4 day wonder Dec 16 2007

[mambrose]

Hello. My family is going on the Disney Wonder this December- we leave on Dec 16th- looking to see if there is anyone else out there on this ship? We have 7 kids that are going total ranging in ages 1 to 10.

 

[swcruiser]

I am so glad we have a thread. We will be going too. It will be my dh, my mother who is 83 and ds who will be almost 12. I can hardly wait to see everything decorated for Christmas! is this your first disney cruise?
Lori

 

[mambrose]

This is our first Disney cruise- we are so excited. Me , my husband and my daughter and mother have been on crusies before- but the rest of the gang goign have not been. It will be me and my husband- my 10 year old daughter and almost 2 year old son, my sister, her husband and 3 children- 7 and under- and my brother and his wife and 2 children- ages 4 and 1- and then my mom.

HAve you been on before?

 

[swcruiser]

Yes we have been before. We did the 3 day in '04 and '06 and were lucky enough to do the west coast cruise in '05 since we live in Ca. We are very excited "our boat" is coming back to Ca in '08. You will love the cruise. Castaway Cay is the best thing in the world. The feeling you get lying on a hammock with the blue sky and the palm trees....we have palm trees in Ca but we can never see the blue sky through all the smog! LOL! Our beach water is so cold here and I love the carribean waters.

 

[mambrose]

Where do oyu stay before the cruise? I am guessing oyu have to fly in before hand since you are coming from so far away. We are doing disney for 8 days after the cruise- but i am looking for somewhere to stay before we will probably fly in the day before- i am debating between staying in disney or somewhere closer to the port.

 

[swcruiser]

Both times that we have come before we had done a land and sea vacation so you get to pick a hotel based on where you are on the ship, expensive room, expensive hotel etc. We have stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside and the Polynesian. Both are great. My son loved the pool at the Poly but I like the food court at POR. This year when we go just to WDW in June we will again be at the POR because the Poly would cost us $2500.00 more!!! When we do the cruise in December we won't do disney world (my mom just doesn't feel she can handle it). So we are staying at the hotel at the airport(flying in the day before) and then using transfers to get to the port. It was acutally cheaper to do Disney air in December but more expensive in June, go figure. From what I have read on this board I would advise flying in the day before. There are lots of threads about delays and stuff and if you have a whole other day. I would think it would be cheaper and make more sense to either stay at a hotel near the port or near the airport and see about transfers with Disney.
Back to Disney hotels after the cruise-there are also the all star music rooms. I believe they have a suite room and these are the cheapest rooms at WDW along with all star sports and pop century. We have not stayed there mainly because they don't have a waterslide at the pool(this would cause great noise with a certain child) and there are so many rooms. I think the all stars have like 5,000 rooms. With the poly, contemporary, and the grand floridian are on the monorail and that makes travel so easy. You can go to disneyworld.com and play around with dates and places and tickets and all that and get an idea about the price. I prefer that than being on the phone for a long time. You can book directly there if you want too

 

[mambrose]

we are currently booked for the carribean beach resort for the 8 days after the cruise. we actually booked outr cruise and land seperate- it is not a land and sea package- we are doing hte cruise first and then going to the parks afterwards- we wanted to have the kids in Disneyworld for christmas. I am still debating on where to stay before the cruise. We are definitley flying down at least the day before- in case of delays- And i am hoping to go to the kennedy space center if possible the day before- depending what time our flight arrives. So i am looking to stay somewhere taht would be close to the port and close to things to do- again there are 7 kids goign and we have to keep them occupied!

 

[mambrose]

Also- what seating for dinner do you have- we are the first seating because of all the kids.

 

[swcruiser]

We have second seating. We did early seating our first cruise and it was fine, but found it meant we had to be back from excursions so early. also since my son was excited , it just seemed harder to get him to settle down, like a let down. the last two cruises have been late seating and it worked ok. We didn't feel like we were so rushed but since I am a very light breakfast eater and normally have lunch at 11:30 am we would get a snack everyday about 4pm to make it. Unfortunately that continued we got back and I gained weight. Oh well!

 

[tammymacb]

Hi! We booked this cruise yesterday. We are Angus and Tammy (46 and 37) with Tim (16) and Caroline (11). We can't wait to see the Christmas decorations! I'm excited!

 

[mambrose]

oh great! Do you think your daughter will do any of the clubs for kids. My daughter will be 10 when we go- and we have been on cruises before- not disney and she never wants to do the clubs becasue she doesn't know anyone. A bunch of us are going- my daughter is the oldest- we have adults ranging from 25 to 56- most of us in our 30's though!!

Also will oyu be staying anywhere the night before the cruise leaves?

 

[tammymacb]

My daughter loves the kids clubs! I doubt I'll ever see her.

Not sure if I'll drive down the day of the cruise or spend the night before. If we do, I'll consider the Resort at the Port. I've stayed there before and enjoyed it.

 

[mambrose]

I did not know there is a resort or a hotel right there at the port- that would be perfect- do oyu knwo the name of it?

Also do oyu know is there a limit to how much time the kids can spend in the kids clubs? My sister has kids that do nto sit well at dinner and she was thinking of having them in the kids clubs during dinner each night.

 

[tammymacb]

I ( think ) the Resort at the Port is a Radisson and it books up early! I really enjoyed last time, the pool area is gorgeous and there is a really cool flock of wild Quaker Parrots that live in their trees. I remember a large room, a fun pool party, and a great pizza place next door. If you stay at the resort, they'll drive you to the ship and you can leave your car at the hotel ( for free ) included in the price of your room.

The kids clubs are open from 9a-12midnight and are always open during dinner to those over 3 so you can have a relaxing dinner.

 

[14CARI]

Hi! I booked this cruise a month ago. My family includes myself (Cari, 40), DH (David, 44), DD (Kailee, 11)and DD(Addyson, 4). We will be starting our trip on land. Staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for 5 nights prior to the cruise. My family is very excited.... especially my 11 year old dd. It will be her first trip on an airplane. Maybe one of you will know. Do they allow children (mainly my 4 year old dd) to wear a floaty type vest in the pool? I do not want to have to freak out about her drowning the whole time we are there. Do they provide floatation devices or should I pack one? Thanks!! I just can't wait til December..

 

[swcruiser]

I think that I have seen kids using the arm floaty things. I think that you can not use those on the slide. I will look through my pictures this weekend and see if I captured any with a child wearing anything. She would probably be fine in the Mickey Pool. Its very shallow in most places and I think its only 3 feet at its deepest and it might even be more shallow than that. I would be weary of the goofy pool if she couldn't wear the floaty things. My son was 8 on our first cruise so it wasn't something I worried about and therefore didn't pay a whole lot of attention to! LOL! Oh and don't know if you guys saw the announcement today. Its offical. Disney is getting two new ships in 2011 and 2012!

 

[christophfam]

Hello, to all! I am so excited to find this thread!! My family of four will be cruising with you. We are DH (43), DS (a few weeks shy of 12 at cruising time), DD (8) and myself (Tricia, 40th birthday on Dec. 28th -- eek!). This is our first Disney cruise and I cannot wait!

We live in Charleston, SC and plan on driving down on Friday afternoon and then spend Saturday at Kennedy. We are currently booked at the Country Inn and Suites in Cape Canaveral. It is brand new and they have rooms with bunk bed for the kids so it will work well for us. I saw a few of you are trying to figure out where to stay and if you want to check out reviews of the area hotels check out this website - www.tripadvisor.com and type in Cape Canaveral or Cocoa Beach then go to the hotels. It has reader reviews of all the hotels in the area. I always check out tripadvisor when we travel so I hope it helps you all too.

 

[colleensauctions]

Best place to stay prior to the cruise if leaving from canaveral in my opinion is the radisson at the port - call them directly for better rates - I think my rate this year was $125.00 and you can leave your car there for the duration of your cruise and there is no cost
The pool as stated is wonderful!!!!! cocoa beach is a few miles away, so if you have time the day before your cruise - check it out - its great
I am going in august on the wonder - just checking out some other boards - been to wdw a number of times, but never on a wdw cruise - have a great time and really - consider the radisson at the port - i wouldnt stay anywhere else but there - did i mention free shuttle service to the port???? be sure to tip the driver!!!!!
HAVE FUN

COLLEEN

 

[tammymacb]

Hello, to all! I am so excited to find this thread!! My family of four will be cruising with you. We are DH (43), DS (a few weeks shy of 12 at cruising time), DD (8) and myself (Tricia, 40th birthday on Dec. 28th -- eek!). This is our first Disney cruise and I cannot wait!

We live in Charleston, SC and plan on driving down on Friday afternoon and then spend Saturday at Kennedy. We are currently booked at the Country Inn and Suites in Cape Canaveral. It is brand new and they have rooms with bunk bed for the kids so it will work well for us. I saw a few of you are trying to figure out where to stay and if you want to check out reviews of the area hotels check out this website - www.tripadvisor.com and type in Cape Canaveral or Cocoa Beach then go to the hotels. It has reader reviews of all the hotels in the area. I always check out tripadvisor when we travel so I hope it helps you all too.

We're in Mt Pleasant!

 

[colleensauctions]

nice that we have two kids the same ages - my daughter loves to meet and play with other kids her own age - she is very social - my son who will be 12,might be in the teen section, since his birthday is the following week, now i really am not thrilled with putting him in the teen section - however, with three kids in the same program - i think there will be some fighting going on lol - siblings tend to do that!!!! take a look at the radisson at the port - i have stayed there before and found it to be wonderful - great pool - like a resort!!!! oh, there is another board with others on our cruise, although it seems to be a little slow this weekend -

i cant post the link yet - because i have to have 10 posts in order to do that - but i think if you search very early meet august 26 2007 you might be able to find it - however, soon i will be able to post a link for you - once i reach my 10 posts lol
glad to meet you - off to the showers and church!!!

disney 2007