Disney Fantasy

After reading about Disney cruises going to do one. Are they as good as people say they are? Also we are doing the merry time cruise will the ship be all decked out for Christmas?

Thanks

Mike

No one can answer your first question. We've had cruises on DCL that were totally amazing and some that were just OK. Yes, the ship, terminal, and Castaway Cay will be decked out for the holidays at the start of the Merrytime cruises.

thanks we are the type we always enjoy our vacations. We go with the flow and can adapt to anything. I believe any day on vacation is better than any day at work:D:D :D :D:D

I think this subforum is a little biased for the first question.. lol

I always heard that you pay for who you cruise with. And that seems to hold true with Disney especially. You get what you pay for.

Yes, they are as good as people say they are. Never heard someone come back from a Disney cruise and say it was a horrible experience.

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Yes, they are as good as people say they are. Never heard someone come back from a Disney cruise and say it was a horrible experience.

 

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Then I'll be the first. We were on the maiden voyage of the Magic. They had done a "shakedown" cruise for 230 people prior to Christening the ship and our cruise. Bluntly, it was awful. We were required to book a 3 night land/4 night sea. ALL the buses from WDW arrived at the same time--they didn't have space to park the buses, so we were diverted to the McDonald's parking lot till the driver was given permission to come in. We were told that we could go in and buy some lunch, but make it fast because as soon as the driver got the OK, he would have to leave, whether or not we were all back on board. Really???? They didn't have a clue what they were doing. Characters were NOT out (they told my 7 year old that Mickey was too busy steering the ship to have time for children). They closed off half of deck 9 for hours for a ceremony with Bahamian official and asked guests to stay out of the way. We waited in line outside Parrot Cay for 45 minutes for lunch seating. Every ice machine on board broke. The list goes on and on.

Bottom line, it was NOT a pretty picture. Yes, they've fixed it...and I realize that it was their first cruise ever. But it was a MESS.

Yes, they are as good as people say they are. Never heard someone come back from a Disney cruise and say it was a horrible experience.

 

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We did a multigenerational trip on The Fantasy 3years ago and none of us thought DCL was worth all the hoo-ha and we’re DisneyWorld and Disneyland people! For the price point I expected so much more. It would have been okay had the grandkids enjoyed the kids club and activities but they didn’t. We’re using NCL for Alaska this year.

Then I'll be the first. We were on the maiden voyage of the Magic. They had done a "shakedown" cruise for 230 people prior to Christening the ship and our cruise. Bluntly' date=' it was awful. We were required to book a 3 night land/4 night sea. ALL the buses from WDW arrived at the same time--they didn't have space to park the buses, so we were diverted to the McDonald's parking lot till the driver was given permission to come in. We were told that we could go in and buy some lunch, but make it fast because as soon as the driver got the OK, he would have to leave, whether or not we were all back on board. Really???? They didn't have a clue what they were doing. Characters were NOT out (they told my 7 year old that Mickey was too busy steering the ship to have time for children). They closed off half of deck 9 for hours for a ceremony with Bahamian official and asked guests to stay out of the way. We waited in line outside Parrot Cay for 45 minutes for lunch seating. Every ice machine on board broke. The list goes on and on.

 

Bottom line, it was NOT a pretty picture. Yes, they've fixed it...and I realize that it was their first cruise ever. But it was a MESS.[/quote']

 

that was a hundred bazillion years ago...ok...maybe not that many...

 

but still, it was their very first cruise ever....brand new ship...1st ship in the cruise line...

 

how many years ago? 20? maybe even more than 20, hard to remember..

July 30, 1998. Actually the date was moved twice as the ship wasn't done on time!

July 30' date=' 1998. Actually the date was moved twice as the ship wasn't done on time![/quote']

 

so 20 years..

 

fortunately, they've improved since then..

 

heck, they've improved since our cruises back in 2002 and 2004....not that they were bad then...they weren't...

 

but in our opinion, they've improved since then - though i know there are people who would disagree with that..

.

Then I'll be the first. We were on the maiden voyage of the Magic. They had done a "shakedown" cruise for 230 people prior to Christening the ship and our cruise. Bluntly' date=' it was awful. We were required to book a 3 night land/4 night sea. ALL the buses from WDW arrived at the same time--they didn't have space to park the buses, so we were diverted to the McDonald's parking lot till the driver was given permission to come in. We were told that we could go in and buy some lunch, but make it fast because as soon as the driver got the OK, he would have to leave, whether or not we were all back on board. Really???? They didn't have a clue what they were doing. Characters were NOT out (they told my 7 year old that Mickey was too busy steering the ship to have time for children). They closed off half of deck 9 for hours for a ceremony with Bahamian official and asked guests to stay out of the way. We waited in line outside Parrot Cay for 45 minutes for lunch seating. Every ice machine on board broke. The list goes on and on.

 

Bottom line, it was NOT a pretty picture. Yes, they've fixed it...and I realize that it was their first cruise ever. But it was a MESS.[/quote']

 

The stories of that first ever cruise are legendary, but you put a new spin on some I hadn't heard. Wow.

 

We were on the 5th sailing and by then they were getting their act together. In going through some boxes recently, we came across the navigators from that cruise. Boy have they changed since then.

The stories of that first ever cruise are legendary, but you put a new spin on some I hadn't heard. Wow.

 

We were on the 5th sailing and by then they were getting their act together. In going through some boxes recently, we came across the navigators from that cruise. Boy have they changed since then.

It was a real jewel! I came home and wrote a 4 page letter addressed to the president of the cruise line. I said that if they just wanted to know they had an unhappy customer, they could stop reading after the first paragraph, but I was taking the approach that if I didn't tell them what was wrong, they couldn't fix it. I got back a letter saying they were taking my letter to the executive committee, a box of "Disney stuff," and a coupon for a discount on any future cruise in the next 18 months. We basically waited till the coupon was almost due to expire, then cruised again. While I didn't walk around with a check list, everything that I remembered as an issue had been fixed. I remember being in bed, discussing that the only thing wrong with that cruise was that it was only 4 nights....and on the last evening they announced that they would be starting the 7 night cruises.

Other crazy memories(many cruises later)--Christiaan going on stage and doing back flips, then announcing that he'd just been notified that they were going to start cruising to Alaska. There was just something about back flips in uniform.....

That image of Christiaan doing back flips just brought a smile to my face. I can definitely see him doing that.

We've been on the Fantasy twice and Dream once. I also was on a Carnival cruise over 20 years ago. I'm not going to try to compare them to that. So with the basis that I don't have a lot to compare them to, if you have kids I think that they are definitely worth trying at least once. My favorite thing about Disney Cruises is their level of customer service. We had a couple of extremely minor things happen and they bent over backwards to make us happy. I also absolutely love their shows, etc.

With that being said, my daughter is a teenager now so we're going to try out a Royal Caribbean cruise next year after we do a Disney Mediterranean cruise on the Magic this summer.

That image of Christiaan doing back flips just brought a smile to my face. I can definitely see him doing that.

It was particularly remarkable because we were expecting the usual "pre show" announcements. What we got was the "Please welcome to the stage your cruise director, Christiaan." He did his usual bound up the stairs and then immediately launched into the back flips. It was obviously planned because after the flips, someone from the side of the stage handed him the microphone....and he proceeded with the Alaska announcement.