3 night Wonder POST trip Report- 1st time cruisers!

[Sibahan]

First...we went with
DH , DD (3) DS (6) and our neighbors/friends we will call them
DB DA DG (4) and DI (10)

We arrived about 10:30 that morning, to get right in the terminal. It was great to get there early, take care of all the stuff, and relax for a while. I checked in, while my friends did too. They ended up upgrading their room to a suite, next to the Walt Disney Suite, in Catagory 3. This was not offered, but was requested by DB, and he got it. For an extra $900.00-- It was not a bad price, since the catagory 4, was going to be an extra $1500.00 when he called the day before to ask about an upgrade. So he accepted that deal, and we had one of us in the catagory 11 (me) and one in the catagory 3...them.

They have the special seating for the category 3 people, and we were not welcome. We were all together and my kids were kicked out cause they were sitting with their friends. It was quite rude on my opinion... but on the flip side, the guy let us board with them- after we persuaded him.

They announced us on board each individually-- which was quite cute. We headed to Parrot Cay for Lunch. It was a good buffet, but i was disappointed in the amt of selection. I don't eat fish at all. I had a hard time finding something that was not fish. We then headed to the pool to let the kids check that out.

My first impression of the pool-- where do the adults swim?? They have the private adult pool on the front of the ship-- and they have the kids pool for the mickey pool -- but the GOOFY pool was supposed to be the "family pool" and that made me quite upset. The pool was no bigger than my living room, and with about 40 people or more in it-- it was over crowded. Not enough room, to move, let alone enjoy the pool. I also understand why they have the DEEP pool in the center which they call the Goofy pool- but the cliff dive off the end of the pool into the pool, and the ladder were all WAY TOO STEEP for my DD, and DG and sometimes even the others to get in the pool. It was like falling off the cliff. It was not family friendly at all in my opinon!

Our category 11, was not bad at all size wise. I am claustrophobic and it took me a little while to get used to the room, but after the 1st day it was fine. I did an inspection of the room, when we got there. Our stateroom was 6539 and it was quite nice. But after being there a few days, i noticed the bathroom was quite in need of alot of work. The floor looked like it came from a 60's house, and the grout was at least 4 different colors. The tiles were broken, and some were coming up. The same with the tiles on the wall. It just looks like it needs some repair. It was not that gross, but it was noticeable. My first impression-- not that bad. The stateroom didn't have much Disney look too it. I would have liked a little more. I get the whole pirate theme to the room, with the maps and all, but it would have been a little nicer with some more "mickey" charm. But thats my opinion.

We went up on deck to attend the sail away party, we missed the actual depart. The party was cute, but not what i expected. It was alot of dancing, and shouting, and the kids were not interested at all..... We loved the horn as we left the port...blowing to the tune of "When you wish upon a star..." it made me tear up

More to come later. I am now puking my guts up. Cause i am feeling sick... maybe something i picked up from the boat?

 

[mousetravel]

What were the dates of your cruise?

 

[amy2girls]

what CAT did your friends book, prior to paying for the upgrade???

 

[Sibahan]

What were the dates of your cruise?

March 26-29th.

 

[scraptami]

I'm interested in hearing more of your review since you're a first-time cruiser.

I will add, though, that the fact that Disney even does a Sail Away Party is not like other lines. I know I was very surprised (having grown up watching Love Boat ) to not have a big Sail Away Party on the other cruise lines I've been on. I think what Disney does is beyond what others do.

Hope you're feeling better and can post soon.

 

[GoTigahs]

I was on the same cruise--1st time on Disney as well as the family that was traveling with us. I have to say, I too was disappointed in the food. I wasn't impressed by the variety (or lack of) on the buffet upon boarding. Service was VERY odd throughout the cruise...men served first, kids being done before adult entrees were served, soups at different times, all odd.

I was surprised by our room (booked a cat12gty, upgraded to a cat 9). The porthole was much larger than we expected! Getting pictures with the princesses was difficult...8:30am on Friday morning or 10pm on Saturday night. B/C we were two parties, we wanted reprints of some of the group dinner shots--I'm told they will be mailed this coming Sunday...bummer. They also can't resize pictures; so, I have a lot of 8x10s but a few 6x8s. Triton was our last restaurant to eat in--our favorite; but, no pictures were taken there (maybe b/c of the last night). I liked the picture border for Tritan more than the others and really wanted one for my daughter, who is an Ariel fan. That too will be ready for mailing on Sunday since I had to ask if they would put that border around a picture they took of her.

Our party consisted of four adults, two 3 year-old girls and two 6 year-old boys. The kids all thought the cruise was fantastic (my kids have previously sailed on Royal and Celebrity); and, we did it for them; so, it worked out. I think I am going to stick with Royal and Celebrity in the future; unless, I get another GREAT deal on Disney.

I didn't get a comment card placed in my room the last night; but, I sure wish I had!

PS. My husband and I had landsickness for a day or two b/c of the rough water and high winds!

 

[Sibahan]

So, now that i am able to sit up at the computer-- after being in bed for 2 days--

Let me clarify- the sail away party. I never expected. But everyone kept saying how you HAD to see it, and dont miss it! I had about 100 other things i would have rather done! I just dont think it was a MUST see.

So, after the sail away party, we ran to get dressed for our dinner that night. The first night we were at Triton's. This was probably the best meal we had on the ship. I had the Beef Tenderloin- which turned out to be Filet Mignon, and it was delicious. I went threw 3 appetizers before i found something i liked. I tried the Goat cheese salad (w/o the cheese) and hated how watery the dressing was. It was like eating nothing. Then i tried the Mushroom Tart- and it was not what i expected. Finally they brought me the french onion soup, which was delicious. I liked that alot.

Following the Dinner, we missed the Golden Mickey show, because we still hadn't been to our room. We unpacked a little, and did some exploring on board, to see what was around. It was a rough ride out that night, the seas were not that friendly. We ordered room service that night, since we were hungry come 12 midnight, and hit the bed. It was time to go to bed!

by 6:45am I drug my DD out to deck-- to see the sunrise with me. We were still off shore about 30 miles or so, from Nassau. The sunrise was not that good that day- too cloudy!

We met for Breakfast at 8 am, at Tritons, to see the princesses and then have breakfast before going ashore. We were thankful we arrived so early, as the line went all the way down deck 3, and around the restaurant. Breakfast was okay- nothing out of this world. Even the eggs tasted a little funny.

Nassau is one of those places i will not understand why every cruise line seems to go there! Its such a poor and gross town, nothing to see there, and nothing worthy of a trip too in my opinion. If Castaway Cay offers almost the same excursions-- why would they go to Nassau! We disembarked the boat, around 930 am. We took a taxi, which much like most poor countries- they hound you when you get off trying to sell you everything under the sun! We were offered hair braiding about 50 times, --- and when we agreed on the way back to the ship- we were carted about 3 blocks to get it done. Like they had recruiters working for them!

The 8 of us, took a taxi to a beach we once visited on Cable Beach. It was beautiful when we were there a few years ago, so why not spend the day there!? We got there, the surf was too rough, the beach was dirty, and it was not somewhere i wanted to swim at all! We spent $40.00 to get there, and another $40.00 to get back! So much for a day at Nassau! We went back on board, took a nap mid day (my DD was cranky!) and played by the pool till dinner.

Night 2- Dinner at Animators Pallet--
We had dinner, the dinner/show of the place, was not as wonderful as the cruise tapes and such make it out to be in my opinion. The servers walked in a circle, in the new colorful jackets they changed into-- and that was the special thing of the restaurant. I get the whole changing scenery- but it was barely noticeable-- or maybe my expectations were higher! My dinner that night, was the pasta with turkey- Which was okay. Much like a Chicken Alfredo, which lacked taste. By this time, the kids were annoyed there was nothing different on the menu for them! I asked also for some pineapple for dessert instead of the choices on the menu-- and they forgot about it totally. We waited so long, we decided to move on.

We went to see Toy Story this night. It was a cute musical. I understand Disney wanting to show a show of their own, but it was much just like watching the movie. My kids enjoyed it. I was bored probably cause i knew the story.

Pirate night- there were many people dressed on board. It was very cute and very comical. My kids got bored quickly again (maybe they are spoiled?) The fireworks were very neat-- and our server told us to stand on the right side of the ship, and we did-- they were over our head. We were on deck 10, which was nicer than being in the mob scene of deck 9. We headed back before the buffet that night. We had all had a long day. We were exhausted!

The next morning-- our last full day on board. We arrived at Castaway Cay at 8am. I think the boat did circles that night. I was confused about how far away we were all night...some times it said 10 miles, others 0 miles, then 14 again.. weird!

We met again at Tritons for Breakfast. Since it was close, and we could sit for breakfast, it was ideal for us. Compared to a buffet...

Castaway Cay, here we come. All excursions were canceled due to the weather. This was extremely disappointing because we spent all month gearing up our 6 yr old that he was going to pet the stingrays on the beach this day..who knew they would cancel that too because of WIND?? We got off the boat, took the tram to the 1st family beach. It was not crowded at all. There were alot more people come 12 noon-- when everyone came off the boat for the buffet. The BBQ buffet was good. It really was a nice touch. I felt it was done in good taste-- and the food was good too.

We spent $19.00 on sand toys for the kids (one bag-- should have paid attention to "bring your own" someone said on here before!) and spent most of the day, sitting on the beach. It was nice, very windy, and the water was tooo cold to swim-- although my DH, and DS went in the water. I didnt feel like lugging around the family around the island, and once they came and told us the umbrellas need to be lowered-- because of the wind (mid day) we decided it was our ticket to go back to the boat. It was now about 3pm, and we headed back, to play in the mickey pool with the kids, and take a dip in the goofy pool. The ship was not as crowded as i expected to be at that time.--

Side note. When you get off the ship-- if anyone says you do not need your ID to get back on the ship at Castaway Cay-- dont believe them! I was told repeatedly by at least 3 people (shipmates) that you dont need your Photo ID this time to get back on. When we arrived back at the ship- to return...they argued with me and said you did need it! I was quite annoyed, and told the woman, we were told repeatedly that we did not need it, since it was their private island! Fortunately, we had our ID, it was just buried in our backpack!

Dinner at Parrot Cay was that night. Again, not a great menu. The lack of menu was obvious. There was only every maybe 1 choice for a non seafood eating person. (ME) and the kids had the same thing every night! I would have liked more variety. No pictures that night-- which was disappointing since we were dressed to the 9's that night! (formal night) We also by this time was quite annoyed with our assistant server. He didnt seem to get the whole idea of being on a cruise and being a server. He never got us our drinks until clearly we were well into our meal. If we asked for something, he would always forget. Refills-- forget about it! Oscar didnt seem to know what he was doing. I just decided to keep my mouth shut, but he was truly not with it! Our Server was very good. He was friendly- polite and did a good job, but nothing out of the normal i would expect from him.

The show-- Disney DREAMS. This is probably the best part of the cruise in all! We loved this show. It was 100% worth the time to go see it! Make sure to get a good seat! The kids will love it. So did the adults. My Neighbor DB is still talking about it! And he is 34!

We headed back to our rooms after the show-- around 10pm, and clearly had not enough time to get packed and have our luggage out by 11pm! This is a bad call on Disneys part in my opinion! They should have given everyone till at least 1 am, if they work around the clock anyway...why not do it at a later time! We had less than 1 hr, to get showered, packed up, kids to bed, ready to go, and luggage out-- before they came to take it! We were crazy but made it by 11:15, which it made it out, so i guess they took it. That is just cutting it too close in my opinion! If you are off the ship until 5, then dinner is at 5:45, show at 8:15 and ends around 10, when did i have time to pack up!??

We were scheduled for the EARLY morning seating because we had the early dinner, which was not happening for us. 6:30 was our time! OUCH! after a busy few days, and packing till almost midnight-- i was not going to do this! We went to the later seating for breakfast, and asked if we could still sit, they said they had a strict policy-- no changes, but allowed us to be split in 2 parties, and sit to eat. Parrot Cay breakfast-- also not a very good menu. It was our last meal, no kids meals, just what was on the menu. Also-- no changes allowed. I was very un-impressed with that!

Disembark the ship-- when you get back, the luggage was together and handy. It was all ready to be taken in order. I liked that part of this! The one thing i didnt like-- and last thing, was that the customs coming back to the US soil at Port Canaveral, took the 4 birth certificates i had for my family, and didn't even take them out of the envelope to look at them, just waved us threw! What if i didn't have them all in there? or if they were for someone else? I think that was kinda crazy!

In all. My opinion must have been too high for a Disney cruise. Maybe because of the price, i would have expected MORE from them. The one thing i can say-- there was alot of characters on board. We all expected less than what was there. My son begged me to go back to the Kids club everyday. He didnt want to leave! (hes 6!) yet my 3 yr old, thought i lost her, and cried the whole time...

It was a good cruise, and fun for the family. For my first, and for the deal i got. i am glad we did it. If i paid almost 3 grand for this, at normal price, i would have probably been mad!

 

[GoTigahs]

I could not agree with your review more, Sibahan! I'm REALLY glad I paid what I did and not full price!