03/30/08 4 night Wonder, 30th March 2008

[Deweysgirl]

driver!

We are neighbors! We are in Palm Harbor. I also have a DD13 too! I am so sorry for your loss. We lost my father-in-law in June. We really had a rough year all the way around so I'm hoping this cruise is just what we need to lift our spirits.

Wow! 8 cruises, that's fantastic! I'm shooting for that too!

 

[Deweysgirl]

We can't wait to see some SUN!

I bet a Superbowl win would be just what the Dr. ordered to get you through the cold winter! Lol!
Go Seahawks!!

 

[kkoelr]

Hi everyone,

We will also be joining everyone on the cruise this year. This will be are 3rd cruise in 3 years - all on the Wonder. We are a family of 4 from Illinois - myself (dh), dw, dd (12 yo) and ds (9 yo). We are on deck 7 - as was last year. The first year we were on deck 8 and it was noisy from all the activity above us on deck 9. We are so LOOKING forward to warm weather - albeit I just returned from WDW last week on business.

At Nassau we've done some excursions. Two years ago we did Blackbeard's Stingray Cove/Beach. The girls had a great time feeding the stingrays; we boys had fun just being on the beach. Last year we did the Dolphin Encounter. That was way cool - but the water was way cold...and I do mean cold. This year we are thinking of doing the Atlantis Waterpark. What is everyone else thinking about?

It's also nice to hear that we may be able to see the new Toy Story musical. Quite frankly, the Hercules show was getting old.

We look forward to hearing more from everyone.

 

[wayneg]

Welcome
I really hope we get to see Toy story, doubt we will get back on The Wonder for a few years, August might be on Sovereign of the Seas then Next August is The Magic.
We fly out to Florida 10 weeks today, can't wait. Between now and then I have Valentines day, Mothers Day and Easter, lots of work being a florist but it will pay for all the vacations this year. I will be so ready to go on 22nd March.

 

[Deweysgirl]

Welcome kkoelr!

We have been to Nassau a couple of times. We decided to go ahead and reserve a room at Comfort Inn to get the wristbands for the Atlantis Waterpark. I understand we can also explore The Dig and use all of the facilities there as well. Looking forward to the Aquaventure at Atlantis and especially the Lazy River. The kids love the slides and it looks like a lot of fun. I did a Google on it and found lots of info and pics.

We are skipping Palo dinner this time. I do want to try and get a brunch though if possible. We don't have any excursions planned for CC. We have done the parasailing, banana boats and the Jet Ski eco-tour there in the past which were all great fun but thought we will just relax this time and maybe sneak away to Serenity Bay for awhile without the kiddo's.

 

[Deweysgirl]

Go Seahawks!!

I was so disappointed that Seattle lost yesterday. We live in Florida and the Jacksonville Jaguars also lost last night to the Patriots. It's going to be a long winter!

Come on March 30th!

 

[LostGirls]

Yes, we are disappointed too. Luckily, we go to a really fun Superbowl party every year, so it will be fun even though the Seahawks won't be there.
I swear my skin tone has gone from white to blue from lack of sun! Come on ten weeks!!!

 

[nisiemouse]

Our ship is filling up. Welcome everyone. It is going to be down to 0 this weekend here. I can't wait for some Florida weather.
We are still undecided about Nassau and Castaway Cay excursions. We did decide to fly this weekend and I am excited about that. The Southwest rates came down. Unfortunately, when I tried to add another night at the radisson they did not have our room category except for smoking (dh has asthma). So right now I have a suite booked for Friday and a regular room for Saturday. I am trying to decide if I should just go ahead and go with the more expensive room for both nights. It is a pain to have to move rooms.
Hope everyone is having a great week.
Thanks for the Toy Story news Wayne.

Denise

 

[Deweysgirl]

75 Days!!!

WooHoo! Can I get a whoop-whoop!

 

[kkoelr]

We signed up for the excursion at Nassau to do the Atlantis Aquatic Adventure. Quite pricy!!! Over $500 US dollars for a family of 4.

We are still looking forward to this trip.

 

[Deweysgirl]

We signed up for the excursion at Nassau to do the Atlantis Aquatic Adventure.

Great! We are also doing the Atlantis Aquapark...(on our own though). Nice to know fellow DISers will be there too. It will be 4 us, Me, DH, DD13 and DD9. I did a little research through Google and it really looks awesome. We are looking forward to going too!

Liz

 

[driver]

Holy cow!! We were all the way on page 4. Bumping us back up to page 1.

I hope everyone is getting excited about the cruise - I know we are!!

 

[wayneg]

Yes getting very excited now. All paid up last week. Also paid deposit for 4 nights on Soveriegn in August so expensive week for us. Wish Disney was so cheap, Outside cabin for 3 of us £1,250, Disney was over double for same dates.

 

[LostGirls]

Did you guys see the post on the boards about Travel Zoo having a deal for Atlantis? It was for $179 (and last week it was available for the date we will be there). It would be cheaper for you to get a room then pay for the excursion. Sorry, but I don't know how to post the link. Anyway, didn't know if you would be interested or not, but I thought I'd share. My mom and my husband's folks are coming along on the cruise too, so it won't work for us.
We are having the coldest weather of the winter so far this week
SO ready for the sun!!!

 

[SueNFla]

Can one navigate Atlantis on their own, or is a shore excursion required? I did check TravelZoo and the special runs through today only. In fact, it beats the price the cruise line charges for 1 adult and 1 child. Any tips and/or recommendations?

Last year, we chose not to do any excursions and enjoyed our quiet time on the ship. Would consider bebopping over to Atlantis for the day though if you can do it on your own.

Welcome newcomers.

 

[Deweysgirl]

Hi Sue,

We have done Atlantis on our own twice. It is very easy to take a taxi or ferry over to Atlantis. We decided to get the room at Comfort Suites this time because we are interested in using the new aquaventure water park that you can't do unless you pay. I now understand they sell day passes to the waterpark alone but the room at Comfort was still cheaper for 4 of us then buying the day passes from Atlantis.
On your own: When you come off of the ship you will walk straight down to the visitor center and there is where the taxi stand is. Ask how much (usually 4.oo a person or so) and then you hop in and go on over. Maybe a 15 minute ride or so. We looked around the hotel, did some shopping in the stores there, played in the casino, had ice cream outside next to the marina and then headed back to the ship. If you wanted to take the ferry then you keep walking and turn left past the hairbraiding area and the waterfront is right on your right where you will see the ferry to Atlantis. It was 3.00 a person last time we went on it. I hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions, I might be able to help. Getting closer now, we are getting so excited!

 

[SueNFla]

Hi Sue,

We have done Atlantis on our own twice. It is very easy to take a taxi or ferry over to Atlantis. We decided to get the room at Comfort Suites this time because we are interested in using the new aquaventure water park that you can't do unless you pay. I now understand they sell day passes to the waterpark alone but the room at Comfort was still cheaper for 4 of us then buying the day passes from Atlantis.
On your own: When you come off of the ship you will walk straight down to the visitor center and there is where the taxi stand is. Ask how much (usually 4.oo a person or so) and then you hop in and go on over. Maybe a 15 minute ride or so. We looked around the hotel, did some shopping in the stores there, played in the casino, had ice cream outside next to the marina and then headed back to the ship. If you wanted to take the ferry then you keep walking and turn left past the hairbraiding area and the waterfront is right on your right where you will see the ferry to Atlantis. It was 3.00 a person last time we went on it. I hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions, I might be able to help. Getting closer now, we are getting so excited!

I don't understand the connection with the Comfort Inn. Do their guest get to use Aqua Park too? Pardon me if I'm missing something.

Just saw Hannah Montana in concert in Orlando. Whew, what an experience. I'm tired - and still having trouble hearing at a normal level!! LOL

 

[Deweysgirl]

Wow Sue! How exciting that you were able to see Hannah Montana. How was the concert? I'm sure it was great!

My understanding of the connection between Atlantis and Comfort is that they are owned together. So when you get a room at Comfort you are allowed to use the facilities at both hotels. When you check in at Comfort they give you a wristband for each person in the party and that allows you to go between both hotels to use the facilities including the aquapark, the aquarium, etc. It's much more economical than Disney's excursion for the same thing, that's why so many DISers have done it this way, saves a lot of $$.

Hope that helps! There are also several threads on the main cruise line forum of people talking about this very thing. Unfortunately the search engine never works so you have to go page by page usually to gather up the info. But I think that's pretty much the deal.

 

[SueNFla]

Wow Sue! How exciting that you were able to see Hannah Montana. How was the concert? I'm sure it was great!

My understanding of the connection between Atlantis and Comfort is that they are owned together. So when you get a room at Comfort you are allowed to use the facilities at both hotels. When you check in at Comfort they give you a wristband for each person in the party and that allows you to go between both hotels to use the facilities including the aquapark, the aquarium, etc. It's much more economical than Disney's excursion for the same thing, that's why so many DISers have done it this way, saves a lot of $$.

Hope that helps! There are also several threads on the main cruise line forum of people talking about this very thing. Unfortunately the search engine never works so you have to go page by page usually to gather up the info. But I think that's pretty much the deal.

Thanks for the info. That helps a lot

Hannah Montana was awesome. My daughter says I ROCK!! It was VERY loud. My daughter (if you can get a visual on this) says with her hands over her ears.."Mom, did you know you can still hear like this?". LOL Poor thing, it was her first experience with anything that loud. Now she wants to try the NASCAR races here. School incentives give them free tickets to the time trials. Anyway, Disney truly hit a gold mine with Miley.

 

[wayneg]

Hi everyone, hope you are all getting good weather, we start with bad winds tomorrow and good chance of snow on Fri, 22nd Mar can't come soon enough to get on that flight.
Its great taking kids to their 1st concert, we are all Meatloaf fans taken Mathew a few times, now that is loud. 1st time we took him it was actually called the Everything louder tour.

Liz, I keep trying the Sub middle codes for VMK but they are still not working. Not happy we went to great lengths to get the cards, distracting cast members is not always easy