April 7th, 2005 3-night Cruise WONDER

[agotta]

Hey Everyone! I didn't see a post for this sail date yet so I thought I would start it. It is our first cruise and we are so excited. We wanted to take the 4 night, the 3 night seems so short, but they were booked. Can't wait!

Amanda

 

[agotta]

No one else is going with us?? Good chance for an upgrad?? LOL in April!!

 

[Asil65]

Hi Agotta,
We will be on the cruise with you as well. You have probably forgotten about this post. My family of four, kids 7 and 5 and my Mom will be travelling on the Wonder with you. I noticed that you are from Centerville Va. We are from Earlysville, Va. Are you doing the Land/Sea package as well? We are staying at the Poly before our cruise. My husband and I have cruised by ourselves on Princess and the kids have begged us to take them so we figured Disney was the best option. Wish we could have more time on the ship. This will be a quick cruise. Do you have any kids? Have you thought about any excursions? Not sure what we will be doing yet. Maybe we will see you on board. Lisa

 

[agotta]

We are from Centreville. We are actually members of the DVC so we are doing our own version of land and sea. Our first night will be at POR and then we will be at SSR in a one-bedroom for 2 nights. We are spending the day before the cruise at Cocoa Beach. I have only lived here in Virginia for a year so I am not sure where you are located, but Independence Air is having a HUGE sale on airfare out of Dulles. We are geting both of our air for $233 ($49 each one way)!! I am so excited to go. My husband and I both former cast members (thats where we met) so we have been to WDW a ton, but never on the cruise. No kids for us yet. We have thought about the excursions to Atlantis but I heard that none of them are very good. We will probably wander around Nassau for a little bit and head back to the ship, maybe to the spa!! I am so excited that someone else from the boards will be on the ship with us!! Thanks for the post!!

Amanda

 

[Asil65]

Hi Amanda,
Welcome to Virginia. How do you like it so far? My family moved here 5 years ago from California. We are originally from Ct.We live just outside of Charlottesville. Most people have heard of that city.Is Centerville near DC? Wow, I need to look into airfares from Dulles. That is soo cheap. We live right next to an Airport but the fares are 300.00 a piece. Expensive wilth a family of 4. Then we have to rent a car. We will likely drive unless we can get a great deal. Have agood weekend. I also think it is weird that noone is on this cruise with us. Lisa

 

[Asil65]

Hi Amanda,
Just had to tellyou we just booked our airfare through Independence Air. Thank you so much for the recommendation. $490.00 for 4 of us. Amazing. It will be so worth it not having to drive for 30 hours in a car with 2 kids. Our kids are actually good travellers bu still what a relief. By the way where did you and your husband work at Disney? Lisa

 

[agotta]

It is so funny that you got that good deal on flyi, because at the time my husband and I couldn't afford the tix, and we missed the deal!! And then airtran was having a special, and we missed that one too!! I have been out of work for 2 1/2 months and finally found a great job, so now I can afford the tix!!!

My husband and I met while working at Disney MGM studios, him at Muppets 3-d and me at The Great Movie Ride. I have also worked on Main Street, MK. We love Disney and while on our honeymoon their, joined DVC, which we LOVE!! Can't wait for the cruise!!

Amanda

 

[Asil65]

Hi Amanda,
Glad the job situation has improved. How are the ticket prices now? Are they still 48 dollars one way? Will you be going to any of the parks this time? Have you ever been on a cruise before? Erik and I have been on 2 Princess cruises without our kids. Our kids have been bugging us to take them so we figured Disney was the best bet.I am thinking that we will wish that we had more time on the ship. 3 days will fly by. Lisa

 

[agotta]

Lisa,

We can't find any airfare cheaper than $445 (round trip for both of us) We really missed the boar (pardon the pun) on that one. We are going to the parks from either the 2nd or 3rd until the 6th. We are so excited about the cruise, because we haven't cruised before. Been to Disney TONS but never cruised.

Amanda

 

[Asil65]

Hi Amanda,
I had to laugh when I read your post. I'd never heard the expression "missing the boar". As you can see from my previous posts I make mistakes as well. That is a drag that the airfare has gone up. I was talking to Erik the other day and asked him if we all really loved the cruise on Disney if we could book a 7 day cruise while on board? He said if we all loved it that we could. Yea! I think that you get a 10 percent discount and 200.00 ship credit.You will love cruising Amanda. It is such a relaxing way to travel. No worries about reservations, so many activities on the ship and always new places to see. I always love to splurge and get a massage.We just made our final payment today. 76 days until we leave. Lisa

 

[agotta]

That is great that you are all set to book a 7-night. I think in two years or so, we may book a 7 night as well. Since we are on DVC points, it will take 2 years worth of points to do a trip like that.

We just decided to go down a night early, so we are arriving on Saturday the 2nd now. I didn't think I could sit around all day Saturday getting ready to leave on Sunday . We are ready for just a nice relaxing trip. We really want to do Palo and are trying to figure out how to squeeze it in. I think we might miss Parrot Cay.

We have been to Disney so many times that we are taking this trip to try some new things, mostly restaraunts. We are going to try Narcoossees and Bongos (I have been my husband hasn't). But we are so excited! Plus we still have some friends who are cast members so we are excited about seeing them.

Your kids must by so psyched to go!! That is so great that they have been cruising before. I heard that Disney isn't like any of the other ships. I went on a ship tour once, some cruise ships that leave out of Baltimore. The ship seems kinda small and the rooms were tiny!! Everyone told me that Disney is so much better and the staterooms are bigger too.

Amanda

 

[agotta]

Hey Lisa,

We got our excursions! We faxed them in over Christmas and just got the confirmation today. We are going on the Atlantis Beach Day and we got the Castaway Cay getaway package. We are getting so excited!!

Amanda

 

[amy2girls]

Hi lisa and amanda,

We will be joing you aswell: myself, husband two girls 3 and 5 and my parents. We are doing land sea. Flying in on the 2nd staying off site one night then cbr 3rd - 7th. We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[agotta]

Yea!! Someone else on the cruise with us!!! Dh and I will be arriving on the 2nd as well. 2 nights at POR and 2 nights at SSR then spending the next at Cocoa Beach to be the first ones there on Thursday (jk)!! Can't wait 74 days!!!

Amanda

 

[Asil65]

Welcome Amy. Glad you will be joining us. Counting the days here in frigid Virginia. Amanda, I didn't think that you could book the excursions yet. How did you get away with that? I thought we could 60 days before. I don't even know if we will book any excursions. We may do a glass bottom boat ride somewhere. I would like to snorkel some. We may just do it at castaway cay.I heard if you swim out a bit it isn't so cloudy. We may just hang out on the ship in Nassau. I would like to see Atlantis but feel like it is pricey for four of us.It may be nice just to hang out on the ship. I could get a massage. Woo hoo. I too want to go to Palo's but I don't think we will do it on this cruise. All the more reason to sign up again. So Amy, maybe we'll see you rushing around the parks before the cruise. I hope it wont be too busy for us. Amanda any recommendations for places to eat with kids relatively close to the Polynesian that are not Disney restaurants? Thanks, Lisa

 

[amy2girls]

Lisa and Amanda,

Hi, We were able to book excursions as of January 7th. I booked the fishing for my husband I heard it sells out fast, although he is thinking of just hanging out instead.

 

[agotta]

Hey Lisa,

Yea, we found out that excursions can be booked 90 days in advance. We heard that Nassau was not a great place, so we figure we won't spend too much time there. So we figured we spend the better part of the day at Atlantis.

As far as restaurants, a good place to go is Cross Gates Shopping Center, located near Downtown Disney. There are a TON of chain restaurants around, but if you are looking for something different, I would stick to Disney. Bahama Breeze on 535 is good, and you HAVE to go to Marble Slab Creamery at Cross Gates. The have the best (expensive) ice cream. They serve HUGE portions, so I would say get 2 and split it! I will try and think of more!!

Amanda

 

[Asil65]

Amanda and Amy,
Hi ladies. I was looking over the excursion packet last night and now we are thinking of doing the Discover Atlantis package.It was a little cheaper and not quite as long as the Beach Atlantis package. I had gotten a response back from a post where I asked about the glass bottom boat ride. I heard it was not very good. Guess we won't do that one. I hope we haven't waited to long to book things? Amanda, Crossroads has been coming up a lot for a place to get something to eat outside of Disney. We have a couple of meals planned , breakfast at Chef Mickey's and the Luau one night. I think we will eat BF at the Poly for the other days, get a quick meal at the parks and have dinner off site. Although Teppanyaki at Epcot seems pretty neat. I don't know how people can plan all of their meals using a PS. How do you know where you will be all of the time? Heard good things about Ohana's and the Kona cafe. It will be nice to have those close by. Hopefully we could get into these without a PS.

 

[agotta]

Lisa and Amy,

I just booked our flights!! I am so excited. Got a pretty good deal, I had to use to seperate carriers though. And we fly into Sanford Orlando, but we fly out of Orlando. Can't wait!!!

Crossgates is a lot of fun. Kinda expensive and nothing that is great, except ice cream!!

Often times we make PS that day. We have a couple of places planned out. I highly recommend Ohanas, and make the res about an hour before fireworks are planned that night. They lower the light and pipe the music in. We love doing this at California Grill, but Ohanas is more kid friendly and has GREAT FOOD!!!

Teppanyaki is awesome. We love eating there. Have you been to Tom Sawyers Island?? Great sandwhiches and if you go on off times, its a nice quiet place to eat. We love eating at Disney and can't wait!!

Oh, and I just saw the dinner menu for the Wonder, and it doesn't look great. I guess during our planning we kept looking at menus for the 4 night or 7 night. Dinner looks the same at all restaurants, just different appettizers. What are your thoughts???

Amanda

 

[Asil65]

Hi Amanda,Where did you see the menu? Do we know the park hours yet? I don't think thev'e posted them yet. Do you know what time the MK firework show is. I definitely want to see the fireworks at MK one night so we can hear the music in the background. I have heard it is something to definitely see. Never ate at Tom Sawyer island. I have actually never even been there. We will be at the parks for 4 days. Still trying to figure out which park to go to when. I think we will go to MK 2 times and MGM and AK one day. Hopefully we can hit Epcot one night. I would like to see the extra hour schedule to help make up my mind about where to go. Lisa