Fantasy Propulsion Issue

[Niceorange]

We've sailed on the Fantasy twice since 2016 (going again in April), and the Dream 3 times since 2011. I have stayed in the same aft room (10660) on 3 separate cruises on both ships and can't say I noticed any difference between the Dream and Fantasy. That's not to say it's right - I've just always assumed it was normal - but it says to me that it might be more of a design flaw. The roughest cruise I've experienced was on the Wonder in February, but had a fairly smooth January sail on the Dream. My other sailings have been in April or October and have generally lucked out with pretty good weather, although Cozumel in April has been super choppy both times (especially on the mainland ferry), and we got locked out of GC in 2018 along with the Magic on a meet up date. Surf was flooding the docks that day.

 

[truck1]

As someone who went to a "nerd high school for science and math" many moons ago, I loved reading this. Thank you! I'm just going to chalk our cruise up to bad luck. I didn't realize Jan was such a risky time to travel in the Caribbean. Our Miami Magic Jan cruise was so nice 2 years ago. Guess it's when you go further south? Anyway, thanks again for your thoughtful response. That was fun.

Your welcome.
Luck of the draw this time of year. It has to do with the prevailing weather patterns. We live in CFl, and we can see what weather is coming almost 2 weeks away. It starts up near Washington/Oregon, then drops south and east thru Texas then out the Gulf to Fl, then out to the Bahamas. I would not be a bit surprised if the Fantasy doesn't make CC tom with whats coming thru tonight. After about April, the weather settles down to the point where the Atlantic is like a sheet of glass, until about Novemberish. Ive been to CC in Jan Feb and walking the beach was like walking thru a sand blaster, and in March it was nice, A little breezy but nice weather. Same thing with the Caribbean. Once the water temps warm up, the weather settles down.

 

[truck1]

Sounds like lighthouse point might be a stretch then for a 3 night cruise. 4 night itineraries might fare better with a sea day to help reduce the distance.

This is just me, but I think that LHP was meant for the ships out of Miami, since the distances between CC and PC and Miami and LHP are similar. Its not to say that a PC ship might divert to LHP if CC may be unavailable due to weather, like the Fantasy coming up from the south.

 

[truck1]

I was at Castaway Key last week and there was a crew on the pier prepping parts, diving equipment etc. waiting for the Fantasy to arrive the next day.

This is probably routine. Like I said before, all of the ships require inwater inspections, and also some routine maint. Theres sacrificial plates that need to be replaced, and some other odds and ends adjustments. Probably a coincidence that it was scheduled at the same time as the issue occurred.

Is this an issue that could potentially impact our April cruise?

The speed issue, more the likely not. Theres probably a 90% chance or better that you wont notice anything different. The vibration issue, if you are in the right places its something youll notice but its not life altering. The 2 issues, are unrelated to each other, as far as can be determined from Disneys actions.

 

[insureman]

As someone who went to a "nerd high school for science and math" many moons ago, I loved reading this. Thank you! I'm just going to chalk our cruise up to bad luck. I didn't realize Jan was such a risky time to travel in the Caribbean. Our Miami Magic Jan cruise was so nice 2 years ago. Guess it's when you go further south? Anyway, thanks again for your thoughtful response. That was fun.

I did a poll way back in 2012 about what months DCL ships cancelled Castaway Cay due to weather. See below.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...miss-castaway-cay-due-to-the-weather.2854575/

 

[Ccll4]

I did a poll way back in 2012 about what months DCL ships cancelled Castaway Cay due to weather. See below.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...miss-castaway-cay-due-to-the-weather.2854575/

Good observation. The Dream docked at Castaway last night at 10 PM EST for today's port day.

 

[kiford]

We were on the Fantasy Jan 24 - Feb 1. We were supposed to go to Tortola but were informed two days before about issues and that we would be going slower for the first couple of days and would stop in San Juan, PR instead of Tortola but that the next day they would be going back to normal speeds if the repairs were completed (whatever they were - they didn't say). Which is what happened. Whether it fixed a long term problem I can't say. There was no real impact for us.

 

[Trera]

We leave on Saturday. Keeping my fingers crossed