This trip report was written by Gunes, who sailed the Disney Fantasy August 25, 2018, through September 1, 2018. You can see photos and videos from her cruise and other adventures by visiting her travel blog (fotogenictravel.com) or by following @fotogenictravel on Instagram or Facebook. Gunes provides concierge-style planning services as an independent travel advisor affiliated with My Path Unwinding Travel and can be followed on both Instagram and Facebook (@vacayconciergegunes).
You can start this trip report from the beginning by clicking here.
Day 6: At Sea
You can see the daily navigators from this sailing here.
Finally – another day at sea! Days at sea are the epitome of what Disney Cruise Line is all about. You can do as much or as little as you want, with no set schedule, if you desire.
After two straight days in ports, I was ready for a relatively lazy day…
I started my lazy day by gathering various breakfast items from both Cabanas and the Concierge lounge and bringing the food back to our stateroom to eat. Then, I went to the gym, and, afterwards grabbed some lunch to eat in the stateroom (snacks from the Concierge lounge and a sandwich from Flo’s Café). (Yes, if you haven’t figured it out by now, Disney cruises are all about EATING!)
After lunch, my husband, son, and I went to Buena Vista Theatre to see the movie Christopher Robin, which had just come out in theaters. The movie was cute, although both I (and my son) found the pace to be a little slow.
Following the movie, we were excited to attend an afternoon “soiree” at the Concierge sundeck. This sundeck on both the Fantasy and the Dream is covered and has a hot tub. (I personally prefer the Concierge sundeck of the Wonder, as it is not enclosed and has sweeping vistas on both sides of the ship.)
During each cruise, all concierge guests are invited to attend this special reception, which includes booze, milkshakes, snacks, and live music. Also, a “surprise” guest always arrives. We were pleased that the guest on this cruise was Pluto! As you can see, he was ready to give out hugs:
While attending the soiree, something interesting transpired (in addition to the Pluto hugs). The ship had to detour on its way to Castaway Cay (our destination for the next day) and go very close to the island of Providenciales in Turks & Caicos. Apparently, someone on the ship was experiencing a medical emergency, and this island had the closest airport to get the guest back to the United States. We never saw a medivac helicopter but pretty much assumed that somehow the person was tendered to shore (either by Disney or some other boat that came to our ship). We never actually docked at Providenciales (I don’t think they have a deep harbor that can accommodate a cruise ship).
Here is the view of Providenciales from outside of the Concierge sundeck:
We learned later that the person ended up being OK. Unfortunately, the detour would delay our arrival to Castaway Cay by three hours (more on that in my next post). However, we were heartened to know that Disney Cruise Line did their best to accommodate a guest in need.
After the soiree, we headed to Animator’s Palate for dinner.
When we arrived to our table, we each were presented with some hand-outs so that we could draw our own character, which then later would be “animated” on one of the screens near our table:
This was our first time experiencing the actual “animation” in Animator’s Palate, so we were super-excited to see the results…
While we waited, we had dinner…our bread for the night was sourdough, with a red pepper dip. We only had one choice for an appetizer on the menu, which was the “Animators Workshop Sampler”:
From left to right, the sampler was comprised of smoked duck breast with picked red onions and dried cranberries, dill-marinated shrimp with tomato-mayonnaise, and smoked salmon tartar with sour cream and cream cheese. My favorite was the shrimp.
My husband doesn’t eat seafood, so our waiter brought out a special vegetarian sampler, which was basically couscous with hummus and various veggies in the middle of the plate:
I also ordered the tomato, spaghetti, and meatball soup, which was very good:
For the main course, I ordered two entrees: (1) oven-baked lobster tail with a side of sun-dried tomato and lemon pesto mash, and (2) fettucine with parmesan crusted chicken, served with peppers and mushrooms in a cheddar cheese sauce:
I’m glad I ordered two dishes, as the lobster was overdone; it had a tough, chewy texture. The chicken and pasta, however, was very good.
After we finished our main courses, it was time to watch the animation! The video below shows just a snippet of the show (click on the link to watch it), which lasted several minutes. As you can see, Disney did its “magic” on all of everyone’s drawings and animated them on the screen. We really were quite entertained watching the show – we absolutely loved it!
Following the show, it was time for dessert. As usual, I couldn’t resist temptation and ordered two desserts (again): the chocolate lava cake (served with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream) and the “Captain’s” sundae (mint chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and crunchy meringue):
The lava cake was absolutely blissful. My son had a fun dessert: decorate your own cupcake (with a little Mickey flair, of course)!
Once again, I was completely stuffed after dinner. While we were walking out of the restaurant, I snapped a few pics of hidden mickeys and other cute details. Here is a photo of the floor tiles:
And, here is the entrance to the restaurant:
After dinner, I was pumped to see another show in the Walt Disney Theatre. Here is a photo of the stage (guests are not allowed to photograph during the show):
Do you see a hidden mickey in the balcony?
The show was “Disney’s Believe,” and it included songs from Aladdin, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, the Lion King, and the Princess and the Frog. Being a huge Marry Poppins fan, that part was my favorite. There also was a surprise appearance by Mickey and Minnie at the end. The final song of the night encouraged us to cherish our childhood memories, and it made me cry!
I didn’t want to end the night on a sad note, so I decided to browse White Caps after the show. I’m a huge fan of Dooney & Burke’s Disney-themed purses and was extremely tempted to buy this new release:
But, then there was this:
Only $13,500! Swarovski crystal, of course.
I’m not a big Star Wars fan, but there’s something for everyone on the ship:
A bargain at $8,010.
OK, so my wallet wasn’t about to spend the amount of our cruise fare on a souvenir…I had better call it a night. I returned to the stateroom to be greeted by a gorilla, wishing me sweet dreams:
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Up Next: Day 7 – Castaway Cay
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