Ian
03-02-2012, 11:55 AM
Hi guys,
I was fortunate enough, through my wife, to be invited to attend the christening ceremony of the Disney Fantasy last up in Manhattan last night.
Thought I'd share a bit of how the evening went with everyone and give a few thoughts on the ship herself.
We arrived at Pier 88 around 6:15 and got checked in pretty quickly. They clearly were focused on security, because we had to show our invitations, present identification, go through metal detectors, and the whole works.
We checked our coats and then boarded the ship. The atrium area of the Fantasy is just as impressive (and frankly exactly the same) as the atrium of the Dream. When Disney says that the Dream and the Fantasy are sister ships they must mean twin sisters, because they look exactly the same. It was actually flashback-city for me ... I felt like I was back on the preview cruise!
It was obvious right out of the gate that this was a gala affair. There were tons of media walking around, lots of camera crews, and in general there was a serious buzz in the air. We hung out in the atrium, browed the ship a bit, sipped on some champagne, and in short order were directed into the Walt Disney Theater for "the show."
I assumed they were just going to either give a little welcome speech to everyone, thank us for coming, and maybe preview the show(s) that would be run on the ship. I remarked to my wife, "Gee, I wonder if Bob Iger is here." We were among the first into the theater, so we just kinda wandered down to the front and actually ended up in the second row, dead center. I thought they might have that area roped off for VIPs, but nope ... we just grabbed seats no problem.
So the show starts, they show this cute little film talking about the long history of Disney and New York and then the curtain opens and out walks Neil Patrick Harris, who was the host for the evening. DW and I were duly impressed ... I never even considered the fact that there might be celebs in attendance. NPH proceeded to do this hilarious musical number set to the tune of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious that kinda poked fun at Disney and the whole evening (but in a humorous way).
I was impressed ... NPH is actually really talented song and dance guy. He was hysterical, too. So his number segued into the first preview of one of the ship shows, which was based on Aladdin (hold the comments, Mel!). It was cute, but I found the genie costumes a bit creepy. Very well produced, though, as I expected based on the shows on the Dream.
So then NPH comes back out on stage and introduces "Mr. New York Himself" and I'm thinking, "Huh ... wonder who this is?"
Turns out it was Jerry Seinfeld!! I am a huge Senfeld fan ... HUGE! So I was freaking out a bit. He did like about a 15 minute stand-up routine that was just a riot. At one point I turned to DW and was like, "Man ... I'm glad we got these seats!" because we were like no more than 6 feet from him during the show. Very cool!
So the show wrapped up with two more previews of the other two stage shows on the Fantasy (one based on Princess and the Frog and one called Believe that is a new production). Both looked really great and were totally up to Disney standards. They also had Heather Headley perform a medley of songs from Disney films (You'll Be In My Heart from Tarzan, Can You Feel the Love Tonight from Lion King, and a song I didn't recognize). I didn't really know who she was, but apparently she's a big Broadway star who was in Aida and Lion King. Great voice!
After she wrapped up, NPH walked the crowd and called out some other celebs in attendance ... I didn't know a lot of them, but Mayor Bloomberg was in the crowd, Ty Pennington, and yes Bob Iger. I learned later that some of the others were
Tim Gunn (from Project Runway) and Alan Cumming (who I think is an actor). I also saw Nancy Grace.
So once the show ended we all adjourned into the ship atrium for the christening itself. Iger and Tom Staggs (Chairman, Disney Parks & Resorts) gave a speech and introduced the ship's crew and then the ship's Fairy Godmother Mariah Carey came down and presided over the ceremony. There were tons of characters out and lots of confetti and all kinds of hoopla ... it was really a fun thing to witness.
We then got dinner in one of the dining rooms (Royal Court). It was really good! Appetizer of salmon/tuna tartare, filet, and a great dessert sampler. The food was incredibly good, as it was on the Dream.
Overall, I have to say the event was just amazing. Disney did a first class job producing everything and this ship is absolutely as gorgeous as the Dream is. I'm sure everyone who cruises on her is going to have a great time and truly enjoy themselves.
Thanks for the invite, Disney!! :mickey:
I was fortunate enough, through my wife, to be invited to attend the christening ceremony of the Disney Fantasy last up in Manhattan last night.
Thought I'd share a bit of how the evening went with everyone and give a few thoughts on the ship herself.
We arrived at Pier 88 around 6:15 and got checked in pretty quickly. They clearly were focused on security, because we had to show our invitations, present identification, go through metal detectors, and the whole works.
We checked our coats and then boarded the ship. The atrium area of the Fantasy is just as impressive (and frankly exactly the same) as the atrium of the Dream. When Disney says that the Dream and the Fantasy are sister ships they must mean twin sisters, because they look exactly the same. It was actually flashback-city for me ... I felt like I was back on the preview cruise!
It was obvious right out of the gate that this was a gala affair. There were tons of media walking around, lots of camera crews, and in general there was a serious buzz in the air. We hung out in the atrium, browed the ship a bit, sipped on some champagne, and in short order were directed into the Walt Disney Theater for "the show."
I assumed they were just going to either give a little welcome speech to everyone, thank us for coming, and maybe preview the show(s) that would be run on the ship. I remarked to my wife, "Gee, I wonder if Bob Iger is here." We were among the first into the theater, so we just kinda wandered down to the front and actually ended up in the second row, dead center. I thought they might have that area roped off for VIPs, but nope ... we just grabbed seats no problem.
So the show starts, they show this cute little film talking about the long history of Disney and New York and then the curtain opens and out walks Neil Patrick Harris, who was the host for the evening. DW and I were duly impressed ... I never even considered the fact that there might be celebs in attendance. NPH proceeded to do this hilarious musical number set to the tune of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious that kinda poked fun at Disney and the whole evening (but in a humorous way).
I was impressed ... NPH is actually really talented song and dance guy. He was hysterical, too. So his number segued into the first preview of one of the ship shows, which was based on Aladdin (hold the comments, Mel!). It was cute, but I found the genie costumes a bit creepy. Very well produced, though, as I expected based on the shows on the Dream.
So then NPH comes back out on stage and introduces "Mr. New York Himself" and I'm thinking, "Huh ... wonder who this is?"
Turns out it was Jerry Seinfeld!! I am a huge Senfeld fan ... HUGE! So I was freaking out a bit. He did like about a 15 minute stand-up routine that was just a riot. At one point I turned to DW and was like, "Man ... I'm glad we got these seats!" because we were like no more than 6 feet from him during the show. Very cool!
So the show wrapped up with two more previews of the other two stage shows on the Fantasy (one based on Princess and the Frog and one called Believe that is a new production). Both looked really great and were totally up to Disney standards. They also had Heather Headley perform a medley of songs from Disney films (You'll Be In My Heart from Tarzan, Can You Feel the Love Tonight from Lion King, and a song I didn't recognize). I didn't really know who she was, but apparently she's a big Broadway star who was in Aida and Lion King. Great voice!
After she wrapped up, NPH walked the crowd and called out some other celebs in attendance ... I didn't know a lot of them, but Mayor Bloomberg was in the crowd, Ty Pennington, and yes Bob Iger. I learned later that some of the others were
Tim Gunn (from Project Runway) and Alan Cumming (who I think is an actor). I also saw Nancy Grace.
So once the show ended we all adjourned into the ship atrium for the christening itself. Iger and Tom Staggs (Chairman, Disney Parks & Resorts) gave a speech and introduced the ship's crew and then the ship's Fairy Godmother Mariah Carey came down and presided over the ceremony. There were tons of characters out and lots of confetti and all kinds of hoopla ... it was really a fun thing to witness.
We then got dinner in one of the dining rooms (Royal Court). It was really good! Appetizer of salmon/tuna tartare, filet, and a great dessert sampler. The food was incredibly good, as it was on the Dream.
Overall, I have to say the event was just amazing. Disney did a first class job producing everything and this ship is absolutely as gorgeous as the Dream is. I'm sure everyone who cruises on her is going to have a great time and truly enjoy themselves.
Thanks for the invite, Disney!! :mickey: