or those of us helping to christen the Disney Fantasy, the fourth ship in the Disney Cruise Line
fleet, in New York City on the evening of March 1, it was one treat after another. Details of the event were kept hush-hush, so the audience burst into surprised applause when Neil Patrick Harris took to the stage of the Fan- tasy’s 1,340-seat Walt Disney Theatre to emcee the opening show, which included short musical acts from such Disney classics as “Aladdin” — as well as an original stand-up routine by comedy great Jerry Seinfeld. Next, the
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crowd gathered in the ship’s luxuri- ous Art Nouveau Atrium Lobby as Mariah Carey took center stage on the grand staircase. We got ready to clink our champagne glasses while we did some fellow-celebrant celebrity spot- ting. Carey’s husband, Nick Cannon, appeared on a giant screen to officially do the honors — cracking the tradi- tional champagne bottle against the 130,000-ton ship’s hull. Inside, a six- foot-tall champagne bottle erupted to shower us in confetti and streamers. We headed off for a delightful din- ner in the Animator’s Palate, one of the
ship’s six dining venues. I was glad to be wearing flats as we embarked on a tour of this floating city — with 14 towering decks and 1,250 staterooms, the Fantasy can accommodate 4,000 passengers in addition to its 1,450-plus cast and crew members. The Fantasy offers many of the
elements already found on sister ship Disney Dream, including the AquaDuck watercoaster, virtual portholes in inside cabins, 3-D movies, interactive art, and numerous venues for kids and teens. But this majestic ship’s design also takes meeting and incentive groups into account. The adult-only entertainment district Europa includes nightclubs and lounges with Italian, French, Irish, and British themes, and the top-deck Satellite Sun Deck is also adult-only. Both the Walt Disney Theatre and the