9-4-2008 on the Wonder

[Hsminnie]

I am a cruising veteran but this is my first Disney cruise. I am already a land freak for all things Disney so I have high hopes.

It's a 'girls weekend out' cruise for me and my 13 year old daughter. We'll be bonding

Anyone else going? Anything I need to know about DCL?

Thanks!

Christy

 

[Marcy Mouse]

Hi,

My name is Marcy and I will be crusing with you in September. I have a son who is 14 and is in grade nine. Last year he had a blast on the trip.

There will be 8 of us going. Me, ds, dh, dsis, df, dm-inlaw,db1 and db2. We booked to gty rooms since this will end our land trip. We are staying seven nights on disney property with the free dining and then I talked everyone (wasn't to hard) into doing a cruise at the end of the trip.

I think you and your daughter will have a great time and if you have any questions feel free to ask. We did the 4 night cruise last year so we were on the same ship with the same ports.

I guess you started the September 4th cruise meet!

Marcy

 

[Hsminnie]

Thanks Marcy!

It would be great if we could say 'hi' somewhere. My daughter and I will probably spend most of our time together but she is very social and would love to meet someone else her age. Neither she nor I much like the sound of a teen 'club' so a pre-arranged 'pal' would be a nice alternative.

We've been to the Bahamas before and didn't love it. I'm looking forward to this trip changing my opinion. We spend WAY too much time and $ at Disney but I had to try a cruise. At almost twice the price of similair itineraries on other lines I need to see what all the hubub is about. That way, I can talk dh into a 7 day for the whole family!!!

Enjoy your time in the parks. We love it. My eldest daughter has chosen a trip to WDW with her friends as her Sweet 16 present so we will be there in July!


Ok, Marcy and I are going. Anyone else? The rates are really gooood!!!

Christy

 

[becca-becca]

My DH and I are going. We are using some DVC developer points and want to get a feel for DCL before our extended family of 12-14 goes in January 2010. (Kids are staying behind to go to school this time).

 

[Marcy Mouse]

Thanks for posting! That makes three of us. There must not be a lot of DIS'ers on this cruise.

Someday I would love to try a vacation with just me and DH.

Marcy

 

[Hsminnie]

Actually, it makes 2. We had to change our date and will now be sailing on the August 7th departure. The good news is, it's closer! The bad news is not meeting all of you.

Have a great time!!!!

Christy

 

[disjest8]

This will be an extended family cruise for us. Here is the list so far.

Me, DH, DS6 and DS5
DD 23, DSL 24, DGD 3, DGD 2
DD 24, DSL 27, DGD 5, DGD 1

 

[disjest8]

Sorry, double post

 

[disjest8]

becca-becca and Marcy - Looking forward to meeting you. I can't believe there aren't more dis'ers booked on this cruise. We have been on multiple DCL cruises, so let me know if you have any questions.

I booked Atlantis for me, DH and DS-5 and DS-6 on Friday. I think my rate was around $159, so I couldn't pass it up.

I don't know what the big kids and grandkids will be doing because they are all on a very strict budget, but I'm sure it will be fun.

Do either of you have any shore excursion plans?

-Kristi

 

[Marcy Mouse]

We are still trying to decide what to do. We are looking at the catamaran and snorkle on Nassua. Castaway Cay we are just going to enjoy the beach day.

I was looking at booking a room at Atlantis so that we can do the water park etc. You can get a room for around $250.00 which is a lot cheaper then booking through Disney directly. I may wait until it gets closer to decide on Atlantis.

Marcy

 

[disjest8]

Hi Marcy,

You may already know this, but a room at Comfort Suites on Paradise Island gives you full access to all of the Atlantis pools, etc.

Right now, it looks like Comfort Suites is going for $188 per night for 2 Adults and 2 Children. The fee increases to $268 per night for 4 adults, which is still quite a bit less than booking through Disney.

We used this option once and it worked pretty well. If you decide to go this route, take a regular taxi as opposed to the water taxi. We found the water taxi to be a significant waste of time.

I think Atlantis also offers a day pass for water slide/pool access. I called them about it once and was able to get info, but I don't remember the specifics.

 

[photolover]

Hi disjest, becca-becca and Marcy, it's nice to know that there are other disers doing this cruise. I have been looking for this thread but didn't find one. Me, dh, and 2 little daughters will be on this cruise. We have cruised with Royal Carribean several times, but this is gonna be our first Disney cruise. So excited! We will be staying at ASMovie for 9 days with Dining plan before the cruise. All I am worried about now is the WEATHER. I hope we can cope with it since we use to cold weather (i.e. canadian!).

I just paid my final payment today. Still don't know what to book for excursion since it's such a short cruise. I have never tried before but would love to do some snorkelling but wonder if it's suitable for the little girls or not. Is it required to know how to swim or not? Perharps I just need to rent the paddle boat and floats to enjoy the beach at Castaway Cay?

What's about Palo? Is the food much better than the regular restaurant?

Sorry for the loads of questions, I haven't got anytime to read through the threads. Hope to see some of you on the cruise!

 

[Marcy Mouse]

I'm Canadian too. I from PEI but live in Ontario. This will be our forth year in a row that we have been to Disney in Aug/Sept. It is hot but just plan for it. Get to the parks at opening and then take afternoon breaks; then go back to the park for supper.

Where at in Canada? are you driving down or flying? We are leaving on the 26 and driving to Virgina to take the auto train. We will arrive on the 28 and are spending 7 nights at ASMU.

Marcy

 

[photolover]

I'm Canadian too. I from PEI but live in Ontario. This will be our forth year in a row that we have been to Disney in Aug/Sept. It is hot but just plan for it. Get to the parks at opening and then take afternoon breaks; then go back to the park for supper.

Where at in Canada? are you driving down or flying? We are leaving on the 26 and driving to Virgina to take the auto train. We will arrive on the 28 and are spending 7 nights at ASMU.

Marcy

Hi Marcy, I am from Ontario too (Toronto). Wow, 4 year in a row with Disney! You are lucky!!! I am going to fly from Buffalo with Southwest to save half of the airfares for the cruise! We are leaving on the 26th too and we will stay at ASMovie (preferred room). I also booked for my sister's family at ASMovie but they will join us couple days later. Last year we went to Disneyland for 10 days and took the Mexico cruise with RCCL. The girls had a blast and I made some photobooks with Disney pictures when we got home. All my friends were jealous to see the photobooks I hope I can do the same this year.

 

[Marcy Mouse]

Hi Marcy, I am from Ontario too (Toronto). Wow, 4 year in a row with Disney! You are lucky!!! I am going to fly from Buffalo with Southwest to save half of the airfares for the cruise! We are leaving on the 26th too and we will stay at ASMovie (preferred room). I also booked for my sister's family at ASMovie but they will join us couple days later. Last year we went to Disneyland for 10 days and took the Mexico cruise with RCCL. The girls had a blast and I made some photobooks with Disney pictures when we got home. All my friends were jealous to see the photobooks I hope I can do the same this year.

I'm sure you will get lots of pics and have a great time. How was Disneyland? I hope to get there someday. Have you been to Disneyworld before; if so, how did you find Disneyland in comparison?

Are you planning on doing all the parks. I do recommend going to Typhoon Lagoon. It is our favorite waterpark. We all love the big wave pool. I bought the new Olympus waterproof camera so I can't wait to go this year. I will be able to take lots of pics. I will say it is usually so hot that we find that we love spending time at Typhoon lagoon.

Because this is our fourth year in a row we are going to try US/IOA. We did this the first year but havn't been back since. My son is 14 now and he really wants to try out the big roller coasters there.

What are your plans for getting to the port?

Marcy

 

[Marcy Mouse]

becca-becca and Marcy - Looking forward to meeting you. I can't believe there aren't more dis'ers booked on this cruise. We have been on multiple DCL cruises, so let me know if you have any questions.

I booked Atlantis for me, DH and DS-5 and DS-6 on Friday. I think my rate was around $159, so I couldn't pass it up.

I don't know what the big kids and grandkids will be doing because they are all on a very strict budget, but I'm sure it will be fun.

Do either of you have any shore excursion plans?

-Kristi

Just booked this. It was on 45 pp so I thought I would give it a try. We had such a fun time sknorkling on CC that we thought we might like this two. It says that the reef is very beautiful. I was thinking about booking the waterpark at Atlantis but because we are doing Typhoon lagoon we wanted to try something else.

That was a great rate that you got. I looked but the best I could find was 229 plus taxes.

Counting down the days!

Marcy

 

[photolover]

I'm sure you will get lots of pics and have a great time. How was Disneyland? I hope to get there someday. Have you been to Disneyworld before; if so, how did you find Disneyland in comparison?

Are you planning on doing all the parks. I do recommend going to Typhoon Lagoon. It is our favorite waterpark. We all love the big wave pool. I bought the new Olympus waterproof camera so I can't wait to go this year. I will be able to take lots of pics. I will say it is usually so hot that we find that we love spending time at Typhoon lagoon.

Because this is our fourth year in a row we are going to try US/IOA. We did this the first year but havn't been back since. My son is 14 now and he really wants to try out the big roller coasters there.

What are your plans for getting to the port?

Marcy

Hi Marcy,

It's going to be our first time to WDW but went to Disneyland many times. I loved Disneyland because it's small enough - only 2 parks next to each other. It's not too overwhelming with the little kids. I found it has enough fun for little ones too. Disneyland also has similar shows/events Fireworks, Fanstasmic, Aladdin, Nemo, High School Musical, Princess Storybook, etc... and parades (days and evening Electrical parades, etc), and special characters Meet & Greet, character meals, etc... I chose to do Disneyland rather than WDW before because I can do lots more in LA and the weather is nice and less hot and humid than Orlando. I also can go to beaches, taking cruises, etc. However, I think it would lack of ride excitement for the big kids compared to WDW.

I will do all the theme parks but still isn't sure about water parks. Due to dining plan and the crowd of FD, I am just afraid that I don't have enough time to do water parks. We went to Great Wolf many times and the kids love the wave pool there too. I will wait and see when I get there to decide whether to upgrade the passes to include waterpark or not. Can't wait!

 

[disjest8]

It's getting close now. (54 days)

My entire crew is getting really excited!

 

[hoop4321]

Hi to all....we're coming too! 36 days to go!!!!

 

[disjest8]

Welcome hoop4321! We haven't had a huge response to this thread, but the cruise seems to be pretty full. How many are in your group?

We have 15 (9 Adults, 6 Kids) and are doing a Magical Gathering at WDW before the cruise. I'm the organizer, Mom of 8/Grandmother of 4 and after yesterday, I'm ready to split from the rest of the group and go to WDW by myself. I'm sure today will be a better day and I will once again be excited about our trip that's been in the planning for almost a year.

Anybody else have any new plans or shore excursions booked?