4-Night Halloween on the High Seas Baja Cruise from San Diego on the Wonder Oct. 24, 2022 - Oct. 28, 2022

[Stefileslie85]

4-Night Halloween on the High Seas Baja Cruise from San Diego on the Wonder Oct. 24, 2022 - Oct. 28, 2022

Itinerary
Mon 10/24: Depart San Diego, CA 4p
Tues 10/25: At Sea
Wed 10/26: Catalina 8:30a-4:45p
Thur 10/27: Ensenada 8:30a-4:45p
Fri 10/28: Arriving San Diego, CA 8a

Glad to have another Disney cruise to look forward to. This will be our 5th Disney cruise, our first cruise out of San Diego, our first Halloween on the High Seas cruise and our first time visiting Catalina Island and Ensenada. All 4 of our previous Disney cruises were on the Wonder and were un-theamed or Merrytime cruises out of Galveston, TX or Miami, FL. We have 2 kiddos, 7 & 9, both love cruising. We will be flying in from Texas and will hopefully be going to Disneyland and the Oogie Boogie Bash at California Adventure before the cruise.

Only 148 days to go!

 

[Stefileslie85]

For those who like to plan I thought I would post some info/tips from our cruises on the Wonder. Our last cruise was on the Wonder in December 2019 so Disney may have changed some things since then but for the most part this info should be applicable to our cruise.

1. If you want coffee on the boat Cove Cafe is the closest thing to Starbucks you'll find. It's located on deck 9 mid ship in the adult only section on the ship. On our cruises they had a reward card with a free coffee after you buy 5.

2. Deck 9 is also where the free self serve soda fountain and soft serve ice cream machines are.

3. The ship has a movie theater which plays a mix of Disney movies including ones that have just come out in theaters. On our previous cruises Moana (2016), Coco (2017) and Frozen 2 (2019) came out a day or two before we left and they had 3 or 4 showings of them in the movie theater and in the main theater. Hocus Pocus 2 and Pinocchio (live action) are scheduled to come out a few weeks before this cruise and I am sure they will have showings for them.

4. We thought Frozen, A Musical Spectacular was great. On our cruises they had shows at the normal evening show times and a matinee show at 2:30pm. Hopefully they do the same for this cruise.

5. If you want a private table for dinner call now and request one otherwise you may be seated with other people. (I have read on the DIS boards that DCL is automatically placing people at their own table due to the current health concerns but I have not read anything offical from DCL confirming this)

Based on our previous cruises on the Wonder here is some more info we noted.

Nightly photo portrait times (white background most nights, pirate themed on pirate night)
5:15pm-6pm, 7:15pm-8:30pm, 9:30pm-10:30p

50mb of free internet (sign up 1st day)

Show Times: 6:15pm, 8:30pm, 2:30pm (if offered)

Restaurants:
Animator’s Palate (Main Dining)
Triton’s (Main Dining)
Tiana’s Place (Main Dining)
Palo (Adults Only Dining, $cost$)
Cabanas (Buffet)
Pete’s Boiler Bites (Quick Service)
Daisy’s De-Lites (Quick Service)
Pinocchio’s Pizzeria (Quick Service)

Dinner Seatings: 5:45pm & 8:15pm

Boarding day:
Lunch was served in Triton's (A-La Carte) and Cabanas (buffet). Pete's Boiler Bites and Pinocchio's Pizzeria may be open but not sure.
Boarding started between 11am and 12pm.

Lifeboat Drill: at stations by 4:00pm (*life boat drill may have been changed since the last time we cruised*)

Sail Away Party: 4:30pm (after drill)

Breakfast:
Cabanas (buffet): 7:30am-11:15am
Triton's (A-La Carte): 8am-9:30am
Daisy's De-lites: 7am-9am

Brunch:
Triton's: 9am-1pm (2nd day only)
Palo: 10am-12:30pm on select days ($30, Adults 18+, advanced reservations suggested)

Lunch:
Cabanas (buffet): aprox 11:45am-2pm (times vary)
Triton's (A-La Carte): 12pm-1:30 (select days)
Pete's Boiler Bites: 10:30am-9:30pm
Pinocchio's Pizzeria:10:30am- 6pm
Daisy's De-lites: 10:30am-6pm

Dinner:
Main Dining Rooms: 5:45pm and 8:15pm
Cabanas (sit down) 6:30pm-8:30pm
Pete's Boiler Bites: 10:30am-9:30pm
Pinocchio's Pizzeria: 9:30pm-12a
Palo: 6pm-8:30pm ($$additional cost$$, Adults 18+, advanced reservations suggested **)

Coffee:
Cove Cafe 7am-12am
(Buy 5 get 1 free)

Advance Booking Windows
First Time Cruisers: Wed August 10, 2022
Silver: Tues July 26, 2022
Gold: Mon July 11, 2022
Platinum: Sun June 26, 2022

Online check in ends Sunday October 23, 2022.

If anyone has any updated info please let me know and I will add it or update it on this post.

 

[jasonriv]

Finally finding people on this cruise! My wife and I will be flying in from Orlando for this one and also are planning two days at Disneyland pre-cruise. We are hoping they will have an Oogie Boogie Bash the night before! I used to sail on the Wonder all the time when it was based at Port Canaveral, but it’s been over a decade and I haven’t seen any of the big updates like Tiana’s and the updated nightlife area. This will also be my first time sailing out of San Diego. We are very much looking forward to it’

Jason

 

[Stefileslie85]

I was wondering if anyone else would post on this cruise. Based on the lack of DISboards activity I was wondering if the ship may be fairly empty. I saw DCL released the guaranteed category state rooms on Friday (for a $500 savings in our stateroom category) which also hints that the ship is not filling up quickly.

We like the changes on the Wonder but miss some things she used to have like the embarkation lunch buffet at Parrot Cay and the Route 66 theming.

We are hoping to attend the Oggie Boogie Bash the night before as well. It is weird how Disneyland seems to wait till closer in to make park tickets available and announce dates for things like the Oggie Boogie Bash. We are originally from Florida (Miami) and used to go to Disney World often and I never remember having to wait for park tickets to be released. The last time we were at Disneyland was 15 years ago and a lot has gone on since then. Anyways, we are excited to be going and hope they have dates and tickets available before our cruise.

We can't wait!

 

[jasonriv]

Thanks for mentioning the guarantee categories! They weren’t available last time I checked. I’m on hold with DCL to cancel and rebook! The savings will pay for our Disneyland and Oogie Boogie tickets! I agree, this sailing must have low occupancy if they are opening guarantees this far in advance. There is a Facebook group for this sailing, but again not much activity there.

I’m really looking forward to the new nightlife area as I never liked the Route 66 theme. I’m glad they still have the Golden Mickey’s and Disney Dreams! I heard they updated Aninmator’s Palate but it’s not the same as the Dream and Fantasy? How does it compare to the original version?

Finally, Disneyland has definitely changed a lot and DCA is an entirely different park now. We absolutely love those parks!

Jason

 

[Stefileslie85]

No problem, hope you were able to rebook. We did the same. As soon as I saw the price drop I emailed our travel agent and she switched us. We have everything booked now except for the park tickets and dining reservations. We are hoping to get Blue Bayou for lunch Satrday at Disneyland and Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast or lunch on Sunday before we head to DCA for the Bash.


We also saw the FB group for our cruise. We are planning to join the fish extender list on it. But as you say on that site and on here their is not much activity.


Can't say how good the nightlife will be on the ship. We have had kids on all of our cruises so we are luckey to be awake long enough to catch the fireworks at sea when they shoot them off. As far as the new theming goes in that part of the ship, during the day, when we have walked through there, it seems kind of plain. Maybe they have some amazing light effects going on at night or something like that. The Cadillac lounge is still the same as it was.


As far as Animators Palet goes, to me it is fairly similar to the way it used to be. It has more TV's, a bit better lighting and also they have changed the show some so now you can be a part of it. Also, as I'm sure you know Parrot Cay has been replaced by Tiana's Place. It's not my favorite menu wise but I like the band and the music they play, although it can be a bit loud up front. Of the three main dining rooms our kids love those two the best. My favorite menu wise is Triton's which I don't think has changed.


We are excited to see all the DCA and Disneyland changes. And our little ones are really excetd excited. They went to Disney World for the first time last year and have never been to Disneyland so they will be seeing it for the first time.

 

[Stefileslie85]

Disney has announced the Oogie Boogie Bash dates!

General admission tickets go on sale June 30, 2022

Dates and ticket prices for the available dates before and after our cruise:
Thurs, Oct 20, 2022 $149
Sun, Oct 23, 2022 $159
Sat, Oct 29, 2022 $179
Mon, Oct 31, 2022$179

 

[Stefileslie85]

Advance Booking Windows
First Time Cruisers: Wed August 10, 2022
Silver: Tues July 26, 2022
Gold: Mon July 11, 2022
Platinum: Sun June 26, 2022​

 

[Fuzzycaterpillar1]

99 days! This is our first HOTH cruise. We have a 3.5 year old and would love to meet other families with toddlers, or cool people in general.

 

[Stefileslie85]

99 days! This is our first HOTH cruise. We have a 3.5 year old and would love to meet other families with toddlers, or cool people in general.

YAY!! we are down to double digits.This will be our first HOTHS cruise as well. We are really excited for all the Halloween activites and to see the ship decorated for halloween! We were hoping DCL would offer a HOTHS stateroom decoration package like they used to, but so far they do not have one. Wish we had more people on this thread so you could find families with toddlers. You may want to join the FB group for this cruise, they have a fish extender sign up and they may have a meet n greet sign up as well. If they don't you could always suggest starting one. We were on a merry time cruise on the Wonder in 2016 when our kids were about 2 and 4. We spent a ton of time at the Nemo splash pad and our older one did Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. There is also the Oceaneer Club and the Oceaneer Lab. Plus the movie theater is good for little ones because it is no additional cost and if they get board you can just leave. We will have a better idea of what other activites are offered when our booking window opens in two weeks (we are silver cast away club members).

 

[Stefileslie85]

The activity booking window has opened for all but first time cruisers. For you first time cruisers, I will try and list what is available to book when I get some time this week.

 

[Stefileslie85]

ADULT DINING
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[Stefileslie85]

ONBOARD FUN
Day 1 - San Diego, California​

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[Stefileslie85]

ONBOARD FUN
Day 2 - Sea Day

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[Stefileslie85]

ONBOARD FUN
Day 3 - Catalina Island, California

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[Stefileslie85]

ONBOARD FUN
Day 4 - Ensenada, Mexico​

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[Stefileslie85]

PORT ADVENTURES
Day 3 - Catalina Island, California
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[Stefileslie85]

PORT ADVENTURES
Day 4 - Ensenada, Mexico
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[Stefileslie85]

Other than the spa and fitness activities that is about all that was avalable when my booking window opened.

 

[cristahermance]

Hello! I am excited to be on this cruise. This will be our second Disney cruise but first Halloween one. It is my husband and two girls (7 and 5). I decided against port adventures as I really just wanted to enjoy the ship. Does anyone know if the fish extender group has started for our ship yet? I am interested in joining.