Jedi Jason

I agree with Kathy’s plan and assessment of a back to back option including excursions. the 14 night cruise is also a great option. I did a 14 night on Brilliance in 2007 round trip from Barcelona and I had overnights in Rome and Venice. We made it as far as Croatia. Both options are good.

I would love to know your thoughts on this resort. I am booked to go in July for a milestone anniversary. My travel agent highly recommended it based on her personal experience. We have an ocean view club level room.

The daily navigator for day one. I didn’t bother to pick up the other days papers because the app had everything in it. The app also gave you the ability to favorite activities and then you would get a reminder notification about 15 minutes prior to the event.

I was going through a few things that hadn’t been put away from our trip and found the Navigator that gives the cruise overview or preview. I also found the first day’s activity schedule. They do not place the daily planner in your room anymore. They may be available if you request them and they are always available at guest relations. The app has all the same information and the number of daily activities can exceed 200 especially on a sea day. I could really enjoy one more Mickey ice cream bar from room service right about now.

So in summary, it was a great experience to be able to enjoy a new cruise line and ship. As a Disney annual pass holder I appreciated the characters and the entertainment and theming and attention to detail. i thought the food in the main dining room was excellent and was well above the average of other cruise lines. The kids club was outstanding and the kids appreciated the activities plus the ability to just go to any themed area whenever they wanted. Entertainment put on by the crew was amazing especially the full production shows and the guest entertainers were above average too. My biggest missed opportunities were not having enough time in the adult areas. I was nearly always trying to do as much as possible with the kids and trying to experience as much as possible so I missed out on some adult areas of the ship and island and some relaxation time. I also missed out on having enough time on Castaway Cay. Trying to do the 5K followed by the early afternoon bad weather limited my time there and the opportunity to experience more of the island. So, would I go on another Disney Cruise despite the price premium? Probably, but it might need to be a good price or only on rare occasion and would not be a regular cruise option. It was an amazing experience and I was glad I did it. I hope everyone enjoyed my cruise recap even if it took me some time to get it all out. When I returned from the cruise I worked two days Then was at Disney World at Hollywood Studios for a day and then became quarantined for the remaining 14 days post cruise due to the newly enacted CDC pandemic guidelines. Since then, I have returned to working full time as a CT scan technologist at an Orlando area hospital and have become a home school teacher and cook three meals a day on my days off. So, this explains a little bit as to why it took me an extended amount of time to complete my recap. Anyway, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them.

Our veranda room like many rooms has separate toilet and shower rooms. Sorry for the messy room photos as I realized I didn’t have any as we were about to leave the ship. The Ghirardelli chocolates each night at turn down was a way above average chocolate.

I included some more of the Disney theming. You can see the Mickey statue in the atrium, the captain’s photo but we all know that Mickey is the real Captain, a Cinderella mosaic in the atrium near Guest Services, the ship’s Godmother at the dedication ceremony and a mirror in a public restroom.

Disney’s theming doubles as direction aides. The door critters seahorse and a fish are on opposite sides with one on the port side and the starboard side. Stars on the carpeting help direct you towards the forward or the aft of the ship. The top point of the Star always face forward towards the front of the ship. The map with the four stars indicate where each of the ships primary home port is located.

Midship Detective Agency is a fun game that also helps you explore the ship. There are two possible starting points. At the desk pictured you pick up your detective badge and your clue book and a pencil to be able to jot down clues. There are three different adventures to choose from. You could play the same adventure again and find a different culprit each time. The game takes you to these interactive photos. Sometimes it directs you to a specific location but most of the time you are free to visit any of the locations found in your clue book. It requires visits to about 10 different locations to complete the mysteries. They are a lot of fun and we tried them all. Two of them are general Disney themed but one is Muppet themed.

Kids club is so intriguing that I wanted to go spend some time there. Fortunately, you can do just that. There is a daily open house for about an hour in which the non kids can come check out some of the cool activities. The Small World nursery Is for the ages 6 months old through up to 3 years old. The Oceaneers Club and Lab are two separate entrances that are an adjoining space. They welcome 3 year olds through age 12. Older ages go to a teen or youth area. I am only able to discuss the Oceaneers area since that is the age of my kids. When you register them initially they place a Magic Band arm band onto your child’s wrist like they use in the parks. There is a $12.95 fee for the armband but If it is returned by the end of the last night the money is credited back to your account. They have entrance points like a Disney World park or attraction Fast Pass entrance. The band allows you to be checked in or out and also be located in the expansive kids club space. My kids 8 & 10 were allowed to check themselves in and out if I allowed it. I also got notifications from the app when they checked in or out. Unlike some cruise lines you must go retrieve your child instead of them being sent out but the bands help them locate where they are at so they can tell you where to find them. The kids club has several different areas with different activities. The kids may choose to do any of these at any time or there is normally one or more staff led activities happening at any given time. Activities or themed rooms include Toy Story which is toddler oriented and shows movies, Star Wars flight simulators, Marvel super hero area featuring Doctor Strange, crafts, drawing, video games, interactive video floor board and more. The kids and adults entering are required to clean their hands. They offer either a hand wipe or the super cool washing stations pictured which automatically spray your hands with soap and water for about 20 seconds when you insert your hands into the illuminated holes. This made my kids want to wash their hands. The hours started anywhere from before port time to as late as mid morning and were continuous until midnight.

I forgot to give a brief recap of the main dining rooms. I also noticed a typo at the my last post Palo is the correct spelling. Royal Court was the most formal dining room in both the food and decor and theming which featured some French cuisine. Enchanted Garden was beautiful without being especially formal or casual. Finally, Animator’s Palate was the most casual venue but also the most diverse. The theming could be totally changed with the lighting and the video screens. I loved those Mickey themed chairs. Food overall was excellent. I especially enjoyed their steak and fish offerings. They did a great job with any raw or undercooked fish like the ahi tuna tower was quite memorable. I had to get a second one it was so delicious. I typically ordered a soup and or salad option for starters. Sometimes I couldn’t decide between entrees and would order both. Desserts were pretty good with some variety of a sundae available each night in addition to the other options. Kids menus did change once or twice during the cruise or maybe it was dependent upon the restaurant but typical kid friendly items were available nightly as well as some more sophisticated food. Kids could order off the adult menu and vice versa. Premium Mickey ice cream bars just like the ones in the theme parks were a nightly dessert option on the kids menu. Room service which is complimentary also offers the ice cream bars. Breakfast is limited on the room service menu to mostly cold items. Room service is available around the clock though. I spent so much time trying to experience it all which is impossible by the way that I did not get to relax and enjoy the adult areas. There are not any drink packages offered with the slight exception of a beer package that gives you a keepsake mug and slightly larger pour each time. Wine bottle packages are also available. The drink prices were more affordable than on ships that offer drink packages. The featured cocktails on the dinner menu and the drink of the day were around $8 or less. Gratuities on beverages were 15%. Your are allowed to bring two bottles of wine or 6 pack of beer per room onboard in each port of call including embarkation. Corkage fee is $25 if you bring your own wine to a restaurant. I did not test it to see if they normally charge it but I believe they do normally charge it.

Food is always one of my favorite topics regarding cruising so I’ll attempt to give an overview of the food and restaurants onboard. Cabanas is the buffet restaurant and it has hours for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner but it is closed between meals. For breakfast Cabanas has your typical American breakfast fare with some ethnic offerings too. There is a made to order egg and omelette station as well as those famous Mickey waffles and doughnuts which happen to be provided by Krispy Kreme. I thought it was above average for the food being warm and fresh since it is prepared Beijing the serving stations. The serving areas are a series of stations which form a mostly continuous line along the inside of the restaurant on both sides of the ship. It helps for food freshness but creates more of those famous Disney lines. One of their most notable mistakes is a lack of hand washing stations at some of the entrances. They also have the plates past the first food section which are the kid friendly items further causing a logjam near the entrance. We visited for lunch a few times and they had a nice variety with some regular items and some that changed each day. Pizza, Mac n cheese, chicken fingers and fries were always available for the kids or the kids at heart. There was also a shrimp and crab legs station available each day. Carving stations, salad bar, some ethnic selections and desserts and more were always available. I even found some really good lamb chops on embarkation day with a rotating meat selection daily. I understand that it becomes table service for dinner. Complimentary drink options included typical cruise fare offerings as well as Coke products. The Coke products were also available on the nearby pool deck. Flo’s Cafe (Cars theming) has multiple themed adjacent food stations and is located near the pool deck as well. Offerings include pizza, burgers, and deli type sandwiches and sides. Nothing here was remarkable but it filled the need for a late lunch after an excursion, food you could easily eat on the pool deck or a for a quick snack. The hours were pretty good starting around lunch time with late night hours until 10:00 or 11:00 and pizza until midnight. Lastly but not to be excluded was the Monsters Inc. themed soft serve ice cream on the pool deck Eye Scream. There were chocolate and vanilla options plus swirl of course. Strawberry and banana were also available. I did not make it to Pali which is Italian themed and a specialty restaurant. They are a popular option for dinner and sea day brunch. The cost is around $40. I previously did the review on the Remy dinner. There are a few other specialty options like a dessert presentation in Remy or formal tea with the princesses.

On our last night we sent the kids to the kids club to give us some room to get all of us packed. They wanted the bags out by 10:30 so we didn’t have time for all of us to see the evening show. We did manage to get to the last character meet and greet in the atrium to get any desired photos and autographs. We found out that our last dinner would not be our last chance to thank our dining room service team. They have an optional disembarkation day breakfast. Main seating for dinner is served first and late dinner service is served later. The buffet restaurant is open for those that don’t want this option. Enchanted Garden was the venue for our final meal onboard the Fantasy. There was a fairly limited menu and some things that had been available for breakfast weren’t an option this last morning. Overall, it was a great option if you aren’t rushing off the ship. I appreciated not having to find a table in the over crowded buffet or being served by different wait staff. We were at our usual table with our normal servers. By the time we finished the breakfast and gathered our things we were able to leave the ship. There was a line getting off the ship that I think we unknowingly cut in line because we came off the elevators right at the disembarkation point. This lead to another line after leaving the ship but before reaching the luggage area. The luggage claim area is organized by Disney characters naturally instead of by number. We took advantage of a porter to help with all our luggage. He got the majority of our traveling group’s luggage on his cart. Using a porter allowed us to go to a separate line to get to the Border agent who checked our passports. It seemed to save us some time. The porter took the luggage all the way to our car in the parking garage and after a few minutes we were on the way home. I have some random observations including food and kids club information yet to come.

i agree the Disney cruise price is hard to get past but if you enjoy the parks then I think it’s worth doing at least once. I have been writing about my Disney Fantasy trip from February 29 on the trip review section of the message boards here. Check it out if you are Disney curious. I still have a few things to add but the day by day recap is nearly finished. It was my first time on DCL after sailing with Royal a lot and more recently Celebrity. Hit me up with any questions if you want.

Unfortunately the weather started to decline in the early afternoon. There was a large wave of dark clouds headed towards us so we realized that our time on the island was limited. We started prepping to leave. It became obvious that a good rain shower was headed towards us. Avoiding the worst of the rain we managed to find cover about the time the strongest rainfall came through. About 20 minutes later it slowed down considerably and we resumed our trek back to the ship. Giving up on the rest of the day on the island seemed like the right thing to do since everything was quite wet now and it was still very windy. Around 2:00 we had made it back onboard. It was disappointing to have a shortened and non ideal time on the island since we didn’t get to explore very much or fully take advantage of our first time here. The remaining time in port was spent cleaning up and spending some time around the ship. The wind was so bad that playing shuffle board on deck 4 became a water sport since ocean spray and waves were splashing us as we attempted a game. There were two more opportunities to get a chance to meet those Disney characters one before dinner and one late at night as a farewell and a see you soon so the kids got their remaining desired autographs and photos. Our final dinner was in Enchanted Garden. It was sad that our cruise was ending and so was the reality that we would soon be home shopping, cooking and cleaning instead of just showing up to the dining room. We really enjoyed our wait staff as they worked really hard. They were easy to talk to and always made sure we were content. We did ask for a few things during our cruise for my son that wasn’t on the menu and it was accommodated either that same night or the next night. Before the end of the week they were very attuned to our preferences and it really enhanced our experience.

Castaway Cay was our last port of call. My brother in law and I decided to participate in the 5K race. We picked up our race bibs and signed our waivers the day before but there is an opportunity to sign up at the event. The term race is used loosely. It is timed but all finishers are given medals and there aren’t any other awards given. Unlike previous Castaway Cay 5Ks you are now asked to meet at the starting line on the island about a half hour after the ship is cleared. We just missed the start of the race since it is a stretch to make it there on time especially if you have to wait for a tram or walk. We walked at a steady quick pace for the entire race which takes you around the bike path twice and down the airstrip towards the adult beach and back to the starting line near the second tram stop and towards the end of the family beach. We managed to finish in less than an hour. By the time we made it back to the ship the rest of our group was getting to The breakfast buffet. We changed while they finished eating and joined them to find a spot on the beach. At this point it was after 11:00. We found a spot towards the middle but far away from the water. Due to windy conditions they were not allowing you to put up the provided umbrellas. Some of our group had purchased or brought snorkeling equipment so that was the main activity. They reported finding a good number of sea life including near the submerged submarine from the 20,000 leagues under the sea ride that was previously an attraction at Walt Disney World. Other entertainment included an area that had shuffle board, foosball, ping pong and more. Lunch on the island is typical BBQ and picnic type food. There were some cold salads, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, ribs and some fruit, cake and cookies. There were also the drink machines similar to what was on the pool deck on the ship as well as the soft serve ice cream. I am not a big fan of this type of food and thought it was just OK. It was enough to keep me from being hungry until getting back on the ship but not especially enjoyable.

Evening entertainment has been pretty good but I’ve failed to mention it for some of the days. There was a Frozen Broadway style show that is based on the original movie. We saw most of it as we were in a later and longer dinner that night at Remy. Aladdin has a similar high quality show based on the movie and the genie with jokes that have modern references really steals the show. The genie also appears in the last night‘s show entitled Believe which is a compilation featuring scenes from several Disney movies. There was another outside entertainment duo that I don’t recall their names in part because I skipped it because I was trying to take in everything on Star Wars Day. There are two shows each night with the first one during main dinner for the late dinner guests and the second show for the main dinner guests. There have been various Disney movies shown throughout the week at three different venues. There is a poolside screen, the main theater (Walt Disney Theater) and a dedicated movie theater (Lake Buena Vista Theater). If any movies are currently in theaters you will be able to see them onboard complimentary. Onward debuted at 11:15 PM on Thursday on our ship and didn’t hit theaters until the next day.

We had some other photos scheduled with characters. For all meet and greets I recommend that you arrive a few minutes early as a line will start to form and the wait could be a while on popular characters that don’t have another scheduled appearance regardless of whether it is one with a reservation or not. We got a chance to meet Chewbacca and Darth Vader and a bonus of Ray and Chewbacca because we completed a Porg scavenger hunt. Another nighttime production on the pool deck capped off our evening. Similar to Pirate night there were Star Wars characters putting on a brief show of the dark versus the light side. Fireworks once again capped an amazing Star Wars day at Sea. I wish I could’ve done and seen more but it was amazing regardless.

Those are the droids we are looking for. We had a scheduled meet and greet with C3PO and R2D2. As with all the character meetings the crew would take a picture using your camera or cellphone. The characters that required reservations also had a ship’s photographer to take your photos. Trying to take advantage of our sea day we went to the dining room again this time it was for Lunch. The Royal Court was the venue that was open. I enjoyed the food including trying some different options but everything took incredibly long and it was painfully frustrating to sit there for so long. since it was at the end of lunch service we decided to start getting into our Star Wars costumes and get some pictures before dinner. My outfit didn’t fare too well since it didn’t make it out of the suitcase until now. So it was off to one of the laundry rooms. They have washers, dryers including detergent that can be charged to your card. I wasn’t able to confirm this but apparently the app will notify you when your laundry Is finished. I did make use of the complimentary irons to get the wrinkles out of my costume. It was time to head towards dinner and enjoy a special themed menu. We were scheduled to go to Animators Palate again for dinner. When we arrived there was Star Wars theming on the screens but there wasn’t any animation this night. I remember the Lord Vader’s Ribeye steak being one of the best ribeye steaks I’ve enjoyed. Overall, it was an amazing meal and I would love to have that meal again.

Star Wars day started out early with a trip to the main theater for a reserved activity for the kids, Jedi Training. They were trained to use the force and practice with a light saber. They later got to use their skills against either Darth Vader or Kylo Ren. I decided we should take advantage of the sea day and have the experience of eating in the dining room for breakfast so we went to the Enchanted Garden which served mostly buffet options. It was a little disappointing since I could’ve had a similar experience in the buffet restaurant with the exception of a dedicated server to bring drinks. After breakfast I wandered around the pool deck and atrium to encounter some of the Star Wars characters. Unlike the other characters they did not have specific times and locations to meet them. Some of them would pose for photos but not all of them every time. Star Wars music could be heard throughout the ship and there would be occasional announcements from the First Order. Jawas would potentially make trades with you if you had something that interested them. There were quite a few themed events today but the random character encounters were just as enjoyable.

Dinner was in Animators Palate for the second time. We were asked to draw people’s head, arms, legs, feet and body within some boxes in papers that we were given with some markers. Then, we were presented our dinner menu. I must have been distracted by the change in routine and forgot to snap a picture of the menu. Later in the meal they used our people drawings to entertain us. They were animated on a specific screen that we were directed towards to view our creations come to life. Waiting in our room was some Star Wars Day at sea swag to get us excited about tomorrow’s Star Wars festivities. There was a “secret event” in the atrium tonight also to kick off the Star Wars fun. The event was not in the Navigator, ship’s daily activity listing, but was mentioned by the wait staff in the dining room and the entertainment staff. Darth Vader made an appearance along with some storm troopers at the event to get everyone amped up for the unofficial start of Star Wars Day at Sea.

In Orlando we miss going to Disney parks and eating out at restaurants. My wife is able to work from home since she is an IT director. I work at a hospital in Orlando and radiology technologist that specializes in CT scan. I have been exposed to positive COVID patients whether I knew it or not but we are taking enhanced precautions with all patients so I don’t feel like I am in significant danger. My kids have transitioned to school from home and seem to be getting into the new routine. I buy more groceries at one time than I did previously to minimize my trips away from home. Orange County which Is where Orlando is located just started a two week restricted movement/ lockdown. I live in the county just North of there but work in that county. My family is healthy and we had started a master bathroom renovation just prior to all of the craziness. We have been able to declutter some of the house with the extra time at home and we are working the rest. Fortunately our cruise schedule fit around the pandemic. We had a cruise in January and February and our next one isn’t until October. The February 29 cruise earned me a self quarantine due to CDC guideline changes after I had already returned to work.

Day five brought us to Falmouth, Jamaica which we had a fun excursion planned that we purchased through the cruise line. I was also realizing that we were more than half way through our cruise and I was trying to make sure I tried as many things as possible before the end of our cruise. Anyway, we purchased a rafting trip on the Martha Brae River which also included a brief tour of some local sights and a stop at a beautiful church that has some history. I have struggled selecting an excursion when traveling to Jamaica because Falmouth is not very close to the most attractions and I have climbed the Dunn’s River falls a few times. I definitely recommend both excursions. We had a very modern motor coach bus with good A/C. It took us towards our rafting stop. If you haven’t experienced Jamaican roads then you might not want to sit too close to the front. There are a lot of curves and the roads aren’t typically very wide especially in more remote areas. Drivers frequently honk the horn to alert other drivers that I’m coming around the corner in the middle of the road and there isn’t room for both of us. As we got close to the rafting spot we had a time or two when the road was too narrow for both our bus and an oncoming vehicle so since our bus was bigger we waited for the other vehicle to back up to a straighter or wider spot where it was safe to pass. Once we arrived we were offered a fruit punch which was very tasty and given the option to purchase other beverages. We were given life jackets and walked down towards the river. Each raft is made of bamboo and is about 36 feet in length and several feet wide. There is a bench seat for two towards the rear and the guide stands towards the front third of the raft and uses a bamboo pole to guide the raft. The rafting portion of the tour takes about an hour. Our guides allowed our children to have a try at guiding the raft down the river. It is a fairly slow moving trip down the river. This was a perfect excursion since it was relaxing, unique, fairly close to the port and something we really enjoyed. This morning excursion that was only four hours or less allowed us to get back to the ship for lunch.

Remy is comparable to Victoria and Alberts located in the Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World. In fact, one of the executive chefs or at least one of the menus was created by Scott Hummel. There is also a French menu created by a Michelin star awarded chef. So you can order all from one side or even pick and choose. We spoke with our server Matt and mentioned some dietary restrictions (no pork or shellfish) he said no problem and they would make some substitutions. We didn’t know it at the time but he brought one of us the French menu and the other the American menu with the various substitutions. He told us to not worry about it and he would be bringing out the courses and we didn’t need to make any decisions. We ended up each getting something different for almost every course and we would eat half and the swap and eat half of the other dish to try to maximize the variety of our experience. It is a numerous course experience with several surprises like a chef’s creation or palate cleansers. We were very pleased to have Matt from the UK as our server since many of the servers were from France or other non English speaking countries and they had hard to understand accents especially with a lot of the gourmet food with fancy names. We had a beautiful sunset just before arriving. I included photos of the setting, dining room, good and water menus and some of the food. There were more things like a cheese trolley that they brought out with samples of about ten different cheeses both soft and firm from mild to really powerful blue cheese. Didn’t care for all of them but it was a good experience. As if it weren’t enough food they sent a box of truffles with you and a rose for my wife. We decided to splurge on this experience since we thought our cruise might be a one and done for us on Disney Cruise Line due to their premium price. We have been to Victoria and Alberts previously and it was a similar experience. Some of the items I might not have chosen but every dish was delicious. For example, I wouldn’t normally choose a dish with beets but those were the best beets that I have ever tasted. So, the $125 per person price was quite high but the experience and quality of food was exceptional and unmatched especially when compared to any dining experiences at sea. I can’t think of a land experience that has been better except for possibly Victoria and Alberts. The non alcoholic cocktail pictured was an alternative to a complimentary sparkling wine or champagne it was a fruit purée that was super delicious. We opted to save the money and not purchase any adult beverages to accompany our meal. The restaurant we missed by going to specialty dining was Royal Court

There are some amazing itineraries on Celebrity Edge for late 2021 or early 2022. I was eyeing the February 25 2022 date. It’s a 10 night Southern Caribbean that goes out of Fort Lauderdale on a Friday and returns on a Monday. The ports are St Maarten, St Lucia, Barbados, St Kitts, and Antigua. That would be three new ports for me and I’d be very willing to return to the others. It’s an amazing ship and itinerary.