We did the Sept. 7 HOTHS cruise, and I've debated about saying anything. This was our first time on the Fantasy, we've previously sailed on the Magic several times. Always were happy to pay the premium price to sail with Disney because the consideration from other guests as well as the feel of more square footage per guest helped us enjoy our experience. Not saying there weren't some bad experiences, but over all we felt the cruises were relaxing uncrowded and enjoyable. The Fantasy was a complete crowd fest from start to finish. The terminal simply wasn't built to handle the number of guests the Fantasy carries, it seems as if when they built the Fantasy they went higher, but not much wider or longer. The result seemed to be several more decks of staterooms and not much larger public areas to handle the bigger crowds. And I'm sorry but there's simply no excuse to not have enough lounge chairs at Castaway Cay for every guest on the ship. It's not calculus it's simple math. x number of guests equals x number of chairs, and guess what the number never changes. And I realize people "save" chairs even though there's supposed to be a policy in place to prevent this, the only time it was enforced on our cruise was when i enforced it myself.
Nemo's reef should immediately be renamed Thunder Dome. It has an age limit that also isn't even acknowledged let alone enforced. The same was true of most of the venues intended for the smaller kids. They had to fight for any use of the facilities with kids that were twice their size as the bigger kids parents looked on.
And I'm sorry, but everyone on the boat doesn't love the inconsiderate monster you raised, so don't get upset with us when we simply point out where the back of the line is since you seem to be incapable of controlling them in anyway. I literally had a mother look at me and say. " I can't control him" when her at least 12 year old "child" cut into a line because he saw a sandwich he thought he might like. As the mother tried to control him he simply ignored her. Don't tell me you're that unaware of your inability to control your child. And quite frankly the rest of the world shouldn't have to pay for your lack of parenting. And again all in full view of cast members that refused to get involved. I understand not wanting to upset any guests, but if you have guests following the rules in the Restaurants and public areas, the least the cast members could do is remind the ones that aren't what the rules are. It was kind of like OK, we have your money now fend for yourself.
I understand that space is at a premium on the ships, and everyone has to learn to get along and make room for others. It just seems like for the extra price paid to sail with Disney the least they could do is maintain a passenger to public space ratio that makes it worth it. The Fantasy in my opinion and the Disney facilities , " Castaway Cay and the Terminal" were woefully inadequate compared to the Magic and Wonder. I'm not expecting any better from the new ships coming out, so our vacation dollars will be applied elsewhere for the foreseeable future.
Sorry if this offends and I'm not looking for a discussion. I realize my experience may differ from yours, but this was our experience and our take away. Just thought I'd put this out there, to read these boards sometimes you'd think there were no downsides at all to a
disney cruise, just pixie dust and sunshine. It's not all perfect for everyone.
I really think the underlying problem with the Fantasy is entirely too many guests for the size of the ship.
