Guests sailing aboard the Disney Fantasy were informed by Captain Thord of an itinerary change on Sunday. Guests have been informed that there is a technical issue that requires the Disney Fantasy to sail at a reduced rate of speed. As a result, the intinerary has been modified from the typical 7-Night Western Caribbean cruise foregoing a scheduled stop in Falmouth on Thursday. Stops in Cozumel & Grand Cayman have been pushed a day to Tuesday and Wednesday. Initial reports suggested mechanical issue limiting the ship’s cruising speed.
The new itinerary for the Disney Fantasy’s July 6th cruise is as follows:
- Saturday – Port Canaveral
- Sunday – At Sea
- Monday – At Sea (originally Cozumel)
- Tuesday – Cozumel (originally Grand Cayman)
- Wednesday – Grand Cayman (originally Falmouth)
- Thursday – At Sea
- Friday – Castaway Cay
On Sunday night, MarineTraffic.com was showing the Fantasy sailing at 16.5kn while in route to Cozumel. However, on Monday afternoon, the Fantasy is sailing at 9.6kn well below her typical cruising speed. However, this doesn’t necessary signal an deeper issue as this could just be timing their Tuesday arrival into Cozumel.
Disney Cruise Line will be refunding port fees for the missed stop in Jamaica and Port Adventures will automatically be removed and refunded from guests’ accounts.
At this time, Disney is working to accommodate guests with Port Adventures booked in Cozumel and Grand Cayman. Impacted guests will be informed when information becomes available.
In a letter given to each stateroom, guests were informed that Disney is extending a $200 onboard credit to each stateroom and a 20% discount on a future cruise taken within 24-months of the July 6th sailing.
As of now, the Disney Fantasy is expected to sail from Port Canaveral on Saturday July 13th as scheduled.
Eeesh. I am sailing on her the 28th. I hope whatever it is get fixed. And, is it just me, or does $200 seem like a pittance?
$200 is more than generous. Especially considering that Falmouth really isn’t a great port. We don’t do the Western, in part, because of the 3 port days and only 2 sea days. These folks lucked out!
I agree!! I would be thrilled with these offerings!
You wouldn’t say that had you been on board. There was very limited air conditioning, no ice, extreme vibration and numerous itinerary changes – from ports to dining to theme nights. What they also did not disclose is the $200 was non refundable so for our family who also had gift cards on file we lost $175 of the $200 placeholder because we did not use it because it appeared on the last night after the gift cards were already used. So Trust me Rosaline $200 is NOT More than Generous and you cant say we lucked out by any means. I have sailed DCL multiple times and this was not a Fantasy of a vacation.
And to Clarify it was $200 PER Cabin not per cruiser.
You’re correct we were on June 22 8 night the vibration was bad
$200 AND 20% off a future cruise is fairly generous. They obviously refunded the port taxes & fees as well for that port.
We have missed ports before and received nothing. We missed Castaway Cay once and weren’t offered anything – however, given the weather at the time I wouldn’t have gotten off the ship had we docked. When it isn’t their fault (weather), you don’t get much if anything. Here it is their fault since it is a ship issue, and they are offering what amounts to a free port adventure at one of the next ports, free palo + wine/drinks for 2, free spa experience.
I don’t think $200 for missing a port that isn’t very popular at all is pretty solid move by Disney and to offer 20% off on a future cruise on top of it is a good PR move.
Falmouth is overrated
I agree!
I am sailing on her on the 27th for the 11 night. Hope everything is fixed by then!!
I’m sailing on the 27th as well. Hope the issue is fixed, but does anyone know about the riots in Puerto Rico and how that affects the itinerary? Would we go to another destination, get a refund for that port, etc. Please inform if you know what happens with events such as these. Thanks!
I would imagine there is a backup plan if needed, but the Fantasy’s call to San Juan on August 4th is over 2-weeks away.
Hope this will be resolved before the 11 night Southern Caribbean sailing on the 27th that we are on. What do you think will happen?
I agree. We were just in Falmouth in may and nothing there. Ocho is to far away its a shame they don’t dock there.
We skipped St. Martin during a hurricane in the gulf. Never got an added onboard credit or a 20% discount. Just added movies in the theater and an added day at sea.
That makes sense, IMO. A weather delay has is out of DCL’s control, where as an equipment failure (arguably) is their responsibility (though we all know that sometimes even the best maintained equipment has problems). But it is logical that they’d not compensate for one, but would want to make a gesture in case of the other.
Although weather is not a controlled area in lieu of that movies just doesn’t cut it. With what Disney charges for their cruises it would be a fair gesture to extend some sort of discount for future sailings!
Probably because hurricane was outside of their control, whereas this was their equipment failure.
Not suprised…in hindsight. We sailed on her on the 15th of June. And the mechanical vibration in Enchanted Garden and in our staterooms (deck 6, Aft) was the worst we had ever experienced. We had to keep the stateroon closet doors open to keep them from vibrating against the jambs so we could sleep. We still had a good cruise, but it sure did seem like there were some worn out bearings somewhere. I do hope the damage is not too extensive.
While cruising in March on the Fantasy, we noticed a slight vibration that wasn’t present on the Dream. Propeller Driveshaft issue perhaps?
Looks like they fixed the issue in Cozumel. Per Marine Traffic tracking Fantasy is underway at 21+ knots from Cozumel – much better than the 9.5 knots she did to get there.
Looks like they fixed the engine issue. Fantasy is underway from Cozumel at 21+ knots. Much better than the 9.5 knots she did to get there.
We were on the wonder fire cruise.. they gave us a $100 per cabin.. Disney is not in the business of refunds.
We were on the Fantasy for the 8 nighter June 22nd and stayed in the flag pole room. Leaving St. Thomas headed to Castaway was a rough night of no sleep due to the vibrations. Had to put towels in the closet doors and bathroom doors to keep them from rattling all night.
Same cruise same issues
I’m sorry to say that I do not feel we were compensated appropriately for all the issues that happened on the July 6th cruise 2019. A $200 on-board credit was only per stateroom was what we received. We scheduled 5 port adventures and were only able to go on one of them due to all of the issues and completely missed Falmouth, Jamaica all together. My children were looking forward to that port the most because we were swimming with the dolphins there. Once we arrived in Grand Cayman, we were told the boat that was taking us to go snorkeling was broke down. We were extremely discouraged as we felt like Disney should have had a back up contract with other contractors in the event something like this happened. Unfortunately, when we reached Castaway Cay it was raining but the storm subsided fairly quickly. We were told the open waters were too unsafe to go out and do our excursion there. Not only did all of these things happen with our excursions, port arrival times and departures were changed, which lessened time we could enjoy the different ports. Yes, Disney did offer 20% off on future cruise, but honestly I have no desire to go on another one. There should have been other options for the customer to chose from, like a 20% refund on the current cruise.
Was on the June 22nd cruise asked the captain at the meet and greet when they were going to fix the vibration. He stated there was was nothing wrong lied to my face . We were in palo on a sea day the vibration was so bad the wine glass cart was taken out of dining area glasses were making so much noise never inseven fantasy cruises did we experience that much vibration. Don’t lie to you’re guests