Mtinkerbell5189
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2011
We have previously sailed the Fantasy for a 7 day eastern during the week before easter (sold out cruise 2014), and took a March 3 day dream cruise when it first came out in 2011 (not a full cruise). We are two adults who just got back from a 7 day western on the Magic. I preface this with that we had a great cruise but these are some things I did not expect after doing major research and I have been reading the boards for 5 years. It was still a great vacation but just some things I thought were worth noting.
Hyatt stay and MCO bus/boarding:
We checked in at the Hyatt and had to remind them we were on the Disney List and they double checked. Our bags were promptly picked up the next morning at 8:30 (I think we were one of the first ones). We went down to wait in line for the Cruise desk to open at 8:45 and it got moving right at 9. We were on the first bus and at the terminal very quickly. We were one of the first families in the terminal a little after 10:00 maybe (not positive of the exact time). We did not board until after 11:30 (Boarding number 5).
Upgrade at Port:
We had at 5C and we were offered a 1 bedroom handicap upgrade for about 1800 but we did not take it. There was only one upgrade available and we were 2nd at the upgrade desk (the family in front of us declined that upgrade too) but there were no other choices. I was surprised since 1 week before sailing there were 7 1 bedrooms available from what I saw online.
Highs
-We just got engaged prior to the cruise and our serving team and the team in Palo brought us special things to congratulate us.
- We had an amazing room host - Alberto and we loved our room a 5C I believe.
-We enjoyed Castaway with the small amount of people. It was definitely noticeable the whole time but we spent the day at Serenity Bay and it was a plus.
-Susana from Portugal was our server in Palo and I highly recommend her. I know she is still on the ship for a few more weeks and then coming back for the end of the Med and beginning of Norway. She even treated us like royalty and was recommending food while serving at Serenity Bay on Castaway.
Lows-
-Getting off the Boat in Key West. We were docked at the Naval Pier and we got in early and the all clear to get off was made at 12. When we went down at almost 1 the line was the length of the ship and the transports had not started coming yet so we went back on the boat. At 1:45 there was still a huge line and we waited at least 20 minutes to get on a trolley to go downtown. We were told there were traffic issues down town but I wish we had been docked down town and could have just walked off.
-Stingray City and Dolphin Swim in Grand Cayman. I had not read bad reviews but it was by far the worst managed excursion ever. Disney ended up with a later time than I would have liked when we signed up it was 10:15 and lasted 3.5 to 4 hours. So I knew we would probably not get a lot of other time in port but I expected to be able to at least walk into a shop and buy a gift. We did not get off the boat till 11 even though the theatre was empty, and I do not think it was a huge wait for a tender. We waited at the port terminal once you get off the tender for another 25 minutes at least and eventually we got on the buses. We were given a 2:00 dolphin swim time. At 12:30 we were still sitting at Dolphin Cove waiting for the boat to come bring us to Stingray City. It finally came around 1. We got there after a 30 minute boat ride, swam for maybe only 25 minutes, not the full time and went back. Our dolphin swim was rushed and we did not even get to "touch" the dolphins, only do the kiss and swim. It was not the full half hour in the water because by that point it was 3:00 and they were rushing to get us back for 4:30 all aboard. They did give us discounted pictures because of the complaints but it was very mismanaged. We were on the last tender back at 4:30 and had no time to look around town (the one behind us had a medical condition of a boy being stung by a stingray at stingray city on our boat). I was really disappointed by this Disney excursion.
-Internet- This is no ones fault but mine but being tech savy I thought I did everything I needed to do on my phone to turn things off and not run through the 50 mb free from the first day but there were a few things I still missed. I suggest bringing your device to the internet cafe so they check that everything is off.
-Sever. I will not mention but we were not thrilled with the main server the first night. He did have some big parties and then us as a table for 2 but it was not as nice as I had read most servers are on the magic. He lightened up by day 2 a lot. We ended up eating at Cabanas two nights, just because we were tired and did not want to be tied to a team, not because our server at all. Then we ate in Palo so I think he thought we were upset but he did not overly make us feel bad about missing the main dining. We did let our head sever know.
Hyatt stay and MCO bus/boarding:
We checked in at the Hyatt and had to remind them we were on the Disney List and they double checked. Our bags were promptly picked up the next morning at 8:30 (I think we were one of the first ones). We went down to wait in line for the Cruise desk to open at 8:45 and it got moving right at 9. We were on the first bus and at the terminal very quickly. We were one of the first families in the terminal a little after 10:00 maybe (not positive of the exact time). We did not board until after 11:30 (Boarding number 5).
Upgrade at Port:
We had at 5C and we were offered a 1 bedroom handicap upgrade for about 1800 but we did not take it. There was only one upgrade available and we were 2nd at the upgrade desk (the family in front of us declined that upgrade too) but there were no other choices. I was surprised since 1 week before sailing there were 7 1 bedrooms available from what I saw online.
Highs
-We just got engaged prior to the cruise and our serving team and the team in Palo brought us special things to congratulate us.
- We had an amazing room host - Alberto and we loved our room a 5C I believe.
-We enjoyed Castaway with the small amount of people. It was definitely noticeable the whole time but we spent the day at Serenity Bay and it was a plus.
-Susana from Portugal was our server in Palo and I highly recommend her. I know she is still on the ship for a few more weeks and then coming back for the end of the Med and beginning of Norway. She even treated us like royalty and was recommending food while serving at Serenity Bay on Castaway.
Lows-
-Getting off the Boat in Key West. We were docked at the Naval Pier and we got in early and the all clear to get off was made at 12. When we went down at almost 1 the line was the length of the ship and the transports had not started coming yet so we went back on the boat. At 1:45 there was still a huge line and we waited at least 20 minutes to get on a trolley to go downtown. We were told there were traffic issues down town but I wish we had been docked down town and could have just walked off.
-Stingray City and Dolphin Swim in Grand Cayman. I had not read bad reviews but it was by far the worst managed excursion ever. Disney ended up with a later time than I would have liked when we signed up it was 10:15 and lasted 3.5 to 4 hours. So I knew we would probably not get a lot of other time in port but I expected to be able to at least walk into a shop and buy a gift. We did not get off the boat till 11 even though the theatre was empty, and I do not think it was a huge wait for a tender. We waited at the port terminal once you get off the tender for another 25 minutes at least and eventually we got on the buses. We were given a 2:00 dolphin swim time. At 12:30 we were still sitting at Dolphin Cove waiting for the boat to come bring us to Stingray City. It finally came around 1. We got there after a 30 minute boat ride, swam for maybe only 25 minutes, not the full time and went back. Our dolphin swim was rushed and we did not even get to "touch" the dolphins, only do the kiss and swim. It was not the full half hour in the water because by that point it was 3:00 and they were rushing to get us back for 4:30 all aboard. They did give us discounted pictures because of the complaints but it was very mismanaged. We were on the last tender back at 4:30 and had no time to look around town (the one behind us had a medical condition of a boy being stung by a stingray at stingray city on our boat). I was really disappointed by this Disney excursion.
-Internet- This is no ones fault but mine but being tech savy I thought I did everything I needed to do on my phone to turn things off and not run through the 50 mb free from the first day but there were a few things I still missed. I suggest bringing your device to the internet cafe so they check that everything is off.
-Sever. I will not mention but we were not thrilled with the main server the first night. He did have some big parties and then us as a table for 2 but it was not as nice as I had read most servers are on the magic. He lightened up by day 2 a lot. We ended up eating at Cabanas two nights, just because we were tired and did not want to be tied to a team, not because our server at all. Then we ate in Palo so I think he thought we were upset but he did not overly make us feel bad about missing the main dining. We did let our head sever know.
