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Cruising During COVID: The End of the Cruise

Credit: PaulaK

My family and I just returned from a seven night cruise on the Disney Fantasy. The trip was not work related and we weren’t sponsored by Disney, this was a family vacation. I thought I’d share some of our experiences with you, so that you can make your own decision on whether or not a Disney Cruise is right for you during these strange times.

Related: Cruising During COVID: Before You Board

The end of a Disney Cruise Line vacation can be stressful. Fortunately, that was not a problem for us when we were on the Disney Fantasy. Things went smoothly, but that could have been in part because there were less than 1,400 passengers on the ship.

Credit: PaulaK

On the final day, the TV in the stateroom had a disembarking video with a lot of good information. We watched it a couple of times because we wanted to do everything right.

There was a character dance party the final evening on Deck 11. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto all danced on the stage. Guests joined in on the fun while standing on socially distanced dots. This lasted about 30 minutes.

Related: Cruising During COVID: Safety Onboard

We had second seating for dinner, so we went immediately to Royal Court after the dance party. The final dinner is always hard, because that’s when it hits us that the cruise is almost over.

Credit: PaulaK

Our wonderful stateroom host had left luggage tags in our room. They were character and color coded. We had already repacked our suitcases. The bags with things that we wouldn’t need that night we placed in the hall, they needed to be out there by 10:00 P.M.

Related: Cruising During COVID: Dining

The final morning we saw our serving team one last time. We had to carry our bags that we hadn’t put in the hall with us into the restaurant.

Related: Cruising During COVID: Entertainment

After breakfast, it was time to disembark. Since we had been second seating, many groups had already left. You have to wait until your group (from the luggage tags) is called, but by the time our meal was done all groups had been cleared.

Related: Cruising During COVID: Characters

The rest wasn’t any different from our other cruises. We needed to scan our Key to the World Card one last time, and then walk to the area where we picked up the rest of our luggage.

Related: Cruising During COVID: Ports of Call

Customs was next. There was a short line, but a Cast Member kept it moving. We were asked a few questions by a friendly Customs Agent, and then we were done. We hated to leave the Disney Bubble of the Fantasy, but our vacation was over.

Credit: PaulaK

Related: Cruising During COVID: Star Wars Day at Sea

All in all, I would highly recommend a Disney Cruise Line vacation right now. We felt safe, even though the CDC has listed cruising as high risk. Things were different at times, but there was plenty of magic.

About PaulaK

I grew up in Western Massachusetts. When I was nine my family went to Disneyland and I was hooked. I grew up, attended New England College in Henniker, NH and eventually moved to Virginia. I worked as a disc jockey, married and became a full time mom when our daughter was born. Fast forward several years. In 2010 we moved to Central Florida and my Disney obsession grew. I now work as a freelance writer and spend my spare time in the parks. Under the name Paula Brown I penned the novels Dream Wanderers and The Coffee Cruiser. I also am a co-author of Dining at Walt Disney World: The Definitive Guide. I'm obsessed with Star Wars, so this is a good time to live in Central Florida. I've been a vegetarian for well over a decade, a choice that my daughter eventually made as well. While my husband still hasn't joined us fully he has given up most meats except for seafood. I was relieved to find that vegetarian dining is not difficult at Walt Disney World.