1st time cruiser, 4 day wonder,thoughts

[ufmurphys]

2 families traveled together DH,DW,DS7,DD5, DH,DW,
DS8,DS5,DD3. First let me say we had a fantastic time and we can't wait to do the 7 day. Here are some of my observations and one question.
1. Don't miss Palos and if you are on the 3 or 4 day get in line quick. By the time we got to the front of the line there were 55 cabins waiting for the last night. We opted to skip parrot cay and do not regret it.
2. I was disappointed with the facial, and my husband was disappointed with the alpha capsule. I didn't find the facial and neck massage very relaxing. Will skip that next time, The massages book up quick!
3. We spent the day at the Atlantis hotel(booked comfort suites room) and although it is a beautiful hotel we did not feel like it was worth the money. My 7 year who has been on many big slides at water parks was not allowed on most of the Atlantis slides because he was not 48 inches (I think their mark on the wall may even be slightly above 48 inches) this was a big disappointment because he really wanted to slide through the shark tank.
4. Castaway Cay was fabulous. If you don't get off the boat early still try to get at least one or two lounge chairs up and pull them in the shade just to get a short break from the sun. We spent the rest of the day in the low chairs with our feet in the water. It was paradise. We took a duffle bag with beach toys and floats from home and the kids had a great time. We took water bottles in a collapsable cooler and chips and cookies from the ship to snack on until lunch.
5. We had the second seating and it worked well for us we never felt rushed to shower and get ready. We usually wer able to get a short nap in after all that sun. We ate with the children
twice and left them in the clubs twice.
6. We had an inside cabin and have never slept so good! It was so dark and the gentle sway of the boat lulled us to sleep. It was great.
7. Do not miss Disney Dreams. They need to put this on at Disney World so we can see in at the park.
8. Our stateroom hostess was very good we got towel animals every night and the kids loved it!
9. The boat never feels crowded. Breakfast on the deck early in the morning is the best.
10. Don't go overboard on buying all your pictures at shutters remember you are taking your own pics too, I think this is a place to save money. We bought 4 or 5.
11. QUESTION Our servers were just ok. No special tricks the head server was just friendly, never socialized with us, her asst was much friendlier but still nothing special. The children ate with us only twice, we ate in palos one of the 3 nights, and we never requested anything special or extra. We tipped the head server Disneys recommended amount and gave the asst. just a little extra. On debarkation day they seem to be even less friendly. Do most people tip more than the recommended amount. I really don't think they deserved more but just wondered what they going tip amount is. I won't eat the sit down breakfast on the last day again to face that.

Thanks to all the info I found prior to my cruise on this board. We could not have had a better vacation. We can't wait to go again and again,and again.... I will try to answer any questions any has. Happy Cruising!

 

[ufmurphys]

can anyone tell me why there is a black dot on the envelope next to this message? This is the first time I have ever posted anything and I don't notice a dot on any of the other posts.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

The black dot lets you know you've posted to that particular thread.

 

[nemblanch]

ufmurphys:

I am so glad to hear that you had a great time!
We are leaving in a few weeks for our first criuse on the
Wonder, and I was hoping you might have a minute to answer a few questions.

1. What dinner rotation did you have? We have kids the same age span and are curious.
2. We are hoping to get ressies for Palo, just wondering what time you went to book your ressies?
3. How did the kids like the Club/Lab?
4. We also have booked a room at ComSuites in Nassau.
That's too bad your son couldn't fully enjoy the slides.
Did everything else there, go ok? (check-in, taxi, pools etc.)
We are psyched to go to Atlantis, just want things to go smooth.
5. I noticed you had DD3 & DD5 in your party, we have DD3
and was wondering if they went to the Princess Party or
if there was any other opportunities to see "princesses"?
Our DD LOVES princessess!!!

Thank you in advance for any info, I do appreciate your time.
(Sorry its long, we are just sooo...... excited!!)

 

[Ashley24]

My dh took our two daughters to the princess "party" but it's not really a party at all. It is really a chance to get their autographs and pictures taken with them. We selected many of these photos to buy at Shutters. Great pictures! The princesses that were there were Cinderella, Wendy, and Alice. There may have been more but those are the ones we have pictures of. Hope this helps!

 

[ufmurphys]

You are going to have so much fun! Our dinner rotation was Animators,parrot cay,tritons,animators, second seating. I would skip any of these to eat at Palos. The food was wonderful and its nice to have a quiet dinner. My brotherinlaw had to leave as he was beeped by the kids club for his DD3 but Palos sent his food to the room. It was about 1:45-2:00 when we got in the Palo ressie line and by the time we got to the front of the line they only had sun and mon available so we opted to take the kids to Animators palate on night 1 and skip parrot cay.
Everything on the Nassau day went very smoothly. taxis are lined up near the dock to take you where you need to go. Atlantis is beautiful you will enjoy it. It wasn't very crowded either.

My children DS7,DD5 liked the clubs more than my sisters,but mine tend to be a little more outgoing. We really only left them there a couple of hours each night. Snow White came one night and danced, and Wendy also came for tea(I think this is much different than the 7 day tea with wendy) > After 8:30pm they didn't have anything structured planned and this was the downfall for my sister's kids. They didn't want to just play or watch a movie. The boys enjoyed making flubber, and experimenting with gasses. If you want a picture with the princesses get in line early. I could not believe how long the line was. Luckily our girls were content with just standing by and watching. They had the princesses in the lobby a couple of times but I only remember seeing it in the navigator once. You may want to ask a CM about this. She will love Disney Dreams. My daughter(5) was about to come out of her seat she was so excited. She wanted to stay for the next show. They had a matinee that day,which I heard was very crowded but will take her twice next time. We have 2 princesses CD's (that we both know by heart) and they sing a lot of the songs that are on them, which thrilled her.
You will be so glad you booked this vacation. Oh by the way my husband said snorkeling at castaway cay was one of his highlights if you are into that. I stayed on shore with DD. Have a great time. If you think of anything else just ask. Hope this helps.

 

[nemblanch]

Thanks, Ashley24!

ufmurphys:
Thank you so much for all the great information!!

It is so helpful to talk to someone whose situation is similar to what ours will be (kids ages, Nassau, Palo, etc.).

We thought, if we also had APTA rotation, (we opted for early
seating) that it would be fun to go to Palo while still in port at
Nassau. Maybe if we are lucky, around sunset. I am sure there
will be plenty of other chances to eat at Parrot Cay for lunch or
breakfast. I hope we can make it through dinner without being beeped, though!! It would be nice to have a quiet dinner alone with my husband. My kids are pretty comfortable around others, so I'm not too worried. (famous last words!)

We are hoping to fit in the princess "party" and will heed your
advice and go early. If what the navigators I have read hold
up for our cruise, this also should be on Nassau day, either in
the morning or late afternoon. Busy day!!
Ariel is her favorite, but I'm sure any princess will do. It never occured to me to take her to DisDreams twice, what a great idea! Palo on the last night seems to be popular, (perhaps part of the reason for the crowds at the 2:30 show) but we would rather eat and go to the show as a family on our last night of the cruise.

We already have our snorkel gear packed!! Castaway Cay
sounds really cool, can't wait! We'll have to go there early as well, we'd like to have chairs near/in the shade.

I'll let you know how it all plays out.
We leave in 2 weeks, first a week at the Vistana in Orlando,
then on to our cruise on the Wonder. Long trip to celebrate a
milestone birthday (mine, don't ask) and our 15th wedding anniversary. I think we are already glad we booked this vacation and we haven't even left yet!

Thanks again and have a nice weekend.
PS I was wondering about those black dots myself! (rookies! )