Recent Miami cruisers... Where are you? - The DIS Discussion Forums

moomy-san · 12-31-2012, 11:33 PM

So the first Miami sailing has returned- and no one has checked in? I'm going crazy!! I have questions and they have the answers!
Heeeeelllllllpppppp!!!!

fredgirls · 01-01-2013, 08:59 AM

neg58 · 01-01-2013, 10:57 AM

What do you need to know?

Nancy

nicolet · 01-01-2013, 11:27 AM

Hotel stay before the good and bad?
Dis transportation did you use it?

Embark and disbark as easy as in Port Canaveral?

moomy-san · 01-01-2013, 12:00 PM

How was the embarkation? Organized or chaos? Was the Castaway Club line busy? (Some say from PC it's sometimes better to go through the first time cruiser line because CC line is so busy)
Was there Miami specific merchandise on board?

bahacca · 01-01-2013, 12:10 PM

I came to post this very thing!

If it was the 4 night (KW, Nassau and CC), was there a Palo brunch at all with no sea day?
What was the dining room assignment pattern? ABCA, ABBC, etc
What night is Pirate night?
Did they have any wine/tequila/other alcohol tastings?

cwdefouw · 01-01-2013, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bahacca

I came to post this very thing!

If it was the 4 night (KW, Nassau and CC), was there a Palo brunch at all with no sea day?
What was the dining room assignment pattern? ABCA, ABBC, etc
What night is Pirate night?
Did they have any wine/tequila/other alcohol tastings?

So far they have only run 7 night cruises, the second one left Sunday the 30th. The 5 and 4 night cruises don't start until next week.

neg58 · 01-01-2013, 12:56 PM

Some of the info won't be the same since we were on a 7 night and things were shifted because of Christmas.

First I'll say that the crew was very excited about new ports and Castaway Cay. Some had never been there since the Wonder has been on the west coast/Alaska/Hawaii for awhile.

We live in Florida and drove down. We stayed in Ft. Lauderdale the night before. I originally had booked a cruise/park at Coconut Grove, but decided I didn't want to double back to pick up the car at the end of the cruise. We also have a 'need' to shop at Macy's since our town doesn't have one, so we knew we wanted to have time to go somewhere along the way. We shopped and then just drove to Ft. Lauderdale. It was fine. We parked at a lot for $4.50/day on 7th street in Miami. Drove to the port, dropped off the kids and luggage, and then parked, took a shuttle to the port. Parking at the port is very easy, but $20 day. Lot is fenced but in a rather shady area. Only mistake was the shuttle. They made me pay for round trip ($7) but they never showed for pick up and I just took a taxi back ($9). You CAN walk, but it's a long way across the bridge. Disney sails out of 'F' and only one other terminal 'g' is closer to Miami, but still a walk.

The terminal is smaller than Port Canaveral, but just as easy. The CC check in was much faster with only 3-4 groups in front of us. The walk to the ship is much longer.

Pirate night for us was Dec 26 after a day in St. Maartens, but I think that was because they didn't want to do it on Christmas. There were lots of brunches at Palos as we had 3 sea days. Formal night was the 2nd night and semi-formal the second to last, after a sea day.

There was a lot of 2012 and Cruising through Christmas stuff on board. There were all 4 of the Camillia disney charms for sale. I didn't see a lot of special Miami stuff. At the officer's pin trading, the officers had a lot of cool pins from Hawaii and Alaska. I got one that said Wonder and had the Gingerbread house on it.

Because it was the inaugural Miami sailing and Christmas, we receive a lithograph, a set of placemats, and a clock as gifts.

The shows were good except for Toy Story. All the little kids lost it about 40 minutes into the show, and there was a lot of whining.

I found the food in the dining rooms to be very good, and the food in BBB to be awful. Fast food on deck? terrible, except for the coconut/pinapple and mango soft serve ice cream (yum).

They did have the many tastings of liquor, but I didn't go to any. Because it was Christmas, there were fewer of the traditional classes like cooking and drawing. They added towel folding at the last minute.

The port is crazy on disembarking. All ships are lined up, so there are taxis and shuttles going every which way. The luggage comes off like at an airport, with moving, winding belts and you have to grab it. Never had a porter ask if we needed help. Long lines. They called us by character tags to disembark and we waited about 30 minutes after breakfast and then another 30 minutes or so in line. Patience is required.

Nancy

Smbertram · 01-01-2013, 01:13 PM

I know there is no transportation from WDW, but what about the airports? I haven't invested much time in finding this out, but I guess I should since we leave in 102 days.

neg58 · 01-01-2013, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smbertram

I know there is no transportation from WDW, but what about the airports? I haven't invested much time in finding this out, but I guess I should since we leave in 102 days.

The guy at the port said a taxi to the airport (Mia) was $25 one way. I know there were a ton of shuttles and I think they are about $10/person.

Nancy

Bonniec · 01-01-2013, 01:53 PM

Quote:

We live in Florida and drove down. We stayed in Ft. Lauderdale the night before.

Where did you stay?

goeva · 01-01-2013, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neg58

Because it was the inaugural Miami sailing and Christmas, we receive a lithograph, a set of placemats, and a clock as gifts.

Thanks for your mini report. Do you have personal navigators or photos to share with us? TIA.

neg58 · 01-01-2013, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonniec

Where did you stay?

We just stayed at a Holiday Inn Express right in Ft. Lauderdale by the beach. I thought there would be some hotels by the airport, but I ended up circling around and just saw a few hotels. I asked at the Embassy and they were full, and the next block the Holiday inn Express had a room. I got it for $99 from a very very nice clerk. Breakfast wasn't bad. It took about 40 minutes to get to the port the next morning.

There are a few hotels in downtown Miami for about $150 a night, but usually parking is extra. There are also a lot of hotels by the Miami airport that people use.

Nancy

MrsParr · 01-01-2013, 08:06 PM

We stayed at the Miami Marriott (used points), but I would recommend the Holiday Inn near the port instead. It was cheaper, and was right across the street from a nice shopping area.

The port was more crowded than the terminal at port canaveral, but the CM's kept things moving along.

Mtkgal · 01-02-2013, 08:34 AM

What time were you off the ship?

12-31-2012, 11:33 PM	#1
moomy-san DIS Veteran Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Southern AB Posts: 667	Recent Miami cruisers... Where are you? So the first Miami sailing has returned- and no one has checked in? I'm going crazy!! I have questions and they have the answers! Heeeeelllllllpppppp!!!! __________________ Disneyland October 2005, January 2006, February 2007, January 2008, January 2010, February 2011, February 2012 DCL Mexican Riviera aboard the Wonder February 2011 and February 2012. DCL B2B Bahamas and West Caribbean aboard the Wonder February 2013 Next up: Fantasy 7 night Western, February 2014 and HOPEFULLY Panama Canal May 2014 on the Wonder!

01-01-2013, 08:59 AM	#2
fredgirls DIS Veteran Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: NB, Canada, 2811kms from Mickey Posts: 757	__________________ Me DH DD(13) DD(8) 5-night Wonder from Miami trip report - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3078323 It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?" - Pooh

01-01-2013, 11:27 AM	#4
nicolet Double Dippin' in October!!! Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 176	Hotel stay before the good and bad? Dis transportation did you use it? Embark and disbark as easy as in Port Canaveral? __________________ "Scars are like tattoos but with better stories" Survived Leukemia!

01-01-2013, 12:00 PM	#5
moomy-san DIS Veteran Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Southern AB Posts: 667	How was the embarkation? Organized or chaos? Was the Castaway Club line busy? (Some say from PC it's sometimes better to go through the first time cruiser line because CC line is so busy) Was there Miami specific merchandise on board? __________________ Disneyland October 2005, January 2006, February 2007, January 2008, January 2010, February 2011, February 2012 DCL Mexican Riviera aboard the Wonder February 2011 and February 2012. DCL B2B Bahamas and West Caribbean aboard the Wonder February 2013 Next up: Fantasy 7 night Western, February 2014 and HOPEFULLY Panama Canal May 2014 on the Wonder!

01-02-2013, 08:34 AM	#15
Mtkgal Earning My Ears Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: SW Chicago Burbs Posts: 52	What time were you off the ship? __________________ Sam Sept 2009 PC - Sept 2010 BLT -Sept 2011 Dream - Sept 2011 AKV - Jun 2012 SSR

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01-01-2013, 10:57 AM	#3
neg58 DIS Veteran Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 1,046	What do you need to know? Nancy

01-01-2013, 12:10 PM	#6
bahacca Mouseketeer Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: 15 minutes East of Disneyland Posts: 408	I came to post this very thing! If it was the 4 night (KW, Nassau and CC), was there a Palo brunch at all with no sea day? What was the dining room assignment pattern? ABCA, ABBC, etc What night is Pirate night? Did they have any wine/tequila/other alcohol tastings?

01-01-2013, 12:56 PM	#8
neg58 DIS Veteran Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 1,046	Some of the info won't be the same since we were on a 7 night and things were shifted because of Christmas. First I'll say that the crew was very excited about new ports and Castaway Cay. Some had never been there since the Wonder has been on the west coast/Alaska/Hawaii for awhile. We live in Florida and drove down. We stayed in Ft. Lauderdale the night before. I originally had booked a cruise/park at Coconut Grove, but decided I didn't want to double back to pick up the car at the end of the cruise. We also have a 'need' to shop at Macy's since our town doesn't have one, so we knew we wanted to have time to go somewhere along the way. We shopped and then just drove to Ft. Lauderdale. It was fine. We parked at a lot for $4.50/day on 7th street in Miami. Drove to the port, dropped off the kids and luggage, and then parked, took a shuttle to the port. Parking at the port is very easy, but $20 day. Lot is fenced but in a rather shady area. Only mistake was the shuttle. They made me pay for round trip ($7) but they never showed for pick up and I just took a taxi back ($9). You CAN walk, but it's a long way across the bridge. Disney sails out of 'F' and only one other terminal 'g' is closer to Miami, but still a walk. The terminal is smaller than Port Canaveral, but just as easy. The CC check in was much faster with only 3-4 groups in front of us. The walk to the ship is much longer. Pirate night for us was Dec 26 after a day in St. Maartens, but I think that was because they didn't want to do it on Christmas. There were lots of brunches at Palos as we had 3 sea days. Formal night was the 2nd night and semi-formal the second to last, after a sea day. There was a lot of 2012 and Cruising through Christmas stuff on board. There were all 4 of the Camillia disney charms for sale. I didn't see a lot of special Miami stuff. At the officer's pin trading, the officers had a lot of cool pins from Hawaii and Alaska. I got one that said Wonder and had the Gingerbread house on it. Because it was the inaugural Miami sailing and Christmas, we receive a lithograph, a set of placemats, and a clock as gifts. The shows were good except for Toy Story. All the little kids lost it about 40 minutes into the show, and there was a lot of whining. I found the food in the dining rooms to be very good, and the food in BBB to be awful. Fast food on deck? terrible, except for the coconut/pinapple and mango soft serve ice cream (yum). They did have the many tastings of liquor, but I didn't go to any. Because it was Christmas, there were fewer of the traditional classes like cooking and drawing. They added towel folding at the last minute. The port is crazy on disembarking. All ships are lined up, so there are taxis and shuttles going every which way. The luggage comes off like at an airport, with moving, winding belts and you have to grab it. Never had a porter ask if we needed help. Long lines. They called us by character tags to disembark and we waited about 30 minutes after breakfast and then another 30 minutes or so in line. Patience is required. Nancy

01-01-2013, 01:13 PM	#9
Smbertram Mouseketeer Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Danielson, CT Posts: 102	I know there is no transportation from WDW, but what about the airports? I haven't invested much time in finding this out, but I guess I should since we leave in 102 days.

01-01-2013, 08:06 PM	#14
MrsParr Earning My Ears Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 60	We stayed at the Miami Marriott (used points), but I would recommend the Holiday Inn near the port instead. It was cheaper, and was right across the street from a nice shopping area. The port was more crowded than the terminal at port canaveral, but the CM's kept things moving along.

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