I chose this cruise because we had a terrible winter, we are bad at renting lake houses (the weeks we choose are invariably colder than normal), and I noticed that the Fantasy, the only DCL ship I hadn't been on, had a 3 night that was at Castaway Cay on my BDay. Sold! Booked it at the end of January; sailed July 11.

We started sailing DCL in 2003 with the Wonder, then Magic in 2004 and Dream in 2016, so this grand slam took 15 years. (in contrast, I heard one older couple on the ship say this was their 69th DCL cruise!)

I have wanted to try aft cabins but none were available, but we booked 9148, a veranda cabin 10 cabins from the back. I know the debate about "get an inside and save your money and go to the common areas to see the ocean" but we enjoy our time on our own veranda. Read more