April 30 Wonder

[skylynx]

Well, unlike our rainy 7 day Magic Eastern last February, we enjoyed one perfect day after another. The seas were high the first night, and many people opted out of dinner. Dramamine abounded. I was worried that my kids might have felt a bit sick, but in the morning when I asked them if the rocking disturbed their sleep, DD13 said "it was awesome" and DS10 said "It was like being rocked in a cradle." Hmmm.

Nassau day we tried something new and did the day room at the Comfort Suites route to Atlantis. Turned out to be a great deal for us...for about the same cost of the DCL shore excursion to Atlantis we got the use of all the Atlantis pools and the aquarium and the incredible grounds. The shore excursions got you to either the aquarium or the beach, but not both, and not the spectacular pool areas. And as a residual from the last night's rough waters, the oceanside beach was closed to swimmers (and the DCL Atlantis beach day excursions!) I was hoping those folks found another way to enjoy the resort. Took cabs both ways, $4 head fixed price, so no need to haggle.
It was a fantastic day, and I heartily recommend doing the trip to Atlantis this way-you get so much more, and it was effortless to arrange. The folks checking you in at Comfort Suites know this routine inside out and get you on your way quickly.

We are at a table by ourselves for the first time, and I have to say it felt a bit lonely. On previous cruises we have always enjoyed sitting with people we met on Disboards. Our servers were great and took good care of the kids.
The second night we ate at Palo and the kids wanted to be elsewhere, so our table stayed vacant. As usual, we pushed the envelope here and went to eat in gown and tuxedo. You see more people do this on the 7 day cruises because there is a formal night and so more people bring formalwear along. We just do it for fun, and because we like to see each other in those clothes!

Castaway Cay day was lovely except the water was still uncomfortably cold, especially in the early morning. We set up "Pirate Camp" with some hammocks, a palm tree and a pirate flag so the kids could find us among the sea of other hammocks and palm trees. My son Jack spent most of his time on this cruise either in the Oceaneer's Lab, which he adored, or playing basketball on Deck 10. In fact, we joked that watching the stateroom tv channel that shows the bow of the ship was like a "JackCam" or "The Jack Channel" because he'd run out of the room and a few minutes later we could see him on the tv playing ball. I dress him in really loud colors like orange and lime green anyway so I can keep track of him, so he was easy to spot!

Afterwards, we all donned our over-the-top pirate gear and descended on our fair vessel. We were disappointed that unlike on Magic, there were only a few characters in pirate gear and the photo op time was so short we missed the chance. The pirate meal was fun, and our wait staff good natured about trying to do their jobs in costume. They seemed to enjoy the limbo. The deck party was great but again, we were spoiled on the Magic with the Dumbotron and watching Pirates of the Caribbean IN the Caribbean laying in sun loungers on deck after the deck party.

The day at sea was filled with brilliant blue skies, agreeable temperatures, and tranquil waters. We watched The Wild, read books on Deck 4, even got some bargain DCL logo stuff from Treasure Ketch. Toasted on deck a little while. My 13 year old daughter tested her wings at Aloft (first time out of the Oceaneer's Lab age range) and really liked it. We went to check it out, and it is a really nice, grown up kind of place for teens.

As with all cruises, it was way too soon before those tip envelopes and disembarkation papers started showing up. We have another Magic cruise booked (for just the two of us, no kids) for January, so it was less painful leaving. Plus, we had another three and a half days at WDW to look forward to. All in all, another great DCL vacation.

 

[Lindy Loo]

What characters did you see at the Pirate night? We go on 4 night this Oct on Wonder, then 7 night Western next Oct. My dd4 is desperate to see the characters, and quite a few posted have said there isnt much time with them etc. or the lines are so long, kids give up !!!! Help, that why we booked the cruise!

 

[skylynx]

Hi...I saw Mickey and Minnie in pirate outfits...I don't know if others were there, as well because we got there late. We made the mistake of assuming the photo part would be on for as long as it was for the Magic, and it wasn't, so that was an avoidable blunder on our part.
On Magic there were Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale, Goofy and Captain Hook.

 

[CNB1124]

Wow - two cruises this year - how wonderful for you.

 

[michelle9343]

Thanks for the report

 

[mitsguy2001]

Well, unlike our rainy 7 day Magic Eastern last February, we enjoyed one perfect day after another.

As you probably saw from my trip report, I was on the same cruise as you! Glad to hear that you enjoyed it too!

The seas were high the first night, and many people opted out of dinner.

Which dinner rotation were you in? I was in the 8:30 PTTA rotation. There did seem to be fewer people than usual at dinner that night. And, as I said, our assistant server was sick, and one of my tablemates was sick, and left without eating anything. I had also hear that most people with Palo reservations that night cancelled. My girlfriend and I did not get sick. I was slightly dizzy, but ok, and was still able to enjoy everything. I ate less than I normally would have that night, but I was still completely full, so I was stll able to enjoy myself, and didn't feel deprived. We relaxed in our stateroom for a few minutes, and then by 11:00 the seas became very calm, so we went to Wavebands, and danced the night away!

Dramamine abounded.

According to my girlfriend, dramamine can make you sicker, and she thinks that the accupuncture bracelets are better. Neither of us have ever used either dramamine or the bracelets, so neither of us have any firsthand experience. In fact, on Sunday, the seas became calm before I would have even had a chance to get a bracelet after dinner. The closest I have ever been to being seasick was when I was on a ferry during a major snow storm in December 2003 (and driving that day was also a terrible experience).

I was worried that my kids might have felt a bit sick, but in the morning when I asked them if the rocking disturbed their sleep, DD13 said "it was awesome" and DS10 said "It was like being rocked in a cradle." Hmmm.

Glad to hear that. My girlfriend and I both slept very well that night (after a night of partying at Wavebands), and in fact, we both slept very well during the entire cruise. I think the seas were calm by the time most people would have gone to bed (definitely calm by the time she and I went to bed). I was slightly worried about difficulty docking at Nassau or excursions being cancelled, but that was not a problem. We had breakfast at Parrot Cay, and had to meet at 9 AM for our snorkeling excursion. I was excited when I heard the announcement with the good news that we docked at Nassau, and that all shore excursions were on!

Nassau day we tried something new and did the day room at the Comfort Suites route to Atlantis. Turned out to be a great deal for us...for about the same cost of the DCL shore excursion to Atlantis we got the use of all the Atlantis pools and the aquarium and the incredible grounds. The shore excursions got you to either the aquarium or the beach, but not both, and not the spectacular pool areas. And as a residual from the last night's rough waters, the oceanside beach was closed to swimmers (and the DCL Atlantis beach day excursions!) I was hoping those folks found another way to enjoy the resort.

What happened to the people who were on the Atlantis beach day excursion? Did they cancel that excursion?

One of our tablemates also mentioned the beach being closed. I was surprised at that. My girlfriend and I went to the public beach at Paradise Island, which was right next to Atlantis (as I said in my report, we had intended to go to Cable Beach, but our cab driver misunderstood). The public beach was definitely open, so I am surprised that the Atantis beach would be closed. The water was rough, but I didn't think it was anything too bad; in fact, I found it to be a lot of fun. Although, I can maybe understand it being dangerous for someone who wasn't familiar with ocean beaches. Maybe that is why Atlantis might have closed their beach, but the public beach (presumably used by people, such as my girlfriend and I, who are more experienced with ocean beaches).

Took cabs both ways, $4 head fixed price, so no need to haggle.
It was a fantastic day, and I heartily recommend doing the trip to Atlantis this way-you get so much more, and it was effortless to arrange. The folks checking you in at Comfort Suites know this routine inside out and get you on your way quickly.

My girlfriend has been on a few cruises before, and agrees that if your plan is to go to a beach, that it is definitely best to make your own arrangements and take a cab, rather than taking a Disney excursion. But for most other activities (such as the catamaran reef sail and snorkel excursion that she and I did Monday morning), the Disney excursions are best. It also seems best to do beach and water related excursions (if you like that type of thing, which, as you can tell, my girlfriend and I obviously do) rather than things like city tours (which unfortunately seem to leave people with a bad impression of the islands).

We are at a table by ourselves for the first time, and I have to say it felt a bit lonely. On previous cruises we have always enjoyed sitting with people we met on Disboards. Our servers were great and took good care of the kids.

That was probably because of the rough seas on Sunday.

The second night we ate at Palo and the kids wanted to be elsewhere, so our table stayed vacant. As usual, we pushed the envelope here and went to eat in gown and tuxedo. You see more people do this on the 7 day cruises because there is a formal night and so more people bring formalwear along. We just do it for fun, and because we like to see each other in those clothes!

Monday night was the formal night on our cruise.

Castaway Cay day was lovely except the water was still uncomfortably cold, especially in the early morning.

Just out of curiosity, where are you from? I didn't find the water cold at all; at least not after being in it for a few minutes and getting used to it. But, I am from the northeast, and the water at CC in May is warmer than the water in August where I live.

By the way, I noticed the water being extremely calm on Tuesday at CC. Is the water at CC always calmer than at Paradise Island? Or, was Tuesday (May 2) just a calmer day than Monday (May 1)?

We set up "Pirate Camp" with some hammocks, a palm tree and a pirate flag so the kids could find us among the sea of other hammocks and palm trees. My son Jack spent most of his time on this cruise either in the Oceaneer's Lab, which he adored, or playing basketball on Deck 10. In fact, we joked that watching the stateroom tv channel that shows the bow of the ship was like a "JackCam" or "The Jack Channel" because he'd run out of the room and a few minutes later we could see him on the tv playing ball. I dress him in really loud colors like orange and lime green anyway so I can keep track of him, so he was easy to spot!

Afterwards, we all donned our over-the-top pirate gear and descended on our fair vessel. We were disappointed that unlike on Magic, there were only a few characters in pirate gear and the photo op time was so short we missed the chance. The pirate meal was fun, and our wait staff good natured about trying to do their jobs in costume. They seemed to enjoy the limbo. The deck party was great but again, we were spoiled on the Magic with the Dumbotron and watching Pirates of the Caribbean IN the Caribbean laying in sun loungers on deck after the deck party.

The day at sea was filled with brilliant blue skies, agreeable temperatures, and tranquil waters. We watched The Wild, read books on Deck 4, even got some bargain DCL logo stuff from Treasure Ketch. Toasted on deck a little while. My 13 year old daughter tested her wings at Aloft (first time out of the Oceaneer's Lab age range) and really liked it. We went to check it out, and it is a really nice, grown up kind of place for teens.

As with all cruises, it was way too soon before those tip envelopes and disembarkation papers started showing up. We have another Magic cruise booked (for just the two of us, no kids) for January, so it was less painful leaving. Plus, we had another three and a half days at WDW to look forward to. All in all, another great DCL vacation.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise! As another poster said, it is interesting reading other trip reports from the cruise that we were in, and seeing how different the activities were that we all did. My girlfriend and I spent almost all day Wednesday up on deck and swimming in the Quiet Cove pool. It sounds like you didn't use any of the pools on the ship? It was also interesting that day having lunch at Pluto's and then dinner at Palo, going from one extreme to the other!

 

[skylynx]

Hi, There

About the water temperature: I grew up on Long Island on the ocean, then lived in North Carolina before moving to Chicago. I also spent several weeks over the years at Ormond Beach. The water seemed more like Long Island spring water temperatures than that far south. I've been to Grand Cayman several times at various times of year as my friends own a house there, and the water was always "walk right in" warm-no adjustment period. Of course, the Bahamas might be in colder water patterns than Grand Cayman.

We swam in the Quiet Cove pool once or twice, but most people seem to go there to just sit submerged rather than actually swim since it's kind of tight. My kids used the pools more. We sat in the jacuzzi, too. We tend to spend a lot of time on our cruises sitting on our verandah because we just can't seem to get enough of it! It is how we start every morning with room service coffee before dressing for "real" breakfast. And it is how we end each evening.

We were on the late dining rotation and had been placed at a table for four. On this shorter cruise it wasn't as big of a deal, but when all four of us go on Magic I will make sure we are sitting with another family, and particularly if I can find some disboarders. Making new friends with dinner companions is a highlight of our trip!

 

[mitsguy2001]

Hi, There

About the water temperature: I grew up on Long Island on the ocean, then lived in North Carolina before moving to Chicago. I also spent several weeks over the years at Ormond Beach. The water seemed more like Long Island spring water temperatures than that far south.

I'm also from Long Island. I checkd the statistics, and the average water temperature in May in the Bahamas is warmer than the water temperature in Long Island even in August. Maybe you were comparing it to the water in one of the warmer places you have been to; it was significantly warmer than spring water temperatures in Long Island.

I've been to Grand Cayman several times at various times of year as my friends own a house there, and the water was always "walk right in" warm-no adjustment period. Of course, the Bahamas might be in colder water patterns than Grand Cayman.

Yes, that is true.

We swam in the Quiet Cove pool once or twice, but most people seem to go there to just sit submerged rather than actually swim since it's kind of tight.

My girlfriend and I swam in that pool almost all day on the day at sea, Wednesday, May 3! Did you see us there?

My kids used the pools more. We sat in the jacuzzi, too. We tend to spend a lot of time on our cruises sitting on our verandah because we just can't seem to get enough of it! It is how we start every morning with room service coffee before dressing for "real" breakfast. And it is how we end each evening.

We were on the late dining rotation and had been placed at a table for four. On this shorter cruise it wasn't as big of a deal, but when all four of us go on Magic I will make sure we are sitting with another family, and particularly if I can find some disboarders. Making new friends with dinner companions is a highlight of our trip!

Were you on the 8:30 PTTA rotation?

 

[taeja71]

You said you liked your servers, what were their names? thanks!