Just back from the Wonder..

[TheBeadPirate]

Pictures of the Cove Cafe and a list of drydock changes are listed over on the Podcast board.. jump over and take a look!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2314820

I thought I would post a bit of a trip report over on this side as many of you are tried and true sailors...

This was an extraordinary experience in many ways (positive to be sure)

I obtained my newest prized possesion on this cruise (A Disnery Wonder Dry Dock 2009 cap)... I will never tell how I came by it but I LOVE IT!

I will start with the "cons" as there are but a few...

1) Parking is a mess! My advice drop off your bags at the outside fence, get a porter, and then get in line. Send a sturdy companion to make the march from the parking lot to the ship

2) The ship is crawling with new folks "earning thier ears" and we need to be patient with them. DCL has decided to stretch vacations for existing crews in order to bring on new hires (goal of staffing the Dream) so some of you experienced folks may need to help them through the learning process

3) I finally learned what it takes to get the Wonder Rocking... 13' to 18' waves! Crossing the FL straight on Sunday night was an experience! I now know I will never be sea sick We started 2nd seating dinner with four couples and ended up with 2 couples. The hallways, dining rooms, really everywhere were quite a scene. I felt sorry for those who got sick but I really really felt sorry for the housekeeping staff as they were overwhelmed. They were still sanitizing / cleaning chairs, rugs, etc at 2AM when I came back from Wavebands.

It took housekeeping over an hour to reach our table in AP after the first incident (as I said housekeeping was overwhelmed) they have to don a new set of gloves, aprons, mask, etc for each and every "spill". I was talking to Anthony (Ant) who sells the art and has been on the Wonder for 6-7 months now. He said never has he experienced this kind of rocking

By the way the crossing on the way back was fairly severe as well but we only had 8'-13' coming back...

The Pros

1) The new staff is trying so hard to please. I think there are more CM's than us on the ship right now, you should want for nothing

2)Tried the new wine and cheese offering at Greycliff (we will have more on that with pics over on Podcast board) all I can say is WOW way, way underpriced for what you get and what you learn

3) I love the new arrangement in the duty free areas (you can touch everything now) and I am a tactile shopper!

4) A few of my favorite CM's have moved on or are on extended vacation... the good news is that the new folks are doing a great job in the bartending / server areas

5) The outlook bar represents another adult only area (I think an additional area was required for daytime / early evening) It is searching for it's identity but I am certain it will be a great place when they figure it out.

6) Castaway Cay is moving along at warp speed (for the Bahamas) and it will clearly be the best private island when this all gets done.

7) The new drink station configuration is very well thought out (cold on one side - hot on the oppiste side) keeps the kids and adults seperated and minimzies any chance for mistakes with hot coffee

8) The half price booking deposit continues on board... booked two more this trip.

9) Cadilacs Lounge is finally responding to customer requests... More high end beverage options, moved the stage to the back of the bar... this is truely one of my favorite places to spend the late night and with Ceasar behind the bar a good time will be had by all

We will be back on for the Christmas Cruise... can't wait to see what they decide to do with the Outlook Area....

[KSandbergFL]

thanks for the pics, I've been waiting...

[JohnO]

Thanks for the info!

[shannonetherton]

thanks so much for these. I am just always so curious after a dry dock! After the one when the Ariel veiw went in it just killed me until I could book a trip and get on board!! What is Graycliff? That is new for me. I am a bit of a cheese nut so you peaked my interest!!
Thanks
Shannon

[TheBeadPirate]

...is a world famous restaruant in Nassau (it's wine cellar has been in the top 20 in the world for the last 25 years)... They also have small cottages for hire, a cigar rolling facility, and are building a new choclate factory on site...

The building is in the historic district and is the site of the first swimming pool ever built in the bahamas... every tile is hand painted!

for wine lovers the cellar there will just amaze you... I wanted to lock myself in the port wine room

Must tell you my favorite cheese was a truffle cheese.. OMG it was great!

[Live4FW]

Lori/Rick,

We pretty much have resigned ourselves here that Ocean Quest didn't happen. Did you happen to get any info on when or why not yet?

[shannonetherton]

Oh Lord help me I will be there on my next wonder cruise. Now If I can only make it back before the ship leaves. Truffle Cheese??? I am off to Google to search for some of that!! Thanks

[TheBeadPirate]

No one mentioned oceanquest during our travels this time around...

In my opinion we will see more theme changes on the Wonder as we near the repositioning over to the West Coast and the AK trips... I have no hard evidence but there are "whispers" to that effect on the ship...

Time will tell (and drive us all crazy)

[JKSWonder]

I'm glad you were able to post these. I am experiencing technical difficulties at the moment with my photo uploading abilities.

About the rocking, we were all fine on Sunday. For some reason on Thursday, we just could not keep our balance. Leaving Dreams, my mother stumbled straight across the hall and right into Christaan! And upon return to the stateroom, my daughter turned GREEN and we ran her right into the bathroom (thankfully, no mess for housekeeping to deal with as she made it in time).

My MIL experienced difficulties were her t.v....it didn't work for the first day and a half. And our server told us the A.C. in the crew quarters was not working. Our assistant server was obviously new, but a nice guy and overall did a good job.

I could have done without the varnish/cleaning smells at time. And at one point during dinner on our last night, there was a powerful oil burning smell coming into Triton's.

Other than that, I have no complaints and the cruise was lovely! We rebooked for October 2010 and October 2011. May shift one of those sailings depending upon the upcoming October 29th announcements about the new ships.

[TheBeadPirate]

... not to be the crew!

It is true that the crew A/c was not operating and several of the crew newbies did experience sea sickness on Sunday and Wednesday (that is why we saw so many folks working the extra hours)...

The oil smell that you expeirienced happed about 6:45 when a particuarly strong wave took us over a bit more than anticpated and used oil was splashed about on the startboard side of the ventilation area... The maintemance crew was on it as usual and were in the hallways replacing air filters at once...

More evidence that you have been through more than the usual "rough seas"... I had to laugh at the maintenance guy on deck 6... he said "we have never had to keep a cap on that tank before" with a quizzical look

I think we hit perfect conditions with the wind, the cold front, and the florida strights coming together to make it a fun ride on Sun and Wed night....

Cant wait to get back for the christmas cruise

[TheBeadPirate]

Originally Posted by shannonetherton

Oh Lord help me I will be there on my next wonder cruise. Now If I can only make it back before the ship leaves. Truffle Cheese??? I am off to Google to search for some of that!! Thanks

Hi! This is Lori- check back on the thread that Rick linked to- I'm getting ready to do a write up of the Graycliff excursion- wine and cheese pairing. Just give me a few minutes to gather my notes and pictures (well, and thoughts!) and get it written.


There was truffled honey also...

[sueandkent]

How was the weather? I saw a lot of people in the pics wearing pants and jackets I know you hit rough seas (been there done that out of FLL before) but overall was the weather warm in Nassau and Castaway?

[disneybirds]

Thanks for the report! Is it typical this time of year to have 13'-18' foot waves? We are on the Halloween cruise next Thursday and I was just wondering. I have been in 8'-12' foot waves and I thought that was awful!

[disneybirds]

I was wondering about the movies on the cruise this week. Thanks for all the information!

[Meredisney]

I'm sorry, I have to bring up Greycliff again.....

Where in nassau can I find this cheese paradise?????? I too am a cheese fanatic and I must go there.