Birthday Back to Back Wonder Cruises 2/16-2/26, 2014

[WiscBill]

For our daughter's 12th birthday, we decided to take her on a Disney cruise. Both DW and I had celebrated birthdays on previous cruises and wanted to do the same for DD. Our original plan was to do the 5 day Wonder in February (with stops in Cozumel and CC) and then return for a 7 day Western Fantasy in April. However, when we realized the next 5 day Wonder cruise was Grand Cayman and Cozumel, we decided to do the back- to-back instead. It was considerably cheaper than the 7 day Fantasy, plus we could do two Palo dinners and two Palo brunches if we wanted. DD is a big Frozen fan, so the more showings of that movie the better. We did two stops in Cozumel instead of one in Cozumel and one in Costa Maya. Everything we learned from the boards (and from crew members on board) is that there is not a lot to do in Costa Maya you can't do as well in Cozumel, so we were not disappointed with the two stops. We were very lucky weather wise, with the smoothest seas, sunny skies, no rain, and comfortable temperatures the entire trip. We have a complete set of Navigators for both trips and promise to post them as soon as we get them scanned (probably Monday).

Like many others, we flew into FLL instead of Miami, since we could get a non-stop on from our local airport on Southwest. We took a mid-morning flight down on Saturday and were glad we did as some of the flights later in the day were cancelled because of a snowstorm. We arranged for a private car service (QLS limo) to take us from the airport to our hotel in downtown Miami (JW Marriott Marquis ) mainly because DD and DW were going scuba diving in Cozumel and Grand Cayman and had a fairly heavy gear bag, along with our other luggage. We felt that the cheaper shared ride service was just going to be too much of a hassle. The driver was prompt and called us while we were at baggage claim and picked us up right outside after the luggage arrived. The drive to the hotel took about a half hour. We were really pleased to be in short sleeves and away from the snow and cold.

The hotel was excellent, with a very nice swimming pool on the 19th floor overlooking a canal into the bay.
We could see the cruise terminal from the hotel and watched a few Carnival ships put out to sea. (They just don't look as nice as the Disney ships).

The shopping in the area is good for last minute items or warm weather clothing, with several drug stores and inexpensive clothing stores like TJ Max and Ross near by. For those bringing adult beverages on board, the CVS drugstore near the hotel had a good selection of wine and beer. There was also one liquor store within walking distance, but the prices there on most items seemed high compared to those in NY. The only problem we encountered was when it came time to leave. We called the front desk and asked for bellman to take the luggage down and for the desk to call us a cab to take us to the port. The bellman never came and after a half hour, we carried the luggage down ourselves. Arriving in the hotel driveway with our bags, we asked the doorman to hail us a cab. He disappeared and we had to go out to the street and hail one ourselves. The trip to the terminal took about 10 minutes and cost around $10.

Arriving at the terminal, we gave our bags to a curbside porter and proceeded through security. The walk wasn't bad, but DD had a bad moment when she realized she had lost one of her favorite pins (Peace, love, and Cruising) from her lanyard. There was nothing we could do except hope they had another one on the ship in the store or available for trading.
The check-in went smoothly and then it was time for pictures with Mickey.


Boarding was shortly before noon and we proceeded to deck 9 to sit outdoors by the family pool and enjoy the warm weather. I ran into our cruise director, Darren, and our assistant cruise director, Cally, in the Cove Cafe when I went to get some iced coffees to drink. They told us we would be sailing with Captain Thord. We had only sailed with Captain Thord once before, a New Years Eve Cruise, in which the first part was fantastic with sunny skies and warm temperatures and the second part was cold with heavy seas (30-50 ft). Darren promised smooth seas this time and he was right.

DD went swimming for a bit, but later went to the Edge to register for the activities there. While she and DW went down the Edge, I decided to finally buy one of the souvenir beer mugs. When I stood up to go to the bar, I heard a clicking sound while I walked. It was the missing Peace, Love, and Crusing stuck to the bottom of my shoe, so DD got her first birthday present. Her second was the DCL birthday banner we had placed in the room.

That night, DD got her birthday cake at Animators. It's not as big as it used to be, but it's still very nice and our wait staff sang a very good version of Happy Birthday.

 

[sheldonlarson1246]

Anxiously awaiting the navigators )

 

[kim532]

Can't wait to hear more. So far it sounds like an awesome trip.

Kim

 

[WiscBill]

 

[WiscBill]

 

[WiscBill]

 

[WiscBill]

 

[WiscBill]

 

[WiscBill]

 

[WiscBill]

 

[WiscBill]

 

[WiscBill]

 

[WiscBill]

 

[goingsouth]

thanks for the navigators! I was so happy to see somewhat different entertainment on each cruise. We are planning a back to back on the Wonder next March. It didn't seem as if the Marriott offered you very good service! Did you have the same room each cruise?

 

[mom4fun]

Did your original itinerary say that pirate night was on cozumel day, on the 2nd part of your cruise? I am so confused, we are doing the same itinerary in april but we are told pirate night is cozumel night not grand cayman night.

 

[WiscBill]

Our cabin was 7560. We had it for both cruises. It was very convenient with good access to all elevators and not far from the laundry room. (We did laundry three times. No wait ever, since we could go at non-peak times). Our state room host was Lewin from India. He was great over the whole 10 days and took very good care of us. On the first cruise, we were allowed to watch the fireworks from the balcony.


But on the second cruise, we were told not to go out. After wiping everything done with Clorox wipes, we stowed all the clothes and luggage with room to spare. Having a room with a steamer trunk on the classic ships does make unpacking a breeze. We had used a Belkin surge protector previously since outlets (especially with the wave phones) are in short supply on the classic ships. This time we used a Monster power charger, with two charge ports and three outlets, in the extra outlet behind the tv. This worked well as DD was doing her homework on an iPad and DW and I were using our phones at the gym for music on most days. I am not sure if this is still legal, but it is neither an extension cord or a surge protector, its more of a charger.


WE used the room service door cards for breakfast each day. We tipped $2 each time and the server was very grateful. After 10 days, I think he was honestly sorry to see us go. Rather than do a day by day, I was just going to cover some of the highlights and things that we learned on this cruise.

Receptions: Both the DVC member reception and the Castaway Club reception were on the first sea day (9:30 am and 11:30 am). At the DVC reception we won a beach shelter and a Tervis style mug. I would post a picture of the beach tent, but we only set it up once and had a little bit of trouble getting it fold back to its bag. Also picked up lanyards, hats, porfolios, etc. The CC reception was in Studio Sea. We had a nice chat with Bethany who was the head of the children's programming. She said that they are looking for still another alternative to the wave phones, as they keep breaking frequently. We had noticed that these wave phones were a different brand from what we had on the Wonder, Magic, and Dream previously. We also talked with Darren and Captain Thord. Both were very gracious and claimed to remember our previous cruise with the 50 ft seas. However, Captain Thord did ruin one of my favorite DCL stores by telling me he had not confined the teenager who had dropped the balloons for the NYE celebration a day early to his cabin. The reception was very pleasant with mimosas and champagne and appetizers. We picked up Mickey rice crispy treats on the way out. We still have them as DD can't eat them with her braces. We also got a picture with Captain Mickey.


Excursions: In Cozumel, I did the golf excursion. I am a true duffer and am lucky to play a few times a year. I have played all the courses at WDW and most of the ones at Hilton Head, and have found them all enjoyable (with one exception). Although the blurb says the course, which was designed by Jack Nicklaus, for is enjoyable for novices, it must mean a novice Jack Nicklaus. Seriously, you need to have a handicap in the single digits to enjoy this course. It is built on a mangrove swamp. If you put a ball off the fairway, you can't look for it because the course is full of crocodiles (I saw two big ones in one water hazard). Iguanas and other lizards are everywhere. Mostly making more iguanas. It is hot and made even hotter by limestone pits that line the fairway(Most of Cozumel is limestone). The staff at the club were great and my partners tolerated my terrible play, but I would never do this again. If you are expecting an experience like playing Osprey Ridge at WDW or even the Palm and Magnolia course, this isn't it. By the way, that one course I didn't enjoy at Hilton Head. It's called Indigo Run also designed by Nicklaus and also built on a drained swamp.

DD and DW did the scuba excursion. Since DD was 12, DCL required us to pay for a private dive master. It was $50 and well worth it as the currents in Cozumel can be strong. DD will write a longer post on this latter, but for now here is a picture of them diving.


On Castaway Cay, after taking pictures with Olaf
we did the nature hike and kayak. This wasn't great, but it has great potential and I hope DCL improves it. You take the trams to Serenity Bay. Once there, you collect your life jackets and then hike for about a mile or so along the asphalt bike path that leads to the teen beach.
Along the way, the guide stops and gives short talks about the flora and (some) fauna. Once you get near the teen beach, you get in sea kayaks. However, at this point, all you do is paddle. The guide takes off in the lead and just keeps paddling. No stops, no interesting speeches, nothing.
AFter about a half hour, you've done a circular course and are back on the beach. THe excursion blurb says you have about an hour to enjoy the beach. We got 15 minutes. You then are told to hike back to Serenity Bay on your own, making sure to take your life vests and towels with you. End of excursion. On our Wonder Alaska cruise, we did a kayak excursion in Skagway. It was awesome on a beautiful glacier lake. This was blah and we would not do it again.

Dining Rooms--We had APPTA. Our serving team were Sunnil and Konrad. Both were excellent. We were seated at four top by ourselves.

Quick Service-- Good as always. We prefer Goofy's Galley for the salads and paninis. A new feature for us was the special of the day at Pluto's dog house, which included chili, a blue cheese chicken sandwich, and a philly cheese steak over the course of the cruise.

Shows--Golden Mickeys,

skipped Toy Story, and did Dreams as evening show. We had an awesome magician, Jason Bishop, do the show on pirates night. The juggler/comedian Matt Baker did a good cabaret show.

Tastings--We did the bourbon tasting on the last night. It was ok, but the tequila tasting still wins.

Palo--I am no longer convinced that Palo is worth it. We did both dinner and brunch. At dinner, they have added a wine pairing menu with an upcharge of $89 per person. It consists of items, like tuna carpaccio and osso bucco which used to be on the regular menu and are now only available with the larger upcharge. The upcharge is already $25 per person. We brought our own wine and paid the corkage. We added a tip of $20 in addition to the $3 added to the corkage fee. Total bill was pushing $100. That's nearly what we pay at a local steak house near here if we are frugal with our liquor (in fact, we went to that restaurant the Saturday after we go back and paid $120 for a comparable, if not better meal), than Palo. We had the Amaretto Indulgence for dessert along with the souffle. We both agreed that the amaretto was the better of the two.
The next day we did brunch. Another $25 per person, but you do get a free sparkling drink. At the brunch, when the server brings the bill (the same one) , he informs me that he doesn't get any of the $50 and asks for a tip. I guess that meant that the $20 plus he got the night before was too little. I only tip $15 as it is brunch and I do a lot of the work. DCL really needs to be more explicit on this upcharge. The website says the $25 includes gratuities. $20 is the recommend tip for our server per person for the entire cruise. If the Palo servers are looking for more than that, then Palo is becoming a little pricey for what you get.

Clubs--We had JD from Canada as the club manager for both cruises. He was awesome. I wish I had a fifth of his energy. We spend a lot of time in the Outlook Cafe and Cove Cafe. The coffee drinks are very good, a little cheaper than at the bars, and the refrigerated cases are always stock with appetizers and deserts (mostly from Palo).

Movies-- DD, being a Frozen fanatic, sees Frozen, Frozen 3-D, Frozen Open caption, and Frozen Sing Along at least once. We also saw Saving Mr. Banks on this cruise. As others have reported, they now have fresh popcorn at both the movies and Walt Disney theater. It's good, but expensive. I actually preferred the bagged popcorn.

Pools- Not crazy. Absolutely minimal chair saving. A few problems with kids in the adult area, but the cast members were very good about handling that situation. We love the adult pool on the classic ships. You can actually swim laps in those pools (and we do) as opposed to the Dream class where they are glorified hot tubs.

Overall, a great cruise. There were many fellow cruisers from New York on this cruise with a lot of kids DD's age. This was probably due to it coinciding with the winter break in the Northeast. I'm from the Midwest and we didn't have a winter break and I don't think its the norm for most of the country.

 

[amys1978]

Did your original itinerary say that pirate night was on cozumel day, on the 2nd part of your cruise? I am so confused, we are doing the same itinerary in april but we are told pirate night is cozumel night not grand cayman night.

I was on this cruise. My original itinerary said Cozumel was pirate night but when we got on board it was grand cayman. I don't know why it changed.

 

[WiscBill]

When you do a back to back cruise, you have the option at the end of first cruise of getting off and exploring the port or staying on board. If you choose to get off, you will have to wait in line, clear customs, and border patrol (but without your luggage). After your time in port, you will need to check back in and can only re-board with the people who are taking the second cruise, which starts around noon usually. In Miami, DCL was offering a few post-cruise options that we could have taken, including hop-on, hop-off bus. In the future, we would seriously consider this option if we were doing a back to back.

Since this was our first back to back, we decided to stay on board. We were given a letter that told us to report to Studio Sea no later than 930. Since room service is not available on the last day, we opted to go to Beach Blanket Buffet and eat outdoors. The views of Miami and Miami
Beach were very nice.

At about 0915, we went down to Studio Sea, only to be told to come back in about a half hour. We were told to wait at the Cove Cafe. This is where we discovered that since we were staying on-board there was no charge for us that morning for coffee drinks. At about 10 AM we returned to Studio Sea, where we waited with another family from Cardiff, a mother and daughter, the families of the officers, and about 50 contract workers who were still installing items (like bar stools and electric wiring) from the dry dock. There was flaw in the sound system in Studio Sea and we periodically blasted by an extremely loud buzz, which forced us to cover our ears. Finally, at about 1030 we were let out of Studio Sea, only to be told to stand in the atrium and wait since Customs and Border Patrol were backed up. We did get a picture of the empty atrium.

We then went down the gangway, only to be stopped three more times because CBP was still backed up. After we finally cleared customs (and a few more miscues), we were led back upstairs, where we checked in again and were given new lanyards and new cards. We were then told to wait again for about another 20 minutes until we were let back on board. We went and waited in the Cove Cafe. Coffee drinks were still free and Pierre, the hotel manager for the Wonder, had arranged for sandwiches from Goofy's Galley along with breakfast muffins and croissants to be available. This was DD's first trip to Cove Cafe, so we took a picture of her in an adult area (legally)


DW did some e-mails and I downloaded new magazines and newspapers.


The pools were closed, but you could have any lounger you wanted.


Shortly after noon, people started to arrive. We hung out on deck until the rooms opened up at 130 (We could access our room, but were asked not to go back after people started arriving). In the room, there was a second set of Castaway Club gifts and very nice fruit basket from Pierre welcoming us back on-board.

 

[WiscBill]

thanks for the navigators! I was so happy to see somewhat different entertainment on each cruise. We are planning a back to back on the Wonder next March. It didn't seem as if the Marriott offered you very good service! Did you have the same room each cruise?

Except for the problem we had when we checked out, the hotel was actually awesome. They had a billiard room, a basketball court, the swimming pool, and a virtual bowling alley!




The front desk staff were very good. The concierges, Gigi and Orlando, recommended an Italian restaurant in walking distance that actually had better lasagna and pizza than Palo at a very reasonable price. We had read on TripAdvisor that other people had trouble getting bellmen when they checked out, so we had asked at the desk the night before and then called again in the morning. Didn't make any difference. It just must be a Miami thing when you check out.

 

[mom4fun]

We're there any other tour options in miami besides the hop on and off tour?