1/14/07 Wonder Anyone?

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We leave for the airport tomorrow at 1

3...2...1

We are leaving at 1:30 tomorrow and driving as far as Savannah. Saturday we will be in Cape Canaveral, and I hope to see the Magic before she sails!

 

[Hygiene99]

We are leaving at 1:30 tomorrow and driving as far as Savannah. Saturday we will be in Cape Canaveral, and I hope to see the Magic before she sails!

We had planned to do that but, Somehow WDW won out !!!

are we the only 2 left ? Bekka

Must be packing up the house

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We had planned to do that but, Somehow WDW won out !!!

are we the only 2 left ? Bekka

Must be packing up the house

I think she was leaving today, but maybe it was tomorrow?

We will be hanging in the warm sun soon!

 

[Bella8286]

I'm here... FINALLY packed or should I say OVERpacked. I've been working on packing for the last 3 days and with the house selling and finding a rental, that threw me off schedule a bit... not to worry! Traveling with an infant is surely a challenge when it comes to packing. I have a whole suitcase dedicated to his diapers, wipes, formula, water, bottles, food, etc... NOT including his clothes!

We are leaving at 5 in the am and it's going on 11 now so I need to get to bed. Hope to see everyone at the Sailaway! We'll be at Sea World tomorrow.

Have a safe trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hygiene99]

I'm here... FINALLY packed or should I say OVERpacked. I've been working on packing for the last 3 days and with the house selling and finding a rental, that threw me off schedule a bit... not to worry! Traveling with an infant is surely a challenge when it comes to packing. I have a whole suitcase dedicated to his diapers, wipes, formula, water, bottles, food, etc... NOT including his clothes!

We are leaving at 5 in the am and it's going on 11 now so I need to get to bed. Hope to see everyone at the Sailaway! We'll be at Sea World tomorrow.

Have a safe trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

have a safe Ride!!!

 

[Verandah Man]

Have a WONDERful cruise everyone!!! photo takem from the Radisson cam

Wonder sailing past the Two Palms cam

 

[Bella8286]

I hope everyone made it home safely. I am SO SORRY I didn't get a chance to meet up with anyone Bev... thanks so much for stopping by.

Unfortunately Tucker was sick the ENTIRE cruise and was confined to the room which really sucked.

I will post more later but I have to gather all my thoughts without sounding really negative and upset.

It turns out he had the GI virus and low and behold I got it at 2:30 in the morning on our way back to Port Canaveral when the seas were really rough. I had to travel the whole way home yesterday with nausea/vomitting. But HEY... I'm up this morning and feel 100% better.

I can't wait to hear everybody else's great stories. Maybe I can live some excitement through your reports!

Did anyone rebook onboard????

 

[trivial]

Unfortunately, we didn't meet up with anyone either. Our cruise was pretty good. It was too short of course, but I think any length would be too short. The first night, my wife and I were feeling queasy due to the rough waters, but otherwise we were fine. I caught a cold somewhere along the line, but it didn't have any effect on the cruise for me.

The funniest thing is, I still have my sea legs... I'm so used to walking on the ship and having the floor move around, so it feels strange walking on land. Anyone else have that?

We didn't rebook onboard, because after this vacation, we're flat broke . But we'd love to go again a few years down the road, when the twins are old enough to enjoy and remember it. It would be great to go with other family members as well, but we'll have to see how that goes.

Definitely a fun experience, and it'll be nice to go back when we have money. Not everything was perfect (extensive trip report is forthcoming), but it was still wonderful.

Sorry to hear about Tucker! That's really too bad.

 

[Hygiene99]

Hi everyone...


We are home.
We had a Wonderful cruise...

 

[Hygiene99]

Did not manage to catch up with Many! but we did meet a few!

Was on deck 10 at sailaway, so was everybody else!

To be honest it was like having 6 kids, Jenns parents had not been on the ship and pretty much had to be shown everything Also!! not good at finding things on there own! Read a navigator and decide what they wanted to do --- Forget it!

Yes they enjoyed there BRUNCH @ Beach blanket buffet, While we were upstairs, at Palo!

Same place they dined every other morning, after they had been told 1000 times LOL

Brunch tomorrow morning @ Palo - Deck 10 - upstairs from the place you have been to every other morning!
10:30 AM
So @ 10:30 they went to Breakfast --- We never showed LOL

 

[flowerfacade]

Funny Peter!

I saw only Peter and Jen of this crowd, and both times they looked liked stressed parents! Who knows? Maybe I did too.

We had a wonderful time too, and I am not only broke, but exhausted. Everyone else is ready to go again, but, being the financial manager, I have determined that we will have a to wait a bit! David's sister called us yesterday to see if we can book the same time next year, so they can go too (of course, we asked THIS year...anyway....) We will just have to see.

I too still have sea-legs. I get seasick pretty easily, but with enough meds and lying flat on the bed on the last night I had a pretty good time!

I have a mountain of laundry that I am sorting through and all that kind of thing. My animals were all alive and well when we returned. That is always a relief. In fact, I think we are going to adopt another doggie tomorrow. That call came today. We have one Scottie mix, and we were looking for another. More madness!

Very sorry, Rebekah that you and Tucker were ill. That is just terrible. I think I caught a glimpse of you and Taylor going to the theater one evening. I didn't get a chance to catch up to you(or what I thought might be you) as my kids were browsing in the store. If that was you, your hair did look quite cute!

Laura

 

[Bella8286]

Peter - that it hilarious! I never tried Beach Blanket for breakfast (as I'm not a huge buffet fan) but it must have been good... hehe

Laura - I too have a HUGE pile well make that about 7 loads of laundry to do. We had a blast at Sea World and DDT but even after our stay in Orlando I hated the fact that we already had dirty laundry. My plans were to get that done on the ship but in a report I'll write later, you'll understand why it didn't get done... at least by me. You may have seen me near the theatre. Taylor was chosen as one of Snow White's dwarfs in Golden Mickey's and we also made it to Disney Dreams which was FANTASTIC!!! My hair is rather short and stacked in the back so if it's me you saw... Thanks!

We have been to the dr again today with Tucker and he was given a shot of antibiotic as his ears are still infected... poor thing. Today is the first day he has not vomitted... yet at least. Keeping fingers crossed.

I filed the claim with the travel insurance company today and faxed all of the necessary documentation so we'll see next week how that unfolds.

We did not rebook onboard with building a house and all we're not sure when will be the right timing and Jason figured what's a couple hundred bucks to save when you're spending thousands. I guess he's right but he did PROMISE to go back next year and try it again WITHOUT the baby!!!

 

[3dog2kidmom]

And so, so sad!!

Laura - we are broke and exhausted as well! I really would love to cruise again next January, too; but we are going to have to take a year off and see how things go. Probably skip a year and see. DH did talk to a few different people about DVC while he was there and is convince we are going to buy. So we need to save for that!

None of us had any real issues with seasickness. I took Dramamine the first night, and Dave, Robert and I all took it the last day. I didn't realize it at the time, but Dramamine really wipes me out. I will have to look for the non-drowsy kind next time. I didn't really enjoy my dinner at AP because I was tired from the dramamine and still a little unsure of my stomach. My TA sent us a bottle of wine which I had served at dinner and I was only able to drink one glass. Disappointing but I still enjoyed the show there.

Bev, it was nice to meet you and Steve. We were on deck 10 at sailaway too but didn't see anyone else there except Bev & Steve. I was probably busy taking photos and enjoying watching Taylor dancing!

I have to know who left the surprises on our door! The whole family loved them!! Thank you -- it made our cruise more magical if that's even possible.

Rebekkah, I am so sorry Tucker was sick and you didn't get to enjoy the cruise fully. I'd be curious to know how much your travel insurance reimburses you for. Hopefully that will help you cruise again. What show was Taylor picked for? We went to the 6:15 Golden Mickeys and the 2 p.m. Disney Dreams. We loved both of them! We also hit the family cabaret show in Wavebands one night, and Santa Clause 3 in the Buena Vista theater on Nassau day.

I'll try to post a trip report myself. I can't complain about a single thing on the cruise. Some observations and things I'd do differently next time, though:

* I don't think I'll do land/sea again -- it was too difficult to pack and we had way too much luggage. And yes, I came home with half of what I brought specifically for the cruise unworn.
* If we did do land/sea, I would probably use DCL's transfers. I realized we'd have to take care of our own luggage upon arrival at MCO, but didn't account for the fact that we'd also have to take it to the port, and back, and all the extra tipping that entailed. I figure we spent over $100 in tips for luggage alone.
* I love Palo! But after reading mixed accounts of what or if people tipped over and above the service charge I decided not to budget for extra tipping there. After experiencing such fabulous service, however, we did tip extra and I need to budget for this next time.
* My kids were wiped out from all the fun, and 8:30 was probably too late for them to have dinner. I still wouldn't want the early seating where I imagine the majority of kids were, but maybe an earlier version of 2nd seating is what I'd request next time.
* The day room at the Hyatt yesterday since we didn't have a flight until 7:15 p.m. was a lifesaver. The pool there was really nice and heated, and we had it to ourselves. DH took a nice nap and we just chilled. However, I believe we definately could have made an 11:30 flight even though DCL says not to book before 12:30 or whatever it is.

Well, more later. Since Daniel and Juan Pablo won't be serving dinner to my family tonight, I'm going to have to go find something to cook!

 

[Tikihula]

Hi everybody! We got back at 4pm yesterday and have been staggering around on our sea legs ever since! What a weird feeling.

We had a GREAT time and loved the cruise, especially Castaway Cay. Just drop us off and leave us there next time. The 4 days at WDW were great - OKW is a beautiful resort and our room was wonderful, and very quiet. Spent one night at Shades of Green and that is a beautiful resort with HUGE rooms. Fawlty Towers in Cocoa Beach was just a place to sleep. It's an older building with some wear and tear, but clean. No exhaust fan in the bathroom so you had to crack the bathroom window, which looked out over the exterior corridor. We walked to KFC for dinner and peeked in windows at Ron Jon Surf Shop.

We were a little nervous beforehand, but absolutely loved parasailing at Castaway Cay! Can't wait to do it again. It was like flying gently through the air - even the take-off and landing were smooth and easy. Snorkeling with the stingrays was fun, too.

Shelly, I'm glad we found you and Dave on deck 10, and it's too bad the rest of the gang weren't wearing "alien green" so we could find each other. There were a lot of greenies dancing on deck 9, so we figured that's where everyone was. Found out later that Peter & Jenn and others were up there on deck 10, too.

Rebekkah - So sorry to hear that Tucker was sick the whole time. You guys were so quiet next door that we thought you were out and about the whole time. Sorry we didn't knock on your door sooner and ask if there was anything we could do for you. I hope everyone's feeling better now and the rest of your crew doesn't come down with anything.

Did y'all hear that Al Weiss, head of Disney, was on our cruise? They were also making a video during our cruise and it will be on the Travel Channel the first of March. It's called "Secrets of Disney Cruising."

We were so sad leaving the ship and returning to the real world. We did get a last-minute Disney fix by stopping at Animal Kingdom Lodge and picking up some zebra domes to snack on and making a few purchases at the gift shop. We drove home the way we came in, via the new Western Beltway that enters Disney property near Coronado Springs Resort. It's great for anyone coming in via I-75 and the Florida Turnpike. There's hardly any traffic (yet) and we stopped in the middle of the road for 5 minutes to take pictures of the Disney welcome arch. It's a great improvement over coming in the back way on Hwy 27 and 192.

Our passes expire next January, so we hope to see some of you again at WDW or hopefully on a cruise sometime this year. We ended up taking over 700 pictures and 150 video clips, so we have lots of memories to enjoy.

 

[Tikihula]

Shelly - we changed our seating from 8:00 to 6:00 so we would have time to relax and digest before bedtime, and I'm glad we did. We were at a table with 2 other couples, and each had one child (7 and 11 years old). The room was fairly noisy, but I think it was just due to the large volume of people and not necessarily from the kids. Our server and assistant server were Vanessa from Trinidad and Kim from Belgium. The head server Jean Yves was exceptionally knowledgeable and professional - a very elegant Frenchman with a good sense of humor. Did anyone else have them for their servers?

Our Palo brunch on Wednesday was wonderful. Our server Cusko(?) was excellent - he even managed to find me some goat cheese that wasn't on the buffet, since I had mentioned we had some in Epcot and liked it. However, I had the eggs benedict as a main course and it tasted a little bland. I mentioned it to Cusko and he was very quiet and didn't respond, almost like his feelings were hurt that I criticized the food. Then I felt guilty for mentioning it.
Did you try the Venetian Cherries on the dessert buffet at Palo? They were to die for! I tried to request them the next night at AP, but Jean Yves said they were only served at the Palo brunch. Oh well....

 

[3dog2kidmom]

Have a WONDERful cruise everyone!!! photo takem from the Radisson cam
Wonder sailing past the Two Palms cam

Thank you Verandah Man! We are home and loved our first cruise on the Wonder!! Loved our verandah, too

 

[3dog2kidmom]

Our Palo brunch on Wednesday was wonderful. Our server Cusko(?) was excellent - he even managed to find me some goat cheese that wasn't on the buffet, since I had mentioned we had some in Epcot and liked it. However, I had the eggs benedict as a main course and it tasted a little bland. I mentioned it to Cusko and he was very quiet and didn't respond, almost like his feelings were hurt that I criticized the food. Then I felt guilty for mentioning it.
Did you try the Venetian Cherries on the dessert buffet at Palo? They were to die for! I tried to request them the next night at AP, but Jean Yves said they were only served at the Palo brunch. Oh well....

We had Coskan (I think - from Turkey) for our server at dinner. He was amazing! I couldn't decide between the veal and the seafood pasta, and he gave me a half portion of each. Then we both ordered the chocolate soufle (sp?) for dessert, and without even asking or mentioning it he brought us what was "his" favorite dessert -- one scoop each of mango and two other ice creams in a gorgeous dish with a chocolate sticking out of the top. That doesn't sound too appetizing, does it? But we had to agree, Coskan's choice was even better than the soufle!

Agnes was our server for brunch and we really enjoyed visiting with her about her home in Romania. Coskan remembered us and stopped by to say hello. I had an omelet (best ever! mushroom, spinach, and swiss) for my main course, and yes, I did have the venetian cherries for dessert -- they were delish! Dave didn't have a main -- just "attacked the buffet again" as he put it. We both also tried the fruit cup for dessert at brunch, and he had the peach mousse. Everything was outstanding! I'd never had caviar before either, and it was nice to try that.

 

[3dog2kidmom]

Our passes expire next January, so we hope to see some of you again at WDW or hopefully on a cruise sometime this year.

Hi Bev... we'll be staying at POR when we go again June 23-27.

 

[3dog2kidmom]

Here are a few pics I wanted to share...

Kids at Castaway Cay

Enjoying the sunset our the last night

DD with Stitch (her fave!)

And just for good measure, the view from our room at the Poly

I haven't scanned our Welcome Aboard or family photos yet. Anyone else have photos to share yet? I'm having withdrawals. Already.

 

[trivial]

Couple of things (okay, so it turned out to be a lot more), just briefly:

• I wish we hadn't gone with the verandah, only because we hardly used it (and it was quite a big price increase to get the verandah).
• Our servers were Jojo and Rey, and they were both excellent. They did a great job, but were casual and had a good sense of humor.
• We were initially seated with a woman twice our age (despite our pre-cruise request to be seated with a younger couple) who had two young girls with her. The girls were adorable, but the woman was clearly uninterested in socializing, so we requested a table change afterwards. They asked if the problem was our company, and I said it was, but unfortunately they must have assumed I was refering to the children. The next night, our new tablemates were at Palo, and we were at Palo the next night, so we didn't meet them until our last night. We ended up being seated with a group of 5 adults, all older than us, but they were social and friendly at least.
• We regretted taking second seating for dining, only because it was around 9:30-10:00 by the time we were done our meals each night, which only gave us 1 or 2 hours before we had to hit the sack. As well, when we asked about a change for first seating, we were told there was a huge waiting list. My advice is to book first seating if you're not sure, and later request second seating if you'd prefer it.
• Taking enough clothes for only half our trip and washing them half-way through worked great. We had planned to use the laundry at our resort, but ended up having to do them on the ship. We just dumped in the laundry and walked away, no problems.
• Palo was nice, but it wasn't exempt from something I experienced quite a few times on the cruise: the food was almost cold (not quite cold, but not very warm at all). Between my wife and I, we had several meals that were almost cold, and I don't just mean the "cheapy" restaurants (Pluto's, Pinnochio's, and Beach Blanket Buffet). The meat in the table restaurants was cooked, so I can only assume it was a service issue. From what we heard on the cruise, the vast majority of people had no complaints with their food, so perhaps we were just unlucky.
• Surprisingly, I think my favorite overall meal was the stuffed chicken at Animator's Palette. The filet mignon at Palo was good, but I think I was suffering a bit from steak overload (I ate beef for dinner probably 80% of our 9-night trip).
• Gorgeous weather for sure, although the water at Castaway Cay was too cold even for my wife (which is unheard of). The pool on the ship was nice and warm though. Did anyone see the pools the last night of the cruise? Instant wave pools!