manchurianbrownbear
<font color=green>Not very concise<br><font color=
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2002
- Messages
- 1,160
Sorry this is kind of long!
Our party includes me, DW, DS12, DS8, DD7, DD4, MIL, FIL, BIL, SIL & my little niece, age 2.
I'm going to kind of "wing it" on my report! So many DISers have such great reports, so I'd like to take a little more time to gather my thoughts, but I'm afraid if I wait too long, I'll never get this done.
We left WDW a little before 10am on 11/6 and arrived at the port a few minutes after 11am. After planning this trip for almost two years, it was really awesome to see the ship in the distance. It really exists!
The route to DCL terminal is very well marked from the freeway and once you get to the driveway for the terminal/parking lot there are several DCL employees to point you in the right direction and tell you what you'll need to have ready at each stop along the way until you board the ship.
There were several porters waiting to take our checked luggage. I dropped off everyone and, since we were there a little early, I got a good parking spot and had a short walk back to the terminal to join the family.
The kids were already camped out in front of the TVs watching Disney movies and DW was in line getting us checked in. She had all our documentation put together and it took less than 10 minutes to get checked in and have KTTW assigned. Everything went so quickly; I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to spend a few minutes looking at the very cool model of the ship!
We were in line to board a little after 11:30 and there were maybe 50 people in front of us. We pulled the kids away from the TV to wait in line and it looked like it might be a LONG half hour waiting to board because after getting run down for five days at WDW they were a little crabby and not excited about leaving the movie to sit in line!
Pluto came out to meet and greet so DW took the three younger kids to get in line for an autograph and picture. Once again, Disney efficiency made our life "difficult"
; they started boarding the ship around 11:45 and we had to pull the kids out of Pluto's line to get on the ship. We were pretty unpopular parents at this point!
We had our first of many family pictures taken before boarding. DW and kids raced on board ahead of me while I waited for my MIL/FIL so I didn't get to hear our family announced. You snooze, you lose!
Once again, it was awesome to see the atrium that we'd seen in videos, brochures, Travel Channel specials,etc... in person! Next we used a DIS tip and bypassed the first refillable mug table (with a line) and went around the corner toward Parrot Cay and purchased a soda mug (for $15) at a table with no line. We have used refillable mugs at WDW before and one thing that was different on the Wonder is that they put a refill sticker on the KTTW. There were a few CMs on our cruise who wouldn't fill the mug until I showed the sticker. So, if you're thinking of buying mugs to share with the family, keep in mind that it's not as easy to share on the ship as it is at WDW!
The buffet at Parrot Cay was great! I am not real good at describing a meal (as this report will undoubtedly prove!), but I do remember enjoying the peel and eat shrimp that everyone talks about and there were a lot of great desserts! I wanted to make sure I didn't get too full to enjoy dinner that evening. We got the TAP rotation.
After lunch we went to get the kids checked in to the clubs. They were all in different clubs, but we were able to get them signed up at the same location. I'm amazed at the enthusiasm and friendliness of the counselors. I love kids, but I don't think I could do that job for more than a couple hours!
Around 1:30 we finally checked into our (SPH) room, 5022 & 5024, we had adjoining rooms with MIL/FIL. The attention to detail on the ship is amazing. Everything is very elegant, but still "user friendly"; a lot of wood panel and trim. We had a snack tray and sparkling cider waiting for us in the room when we got there. Very difficult to not spoil my dinner!
Our luggage was all delivered within a couple minutes of when we got to the room. This was a relief since we knew we'd need to iron and/or apply wrinkle releaser to our dinner clothes. I don't know what Disney can do about it, but it's kind of tough to get dinner clothes ready for dinner that first night. Especially since we were in Tritons. We'd hoped we'd get one of the more casual dining rooms the first night. But, it definitely didn't ruin our day!
The rooms are very comfortable. We had only been on one previous cruise, RCCL Sovereign of the Seas, in 1989, and our DCL room seemed "roomier" than I remember our SOTS room.
The younger kids wanted to swim, so we all went to the Mickey pool. There were already several kids in the pool, but it was as empty as we'd see it the rest of trip.
My DS12, who is usually a very light, picky eater, asked if he could get a snack. This was kind of surprising, since he had eaten a pretty big lunch. We told him to go ahead and get a burger and fries. The look on his face when we told him he didn't have to pay for any of the food was one of the highlights of the trip for me!
After the younger kids had a quick swim we returned to the room to get ready for the lifeboat drill. The kids enjoyed wearing the life jackets. It was kind of like dressing up for Halloween again!
Next stop was the sail away party which had to be moved inside because of rain. This probably wouldn't have bothered me at all if I hadn't read so many trip reports in which other DISers have said how much they enjoyed the party. So, we had fun, but it was pretty crowded in the atrium and where we watched from the 4th floor. It was kind of difficult for the kids to see. We left a little before it ended and went out on the 4th floor deck to watch the ship pull away. Coincidentally, the Sovereign of the Seas was docked right next to us.
Back in our room, we continued to watch land fade away. We saw about half a dozen dolphins in the water which was pretty cool. Not something you see in Minnesota!
Now the wrinkle releaser was flying and DW went to iron some things. We've had good luck with wrinkle releaser at home and it didn't let us down on the cruise either. I don't think you could tell that my blazer had spent several hours in a suitcase!
More pictures in the atrium before dinner. I was very happy that I had enough of an appetite to enjoy dinner.
Our servers were FANTASTIC! We had Stephanie, Das and Rodrigo. Everyone was great, but Das really stood out. I wish he could have sat down and ate with us. I really enjoyed talking to him.
It's really nice being pampered! Starting with having your chair pulled out for you and having your napkins laid in your lap to the constant stops to refill drinks, check on how everything tasted, etc... They were all also great with the kids; folding paper frogs for my niece, cutting the meat for the younger ones, etc...
I'll do my best to recall what I ate, but I don't know if I'll be real helpful here! I liked everything (got that golfknut and minnieluvzmickey?!?!), but I'm NOT a picky eater. And, at home, with four kids, involved in a lot of activities, we end up eating a lot of fast food and frozen pizza, so my standards aren't real high.
I had the duck, and for dessert I had the creme broulee and ate much of DW's apple tart. Like I said everything was great. I'd have to say that I enjoyed the tart more than the creme broulee.
DW brought the three younger kids to their clubs quickly in the middle of dinner so it would be a little easier for the adults to enjoy dinner. DS12 stayed with us and, despite having eaten a big lunch and the burger/fries by the Mickey pool, he still ate a big dinner.
We got out of dinner pretty late and had to kind of rush to get to Golden Mickeys that night. We learned that having kids in different clubs makes checking them out a long process!
I thought Rona's interviews were really entertaining! And the show itself was also really good. For both the adults and the kids.
The younger kids and Grandpa and Grandma went to bed after the show and DW, DS12 and I went up on deck 10 for some fresh air and to enjoy the ocean. We checked out the ESPN club while we were up there and DS had to try the nachos. He was still loving not having to pay for his food!
We finally turned in, very tired, around 11pm. We were awakened by DS12, who was sleeping in MIL/FIL's room, about 2:15 am and I ended up cleaning up all his free food off the carpet outside the restroom in my in-laws room! Not fun! Then I couldn't get to sleep, fearing that he would be quarantined. This isn't in the DCL trip planning video!
Our party includes me, DW, DS12, DS8, DD7, DD4, MIL, FIL, BIL, SIL & my little niece, age 2.
I'm going to kind of "wing it" on my report! So many DISers have such great reports, so I'd like to take a little more time to gather my thoughts, but I'm afraid if I wait too long, I'll never get this done.
We left WDW a little before 10am on 11/6 and arrived at the port a few minutes after 11am. After planning this trip for almost two years, it was really awesome to see the ship in the distance. It really exists!
The route to DCL terminal is very well marked from the freeway and once you get to the driveway for the terminal/parking lot there are several DCL employees to point you in the right direction and tell you what you'll need to have ready at each stop along the way until you board the ship.
There were several porters waiting to take our checked luggage. I dropped off everyone and, since we were there a little early, I got a good parking spot and had a short walk back to the terminal to join the family.
The kids were already camped out in front of the TVs watching Disney movies and DW was in line getting us checked in. She had all our documentation put together and it took less than 10 minutes to get checked in and have KTTW assigned. Everything went so quickly; I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to spend a few minutes looking at the very cool model of the ship!
We were in line to board a little after 11:30 and there were maybe 50 people in front of us. We pulled the kids away from the TV to wait in line and it looked like it might be a LONG half hour waiting to board because after getting run down for five days at WDW they were a little crabby and not excited about leaving the movie to sit in line!
Pluto came out to meet and greet so DW took the three younger kids to get in line for an autograph and picture. Once again, Disney efficiency made our life "difficult"
; they started boarding the ship around 11:45 and we had to pull the kids out of Pluto's line to get on the ship. We were pretty unpopular parents at this point!We had our first of many family pictures taken before boarding. DW and kids raced on board ahead of me while I waited for my MIL/FIL so I didn't get to hear our family announced. You snooze, you lose!
Once again, it was awesome to see the atrium that we'd seen in videos, brochures, Travel Channel specials,etc... in person! Next we used a DIS tip and bypassed the first refillable mug table (with a line) and went around the corner toward Parrot Cay and purchased a soda mug (for $15) at a table with no line. We have used refillable mugs at WDW before and one thing that was different on the Wonder is that they put a refill sticker on the KTTW. There were a few CMs on our cruise who wouldn't fill the mug until I showed the sticker. So, if you're thinking of buying mugs to share with the family, keep in mind that it's not as easy to share on the ship as it is at WDW!
The buffet at Parrot Cay was great! I am not real good at describing a meal (as this report will undoubtedly prove!), but I do remember enjoying the peel and eat shrimp that everyone talks about and there were a lot of great desserts! I wanted to make sure I didn't get too full to enjoy dinner that evening. We got the TAP rotation.
After lunch we went to get the kids checked in to the clubs. They were all in different clubs, but we were able to get them signed up at the same location. I'm amazed at the enthusiasm and friendliness of the counselors. I love kids, but I don't think I could do that job for more than a couple hours!
Around 1:30 we finally checked into our (SPH) room, 5022 & 5024, we had adjoining rooms with MIL/FIL. The attention to detail on the ship is amazing. Everything is very elegant, but still "user friendly"; a lot of wood panel and trim. We had a snack tray and sparkling cider waiting for us in the room when we got there. Very difficult to not spoil my dinner!
Our luggage was all delivered within a couple minutes of when we got to the room. This was a relief since we knew we'd need to iron and/or apply wrinkle releaser to our dinner clothes. I don't know what Disney can do about it, but it's kind of tough to get dinner clothes ready for dinner that first night. Especially since we were in Tritons. We'd hoped we'd get one of the more casual dining rooms the first night. But, it definitely didn't ruin our day!
The rooms are very comfortable. We had only been on one previous cruise, RCCL Sovereign of the Seas, in 1989, and our DCL room seemed "roomier" than I remember our SOTS room.
The younger kids wanted to swim, so we all went to the Mickey pool. There were already several kids in the pool, but it was as empty as we'd see it the rest of trip.
My DS12, who is usually a very light, picky eater, asked if he could get a snack. This was kind of surprising, since he had eaten a pretty big lunch. We told him to go ahead and get a burger and fries. The look on his face when we told him he didn't have to pay for any of the food was one of the highlights of the trip for me!
After the younger kids had a quick swim we returned to the room to get ready for the lifeboat drill. The kids enjoyed wearing the life jackets. It was kind of like dressing up for Halloween again!
Next stop was the sail away party which had to be moved inside because of rain. This probably wouldn't have bothered me at all if I hadn't read so many trip reports in which other DISers have said how much they enjoyed the party. So, we had fun, but it was pretty crowded in the atrium and where we watched from the 4th floor. It was kind of difficult for the kids to see. We left a little before it ended and went out on the 4th floor deck to watch the ship pull away. Coincidentally, the Sovereign of the Seas was docked right next to us.
Back in our room, we continued to watch land fade away. We saw about half a dozen dolphins in the water which was pretty cool. Not something you see in Minnesota!
Now the wrinkle releaser was flying and DW went to iron some things. We've had good luck with wrinkle releaser at home and it didn't let us down on the cruise either. I don't think you could tell that my blazer had spent several hours in a suitcase!
More pictures in the atrium before dinner. I was very happy that I had enough of an appetite to enjoy dinner.
Our servers were FANTASTIC! We had Stephanie, Das and Rodrigo. Everyone was great, but Das really stood out. I wish he could have sat down and ate with us. I really enjoyed talking to him.
It's really nice being pampered! Starting with having your chair pulled out for you and having your napkins laid in your lap to the constant stops to refill drinks, check on how everything tasted, etc... They were all also great with the kids; folding paper frogs for my niece, cutting the meat for the younger ones, etc...
I'll do my best to recall what I ate, but I don't know if I'll be real helpful here! I liked everything (got that golfknut and minnieluvzmickey?!?!), but I'm NOT a picky eater. And, at home, with four kids, involved in a lot of activities, we end up eating a lot of fast food and frozen pizza, so my standards aren't real high.
I had the duck, and for dessert I had the creme broulee and ate much of DW's apple tart. Like I said everything was great. I'd have to say that I enjoyed the tart more than the creme broulee.
DW brought the three younger kids to their clubs quickly in the middle of dinner so it would be a little easier for the adults to enjoy dinner. DS12 stayed with us and, despite having eaten a big lunch and the burger/fries by the Mickey pool, he still ate a big dinner.
We got out of dinner pretty late and had to kind of rush to get to Golden Mickeys that night. We learned that having kids in different clubs makes checking them out a long process!
I thought Rona's interviews were really entertaining! And the show itself was also really good. For both the adults and the kids.
The younger kids and Grandpa and Grandma went to bed after the show and DW, DS12 and I went up on deck 10 for some fresh air and to enjoy the ocean. We checked out the ESPN club while we were up there and DS had to try the nachos. He was still loving not having to pay for his food!
We finally turned in, very tired, around 11pm. We were awakened by DS12, who was sleeping in MIL/FIL's room, about 2:15 am and I ended up cleaning up all his free food off the carpet outside the restroom in my in-laws room! Not fun! Then I couldn't get to sleep, fearing that he would be quarantined. This isn't in the DCL trip planning video!
