The All Quirky, No Turkey Fantasy Cruise Report

There are three aspects of Thanksgiving that many people don’t like: cooking, cleaning, and arguing with relatives for the umpteenth time about unresolvable issues. What if, say, a family was to remove those obstacles by setting sail on the Disney Fantasy over Thanksgiving week? Could that action result in the best Thanksgiving ever?

Yep.

We were thankful for every minute we had that week, and while none of us actually had turkey on Thanksgiving (in our defense it was lobster night), it turned out to be a perfect trip, nonetheless.

Well, near perfect.

There were many, many highlights from the trip, and I’ll cover those. There were a couple of disappointing areas, and in true message board fashion, I’ll be beating those into the ground. I’ll also compare and contrast DCL to WDW.

I’ve blathered on quite a bit already without any pictures, so to satisfy those who hate words, here are a couple of pictures from our verandah:

"Seriously, ocean shots? I’ll be hitting the Back button now.”

 

[GenerationX]

Diversions

Goofy’s Sports Deck: Mini golf was fun. We tried to play ping pong, but the wind kept winning. We shot baskets, though we couldn’t play a game, because Hurricane Sandy had taken out one of the baskets.

I attended the DVC presentation. It was low pressure, but ran long, and I did not win the $300 onboard credit. Bummer! I did get a very nice leather portfolio out of it, though.

The most amusing part of the Arrrcade was its name.

The Aqua Duck was a short, but fun ride. To the tune of Jethro Tull’s classic “Aqualung” and with major apologies to Ian Anderson:

“Sitting on a duck float
Eying ocean waves out past the boat
Spray is running up his nose
Mickey fingers splashing happy toes

Circling deck eleven
Watching bits of Up on Funnelvision
Feeling like Donald Duck
Sliding past people like a hockey puck

Hey, Aquaduck”

 

[GenerationX]

Diversions, part II

I joined the Muppet Detective Agency, which didn’t seem to impress the Muppets on the screen (“We could do better”). Even as an adult, I found this to be a lot of fun. It had a typical, all-out-crazy Muppet ending with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew remarking how everything was “working just as planned.” Right. Aside from the humor, another benefit of doing the mystery is the chance to see the artwork on the ship. It’s a real treasure.

We didn’t make it on deck for the pirate party, but we did watch the fireworks from our balcony. We received lawsuit-preventing warnings to NOT be on our verandah during the fireworks show, but I didn’t see or feel any remnant from any firework. The initial huge flash of light when a firework first exploded was very bright, and the resulting fireworks filled the sky just out over the water. Very cool.

There are several shuffleboard courts on one side of the ship. My wife and I challenged our youngest sons to a shuffleboard match, which we proceeded to win 3 games to 2. Finally, a game the old people can win!

We played a lot of cards in the staterooms, too, though Yoshi won most of the games.

 

[GenerationX]

Vibe

The boys spent a great deal of time at Vibe. On the first day, we had asked to have Mike (only 13) admitted to Vibe so that he could hang there with his brothers (15 and 17). The CM had a list of all 12 and 13 year olds onboard and made a small attempt to block Mike’s entry by asking him if he was sure he didn’t want to try Edge first. He assured the CM he did not, and that was it. The CM said that with older siblings in Vibe, they (the CMs) don’t put up much resistance to letting younger passengers in.

Anyway, the boys had a great time in Vibe. One night they participated in a bunch of improv games and got a lot of laughs. They later commented that the improv games may have been the highlight of their trip.

There are a few trip report sections in a row here where I don’t have any actual pictures of the topic. So, I’m throwing in random pictures from the trip so that this does not become an all text adventure (though, admittedly, I love the old all text adventure games like Zork – “It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.”).

The symbol in the lower right corner seems to be indicating that the ocean is fair game. Probably belongs more on a Carnival ship.

 

[GenerationX]

Onboard Shows

Live Entertainment

I really enjoyed the acoustic guitar player up on the adult deck. He stuck to classic rock artists (Eagles, Beatles, Grateful Dead) and took requests. As a music nut – I appreciate music of most any type and from most any era – I tried to think of a favorite song of mine that he’d likely play and would fit the mood. I went with “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young, which was perfect. He said it was one of his favorites, I enjoyed it, and I saw several couples dancing to it.

The magician put on a good show with lots of patter. It was a packed house in the Tube and difficult to find anywhere – even on the floor – to sit. When someone near the front got up and crossed (ducking) near the front of the stage, the magician commented “We can see you move. You’re not a ninja.” Heh.

The ventriloquist show in the main theater was amusing. I wouldn’t call him a “can’t miss”, but he was good. I can’t comment on the big Broadway-style musicals, because we didn’t see any of them. Maybe next time.

Overall, I found the live entertainment lively and entertaining.

 

[GenerationX]

Movies

We ended one night on deck watching Toy Story on the Funnelvision. Grabbed some towels when it began misting outside. We caught bits of Up, The Incredibles, and Toy Story 2 while in the main pool area, too, throughout the week. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed watching these movies again, especially outdoors on that big screen (and during the daytime for most of them)! It was near impossible to not stop and watch. It’s as much (if not more) fun than watching the nightly movie in WDW resort courtyards.

As for the indoor theaters, the Walt Disney Theater is a fantastic place to see a movie. Comfortable and high-tech. We saw Wreck-It Ralph in 3D there. The movie had been out for only two weeks, and we had purposely not seen it in a theater at home so we could see it onboard. Popcorn was extra $ (boo!), but we all thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Tom ended up seeing it again later in the trip.

My wife went to see Lincoln (a movie even newer than Wreck-It Ralph), while I went to play basketball. Unfortunately for her, during the climactic scene someone got a call on their Wave phone … and continued to talk! Nothing critical, just family scheduling type conversation. Grrrr.

We also caught Brave in 3D, which we all enjoyed.

Apparently someone didn’t like the No Tug rule.

Next up: a wacky visit to St. Thomas in two parts, the best excursion ever in San Juan in two parts, and a brief overview of the coolest island in the world, Castaway Cay.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I <3 Phase 10. This used to be a favorite night shift after 0200 activity in the comm center.

Your animation class(es) sound quite different from the 2 I've done on the Magic. There was no film. There was no book or anything. We showed up and there was a demonstration on how to draw whoever the chosen character of the moment was. Interesting.

 

[GenerationX]

I <3 Phase 10. This used to be a favorite night shift after 0200 activity in the comm center.

Your animation class(es) sound quite different from the 2 I've done on the Magic. There was no film. There was no book or anything. We showed up and there was a demonstration on how to draw whoever the chosen character of the moment was. Interesting.

Yeah, it's as though they're trying to make it more like a real animation class, but they're not quite there, yet. I'd like to see them split it into two separate artistic tracks:
100 level classes to teach you how to draw the basic characters, and
200 level classes that take Walt's films, a better book, and more serious instruction to teach more sophisticated animation techniques.
Tom would've loved 200 level classes, as he has long since mastered how to draw the basic characters.

 

[GenerationX]

Ports o’ Call and Excursions

Saint Thomas

We were up at 6:45am and got to see the final approach and docking at St. Thomas from our verandah. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I think of “St. Thomas” the first thing that comes to mind is “Al Cohen’s Discount Mall”. You just can’t separate one from the other.

"Zoom in, it’s back there.”

Alongside Al’s festive retail experience was about a hundred other little shops chock full o’ crapola. Seriously, what an absolute tourist trap downtown St. Thomas is. How many coffee mugs shaped liked or pirate-themed t-shirts saying “Surrender Your Booty” can one own?

The highlight of St. Thomas for our little internet-starved group was a tiny restaurant in the corner of a strip mall called “Pizza Amore”. We got a large thin crust pizza to split, and they provided us with free WiFi. The pizza was better than mall pizza, but, it goes without saying, not up to Chicago deep dish standards. Regardless, the large wooden benches in the restaurant were new and comfortable, and the WiFi worked just fine. I also got to read a local newspaper, which had just been sitting on the table (I love when people leave newspapers at restaurants – I do that all the time after I’ve read my paper at lunch). Right on page three was a list of all of the cruise ships coming into port that week and approximately how many people would be onboard. They didn’t list our names, interests, and annual incomes, but then they didn’t have access to any NextGen info.

After navigating the crazy traffic and a brief stop in Al Cohen’s Discount Mall (seriously, how could we say we were in St. Thomas and not stop there?), we went back onboard and hit the Aquaduck while the line was short.

 

[GenerationX]

St. Thomas (part II)

We had set up an excursion aboard the Teen Jet boat for Tom and Jack, and the Teen Jet boat people refused to make an exception to allow Mike (13) to join them. Of course, according to their literature, they used to allow teenagers from 13 on, so either they changed their policy or Mike is not really a teenager (he’s threlve, perhaps?). Tom and Jack thought the Teen Jet rocked, and Jack filmed the whole trip on his waterproof camera.

Mike was stuck with Mom and Dad going to the Butterfly Garden:

The Butterfly Garden advertised 16 species or so, but we really only saw about three of them. They were plentiful, though, and Mike got some excellent shots:

The Butterfly Garden tickets included the bird show, too, which was everything Flights of Wonder at AK is not. The (mostly parrots) displayed their skateboard, basketball, and bicycling skills, just as parrots in the wild do every day in hopes of someday making it to the show. There was some entertainment value here, but mostly due to the birds being beautiful.

 

[GenerationX]

San Juan

We were up early, as usual, and got to see the final docking procedures in San Juan before we disembarked the ship to embark on our self-booked excursion. We had received a call from Rocaliza Adventures while we were in port at St. Thomas the day before and received another call as we were disembarking the ship. They wanted to make sure we found them, which we did within a minute. Of course, during that minute we received a half a dozen offers from cabbies who wanted to take us on an island tour.

We brought “hiking” shoes (old, ready to trash gym shoes), spare socks, a waterproof camera, and a backpack full of water bottles for the tour. All came in handy. In the comfort of the Rocaliza van, we were driven 45 minutes through towns and up to a mountainous area near Caguas. We made a quick bathroom stop at a Walgreen’s before arriving. The Walgreen’s, by the way, looked just like a mainland U.S. Walgreen’s – products, store layout – except that signs were in Spanish.

Once we arrived at the tour site, they loaded us up with safety equipment:

We walked up a hill and saw plantains and orange trees along the way. Then, the adventure really started. In a wooded, streamed area, we hiked and climbed rocks. Mostly in ankle deep, crystal clear water. The tour guides were very careful to point out which rocks to step on and which ones to avoid (hint: avoid shiny, smooth, wet rocks!).

 

[GenerationX]

San Juan (part dos)

After almost two hours of hiking, climbing, stopping for pictures, etc. we reached the summit. We had the option of wading through thigh-deep water to a cavern, which the boys and I did. The cavern was tall, thin, and had a sheet of water running down one entire side. Very very cool (see the fourth picture down for a view up from the cavern floor).

We paused for pictures and to eat some fresh mango and bananas the guides had. I had never tried mango, but I liked it a lot. We spent the next hour on the descent, and unlike Spaceship Earth, the descent was exciting and fun. Three long zip lines with great views and muddy rope-lined trails led us back down to the bottom.

At the bottom, we went into their changing stalls (which could have used a chair, bench, stool, handle, anything). We threw out our hiking shoes and socks and changed into clean socks and our regular shoes. They fed us a delicious homemade lunch. We had to go into the owner’s house to go to the washroom, and when I did, I snapped this picture of a flyer (probably my favorite picture from trip):

"Doorbusters del Viernes!”

After finishing our meal and having had a full half-day’s worth of excitement, they drove us back to the dock.

I highly recommend Rocaliza Adventure Tours. Seriously, this tour could not have been more fun. All five of us were exhilarated, impressed, and amazed.

FYI - The gift shops onboard also held Black Friday Doorbusters sales. Anything stating “Disney Fantasy – Inaugural Cruises” was 40% off, so we bought a couple of shirts.

 

[englanddg]

Amazing trip report! I'm going on the Fantasy in August. First cruise for both me and the kid.

I am curious though...why did you bring soap bubbles?

 

[GenerationX]

Amazing trip report! I'm going on the Fantasy in August. First cruise for both me and the kid.

I am curious though...why did you bring soap bubbles?

I brought the soap bubbles because I had read that people bring them for the Bon Voyage party and blow them off the side of the ship. People don't throw streamers anymore. The soap bubbles didn't work that well on deck, because of the wind. They worked great off of our verandah, though.

The Fantasy is an awesome ship, I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time!

 

[joanna71985]

Great TR! I really want to go on the Fantasy again

 

[GenerationX]

Great TR! I really want to go on the Fantasy again

Thank you, and we do, too!

 

[GenerationX]

Castaway Cay

We disembarked with the big crowd at Castaway Cay and easily found chairs under an umbrella. We immediately got in line for our snorkel equipment and were helped by someone who swam for Poland in two Olympics. This was impressive to all of us, but particularly Jack and Mike, who swim for our local swim team.

Snorkeling in Castaway Cay is NOT to be missed. First you see an anchor then a wheel then a cannon until eventually – wayyyyy in the back of the lagoon – you see a whole bunch more. Fish become more plentiful the further you go.

It looked there was some construction going in near the dock:

"This area being refurbished for your enjoyment.”

 

[GenerationX]

Disembarkation and Post-Cruise Activities

We were up by 5:30am. We had set the alarm, but didn’t need it. We were finished showering and packing by 6:40, and we made it for breakfast at our assigned 6:45am time. The menu listed entrees with fancy names, but we recognized the food as the same stuff that had been served with generic names at Cabanas all week.

After eating, I gave the staff their tips, and we stepped off the ship.

A porter helped us find our bags and get through customs. I asked him about packing water bottles for the ship: “We do them all the time … we always know which bags have them, too.”

After waiting while the Budget rental car office had network problems (again), we got our car and headed back to Orlando. With a 5:50pm departure, we still had plenty of time. So, being the freaks that we are, we headed straight to Downtown Disney. Disney Quest wasn’t open yet, so we had lunch at a Marketplace restaurant before heading back to Disney Quest.

 

[GenerationX]

Disembarkation and Post-Cruise Activities (part II)

There was quite a line of people waiting to get in at Disney Quest park open. Once in, CMs offered the option of skipping the Cyberlators, which without the Genie, we took. We immediately headed to PotC: Battle for Buccaneer Gold and were one of the first groups in line. There were new glasses and boats, but the adventure was the same.

All of us ended up trying Fix-It Felix, Jr. (eight machines were scattered throughout – one on five, one on four, and six in a display area on three). Mike was quite adept at the game.

"I’m gonna wreck it.”

Eventually, we rode to the airport for some overpriced Manchu Wok and Wendy’s before heading home.

 

[GenerationX]

Final Thoughts

The trip was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, and the five of us loved every minute. It just needs FP+ for the Aquaduck.

I saved every scrap of paper given to us on the ship. Every scrap. Someday, maybe by our 50th anniversary, we’ll create an actual scrapbook. Until then, I have this cyber scrapbook, which I had a blast writing. Thanks for reading, all.

 

[Ellen Ripley]

amazing report, thanks for sharing!