flynnsport

How much is a day pass for the spa? Thanks

40 bucks, 149 for the week. I didnt get the week pass as we wouldn't have had time to go every day.

The coupon was good for anywhere on the ship up to $9. We used ours at dinner and the drinks were no different. You just sign a normal slip with 0.00 on it. Actually mine was for .29 cents as I got a Carnival cosmo that cost 9.25.

This was our sixth cruise on Carnival and must say we had some of the best service ever. Had my wife, 15 yr old daughter and 2 year old son. The Dream is a beautiful ship, but could really use some of the 2.0 upgrades. Overall a tremendous experience and you will not be disappointed with the big ship. Those of you considering faster to the fun...IT IS WORTH EVERY PENNY! One thing we found interesting is Carnival no longer provides envelopes to put gratuity coupons in/extra cash tips. So the staff never knows who has paid their gratuities. Apparently passengers claimed the envelopes made them uncomfortable. We have always paid our gratuities ahead of time or billed them to the room, in the future we are going to take them off our account and pay them directly to the staff.

Embarkation: We drove down the morning of the cruise (2.5 hours). Arrived at the terminal at 11 a.m. Parked in the Erato garage (112.00). Porter took the bags. Zipped through security and check in and went straight onboard. Since we had FTTF we were in our balcony room (9434) at 11:45! Muster drill was a breeze as we staged in Teen Club O2.

Cabin: Balcony 9434. Awesome location. right around the corner from the stairs/elevator. Up one deck and you are right at the aft pool, deli, tandoor and buffet. Occasional noise from above (we were right below the deli) but not very noticeable. Room steward (Putu) was awesome. Cabin always spotless, fresh towels all the time, and he always asked if there was anything we needed. Best air conditioning on a ship EVER.

Dining: Buffet was a bit boring. Not bad, just boring.

Pasta bar upstairs was good. (Don't get the alfredo sauce as it is very soupy)

Deli was very good.

Pizza, the best we've ever had on a ship.

Mongolian Wok, great food LONG WAITS.

Dining Room, (Scarlet early) hit and miss. Elegant night menus and last night were excellent. The other nights less than stellar. Great service (Imade, Putu and Alan)

Room service, great timing and very fast!

Activities: Camp Carnival staff were excellent and our 2 yo had great fun. We also did the Seuss at Sea parade, Cat in the Hat reading and breakfast. Breakfast is 5 bucks and worth it as you get pictures with the Cat, Thing 1, Thing 2, and Sam I am. They serve Filet with eggs! as well as green eggs and ham, waffles, french toast...

Minature golf was a blast, casino entertaining but VERY SMOKY.

SPA: You must get a day pass. Three story Thalassopy pool, aroma steam room, heated tile loungers.

Pools: more than 600 kids under 18 on the ship but the pools were never overly crowded.

Ports:

ISLA ROATAN-booked privately with Victor Bodden tours (30 pp). EXCELLENT. Had a driver/car that stayed with us all day. Gave us a tour of the island, then went to Bodden estate where we interacted with Capuchin monkeys, Macaws and Toucans. Great stuff as the monkeys jump on your shoulders looking for sunflower seeds. Great photos. Left there and get 2 hours at a beach (we skipped this part as it was pouring rain).

Belize- FTTF got us priority tender, a MUST HAVE. 5 mile/20 minute tender ride. booked privately with BUTTS UP, cave tubing/ATV ride. (70 pp) AWESOME. Did an ATV jungle trak ride. (2 year old rode on my lap and loved it!) Then we did a 30 minute walk through the jungle and got in the river. Crystal clear water. Six tubes tied together with head rests. (2 year old again rode in my lap). Guide pulls/pushes you through caves which were amazing. very leisurely trip and tranquil. They surprised us with Belize tamales for lunch before heading back to port.

Cozumel-Reserved Mr. Sanchos privately. EXCELLENT. All inclusive (55 pp) Service was OUTSTANDING. Best beach area. We have previously done Nachi and Play Mia and Sanchos was by far the best. Tremendous food and drinks neverending. Two pools with swim-up bars and beach service. Our server actually brought us drinks in the ocean.

Cruise Director Hennie from South Africa was great.

Debarkation: FTTF a must. Staged in the Crimson Dining room at 7:30 a.m. with Diamond/Platinum where they served pastries and beverages. We were first off the ship after self-assist people about 8:15. Got our bags with a porter, through customs and in the car at 9. Quick exit onto I-10 heading North to Mississippi.

New Orleans is without a doubt the best Embark/Debark port.

We would definitely sail the Dream again with this itinerary. The Ship would be great with the 2.0 upgrades. (EA Sports, Guys Burger Bar etc...)

Thanks for the thoughts!

very nice, thank you!

great job so far!

Thanks for the insight!

appreciate it

I sent DCL a message last week just asking if there were any additional precautions being taken. The truth is that when we board a ship we are in an enclosed area with thousands of other people, most of whom we don't know. While I am not paranoid or anything, I did want to reassure myself that DCL was taking the situation seriously. Here is the response I got:

 

We look forward to your upcoming sailing on the Disney Fantasy and

appreciate your concern. Please know that the health and safety or our

Guests and Crew Members are of paramount importance to us. We are aware of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) travel warning urging U.S. residents to avoid nonessential travel to Liberia, Guinea,

and Sierra Leone due to the outbreaks of Ebola and are following the

situation very closely. While we do not have any Crew Members from

these countries, we do question all Crew about their recent travels. In

addition, we regularly screen our Guests and Crew Members for a variety

health conditions.

 

Thank you again for your email and I hope this information proves

helpful. We look forward to having an opportunity to welcome you aboard

soon.

 

Kind regards,

 

Andrea Stoffel

Executive Guest Correspondent

Disney Cruise Line

 

Hope this helps some...

 

Rgds

 

Eric

can't wait to see it!

Thanks, great to know, we are port side for our trip in two weeks!

Thanks for the info on the tickets. We hope they are still on for our 10/18 sailing.

Thanks for the insight.

We are taking our 2 year old son and 15 year old daughter on the Fantasy next month. We decided on the cruise over Disney World for 2 reasons. 1. More interaction with characters on the ship for our 2 year old vs. the parks. 2. Having the Nursery for him to play in while we can do a couple of adult things, (mixology, Palo and Remy brunches.) We plan to do beaches on our excursions in St. Thomas and St. Marteen, plus Castaway Cay.

We are looking forward to seeing what it's all about next month on the Fantasy!

Good feedback on the wifi. Thanks all

thank ya'll for the insight

can't wait to try them at the Palo Brunch! Thanks for the heads up

Thanks for the info!

We have sailed several lines and Disney is best for one thing...Kids (and perhaps adults) that LOVE Disney characters. Would just the wife and I sail Disney on our own? probably not. But with a two year old that loves Mickey and the gang along with pirates, yes. We are sailing off-season though as we would never pay the ridiculous summer prices.

very good insight, thank you.

Yes' date=' you are correct that you can play in the Oceaneer's Club during "Open House" hours with one or both parents in attendance. Other than those hours, your son is too young to participate in this space.

 

You'll need to check the Navigator for specifics, but on most cruises there is an early morning toddler exercise/fun type thing in the Promenade Lounge...sometimes a "special friend" makes an appearance. Also, the family dance time can be a hoot with little ones (and they are most welcome) to dance with mom or dad or just spin in circles on their own--locations are usually Promenade Lounge and Studio Sea. The ones in the Promenade Lounge happen most evenings. There is a splash area by the pool for toddlers. Unless he is fully toilet trained, he can't use the pools.

 

The characters are trained to never approach a young child unless the child/parent moves toward them. So, they will stand at a distance and wave to him, etc...but it will be up to him or you to make the approach. They don't want to hear "Goofy scared my kid." Goofy won't approach any little kid without an OK from a parent or the kid making the move first. That's a "just so you know." They aren't being "stand-offish." They are avoiding frightening young ones. He will probably love the shows--most kids do. Get there a little early and get an aisle seat so that if he isn't happy, you can remove him.

 

Excursions in Alaska are varied and fun. If you want to spend some real money, you can pet sled dog puppies....but he can pet puppies at a local animal shelter. Or come to my house and he can pet my Husky. In Ketchikan, you can pay $1 each way for a bus to Totem Bite State Park. The park admission is free as are the guides. You can join a guided tour or go on your own with their map and see totem poles (actually re-makes of the originals) and a house area. DO NOT pay for a private guided tour of this place. The ONLY thing the tour group got that we didn't was a cup of hot chocolate in the gift shop. Also, the bus makes a stop at the local Wal-Mart should you have a need for something. Wal-mart operates a free shuttle back to the town--designed originally for crew, this is available to anyone. We did Totem Bite on our own and then stopped at the store on our way back (DD needed something essential...I have no idea what it was). If you do it this way, you need to walk across the street and up the small hill from the bus stop--just tell the driver you want to do it and he will take care of you. As to catching the bus to the state park--it is easy. The people at the visitor center are happy to direct you. Basically, you walk 2 blocks down the street and stand at the blue sign. If you walk to the bridge, you went too far.

 

We did whale watching, glacier, and visitor center in (?) Juneau. He'd like the visitor center. There are taxidermied animals, a brief film, artifacts, etc. You can hike and see salmon running, bears, etc. There are some cool waterfalls. I'm not sure how he'd feel about the whale watching, etc or whether that is worth the money at his age. Our excursion took us to all of the above, but there are options that just go to the glacier and visitor center and I know there is a way to get there on your own.

 

There is no way to predict your chances of getting off the wait list for main seating, BUT you can help them by calling DCL weekly and asking about your status. A CM who wants to can do it manually! The seating rotation are made up about 2 weeks before embarkation by the people ON the ship based on the info they have from shoreside. So at that point, if you don't have main on your KTTW card at check in you go to "dining changes" at the location listed on your Welcome Aboard Navigator and ask if you can be moved. If you can't--we do a "healthy snack" in the late afternoon. The fast food places as well as Goofy's Galley are open on the pool deck. Goofy's has fruit, wraps, salads, sandwiches, etc. You can also order from room service. The "fast food" places will have hamburgers, tacos, chicken fingers, fries, etc. pizza....you know, that sort of thing. There is a special at Pluto's Dog House each day as well as the "every day" menu.[/quote']

 

Great tips!, thank you. we're taking our 2-year old in October.

The Disney folks say it will take place on the 31st.

Only the nursery requires a reservation. You bring your own diapers and they will change. We just left them a diaper bag with everything in it. As for the charge, yes it is the same day or night.

Thanks good to know!

I appreciate all the positive comments regarding this topic as we are taking our 2 year old on the Fantasy in October.

Just get their early or plan to eat lunch late. it got slammed around 12:30 to 1:00...as expected