Aug 23, 2007 - 3 Night Wonder

[JoiseyMom]

Hey there, I searched but didn't find a thread for this cruise. Are any other Dis'ers going?? Any kids? I will be with DH, DD11 and DS6.

This is our first Disney Cruise and at least for 3 of us, our first ever cruise!!

 

[JoiseyMom]

Wow, am I really going to be the only Dis'er on this trip??

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I didn't think there would ever be a thread for this 3 night cruise.

Yes, we're on it. We're doing the land-and-sea package. We did the land-and-sea two years ago and did the 3 nights at WDW and this time we're swapping and doing 3 nights on the Wonder.

It will be me, DH, DS(12) and DD(11). Both kids will be in the 10-12 age group in the clubs. That said they do spend a lot of time in the arcade.

Really looking foward to seeing the changes on the Wonder since drydock. We plan on staying on the ship in Nassau and make it our "sea" day.

We have late dinner seating.

If you have any questions about cruising on DCL, let me know. This is cruise #6 for us. Our last cruise on the Wonder was...well....Wonderful.

 

[JoiseyMom]

Yea, someone else!! And from NJ no less! I have a DD11 and a DS5. This is my first cruise. We are doing the cruise and then free dining at WDW. I gather you are going home after the cruise, your land portion is first??
Where in NJ are you guys? We are in Monmouth County. We currently have late seating, but we are on the wait list for early seating. Do your prefer the late seating??

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Yes, sadly we'll be flying home right after the cruise. But two weeks before this trip we'll be down the shore in Cape May county so its not so bad.

We're in nothern, NJ.

We've always done late dinner but that's because we're "port" people and enjoy spending time at the ports and not having to worry about rushing to get back to the ship. Also the best time to swim in the Goofy pool is between 5-6pm.

That does mean we miss a lot of shows. I'm actually determined to make the shows on this cruise.

I was really beginning to think there would be no DISers on this cruise. Two years ago there was no cruise meet thread for our Wonder cruise and nobody posted a trip report. It was rather sad. But we had my Mom with us and we spent a lot of time showing her around the ship.

We actually had to skirt around what was then "just" tropical storm Katrina. The last night we had a bit of rough seas.

The crew were terrific back then - hoping to see some of them in August.

I know this cruise is going to sneak up on us very quickly.

 

[JoiseyMom]

My dd is so excited that I found a dis'er her age!! My DD is in 5th grade, what about yours?

The only thing I know about the cruise is what I have read here, seen in the DVD, and read in the Passporter. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Yup, DD is in the 5th grade and DS is in the 6th. Both are extremely outgoing and friendly.

The passporter is excellent....its where I found out about the DIS!!!! I found out about the passporter while standing in a long line in Shutters on the ship talking to the other people in line.

So I actually bought the book AFTER my cruise.

Wow, its really raining hard today. We were in Vermont last week skiing at Smuggler's Notch and got hit with a blizzard!!! Best conditions we've ever skied in but boy that took a toll on the body. Both kids and I went to the chiropractor yesterday for a much needed adjustment.

 

[wilma-bride]

Hey, just found this thread. Booked this cruise today - it will be our first time ever cruising and I can't wait. Just me and DH - we're from the UK and we're spending a couple of days at WDW before and 4 more days afterwards.

Nice to know there will be a couple more DISers on board

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Welcome!!!!!! I'm beginning to wonder how full this cruise is going to be.....

We'll be at WDW for 4 days before this cruise. We'll be taking the DCL bus over to the port.

DH is a Brit, too, but has lived here for a loooooong time.

 

[wilma-bride]

We are still debating whether to drive to the port or take the DCL bus. I saw the new cruise line disney buses in February when we were at WDW and they are so cool

Are your family really excited? I am, but DH is not so much - he just rolls his eyes whenever I start talking about it

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Just yesterday we received our DCL travel kit in the mail (btw, we did not get one for our cruise last year, hmmmmm).

That makes the cruise more real. We've been having such cold and dreary weather lately so it hard to think about being in the tropics.

Yes, DH does the eye roll himself. He loves DCL and was the one who wanted to rebook onboard when we were on our first cruise.

The kids are probably more excited about going to WDW first - we've only been once and that was two years ago.

Funny story about the DCL bus......last year on our cruise we book the DCL bus and it broke down on the way to the port! The driver suddenly pulls over and stops saying something is wrong with the motor. We had to wait for another bus to come get us.

I was worried that would be a bad omen for our cruise but turned out not to be the case. Just made for a good story to tell people at the DIS meet.

 

[wilma-bride]

Have you done the 3-night cruise before? This is our first ever cruise and I'm reading anything and everything I can to try and gen up on things. Any suggestions for some good reading material?

Are we expected to bring formal clothes or are we OK with casual wear?

Are you doing any of the excursions?

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

The Passporter Guide to Disney Cruise Line is the best book on DCL. I believe their latest edition came out not too long ago so its pretty up to date. I also buy their guide to WDW.

We plan on staying on the ship in Nassau to make it our "sea" day. So no excursions planned for that day. We do plan on booking the snorkeling excursion at Castaway Cay where they take you out on a boat. We love snorkeling and bring our own equipment.

In terms of formal clothes.....when we were on the Wonder in 2005 there was no "formal" night. You could "dress" up when it was your turn to eat at Tritons. But I didn't bring any dresses/skirts on that cruise. I just wore black pants when we ate at Tritons.

But now I'm seeing Wonder Navigators that talk about a "dress up night". I believe that is the last night of our cruise. I plan on wearing a skirt that night but that's so we can get a nice picture of the whole family that we use for our Christmas cards.

Otherwise I plan on wearing cruise casual the rest of the cruise. We do not plan on eating at Palo, either. We do have some pirate clothes we wear on pirate night.

So my advice is that its perfectly fine to be "cruise casual" the entire cruise. No need for formal wear unless you want to.

 

[dweitzel0]

My wife, 2 daughters (5 and 3) and I will be on this cruise. We are first timers and all REALLY excited. I read about a double dipper cruise on the Wonder leaving the same day, but thats not what we booked. Has anyone else seen a post on this or am I just mistaken.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

My wife, 2 daughters (5 and 3) and I will be on this cruise. We are first timers and all REALLY excited. I read about a double dipper cruise on the Wonder leaving the same day, but thats not what we booked. Has anyone else seen a post on this or am I just mistaken.

That might be in 2008 because the 4-night cruises next summer are doing double dips.....welcome to this cruise. It should be great. We just received the travel trip guide from DCL in the mail. Makes this cruise all the more real (and that I need to pay off the balance soon )

 

[lauritagoddess]

I just booked this cruise. It will be my son who'll be 5 and myself. We already had a trip to WDW booked for 8/26/07-9/2/07 and I just decided to add the cruise on at the beginning. We've never cruised with DCL before and I'm very excited!!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I just booked this cruise. It will be my son who'll be 5 and myself. We already had a trip to WDW booked for 8/26/07-9/2/07 and I just decided to add the cruise on at the beginning. We've never cruised with DCL before and I'm very excited!!

Welcome...

We'll be at WDW before this cruise. The travel kit DCL just sent me is terrific - the best I've seen DCL do. Hopefully you'll be getting yours soon.

This is cruise #6 for us so don't be shy about asking questions.

I got my first sunburn on Saturday - definitely making me think its getting close to cruising time. Last time we were on the Wonder was two years ago so I'm looking forward to seeing all the drydock changes.

 

[lauritagoddess]

This is cruise #6 for us so don't be shy about asking questions.

I won't be shy, lol. What excursions do you recommend in Nassau with a 5 year old? I was looking through and nothing really struck me that I think he would love. I was thinking maybe of doing a shorter excursion and spending the rest of the day on the ship which I know he'll enjoy, but I do want to do something in Nassau. I know he'll have a blast on the beach in Castaway Cay, so I'm not concerned there.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Last time we were in Nassau we did one of the DCL snorkeling excursions. It was in the morning and we were done around lunchtime. In fact, we did some walking around afterwards and actually ate lunch at McDonalds. Do not know what possessed us to do that other than a serious craving for Mickey D's fries.

I've heard people say the pirate museum is nice.

My brother did one of DCL's beach excursions in Nassau and said it was delightful - but I think that's a longer excursion since it includes lunch.

I will say that the one time I did a glass bottom boat ride through DCL that I was extremely disappointed with it.

Your idea of doing a short excursion with a 5 y/o is a good one as it can be really humid in Nassau and that will tire out anybody really quickly.

 

[dweitzel0]

I've read that the Atlantis Aquarium is fun for little ones. I have a 5 and 3 eyar old so there is a pretty good chance that is what we will do. There is also a garden excursion that I have read is fun as well.

We are going to be at Disney World before hand. Thought the cruise at the end would be a nice relaxing break after running around the parks for a week.

Welcome to the cruise.