Something to consider if you're planning on taking Disney transportation is the fact that they don't pick you up very early to bring you to the port. Traditional resort transportation won't arrive until 11:30 a.m. or later, which puts you getting to the port around 1 p.m. or later. For this trip specifically, it was closer to 2 p.m. for us. Now, if you'd rather not fight the port crowds, then this isn't a huge deal. BUT, if you like to board the ship early, eat lunch, explore, or even add an itinerary item, this becomes a bit of a bigger deal.
Anyway, our bus arrived at our resort at 12:10 p.m. and after a quick stop to pick up more cruisers from Old Key West, we were off!
For those of you who miss the classic, original Mickey cartoons, they still play them on the bus and I might have been a little happier than I should have been to see them.
The ride to the port was super smooth without any traffic, delays, or issues.
There she is!
Check in was super smooth. We didn't have much of a line and we were on the ship in record time!
Side note, if you have the Disney Cruise Line app, lots of fun things happen on your official sailing date!
After a quick greeting in the lobby, we headed over to Cabana's for lunch!
I absolutely love the look and feel of the Disney ships. They are just so classy and timeless!
Lunch was extra delicious...and so was dessert! :)
By the time we finished eating, we realized our rooms had been ready for a little while, so we headed that way to drop off our carryons. I also facetimed my dad and brother to show them our room.
It was a beautiful day for sailing!
Our muster drill took place on the promenade deck and this was our first time to ever be placed outside for one of these. Although the day was beautiful, it was HOT.
As soon as the muster drill was over, we made a bee-line for deck 12 for the Sailing Away party! One of my favorite parts of any Disney Cruise is hearing the horn on that first day...it's the perfect way to begin a Disney cruise!
Mickey and friends had to join in the festivities, too!
Off we go!
This cruise was a little different for us in a few ways, too. Apparently DCL was trying out a few "new" things and one of those was to change the show times up a little on port days, so those with late dining had a little extra time to get ready for the show before dinner. To be honest, I loved it! Also, instead of a different show every night, they basically had three main shows that were shown twice each throughout the cruise (Aladdin, Disney Wishes, and Disney Believe), plus one night of Christopher Robin. I also liked this as well as it gave us three "off" nights to do whatever we pleased.
Anyway, our first night on board was spent in an animation class since we can't do this at Walt Disney World anymore!
Our characters were Chip and Dale and for my serious lack of artistic talent (it's bad, y'all), I didn't think they turned out half bad!
Dinner on our first night was in Animator's Palate. I tried the Tuna Steak and really liked it! They also served Butternut Squash Soup which is a Cruise Line favorite of mine.
Dessert was delicious, too!
After dinner, we spent a little time in the adult only area before calling it a night.
We had a great first day on board the Disney Fantasy and were looking forward to all the fun to come!
Stay tuned for more from our 2018 Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean August Sailing! :)
