August 19, 2007 Disney Wonder

[dramaqueen92]

hi everyone. just figured i'd check in to tell you that as of this morning, there are 180 days until we arrive in the most magical place on earth!

 

[fluffy bunny]

Hi all,

We are booked on this cruise (DW, DD13, DD! and me). This is our first cruise and can't wait. We were going to try and surprise the kids, but our excitment got the better of us and we had to tell them.

Were doing a few days in Clearwater, then two nights in HRH doing Universal then a week in a freinds villa doing WDW. Then we on to the Wonder to finish off the holiday.

6 months and counting. See you there.

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

Hello Everyone,

I just informed my philly girls DW DD(14), DD(10) and DD(6) while we are "snowed in" in philly that we will be going on our second cruise.

How is that for the valentines day gift from the only man in the house?

I look forward to meeting you all.

Joe

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

Welcome newcomers! I can't wait until our cruise. We have cruised on the Wonder three times before and you are going to love it! My kids have the best time onboard. I don't know how anyone keeps it a secret! What a great Valentine's Day gift...how come my DH never thought of this one for valentine's???

 

[Dizzyworld]

Greetings All.........just thought we'd add to the list since I have been lurking since the fall.
It is me (Shirley) , my DH (Ron), DS (Alex/Ace, almost 14 at cruise time) and DD (Allison, 12). This is our first 4-day cruise. We did the 3 day Wonder, and the 7 day Magic 3 times. Our last cruise was in Aug. 2006. We had so much fun that our supposedly "last cruise" turned into more DCL cruise fun.
Looking forward to meeting all of you. We found that we had so much more fun when we had other people to say hi to during the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nice Valentine's Day surprise, especially during the nasty weather we had last week. I could have never kept a surprise like that for too long. I can only imagine the excitment in your house after your surprise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since our cruise is a little bit away, I am filling up my time making door signs, pillowcases, and notes for a family that is taking their first DCL cruise in 2 weeks. I just love the planning of these trips.

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

Is anyone planning on going to WDW before the cruise? As I mentioned earlier, my DH, DD(14) and DS(12) and I will be at the GF for two nights before our cruise. We have never stayed at the GF before and are very excited....me more than anyone else. I was just wondering what everyone else is doing....

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

I am filling up my time making door signs, pillowcases, and notes for a family that is taking their first DCL cruise in 2 weeks. I just love the planning of these trips.

We made door signs for everyone we went with last year and put them on their doors when they were out. Everyone had such a good time blaming everyone else for the signs..they finally figured out that it was my DH since he knew everyone's cabin numbers before we boarded.

This year we will have new door signs and we are bringing picture frame mats for character signatures. I saw them posted on another DIS thread and it looked really great. The pillowcases sound great also, but I think my kids are alittle too grownup (their words) for pillowcases

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

On Magic, only small number of folks actually dressed up Pirate night. We really decked out, and had a blast. Hope all on this board will break out their hooks and eye patches.

It will be here sooner than you think.

Stewart

We dressed up for pirate night last year, especially the kids. We cruised with four other families so there was 12 kids with us. They had pirate shirts, earrings, patches, etc. One of the adults with us actually found a stuffed "pirates" parrot to sit on her shoulder. What a blast we had!

 

[Dizzyworld]

We are staying for three nights at WDW (either POFQ or the Swan - teacher's dicount). We have never stayed at a moderate only the deluxes so this should be interesting. The kids really want to go there if we are not going to the BC/YC. Then after the cruise we will be at the Dolphin (another teacher's discount) for 2 nights.

There are a few new things we want to see in EPCOT. Kids really like EPCOT. Of course we love MKM. We want to go to the Kennedy Space Center after the cruise since we are so close. And then a day at AK. Love Mt. Everest.

I know what you mean about some of the things the kids seem to old for. My DS would think he is too old for an autographed anything. I think my DD just got her "last autographed pillowcase" in Aug. Although last Aug. I did 4 pillowcases for a family which included a DS (18) and a DS (16). This is why I'm happy to pass some pixie dust to some friends that are going with their familes for the first time.

We are early seating for dinner. What is everyone else?

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

We are coming in the day before the cruise and staying at the Residence Inn.
Then we will be staying a few days at our time share in Kissimmee before going home to get ready for a new school year.

Joe

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

We have early seating also.

Joe

 

[jenanderson]

Hello Everyone! We are getting so excited as we see our countdown chain getting smaller and smaller! I am trying to figure out everything I need to know for a disney cruise and love the DIS for all the help we get.

We are going to be at WDW before the cruise. We just changed our reservations to stay at the Poly for 10 nights before we cruise. We are doing the dining plan - love it - and have tons of things planned for our days there.

We will then be driving over for our cruise. We are excited that we were able to get a SPH room for our first ever cruise! We have late seating for dinner and I am wondering if this is a mistake - I keep going back and forth on this one.

DH and I told the kids about the cruise at Christmas - we wrapped T-shirts that said "From the World to a Wonderful Cruise" (also had a picture of the castle and the cruise ship). We will all be wearing these matching shirts when we board the first day. DS (7) and DD (10) still can't believe we are really taking a cruise.

I am planning on making door signs if I can get a bit creative and would love to do some pillowcases. I am always watching for other people's creative ideas here!

Can't wait to cruise and run into some fellow DIS friends!
Jen

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

We are at early seating too. We really wanted late seating. We always seem to be in a rush to get to dinner and are usually not hungry at 6:00 but one of the families we are cruising with has young children so they want to eat early.

BTW...I am so jealous...10 days at the Poly before the cruise. That's sound fantastic! As of right now we can only go to WDW for 2 days before the cruise due to my DH's work schedule....but I guess he has to work to pay for our Disney vacations

We have always talked about the Kennedy Space Center, but have never gotten there. Maybe next year!!??

 

[jenanderson]

We did book the late seating because we were worried about feeling rushed for dinner. I was also concerned with all the snacking/eating, we would want to go with the late supper. I just wonder if we will like going to the shows before we eat.

We do feel like staying at the Poly for that many nights ahead of time is a dream! We skipped going to WDW last year to help save for this special trip and both DH and I have been working a few extra hours to save. We did not want to charge any of the trip and want everything paid before we go. DH and I are both teachers so the time off is not an issue (we are working summer school but will be done in time to go).

Since some of you have cruised before - what do you all think of Nassau? We are not planning on doing any excursions. We would really like to just do a self tour, explore the market a bit, and maybe go to a beach if the weather is really nice. Other than that, we were thinking about returning to the ship. Any opinions?

 

[StewieL]

Hey guys,

Hi to all. Nice to see the group growing

Sorry for my absence, but things have been so hectic, and I didn't realize the thread was 3 pages now.

Jen, we are staying at the Beach Club Villas. We have been DVC members for the past few years, and we always stay there. You should consider coming over to the pool there...it's one of the best at the resort. We are getting in on the 15th....and then off to cruise morning of the 19th. Also, we have cruised a bit, but not so much in caribbean. Not too sure about excursions there, but you should check out the excursions offered. On our Magic cruise in '05 they had a "swim with the dolphins" option, and my grandson was 6 then...and loved it.

We are early seating...because of the kids (will be just 8 and 5 and a half) and it worked fin for us in the past....they stayed up till 11PM every night anyway.

Question...we are 6 adults and 2 kids coming in and staying at DWR first. Then we are heading over to Ft Lauderdale and the Cruise Ship....so does anyone know about any transportation options from DWR to ship? Do they have busses? I guess we should call and find out, but if someone already knows, it would be nice to know.

We are beginning to get excited about this. Hope we can arrange to get together on the day we embark, if not sooner.

Stewart

 

[jenanderson]

Stewart -

We would LOVE to visit the Beach Club pool but I know that pool hopping is NOT allowed (DVC members are allowed to go to certain pools but regular resort guests can only use their own pool). My kids are really excited about the pool at the Polynesian but we actually did consider staying that the Beach Club because of the wonderful pool.

They do have busses that go from the resorts to the cruise. I felt they were very expensive though and it is cheaper for our family of 4 to have a rental car. We are probably flying in and renting a car for one day to get snacks and go to the resort - picking up a car (National's on-site rental) and driving to the ship and returning it at port - and then picking up a car at port to drive us back to the airport. It does seem to be a bit of a hassle to rent a car 3 times for one day but it saves us money. I will try to see if there is a deal to have the car rented for the whole time as we get closer. I also know a lot of people use other companies to go from the resorts to the cruise (limos or other shuttle services). You might want to check out the transportation board.

Happy Friday Everyone!
Jen

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

Jen:

We have been to Nassau three times. The only excursion we ever did was the Dolphin Swim (last year). My kids were 12 and 10 at the time and they loved it (and so did I). You don't get to swim with them, but you are in the water with them and interact with them. The trainer was alot of fun. Everyone in our group that went (and there was about 20 of us) loved the experience. Other than that, they only thing we do is get off the boat, shop in the little straw market at the port and get back on the boat. We walked around a few years ago, but it really wasn't anything. We went to Atlantis, because my DH and the other DH's with us like to go and gamble for a few hours, but even that was just a big hotel with an aquarium, not worth it for me. My sister and brother went to the Atlantis aquarium two years ago when we were all on the Wonder and they really like it though. Wewill just shop alittle this year and get right back on the boat. Hope this helps.

 

[StewieL]

Hello all,

Jen, thanks for the info regarding the car rentals. There is a National Rental at the Dolphin, I see. The bus to Cruise ship is $35 pp, so even renting 2 cars for all of us, we save money.

We will find out about the "pickup" from airport in Orlando, but we will probably rent cars again just to motor on down to the Beach Club and get "goodies" on the way.

Joining us (DW and me) are DD number 1 and her hubby and DD #2 and her hubby, as well as grnadkids who will be 8 (Quinn) and 5.5 (Simone).

On our past carib. cruises, there were always excursions to a beach or two, snorkling, or even scuba diving. Since a number of us are divers, we may look into diving....if I find out information, I will post.

Stewart

 

[jenanderson]

My DD (10) is interested in exchanging a few e-mails with any other girls near her age who will be going. She will be 11 when we sail. I am not sure what club that puts her in but she would love the chance to "talk" and get to know a few things about any other who might be in the clubs with her.

DS (7) is a little nervous about being left in a club without his sister and not knowing anyone. We are trying to talk with his about it a little and show him as many pictures we can find of the kids clubs. He is a bit of a clingy child and I am hoping that he will take to the clubs a bit. How are the supervisors of the club at getting children to come in and get involved?

We are planning on doing most things as a family but will have Palo reservations and might want to do a few things without the kids. Would love to hear from anyone who has had experience with the kids clubs in the past.

Jen

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

My middle dd (10) will also be 11 by the cruise date. She registered but didn't go the club because she didn't know anyone. My youngest dd will be 7 by the cruise date and she was the only one of my girls that went and loved it. I think she went three times and that's a lot for my wife letting her children out of her site. The CM's did a great job!!

You can pm me and I can give you my daughter's email.

Joe