So several hours later we are multiple drinks in, kids have a sugar high from virgin daiquiris, and WE SAW SEA TURTLES!! Definitely the highlight for me! We’ve ordered room service for pre dinner dinner ( or dinner #1 as I call it) and we are going to relax on the balcony for a few hours. Tomorrow is a sea day.
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What an amazing report so far, thank you for sharing. It all looks so beautiful! Is it bad that we’re still yet to get on one cruise & I already have 3 itineraries I want to plan & do as quickly as our budget will possibly afford? The Fantasy with this kind of itinerary is one of those 3. And your report has cemented that.
Solidarity! We started DD3’s potty training a few weeks ago & it’s going really well on one front & not at all great on the 2nd. 
We’re hoping for marked improvement in the next few weeks so kids clubs are really a go for her. Right now we would wait until a certain mostly one time daily event has happened & then feel pretty good about sending her.
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OMG this was amazing and just the kind of content that was missing from my life. I am complete. And also 
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I keep thinking the same thing and almost skipped this whole tread, but I’m glad I didn’t!
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Y’all look fabulous!!
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Ok this itinerary seems pretty awesome. May have to investigate this sort of cruising… 
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We spent the evening seeing characters on the ship and then I got the worst headache of my life. I think I didn’t drink enough water yesterday and just got behind the 8 ball on hydration. I skipped dinner and took a nap while DH and the kids went to Royal court to eat.
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This morning time went back an hour so I’m about the only person on the ship awake. It’s quiet and so peaceful. There’s one other lady reading a book but otherwise just the crew. They are painting and cleaning like crazy. I’ve never seen a ship so well maintained. Here are some “everyone is asleep” cruise pictures.
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This would be my favorite time!
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Normally when I travel I am up by 5AM or so. It is the best time on a ship. I think they do so much maintenance between 3AM and 6AM. I saw carpet replaced one morning on Princess!
Vloggers are sometimes out at that time. Only empty time.
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@katielouhou it’s a ton of fun. Here’s the interesting part, apparently Eastern Carribean usually has rougher seas. Our local guide yesterday confirmed that. He called them the Christmas winds. We have been really lucky I guess. Overnight the waves have increased and I can feel the ship moving. It doesn’t bother us at all but we had to take the hangers out of the closet since they were rattling.
If you are in St Thomas I can’t say enough good things about Sunfari jeep adventures. They customize your day to your liking. Each beach has their own strengths so we chose 4 of them to see. And we had an amazing lunch and the best daiquiris. He took us to the mountain top for souvenirs. The girls loved that. And he made sure we were back at the ship 45 minutes prior to ashore time. He has 5 or 6 Jeeps in his fleet. The best part is they are locals so they know which stops to make to avoid the crowds. We did not go to Megans Bay since that is where the cruise ships all go. We drove by and it was crazy packed. All the beaches we went to were pretty empty and just had locals. Our cost for the whole day was $600 which was more than reasonable for all the things we got to see and do. And because you only go 25 mph on the island, he set up chairs on the back of the Jeep as well. I was not totally sold, but I rode in the back of a truck during my childhood and survived, so I let my mom worries go for the day. Our shuttle in Virgin Gorda had side swiped a car, but the Jeep was great. I was never nervous about his driving. All the locals know him, so he can get into any resort he wants for drinks/food or beach access. It’s the difference in someone owning their own business/vehicle versus someone driving for a big tour company. Bri loved it! Sunfari also does historical tours. This is us in the back of the jeep.
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Oh man
My favorite thing to do (also at resorts)
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Since honesty is important in the forum, let’s talk about negatives to cruising with Disney.
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After 11 pm the ship is dead. Everything closes down except the teen club. It’s kind of crappy my kids had more things to do after 11 than I did.
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Embarkation process was smooth. Everything is done online. The hiccups came with luggage delivery. We had all of our bags at our stateroom door but we also had 2 other bags that weren’t ours. We alerted the staff but after dinner they were still there. Knowing how I would feel if my bags were missing, we just took them up to their appropriate rooms ourselves. The room number is on the tag. We should not have had to do that but people were grateful. We had at least 3 others tell us their bags were lost as well.
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When you have your picture taken they scan your room badge. This isn’t negative but a new thing. Before they used to take a group photo when you got in the ship. Not anymore. I’m not sure how they handle groups traveling together.
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We’ve heard frequent sailors comment that they don’t think the customer service is as good. We have not experienced that ourselves, but this is only our 3rd cruise with Disney. I will say the waiters used to remember your drink requests and had it down by night 2. This hasn’t happened this cruise. Each night they asked us what we want to drink. They have offered to have the girls food brought out quickly so they can go to their clubs. They also offered to have my food ready to bring back to the room when I was missing last night. Overall we have been very happy with the customer service.
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Pin trading is not back. There is only one shop with a mystery pin box and you can trade 2 a day. We have had much better success walking around on floors where a lot of individual cabins have set up pin trading outside of their rooms.
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They only have three dining rooms, so you end up repeating them multiple times. It would be nice to have a bigger variety. We have chosen to skip the dining rooms a couple of nights and just eat pizza or burgers and fries at locations around the pool.
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Why am I still carrying around a room card on the lanyard? Why are there not magic bands on the ship?
The positives:
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The cleanliness is amazing.
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Characters are everywhere multiple times a day. Morning, evening, late at night. There are Plenty of chances to meet them.
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The shoes are fantastic and still as broadway quality as you can get on a cruise.
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They changed the menu nightly so that you don’t repeat the same menu, even though you repeat the same dining room.
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There is no casino to walk through or deal with. For us this is a huge positive.
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You can use your room card to pay for everything. You can also use a debit or credit card, but no cash on the ship.
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The buffet is back to normal and it’s as good as I remember it being.
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The aquaduck is a blast. One warning, though, is that often due to the winds they require double riders. So, if you have a single child, check the sign to see if a double rider is required before you send them alone. There is no single rider line so they will be turned away if they don’t have a companion.
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Getting on and off the ship at port is an absolute breeze. They have two planks open and there is never a wait.
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We chose is a deluxe family ocean view with a veranda. No regrets on the veranda. We have really enjoyed it. There is plenty of space for the four of us. Disney has split bathrooms, which make getting ready much easier. There is also a large curtain that divides the room for changing purposes, and for sleeping at night. If you are using beds for the kids, they will automatically come set your room up while you are at dinner.
I’m sure I will think of more things later, but if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.
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Also, the Wi-Fi. It was $24 for today. And it sucks. Disney does not have good Wi-Fi. I cannot imagine trying to actually work well on the ship. If Wi-Fi is important to you, then Disney is not your cruise.
Also, I have never been on the Wish but I have heard nothing but negative things about it from cruisers. The adults don’t feel like there are enough adult Areas that are large and the families did not feel that it was designed for the kids as well. So I don’t think will be cruising the Wish anytime soon based on reviews I have heard. That was disappointing as we were looking forward to trying a new ship. If you have been on it and feel that it is better than the fantasy or dream, let me know.
I’m also not sure that we will go back to a four or five day itinerary if we can avoid that. The seven day has been so much nicer.
The last point is that the cruise is definitely not more expensive for us than a week at Disney. Especially if you are staying deluxe. We were able to get a discount on this cruise, which did help, but just having everything included has been really nice. It helps to contain extra cost.
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Yup it’s TERRRRRRRRRRRRRRIBLE
I wouldn’t say I’ve only heard negative things, but people absolutely do not love it. It was a swing and a miss for DCL for all the reasons you mention. I loved the Dream (Fantasy’s sister).
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That is just wild to me that people don’t like it. I think the adults feel that serenity falls is much better on the dream/fantasy. But I can’t believe they would swing and miss in the kids area. That’s their specialty.
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ooh - hope you don’t mind my thoughts here! I love cruise talk.
The fact you still have energy after a full excursion day speaks to some heartier (younger) blood than I have. That said, I don’t like to go to bed before I know my kids are back!
You are good people. Seriously would have just done this myself, too. You likely improved their night immeasurably.
That’s too bad, and one of the “little things” servers are generally known across the board. I will say that yesterday I was on cruise critic and a frequent cruiser was just reminding readers how new workers are constantly starting and ending contracts. Your “most amazing crew ever” at table 110 could be across from “slowest team known to man” at table 112 and it’s all about timing.
Not everyone will do that as they serve in batches, so YAY for that! 
This is one thing that Disney already does ahead of everyone else with rotational dining. For the perk of having the same team and being served three courses, I don’t mind eating in the same location night after night, provided the menu changes. But with DCL, I love that they move you and your team through three locations. It is one of the two things I think DCL offers other lines do not.
If you really want fun dining variety, NCL is the way to go. We never ate in the same location twice and the variety was exceptional - French, Italian, Braziallian, Japanese, American steak house, etc. And there were so many activities, to boot. We loved the ropes course and waterpark. We currently have those photos as our screen savers on the desk top and the memories are the best.
TAN LINES!
Seriously, Princess line introduced “Medallion Class” about 5 years ago with their newer ships with that kind of technology and people fell apart.
This is the other area I give DCL all the props. If I could get the rotational dining and characters for a premium less than 300% I’d be back on tomorrow. I love meeting characters.
This is the area I want to learn to embrace. Maybe it will help my DCL mathing. 
We did like the shows we saw on our cruise, but had to miss one and maybe in general my audience was not the target demographic for our specific trip. (Girls too little, boys couldn’t care less.)
Did you have to sign a receipt each time? We did last weekend and I had forgotten if we had to do that last time.
These are both so helpful! They also include these features in many non-verandah rooms, as well. The curtain is not an industry standard.
That is awesome.
We had one tendering day in Belize once that I actually thought my family might throw me overboard if I made eye contact with any of them. It was not a great day.
That’s terrible. It seems so hit and miss across lines though. And locations on ships. I ended up finding my best wifi on the deck of all places.
Disney math is the best. LOL.
I had completely forgotten this! I always pick Western itineraries bc they are cheaper. Perhaps that has benefitted me in other ways as well.
As I sit here typing, three days after disembarking my own short cruise, I continue to bop and float through life. I hope this sensation passes soon. My family is invigorated for our upcoming trip in 72 days, but I am a little apprehensive at the moment. I haven’t felt well since 2/10 and it’s getting old.
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