I got alot of great tips from this bo.ard, so I wanted to share some random thoughts about our 3/7/04 Disey Wonder cruise,
Boarding started about 11:45pm. We took the 10:30am shuttle from the Radisson, very smooth. We were picked out from the back of the line to go thru early, pretty nice. But I think the line would go pretty quick anyway. We went to Parrot Cay for the buffett, good selection. We then went to Wavebands to make Palo brunch reservations at 1pm. Brunch was excellent & the service was as good as any 5-star restaurant. Characters appear throughout the ship at scheduled times & at random. Plenty of photos. We booked the dolphin encounter on our own and took a taxi from nassau port to paradise island. The boat ride was only 20 minutes doing it this way. I would highly recommend this once in a life time experience. Alot of interacting with the dolphins & you can purchase photos & videos.
Buffett at castaway cay was good, hunt for the ceasar salad station. Food on the ship overally was good. Nice selection of entrees and desserts. We didn't like the Hercules how, but thought the Golden Mickey's show was excellent. Can't say enough good things about the kids club, well organized and fun.
Weather was excellent & seas seemed calm except for departing Sunday night & Wednesday night, alot of swaying in our Cat-5.
Room service was prompt for breakfast, just fill out the door hang.
If you don't have to depart early the last day, I would recommend staying on ship until 8:45am, we just walked off the ship & porter met us to take our bags to the Radisson shuttle, arriving every 15 minutes. My main surprises were no waiting, decent food & large cabins with good water pressure. We also visited Atlantis, it was nice to see, but I didn't think the aquarium was worth the $. Air freshener was good hint, & something the keep the closet doors closed, as the swaying caused them to open & close at night. The internet was very slow on ship, almost to the point of unusable. The survey at the end of the cruise indicated they may be thinking about adding another ship. One of the questions were, would you be interested in a Disney Alaska, Mediterranean, Mexican Rivera if offered. Overall it was very enjoyable, but I don't think we would book another because of the limited ports of call. If you just want a relaxing cruise with kids, this is the best cruise line to spend some time with them & also by yourself when they are in the kid's club. We ended up spending an additional $800 on souveneirs, photos, spa & drinks. We didn't drink alot, for 3 people & only $250 of that was for the spa.
We tipped the recommeded amount, & gave our 2 servers & our Palo server extra cash. (Can't say enough good thinks about the Palo service). I didn't feel overwhelmed by the kid's, even though there were over 900 on board. I would have liked to see some more food options on board, such as a general buffett throughout the day, instead of hotdogs & nachos. My wife liked the spa taster ($89) massage & facial. Watch out for the hard sell on their products. (Alot of outlandish claims & very expensive, & look at the ingredients, water, glycerin, proplyene glycol... what's found in most under $10 drugstore products) Just the pharmacist coming out in me. If you stay at the in Port Canaveral & have a car, I recommend the Brevard Zoo. About 15 minutes. Nicely done, hand feed Giraffes & Lora-Keets. Closeup views of alligators & all the animals divided into continents.
Boarding started about 11:45pm. We took the 10:30am shuttle from the Radisson, very smooth. We were picked out from the back of the line to go thru early, pretty nice. But I think the line would go pretty quick anyway. We went to Parrot Cay for the buffett, good selection. We then went to Wavebands to make Palo brunch reservations at 1pm. Brunch was excellent & the service was as good as any 5-star restaurant. Characters appear throughout the ship at scheduled times & at random. Plenty of photos. We booked the dolphin encounter on our own and took a taxi from nassau port to paradise island. The boat ride was only 20 minutes doing it this way. I would highly recommend this once in a life time experience. Alot of interacting with the dolphins & you can purchase photos & videos.
Buffett at castaway cay was good, hunt for the ceasar salad station. Food on the ship overally was good. Nice selection of entrees and desserts. We didn't like the Hercules how, but thought the Golden Mickey's show was excellent. Can't say enough good things about the kids club, well organized and fun.
Weather was excellent & seas seemed calm except for departing Sunday night & Wednesday night, alot of swaying in our Cat-5.
Room service was prompt for breakfast, just fill out the door hang.
If you don't have to depart early the last day, I would recommend staying on ship until 8:45am, we just walked off the ship & porter met us to take our bags to the Radisson shuttle, arriving every 15 minutes. My main surprises were no waiting, decent food & large cabins with good water pressure. We also visited Atlantis, it was nice to see, but I didn't think the aquarium was worth the $. Air freshener was good hint, & something the keep the closet doors closed, as the swaying caused them to open & close at night. The internet was very slow on ship, almost to the point of unusable. The survey at the end of the cruise indicated they may be thinking about adding another ship. One of the questions were, would you be interested in a Disney Alaska, Mediterranean, Mexican Rivera if offered. Overall it was very enjoyable, but I don't think we would book another because of the limited ports of call. If you just want a relaxing cruise with kids, this is the best cruise line to spend some time with them & also by yourself when they are in the kid's club. We ended up spending an additional $800 on souveneirs, photos, spa & drinks. We didn't drink alot, for 3 people & only $250 of that was for the spa.
We tipped the recommeded amount, & gave our 2 servers & our Palo server extra cash. (Can't say enough good thinks about the Palo service). I didn't feel overwhelmed by the kid's, even though there were over 900 on board. I would have liked to see some more food options on board, such as a general buffett throughout the day, instead of hotdogs & nachos. My wife liked the spa taster ($89) massage & facial. Watch out for the hard sell on their products. (Alot of outlandish claims & very expensive, & look at the ingredients, water, glycerin, proplyene glycol... what's found in most under $10 drugstore products) Just the pharmacist coming out in me. If you stay at the in Port Canaveral & have a car, I recommend the Brevard Zoo. About 15 minutes. Nicely done, hand feed Giraffes & Lora-Keets. Closeup views of alligators & all the animals divided into continents.
