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!

 

[joshsprincess921]

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

Me too! I was so happy thing turned around!

 

[joshsprincess921]

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

It was so great! All of us really enjoyed being able to sit back and relax.

Thank you!

 

[joshsprincess921]

We went back to our stateroom, Cam and I didn't want to let Castaway go, so we hung out on the verandah awhile soaking in the beauty!

Goodbye, Castaway! You were amazing!

 

[cgersic]

What a great day!!! I love a good beach day and you absolutely brought me there with you. Love it!

 

[joshsprincess921]

What a great day!!! I love a good beach day and you absolutely brought me there with you. Love it!

So happy you joined me for sun and sand!
Not pictured were the fun and delicious tropical drinks I had too. Yum!

 

[k8einwdw]

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

It is so sweet how kids can make friends so quickly! I wish it were that easy for grown ups.

 

[joshsprincess921]

It is so sweet how kids can make friends so quickly! I wish it were that easy for grown ups.

Right?! Cam is so much more social than I was at his age. He makes friends with everyone. I tell him all the time how proud I am that he is so kind.

 

[Swissmiss]

Right?! Cam is so much more social than I was at his age. He makes friends with everyone. I tell him all the time how proud I am that he is so kind.

You and Josh should be proud of yourselves as well for teaching/showing him to be kind.

 

[joshsprincess921]

You and Josh should be proud of yourselves as well for teaching/showing him to be kind.

Aw thanks!

 

[joshsprincess921]

After we rested up a bit, we packed up our luggage. I didn't want to be rushing around after dinner, so we had everything ready and outside the door before we left. Our stateroom host said everyone was walking by and commenting how they were impressed we already had our bags ready. That's the planner in me. I always have to be on top of things!

Dinner was a bit somber on the last night. Our tablemates were celebrating their anniversary and they had a reservation for dinner at Remy, so it was the three of us. Just the feel of the whole dining room felt mellow. Of course, it could have been because everyone was worn out from their day at Castaway. But it was probably a combination of sad and tired.

We stopped for pictures before heading to eat.

We were in Enchanted Garden again.

We both got the steak, but our server brought us the veal to try. This ended up being the star of the show. It was excellent! He told us that he doesn't always recommends getting it in addition because it's a small serving, but man was it good!

We also both got bread pudding for dessert.

And got the crème brulee cheesecake to try. This was weird. Each on their own was good, but together was the strangest thing.

We had a nice chat with our servers and told them how much we enjoyed our time with them. I literally had tears in my eyes saying goodbye to Odi. We really grew fond of him over the course of the week and I was so sad to say goodbye. Cam gave him a big hug. I wish I had thought to take a picture with them, but was just in the moment. We would get to see them the next morning for breakfast, but since it was just the 3 of us it felt like we were really saying our goodbyes this night. Odi told us if we ever come back to be sure to request them as our servers.

After dinner, Cam wanted to go spend the last night with his buddy's in the kid's club. Since our tablemates were in Remy, N was already in there when we arrived.

Cam had also lost his shoes somewhere. I think he left them at the pool deck the night before, but we aren't sure. We could not find them anywhere in the room. Josh and I stopped by the guest relations desk, but they weren't in lost in found. I did like this while we waited.

They were premiering the Little Mermaid movie on the ship, so Josh and I went and saw that in the theater. I kind of regret it because the Believe show was also this night. Looking back, I could have seen the Little Mermaid at home, but I can't go see the Believe show. BUT oh well! I also got me a huge bruise on my thigh. When I stood up from the seat to leave, I turned wrong and my thigh caught under the cup holder. It immediately bruised up! After the movie, we went and picked up Cam. That was sad too because all the kids were sad to be leaving. They checked him out and removed his band. Then we went back to the room for the night.

 

[joshsprincess921]

Around midnight, I was awakened by the banging of the clothes hangers in the closet. We were in the middle of a storm! The boat was rocking big time. The wind was rattling the dividers on the verandah. Josh woke up as well. I won't lie. It was scary! I'm not sure if any of you saw the video and pictures of the Carnival Sunshine from this night, but they went through the brunt of this storm. I'm very thankful we weren't in the heart of it because I can't imagine how scared I would have been being on that ship with water coming in, etc. The next morning someone in the Facebook group posted a radar picture of the storm from that night.

After a few hours of scariness, I was able to go back to sleep, but before long it was time to get up. We were docked back at Port Canaveral. Although after that rough night, I was ready to get off the ship!

We watched them unload luggage for a bit before it was time to leave the room. We got a seat on some couches while we waited for the dining room to open for breakfast.

I asked Cam (who slept through the storm that night) how he felt about going home.

And my husband, who loves to go on vacation and has a great time when he's there, but when it's over he's always ready to get home. He's always ready to get back home to his dogs. How do you feel Josh?

We had a nice last breakfast with our tablemates and servers. Hugs all around! Afterwards, we walked off the ship. Cam said he was going to walk behind us because he wanted to be the last one. I thought he was going to start crying because he was that upset we were leaving. The disembarkation process was an absolute breeze. We got off, found our luggage easily and headed out to catch the shuttle back to our rental car. We were the first ones to get to Budget and got our car quickly and we were off to the airport for our flight home.

The Southwest check in was absolutely insane, but this is where I found out that there are scales across from the check in to weigh your luggage. I had no idea! Good to know for the future. We weighed our bags and we were good to go. Stood in the long line and eventually got through. We have TSA precheck so we blew through security fairly quickly. We still had some time to kill, so we got us a good ole fashion American meal at McDonalds! While sitting there I started really feeling like I was swaying. Josh said he was too, so we took some motion sickness medicine.

Flight was on time, but once we got up in the air Cam said he was now feeling off. He actually laid his head on my arm and fell asleep. He slept most of the flight. I was eating some skittles on the flight when I felt a weird feeling in my mouth. A crown that I have had come off of my tooth! I had to get that fixed last week.

Once we landed and got off the plane Cam said he felt better, but then when we got in the car to go back home, he started feeling sick again. Poor thing felt terrible the whole way. Then we saw a bit of road rage. A small Mazda Miata and a big truck carrying a boat were having issues with one another in front of us. The boat went around the car, then proceeded to come over into their lane and SLAMMED THE BOAT INTO THE CAR!!! I could not believe what I was seeing. Both vehicles never stopped and pulled over or anything. Very weird!

Cam spent the rest of the evening in his bed. The next day, he woke up with full blown pink eye and was sick to his stomach all day! He was sick with his stomach for 2 days and the pink eye spread to the other eye and he ran fever for a few days. The drops never worked for his eyes so we believe it was viral. So the weeks leading up to the trip was filled with sickness and coming home was too. I'm happy to report that Josh and I got our land legs back the next day and we never got sick. Cam was able to start summer camp this week and everything seems back to normal!

I will post my final thoughts on our first cruise in the next post!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Final Thoughts

- The hotel in the Orlando Airport was a perfect landing spot after a late night flight before a cruise. Had we been coming in an extra day before or maybe even that morning, we may have stayed in Disney or Cocoa Beach. I love that we had the option to take Disney transportation from there and they would have gotten our luggage from our room, however, I am happy with our decision to rent a car and be on our own time. It was fun getting down there early and having breakfast and the drop off and shuttle really was so easy with Budget.

- This was my first experience with DCL, but I have cruised one other time out of New Orleans on Carnival. The embarkation and disembarkation there was horrid. We were curious how this would go. I can't explain how easy and smooth it was. Disney has the process down pact and the port was so nice.

- The ship was beautiful and so clean. The cast members were amazing. Everyone was so helpful and there to serve you. Josh said he felt like he was a king. Again, they are always cleaning!

- The port excursion process was so orderly as well. Getting on and off the ship was a breeze.

- I loved the Disney cruise line app and being able to go in each day to see the schedule. You could click on things you are interested in and it would send you an alert when it was almost time. There was something going on at all times. Tons of activities through out the ship, kids club, character meet and greets, etc. The characters were so much easier to meet on the ship vs. the parks in my opinion.

- Kids club...Cam loved it. I never felt unsafe leaving him there. They have it very secure. The cast members there made it so fun, the activities are great. You can also utilize the kids club on Castaway if you want, but we never did.

- Adult activities...we never got to do them. A lot of the things we wanted to do were late and by then Cam was ready for bed. We never got to go in the adult pool areas because we were always with him when we at the pool deck, but they did look nice when we walked through.

- Spa - was really nice, but I don't think I'd do it again, but it was nice to splurge this one time. We both said next time, we rather spend the money on a specialty dining experience. We think we'd enjoy that more.

- I got the unlimited photo package and didn't feel it was worth it. I didn't get enough pictures to justify the $285 price tag. There are def lots of photo opportunities, we just didn't take part in as many as I thought. I didn't use any of those at Castaway because of the weather that day. I might would just do the 20 picture package next time.

- Overall, we had the most amazing family vacation. It was also the most expensive vacation we've ever taken. But being unplugged and really spending quality time with each other, making the best memories made this trip priceless! Cam says its the best vacation he's ever had and never wants to go back to WDW. haha! Josh and I both said as a family vacation, this was amazing, but if it were just the two of us, we'd pick another cruise line to go on. But we also both said we've been so spoiled by the Disney service and it will be hard to beat. We both still love the parks though.

- All that being said, we definitely see another Disney cruise in our future. It's not something we could do every year, but will be back one day. We'd love to go on the Treasure and also visit the new island! And I'm now a Castaway Club Member...yay!! I was excited to get the email welcoming me to the club!

Thank you all for reading!

 

[rshell68]

Thank you for taking us along!! Looks like a wonderful time for your family. Glad Cam has bounced back from his yucky after trip crud.

 

[Swissmiss]

Sorry to hear Cam got sick after the trip - that’s no fun.

Thanks for sharing your trip - it was a very fun read.

 

[todd23]

Josh and I saw Aladdin one night and the 3 of us saw a magic show another night. I wanted to see the Frozen show, but never made it. Cam did not want to see it (he's anti-Princess at the moment, ha) so we'd end up doing something else or he would be tired.

We absolutely LOVED Aladdin though. It was so good! I couldn't remember what Josh and I did the Night 2 while Cam was in the kid's club but now that you asked, this is what we did.

Instead of going to see Believe we went to the premiere of the Little Mermaid.

We were on the May 13-20 cruise right before yours, and if the magician was the same person we had, he was excellent! He had a great stage presence and even better tricks.

 

[lostpro9het]

Final Thoughts

- The hotel in the Orlando Airport was a perfect landing spot after a late night flight before a cruise. Had we been coming in an extra day before or maybe even that morning, we may have stayed in Disney or Cocoa Beach. I love that we had the option to take Disney transportation from there and they would have gotten our luggage from our room, however, I am happy with our decision to rent a car and be on our own time. It was fun getting down there early and having breakfast and the drop off and shuttle really was so easy with Budget.

- This was my first experience with DCL, but I have cruised one other time out of New Orleans on Carnival. The embarkation and disembarkation there was horrid. We were curious how this would go. I can't explain how easy and smooth it was. Disney has the process down pact and the port was so nice.

- The ship was beautiful and so clean. The cast members were amazing. Everyone was so helpful and there to serve you. Josh said he felt like he was a king. Again, they are always cleaning!

- The port excursion process was so orderly as well. Getting on and off the ship was a breeze.

- I loved the Disney cruise line app and being able to go in each day to see the schedule. You could click on things you are interested in and it would send you an alert when it was almost time. There was something going on at all times. Tons of activities through out the ship, kids club, character meet and greets, etc. The characters were so much easier to meet on the ship vs. the parks in my opinion.

- Kids club...Cam loved it. I never felt unsafe leaving him there. They have it very secure. The cast members there made it so fun, the activities are great. You can also utilize the kids club on Castaway if you want, but we never did.

- Adult activities...we never got to do them. A lot of the things we wanted to do were late and by then Cam was ready for bed. We never got to go in the adult pool areas because we were always with him when we at the pool deck, but they did look nice when we walked through.

- Spa - was really nice, but I don't think I'd do it again, but it was nice to splurge this one time. We both said next time, we rather spend the money on a specialty dining experience. We think we'd enjoy that more.

- I got the unlimited photo package and didn't feel it was worth it. I didn't get enough pictures to justify the $285 price tag. There are def lots of photo opportunities, we just didn't take part in as many as I thought. I didn't use any of those at Castaway because of the weather that day. I might would just do the 20 picture package next time.

- Overall, we had the most amazing family vacation. It was also the most expensive vacation we've ever taken. But being unplugged and really spending quality time with each other, making the best memories made this trip priceless! Cam says its the best vacation he's ever had and never wants to go back to WDW. haha! Josh and I both said as a family vacation, this was amazing, but if it were just the two of us, we'd pick another cruise line to go on. But we also both said we've been so spoiled by the Disney service and it will be hard to beat. We both still love the parks though.

- All that being said, we definitely see another Disney cruise in our future. It's not something we could do every year, but will be back one day. We'd love to go on the Treasure and also visit the new island! And I'm now a Castaway Club Member...yay!! I was excited to get the email welcoming me to the club!

Thank you all for reading!

Book a placeholder?

 

[Wicked Sisters]

What a fun time you all had. Your photos are lovely and I am pleased that Cam is recovered now and enjoying the rest of the school holidays. Cannot believe he said he wasn’t bothered about WDW anymore, I think he will change his mind.

 

[MinnieM123]

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

Shell was beautiful. I've never visited down there. So, I wonder what the reason was, why visitors aren't allowed to keep a shell? Are they in short supply?

Anyway, great TR, excellent photos, and I really enjoyed all the comments you shared. Thank you!

 

[donaldtoo]

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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We’ve been to Jamaica (Montego Bay) twice.
The first time, we did a snorkeling excursion off a catamaran in Montego Bay, the second time we did the Dolphin Cove experience. That required a shuttle trip several miles to the west. We all got to be in the water with the dolphins, and it was really cool…!!!
Our (then one-year-old) granddaughter really got a kick out of touching the dolphins…!!!!!
On a side note…
The shuttle trip to and from Dolphin Cove was whackier than MMRR…!!!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

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!
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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!

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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.
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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.

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Yep, the Mickey waffles I don’t much care for, but, those Mickey churros were really good…!!!!!