down every night. One night our cabin steward must have learned that no one slept in that bed, so he didn't make it down.... so Max decided to make it down himself.

 

Speaking of our cabin steward, he was a ninja. We didn't meet him until maybe the third or fourth day of the cruise. While it's unusual not to meet a cabin steward like that, I can't say that we were upset after being bothered to no end by our cabin steward on the Carnival Breeze.

 

It's a good fit...

 

Family Porthole Stateroom by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Don't feel too bad for him. He stole pillows from our bed to sleep with.... slept with three pillows a night!

[mairinmaureen]

Disney lines everyone up outside on the promenade deck by muster station and family. I haven't done that since Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas in 2012.

 

I think it depends on what muster station you are assigned. We were on the Disney Magic in April and we mustered seated in the theatre while others mustered standing on the promenade deck. My husband was thrilled to muster in the theatre because it was actually the first time in our cruise history we have not had to stand on deck for a muster drill with people whining. He actually refers to these people as Colonel Muster's. :p

[Lizzie482]

Awesome review! Can't wait to read more!

[Ex techie]

Loving this review LMM!

Great photo's and to the point comments!

 

ex techie