Hey all! Just back from 10/12 Wonder...here's the play by play recap....
Cast: Myself, DH 36, DD 9, DS 4
Day 0: Arrived late night before and stayed at airport Amerisuites. Rooms were ok, nothing great. I travel a lot for business a lot for business and prefer a more "comfortable" room, but when you are paying out of pocket, hey $70 a night and a free breakfast buffet sounded pretty good.
Day 1: Happy Limo showed up right on schedule in a stretch limo. My daughter loved this. I used Happy because unlike FL Tours, they accepted credit cards. FL tours wanted cash up front, and I hda a hard time with that, as $250 in cash is way more than I usually put in my wallet. I felt like with Happy, if they didn't show up I could just dispute the charge, but with FL Tours, what was to keep them to showing up on time to pick us up at boat? The $250 included the tip with Happy and was for Port->Universal Hard Rock -> Airport.
Arrived at port around 11:30 am, no wait to get KTTW and then board ship at Noon. Must pass through metal detector, bag inspection to get in building. Cast helpers everywhere. Neat Magic replica center stage in building, plus tv's playing cartoons w/couches helped us a bit with the kids.
Boarded ship, went to buffet, food ok, kids had bathing suits on, went straight to mickey pool. no crowds yet. I made spa reservations (and later cancelled a few of them).
Went to room at 2pm, Had rooms 7512 and 7514. My mother was supposed to sail with us, so we had booked 2 rooms. When we tried to cancel one, we could not, because each room only slept 3 - and there were no cabins left that could sleep 4. So we ended up paying the adult price for the 2 kids. I have filed a claim with AccessAmerica for the lost $$, but honestly, their T&C's are so tight, I doubt I will see any of that money. The reason why my mother cancelled, is because 3 weeks prior to sailing my father went in the hospital w/pnemonia. He is still there in intensive care even now and they are releasing him to hospice tomorrow. Will let you all know if the insurance paid off or not....
Sail a way party on deck at 5:00 pm, was fun, danced with my daughter, started to rain...still fun. Love the little dances they do, learn them and you can do them over and over each night!
We had late dining, so we went to Hercules at 6:30, that was fabulous. We then went to a dance party, then to Dinner at Animators Palete at 8:30 (APTA rotation). Our servers were Maria from Hungary and Sunhill from India. They were incredibly nice & friendly considering the behavior of our 4 year old. We loved the dining room and the show.
Back to our spacious cabin, we ended up only using 1 of them, and the 2 kids shared the sofa, with one on each side. thank goodness they are still small and didn't know any better. Otherwise it would have been my husband and I in two different rooms and that was not going to happen!
Day 2: Was interested in going to the exercise classes at the spa - they were all scheduled at 8am. the kids club doesn't open until 9! What are they thinking!
Worked out in gym from 9:15 - 10:30 or so. Nice equipment. Good view of the captians deck from treadmill.
Then off to Cable Beach. We didn't want to shell out the $200 or so for a 6 hour excursion to Blue Lagoon, as I know my kids would not have liked the boat ride, or being away from the boat for that long. So we took at cab from the port to Cable Beach, the driver suggested the beach by the Wyndham Crystal Casino, so that is where we went. It had a very nice calm bay area, and the kids played in the water and sand happily for 1.5 hours until we went back to the boat. Cost = $40 round trip.
Next up: Spa appointment. For whatever reason I ended up with the Ionithermie Algae Super-Detox. What a waste that was. The therapist "measured me" then put some stuff on my belly, hooked me up to some electrodes and I felt like I was having labor contractions. After 20 minutes she measured me again and I somehow "lost" 6 inches off my 5'7" 140 pound frame. The 20 year old therapist exclaimed if I could loose 6 inches in 20 mins, imagine what the results would be if I bought 24 of their at home miracle ampules. yeah right. I cancelled the $115 cabana massage I had scheduled for CC day. I figured I could never relax paying $115 + tip for a mediocre massage, especially when I can get one back home for $75 with a massuse with experience. I did get a massage with my spa taster - more on that later.
Tonights show: Juggling w/Jeff Harris. The kids loved it. then dinner at Parrots cay, Again fun dinner. Then out to the deck party to dance again.
Day 3: Castaway Cay. Nice island, big crowd on beach. Beach was ok, guess I'm spoiled by going to some pretty nice places (turks and caicos, columbus Isle) the BBQ was fun. The kids took a break from the beach to attend the "Treasure Hunts" with the kids club.
Disney Dreams show that night. Absolutely Fabulous! Was definity my favorite. Was trying to ascertain whether the cast was singing to a sound track or live, wasn't sure, but I think some of the performance was on soundtrack. It didn't matter that much, as the show was incredible.
Day 4: Day at sea. Had "spa taster", massage and facial. there was not a sink in the room I had this in, so instead of washing my face between creams, she used a toner. This left my face really gritty when I left. I suggest they call Canyon Ranch and ask them to run the spa, it really was not that impressive at all. I didn't purchase any of their products, but other people must have, as I saw plenty of bags being packed with merchandise. I did not get to enjoy the rainforest room, but it looked very nice.
Kids played on deck and ate the ice cream from scoops, which was soft serve and as soon as you got it back to your table it was melted into ice cream soup.
Tritons for lunch. Very yummy and relaxing. We also went their 2 times for breakfast, as they have table service. The other places are buffet.
Attended the kids show in the Walt Disney theater. Cast noted there were 700 kids on board age 3-12!! we had a full sailing. My DD9 was only getting interested in the kids club the last day.
Show: Golden Mickeys - was fun. Our family wore matching outfits and had fun being interviewed by Rona Rivers.
Did some shopping and purchased photos, then back to cabin to pack.
Day 4: Hubby had wakeup call from Mickey Mouse, 6am for non-us citizens to get green card back. We ate at AP, then off the boat at 8:30. Happy Limo arrived on time and deposited us at the Hard Rock Hotel. I was not prepared for the loud music at the pool, and the feel of the boat still swaying. None of us were sea sick, or otherwise ill on board. amazing considering the 2700 folks on board with us. We washed our hands constantly and made good use of the antiseptic wipes outside the dining rooms.
Spent 2 days at HRH, one just relaxing, One at Islands of Adventure. Didn't really like Islands of Adventure, not alot for the little kids, and the rides all seemed a little rough, none just for entertainment/fun.
Thats about it! Overall, fun but exhausting vacation!
Cast: Myself, DH 36, DD 9, DS 4
Day 0: Arrived late night before and stayed at airport Amerisuites. Rooms were ok, nothing great. I travel a lot for business a lot for business and prefer a more "comfortable" room, but when you are paying out of pocket, hey $70 a night and a free breakfast buffet sounded pretty good.
Day 1: Happy Limo showed up right on schedule in a stretch limo. My daughter loved this. I used Happy because unlike FL Tours, they accepted credit cards. FL tours wanted cash up front, and I hda a hard time with that, as $250 in cash is way more than I usually put in my wallet. I felt like with Happy, if they didn't show up I could just dispute the charge, but with FL Tours, what was to keep them to showing up on time to pick us up at boat? The $250 included the tip with Happy and was for Port->Universal Hard Rock -> Airport.
Arrived at port around 11:30 am, no wait to get KTTW and then board ship at Noon. Must pass through metal detector, bag inspection to get in building. Cast helpers everywhere. Neat Magic replica center stage in building, plus tv's playing cartoons w/couches helped us a bit with the kids.
Boarded ship, went to buffet, food ok, kids had bathing suits on, went straight to mickey pool. no crowds yet. I made spa reservations (and later cancelled a few of them).
Went to room at 2pm, Had rooms 7512 and 7514. My mother was supposed to sail with us, so we had booked 2 rooms. When we tried to cancel one, we could not, because each room only slept 3 - and there were no cabins left that could sleep 4. So we ended up paying the adult price for the 2 kids. I have filed a claim with AccessAmerica for the lost $$, but honestly, their T&C's are so tight, I doubt I will see any of that money. The reason why my mother cancelled, is because 3 weeks prior to sailing my father went in the hospital w/pnemonia. He is still there in intensive care even now and they are releasing him to hospice tomorrow. Will let you all know if the insurance paid off or not....
Sail a way party on deck at 5:00 pm, was fun, danced with my daughter, started to rain...still fun. Love the little dances they do, learn them and you can do them over and over each night!
We had late dining, so we went to Hercules at 6:30, that was fabulous. We then went to a dance party, then to Dinner at Animators Palete at 8:30 (APTA rotation). Our servers were Maria from Hungary and Sunhill from India. They were incredibly nice & friendly considering the behavior of our 4 year old. We loved the dining room and the show.
Back to our spacious cabin, we ended up only using 1 of them, and the 2 kids shared the sofa, with one on each side. thank goodness they are still small and didn't know any better. Otherwise it would have been my husband and I in two different rooms and that was not going to happen!
Day 2: Was interested in going to the exercise classes at the spa - they were all scheduled at 8am. the kids club doesn't open until 9! What are they thinking!
Worked out in gym from 9:15 - 10:30 or so. Nice equipment. Good view of the captians deck from treadmill.
Then off to Cable Beach. We didn't want to shell out the $200 or so for a 6 hour excursion to Blue Lagoon, as I know my kids would not have liked the boat ride, or being away from the boat for that long. So we took at cab from the port to Cable Beach, the driver suggested the beach by the Wyndham Crystal Casino, so that is where we went. It had a very nice calm bay area, and the kids played in the water and sand happily for 1.5 hours until we went back to the boat. Cost = $40 round trip.
Next up: Spa appointment. For whatever reason I ended up with the Ionithermie Algae Super-Detox. What a waste that was. The therapist "measured me" then put some stuff on my belly, hooked me up to some electrodes and I felt like I was having labor contractions. After 20 minutes she measured me again and I somehow "lost" 6 inches off my 5'7" 140 pound frame. The 20 year old therapist exclaimed if I could loose 6 inches in 20 mins, imagine what the results would be if I bought 24 of their at home miracle ampules. yeah right. I cancelled the $115 cabana massage I had scheduled for CC day. I figured I could never relax paying $115 + tip for a mediocre massage, especially when I can get one back home for $75 with a massuse with experience. I did get a massage with my spa taster - more on that later.
Tonights show: Juggling w/Jeff Harris. The kids loved it. then dinner at Parrots cay, Again fun dinner. Then out to the deck party to dance again.
Day 3: Castaway Cay. Nice island, big crowd on beach. Beach was ok, guess I'm spoiled by going to some pretty nice places (turks and caicos, columbus Isle) the BBQ was fun. The kids took a break from the beach to attend the "Treasure Hunts" with the kids club.
Disney Dreams show that night. Absolutely Fabulous! Was definity my favorite. Was trying to ascertain whether the cast was singing to a sound track or live, wasn't sure, but I think some of the performance was on soundtrack. It didn't matter that much, as the show was incredible.
Day 4: Day at sea. Had "spa taster", massage and facial. there was not a sink in the room I had this in, so instead of washing my face between creams, she used a toner. This left my face really gritty when I left. I suggest they call Canyon Ranch and ask them to run the spa, it really was not that impressive at all. I didn't purchase any of their products, but other people must have, as I saw plenty of bags being packed with merchandise. I did not get to enjoy the rainforest room, but it looked very nice.
Kids played on deck and ate the ice cream from scoops, which was soft serve and as soon as you got it back to your table it was melted into ice cream soup.
Tritons for lunch. Very yummy and relaxing. We also went their 2 times for breakfast, as they have table service. The other places are buffet.
Attended the kids show in the Walt Disney theater. Cast noted there were 700 kids on board age 3-12!! we had a full sailing. My DD9 was only getting interested in the kids club the last day.
Show: Golden Mickeys - was fun. Our family wore matching outfits and had fun being interviewed by Rona Rivers.
Did some shopping and purchased photos, then back to cabin to pack.
Day 4: Hubby had wakeup call from Mickey Mouse, 6am for non-us citizens to get green card back. We ate at AP, then off the boat at 8:30. Happy Limo arrived on time and deposited us at the Hard Rock Hotel. I was not prepared for the loud music at the pool, and the feel of the boat still swaying. None of us were sea sick, or otherwise ill on board. amazing considering the 2700 folks on board with us. We washed our hands constantly and made good use of the antiseptic wipes outside the dining rooms.
Spent 2 days at HRH, one just relaxing, One at Islands of Adventure. Didn't really like Islands of Adventure, not alot for the little kids, and the rides all seemed a little rough, none just for entertainment/fun.
Thats about it! Overall, fun but exhausting vacation!
