Hi all. My family and I just returned from our first DCL cruise. I thought I would share 13 thoughts about it. Your milage will vary, but here are some points:
1. It was amazing and worth the cost. My family of five, plus one, decided to go on the cruise towards the last minute. We booked 78 days out. We decided on the 5 night cruise on the Wonder with stops in Cozumel and Castaway Cay. The group was my wife, daughter age 13 (almost 14), daughter 8, and daughter and her friend both age 11. We booked two 9B cabins on the 2nd Deck right near the midship elevators. For the girls, it was their first cruise. My wife and I took a Royal Caribbean cruise for our Honeymoon 16 years ago. We have 4 previous Disney World vacations. While everyone agreed that either vacation was still an option, our family broke down the vote on which you would rather as follows: DW, DD13 and DD8 would take the cruise. DD 11 and I both slightly prefer the parks. DD11 and I are both “on the go” types and love changes to each day. The other 3 all are more “relaxed”. That being said, I will cruise Disney again.
2. Don’t miss the sunrise. I am an early riser and woke each day between 5:30 and 5:45. Watching the ship come alive in the morning was fun. Nothing beats a quiet walk around the fourth deck as the sun is rising.
3. The size of the Wonder was perfect. I was worried about how crowded the ship would “feel”. It never really felt crowded. We always were able to find at least 3 lounge chairs together. We had the late dinner seating, so we found prime seats for the shows on each night even though we only arrived 10 minutes early. For the pirate deck party, I arrived 30 minutes early and secured a prime spot on the 10th deck overlooking the Goofy pool with a great view of the show and fireworks. Castaway was great as it clearly is designed to accommodate many more than the Wonder could hold.
4. Be careful about what cabin you book. My biggest regret was that we did not book further in advance to give us a better cabin selection. We had cabins 2060 and 2062, right next to edge and the elevators. Edge was extremely loud as the tweens were constantly right outside our rooms until after midnight. More concerning on the noise was that the music from the lobby was very, very loud. In addition, we thought, incorrectly, that we would have one queen and two twins (the convertible couch and the pull down berth). Neither cabin had the pull down. Despite research which suggested we did and our travel agents belief that we did, we did not. The ship was full and they could not switch us. Not a big deal, but I did end up on the twin as the two 11 year olds shared the queen. That being said, I slept fine.
5. The design of the rooms more than made up for the lack of space. I was shocked at how well Disney has designed the storage in the cabins. We had plenty of space to unpack and store our belongings. The split bathrooms really worked well. Why the Disney hotels do not copy the bed heights to allow for storage of suitcases under the bed, I don’t know.
6. The food is good and at times great. I like a good meal. I enjoyed each meal. I have two extremely picky eaters and both were more than satisfied. My wife, who is not an adventurous eater, thought the food was good, but she did not try anything that would challenge her palate.
1. It was amazing and worth the cost. My family of five, plus one, decided to go on the cruise towards the last minute. We booked 78 days out. We decided on the 5 night cruise on the Wonder with stops in Cozumel and Castaway Cay. The group was my wife, daughter age 13 (almost 14), daughter 8, and daughter and her friend both age 11. We booked two 9B cabins on the 2nd Deck right near the midship elevators. For the girls, it was their first cruise. My wife and I took a Royal Caribbean cruise for our Honeymoon 16 years ago. We have 4 previous Disney World vacations. While everyone agreed that either vacation was still an option, our family broke down the vote on which you would rather as follows: DW, DD13 and DD8 would take the cruise. DD 11 and I both slightly prefer the parks. DD11 and I are both “on the go” types and love changes to each day. The other 3 all are more “relaxed”. That being said, I will cruise Disney again.
2. Don’t miss the sunrise. I am an early riser and woke each day between 5:30 and 5:45. Watching the ship come alive in the morning was fun. Nothing beats a quiet walk around the fourth deck as the sun is rising.
3. The size of the Wonder was perfect. I was worried about how crowded the ship would “feel”. It never really felt crowded. We always were able to find at least 3 lounge chairs together. We had the late dinner seating, so we found prime seats for the shows on each night even though we only arrived 10 minutes early. For the pirate deck party, I arrived 30 minutes early and secured a prime spot on the 10th deck overlooking the Goofy pool with a great view of the show and fireworks. Castaway was great as it clearly is designed to accommodate many more than the Wonder could hold.
4. Be careful about what cabin you book. My biggest regret was that we did not book further in advance to give us a better cabin selection. We had cabins 2060 and 2062, right next to edge and the elevators. Edge was extremely loud as the tweens were constantly right outside our rooms until after midnight. More concerning on the noise was that the music from the lobby was very, very loud. In addition, we thought, incorrectly, that we would have one queen and two twins (the convertible couch and the pull down berth). Neither cabin had the pull down. Despite research which suggested we did and our travel agents belief that we did, we did not. The ship was full and they could not switch us. Not a big deal, but I did end up on the twin as the two 11 year olds shared the queen. That being said, I slept fine.
5. The design of the rooms more than made up for the lack of space. I was shocked at how well Disney has designed the storage in the cabins. We had plenty of space to unpack and store our belongings. The split bathrooms really worked well. Why the Disney hotels do not copy the bed heights to allow for storage of suitcases under the bed, I don’t know.
6. The food is good and at times great. I like a good meal. I enjoyed each meal. I have two extremely picky eaters and both were more than satisfied. My wife, who is not an adventurous eater, thought the food was good, but she did not try anything that would challenge her palate.
It is our first 
