Boarding the Fantasy Tomorrow

[hotfiregal]

Hello, my family boards the Fantasy tomorrow. (January 2, 2022). Please let me know the current situation onboard. Is the Vibe still closed? Are the entertainers all in quarantine? We’re they allowed off the ship at Castaway Cay? Thank you.

 

[johnkerryP]

From what ive read

1. 
   vibe and edge closed and never reopened
2. They got off late, which they said was technical. But all the ships docking at their private islands got off late (11:30) yesterday, leaving some to believe it was a bahamas problem, not aechnical problem.
   

Honestly, it seems like count on nothing at this point and be pleasantly surprised with anything.
Sailing 1/8, look forward to hearing your perspective.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

They were allowed off at CC but not at USVI. The CC delay was a technical delay not COVID, but the delay may have been Bahamian government.

USVI was a COVID denial of port.

Any of the ports may deny at any time so past success may not mean you will.port.

 

[varkgirl]

Seems weird the Magic AND the Fantasy would have a "technical delay" at CC...

 

[johnkerryP]

Seems weird the Magic AND the Fantasy would have a "technical delay" at CC...

And other lines on their private islands too.

 

[masseyhouse]

From what ive read

1. 
   vibe and edge closed and never reopened
2. They got off late, which they said was technical. But all the ships docking at their private islands got off late (11:30) yesterday, leaving some to believe it was a bahamas problem, not aechnical problem.

Honestly, it seems like count on nothing at this point and be pleasantly surprised with anything.
Sailing 1/8, look forward to hearing your perspective.

That was the Magic delayed at CC. The Fantasy is en route there now and scheduled for today. Should be at the dock soon. Monitoring…. The passengers currently onboard the Fantasy that were posting here earlier in the week have been super quiet the past couple of days. I hope that means they are busy having fun. We board the Fantasy tomorrow as well. We will be doing our best to make it as good as can be. And there is no company I would trust more than Disney to do the same for us. Can only control so much. But it will for sure be better than sitting here next week watching endless news stories about the pandemic and wringing our hands fretting about it.

 

[Snowwhyt]

From what ive read

1. 
   vibe and edge closed and never reopened
2. They got off late, which they said was technical. But all the ships docking at their private islands got off late (11:30) yesterday, leaving some to believe it was a bahamas problem, not aechnical problem.

Honestly, it seems like count on nothing at this point and be pleasantly surprised with anything.
Sailing 1/8, look forward to hearing your perspective.

We also are boarding the Fantasy in a week also(see you there). Edge and vibe I knew about, but what was missing on entertainment? The 2 hour wait for bingo is a physical problem for most of our party to stand in line over a few minutes. But if entertainers /shows are gone I’m not sure what we would do with our time.

Bringing parents that are nearly 80. I’m just.....ugh....want the cruise line to tell me I’m/we're safe to travel or shut it down because it's unsafe.

 

[hotfiregal]

Hello, my family boards the Fantasy tomorrow. (January 2, 2022). Please let me know the current situation onboard. Is the Vibe still closed? Are the entertainers all in quarantine? We’re they allowed off the ship at Castaway Cay? Thank you.
[/QUOTE

From what ive read

1. 
   vibe and edge closed and never reopened
2. They got off late, which they said was technical. But all the ships docking at their private islands got off late (11:30) yesterday, leaving some to believe it was a bahamas problem, not aechnical problem.

Honestly, it seems like count on nothing at this point and be pleasantly surprised with anything.
Sailing 1/8, look forward to hearing your perspective.

thank you for your response. Just trying to gage what to expect. My teens packed art supplies & books just in case. I’m truly just excited to go anywhere again, even if it is to nowhere.

 

[hilarys]

I am on board the Fantasy. A lot of the above is not accurate.
Edge and Vibe were open on Sunday evening and then closed all day Monday and Tuesday and part day Wednesday- they opened as we were leaving Tortola Wednesday afternoon. They are open but don’t have planned activities for the teens. The teens are happy to have a place to hang out

as far as I know there was only one of the smaller entertainment items cancelled. Not sure if it was quarantine related or if the performer could not board at St Thomas. All the big shows have been running as planned. And there have been plenty of other things. Trivia, musical acts, tastings etc. as always there are more things to do than we can get to.

We docked an hour early at castaway cay today - no delays getting off here. The planned time to start disembarking was 9:30 and they gave the all clear At 8:30.

I have read other rumors about Palo and Remy being closed. Those rumors are also not true. We have done Palo brunch and Remy dessert tasting.

what has changed:

After the denial at St Thomas there have been more announcements about mask wearing

The big change is that you must keep masks on for any photos indoors: with characters, at backdrops and even in the dining room when you already have your mask off for eating.

Deck two and the aft of deck 5 appear to be the quarantine floors


There were two fireworks shows for NYE and then three countdown parties: tube, DLounge (I think), and on deck which we attended and seemed like a good old deck party
We were told by our head server that the passenger count was just over 2000 which was a big drop from expected. Based on our cruise group, a lot of people dropped due to positive tests before even leaving for port and the positive rate at the port was higher than previous cruises which makes sense with omicron.
The weather has been incredible and my family is having a great time and very happy to be here after all the cancelled trips over the last almost two years.

 

[hotfiregal]

Great to hear! Thank you for dispelling rumors. I am very excited about tomorrow.

 

[RysMomma]

I am on board the Fantasy. A lot of the above is not accurate.
Edge and Vibe were open on Sunday evening and then closed all day Monday and Tuesday and part day Wednesday- they opened as we were leaving Tortola Wednesday afternoon. They are open but don’t have planned activities for the teens. The teens are happy to have a place to hang out

as far as I know there was only one of the smaller entertainment items cancelled. Not sure if it was quarantine related or if the performer could not board at St Thomas. All the big shows have been running as planned. And there have been plenty of other things. Trivia, musical acts, tastings etc. as always there are more things to do than we can get to.

We docked an hour early at castaway cay today - no delays getting off here. The planned time to start disembarking was 9:30 and they gave the all clear At 8:30.

I have read other rumors about Palo and Remy being closed. Those rumors are also not true. We have done Palo brunch and Remy dessert tasting.

what has changed:

After the denial at St Thomas there have been more announcements about mask wearing

The big change is that you must keep masks on for any photos indoors: with characters, at backdrops and even in the dining room when you already have your mask off for eating.

Deck two and the aft of deck 5 appear to be the quarantine floors


There were two fireworks shows for NYE and then three countdown parties: tube, DLounge (I think), and on deck which we attended and seemed like a good old deck party
We were told by our head server that the passenger count was just over 2000 which was a big drop from expected. Based on our cruise group, a lot of people dropped due to positive tests before even leaving for port and the positive rate at the port was higher than previous cruises which makes sense with omicron.
The weather has been incredible and my family is having a great time and very happy to be here after all the cancelled trips over the last almost two years.

I appreciate your positivity! We don't go until the summer, but I'm hoping to look at it the way you are! As long as I'm away, that's all I care about!

 

[Cheburashka]

Bringing parents that are nearly 80. I’m just.....ugh....want the cruise line to tell me I’m/we're safe to travel or shut it down because it's unsafe.

Travel isn't particularly safe for the elderly or otherwise immunocompromised at this time. If you're healthy and vaccinated, you should handle getting Covid alright. That is the situation, pretty straightforward, and it's not Disney's call to make, but yours, as to whether or not you should take the risk.

 

[hilarys]

Great to hear! Thank you for dispelling rumors. I am very excited about tomorrow.

Have a great cruise. I am not going to lie - the testing at port was extremely stressful. My biggest piece of advice is just have flexibility top of mind - in this day and age everything is subject to change. I was bummed about all of the excursions I booked being cancelled pre-cruise, but what we ended up doing in Tortola was fun and I NEVER would have picked that one. Yeah I wish we had been able to go to ST Thomas because I love to get off the ship, but we had an amazing bonus relaxing sea day with incredible weather and a delicious sit down lunch in Royal Court - again something we usually don't do. We have had the most incredible weather and service teams from all of our 8 cruises.

 

[hygienist999]

I am on board the Fantasy. A lot of the above is not accurate.
Edge and Vibe were open on Sunday evening and then closed all day Monday and Tuesday and part day Wednesday- they opened as we were leaving Tortola Wednesday afternoon. They are open but don’t have planned activities for the teens. The teens are happy to have a place to hang out

as far as I know there was only one of the smaller entertainment items cancelled. Not sure if it was quarantine related or if the performer could not board at St Thomas. All the big shows have been running as planned. And there have been plenty of other things. Trivia, musical acts, tastings etc. as always there are more things to do than we can get to.

We docked an hour early at castaway cay today - no delays getting off here. The planned time to start disembarking was 9:30 and they gave the all clear At 8:30.

I have read other rumors about Palo and Remy being closed. Those rumors are also not true. We have done Palo brunch and Remy dessert tasting.

what has changed:

After the denial at St Thomas there have been more announcements about mask wearing

The big change is that you must keep masks on for any photos indoors: with characters, at backdrops and even in the dining room when you already have your mask off for eating.

Deck two and the aft of deck 5 appear to be the quarantine floors


There were two fireworks shows for NYE and then three countdown parties: tube, DLounge (I think), and on deck which we attended and seemed like a good old deck party
We were told by our head server that the passenger count was just over 2000 which was a big drop from expected. Based on our cruise group, a lot of people dropped due to positive tests before even leaving for port and the positive rate at the port was higher than previous cruises which makes sense with omicron.
The weather has been incredible and my family is having a great time and very happy to be here after all the cancelled trips over the last almost two years.

This makes me feel so much better. We leave on the Fantasy next Saturday the 8th. My husband is talking about canceling because he thinks most things will be canceled and the cruise won't be worth going. Its a Star Wars Day at Sea cruise and he thinks they won't do a lot of things. We did one of the Star Wars cruises about 4 years ago and loved it. We don't care about the ports as we've been so many times in the past, so we don't plan on getting off the ship.

 

[BruinEd03]

This makes me feel so much better. We leave on the Fantasy next Saturday the 8th. My husband is talking about canceling because he thinks most things will be canceled and the cruise won't be worth going. Its a Star Wars Day at Sea cruise and he thinks they won't do a lot of things. We did one of the Star Wars cruises about 4 years ago and loved it. We don't care about the ports as we've been so many times in the past, so we don't plan on getting off the ship.

I've never been at a SWDAS cruise, but I'll say they upped their character meet and greets/surprise character interaction game. Lots more random characters walking around for selfies.

 

[WarEagle!]

Just debarked the Fantasy today. I’m not sure if Vibe and Edge had reopened, but activities around the ship were mostly adults only. Several families were complaining that there just wasn’t enough for kids to do on the ship, especially with Vibe and Edge closed earlier in the week. Deck 11 was always packed with limited pool chairs available.

 

[Stitch1027]

I am sailing today aswell. We heard the fantasy changed to masks outside aswell? Can someone give insight on this and if it applies to the pool areas?

 

[WarEagle!]

We were not required to wear masks outside at all except on Castaway Cay in the food area.

 

[Ila Sikorski]

Here for any play by play anyone wants to provide! lol. We sail 01/21 and looking for any insight as things keep going.

 

[WarEagle!]

I would echo what hilarys has already said. It was a little stressful at times (like waiting for the clear to sail after testing at Port Canaveral) and at St. Thomas when we were waiting to get off the ship (we were in the theatre waiting for 2 hours as we were supposed to be one of the first tour groups off the ship). We were disappointed with the St Thomas cancellation, but if you and your family are flexible, you will still have a great time. We had a great time traveling in a party of 4 with a 6-year old and grandmother (Although, my son could care less about going to the kids club. I could see if your kids have their hearts set on kids club time, now may not be the best time for you to sail). Everyone found things that we enjoyed doing. The shows are still running and are amazing. Movies are still showing, and the entertainment crew are on point, as usual, when running activities. You do have to get to all the venues early because they fill to capacity quickly, but once inside, it’s nice not being packed in like sardines. There is definitely less going activity-wise than pre-covid, and activities are shorter than usual to provide for extra cleaning time. They did change some of the rules mid-cruise (like having to mask up for pictures even while eating). Also, some cast members were not very polite when reminding people to wear masks. I think they were a bit stressed during this sailing due to changing numbers/rules/etc. Hope this info helps as you are making decisions for upcoming cruises.