8/21/08 Wonder 3 night

[booger73]

*sneaks in*

I think 3 is good.. I didn't think '4'th night with a day at sea was too worth much.. plus, it's good days for us being gone Thu-Sun (saves DVC points ..

Maybe do a 7-d one of these days..

All in all, lots of fun. Probably one of the best meals I've ever had in my life at Palo (lobster ravioli, and lamb). For some strange reason got some sea leg issues on 3rd night dining at PC (perhaps it's the low deck 3, aft thing)..

*waves*

oh yeah.. rebooked on the 8/13/09 3-day..
Gonna try one week earlier with the weather, plus allow more time before school starts in Sept.

 

[postalcop]

helooooo....

well yes we made it back too.... i am so very tired i cant wait to go to sleep!! anyway.. great cruise, probabaly one of the best cruises i have every been on!!
i did actually meet pierresgirl- she was the only one! i saw her after we got on the ship (5pm, if i remember) we were on our way to Triton's and she was on her way to the bathroom. and i recognized he 2 children., i went up to her to say hello.. she saw me the next day at the Mickey pool. so we sat and chatted for a little while. i'm sorry we all could not meet up!
i will tell you all about my adventure tomorrow after work, i'm just way to tired right now !!!

~Sue

 

[solgent]

We had an awesome time.

I did not know about the ship being at Port Everglades until we were leaving our resort at 9 am Thurs morning. I had booked a limo to take us to Port Canaveral. A CM asked me to do a survey, which I did, and then we were chatting about the cruise and she asked how we were getting to Ft Lauderdale. I thought she meant we had to get there ourselves!! She took me in to talk to the cruise desk CMs and they explained that Disney would transport us. So, that was a bummer as we had that bus ride ahead of us, but at least they were taking care of it.

My family was thrilled and surprised with the limo.

We went on bus 8. Luckily we had packed reading material in our carryons and the ride was not bad at all. I was expecting lunch on the ship but at least they gave us the snack bag. Then.... our bus broke down! The driver didn't say anything to us but another guest who is a bus driver and former trucker went out to consult with him. His wife & son were sitting in front of us and explained this to us. The guest said water was spraying out and he could not fix it without duct tape and Disney was sending another bus. We were only 5-10 mins from the port at that point so it was not a long wait for a new bus.

So we got onboard around 3:30, I guess. We went to the Sail Away party. The Bahama Mama was very tasty. We enjoyed our dinner and especially our assistant server Mariana from Argentina. She was so warm and friendly and genuine. We went to the show and we were ready for bed!

In Nassau I took the kids to Atlantis (Comfort Suites day room) while DH enjoyed the fitness center and rainforest room. The kids loved Atlantis. One of my DDs said she wants to live there. I am proud to say that I did the Leap of Faith! (very steep slide) The Toy Story show was our favorite.

The day was so beautiful and fun that it really erased the stress of the day before. Our Castaway Cay day was good too. I had to try the Konk Kooler but didn't like it as much as the Bahama Mama. We went back on board relatively early since it seemed like a storm was brewing and we enjoyed the pools & movie on the big screen.

It really was a fabulous time. Imagine if we'd been able to board smoothly at Port Canaveral! It would have been off the charts! My husband said that if he had to fill out a survey on my planning, I would get "Excellent"!

I booked a 7-night Western for Aug 2009. We might have to push it to 2010, but we all want to cruise again!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

So glad to hear that everyone made it onboard.

I've done four Wonder cruises now and every time we've had outstanding CMs. And not just the ones we have direct contact with (stateroom host/servers) but the entertainment staff and all the bar staff.

I have a good DCL bus breaking down story, too. On my 2006 cruise our DCL bus broke down halfway from Orlando to Port Canaveral. Bus pulled off to the side of the road and we all got off and waited for another bus.

We're booked for the 8/22/09 Magic western. Met a family who also did the back-to-back cruises who are booked on that cruise as well.

Many of the CMs were so worried about people not hearing about the switch to Port Everglades. We didn't hear about it until 5pm the night before and we were on the ship!!!!!

Both our excursions on CC got cancelled. The bottom fishing got cancelled because the boat broke down. Then our 2:30pm jet ski tour got cancelled because of those thunderstorms. We just couldn't win with that.

 

[Gonecruisin]

I read somewhere that the Carneval ship docked next to the Wonder at Port Everglades didn't provide trans for its cruisers so they were stuck finding their own. What a nightmare! Loved the Disney difference.

Our favorite part of the cruise was Castaway (obviously).

In Nassau, we took a horse & buggy tour -- very entertaining. Our tour guide Maurice was a hoot. Got dropped off at the Pirate Museum which was nice. Might be scary for little ones as it is dark. Spent a few hrs at the Hilton beach/pool -- beautiful. Even got to use their kayaks. After a cocktail at Senor Frogs, we headed back to the ship. I didn't find the locals in Nassau pushy at all.

We fed the stingrays at Castaway (fun), snorkeled (loved this!) saw the sub, the boat, lots of fish and a wild stingray. We headed to lunch, two-for-one drinks then the game pavilion when the beach closed due to the storm that never came. Played shuffleboard & pool. Then they made the announcement that the beach was open!!!! and it was empty!!! ahh... Paradise.

We walked back to the ship around 4 pm and who should we meet on the way but Capt Jack Sparrow! All by himself!! There were so few people left on the island and most took the tram so we had no line/no waiting opportunity for a great photo.

Question: How was everyone's tablemates?

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Gonecruisin.....sounds like you had a perfect cruise I have never seen an empty line for Jack Sparrow....what a magical moment for you.

For both cruises we had a table for just the four of us. That's been the trend for us for a while.

Funny enough....you do not automatically get the same servers for the second cruise of a back-to-back. We had to talk to our head server about that and the head server of our entire rotation made the switch for us so that we kept the same serving team for the second cruise.

It did mean we had to switch our rotation for the second cruise. We were APT for the first cruise and PTA for the second cruise.

Yes, I read that story about Carnival charging the passengers for the bus ride home. That is just horrible. I would be steaming mad if that happened to me.

Just goes to show you how Carnival treats their customers.

We did a snorkeling excursion in Nassau and 90% of the people on that trip were from the Carnival ship. Not to sound like a snob but most of those people were an advertisement on why you should not cruise Carnival on those shorter cruises.

 

[Gonecruisin]

Sea-n-ski. That is soo funny. I ran into several of the Carneval cruisers in Senor Frogs. They were doing shots, smoking cigars and carrying on. They were definitely there to party -- not a very family friendly crowd as we found out. Not that I have anything against partying. I just don't want to spend 3 nights at sea w/ the Party People.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Sea-n-ski. That is soo funny. I ran into several of the Carneval cruisers in Senor Frogs. They were doing shots, smoking cigars and carrying on. They were definitely there to party -- not a very family friendly crowd as we found out. Not that I have anything against partying. I just don't want to spend 3 nights at sea w/ the Party People.

That was my reaction to them as well.

I am so bummed we did not get a chance to all meet up on the Wonder. That was the only negative of this cruise. Hopefully you all got a chance to rebook for next summer.

 

[postalcop]

hello,
well i feel much better that i had a bout 10 hrs. of sleep. boy did i need it!!
any way so here is my trip in short... spent our 1st 3 days in Disney no rain- it was nice spent time in Old Key West pool & DT Disney the 1st. day, Animal Kingdom 2nd day, Hollywood studios the 3rd. on the 4th day we got a little visotor & her name was FAYE !!!! so day 4 &5 (EPCOT & Magic Kingdom) were wet. well i guess it coulg have been worseit was just that annoying rain, not to heavy. on our last day at the resort (the day of the cruise, 8/21) the rain was just coming down so hard. we were packing in the room for the cruise, watching The Weather Channel. and the report at Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral area looked pretty bad. the reportes were saying that alll therse streets were closed off due to flooding well let me tell you i was in pannic mode at this point!!! dh said don't worry we have plenty of time to get there (port canaveral)!!!! it was about 11:30 am, and we were ready to check out. so i walked in while dh & the kids were waiting for me in the truck. in line was a cute elderly couple, the man had a castaway cay bag on his shoulder. so i asked him how the cruise was- his reply-- "it was wonderful, the only problem was the ship had to dock in Ft. Lauderdale" -(that was truley how i looked)!!! SAY WHAT!!!!!! Ft. Lauderdale, near Miami a 3 hour drive OMG how am i going to get there!!!!
well any way the wonderful CM was able to get us on a shuttle at 1:30 pm. 1 did have to spend the $70 pp to get there. she said if we drove to port canaveral it would have been no charge. oh well. . we got there any at about 5 pm.
we had the best time on board. i just wish it was longer, also i wish we were all able to meet. i will post some pics.soon and tell you about the cruise. in the next day or so.
i'm glad everyone had a great time, too!!
bye for now,
~Sue

 

[momdmd]

We also were on Wonder 8/21-8/24 but didn't get to board until 6:30 pm due to the port changes. We were staying at All Star Sports and got a message from the front desk. They sent up a letter saying that we will have to leave from Ft. Lauderdale and $60 in gift card for lunch. The hotel manager was great in arranging a taxi cab for us over to AKL to catch the bus at 2 pm. We were disappointed that we didn't get to attend the sailaway party. But did made to dinner in a hurry. Ate in 15 min before we all had to go to the mandatory drill. Saw Golden Mickey and Disney Dreams. Met all the princesses 2x. Definitely will do it again but with a longer cruise. Loved my cabin on the 8th floor near aft elevator with a balcony. The cabin was definitely bigger than expected. Overall, an awesome trip. The kids didn't want to leave. My daughter was dancing away in the Promenade lounge until 11 pm the night before.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Major bummer here.....can't find the DCL photos that were taken on this cruise. I found everything from the 8/17 cruise but the Navigators and photos from the 8/21 cruise aren't in any of the luggage.

I swear up and down I remember putting all that stuff in my luggage on the last day. And it was a thick enough pile that I don't think I would have thrown it away.

We were also so careful on the last morning to check that everything was put away in the luggage.

So I'm hoping that its been left behind on a chair/table in the room and that our wonderful room host found it.

It wasn't a lot of photos but you know how much those DCL pics cost so I am as bummed about losing the money as I am about the pictures

I still can't understand why those photos aren't in my luggage. Oh well, lesson learned. Pack those photos immediately just to be safe.

Its the pirate night photos that are missing. And a picture of us on CC taken in front of the Wonder.

Sorry so many missed the Sailaway party. It seemed like less than 100 people were there. I have a funny story about that. I was happily recording the show and when I went to play it back later on I discovered that I ran out of memory in the worst possible place.

How about this.....the countdown to the ship's horn got from 10 down to 4 when the camera stopped recording because the memory card was full.

I only needed about five more seconds of memory to get to the best part of the sailaway party.

 

[pierresgirl]

Hi guys! I had a good time and made the sail away party (thankfully!) the only Diser I met onboard was Sue AKa Postalcop. We had a nice time chatting at the pool on the second day, Nicholas and Christine are so cute! I can't get over how much we spent I am going to write an indepth trip report with lots of pics so click on my link if you want to follow along! It will be in the regular trip report section since we went to AKL as well. See you guys over there!!!

 

[pierresgirl]

Hey guys- I thought I'd let you know that I started on the cruise part of my TR. I'm doing it under the regular TR of the Disboards since I went to WDW as well. Just follow my sig link and I have the DCL links in my first post.

Leyla

 

[MPAULIN123]

hello EVERYONE!

I didnt drop off the earth or leave the country. I only have access to internet at work and at&t had blocked me from getting into the forum or posting messages. I got an email this morning and thought i would try to click on it and see if it would work.

wow - i have made it hear and not sure if i will be able to respond in the future since this is not business related. so first of all, here is my work email address: mp0679@att.com - home address is 707 brownwood drive, roanoke, va 24017

Trip report: we started our trip out on august 20th and headed to charleston, SC for two days. It was 10 of us. Me and my two boys and my cousin with her family of two kids and her husband, and cousins husband family of three. we spent two great days enjoying the sites of charleston, parris island and beaches. we did alot of site seeing in the historic area and the kids where just estactic to be able to run around and be with each other. on wednesday morning we headed to port carnavel and ran into ran about two hours before i reached the florida line. we also stayed at the marriott hotel right across from the port. our room was very nice and had the two bedrooms with the big living room in the middle. so everyone was running around excited but also kinda scared, especially when the power kept going on and off. and me being a smoker I would lite up my lighter and then a few minutes later power would come back on. we had a little water in our room from the wind blowing so bad sideways, but we didnt care. next morning we went over to port and went thru all the congestion and confusion... finally got on the bus for the three hour trip, which i think we where all so excited the first fews days of being together, we all fell asleep on the bus. we had a blast on the cruise and i wish i could say more, but scared i am going to get bumped by at&t security due to this not really being at work related website. so please feel free to email me at work, because i can respond to emails and send pictures of our trip and would love to see other people's pictures. p.s. GONECRUISIN you might have seen me on the ship, but i was in so much of an AWE state that my mouth stayed gaping open the whole time, even while i slept. The cruise was great and i am planning my next one but for a longer period. three days was not enough for me and the boys.

Hope everyone else had a blast like me.

Melissa Paulin - 1st time cruiser 8-21-08

 

[postalcop]

hi everyone!!!!
we did have a blast once we got to the ship!!!! i will have to post some pics., but i cant log onto photobucket???? dont know why??? well i will try again another night!!!
but i do want to post pics. oh well, i also hope every one had a great time!! Lelya- love your TR, so far!!
bye for now,
~Sue