With it's maiden voyage a week later, we were among the first passengers aboard the Disney Fantasy for this press event, and we tried to break it in as much as we could. Here is a list of our ten favorite experiences while on this three-night cruise.

An Art Director's Dream

As an art director, I was immediately in awe of the detail, design and thought put into every inch of this ship. It was truly amazing how NOTHING was stock. Light fixtures, carpeting, color schemes, wall textures,... completely custom form stern to bow.

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Cabanas – A horse trough with class

Yeah it's a buffet, but its the nicest one I've feasted at on a cruise ship. It was not open during dinner hours on this particular cruise, but their morning and afternoon displays were spot-on. From fresh donuts to eggs benedict for breakfast and crablegs to cured meats and cheeses for lunch, dinners became quite a struggle as the week progressed.

Muppet Show Mystery – Finally, a good use for "QR codes"

The girls had a blast with this interactive, ship-wide scavenger hunt. There are, I think, four different scenarios of which they did two. I wish I had a pedometer with me. We definitely burned some calories.

Pirate Party 

The second night of the cruise, the pool was covered and transformed into a giant stage and dance floor. Jack Sparrow made his cameo as the "pirate" cast performed on deck. About 20 minutes into it, the fireworks began. Projectile dynamite on top of a giant deisel tank? Who am I to judge? After the explosive finale, the music started blaring and we all danced until the wee hours of the morning. Well, about 10 minutes. Madden couldn't hang.

Pelican Plunge

The only stop the ship made was to Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. There's nothing bahamian about it and everything Disney about it. I'm not a big fan. But they now have the Pelican Plunge, a sweet waterslide floating 50 feet off shore... I'm still waiting for space mountain. 

Men's Locker Room

What? that's not creepy. The showers in the cabins are too small. The ones in the spa area are at least 4 times their size and full of aromotherapy. Add a 20-minute steam prior and I'm as good as new. Besides, the spa's too expensive. Don't judge me.

Eye Scream – Sugar and fat deliciousness whenever you want it

You can't just not eat an ice cream cone every time you walk by. That would be rude.

The Europa District – No kids allowed

Europa is the adult nightlife area on the ship and its awesome. It's made up of five bars offering up their own themes and signature drinks. We started off at The Tube, the Fantasy's night club designed after the Original London underground... and that's pretty much where we parked for the night. There's also a martini bar, an Irish pub and a champagne lounge. Maybe next time.

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Animator's Palate – Dinner "Theater"

One of three main restaraunts, the Animator's Palate features a crazy-unique dinner experience. Prior to dinner all patrons were given a "placemat" to draw a character of our own choosing. During dessert, the following was shown on about 50 screens throughout the restaurant:

The Aquaduck – The first water coaster at sea

It turns out, Disney Cruise Line doesn't allow recording devices on this ride. Don't tell anyone.

Unfortunately it was only a three-night cruise. The Fantasy was built to entertain for it's seven-night itineraries it will be sailing, and it feels like we didn't even scratch the surface. But, with as much as they have to offer, I'm not sure seven nights would be long enough either.

Since I've been pretty obnoxious about promoting Ron Paul for President, I thought I should explain why. So, here are 10 reasons why I'll be pulling the "Ron Paul" lever tomorrow in the South Carolina Primary. (video at the end)

Constitution

He's the only candidate that truly grasps the intention of the U.S. Constitution – limited federal power. There's a reason this document is sometmes vague and tends to not address a lot of issues. The individual states are grown up enough to make their own decisions.

Economics

He's the only candidate that truly understands the definition of "broke". Our economic problems are based in only one problem. We spend WAY too much, and nothing can fix that until we stop.

Free Market

He's the only candidate that truly believes in a free market. Just look at voting records. As long as there are bale-outs of any kind we only have different levels of a socialistic free market, and it won't survive. It just gets to expensive to keep alive. No system has ever failed because of too much freedom, only too much government.

Consistency 

He's the only candidate that is saying the same thing today as he did yesterday, and before that, and before that,... I guess when your message is simple and based on the Constitution, its hard for your postition to change.

Israel

He's the only candidate that is truly pro-Israel. You can't be any more pro-Israel than to believe that they don't need us to defend them, that hey are fine without us. Plus, how can financially supporting Israel's enemies be anything less than anti-Isreal? I also have a fear that the other candidates have schatological reasons for "supporting" Isreal based on bad interpretation of the Bible and of "Israel's" role at the "end of the world", and frankly, that scares me.

Compromise

Knowing full well how things in Washington work, I fully understand that no President will get everything he/she wants. But, if Ron Paul had to compromise, he would be further away from the status quo than from where the other candidates would even start.

Rick Santorum

In short, when I listen to his rhetoric about the federal role in defining marriage, along side of his wanting to put back in place "Don't ask don't tell", I can come to no other conclusion than his "pro-family" stance stems from "anti-homosexual" beliefs. No thanks. 

Newt Gingrich

I would personally give just about anything to see Gingrich and Obama in a Lincoln/Douglas style debate. I would almost even feel sorry for the current President if it were to happen. But, Newt lost me with his absolute hatred and disregard for his fellow Republican, Ron Paul, while moaning about how unfair Romney's attacks against him were. Man up Newt. The democrats are your enemy and they would destroy you. (But kudos ripping apart John King last night. That was good TV)

Mitt Romeny

Flip-flopping? Romneycare? Unable to answer "yes" or "no" about tax returns? Take your pick.

vs. Obama

Ron Paul is the only candidate that has a clear distinction from President Obama at all levels. Romney has healthcare similariies. Gingrich has imigration similarities. Santorum has right-to-work similarities. And before you say Paul has anti-war similarities, don't forget, Obama has only continued Bush's foreign policy and actually expanded it in Afghanastan and created his own in Libya.

It just seems like a no-brainer to me. I want something different in Washington, and that's why Ron Paul will be getting my vote tomorrow.

There has recently been an onslaught of advertising in the cruise line industry. Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Carnival all had new campaigns hit the airways and internet in 2011. And all, once again, missed a great opportunity — NOT TO.

First a critique:

Norwegian Cruise Lines was first to strike with their "Cruise like a Norwegian" campaign. 

My first reaction was that this was a great spot showcasing that cruising is not about the cruise but about the escape from reality. Then after seeing it few times it just became commercial with an annoying jingle. Then, I thought of my own scenarios they missed: SPEND, like a drunken sailor. DRINK, like a fish. BURN, like a lobster, etc. Ultimately, it didn't sell me on the cruise line. But it did sell me on flying to one of these great locations and staying for a while.

Royal Caribbean International then, I assume reactionary, launched their new campaign, "The Sea is calling."

I immediately thought, "Hey George, the ocean called. They're running out of shrimp." from Seinfeld. My second thought was, "Wow! How many millions did JWT get for this travesty?"

Finally, Carnival Cruise Lines evolved their ongoing efforts by trying to help you forget last year's vacation. 

These got my attention. Juxtaposing a care-free vacation to one relying on self-guided direction definitely highlights one of the key benefits of taking a cruise.

But will it make me book? Probably not. So, I argue to stop advertising,... sort of. There are two things that sell a cruise: Price and word of mouth.

Last year we were victims of price, as NCL sent me a "Book now and your kids cruise free!!" eblast. SOLD, and in November we took our first NCL cruise. This is where advertising makes the most sense. Retargeting suckers like me with great deals does and always will work. Keep it up. 

Where they are missing the boat (sorry) is by word-of-mouth in social media.

Take Carnival for example. 24 ships, averaging 2,000 passengers each. That's 48,000 potential ambassadors every single week with Facebook accounts. With an average of 130 friends, 6.2 million impressions of something "Carnival" could be on Facebook each and every week, and without ANY media cost. Add Twitter, Foursquare and Flickr to the mix and the number of impressions only grows.

I was told on several occasions from my friends about how obnoxious I was, updating about our arrival in Grand Cayman, or checking in to the Overlook Cafe, our posting a photo of the 2 lobster tails on my plate. Basically, I was having a blast and they were stuck at work. This made me realize that I did more advertising for NCL to my friends than the Martin Agency ever could, and without them even giving me a dime.

Here's the current problem. Internet access on ships is horrible and expensive for the passengers. I think it's because cruise lines don't really think its of great benefit to them and far too expensive to make right. As a result, very little "updating" is made. I agree with half of that. It would be VERY expensive to up-fit the ships to have a solid broadband connection for 2,000 passengers, but the benefit would be huge.

The first cruise line that pulls its cash away from Madison Avenue, pours it into onboard FREE broadband and highly promotes the open use of social media while onboard will revolutionize marketing in this industry. Not only that, but they would revolutionize the guest experience while onboard.

Foursquare mayorships receiving free drinks? Weekly photo contests all over Facebook. Twitvids of passengers sipping on bloody marys for breakfast? Free advertising 24/7, 365 days a year. Always changing and capturing every aspect of every cruise.

That's how to market a cruise.

I drove past this house with a sign out front sharing a seemingly sincere cry for help. It's not a very inviting home. And the dogs barking in the backyard and the rebel flags hanging up don't help. I immediately tried to justify why they didn't deserve my help, but that effort failed. I shared this photo on Twitter and Facebook with a brief message in hopes that some locals would see and help out. 

I immediately received a comment on Facebook from a "friend" in Ohio. It essentially said that (referring to the rebel flags) its nice that these people first discriminate against others before asking for help, and in a rather mean way. So, I deleted the post and unfriended him (I never said I was a good Christian).

But it made me think, we as Christians discriminate before we give. Sure, we'll help out at the soup kitchen, but then we'll turn our noses up at "bums" at the gas station. Or we'll completely avoid the "drunks" begging for coin Uptown. They're just scamming us anyway, right? How do we know. Do we even ask?

I'm calling out all Christians. Jesus NEVER put a condition on who we should help. He just simply commanded us to do so. To steal a line from our Pastor this morning, "we would have a better relationship with Jesus if we would just get out of His way and stop trying to be Him." And that's what we do when we determine who deserves our good deeds.

For the sake of argument Iet's follow the rebel flag stereotype and assume this house is inhabited by racists. There's nothing we can do to change that, nor is it our job to. It's not even our job to help them because they are in need. It is our job to help them, in their need, so that we may reflect the light of Jesus, so they may know His love, and maybe eventually have a change of heart. How will that happen if we simply stay away and say "they probably deserve where they are because of who they are"?

As a Christian, are you buying my argument? If so, let me complicate things. Since I started writing this post, a couple of friends/followers brought to my a attention that the house is occupied by a registered child sex offender. That immediately pissed me off and I wanted to delete all my updates about it. But, should that matter? Why? Wouldn't that fly in the face of my argument? I have to be consistent and say it would. 

I fear the day that I would have to flat out beg for something as basic as food and have to rely on whether or not someone thinks I deserve it. 

Day 6 was relaxing. Coming off three straight days at three different ports it was nice to not have an empty schedule. We started the day off with room service. Breakfast in bed. Its free but the menu is limited and I ended up going topside (I guess hadn't eaten enough for the week). The only thing on the agenda today was the pool... and a bloody mary.

So, we lubed ourselves up and hit the pool. Since it was a day at sea, the deck area filled up rather quickly, and as is on every cruise, the people watching was phenomonal.... and so was the bloody mary.

The girls had a nice treat. The winds were stronger and the water was choppy, so the pool was transformed into a virtual wave-pool. It looked pretty dangerous, so as would any good father do, I ran to the room to get the video camera. They were able to enjoy the thrill for a while before the crew closed it off. I guess head trauma may have been a bad thing afterall. 

TItanium was the name of the band that performed poolside everyday, and they were awesome. Probably the best I've seen on a ship. They were from Jamaica and cranked out the reggae. They had Kristy at "...no woman no cry..." 

For dinner the girls killed the buffet, and after taking them to the Kids Korner, we headed up to see our friend, Bong, again, at Las Ramblas Tapas Bar and Restaurant. It was karaoke night and there were some bad singers onboard. Just the way it should be.

Later, the show in the Starlight was a tribute to rock and roll music called We Will Rock You. Again, nothing too crazy, but excellent performances from the cast. Bet you can't guess what number they opened and closed with?

Ending the day was the White Hot Party at Dazzles. Lights, ice sculptures and sheets were the decor. Everyone donned on there white shirts, skirts, hats, bedsheets, you name it, and hit the dance floor. It was a little reminiscent of the toga party in Animal House. Still not sure I get it, but who cares? Good times.

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Tomorrow, our last full day and Great Sirrup Cay.

This day almost didn't happen. At about 3pm on the day of embarkation, it dawned on me that we never booked an excursion for Jamaica. We had researched and decided on what to do, we just never pulled the trigger. So, I got online (on my phone while we were still in port and not of "cellular at sea"—that would have been costly), got the number for and called Traverse Jamaica Tours, and booked our river-tubing excursion. It was a close call but ended up being the best day of the week.

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We didn't arrive in George Town, Grand Cayman until 12:00pm, so we had time to enjoy the morning and not rush to get off the ship. We had a light breakfast and then a quick lunch before debarkation, and another discovery—There was more to the buffet.

The Brazillian Steakhouse, Moderno Churrascaria is an extension of the Garden Café buffet prior to 5:30. Adding bagels, breakfast pizzas and granola-type breakfasts in the morning and do-it-yourself sandwiches and pizza at lunch, I just found the sweetspot of the buffet. And it didn't appear that many others had. One catch. It's next to the pool, but no swimwear allowed.

No dock in George Town, so we took a 15-minute tender to the pier. There we hopped a cab to Boatswain's Beach and the Cayman Turtle Farm. The cab was $8 each, we talked her down to $6 each. She also gave us a great tip. Use public transportation (a large gray van). It's only $2.50 each to anywhere on the island, which we did on the way back.

Boatswain Beach was a hit (no beach there–interesting). We spent half our time at the sea turtle touch tanks. Multiple tanks with varying sizes of turtles completely open for us to pet, touch and hold for a quick photo. And if that doesn't get you close enough to them, there's a small pool you can actually get in with them. The turtles didn't seem to thrilled about the idea though.

Next we headed to Predator's Reef, an open-air, natural tank housing nurse sharks, brown sharks and eels. They have a couple of feeding times to enjoy, but we arrived too late to witness that frenzy.

Next stop, the aviary to feed the birds. It wasn't an overly abundant aviary, but the few they had were beautiful and quite friendly. They knew where the food came from for sure. It was a little intimidating to feed the Ibis. Their beaks looked like they should be registered as lethal weapons.

There are also a couple of swimming lagoons as well as an area to snorkel against the viewing glass of the predator's tank, but they close up shop pretty early there and we didn't arrive until about 2:00 pm. 

Directly across the street from Boatswain's Beach is Grand Cayman's Dolphin Discovery. Their exhibit is free, and unlike Cozumel's, we were able to get pretty close the the "experience" without purchasing a ticket. That was a nice bonus.

Earlier in the year I was searching for a place to eat while here. Everyone mentioned a place called the Cranked Conch. Guess what was a block away? it wasn't open until dinner, but Macabuca, its seaside bar and grill was. Calamari, conch fritters and White Tip draught it was for the next hour or so.

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On day 3 we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico. During our cruise last year, Cozumel was the only port that we booked a tour through the ship. Never again. It was the worst excursion immaginable and we vowed to only book tours on our own from that day forward.

This year, we decided to take a cab to Chankanaab Park to bask on the beach and do some snorkeling. Great choice. The cab ride was $10, park entry was $21 each and the snorkeling gear was only $10, not the $15 advertised online. The snorkeling was great. We were out for an hour and a half. Fish were everywhere. They must feed them to keep them friendly. That would also explain me getting bit by one of the little buggers. No blood, but I about soiled myself.

After hanging out on the beach and swinging in the hammocks, we had some lunch at one of the two "restaurants". I'm a sucker for simple homemade salsa and quacamole, and it hit the spot.

After lunch we wandered around. There's a small lagoon, a nature trail and Mayan ruins replicas at the back of the property. Towards the front is a sea lion exhibit, free with admission, that holds shows every couple of hours. You can pay $15 to have a photo taken with the sea lions (or just bring a zoom lens... insert random whistling here). The Dophin Discovery is also on the property, but don't plan on getting anywhere near it without the additional purchase. If you do purchase a dolphin experience, park admission is freem. So, its not as pricey as it seems.

After a cab ride back to the port we attemped to do some quick shopping at the local market. We were hounded. I guess we just had that gringo look about us. The girls got trapped by a woman selling personalized bracelets. They really wanted one, but with the names Peyton and Madden, an inventory search was not successful. The woman's brother, Giovanni, made them custom bracelets on the spot. Possibly the best $5 we spent that week.

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Back onboard, we took it easy for dinner. At Champs Bar after 5:30 pm you simple bar food is abailable off of a menu (no additional charge). So, we hung out at under the tent at the Great Overlook Café, ate some wings and enjoyed a nice sunset. There are worse ways to spend and evening.

The entertainemt that night was Nadeen, the Queen of Hypnosis. And just as I hoped, my wife volunteered. My kids laughed their heads off as Nadeen "hypnotised" passengers and had them under her "power of suggestion". All, except for Kristy. She laid there like a stump. She later said, "I didn't know what to do. I thought I might go under, but couldn't." the crowd seemed to love it. I was kind of annoyed when she talked about her seminar the next day, where she, no doubt, sold videos and books. Oh well, it was free. 

Back to the cabin. The family to bed, and me, you guessed it, back to the craps table. I witnessed a guy drop two grand in 15 minutes. I think he was more clueless than me. and obviously more loaded.

Tomorrow, The Caymans.

Day two was our first "day at sea" of the week, and with the kids that meant only one thing, our first "day at the pool." On deck 11 the Sun has two pools, one for everyone and one for adults, divided by a small, covered area housing four hottubs. I think the girls spent more time hopping around in them than in the pool. There's s also a toddler pool port side aft, but don't blink, you'll miss it.

Lunch was, again, in the Garden Café with the rest of the cattle. After pounding the breakfast buffet earlier, I'm not even sure if I partook. It was your typical cruise fare, and we were holding out for an evening at Las Ramblas Tapas Bar and Restaurant.

After spending all morning and early afternoon at the pool, the girls decided to give the Kids Corner a try. We didn't hold our breath. We've been fortunate enough to have taken them on two cruises prior, both of them Disney cruises. Success. They wanted to stay. They even went back several times throughout the week, made some new friends and really enjoyed themselves. But no, it isn't Disney, nor is it fair to compare it to Disney (price a Disney cruise and you'll see why.)

Splitting up for dinner, we ordered a pizza ($5 charge) and had it delivered to the room for the girls, took them back to the Kids Corner and headed up to Las Ramblas. It's a nice tapas bar on Deck 12 and had typical lounge singer for entertainment. The portions were microscopic but delicious and Bong, (as in bing-bong or beer bong as he described himself) our bartender kept shoving plates in front of us. Cheeses, olives and Tex-Mex appetizers filled us up pretty quick. Bong also kept us entertained with some magic. I still can't figure out one of his tricks and he showed us how it was done... or did he. Definitely pay him a visit. It's a great place to chill.

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Showtime. We retrieved the girls and headed to the Stardust Lounge. The show for the evening was called Encore. Not impressed with the "Welcome" show the first night, I thought this would be the only show we would be seeing. First in line, we scored front row seats. The show wasn't deep, just a montage of songs from a variety of musicals, but I was surprised. The cast was excellent, and, what I concluded by the end of the week, were the best singers I've heard on a cruise. Kudos guys.

Back to the casino and the Craps (still to learn, not play), then off to bed. Cozumel was in the morning and I had to redeem myself from last year's fiasco. The Carnival Dream took us there in 2010 and we experienced THE ABSOLUTE WORST excursion we've ever had. The Fury Snorkel and Beach Party Combo, booked through ship. Avoid it like the plague. I wrote about it here last year if you're interested in reading it.