NatalieL73
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2004
- Messages
- 3
Hi all, Just wanted to include my 2 cents worth as I looked at these boards all the time in anticipation of our family cruise. Let me first just start off that as a whole, the cruise was unbelievable. We wished we would have cruised 7 days instead of 3. We did the 4 day land/ 3 day sea package. We stayed at the Swan which is also very nice. (one perk, I didn't see on a board in my Birnbaums/Passporter is that if you are staying at SWAN/DOLPHIN, kids eat free at their restaurants). We ate twice at Gulliver's Grill which had a buffet.
On to the Cruise...If you stay at a resort and got transfers, they decide when they are picking you up. Our set time was at noon. I was kind of down about that as I wanted to get reservations at at Palo and get the kids pagers at the Kid's clubs before it got too busy. What I didn't realize is that it was a perfect time to go. We didn't have to "check-in" on the ship because everything was already done at the hotel. As soon as you pass thru the Mickey silohette and onto the ship, you immediately get first class treatment. They introduce your family and someone asks us where we wanted to go. Since Palo was on my agenda, I said to Wavebands for the Palo reservations. I knew where to go via reading these boards, otherwise, I probably would have went to my room 7080, and waited until time was alloted for everyone to make reservations that was stated in your Navigator (itinerary) in your stateroom. We got the day and the time we wanted. They even told us which night was best to miss. As it turned out we had second seating (which was okay, but would have preferred 1st, with a 3 and 8 year old), the best nite (the crew said) to miss anything was the first night. We were scheduled to eat at Parrot Cay and the show was Hercules. I made reservations at Palo for 7:00 PM because the kids clubs didn't open up until 6:30.
We went to our stateroom and changed into swimming attire. The kids went to Mickeys pool and had a blast for about an hour. It was extremely sunny, but very cold. The kids didn't mind that they had goose bumbs everywhere on their body. It was time for our safety drill and we went back to our staterooms and got our life vests. Then looked around the ship. Our stateroom had a verandah and I highly recommend if you can get one to do it. The whole trip had beautiful weather and what I remember most about the verandah was at night looking at the sky, everything was black and you could see all the constillations so close and so bright. Just awesome.
The ship was rocking back and forth and I decided to take precautions and put on my "patch" for sea sickness. We took the kids club and headed down to Palo.
Our server was Dragon. He was okay, but I had my heart set on the Fillet Mignon, and everyone before me was ordering it, and he kept on telling them not to get it (that irked my friends as he was ordering what he wanted us to eat). I then ordered the chicken dish with seafood stuffing. By this time I was starting to feel very ill. I had to leave as I couldn't hold it together and didn't want to embarrass myself. So much for Palo, I didn't even get to try the Chocolate dessert everyone raves about. My husband took care of me and brought back some pills the server gave us, Sea Calm..Thank goodness for Dragon, he gave me some much needed relief. The patch didn't do a thing. If you start feeling sick, don't hesitate to call Guest services, they will gladly get you some.
Nassau was good, we did the Blue Lagoon excursion. Beautiful weather. We took the 2:00 boat ride back so the little ones could get a nap. We ate at Tritons and saw "Golden Mickey" which was really really good. We missed Hercules the first night, and heard that one was excellent as well. We did the family dueling pianos and the kids loved that after the show before our 2nd seating dining. Our servers were okay at our regular rotation. Our drinks sat empty much of the time. This is when you fill up on drinks as they are free (non-alcoholic) at dinner.
The best day...Castaway Cay. I wish we could have docked and spent 2 days on this wonderful beach. White sand, crystal blue waters, all private, just the passangers on the Wonder. Ycu took a tram to the family beach and could come and go as you pleased. Plenty of picture opportunities (go ahead and let them take your picture, you don't have to pay for them unless you want them, and they turn out really really good). We saw "Dreams" that last night and this was our least favorite. We went to the "Walk the Plank" game show and my husband and son were contestants. Everyone was laughing so hard. That was great. We ate at Animator's palate, but the dinner is so late and we are all tired from swimming, nobody stayed for dessert except for the husbands. Mine had Strawberry Shortcake and said it was the best he had ever had (gee thanks honey). The seas were calmer the last 2 nights which made me happy, as I felt like asking the Captain to turn back to land the first night.
There was so much on the ship that we didn't have enough time to do. My suggestion is to write down the things that you WANT to do and go from there. Also, if you are eating at PALO, you do pay extra. I read in either the Passporter or Birnbaums' it's $5/per person, but it is really $10..Not a big deal, just thought I would let someone know, if they too, thought it was $5.00.
By the way, are room was adjacent to the other party we went with and there was a door that opened between the rooms. They must insulate very well as we didn't hear anyone in either room. The rooms are roomy. Just a great set up all around. Disney really knows what they are doing.
On to the Cruise...If you stay at a resort and got transfers, they decide when they are picking you up. Our set time was at noon. I was kind of down about that as I wanted to get reservations at at Palo and get the kids pagers at the Kid's clubs before it got too busy. What I didn't realize is that it was a perfect time to go. We didn't have to "check-in" on the ship because everything was already done at the hotel. As soon as you pass thru the Mickey silohette and onto the ship, you immediately get first class treatment. They introduce your family and someone asks us where we wanted to go. Since Palo was on my agenda, I said to Wavebands for the Palo reservations. I knew where to go via reading these boards, otherwise, I probably would have went to my room 7080, and waited until time was alloted for everyone to make reservations that was stated in your Navigator (itinerary) in your stateroom. We got the day and the time we wanted. They even told us which night was best to miss. As it turned out we had second seating (which was okay, but would have preferred 1st, with a 3 and 8 year old), the best nite (the crew said) to miss anything was the first night. We were scheduled to eat at Parrot Cay and the show was Hercules. I made reservations at Palo for 7:00 PM because the kids clubs didn't open up until 6:30.
We went to our stateroom and changed into swimming attire. The kids went to Mickeys pool and had a blast for about an hour. It was extremely sunny, but very cold. The kids didn't mind that they had goose bumbs everywhere on their body. It was time for our safety drill and we went back to our staterooms and got our life vests. Then looked around the ship. Our stateroom had a verandah and I highly recommend if you can get one to do it. The whole trip had beautiful weather and what I remember most about the verandah was at night looking at the sky, everything was black and you could see all the constillations so close and so bright. Just awesome.
The ship was rocking back and forth and I decided to take precautions and put on my "patch" for sea sickness. We took the kids club and headed down to Palo.
Our server was Dragon. He was okay, but I had my heart set on the Fillet Mignon, and everyone before me was ordering it, and he kept on telling them not to get it (that irked my friends as he was ordering what he wanted us to eat). I then ordered the chicken dish with seafood stuffing. By this time I was starting to feel very ill. I had to leave as I couldn't hold it together and didn't want to embarrass myself. So much for Palo, I didn't even get to try the Chocolate dessert everyone raves about. My husband took care of me and brought back some pills the server gave us, Sea Calm..Thank goodness for Dragon, he gave me some much needed relief. The patch didn't do a thing. If you start feeling sick, don't hesitate to call Guest services, they will gladly get you some.
Nassau was good, we did the Blue Lagoon excursion. Beautiful weather. We took the 2:00 boat ride back so the little ones could get a nap. We ate at Tritons and saw "Golden Mickey" which was really really good. We missed Hercules the first night, and heard that one was excellent as well. We did the family dueling pianos and the kids loved that after the show before our 2nd seating dining. Our servers were okay at our regular rotation. Our drinks sat empty much of the time. This is when you fill up on drinks as they are free (non-alcoholic) at dinner.
The best day...Castaway Cay. I wish we could have docked and spent 2 days on this wonderful beach. White sand, crystal blue waters, all private, just the passangers on the Wonder. Ycu took a tram to the family beach and could come and go as you pleased. Plenty of picture opportunities (go ahead and let them take your picture, you don't have to pay for them unless you want them, and they turn out really really good). We saw "Dreams" that last night and this was our least favorite. We went to the "Walk the Plank" game show and my husband and son were contestants. Everyone was laughing so hard. That was great. We ate at Animator's palate, but the dinner is so late and we are all tired from swimming, nobody stayed for dessert except for the husbands. Mine had Strawberry Shortcake and said it was the best he had ever had (gee thanks honey). The seas were calmer the last 2 nights which made me happy, as I felt like asking the Captain to turn back to land the first night.
There was so much on the ship that we didn't have enough time to do. My suggestion is to write down the things that you WANT to do and go from there. Also, if you are eating at PALO, you do pay extra. I read in either the Passporter or Birnbaums' it's $5/per person, but it is really $10..Not a big deal, just thought I would let someone know, if they too, thought it was $5.00.
By the way, are room was adjacent to the other party we went with and there was a door that opened between the rooms. They must insulate very well as we didn't hear anyone in either room. The rooms are roomy. Just a great set up all around. Disney really knows what they are doing.
My MIL & family will be aboard the Wonder for the first time in just 2 short weeks. 
