1st Time Cruiser just Got Back

[LC30]

Hello for those of you who are considering your first Disney Cruise, we just got back from our cruise yesterday on a 4 night. We LOVED it. Had a great time even with a little rain on the last 2 days. We had so much fun, we booked another cruise for 2010. I have nothing to compare it to since it was our first cruise, but it really was so relaxing and fun. I love the parks, but I was so exhausted by the end of the day, I never felt like I got much rest. With the cruise, we felt like we did a lot but also were more relaxed and rested.

You will have a great time on your cruise.

My trip report begins on page 2.

[Evan&Kimberly]

Glad U & Your Family Had A GOOD Time!

[frdeb1999]

Welcome back! Glad you enjoyed your cruise! :)

[wcw57]

enjoyed your post....we're looking to do our 1st cruise in 2011 (see countdown below)...


any photos? do you plan on posting a trip report?

[LC30]

enjoyed your post....we're looking to do our 1st cruise in 2011 (see countdown below)...


any photos? do you plan on posting a trip report?

I will definitely put together a trip report and post some photos. I can't wait to share. And not to mention, everyone has been so helpful to me on this site, its my turn to give back. I'll be downloading the pictures and working on the trip report, will try to post something in the next couple of days.

Only 519 more days till my next Disney Cruise!

[awtigger]

I am glad to hear that you had fun on your 1st Cruise. I will be doing my 1st in May 2010 and cant wait:rotfl:

[Carol G]

:woohoo: Glad to hear you enjoyed your first cruise and looking forward to your next. Can't resist rebooking once you've been on one Disney cruise...very addicting. :nod: ;)

[kimberleeJohnston]

Thats great! Im so happy you and your family had a magical time!

[sunshine1259]

I will definitely put together a trip report and post some photos. I can't wait to share. And not to mention, everyone has been so helpful to me on this site, its my turn to give back. I'll be downloading the pictures and working on the trip report, will try to post something in the next couple of days.

Only 519 more days till my next Disney Cruise!

Hi, Linda. Glad that you enjoyed your cruise and will be joining us in 2010. I am just glad that I don't have 519 days before my next cruise; only 83 more days for us. We will be on the Wonder in August.

Can't wait to read your trip report. See you on our cruise thread.

[wcw57]

Only 519 more days till my next Disney Cruise!



DARN! You'll be back from your SECOND cruise before I even get to the packing part for mine..........:sad2:

[Dianatlol]

we loved our so much that we are putting our deposit down today!!! Yep going back net May!

[Donald_Quackers]

I'm glad you had a great time! I felt the same way after my first cruise, and can't wait for my next one next year!

[DisneyMom1976]

LC30, Would you please PM me your navigators and movie list. My daughter is driving me crazy to see an updated nav. We leave June 7- four day Wonder. I can't find anybody who has kept them from this month.

[ppony]

Any tips for other first timers? :goodvibes

[missdani416]

Welcome back, I can't wait to read your trip report! I was so excited after our first cruise. It was just me and my sister first time around. We wanted to "try" it out before booking when the kids got older! We have cruised twice since then.

[LC30]

LC30, Would you please PM me your navigators and movie list. My daughter is driving me crazy to see an updated nav. We leave June 7- four day Wonder. I can't find anybody who has kept them from this month.

Hello! You are in luck. I did bring the movie list back with me. Unfortunately, I have to figure out how to use our scanner. But I can definitely get you a copy early next week. But here's a short list of what they are showing on the Buena Vista Theatre. When I scan this in, you'll see the times and dates its playing and the films playing on the TVs.

Hannah Montana - The Movie, Bolt, Jonas Brothers Concert Experience, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Race to Witch Mountain, Disneynature: Earth.

I'll PM you the navigators and movie list in the next few days. Have fun...I wish we could stowaway in your luggage with you.:laughing:

[DisneyMom1976]

THANKS SO MUCH!! Next week will work out great. My daughter has four days of school left. I totally understand on the scanner. I've never sent a text message on my phone and do good to send an email. :rotfl2:

[LC30]

What an exciting day! We headed out to the airport a little early to give us plenty of time at the airport. There was a very short line to get our bags checked at Southwest, so we had lots of time to go hang out at the club. DS’s hot spot at the airport, primarily because he can “golf” at the putting green there. After a little breakfast there, he was read to practice putting. I loved watching him concentrate and working so hard at putting with a putter that is taller than him.

It’s time to board our flight. DS ran right to a window seat. Upon takeoff, our pilot said the flight would take 2:45 minutes and it might be a little bumpy. After a little bumpy takeoff, we got to a smooth cruising altitude. To keep DS entertained without kicking the chair in front of him or opening and shutting the table or windows, we were forced to pop in a “Little Einstein’s” DVD. A little of that and a little snack, he was good to go. To our delight, we landed in Orlando 2:30 minutes later – a truly uneventful flight.

The car service picked us up a few minutes late but the driver gave us a nice tour during the drive to Cape Canaveral, he even made a quick stop to show us alligators in the swamp. We made a pit stop at Publix near the port to pick up a few things that we didn’t want to pack such as diapers, wipes, candy, snacks, water and of course a little booze  There's also a liquor store right next to Publix, where we got a bottle of champagne to celebrate our anniversary. Note: Champagne selection was probably better in Publix than in the liquor store.

We arrived at our final destination, Country Inn and Suites just a few minutes from the port around 4:30 p.m. I wasn’t sure what to expect since this was our first time there. And all the recommendations I read was for the Radisson, which was sold out.

Check in was a breeze and I asked for first floor next to the pool. The rooms were large, nice and clean with small fridge, table and a separated area for kid’s quarter. The room had a nautical theme and was basically a half wall with a bunk bed plus a twin bed with a television in the space. DS loved it! He had fun going from bed to bed and climbing up and down the bunk beds.

Kid's Quarter
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The pool area at Country Inn and Suites
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Once we got settled, we got ready for dinner and headed out to ask for recommendations. They were Fish Lips, Grills and Rustys. Grills was a popular place, they told us especially popular with the bikers. But it was packed and we weren’t able to get in quickly, so we picked Rusty’s. We took a short ride on the complimentary shuttle to the restaurant. Rusty’s had a great casual atmosphere. Our reservations were for outside seating, but upon arrival the hostess noticed we had a little one and informed us that its really loud out there because of the band. I walked out there and agreed, so we sat inside by the windows. Perfect location! We could see the water and saw some people fishing off the pier. Our waitress was efficient, friendly and accommodating. Menu had lots of delicious options. We ordered the lump crab au gratin for appetizers. DELICIOUS! I could have eaten a whole meal of it. DH had the macadamia mahi mahi and I ordered the snow crab. DS ate his mac and cheese, which became his dish of the trip. All our dishes were really good. My snow crab was a bit of work but worth it. It was very, very tasty and only $16 for 2 crabs! I was surprised by the value. We’d go back there again – loved the casual atmosphere and food was good, service expedient. After dinner, we called our friendly shuttle driver who picked us up in 5 minutes. So far, a really enjoyable evening. The test would be getting my very excited DS to get to bed at a decent hour.

Outside of Rusty's after dinner
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[LC30]

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast, which was included in the room costs. They had the standard continental breakfast of Danish, breads, pastries, cereal, yogurts and fruits. And they also had hot breakfast including scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and waffles. You get to make your own hot waffles with a waffles iron and the pre-made cups of waffle batter. Another bonus of this hotel was the very friendly and helpful staff and they recycled. In your hotel room and in the breakfast area, they had separate bins for paper, plastic, aluminum/cans and trash. Love that! :thumbsup2

We hopped on our shuttle at 10:30 a.m., our shuttle reservation time. Our driver was on time, courteous and gave each passenger a phone number for after cruise pick up service. Although this is a different driver than the night before, he had our names and cell phone from the shuttle service to the restaurant the previous night. I’ll explain why I was so impressed with this on our last day. Getting to the port was a quick ride. We got off the bus and the porters took our bags, we never saw those again till we got into our staterooms that afternoon. Seeing the Disney Wonder in port was so exciting. We could hardly wait to get on board. We walked through the terminal building doors and went through security and up the escalators to check in. No lines. At the top of stairs, Disney had their CMs ready to guide us through every step. I had completed and printed up all the necessary paperwork ahead, so check in only took a few minutes. We got our KTTW and a copy of the activities for the day.

View of the Disney Wonder coming into the terminal
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After check in, we had to get our pictures taken for security. Each of us, even DS had to get his picture taken. By the time this was all done, it was 11:15 p.m. We had another 45 minutes to lounge around, so I went to check out the kids’ activities desk, went outside to take pictures of the boat and then checked out the model in the atrium. By then, Goofy showed up and DS had to say “hi” and got his pictures taken with Goofy. Then, we sat and watched Disney movie on the television while we waited to board. Boarding began at noon with the special family they selected to get the boarding process started, then group 1 on up. It only took 10 -15 minutes to get to group 6. Once we walked through the Mickey head, we presented our picture IDs, got our KTTW cards scanned and waited for our first pictures with the professional photographers. Little did we realize, this would be the first of many, many pictures that will be captured by the ship photographers.

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Taking those first steps on the gangway, we were filled with anticipation! I felt like a kid on Christmas day. We walked through the gangway and were onboard the Disney Wonder and it truly was WONDERful! We were greeted by CMs and I have to say I love those first words you hear! What a surprise for DH and DS to hear our names called out and welcomed aboard to lots of clapping and cheering. :cheer2: It puts a smile on my face just thinking about it. :lovestruc

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With Disney efficiency, we were informed that lunch was being served in Parrot Cay and Beach Blanket Buffet. We were directed to Deck 9’s Beach Blanket Buffet because Parrot Cay was full. Upon our arrival, a CM took our carry-on bags off our hands and took it to a table for us. The buffet had a nice selection. I grabbed our 2 plates, mine and DS’ and headed to our table, while trying to corral my little excited goat to the table. A CM was good enough to grab one of the plates off my hands, so I could hold DS’s hand and walk him to the table. The very helpful CM also went and got our drinks for us, since I had my hands full trying to control a very excited DS and getting his lunch ready. For us, this will be the theme for the rest of the cruise – great service from a great service team trained to pamper their guests. Even my little almost 3 year old was treated like a prince! :woohoo:

It was close to 12:45 p.m. when I was done with lunch, a signal for me to head to Wavebands to move our Palo dinner. When I got down there, a long line has formed. They opened promptly at 1 p.m. and I had a short 5 minutes wait before I was able to move our Palo dinner, although we were waitlisted for Palo brunch, they weren’t able to work us in. Another great excuse to book another trip. I noticed 3 tables, one for changing dinner rotation, one for Palo and one for the spa. There was no line for the spa at all.

By this time, it was close to 1:30 p.m., and we headed up to our stateroom to check it out. We had to wait a few minutes for before we were able to get in our rooms but I saw all the stateroom hosts rushing around trying to get everything ready for us and there were several others just waiting in the lobby. When we got to our stateroom, 2 of our bags were already outside the door. We were really excited to check out our room since we got upgraded from a Cat 8 oceanview forward to a Cat 5 with verandah mid ship. Wow. We were impressed with the size of the room, I thought it would be much smaller but it was fine for the 3 of us. Our gifts from Shirley’s were already there and so was a very nice note from Disney wishing us a happy anniversary. We did some quick unpacking while waiting for the other bags and decided to go ahead and explore the ship a little more, especially Flounders’ since we were going to put DS in there for a few hours while we go to Palo. Although DS ran in there and started playing with the toys right away, I had a feeling it wouldn’t keep his interest. The nursery was great for infants and toddlers but not for children closer to 3. At this time, I realized, we had to meet our DIS roll call, so we ran a little late and were only able to meet only Anne Marie and her family, who were nice enough to wait for us.

Packages from Shirley'
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Flounder's Nursery
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DS was anxious to open his gift basket, so we headed back to our stateroom. After hanging out on the verandah for a few minutes, DS tore into his present happily. He played with all the goodies while we unpacked our other bags, which got there shortly after we got back to our room. All this time, I saw the stateroom hosts working busily away still getting everything ready. Shortly after, it was time for the safety drill. We got our lifejackets and headed down to the assembly are for deck 4. The whole drill took 20 minutes, including the time to walk down and back up to our room.

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The sailaway party started not long after and we headed up to meet our Passporter Group. We finally met SailingSue – yay! But we didn’t meet anyone else. DS loved the Sailaway Party. We heard the sound of the beautiful horn and then, we slowly left the ship. We enjoyed the party and leaving the port as long as we could before we had to get ready for our early dinner seating.

Sailaway Party
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Animator’s Palate is first. I was really excited about it because everyone had talked about the show. We met our head server, server and assistant server for the cruise, Anil, Marco and Lito. We really enjoyed Marco and Lito’s service the entire cruise. They were attentive and really engaging with DS, who is very shy with strangers. I ordered the ahi tuna appetizers and the short ribs. The short ribs were YUMMY. DH ordered an appetizer with avocado and the lamb. He liked them both very much. And DS? You guessed it. Mac and cheese and a side of fruit. We enjoyed dinner and the show.

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After dinner, we had a little time to go exploring before the next show. The Golden Mickeys started at 8:30 and we got there just in time. Great show! We came back to our stateroom to find a towel swan waiting for us and DS’ bed all made up. DS would love coming back each night to see what towel animal creation was waiting for him on the bed.

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[DisneyMom1976]

What a great trip report. I'm really getting excited for my trip June 7. Just wanted to thank you for sharing with all of us. I love seeing the ship through another persons eyes. Can't wait for more.:cheer2:

[jkburns]

Great report. Thanks for the photos!

Kevin

[LC30]

I was the first one up and since I didn’t want to make too much noise, I picked up a magazine to read. DS moved around in his bed, gave me a disgruntled look and “Shhhh’ed” me, then went back to sleep. I had to suppress a laugh. This was a good time to get up and get out of the room. There’s no way, I can just lay here for another hour and a half waiting for the Sleeping Beauties to wake up. So I took the FEs, made my deliveries and explored the ship.

There were not a lot of people up and about around 6:30 in the morning, so I really enjoyed walking around the ship with some quiet time. I walked all over the ship. Deck 4 is a wonderful place to just enjoy the view and lounge on the chairs. Other than a few joggers, deck 4 was pretty empty. Deck 9 had a few people that got up early to get coffee and do some reading. Deck 10 was a great place to just take in the view and have a nice stroll.

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View of Nassau as we are coming into port

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After a couple of hours, I went back down to get the boys. I woke them up right before our phone rang. DS picked up the phone; it was Mickey with the wake up call. DS was so excited that Mickey called him, he could hardly contain himself. While DH was getting ready, DS and I hung out on the verandah enjoying the view of the pretty bright yellow and purple port terminal building. Later, we went up to deck 10 to hang out until it was time to get off the boat. While we were waiting, we ran into this guy just goofing around the deck 10.

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We had decided against the pricey Bahamas excursions and opted to do Nassau on our own since we’ve been to Nassau and have enjoyed Atlantis a couple of years ago. We got off the boat, got in a cab and headed to the Wyndham on Cable Beach about 15 minutes away. The cab ride was about $15.00 or you could take the public bus for a fraction of the cost of a cab. We didn’t want to hassle with public transportation and decided to splurge for convenience. We bought our day pass at the Wyndham for $40.00 per adult which included a lunch buffet and use of their amenities, pools, beach, towels, and beach/pool floaties. The Front Desk manager gave us a personal tour and told us that our day pass also gave us access to the Sheraton, which is right next door. A nice surprise for us. We hung out at the beach at the Wyndham, where we practically had the beach to ourselves. Then, we went over to the Sheraton pool since they had a zero entry pool, which was great for our DS. And again, we had the pool to ourselves. The whole day was very relaxing and enjoyable. We hated to leave but it was way past nap time.

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Sheraton Pool
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The only downside is the lunch buffet at the Wyndham was quite disappointing. It was the only bad meal I had the entire trip. Although the food was not good, we would probably go back to the Wyndham again because we enjoyed the beach and the pools there so much and getting access to the Sheraton was a huge bonus.

Tonight was our dinner reservation at Palo. I was really looking forward to it since it got rave reviews from fellow DISers. We ordered room service for DS and got him ready for the drop off at Flounder’s. We took DS to Flounder’s Nursery with a bit of hesitation, grabbed our pager and headed upstairs to dinner. Dinner was lovely. The grilled shrimp appetizer was delicious. DH had the osso bucco and I had the beef tenderloin, both extremely tasty. We followed that with the chocolate soufflé and the panna cotta. YUM! I have debated getting the tiramisu and our server, Ferhat from Turkey brought it for us to try. Wow…3 desserts! They were all delicious!

I forgot to mention during dinner, we were paged once. DS was not having a good time in the nursery. I was worried that he wouldn’t be entertained since most of the activities and toys in there were more geared towards infants and toddlers. When DH went down to check on him, he was playing with one of the CMs and was fine. Nevertheless, we promptly went to get him after dinner. When we went back, he was crying for us again. The CM he was playing with earlier, Ace had to leave. Apparently, they rotate staff in and out of the kids programs quite a bit depending on how busy they are in there. One of the CMs told us that he had just starting crying for us, when we got there. We noticed that the little ones were doing fine and but some of the older ones like DS seemed a little bored, most of them were watching television instead of playing. Our preference is always to have DS be actively playing rather than watching television.

By now, we were late for Toy Story, so we skipped it and headed to the Mickey’s Mates to check out the souvenirs. DS decided he needed a new stuffed toy, which I promptly purchased, still feeling guilty about the whole nursery thing. He hammed it up for the CMs in the store and put on quite a show for them before we left for the lobby. There we found Minnie and Chip and Dale. We spent the next 30 minutes spending time with the characters and getting pictures. And DS had a great time meeting the characters.

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As a last stop of the evening, we stopped by Shutters to pick up our photos. The staff at Shutters was great. Ian, one of the CMs spent time with my DS, to my surprise DS let Ian hold him and was laughing and carrying on conversation, while I was trying to pick out photographs. (If I can only get Ian to work the nursery. LOL) When we got back to our room, DS found a bunny towel sitting on the bed to his delight. Another night of trying to get a very excited DS to settle down for bed. It took a bit for him to wind down but once he was out, he was definitely down for the count!

[disneynewbee]

Can't wait to read more. We'll be taking our first cruise in November.

[Narnia_girl]

great report so far. I never knew the Wydham was an option. Thanks for that bit of info. Looking forward to the rest of the story......

[RoyalVizier]

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This is what my 16 year old daughter claims she's going to eat every single night of the cruise! She says DCL has the best mac & cheese on the planet.

There were not a lot of people up and about around 6:30 in the morning, so I really enjoyed walking around the ship with some quiet time. I walked all over the ship. Deck 4 is a wonderful place to just enjoy the view and lounge on the chairs. Other than a few joggers, deck 4 was pretty empty. Deck 9 had a few people that got up early to get coffee and do some reading. Deck 10 was a great place to just take in the view and have a nice stroll.

This is one of the cruise highlights for me. No matter what, my body wakes me up between 6:15 and 6:30 every single morning so I love to take a wander of the ship at that time when there is still peace and serenity before everyone gets up and gets moving for the day.

Love the report! Looking forward to more...

[LC30]

I went for my usual morning stroll and watched as our ship approached Castaway Cay. It was drizzling slightly and pretty cloudy. Still a beautiful sight. This was the day that I was looking forward to the most, hanging out Castaway Cay.

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After breakfast, we were ready to leave for the island. But the captain come on the speaker to let us know that we will have rain and that we might want to delay going on the island until the rain subsides. I did notice a lot of people did try to make a break for it. Some stayed out there and had the BBQ lunch, but most stayed on the boat. So, we went to the lobby and spent time with the characters, which was just fine by our DS. As we were waiting, Lilo and Stitch came over to say “hi”.

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Mid morning, we made an attempt to go to Castaway Cay but it was raining too hard. I did manage to drop the postcards off at the post office. We went back in and just spent time exploring the ship and hanging out.

After lunch, we made another attempt, by then, the rain had subsided quite a bit and we were ready to stay on the island rain or shine. As we were leaving for the lobby, I noticed DS had a “Magical Moments” certificate from Stephanie, the CM from Mickey’s Mates. It seems the little show that DS put on the night before left an impression.

We were in luck. The rain stopped and sun finally came out. The captain was nice enough to move the all aboard time from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. We enjoyed a few hours in the afternoon just playing in the sand and water. By about 5:00, DS was completely tuckered out and could barely stay awake as we grabbed our last drink specials and headed back to the ship. We had to get back to be ready for Pirate Night! I squeezed in a quick trip to the store pick up a couple of Castaway Cay t-shirts.

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We called to let our servers know we were going to be a little late to dinner and we made it there right around 6 p.m. with a tired and cranky DS in his pirate outfit. But Marco and Lito were ready with big smiles on their faces and told us to take our time, we are on vacation! “Not to worry! You are on vacation! Take your time and relax for dinner, we take care of everything”, they said. Aaaahhhh….you have to hand it to the CMs. The pirate menu was very cool. (If I can manage to, I’ll make an attempt to scan it. The paper is not standard size.) We had the crab cake and potsticker appetizers, and jerk chicken salad. Potstickers were for DS which he turned his nose at. The stinker! For dinner, I got the sirloin and DH got the shrimp and scallop pasta. Marco also brought us the macadamia nut dusted mahi mahi to try, that was delicious. I thought it was better than my sirloin. You gotta love our servers and assistant servers for taking such good care of us, letting us eat anything and everything we want. I hope my clothes fit me at the end of the cruise.

Between dinner and dessert, they did a quick pirate party show. The kids got to dance around the restaurant with the CMs and do the limbo. DS didn’t participate, too intimidating with all the noise and people he didn’t know. It was fun watching everyone have a great time.

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For dessert, we got the Pirates of the Carribean sweet temptations, coconut rice pudding and an anniversary cake! Thank you to Anil, Marco and Lito!!! Lots of food, not enough room for it all. What did DS have for dinner? The answer is “What is mac and cheese”. And of course a little ice cream with sprinkles and marshmallows.

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After we dropped our cake off in our room, we ran into Paul, our stateroom host who wanted to show his buddy, DS how to make an animal towel creation. DS loved the end result.

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DS wanted to see the characters, so we skipped Disney’s Earth movie and headed back down to the lobby. The atrium was filled with excited kids because Mickey was there. We wasted no time and got in line. DS was vibrating with excitement over seeing all the characters over and over again.

Around 9:45 p.m. we headed up to deck 9 to check out the Pirate Party and decided to go up to deck 10 instead. I was concerned about the dance floor getting too crowded to be in there with our DS. We found a great spot on deck 10 to watch the show. This was definitely a great spot for families with younger children. There was lots of dancing at the pirate party and about 10:15 p.m. the characters started showing up and the fireworks started right around 10:30 p.m. DS could hardly contain himself. The best part for those of you with youngsters, the fireworks wasn’t as loud as those at MK. So DS loved it. I think the pirate party and fireworks was his favorite thing on the cruise along with the character greetings of course. And of course the elevators! Go figure, we spend all this money and he loves the elevator.

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/Disney%20Wonder%20May%202009/IMG_3372_1.jpg

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/Disney%20Wonder%20May%202009/IMG_3402_1.jpg

When we walked back down to deck 9, the “midnight” buffet had already started. Wow! What a spread! There were turkey legs, ice cream and all sorts of other goodies. We didn’t partake since we were still full from dinner with the 3 appetizers, 3 entrees and 3 desserts! But people were lined up ready to have a little late night snack.

[DisneyMom1976]

Great trip report. I've really enjoyed it and so glad you all got a little rain free Castaway Cay.

[srethlake]

Great report and I love the photos!! Kids were on sensory over-load weren't they?

[Granny Hawkins]

Glad you had a GREAT time!

Nothing(to me anyway)like the first time you cross the bridge and see the ship!

[Desi]

Great TR.
I can't wait for our first trip on the Magic!:yay:

[LC30]

Great report and I love the photos!! Kids were on sensory over-load weren't they?

Yes, I don't know about your little one. But mine was a ball of energy the entire time. He was so excited, he would explode into spontaneous singing, jumping and running. It was great to see him have a really, really good time.

[LC30]

Only 519 more days till my next Disney Cruise!

DARN! You'll be back from your SECOND cruise before I even get to the packing part for mine..........:sad2:

My DH doesn't know it yet, I'm trolling the various sights for deals in the fall.:rotfl2:

[LC30]

I can’t believe we will be leaving the next day. The last few days went by too fast. I am going to miss seeing this every day.

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After my morning quiet time on the ship, we had a leisurely breakfast at Triton’s to see our servers, and then took DS to the Oceaneer’s Club to play. Mickey was there helping the kids become Mousesketeers. We were there a good while with DS, while he played. From what I noticed, some of the CMs were great and attentive, while others weren’t as focused. There was a little boy that got dropped off who was just terrified and they had CMs holding him for over an hour to keep him calm. I hope next year when we come back, DS will have a different experience in the Oceaneer’s Club than he did in Flounder’s…keeping my fingers crossed.

We went back to our room before lunch; DS got a little card from Stephanie, the CM from Mickey’s Mates. She had sent him a personal note and made an origami penguin for him to play with, to match the penguin stuffed toy we bought him a couple of nights ago. What a nice surprise! And I have to say I love those personal touches which make our vacation special.

It was off to lunch at Parrot Cay which was a seafood buffet. Can you say YUM??!!!! I love shellfish! I have been known to sit at our dining room table hours after everyone else is done, eating pounds and pounds of shellfish. Crab legs, peel and eat shrimp, crawfish, fish and sushi. I ran upstairs to Pinocchio’s Pizzeria for pizza for DS since there wasn’t much of a kid’s selection for lunch. I filled my plate with crab legs, shrimp and salad. The sushi only looked ok, so I skipped it since I’m really particular about fish. I have to admit embarrassingly that I got "kicked" out of Parrot Cay. Well, technically, I didn't get kick out but they politely came by to let us know that the buffet was closing and that we should get our last fill. DH who incessantly ribs me about my love for shellfish HAD to tell everyone that I got "kicked" out of a restaurant on the Disney Cruise because of my love for shellfish.

The afternoon was spent trying to get DS down for a nap which was a total disaster; he was a wild man the entire trip and wanted to keep going until he dropped. While DH continued trying to get DS to nap, I ran to Promenade Lounge to log on and check in for our flights. It only took a few minutes and I was able to print the boarding passes. Easy, breezy. Finally, we relented and took him up to Mickey’s Splash Zone and he splashed to his little heart’s content. It rained on and off but nothing that would stop a little one from having fun.

As we were getting ready for dinner, the weather turned and the captain came on the loud speaker to inform us that we will have inclement weather. And we should be prepared for a little bumpiness that night. He would try to avoid the weather the best he can but we will probably be seeing lots of high waves. Hmm…it should be an interesting night.

DH went down to Triton’s a few minutes before I did and DS tuckered out right before dinner. When I got to Triton’s, I only saw DH sitting there and DS was no where to be seen at the table. I walked up to the table to see DS sleeping in a little makeshift bed. Marco, our server had made him a little bed. He put two chairs together, laid down several layers of table linens as a bed sheet and then put table linens over him as a blanket. WOW! If only they would do that for me too. Sleepy, I'll make you a bed right here, when you wake up, I'll get you something delicious to eat!

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DS slept for an hour while we enjoyed our dinner leisurely. We started off with the escargot, followed by the lamb shank for DH and the duckling for me. Halfway through dinner, DS woke up a little cranky. I held him for a bit, and then DH held him. Anil, our head server came by and started to cut the lamb for DH, so he could eat while holding DS. Seriously??!! Will you guys please, please come home with me?? I could use this kind of service every night! This is why none of us can leave the Disney boat without shedding a tear. DS had his standard mac and cheese, side of fruit and vanilla ice cream. By now, he was in a great mood again. Amazing how a little food and ice cream will soothe a little monster. We topped this all off with the Grand Marnier soufflé, Crème Brulee and apple tart. Wheel me out please! Another good meal to get the rest of the evening going.

It’s the last night with characters and we were able to get in a relatively short line to see Minnie and Mickey. DS was so excited to be getting hugs and kisses from Mickey and Minnie, he was jumping up and down as we were leaving the atrium. We made our way to the theater for the “Dreams” show. Christiaan, the cruise director said that this show was the award winning show among all cruises, so we were definitely ready to see it. It did not disappoint. All the surprises they had built in were wonderful and DS absolutely loved the show. That probably was the most priceless part; to see his expressions and hear his laughter and exclamations of excitement throughout the show. Each time I think about it, I smile and it makes my day better.

After the show, we headed back to our room for me to finish last minute packing and get ready to set everything outside the door. Paul, our stateroom host came by to say goodbye because we had missed him all day and the next morning would be especially busy for him. He brought our picture matte that was signed by all the characters and also some gifts for DS including a “Magical Moments” certificate. We in turn gave Paul some small tokens of our appreciation in addition to his gratuity. He would have another couple of hours of work ahead of him that night and would be up early the next day, so we bid farewell. I was sad to have to say “goodbye” to Paul, but I hope we will have another opportunity to see him again. I know this sounds crazy, but in just 5 short days, I felt like he was extended family on the cruise.

DS and I headed downstairs for the farewell party but it was pretty chaotic down there, so I brought DS back upstairs to get some sleep. That probably wasn't one of my brightest ideas. He was too wired from the night’s activities and wouldn't go to sleep. Instead, he wanted to watch a movie. It was our last night, why not? He stayed up watching the Lion King and fell asleep shortly before we start feeling the big waves. We felt quite a bit of rolling but did manage to get some sleep. DS slept like a baby through the whole thing. We have the makings of a wonderful trip - plane ride, Mickey Mouse, a big boat, tropical depression, a private island, pirates, fireworks, laughter. All we are missing are some tears. That would definitely come later when we have to leave the ship.

[LC30]

We got up early this morning because we had early seating for breakfast at 7 a.m. back at Triton’s. Paul was already up ready to start getting the rooms ready for the next guests. He came by to let us know we can leave our bags in the room until breakfast is over if we didn’t have to get to land quickly. LOVE HIM! (I made sure that I raved about him and mentioned both our server and assistant server in the comment cards. If only they would give me a little more paper  ) We thanked him and headed for breakfast. I noticed the pace had picked up quite a bit this morning and mentioned to Marco that there seemed pretty busy. He said they only had 30 minutes to get breakfast to us and get ready for the next group for breakfast and then prep for lunch at 11:30 a.m. So that’s why everyone is hustling and bustling. We both ordered a light breakfast and both Marco and Lito were concerned that we weren’t getting enough to eat. We assured them we were just fine. We were still full from them stuffing us to the brim the night before. We said our good byes and up to Shutters to get our pictures, doing everything we could to postpone leaving the ship.

Finally, I went to get our bags while DH hung out with DS in the atrium. I was very tempted to grab the family and hide under the bed and hope no one discovers us until the ship has sailed.

One last look around and we leave the ship feeling a little sad that our trip is coming to an end. DS gave a CM with a big Mickey glove a high five and said, “Mommy, I live on the Mickey boat.” I feel a little embarrassed but I have to say I felt a little like crying. We had so much fun and DS loved being on the boat, it was hard to leave.

There was no line to disembark and we found our luggage with no problem. We walked out of the terminal and hopped on the Budget shuttle. In a few minutes, we were at Budget picking up our rent car and headed to Downtown Disney to hang out for a few hours before our flight leaves. On our drive, my phone rings, it’s the shuttle driver for Country Inn & Suites. He didn’t see us at the terminal and wanted to make sure that we got a ride. Now, that’s really nice!

We made great time to Downtown Disney since there was not much traffic. DS ran around, rode the train and the carousel and we had a quick lunch. Before we knew it, it was time to catch our flight.

The trip was amazing. I was skeptical about cruises before I got on this one but I was a huge Disney fan. At the end of this trip, I am completely sold on Disney cruising. I can do this A LOT!

Thanks to everyone on this site. You have been so generous with your advice, suggestions and information. All your kind words, reassurances to first time cruisers and positive attitudes add to the Disney magic. We all need a little magic in our lives. And you all are completely right. We didn’t get to do everything but we had so much fun, no matter what we did.

I want to give a special thank you to all the CMs on board. Their hard work is what makes our vacation special. We noticed the long hours they put in and how they do it all with such pride and care. I am so impressive no matter how busy they are, they take a moment to stop and say something nice to brighten our day or do something extra to make our day even more special. Even with the long grueling hours and amount of work they have, they manage to do all this with a smile to make our days the best it can be while we are on the cruise. They are the army and magic behind the Mouse!

[Desi]

We don't sail for another 5 months & I'm already dreading the end of the trip!:confused3
I need to be sure and enjoy every minute of it while there...and find a way to get the husband to rebook while we're on there!

[LC30]

We don't sail for another 5 months & I'm already dreading the end of the trip!:confused3
I need to be sure and enjoy every minute of it while there...and find a way to get the husband to rebook while we're on there!

Pixie dust for you!:wizard: I convinced DH to do it. But it wasn't hard after he was on the cruise. He had a great time. And you can't beat the 10% discount and OBCs from Disney and if you assign to TA, the TA can also give OBCs on top of that. Good luck!

[LC30]

1. First day onboard can be hectic. So, plan your time wisely. Definitely go early to make any dining reservations changes.
2. Staterooms open at 1:30 p.m. You can go and drop off your carry-ons and check out your room.
3. Decorate your door and participate in Fish Extenders, its fun!
4. Spend the extra time at home to individually package up fish extenders with names and stateroom# labels on the bags saved so much time. It was well worth planning ahead.
5. For Nassau, if you just want to use a pool and go to the beach, do it yourself. It’s much more affordable. Hotels sell day passes.
6. Spend a few minutes getting to know your servers, assistant servers and stateroom hosts. They are your “extended” family these few days and can make a huge difference in your experience onboard. And they all have really interesting stories.
7. If you are an early riser, talk a nice walk in the morning. You can have deck 10 and deck 4 pretty much to yourself. I loved doing this each morning on my first cruise and look forward to doing it again in September.
8. I LOVE food and have been known to plan my vacations around meals. Although the food on the cruise was not memorable, I still had a great time.
9. I love the verandah, but didn’t enjoy the smell from the smokers. Next time, I’ll be luckier and have no smoking neighbors.
10. Shutters will print the pictures without their customized borders. Wish I knew this before we disembarked.
11. Photo releases from Shutters can be done online – pre and post cruise.
12. Stop at Publix and pick up water, diapers, alcohol anything you didn’t want to pack on the plane.
13. Not every child is happy in the nursery. DS did not enjoy his experience there.
14. Shoe organizer was a huge space saver – thank you to whoever came up with that idea.
15. We really didn’t need a stroller for the cruise. Glad we didn’t pack it after a long debate about it.
16. Rental car is great for the flexibility and its affordability.
17. As a person who has to be connected on all the time, I was surprised that I really didn’t miss my laptop or blackberry while I was on the cruise. There was just too much to do.
18. Don’t stress about doing everything on the list that you want to do, trust me, you won’t get to it all. But you will still have a great time.
19. Getting off the ship on the last day was much harder than I thought.
20. We felt the motion of the boat, days after we got off the ship.

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[LC30]

Well, we found a deal and just booked another 4 night on the Wonder for this September. Can't wait to go back! This time we're also going a few days early to enjoy MNSSHP and Cocoa Beach.

[pmama]

Great TR!:thumbsup2 How exciting you are going back so soon. Was the shuttle from airport to Country Inn provided by the hotel?

[LC30]

Great TR!:thumbsup2 How exciting you are going back so soon. Was the shuttle from airport to Country Inn provided by the hotel?

Thank you. I enjoyed doing the trip report. It's my way of journaling all our trips. I do it for almost every trip we did since DS was born but have just never posted it before. I can't wait to go back. I see you are headed for MVMCP. I really enjoyed it last year! It was so magical at the parks.

Country Inn only provided us a shuttle to and from the port for $4/person. We got a car service to take us from the airport to the hotel and got a one way rental car on the way back. Country Inn does provide complimentary shuttle service to take their guests to local restaurants in the port.

[TexDisneyMom]

Great report! I cant wait for my trip in July, and reading your report makes me even more excited!!!:goodvibes

[Fatima1922]

I have a question about the Wydham. Did you have to buy a pass for your DS? With the pass, did you access to the Sheraton pool or did you just decide to go there?


I was the first one up and since I didn’t want to make too much noise, I picked up a magazine to read. DS moved around in his bed, gave me a disgruntled look and “Shhhh’ed” me, then went back to sleep. I had to suppress a laugh. This was a good time to get up and get out of the room. There’s no way, I can just lay here for another hour and a half waiting for the Sleeping Beauties to wake up. So I took the FEs, made my deliveries and explored the ship.

There were not a lot of people up and about around 6:30 in the morning, so I really enjoyed walking around the ship with some quiet time. I walked all over the ship. Deck 4 is a wonderful place to just enjoy the view and lounge on the chairs. Other than a few joggers, deck 4 was pretty empty. Deck 9 had a few people that got up early to get coffee and do some reading. Deck 10 was a great place to just take in the view and have a nice stroll.

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View of Nassau as we are coming into port

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After a couple of hours, I went back down to get the boys. I woke them up right before our phone rang. DS picked up the phone; it was Mickey with the wake up call. DS was so excited that Mickey called him, he could hardly contain himself. While DH was getting ready, DS and I hung out on the verandah enjoying the view of the pretty bright yellow and purple port terminal building. Later, we went up to deck 10 to hang out until it was time to get off the boat. While we were waiting, we ran into this guy just goofing around the deck 10.

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We had decided against the pricey Bahamas excursions and opted to do Nassau on our own since we’ve been to Nassau and have enjoyed Atlantis a couple of years ago. We got off the boat, got in a cab and headed to the Wyndham on Cable Beach about 15 minutes away. The cab ride was about $15.00 or you could take the public bus for a fraction of the cost of a cab. We didn’t want to hassle with public transportation and decided to splurge for convenience. We bought our day pass at the Wyndham for $40.00 per adult which included a lunch buffet and use of their amenities, pools, beach, towels, and beach/pool floaties. The Front Desk manager gave us a personal tour and told us that our day pass also gave us access to the Sheraton, which is right next door. A nice surprise for us. We hung out at the beach at the Wyndham, where we practically had the beach to ourselves. Then, we went over to the Sheraton pool since they had a zero entry pool, which was great for our DS. And again, we had the pool to ourselves. The whole day was very relaxing and enjoyable. We hated to leave but it was way past nap time.

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Sheraton Pool
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The only downside is the lunch buffet at the Wyndham was quite disappointing. It was the only bad meal I had the entire trip. Although the food was not good, we would probably go back to the Wyndham again because we enjoyed the beach and the pools there so much and getting access to the Sheraton was a huge bonus.

Tonight was our dinner reservation at Palo. I was really looking forward to it since it got rave reviews from fellow DISers. We ordered room service for DS and got him ready for the drop off at Flounder’s. We took DS to Flounder’s Nursery with a bit of hesitation, grabbed our pager and headed upstairs to dinner. Dinner was lovely. The grilled shrimp appetizer was delicious. DH had the osso bucco and I had the beef tenderloin, both extremely tasty. We followed that with the chocolate soufflé and the panna cotta. YUM! I have debated getting the tiramisu and our server, Ferhat from Turkey brought it for us to try. Wow…3 desserts! They were all delicious!

I forgot to mention during dinner, we were paged once. DS was not having a good time in the nursery. I was worried that he wouldn’t be entertained since most of the activities and toys in there were more geared towards infants and toddlers. When DH went down to check on him, he was playing with one of the CMs and was fine. Nevertheless, we promptly went to get him after dinner. When we went back, he was crying for us again. The CM he was playing with earlier, Ace had to leave. Apparently, they rotate staff in and out of the kids programs quite a bit depending on how busy they are in there. One of the CMs told us that he had just starting crying for us, when we got there. We noticed that the little ones were doing fine and but some of the older ones like DS seemed a little bored, most of them were watching television instead of playing. Our preference is always to have DS be actively playing rather than watching television.

By now, we were late for Toy Story, so we skipped it and headed to the Mickey’s Mates to check out the souvenirs. DS decided he needed a new stuffed toy, which I promptly purchased, still feeling guilty about the whole nursery thing. He hammed it up for the CMs in the store and put on quite a show for them before we left for the lobby. There we found Minnie and Chip and Dale. We spent the next 30 minutes spending time with the characters and getting pictures. And DS had a great time meeting the characters.

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As a last stop of the evening, we stopped by Shutters to pick up our photos. The staff at Shutters was great. Ian, one of the CMs spent time with my DS, to my surprise DS let Ian hold him and was laughing and carrying on conversation, while I was trying to pick out photographs. (If I can only get Ian to work the nursery. LOL) When we got back to our room, DS found a bunny towel sitting on the bed to his delight. Another night of trying to get a very excited DS to settle down for bed. It took a bit for him to wind down but once he was out, he was definitely down for the count!

[LC30]

I have a question about the Wydham. Did you have to buy a pass for your DS? With the pass, did you access to the Sheraton pool or did you just decide to go there?

We didn't have to buy a day pass for DS since he was not quite 3. I believe they didn't charge for children under 5. The Wyndham day pass gave us access to the pool and beach at the Wyndham as well as the Sheraton. The pools at the Sheraton was much better for younger children since they have a zero entry pool. The day pass also included the buffet lunch at the Wyndham, although the food was disappointing.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Alice_on_WONDERland]

Hey Friend!

I just finished reading your TR. I loved it! And I LOVED seeing pictures of your Jackson - what a great name! ;)

I was really impressed by a few things you listed. First of all, we had a terrible hotel in Cape Canaveral, and I was really happy to see pics and read info on the Country Inn and Suites.

The night before our cruise we ate at Rusty's too - LOVE that place! :thumbsup2

My DH really wants to get off the ship in Nassau, and I haven't really found anything that excites me - until now! I think I'm going to spend some time researching Cable Beach. I really liked your review of getting the day pass at the Wyndham. I've been to Nassau a few time before and have done Atlantis too, as well as Ardastra Gardens. I HIGHLY suggest taking your little guy there, that place is great for young kids. (Check out my TR in my signature for pics.)

Thanks for a great TR and all your great ideas! And thanks for sending a postcard to my Jackson this fall.

:hug:

[gfolchick]

Great trip report! Would you mind telling me what the second gift was from Shirley (DCL). Was it a drawstring bag? I haven't seen it before. My kids are getting older (10 & 12) and probably won't need the sand pail anymore but they still think that Mickey sends them a welcome basket. I was looking for alternatives.

Also, after 5 cruises I didn't realize that you could ask Shutters to print the pictues without their borders. THANKS for that info. I'm not wild about some of the character borders.

[LC30]

Hey Friend!

Thanks for a great TR and all your great ideas! And thanks for sending a postcard to my Jackson this fall.

:hug:

Hi there. Happy to send the postcard. it's all about making wonderful memories for our children. I definitely have to check on the gardens that you recommended. Love the title of your trip report. Looking forward to reading it.

[LC30]

Great trip report! Would you mind telling me what the second gift was from Shirley (DCL). Was it a drawstring bag? I haven't seen it before. My kids are getting older (10 & 12) and probably won't need the sand pail anymore but they still think that Mickey sends them a welcome basket. I was looking for alternatives.

Also, after 5 cruises I didn't realize that you could ask Shutters to print the pictues without their borders. THANKS for that info. I'm not wild about some of the character borders.

Thank you. I enjoy doing the trip reports. The 2nd gift was a six pack of beer, a lime, a gadget to push the lime into the beer bottles, pretzels, crackers, bags of assortment of nuts to go with the beer. It was in a lightweight canvas bag with the DCL logo on it. Even though it wasn't very big, it actually came in handy during the trip.

I know what you mean about the bordersfor the pictures. I kicked myself for not finding out about it before I got of the cruise.

[Sand]

Thank you. I enjoy doing the trip reports. The 2nd gift was a six pack of beer, a lime, a gadget to push the lime into the beer bottles, pretzels, crackers, bags of assortment of nuts to go with the beer. It was in a lightweight canvas bag with the DCL logo on it. Even though it wasn't very big, it actually came in handy during the trip.

I know what you mean about the bordersfor the pictures. I kicked myself for not finding out about it before I got of the cruise.

Hi there! Thanks for posting a trip report. We are going on our first cruise next October. I think we will be sailing together! So, forgive me for asking again, but who is Shirley? A place to order gift baskets? Was the beer and lime from DCL? Our girls will be 3 and 4 when we sail and I was thinking about getting them a basket with sand toys. We too will be celebrating our anniversary and our 3 year olds bday. We waited until she turned 3 so both kids can go to the Oceaneers Club. Yeah, time with DH! I agree, I didn't think the nursery, from what I have read, would keep a 2 year old engaged.

I don't know why DCL doesn't have photopass. Can a cd be bought with all the photos?

[ljseay]

I really enjoyed your trip report. We are leaving on the Magic on July 20th for seven days....and you have inspired me! Perhaps I'll give it shot...

I loved hearing about your little boy. You have some awesome insights.

[LC30]

Hi there! Thanks for posting a trip report. We are going on our first cruise next October. I think we will be sailing together! So, forgive me for asking again, but who is Shirley? A place to order gift baskets? Was the beer and lime from DCL? Our girls will be 3 and 4 when we sail and I was thinking about getting them a basket with sand toys. We too will be celebrating our anniversary and our 3 year olds bday. We waited until she turned 3 so both kids can go to the Oceaneers Club. Yeah, time with DH! I agree, I didn't think the nursery, from what I have read, would keep a 2 year old engaged.

I don't know why DCL doesn't have photopass. Can a cd be bought with all the photos?

Hello. Shirley offers gifts baskets, flower arrangements etc deliveries to the cruises. You can order things from her website or call her. http://theperfectgift.cc./ I called her because what I wanted wasn't on her website, so she customized it for me. The beer and lime was actually put together by Shirley. She was really helpful with fun ideas. It was a great surprise for my DS to get a gift from "Mickey and friends" and my DH to get a little anniversary gift from "Flirting Minnie". That's how Shirley signed the cards. :thumbsup2

The sand bucket and toys kept my DS entertained in the room and I was grateful since I didn't pack a lot of toys for him to play with on the cruise.

As for the CD, you can't buy a CD with all the photos. At least not that I know of. I had to buy the print, get a photo release and scan the pictures into my computer when I got home. If some of the veteran cruisers know different, I would love to get that info as well.

I look forward to sailing with you. It will be lots of fun celebrating your anniversary and birthdays on board. :woohoo:

[LC30]

I really enjoyed your trip report. We are leaving on the Magic on July 20th for seven days....and you have inspired me! Perhaps I'll give it shot...

I loved hearing about your little boy. You have some awesome insights.

Hi! I would love to read your trip report when you get back. Have a great time on the Magic! Less than a month to go for you! :banana:

[Sand]

Thank you for the website! It is so hard now trying to pack everything for active toddler/preschooler in 1 suitcase because of the airline restrictions. I may ship a box to the ship but getting a baskets would be great "surprise". ;)More vacation expenses but sanity is priceless! :rotfl:
I have emailed photopass a few times requesting they incorporate it into DCL. Will see, maybe by next year. I look forward to meeting you! I think I saw you on our serenity now thread. Cool! :banana: I am still working on our FE. Thanks for all the great info!!

[LC30]

Thank you for the website! It is so hard now trying to pack everything for active toddler/preschooler in 1 suitcase because of the airline restrictions. I may ship a box to the ship but getting a baskets would be great "surprise". ;)More vacation expenses but sanity is priceless! :rotfl:
I have emailed photopass a few times requesting they incorporate it into DCL. Will see, maybe by next year. I look forward to meeting you! I think I saw you on our serenity now thread. Cool! :banana: I am still working on our FE. Thanks for all the great info!!

I'm excited about our serenity cruise especially since there are so many DISers, it would be like going on a cruise with friends. And it will be our first 7 day cruise, so that will be a new experience for us. Looking forward to our FEs.

[OurOhana]

Great trip report - and I'm so glad we'll be on your cruise with you this Fall. Your son is adorable. I'm sure he'll love the Oceaneer Club. He can definitely find plenty to do in there, or at least my daughter always seemed to stay busy.

[princess22]

I loved your TR! It got me excited about my cruise in 2 weeks. Then it finished and I started thinking about how sad we will be the day we leave! How old was your son when you cruised? My DD is two and I'm hoping to do a trial run in the oceaneer club. Before I read your TR I thought she would be bored in Flounders (based on pics I had seen), and your experience confirmed that. I wanted to see how similar in age they are.

[LC30]

Great trip report - and I'm so glad we'll be on your cruise with you this Fall. Your son is adorable. I'm sure he'll love the Oceaneer Club. He can definitely find plenty to do in there, or at least my daughter always seemed to stay busy.

I'm so glad to hear you say this. He's making progress on potty training, so I'm hopeful that he will be able to enjoy Oceaneer's Club. A little over 2 months for our cruise!

[LC30]

I loved your TR! It got me excited about my cruise in 2 weeks. Then it finished and I started thinking about how sad we will be the day we leave! How old was your son when you cruised? My DD is two and I'm hoping to do a trial run in the oceaneer club. Before I read your TR I thought she would be bored in Flounders (based on pics I had seen), and your experience confirmed that. I wanted to see how similar in age they are.

Hello. Our DS was about a few months from being 3 years old. He definitely did not enjoy Flounders. He had fun playing with a few of their toys but it kept him occupied for only a few minutes. I hope your DD will be able to go to Oceaneer Club. She will enjoy it much more. Our DS enjoyed it there when we visited together.

I have to say leaving was really sad....it was really unexpected. I always am sad to have a vacation end but the feeling of leaving the cruise was like leaving a little more sad. Good news is it gave me motivation to get working on the next cruise! I wasn't a believer in cruises before and now I'm a total fan. Have a great time on your cruise!

[alldiz]

Hi,
Great TR....I'm going on my 1st 3 day Dec 3rd....and reading your TR is making me soooooo excited:banana::goodvibes

Quick question. Was the bed your son slept on the "convertable sofa". When that bed is made....Is there a place to sit besides the bed to watch TV?

Also....How much was the Wyndam....in total.....Was this a day pass or did you get a room?
Thanks
kerri

[LC30]

Hi,
Great TR....I'm going on my 1st 3 day Dec 3rd....and reading your TR is making me soooooo excited:banana::goodvibes

Quick question. Was the bed your son slept on the "convertable sofa". When that bed is made....Is there a place to sit besides the bed to watch TV?

Also....How much was the Wyndam....in total.....Was this a day pass or did you get a room?
Thanks
kerri

Hi Kerri. I'm excited for you! I can't wait for our next cruise.

The bed was a convertible sofa. Basically, they took the cushions off and it was a bed underneath. The bed was usually made when we went to dinner, so once the bed is made, you can sit on the sofa bed or your bed in the room to watch tv. There is a small stool for the dressing area but we never used it because it was always in the way. :)

As for the Wyndham, we got a day pass for $40/person and it included a lunch buffet. My DS was free since he was under 5. The lunch buffet was not very good at all. But the day pass got you access to both the Wyndham pool and Sheraton pools and beach. The Sheraton pools are much more young children friendly. Its right next to the Wyndham, so you can walk right over. Bring your own floaties for the little ones, since their pool toys like inner tubes are huge.

I hope you have a great time. If you would like any other info, just drop me a note.

[alldiz]

Thanks so much for the info:goodvibes
I can't decide if I want to do a beach day at Nassau....or take a quick walk off then come back to enjoy the ship.
Decisions....Decisions:surfweb
Kerri

[LC30]

In less than 2 weeks, we will be at Magic Kingdom enjoying MNSSHP and then hopping on the Disney Wonder! We can't wait.:dance3:

[cakesnjammom]

In less than 2 weeks, we will be at Magic Kingdom enjoying MNSSHP and then hopping on the Disney Wonder! We can't wait.:dance3:

thanks for your report...we sail the Magic on the 19th and MNSSHP on the 18th too....cannot wait. Have a great trip!

[LC30]

When we got back from our 1st cruise in May, we had the vacation blues because really who wants to ever get off a Disney cruise. We had another cruise booked for 2010 but that just seems so far away!

After 3 weeks of being back, I secretly booked our cruise for September. I told DH 3 weeks later. He was shocked but also very excited. When I checked the flight times, I realized MNSSHP was going on then, so I booked the flights a few days earlier so we can go to the party. Lo and Behold a trip plan was taking shape to my delight. Get in on Thursday evening, hang out and enjoy the pool Friday morning and be ready for the big battle to get DS to nap in the early afternoon. Head to MNSSHP party.

To date, we have 10 families participating in the FEs and we have a great group. We've spent the last few months getting to know each other on the boards. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone on the cruise.

I am less than 2 weeks away and I'm not anywhere near done with my planning. Being the planner that I am (as DH says I have a borderline disorder :rotfl:), I am completely not ready. FE's aren't done, magnets are not and no packing pile. It's been a really busy summer with a new job, birthday parties, visits from out of town friends, small summer trips and getting DS ready for his new school. So, I've got to kick into high gear the next 2 weeks.

I'm starting to get really excited about the trip.

[LC30]

Travel was a breeze for us yesterday. We got checked into the Sheraton Vistana Villages and headed for Downtown Disney for our first night. We decided on the Sheraton Vistana Villages again because we stayed here last December and really enjoyed it. We stayed at Sheraton Vistana Resort in Oct 09 and loved that too. But we love these 2 property because it’s been my sister is Starwood Vacation Owner, so we were able to use her points last year twice. And this time, its free. I used my Starwood points for 2 nights. We also checked the rates – you can rent a 2 bedroom condo with full size kitchen and fridge with washer and dryer, free parking close to the parks for $119/night. You can’t beat that. We love being able to get away from the hustle and bustle as well. One of these days, we'll definitely stay on property just to have different experience.

DS(3) was so excited about it he chanted, “Downtown Disney! Here we come!” almost the whole way there. It was crowded when we got there and of course, my little man wanted to go to Legoland so he can play with the legos. http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_3673.jpgIt was time for dinner and we ran through some dining options. Leave Downtown Disney for one of our favorite places, Johnnie’s - awesome service and great food (we love our waitress, Alana from Russia. She get in her section everytime! She was so great, last time she held DS and walked him around the restaurant for 10 mins while we ate. :thumbsup2 How can you beat that? Wow!), eat at McDonald’s or maybe try Fulton Crab House since its more upscale and on the other side of DD, we might be able to get in. We didn't want to leave DTD, so Fulton Crab House it was since we could get in with a 15 mins wait. While we waited, the boys went over to look at the fountains and we saw a hot air balloon going up and down in the air. Looks like a new ride, where you go in the balloon and get a view 360 degree view of DisneyWorld. http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_3677.jpg

While we waited, a band started playing outside the crab house, called Nova Era. DS loved it. He stood there watching them play their instruments. They played there pretty much all night. http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_3682.jpg DH got a salad, the wild sockeye salmon in lemon caper butter sauce with a side of asparagus, DS got mac and cheese with a bowl of fruits, and I got the lobster and crab bisque, Dungeness crab and chef’s vegetables. The restaurant was fine dining like Johnnie’s but the food at Johnnie’s was definitely much better. DS got mango sorbet for dessert. That was delicious.

After dinner, DS wanted to watch the band again, ride the train and carousel. $20 later it was 9:30pm and way past his bedtime. Nighty night everyone!

Tomorrow pool time and MNSSHP!

[LC30]

We are boarding the Wonder later this morning!:woohoo:

I'll realized that my post for Day1 had no pictures, so I'll be adding pics when we get back. And I'll be posting the rest of trip report when I get back too. Something about seeing pictures makes the trip report so much more fun to read.

See you real soon!

[amyngary]

I just found your last TR from May and really enjoyed it. We will be going on our first Disney Cruise in December. And now I have your next TR to look forward to and hold me over :goodvibes...

We have also stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Villages and Resort. They are nice and conveniently located. Looking forward to another great TR!

[LC30]

DS slept in till about 10:15 a.m. after a big night in DTD. It’s pool time next! While waiting my DH to get a couple of call done, I watched my DS run around the condo with his Mickey backpack on calling it a jetpack. Picture this. My 3 year with his only pajama top and a Mickey Mouse backpack on his back that is twice his size running at full speed around in the condo and yelling, “My jetpack! My jetpack! Zoom, zoom!’ I was in hysterics.

The pool was nice, water was the perfect temperature. I don’t like getting into a cold pool was this was perfect! And it wasn't busy at all at the pool, we pretty much had the pool to ourselves. There were a few people that were laying out but it was a relatively quiet morning. He’s a little fish! http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_3697.jpg DH showed him how to do a forward roll from the wall into the water and the little guy was able to do it no problem!!! WOW! I was completely scared and impressed at the same time. I couldn’t decide if I should be reprimanding my DH for teaching DS this or hugging my DS because I’m so proud of him. After about 2 hours, we came up to the room ate lunch and got ready for MNSSHP. We put him in regular clothes and brought his costume to change into. I figured it would be more comfortable for him to be in regular clothes until the party started.

[LC30]

We left the hotel around 3:15 p.m. and got to the gate right at 4:00 p.m. DS has been looking forward to riding the monorail all day. This is still definitely one of his favorite “attractions”. When we got to the gate, they were already starting to let people in for the party. The park wasn’t horribly crowded. We got our wrist bands and walked right in to get our stroller. http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_3781.jpg

We tried to get in the Harmony Barber shop to get DS’s hair done but it was pretty crowded. So we headed straight to Fantasyland where all of DS’s favorite rides are. Guess which one is first? Of course, it’s Small World. http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_4246.jpgAfter going through it several times, just about enough to make me hum that song in my head for the next 5 hours! There were little to no lines anywhere and it was probably around 4:30 p.m. The crowd would only get thinners the evening wore on. We rode Dumbo, Cinderella’s Carousel, Pooh several times. Most of the rides, we didn’t even have to get off the ride. The playground at Mickey’s ToonTown Fair wasn’t busy either. We also rode the WDW Railroad, DS loved trained and especially this. I was all for it since we were able to relax for 20 mins on the ride and enjoy a little breeze. http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_4265.jpg
It was time for dinner and I wanted to do quick dining, so we can spend time enjoying the party and since DS didn’t nap this afternoon because he got up late in the morning, I didn’t think he would last the whole night. I thought we would be there till at least 11 p.m. But that was definitely a pipe dream.

On our way to Cosmic Café, DS saw Alice and the Tea Cup, so we rode that a few times. He loved it. But man was I dizzy. The teacup ride probably was not a good idea for me since I just recovered from vertigo a week ago, but it’s worth seeing the sheer joy on DS’s face and him laughing.

As we got off the teacups, DS saw Tomorrowland Speedway and bolted for it. “It’s time for dinner!”, I said. No way, we’re definitely not going to dinner. He was definitely going to be driving the speed cars at Tomorrowland Speedway. LOL. So, the boys headed that way and I headed to get us dinner. It was 2 cheeseburger, 1 hotdog, 1 order of fries, 1 side of grapes and 1 side of apples, plus 2 sodas and 1 milk for $27. This reminds me of the ad: MNSSHP tix $163, dinner at Cosmic Café for 3 $27, seeing my DS having the time of his life, priceless.

After dinner, I got DS changed into his pirate costume. He was so cute, everyone kept looking at how cute he was. The CM’s were all giving him lots of attention and what 3 year old doesn't like that. When we came out of Cosmic, there was a CM blowing bubbles and DS spent a little time chasing them. http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_4293.jpg We decided it was time for a little trick or treating and then face painting. This was the longest line we would encounter all afternoon and evening. I think it was about 10 – 15 minutes. All 3 of us got our face painted. We went through Alice’s tea party trick or treat spot. I took pictures of DH and DS with Alice and we headed down the treat path. Again, all the treats were mostly filler candy with some chocolate sprinkled in here and there. It was easy to walk right in and out of the treat spot, again no crowd whatsoever. When we came out, we walked right into Club 626 where Goofy, Pluto and Stitch were having a dance party. DS wanted nothing to do with it because it was too loud. So we decided to cut through Tomorrowland to get to Main Street. We walked right into Buzz Lightyear. DS wanted pictures with him, so we waited in a "line" behind 2 people. I was surprised at how light the crowds were but am glad for it.

We started meandering through Tomorrowland and got right up to the spoke on Main Street to take a our picture in front of the Castle with the photopass. We were wondering how to cut through the crowd, when the photographer said, the parade is coming. “You have great timing, just walk up to watch it. “ We figure it would be too crowded and we would just walk through to get some ice cream and wait for Hallowishes but when we walked up, there was a spot right behind some kids and we watched the first parade no problem. We literally walked up right before the first parade float was coming. We did miss the headless Horsemen but we’ve seen it before, so it was fine. This is definitely one of my favorite parades. I do love the one at Animal Kingdom too. After the parade, DS still wanted ice cream, so we got 2 scoops of chocolate/vanilla swirl and I got a Mickey bar. Love that Mickey bar! DS ended up eating most of my Mickey bar and his swirl. LOL. But there was a lot of Mickey bars in my future so I wasn't too disappointed.

By the time we were done, it was almost time for Hallowishes and DS was about ready for bed. There’s no way we were going to be able to do any more rides or hang out past the fireworks. (I have to post the video of the fireworks on youtube.) I could go on for hours but the boys were worn out! We found a spot right in the middle of Main Street with no one obstructing our view. There were plenty of spots to stand or sit and watch. I was amazed that it wasn’t busy especially on a Friday night. This was definitely the way to do it! I love these fireworks! After the 15 minutes of fireworks was over, it was time to get the boys back to the condo for some shut eye. I was sad to leave the park but DS was worn out and my poor DH who was recovering from pneumonia the week before needed some rest. By the time we left the park, it was a couple of mins before 10 p.m. and the crowds were already very thin by this time.

DS was chatting up a storm the whole time we were walking to the monorail, the tram and the car. He was asleep 10 minutes into the car ride. I picked him out of the car seat, got his changed into his jammies, wiped off as much of the pirate makeup as I can and he slept through the whole thing! What a fun night we had! If only we could do it again tonight. I just loved the parks all decorated up for the fall. Nothing beats the MNSSHP or the MVMCP. We're off to the port tomorrow for our 2nd Disney Cruise!

http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_4298.jpg http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_4315.jpg http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_4317.jpg http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_4320.jpghttp://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt308/lconnor30/MNSSHPDisney%20Wonder%20Sept%202009/IMG_4328.jpg

[LC30]

I made us a leisurely breakfast at the condo and took our time getting to Cape Canaveral. We got to the port and checked into our hotel by 12:30 and by 1:30 we were at Cocoa beach having lunch. We’re planning a relaxing day today since everyone is still trying to recover from the last 2 late nights. Oh Shucks had a private party and Atlantic Grill was closed for lunch, so we ended up at Marlin’s. It was on the pier and had a nice view of the beach and the end of the pier where there was a bar. The food was basic bar food and casual seafood. If they fried it, we ate it - coconut beer shrimp, fries and buffalo wings. DS had grilled cheese. Food was ok but we would definitely try out a different place next time.
Cocoa Beach was nice. It reminded us of Port Aransas or Corpus Christie, a nice local beach, bustling with activity. Since it was raining, we came back to the hotel and watched the rain outside. From our room, we actually had a good view of the ocean and the pool. DS got a special treat and watched a movie, while DH took a little nap.
Around 5:30 p.m. we headed out to Rusty’s for dinner. Since they don’t take reservations for parties less than 10, we wanted to get there early to avoid any long waits. We took the complimentary Country Inn & Suites (CIS) shuttle and Will, the driver from our visit in May was driving again tonight. There was no wait at Rusty’s and we got a nice table by the window, where we would see some dolphins swimming. They went by quick and it was a nice treat to see dolphins right there. There were there in May, so maybe they are there all the time. It makes me wonder if we can just hang out there and just watch them frolic in the water. I ordered the snow crab claws again – delicious! The sides were a salad and rice, these weren’t great, and so I didn’t eat much of it. DH had the crusted mahi mahi again. He says its one of the best mahi mahi dishes he’s had in a while. DS had pasta with marinara sauce and I also got him a side of mac and cheese wedges and applesauce. The mac and cheese wedges are delicious but it’s as healthy as eating a fried bacon. It’s basically mac and cheese that has been battered in triangles and fried. But the best dish was definitely the lump crab meat au gratin. Oh my, it was delicious! I’m salivating just thinking about it. DH got the key lime pie for dessert. (Reminds me. I have to take pictures of the food next time.) After eating a few bites, DS finally fell asleep while eating, so DH and I took turns holding him and eating. We got his food to go because we had a small fridge, which kept things pretty cold and a microwave in our hotel room; just in case he woke up and is still hungry. And I’m glad we did because he woke up and was famished! After dinner, we called Will and he came promptly to pick us up. Time from hotel to the port restaurants was less than 10 minutes. We were back and ready for bed by 9:30 p.m.