Trip Report Come Along and Sail the Shimmering Seas!

Hi everyone!

We just returned from our first Disney Cruise and I can't wait to relive the memories through this trip report.

We sailed on the Disney Fantasy from May 20th - May 27th out of Port Canaveral.

So who is WE??
Myself (Heather), My husband (Josh) and 10 year old son (Cam)

We originally had a cruise booked and it was cancelled in March of 2020. I'm sure we all know why! It took awhile, but we were finally ready to try it again.

However, leading up the cruise, I started to wonder if maybe we were cursed and not meant to go on a Disney Cruise. A month or so before the cruise, Josh came down with a virus that caused him to have fever for 10 days and some other symptoms. He had every test under the sun run, but they could not figure out what was going on. Around day 9, he lost feeling on one side of his face. We thought he was having a stroke, so we rushed the ER. It turns out the virus caused him to have Bell's Palsy. Eventually the fevers stopped and after 2 weeks his face was back to normal. Then, Cam and I both got a stomach bug, then right after he got a bad cold. A few days before we were set to leave, I was feeling horrible. After a visit to the walk in clinic, it turned out I had an ear infection. After a shot and a z-pack I was feeling much better 24 hours later! So needless to say, I was stressing a bit. I just prayed that everything would go smoothly and we would be able to relax and enjoy our vacation as planned.

I hope you will all join in on the fun as I tell you all about our first experience on DCL and it just so happened to be during Disney's 25 years of cruising celebration!

 

[donaldtoo]

That's the same for me. I enjoy it, that's my quiet time.
Plus I start work at 6:30 in the morning so my body clock is adjusted to early mornings.

I usually get up about 6:30a, but awake several times a night. Don’t hafta’ be to the office ‘til 8a, but, we work 8a-6p Mon.-Thurs., and are off at 1p on Friday, unless we need to make up hours, or there is some crazy deadline on a project.
For some reason though, I sleep straight through the night on vacation, and am up before the sun…funny how that works…!!!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

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Our stateroom host knocked and introduced himself. His name was Jose and he was so wonderful the entire week. We couldn't have asked for anything better. He really was top notch!

We had to head to the muster drill in the Buena Vista Theater and then we had to wait for some people lagging and showing up late. Eventually everyone was there and we quickly finished up the muster. Off to the Sail Away Party we go!

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This deck party will get you all in the feels and so excited to be on board! They opened up with the new 25th anniversary song (Shimmering Seas). You can find it on YouTube if you want to listen. It's catchy. Then the party went on as usual with dancing and the countdown. My heart did a happy dance when they blew the horns. So amazing to hear in person. I must say my eyes got a tiny bit musty. After the party, we wanted to go check to see if our bags showed up and we turned around there was a lady absolutely ugly crying. She was def feeling it.

We were happy to see our last 2 bags waiting on us when we returned. We got those in and went out to the verandah as we sailed away.

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We freshened up and got ready for dinner. Our first night would be in Enchanted Garden. I really enjoyed the ambiance of this dining room. We were seated with another family of 3 who also had a son that was the same age as Cam. In fact, only 2 weeks apart. They both turn 10 in July. They were really nice and friendly so I was happy that we didn't have any of that weird awkwardness of being seated with people you don't know.

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Decades apart, but, our oldest DD turns 32 on July 12th, and my youngest bro turns 56 on July 27th…!

 

[donaldtoo]

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Our server was also named Jose and our Assistant Server was Odi. I will talk more about them later, but they were fabulous and Odi especially took a special place in our hearts. He was just an amazing human!

For appetizer, I got the ahi tuna and avocado tower. SO yummy!
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I think Josh got the lobster ravioli, but I don't have a picture. Cam got mac n cheese and fries. He doesn't eat ketchup, so each night they made him a ranch Mickey.
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Rare meat alert if that makes you squeamish. Josh and I both got the Prime Rib. I thought it was ok. It was a bit tough, but the outside crust had good flavor.

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The dessert choices.

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Jose made the boys a bird out of paper which they thought was the most amazing thing. You could even pull it and the wings would flap. Odi also did a puzzle out of crayons that we had to figure out. They both did this most nights of the cruise.

For dessert, I went the sticky date pudding. This was one of my favorites for the whole week. It was excellent. Josh got the brownie sundae and Jose also brought us the Chocolate Garden Torte to try.

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Overall, it was a very nice dinner!

You mentioned your stateroom crew in your previous post, and yes, they’ve all been amazing on all of our cruises. As well as the wait staff…even very silly-funny and a bit mischievous…!
On our first Carnival cruise formal night, I ordered lobster, and our Head Server, Alejandro, put 2 plates of lobster in front of me. I may have mentioned I was hoping lobster would be on the menu soon, the 2 previous nights at dinner…!!!!!
Also, I took a pic of our servers with our youngest DD and my DWifey on our DCL cruise, and the assistant server (Benny) held up bread plates behind DDs head as Mickey ears…FUN stuff…!!!!!

As far as apps go, may faves have been the escargot on both Carnival and DCL, the rabbit puffed pastry on Carnival, and the duck confit on DCL…!!!!!

Great, fun report…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

After dinner, Cam wanted to go to the kid's club. We dropped him off and then walked around a bit. We walked out onto deck 4. I loved this deck.

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Then ended up in the Skyline lounge for an after dinner drink. I can't remember the bartender's name, but he was from the Philippines. We enjoyed chatting with him for awhile. He gave us 2 recommendations on drinks so we went with both of those.

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This 2nd one was Athens and it was the better of the 2. Very good. After chatting and having our drink we walked back out and watched the sunset.

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As I was sitting there relaxing, a special lady walked by!
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I just love being on the ocean!

After soaking all of that in, we headed in to listen to a little music.
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Yep, those decks on ships remind me of a more classic cruising time, just strolling and breathing it all in…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

If the pilot needs coffee, the pilot gets coffee!!!

By all means, as long as it’s not Irish Coffee…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

It kind of makes me giggle thinking about the pilot flying the plane with powdered sugar all over the front of his shirt and tie.

Tell me about it. Time is flying by!

Thanks! Thanks for joining in!

You can get a lobster bib, can you get a beignet bib…?!!!!!

 

[joshsprincess921]

So many great pictures!!! I love that you all are having such a great time - it truly shows on your faces!

thank you so much!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Just found this and got all caught up. What a great time you're having! Can't wait to read more

Thanks for joining!

Decades apart, but, our oldest DD turns 32 on July 12th, and my youngest bro turns 56 on July 27th…!

Cam will be 10 on July 26th

By all means, as long as it’s not Irish Coffee…!!!

From Cafe du Monde it was likely Chicory!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Day 5: Jamaica
We did not plan to get off the ship in Jamaica other than to tour the port, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep in, so I made sure to lay out my clothes so that I could easily get them in the morning because when I got up I was going to explore a bit solo. We were docked in Falmouth at 7:30 in the morning.

I went and grabbed a few things from Cabanas and found a seat near the window, so that I could watch the port awaken down below.

After my breakfast treat, I went to my favorite deck 4 and watched everyone getting off the ship for their Port Adventures below.
We were in port with Royal Caribbean on this day. They
came in around 8:30, so I watched them back in and dock. That was neat to watch.

After awhile, I made my way back to the stateroom. I made a stop in the restroom. These were the prettiest restrooms. They are tucked away in this curved hallway.

The boys were still sleeping, so I crawled back into bed and I actually dozed off again! Finally we got up and ready. We made another stop at Cabanas for them to eat before heading off the ship for a bit.

 

[joshsprincess921]

Cam had to snap one of us too.

Jamaica had a fun vibe! It felt lively compared to the other ports.

We spent some time going in the shops. Most of the shops had the same things though so once you went in a few you had seen what all was to offer. In the middle area, there was some wood carving vendors and we ended up getting Cam a dolphin that he wanted.

Josh got a coconut. This was gross to me!

He thought it was neat though. I was expecting more flavor for some reason.

 

[joshsprincess921]

Once we made it back on the ship, we headed to the pool deck for awhile. The ship was actually busy for a port day! But it was SO HOT!! Jamaica was a different kind of heat for sure! We couldn't find chairs in the shade so we were near the pool with the sun beating down on us. We stayed a couple hours before heading in to get lunch. We ate in the dining room that day. I remember getting the Southern Burger and I definitely regretted it. It was the one thing I had that week that really wasn't even edible. I couldn't eat it, it was that bad. Josh got the regular burger and it was totally different and good, so he gave me half. But I did get a lemon meringue pie for dessert and it more than made up for it. It was so amazing!

After lunch, we went to La Piazza for some Disney trivia!!

We did terrible! But it was fun. We were going to stay for crafts, but Cam decided he'd rather go to kids club. We dropped him off there and went back to the room to rest awhile. The rain had moved in.

We rested up and did another load of laundry before dinner. Once we got ready, we picked up Cam and headed to dinner in Royal Court. I had the eggplant appetizer and lobster this night.

I don't have a lot of pictures from this night and didn't take any notes, so I couldn't tell you everything that we did, but I know Cam went back to kid's club and we picked him up before going to see the Magic Show they had in the theater.

This was the first day I saw the cute door!

The Magic Show was fun and then we called it a night! Josh and I had wanted to go see an adult show, but the boy was tired and wanted to go to bed, hah!

Up next: Sea Day!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Day 6: Sea Day!
We were all up early because getting a good spot on the pool deck today was a priority! But first...breakfast!

Are y'all seeing a trend with my breakfast selections? I already mentioned I love smoked salmon and cream cheese on bagels, but I also got hooked on those yogurts. The one I loved was the pineapple and coconut with granola. It was so good! That Churro Mickey though! I have to look up the recipe and make those. So good!

We staked out our spot in the shade! Perfect!

Josh planted himself in the chair and didn't move until Cam saw the Aqua Duck was opening and he begged him to go ride. I finally got some good pictures of them on it from where we were sitting.

Once they were done with that, Josh planted back into his lounge and napped while I watched Cam go down the slide over and over. I lost count after the 15th times.

We had a great, relaxing time. Cam is such a water bug and was having the time of his life. We grabbed lunch and brought it back to our chairs. Some great people watching on the pool deck also. Most memorable was a woman wearing a swimsuit that gave the illusion that she was not wearing ANY clothes, was flesh toned covered in body hair. Lots of questioning looks from all the children around. Second most memorable was a big muscle man guy, about 6'4 wearing shorty shorts that read Hoochie Daddy on the front leg and a tank top. His girl was wearing a full blown sweatsuit. I told Josh that maybe he requires all of the attention.

After many hours outside, we were ready to take a break from the heat/sun. Josh went and took a nap while Cam and I did the Midship Detective Agency game!

This was really fun. You get all of these clues that lead you around to paintings on the walls throughout the ship. The paintings come to life and give you another animated clue to the next painting. We ended up going most of the decks on the ship to find the clues.

This middle picture of Walt was one of them. They would come to life! It was a really fun activity. Once we solved the case, we walked around/shopped for a bit.

 

[joshsprincess921]

Cam got some new sunglasses to have for the next day and he tried on some Mickey Ears with a CVS receipt attached.

Why must the tags be so long?

Back on his throne. I really enjoyed this one on one time that he and got to have. We had a lot of fun!

And back to kid's club! We passed a couple friends on the way. Doctor Strange was doing a meet n greet.

And Thor was on his way to the kid's club!

I rested in the room and got ready for dinner which was in Animator's Palate again. We were told the night before to be there a little early so that we could draw our animations. This was so fun!

For dinner, I started with a crusted tuna.

A blurry picture of my Beef Wellington.

Josh got a pasta with shrimp.

Desserts!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Then the restaurant came alive!

We watched our animations dance across the screen. It's so cool how they do this! The boys thought it was so cool! Then they gave us back our drawings which were now sealed with a sticker that read Official Disney Animator! I love it!

This was mine. I'm not an artist, haha!

Some pictures from dinner:

After dinner, Cam wanted to swim, so we went back to the room and changed.

We watched Onward on the Funnel Vision while he swam. I was starting to get tired, so I went back to the room and headed to bed while they stayed until the pool closed.

Wall-E!

Up Next: Castaway Cay

 

[Swissmiss]

I really like the picture Cam took of you and Josh.

 

[joshsprincess921]

Day 7: Castaway Cay

DCL started cruising 25 years ago. 25 years ago, I was an 18 year old graduating high school. Yes I just aged myself! All that to say, my entire adult life thus far I have DREAMED of one day going to Castaway Cay! (Fun fact: my 25th class reunion was while I was on the cruise ship. I had a much better time celebrating the 25th celebration of DCL than I would have at the high school reunion. I'm sure of it! )

Today was the day I was most looking forward to. Around 3 in the morning I was awakened by a storm with lots of thunder and lightening and this got me nervous as I have seen before that if weather was not good that sometimes Castaway is skipped (or moved to another day, but this was our last day), but I made myself go back to sleep. I woke up early and went out to the verandah and saw that we were making the HUGE turn to back into Castaway. I stood out watching that for awhile until finally Castaway was in my sight.

The sky was not looking great!

We stood and watched the lightening in the distance. I wasn't feeling to hopeful at this point and in fact, a little bummed out. But I tried to keep a positive attitude. At one point this lady on the jet ski rode by and went around the rocks and rode all the way down until we couldn't see her anymore.

We gathered our stuff and went down for breakfast. During breakfast it started raining, but we got the all clear to get off when we wanted. We finished eating, I grabbed a couple boxes of fruit loops for Cam to have as a snack if he got hungry later and we were off. It was still raining lightly when we got off so I wasn't able to stop and get the pictures I wanted. It was dark and gloomy.

The night before, our server suggested that we get off the tram at the 2nd stop near the slides. We took his advice and got off there. We went down further and was set up close to as far down as you could go. We were the first ones in that area so we had our choice of any spot we wanted. Even with the rain, my little fellow water bug didn't waste any time!

If we are on the beach or at the pool, this is where you will catch my husband. He is not a water bug at all, but he tolerates it because he knows it makes us happy! He says when we are happy, he is happy.

Soon, our tablemates walked up. They had taken the advise of our server too. Cam and N got right to playing together.

 

[joshsprincess921]

It was starting to get a little brighter out.

But it was still raining on us. This was me sitting and praying that the weather would clear up and it would turn into a beautiful day!

Cookies was opening for lunch, so since it was still a little dreary we decided to go ahead and go eat lunch. We got a picnic table with our tablemates and we saw our servers working the area. Our server, Jose, came over and talked to us for a long time. He thought it was really cool that we had met up and was hanging out and having lunch together. We were finishing up lunch and over walked, Odi, our assistant server. He came walking up with 2 ice cream cones in his hands for the boys! These 2 guys were seriously the best of the best! The boy's faces just lit up when Odi handed them their ice cream.

After lunch, my prayers were answered! It stopped raining and the sun was coming out!

Josh even got out of his chair! He took the 2 boys over to the slide and they went down there a few times.

We swam, we floated, we played and had the best time. The area by the slide was getting very crowded, but further down where we were was perfect all day. I highly suggest this spot if you ever come with your family. It was a little walk to the things you wanted to go to, but having an uncrowded beach was great!

 

[Tuvalu]

I love it when what begins as a gloomy day turns into the most perfect day ever!

 

[littleroo]

I love that Cam had a little buddy to play with! He looks adorable and so happy! I love your dresses, too.

 

[joshsprincess921]

I decided I wanted to go snorkel. So I can swim, but I wouldn't consider myself a strong swimmer and I have never really snorkeled before. I think I bit off more than I could chew. I was struggling out there. The flotation thing they give you for your neck was bothering me. Looking back, I wished I had put on a lifejacket. If there's a next time, that is what I will do. I made it out far enough to see some things. I saw some fish and I saw the Dumbo ride seat. Once I got there, I looked back to shore and was like oh man. I decided, for my own safety, I probably should just head back instead of going out further. This took what felt like an eternity. I was not good at maneuvering the flippers, the float thing was aggravating me. I let out some of the air thinking it would help. Water kept coming into my mask and pretty sure I drank at least a pint of salt water. The whole experience just wasn't good, but I was proud for remaining calm. Eventually, I made it back to shore and crashed into the sand because I couldn't get the flippers off! I'm sure I was a sight to see! But hey, I survived and I didn't need to lifeguards to jump in and save me.

The only picture I got of my snorkeling adventure....I think this represents the occasion well!

I finally pulled myself together, returned the gear and walked slowly back to my family. Our tablemates must have really trusted us because they asked Josh if he minded keeping an eye on N while they went and rode one of those big tricycle things that paddle in the water. So Josh was on sitter duty when I got there. He saw on my face that something wasn't right. My stomach was hurting from all the salt water I drank! I guzzled some regular water and chilled out a bit and it got better quickly, thankfully!

I pulled my chair to the water and vowed to spend the rest of my time here!

Cam came out of the water holding this!

So then, of course, I had to give the shell a photoshoot it deserved since you aren't allowed to keep them.

The rest of our time there couldn't have been any better. The sun was out, the water was amazing, it wasn't too hot. N and Cam had a blast together. It was nice for us parents because we could just sit back and relax while they entertained each other. As parents of an only child, this was super nice for them to have another child to play with all day.

Unfortunately, it was time to head back to the ship. Cam was not happy about it, but I got a smile out of him.

The sky was starting to get dark again.