lochivan

21 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

For some I guess it's fine,  but to spend that much money for what you are getting just not anywhere worth it. Plus service is declining on the cruise ships at this time because of crew shortages.

Thanks for your opinion. It appears you have quite a few that you are sharing.

Perhaps let others make their own decisions. 

Making assumptions about masking of crew without any facts to back up your opinion is spreading confusion and fear mongering. I look forward to the cruise on 12/30 as we haven't been able to go anywhere in 2 years. We've gotten boosted covid and flu shots, will be masking where we have to , and use our head to ensure we remain as healthy as possible.

I'm not thrilled that our ports were changed, and it could be a disappointment to not have the ports we have scheduled. However with -30C temps, and a very stressful last 2 years, this trip is greatly anticipated and needed.

It's worth every penny and then some!

We were also on the fantasy for this cruise and it was our first Disney cruise as well.

My comments mirror yours in some respects but not in others. Our other cruises were all with RCI for comparison's sake. Our 17yo wanted one last cruise before he turns 18 in March so we decided to look at options.

Disney actually had better pricing than RCI for the week of the 23rd for similar cabins. We normally book junior suites on RCI and it was horrendous on the Allure and Oasis this time. (junior suite was actually higher than the loft suite for some reason...) Regardless we booked Disney and travelled down early to hit the Harry Potter area at Universal in Orlando.

As we normally leave from Ft. Lauderdale, the travel to Port Canaveral was longer and more expensive. Whether you rent a car as we did and pay for parking or use the shuttles its more than the $20 cab ride. (not really a big deal breaker but something to consider if you are coming from Orlando)

The day of embarkation was Cold. 9 degrees Celsius and windy... Not what a person thinks of for fun and sun, but the rest of the trip was much better.

The ship itself was nice. I missed being able to get to the front of the ship at night like we can on RCI. The Vibe club (teen club) takes that space. We loved the detective work and animated pictures. I liked that there were no casino's on ship, and the entertainment was fair to good every night. Our son liked the teen club and counsellors more than RCI which I found amazing. They do allow them to stay our late. 2:00 or later every night lol... He needed a vacation from the vacation. Lots of friends made though. The sea phones and Disney app are great ideas and I hope other cruise lines follow up with their own version of them. I also enjoyed hearing the horns singing. Staff were very very good. I had no problem adding some additional tips to several crew.

The room was nice, but not quite as spacious as a junior in my wifes opinion. The balcony definitely was not as large but was nice to sit out and enjoy sunrises and sunsets. The twin bathrooms was nice, and the beds were comfy.

Our room attendant (tony) was great. He made some wonderful towel art, and did everything that was expected and more. Our head server and assistant were also quite good including bringing something for my wife in Animators palate because she was freezing in there during one supper.

The dining rooms are entertainment in themselves. AP was my favorite by far. The food was done well, but I did find the menu and food selection to be limited. We chose not to go to the royal court both nights as the menu was not appealing to us.

We did not know that Cabana bay serves the same food though and ended up in there one night. We both thought it would be a buffet style supper similar to the Windjammer.

Speaking of buffet... Cabana bay is not close to the windjammer for selection of food, and we were both disappointed that they did not have flavored water like RCI. They did have a tasty pomegranate lemonade though. Breakfast and lunches were the same every day with little choice or selection really.

Pirates day and Star Wars day was great! I think many people pack extra bags of luggage to participate. It was fantastic to see all the people dressed up. The movies were packed, and stores were heavy on Star wars at sea merch. I didn't think it was overdone, but I'm a fan, so others may disagree.

The fireworks and outdoor entertainment were fun. The aquaduck, and minigolf were fun to do on occasion. I did notice that the sports court rarely was busy and no activities really. (except for the teen club using it at 1:15 AM for dodgeball... lol)

The popcorn (which is $4 each) was tasty and the wife needed it a few times. Good thing the fitness center was set up well.

The stops were Cozumel and Cayman islands as well as the 3rd times the charm stop as Castaway.

We had good weather on Cozumel and Caymans but as the OP stated Castaway was difficult to get into and chillier. It seems like it would be a nice beach island and we had a nice walk around.

The one thing that I did not like about the cruise was Disney's expensive and limited internet. As we are business owners, work never stops... even at sea. We had several issues with having to turn off every single notification on tablets/phones, and apple updates ect. Thankfully the IT manager was fantastic and helped us out several times by lowering the usage. However when I've been on RCI, we pay one fee for unlimited use which eliminates having to enter subscreens to turn off anything in the background. Simply just more user friendly. This may not affect most people who don't access the net during vacation.

We also thought parents were a little too lax with their kids. As the OP said, the pools had to be emptied frequently. One day as they were trying to empty the pool, one lifeguard tried to get a boy to leave the pool for 3-4 minutes. He finally had to enter the pool to do so. The boys parents were no-where to be found... Then a boy 2 cabins down from us (deck 10) climbed part way over the balcony until I bellowed at him to get his Arse back inside... His parents were there as they came out a minute later. Yes its vacation and the staff are awesome, but you don't get to stop being parents...

Overall I enjoyed the Disney cruise and time spent with family, and maybe when I have grandkids I will take another.

Thanks for posting your review OP because I likely would not have posted anything if you had not done so first.

We haven't tried NCL yet, maybe we will try that sometime.

We were in Jamaica last year. Driving there is horrific and I've travelled through dozens of countries. When they tell you "no problem" about the driving, its not true. There really does need to be a lot of improved driving there.

It is tragic, yet somehow not unexpected that accidents happen there.

Condolences to those involved...