Review of the June 2 – 9 Fantasy Cruise

[Tom2]

As a brief background this was our 36th cruise, we took our first cruise in 1969. Cruising has come a long way from a steel drum band playing “Hot Hot Hot” on the Sun Deck and a Limbo Contest being the prime entertainment. We have been on Holland America, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Silversea, Carnival, Premier Cruise Lines when our children were young and “The Big Red Boat” had the Disney characters, and Viking River Cruises. Most of our recent cruises have been two weeks or longer in Europe. We have never had a bad cruise, just some more memorable than others. The Disney Fantasy was by far the biggest ship with the most passengers that we have ever been on. We took our daughter, son-in-law and grandson with us on the Fantasy to spend some time with them. They live out of state and we don’t see them near as often as we would like. Our grandson just turned 8 so it is a perfect age for a Disney Cruise and this cruise accomplished everything we wanted it to do. Now for some comments in no particular order:

The ship was spotless and truly amazing, but there were way too many people on board for my taste, especially on sea days when the family pool deck was a mass of humanity. There were 4,000 people pushing and shoving to get up the stairs after the lifeboat drill, I can only imagine all of these people in a panic situation trying to get down the stairs in a real emergency. Elderly and kids would be trampled, but I’m sure a new ship like the Fantasy is safe. I would guess that is what the passengers thought on the Costa Concordia. The shows in the Walt Disney Theater were by far the best I have ever seen on a cruise, the technology used in the shows was amazing. In fact the technology used throughout the ship, including the kid’s areas and Animator’s Palate was fantastic, true state of the art. Again there was a lot of pushing and shoving to get into the theater, which was really silly because there were plenty of seats for every show. I also saw a fight break our between a guy trying to hold a bunch of seats, which you are not supposed to do, and a guy wanting to sit in the seats he was holding. A great example for all the kids in the audience. The kids programs were great and well run, our grandson particularly liked the detective game and the Aqua Duck and Nemo’s Reef. There are enough thing’s going on for the younger kids that by evening they are really tired. Prices varied from reasonable to outrageous. One glass of wine each for my wife and myself cost $23 in one of the Europa Clubs, yet the wine tastings were only $15 and you received four nice size glasses of different wines. Photos were expensive but there were always cruise staff members available at the character photo ops that were willing to take pictures of our group with our camera saving the expense of buying ships photo at $20 each. Food: The beef and seafood was outstanding, the other dishes i.e. pork and lamb were mediocre at best compared to other cruises we have been on. The unlimited stone crab and peel and eat shrimp in Cabanas was delicious and a real treat. We didn’t eat at Palos or Remy’s because we wanted to eat with our grandson and kids are not allowed in either of these specialty restaurants but I heard that they were very good. We have been fortunate to be able to be on the Concierges Level on our recent cruises and the Fantasy Concierge Lounge and staff were the best we have ever had on a cruise. Another real plus was the Cabana at Cast Away Cay. It was very hot the day we were at the private island and it was nice to get under the fan in the shade of the Cabana versus fighting for a chair and umbrella on the rest of the beach. The Cabana area and Cabana Beach were really first class. We loved riding the bicycles all over the island.

In summary Disney has a real niche market. It is not my type of cruise, too big a ship with too many people, but will probably be doing it again in a few years when our grandchildren get older. A Disney Cruise makes for a great family get together with plenty for the children to do during the day. We like the longer more formal cruises in Europe and don’t mind putting on a tux occasionally and becoming one of “those people.” There was supposed to be a dress code for the Fantasy Dining Rooms but it wasn’t enforced and we saw everything from flip flops and shorts to coat and ties on the more formal nights. I guess that is why there are so many cruise lines and cruise ships, something for everyone’s taste. The above is just my opinion and I am sure that there are 3,999 differing opinions from the other passengers on this same cruise. If there are any questions I will be happy to try and answer them.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review, I agree to many people for me too.

[vivavegas]

Nice review! Thanks for taking the time to write your review and share with us!:)

[Lemur]

As a brief background this was our 36th cruise, we took our first cruise in 1969.

 

Dear Tom,

 

Thanks for the great review, it was interesting and packed with info.

 

Just a gentle request though for the next review, please can you use the hard return and create spaces between your paragraphs? It makes it much easier to read. I had to cut and paste your review into another program in order to read it. But I did read it and liked it.

 

Thanks,

[HappyMomma75]

Great review! Seems fair and candid. We're going on the Fantasy in February and we're always happier when we know what to be prepared for. We're going to have to try the wine tasting!

 

Thank you!

[FM]

Thanks for your review. Wow that is a lot of cruises! Our first cruise was our honeymoon cruise aboard the Fair Princess ... our most recent was on the Silhouette in December ... and now we're booked for B2B on the Fantasy for our 20th and my birthday. What a change the ships have undergone in these past two decades ... remember the midnight buffets?

[Host Mick]

Dear Tom,

 

Thanks for the great review, it was interesting and packed with info.

 

Just a gentle request though for the next review, please can you use the hard return and create spaces between your paragraphs? It makes it much easier to read. I had to cut and paste your review into another program in order to read it. But I did read it and liked it.

 

Thanks,

 

Try squeezing the window to make it narrower. It helps me.

[Muushka]

Try squeezing the window to make it narrower. It helps me.

 

Thanks, good tip. I was able to read it.

 

Is it an age thing? The older we get, the more paragraphs we want :confused:?

[ilovetexas]

Great review! Seems fair and candid. We're going on the Fantasy in February and we're always happier when we know what to be prepared for. We're going to have to try the wine tasting!

 

Thank you!

 

The wine tasting was fun in May but be forewarned, we didn't get the same "nice size" glasses of wine the OP did, we got tastes. That's fine, it's what I expected, just know that it may not be the same for you.

 

The tequila tasting, on the other hand.....that was $15 worth of liquor!

[chipq]

Great review...thanks for sharing.

 

 

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