Are You Ever Coming Home?...No! I am playing with Wizards,Farkles & Sparkling Friends

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The shuttle came right on time.

 

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Another family joined me and we were off. I don’t even think we made another stop. I talked with the other family, who were going to Legoland (I believe) today. We had a great driver too and he told me how to get back to Riverside, which was really easy.

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We soon arrived and I headed in and checked in and headed out to my car. I never took a picture of it, but I think it was an Altima. Very nice for what we needed, but it takes me a little bit to get accustomed to driving a different car. I ended up renting a car for the day for a couple of reasons, but the main reason was it would get us to the port much earlier than DCL transfers would and it was only $6 more than what DCL transfers would cost us. So I figured that was the best option for us.

 

I hit the road and soon was parking near our building. I ran in the room to let Claire know I was back and to be ready…and I headed to the laundry room and gathered my dry clothes (and it was funny to see how many people were drying shoes this morning after yesterday’s rain)….and back to the room to pack them up. We loaded the car up with our cases and took off for the front of the resort. We were going to buy water at the gift shop to take on the ship. I had recently found out that most of the resorts sell cases of 12 oz bottles of water for something like $6.99. I had no clue they did this before or how long they have been doing this. I think to buy a case of 16oz bottles on the ship was something along the lines of $40,so this was by far a bargain and I wouldn’t have to make another stop.

 

I took a few pictures as we headed in.

 

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I then decided to buy TWO cases of water as we could always use extra for our park days after. We paid and hauled them out to the car and I had Claire take them out and I put them in one carryon bag….which became VERY heavy then. LOL.

 

Messages were being sent, and Jeanne had headed to the port early to have breakfast with a friend. Cass and family were just about ready to leave too.

 

I set Siri to take me to the port and off we went……

 

She took me through a lot of back roads. At one time we were behind this truck and just totally laughed.

 

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Um….why is there a chainsaw sticking out of the back of this truck?

 

After about ½ an hour I said to Claire that I can’t believe we haven’t gotten on the highway yet. So far we had just gone through all these back roads and it was taking forever!!! She looked at my phone and said it said we had like over 2 hours before we arrived. WHAT?????? It barely takes an hour to get there. OMG! So then some not so nice words were flying out of my mouth.

 

I pulled over at a Walgreens and reset the directions…again it gave me a long route. What the heck? So I reset it again and scrolled through the options and finally found the short way. We took off and the highway was literally ½ mile from where we were.

 

And we were off!....again! Claire had been texting Cass’s daughter Kira all morning. Kira is 10 and they had been texting on and off before the trip. I kept asking her to ask Kira where they were and my best guess was they were about 10-15 minutes ahead of us now.

 

As we got closer we looked for the ship and finally saw it…but I couldn’t take a picture since I was driving.

 

Cass arrived and had Kira tell us that there was a long line of cars to get into the port for drop off. UGH! I guess it didn’t surprise me….but still UGH! Cass’s husband Rob dropped her and Kira off about the time I was getting into line.

 

Hello Fantasy!

 

 

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Hello long line of cars.

 

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We moved slowly and really there was nothing we could do, so we tried to be patient…which was hard.

 

Jeanne messaged she was on the car shuttle bus. They decided not to drop their bags off and just take them on the shuttle with them….so she was on her way.

 

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As we waited and got closer I saw a Budget shuttle go by and saw Jeanne in the window. I quickly messaged her that I saw her. They were letting shuttles go in before cars, so she got in faster, but we weren’t too far behind….however we were just dropping off our bags. We did make it up to the curb and sent off our bags and then pulled out and headed over to Alamo….well sort of. Siri was telling us to go out a different way and the signage was horrible, so we went in some circles first (as well as several other cars) before we got out and on our way to Alamo.

 

I have anxiety on days like this. I just want to get checked in and be on the ship. Until that point I am a bundle of nerves and I was trying to remain calm….I would have 10 days on the ship and it was hours before we would even be sailing out….but several of my friends were in the terminal….and I was missing out!

[jenseib]

We found the Alamo location, which we were sort of familiar with since we had used them last Oct, and got in line to drop off the car. I had to start a new row and it was kind of confusing, but I just pulled up next to the car in front as much as I could and got out and all was good. We grabbed our carryon bags and headed to the front. A shuttle was there and I was just about to ask what to do when I saw a guy come out of the building out of the corner of my eye. I paid no attention really to him as I was trying to figure out where to go and then I heard....“Claire?” I looked up and it was Rob, Cass’s husband. He said the shuttle had just arrived and would be leaving soon.

 

We all got on the shuttle and talked a bit. Rob took a picture of us to send to Cass.

 

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Woohoo! We were on our way!

 

The driver warned us that the line to get to the port was long. I spoke up and let him know that the car shuttles were able to use the outside lane and go right in. He didn’t believe me and Rob said he saw the same thing. Finally he believed us and sure enough…we were right!

 

Jeanne messaged that they were letting people on the ship and she was going on and so was Patty….another one of our friends. Dang it! More anxiety!!!!

 

Rob told me that my phone probably had the “allow toll roads” turned off, so he took it and fixed it for me for the future. It’s so odd as I have used this phone a few times already, the last being in Feb. to get to the port, and it allowed toll roads when I asked directions then. My guess is I accidently turned it off at some point without even knowing I did it.

 

Soon we were off and pulling out our passports to be let in. A family kind of got between Rob and us and I asked if we could go ahead since we were with him. LOL. Well not technically….but we were.

 

We then made it through security….lifting that suitcase with water was a chore…and up the escalators to a waiting Cass and a BIG hug!!!! It was so great to see her again! Kira ran and hugged Claire. Claire is not a huggy person…she used to be, but over the years she is too cool for that…but she allowed the hug. LOL.

 

Cass quickly pushed us in the direction to get checked in and Rob had to go as well….so we did that as quickly as we could and then we were boarding. Woohooo!!!

 

Cass’s family stopped for a family boarding picture. I had promised Claire that I would not make her get pictures this cruise since we had bought the photo package last cruise and we had plenty….and they are still in their package. LOL.

 

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We waited for them and then off again.

 

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And Disney welcomed our families….and I did not even get my camera out!

 

Off to Cabana’s to meet up with the other gals.

 

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(I have been stealing some of Cass’s pictures)

 

Cass had said that Kira was shy, but she seemed full of personality to me. She was super friendly and nice. Claire is pretty quiet, especially around new people or strangers. I think Kira did most of the talking. LOL!

 

We walked right by the new Sweet on You ice-cream shop and I got a blurred picture.

 

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We found everyone and introductions were made. I met 3 of Jeanne’s kids for the first time, Patty’s husband, Fred and their kids and we kind of got settled. I instantly liked Fred. He was talking about something and the way he said it totally made me laugh.

 

Some of the kids were leaving and so we played musical chairs and got the rest of us bunched into the table and went off for some food.

 

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See that round brown lump next to my roll? That is the chocolate chip cookie now….what did they do with my precious cookies?????? It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the same either and I guess that is a good thing as I ate a lot less of them this trip.

 

Claire and I went to the bathroom at one point and Claire recognized Kwam, who was our assistant server last cruise. We told her we requested Ferdi and was she still working with him. Unfortunately not and she wasn’t even on the same rotation as we were, but she was pretty sure our rotation was the one Ferdi was currently on.

 

Claire and Kira.

 

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Jeanne and I went in search of dessert then and tried afew.

 

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Emily (Jeanne’s daughter) Kira and Claire.

 

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Jeanne’s daughters, Kelsey and Emily, were so friendly. Both are in their early 20’s and were so nice to the girls right off the bat. Emily is a big Harry Potter fan and it seemed her and Kira were bonding with their love of HP.

 

We all chatted a bit, but slowly people started leaving and the rooms were now open. Cass left and told Rob that he was not to come for another 10 minutes or so as she was going to take pictures of the room before he and Kira came down.

 

I started posting pictures to facebook and started getting questions..Are you ever coming home?......Um…This is only my 3rd day in FL…I haven’t been gone long….What? A cruise now? Um…again…I only was in the parks for 2 days….wait till they see how long this cruise is. Hahahaha.

 

After a bit, we left too and went down to check out our room….our first ocean view room (window, no balcony) on a Disney ship together. Claire has only been in balcony rooms and she was a little unsure about how the room would be. I have been in an ocean view on DCL before.

 

As we walked down to the room some kids were running…a full out run…down the hall and passed us. I said… “hey guys, no running in the halls!” and their reply was “Yes we can” and my reply was “No you can’t” and again “yes we can” and again I said “No you can’t, you can get in trouble for doing so”….and the little brats went in a room a few doors down from us. I was appalled at how they responded. I didn’t even say it meanly….just a heads up kind of way. I will tell you now…as I may forget later with all the incidences that happened…..but these kids were HORRIBLE!!!! And so was their family. They occupied at least 3 rooms after mine…and possibly a 4th. They ran up and down the hall all day and evening. We reported them 2-3 times by phone and going to guest services. Jeanne and Cass both reported them numerous times as well. At times, Grandpa was racing them down the hall. They played Frisbee in the hall. They played kick ball in the hall. The room next to me was loud a fewtimes…like the walls were breaking and I literally pounded on the connecting wall with both fists. They would turn the “please make up the room” signs to do not disturb. Jeanne caught them…with the parents and/or grandparents standing right there with them….as they slid down the staircase banisters. Someone (Maybe Cass) saw them laying on the floor of the elevator and would not move so people could get on.They just rode the elevator like that.

I have never seen kids so bad on a ship in all my life. This cruise seemed to have a lot more kids that misbehaved than any other cruise I have taken, but these kids were the worst of them all. I am not sure if it is because this was my first summer cruise and there were more kids….or we just had a bunch of entitled brats onboard.

It’s one thing if your kid is bad and then you find out and they then get lectured, lose privileges, or in major trouble back in the room….but the family was aware of what they were doing and at times participating. It was unbelievable!

 

It did NOT ruin my cruise at all though. I had a lot of fun, but I pretty much had to say something to the kids at LEAST once aday. Cass even recorded them on video.

 

So we made it to our room, 8020,….unaware that the brat kids down the hall would be an issue all cruise long…and we went in and I took some quick pictures.

 

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Claire quickly went to the window seat to check it out. It passed her inspection.

 

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This room is one of the bigger set up rooms. It was the same size room we had in Oct. minus the balcony we had then. It had a murphy pull down bed, but did not have an upper bunk. Claire wanted to sleep on the murphy.

 

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I didn’t take a ton of pictures as I have so many now over the years and the rooms look similar and the bathrooms pretty much the same. We had a round tub in our shower bathroom.

 

We headed back out to explore. We had set up the chat feature while we were eating, so we were able to message our friends. Brook I think was just arriving now. She had taken DCL transportation from Disney, which makes you arrive later.

She said she had a different dining rotation than us, which was weird because she requested the same server. She went to get it changed. They could gether in the same rotation, but not in the same area.

 

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At some point we met up with Cass, Rob, and Kira and headed off to the kids club to get the girls their bands. This would be the only time Claire ever had the band on…..I totally give up on clubs with her!

 

We went in and explored.

 

 

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The Fantasy had been in dry dock in May and some of the changes made were in the kids clubs.

 

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If I was a kid, I would love coming here.

 

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The Star Wars area is new.

 

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Exploring more of the club….Andy’s Room.

 

 

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The little kids club bathrooms are always so cute.

 

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This area is the walkway between the 2 clubs.

 

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Some activity was going on so I kind of pushed Claire to go watch.

 

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She wasn’t exactly happy, but I thought if she got involved she would open up.

 

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Then something with Stitch came on and Kira coaxed Claire to go watch with her. Claire is not a big Stitch fan really. Honestly she is at that phase where characters of any kind are just not “cool”. I hope she gets over it soon.

 

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And then we headed out. Claire informed me she would NOT be returning to the club at any time during this cruise. UGH!!! Really????? Why not? It looks so fun.

 

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We then wanted to check out the Vibe and Edge so we moved on.

 

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(some of the pictures with the girls are Cass’s)

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The Vibe kind of has a secret way to get to it and if you don’t know where to look you could easily miss it.

 

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I love the Vibe and wish we had a place like this too.LOL.

 

 

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I really don’t know how full this place ever gets, because it seems like these teens meet up and become friends but then hang out all over the ship rather than here.

 

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The Vibe also has a neat outdoor space. Again, I don’t know how much this is used and it should totally be an adult area.

 

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And back down the colorful hallway.

 

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We then headed to the pre-teen club…the Edge. Claire is eligible to go in either this club or the Oceaneer’s. She came here once in Oct with her cousin and neither one would ever go again. So this time I thought that she might possibly go back to Oceaneer’s with Kira….nope….she is a stubborn girl. She even told me at home she would give it a try this time….she lied.

 

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Kira however, desperately wanted to come to the Edge, but she was too young.

 

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It was actually bigger than I thought it was. Last year we only walked in the doorway and never went further than that.

 

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Look at the HUGE Jenga set.

 

 

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And the view from here.

 

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Jenga again…Claire loves this game at home.

 

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With the clubs toured, we still had a little bit of time before the Muster Drill. The girls went off together for a bit, but I gave Claire strict instructions to be back at the room at a certain time so I could pick her up to go with me to the drill.

 

I then went off on my own for about 20 minutes or so and then headed back to the room. Claire was there, a little early, but I think she worried about being late.

[CarrieAP]

Loving your trip report!! First sailing on the Fantasy in April so soaking up all the details. You've also sparked my fondness for the parks. Haven't been back in years so may be time for a revisit in 2019. Looking forward to the rest of your installments!!

[jenseib]

Loving your trip report!! First sailing on the Fantasy in April so soaking up all the details. You've also sparked my fondness for the parks. Haven't been back in years so may be time for a revisit in 2019. Looking forward to the rest of your installments!!

 

The Fantasy is a great ship! Have you sailed Disney before? If so, which ships? I have been on 3 of them, with the Wonder still eluding me. Hopefully in the next few years I can get myself on her too.

[jenseib]

Our bags had arrived, so I pulled them in and put a few things away and then we headed off to our Muster station for the drill. We were in the Walt Disney Theatre this time. Yay!!!!! It was super crowded though. I am glad we arrived early. We were near Cass and family…yay! But Jeanne’s family was late. I saw people were standing but she messaged me that she got one of the balcony box seats. I looked but there was a drape there but it looked like it was her between the crack in the drape. Sure enough, she messaged me and said she could see me through the crack. LOL.

 

After the drill we slowly made our way out. We walked out with Jeanne and went to the deck party.

 

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I was surprised at how empty the deck was for the party.

 

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This cruise had a lot of experienced DCL cruisers on it and my guess is that a lot of them have seen the party many times and didn’t need to see it again.

 

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This is Katelyn…and Claire pointed her right out. She ran bingo in Oct. and my family all loved her.

 

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Jeanne was much too hot and she headed off to cool offand Claire and I walked around and soon ran into Cass and family and Brook and family. We watched us sail away with them.

 

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Cass had put out a Canadian flag and a poster for some of her friends to see on the webcam.

 

Here is the video. It takes about a minute or so before the ship is really in front of the camera. We are at about minute 4:55 and on for about 25 seconds.

 

 

Cass also found this video taken by a droid. I can’t see us in it but she could.

 

 

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We stuck around a bit more for pictures.

 

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At some point the girls ran off together and I ran down with Rob and Cass to deck four to watch us sail out.

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We watched the pilot boat do its thing too.

 

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So Long Port Canaveral!!!! We’ll see you in 10 days!!!!!

 

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This was so exciting….it was a special sailing and we were going to have 3 extra days on the ship! WoooHoooo!!!!!!

 

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Rob got a picture of Cass and I…..it was so relaxing just watching the world go by.

 

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Cass and Rob.

 

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I sat down with them a bit, but I was too excited to sit for long. This group of crew all came by and it looked so cool with them all walking in their yellow suits, but I couldn’t get my camera our fast enough.

 

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And I was too antsy to sit for long, so I headed back to the room to get ready for the show tonight and to get our things all squared away.

 

Once it was time for the show, Claire and I headed down and bought 2 popcorn buckets (and brought our own water) and found a seat near Cass and family. I think Patty’s family sat near us and possibly Brooks. It’s hard to remember each night and who all came.

 

The show is a welcome aboard show and has a little story along with snippets of what to expect this cruise. It started with Mike our cruise director who got us excited for the cruise. I believe Mike is a new cruise director, but I really liked him a lot. He was a lot of fun and I saw him a few times on the ship and he would stop and talk to us each time. His wife and fairly new baby were onboard as well.

 

We got a snippet of a group called Six Appeal. They sang with no music, but made all the“music” sounds with their voices. They were AMAZING! I couldn’t believe they could do all that with just their voices. We did have to laugh at their attire though. ALL 6 of them had on really tight pants…..well tight in the crotch area…and we didn’t really have to imagine too much…let’s just say. Hahaha. But they were fun and really good. I had heard later that the cruise before uswas the first time they had been on with Disney, so we were their second sailing. I am pretty sure they will be back. They were well liked.

 

No pictures are allowed at the shows anymore, but at the end I always bring my phone up and take a few.

 

 

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After the show, I think Claire headed back to the room and I went off on my own for a little bit. One thing about summer cruises….it stays daylight late. I had never thought about that before…but of course it makes sense.

 

Once again, I never did get in the adult pool this cruise. One of these days I will get in this one or on the Dream….I have been in the one on the Magic, but it is set up differently.

 

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After a bit, I headed back to the room to finish getting ready for dinner and picking up Claire.

 

 

Our dinner tonight was in Animators Palete.

 

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We had a strange table that was shaped like an oval leaf, so each end was pretty narrow and in my opinion a bit awkward for those sitting on the end….which tonight was me.

 

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I think Cass sat across from me and Kira next to Claire. Kelsey and Emily arrived and recognized someone they knew from the Magic and went over to talk to him.

 

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Jeanne and Nick arrived then. Jeanne was a bit far from me, so it was hard to talk to her.