Just back from the Fantasy - the good , the bad, and the ugly! Any questions?

[Clojel]

The best change was the self serve ice cream was not self-serve!!!! No little kids messing up the ice cream station.

Agree!! I actually am one of the few that is perfectly fine with EVERYTHING being served. I always prefer my food to have been touched by as few people as possible... and *most* kids are an absolute disaster serving themselves anything!!

 

[Elsa75]

I am sorry if I missed this somewhere but do they do testing onboard?? Wondering because they mention this in the fine print and I am wondering what happens if you do test positive - we are sailing in Feb and I am optimistic but also not keen on drifting for weeks if there is an outbreak on board!

 

[FigmentSpark]

Do they still allow magnets on the doors?

 

[Kwami]

I am sorry if I missed this somewhere but do they do testing onboard?? Wondering because they mention this in the fine print and I am wondering what happens if you do test positive - we are sailing in Feb and I am optimistic but also not keen on drifting for weeks if there is an outbreak on board!

They test unvaccinated children on cruises of 5 nights or more. I don't remember which day they test on, but it's towards the end, somewhere around day 5. They also test anyone that reports to the medical facilities with symptoms or anyone in close contact with someone who has tested positive. This could happen, for example, if a child was at the kids' club at the same time as another child that tests positive.

If you or someone in your stateroom tests positive, then you will all be moved to another stateroom on the quarantine deck (lately, deck 2 or deck 5). It almost surely won't be a verandah room. You won't be allowed to leave that room until the end of the cruise. Staff will bring your food. The door will be guarded.

If you aren't willing to take that risk, then it's probably best to stick with shorter cruises or not cruise at this time.

Do they still allow magnets on the doors?

Yes.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

Castaway Cay was awesome as always. We parasailed and really enjoyed that. We booked 120 days out - it was cancelled but then pixie dust happened and we were able to re-schedule onboard.

Kathy

Wait, you actually got to parasail on Castaway?!?
I've been keeping an eye on it and up till now had yet to find confirmation of anyone parasailing since late 2019 (they kept canceling).

 

[Avasmama]

Will they let younger children into edge? My daughter is 10 1/2 years old.

 

[SnowWhite2]

Will they let younger children into edge? My daughter is 10 1/2 years old.

This is always on a case by case basis if room/staff is available.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Wait, you actually got to parasail on Castaway?!?
I've been keeping an eye on it and up till now had yet to find confirmation of anyone parasailing since late 2019 (they kept canceling).

I just got off the January 8 through January 16. No parasailing either day at CC

 

[Cheburashka]

Do they still allow magnets on the doors?

Absolutely.

 

[jujubiee4]

Wait, you actually got to parasail on Castaway?!?
I've been keeping an eye on it and up till now had yet to find confirmation of anyone parasailing since late 2019 (they kept canceling).

I'm wondering about this also. We don't want to book until this comes back.

 

[Nemos2010]

Were characters walking through the dining room? I watched someone’s youtube video and characters were walking around at dinner (not necessarily stopping, but waving and walking by)?

This video also showed open house at Oceaneers Club. Did they have Open House?

 

[wideeyedwonder]

We were on the same cruise with you, and did the "stay in Cocoa Beach" for several days before, with another family (best friends). One of the best vacations we have had, I'd consider staying in Cocoa again for a future cruise.

 

[Vcize]

How do they make ship capacity 40% when it was booked up beyond that ahead of time? For instance when we booked our cruise for April back before the advisory there were only a few staterooms left. If it's at 90% now are they canceling people down to 40%, or was it just empty because so many people had decided to cancel or been turned away due to a positive test.

 

[chorbus]

Thanks for the info! 1820 club sounds fantastic.

 

[ekms]

We're on a 7-day eastern on the Fantasy, with stops in San Juan and St. Maarten. I expect our port stops to change (prob to Nassau and Mexico), so I'm working to do a little pre-research just in case.

Since you had port changes in your itinerary, how easy was it to book last-minute excursions? Were there excursions being offered by Disney? Thanks!

 

[Clojel]

How do they make ship capacity 40% when it was booked up beyond that ahead of time? For instance when we booked our cruise for April back before the advisory there were only a few staterooms left. If it's at 90% now are they canceling people down to 40%, or was it just empty because so many people had decided to cancel or been turned away due to a positive test.

I’m not positive but I don’t think they’re canceling anyone to get it down to 40%. I think enough people are just voluntarily cancelling/rescheduling bc of covid hesitancy, vaccine reluctance, less activities to do on board, etc…that it’s been keeping the numbers low.

 

[lanejudy]

not keen on drifting for weeks if there is an outbreak on board!

While requirements to stop at various other locations can and do vary, with some ships denied porting, you won't be stuck onboard for weeks like occurred in spring 2020. The home port will accept the ship back.

or was it just empty because so many people had decided to cancel or been turned away due to a positive test.

This. It's an unconfirmed assumption that capacity has been intentionally kept low. To my knowledge, low capacity on some cruises has been due to low demand -- people cancelling and/or testing positive. I believe each of the DCL ships has had at least one cruise earlier this fall with capacity of at least 60%. Yes, some staterooms are blocked from booking to be used as quarantine and/or staff quarters, but otherwise DCL continues to accept new reservations on almost all cruises.

 

[Elsa75]

We were on the same cruise with you, and did the "stay in Cocoa Beach" for several days before, with another family (best friends). One of the best vacations we have had, I'd consider staying in Cocoa again for a future cruise.

We always do this for a night or 2 before the cruise - coming from Canada we can never be sure about the winter weather and flights, and it is nice to start vacation early without stress, pick up all the sunscreen etc that we didn't want to pack in luggage. Cocoa beach is the best start to the holiday!

 

[Kwami]

We're on a 7-day eastern on the Fantasy, with stops in San Juan and St. Maarten. I expect our port stops to change (prob to Nassau and Mexico), so I'm working to do a little pre-research just in case.

Since you had port changes in your itinerary, how easy was it to book last-minute excursions? Were there excursions being offered by Disney? Thanks!

Since the itinerary change as so close to embarkation day, port adventures couldn't be booked in advance. You had to book them onboard through the phone app.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Are they still providing free towels for excursions and on deck or should we pack our own towels?

Also, I assume bottled water is still available for sale (at the inflated prices)? We like them for excursions.

And do they still have the stamp card for purchased coffees and are they allowing you to finish off your stamp card from previous cruises?