PassPorter.com Feature Article
Original article at: http://www.passporter.com/articles/disney-fantasy-anticipation.html

What I'm Most Looking Forward to Onboard the Disney Fantasy: Disney Cruise Line Review

by Cheryl Pendry, PassPorter Featured Columnist
Last modified 02-16-2012

With the recent ceremony handing the ownership of the Disney Fantasy over to the Disney Cruise, no doubt many people’s thoughts have turned to their upcoming cruise on the Fantasy.

I'm no different. I can now finally say "this year" I'll be on board, after having made our booking back in April 2011. So what am I most looking forward to about cruising on the Fantasy?



I think perhaps the most important thing is I'm looking forward to having a full week to sample the delights of Disney’s latest addition. We cruised on the Disney Dream in April 2011 – hence we booked our next Disney cruise on board – and I found that there just wasn’t long enough in three nights to explore every nook and cranny of it. Sure, we gave it a good go, but we were still finding new areas all the way through. Hopefully, with a week, we can explore at a more leisurely pace.

This time, we’ll be cruising in a category 5C stateroom, and that’s the highest category of stateroom we’ve ever cruised in, so that’s going to be fun to try out. On the Dream, we had an inside stateroom, and while it had the wonders of a Virtual Porthole, I must admit having a balcony is a lovely added bonus, as we discovered on our Alaskan cruise.

We’re lucky enough to be taking a bit of a different itinerary as well. Even though in most respects it’s a classic Disney Cruise Line Eastern Caribbean cruise, one of the ports of call will be San Juan, Puerto Rico, a place I never thought I’d visit in my life, so that’s an exciting prospect.

As more news comes in about what’s going to be on board the Fantasy, the list grows of things I’m looking forward to. I’m very excited by the prospect of two different shows at Animator’s Palate dining room, as the "show" on the Disney Dream, with Crush, the talking turtle from Finding Nemo, was just mesmerising. If the second show they’re adding on to the Fantasy, Animation Magic, is half as good, I’ll be happy.

On the subject of dining, I’m looking forward to seeing what the Royal Court looks like. I love the way that every Disney ship has a different grand dining room, as it gives you something to look forward to.

Of course, it goes to say that adult dining is something else I’m looking forward to. Not having had a day at sea on our Disney Dream cruise, we didn’t get the chance to enjoy brunch or afternoon tea at Palo, the adults-only Italian restaurant, so I can’t wait to sample those on the Fantasy. Any additional time I get to spend in the elegant surroundings of the newly redesigned Palo works for me!

There’s nothing extra on offer at Remy, the adults-only French restaurant, but then again, does there need to be? It’s such an outstanding experience on its own. We were lucky enough to enjoy this on the Dream, and it’s something I very much hope that we’ll be revisiting on the Fantasy. With any luck, if the bookings work in my favor, then hopefully I’ll be enjoying an amazing dinner there on my 40th birthday – what a way to celebrate!

Although we weren’t up late enough on our Disney Dream cruise to sample the adults-only night spots on the ship, we did admire them plenty of times during the day, and we absolutely adored the theming of each and every one of them. The Parisienne boudoir feel of Ooh La La sounds absolutely wonderful, and the concept art I’ve seen so far of the Europa area looks amazing. I can’t wait to get inside Tube for myself, as it's based on our very own beloved London Underground. I never thought that we’d be “minding the gap” in a Disney sense, and I can’t wait to see what they do with this.

I’m glad to know that one adult night spot that returns on the Fantasy is the Skyline Lounge, whose "windows" present ever-changing urban panoramas, will be packed with plenty of new skylines. Having visited Barcelona, Paris, Florence, and of course spent plenty of time in London, I’m looking forward to spotting familiar landmarks from the lounge's penthouse vantage point. The addition of Budapest is a fascinating one, especially as it’s a city I’ve longed to visit for a number of years, although sadly we’ve yet to make it there.

Something else moving over from the Dream to her newer sister ship is AquaDuck, the unique "water coaster," and boy am I going to enjoy spending time on that again! We were only able to sample it twice on our three night cruise, such were the lines to get on to it, but again, hopefully with seven nights, instead of three, we’ll be able to give it even more goes. As we’re cruising in December, with any luck, it should be a lot cooler than the record-breaking heat we endured in April 2011. Hopefully that will mean I can finally find space the adult pool, and its wonderful swim-up pool bar, which looked like a great addition.

With a full week to relax, there’s bound to be time in the spa, and especially the Rainforest room, which we adored on board the Dream. Of course, a week-long Rainforest pass won't be cheap, but in my book, it’s worth every penny to enjoy the amazing views from there out across the water, while sitting in one of the room's hot tubs!

So there’s plenty to look forward to on the Disney Fantasy, when she comes into service – and I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking that. Hopefully the rest of 2012 will fly past, and soon I’ll be enjoying all those things I’m so looking forward to on our landmark cruise to celebrate a landmark birthday. Can you tell I can’t wait?!

About the Author: Cheryl is the author of the e-book, PassPorter's Walt Disney World for British Holidaymakers, and is the co-author of PassPorter's Disney Vacation Club Guide: For Members and Members-To-Be. Cheryl and husband Mark live in England and love to travel, particularly to Disney, and they have travelled around the world, taking in a number of Disney cruises, Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Aulani in Hawai'i, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney and Hong Kong Disneyland on the way. Click here to view more of Cheryl's articles!

This article originally appeared in the PassPorter newsletter -- subscribe to our popular newsletter today for free at http://www.passporter.com/news.htm


Updated 02-16-2012

Check for a more updated version at http://www.passporter.com/articles/disney-fantasy-anticipation.html