MomOTwins
The Mommy Fairy
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2018
Hi there! We just got back from our 11/9 Fantasy Western Caribbean cruise and I wanted to share a few thoughts. I remember a big stressor for me was the difficulty of choosing DCL excursions with a four year old given the age requirements, so I especially wanted to report back on those for others in the same "boat" (haha). Overall it was a really amazing experience and I am very glad we went on the cruise, so my critiques of the less-than-ideal aspects below did not really detract from the overall experience.
Dining
Our dining service team really blew us away. Our server, Johnny, was like a magician: he could tell right away if someone didn't love their dish and brought a replacement, and always had some kind of thoughtful extra step that I would never have thought to ask for (e.g., shelling my shrimp on my seafood pasta). We had amazing table mates as well and are so glad we didn't opt for a private table--I have a feeling we will be lifelong friends. My only complaint with dinner was that the Dine & Play at early seating never materialized--we only saw it at the late dining, which is too bad because I was looking forward to it being offered at early dinner as well since it was listed in the first-day navigator.
Entertainment
The Frozen show newly offered on the Fantasy blew us away. The others were nice too, but Frozen is really special.
The kids really loved the kids club, and from the open house and pickups, I can see why. The character interactions are very elaborate (e.g., Dr. Strange teaching children to open a portal; tinkerbell leading kids in a talent show). And the star wars simulator is incredible. Also, I splurged on the Princess Tea for my princess-obsessed youngest son (I was able to request the "princess" rather than "prince" theme for him and it was allowed, in case anyone else in the same boat), and was amazed at what an amazing experience it was. He kept asking every day of the cruise if he could go to tea with the princesses again and he loves playing with his princess dolls, charms, and music box.
The Merrytime aspect was just so-so for us. Most of the events were in the atrium between early and late dinner, and they were PACKED. We were sandwiched in elbow to elbow (someone pushing through actually knocked over my child), and so many kids had to be raised on shoulders blocking the view for everyone. We went to a few and then avoided the atrium like a plague whenever there was a Christmassy thing. And I know the ship was not crowded because we had plenty of room on the pool deck at sail away and on pirate night, and the pools were always pretty quiet--it was only the Christmas events that were a nightmare. We did do the gingerbread men, and it wasn't the greatest either. They only gave white icing and one (!) kind of candy for decoration, and the cookies tasted like cardboard. I think this is the last "themed" cruise I will do.
Ports
We did the following excursions, which were a range of experiences from terrible to incredible:
Cozumel: Cozumel Ruins & Discover Mexico DCL excursion. This was just awful. The ruins on Cozumel are nothing like the mainland and are just a few piles of rocks. The site was absolutely overrun with mosquitos, and even though we blanketed ourselves in Off spray, I counted over 40 mosquito bites on one leg alone. The tour then stopped at a museum which was fine but nothing to write home about, where we had a just-okay lunch (tacos, not very flavorful) and a piñata activity (ok, but I wish they had waited for the kids to break it instead of giving the kids one turn and then the tour guide breaking it), and then a third location with a chocolate demonstration, which was interesting for us but disappointed the kids, as the historically authentic chocolate is grainy and bitter. At every stop, the tour guide pushed everyone to go shopping at the end for tourist-y junk at the gift shop. We declined, but had to wait for 30 minutes for everyone else to shop at each stuff, and ended up getting back to the ship almost 2 hours late, which we were very unhappy about as we had planned activities on the ship for the afternoon that we missed.
Grand Cayman: SeaWorld Semi-Submarine. This was fun. There was a great view of the shipwreck and fish. But it is a very short excursion (about 40 mins), and a long transport process there and back due to tendering and waiting for the excursion meet-up at the port (about 1.5 hours), so next time I'd either stay on the boat at Grand Cayman or spend more time on land.
Falmouth: Deluxe Jewel Beach. This was amazing. The beach was gorgeous, the pools and lazy river were beautiful, and the food was out of this world (especially the local food specialties like grilled pineapple pork and meat pastries). The views from the bus are gorgeous too so we did not mind the long drive. It was the most expensive and longest (full day) excursion, but worth every penny.
One parting thought: I did miss the stateroom navigator delivery, since you can see the movie times, characters, and activities all in one place on paper but not on the phone. I made a run to get one before breakfast every morning, but the in room delivery was much more convenient.
Dining
Our dining service team really blew us away. Our server, Johnny, was like a magician: he could tell right away if someone didn't love their dish and brought a replacement, and always had some kind of thoughtful extra step that I would never have thought to ask for (e.g., shelling my shrimp on my seafood pasta). We had amazing table mates as well and are so glad we didn't opt for a private table--I have a feeling we will be lifelong friends. My only complaint with dinner was that the Dine & Play at early seating never materialized--we only saw it at the late dining, which is too bad because I was looking forward to it being offered at early dinner as well since it was listed in the first-day navigator.
Entertainment
The Frozen show newly offered on the Fantasy blew us away. The others were nice too, but Frozen is really special.
We also really liked all the little shows in the D lounge like Mirror Mirror.
I do wish the ending of Aladdin wasn't quite so scary--the new movie did away with the horrifying giant snake but it was still in the show. My youngest son just buried his face in his hands but there lots of terrified children screaming and crying in the audience. The kids really loved the kids club, and from the open house and pickups, I can see why. The character interactions are very elaborate (e.g., Dr. Strange teaching children to open a portal; tinkerbell leading kids in a talent show). And the star wars simulator is incredible. Also, I splurged on the Princess Tea for my princess-obsessed youngest son (I was able to request the "princess" rather than "prince" theme for him and it was allowed, in case anyone else in the same boat), and was amazed at what an amazing experience it was. He kept asking every day of the cruise if he could go to tea with the princesses again and he loves playing with his princess dolls, charms, and music box.
The Merrytime aspect was just so-so for us. Most of the events were in the atrium between early and late dinner, and they were PACKED. We were sandwiched in elbow to elbow (someone pushing through actually knocked over my child), and so many kids had to be raised on shoulders blocking the view for everyone. We went to a few and then avoided the atrium like a plague whenever there was a Christmassy thing. And I know the ship was not crowded because we had plenty of room on the pool deck at sail away and on pirate night, and the pools were always pretty quiet--it was only the Christmas events that were a nightmare. We did do the gingerbread men, and it wasn't the greatest either. They only gave white icing and one (!) kind of candy for decoration, and the cookies tasted like cardboard. I think this is the last "themed" cruise I will do.
Ports
We did the following excursions, which were a range of experiences from terrible to incredible:
Cozumel: Cozumel Ruins & Discover Mexico DCL excursion. This was just awful. The ruins on Cozumel are nothing like the mainland and are just a few piles of rocks. The site was absolutely overrun with mosquitos, and even though we blanketed ourselves in Off spray, I counted over 40 mosquito bites on one leg alone. The tour then stopped at a museum which was fine but nothing to write home about, where we had a just-okay lunch (tacos, not very flavorful) and a piñata activity (ok, but I wish they had waited for the kids to break it instead of giving the kids one turn and then the tour guide breaking it), and then a third location with a chocolate demonstration, which was interesting for us but disappointed the kids, as the historically authentic chocolate is grainy and bitter. At every stop, the tour guide pushed everyone to go shopping at the end for tourist-y junk at the gift shop. We declined, but had to wait for 30 minutes for everyone else to shop at each stuff, and ended up getting back to the ship almost 2 hours late, which we were very unhappy about as we had planned activities on the ship for the afternoon that we missed.
Grand Cayman: SeaWorld Semi-Submarine. This was fun. There was a great view of the shipwreck and fish. But it is a very short excursion (about 40 mins), and a long transport process there and back due to tendering and waiting for the excursion meet-up at the port (about 1.5 hours), so next time I'd either stay on the boat at Grand Cayman or spend more time on land.
Falmouth: Deluxe Jewel Beach. This was amazing. The beach was gorgeous, the pools and lazy river were beautiful, and the food was out of this world (especially the local food specialties like grilled pineapple pork and meat pastries). The views from the bus are gorgeous too so we did not mind the long drive. It was the most expensive and longest (full day) excursion, but worth every penny.
One parting thought: I did miss the stateroom navigator delivery, since you can see the movie times, characters, and activities all in one place on paper but not on the phone. I made a run to get one before breakfast every morning, but the in room delivery was much more convenient.
