12/14/2008 4 Night Wonder

[adnil530]

Well, this is our 8th day without power here. I am just glad that our vacation is soon. Hurricaine Ike just about did us in. I'm in Austin attending a seminar. But we have to go home tomorrow. We won't have power until next Thursday they say.

Wow, eight days without power. I know what that feels like. We were about 10 days without water and a handful of days without power during the Loma Prieta earthquake. We lived on Treasure Island at the time and of course a section of the Bay bridge had collasped, so we got back and forth by boat a few days.

Nature's forces can bring havoc to our lives for sure.

I hope you have power soon and everything gets back to normal. We''ll all be cruising before we know it

 

[Betty Breed]

Woo Hoo!! Ike lost! We're up and running again. We got power back about 7:56 last night. Didn't even try the internet. Wasn't sure that this old laptop would survive total 10 days without electricity. Just glad the family is ok.

On a happier note--getting ready to make the final payment on the cruise and the after trip!

Looking forward to our trip.

 

[ArmandXG]

Only 23 more sailings, then it's our turn! (not that I'm counting )

 

[tinkerbell*Xo]

Wooooo Hooooooo! I'm so ready

Is anyone planning on doing any excursions?!

 

[Betty Breed]

We're not planning any excursions so far as I know of. The last time we were on the Wonder we did too much stuff on shore and did not get to enjoy what the ship had to offer.

 

[Pam I Am]

Hi everyone! My name is Pam and I live in Maine. I made reservations for this cruise only about 3 weeks ago. It will be me and my 23 year old daughter going. She is currently in Australia doing research (she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship) and she'll return home just before Thanksgiving. I wanted to do something special since she's been away since February, so I decided on a mother/daughter Disney cruise!

We've been to Disney World many times, but this will be the first cruise for both of us. We will arrive on Dec. 11th and will be at All Star Music for 3 nights before the cruise (I love it at Pop Century, but it was full). I planned and booked my own "land and sea" package and made my own flight reservations to help keep the cost down. Still, I feel very blessed to be able to do this whole trip!

I was happy to stumble on this site and find others that will be on the same cruise! I've learned some things already. I had read a little about putting magnets on cabin doors - but this fish hanger thing is new to me. I shall have to investigate it!

You won't see much razzle-dazzle on my posts since I am technically challenged. Thanks to your count downs, I now know how many days before we set sail!

 

[adnil530]

Hi everyone! My name is Pam and I live in Maine. I made reservations for this cruise only about 3 weeks ago. It will be me and my 23 year old daughter going. She is currently in Australia doing research (she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship) and she'll return home just before Thanksgiving. I wanted to do something special since she's been away since February, so I decided on a mother/daughter Disney cruise!

We've been to Disney World many times, but this will be the first cruise for both of us. We will arrive on Dec. 11th and will be at All Star Music for 3 nights before the cruise (I love it at Pop Century, but it was full). I planned and booked my own "land and sea" package and made my own flight reservations to help keep the cost down. Still, I feel very blessed to be able to do this whole trip!

I was happy to stumble on this site and find others that will be on the same cruise! I've learned some things already. I had read a little about putting magnets on cabin doors - but this fish hanger thing is new to me. I shall have to investigate it!

You won't see much razzle-dazzle on my posts since I am technically challenged. Thanks to your count downs, I now know how many days before we set sail!

Hi Pam I am

Welcome aboard. This will be our first cruise too. We are so looking forward to it. Good for you that you were able to get your ressies in place.

Australia has always been my dream destination! We wanted to go for our 10th anniversary, but hubby got transferred to London, so we went there instead. We are now going to celebrate our 25th and we still have not been. I would love to have a newspaper from Australia. It doesn't have to be too current. Have daughter bring one back and I would be ecstatic to find one in my fish hanger! (Please, please have daughter bring me a newspaper!)

I know that the Disney Wonder sailing 12/14-12/18 will be a great one and that the people on this board will get something going.

As far as excursions, we have booked the Castaway Cay getaway package with the snorkels, bikes, floaties and we also booked the double watercrafts.

I am on the fence about Nassau. We wanted to do the city tour, but it doesn't leave till after noon. So, I contacted another tour operator other than Disney and the price is better, you can customize the tour selecting the sites you want to see. I would prefer to tour early and explore after. If anyone else in interested in the private tour, pm me and I will let you know what the tour operator has offered. The bus seats 14.

We don't want to go to a water park, I want to see the local sites if I see anything. I know a lot of people rent a hotel room and do the Atlantis, but don't want to go to Nassau to do a water park. We'd like to tour and shop then go back to the ship. There are 4 of us here, so if there are others who would like to do an earlier tour, I'd be glad to host it. PM me if interested and I will send what info I have thus far and you can decide from there.

I am so excited about this trip. I haven't cruised yet, but I am already planning my second cruise. My countdown ticker is not going fast enough

 

[Betty Breed]

Welcome aboard Pam I Am! Glad to have you and DDD along.

 

[ArmandXG]

Welcome Pam,
We are not planning anything on Nassau. Spending most of our $$$ on C.C. and on the ship. DH (45) and I (44) are escorting my elderly parents, so we are keeping it close to the boat.
We have the extreme getaway planned, and the watercraft tour as well. I'm hoping that we can split the getaway plan with my parents, as in allowing them to do the stingray thing while we take a bike tour. They can float while we snorkle. My dad use to ride motorcycles and currently rides a scooter (to my dismay ) so I think he can handle a watercraft. Surprisingly, my mom said she would be willing to ride with my dad. This is either going to be really fun or really bad!
My DH said we could do anything we want as long as we don't miss lunch this time. On our first cruise, we spent several hours in the water snorkling and looking for Mickey that we pretty much missed lunch. We got the last pieces of cold chicken before they closed the doors and got the last of the ice cream before they started cleaning the machine. The bonus was, we also got double conch coolers. They were closing the bar and the bartender didn't want to waste it, so she gave me two cups! YUM! My HD took a picture of me and my two drinks and titled it "the lushie with the slushies". Looking forward to more of those!!!
By the way, 21 more sailings! I'm packing and HD is shaking his head

 

[Pam I Am]

Adnil530, I'll see what I can do regarding the AUS newspaper.

I haven't planned any excursions for Nassau yet. I emailed my daughter, and she definitely wants to do something there - so we're looking into that now. She just returned to Tasmania after spending a week in Canberra (Australia's capitol) and she'll be leaving soon for a week in Cairns (she's going snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef!)

I feel like I'm kind of behind schedule (and disorganized) on planning since I've only recently made the decision to go on this cruise. Mostly, I want to relax! I told my daughter that some people choose to stay on board rather than go into Nassau and that we could keep that as an option.
Here was her email reply:

We're going to be in the Bahamas and you're thinking about staying on the boat?!?!

Okay, Jenna - I said it was ONE of the options! (I sent her the link to this page)

ArmandXG, is it safe to say you have a bit of apprehension about your parents' activities off the ship? I bet they'll do just fine! I always enjoy hearing about extended families that choose to travel together. That's quite special.

I am waiting for the 2009 Passporters book to be released so I can purchase it, and I know that will give me most of the information I want. I do have a couple questions that I really wish I had the answers to. If I may ask, I don't understand how the Palo's restaurant system works. I read that you get your restaurant assignments from your stateroom. How do people know what night is available to make reservations at Palo's if they don't know what their assignments are beforehand? And, can Palo's reservations be made in advance or is that part of the onboard stampede for ressies I've read about?
Also, I've stayed at several of Disney's resorts and have quite a collection of their souvenir mugs that you buy and can refill throughout your stay. Do they have mugs available on the ship for this kind of refill system? I guess drinks with meals are included but other times they must be purchased? And I mean drinks like coffee, iced tea, and soda. Any input would be appreciated!

 

[tinkerbell*Xo]

Hi Pam I Am!
Welcome aboard!!

There are free soft drinks on deck 9 at a refil station, no mug required.
Palo dining reservations for our cruise can be booked now through the my disney cruise portion on the website or you can call i believe! (don't quote me it's also my first cruise) I do know that you can book them though because it is up on my cruise portal.

Have you ordered the free cruise video? it has a lot of information and is so much fun to watch

Happy Planning!!

 

[Pam I Am]

I appreciate your reply. I had not even got started with the "my cruise" stuff on the DCL site. This is weird for me because I'm usually more organized than this. I've been to WDW for a Feb. vacation 14 years out of the last 15 years, and I've stayed on-site for all but one of those trips (once was enough!) So I really don't have to do much planning to go there since I know my way around. But it's finally sinking in (duh!) that I need to get it in gear since this is my first cruise. Your answers got me on the right path! I even made Palo ressies!

I also requested a dvd. I received an informational packet in the mail, but it didn't have the dvd. Plus, I'm getting the hang of DCL website, so that's a big help too. I narrowed my choice of a Nassau excursion to only 2 options, and I've done the same for Castaway Cay. Best of all - the more I learn, the more excited I'm getting to leave!

 

[tinkerbell*Xo]

Pam I am;

Glad to hear you got palo reservations I am thinking of watching my cruise video again today just to get me excited!!!

I just booked my tubes for castaway cay I plan just to enjoy the ocean and snorkel in castaway cay!

 

[adnil530]

Adnil530, I'll see what I can do regarding the AUS newspaper.

Thanks Pam I Am. That would be awesome and so appreciated

We are getting so excited here. I think I'm going to pull out a suitcase and get some of our things on the packing list and stick them in there. Then I will at least know where they are.

Anyone interested in doing a fish extender exchange? Nothing fancy. I know they aren't normally done on the short cruises, but it will be the week before Christmas, so it would be a fun thing.

You can PM me or post your interest and we can see if we can get something going. Here is a link for fish extender giving etiquette: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1944142 If there is some interest, I'll be glad to try and organize it.

Hope to hear from you!

Linda

 

[Mickey Maniacs]

We are booked on the wonder for Dec 14 as well. Our 3rd DCL cruise. We are treating our inlaws as well for a 70th birthday. I can't believe that on Monday we changed our cabins (2) and we each got a Navigators cabin, 1 on deck 6 and the other on deck 7.

Has anyone stayed in these cabins before. What are they like. It's our first balcony cruise as well. We stayed inside cabins on our last 2 cruises.

 

[tinkerbell*Xo]

Hello Mickey Maniacs!
We are also staying in a Navigators verandah room, but have never cruised before so I can't tell you what it''s like. It looks nice from the pictures i've found though!!

 

[adnil530]

The ticker is ticking.... .....The time is drawing near....

Let's put a question out there. What do you look forward to most about your trip?

Me: I am looking forward to a new adventure. Our first Disney Cruise! While I was apprehensive about cruising, I hope I am over that. I like playing Bingo and there will be Bingo on the ship. We signed up for the romance package and will have breakfast in bed one morning. I am looking forward to spending time with my hubby and special time with our girls, quality time.

Feel free to post a question also.

Linda

 

[tinkerbell*Xo]

Hmm, I'm looking forward to all of the trip, Just getting away! But I think i'm most looking forward to staying at the polynesian and Castaway Cay!
I've never been on a cruise before so I dont really know what to expect

 

[ArmandXG]

Does anyone know where I can find the link to get the pattern for the mouse ears that go around the stateroom number??? I'm working on our door magnets this weekend. I would like the ears on my door.

 

[Bear's Mates]

We are booked on the wonder for Dec 14 as well. Our 3rd DCL cruise. We are treating our inlaws as well for a 70th birthday. I can't believe that on Monday we changed our cabins (2) and we each got a Navigators cabin, 1 on deck 6 and the other on deck 7.

Has anyone stayed in these cabins before. What are they like. It's our first balcony cruise as well. We stayed inside cabins on our last 2 cruises.

Hi Mickey Maniacs - we are on the "verge" of booking this cruise so I was just checking in. We've had a Navigator verandah before. It's more private than a regular verandah in that there is a solid wall and porthole shaped window area. But ours had a navigator map on it and it was fresh air (when our neighbor wasn't smoking) so it was enjoyable! Hope you have a great time and I'll be back when I know for sure we're booking this!