Trip Report for Wonder- Aug.26th
Cast:
Me (24 year old software engineer and mother of 1)
DH- 33 yr old. Stockbroker needing a vacation REAL bad
Mom- 63 year old mother of eight children ( need I say more?)
Ds-16 month old joy of my life
Room: Cat 6, room 6070
Let me just preface this trip report by saying, I have lived in Orlando for most of my life (since I was 2 years old.) I am not a big Disney fan, dont hate it, its more of a Disney, Mickey, yeah whatever kind of attitude. I chose a Disney cruise because of my son and then I found this great web site and I said what the heck. We have cruised before on RCCL.
I WILL NEVER CRUISE WITH ANY ONE ELSE! I am still shocked by this feeling I now have. I am hooked! Below is a day by day account. I want to thank everyone here for all their tips, comments and opinions. We did not do any excursions.
Embarkation Day:
We woke up at 9am and had packed and loaded the truck the night before. We got all dressed and headed to my moms about 20 minutes away to pick her up. We got on the road about 10am. Traffic was GREAT and we got to port around 11:15 and there we very few people there. First, let me just tell you how wonderful the service is from the moment you pull up. The porters are just as excited for you and the ship is awe inspiring. The porter told me I couldnt not check my soft sided cooler ( which we had bottled water and snacks in.) This was fine and we checked everything else. We ended up with 3 carry on.
We went up the escalator to the terminal and there was no one waiting at check in. Took about 5 minutes and we were on our way. DH and baby stood in line while mom and I checked out the model of the ship and then we swapped. Mickey was there to take pictures but the line grew quickly before I even realized it. We boarded at 12:15pm. They did not announce us even though we were about the 20th in line. I didnt hear anyone announced. We went through metal detectors ( like at the airport) which I have never done with another cruise line. Even my sons toys , lego box & cars were put through the x-ray machine and needless to say they spilled everywhere! Okay, this seemed odd to me but I have only done RCCL besides Disney.
Finally we boarded and they directed everyone to Parrot Cay or Topsiders. We chose Parrot Cay. They also told us our state rooms would not be ready until 1:15pm. We took the elevators right next to Parrot Cay and went to our room. Our Cabin steward was in there and we said hello. We dropped off our bags and left. This seemed fine with him and it helped a lot! We saw so many people struggling with carry-ons during lunch. Our cabin stewards name was Alfredo from the Philippines. He was fine during our trip and made towel animals. He was not extra friendly, but he got the job done which was fine. The rooms are a good size especially for us. We ended up spending a lot of time in the room so having the verandah was nice.
TIP: Yes, they do have diaper genies! YES bring the over the door shoe holder, it saved my life!
We went to lunch and I had read on this board of people not liking the food or thinking it was just okay but I thought the food was EXCELLENT through the entire cruise. Of course Palos was the best ! but wait I am getting ahead of myself
The jumbo shrimp are there and wonderful~ While my dh and mom were finishing lunch I went to Palos around 1pm. They didnt take reservations until 1:15 ( but it was posted 1:30pm) I wanted the third night at 7:30pm and that was not a problem.
Next went to Flounders and they started taking ressies at 1:30pm. I signed ds up for all the nights but he only used it 1 hr total the whole time including Palos night ( again getting ahead of myself.)
We did not do the spa this time.
After all this we explored the ship and mom and ds went down for a nap at about 4pm. The life boat drill was scheduled to begin at 4:30pm and I didnt want to wake them up. They were so tired they slept through the ship alarm right before it. Dh and I went to the drill and reported our room number. Made it through the drill fine and they were able to sleep in the cabin.
Dinner soon came and we got ready we got the APTT rotation and it worked out great because AP & PC were casual nights. Our waiter was Eduardo from Brazil ( GREAT!) and our asst. server I cant remember his name, need I say more! He pushed drinks on us every night even though he was very aware we dont drink!
In AP I had the honey glazed salmon which I didnt care for. It was just okay but I asked Eduardo for the veal chop instead which my mom got and he brought me that without hesitation! It was great and a much better choice for me. The ship was motion was pretty intense that night and glad I had taken Bonine. We all did but dh couldnt eat. He said he wasnt nauseous, but just felt not right.
Okay everyone is going to yell at me L but we only made it to one show. Disney dreams which was wonderful. We spent the evenings exploring the ship and in the different lounges. Mom turned in early along with ds. Dh and I went to bed at midnight.
Monday- Bahamas
Okay if you are not doing any excursions and are not looking for liquor, jewelry or t-shirts its not worth getting off the ship. We did for about an hour and were back on the ship before breakfast was even done in the dining rooms. The store Del Sol is great but I didnt feel like paying $18 dollars for a toddlers shirt ( Not even Polos are that expensive for ds.)
The rest of the day we spent napping, reading, and watching movies in our room.
TIP: we brought our own small vcr and movies and it worked great. Bring and extension cord and it is a coax connection on the tv ( I hope this means something to the men, my dh told me to put it in.)
Dinner was at Parrot Cay tonight and the food was good but not the least liked of all the restaurants. I ordered the coconut shrimp ( just okay), mom had the shrimp wraps which were a lot better and I can never remember what dh had. Im sorry I cant remember what I had for dinner here.
After dinner we went back to the room, changed and walked around Deck 4.
TIP: I jogged 2 miles on deck 4 every afternoon and walked 2 miles after dinner, only took the stairs, if we had the stroller I would just tell my dh I would meet him at whatever deck. Going from deck 3 to deck 9 was common place for me and I still gained 3 lbs. BUT I ate every dessert or food I wanted!
Come to think of it I am not sure what we did on some nights. But we were out until 12-1 every night. I think on this night we did the deck party leaving Bahamas. Ds refused to stay in Flounders EVER! He would cry for 10-15 mins and they would page me. After the second time I didnt try to leave him again. He is not in day care and I think this is probably why.
Freeport- Once again unless you are doing an excursion, do not bother getting off the ship! We wasted $24 in cab fare and only stayed the International Bazaar for an hour. I didnt see any great bargains here on stuff.
We did the same thing we did during our Nassau day and it was great. Tonight was Palos night. I had made a reservation for the three of us and when we got there and got seated the pager went off. Ds was crying and would not calm down. My mom said she would go and for us to enjoy dinner! Here is where Disney service comes in. The manager ( I wish I knew his name, we did tip him)said she could order anything on the menu including appetizer and dessert and they would deliver it to her room! She ordered the warm shrimp and lobster salad, loin of veal and tiramisu for dessert! She picked up ds and took him back to the cabin and enjoyed Palos in her pjs while ds slept! My mom said this was to die for EVERYTHING!
Dh and I both had the rack of lamb and chocolate soufflé for dinner! IT IS EVERYTHING EVERYONE HAS SAID ABOUT IT! Not to be missed. We also got one of their pizzas to share which was delicious. This was the best meal on the ship! Our waiter Carlo from Canada was awesome! Needless to say we gave him a great tip when we left!
We left Palos and then went to Promenade lounge for awhile. We turned in around midnight.
Castaway Cay- There is so much I can say about this island. It is beautiful! We didnt get off the ship until 9:15 or so and had no problem getting a lounge chair and beach umbrella. It was not that crowded at all. We all agree this was our favorite part of the trip. We were almost right next to Cookies and was easy access during lunch. The ribs & burgers are awesome! The fruit! I ate so much of it through my trip but here they had papaya and mango, watermelon, kiwis! I was in heaven. I think ds ate so many grapes I was scared he was going to turn to wine soon!
Dh, ds and I went on a bike ride. It was $6 an hour for each bike but it was worth it, I think. The trail needs to be longer though and a cm I spoke to said they are working it so in the next few years you can for almost around the entire island on the bike path. This would be great! As everyone knows this day went by way too fast. Soon it was time to board. Ds fell asleep before we were back on board, so we took him back to the room and laid him down. We were all exhausted and fell asleep too. They had a matinee of Disney dreams on this day so while mom and ds kept sleeping. Dh and I saw it. It was wonderful. Definitely a must see! Tonight was Tritons for dinner the Master Chef Series. I dont remember what I had but it was good ( I am so terrible at this.) After dinner Mom wanted to see the show so we went and saw it a second time. Ds sat through the whole thing and was mesmerized I couldnt believe he actually sat still for 50 minutes. After the show we went back to the room and packed. I couldnt believe it would be over so soon! After packing we went down to the Promenade and said good-bye to our friends Angie and Maruchy and they played until midnight. We turned in shortly there after.
Disembarkation:
Okay not much to say here except that other cruise lines need to LEARN FROM DISNEY. It was just like everyone said. You get off the ship, pass through customs, a porter gets your bags and you are off. Literally 5 minutes!
Well this is it, I know it is not the most exciting trip report but I just felt I owed it to everyone here. Thank you for all your tips. My dh was so impressed I knew about so many things.
BTW- I am booking in a couple of weeks for a 7 day next year. I am officially Disney hooked. At least Disney Cruise Lines!
Cast:
Me (24 year old software engineer and mother of 1)
DH- 33 yr old. Stockbroker needing a vacation REAL bad
Mom- 63 year old mother of eight children ( need I say more?)
Ds-16 month old joy of my life
Room: Cat 6, room 6070
Let me just preface this trip report by saying, I have lived in Orlando for most of my life (since I was 2 years old.) I am not a big Disney fan, dont hate it, its more of a Disney, Mickey, yeah whatever kind of attitude. I chose a Disney cruise because of my son and then I found this great web site and I said what the heck. We have cruised before on RCCL.
I WILL NEVER CRUISE WITH ANY ONE ELSE! I am still shocked by this feeling I now have. I am hooked! Below is a day by day account. I want to thank everyone here for all their tips, comments and opinions. We did not do any excursions.
Embarkation Day:
We woke up at 9am and had packed and loaded the truck the night before. We got all dressed and headed to my moms about 20 minutes away to pick her up. We got on the road about 10am. Traffic was GREAT and we got to port around 11:15 and there we very few people there. First, let me just tell you how wonderful the service is from the moment you pull up. The porters are just as excited for you and the ship is awe inspiring. The porter told me I couldnt not check my soft sided cooler ( which we had bottled water and snacks in.) This was fine and we checked everything else. We ended up with 3 carry on.
We went up the escalator to the terminal and there was no one waiting at check in. Took about 5 minutes and we were on our way. DH and baby stood in line while mom and I checked out the model of the ship and then we swapped. Mickey was there to take pictures but the line grew quickly before I even realized it. We boarded at 12:15pm. They did not announce us even though we were about the 20th in line. I didnt hear anyone announced. We went through metal detectors ( like at the airport) which I have never done with another cruise line. Even my sons toys , lego box & cars were put through the x-ray machine and needless to say they spilled everywhere! Okay, this seemed odd to me but I have only done RCCL besides Disney.
Finally we boarded and they directed everyone to Parrot Cay or Topsiders. We chose Parrot Cay. They also told us our state rooms would not be ready until 1:15pm. We took the elevators right next to Parrot Cay and went to our room. Our Cabin steward was in there and we said hello. We dropped off our bags and left. This seemed fine with him and it helped a lot! We saw so many people struggling with carry-ons during lunch. Our cabin stewards name was Alfredo from the Philippines. He was fine during our trip and made towel animals. He was not extra friendly, but he got the job done which was fine. The rooms are a good size especially for us. We ended up spending a lot of time in the room so having the verandah was nice.
TIP: Yes, they do have diaper genies! YES bring the over the door shoe holder, it saved my life!
We went to lunch and I had read on this board of people not liking the food or thinking it was just okay but I thought the food was EXCELLENT through the entire cruise. Of course Palos was the best ! but wait I am getting ahead of myself
The jumbo shrimp are there and wonderful~ While my dh and mom were finishing lunch I went to Palos around 1pm. They didnt take reservations until 1:15 ( but it was posted 1:30pm) I wanted the third night at 7:30pm and that was not a problem.
Next went to Flounders and they started taking ressies at 1:30pm. I signed ds up for all the nights but he only used it 1 hr total the whole time including Palos night ( again getting ahead of myself.)
We did not do the spa this time.
After all this we explored the ship and mom and ds went down for a nap at about 4pm. The life boat drill was scheduled to begin at 4:30pm and I didnt want to wake them up. They were so tired they slept through the ship alarm right before it. Dh and I went to the drill and reported our room number. Made it through the drill fine and they were able to sleep in the cabin.
Dinner soon came and we got ready we got the APTT rotation and it worked out great because AP & PC were casual nights. Our waiter was Eduardo from Brazil ( GREAT!) and our asst. server I cant remember his name, need I say more! He pushed drinks on us every night even though he was very aware we dont drink!
In AP I had the honey glazed salmon which I didnt care for. It was just okay but I asked Eduardo for the veal chop instead which my mom got and he brought me that without hesitation! It was great and a much better choice for me. The ship was motion was pretty intense that night and glad I had taken Bonine. We all did but dh couldnt eat. He said he wasnt nauseous, but just felt not right.
Okay everyone is going to yell at me L but we only made it to one show. Disney dreams which was wonderful. We spent the evenings exploring the ship and in the different lounges. Mom turned in early along with ds. Dh and I went to bed at midnight.
Monday- Bahamas
Okay if you are not doing any excursions and are not looking for liquor, jewelry or t-shirts its not worth getting off the ship. We did for about an hour and were back on the ship before breakfast was even done in the dining rooms. The store Del Sol is great but I didnt feel like paying $18 dollars for a toddlers shirt ( Not even Polos are that expensive for ds.)
The rest of the day we spent napping, reading, and watching movies in our room.
TIP: we brought our own small vcr and movies and it worked great. Bring and extension cord and it is a coax connection on the tv ( I hope this means something to the men, my dh told me to put it in.)
Dinner was at Parrot Cay tonight and the food was good but not the least liked of all the restaurants. I ordered the coconut shrimp ( just okay), mom had the shrimp wraps which were a lot better and I can never remember what dh had. Im sorry I cant remember what I had for dinner here.
After dinner we went back to the room, changed and walked around Deck 4.
TIP: I jogged 2 miles on deck 4 every afternoon and walked 2 miles after dinner, only took the stairs, if we had the stroller I would just tell my dh I would meet him at whatever deck. Going from deck 3 to deck 9 was common place for me and I still gained 3 lbs. BUT I ate every dessert or food I wanted!
Come to think of it I am not sure what we did on some nights. But we were out until 12-1 every night. I think on this night we did the deck party leaving Bahamas. Ds refused to stay in Flounders EVER! He would cry for 10-15 mins and they would page me. After the second time I didnt try to leave him again. He is not in day care and I think this is probably why.
Freeport- Once again unless you are doing an excursion, do not bother getting off the ship! We wasted $24 in cab fare and only stayed the International Bazaar for an hour. I didnt see any great bargains here on stuff.
We did the same thing we did during our Nassau day and it was great. Tonight was Palos night. I had made a reservation for the three of us and when we got there and got seated the pager went off. Ds was crying and would not calm down. My mom said she would go and for us to enjoy dinner! Here is where Disney service comes in. The manager ( I wish I knew his name, we did tip him)said she could order anything on the menu including appetizer and dessert and they would deliver it to her room! She ordered the warm shrimp and lobster salad, loin of veal and tiramisu for dessert! She picked up ds and took him back to the cabin and enjoyed Palos in her pjs while ds slept! My mom said this was to die for EVERYTHING!
Dh and I both had the rack of lamb and chocolate soufflé for dinner! IT IS EVERYTHING EVERYONE HAS SAID ABOUT IT! Not to be missed. We also got one of their pizzas to share which was delicious. This was the best meal on the ship! Our waiter Carlo from Canada was awesome! Needless to say we gave him a great tip when we left!
We left Palos and then went to Promenade lounge for awhile. We turned in around midnight.
Castaway Cay- There is so much I can say about this island. It is beautiful! We didnt get off the ship until 9:15 or so and had no problem getting a lounge chair and beach umbrella. It was not that crowded at all. We all agree this was our favorite part of the trip. We were almost right next to Cookies and was easy access during lunch. The ribs & burgers are awesome! The fruit! I ate so much of it through my trip but here they had papaya and mango, watermelon, kiwis! I was in heaven. I think ds ate so many grapes I was scared he was going to turn to wine soon!
Dh, ds and I went on a bike ride. It was $6 an hour for each bike but it was worth it, I think. The trail needs to be longer though and a cm I spoke to said they are working it so in the next few years you can for almost around the entire island on the bike path. This would be great! As everyone knows this day went by way too fast. Soon it was time to board. Ds fell asleep before we were back on board, so we took him back to the room and laid him down. We were all exhausted and fell asleep too. They had a matinee of Disney dreams on this day so while mom and ds kept sleeping. Dh and I saw it. It was wonderful. Definitely a must see! Tonight was Tritons for dinner the Master Chef Series. I dont remember what I had but it was good ( I am so terrible at this.) After dinner Mom wanted to see the show so we went and saw it a second time. Ds sat through the whole thing and was mesmerized I couldnt believe he actually sat still for 50 minutes. After the show we went back to the room and packed. I couldnt believe it would be over so soon! After packing we went down to the Promenade and said good-bye to our friends Angie and Maruchy and they played until midnight. We turned in shortly there after.
Disembarkation:
Okay not much to say here except that other cruise lines need to LEARN FROM DISNEY. It was just like everyone said. You get off the ship, pass through customs, a porter gets your bags and you are off. Literally 5 minutes!
Well this is it, I know it is not the most exciting trip report but I just felt I owed it to everyone here. Thank you for all your tips. My dh was so impressed I knew about so many things.
BTW- I am booking in a couple of weeks for a 7 day next year. I am officially Disney hooked. At least Disney Cruise Lines!
