frozeninroch
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2004
Hello! Our family of 5 cruised on the 3-night Disney Wonder 2/19-2/22. I got so much helpful information from these boards that I thought I should at least attempt a trip report. Here's the scoop.
This was the 1st cruise for all 5 of us (me, DH, & DDs ages 12, 10 & 6). We stayed in room 8558, Cat. 4 Family Stateroom. We loved the location of the room - because it is almost midship you can go almost anywhere quickly. We used the stairs a lot - both midship & aft (elevators were slow & tiny!). The room wasn't at all noisy, although I had read on these boards that it was. We loved the verandah & think it made the room worth it vs. 2 inside staterooms (JMHO). We hung our bathingsuits out to dry each night on a clothesline on the verandah, and we enjoyed watching the ship leave Canaveral from our verandah, and enjoyed watching the boat dock each morning. The things we did not like about the room were: 1) the murphy bed not only blocked access to the verandah, but also blocked access to the steamer trunk where we stored our kids' clothes! My husband had to lift the bed up each night so they could get their pjs, and each morning so they could get their clothes for the day. Challenging! 2) Also, the bedrail for the bunkbed made a squeaking noise every time a child moved slightly in the bed. 3) The mattress on the queensize bed was kind of soft.
My husband and I enjoyed a dinner at Palo's the first night of our cruise. The chocolate souffle is wonderful! And our waiter, Marcelo was delightful (if not a bit difficult to understand). It turned out to be a great dinner, and our only night alone. FYI - if you have kids that you want to put in the clubs, book your Palo dinner on the first night of the cruise at 7pm or later. We made the mistake of booking it at 6:30 (the gentlemen taking reservations assured us it was ok - even with kids in clubs), but the clubs didn't even open until 6:30. And, even though we had preregistered the kids earlier in the day, the check-in (for the 3-7) took a long time. I sent my husband up to Palo to "secure" our reservation while I checked my 6 year old into the club. Our 10-12 year olds checked themselves in.
Our kids weren't that crazy about the kids clubs. At the times when they wanted to go (or we wanted them to go), there wasn't much going on - just random "free play" and not much exciting to do. There were a few activities our girls would have liked to participate in, but they were scheduled oddly-enough on the Nassau day. They did make it to the performance right after Castaway Key & got free t-shirts.
We did the Blue Lagoon Beach Day excursion in Nassau. We did not really enjoy it. The weather was a bit too cool for swimming, and it was pretty windy, so it was cold when you got out of the water. It was also overcast much of the day, but I guess that's what you can expect in Feb. There was also a large contingent of "locals" who kind of took over the picnic area and basketball hoops. It was a bit intimidating, it almost seemed like we were crashing some sort of private party... The ferry ride was nice but 45 minutes & the music was taped (not a live band, like I read it was supposed to be somewhere). Don't sit on the first floor of the ferry unless you want to get soaked! There is some rough surf and the water comes right onto the boat. The food was just OK. The island was a lot narrower/smaller than I had expected, and you were only allowed to swim in a very small section of the island. There were the most interesting miniature sea shells in the sand, though, and tons of them. Our girls enjoyed themselves collecting them. There are only 2 boats back 2pm and 4pm. Since we had early dinner seating we took the 2pm. By the time we got back to our room, showered & dressed, we had just enough time for dinner. Great souvenir of Nassau - in the building where you enter & exit from the cruise ships - there is a woman who sells painted tiles. They are handmade, beautiful decorative tiles. Ours only cost $6!!! And our 3 girls bought pretty bead necklaces for only $6 in a shop there, too. There were really pretty straw purses, too.
Castaway Cay is awesome. It is beautiful, clean & we all really enjoyed ourselves. Our 2 oldest girls liked the dock area where they could jump off or do monkey bars across the water. We rented 1 tube & 1 raft. The tubes are giant & difficult for kids to use; I would recommend the rafts. All 3 girls got their hair braided at CC & it was very reasonable. Only $2 per braid. There was about a 20 minute wait, but then the actual braiding was very quick. My husband rented snorkeling equipment and enjoyed himself. He saw the Barracuda!
We missed the Hercules show the first night because we were still at Palo (and the kids were in the clubs). We really enjoyed Golden Mickeys & Disney Dreams - I liked Golden Mickeys the best. Our girls were very exicted because they got to see Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen on the ship! It was the PremEAR!
We really liked breakfast in Tritons - it was so much nicer than Beach Blanket Buffet. If you're not in a rush to get to an excursion, I'd recommend it. We also ate lunch the first day in Parrot Cay, instead of Beach Blanket.
Our girls only went in the pools once - right after we got on board. The Mickey pool got way too crowded very quickly, so we headed to the Goofy Pool. There was great music playing over there, and our girls made some fast friends. Only bad thing was a mother was in the Goofy Pool with a child in a swim diaper. I reported it to an employee who confronted her. She refused to get out of the pool, and wouldn't get out until an actual lifeguard persuaded her to get out. If it were me (and I've been there - with a child in a swim diaper and an older sibling) I would have gotten out right away. Granted, the sign that tells you you can't go in the pool in a swim diaper isn't very well marked or centrally located, but once you're advised of the rules you should abide by them.
The embarkation and disembarkation went very smoothly for us (almost too smoothly because we arrived at my sister-in-law's house in Tampa at 10:30am! - several hours too early)
The first night the seas seemed rough to us. We could really feel it, especially in Palo because it's so high up. But the staff seemed to think it was normal. Our entire family wore Sea Bands (they looked quite lovely with my formal dress) and they worked!!! No one got sea sick and we didn't have to take any medicine. But, I did feel like I was still on the boat once we got off, as many have said on these boards.
Our entire family enjoyed the deck parties and the family disco at Studio Sea. The music is "hip" (our girls really liked it), the CMS at the deck parties are extremely enthusiastic & the dancers were fantastic! They even had some tunes for us old folks (Aerosmith Walk this Way)!
One thing my husband and I are kind of upset about is the tipping issue. I had read about the amounts for the "customary tips" on this board, and had also read that many of you give double or much more than customary. For our family of 5 our tips (not including the 15% added to alcoholic beverage - of which we had many!) were about $200 total. We are not rich, and even this 3-night cruise cost us a lot of money. We thought $200 on top of that would be enough, but it seemed by their demeanor on debarkation day that our server & asst server were disappointed. They did a good job, including remembering our girls names, getting them their dinner quickly on the first night so we could go to Palo, and performing some magic tricks, but I don't think they really went above & beyond or deserved more. Does anyone else think that either Disney should change what they "recommend" for tips (if it really isn't enough), or the employees shouldn't act to ingracious??? It put a damper on the cruise to have it end that way.
Last point, don't wait to shop onboard the last night - the shops were really crowded. And, if you buy something pre-packed in a box, open it & check it. My husband bought a decorative plate for $25 that was pre-packaged, and it had a giant chip in it!!! We didn't notice until we got to Tampa & there was no piece in the box, so it had obviously happened earlier. Buyer beware...
I'll be happy to answer any questions any of you have!
This was the 1st cruise for all 5 of us (me, DH, & DDs ages 12, 10 & 6). We stayed in room 8558, Cat. 4 Family Stateroom. We loved the location of the room - because it is almost midship you can go almost anywhere quickly. We used the stairs a lot - both midship & aft (elevators were slow & tiny!). The room wasn't at all noisy, although I had read on these boards that it was. We loved the verandah & think it made the room worth it vs. 2 inside staterooms (JMHO). We hung our bathingsuits out to dry each night on a clothesline on the verandah, and we enjoyed watching the ship leave Canaveral from our verandah, and enjoyed watching the boat dock each morning. The things we did not like about the room were: 1) the murphy bed not only blocked access to the verandah, but also blocked access to the steamer trunk where we stored our kids' clothes! My husband had to lift the bed up each night so they could get their pjs, and each morning so they could get their clothes for the day. Challenging! 2) Also, the bedrail for the bunkbed made a squeaking noise every time a child moved slightly in the bed. 3) The mattress on the queensize bed was kind of soft.
My husband and I enjoyed a dinner at Palo's the first night of our cruise. The chocolate souffle is wonderful! And our waiter, Marcelo was delightful (if not a bit difficult to understand). It turned out to be a great dinner, and our only night alone. FYI - if you have kids that you want to put in the clubs, book your Palo dinner on the first night of the cruise at 7pm or later. We made the mistake of booking it at 6:30 (the gentlemen taking reservations assured us it was ok - even with kids in clubs), but the clubs didn't even open until 6:30. And, even though we had preregistered the kids earlier in the day, the check-in (for the 3-7) took a long time. I sent my husband up to Palo to "secure" our reservation while I checked my 6 year old into the club. Our 10-12 year olds checked themselves in.
Our kids weren't that crazy about the kids clubs. At the times when they wanted to go (or we wanted them to go), there wasn't much going on - just random "free play" and not much exciting to do. There were a few activities our girls would have liked to participate in, but they were scheduled oddly-enough on the Nassau day. They did make it to the performance right after Castaway Key & got free t-shirts.
We did the Blue Lagoon Beach Day excursion in Nassau. We did not really enjoy it. The weather was a bit too cool for swimming, and it was pretty windy, so it was cold when you got out of the water. It was also overcast much of the day, but I guess that's what you can expect in Feb. There was also a large contingent of "locals" who kind of took over the picnic area and basketball hoops. It was a bit intimidating, it almost seemed like we were crashing some sort of private party... The ferry ride was nice but 45 minutes & the music was taped (not a live band, like I read it was supposed to be somewhere). Don't sit on the first floor of the ferry unless you want to get soaked! There is some rough surf and the water comes right onto the boat. The food was just OK. The island was a lot narrower/smaller than I had expected, and you were only allowed to swim in a very small section of the island. There were the most interesting miniature sea shells in the sand, though, and tons of them. Our girls enjoyed themselves collecting them. There are only 2 boats back 2pm and 4pm. Since we had early dinner seating we took the 2pm. By the time we got back to our room, showered & dressed, we had just enough time for dinner. Great souvenir of Nassau - in the building where you enter & exit from the cruise ships - there is a woman who sells painted tiles. They are handmade, beautiful decorative tiles. Ours only cost $6!!! And our 3 girls bought pretty bead necklaces for only $6 in a shop there, too. There were really pretty straw purses, too.
Castaway Cay is awesome. It is beautiful, clean & we all really enjoyed ourselves. Our 2 oldest girls liked the dock area where they could jump off or do monkey bars across the water. We rented 1 tube & 1 raft. The tubes are giant & difficult for kids to use; I would recommend the rafts. All 3 girls got their hair braided at CC & it was very reasonable. Only $2 per braid. There was about a 20 minute wait, but then the actual braiding was very quick. My husband rented snorkeling equipment and enjoyed himself. He saw the Barracuda!
We missed the Hercules show the first night because we were still at Palo (and the kids were in the clubs). We really enjoyed Golden Mickeys & Disney Dreams - I liked Golden Mickeys the best. Our girls were very exicted because they got to see Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen on the ship! It was the PremEAR!
We really liked breakfast in Tritons - it was so much nicer than Beach Blanket Buffet. If you're not in a rush to get to an excursion, I'd recommend it. We also ate lunch the first day in Parrot Cay, instead of Beach Blanket.
Our girls only went in the pools once - right after we got on board. The Mickey pool got way too crowded very quickly, so we headed to the Goofy Pool. There was great music playing over there, and our girls made some fast friends. Only bad thing was a mother was in the Goofy Pool with a child in a swim diaper. I reported it to an employee who confronted her. She refused to get out of the pool, and wouldn't get out until an actual lifeguard persuaded her to get out. If it were me (and I've been there - with a child in a swim diaper and an older sibling) I would have gotten out right away. Granted, the sign that tells you you can't go in the pool in a swim diaper isn't very well marked or centrally located, but once you're advised of the rules you should abide by them.
The embarkation and disembarkation went very smoothly for us (almost too smoothly because we arrived at my sister-in-law's house in Tampa at 10:30am! - several hours too early)
The first night the seas seemed rough to us. We could really feel it, especially in Palo because it's so high up. But the staff seemed to think it was normal. Our entire family wore Sea Bands (they looked quite lovely with my formal dress) and they worked!!! No one got sea sick and we didn't have to take any medicine. But, I did feel like I was still on the boat once we got off, as many have said on these boards.
Our entire family enjoyed the deck parties and the family disco at Studio Sea. The music is "hip" (our girls really liked it), the CMS at the deck parties are extremely enthusiastic & the dancers were fantastic! They even had some tunes for us old folks (Aerosmith Walk this Way)!
One thing my husband and I are kind of upset about is the tipping issue. I had read about the amounts for the "customary tips" on this board, and had also read that many of you give double or much more than customary. For our family of 5 our tips (not including the 15% added to alcoholic beverage - of which we had many!) were about $200 total. We are not rich, and even this 3-night cruise cost us a lot of money. We thought $200 on top of that would be enough, but it seemed by their demeanor on debarkation day that our server & asst server were disappointed. They did a good job, including remembering our girls names, getting them their dinner quickly on the first night so we could go to Palo, and performing some magic tricks, but I don't think they really went above & beyond or deserved more. Does anyone else think that either Disney should change what they "recommend" for tips (if it really isn't enough), or the employees shouldn't act to ingracious??? It put a damper on the cruise to have it end that way.
Last point, don't wait to shop onboard the last night - the shops were really crowded. And, if you buy something pre-packed in a box, open it & check it. My husband bought a decorative plate for $25 that was pre-packaged, and it had a giant chip in it!!! We didn't notice until we got to Tampa & there was no piece in the box, so it had obviously happened earlier. Buyer beware...
I'll be happy to answer any questions any of you have!
Frozeninroch:
