Embarkation Day

The night before embarkation day…

We flew into MCO the evening before our cruise and stayed at the Hyatt inside the MCO airport. We ate dinner at the airport and did some browsing around the different shops before going to our room early to get a good night’s sleep before getting up bright and early the next morning!

Embarkation Day…

We were up bright and early before heading downstairs to catch the Disney transportation from the airport to the port. This was one of the best things that we did because it meant that we didn’t need a Port Arrival Time and would get to go into the cruise terminal as soon as we arrived. We got to the check in desk about 45 minutes early to ensure that we got on the first bus to get there as early as possible. They will load your luggage onto a different van that will go to the port before you and it will magically show up at your door later that evening (so make sure anything you need during the day and passports are with you!). The buses have Disney Cruise Line all over them and play Disney shorts and trivia on your 45 minute ride to the port.

Once we arrived at the cruise terminal, we waited on the bus for a few minutes for them to clear the check-in area at the cruise terminal for our bus load and then headed inside. You go through security and get your passports checked before entering the large waiting area that you hang out in until your boarding group is called. Since we went at Christmas time, the whole terminal was decorated and it was beautiful! We got to the terminal around 10:45am and got inside the waiting area around 11:10am. We were in boarding group 5, which is one of the first groups to board and got on the ship around 12:00pm.

When you get on the ship, Captain Mickey is on the balcony waiting to welcome you after your name is announced in the atrium as you board the ship-it’s truly magical! After we got on the ship and took it all in, we headed over to guest relations to find out about getting a Palo brunch reservation. Unknown to us, we needed to actually go downstairs to a table in front of Enchanted Garden to do this, but we got a reservation for the following morning! Once that was secured (which was our top priority), we went to Animators Palate for a sit down lunch (highly recommend the empanadas). Cabanas buffet is also open and available, but we knew it would be pretty busy and we wanted to relax.

After eating lunch, we went back upstairs to the atrium and saw Minnie waving hello to the guests getting on the ship. Then we walked around the pool deck and through Cabanas just to see what they were offering, but we were very happy with our choice to eat at Animators Palate, although some of the lunch options were also available at Cabanas-but not the empanadas! At this point, it was time that the rooms were open so we went downstairs to see our room (they generally are available around 2:00pm, but your luggage may not be there yet).

We were in room 10058, so we were Deck 10 mid-ship. The location was perfect because it was right next to the mid-ship elevators and one deck below the pool level and right under the drink station. Our luggage hadn’t arrived yet, but we were able to put down/put away the things we had carried on the ship with us. We relaxed for about 30 minutes since the whole day had been on the go already before getting ready to go to our Muster Drill. Although muster drills had returned to being all together in person (not self-paced like the past few years to prevent crowding), we were thankful to have our station inside so that we didn’t have to stand and wait in the heat.

It was super quick thankfully and we were back up on the pool deck to get a good spot for the Sail Away party. I had seen the video of this performance so many times, so I was super excited to see it in person! It was magical to hear the horn in person and see all the characters on the stage before setting sail. After the show, we went back to our room and our luggage had finally arrived! We decided to take the time to unpack and get ready for the evenings activities so that we didn’t need to do any of this later.

If you don’t know, merchandise on the ships has been rather limited lately and things are selling out quickly. If you plan on doing any shopping or see anything you like it-don’t wait until the end of your trip to buy it or it might not be available! For example, Ryan wanted the DCL Christmas spirit jersey around day 5, but it was no longer available even though they had a bunch on day 1! We went to the shops as soon as they opened and I decided to get a pair of DCL Minnie ears as well as the limited edition Disney Fantasy Very Merrytime Cruise pin.

Finally, it was time for the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony! We found a spot on Deck 5 by the mid-ship elevators that gave a perfect viewing area. It was very cute to see all of the characters in their outfits singing Christmas songs. They have a seating area on the floor of the atrium for kids to sit at so that they are able to have unobstructed views of the show. At the end they have everyone count down from 10 and then the Christmas tree was lit along with all of the other decorations in the atrium.

Then it was dinner time and our first restaurant in the rotational dining was Enchanted Garden. This dinner was absolutely delicious and I highly recommend the prime rib or scallop entrees! We got to meet our assistant and main servers as well, who we made great connections with throughout our trip. If you ever go on the Fantasy, I highly recommend requesting Imade and Roque for your dining team! After dinner, we met Minnie Mouse, Belle in her Christmas outfit, and Tiana with her Christmas accessories before listening to the carolers in the atrium.

We finally decided to retire back to the room for the night to rest up before our Palo brunch reservation the following morning! Stay tuned for me review next week…