5.5.2018 Eastern Fantasy Grand Slam

[pezgirlroy]

Sea Day 2 - Character Breakfast, Princess Gathering and Wine Tasting. Our only prior experience with the Character Breakfast was on the classic ship and it seemed to go a bit more quickly than this one. This one went smoothly, however, there was so much more physical ground to cover that we found that we were done with breakfast well before the last two characters came around. It was no big deal and a great way to relax and wait for the characters to arrive - Sofia, Jake, Doc and Mickey. Everyone was asked to sit down while taking photos so characters could get through all the tables quickly, most people listened and went along smoothly. The Princess Gathering was the same as every ship we have been on, 4 princesses except we were delighted to see Ariel as this was our first time with her. The experience was nice but Cinderella was not the friendliest, she seemed annoyed. Princesses were Tiana, Belle, Ariel, and Cinderella.

Wine Tasting - This was really enjoyable and educational. It was the perfect amount of time and number of wines (6). Duncan, the sommelier, was fantastic and funny - I made sure to mention him on the comment card.
View attachment 322284

We loved Duncan. Guilty pleasure show but have you ever watched Below Deck? Half way through our Champagne tasting my husband says is it just me or does he remind you of Ben from Below Deck?

 

[lklgoodman]

I have a question about the strawberries. At home my dd eats a bowl of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries with every meal. The last time we were on the Fantasy(2017) we were unable to find these at any restaurants except one morning they had some strawberries. My dd gets really constipated when she doesn't eat these, especially when we are on 7night cruises. When you made the request did you go to the place where you can make dining requests when you first board or did you just ask your serving team on the first night? I know they have lots of other types of fruits on board, but she doesn't care for bananas, apples or any of the fruits. Thanks.

 

[hanscarlet]

We loved Duncan. Guilty pleasure show but have you ever watched Below Deck? Half way through our Champagne tasting my husband says is it just me or does he remind you of Ben from Below Deck?

Oh my goodness, how have I never heard of this show Below Deck??? I love studying the lives of the crew, I find it fascinating, thanks for the recommendation. We overheard Duncan talking to a passenger about how they live near each other in Ontario, Canada. Sounds like his GF brought him there.

 

[hanscarlet]

I have a question about the strawberries. At home my dd eats a bowl of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries with every meal. The last time we were on the Fantasy(2017) we were unable to find these at any restaurants except one morning they had some strawberries. My dd gets really constipated when she doesn't eat these, especially when we are on 7night cruises. When you made the request did you go to the place where you can make dining requests when you first board or did you just ask your serving team on the first night? I know they have lots of other types of fruits on board, but she doesn't care for bananas, apples or any of the fruits. Thanks.

For us we put it in the special request notes section BEFORE the cruise. Then on the ship the first night we emphasize we need her bowl of strawberries when they ask for dietary restrictions, tell them it is a dietary requirement to have them. The first night of the last three cruises we've been on, we've had a delay in getting them but sure enough by night two they are there and ready to go before we sit down. We also order them from room service for breakfast on the door hanger that we set out on the night before.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Oh my goodness, how have I never heard of this show Below Deck??? I love studying the lives of the crew, I find it fascinating, thanks for the recommendation. We overheard Duncan talking to a passenger about how they live near each other in Ontario, Canada. Sounds like his GF brought him there.

Just keep in mind it is a "reality" show on Bravo so there is a lot of manufactured drama but it is fun.

 

[lklgoodman]

For us we put it in the special request notes section BEFORE the cruise. Then on the ship the first night we emphasize we need her bowl of strawberries when they ask for dietary restrictions, tell them it is a dietary requirement to have them. The first night of the last three cruises we've been on, we've had a delay in getting them but sure enough by night two they are there and ready to go before we sit down. We also order them from room service for breakfast on the door hanger that we set out on the night before.

Thanks for the info, I wasn't sure how to do it, making the request before the cruise makes a lot of sense. We nearly missed the Frozen meet and greet because she was having "issues" right when it was time to leave for the greeting.

 

[hanscarlet]

Thanks for the info, I wasn't sure how to do it, making the request before the cruise makes a lot of sense. We nearly missed the Frozen meet and greet because she was having "issues" right when it was time to leave for the greeting.

It feels like it carries more weight when it's in the notes and it also came in handy for the Royal Tea, a time when we didn't have access to our traditional serving team and had that not been in the notes, my DD would have had nothing to eat at tea because of her picky ways with food (she's ASD and has food sensory issues)

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Great review, Erin! Love the pictures. Love your attitude! Love the feedback on the wine tastings. We'll have to try that next time.

As for public illness, I would like to offer my support and encouragement. As a life-long sufferer of motion sickness, I've had more than my share of public illness, and I can tell you that for every person you might see who is put off by what they see, there are 10 more who are quietly supportive of what you are going through. Glad she did well on the plane!

 

[hanscarlet]

Great review, Erin! Love the pictures. Love your attitude! Love the feedback on the wine tastings. We'll have to try that next time.

As for public illness, I would like to offer my support and encouragement. As a life-long sufferer of motion sickness, I've had more than my share of public illness, and I can tell you that for every person you might see who is put off by what they see, there are 10 more who are quietly supportive of what you are going through. Glad she did well on the plane!

Thank you! Duncan said the wine tasting we signed up for was the only one offered on the ship so not sure if it's not a popular enough one but ours was fully booked. That's good advice regarding the quiet support, that makes me feel good!

 

[TestingH2O]

Thanks for your review. Sorry about the sickness but hopefully she's on the mend.

 

[Trera]

Great report! We are booked on the Fantasy next year and cant wait.

 

[crichardson11]

Thanks for your review. We are cruising on the Fantasy for the first time on Saturday. I'm a little nervous after hearing about all of the sickness but hopefully everything is back to normal now.

 

[RennDisney]

Thanks for your honest and candid review ... great report! We were on this sailing too and had a fantastic time! So sorry to hear about your DD. Hope she’s feeling better now. Although there was a lot chatter on the FB page, I didn’t read the comments until I was home. My husband would tell me things, but since I needed to “unplug & unwind”, I focused on having a relaxing vacation ... and made sure my family washed their hands. I was so impressed by how hard the crew worked.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Thanks for the review!

 

[hanscarlet]

Thanks for your review. We are cruising on the Fantasy for the first time on Saturday. I'm a little nervous after hearing about all of the sickness but hopefully everything is back to normal now.

You will have a magical time! One of the best ships in the fleet in my opinion and it will be clean, they probably deep scrubbed it last weekend after my cruise and they will do it again this weekend before you get on the ship. Just bring a good medicine packet (we bring it on every ship we on) full of airborne, advil, dramamine, bonine, cold medicine, antibacterial wipes, purel. My husband and youngest daughter (and myself) are all (knock on wood), not sick and virus free. My oldest daughter has a sensory thing with licking her fingers because she's on the Autism Spectrum, it's hard to explain to her the importance of not doing that on the ship, we're hoping this experience will be a learning lesson for her. Have a fantastic cruise! Would love to hear your trip report based on your past experience with DCL and being a first timer on the Fantasy like me.

 

[Billinaz]

Shortly after the captain came on the announced a bunch of stuff I didn't understand, something to the effect of, "Crew members, code Charlie, code red, go to stations"… View attachment 322295

It wasnt the Captain, and it was Red parties, Red Parties, Deck Charlie".

Then Captain Thord came on and gave a brief explanation on what happened.

 

[hanscarlet]

It wasnt the Captain, and it was Red parties, Red Parties, Deck Charlie".

Then Captain Thord came on and gave a brief explanation on what happened.

What does that statement mean and who is the one who came on to say it? just curious as to how it all works

 

[Billinaz]

What does that statement mean and who is the one who came on to say it? just curious as to how it all works

Ive heard this one before too....

 

[bahogg]

5E GTY - 8682 Stateroom Review - We got very lucky with our 5E verandah - it was stateroom 8682 and it was huge! Really a pleasurable place to spend time. Only complaints were that sometimes you could smell the smoke from the smoke stacks above and also our neighbors were big star gazing fans so twice they asked us to keep our verandah lights off so they could look at the stars. It wasn't a big deal and they were polite about it but it made me wonder if the aft ships may be more negatively impacted by neighboring room's lights due to the wide layout? Something to keep in mind if you're a star gazing fan.

We had stateroom 8682 the cruise after you. Loved the room, the bathroom not as much. Like to have the split bathroom but it was definately a spacious bathroom. Going back on the Fantasy in Dec 19 but was unable to get this room again. Bummer! Your trip report gives me a little more insight about our boarding late. We had heard from friends about the Norovirus outbreak. The flew in that morning to take the DCL bus to the port but they held everyone at the airport. They were told they didn't want to overload the terminal with people because they didn't start the boarding process till about 12pm ( a half hour later than normal) because they were 'fumigating' areas of the ship because of the Norovirus. I don't know if fumigating is the right word but you get the jist. Enjoyed your trip report!

 

[Billinaz]

We had stateroom 8682 the cruise after you. Loved the room, the bathroom not as much. Like to have the split bathroom but it was definately a spacious bathroom. Going back on the Fantasy in Dec 19 but was unable to get this room again. Bummer! Your trip report gives me a little more insight about our boarding late. We had heard from friends about the Norovirus outbreak. The flew in that morning to take the DCL bus to the port but they held everyone at the airport. They were told they didn't want to overload the terminal with people because they didn't start the boarding process till about 12pm ( a half hour later than normal) because they were 'fumigating' areas of the ship because of the Norovirus. I don't know if fumigating is the right word but you get the jist. Enjoyed your trip report!

They were literally bathing the walls with disinfectant. You got disinfected just walking down the floor on some decks.