Well, funny story- at that time, I was actually working for the company in event planning. The Cast Member that usually handled onboard merchandise events wasn't interested in working on the ship for that particular event for some reason, so I was tapped to do it- it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time as I found out only a few days prior to sailing that I would be working the event. I had never worked an event on any of the ships before- I had only previously been onboard the other ships as a guest- and was totally expecting a shared room in the crew quarters or something like that, but low and behold, I was assigned stateroom 7670- with a veranda, second seating for dining- the whole nine yards! It felt like some kind of mistake! Admittedly, the first couple of days were a complete blur because there was a ton of work to be done (at one point I worked so late I was accidentally locked in the onboard store named "White Caps") , but by Day 3, I was told I my work on the ship was complete and I could just enjoy the rest of the cruise. It was so exciting!!! I had only been on the Magic and the Wonder up to that point so the Fantasy just blew me away! The surreal moment was seeing Bob Iger and his wife at Castaway Cay. Larry the Cable Guy was on board doing announcements as Mater!
That cruise didn't count toward my Platinum status as the company paid for it (and thank goodness too- I could only imagine how much that bill would've been!), but thankfully it shows up in my list of past cruises on the
DCL website- I call that my "stowaway cruise"
Though I left the company years ago, I still enjoy going on the cruises!