Another July 21 Wonder Trip Report

Little Mermaid's Mom

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
Messages
11
We've been back home now for 2 weeks and we have been looking at our photos and souveniors everyday. Our Family was small Me 30, DH 30, and DD 18 months.

We were on the 4 day Wonder that left on July 21. We got to the port at about 12:30 pm. We had spent the previous night at the Royal Plaza Hotel near Downtown Disney. We ate at Downtown Disney and then went back to the room. There was a terrible thunderstorm with a lot of lightening.

We parked the car and wheeled our luggage across the street ourselves. DH had left the stroller in the garage so we carried DD. We had no problems leaving our luggage with the other luggage and then riding the escalator up into the terminal. It was gorgeous. When we first came up the escalator there was a very long line to board the ship that reached across the terminal. By the time we were done checking in though, it was gone. We waited in a very short line and then went through to the xray area. Then we got on the ship! We didn't feel herded at all and we went our own way. We went downstairs to our stateroom right away to drop off some of our carryon luggage. I like to see the staterooms right away. We had stateroom 2580 a category 9 room with a porthole, a queen bed and a fold down bed. The split bathroom was wonderful. Much bigger then the bathroom on the Norwegian Wind our only previous cruise. Then we went to explore the ship. We went to the Spa but they weren't quite open yet. So we went and checked out Deck 9 and tried to get our AAA Soda mugs but we had left the coupon in our stateroom. We went and saw the Internet Cafe and retrieved our coupon and picked up our mugs. Then we ate lunch in Parrot Cay Italian food Yummy. Back up to the spa for a tour and reservations for me for 12:30 Monday (Nassau) The tour of the spa is great! Then we get our lifevests and head up to Deck 4 for the lifeboat drill. Very Hot and boring but necessary. DD was very well behaved while we stood there. It is very cloudy out and eventually started raining so we ended up missing the Sail Away party. It was moved indoors to the atrium but that area was crowded. DH wanted to go up to deck 9 so we could see the Port as we left. He was nervous about the security and wanted to check things out. We sailed out of port really quickly and then went back down to the stateroom to get dressed for our Early seating dinner.

Dinner was great. We were sharing a table with a family of 3 from Houston TX. Their DD was 2 1/2 and got along great with our DD. The food was fabulous in Trition's. I loved the Creme Brulee. Then we went to the show Hercules the Muse ical! DD liked the guy with the blue hair. We liked this show but it wasn't our favorite. After the show we looked around in the shops and then DH went and signed up for the Internet cafe. DD was tired and so I took her back to the Cabin to sleep.

Day 2 Nassau, Bahamas. We got to Port right on time. We got up, and got ready to head to breakfast and Atlantis Resort. Breakfast was at Triton's. A little too formal for breakfast. I liked Parrot Cay breakfast better. We took a Taxi over to Atlantis for only $4 a person no charge for DD. DD and I looked at the fish and DH headed to the casino. We had agreed to meet at 11:30 but he came back at 11:00 DD had fallen asleep on my lap and so I was just sitting in the Lobby people watching. She loved looking at the fish and I didn't pay the $25 to see the whole thing. I didn't think DD would have been patient enough to walk through the whole aquarium she was so tired from the Day before. We then headed back to the ship for lunch and my spa reservation. We had brunch at Beach Blanket Buffet. It was the American Brunch lots of good choices but I was too nervous about my spa appointment to enjoy it. DD spilled DH's water all over his tray. OOPS I head off to my spa appointment. I had a back massage. It was wonderful, very relaxing I should have gone up to the rainforest room after that. But I wanted to see how DH was doing with DD so I went to the stateroom to find them. We went back off the ship to get a carriage ride and shop. Unfortuneately the horses were resting from 1:00until 3:00 so we just shopped. It was really hot out and so we went back to ship without riding in a carriage. DD and I ordered some sandwiches from room service (tuna salad was great) and DH went up to the rainforest room. When he came back we took DD up to the Mickey pool to play. Then we changed and got ready for Dinner. We were looking forward to Animator's Palate! I loved Animator's Palate. The food was delicous. I had the Lobster Wrap, Maple Glazed Salmon and fudge cake mmmm. Remi from Lithiunia was our Server and Janpong from Thailand was his assistant. Both were very friendly and gave very good service. The Head Waiter didn't come to our Table. We saw him maybe twice in the whole trip. We didn't celebrate any special occasions at our table.

We went to the theatre after dinner. David Delaney the comedian was hilarious. We loved his show. DD got impatient though so I missed 1/2 of it. DH went up to the Internet Cafe and I took DD to bed. Only two more nights left on the ship.

Castaway Cay day! We got up and went to Triton's for breakfast. DD woke up in a bad mood and wouldn't let me put her coverup on her or her shoes. So when we got there one of the servers was very unhappy about DD wearing only her bathing suit. I got out the coverup and got DD to put that on but the shoes were out of the question. I didn't want DD to have a temper tantrum we put DD in a highchair. The server was concerned that DD would step on something and hurt herself in the restaurant. She is just a baby and I was holding her a lot so I didn't really understand what all the fuss was about. We lost her Sandals the day before and so we were having some shoe difficulties!

Castaway Cay was great! We rented a pedal boat and pedaled around for about 1/2 hour. Then we went to the family beach. DD loved the beach and wanted to go out to the rope area where the big kids jump off. Silly Girl! After playing in the water awhile we ate some lunch at the Barbecue. I wanted to check out the Bahamian crafts. But I couldn't find it. I was having a hard time reading the map. So we ended up riding the tram out to the adult beach. DH wanted to see the old landing strip and I thought it would be nice to see more of the Island. We had a nice ride in the tram and then we got off and found the hair braiding area and the Bahamian crafts. The craft area was closed :-(( Gone Fishing it said! There were a lot of little girls getting their hair braided! I thought the hairbraiding area looked very neat and clean. DD was to little to sit still long enough for that. Then we did a little shopping at She sells seashells, had our purchases sent back to the ship and went to ride the tram and find the postoffice. We mailed three postcards out and haven't gotten any of them in the mail yet. We took some pictures of DD on a barrel with the ship in the background. We went back to our stateroom and changed for dinner early so we could go see Lilo and Stitch. They were showing it at 4:00 so we dressed for dinner and got there 15 minutes early. DD watched the first scene and then fell asleep. It was a great movie! DH and I loved it. After the movie we went up to eat at Parrot Cay.

The food was great in all of the restaurants! I had the potstickers/wings and Chicken with risotto. For dessert they had Key Lime Pie and I got the waiter to bring me a couple pieces of grilled pineapple. I love grilled pineapple. We didn't go to the show. We went up to the Pool Deck instead to hang out in some fresh air. Only one more day left.

Day at Sea.
We decided to go to Parrot Cay for breakfast this morning. Our waiter had said that he worked in this restaurant in the mornings. I liked the food better up here. Triton's was too formal.

We went to the Q&A with the captain in the Walt Disney Theater and then stayed for the disembarkation presentation. After we looked through our pictures at Shutters we headed to the pool. Our pictures didn't turn out very well. DD never would smile for their photographers. So we only bought two pictures. We kept trying to get her to smile though! The Mickey Pool was crowded but we had a great time. Our Table mates were up there so DD got to play with their little girl. They had a great time. DH and I took pictures of DD so we could use the film up in our waterproof camera. We played in the water for a while then had lunch at Beach Blanket Buffet, Chinese Style buffet it gave me indegestion but it tasted good! Disney Dreams was showing at 2:30 so we headed down to change and then over to the theatre. DD slept through the whole show! But DH and I loved it. DH had some fruit and DD had an Ice cream. Then we headed for Dinner.

Dinner was at Triton's. I ordered DD the Chicken Noodle soup for the first time. She loved it. I had been ordering her the fruit cup. She liked the soup a lot better! It had Mickey noodles! I ordered the pork roast from the master chef menu and I didn't like it very much. It was the only thing I was disappointed with.

After Dinner we went to Studio Sea where they were putting on Sailor's Tales. It was very funny and DD went back to sleep. Since she slept though the earlier Disney Dreams we decided to go back and she if she would watch it a second time. We watched it again and she stayed awake!! She loved it. Especially the "Under the Sea" production. All the bubbles in the theatre. She also liked it when Lumiere and Mrs. Potts came out on the balconey. Then we went back to the stateroom to pack up our suitcases. After packing we decided to have some pizza up at the pool. Yummy! We sat out on the deck and enjoyed the fresh air.

Breakfast the next morning was sad. We didn't want to get off the ship. It was also very early! If you have early seating for dinner you have to come to early breakfast on the last morning. We were very sad to leave the ship and our beautiful stateroom.

Thanks for reading about our trip!
 
Great trip report!! I am so glad you all had a great time. We will be doing the same cruise next summer on the same deck in a room close to yours. I hope you can help me with some questions and advice. How did you like deck two? Was your room noisy at all? Describe the view out your window. How far would you say the water was from your window? Did you see any dolphins swimming by? What were your impressions of Nassau? What shops do you reccomend? On Castaway Cay how much was the pedal boat for a half hour? Also how many people fit in a boat? Thirdly, when did you reserve the boat or did you just go ask for a boat with no waiting? Also do you have any advice that would help make our trip better? Sorry for all the questions but I am just so excited!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Thanks for reading my report! I'll try to answer your questions.

Deck 2 was very convenient. We just went up and down the stairs to Triton's on Deck 3. You disembark on Deck 1 so that was also convenient for Nassau and Castaway Cay. We didn't really have to wait very long for elevators either. We loved our stateroom. There wasn't any noise in our room at all. It was wonderful. Occasionally you could hear kids running up and down the hallways but that's gonna happen on any floor or in any hotel. We were right under Triton's and we didn't hear anything. The water was about 15 feet below our window. Not too close. We didn't see any dolphins or other creatures. Just bubbles.

The pedal boat was $10.00 for a four seat boat for 1/2 hour. There are also two seat boats for $8.00 a 1/2 hour. We didn't have any reservations. We just walked right up to the area and rented it. Only one other person was out in the water with one. They provided life vests for me, DH and DD.

Nassau was ok. I liked the Linen shops, Del Sol sells things that change colors in the sunlight. There are a lot of jewelry shops. I wanted to buy a little straw purse but we didn't carry a lot of cash with us so I had run out of cash by the time I found it. I think I would have liked Nassau better if I had a stroller for DD. I had to carry her and it was hot out. She didn't want to walk.
 
I will also be on the 2nd floor when we go in Nov. glad to hear some postiive feedback about that floor... when I was looking at the ships floor plan... I thought it seemed convenient to most everything for excursions and for dinner......
sounds like you had a great time.....
Thanks for posting.
 

Little Mermaid's Mom,

Did you find that you did fine without a stroller or would you have preferred having one? I am trying to decide as I would like to leave it behind but worry that I will regret it.

Peg
 
Oh how I wished for that stroller!! It was hard carrying her around Nassau and Castaway Cay. There are some rental strollers on Castaway though. I would bring a stroller next time or my baby backpack at least. I would have been fine with my little folding stroller. I didn't need the big fancy "mall" stroller really.

Take your stroller and Have a good time on your cruise!

Nancy
 
I really enjoyed your post. We are sailing in October and my DS will be 17 months and 1 day. We re also taking our 4 1/2 DS. I have been so concerned about my 17 month and the cruise but it sounds as if your daughter did great.

How did she do at dinner?
How did she do during the shows?
Did she sleep in a pack n play and was in quiet and dark for her to sleep?
What would you recommend for Nassau. I have been thinking about Atlantis beach day so my 4 year old can enjoy the beach and the baby can see the fish?

Any info you have would be great :).
 
Our DD did really well at dinner. We were sharing a table with another couple with a little girl who was 2 1/2. Our DD liked her a lot and they played together a little at dinner.

They put all of the girls drinks in sippy cups for them and they each got crayons and paper to color on. So that helped a little.

DD slept during almost all of the shows. She didn't like the comedian and wouldn't sleep during his show I ended up taking her out of the theatre that night. We ended up going to see Disney Dreams twice because she slept through it the first time we watched it.

I think the Atlantis Beach Day is a good idea. The aquariums were beautiful and they had tons of fish including some sharks. I think we spent an hour looking at the fish.

Have a good time on your cruise.
 
Oh and she slept in the fold down bed. Our Cabin steward offered us a crib but DD sleeps in a toddler bed at home so we just let her sleep on the fold down bed. It was nice and dark in our room and the ships motion helps you fall asleep. I did bring her little pillow and blanket from home so she would have something familier. Our Cabin steward offered us a crib to use but we didn't need it.
 


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