After our previous day in Tortola on our Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy, I woke up as the thrusters of the ship signalled that we were about to dock in St Thomas. Even though the two ports are under twenty nautical miles apart, the map on the television showed that we had sailed away from the British Virgin Islands overnight, sailed in a few circles before sailing back towards the US Virgin Islands. It was a beautiful sunny day outside and even though we did not have too many plans, we were both looking forward to our day in St Thomas.

It turned out for the best that we only had a few plans in St Thomas as a few days beforehand on the ship as we were waiting to meet one of the characters, we had been talking to a Cast Member and they had told us that something might be happening on our St Thomas day that we would want to see. Another Cast Member had also let it slip that the characters would be wearing their new birthday party outfits on this day so I was secretly hoping that we were going to be seeing the new Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Party at Sea deck party which was not due to officially start on the Disney Fantasy for another few weeks. The night before when I checked the paper Personal Navigator, it was showing that a deck party called Fun in the Sun was due to take place on the Deck 11 stage at 3:00pm however when I looked on the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app on my iPhone when I woke up, it was showing that yes, we would be seeing the very first Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Party at Sea later that day which I was so happy about especially as I had been gutted to know what we were originally going to miss it by a few weeks.

After getting ready for the day, we had a relaxed breakfast in Cabanas at 9:15am which was very quiet as a lot of people were already off the ship as the all ashore time had been at 7:45am. Before we disembarked, we headed to the lobby atrium to get some photos of it completely empty with no one else in sight. I had wanted to get these photos since the start of the cruise and this turned out to be the perfect time.

We left the Disney Fantasy at 10:15am using the Deck 1 Midship gangway (you could also use Deck 1 Forward) and as we were the only ship docked at the Havensight pier, the area was extremely quiet. There was another ship in St Thomas that day but it was docked at the Crown Bay pier instead which is three miles away on the other side of Charlotte Amalie.

The week before our cruise, I had found out that there is a statue of the Little Mermaid located at the Havensight dock. The statue is half the size of the one found in Copenhagen as St Thomas used to be a Danish colony until 1917.

Our next stop was the Skyride to Paradise Point cable car which is located a five minute walk away from the dock next to the Pirate Treasure Museum. There was no line to buy tickets when we arrived which cost $21 each and we were able to pay using a credit card. We were handed our wristbands which allow you to use the cable car as many times as you want that day. You can also buy tickets for the cable car in advance through Port Adventures on the ship for the same price but there is no advantage to doing this as you still have to exchange your voucher (and wait if there is a line) for a wristband once you arrive. I also think that waiting until you arrive in St Thomas to buy your tickets is the best option in case of bad weather or visibility as tickets bought on the ship are usually non-refundable.

To board the cable car, there are approximately forty steps that you will need to climb (which you can see to the side of the building in the picture above) and there is no elevator. We just missed a cable car but they run every seven minutes and there are chairs to sit on whilst you wait. Once the cable car arrived, the gentleman working there asked us to wait whilst some other people boarded and then said that he saw our cameras (we both travel with our SLR’s) so he had saved the best cable car cabin for us as he wanted to make sure we had the best view during the journey so we could get all the photos we wanted. I loved him.

The journey up to Paradise Point takes five minutes and the view of Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas and the nearby islands was absolutely beautiful and as promised I made sure I took a lot of photos. We could also see over to Crown Bay where the Independence of the Seas was docked.

Once you reach Paradise Point, as well as a viewing platform, there are several gift shops as well as some bars and restaurants. Paradise Point is famous for a drink they serve called a Bushwacker which consists of Rum, Vodka, Baileys, Kailua, Amaretto, Coconut and Chocolate. It was far too early in the day for me to have a cocktail especially one that had that much alcohol in it. I think if I’d ordered one, I would have fallen asleep for the rest of the day which was the last thing I wanted to happen.

Whilst at Paradise Point, we also saw an iguana just chilling in the sun as we were walking around. I had always seen photos of iguanas on some of the Caribbean islands so I was fascinated to see one for myself up close.

We spent just over thirty minutes at Paradise Point before we decided to get the cable car back down. We let some other people go ahead of us as we wanted to wait for the next cable car just so we could be in the same cabin again and get that amazing view once more.

Once we got off the cable car we crossed the road and walked towards the Yacht Haven Grande shopping area where we stopped to take some photos of our stateroom and of the Dumbo on the stern of the Disney Fantasy.

Whilst at the Yacht Haven Grande marina, we stopped at Bad Ass Coffee where I ordered a much needed iced latte and my boyfriend an iced tea which came to $9 altogether. We sat outside in the shade watching the world as well as a hen and all of her baby chicks go by – they were so cute!

We were back onboard the Disney Fantasy and having lunch in Cabanas just before 1:00pm which was much busier than expected given how quiet it had been the day before in Tortola. I really had enjoyed our few hours in St Thomas and we both agreed that we would love to come back in the future and explore the island more.

After lunch, we made our way to Deck 5 Midship to sign up for the Midship Detective Agency – there is also a station on Deck 2 Midship outside Enchanted Garden – as we thought it would be the best time to play as the ship was not too busy. There are three cases you can try and solve: “The Case of the Plundered Paintings” with Mickey and Friends, “The Case of the Missing Puppies” with the 101 Dalmations and “The Case of the Stolen Show” with the Muppets.

Another hidden detail that I found was a newspaper cutting reporting on the opening of the Midship Detective Agency on the Disney Fantasy dated 31st March – and yes, the maiden voyage of the Disney Fantasy was the 31st March 2012.

We chose to try and solve “The Case of the Plundered Paintings” and once we collected our detective badge and casebook, we headed to Deck 6 Forward to find our first clue. The Midship Detective Agency uses the enchanted artwork located around the ship and the artwork comes to life when you hold your detective badge in front of it. Each artwork will help you to find clues, rule out suspects as well as find the missing paintings and you can make notes in your casebook to track your progress before trying to identify the culprit and solve the crime.

The Midship Detective Agency was so much fun and such a great way to see the ship as the artworks are located Forward, Midship and Aft between Decks 2 and 10. It took about thirty minutes to solve the case and we already knew that we wanted to try and solve “The Case of the Stolen Show” with the Muppets the following day.

As we still had some time before Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Party at Sea, we walked several laps of Deck 4 before making our way back to our stateroom and sitting on our verandah looking out over St Thomas.

We went up to Deck 12 at 2:45pm ready for the very first Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Party at Sea which was due to start at 3:00pm. We found a spot to stand but as we were in the sun and the party was due to last an hour, I quickly ran back to our stateroom and changed from my shorts into my linen trousers as I did not want to risk my legs getting sunburnt.

Before and during the party, there were servers walking around with trays of Mickey bars for everyone and there were Mickey pretzels available at Luigi’s pizza on Deck 11. Mickey souvenir cups with a soft drink inside were available from the bars or from the servers for $20 each.

As this was the very first Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Party at Sea, it was a strange feeling not knowing what to expect especially as the party was scheduled to last an hour. At 3:00pm, one of the Cruise Staff arrived on stage and told us that Minnie was planning a surprise party especially for Mickey and introduced Belle Adventure who started the party off by singing Chicken Fried, Shut Up and Dance, Havana and Umbrella.

So far it did not feel like a deck party and not much was happening but then the next act that was introduced was a ventriloquist who did a ten minute set with his two pig puppets. Now I know I do not usually watch any of these variety acts on the cruises and this act is absolute proof why – he was so unfunny and cringeworthy and it completely killed any of the party atmosphere that there was. I’m trying to not be too negative but it’s hard not to be as it really was that bad – it was the kind of act that gets buzzed off within thirty seconds of starting during the audition rounds at Britain’s/America’s Got Talent.

After the ventriloquist had finally finished, we were thirty minutes into the party and we still had not seen a single character. The only thing that had happened apart from the two acts at this time was getting the crowd to practice shouting “Surprise!” again and again which carried on throughout the hour. A DJ then came onto the stage and started playing music as some Mickey and Minnie cartoons played on the Funnelvision. There were also games taking place on Deck 11 whilst the music was playing.

After thirty five minutes, Minnie and Pluto finally arrived on stage before disappearing less than two minutes later. Five minutes later after the DJ played another song, Goofy appeared quickly before another song and game started. Donald then briefly arrived five minutes later to tell everyone that it was actually his party. Another song later and it finally sounded like Mickey was going to arrive, but no, it was time for another game. Then it was once again time to practice shouting “Surprise!” which really felt like it was being done to fill the time.

At 4:00pm (which was our all aboard time), an hour after the party first started and an hour of being told that Mickey was on his way, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto finally appeared on stage together to surprise Mickey. A video then played on the Funnelvision of the guests on the cruise talking about what Mickey Mouse means to them which really was lovely to see. The party finished with the characters dancing to It’s a Good Time (Get Your Ears On).

As much as I was excited (and so grateful) to see Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Party at Sea, it really felt like the length of the party was just too long as it felt like it went on forever and standing out on the deck the whole time in the hot Caribbean sun was hard work. I know we only saw a preview of it but it would be interesting to see if the party has been changed at all when it officially started later that month. The party could easily take half the time or less instead of an hour and not much would need to be cut out of it though hopefully the other cruises this year have a better variety act that fits in with a party atmosphere that a deck party needs.

Once the characters left the stage, we each got a cold drink as well as some pizza and a Mickey pretzel to take back to our stateroom. When we walked out onto our verandah, we had already left the dock so we sat and watched the beautiful views of St Thomas as we sailed away.

Once we were underway, it was clear that we were sailing a lot faster than we had been for the rest of the cruise as the vibrations at the back of the ship were very noticeable. We had one full day at sea to get to Castaway Cay whereas we’d had two sea days at the beginning of the cruise to cover nearly the same distance.

As we were getting ready for dinner that evening, we opened one of the bottles of the Rosa Regale sparkling wine that we had brought onboard with us. Sitting on the verandah with a view of the ocean and a beautiful glass of one of your favourite drinks is a perfect way to spend a few hours on a cruise!

The characters on this night were meeting in their birthday party costumes that they had been wearing during the deck party and it was the busiest night of the cruise for character meets as everyone wanted to get their photos with them. Minnie was out in the lobby atrium at 8:00pm and we waited about fifteen minutes to meet her.

Once we had met Minnie, we walked straight into Royal Court where our dinner was that evening. To start, I ordered the Breaded Eggplant which is one of my favourite appetisers onboard and to make up for not having a main course the night before, I ordered a double portion of the Oven-Baked Lobster Tails.

Despite how busy it had been before dinner to meet any characters, after dinner the lobby atrium was empty. Mickey was out on the Deck 4 balcony at 9:30pm and there was hardly anyone waiting in line to meet him!

There was also a short line to meet Goofy in front of the staircase at 9:45pm which was one of my favourite character meets of the entire cruise. It really was a great time of night to be in the lobby atrium as it was not busy and characters kept appearing everywhere you looked – even Captain Hook was waving and posing for photos for us on Deck 5 when we were standing all the way down on Deck 3.

After collecting the Personal Navigator for the next day from Guest Services, we made our way back to our stateroom to find the “Welcome to Port Canaveral” letter waiting on the bed which came as a shock as we still had another two days of our cruise to go. We originally had been planning to ride the Aquaduck on this night but instead we decided to get a cup of tea and organise and sort everything out in our stateroom so we could fully enjoy those last two days of the cruise without having to worry about packing everything up on the last day.

It was now even more noticeable how bad the vibration was at the aft of the Disney Fantasy – even objects in our stateroom were shaking from side to side but then, when I got into bed, I could also feel my head being shaken about. Thankfully as I was so tired, it took me no time at all to fall asleep and I hoped that I would get a good night’s sleep and feel okay in the morning.

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