A Fantasy Holiday - our first Disney Cruise, WDW, UOR, New York and DLR - COMPLETED 4/9

[RachelleBeaney]

Welcome to my newest Disney trip report - a Fantasy Holiday! My name is Rachelle and I am an avid Disney and theme park lover from Perth, Australia. I love to travel with my wonderful husband Jared, especially to the Disney or Universal theme parks!









Yep, that's us. This trip saw us embark on our very first Disney Cruise, visit Universal Studios Orlando and Walt Disney World, as well as head over to Disneyland and stop in New York.

This trip was organised for my husband for his 30th birthday, which fell in January this year. As school holidays in Australia fall in January and flights are much more expensive that time of year, we decided instead to travel in February and left on the 5 February returning to Australia on the 7 March. If you would like to read my pre-trip report the link can be found here.

We had such a wonderful holiday and I'd love to share it with you. I promise plenty of wonderful photos (my husband is a GREAT photographer - though I do apologize for the few iPhone photos that will creep in) and a few fun tales of the most magical places on earth! I've included just a few photos previews here so you can get an idea of what you're in store for. I hope you enjoy this report and that it takes you to the magic that is Disney!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Chapter Links

Day 1 – 5 February 2015 - Travel and Long Beach

Part 1 - Not all who wander are lost - especially no those who plan as well as I do!

Part 2 - A Grand Old Ship

Part 3 - Farewell Queen Mary

Day 2 – 6 February 2015 - Travel and arriving Port Canaveral

Travel and arriving in Port Canaveral

Day 3 – 7 February 2015 - Disney Fantasy - Embarkation Day –7 night Eastern Caribbean Cruise

Part 1 - Group 1 is oh so fun!

Part 2 - Finally Aboard

Part 3 - To Europe...

Part 4 - Finding our Stateroom

Part 5 - Sailing Away...

Part 6 - We made mates with our table mates

Day 4 – 8 February 2015 - Disney Fantasy – Sea Day

Part 1 - I'll sing you a song, a song of the sea...

Part 2 - Never have I ever eaten so much in my life

Part 3 - Night-time on the Disney Fantasy

Day 5 – 9 February 2015 – Disney Fantasy – Sea Day

Part 1 - And we ate more!

Part 2 - Into the Rainforest

Part 3 - An Enchanting Evening

Day 6 – 10 February 2015 – Disney Fantasy – St Thomas/St John – US Virgin Islands

Part 1 - Awaking in the Caribbean

Part 2 - Honeymoon Beach and Finding Pirates in the Caribbean

Day 7 – 11 February 2015 – Disney Fantasy - San Juan - Puerto Rico

Part 1 - Adventure on an ATV

Part 2 - Magical Waters

Part 3 - Ahoy Matey's it's Pirate Night!

Part 4 - Fireworks in the Caribbean

Day 8 – 12 February 2015 – Disney Fantasy – Sea Day

Part 1 - In the Lobby again

Part 2 - Towel Animal School

Part 3 - We got certified as official Disney animators!

Part 4 - A Fantastical Night-time photoshoot

Day 9 – 13 February 2015 – Disney Fantasy – Castaway Cay

Part 1 - Winds in the East, there's a breeze coming in, like something is brewing....and about to be cancelled!

Part 2 - Tropical Paradise

Part 3 - Around the Island

Part 4 - A serene afternoon with fun friends

Part 5 - A beach photo shoot

Part 6 - Goodbye Castaway Cay

Day 10 – 14 February 2015 – Disney Fantasy – Disembarkation and Kennedy Space Centre

A day I do not remember!

Day 11 – 15 February 2015 - Driving to Orlando – Hard Rock Hotel – Universal Orlando Resort

We're off to see the Wizard - in Orlando!

Day 12 – 16 February 2015 – Universal Studios Florida – Universal Orlando Resort

Part 1 - Universal, you made me so mad!

Part 2 - London Calling - Part 1

Part 3 - London Calling - Part 2

Part 4 - Escaping the Sideshow

Day 14 – 18 February 2015 - The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Universal Orlando Resort and Islands of Adventure

Part 1 - Diagon Alley Revealed!

Part 2 - She's a wild dragon

Part 3 - On the Hogwarts Express...

Part 4 - Here a dragon, there a dragon, everywhere a dragon - Dragon!

Part 5 - Islands of fun

Part 6 - Dusk with the Dragon, she wasn't so mad that time of day!

Part 7 - Night-time at Universal Orlando

Day 15 – 19 February 2015 – Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure – Universal Orlando Resort and Animal Kingdom Lodge – Walt Disney World

Part 1 - Early Entry

Part 2 - Exploring the Alley

Part 3 - Goodbye Universal

Part 4 - Arriving at Animal Kingdom Lodge

Day 16 – 20 February 2015 – Magic Kingdom – Walt Disney World

Part 1 - Magic Kingdom under construction

Part 2 - Back in the Disney bubble

Part 3 - A Zip A-Dee Doo Dah - wait why are we riding Splash Mountain in this weather!

Part 4 - A dream is a wish your heart makes....

Part 5 - Three, Two, One...Space, and then crowds

Part 6 - Festival of Fantasy - Part 1

Part 7 - Festival of Fantasy - Part 2

Part 8 - A new kind of Fantasy

Part 9 - Hello Bruce, I'm back for more Grey Stuff

Part 10 - One more Fast Pass to use

Day 17 – 21 February 2015 – Plane Tour and Magic Kingdom– Walt Disney World

Part 1 - Flying over Orlando - Part 1

Part 2 - Flying over Orlando - Part 2

Part 3 - Jared found Giraffe friends - Part 1

Part 4 - Jared found Giraffe friends - Part 2

Part 5 - Dining in California

Part 6 - Our first Wishes

Part 7 - The most magical time at the Magic Kindgom

Part 8 - The Kiss Goodnight

Day 18 – 22 February 2015 – EPCOT and Victoria and Alberts – Walt Disney World

Part 1 - Dodging Running Princesses

Part 2 - Spring is in the air at a Royal Garden

Part 3 - Into the Orient

Part 4 - Lunch at Via Napoli

Part 5 - Goodbye EPCOT

Part 6 - Victoria and Albert's - the best dining experience of my life

Day 19 – 23 February 2015 – Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Walt Disney World

Part 1 - To a mountain, the pre-historic and the jungle

Part 2 - Flights of Wonder

Part 3 - An Animal Kingdom Photopass Album

Part 4 - On safari - Part 1

Part 5 - On safari - Part 2

Part 6 - Enjoying the Rainforest and meeting the King

Part 7 - The Circle of Life.....

Part 8 - The Studios and a galaxy far far away...

Part 9 - Previews of Coming Sci-Fi Attractions...

Part 10 - Night at the Studios

Day 20 - 24 February 2015 - Arriving in New York

Part 1 - Arriving in New York

Day 21 – 25 February 2015 – Central Park and Amateur Night at the Apollo – New York

Part 1 - Horses and Carriages

Part 2 - Strolling in the wondrous winter wonderland

Part 3 - Central Park Boathouse

Part 4 - A Princess in her Castle

Part 5 - Belvedere Castle revealed

Part 6 - This is Amateur Night

Day 22 – 26 February 2015 – Brooklyn Bridge and Broadway - New York

Part 1 - Flurries and Bridges

Part 2 - To Brooklyn

Day 23 – 27 February 2015 – Rockerfeller Ice Skating and Broadway – New York and Day 24 – 28 February 2015 - Aladdin on Broadway - New York

Part 1 - A date to skate

Part 2 - Skating on Ice

Part 3 - Top of the Rock

Part 4 - I'm on top of the world...wait...Manhattan is the whole world right?

Day 26 – 2 March 2015 – Disneyland – Disneyland Resort

Part 1 - Into the Storybook

Part 2 - It's the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness!

Part 3 - Yo Ho, Yo Ho...And a bottle of rum!

Part 4 - A New Orleans Afternoon

Part 5 - Spring is in the air...

Part 6 - Photopass Photos

Day 27 – 3 March 2015 – Disney California Adventure – Disneyland Resort

Part 1 - Racing to Radiator Racers

Part 2 - The Carsland road less traveled

Part 3 - A suitcase and a dream - Walt's Hollywood

Part 4 - The Magic of Main Street

Part 5 - Jared returns to Disneyland

Part 6 - Of Mice, Men and Castles

Part 7 - Mickey can Drum!

Part 8 - Soundsational was Sensational!

Part 9 - Night falls over DCA

Part 10 - When you wish upon a star...Night-time at Disneyland - Part 1

Part 11 - When you wish upon a star...Night-time at Disneyland - Part 2

Day 28 – 4 March 2015 – Disneyland/ Disney California Adventure – Disneyland Resort

Part 1 - Our first Disneyland rope drop

Part 2 - A Fantasy morning

Part 3 - On the Bayou

Part 4 - The last night shoot

Day 29 – 5 March 2015 - Disneyland/ Disney California Adventure – Disneyland Resort and Travel

Part 1 - We are the Rope Drop Champions!

Part 2 - Part of Ariel's World

Part 3 - Trying new things

Part 4 - A sad goodbye

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 1 - Part 1 - Not all who wander are lost - especially not those who plan as well as I do!


We started off our travels at about midnight setting off on a business class flight to Sydney. We were so happy we were able to book business class flights so we could be comfortable on the 4 hour flight to Sydney, followed by 13 hour flights to LA. We were in seats 1A on the first flight and then in the wonderful row 5 on the flight to LA, which is curtained off from the rest of the business class cabin!











YAY for flat bed seats! I slept about 3.5 hours on our first flight and 8 hours on the second but awoke to discover that, due to fog in LA, we were being diverted to Ontario Airport, California. There were definitely some beautiful views on the way down...

















Thanks to fog in LA we were re-routed to a small airport close by where we sat on the tarmac for 4.5 hours waiting to be refueled! Oh well, at least we were in business class. I can't imagine having a 13 hour flight turn into a 17.5 hour flight in economy! We finally arrived in LA, happy but tired, and a little worried as we'd lost some of the day to enjoy our trip down to Long Beach and visit the Queen Mary....


Continued in Next Post

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 1 - Part 2 – A Grand old ship

After arriving 4 hours later than expected into Los Angeles we had a limited amount of time to get down to Long Beach and see the Queen Mary. We really wanted to visit her as we thought it would be a fitting start to a holiday in which we experienced our first ever cruise ship voyage. A look into the history of the grand ocean liner! We had booked 2 tours of the boat, a Historical Tour and a Ghosts and Legends tour.

Unfortunately by the time we reached Long Beach we'd missed the Ghosts and Legends tour but had a little bit of time before the Historical Tour so we decided to have some lunch. Here's Jared is all his jetlagged glory (I'm going to be in so much trouble for posting these photos!)...





While eating lunch at the Promenade Cafe we actually saw a dolphin in the Long Beach Harbor - that was a real treat! After lunch we decided to have a stroll through the miniatures of famous ocean liners displayed near the Promenade Cafe before our Historical Tour.

Me and the Titanic





The Queen Mary herself





The QE2



I probably should interject here and say that my first impressions of Queen Mary was that she was huge and very beautiful. After marveling at her size I was struck by the realization that the Disney Fantasy we would soon be on would be bigger. We got more of a look at the ships grandeur and old world charm as we explored the decks waiting for our tour to start



















We lucked out and managed to be at the Queen Mary on a very special day, as the current Queen Elizabeth ocean liner was docked at the Long Beach port right behind her. 'Sister' ships together again!







Despite showing her age a little (which is to be expected for a ship built in the 30's) she is still so very elegant.


The current Queen Elizabeth ocean liner





Finally it was time for our 3pm Queen Mary Glory Days Historical Tour. These are just some of the facts about the Queen Mary our wonderful tour guide, Robert, informed us of. Built in 1936, the Queen Mary was one of the finest ocean liners in the world during her 30 year tenure as an grand ocean liner. She had her maiden voyage on the 27 May 1936 crossing the Atlantic from England to New York. She was finally retired in 1967 and since then has been permanently moored in the port of Long Beach. During the second world war the Queen Mary was converted to a troopship and was painted grey and nick-named the Grey Ghost. During her years as a passenger liner, unlike other passenger ships, 1st, 2nd and 3rd class were not divided top to bottom but rather by noise level and ship steadiness. That being said most of the first class rooms and recreational areas were in the center of the ship. The ship is 1.5 times larger than the Titanic and the Queen Mary was one of the first ships built after the merger of Cunard and White Star ship building lines.

The story of the ships name was the one I found the most interesting (and a little funny). She was to be named the Queen Victoria after, well Queen Victoria. When Cunard line went to King George and told him the ship was to be named for 'the greatest queen ever to live' he assumed they mean't his wife Queen Mary! His statement was 'my wife will be so happy' and after that they didn't really have much choice in the matter!

I don't have a lot of pictures taken while walking around the ship as it was hard to get any good ones, but the ship itself felt very much like something from another time. Everything was wood paneled and grand, the first class pool area (which is now a little run down) had three levels, the pool level, the main viewing deck and a higher viewing deck and was made of white marble and mother of pearl. It had a grand staircase leading down to it too! Everything was in the Art Deco style, opulent and huge. It was also very dark with all the wood used everywhere in the ship. The only pictures I do have are of the grand saloon, which was the first class dining area which was just stunning!









Our wonderful guide Robert - he was very knowledgeable!



Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 1 - Part 3 – Farewell Queen Mary

When the tour was done we stayed around a bit to enjoy some more of the ship.









Our favorite thing was an A'Capella quartet, similar to that of the Dapper Dans Disney lovers, singing in harmony and playing some old fashioned bells, the kind the Dapper Dans sometimes use. When we first came the quartet was singing Eldevise. After that they started singing Mr Sandman and the lead singer, seeing I was enjoying his performance, came over and sang it to me on his knee while waving Jared away! That's him in the orange shirt! It was adorable and so much fun! On our way out we were even asked for information about how to get to certain parts of the ship like locals (they knew we weren't once they heard our Aussie accents, which, I got told was lovely by one of the guests in the area - so nice!)





All in all we really enjoyed our wonderful visit to the Queen Mary. On our way out we made sure to snap some pictures of just how beautiful she is!















Continued in Next Post..

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 2 - Travel to Orlando

Because we are smart (well actually more because we originally couldn't make the flight the day we arrived in LA - our flight was due to land too late) we had stayed over night in LA to get a decent sleep and recover from some of the jet lag we were feeling. The next morning we were on our way to Orlando and then onto Port Canaveral for Embarkation the next day! It was also back in economy for us, however, I do have to say that Virgin America, who we flew with, was one of the best US airlines I've been on so far. I loved their 'musical' safety video! Classic! Anyway flying over the Southern-Central area of the states was very interesting! And I also found a hidden Mickey in Texas!

I was utterly fascinated with the landscapes in Texas and confused as to why everything looked like crop circles! Sadly I can't find any of the photos I took of the views from the air!

We had no dramas on the flight and landed in Orlando on time. We had a wonderful shuttle ride down to Port Canaveral and I chatted to a lovely man who was obsessed with sharks and really wanted to visit Australia to swim with them! They were heading out on the Carnival Cruise ship also leaving from Port Canaveral that day!

We finally got to our hotel in Cocoa Beach, the Radisson Resort at the Port. The valet LOVED our last name (Beaney) as apparently he collected Beanies (as in the hats) and thought it was an awesome surname. I agree. I regaled him with the story of my husband walking out of his form class in high school after they banned all 'beanies' which he also thought was great! We settled in for the night with some of the best room service i've ever had. Another thing I noticed was that the hotel was Flamingo pink - very 80's - why are so many things pink in Florida? Oh I just realised I have forgotten to show you my fabulous Minnie Mouse themed nails that my talented sister painted for the trip. I out to show you now as at this point of the trip they were still perfect!



Continued in Next Post

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 3 - Part 1 - Group 1 is oh so fun!

We left the hotel early after some more amazing room service. We got to the port at about 9:30. Check in was really smooth and we discovered we were in the very first boarding group (Group 1). I think we got there early enough to beat the crowds! We were so excited to be finally getting to the first real part of the holiday (it had felt like we'd been away so long already and it had only been 3 days).





We decided to take some photos with Mickey but, as is always our lucky with characters, just as it was our turn he swapped with Pluto! Oh well..







The Disney Cruise Line terminal was so beautiful that we just enjoyed taking photos of it while we waited to board.





















Outside on the viewing deck we got our first view of the BEAUTIFUL Disney Fantasy!







Soon we were just waiting to board so we hung around the boarding gate (love the Mickey ears!) waiting for Group 1 to be called.







When it was our time to board we were probably about the 20th people through the onto the ship...

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 3 - Part 2 - Finally Aboard!

We were finally boarding the wonderful Disney Fantasy, only about the 20th person to do so that morning! The Disney cast members enthusiastically announced the arrival of the Beaney family and suddenly we were on board, and our breath was taken away! The beauty and elegance of the main lobby was a little awe-striking.

























The pictures unfortunately don't really capture the scope of the size and beauty of it all, however they will give you an idea and for those of you who've traveled on the Fantasy before, you'll know what I'm talking about! Further into the ship it was just as well themed and grand! There were even two beautiful thrones for this "Princess" to sit in (though we only found one at first!)





The other thing I was always completely flabbergasted by around the ship was all the beautiful mosaic work! So intricate!









Our very first stop was the Senses Spa, as we wanted to book the Ultimate Indulgence Package in a couples villa, something that could only be booked on board. I knew, from reading these wonderful boards, how quickly those bookings filled up so I was a little worried about getting one, however when we were the very first people to walk through the doors of the spa I stopped worrying. We booked for the next day and then were given a tour of the spa in which we saw our wonderful couples villa.



Continued in Next Post...

 

[Marcy Mouse]

Loving your report

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 3 - Part 3 - To Europe...
We grabbed lunch at Cabana's next but i'll save photos of it for later when we took better ones...

After lunch it was probably about 12:00-12:30ish and we had about an hour to kill until our room was ready so we wandered the ship taking in all it's wonder (or Fantasy perhaps!). First up was the adults pool area.





Next we wandered the main deck and got our first glimpse and the wonderful Aqua Duck.













We thought we'd check out the Europa adults only district next, as we thought it might be a good time for photos without too many people around!



La Piazza





Oh La La





The Tube









Skyline











O'Gills







Back to La Piazza





And more Oh La La







We poked our head in the D-Lounge too





Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 3 - Part 4 - Finding our Stateroom

After a few more pictures of that stunning lobby (trust me you're going to see lots of pictures of the lobby in this report) we chilled at the Cove Bar by the adults pool until our stateroom was ready!



[

Since this was Jared's big birthday trip I had organised a surprise for him and we discovered most of it when we got to the room!



A birthday banners and a card from Mickey and the gang!







We checked out our balcony next - it had a great view of the less pretty Carnival ship docked and waiting to embark (yes I am now a Disney Cruise Line snob!). For those of you interested our room category was 5B and our room was 8072 on deck 8.







The staterooms themselves were much larger than I was expecting, even though I have constantly read these rooms are much larger than other ships staterooms. I guess having nothing to compare the rooms to I just assumed, being on a ship, they'd by much smaller!







The details around the room were so stunning - this lamp had a castle at every Disney theme park location around the globe!





And I was in love with the 'a dream is a wish your heart makes, when your fast asleep' throw pillow!







After about 30 minutes the other half of Jared's birthday surprise arrived - a flower cake (no there was no actual cake in it - it was just a floral arrangement made to look like a cake)...



He loved it!



Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 3 - Part 5 - Sailing Away...

After resting in our room for a while (and watching George of the Jungle - who else remembers how awesome that movie was!) we had to make our way to our assembly drill at 4pm. The drill was fairly quick and painless, our drill meet point was the Buena Vista Theatre so it was easy to find! We even got to sit down while the crew explained what we would need to do in an emergency.

After the drill it was time to find a spot for the Sail Away Party. I told Jared I'd like to catch the first part of the party and then find a quiet spot where we could watch the ship pull out of the port. We managed to find a good spot on Deck 12 to watch the party going on below.





We even made an appearance on the funnel vision!



The party started up and we were so engrossed in watching it and dancing along to the songs being performed we didn't realize at first that we had started moving! The dance party was definitely fun!















I think Minnie and Mickey were shimmying to each other in this photo - it was cute!











After about 5 minutes of the party the deck was getting very crowded so we decided to head up to the adults only deck 13 at the bow of the ship to watch the ship sail out of the port. It was wonderful and peaceful on deck 13 as we watched the Royal Caribbean ship ahead of us sail out of the port mouth. We even saw a dolphin swimming around the port waters.









As we were leaving port, the ship was running her many different Disney inspired horns (when you wish upon a star, a dream is a wish your heart makes, yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me etc) and a couple of large campers and trucks watching the ship embark thought it would be fun to initial a horn battle with the ship. Needless to say after we played the 'pirates life for me' horn we easily won and that set people all over the ship cheering and clapping (it was a proud moment for me too of course!). It was actually really nice to have people watching a waving as we embarked on our grand sea adventure, and the people watching seemed to have made an afternoon out of watching the ships leave the port.



The sun was getting low in the sky as we pulled away from the beach...









Jared was extremely happy to finally be at sea, and me, well I was feeling the slight effects of sea sickness so I was a little worried at that point - no fear though, I took a sea sickness pill and was right as rain by later that evening...



Continued in the Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Day 3 - Part 6 - We made mates with our dinner mates

Our next stop was, surprise surprise, the lobby again! This time up on Deck 4 where we waited to meet the main Mouse himself (we were bummed we hadn't gotten to meet him that morning in the cruise terminal!)



Look at the details on that chandelier - oh and a hidden Mickey too!



Does this count as a 'hidden' Mickey - probably not - we'll just call it an actual Mickey!



The details everywhere were amazing - the more you looked the more you saw! And it's so pretty from every angle!









After a fairly short wait (compared to theme park waits anyway) we were meeting Mickey. And not just any Mickey, Captain Mickey! He loved my jumper





We had to wait a little while after that for our dinner seating (by the way we picked the early 5:45pm seating as we are early eaters and since dinner usually stretched until 7-7:30 anyway it was much more preferable that the 8:00pm seating!) and what better place to wait than the other Princess throne!





Dinner that evening was at the Royal Court, which ended up being our most visited and possibly my favourite themed restaurant. Everywhere you look everything was opulent and, well, royal!





Once again I was amazed at all the beautiful mosaic tiles around the room

























We'd finally got to the part of the cruise that I was probably the most nervous about (yes even more so than the possibility of sea sickness), our assigned table mates. I'm not shy by any means but it had occurred to me that we would have to eat with these people every night and if we didn't get along or if we didn't have much to talk about it could be really awkward. I needn't have worried though, as within probably 10 minutes of everyone arriving that night (there were only 6 of us as two of our party we eating elsewhere), it was obvious that we were going to click and get along just fine. Our wonderful table family as we came to call ourselves consisted of Becky and Derrick from Minnesota, Todd and Kim from Oregon, myself and Jared and Shaun and Kayla, from Tennessee, who weren't present that night. Look it's us (clearly we felt comfortable enough with our new friends on that first night that we knew we want a picture to remember them with!):



We also met our wonderful servers for the first time that night. First up was our assistant server Renate from Norway. She got in my good graces right from the outset by referring to me as Princess. Our main server was Herry from Indonesia. He was also awesome and we loved the idea that he was our 'neighbor' (being that Indonesia is relatively close to Perth, in fact closer to fly to than the east coast of Australia). All the reports I've read always rave about the service on these Disney cruises and now I can say, they were not wrong. Renate and Herry were always friendly, professional and went above and beyond to make us feel welcome.

The food our first night was enjoyable, but I was still feeling a little sea sick so I didn't enjoy it as much as I maybe could of. I got the fried brie appetizer, steak as my entree and a strawberry shortcake for dessert. We soon discovered that we would be the odd ones out if we simply ordered one dessert each night!

It's always a great ice breaker being from a different country, and that night we regaled Todd, Kim, Derrick and Becky with all sorts of Australiana, from drop bears (made up killer koalas) to the Australia pronunciation of beer (Todd loved the way we said it). We added culture to the group (hahaha).

After dinner we met our wonderful stateroom host, Carl, also from Indonesia. We joked that we were basically family being neighbors and all and thanked him for our clean room and gave him a hug. Thus, every time we saw him on the cruise it became tradition to give him a hug! He enjoyed them too!

The last part of day 1 involved the Welcome to the Fantasy show at the Walt Disney Theater. The show was a little corny (singing and dancing to show you a little about the activities around the ship!) but at the same time cute and really gave you a bearing for what was on offer. It was well done even with such a strange premise (for a live stage show anyway). The best part was undoubtedly the ventriloquist with a slightly drunk and seedy camel called Camelot who had us in stitches!

So our first day on the cruise had ended and we felt as though we'd already got our monies worth. I had seen so many pictures of the Disney Fantasy, read so many trip reports and learnt everything I could about her but I was still so unprepared for the wonderful reality of everything we experienced that day. She had such class and majesty, every area was themed to the last detail and so beautiful to see, it was all a little overwhelming. Now I have nothing really to compare it to, as I've never sailed on any other cruise ship, but I still think I can safely say that the Disney Fantasy has to be the most beautiful cruise ship in the entire world!

Continued in Next Post...

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Loving your report

Thank you so much! I hope you keep enjoying it I am definitely enjoying writing it

 

[angelicamy12]

Hello! Just wanted to say that I am here and following along - I have never been on a cruise before but your TR and pictures and definitely making me want to! What an amazing trip you had visiting all those wonderful places!

We've been to Disney World and Disneyland Paris several times but are hoping to visit Disneyland on our honeymoon next year. I can't wait to hear more about your trip.

(Also I am taking my first trip to Australia in October! Woo hoo!) x

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Hello! Just wanted to say that I am here and following along - I have never been on a cruise before but your TR and pictures and definitely making me want to! What an amazing trip you had visiting all those wonderful places!

We've been to Disney World and Disneyland Paris several times but are hoping to visit Disneyland on our honeymoon next year. I can't wait to hear more about your trip.

(Also I am taking my first trip to Australia in October! Woo hoo!) x

I'm so glad to have you reading along! Thank you - the cruise was so wonderful, I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves Disney and Disney's theming and service. We loved it so much. We definitely had an amazing trip and enjoyed every bit of it. Disneyland is my favourite Disney park (of the one's I've visited which is Tokyo Disney, Walt Disney World and Disneyland). It was the first park we visited (and on our honeymoon) so I guess I am bias because of that, but I really feel it has a charm and quality that hasn't been replicated since. Plus it was Walt's park, and I love that he had a hand in it. If you get a chance and are interested in the history of Disneyland I highly recommend the Walking in Walt's Footsteps Tour. We did it on the trip before last and it was really wonderful

I hope you enjoy Australia. It is a great country with lots of diverse things to see. What parts are you going to?

 

[wxman0]

We were on this one. I am the other person that has been doing a trip report on this particular cruise and I've been waiting and hoping someone else does one as well. It's always interesting to see and hear how people experience the same cruise differently. Plus, it's always fun to see if you can spot yourself in the background of other people's pictures.

 

[Benchley]

Absolutely loving the report and fabulous pictures. We're hoping to cruise ourselves on the Fantasy next year, and your report helps pass the loooooong time to our trip.

 

[LivingforDisney]

Great report & photos Rachelle. Fellow Aussie here, we have booked the Fantasy for Jan 2016, so I have been waiting for your report, you do fantastic trip reports.
Did you not go and have a look at the kids club when they were open on the first day?
I am worried about sea sickness, hoping none of us feel it, also hope you didn't encounter much of it.
Woo,can't wait to read more.
Sharon

 

[sayuracodfish]

Day 3 - Part 6 - We made mates with our dinner mates

Our next stop was, surprise surprise, the lobby again! This time up on Deck 4 where we waited to meet the main Mouse himself (we were bummed we hadn't gotten to meet him that morning in the cruise terminal!)



Look at the details on that chandelier - oh and a hidden Mickey too!



Does this count as a 'hidden' Mickey - probably not - we'll just call it an actual Mickey!



The details everywhere were amazing - the more you looked the more you saw! And it's so pretty from every angle!





After a fairly short wait (compared to theme park waits anyway) we were meeting Mickey. And not just any Mickey, Captain Mickey! He loved my jumper





We had to wait a little while after that for our dinner seating (by the way we picked the early 5:45pm seating as we are early eaters and since dinner usually stretched until 7-7:30 anyway it was much more preferable that the 8:00pm seating!) and what better place to wait than the other Princess throne!



Dinner that evening was at the Royal Court, which ended up being our most visited and possibly my favorite themed restaurant. Everywhere you look everything was opulent and, well, royal!





Once again I was amazed at all the beautiful mosaic tiles around the room


























We'd finally got to the part of the cruise that I was probably the most nervous about (yes even more so than the possibility of sea sickness), our assigned table mates. I'm not shy by any means but it had occurred to me that we would have to eat with these people every night and if we didn't get along or if we didn't have much to talk about it could be really awkward. I needn't have worried though, as within probably 10 minutes of everyone arriving that night (there were only 6 of us as two of our party we eating elsewhere), it was obvious that we were going to click and get along just fine. Our wonderful table family as we came to call ourselves consisted of Becky and Derrick from Minnesota, Todd and Kim from Oregon, myself and Jared and Shaun and Kayla, from Tennessee, who weren't present that night. Look it's us (clearly we felt comfortable enough with our new friends on that first night that we knew we want a picture to remember them with!):



We also met our wonderful servers for the first time that night. First up was our assistant server Renate from Norway. She got in my good graces right from the outset by referring to me as Princess. Our main server was Herry from Indonesia. He was also awesome and we loved the idea that he was our 'neighbor' (being that Indonesia is relatively close to Perth, in fact closer to fly to than the east coast of Australia). All the reports I've read always rave about the service on these Disney cruises and now I can say, they were not wrong. Renate and Herry were always friendly, professional and went above and beyond to make us feel welcome.

The food our first night was enjoyable, but I was still feeling a little sea sick so I didn't enjoy it as much as I maybe could of. I got the fried brie appetizer, steak as my entree and a strawberry shortcake for dessert. We soon discovered that we would be the odd ones out if we simply ordered one dessert each night!

It's always a great ice breaker being from a different country, and that night we regaled Todd, Kim, Derrick and Becky with all sorts of Australiana, from drop bears (made up killer koalas) to the Australia pronunciation of beer (Todd loved the way we said it). We added culture to the group (hahaha).

After dinner we met our wonderful stateroom host, Carl, also from Indonesia. We joked that we were basically family being neighbors and all and thanked him for our clean room and gave him a hug. Thus, every time we saw him on the cruise it became tradition to give him a hug! He enjoyed them too!

The last part of day 1 involved the Welcome to the Fantasy show at the Walt Disney Theater. The show was a little corny (singing and dancing to show you a little about the activities around the ship!) but at the same time cute and really gave you a bearing for what was on offer. It was well done even with such a strange premise (for a live stage show anyway). The best part was undoubtedly the ventriloquist with a slightly drunk and seedy camel called Camelot who had us in stitches!

So our first day on the cruise had ended and we felt as though we'd already got our monies worth. I had seen so many pictures of the Disney Fantasy, read so many trip reports and learnt everything I could about her but I was still so unprepared for the wonderful reality of everything we experienced that day. She had such class and majesty, every area was themed to the last detail and so beautiful to see, it was all a little overwhelming. Now I have nothing really to compare it to, as I've never sailed on any other cruise ship, but I still think I can safely say that the Disney Fantasy has to be the most beautiful cruise ship in the entire world!

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