nickglover
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 23, 2000
- Messages
- 382
My wife and I took our first DCL cruise on 11/9. In general we were very impressed with The Wonder and DCL, and we will probably take another cruise in the future.
We were particulary pleased with how easy it was to get on and off the ship, especially the debarkation, as compared to the nightmare that Carnival makes its passengers endure!
Just to get the negatives out of the way early, we had strong winds at first that delayed the departure and led to the sail away party being cancelled. This was followed by rough seas on the first night, and then the tropical deck party in Nassau was cancelled due to rain. We don't hold DCL responsible for the weather.
We really liked our stateroom. It was a Cat. 11 inside room (7619), but we found it to be one of the nicest we have had on any cruise, due to its size, the nice wood and lamps, and the overall design, that appeared to be "well-thought-out". I thought the shower was excellent. It was our first inside room on a cruise (we have had portholes and verandas on Carnival), but we did not miss the view.
We enjoyed all of our meals. Our only buffet was the boarding one in Parrot Cay and we enjoyed the salad, shrimp, fruit, and pork chops in a wine sauce. We ordered fruit and salads at every opportunity and really enjoyed eating some healthy things, along with the filling desserts!
We ate breakfast and lunch at Tritons every day and enjoyed the table service. We had the TAPT rotation, which came as a shock because we only planned for one night in more dressy attire, but we improvised. I particularly liked Tritons.
I expected more in AP from the show, but we enjoyed it. I think the AP menu needs improvement more than the others. Overall, we had very good entrees, excellent salads and appetizers and great desserts. Most nights we ordered an extra vegetable dinner to share, but were not impressed with the emphasis on curried vegetables (we later found out the head chef was Indian!). The overall service, and particularly the timing of the courses, was excellent. How many times have you dined at a fairly nice place at home, and they bring out the entree while you are just starting a salad? This doesn't happen on DCL!
As far as the shows, let me just remind you that we are 47 and 42 with no kids. Having said that, we found Hercules to be intolerable. I thought if we can just make it through the bad jokes and the one lady's annoying screeching voice, the songs would be good, but Hercules is not "song-rich" like Lion King.
We gave up and left early, but were able to laugh about it. We decided to skip the juggler/comedian and The Golden Mickeys, but we gave the shows another chance with Disney Dreams. However, the one lady with the annoying voice was the star. I'm sorry, but she cannot sing - she just screams louder in the singing parts.
Also, I find it very offensive that for the most part the performers just mouthed the words to a canned soundtrack. Take away the dancing and anyone can do that. It looked like Prince Charming and the lady in the Lion King segment actually sung (and boy did she sing well - there...I gave a compliment!) Having said all this, we did enjoy Disney Dreams for the songs and the spectacle.
Also, the rock band on the ship was very good - I think it was something like The Dave Marshall Band (?) - they did a great version of Santana's "Smooth" and they played themed music during the 60s, 70s, and 80s shows in Wavebands (at least they did for the 80s - we missed the 60s and 70s - can't do everything on a cruise.The lead singers were very good, especially the female singer.
The performers from the shows were very good in the 80s presentation. They did several dance numbers including a great Michael Jackson medley with dance routines just like in the videos for Billy Jean, Thriller, and one other.
We enjoyed bingo several times, even though the presenter was a little too corny!
We also saw Pirates of the Caribbean and enjoyed that very much. I'm now in love with Keira Knightley. I can't speak for my wife. I always stay to see the credits - I bet not too many people know there is another movie scene right after the credits, where the monkey...well, I won't ruin it, but stay to the end! The movie theatre was beautiful and so was the show theater, especially with the twinkling lights from Tinkerbell's visit to the ship in Disney Dreams. Both theaters were state of the art and very impressive.
They were also showing Brother Bear and Cold Creek Manor.
In Nassau we took the city historical tour in a van with about 10 others, which was fairly interesting and gave us a chance to see a bit more than the shops. We had lunch at Tritons after the tour and then took a cab to Atlantis and bought the bracelets for the aquariums and looked all around the property.
We also donated money in these machines with 7s on them, although the 7s never seemed to line up properly! We enjoyed the aquariums but thought it was a bit over-priced. I just noticed on the Travel Channel that Mandalay Bay in Vegas has almost the identical setup with ancient ruins and a shark tunnel! I think they said it was about $25 for 2 in Vegas, instead of the $25 each that we paid. Still, we had a great time.
I remember Paradise Island in 1965 when the only structures were palm huts on the beach, so it was quite a change! I was also in Nassau in 1989 and stayed at the British Colonial, which is where we stayed in 1965. It was elegant in 1965 and not so in 1989, like it had seen better days. I was happy to see it is now a Hilton and has been restored to its splendor. (It is on the far end of the main shopping street, away from the cruise ship - where Senor Frogs is located). I looked at my 1989 photos and Atlantis was not yet built, so it was interesting to see the changes. We also saw where they were filming a new James Bond movie around a house in Nassau - it looked exciting.
We enjoyed Castaway Cay very much, although it did look like a beach scene on the 4th of July! It was not as crowded or as loud on the far end of the main beach, and after lunch we enjoyed a walk along the windy adult beach. Having read about the island's past history as a drug smuggling base made it all the more interesting, especially to see the old runway.
The Wonder itself was very impressive, particularly the under-stated Disney theme, which was emphasized more by the characters and the friendliness of the cast members and crew throughout. In general, the cast members, including the servers and crew seemed younger and more positive than on non-DCL cruises.
We visited the Rain Forest room in the spa for $15 each and enjoyed the visit, although the staff seemed a bit disorganized and almost rude - one person was brand new - the other showed her how to do the receipt and then gave me a receipt to sign, with a place for gratuities, but she mentioned we could leave gratuities in some kind of basket on the way out. She asked if we could share a locker, so I said ok - she then walked off (I guess to do a scheduled service) and left us with the lady who didn't know what was going on - she didn't even know where the lockers were!
My wife took the key and after ten minutes came back and said she thought the locker was in the men's locker room, so we eventually found everything on our own. I know we weren't scheduled for expensive treatments, but when the first lady started to walk off, I started to follow her, thinking she would show us around like they do at most spas I have visited, but she said the other lady would help us, so it was a bit confusing but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.
Despite some of my honest cristicisms above, we thoroughly enjoyed our overall cruise experience and will probably cruise again with DCL, either on a 4 or 7-night cruise. We had breakfast on the last day at 8 (I think), were in the car by 8:30, and home in Tampa by 11am!
P.S. If you really enjoyed Hercules, please don't take my comments too seriously - it just wasn't for us!
We were particulary pleased with how easy it was to get on and off the ship, especially the debarkation, as compared to the nightmare that Carnival makes its passengers endure!
Just to get the negatives out of the way early, we had strong winds at first that delayed the departure and led to the sail away party being cancelled. This was followed by rough seas on the first night, and then the tropical deck party in Nassau was cancelled due to rain. We don't hold DCL responsible for the weather.
We really liked our stateroom. It was a Cat. 11 inside room (7619), but we found it to be one of the nicest we have had on any cruise, due to its size, the nice wood and lamps, and the overall design, that appeared to be "well-thought-out". I thought the shower was excellent. It was our first inside room on a cruise (we have had portholes and verandas on Carnival), but we did not miss the view.
We enjoyed all of our meals. Our only buffet was the boarding one in Parrot Cay and we enjoyed the salad, shrimp, fruit, and pork chops in a wine sauce. We ordered fruit and salads at every opportunity and really enjoyed eating some healthy things, along with the filling desserts!
We ate breakfast and lunch at Tritons every day and enjoyed the table service. We had the TAPT rotation, which came as a shock because we only planned for one night in more dressy attire, but we improvised. I particularly liked Tritons.
I expected more in AP from the show, but we enjoyed it. I think the AP menu needs improvement more than the others. Overall, we had very good entrees, excellent salads and appetizers and great desserts. Most nights we ordered an extra vegetable dinner to share, but were not impressed with the emphasis on curried vegetables (we later found out the head chef was Indian!). The overall service, and particularly the timing of the courses, was excellent. How many times have you dined at a fairly nice place at home, and they bring out the entree while you are just starting a salad? This doesn't happen on DCL!
As far as the shows, let me just remind you that we are 47 and 42 with no kids. Having said that, we found Hercules to be intolerable. I thought if we can just make it through the bad jokes and the one lady's annoying screeching voice, the songs would be good, but Hercules is not "song-rich" like Lion King.
We gave up and left early, but were able to laugh about it. We decided to skip the juggler/comedian and The Golden Mickeys, but we gave the shows another chance with Disney Dreams. However, the one lady with the annoying voice was the star. I'm sorry, but she cannot sing - she just screams louder in the singing parts.
Also, I find it very offensive that for the most part the performers just mouthed the words to a canned soundtrack. Take away the dancing and anyone can do that. It looked like Prince Charming and the lady in the Lion King segment actually sung (and boy did she sing well - there...I gave a compliment!) Having said all this, we did enjoy Disney Dreams for the songs and the spectacle.
Also, the rock band on the ship was very good - I think it was something like The Dave Marshall Band (?) - they did a great version of Santana's "Smooth" and they played themed music during the 60s, 70s, and 80s shows in Wavebands (at least they did for the 80s - we missed the 60s and 70s - can't do everything on a cruise.The lead singers were very good, especially the female singer.
The performers from the shows were very good in the 80s presentation. They did several dance numbers including a great Michael Jackson medley with dance routines just like in the videos for Billy Jean, Thriller, and one other.
We enjoyed bingo several times, even though the presenter was a little too corny!
We also saw Pirates of the Caribbean and enjoyed that very much. I'm now in love with Keira Knightley. I can't speak for my wife. I always stay to see the credits - I bet not too many people know there is another movie scene right after the credits, where the monkey...well, I won't ruin it, but stay to the end! The movie theatre was beautiful and so was the show theater, especially with the twinkling lights from Tinkerbell's visit to the ship in Disney Dreams. Both theaters were state of the art and very impressive.
They were also showing Brother Bear and Cold Creek Manor.
In Nassau we took the city historical tour in a van with about 10 others, which was fairly interesting and gave us a chance to see a bit more than the shops. We had lunch at Tritons after the tour and then took a cab to Atlantis and bought the bracelets for the aquariums and looked all around the property.
We also donated money in these machines with 7s on them, although the 7s never seemed to line up properly! We enjoyed the aquariums but thought it was a bit over-priced. I just noticed on the Travel Channel that Mandalay Bay in Vegas has almost the identical setup with ancient ruins and a shark tunnel! I think they said it was about $25 for 2 in Vegas, instead of the $25 each that we paid. Still, we had a great time.
I remember Paradise Island in 1965 when the only structures were palm huts on the beach, so it was quite a change! I was also in Nassau in 1989 and stayed at the British Colonial, which is where we stayed in 1965. It was elegant in 1965 and not so in 1989, like it had seen better days. I was happy to see it is now a Hilton and has been restored to its splendor. (It is on the far end of the main shopping street, away from the cruise ship - where Senor Frogs is located). I looked at my 1989 photos and Atlantis was not yet built, so it was interesting to see the changes. We also saw where they were filming a new James Bond movie around a house in Nassau - it looked exciting.
We enjoyed Castaway Cay very much, although it did look like a beach scene on the 4th of July! It was not as crowded or as loud on the far end of the main beach, and after lunch we enjoyed a walk along the windy adult beach. Having read about the island's past history as a drug smuggling base made it all the more interesting, especially to see the old runway.
The Wonder itself was very impressive, particularly the under-stated Disney theme, which was emphasized more by the characters and the friendliness of the cast members and crew throughout. In general, the cast members, including the servers and crew seemed younger and more positive than on non-DCL cruises.
We visited the Rain Forest room in the spa for $15 each and enjoyed the visit, although the staff seemed a bit disorganized and almost rude - one person was brand new - the other showed her how to do the receipt and then gave me a receipt to sign, with a place for gratuities, but she mentioned we could leave gratuities in some kind of basket on the way out. She asked if we could share a locker, so I said ok - she then walked off (I guess to do a scheduled service) and left us with the lady who didn't know what was going on - she didn't even know where the lockers were!
My wife took the key and after ten minutes came back and said she thought the locker was in the men's locker room, so we eventually found everything on our own. I know we weren't scheduled for expensive treatments, but when the first lady started to walk off, I started to follow her, thinking she would show us around like they do at most spas I have visited, but she said the other lady would help us, so it was a bit confusing but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.
Despite some of my honest cristicisms above, we thoroughly enjoyed our overall cruise experience and will probably cruise again with DCL, either on a 4 or 7-night cruise. We had breakfast on the last day at 8 (I think), were in the car by 8:30, and home in Tampa by 11am!
P.S. If you really enjoyed Hercules, please don't take my comments too seriously - it just wasn't for us!
