4-day Wonder 04/17 - Through the excitement of a child we had the best time!

[yogibigdog]

The best part about our trip was smile on my children’s faces. They were glowing the whole time. We have been back for almost three weeks now from the 04/17/05 4-day Wonder and it is still all they talk about.
Pre-cruise I had tape the Travel Channel show on the Disney Cruise Line. My oldest son who will be 6 on Sunday watched at least once a day for a week before we left. He told me he was really looking forward to Animator’s Palate. He knew more about the cruise than my husband.
There were six of us in two cabins. My MIL and Mother were able to join us. Also my other DS who will be 4 in two weeks, my DH and myself.
The first night was really rough 14 – 18 ft seas. We were all at Tritons when my oldest son Robert looked at me and said why is the ship so rocky? He was glowing green at this point but still glowing! I thought that was it – what have I gotten ourselves into! He had to go back to the cabin and lay down. But that was it. 30 minutes later he was feeling good and was looking forward to the rest of the cruise.
We had gotten a day room at the Comfort Suites so we could use the pools at the Atlantis for the day in Nassau.
The kids had a blast! Enjoying the Digs, slides, pools and lazy river.
That night we went to Animator’s Plate. Robert was thrilled. He talked about in his sleep.
They loved Castaway Cay. Enjoyed the water and digging on the beach.
Dressed as pirates for Pirate Night, which was great.
Enjoyed the day at sea. First chance they got to go to the Clubs and we couldn’t get them out they enjoyed it so much.
Robert learned this while he was there. “Can you name the 3 Captains onboard?” Kept asking everyone if they knew the answer (do you know?)
One day after breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet he told me he could find his way back to the ship. So I followed him and he went right to our cabin. I had to wait about 10 minutes for my DH and other DS to find their way back. They got lost. During breakfast I had asked them – “Would you guys like to come back and do the cruise again.” I didn’t even finish my last word when Robert said I think this summer would be great! I told him he better start saving his money and maybe in a year or two we would try to come back.
As we were getting off the ship Robert got a huge smile on his face. I said what to you see? He said Mom there is The Captain. Now we did not even know who he was. He recognized him from the Travel Channel show. We approached the Captain and ask to have his picture taken with him.
Since we have been backed he has… built the Wonder out of legos. Put the Disney Cruise line logo on his rocket, cars and trains. (He says there all different ways to get to the ship). We downloaded the ships horn onto our computer so the play it often and sing Wish upon a Star.
We all had such a great time on the ship but the best part was the boy’s reaction. Priceless!
Hopefully with a little pixie dust we can do a 7 day cruise at the end of 2006.

Robert at Pirate Night - Parrot Cay with our servers.

Robert with the Captain

 

[debster]

Sounds like a wonderful vacation.

Your kids are SO cute!!!

 

[tigger53]

your kids faces said it all. they truly had a "wonderfull" time. hope you get to go on the seven day in the future.

 

[suzannef]

Worth every penny isn't it, to see looks like that on those adorable faces?
I hope our 4 day this Sunday gets the same reaction for my kids

Suzanne

 

[nrk]

Best reward after working so hard to be able to take our kids on these trips

 

[Colonial traveler]

I couldn't agree more with you about the smile on the faces of he kids - I had the same experience. We were on the April 23rd Western 7-day. It was our first cruise - of any kind. Me, my wife, and 6 year-old daughter. Prior to the trip, my daughter was scared of any character in costume where you could not see the face - Cinderella, Snow White, etc. were okay - but she would not go near anyone in costume like Mickey or Minnie. Well, that lasted about one day and after that she could hardly contain herself standing line for autographs and pictures with them all (and me got most of them! All the biggies!) And you are correct, the look of excitement and anticipation her face was such that I no longer cared that the Disney Cruise cost a little more than others - others could not have matched her level of excitement. On Thursday night I mentioned something about home and she got real serious and said to me, "Daddy, please don't tell me we are going home!" Yes, we plan to go back in the future.

 

[PrincessLuvers]

You have struck the very chord to the reason we have booked a Disney cruise in September. We are annual passholders to Disney and we go ALOT, however my two DDs (4 & 6) are just as excited to go each and every time. They cannot bear to stay home a weekend! So wanting to capitalize on the magic, we wanted them to experience the Disney cruise. My mother, who always accompanies us to Disney, has always said regarding cruises, "I refuse to pay to be sick" referring to her tendency for motion sickness, but sick or not, she is coming so as not to miss seeing the girl's faces light up the way your boys did!! Adorable. Thanks for sharing.

 

[MandyMommytoReaghan]

I loved your pics! I had seen the one of your DS's last night while looking on the boards. I loved seeing the others! Seeing those 2 smiling faces would vertainly talk me into a Disney Cruise

 

[Masonpips]

Gosh, when you read some nit-picking posts about how this went wrong or this wasn't perfect (and honestly there aren't many here, check out Cruise Critic if you want a lot of negativity) it is SO refreshing to read a post like this.

THIS is what it's all about for so many of us. I really think the "magic" of the first cruise w/your kiddos cannot be beat and trying to review it from their eyes brings back the BEST memories!

Thanks for such a great review and adorable pics!

 

[HappyLawyer]

Best reward after working so hard to be able to take our kids on these trips

i couldn't agree more

 

[DiaLady]

Amen to that one! What a fabulous trip report! Thanks for sharing the joy! We can't wait until November!

 

[pluto wonder dog]

Glad you had such a nice time. Those smiles say a lot.

 

[pluto wonder dog]

. “Can you name the 3 Captains onboard?” Kept asking everyone if they knew the answer (do you know?)

I have been thinking about this one for a while.....
Is the answer Captain Henry, Captain Mickey and Captain Hook?

 

[2boyshere]

Yogi, Sounds like a super great time for you and your family. I saw that there was 6 of you total and you mentioned that you got a room at Comfort Suites to use Atlantis. Questions: Did all 6 of you go? Did you get one room only? How many wristbands did you get? I appreciate your help.

 

[Jillpie]

As you know, we were on the same cruise. I couldn't agree with you more about this cruise! I had seen the captain once before, at one of the shows at night...we ended up getting the exact same picture on our way out.

Our boys loved the clubs too! Okay, it took me about a week before I was on the phone researching the prices for a 7 day. We are booked thru Costco, for June 24th, 2006. I just can't wait!! C'mon with us, it'll be a ball!

 

[yogibigdog]

Yogi, Sounds like a super great time for you and your family. I saw that there was 6 of you total and you mentioned that you got a room at Comfort Suites to use Atlantis. Questions: Did all 6 of you go? Did you get one room only? How many wristbands did you get? I appreciate your help.

I knew we would have a problem with the wristbands so only 4 of us went to the Comfort Suites. My Mother and MIL had never been to Nassau so the took the garden and city tour. They were not interested in the pools and thought that there would be too much walking at the Atlantis. It worked out well for all of us.
I know when I was a guest at the Atlantis a couple of years ago you could only get 5 wristbands if you were in the Royal Towers otherwise you had to get 2 rooms. I am not sure what the policy is now.

 

[dizgang!]

Your trip sounds like it was FANTASTIC!
Thanks for the great info.

I'm intrigued by your mention of the Atlantis Pools.
We have a group of 4 families going on the 6/19 cruise.
We want to spend the day playing in the Atlantis Pools (and at the Atlantis Beach), but cannot figure out how to do it!

The Disney Package doesn't sound like what we are looking for.

Would you give us more information on how you did this?

Any info will be GREATLY appreciated!
(You will have BIG fans in California, Oregon & Washington!)
:thewave:

 

[yogibigdog]

Your trip sounds like it was FANTASTIC!
Thanks for the great info.

I'm intrigued by your mention of the Atlantis Pools.
We have a group of 4 families going on the 6/19 cruise.
We want to spend the day playing in the Atlantis Pools (and at the Atlantis Beach), but cannot figure out how to do it!

The Disney Package doesn't sound like what we are looking for.

Would you give us more information on how you did this?

Any info will be GREATLY appreciated!
(You will have BIG fans in California, Oregon & Washington!)
:thewave:

There are two ways to do this. You can wait until the day you arrive and check with the Atlantis to see if they have any "day rooms" available. In the past the price has been $ 150 - $ 200 per room depending on the time of year. They won't do this ahead of time. If you call ahead of time you will get a different answer from every operator. You get 4 wristbands per room, which allows you to use all the pools, waterslides and the beach. It also gives you access to the "The Dig" their huge aquarium. I think you have to check out by 6. Some people call when they get to port, which can be expensive, some people head over and check at the desk. Now the Atlantis is huge they have three separate hotels with different areas to check in. Some people have had to go to all three desks to see if they have availability.
The other way to do this is to get a regular overnight room. The Comfort Inn and Suites on Paradise Island has an agreement with the Atlantis to use all their facilities. It tends to be cheaper than booking directly Atlantis. The Comfort Inn is right across the street. I had booked a room (kept watching the rate as it went down just before we left) I think we paid $192.00 plus tax. It would have cost us about the same if not more if we did the Disney excursion. With the excursion we would not have been able to use the pools or waterslide. If found the best rate for the Comfort Inn at: http://www.smartertravel.com/hotel/mb.php?id=1417
Now they have I think a 3-day cancellation policy. So if the weather is bad or if the ship does not dock in Nassau for some reason you are out of luck and have to pay for the room. I kept checking the long-range weather forecast before we left just to get an idea.
When we got off the ship in Nassau we took a taxi to the Comfort Inn Paradise Island. Cost was $ 4.00 per person. Kids under 3 were free.
There is also a water taxi you can take but we did not do this. We went to front desk got a pass to get wristbands over at the Atlantis. There was no room ready. (I didn't think there would be) We had worn our bathing suits and brought a change of clothes. We walked over to the Atlantis were we got our wristbands and towels. We spent the whole day enjoying the pools and slides. I had brought sandwiches from room service on ship to have a picnic lunch. Found out later you are not suppose to bring food off the ship -Around 3 pm we went though the Digs and headed back to the Comfort Inn. We got our room - cleaned up and check out. We were in the room less than 40 minutes.
I think it was worth it the kids had a ball. We had stayed at the Atlantis before so I knew what we wanted to do. The resort is so big it can be overwhelming. It did have trouble finding chairs around the pool. Last time we were there in May we didn't have but this April it was crowded. They are adding two new towers so part of the resort is under construction. This didn't affect the pools however.
Tonight 05/24/05 on CBS Rob & Amber of Reality TV fame wedding in on. They get married at the Atlantis if anyone wants to see more of the resort. They were married I think on the beach on April 16 the weekend we were there.
Hope this helps

 

[dizgang!]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We will check into it today!

 

[lianakcc]

What time did you arrive at the Comfort Suites? How was the check-in process? and how long does it take to get to the Atlantis? Is it an easy walk?

Thanks for your help!