A WONDERful three nights on the Wonder…Spring break 2018 trip report.

[buzzrelly]

Final Morning, Sunday April 8, 2018


We woke up to this:

Right back where we started. It was kind of sad, but we still had 7 nights in WDW to look forward to which definitely took the edge off.


The absolute BEST tip I learned from reading these boards is that Cabanas is open on the final morning. On our first two cruises, we dragged ourselves up to the MDR barely awake and functional, and obviously, super cranky…well not me, but the kids. I'm naturally up early so I got up and dressed and ran up to Cabanas for coffee and some breakfast and brought it back to the room on a tray. It was so nice to have everyone just get ready at their own pace and not have to drag our bags to the MDR and head right off the ship. I will always do this on debarkation morning from now on.

Allie was so happy to have her wi-fi back on I wouldn't pay for wi-fi on the cruise, because I think disconnecting is one of the best parts about it.


One last shot of our messy room...



Mom enjoyed her coffee out on the veranda for the last time…


And by 8 am, it was all over


We ended up getting on one of the first busses, but we sat here for a long time…


We didn't pull away until 8:53 am. I don't know if we really should have rushed off the ship, but if we hadn't, would we have had to wait longer for a bus? Who knows? Either way we'd be waiting and I know they wanted us out of our room anyway so we had to leave.

Good-Bye, Disney Wonder. You are a beautiful ship and we had a great time!








My final thoughts about the cruise: This was our third cruise…we did an 8-night on the Magic, 4-night on the Dream, and this. Our Magic cruise was in 2012 and it was different because we got married and the kids were really little, so I'll mostly compare the Wonder and the Dream.

Three nights go by REALLY fast. Some people ask if a 3-night cruise is too short, and I would say that if that's all you can do or that's all that fits into your schedule, go for it. We had a wonderful, relaxing time. Four nights was definitely better though.

The ship itself is beautiful. I personally like the size of the Dream better and I missed the Aqua-Duck. Castaway Cay was nice this time because it wasn't as crowded as it was on the Dream, but then again, we still loved it when we were on the Dream too. It's a big enough island/beach and there are so many different areas to absorb all the people.

The kids liked the Vibe on the Wonder and they made some nice friends, but they LOVED the clubs on the Dream.

The food is pretty much the same on all the ships, but our servers here, Levi and Sam, were the greatest ever. They made the MDRs much more tolerable for everyone. When we were on the Dream we just didn't enjoy our dinners and we even skipped one night in favor of room service. This experience was MUCH better. I also think that having our own private table contributed to that. I will always request this on future cruises.

Cabanas was great on both the Dream and Wonder. I wish they had a dinner buffet because I would likely choose that over the MDRs.

The shows…meh. I had already seen Dreams and Believe and was clearly not in love with Frozen. Mike (DH) and I are going on the Dream in October and I think I'll skip all the shows except for Beauty and the Beast, which I'm excited to see.

There were a couple movies I thought I'd go see while onboard, but for whatever reason, I just didn't seem to find time. And speaking of movies….

Our room No, actually, our room (6608) was okay, but definitely NOT what I would pick if there were more options. On the Dream we had the Family Veranda room and the extra space made a HUGE difference. I was glad we were only in this room for 3 nights or we would have killed each other. But the other not so great part about this room is that it was directly above the movie theater. Now you all know that I go to bed early and every night, I could hear the base and booming sounds from the theater below. I guess it didn't really keep me awake but it was kind of annoying. We were on deck 9 on the Dream and never had a problem with noise. Also, since this room was aft, I did actually feel the vibrations of the ship, especially on the last night. I think on future cruises my preference will be deck 9, mid-ship. We made sure we booked a room with a Murphy bed because Allie was not happy about having to share a bed with me. It will be nice to all have our own sleeping spaces.

Our room host…I have nothing to say…I can't even remember his name. He kept our room clean and made nice towel animals. Our room host on the Dream was much more friendly and personable, but it really didn't make a difference, good or bad. I just want a clean room.

That's it, I guess. If anyone has any questions, I'll be glad to try and answer them!

We are excited about going on the Fantasy next year. I'm curious to see how that will compare to this cruise, but I'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for following along and commenting! I will be starting a TR soon over on the WDW trip reports board. Feel free to follow along to see how the rest of our trip turns out…spoiler alert…we had a blast! I'll post a link here when I have it up.

Good-bye, Wonder! Hello…

​

 

[buzzrelly]

I always think that the Animators menu really misses the boat by not notifying people that halloumi = fried cheese. We’re not even vegetarian but we regularly eat it. Delicious!

Haha! I think you're right! I totally skipped right over that because I had no idea what it was!

 

[cadien]

This was a really encouraging report, because we're going on a 4-night in February 2019 and it sounds so short! But we're also following it with a WDW visit (our first ever!). Your 3 days sound like a great, full time.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

thanks!

 

[buzzrelly]

This was a really encouraging report, because we're going on a 4-night in February 2019 and it sounds so short! But we're also following it with a WDW visit (our first ever!). Your 3 days sound like a great, full time.

You'll have a blast!

thanks!

Thank YOU!

 

[missjackiemcg]

In a SHOCKING turn of events, while mom and I were eating, the kids actually decided to join us for lunch

Aww, that was sweet

We kind of messed it up, but it's cute anyway. She loves Olaf

Adorable!! I love then and now pics!

Back at the room, I finally remembered to take a pic of this awesome photo

I love that picture!! It's definitely a favorite.

Everything sounds amazing. Our last Disney Cruise was on our Honeymoon in 2006. I am really itching to do another one!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I can't believe you have finished the cruise TR already! But I guess it was a short cruise!

Since I was being daring and told myself that I was going to try new things onboard, I ordered the Shrimp & Grits appetizer. Sadly, I didn't like this…the grits were very mushy and kinda cheesy. The shrimp wasn't bad, but I like my shrimp with cocktail sauce better. I was happy I tried something new, though. This felt very adventurous for me!

In terms of shrimp and grits, this looks ok but it seems to be missing some sort of gravy or sauce for the shrimp.

My Iceberg Wedge Salad…I LOVED this. I ended up ordering it for a second time while at Animator's Palate and Levi was kind enough to find it for me even though it wasn't on the menu there.

Can't go wrong with a nice wedge salad. Steve will really like this as he loves wedge salads.

Love Tiana in her flapper-style dress!

Beignets! They don't serve too many of these here in the Northeast and I have been wanting to try them since PATF came out! These were good, but of course, I have nothing to compare them to. They were basically little donuts dipped in chocolate sauce. We got a couple orders of these and split them. Allison didn't like them very much which doesn't surprise me since she's fussier than I am

Yum I am so going to get these!

This was my plate. I absolutely love the oatmeal on the ship. I don't know how they make it but it's perfect And in the spirit of trying new things, I got myself a poached egg with hollandaise sauce. Again, not my cup of tea, but I'm glad I tried it.

I agree! The oatmeal on the ship is great! I can never make oatmeal that good. Must be magical Disney oatmeal. I am not a fan of eggs benedict either. I like poached eggs but I don't' like it with hollandaise and on a muffin.

So….what did we book? The Fantasy, 7-night Eastern Caribbean, April 6, 2019 Although, at this point, we weren't even 100% certain that we were going to keep this reservation because that would mean skipping WDW next April, and we weren't sure if we wanted to do that. But after much discussion between the four of us, we have now totally committed to doing this and I couldn't change my mind even if I wanted to because I ended up renting out my DVC points for next year, which covers half the cost of the cruise! The kids are super excited! One of the main reasons we really want to do this is because they LOVE The Vibe. I mean LOVE it…as in, I almost never see them on the ship. They just have such a great time. Nicholas is turning 17 this fall so next April will be his last chance to go in there. Plus, it'll be his senior year and I really wanted to do a special trip. We are all REALLY excited!

Yay! So exciting!! I love the Fantasy!

Sometime afterwards, we had tickets to the princess meet & greet. I thought Allie would join us but she had no interest in doing that AT ALL. So mom and I went down. I look horrid in all of the pictures though, so I cropped myself out

Haha I'm sure you looked great as usual, I was wondering where you were!

Ariel was super sweet. The rest were nice, but Cinderella was very standoffish and clearly not into touching strangers, which is EXACTLY how I would be as a princess, so I guess I can't really fault her for that

She had a dysfunctional childhood and I guess if you worked half your life as a slave you can be as diva-ish as you want as a princess.

After meeting all the princesses, mom and I changed and went back to Cabanas to have lunch, though I think I may be missing something because didn't we just have breakfast?
I'm guessing we walked around a bit more in-between but I have no photographic evidence of this.

Haha that was like our last sea day! I have pictures of breakfast...and then lunch...haha. It's like all we did was eat all day.

This was so salty, it was basically inedible. I took one taste and couldn't eat anymore Nicholas wasn't impressed either, though I think he ate a little more than I did.

Oh no sorry to hear that. The broth really makes or breaks the soup.

We woke early this morning, super excited for our day at Castaway Cay. Mother Nature was extremely cooperative yet again, giving us another glorious day of weather. I decided to go for a run on deck 4 before getting off the ship, kind of my own Castaway Cay 5K. I did the actual CC 5K in 2016 and it was just waaayyyyy too hot for me, and so much of it is out in the blistering sun. I feel no need to repeat that for a plastic medal. I decided to do my own version early in the day, in partial shade around the deck like I had done the day before. The one glitch I ran into was that while the ship is docking, part of the jogging path is closed. I made do by cutting through the last set of doors. I did nine laps again, but because I cut off that end part, it wasn't a true 3 miles, but it sure was pretty

wow you are so good on vacation! Gorgeous views!

I love the yogurt too! Especially greek yogurt.

Aww so sweet.

After my walk, I went back to get mom and we went to Cookies's Too for lunch. None of the meat looked good to me so I ended up loading up on carbs…I have to say that of all the cruise food, this was my least favorite meal. There just aren't enough choices. I guess I could have gone back on the ship to eat, but it doesn't really matter that much to me, I guess. I picked enough so that I wasn't hungry.

I agree, it's basically just BBQ type food, of which I'm ok with but I'd rather have something more interesting It fits the theme of the day I guess.

Allie even stuck around long enough to recreate a photo we took two years ago-

Then-

and now-

We kind of messed it up, but it's cute anyway. She loves Olaf

Aww I love this! So cute!

I briefly contemplated going on Pelican Plunge by myself, but decided against it partly because I didn't want to go by myself and partly because I've read that there could be sea-lice in CC, and it's especially concentrated around PP. I have no idea if that's true or not, but I didn't want to take any chances.

Eeek. I've been on PP once. Maybe I'll skip the next time.

Ugh just gorgeous!! I wish I was there right now.

YUM!!! I''m totally going to get a double order next time. As an appetizer.

The only thing I was confused about was that I thought in Animator's Palate that we were supposed to draw a picture and watch it come to life on the screens. I think they only do that on longer cruises? Either that, or I'm totally crazy Either way, that didn't happen, though the screens came to life with Disney animation by the end of the meal.

Yup it's only on the longer cruises. We didn't experience it on our 5 night either, so I guess it's 7 nights or longer only.

Don't flame me, but I think I may have nodded off during the show. It's not that the show isn't good, or the cast isn't talented, but I AM SOOOOOO OVER FROZEN Stick a fork in me, I'm done. If I never see it again, it'll be too soon. This is the only Disney movie I've ever felt this way about, though I imagine Star Wars may be heading down this path soon.

I agree there was a time where there was too much frozen. So I kinda avoided it. Although we are going to see the Broadway version in a few months but everyone told me it's fantastic so I succumbed.
I will however, never be tired of Star Wars!

Right back where we started. It was kind of sad, but we still had 7 nights in WDW to look forward to which definitely took the edge off.

Isn't it the best feeling knowing you've still got a week of Disney left? That's why I am a big fan of heading to the parks after a cruise and not before. By the time I leave the parks I'm so exhausted that I'm like, ok we could use a break, let's go home. But at the end of the cruise I'm like, I'm not ready to leave, I want more Disney!!

The absolute BEST tip I learned from reading these boards is that Cabanas is open on the final morning. On our first two cruises, we dragged ourselves up to the MDR barely awake and functional, and obviously, super cranky…well not me, but the kids. I'm naturally up early so I got up and dressed and ran up to Cabanas for coffee and some breakfast and brought it back to the room on a tray. It was so nice to have everyone just get ready at their own pace and not have to drag our bags to the MDR and head right off the ship. I will always do this on debarkation morning from now on.

That's a good idea if no one wants to wake up so early to eat in the MDR!

Sorry the cruise is over! It looked fantastic!
Can't wait for the Disney part!

 

[buzzrelly]

Everything sounds amazing. Our last Disney Cruise was on our Honeymoon in 2006. I am really itching to do another one!!

You totally should! I think it's especially nice for families with small kids because you can have as much adult time as you want…a precious commodity with little ones

I can't believe you have finished the cruise TR already! But I guess it was a short cruise!

It was REALLY short, and only one port so not much else to report on. Believe me, my WDW TR will be MUCH longer…you'll be begging for it to end

Yum I am so going to get these!

Especially since you won't be getting them at POR now that you're staying at POP.

She had a dysfunctional childhood and I guess if you worked half your life as a slave you can be as diva-ish as you want as a princess.

Oh my! Now that's a different spin

Haha that was like our last sea day! I have pictures of breakfast...and then lunch...haha. It's like all we did was eat all day.

I was almost embarrassed to post this! I really think there must've been more between breakfast and lunch!

Eeek. I've been on PP once. Maybe I'll skip the next time.

Someone commented that it's more in the summer months, generally not in the Spring. I really would have gone if Allie would have been there. I just didn't want to go by myself

I''m totally going to get a double order next time. As an appetizer.

HaHa! Sure, why not?! Good idea!

I will however, never be tired of Star Wars!

I hope I won't ever be either. At least it's a bunch of movies and stories, whereas Frozen is the SAME thing over and over and over. I honestly wouldn't even go see it on Broadway

Isn't it the best feeling knowing you've still got a week of Disney left?

Yes, the best! I'm a little nervous that I'll be sad next April to not go to any parks. I'm hoping seeing the Eastern Caribbean makes me forget all about that

 

[cadien]

You totally should! I think it's especially nice for families with small kids because you can have as much adult time as you want…a precious commodity with little ones

That's what really got us hooked on cruising. It's not particularly our style when it's just the two of us. But for the first few years with our son, my husband and I worked opposite shifts. So our kid was constantly with at least one of us but we never saw each other. Being able to drop him off somewhere to play happily and have one-on-one time was so wonderful.

 

[buzzrelly]

That's what really got us hooked on cruising. It's not particularly our style when it's just the two of us. But for the first few years with our son, my husband and I worked opposite shifts. So our kid was constantly with at least one of us but we never saw each other. Being able to drop him off somewhere to play happily and have one-on-one time was so wonderful.

 

[shairpdrh]

You totally should! I think it's especially nice for families with small kids because you can have as much adult time as you want…a precious commodity with little ones

I've been following along to learn a bit more about cruising before we take our first Disney cruise in January and this is the reason we are doing it! Looking forward to time with our toddler and time for ourselves.

 

[buzzrelly]

I've been following along to learn a bit more about cruising before we take our first Disney cruise in January and this is the reason we are doing it! Looking forward to time with our toddler and time for ourselves.

You're going to love it! Thanks for commenting

 

[buzzrelly]

Hello, all! I just started my WDW TR, if anyone is interested! I'd love to see you over there

I can't tell if we've landed, or not…Spring Break 2018 with Grammy and the teens​

 

[disneyAndi14]

I just read all of the cruise report, found it when I started your WDW report. I loved reading about your 3 nights on the ship. Sounds like a nice time. I haven't cruised since 2007. We did a Mediterranean cruise on Princess cruise line, it was beautiful, we saw so many beautiful cities including Istanbul.

Disney cruise for 3-4 nights would be perfect pre WDW trip.

Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed it.

 

[buzzrelly]

I just read all of the cruise report, found it when I started your WDW report. I loved reading about your 3 nights on the ship. Sounds like a nice time. I haven't cruised since 2007. We did a Mediterranean cruise on Princess cruise line, it was beautiful, we saw so many beautiful cities including Istanbul.

Disney cruise for 3-4 nights would be perfect pre WDW trip.

Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading It was a nice little add-on to our WDW trip. You should try cruising again someday!

 

[wdwnut61]

What a wonderful cruise you had and perfect to finish at WDW.
I’ve gotten so many great tips between Su-Lynn and you’re trip reports
I love how easy it is to stay at the airport Hyatt and they’ll transfer your luggage
We love Tianna too especially youngest DD I love her in the flapper dress
I would have been right there with you as a fellow Fanalow
Beautiful pictures that’s so exciting you have the longer cruise booked next Spring

 

[buzzrelly]

Thanks for reading!

We love Tianna too especially youngest DD I love her in the flapper dress

She's the BEST…isn't that funny that we both just posted her as our favorite princess on the "Show me a Picture" board?!

I would have been right there with you as a fellow Fanalow

We needed a few more on that cruise

 

[wdwnut61]

Thanks for reading!




She's the BEST…isn't that funny that we both just posted her as our favorite princess on the "Show me a Picture" board?!



We needed a few more on that cruise

I know love it my sista and fellow Tiana and Manilow fan

 

[Mickey.MAC]

great trip report and great cruise advice

Which website do you use to upload your photos to this post?

 

[buzzrelly]

great trip report and great cruise advice

Which website do you use to upload your photos to this post?

Thank you!

I have been uploading my photos to Shutterfly since 2009. It is completely free and I have thousands of pictures there now. Once they are in there, I just right click, save them to my desktop, and upload them here. It's fairly simple once you get the hang of it