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

[Silly Little Pixie]

Bumping this up! But with three ships now it's hard to stay on the first page for more than 10 minutes...

 

[SanDeeKath]

Bumping this up! But with three ships now it's hard to stay on the first page for more than 10 minutes...

Thanks. Unfortunately we are likely not going to be sailing on the Wonder after all. We were on her in January and sadly, really didn't like it much. She's really OLD and pretty run down and the food was terrible. The buffet was closed after 3pm for the rest of the day/night and the kids did not want to do sitdown meals every single night. The shows were fantastic but the ship felt very crowded and loud and creaky. And there were long lines for everything. It just wasn't up to par with the other ships that sail out of LA. So, we decided to try Carnival and booked the Christmas/New Year cruise on the Splendor after a fantastic cruise on her last month. I think it will fit our family a bit better.

I was so surprised to not enjoy the Wonder since we have never sailed a ship we didn't love. After much thinking and discussing (even involving the kids, who are 6 and 11), we all opten for the Splendor's 8n cruise at the same time.

We are excited to be heading to Alaska in 5 weeks on the Sapphire Princess too and look forward to more cruising in the time to come! I just wish we had the new Disney ships on the West Coast.

Katherine

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Aw, Katherine, I'm so sorry you didn't have a great experience on that 2 night cruise. I didn't read good reviews. I can imagine on ANY ship the lines would be long on a 2 night cruise as people try to cram in everything that they might normally do on a 7 night. It's too bad that had to be your DCL experience, because I can tell you my DH would absolutely not be going on DCL repeatedly if we had bad food or long waits for anything. I'm sorry that happened on your first DCL try. We had an amazing time on our recent 7 night Mexican Riviera cruise.

I hope you have a great cruise on Carnival, we will miss you!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Bumping this up! So, fellow Christmas Wonder travelers, where are you? I can see that the rooms are selling, so I know you're out there!

Join on in if you are booked (or thinking of booking) the December 18 8-night Wonder cruise!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

So... Who else has gotten in on the kids sail free for this cruise??? If you've booked or are thinkin of booking join in!

I just moved my booking to a dummy date and rebooked- saved $600 even though my original booking had the lowest pricing and the 10% off. PLUS just moved from a secret porthole room to a veranda!!

We had such a blast on the Spring Break MR we can't wait to do it again!!

 

[SanDeeKath]

Hi there!

Well, we may just be joining you after all. Our friends contacted us last week about maybe joining us on this cruise. We were initially going to cancel given our past experience in January on the Wonder but since final payment was not due till October, I just sat on the reservation and waited. We booked a suite so the kids free doesn't apply but that's ok. Still not 100% committed to the cruise yet (have the Carnival Splendor booked as well for their 8n) but if our friends join us on this, we will likely keep this cruise. I hear the Wonder will go through a pretty extensive dry dock also so maybe that will help resolve some of our issues with the ship from earlier this year. Having the suite will allow us to dine in the room at any time and not be committed to sitting in the dining room, so that should help too. Still thinking and thinking...

In the meantime, congrats on your great deal! I thought the 18th cruise was excluded from the sale but I guess not!

Katherine

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Oh oh oh KEEP THE SUITE!! We upgraded to one on the spring break cruise and it was awesome. Mike, our concierge, completely spoiled us. And if you have friends joining you, it makes a great hangout. Currently it shows that all suites are booked but we are hoping one is available at sailing. I wrote a trip report (ok most of a TR) check that out for lots of pictures. My only complaint was that it was creaky the first night down- we did have very rough seas. Didn't keep us from sleeping but it wasn't like what we had on deck 2 in the fall. We were all the way aft though. I'd take that suite in a heartbeat again.

I'm hoping to convince some friends to join us as well. I think we will hold onto the dummy booking until 2013 and see what interesting itineraries there are then.

I hope it works out for you! It is really fun if you can cruise with friends.

 

[LovesToRun]

So... Who else has gotten in on the kids sail free for this cruise??? If you've booked or are thinkin of booking join in!

I just moved my booking to a dummy date and rebooked- saved $600 even though my original booking had the lowest pricing and the 10% off. PLUS just moved from a secret porthole room to a veranda!!

We had such a blast on the Spring Break MR we can't wait to do it again!!

We are on the MR 8-day Christmas cruise. Can't wait!!

But, can you clarify your post... do you mean you were able to apply the kid's sail free to the 8-day MR cruise leaving Dec 18, or are you saying that you moved your 8-day MR cruise booking to an earlier date in order to get the kid's sail free deal?

I was under the impression that since the kid's sail free is good up until Dec 18, that the 8-day MR Dec 18 - 26 sailing does not apply.

At any rate, we're sticking with this cruise... can't wait! We were on the Panama Canal cruise in January, and that was the first time we sailed the Mexican Riviera and we enjoyed it a lot more than we had expected, so we booked this 8-day in December (works great for us, too, since we are West Coasters).

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Welcome LovestoRun! Woot! Woot! More Merry Christmas cruisers joining in! Tell us more about your family.

Yes INDEED this sailing is for KSF! I already moved my existing reservation to a dummy date in 12/2012, and booked a 5C cat for the 12/18 8 night sailing. The KSF is only for verandahs and cannot be used with an existing reservation and the 10% off onboard rebooking. So, I will miss out on the $200 OBC for the new reservation from DCL... but my TA is giving me $200 so that evens out.

 

[LovesToRun]

Welcome LovestoRun! Woot! Woot! More Merry Christmas cruisers joining in! Tell us more about your family.

Yes INDEED this sailing is for KSF! I already moved my existing reservation to a dummy date in 12/2012, and booked a 5C cat for the 12/18 8 night sailing. The KSF is only for verandahs and cannot be used with an existing reservation and the 10% off onboard rebooking. So, I will miss out on the $200 OBC for the new reservation from DCL... but my TA is giving me $200 so that evens out.

So awesome! I just emailed my Travel Agent, and got in on the deal. We already had a veranda (5A) booked, so we didn't need to upgrade... BUT just saved us $2400 because both of our boys are sailing free now! SO excited!

About us.... we live in Seattle, we are addicted to Disney Cruises totally! Love them, love them, love them!!

Dh is 40 (he turns 41 on Dec 17, day for our MR cruise!), and I turn 40 in November.... we have 2 boys... at the time of our MR cruise, they will be 11 and 9 (4th and 5th grade), and they can't wait for the cruise already.

I am a stay-at-home mom, but super active and really am never home, but always out and about doing stuff, volunteering in the kid's school, etc., and my DH is in the high-tech industry.

Can't wait for the cruise!!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

So how many cruises have you done? Sounds like the Panama Canal cruise was great from the TRs I read.

Introducing myself- I am Christine and my DH is Stew, both 41. Our DD Rachel is 14 and will be in 9th grade, DS Kyle is 11 and will be in 6th grade. We all love Disney cruises. My DD says it just feels like "home".
This will be #7 for DH and I, #6 for the kids. We took a Western last year just the two of us for our 40th birthdays. We are taking a back to back on the Dream next spring- just the two of us again- for our 20th anniversary! So looking forward to that.

Christine

 

[SanDeeKath]

So awesome! I just emailed my Travel Agent, and got in on the deal. We already had a veranda (5A) booked, so we didn't need to upgrade... BUT just saved us $2400 because both of our boys are sailing free now! SO excited!

About us.... we live in Seattle, we are addicted to Disney Cruises totally! Love them, love them, love them!!

Dh is 40 (he turns 41 on Dec 17, day for our MR cruise!), and I turn 40 in November.... we have 2 boys... at the time of our MR cruise, they will be 11 and 9 (4th and 5th grade), and they can't wait for the cruise already.

I am a stay-at-home mom, but super active and really am never home, but always out and about doing stuff, volunteering in the kid's school, etc., and my DH is in the high-tech industry.

Can't wait for the cruise!!

Wow, welcome! Congrats on the HUGE savings on the KSF. Sadly we are not able to take advantage (in a suite) but that's ok, we want all the spoilage so we are willing to pay a bit more.

We are Greg and Katherine from San Diego. We have 2 girls (12 and 7 by the time we sail). We love all things Disney although at this point the kids are past the age of standing in line for character autographs and photos. They do love all the rides at the parks and the fun of cruising (we just got back from Alaska on Princess). My younger DD is a bit shy and she did NOT like the crazy/huge/busy kids club on the Wonder last time, but we are thinking we would just give it another chance. Older DD is into anything and everything social, no matter how big a group, so she's easy to entertain.

Christine -- I was reading your Mex Rev review from this Spring but it didn't continue past PV. Did you finish the trip report by any chance or did I just miss it? It sounded like a blast!

Katherine

 

[LovesToRun]

So how many cruises have you done? Sounds like the Panama Canal cruise was great from the TRs I read.

Introducing myself- I am Christine and my DH is Stew, both 41. Our DD Rachel is 14 and will be in 9th grade, DS Kyle is 11 and will be in 6th grade. We all love Disney cruises. My DD says it just feels like "home".
This will be #7 for DH and I, #6 for the kids. We took a Western last year just the two of us for our 40th birthdays. We are taking a back to back on the Dream next spring- just the two of us again- for our 20th anniversary! So looking forward to that.

Christine

As of this moment, we have done 3 cruises with Disney (Eastern, Western, and Panama Canal). The Panama Canal was AMAZING and I'd do that cruise again in a flash if they bring the Magic over, or bring the Wonder back to the East Coast (which I doubt will happen).

But, we are being a bit extravaggant this year and going on an 7-day Eastern in November and that will be for my 40th birthday (we'll be on the ship actually on my birthday). I really wanted to go on a Disney cruise for my b-day, so that is what we are doing! Then, we go on the 8-day MR cruise in December with my inlaws (they love Disney Cruises, too, so it's the best way we have found to spend time together because they don't live near us).

So, by the time we go on the MR cruise in December, that will be our 5th cruise, so officially in 2011, we will have done 3 Disney Cruises but this year is just a bit out of the ordinary because of the Panama Canal we just could NOT pass up since it may not even happen again, and then my 40th b-day celebration... and then the MR cruise.

But, I know we'll go on another cruise in 2012... hope they come out with more Hawaii cruises.. we'd do that, but the one next year totally does not work with our kid's school schedule.

We will probably try to get on The Fantasy at some point... we are more into the 7+ day cruises.

Christine, sound like you guys have done some fun celebrating on the cruises!! How fun!! I can't wait to celebrate my b-day on the ship!

Oh, do you or anyone else know what Disney does when you are on a cruise during Christmas day? Just wondering if they do anything special? We are looking forward to being on the ship on Christmas day!

And, btw, my name is Kathy.... guess I didn't mention my name before.

-Kathy

 

[LovesToRun]

.

We are Greg and Katherine from San Diego. We have 2 girls (12 and 7 by the time we sail). We love all things Disney although at this point the kids are past the age of standing in line for character autographs and photos. They do love all the rides at the parks and the fun of cruising (we just got back from Alaska on Princess). My younger DD is a bit shy and she did NOT like the crazy/huge/busy kids club on the Wonder last time, but we are thinking we would just give it another chance. Older DD is into anything and everything social, no matter how big a group, so she's easy to entertain.

Katherine

Hi Katherine,

Nice to "meet" you.

Yes, the kid's clubs can get super crazy, depending on when you cruise. I imagine for the MR 8-day sailing, there will be a lot of kids because of 1) the Kid's Sail Free deal, and 2) Winter Break and school is out, so I am guessing the kids clubs will be full!! So, I can understand if a child is not as much into bigger crowds, etc., it would not be as exciting.

We have been on a cruise in the summer (July), and the kid's club was crazy busy. Then, we went on a 7-day cruise the end of January, and the kid's club was still pretty full, but not as full at July, but the best experience my kid's have had so far was the Panama Canal cruise.... there were ONLY 150 kids TOTAL on the ship (and that is all ages)... in my boy's age groups, there was only like 30 kids. So, they loved it... they felt like they had the kid's clubs to themselves (my oldest is a bit more introverted, so he just kind of likes to do his own thing, or just hang out with 1 or 2 kids, and my youngest is extremely extroverted, and LOVES to be around all sorts of people all the time! ).

Anyway, so will be interesting to see how crowded the kid's club is for this cruise... I know a lot of people aren't as interested in sailing to Mexico, so maybe the ship won't fill up. We'll see.

We had a very positive experience with the Mexican Riviera in January when we came through on the Panama Canal cruise, so that is why we are totally fine and feel totally safe doing this cruise. We are excited!

By the way, where did you go to in Alaska on Princess Cruises? I grew up in Alaska, so it's fun to hear about where people go up there. (Since I grew up in Alaska, that is why we aren't as interested in doing a Disney Alaska cruise... not as exciting for me, and DH and my kids have been up there so many times to visit family... so it'd be like cruising to home. ).

-Kathy

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Kathy, my DS will also be 11 and is more shy- he would love to meet your son before going to the Edge the first time on thr cruise.
He also usually makes a friend he hangs out with all week. My DD on the other hand is always very social and enjoys the Teen club a lot.

What did you do for an excursion in Manzanillo? I'm ready to experience a new port but am unsure what to do there. Cruise critic doesnt have a whole lot about it. Our kids' Christmas present is they each get to pick an excursion THEY want to do! We did the mini jeeps in Cabo last time and we all had a blast. I'll be interested to see what they pick.

I know for Christmas they have Santa, and a special dinner for sure. The ship is decorated beautifully and the gingerbread house is awesome!

Christine

 

[LovesToRun]

Kathy, my DS will also be 11 and is more shy- he would love to meet your son before going to the Edge the first time on thr cruise.
He also usually makes a friend he hangs out with all week. My DD on the other hand is always very social and enjoys the Teen club a lot.

What did you do for an excursion in Manzanillo? I'm ready to experience a new port but am unsure what to do there. Cruise critic doesnt have a whole lot about it. Our kids' Christmas present is they each get to pick an excursion THEY want to do! We did the mini jeeps in Cabo last time and we all had a blast. I'll be interested to see what they pick.

I know for Christmas they have Santa, and a special dinner for sure. The ship is decorated beautifully and the gingerbread house is awesome!

Christine

Hi Christine,

Oh, that is so funny... my DS is exactly the same way! We'll for sure have to hook up and introduce our sons. They sound like they would be very similar. Each cruise we've been on, my son usually ends up befriending one boy his age, and I always thinks it's so cute because by the end of the cruise, he always says his friend is his 'best friend'. But, then they never see each other again. So the last cruise, the boy he met on that cruise, he rephrased it toward the end of our cruise and said that he was his best friend on our cruise. Yes, this will be my DS's first time to go to The Edge, and he is looking SO forward to it. And, my youngest DS is just like your DD... he just makes friends with anyone and everyone.... We never worry about if he will feel like he fits in or not.

We did not do any excursion in Manzanillo. For the Panama Canal cruise, the only excurisions they had where our kids were old enough to participate was to go to an All Inclusive Resort for the day, and that didn't appeal to us (given we have our own all inclusive floating resort we've already paid for. ). All of the excursions that sounded really fun, they required kids to be 10 or older, and our youngest was 8, and we did not want to leave him out, of course! So, we just ended up getting off the ship and walked around. But, to be honest, we were not at all impressed with just walking around Manzanillo. We ended up just walking around for about an hour, and we stopped and ate at a restaurant, and then got back on the ship.

I haven't had a chance to look at what excursions they are offering for this Mexican Riviera cruise, but I'm hoping there are more options that work for a 9 year old (that will be the age of our youngest).

But, one thing we noticed about Manzanillo that we did not notice about Cabo or Puerto Vallarta is there is Military everywhere... like riding in Military vehicles with guys in the back holding machine guns! I know it was all just sercurity, which should make you feel more safe, but it was just something we are not used to seeing here in the USA!

But, one thing I did love about Manzanillo is from the cruise ship, it is SO pretty!! It reminded me of a coastal Italian or French town... it's really pretty.... but once you start walking around down town, it's not so pretty.

That is a great idea you have for your kids to pick out one excursion each! I love that idea. They will have fun doing that.

Well, I can't wait to see the ship decorated for Christmas. We were at Walt Disney World just after Christmas last year (went there a few days before our Panama Canal cruise), and I just LOVED how Disney decorates for Christmas, so I can only imagine how pretty the ship will be inside!

Take care,
Kathy

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Good morning!

Katherine, I did *mostly* finish my TR- through both Cabo days anyway. Here is the link:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2688185

I hope that works, I'm using my iPhone. DH had a work meeting in Anaheim the last few days, so I tagged along and had 2 solo days at DLR! it was fun to do just the things I wanted to do. I watched the new parade... Learned to draw Pooh at the animation academy... Had some wine... Watched Billy Hill and the Hillbillies for the first time! They were really funny. My kids stayed with my mom. They weren't sad since we were there last week on our vacation. We stayed at VGC for 2 nights and then moved to the Disneyland Hotel for Friday night. Friday was opening day for Star Tours and Little Mermaid so the GCH was sold out and our waitlist didn't come through. But we still had a GREAT time and really actually enjoyed the refurbished Disneyland Hotel. The new water play stuff and waterslides were a blast.

I actually got our Christmas ornaments for this year at the Christmas shop at DL yesterday! Shhh! I got us each a Disney character one, in the resin not glass so they won't break. I will tie them onto a large piece of red ribbon (or maybe a garland) and hang it in the room with magnetic hooks! I love to surprise my family on the cruises. They'll expect new magnets but not ornaments in the room. And I have a little fake tree that is about 18 inches tall that I will bring as well. That should fit nicely on the steamer trunk.

 

[SanDeeKath]

Good Friday morning,

At home today relaxing. I was dreaming of the Disney cruise last night, LOL. I dreamt that the ship came out of drydock and they forgot to remodel our room so they were working on it while we were sailing on this cruise. They told us we had to sleep in the Captain's quarters for 2 of the nights. Then I woke up!

Anyway, I am going to read your trip report. We have done the MR sailings 3x this past year (Princess, RCCL) and had a blast each time so I don't have any issues with going at all. We actually loved our days in Mazatlan (went to a great all-inclusive) but I can understand why the ships don't want to stop there now due to the random, daytime violence. The rest of the ports felt very safe to us so no biggie. I do wish we did 2 days in PV instead of Cabo because the Cabo days look short and tendering takes forever. Plus the waters are waaay warmer in PV, especially in December. I am not sure we'll be able to swim in Cabo that time of year without getting chilled.

We are heading to DL next weekend (VGC) so we can't wait. Our friends couldn't get into VGC with their points (waitlisted but never matched) so they are staying at the DL hotel. We are anxious to check out the new pool/slide area there. I just hope the fog goes away because right now it's cold here in San Diego!

This weekend is my DD's dance recital practice all day both days (yes her dance studio is out of control) so we can't do anything but hang out at the auditorium both days, waiting for her 5 minutes of glory. UGH. I really don't like June but my girls love to dance so much, I can never say no to the insanity of the big "recital week".

What Disney character ornaments did you get?? I have a few also but they do break often so the resin sounds smart!

Christine, the Manzanillo stop sounds kinda lacking for me too. My youngest DD will be just turning 7 so we need to do something that allows her to participate too. We like the all-inclusives IF they can swim in the ocean and boogie-board, etc. But if they can't, then it's not that much fun since we have a pool at home and on the ship. Older DD wants to zipline but I am not sure how we will manage that since younger is too small... We still have an October cruise planned on Princess (CA Coastal) so I am not quite in the mental mode to plan the Xmas one yet.

Katherine

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Katherine, I hear ya on the crazy competition weekend. DS had a 2 day karate tournament this weekend and his division was 2 1/2 hours LATE starting on Saturday! That stunk. But he took 2nd in 2 divisions Saturday so I guess it all worked out. I hope your girls had a successful weekend.

I'm hoping a few more things get added to Manzanillo for excursion options. I don't want to pay as much for the all-inclusives as they are asking. I usually am okay with doing excursions on my own, if our time in Manzanillo is pretty long then I'm okay with trying that. We did do DCL's for PV and Cabo last time and that was fine. I probably will stick with DCL for Cabo again due to the short time. Although, we had a great time and didn't feel gypped at all on our time there. NO problems with getting on a tender ASAP on the second day when we got off and just did our own thing. We were the only ship in port that day so it was a breeze.

Our ornaments? I got a Donald for DH (his favorite character- he'll really love this!), Stitch for DS, Jessie and Bullseye for DD, and Wall-E for me! They are all cute and glittery. Now to put them in my secret stash and NOT forget where I put it. Ugh I tend to do that...

Kathy, I take it from your screenname that you are a runner? I am trying to be one! I ran the WDW Half this year and am signed up for both the DL and WDW Halfs as well.

Christine

 

[LovesToRun]

Kathy, I take it from your screenname that you are a runner? I am trying to be one! I ran the WDW Half this year and am signed up for both the DL and WDW Halfs as well.

Christine

Hi Christine,

Yes, I am a runner... I love to run (hence the screen name). Only thing is I haven't been able to run much for the past 1 1/2 years because I got a severe ankle injury last February and was in PT for 11 months to get my ankle back to somewhat normal, and then I had another unfortunate injury and fell on concrete (while I was working out of all things) and fractured my Sacrum, which is the big bone on your lower back. Not at all fun, and very painful! So, major set back. Luckily, the sacrum fully healed within 9 - 10 weeks, and was back in PT to get my strength back.

But, I kept persevering, and I continued to workout and strength train (lightly and doctor approved) through all my injuries in order to keep somewhat fit and keep at least some sort of muscle tone, and to just feel like I'm doing something. And, just 4 weeks ago, I got the green light from my physical therapist to start running again (very lightly, and doing a run/walk combo on a track where it's a more cusiony surface). So far, it's all going well, and if things keep progressing well, I should be running like normal outside by this winter, and I can hopefully run laps on deck 4 on the Wonder on our cruise!!! I love running on deck 4.

So, yes, I am a runner, but was forced to take a sabbatical from running since Febrary of last year up until a month ago. But, before my injuries, I had done all distances... but what I've found I love the most are 5K's. I love to sprint them and go really hard. I prefer short and fast, rather than long and slower. But, I've done 1/2 marathons, full marathons, 10K's, etc, and did enjoy them definitely. But, I really prefer the short courses so I can sprint.

Good for you for doing the one half-marathon and signing up for another already!! A half-marathon is not an easy task!! I believe if anyone has the desire to be a runner, then they can be a runner, and will succeed. So, just keep doing what you're doing, and you'll reach the goals you are shooting for.

I would say since you've already done one half-marathon, and are signed up for another, you are not trying to be a runner, but you ARE a runner.

Well, if my ankle cooperates and I am back to running like normal by December, then maybe we can do some running on deck 4 together in December.

Take care,
Kathy