Christmas/Holiday 2011 on the Wonder: 8 night Mexican Riviera 12/18/2011

[LovesToRun]

Our first Disney cruise!!!

2012 is a BIG year for our family: My son (17) will be be graduating from high school, my daughter (14 next month) will be graduating from 8th grade, my other son (7) will be receiving his first holy communion, and my husband and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary!! Big year calls for big celebrations! Our 19th anniversary is December 6, and so we are starting our big year off with the MR Holiday cruise. Planning on going to the Azores with cousins (next summer), but for now, I can't stop thinking about our cruise in December.

At first, my oldest was not at all thrilled with my Disney Cruise idea, and he is still not convinced that there will be ANYONE else there his age. But, he is a trooper, and when I told him that this was MY dream come true -to have the people I love the most with me for 8 nights over Christmas on a Disney Cruise - then he understood and started asking me questions, etc. My daughter and young son (on the other hand) are THRILLED!

My older kids and my husband are interested in the canopy tour in Puerto Vallarta. I want to do it too, but I may stay on board and have my husband go with our "big kids" ... not sure that I want to leave the ship with my little guy left behind even though I am almost positive that he will be in the Oceaneer's Club or Lab ALL the time.

On Manzanillo my husband and I are interested in doing the tequilla tour; we don't mind leaving all the kids behind. And in Cabo (I think) the Pirate ship snorkeling excursion looks like fun for ALL of us. I am thinking that the short day in Cabo would be a good day to walk around and shop.

A little bit about me: I am a teacher (6th grade this year, but I have been a 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 1st grade teacher in the past), a mom, a wife, AND a full time student. In addition to all the other things going on in our lives, I will be celebrating the completion of my first full year as a doctoral student. Woohoo! I am working towards an Ed.D. and am pretty excited to have this first year under my belt!

I have a few questions:

1. Pirate night: dress up night for the kids, or do the adults really get into it? I want to dress up and play the part, but my husband will be less likely to join in the fun. I need to know how hard to push him.

2. Palo: Brunch, high tea, or dinner? Which one is best? I was leaning towards brunch so we can have dinner with the kids. Dinner together is really important to us, but if there is something AMAZING about dinner at Palo's, then I want to plan accordingly.

That's it for now!!!!

Welcome!! What a great year of celebrations for you and your family. Our wedding anniversary is Dec 9... just a few days after yours (we'll be 16 years this year).

My answers to your questions:

1. Pirate Night: Yes, the kids love it... it's kind of like Halloween for my kids. They get to get all dressed up in a costume (we have pirate costumes for both our boys). And, yes, adults get into it, too. There will be some adults who are totally dressed up from head to toe like pirates, and there will be some who are just a little dressed up, and then there are adults who don't dress up at all. But, regardless, the pirate party is a ton of fun, and it doesn't matter if you dress up or not, it's just a lot of fun!! I am not at all into dressing up in costumes, but my kids and my husband dress up, so I just wear a gray pair of capri pants, and a little black tank top with some flashy Mardi Gras beads around my neck, and a black bandana on my head. That is all I am willing to dress up (at least so I'd somewhat fit in my with my husband and kids... haha). And, that works great for me!

2. Palo: I have never done the brunch (not a huge brunch fan to begin with), but dinner is awesome!! We LOVE Palo! We always book Palo online before our cruise, and then when we get on the ship, we book a 2nd night if (there are typically cancellations and we'll snag an extra night that way). The food is SO good, the atmosphere is awesome, and it's just fun to be in a restaurant on the ship where there are NO kids around! I highly recommend you make reservations... you can make it your anniversary dinner (even though it won't be your exact anniversary date). In November of this year, we are doing an Eastern 7-day cruise on the Magic (can't wait), and this is to celebrate my 40th birthday. I'll be on the ship on my actual birthday, and our plan is to eat at Palo for my 40th birthday.... can't wait!!

-Kathy

 

[Tinkerbellll]

I appreciate the tips and info!

 

[Tinkerbellll]

That sounds like an amazing 40th birthday celebration! Love it. December was a fun month for a wedding, wasn't it?

 

[LovesToRun]

That sounds like an amazing 40th birthday celebration! Love it. December was a fun month for a wedding, wasn't it?

Yes, I'm pretty excited about my b-day this year. It's actually a double birthday celebration. My oldest son turns 11 on the first day of our cruise, and I turn 40 on day 5 of our cruise. My son loves airplanes, and so while on St. Maarten, we are going to go to the beach right at the airport and watch the airplanes land... it's supposed to be pretty awesome. So, we're doing that for his b-day, and then Palo on my b-day, and I am a runner (so is my DH), and the day after my b-day, we'll run the Castaway 5K.

I have never done the Castaway 5K, and I've been wanting to do it so bad! The first Disney Cruise we went on, I didn't know about the 5K until after the fact, and I was bummed I missed it. So, I decided the 2nd cruise, I'd for sure do it. Then, our 2nd cruise, I severely injured my ankle ON the ship (not the ship's fault at all... long story how it happened...but did spend a good amount of time in the Ships ER!!), and so there was no way I could run the 5K. I was bummed. Then, our 3rd cruise, (this is the truth.. sounds almost comical given my bad injury on the previous cruise), I had fallen at home 2 weeks before our cruise, and fractured my lower back (fractured my Sacrum... not fun!), so I was unable to run the 5K on that cruise! So, I have a lot of experience being injured while on Disney Cruises!

This cruise in November for my 40th will be our 4th cruise, and I really really want to run the Castaway 5K for my 40th (obviously, that is not the only reason we're doing this cruise.... we LOVE LOVE LOVE Disney Cruises, and the 5K is just one out of many super fun things we get to do).

So, if all goes well (the weather cooperates and we can dock at Castaway Cay), I'm not injured at all, I will be running the Castaway 5K as part of my 40th birthday. Can't wait!!

Yes, a wedding in December is soooo awesome! We loved it... everything was decorated so pretty already, and it worked great for us for our honeymoon because I was in graduate school at the time so I had 3 weeks off from school for Winter break, and where my DH was working at the time, it was a very easy time of year for him to take time off work. Only thing that is hard about a wedding in December is December is sooooo busy crazy with just gearing up for the holidays, parties, etc., so when our anniversary rolls around, we don't do that much because we are so booked up already for all of December.

-Kathy

 

[Tinkerbellll]

Good for you! That's sounds like a great way to celebrate an important birthday. I participated in my first triathlon for my 40th, and it was an incredible experience. I also swam around the cement boat in Aptos which was quite an experience for me. I have been pretty much terrified of going into the ocean my entire life, so it was like being reborn in some ways. I will be 42 in September this year and will be running a 10K in San Francisco in November. I say "running" but it's more like a jog. I am not fast, but I have found my pace and I get the job done.

Sounds like you have had a lot of painful injuries! Ouch! Here's to healing, persevering, and getting stronger!

Have a great day!

Monica

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Good for you! That's sounds like a great way to celebrate an important birthday. I participated in my first triathlon for my 40th, and it was an incredible experience. I also swam around the cement boat in Aptos which was quite an experience for me. I have been pretty much terrified of going into the ocean my entire life, so it was like being reborn in some ways. I will be 42 in September this year and will be running a 10K in San Francisco in November. I say "running" but it's more like a jog. I am not fast, but I have found my pace and I get the job done.

Sounds like you have had a lot of painful injuries! Ouch! Here's to healing, persevering, and getting stronger!

Have a great day!

Monica

Oh WOW! How cool to do a triathlon for your 40th! I am not a good swimmer so I can understand what a challenge that must have been. I am running (haha- I'm pretty slow so "running" is a subjective term) the Disneyland Half Marathon in September and I am stressing out big time. I haven't put in the time to train as well as I'd like so I'm feeling more than a little unprepared.

A 10K sounds great! San Francisco should be wonderful in the fall.

Now on to your questions:
1. Pirate Night- we are full dress kinda folks! My DH loves it because he wears khaki shorts and I let him go to dinner like that. I will see if I can post a picture. My family loves the Pirates movies and find the dressing up really fun. Costume parts are easy to find around Halloween or the day after clearance sales.

2. Palo- I love the brunch! High tea was fun once but I didn't see the need to do it again. I myself thoroughly enjoy Palo. We've had the dinner twice- once on the Magic, and last March on the Wonder. Our dinner on the Wonder was much better. Even my DH who is hard to impress had a great meal. But not enough for him to really want to make Palo a priority again for this cruise. He travels a lot for work, and at work meetings they tend to eat at very high end restaurants. So he's not "wowed". He enjoys the dinner meals with our servers and the kids in the regular dining rooms more, to tell you the truth. We shall see if I convince him to do a Palo dinner on this cruise. Also- we generally don't see our DD14 much on the cruise except for ports and dinner! So it's good to hear about her day and reconnect then. It was fun in March for the kids to go to dinner alone while we went to Palo. They felt so grown up! I peeked inside after we were done and they looked so cute.

Christine

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Here's a picture of us on our first DCL cruise. Our costumes are a little different now but still fun!

 

[Tinkerbellll]

The Disney Half Marathon! How awesome! I can only imagine that Disneyland would be the BEST place to accomplish a half. I think you can make great strides in the time you have left before the race. It is amazing how much better and stronger you will feel if you can just go forward and forget what you haven't done in the past. All we can change is the future, right? That's my daily mantra! I have a few pounds to lose, and I am trying to focus on the the present and future...the past is already done. When I get too freaked out over the big picture, I lose focus. This morning I am going on a long bike ride with my daughter. (o: Go for a run (or jog or whatever!! who cares!!) and you will feel better about the half in September...guaranteed!

Take care, and I love the pirate picture...we will be dressing up! My daughter wants to be a pirate for Halloween now!

Monica

 

[Tinkerbellll]

1. I see that there are times set aside for pin trading...my kids LOVE pin trading, but I was just wondering if it really was something that was done on a cruise.

2. Our room is at the back of the ship, and I have read that you feel more motion back there...what is the best seasickness remedy in your opinion?

3. Christmas Day....do you have any idea what it will be like?

4. I know I have to wait until October 4 to do the online check-in and make reservations and all that, but what time should I plan on being at the port?

Thank you!

Monica

 

[Tinkerbellll]

You are going to get sick of me!!!

I see that many people book future cruises from the ship. How much of a deposit do you need to put down?

What if I pick a date but then need to change it?!

 

[LovesToRun]

My answers are all in red below.

1. I see that there are times set aside for pin trading...my kids LOVE pin trading, but I was just wondering if it really was something that was done on a cruise.We don't do the pin trading (just not really into it), but I have seen it on the ship, and I think it is scheduled and in the Navigator so you know where and when to show up.... but I could be wrong. This is just my recollection.

2. Our room is at the back of the ship (8598), and I have read that you feel more motion back there...what is the best seasickness remedy in your opinion? The motion is not bad throughout the whole ship, so I don't think the back will be as bad as it might seem, but if you do tend to get seasick, I have heard the patches you put on your neck work good. You see people wearing those on the ship. A friend of mine took Dramamine, and she said that worked well. I don't get seasick, neither does anyone in our family, so I can't respond from experience.

3. Christmas Day....do you have any idea what it will be like? I am excited about Christmas day as well. I have no idea what it'll be like, but my guess is that the cast members will all be wearing Christmasy uniforms, and the dining room servers will be dressed Christmasy. I have heard that they serve an extra special dinner on Christmas day. I also would guess there would be Christmas Caroling somewhere on the ship... and I have heard that there is a Santa for the kids to go see. But, your guess is as good as mine! I guess we'll find out on Dec 25 on the Wonder!

4. I know I have to wait until October 4 to do the online check-in and make reservations and all that, but what time should I plan on being at the port? I think this is just personal preference. I don't think they will start boarding until 11:30 or 12:00, and some people like to get there really early to try to get upgrades, or just to be able to get an early boarding group to get on fast. But, I think you just need to be on the ship by like 3 PM. I think if you arrive between like 11 - 12, it'll just be super crazy and tons of lines and people. I am guessing if you arrive early, you'll get an early boarding pass, miss a lot of the crazy lines and get on the ship right away. But, if you get to port probably after 1 PM, it might not be as crazy, and a lot of people will already be on the ship, and a lot of the lines will be smaller at the port.

Thank you!

Monica

You are going to get sick of me!!! No, no at all. It's fun to think and talk about the cruise.

I see that many people book future cruises from the ship. How much of a deposit do you need to put down? They just changed it, but I think it is 10% of the cost of your total cruise. But, others can correct me if I'm wrong.

What if I pick a date but then need to change it?! You can do this no problem. We did this. We booked a cruise on our last cruise, but then the dates ended up not working, so I called my TA, she switched the dates no problem and still got my 10% off and OBC for booking on board. People do this all the time.

 

[Tinkerbellll]

Thank you Kathy. I am in my obsessed phase and hope I will begin to calm down soon.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

1. I see that there are times set aside for pin trading...my kids LOVE pin trading, but I was just wondering if it really was something that was done on a cruise.

2. Our room is at the back of the ship (8598), and I have read that you feel more motion back there...what is the best seasickness remedy in your opinion?

3. Christmas Day....do you have any idea what it will be like?

4. I know I have to wait until October 4 to do the online check-in and make reservations and all that, but what time should I plan on being at the port?

You are going to get sick of me!!!

I see that many people book future cruises from the ship. How much of a deposit do you need to put down?

What if I pick a date but then need to change it?!

Nah!!! We won't get sick of you!!

Pin trading is great. You trade with the officers and anyone else who has pins. They also bring out some special pins specific to the ports for sale then as well. There are plenty of traditional pins to buy in the shop. I love to pin trade as do my kids... well maybe not as much as I do. Last cruise I traded a Castaway Cay pin to a young man who I could tell was really into pins. He was so grateful and happy!! He thanked me over and over and then found me again later and thanked me again.

I like aft rooms myself- even if there is more motion than midship- since it's so convenient. The aft stairs up to Beach Blanket Bingo and the pool...down to Parrot Cay and Animator's Palate. My weight-management secret on the cruise is that I rarely take elevators (except the couple times our cabin was on deck 2). BONINE is the thing to take for seasickness. Cheap. Couple bucks at Walmart. It's a once-a-day tablet, and doesn't cause the drowsiness that Dramamine does. Works like a charm! Start taking it the night before we board, so that it's in your system already before we sail away. We all take it the first few days, then DH usually quits (he's never seasick). We just take it before bed each night. The first few days will be rough as we head down the Baja coast. It should smooth out once we pass Cabo. (It's similar in Florida as you head south to the Caribbean as well.)

Oooh! Oooh! I just noticed you're in 8598...we were in 8600 in March. There's secret back stairs right there (you'll see) that lead up RIGHT into BBB. No waiting in lines if you just want to pop up to grab a quick bagel or cereal in the morning (we prefer just some fruit and cereal in the morning, ourselves). Loved the secret stairs! Good score on the location.

I've got no idea about Christmas but the Gingerbread House is awesome! We watched them build it on our B2B last November. Every time you walk by it smells so good. It's the size of a child's playhouse. Really, kids could fit in there easy! It was very cool and the tree is GORGEOUS.

Port arrival:
The "new thing" is that you get assigned a check in time when you complete your online check-in. I don't know how strict they are on the times. In March I was assigned the 10:30 time (I could choose time slots and that was the first available). I was there and entering the port by 10- but I was planning on trying for an upgrade, and got the last one. We were in the first boarding group (because we were concierge) and boarded at 12:00. But the ship was delayed in docking that morning due to bad weather the night before, they had to go slower than usual up the coast. Otherwise it would have been more like 11:30 for group 1 I think.

Rebooking:
As Kathy said, rebooking onboard is 10% of the cost of your cruise. If you select your TA at the time of booking onboard (have their name, agency, and phone number) you'll get their Onboard Credit as well as whatever DCL is giving at that time. It varies based on Castaway Club status as well as how many nights your cruise is. You also get *roughly* 10% off the price of the cruise by booking onboard!!! If you don't know the exact cruise you want, you can book a "dummy date". The onboard booking agent will basically book you as far out as they can, and you can move that date later. No worries. Your 10% off and OBC move with you. But, if you wait say a few months the price of that October 2012 Fantasy cruise you were looking at may have gone up...so you get 10% of the CURRENT price. It's always best to settle on a date early if you can. Should your cruise go DOWN in price, your TA can get DCL to reprice it for you (as long as there are still rooms left in your category) when you see it decrease. Again, the 10% off the price stays with you! The 10% is not combinable with things like Kids Sail Free. So for me, for example, I had already booked this cruise onboard. But then KSF came out, and that was a better deal. So I had my TA move my existing reservation to a dummy date (the cheapest Dec 2012 7 night), and I booked a new reservation for the KSF. But, since now this isn't an onboard booking, I won't have the OBC from DCL for this cruise. So in factoring in my savings I had to figure out the decrease in OBC I will have. So when the 2013 dates are released, I will likely move that dummy date reservation to a cruise I want to do then. Make sense? You can change dates all the way up to I think 90 days out.

Christine

 

[Tinkerbellll]

Christine and Kathy,

Thank you for your help and guidance! Wonderful info. As you think about the upcoming cruise, feel free to share any tips, ideas, etc. that you think a first time DCL cruising family with kids might want to know. Feel free to tell me about any of your favorite things to do and/or favorite excursions. I am all ears.

Monica

 

[LovesToRun]

Christine and Kathy,

Thank you for your help and guidance! Wonderful info. As you think about the upcoming cruise, feel free to share any tips, ideas, etc. that you think a first time DCL cruising family with kids might want to know. Feel free to tell me about any of your favorite things to do and/or favorite excursions. I am all ears.

Monica

One thing I learned from our first cruise that helped us a ton on our cruises after our 1st is to communicate well with your dining room server...

We may be in the minority, but we are not huge eaters. Don't get me wrong.... we LOVE food and we love GOOD food (which Disney get a thumbs up from me on!), but we just are not BIG eaters, like we don't eat a lot in one sitting.

Well, on our first cruise, we knew you could order whatever and however much you wanted off of the menu, but my DH and I didn't feel like ordering something from every section (appetizer, soup/salad, main course, dessert)... we just felt like only ordering a main course and then dessert... we just weren't hungry enough to eat ALL the food. So, when we went to make our order, our server ended up talking us into order each an appetizer, salad, main course and dessert. But, then we couldn't eat everything, and we both just felt gross from eating so much food (the food was good, but just too much). So, the next day, the same thing happened.... we tried to just order a main course, but our waiter insisted we get appetizers, salads, etc....

It got to the point where we felt like he was just pushing himself on us and not letting us just order what we wanted.... we didn't like ordering SO much food and then wasting so much food because we couldn't eat it all (yes, I know they don't care if you waste food.... I know a lot of people don't eat everything and that is ok, but we just hate ordering something and then taking only one bite, and wasting the rest of it).

And, so we ended up not really liking our dining experience and just felt like food was pushed on us constantly..... oh, and also, if we'd order something, but just were not super hungry and only eat part of it, our waiter would ask if we didn't like it. Then, we'd just say, "no we just weren't very hungry." Then, he'd keep asking if we didn't like it, and he'd offer to bring something new... we just kept saying, "no, we just were not hungry!!" Anyway, maybe it was just that particular server, but then we found out toward the end of our cruise that the servers are actually graded on how well the passengers like the food, so if a table of guests only order just a main course, and never order anything else, it might seem like they don't like the food, and this reflects the servers (because if it WAS true that the guest did not like the food, the server should work with the guest to help make something special for them so they do get food they like... this is why if guests do not like the food it reflects the server).

So, we found out (from the head server, actually, when we talked to him... we weren't complaining about our server to the head server, but just chatting with the head server about how there is so much food and we don't order much because we don't eat much, and we just mentioned to the head server that our server always seems to want us to order something from every section of the menu) that by us not ordering a lot of food, and only eating just parts of our food, made the server think we didn't like the food, so he'd push food on us to get us to try more things because he probably thought he was helping us find something we did like. When in fact, we loved the food, but we just aren't big eaters! We found this out on the last night of our cruise... so it was too late to try to fix things with our server.

SOOOO, our next cruise (and the cruises since then), the first time we go to the dining room, and meet our server, the VERY first thing we say is, "FYI, we are not big eaters, we love the food on the ship, but it's highly likely at each meal we will not order a lot." And, we told the story of our first cruise experience, and said we didn't like that. We establish that from the beginning, so that way the server will understand why we don't order a lot, andn he/she won't push food on us that way. So, since our 2nd cruise, we've had awesome dining experiences!! In fact, our last cruise (the Panama Canal cruise), we got to know our server very well because it was a 16 day cruise, and he told us that the servers aren't used to guests who do not eat a lot in one sitting, but instead he's used to guests who eat a lot at one sitting.... so he said it's good we told him from the beginning we aren't huge eaters because if we hadn't told him, he probably would have thought we didn't like the food because he's not used to guests who don't eat a lot on a cruise in the dining room.

The one place we do fill ourselves to the BRIM is Palo!!! When we eat there, we order every course, and eat everything....it's so good, but I feel SOOOOOOO full after our leave.

Anyway, if you are a big eater, our experience would not apply to you, but for anyone who is not a big eater, it's helps SO much to let your server know from the beginning. It'll make your dining experience so much better.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Good tip, Kathy!

I was thinking we need a cruise logo we can put in our signatures if we want. Or for magnets! It's never too early to think about magnets.

So I'm working on a couple things, and my DD is happily playing in powerpoint trying to make something. Feliz Navidad Cruisers? Any thoughts?

 

[Tinkerbellll]

How about:

Feliz Navidad en la Maravilla de Disney!

I just love translation websites!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

I just checked today and saw that the price of our 5C room had dropped by $1400- INCLUDING still being Kids Sail Free! I called my TA and she called DCL right away. 5Cs are in guaranty status though now so I was unable to keep my same room. I liked the location of my 5C room, she booked me a 5B room, right above the 5C I liked, now on Deck 7 (my favorite), still by aft elevators.

SO I am now at a 5B and STILL saved $1200 over what I had!!! YESSSSS!!!

If you booked awhile ago, it's worth looking online and seeing what the price of your room is! DCL will reprice it if there are still rooms available in your category. I just was unwilling to take a guaranty room (although I have in the past).

SERIOUS happy dance right now!

 

[LovesToRun]

I just checked today and saw that the price of our 5C room had dropped by $1400- INCLUDING still being Kids Sail Free! I called my TA and she called DCL right away. 5Cs are in guaranty status though now so I was unable to keep my same room. I liked the location of my 5C room, she booked me a 5B room, right above the 5C I liked, now on Deck 7 (my favorite), still by aft elevators.

SO I am now at a 5B and STILL saved $1200 over what I had!!! YESSSSS!!!

If you booked awhile ago, it's worth looking online and seeing what the price of your room is! DCL will reprice it if there are still rooms available in your category. I just was unwilling to take a guaranty room (although I have in the past).

SERIOUS happy dance right now!

Oh wow!!! I just looked (we are Cat 5A), and it LOOKS like it has dropped for us, too, by about $1200... keeping the KSF offer, too. Man, what a deal!

I just emailed my TA (she is SO prompt with responding), but I don't think she'll be in the office until tomorrow morning. I HOPE the price stays down until tomorrow morning.... fingers crossed!!

Thanks SO much for sharing this!! Super awesome! I will let you know if we get this price drop deal tomorrow...

This is becoming a pretty inexpensive 8 day vacation for our family!

I bet they are just having trouble getting the ships filled for the MR because I never see price drops like this before full payment is due... I think people are scared of Mexico. I bet that is what is going on. Heck, the way I see it, is if you are afraid to get off at the MR ports (which we aren't at all), just stay on the ship and enjoy the ship!! Makes it a cheap vacation with unlimited childcare (if you have kids). Can't pass up a deal like that.

Thanks for posting this!
Kathy

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

My TA said it was only this sailing. She has a couple other clients on earlier MR cruises and she checked theirs too... nope only ours has gone down! I think it was priced too much higher than the weeks before, IMO. And now it's just properly price adjusting.

It would have been nice if I could have had the cat 5C still and saved $1400 bucks but HEY not complaining!! Maybe now that spa villa will be back in my budget!

I also talked with my TA about the upcoming drydock on the Wonder. She was on one of the Alaskan cruises and said Parrot Cay is getting redone for sure, adding heaters to the adult pool for Alaska, some kind of upgrade to staterooms, and retheming Route 66! Sounds like a pretty ambitious drydock.