Trip Log Day 2: 7-Night Western Europe Cruise on Disney Fantasy – At Sea

Trip log, day two. At Sea.
7-Night Western Europe Cruise on Disney Fantasy
July 25, 2025
Personal Navigator

Try as I might, my internal clock is so messed up right now that I have no real idea what time it is at any given moment. Well, it’s 5:50 AM and I’m headed out of the room to record a deck by deck walking tour (Yes, I am still working on the version for the Magic Class and this will follow. Maybe it will be published before the end of the European season and be fresh for a few days before the upcoming dry dock enhancements). Regardless, the fundamental walking tour of the ship will still be fairly accurate post dry dock aside from a few changes here and there.

Normally when I am up early on the first morning of the cruise, the ship is a ghost town. However, this morning was not the norm as folks were out and about early. Even the gym was hopping when Emily arrived. By the way, reports of Peloton bicycles in the Senses Spa fitness center are no longer accurate as there are currently no Pelotons available. Emily also found it odd there were no wipes or spray bottles to sanitize the machines after use – she along with some other guests resorted in using the cooling towels to wipe down the machines.

I met back up with Emily in the Quiet Cove and stopped in Cove Café for an Americano. There was a display showcasing a Fantastic Four: First Steps inspired specialty cold coffee, The L4tte – White chocolate, coconut water, Espresso, and strawberry cream. Not my cup of tea, but I will see if my daughter is interested for the sake of blogability.

I settled into a spot outside Vista Café with my caffeine from Cove Café and enjoyed the morning while typing up some of this trip report while listening to the Skipper Society loop from the Disney Treasure. While we were winding down last night in the stateroom, we realized we have not sailed on the Disney Fantasy since June 2016. That’s something like 7 years in cruise years. After walking around the ship this morning, I am relieved the ship that briefly stole my heart away from the Disney Magic was still familiar to me, and more importantly, in fantastic shape.

In the last 13-months, we’ve sailed the Disney Wonder, Disney Magic twice, Disney Treasure, and Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas. We have not even been onboard the Disney Fantasy for 24-hours and there is 1 ship, or class of ship for that matter that I could ignore and be a happy cruiser with the Magic and Dream Class. In my book the original concept of a modern day oceanliner is my cup of tea. As I sit in Vista Café, I am surrounded by portholes offering a view the Mediterranean Sea off the port the East coast of Spain off the starboard. We will soon pass by our original first port of call, Cartagena, Spain. After we booked, this was one of the ports cancelled due to the speed restrictions in the area to protect whales. We seriously considered cancelling this cruise for the lost port of call came close to booking a cruise with Virgin Voyages, a 10-night Southern Spain and & Casablanca cruise from Barcelona. The itinerary included stops in Malaga, Seville (Cadiz), Casablanca, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, with an overnight in Ibiza. However, the timing for that sailing didn’t work out as it was just after our June DCL Blog Cruise on the Disney Magic. While it did not include Portugal, the cruise was 3 nights longer and the fare was cheaper than the Fantasy coming in under $5900 and dropped even lower for our family of 3 – roughly $197 per person per night. Also with Virgin, wifi and gratuities are included for that price, as is all dining.

Originally, our cruise was about $300 per person/night for an inside stateroom. We did save $800 by rebooking a IGT rate and cancelling our opening day booking with the onboard promotion. Still, 7-nights and losing a port over a year out compared to 10-nights with 6 ports of call including those not offered by Disney was a tough pill to swallow. It’s becoming more and more of a struggle for us when it comes to booking a destination cruise. We like to go places on a cruise and I keep hoping with the rapid fleet expansion there will be more variety in itineraries all over the globe, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Unlike our sailing on the Treasure, the Fantasy was offering a good slate of activities on a sea day, starting with adult craft time in O’Gills where we made anchors. We were given a choice of a basic wooden anchor or an anchor within a ring along with a selection of sharpie markers and pipe cleaners in a myriad of colors.

Naturally, I made a classic Cleveland Browns helmet inspired anchor complete with anchor chain. Isabelle came up with a cool ship inspired design with the Mickey Funnels. Emily’s was working on a Little Mermaid anchor, but couldn’t find a metallic silver sharpie to bring it together.

Up next, was Build Your Own Forky in La Piazza which was well attended and overflowing into the hallway back to the horror nights bathroom door maze. What I did with a spork, pipe cleaner, and air dry clay is nothing short of a travesty. I was going for my spirit animal, Angry Donald Duck golfing, but I’ve been told it looks like Donald Duck hit public domain and this is some crazy horror movie with him wielding an axe. My wife says it looks more like Howard the Duck. At the end of the day, I had fun making it.

There was a night and day difference in craft time in O’Gills vs La Piazza. The first anomaly was that the bar was closed in O’Gills, but open in La Piazza, so not sure why it was adults only. Now, I am not saying the bar needed to be open or I would have even ordered a drink, but I always look at the setup and venue selection as an event drives revenue to the venue. Popular activities overflow and others it can feel like a private session. Family events will always have larger attendance as there is at least one adult and child to every group instantly doubling turnout. I guess what’s I am going after is — just use the Tube or D-Lounge for daytime activities where guests can arrive and always find a spot. Today, the adults-only anchors may have been 7 of us in attendance. Supplies aplenty, but way under attended and not sure why it was limited to only adults. Our daughter would have loved to attend this even at a much younger age. Maybe it was a safety issue since we were using Sharpies.

As many of you who follow along with my nonsense on social media, my happy place is not a cruise ship, it’s a golf course. That being said, I often go through withdrawal symptoms on a cruise. First world problems – I’m well aware. Chip-it Golf is always a must-do, but since we were sailing on the Disney Fantasy, Emily booked a golf session for me at Goofy’s Sports Simulators hidden up on deck 13 aft near the 9th hole.

We arrived, checked in, and teed off. It was fun and a great way to get a golf fix at sea. I will say there is an opportunity here for an upsell.

The Walt Disney World pro shops sell FootJoy golf gloves with a built-in magnetic Mickey or Minnie Ball marker. DCL could be selling guests these gloves for $27.

The 2 sport simulators were busy with no open spots or the ability to extend time. So, if you think you want a longer experience, book a longer time up front. Would I do it again, absolutely. Unfortunately, golf is currently now only available on the Disney Fantasy with the Disney Dream now only offering the sports simulator.

Time for lunch! We went over to Flo’s, but ended up in Cabanas. There was a South African station tucked away in the back where the best stuff is always located. I was craving a salad, and really miss the good old days we here there was a salad bar instead of prepared salads.

The pizza is something here. They are heating up a pre-baked Bertolli-like crust, topping it and baking it off in the oven. It’s barely serviceable, but credit for at least offering some better variety such as BBQ Chicken or Mushroom on a regular basis. Even the chemical tasting (pretty sure it is the spray they use when the press the dough) pizza on the Wish Class is more crave-able. At this point, Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras is alone on the Mount Rushmore of cruise ship quick service pizza.

After lunch, we made our way to O’Gills after searching around the ship for an adequate (and available) table to start a puzzle. While sorting pieces, we attempted to compete in WDI Trivia. After the sailing on the Treasure earlier this year, we expanded our travel puzzle toolbox to add pop up trays for sorting (thanks, Mom!), and an expandable puzzle roller to make it easier to move around the ship.

As the day progressed, we returned to the stateroom to causally get ready for the evening. I took the puzzle felt down to iron as this was the maiden voyage with factory creases that made it difficult to assemble the puzzle frame.

Tonight was formal night attire with the Captain’s reception in the Atrium Lobby. It is not often we get in line to take family pictures, but as Pearl Castaway Club members, we do get the the photo package included, so why not. Since it was Captain’s reception night, there are servers roaming with complementary beverages. One of the complementary beverages available other than wine was an orange margarita which was actually delicious and a cocktail I’d actually order.

Our dinner rotation brought us to Royal Court where we were served the standard menu. Emily ordered the Espresso Martini to start, which was missing most of the espresso…..

Once again the food was well prepared and flavorful. Still, the “French menu” has remained reality unaltered and like all of the standard menus, it could use a refresh.

One more family picture needed, Mademoiselle MINNIE! This one was important enough to us that we got in line before the line even started.

Afterwards, it was time to head to The Tube for 70s music trivia and as expected, a decade earlier results in higher attendance.

It has been incredible having trivia in The Tube. Guests can show up as the session starts and still get a spot. Now this may change as the decades become more popular, as we have recently experienced an attendance increase nightly on the Magic when trivia was held in Fathoms.

We spent some time walking around the promenade on deck 4 enjoying the lovely sea views.

I was curious to see what the evening snack offerings were at the Vista Café. Ages ago, we’d get a plate of cheese, crackers, carrots and celery in the evening when we picked Isabelle up from the Oceaneer Club for an evening snack for her. In reality, this was also my way of getting a plate of Parmesan chunks to enjoy. I was happy to see a selection for cheese available, but I would pay a fair price for a walk-up made to order charcuterie board offering. Even the old trolly offering from Palo or the cheese cart from Remy would a good option.

Tonight we fall back 1 hour as we sail west towards Gibraltar and into the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe one of us will take the 10-seconds to manually change our device time before we turn off the lights…

Complete Trip Log Index
Day 0 – Pre-Cruise in Barcelona, Spain
Day 1 – Barcelona, Spain
Day 2 – At Sea
Day 3 – At Sea
Day 4 – Lisbon, Portugal
Day 5 – Vigo, Spain
Day 6 – La Coruña, Spain
Day 7 – At Sea
Appeared first on: Disneycruiselineblog.com

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