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

[Cdnbarrieguy]

This is a really fantastic review! Love your writing style, pictures and stories!! You guys seems like a really great family :)

 

My 9yo son and I are heading out on the Fantasy this month on the 28th... we have been reading your review to get pumped up for ours. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Also checked out your blog - awesome!!!

[LittleMissMagic]

Before dinner, we went to the Pirates in the Caribbean show on deck with Captain Mickey and his Pirate Crew. By the time we arrived, the top deck was already packed, so we didn't have the best spot.

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

It's a cute show where Mickey teaches us how to be pirates, and then the ship gets taken over by Captain Hook and his villainous crew. This results in a pirate show-down where we prove that we are pirates.

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

It was quite windy up on deck. By the time the show was over, my hair was so wind-blown and tangled that it didn't seem to matter that I had fixed it.

 

Aqua Duck by vshingl, on Flickr

 

It was so windy that they were only allowing double passengers on the Aqua Duck.

[rmandmm]

Thank you!

 

Unfortunately, with my Adventure of the Seas review, I made a rookie mistake of hosting my photos on Facebook. With one of the Facebook updates about a year ago, all of the permalinks changed, and my photos were lost. Since Cruise Critic doesn't allow me to go back in and edit posts after thirty minutes, I'm afraid that my review will never have photos, again.

 

I am working on copying and re-posting my review with photos on my travel blog, but it's a tedious process and not posted, yet!

 

I hope that you and your family have a wonderful time on the Fantasy!

 

That stinks!!!! I'm so sorry! :(

 

Much like your family's Christmas cruises, we have started a tradition of the Thanksgiving cruise. Last year it was NCL Dawn to Western Caribbean, this year Fantasy and I'm seriously considering what to do next year. Your Princess review really makes me want to try them out!

 

Thanks again!

[Guinness4me]

I read your Royal Princess review, I read the post about the annoying teenagers and how they seem to appear on every cruise, what Codfishes, but anyway, did you happen to have any annoying teenagers on your Disney cruise?

 

We went on a 4 night on the Dream last Memorial Day and did not see or enconter any annoying teens now that I think about it after reading your post.

[DaKa2002]

I read your Royal Princess review, I read the post about the annoying teenagers and how they seem to appear on every cruise, what Codfishes, but anyway, did you happen to have any annoying teenagers on your Disney cruise?

 

We went on a 4 night on the Dream last Memorial Day and did not see or enconter any annoying teens now that I think about it after reading your post.

 

The teens have their own hangout on the Dream and Fantasy that is really cool! Rarely see them anywhere else and we have been on many DCL Dream and Fantasy cruises.

[iloverags2]

What a fun day in Falmouth. I have heard so many bad reviews about the port...it's nice to find a positive review. And since we are Parrotheads, I'm thinking a visit is in store for us!

 

As for Palo, I will tell you that I much prefer the Magic Class ships' Palo over the Dream Class Palo. It is more intimate (as is everything on the Magic Class), and we have always had wonderful servers. I'm not sure if the larger dining area takes away from the service, but I'm guessing it does.

[celebrity]

I have read all your past reviews and I think is your best yet! Can't wait to read the rest. :)

[jlafe13]

Is the Mixolgoy something you can sign up for beforehand? I am going with Family on August 2

Edited June 8, 2014 by jlafe13

[ducklite]

Is the Mixolgoy something you can sign up for beforehand? I am going with Family on August 2

 

No. You sign up at guest services once you board. If you are staying in a cabin with concierge services, they can take care of it for you, but again, not until you board.

[LittleMissMagic]

I read your Royal Princess review, I read the post about the annoying teenagers and how they seem to appear on every cruise, what Codfishes, but anyway, did you happen to have any annoying teenagers on your Disney cruise?

 

We went on a 4 night on the Dream last Memorial Day and did not see or enconter any annoying teens now that I think about it after reading your post.

 

The teenagers weren't so bad on the Disney Fantasy. The only time that I noticed a large group of teens out in the public areas being a bit naughty was the final night of the cruise when I was out late taking long exposure photos. They were running around the atrium and playing hide-and-go seek. Other than that, they never bothered me. Perhaps that was because I had a nice, large adults-only area to go to at night! The teens also have a great teen club to hang out in.

[LittleMissMagic]

What a fun day in Falmouth. I have heard so many bad reviews about the port...it's nice to find a positive review. And since we are Parrotheads, I'm thinking a visit is in store for us!

 

As for Palo, I will tell you that I much prefer the Magic Class ships' Palo over the Dream Class Palo. It is more intimate (as is everything on the Magic Class), and we have always had wonderful servers. I'm not sure if the larger dining area takes away from the service, but I'm guessing it does.

 

I didn't really know what to expect with Falmouth, but it was a much nicer port than I remember Ocho Rios being.

[LittleMissMagic]

I have read all your past reviews and I think is your best yet! Can't wait to read the rest. :)

 

Thank you! My goal is to always improve with each review, so I'm glad to see that others agree!

[LittleMissMagic]

Is the Mixolgoy something you can sign up for beforehand? I am going with Family on August 2

 

Another passenger from my Roll Call actually set up the private group mixology sessions with DCL up for us in advance. There was such a great interest that they actually split us into three groups of about 20-25 people. The maximum number of people for the class is 40, and I am unsure of the minimum (she was going to call to book it if at least 25 were interested). We did have to confirm the charge to our card in advance, so even if we did not attend, we were supposed to be charged. However, we did not actually pay for the class until we arrived.

 

You can also book the regularly scheduled mixology session, but only once you board the ship. Also, I believe there is limited availability.

[LittleMissMagic]

No. You sign up at guest services once you board. If you are staying in a cabin with concierge services, they can take care of it for you, but again, not until you board.

 

Ours was actually booked in advance, since it was a private group mixology session set up by another passenger on our Roll Call.

[geocruiser]

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!!!

 

You mom did a great job on the fish extenders. She might want to post them on the fashion board under the sewing thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1665834

 

I am sure others will love to see them.

[LittleMissMagic]

You mom did a great job on the fish extenders. She might want to post them on the fashion board under the sewing thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1665834

 

I am sure others will love to see them.

 

Thank you! I will be sure to share.

[LittleMissMagic]

Dinner - Pirate Night in Royal Court

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The napkins were folded like pirate ships!

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

And we had a special pirate menu.

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pirate Night Menu by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Black Beard's Jumbo Crab Cake by vshingl, on Flickr

 

I had Black Beard's Jumbo Crab Cake as an appetizer. I'm not sure if I would use the word "jumbo" to describe it.

 

The Buckaneer's Sun-Ripened Pineapple by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Mom ordered the Buckaneer's Sun-Ripened Pineapple. They really went all out with these names.

 

Pirates Golden "Pot Stickers" by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Max and Rachel had the Pirates Golden "Pot Stickers"... that's dumplings in non-pirate lingo.

 

Jerk Chicken Salad by vshingl, on Flickr

 

I had the Jerk Chicken Salad. I found the chicken to be a bit dry for my taste.

 

Dijon Crusted Sirloin of Beef by vshingl, on Flickr

 

For an entree, I asked Tana if he would recommend the beef sirloin (excuse me... The Dutchman's Dijon Crusted Sirloin of Beef) or the mahi mahi. He suggested that I get both.

 

Captain Hook's Mahi Mahi by vshingl, on Flickr

 

He brought Captain Hook's Macademia Nut Dusted Mahi Mahi on a smaller dish.

Edited June 9, 2014 by LittleMissMagic

[LittleMissMagic]

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

ARGHHH

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Remember how my mother had asked Tana about Key Lime Pie? Well, tonight he brought us all Key Lime Pie!!! I was really impressed. I've never had a waiter go out of his way to get us our favorite dessert before.

 

Key Lime Pie by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

This photo reminds me of the time Mom and Dad scarfed down an ice cream sundae...

 

Rum Soaked Chocolate Cake by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Rum Soaked Chocolate Cake.... not as good as our Key Lime Pie.

[LittleMissMagic]

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for us!

[LittleMissMagic]

Magical Porthole Stateroom - Pullman Bunk

 

Pullman Bunk by vshingl, on Flickr

 

We had been asking Mom and Dad all week to have their cabin steward pull down the bunk bed so that we could see it. I had heard that there were stars over the bed.

 

Pullman Bunk by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pullman Bunk by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

They got such a cute towel animal!

 

And I forgot to show you earlier -

 

Door Decorations by vshingl, on Flickr

 

I had decorated Mom and Dad's door for Mothers' Day.

[rene194215]

I love your reviews and jst found this one :) I am going to be busy catching up!!!!!

[LittleMissMagic]

I love your reviews and jst found this one :) I am going to be busy catching up!!!!!

 

Thank you! I'm glad you found me! :)

[LittleMissMagic]

Pirates IN the Caribbean Buccaneer Blast Fireworks

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

We were goofing off in Mom and Dad's room when we should have been reserving a spot on the deck for the fireworks. We were a bit too late to get a good spot on deck 12 overlooking the action, so we found a place in the standing zone on deck 11.

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

This show stars Jack Sparrow.

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

It was absolutely the worst Jack Sparrow acting I have ever seen. I think Jack Sparrow would have rather walked the plank than participated in that show. His voice and overall demeaner weren't that bad, but his deliver was terrible. His excitement was equivalent to that of a telephone operator. On top of that, the plot and dialogue were really bad and hard to follow. I would have to say that this was absolutely the worst show we had seen all week.

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr

 

I had brought my tripod with me, but I didn't bother to set it up because I wasn't sure exactly where the fireworks were going to be, and I was in the center of the crowd, so my line of sight was limited. I slowed down the shutter a bit to capture the light as I hand-held my camera.

 

Pirate Night by vshingl, on Flickr