Return from a 3 year hiatus!!
Disney Fantasy Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 20
9 Night Southern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: July 21, 2022
Ship: Disney Fantasy
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 8142
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
After a 3 year hiatus sailing again was well worth the wait. Being away from the stress and watching as we sailed along to the Southern Caribbean was magical. This being the fifth Disney cruise, there are things to look for and take note of. One thing that was lacking was the Port Adventures staff. They were not useful and rarely opened. On a 9 night cruise many may think that you will find time to talk with them, but that was rarely the case as they were open just before port arrival for about an hour and a half and from 7-8:30 PM. I’m guessing this is because of staffing shortages, but the Port Adventures staff did not do the best the could. More to be discussed later. Adult entertainment was lacking and much less than it used to be. Repeat shows, etc.Embarkation
We were a group of 7 that all had different port arrival times. The staff at the port was very nice and let us all stay together with the most senior sailor, aka the Platinum member of the group.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food on this cruise could not have been better. Each night was something different. Being the longest cruise my family has ever been on, the new additions to the menus on certain days were very nice, and did not feel as repetitive as other sailings. The food got better night after night, and the recommendations from the waitstaff got better and better as they began to understand what the group liked and didn’t like.
Onboard Activities
The adult activities is the reason why onboard activities has 4/5. One example is that on one night Taylor Mason performed in the Tube at 10:30PM, but the next night, he performed the same exact show in the same exact spot at the same exact time. The adult entertainment was definitely lacking as compared to previous cruises with DCL. Everything else seemed back to normal. Sea days saw up to 199 activities throughout the day, and port days around 135. There were few times when someone would ever be bored.
Entertainment
Entertainment was a bit lacking on some days. The following was a list of the entertainment productions in the Walt Disney Theater each night, as well as the rating I would give each variety act, and or show depending on whether we attended it:
July 21st (1): Taylor Mason Rating: 5/5
July 22nd (2): Aladdin Rating: N/A
July 23rd (3): Eric Jones Rating: 5/5
July 24th (4): Buckets N Boards Rating: 4/5
July 25th (5): Thor Love and Thunder Rating: N/A
July 26th (6): Charles Peachock Rating: 5/5
July 27th (7): Moonshot Rating: 2/5
July 28th (8): Frozen Rating: 5/5
July 29th (9): Believe Rating: N/A
Children's Programs
Kids clubs were fine. Don’t see a reason why there would be a reduction in stars. Oceaneers Club and Lab, and Edge were open from 9-12 everyday, and Vibe was open from 11-12. No complaints.
Service and Staff
The port adventures staff results in the loss of a star. As mentioned multiple times, they failed to address the problem we had on our tour in St. Maarten. The desk was barely open, and they were hard to contact if you ever needed anything. In total, they were open 3 hours a day. from 9-10:30 AM and from 7-8:30 PM. Other than the port adventures staff, everyone else was fantastic. Our waitstaff, Putra and Marcel were extraordinary. They really got to know us and we got to know them. We always looked forward to dinner because we wanted to see what they would recommend because each night they knew exactly what we would and would not like.
Ship Quality
Nothing to add. Ship was always clean. Workers were always wiping down surfaces, cleaning restrooms. It felt safe.
Cabin / Stateroom
Room exceeded expectations. We had the Deluxe Family Veranda that slept 5 people. The room was very spacious, 299 square feet. We had three rooms next to each other so the stateroom host took down the three partitions to make it one big veranda. These rooms were great, and we would all 100% get them again.
Ports of call
Port Canaveral is a very easy port to navigate in and out of. The reason it received 4/5 and not a 5/5 is the disembarkation process. Disembarking the ship was slow and chaotic. The line for customs backed up all the way to the main shopping area on the ship (Deck 3 Forward) and did not move for 30-45 minutes. The arrival at the port was relatively easy, but it was just a bit complex making sure our group was able to stay together as we had some first time cruisers and repeat cruisers. Other than that it was seamless.
Thumbs Up
0
Last time I visited St. Thomas was in 2016, and I did not have an excursion. This time since we were traveling with a larger group we decided to visit Magens Bay. The beach was beautiful, lounge chairs were reserved for everyone on the Fantasy, and the water was pristine. Yes the beach was crowded, but it didn’t faze any of us in the group and we all had a great day at the beach. We would all 100% go back.
Beautiful port. My favorite by far. It was the first time that any Disney ship sailed to Dominica, and it was by far the best out of them all. Our group of 7 went whale watching. Unlike the previous day in St. Maarten, a port which DCL has visited for years, the tour guides in Dominica were respectful, knowledgeable, and genuinely glad to help us out and make sure we had a good time. Dominica far exceeded my expectations 10/10 recommend.
Castaway Cay (Disney Private Island)
There is one reason why Castaway received 4/5. The ship was scheduled to arrive at 10AM, and we did, but that did not account for the 30-45 minutes it takes to unload all the staff, food, etc. We had booked a banana boat ride for 10AM and expected they would still allow us to ride as it wasn’t our fault we couldn’t show up at 10AM. We got to check in around 10:55 and the lady was very rude, said they are all booked and we should have been there at 10 but because our ship was late they couldn’t accommodate us even though we had booked the excursion. We then attempted parasailing which was not surprisingly cancelled, and then we swam with the stingrays which was awesome.
3/5 for two reasons. First reason is the excursion that we attended was not what was advertised by the cruise line. I partially blame DCL for one reason. The Port Adventures staff didn’t seem to go out of their way to fix the problem. They gave us free float rentals on Castaway and didn’t want to budge after telling them that we paid $100 per person for zip lining and the floats on Castaway are roughly $13. The Port Adventures staffs solution to the problem take away a star and the fact that the tour was not what was advertised by the company in St. Maarten takes another star away. The company that ran the tour was possibly named Rainforest Adventures, can’t remember because the tour was just that memorable. They were very disorganized and I would definitely do your own research based off the experience we had with this company.
We were originally scheduled to go swim with stingrays but decided against it because of how long the tour was. On this day the group decided to stay lowkey as Palo Brunch was scheduled on an unexpected day because usually they are Days at Sea and not port days. The brunch was exquisite, the best it has ever been. After the brunch we all got off the ship and went shopping around the local port area. The people were a bit rude, but this port won’t loose stars because if they didn’t have something you wanted they knew where to send you. Antigua will forever have one of the most beautiful sailaways ever. The pictures and videos captured were magnificent and this port will claim the title of most beautiful for the entire trip.
Disembarkation
Chaoitc madhouse. Line backed up all the way from customs to deck 3 forward and did not move for 30-40 minutes. Apparently there were only two customs workers according to the people on the facebook group, so once we got a porter it was pretty easy because they went to the line where we were just waved through. But waiting to get to the bag claim area was a nightmare.
Traveler Photos
