Aug 23, 2007 - 3 Night Wonder

[lauritagoddess]

I had been thinking about the Atlantis aquarium, but probably going on our own and not through the DCL excursion. It shouldn't be too difficult to take a taxi there and back, right?

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.

I would have loved to have taken the cruise after Disney stay, but we're at WDW through 9/2 and my son starts school right after Labor Day so we have to get back. And I wanted to keep our dates for WDW. We already were booked for 8/26-9/2 (I like the week before Labor Day, alot of kids already back at school so it's less crowded) and then they made the free dining offer which, starting 8/26, so I switch our reservation for that and there's no way I'm giving up free dining, lol.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I know what you mean about the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" regarding switching reservations.

When we made this reservation, I fully expected the Magic to be doing summer Caribbean cruises in 2008. So when it was announced the Magic would go to CA, I thought about switching this cruise to a 4-day.

But decided against it since everything is set. We're doing the land-and-sea through DCL so our park visit is first.

One thing about doing the cruise first, you'll be acclimated to the hot, humid weather when you get to WDW. Unless we have another scorching summer like we did last year when it was actually cooler in Mexico on our cruise then it was at the Jersey shore.

 

[dweitzel0]

Hi All! This is the DW here and I've got some questions about how some of the things on the ship work. For instance, how does the embarkation process work? I know we can start at around noon, but is it necessary to begin that early?

Also, for the kids clubs we were wondering how that works. Do we need to schedule time there in advance or can we just show up and drop the kids off?
Additionally, we were wondering about the age group designations. Our DDs (5 & 3) are really close and we think they might do better together. The 3 year old is pretty advanced and I would seriously consider having her go with her big sister if they would let her. I don't know...not having done this before I'd like to know what you think.

Finally, I'm a little confused about how the dining thing works. Are we automatically assigned to a rotation? And, by rotation I mean rotating around to the different restaurants. Oh, and is the Animators Palette part of that rotation or do we have to work that in separately.

Sorry to have so many questions, we've had a little trouble getting our official planning information and I just like to know what to expect.

We are all so excited to go! Thanks for all the info!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Ask away........

DCL only books a set number of children in each age group on the cruise so a child is never turned away from going to the kids clubs. You just show up/leave anytime you want. The only caveat is certain times during the day when the CMs are moving the kids from one part of the ship to another you can't check in/out during that time - its about 15 minutes long.

The kids' clubs are broken down by age group. I know its 5-7; 8-9; 10-12 and then teenagers. I think (but not 100%) that the youngest group is 3-4 year olds.

So that might mean that your kids will be split up. You can talk to the counselors about keeping the kids together but there are restrictions. Sometimes the different age groups are actually in the clubs at the same time, just doing different activities. There is a schedule of activities that you can look through to see the planned activities.

As for dining......yes, DCL assigns your rotation. When you check in and get your KTTW card, it will show your dining room rotation by the first letter of the restaurant. For example, if your KTTW card says TAP, then you would go to Tritons the first night, Animators Palette the second night and Parrot Cay the third night. Or your rotation might be APT or PTA. You keep the same table number for each restaurant and the same serving team.

You will also receive dining room tickets that shows each day of the cruise and which restaurant you go to and the table number. Bring those tickets with you when you show up (there is an assigned time as well that is determined by DCL). Then you will be seated at your table.

And yes, you are automatically booked in all three restaurants.

On the 3-day cruise, we don't get a special pirate night menu. On pirate night we have the menu for that particular restaurant. But we still get the bandanas and there is a mini-party in the restaurant. And there is the big pirate night party later that night along with a huge buffet after the fireworks.

People are only concerned about the order of the dining rotation on the 7-night cruises because its nice to be in Lumiere's for formal night and in Parrot Cay for Pirate Night. We've done pirate night in Tritons and it was fine with us.

Speaking of our cruise.....we are a bit annoyed at DCL right now. Our TA just got our flight information from them and DCL did NOT book us on a non-stop flight from Newark to Orlando. The previous five years with DCL they have always booked us on a non-stop flight with Continental.

Looks like they are trying to switch to Delta which does not fly non-stop to Orlando.

Well, we just told our TA to break our flight with DCL so we can fly non-stop with Continental. DCL said they would refund the flight charges.

And from now we won't let DCL book our flight anymore. Not worth the hassle of changing planes. I think that increases the chances of something going wrong and missing the boat.

My kids' passports expire right before our cruise so I had to get them renewed. I'll let you all know how long it takes to get them back.

Hey, we're getting close to the 90 day mark here

 

[NHmomof2boys]

It looks like we'll be on this cruise as well. Just decided to book a land and sea, land first, and Dreams Unlimited was able to get us on board. It will be me, DH, DS5 & DS8. It will be the first cruise for the boys, DH and I did DCL for our 10th anniversary.

I am so excited I can hardly stand it! It is going to be a very long 3 months!!!! We're also staying at Beach Club for the first leg of our trip which will be great, because we've never stayed at a Deluxe.

I would love to meet up with anybody from the DIS either during the cruise or at the parks.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Looks like they are trying to switch to Delta which does not fly non-stop to Orlando.

Well, we just told our TA to break our flight with DCL so we can fly non-stop with Continental. DCL said they would refund the flight charges.

And from now we won't let DCL book our flight anymore. Not worth the hassle of changing planes. I think that increases the chances of something going wrong and missing the boat.

My kids' passports expire right before our cruise so I had to get them renewed. I'll let you all know how long it takes to get them back.

We booked once with Disney and were booked onto Delta. But I won't book with Disney anymore for flights. We always take JetBlue now direct from JFK, cheaper flights and better service.

And I took my DS to get his passport last weekend. I decided to expedite it since it seemed like it could be running it close otherwise.

It looks like we'll be on this cruise as well. Just decided to book a land and sea, land first, and Dreams Unlimited was able to get us on board. It will be me, DH, DS5 & DS8. It will be the first cruise for the boys, DH and I did DCL for our 10th anniversary.

I am so excited I can hardly stand it! It is going to be a very long 3 months!!!! We're also staying at Beach Club for the first leg of our trip which will be great, because we've never stayed at a Deluxe.

I would love to meet up with anybody from the DIS either during the cruise or at the parks.

Welcome!! I also have a DS who's 5. We're booked for the cruise first and then are staying at All Star Music for 7 nights after that.

 

[wilma-bride]

We're booked for the cruise first and then are staying at All Star Music for 7 nights after that.

Snap! We're leaving the cruise and going back to WDW for 4 nights at ASMu - gotta love free dining

 

[lauritagoddess]

Snap! We're leaving the cruise and going back to WDW for 4 nights at ASMu - gotta love free dining

Exactly!!! We were actually booked for WDW 8/26-9/2 before the free dining came out and then lucked out with the dates.

 

[wilma-bride]

Is this your first cruise Laura? We have not been on a cruise before. We are really excited about it

 

[lauritagoddess]

Is this your first cruise Laura? We have not been on a cruise before. We are really excited about it

Sort of. I did cruise on the Nile back in 1998, but that was in such a small boat in comparison to a ship like the Wonder, so I really think of this as my first cruise. I have us booked for a land/sea next summer, 4 days at WDW and then the 3 day on the Wonder, but I had booked that before I booked this cruise. I think I'm going to change next summer to the 4 day cruise and then add another 4 or 5 days at WDW.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I would definitely do the 4-day Wonder in the summer of 2008 because of the two stops to Castaway Cay. I did the double dip last summer and really liked having the second chance at Castaway Cay.

We are at WDW for four days before this cruise.

We had our TA cancel the DCL flights and booked us on a non-stop flight with Continental. Surprise, surprise.....the cost was almost exactly the same and we were able to pick out our seats. The only thing about booking now is that we won't land in Orlando until the middle of the afternoon so we've lost half a day at WDW.

At least we're not leaving at 4:00am like we had to last year. From now on we're booking our flights ourselves and if we are cruising first then we'll fly down the night before.

How about doing a DIS meet right after we get onboard? What works well is meeting at the Promenade Lounge at 3pm. There's plenty of space there for a meet and we can wrap up right before the life boat drill at 4pm.

 

[TinkerBe11]

My boyfriend and I will also be taking this cruise. We are first time cruisers too and we are looking forward to the trip. We will also be going to WDW following the cruise for 4 nights. I wish it was August 23rd already!

 

[wilma-bride]

My boyfriend and I will also be taking this cruise. We are first time cruisers too and we are looking forward to the trip. We will also be going to WDW following the cruise for 4 nights. I wish it was August 23rd already!

Hi there Sara - it will be just DH and I too. We are looking forward to experiencing some of the great adult-only stuff that DCL has to offer. I hear the adult only beach at Castaway Cay is like a little piece of heaven

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I can't wait to see the improvements to the adult pool on the ship.

It will be a while before I make it to Serenity Bay (sigh).

 

[TinkerBe11]

I can't wait to see the improvements to the adult pool on the ship.

It will be a while before I make it to Serenity Bay (sigh).

What improvements were done to the adult pool?

 

[lauritagoddess]

I can't wait to see the improvements to the adult pool on the ship.

It will be a while before I make it to Serenity Bay (sigh).

I'm hoping I'll get to the adult pool or Serentity Bay at some point if my DS is enjoying the kid's club, but who knows.

 

[TinkerBe11]

Hi there Sara - it will be just DH and I too. We are looking forward to experiencing some of the great adult-only stuff that DCL has to offer. I hear the adult only beach at Castaway Cay is like a little piece of heaven

Hi Joh-

There seems to be so many adult activities to do, I don't know where to begin...but Serenity Bay seems like a great place to start! I picked up the Passporter's Guide (2007 edition) to the DCL. It's an excellent book with extensive explanations of the cruise. There is a great section on adult only activities. I highly suggest it if you can get your hands on a copy. It's a quick read and it's very informative. It has really helped me plan my trip and has eased some concerns of being a first time cruiser.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

What improvements were done to the adult pool?

There are some new teak deck chairs - read some mixed reviews about the comfort. I read that the hot tubs are now more incorporated with the pool (the water spilling over). From the pictures people have posted, it looks very pretty.

I love the passporter guides. I have them for both the ship and WDW.

Its quite a long distance between the family beach and serenity bay on Castaway Cay. Best to take the tram. We rode our bikes there and it was a long bike ride. My kids aren't old enough to leave them alone on CC so I doubt I'll make it over to Serenity Bay.

On my last cruise I never did make it to the adult pool. It rained on our first sea day and the adult pool was packed on the second sea day. DH & I ended up having a great cup of tea at the Cove Cafe. I pigged out on their yummy pastries and ended up being too full for lunch.

 

[NHmomof2boys]

How about doing a DIS meet right after we get onboard? What works well is meeting at the Promenade Lounge at 3pm. There's plenty of space there for a meet and we can wrap up right before the life boat drill at 4pm.

I think this sounds like a great idea!

 

[JoiseyMom]

Wow, it is so great to see more people on this thread!! I thought it was just to be us and Ski!

Just a heads up for you guys looking for Secret Porthole rooms. I looked online last night and 3 were available, 2 of them connecting. My TA snagged 5020 for us!! So now we are off deck 2 and on deck 5. We are so excited!!!

I can't wait to meet fellow diser's!