Background ... family of 4 (47, 45, 14B, 12G) on our 10th cruise (3 RCI, 4 Carnival, 2 Disney, 1 Norwegian) with the Disney Fantasy scheduled for August 2012. We were with 2 families who we have previously cruised with us on the Carnival Liberty and Carnival Freedom.

Embarking was a breeze. We drove from NJ on Saturday finishing up the last 2 hours on Easter Sunday. We arrived at the port at 10:30, waited half hour for friends and were eating at Sorrento's by noon.

The ship is beautiful, different from what we are used to be, so it took us awhile to warm up to it. We really liked the idea of the Promenade and the digital screens around the ship is genius. Kudos to whoever thought that up. What I didn't like about the ship is the Pool deck - and I think this has to do with cost cutting measures. There is no food available by the pool. In order to grab something to eat, you have to get dressed, go through the revolving doors (a really dumb idea), pass the elevators and foot traffic, to go to the Windjammer. Every other ship that we've been on has some type of food available by the pool (pizza, deli, tandoori, BBQ). Read more