Oct 9-12, 2008...3 Day "Wonder"ous Spin!

[bzzelady]

Hello fellow DIS cruisers and welcome to the 3 Day "Wonder"ous Spin thread! I didn't see a thread for this cruise so I decided to start one and see if anyone else out there is like me...brave enough to chance hurricane season or simply just looking forward to getting away from it all for a quick weekend jaunt. Hey...if the winds are fierce and the seas are choppy, the captain will just take us somewhere else, right???

Cast of characters from Bzzelady's household:

Bzzelady (addicted to Mickey and all things Disney)
Bzzelady's DH (loves firefighting, Penn State football, his Mustang, and listens to a wide variety of music)
Bzzelady's DD9 (current interests this week include Littlest Pet Shop, horses, all other kinds of animals, and being a beach bum)

So...is anyone else going along on this adventure? Feel free to join in and get the chatter rolling!

[LilLisaLou]

Howdy! We just booked yesterday :) It's our very first cruise EVER.

It's going to be an generational girls trip. We're leaving the guys back at WDW.

Going will be:
Me --> Disney lover and teacher
My mom --> Disney "liker" as opposed to lover and also a teacher, who has issues with claustrophobia
DD-10 --> Disney lover and it's going to be a surprise for her.

DH and I aren't sure when or how we are going to tell her. Her birthday is in February so we're thinking then or we are also thinking of just not telling her until we get to WDW. Any ideas?

I'm so excited!

[Vickibean]

Me too! Me too! (If my TA would ever call me back to get it booked :rolleyes2 )

It is Myself (Disney Freak), DH (not so much, but loves cruises), 12-year-old stepdaughter (my partner in crime), and DS (3 at the time).

We're going to do the land/sea. It's our 5th cruise, 2nd on the Wonder and all were during hurricane season without much more than a little scare.

[LilLisaLou]

Yea :)

We're doing our own brand of land/sea. We're arriving at WDW on 10/5, leaving our menfolk there to enjoy Food & Wine while we go on the cruise, and then after the cruise, my parents are leaving and it will just be my family until the 17th.

There's just so much to learn about the whole cruise experience. I was reading on the boards about door decorating and that sounds like so much fun.

[bzzelady]

Hi LisaLou and VickiBean! Glad to see others are starting to join the thread and the cruise. Right now it looks like our family is going to arrive at WDW on October 4th and depart right after the cruise for home.
This is the second cruise for myself and DD...it will be DH's first. Booked a GTY Cat 9 while onboard last July and just waiting to see what we end up with. I wasn't originally certain if I was going to move the date but my hsuband is in school and this cruise just happens to fall within his fall break!

Only 284 days until we cruise :)

[Vickibean]

Howdy! We just booked yesterday :) It's our very first cruise EVER.

It's going to be an generational girls trip. We're leaving the guys back at WDW.

Going will be:
Me --> Disney lover and teacher
My mom --> Disney "liker" as opposed to lover and also a teacher, who has issues with claustrophobia
DD-10 --> Disney lover and it's going to be a surprise for her.

DH and I aren't sure when or how we are going to tell her. Her birthday is in February so we're thinking then or we are also thinking of just not telling her until we get to WDW. Any ideas?

I'm so excited!

I would let her know in advance. The planning is half the fun. My stepdaughter was 11 on our last cruise and she had a great time picking clothes for each night and checking out the daily schedules on-line. I have tried surprise trips twice and it just wasn't the same. The surprise never went off as planned, either. Once the kids were too tired at the airport to really care where we were going, and once the teacher spoiled it 3 days before the trip.

I'm one step closer to an actual booking. I went with Sam's Club today, and am waiting for a call back confirming everything.

Ooooooh! I forgot about all the goodies at the parks this time of year. F&W & MNSSHP.:yay:

[LilLisaLou]

I would let her know in advance. The planning is half the fun.

Okay, so now we think we're going to let her know in February on her birthday and give her a Limited Too gift card so she can pick out a special outfit for the dress up night :boat: and the Passporter's Cruise guide so she can get into it. :sail:

Hope you don't mind me asking, but did you do any excursions? Have any personal recommendations?

What about the kids' club, I think it's called something like the Navigator's Club, do kids want to go in it or is someplace that kids go because they need a babysitter? We watched the podcast from DCL and saw them doing baking and science activities but I didn't know if that's something that's such a super fun activity that I should make sure that my daughter was signed up for it or whether it was more, Mommy is going to the spa so here's the fun place you get to hang out for a while in while I have my adult fun.

[bzzelady]

The kids club is called the Oceaneer's Club and I had difficulty getting my daughter out of there on several occasions last cruise. There are all kinds of different things to do geared to all age groups but there is not really any set schedule of the times that the kids need to be there-it is come and go as the kids and their parents please. The kids don't seem to feel "dropped off"...it's rather the opposite-the parents feel slightly abandoned! I could not get my DD to come up on deck the last night for the Pirates in the Carribean party because they were having soap derby races.

I wouldn't recommend the surprise thing, either. Planning is half the fun!

[Vickibean]

Hope you don't mind me asking, but did you do any excursions? Have any personal recommendations?



We did the Dolphin Swim in Nassau. She saved for half and I paid the rest.

Our last cruise was on Carnival. She didn't do a lot with the Kids Club. She made a friend in there the first day and they hung around a little. My son was 4 when we went on the Wonder in 2004 and we checked him in about twice a day for things he wanted to do. I think your daughter's experience will depend on how outgoing she is. If she makes friends easily, she will love Oceaneer's Club, but if she's shy, plan on her hanging around with you.

Oh, and we're officially booked. 4 nights at Poly, then 3 nights on Deck 6 with our own balcony.:banana:

[LilLisaLou]

Oh, and we're officially booked. 4 nights at Poly, then 3 nights on Deck 6 with our own balcony.:banana:

Woot! How exciting! :dance3:

[bzzelady]

I was monitoring the prices and they came down slightly-I advanced us from a Cat 9 GTY to 6134 on Deck 6 (a secret verandah room)!
Currently staying 5 days prior to the cruise at the Wilderness starting October 4th...thinking about changing that to Animal Kingdom Lodge, depending on what the construction is like over there.

As I said...planning is half the fun!

The only excursion we have done in Nassau is taking a carriage tour around the old town and shopping-we are thinking about taking the cruise tour of the harbor this trip and having a low-key day. I don't think DD knows that you can swim with the dolphins and I think I will keep that secret from her for just a bit longer :)
I do plan to get some type of pampering in the spa while there princess:

[love2driveinct]

We just booked a few days ago, 2 adjoining cat 8's on deck 7. Here's our cast of characters:

Me -- my third cruise, not a huge Disney fan but coming around ;)
DH -- his second cruise & like me, willing to do Disney for the kids
DD10 -- big fan of DC shows, LPS, horses, being active, Webkinz
DS7 -- happy-go-lucky, loves cars, trains, legos, Cars movie, Webkinz
DD3 -- my little fiery redhead who loves whatever big bro & sis are into
Mom -- coming along for the ride after joining us at WDW to help out

We are also doing WDW first, arriving on the 4th & staying at SoG. Looks like we're all thinking the same way -- wear ourselves out at the parks, then use the cruise for a little R&R.

The past couple of weeks I have been glued to the laptop, my family probably thinks I'm nuts. Especially the kids, since although I'm not trying to be overly secretive, I do minimize screens when I see them coming. We are waiting to tell them about the trip for a little while -- probably in a couple of months. Soon they will be asking about our summer vacation plans and when I tell them we don't have any they'll be wondering why!

[bzzelady]

Welcome to the group :cheer2:

It sounds like you have your hands full! We look forward to meeting and chatting with you over the months until we all cruise!

[Vickibean]

Welcome!

Wish I was there right now. It's subzero here again.:eek:

I booked our airfare last weekend. We're leaving on Friday, the 3rd. I booked 2 nights at Caribbean Beach before we move to Poly on Sunday and start doing parks. We have a late flight out on Sunday the 12th, so we will use the last day of our hoppers after the cruise, since I hear they kick you off the ship really early. We got a rental car for the whole time, too.:woohoo:

[LilLisaLou]

Are you all doing fish extenders? I don't sew but I thought that I might be able to fashion one out of felt and my trusty glue gun!

[bzzelady]

I'm going to take the one that I made for last July's cruise..just need to change Nana's slot to DH's.

I think I will start looking around for little surprises to fill the extenders with. I have a few things stashed away but need to find some more loot!

[castleeto]

HI fellow cruisers!

We just booked last week and are SO excited!:banana:

Me:cheer2: - 27 (28 by trip time), Disney lover, esp Disneyland
DH:confused3 - 38, loves aviation and sailing, used to be quite the Disney cynic, but has warmed up over the years (having a daughter and moving to the OC helped ;) )
DDprincess: - 4, loves Disney, especially Mickey, Pirates and HSM.

This will be our FIRST Disney Cruise, and first cruise ever for dh and dd. (I went on a 2 day Carnival Cruise to Ensenada, Mexico for a Bachelorette party before dd was born, but I'm suspecting/hoping DCL will be a very different experience!) I'm having a ton of fun with familiarizing myself with this part of the message boards and figuring out what a Disney Cruise is all about. I LOVE planning Disney vacations, and am excited that there is so much to learn and plan! DD is THRILLED that we are going on the "Mickey Cruise Ship". She first saw an ad for DCL about 6 months ago, and has been begging her Dad to take her ever since! Luckily, he has a convention in Orlando 10/6-8, and invited us to tag along for a few days at the parks. Somehow, dd and I talked him into adding on a 3 day cruise, and all 3 of us are really looking forward to it. I love the idea that we can have a fun vacation with time as a family, but also time as a couple without having to feel guilty about leaving dd, because she'll be having tons of fun without us!

I recently met up with a bunch of other DISers for the Girls Only meet at Dland and had an amazing time. I would love to meet up with and get to know more DISers on this trip! I'm still trying to figure out the fish extender thing though... is that something I need to know?:scared:

[bzzelady]

Welcome Castleeto! Glad to have you sailing with us!

Most of us are arriving in Orlando early, enjoying a couple of days at WDW, and then going on the cruise.
Disney is great for cruising...this will be the 2nd cruise for DD and myself and my DH's 1st time ever on a boat. There is so much to do that you will never have a chance to get bored and the kids stay so entertained throughout the cruise. There is plenty of fun for the adults as well.

The fish extenders are a matter of preference-I take mine so that each person in the cabin has their own "mail slot." Let me explain...outside each cabin door there is a decorative fish that is used for mail delivery. Someone got the fantastic idea long ago to put a hanging organizer on this (similar to a closet shoe organizer) so that each person had their own personalized mail slot. I made mine out of fabric with iron on tape, decorations from the craft store (Mickey Mouse scrapbooking items), ribbon, and a wooden dowel rod to suspend the whole thing. The really organized cruise meet threads assign people to deliver "treats" daily to the little and big kids. Last time I took some small trinkets from the Oriental Trading catalog and went down the hall, putting surprises in fish extenders.

Only 144 days to go to October 9th :banana:

[Vickibean]

Well, I won't be joining all of you, after all. We have cancelled.:sad1:

Lots of factors came into play. DS will be 3, but potty training isn't happening:headache: Not even close. That would mean no big pools, just a mickey ear. He's really shy, too, and I don't think he would go to the Oceaneer's club. Air Tran cancelled the afternoon flight we were on. That means the only direct flight home is at 11:30, which is cutting it way too close. We could switch to Midwest, but it's going to cost big $$$$. And, with the cost of everything else these days, we're just going to cut it out and stay at Disney World the whole time.

I wish everyone a "wonder"-ful trip!!!!:grouphug:

[bzzelady]

Vickibean,

I'm sorry to hear that you have decided not to go :sad1:
However, I understand your concerns regarding the potty training/shyness and cutting it close with the return flight.
We will miss having you aboard but hope that you have a great time at WDW!

[slappy1974]

We are coming along. I convinced DW that it was a good idea since she has a conference on-board the ship, and it was cheaper to get a 7 day land & sea than booking separately.

We booked a while ago, but I just found this thread.

Our group is me, DW, DD - 3 1/2, and other DD 7 months.

Looking forward to meeting everyone.

[LilLisaLou]

We're just about a month out...

I'm going to start making door signs this weekend. I haven't made the fish extender yet but I did coerce a coworker into helping me when it's that time.

I'm slowly wading through all of the advice about what to bring since we've never been on a cruise before... oh, I can't wait!!!!

[kiddoc]

Hi all! We will be joining in on this cruise, also! This will be our first cruise ever, though we are veterans of WDW. The line-up for us is as follows: Me, DH, DD9, and DD6. We will also have some friends from home traveling with us who have DD10 and DS8. We can hardly wait! As I said above, I'm totally new to this whole DCL thing. Can anyone give me pointers on the fish extenders with, perhaps, links to pictures? Thanks and hope to meet some DISers on board!

[slappy1974]

Welcome kiddoc.
Has everyone received their cabin assignments yet?
We are in a GTY, and I thought they would be assigning
a cabin by now...:confused:

[LilLisaLou]

Welcome kiddoc.
Has everyone received their cabin assignments yet?
We are in a GTY, and I thought they would be assigning
a cabin by now...:confused:


What is a GTY? As far as cabin assignments, does that mean which room we are in? When I booked I was told what room I was in. As you can tell, this is my first cruise and I am SUCH a newbie!!

[LilLisaLou]

Bzzelady (addicted to Mickey and all things Disney)
Bzzelady's DH (loves firefighting, Penn State football, his Mustang, and listens to a wide variety of music)
Bzzelady's DD9 (current interests this week include Littlest Pet Shop, horses, all other kinds of animals, and being a beach bum)


lillisalou --> Disney lover and teacher
lillisalou's mom --> Disney "liker" as opposed to lover and also a teacher, who has issues with claustrophobia
DD-11 --> Disney lover, and American Girls, webkinz, and Mulan (she's hard of hearing, but with hearing aids does REALLY well)

Love2driveinct -- my third cruise, not a huge Disney fan but coming around
DH -- his second cruise & like me, willing to do Disney for the kids
DD10 -- big fan of DC shows, LPS, horses, being active, Webkinz
DS7 -- happy-go-lucky, loves cars, trains, legos, Cars movie, Webkinz
DD3 -- my little fiery redhead who loves whatever big bro & sis are into
Mom -- coming along for the ride after joining us at WDW to help out

castleeto - 27 (28 by trip time), Disney lover, esp Disneyland
DH - 38, loves aviation and sailing, used to be quite the Disney cynic, but has warmed up over the years (having a daughter and moving to the OC helped)
DD - 4, loves Disney, especially Mickey, Pirates and HSM.

Slappy1974
DW
DD - 3 ½
DD 7 months

Kiddoc
DH
DD9
DD6
Kiddoc’s friends
Kiddoc’s friends’ DD10
Kiddoc’s friends’ DS8


I've picked up a few little fish extender treats. :woohoo: Oh, I can't wait, I'm so excited!!!!! :woohoo:

[LilLisaLou]

We sure are a quiet group! Only 19 more days!!!!!

[love2driveinct]

I was thinking the same thing!

I guess we're all busy making preparations... newspaper, mail, kennel, packing, autograph matte/pens, lanyards... oh, and trying not to eat out or spend any $ on anything unnecessary, LOL. My kids are probably already tired of me saying "no, we're not getting Chinese food/buying that whatever/going out to dinner/etc, we're saving money for Disney"!

[love2driveinct]

We did!

Although we are still recovering from our whirlwind Disney trip (seriously, I feel like I have a newborn in the house -- I'm a total walking zombie, maybe I am getting too old for this, lol), we had an absolutely fantastic trip.

I was very happy with the weather, what did y'all think?

Castaway Cay was even more incredible than I imagined. Even my hard-to-impress DH was amazed at how smoothly and easily they fed all of us lunch (and it was quite tasty, too!). DH and DD10 did parasailing at 9am and that is her #1 Highlight of our whole vacation. DS7 and I did the Sting Ray encounter and although he was hesitant (nice word for AFRAID, lol) at first, he ended up loving the whole experience and definitely considers it his #1 Highlight as well. DD3 had a great time at Scuttle's Cove and at the beach (and also took a nap in the complimentary all-terrain stroller).

We spent the Nassau day doing Atlantis on our own. It was a little trickier getting a taxi and finding our way around the place than it would have been with DCL, but we saved A LOT of money so it was worth it. I was impressed with Atlantis overall, but it was funny how we had gotten used to DISNEY service after 5 days in the parks and then the cruise -- the people at Atlantis are "nice", but they are not "Disney nice", y'know??

Did any of you get to see any of the shows? We missed the first one (Palo dinner), but we really enjoyed Toy Story and Disney Dreams. DD10 actually missed those as well, she was having so much fun in the Oceaneer Lab.

What did your kids think of the clubs? It was a big hit with DD10. DS7 seemed to like it a lot, but was happy to come with us to see shows, etc. DD3 was great and didn't mind being dropped off, but she wasn't exactly begging to go, either. But I think that's to be expected since she's so little.

That was our first DCL cruise, and I have to say that another DCL cruise is definitely in our future, but probably not for awhile. Our next cruise will probably be on CCL or RCCI, since they leave out of NY and airfare puts a big dent in our budget. :headache:

Overall, we LOVED IT!!!!