“Witty Trip Report Title 3--The Trilogy is Complete”: Disney Fantasy May 2-9 2015

[MrRay]

I loved your previous trip reports and am excited to read a new one!

Random, my husband has that green Epcot shirt Jenna wore.

We saw no less than 4 other people wearing it while on board. They struck gold with that one.

 

[MrRay]

We awoke around 7 and went to the pool station to get some coffee. We were happy to see that the Hot Tub, which was empty the day previous, was full of water. We wandered around a little bit enjoying the empty ship and then set off for breakfast. We spent a lot of mornings in Royal Court. Cabanas gets very repetitive at breakfast and we like the ease with which we can custom order things. Jenna ordered a vegetable omelet, having some things taken out of it, and I got a buckwheat crepe filled with egg whites, spinach, and tofu. They take good care of you too. It seems like there is 4 people serving you and are all smiles.



Bellies full we decided to get ready for the day. The plan was to just relax for the morning and get some sun.



It was incredibly windy on this day. The Aquaduck was actually closed all day and I think the front of deck 13, Satellite falls area, was closed for at lease some of the day. The ship was really rocking around too. It was moving more than we have ever noticed before. It was very funny watching the water in the adult pool splash all around.




We had planned on going to the DVC meeting after lunch, partially out of interest, partially to enter the $200 on board credit raffle, and partially for a couple free drinks.










It was interesting enough. By this point the ship movement was starting to get to us, me in particular a little bit and all the extra liquid in my stomach wasn’t really helping matters. It did calm down as the presentation went on though.



The rest of the day we took it easy. Eventually getting pummeled by the wind forced us inside but it was fine, we just relaxed and watched the ocean go by.







It was formal night and we decided to get dressed early and go to the lobby before first dinner to grab some of the free drinks being passed around and just enjoy the ambiance of the lobby. We noticed that photo opportunities both with and without characters were crazy this entire cruise. The lines were always very long and they have things going on in sometimes as many as 6 or 7 places around the lobby.



Eventually it was time for our dinner. Our table was in the small dining room to the port side in the front of the restaurant. There were only 3 other tables in there. This was nice because it kept the noise down and it was very calm. I had lamb chops and a vegetarian dish that had grilled tofu, eggplant, and zucchini over cous cous. I actually enjoyed the vegetarian dish more. In general I thought the vegetarian meals as a whole were pretty great. Most of the dining room food as a whole we weren’t too thrilled about. It was serviceable but nothing really great.



With dinner winding down we were exhausted and headed straight to bed.
Now’s as good a time as any to mention that we like to have the room super cold to sleep in but we’ve never had a stateroom that consistently gets cold enough. Around 1 a.m. we would usually wake up sweating so I’m not sure if it stops at some point or what. But also the blanket they keep on the bed is super heavy and we had forgotten this fact until we woke up in the middle of our first night. Our strategy is to get rid of that blanket entirely and use the throw blanket they keep stashed on the dresser and the sheet only.

 

[MrRay]

I woke up around 6:30 and decided to wander out to get some coffee and fresh air while Jenna slept in a little. I had planned to just sit in Cove Café for a little bit like I have on previous cruises but I was amazed to see that they don’t open until 7 a.m. now. I sat in one of the big chairs in the adult pool area and this was the first time that I realized that the pool and hot tub there don’t open until 8 now. We also used to get a quick soak in before breakfast. We feel like if we can get some water activities in early we don’t feel as bad if they are crowded later, and they were getting very crowded on these first 2 sea days.

But anyway it was a beautiful morning so I wandered around the ship a bit.






When Jenna woke up we returned to Royal Court for breakfast again.






I think we even ordered the same things.



Then we headed back to the pool for more sunshine and swimming. The wind had died down a bit and we were able to relax and take a couple dips in the pool. We had an early lunch in Cabanas because we didn’t want to mess up our appetites for our early dinner reservation at Palo.



Once we were done in the pool we were looking for a treat we stopped by for a relaxing break in the Cove Café. Jenna ordered a Cappuccino with chocolate on top.





They do a nice job there.



After getting ourselves cleaned up it was time for dinner before we knew it. Palo was calling our name.

 

[cheermom2four]

Bummed to hear the Cove Cafe doesnt open till 7am as I'm an early riser and I NEED coffee first thing in the morning (like specialty coffee that is)

 

[MrRay]

Bummed to hear the Cove Cafe doesnt open till 7am as I'm an early riser and I NEED coffee first thing in the morning (like specialty coffee that is)

It was very disappointing, I made sure to mention it in the survey after the cruise. On previous cruises it opened at 6:30 at the latest.

 

[MrRay]

We arrived promptly at 6:30 and were met with a pair of cheerful ladies working the check in desk. After being given the option to stop by Meridian Bar first we opted to head straight to our table and get this dinner started. We were greeted by our server Irina, from Ukraine. Our regular serving team later told us she was new to Palo but we couldn’t tell at all. She was warm and friendly with a smile glued to her face.



We were seated right by a window with the sun still out.



Just an FYI all the food pictures are from a phone, I didn’t really feel like pulling out my camera to take pictures of our food.



She started us off with some bread…






Then Irina came by with the Antipasto cart and explained it all to us while she made a little plate. She topped it with the perfect amount of oil and balsamic.





We dove right in and were trying really hard not to eat it too fast because it was really amazing.



She explained the menu to us, excitingly telling us about her favorite things and what made each dish special and we took most of her recommendations.



We ordered 3 appetizers.


Caprese Salad…






Pesto Marinated Jumbo Shrimp…






and Calamari.






All 3 were amazing. The shrimp was to die for, the Caprese was so soft it melted in your mouth, and the calamari was just amazing. Even the asparagus that came with the shrimp would just evaporate in your mouth. We were already having one of the greatest meals of our life.



For dinner we both had Beef Tenderloin.










We also had a small portion of the gnocchi gorgonzola… it was great also but super heavy, we were very happy to not have a full portion of it.



We didn’t mess around with dessert either.



I had my favorite dessert Tiramisu.






and Jenna had the famous Chocolate Soufflé






Everything tasted amazing. I’m running out of worthy adjectives but it’s safe to say it was one of the best meals we’ve ever had.



Irina came by with a special after dinner drink for us. It was kind of lemony and refreshing but I can’t remember what it was.


Also because our anniversary was attached to our reservation she went ahead and surprised us with this…










We had done Palo brunch on our first Fantasy cruise and while all of the food was pretty good we left feeling a little underwhelmed. This meal by contrast blew us away. We will happily spend the now $30 a person to have dinner here every time.




We headed back to our room with happy and full bellies and took a break to watch a few minutes of Dumbo on Funnel Vision…




We returned to our room to find our room steward had put the “Do Not Disturb” sign up already, which we couldn't help but laugh at, and put some rose petals on our bed. If anyone can tell us what the towel animal is though we’d love to know.






Once we cleaned all of this up it was off to bed, we had an early start the next morning in St. Thomas.

 

[cheermom2four]

Im so going to need to try Palo dinner when my DH and I are on the longer cruise. The one coming up is only 3nights for our anniversary (first cruise and wasnt sure we'd even like it) and now wishing it was longer :-(

 

[chunkymonkey]

Yum, your Palo dinner looks really good! What rotational meal did you miss for Palo? I had booked Palo for dinner and brunch for our 5 night cruise but we ended up not going for dinner since it was our last night on the cruise and we wanted to spend time with our family. Brunch was great though! Would like to try it for our 7 night Fantasy cruise in Feb...but not sure when I should book it for!

 

[MrRay]

Yum, your Palo dinner looks really good! What rotational meal did you miss for Palo? I had booked Palo for dinner and brunch for our 5 night cruise but we ended up not going for dinner since it was our last night on the cruise and we wanted to spend time with our family. Brunch was great though! Would like to try it for our 7 night Fantasy cruise in Feb...but not sure when I should book it for!

We skipped the first night in animators palette, which is the turtle talk with crush show. As two adults we don't get much out of that show and it tends to get pretty loud.

 

[chunkymonkey]

We skipped the first night in animators palette, which is the turtle talk with crush show. As two adults we don't get much out of that show and it tends to get pretty loud.

Ah I see. Were you able to go to Animator's Palate again during the cruise? Is the show different? (Or is the 2nd time no show at all?)
Looking forward to more!

 

[MrRay]

Ah I see. Were you able to go to Animator's Palate again during the cruise? Is the show different? (Or is the 2nd time no show at all?)
Looking forward to more!

We went back on the last night. It was the animation show, where you draw a character and it comes to life. It's fantastic.

 

[Benchley]

The food looked wonderful, what a wonderful anniversary evening

 

[MrRay]

We woke ourselves up around 6:15 I think because we had an early excursion and headed topside to grab some coffee and watch us sail into St. Thomas. This greeted us in the adult area…






The hot tub was out of commission again. We wouldn’t see it again for 2 days.



Anyway it was a beautiful morning…












We waited for Cabanas to open up, again we were a little miffed by how late some things opened, particularly on these port days when we most people have to be to excursion by 7:30. Still there was plenty of time and we ate and were down in the Walt Disney Theater. We were doing the Trunk Bay Beach excursion in St. John. If feels really weird to be in a fancy theatre lathered up in sun screen and bathing suits but it was all very comfortable. After a short wait we were led out of the ship to our ferryboat. The last time we were in St. Thomas the ship was backed in, today we were facing forward and I got the feeling like the crew wasn’t expecting that because once we got out the forward gangway we had to walk to the end of the pier, basically every excursion group got out onto the pier and then had to cross to go the opposite way of where they were. Not a big deal but it was kind of funny.



Our ferry was docked at the end of the pier that we were out so we basically walked 3 ship lengths to get there, gotta get that walking in.



There were 3 different tours using this ferry, all from our ship. We did the trunk bay, and then I think it was an eco hike, and maybe an island tour also.






The views were nice on the way out and we had a guide giving us info the whole way but it was VERY rocky. The guide made it sound like it’s always like this, or actually that we were having a “good” day, so it’s important to be aware of. The ride took about 40 minutes and the boat pitched back and forth the whole way. At least one little girl threw up and several other were looking pretty ill.



But like I said it’s pretty and there are lots of great stories about pirates and sunken ships and fancy homes and private islands.







We were happy to pull into St. John. Once that ocean breeze was gone though it felt HOT and we were ready to get to the beach… We just had to take 1 more mode of transportation to get there…

 

[MrRay]

We boarded an open air truck/taxi driven by a man named “Puff”. He wore slacks, a dress shirt, and had a gold blingy necklace spelling “Puff” hanging around his kneck. He slowed down at 2 places for scenic overlooks. If you’re going to do this tour try and sit on the left, otherwise you can’t really see anything.






We finally arrived and were anxious to get in the water…




We just had to listen to a few more people explain some rules and then were finally released on our own. They provide you with snorkeling equipment including an inflatable vest but that is not required.



We grabbed our gear and set out for the beach.








It lives up to it’s reputation, it’s truly beautiful there. There was a bit of current there that day so there were some small waves near shore occasionally but it was all good fun, just enough to knock you into the soft white sand.





We set out for the preserve area. In the above picture you can see a white and blue buoy with a red one further away forming a triangle. In the middle of this is where you will find coral and plenty of fish of all colors. There were some amazing vibrant fish and plant life to look at but it really only existed inside of this area. Once you were out it was just a sand bottom for the most part. A little closer to shore we saw a sand colored manta ray poking around.



The water was great, we snorkeled around for a while and then dropped our gear and walked along the shore and then just went swimming a little closer to shore. We had about 90 minutes at the beach, which was honestly just the right amount of time unless you are going to have food and set up more of a camp. There is a snack bar there you can buy some food from and I think you can rent chairs but we didn’t even look at any of that stuff.



They had some showers you can rinse of in which were very needed.



We really enjoyed ourselves there but I’m not sure if we’d do it again. The amount of travel to get there is a little exhausting; you spend about the same amount of time traveling as you do at the beach. But it really is a beautiful and unique beach.





We found “Puff” and headed back to the ferry where we had a slow and hot trip back because the wind was at our backs and we couldn’t feel it, so we just baked in the sun. It’s worth noting we were sitting on the top deck, most people were sitting in a covered seating area.



We were relieved to get back to the Fantasy around 12 and we went straight to lunch in Cabanas to cool off and recharge.

 

[MrRay]

Recharged we headed back out to wander around the shops areas.








The stuff right at the ship is all kind of the same stuff you would expect to find anywhere. We walked to a little shopping center just a bit past it that had more high end shops and was really well maintained. We aren’t really shoppers but I was looking for the free wi-fi they have there, you can connect for 15 minutes towards the center of the strip. It’s all the red roofs in the picture below.






It also offers some nice views of the port.





But alas it was hot and we were once again tired. We set back for the ship to enjoy a little pool time in the late day sun.





We got ourselves cleaned up in anticipation of sailing out.


The sun was starting to hang low and the light was getting beautiful.











We grabbed a couple of drinks and took it all in.






The Carnival ship that was in Port Canaveral with us was now parked behind us and we were going to leave first. So we slowly pulled away from the dock and started backing out.






There was a lot of people on both ships watching this but we could see even on the bridge of the Carnival ship that plenty of officers were watching.






Just as we were pulled right next to it Captain Marco played the perfect horn to show off as we sailed off into the sunset “Yo Ho Yo Ho A Pirate’s Life for Me”. Both ships cheered and we were off.




Sailing out of St. Thomas was one of the highlights of our previous trip here because we were sailing by so many beautiful islands as the sun was going down. Unfortunately we could hear them paging some people who hadn’t made it back…not sure if they ever did or if that’s even why but we ended up not leaving until after 6 and the sun was already setting. We still snapped off a couple of quick pictures and watched the street lights fade into the darkness.









With a little time before dinner we stopped by the Bon Voyage Bar where we had our favorite island treat…




Mojitos.



We were in Enchanted Garden again for dinner. I think it was the Prince and Princess menu, which we really aren’t thrilled about. Since we can’t even remember it I guess that says it all.



Once again it was early to bed, early to rise.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Beautiful pictures! The Palo dinner looked great! Happy Anniversary!

 

[Jessicandice]

I loved reading this and I loved the pictures. Can you tell me what kind of camera you were using? I have a large canon an I was thinking of getting a smaller camera for our cruise. Thank you in advance.

 

[grantclaire]

Great pictures! The DW and I sailed this past December on the Fantasy for our 30th Anniversary. It is a beautiful ship!

 

[MrRay]

I loved reading this and I loved the pictures. Can you tell me what kind of camera you were using? I have a large canon an I was thinking of getting a smaller camera for our cruise. Thank you in advance.

I sold some of my canon lenses to buy a Fujifilm x100t. It's pretty expensive but I have found that I carry it around a lot more.

 

[MrRay]

It was another early start to a day were pulling into San Juan early and had to meet our excursion at 7:15 I think. We were doing the Campo Rico ziplining excursion.


Once again it was an early trip to Cabanas and some coffee.



Quick side note about the coffee, they do have the Joffrey’s coffee now but it’s still really awful. I asked someone for some soymilk in Cabanas and they gave me a whole box to take back to my room. I found watering it down helped a bit.





Our fridge was getting well stocked.


Anyway we met our group and were led off the ship. Right at the end of the pier we met our shuttle. This was a clean air-conditioned shuttle. The ride took about 20-25 minutes through fairly built up areas, San Juan is a pretty big city after all, and arrived at Hacienda Campo Rico. It’s a very large undeveloped woodland area so it was pretty lush and remote.





They allowed us to put any bags in their office and we started harnessing up. We recommend bring a sturdy water bottle that can clip onto your harness. Ask them right away and they’ll give you a clip so you can wear it. You can also wear a small backpack if you’d like because the harness is only around the waste but it gets HOT out there so don’t pack heavy.



They gave us helmets, which smelled awful. We watched them sanitize them after our group but they still smell like other people’s sweat. We also had to pick out 1 heavy duty glove to wear and they were all beat up and smelly. Those are pretty inexpensive I would think they could get some fresh ones. We eventually just got over it, when you’re 200 feet in the air you forget what you smell like.



We were given some instruction but it’s all pretty simple. They clip you into all of the lines so you really just need to understand what everything does.



We climbed up a 50’ tower…



and one at a time were sent out on a zip line through the trees.


All of the lines have a great view.








In between lines we walked across a rope bridges and hiked up some pretty steep hills. You really need to be in good physical condition to do this. There were 2 times available for this excursion and we had chosen the earlier one. We were climbing through the trees at 9 a.m. and it was already really hot, so if you’re thinking of doing this be aware of that. We would not have wanted to be the group starting at 11.



There is a water cooler about halfway through so you can refill your bottles.


At one point we did a tandem ride and picked up an incredible amount of speed. The tallest is 200 feet and over 1000 feet long.



You can see beautiful views of fields and forests with San Juan in the distance.






After probably about 90 minutes we reached the end. The final line lets you out at a little cantina up the hill from where the bus originally let us off but it felt kind of like a tree house.



Lunch was included with this excursion. I can only imagine they do this because it’s a relatively inexpensive way for them to justify charging more money but we had finished the lines at about 10:30 and while it was fun we would have preferred to just go back to the ship right away. Lunch also wasn’t ready so we just had to wait around for 30 minutes til it got there. When it finally arrived it was just sort of alright. Pork, rice, yucca, and pineapple.






All in all though the staff was nice and it’s a pretty place. We had a good time but no need to do it again.



We were hot and gross and looking forward to getting back to the ship and cleaning ourselves up.