We are talking nonsense! Once we step off the Disney Fantasy Cruise ship the post-cruise wave we all felt has worn off and now we are left with only the best memories of our first Disney Cruise. At the risk of sounding extremely cliché, our first Disney trip was truly a magical vacation.
We had the most incredible time and know deep in our hearts that the 5-night trip we had with my parents and my sister’s family is one we will always remember and cherish. Did my eyes tear up several times on the cruise? You bet I did. As I grow older, I appreciate every moment I spent with my parents and being on the same ship with my mother and father, my sister and her wonderful family – all of us in the same place, without distractions and enjoying each other to the fullest – was a true gift. Turn those feelings around to the gratitude I feel for my mom and dad and the childhood they gave me and my sister and this Disney cruise was a perfect storm of nostalgia, happiness, and family.
Disney Fantasy 5 Day Cruise
I figured the best way to share our experience on our first Disney cruise was on a blog and thought of a general recap of our five-day cruise on the Disney Fantasy ship, including short tips, highlights, and recommendations. Brace yourself because this is a very long blog post, but it’s also the kind of post I wanted to read before my trip when I was craving all the information and details about Disney cruises on the Fantasy!
Our first Disney cruise was a five-day adventure ship that we chose primarily because my mom is the queen of cruise research and everything she read convinced her that the Fantasy was a great ship for families with young children. Our itinerary for our five-day Disney Fantasy Cruise was as follows:
- First day: Board the Fantasy at Port Canaveral + Ascension in Florida
- Second day: Disney’s Castaway Cay (Disney’s private island in the Bahamas)
- Day 3: Lookout Cay (private peninsula located at the southern end of Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas)
- Fourth day: Nassau, Bahamas
- Day five: day at sea (no stops)
- Day 6: Return and disembark at Port Canaveral
The three stops in the Bahamas were manageable, fun, and not too intense for our group of 13, which included seven children ranging in age from 10 months to 10 years.
Disney Fantasy Cruise Day One: Embarkation on the Disney Fantasy
We split the 8+ hour drive from our home in North Carolina to Port Canaveral with a drive to my parents’ house in Jacksonville, Florida, the day before we were supposed to leave on our trip. We noticed that a lot of people experienced cruise travel disasters during our alaska family vacations Planning a buffer day before our cruise left and it worked well for us.
On Sunday morning, the day we left, we drove to the port and arrived mid-morning. First up was luggage drop-off and we found the curbside luggage drop-off system to be quite efficient. We were then directed to the terminal where we went through security with our carry-on bags (which we mainly filled with swimsuits, goggles, and water bottles) and waited until boarding time, since we arrived a little earlier than our boarding time. (This was the only time during the trip that we were asked to present our passports.)
The best part happens when you board a Disney cruise ship: Your family’s name is announced and smiling crew members and Disney characters wave at you from the balcony. It instantly sets the tone for such a magical experience!
Oceaneer Club + Oceaneer Lab (Disney Fantasy Kids Club)
The first for our family was to head to Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab, two connecting kids clubs for potty-trained kids ages 3-10. We were strongly advised to make this our “first stop” after boarding to avoid long lines and we were glad we did.
We toured the facilities and registered our kids for the Magic Band which will give them access to the kids’ clubs at Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay on board the ship and during the entire duration of the cruise. (Kids Club is included in the cost of the cruise, as are the Kids Club Magic Bands until you fail to return them and then you are charged $25.) This was a big part of our family’s motivation to book our Disney cruise this year because this is the last year Chase (10 years old) could participate in the Kids Club with the younger kids before moving on to the older kids club.
Our children’s first impressions of the Oceaneer Club and Lab were incredibly positive, and they would have happily played there all afternoon if we had allowed them. My first impressions were also positive (the facilities were clean and well-maintained and the crew members were engaged) but as a very screen-light family, the sheer number of screens in the kids’ clubs took me by surprise. There are screens everywhere – iPads with Disney video games, Star Wars simulators, MarioKart, etc. – and I realize I may be in the minority with this complaint, but it would have been really wonderful to see more screen-free play areas. I say this as a parent who fears…
