We went on the MAGIC so some of it might be different.
I do not think they sell postage stamps on the ship. It would be confusing with the rate of money exchange and the different ports of call.
We bought stamps at each port so we could send cards to ourselves (for our scrapbook) and to family. The SHOPPING IN PARADISE flyer you get for each port usually shows the Post Office, or you can ask CMs or people in the port. It maybe off the beaten track, but then you get another view of the port!!
There is a Bahamian Post office at
Castaway Cay that sells Bahamian stamps--which you must use to mail cards from there. They also have two postcards of the Disney Ship that look like the Bahamian stamps the Bahamas made of the ship!!
You have to ask for that stamp if you want it. The store at Castaway Cay sells one postcard of the ship-stamp but it is not exactly the same as the Bahamian card.
The post office is one of the first things you pass as you disembark and I suggest you mail your items then. The first time we went they closed early so I could not mail my already written and addressed cards.
We took stickers with the addresses of friends and family on them so that we could buy the cards, stick on the sticker and scribble on "having a wonderful time" and our names. In Grand Cayman they wanted return addresses on the cards, so I was glad I had some of those stickers along too. The Post Office was air conditioned so that was a nice place to write out the cards.
We saw teenagers at dinner without their parents so assumed the parents were at Palo. We did not eat at Palo until our third MAGIC cruise. Some people suggest you go on the repeated night. With a four night cruise you will eat in the same diningroom on the first night and the last. So they suggest you choose one of those nights. If you have cruised before with Disney, pick the diningroom you care the least about and go to Palo the night you are scheduled to eat there. We enjoyed the "show" of each diningroom so much that we did not want to miss any of that and only did Palo this last cruise as it was my DH's birthday and friends from college were cruising also so we went together.
We did not cruise with teens so are not sure about Common Grounds but think the teens can come and go as they wish.
Lunch can be had at Topsiders, one or two of the sit down restaurants, and the snack bars on Deck 9. The NAVIGATOR will tell what is open and when. Good food can be had at all the places.
There are items in the two shops that are not available elsewhere. Pretty much anything that says WONDER will not be available anywhere except on the ship. TREASURE KETCH is high end merchandise and MICKEY'S MATES is less expensive, but still not cheap. There are also Castaway Cay items available only on the Island.
Check at Barb and Tony's website
http://www.disneycruiser.com for NAVIGATORS from cruises. They go on the WONDER several times a year and have trip reports, photos and NAVIGATORS posted.
Jan
