Sailing on Disney Cruise Line over the holidays has always been a dream of mine, but I didn't expect it to become a reality anytime soon due to the popularity of DCL and the astronomical holiday prices. However, we lucked out with a discounted Cast Member fare which actually made the Disney Fantasy our most affordable option over New Year's. I really wish that they had left the Christmas decorations up for the week, but I understand that they have to schedule decoration removal based on the availability of the shoreside teams. Maybe one day I'll get to go on a Merrytime Cruise and experience the ship's Christmas decor!

I first sailed on the Disney Fantasy in 2014, so it was interesting to see how the cruise compares nearly a decade later.

The rating system is based on ten components of a cruise vacation which I find important - itinerary, ship novelties, pools, activities, dining, bars and lounges, service, design and aesthetics, and stateroom.

Our sailing on the Celebrity Summit was our first ever Christmas Cruise with Aaron's parents. It was also Aaron's parents' first ever cruise. We wanted to give them a taste of cruising with a 5-day itinerary. Aaron's parents are Catholic and wanted to attend Catholic Mass on Christmas, so we chose to sail with Celebrity because it is one of a few cruise lines that guarantees a Catholic Priest on its Christmas sailings.

This was also my first cruise on Celebrity. I am a Diamond Crown & Anchor Club Member on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, and I was excited to sail on RCCL's "more sophisticated" sister line. Also, Celebrity matched my Diamond status as Elite Captain's Club, so I was able to experience some loyalty perks, despite this being my first Celebrity cruise.

The rating system is based on ten nine (you'll see) components of a cruise vacation which I find important - itinerary, ship novelties, pools, activities, dining, bars and lounges, service, design and aesthetics, and stateroom.

Our sailing on the Norwegian Encore marked the 12th Shinglebells Christmas Cruise (and our first Christmas Cruise following the 2020 pandemic cruising hiatus). It's been years since I've rated our cruises, but I think it may be interesting to bring back the rating system.

The rating system is based on ten components of a cruise vacation which I find important - itinerary, ship novelties, pools, activities, dining, bars and lounges, service, design and aesthetics, and stateroom.

On our last day of the cruise, Mom was feeling a little better - well enough to leave the stateroom! We started the day with breakfast in the dining room.

I don't trust the (carton) eggs, but the smoked salmon isn't half bad...


I took some photos the giant Christmas tree in the Promenade because I realized I wouldn't have many more opportunities...

Ahoy!  Welcome to my Navigator of the Seas Trip Report, and my family's 10th Annual Christmas Cruise!

My family started cruising over Christmas back in 2009 with a 9-day Eastern Caribbean Cruise aboard the Grandeur of the Seas, and we've gone every year since.  We like to sail where it's warm, so we often choose Caribbean itineraries, and we've also done 10 and 17-day Panama Canal cruises (my personal favorite itinerary if you have the time).  We aren't loyalists to any particular cruise line, and choose our cruise based on the itinerary, length, and ship.

Rachel has taken over as the family's cruise planner, so she narrowed down our options.  We ultimately chose the 10-day "ABC" Caribbean Cruise on the Navigator of the Seas because it included ports that we haven't traveled to before.  While we've been to Aruba a few times, none of us had been to Bonaire, and only I had sailed to Curacao.

Also, Rachel was on the Royal Caribbean website and excited about the Navigator's new upgrades including new pools and water slides... only to learn that they hadn't actually happened yet.  The upgraded Navigator of the Seas will start sailing in Spring 2019.  The Navigator of the Seas we were sailing on had been most recently updated in 2014 to add the Flow Rider to the aft.

The Navigator departed from Miami.  I live in Los Angeles, so I had to fly cross-country.  My parents live in South Carolina, and my sister in Atlanta, so they had the option of driving.  For better airline pricing, my dad decided to have my sister and I fly into Orlando the night before, while he and my mom would drive to Orlando.  We'd all spend the night near the airport there, then drive the rest of the way to Miami the morning of departure.

Alas, the Port of Miami, and a glimpse of the ship!


We often drive to the port, and it always results in the same kind of scramble.  My parents like to tetris-style pack the Suburban with luggage and snacks and a cooler.  And my mother always packs in an assortment of bags - some which stay in the car (they were headed to Walt Disney World after the cruise), so when we pull up and they start unloading our luggage, it results in my mom saying, "Woah, woah, woah!" and then crawling into the third-row seat and pointing and what should stay and what should go.  And then there's the tidying of the car to situate everything before it's parked.  And my dad trying to decide whether or not he should carry his own passport or leave it with us.  All while Rachel and I wait on the curb awkwardly dodging men tossing around suitcases.  At least we're organized and not bringing things on the ship that we don't need.  Nearly 20 years of cruising, now, and some things just don't change.

Then we wait on Dad to park the car, and hopefully remember where (one time we returned from a cruise to check every single level of a parking garage, only to learn that had returned to a different terminal and were parked in a different garage).

I really enjoy every cruise that I take and consider them an excellent vacation from "the real world." However, people often ask me to compare different cruise lines and ships, and I often find myself at a bit of a loss because I have wonderful memories from all of them. Starting with my previous cruise on the Carnival Breeze, I have created a rating system based on ten components of a cruise vacation which are important to me - itinerary, ship novelties, pools, activities, entertainment, dining, bars+lounges, service, design+aesthetics, and cabin. I have rated the Disney Fantasy 7-Day Western Caribbean cruise taken on May 10, 2014 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest possible ranking) in all ten categories to come to an overall percentage or cruise rating.

Sometime while on the cruise, Max asked if I was going to be biased towards Disney.  The honest answer is absolutely yes.  I love Disney.  I grew up watching Disney movies and visiting Disney Parks.  I have a Disney Visa credit card, an annual pass to Walt Disney World, and a Mickey Mouse-themed bedroom.  I cannot help but to be biased towards Disney because Disney, in particular, makes me happy.  Sure, I am an adult with no children, but I am a Disney-loving adult.

This is my personal reflection on decisions that I am happy I made and things that I wish I had done differently on my May 10, 2014 sailing on the Disney Fantasy 7-day Western Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral. Please note that these are my own opinions, and I am in no way affiliated with any cruise line.

Glad I Did / Glad I Did Not

I'm glad I booked a Disney cruise.  Disney cruises are expensive - more so than other mass-market cruise lines.  We could have stayed in a suite on the nearly identical 7-Day Western Caribbean itinerary of the Carnival Sunshine for less than the price of our family ocean view room on the Disney Fantasy.  That being said, I found that Disney Cruise Line offers a great product.  The ship is the most beautiful I've ever sailed.  The stateroom was perhaps the best I've ever had.  The entertainment was wonderful and and by far the most talented theater cast I have seen at sea.  Castaway Cay is the nicest, most extensive cruise line-owned private island I've ever been to, and it's the only one with an adults-only beach.  So yes, Disney Cruise Line is expensive, but I am quite happy in my choice of graduation present.

Welcome to my 2014 Disney Fantasy Western Caribbean Cruise Review!!!

I’m Victoria, a new alumni of the Clemson University School of Architecture!!! In addition to architecture, I enjoy photography, traveling, and sharing my experience with others.

This review will be told in a journalistic style with lots of photos. With the exception of this first post, I don't expect there to be too many posts with only paragraphs and paragraphs of text – I rely greatly on photos to tell the story. I also don’t take myself too seriously, and you shouldn't either. There will be a lot of fun-poking and maybe a little sarcasm, and you’re all invited to join in on the fun! I encourage you to post comments to share your thoughts and experiences, or just tell me who you are!

My Cruising History

I don't normally start my cruise reviews with a history of my past cruises, but with this cruise being such a monumental one, I thought this would be fun. Feel free to skip this section if you aren't interested - you don't have to tell me!

My first cruise ever was actually a Disney Cruise. It was a 4-night Bahamian cruise on the Disney Magic on April 10, 2000. I know this because after booking the Disney Fantasy, I looked up my Castaway Club membership, the exact date of our cruise (and the cabin number - 6120!) appeared in my "Past Cruises" record. I need to ask my parents why they decided to take a Disney Cruise. It might be because my parents have always enjoyed Walt Disney World and thought that if Disney did cruises, they might as well give it a go... maybe they were interested in cruising but never thought to try it until Disney Cruise Line... or maybe someone my dad worked with suggested it to him. I really don't know.

Enjoy these embarrassing photos from our first cruise...

This post is a chapter of my 2013 Royal Princess Christmas Cruise Photo Review.

This cruise review was originally published on Cruise Critic beginning January 3, 2014.  You can read the original review here.

My Traveling Party

My dad, Boyd, is a funny guy - if you aren't laughing at his jokes, you're laughing at how bad they are (and I am told by my boyfriend that I have the same sense of humor)! Dad is a nuclear licensing engineer who is always in need of a vacation.

My mom, Sharon, is always trying her best to bring order to this group of crazies. Before leaving for vacation, she straightens the house - "In case someone breaks in while we're gone."

My sister, Rachel, brings along even more laughter. She has an outgoing personality and will do crazy things just to make people smile. Rachel is a civil engineering major at Clemson University.


Choosing the Cruise

Since 2009, my family has left the Christmas tree and stockings behind (and taken miniature versions with us) to celebrate Christmas on a cruise in the Caribbean. What started as a rather last-minute cruise deal five years ago has evolved into a family tradition. This year, we wanted to spend our holiday doing a cruise out of Florida so that after we could go to Walt Disney World after, since we had purchased annual passes when we were at Disney in October. We like taking longer cruises – our first few were 8 or 9 days, and last year, we took a 10-day Panama Canal Partial Transit on the Island Princess. However, this year, there wasn’t much available in the way of 8 or 9-day cruises. The Independence of the Seas has an 8-day itinerary which I had my eye on for the longest time, but it seemed rather overpriced for a balcony stateroom and never really dropped. We thought we could find a better value, so we started to consider other cruises which we narrowed down to the Celebrity Reflection, Norwegian Epic, or Royal Princess which all sailed 7-day Eastern Caribbean itineraries. Of these, we ultimately chose the Royal Princess because though we loved the Norwegian Epic and would love to sail on her again, the Royal Princess included a stop to Princess Cays which we had never been to before (Reflection was Coco Cay and Epic was Nassau… meh).