Trip log, day seven. Castaway Cay.
7-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Disney Fantasy – Itinerary A from Port Canaveral, FL
March 14, 2014
Day seven started at the stroke of midnight with the PremEAR of the new Dreamworks movie, Need for Speed. Wait, what, a Dreamworks movie? That is correct; Disney is distributing the film and as a result, the movie is included in the first run offerings onboard the fleet. Just to back track some; I left the stateroom where the ladies had already fallen asleep and filled up my travel mug at the drink station and stopped by the late night snack set up in Europa before making my way to the Buena Vista Theatre. I was quite surprised by the turn out for a non-Disney movie with an over 2-hour running time. I enjoyed the movie for what it was, and will go more into the film later in a proper review.
It was now back to the stateroom to get some shuteye before beginning our last day of the cruise at Castaway Cay.
Our all ashore time listed in the Personal Navigator (Day 7) was 9:45 AM. Emily headed up to the gym, then stopped at the Cove Cafe before meeting us at Cabanas for breakfast. We decided to return the our stateroom to eat on the veranda so I could video our arrival with the GoPro which at this point, I’ve yet so see if the video really recorded, or if the files are again corrupt.
Clearly the GoPro is not a toy. It’s a highly complex piece of equipment with 3 buttons. It came with a 54-page manual. I read it. Maybe, I need to read it again.
We were finally cleared to go ashore at 10AM and snagged our favorite spot.
Isabelle wore a wet suit which helped her a bit as she did briefly go in the water which was way too cold for Emily and I. Isabelle spent the majority of the morning playing in the sand with two other girls she knew from a previous cruise.
We spent most of our time relaxing in the hammocks and finally caved ordering the drink of the day, the Stingray, just before noon.
About an hour later, it was time for lunch at Cookies. I must admit that even though I keep commenting that I’d love to see the menu change at Castaway Cay, the food was excellent today.
A lunch at Cookies BBQ is never complete without Isabelle enjoying a chocolate chip cookie!
Following lunch, Emily checked Isabelle into Scuttles Cove, where one of the youth counselors recognized our name and mentioned that his dad is a reader of the blog. If your reading this, Hi James’ dad!
I wanted to retake some photos of Mount Rustmore and the Castaway Air planes on the runway as well as at Serenity Bay. I love the Castaway Air logo and wish there was more use of this fictitious airline branding on merchandise.
Our little photo walk concluded with a stop at one of the gift shops, but neither of us found anything we felt compelled to buy and left empty handed. Instead, we headed to Conched Out Bar to take advantage of the afternoon 2-for-1 special.
We returned to Scuttles Cove to pick up Isabelle and headed back to the ship; but first, I met one of the newest residents of Castaway Cay, a happy snowman by the name of Olaf!
It was now around 3 PM, so we dropped our beach bag off in the stateroom and headed to the fairly empty pool deck. Emily and Isabelle took advantage of the fact there was no line for the AquaDuck.
I decided to head up to deck 13 to see a different perspective of the new family beach cabanas that are currently under construction.
I stopped to admire the seemingly endless view off the bow for the Disney Fantasy from the adults only area, Satellite Falls.
Just before all aboard time we returned to our stateroom to get cleaned up for dinner and again I attempted to video the Disney Fantasy sailing away from Castaway Cay. Like I said at the beginning, I have not checked the memory card in the GoPro, but I am not holding my breath. If it worked, there will eventually be a video.
Our final farewell dinner was in Royal Court with the Sea Ya Real Soon menu.
The last night is always tough, especially on the longer sailings, as you end up getting close with your serving team. We had an excellent serving team this week with Sergio and Maria. In fact, this was our 20th dinner with Sergio. If you see him, make sure to say hello!
After dinner, we did some final shopping. I am not sure if the shirt was out all cruise or new this evening, but I spotted a new golf shirt that I could not leave behind. Just a little heads up; I have other Nike Dri-Fit Tour Performance polo shirts and this shirt (and maybe others) was a full size off. I have a similar shirt from Fantasy’s Inaugural Sailings that is a size large and I had to purchase an XL. I held both up when I got home and they were similar, so I am not sure if Nike changed the cut and sizing, or something else. Regardless, I’d try the shirt on to be safe.
Isabelle wanted to finish her third and final Midship Detective Agency quest. So, we stopped by a few more pieces of Enchanted Artwork on the way to the Oceaneer Club.
While Isabelle was enjoying the evening, Mom & Dad headed back to the room to pack. As much as we had hoped to finish early and get one last drink in Ooh La La, time was not on our side. I picked up Isabelle from the club only after waiting for her to customize and print one last Disney Fairy and turning in her Oceaneer Band.
We added the last few items to the last suitcase and placed it in the hallway and called it a night. Inevitably, no matter how hard we try, we are always woken up when we return to Port Canaveral.
In the end, I used a little over 80% of my 1GB plan, although based on my previous data usage discrepancy I believe my usage to be much less. Since, it was the end of the cruise I did not bother checking with the onboard Connect@Sea specialist to verify actual usage.
Trip log, day eight. Port Canaveral debarkation.
7-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Disney Fantasy – Itinerary A from Port Canaveral, FL
March 15, 2014
Just as expected, we woke right up upon our return to Port Canaveral around 5:30 AM. We were in no hurry, as we drove to the port plus Isabelle was still asleep and a well rested child is a happy child! We never planned on going to Royal Court for the See Ya Real Soon Breakfast at 6:45 AM, this is vacation, not a school/work day. For those curious, the Disney Fantasy was cleared and guests were allowed to disembark around 7:15 AM.
If you are not familiar with the way the last morning breakfast is handled, the main dinner seating is scheduled for the first breakfast seating at 6:45 AM with the late dinner seating following at 8 AM. On occasion during previous cruises, we have been fortunate enough to have our head server work us into the later breakfast, but not this trip.
We made our way up to Cabanas and spotted Maria and Sergio! As it turned out, all the other families from their first seating were planning on eating in Cabanas, so they got to come to Cabanas as well until the second breakfast seating began. Sergio found us a table in a rather crowded Cabanas and as you can see Isabelle was just as shocked as we were to see them this morning in Cabanas.
It was officially time to call it a cruise, and make our way down to the atrium. There was a brief backup in the gangway, but it sped up. The line for Customs appeared long, but it moved like a well oiled machine and were at the car in no time.
Then, as suddenly as she’d come into our lives…
Disney Fantasy!
..she was gone.
And our adventure was over.
Although there are many alternatives, we parked at the port and prepaid for parking on Port Canaveral’s website. Once the car was loaded we set a course and we were home for lunch… the first meal we had to fend for ourselves.
Thanks for following along with us this week, and we hope you enjoyed the daily trip logs. Since this was the first cruise we attempted a daily trip report, we are interested in hearing how we did so we can improve next time which pending any late add-ons will be on the Disney Magic in the Southern Caribbean and the repositioning back to Port Canaveral for a nice 10-night trip.
Hi Scott, I’ve been following your blog since last year when my husband & I booked our 1st disney cruise on the fantasy( I don’t if you remember me but I sent you pictures last September of the launch of the navigator app). Anyways, I have religiously checked the blog to read how your family cruise was going & I have enjoyed reading all week long. At the same time it has made me SUPER excited for our 2nd cruise on the fantasy again this September (eastern itinerary A again too!). Looking forward to following your blog this year again! Thanks for letting us follow along.
Nice report. I enjoyed following along on your voyage.
I loved your daily blogs, made me feel like I was on the cruise! I’ll be on the fantasy for the eastern carrbiean for the first time in august I learned a lot from you on this trip that will help me in august. Also I think it’s amazing how the counselor recognized your name from the blog!
Thank you so much for the daily updates. We are going on the Fantasy for the 7 night Eastern Cruise the first weekend in October. This has been so much fun. We like that we have an idea as to what to expect. Already booked with Bernards in St. Marteen. You have been so much help to us. We are really excited now about our first cruise ever.
Hi Scott, we really enjoyed your daily reports, wife and I raced to the computer each day to read them, we were on fantasy last year in May, and both reading your report and your blog we find out more thaings to do on our next cruise, just wish it was ready to leave on today. Glad you had great trip.
I enjoyed your reports and don’t want them to end!
We found your blog through our Disboards Facebook page for our cruise. My husband Mike and I will be sailing on the Fantasy for the first time in June to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We have taken our 3 children on both the Magic and the Wonder but this trip will be just for mom and dad. 😉 So fun to read your daily report as it gets us excited and helps me to plan. Thanks so much for taking the time to post!
All of us from the Fantasy5/31 FB group have loved your posts! Thanks for helping us get even more excited!
hello fellow 5/31 cruiser
This was outstanding. I felt like I was a part of your family as you all were cruising daily…. Thanks for making us apart of your cruise and your family. I am hoping to do it again with you and your family in the future. I read your blog daily. Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!
I enjoyed the daily updates. I will be on a 9 night for the Disney Magic on June 26th.
It’s been great reading along every day Scott. Thanks for taking the time to post whilst you are on vacation. Your triplog has really helped to build the excitment for our forthcoming cruise on the Fantasy. I hope you are going to post a review of your Remy Brunch!
I have followeded your blog for 2 years now! We were on this same cruise with you. Crazy! Had an amazing time despite food poisoning on night two.
It was great! My only complaint is now I want….no NEED to get back on the Fantasy! I miss her! Thanks for doing this, even when you are on Vacation. I looked forward everyday for the updates!
Scott – I echo everyone’s comments above. Great reading about your family’s adventures and your various cruise perspectives. I looked forward to reading your blog entry each day. As with any cruise (even our voyeuristic virtual ones through your blog), debarkation day is a sad day.
PS – I also enjoy your other related blog entries with little tidbits of DCL info. Keep up the good work.
Thanks again Scott. Really looking forward to our May trip now. Great report which I’m sure was made easy by a great time had by all.
Scott, I love reading your post! Great logs I enjoy reading them daily. Thanks for taking the time out of your vacation to keep us all in the loop!
I enjoy your blog very much and thank you so much for your writing. Entertaining and highly informative, and it’s clear you’re an expert in the area. I was on this same Fantasy cruise in December and loved it. Great work with the blog and your daily posts from the Fantasy!
Agreed!
The daily trip log was wonderful! I enjoyed it immensely. Emily: I really admire your dedication to your daily workout while on vacation. You have inspired me.
Hi Scott! I have really enjoyed your daily log posts from your trip. Makes me want to go back on any Disney cruise. Keep them coming on your next cruise. Any insider info on when they will release the schedule for the rest of 2015?
I really appreciate the daily log! We are set to sail on the Fantasy for the exact same itinerary on March 22 and I have been glued to all your posts. Curious…was the verandah too noisy for insanity? I was planning on gettin some miles in on the track or treadmill but would love to do some cross training too? How did your wife manage without making too much noise?
She made a conscious effort to land softly to prevent making noise.
I enjoyed reading, thanks for sharing!
My girls and I are going on the Fantasy in June. We loved following your trip! So what stop should I jump off on the tram at cast away cay to grab on of those hammocks. 🙂
Hi Scott, really enjoyed reading the trip report. We are from Australia and don’t get to go to the USA very often. But we love disney and have been on a cruise. Planning our next rip on a disney cruise 2015. Thinking of Alaska. So nice to read about your cruise. Thanks
I want to echo the other comments – I have really enjoyed reading your reports every day. Thanks so much for taking the time to “take us along” on your trip. I love your blog — keep up the good work!
Scott thanks for taking us along on your Fantasy cruise. Had a great deal of fun reading your blog last week. Do you plan to post about the Remy Brunch? We enjoy the Palo Brunch very much, one of the many highlights of our Fantasy cruises. But have not had the chance to do the Remy. Would love to hear about your experience.
It was my daily treat. Job well done!
Thank you.
Hi Scott. Thank you very much for the great trip report. We’ve taken three cruises on the Wonder, and our first cruise on the Dream will be in December. It’s nice to get a preview from your trip on the Fantasy of some of the things we will get to experience. I am very interested to see the results of your GoPro videos, as I hope to have one by our trip and I love the idea of setting up a time-lapse of the arrival into port. I am hoping to also use it for the stingray adventure. Finally, I’ve never taken advantage of booking a future cruise while onboard, so I do hope you will go over that in a future post.
Thanks a lot!
I still haven’t had the time to look at the GoPro footage… That is if there is any.
That was awesome! We were on the fantasy for the first time in February and my family loved following your trip report. Made us feel like we were back on the ship with you. We are traveling the Magic next year and I am a bit worried I won’t love it as much as the Fantasy. When are you traveling the magic so I can follow along? Thank you so much for the time you put into that and your pictures were amazing.
We will be on the Magic in October.
Thanks Scott. My wife and I were on the Fantasy the week before you and had a fabulous time. Mike, the assistant entertainment manager and Daniel, the hotel director, both from England like us, recognised us from the Fantasy back to back trip we took in October to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Just sorted out the Magic for March next year. Thanks for the blog – we relived our trip through your informative reports .
Thanks for the trip report! I have a very serious, terribly important question for you: are those mozzarella cheese sticks pictured for your movie snack?!
Yes, those sticks were my snack for the movie. I picked them up at the late night snack bar in Europa with a disposable coffee cup from the drink station.
Love the day to day report. I didn’t even know they had late night food in Europa, that is very helpful for our next cruise! So many “secrets”.
Can’t wait to hear about your southern Caribbean cruise. That is one I’ve been drooling over!
Thoroughly enjoyed reading about your most recent cruise as we are scheduled to do this same itinerary later this summer. My husband & I enjoyed Ooh La La though we only hand champagne, not the “mixed” beverages. Will have to try that next time.
We are evaluating Shore Excursions now. What made you go with your own outings rather than the ones offered by Disney?
We are not opposed to DCL’s port adventures. These are ports we have been to a number of times and we wanted to do something different. By going out on our own we were able to set the schedule. For example, when we took the DCL port adventure to Trunk Bay in St John we had about 90 minutes of beach time with a considerable amount of travel time. We had a good 3+ hours at Cinnamon Bay Beach which is adjacent to Trunk Bay. The other reasons we have gone off on our own is that we can save some money, which ultimately gets spent in the gift shops or drinks at Ooh La La.
Hey! Great report!! I loved the Stingray drink of the day. Do you know the recipe? There’s an incorrect one online containing Midori (which makes it green?!) Do you know what’s in it?
I am not sure on the amounts of each, but the ingredients are:
Thanks!
Great report Scott, thanks for sharing. My family is going on this exact cruise in two weeks! So helpful to have your trip blog. We have a party of six adults going. We’ve “linked” our staterooms through Disney and booked our trip almost a year in advance. How likely would you say we will be seated together at dinner? This is really important to us, if we aren’t seated together do you think they would accommodate that once we are on board?