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

[Silly Little Pixie]

Wow Kathy you have had quite the bit of bad luck the last year! I hope that finally you are indeed on the mend. Do you plan to run the 5K on Castaway Cay on your Eastern cruise? I ran that last November...let me say it got HOT even at 8 am! I was not prepared for that. I was still nursing shin splints as well. It was gorgeous though... My friend and I were the only people at Serenity Bay! Okay, that's because we were the slowest. But a good prize for being slow, huh? Running the 5K at Castaway Cay was my motivation when I started Couch to 5K last summer. When it got hard I just pictured myself there!

I am the opposite sort of runner from you. I am not at all fast. (Little short person legs!) I struggle the first mile or two every time and don't settle into a good pace until at least mile 3. I ran 5.3 on Saturday, the longest in months. My knee held up well. I tried cortisone to no effect, then tried Supartz injections which seem to have worked. I am working up to the Disneyland Half Marathon in September so I definitely feel the pressure to get my training going. Starting next weekend I'll be on vacation for 2 weeks, driving across country to Tennessee, New Orleans, and Houston before driving home. So I'm not sure how consistent I can be with my running. I did buy a couple small hand weights so I can get in some toning.

I see that a Southern California resident discount has started for the fall Wonder cruises including this one. It doesnt require kids. It's only good for cat 9 cabins, but hopefully it brings some new cruisers to this thread!

Yesterday we drove to Las Vegas and my DH and I spent much of the time talking about this cruise. We are so excited. I'm thinking we might do the Spa Villas couples massage as our Christmas presents to each other. We did this on our 40th birthday cruise, and it was amazing. Truly decadent. We enjoy getting massages onboard anyway. And the Rasul!

Katherine, I hope you had a fabulous time at VGC! what room did you get? Did you ride the new Star Tours?

Christine

 

[LovesToRun]

Wow Kathy you have had quite the bit of bad luck the last year! I hope that finally you are indeed on the mend. Do you plan to run the 5K on Castaway Cay on your Eastern cruise? I ran that last November...let me say it got HOT even at 8 am! I was not prepared for that. I was still nursing shin splints as well. It was gorgeous though... My friend and I were the only people at Serenity Bay! Okay, that's because we were the slowest. But a good prize for being slow, huh? Running the 5K at Castaway Cay was my motivation when I started Couch to 5K last summer. When it got hard I just pictured myself there!

I am the opposite sort of runner from you. I am not at all fast. (Little short person legs!) I struggle the first mile or two every time and don't settle into a good pace until at least mile 3. I ran 5.3 on Saturday, the longest in months. My knee held up well. I tried cortisone to no effect, then tried Supartz injections which seem to have worked. I am working up to the Disneyland Half Marathon in September so I definitely feel the pressure to get my training going. Starting next weekend I'll be on vacation for 2 weeks, driving across country to Tennessee, New Orleans, and Houston before driving home. So I'm not sure how consistent I can be with my running. I did buy a couple small hand weights so I can get in some toning.

I see that a Southern California resident discount has started for the fall Wonder cruises including this one. It doesnt require kids. It's only good for cat 9 cabins, but hopefully it brings some new cruisers to this thread!

Yesterday we drove to Las Vegas and my DH and I spent much of the time talking about this cruise. We are so excited. I'm thinking we might do the Spa Villas couples massage as our Christmas presents to each other. We did this on our 40th birthday cruise, and it was amazing. Truly decadent. We enjoy getting massages onboard anyway. And the Rasul!

Katherine, I hope you had a fabulous time at VGC! what room did you get? Did you ride the new Star Tours?

Christine

Hi Christine,

Yes, I am definitely planning on running the Castaway 5K during our November 7-day Eastern cruise! My DH will do it with me (he's also a runner). I can't wait. I just hope the weather cooperates and the ship can dock! On our last cruise (the Panama Canal cruise), the captain attempted for an hour to dock at Castaway Cay, and never could dock due to high winds. So, our Castaway Cay day ended up being a sea day. So, I'm hoping that all works out great the day we go to Castaway Cay and I'll be for sure running the 5K.

Yes, I have not had great luck this last 1 1/2 years, but I'm hoping I just was getting all my injuries out all at once, and then I'll be good for a long long time now.

I bet you'll do great at the Disneyland 1/2 marathon! That sounds like so much fun. We were just at Disneyland a month ago.... had a total blast. Maybe one year when I'm up to running longer races again, I will do the Disneyland 1/2 marathon.

That is very cool for all the So Cal residents that you got the Disney Cruiseline discount. I bet that will help fill up the MR cruises this year. We got the Kids Sail Free discount, so it might be for us, having 2 kids going free now might have been about equivalent to the 25% off.

It's too bad they don't come out with these discounts for the whole west coast. hehe.... I know, wishful thinking.

I can't wait for the 2013 itineraries to come out. I am hoping there will be more cruises to Hawaii... I would do that in a heartbeat. The only reason we didn't book the 2012 Hawaii cruise is it's the worst time possible for our kids. We are fine pulling our kids out of school, if it's the right time of year (ie, a time of year where it won't be as hard to make up things, and they won't miss anything important ... testing, field trips, events, etc), but the spring (which is when the Hawaii cruise is) is the worst possible time, at least for schools here in the Seattle area. The spring until the end of the school year (last day of school is tomorrow!) is just crazy... they cram in everything, state school testing, major projects and presentations, big field trips, parties, assemblies, etc. etc. So, there is no way we can pull our kids from school in the spring, and I know as they get older (they will be 4th and 5th grade next school year), it'll be even harder to pull them at any time of the school year.

But, my DH keeps thinking that at some point, they will be bringing the Magic over here to the west coast. I don't see that happening, but for some reason he thinks so. Well, if they bring another ship over to the West Coast, we'll do all we can do book another Panama Canal cruise... that cruise was amazing, and would do it again in a flash!!

Anyway, so I'm excited to see the 2013 itineraries and see what new things Disney will offer. Then, we'll book on our November or December cruises this year and get the 10% off.

Just fun to think about! We love Disney Cruises.

Take care,
Kathy

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Hi Christine,

Yes, I am definitely planning on running the Castaway 5K during our November 7-day Eastern cruise! My DH will do it with me (he's also a runner). I can't wait. I just hope the weather cooperates and the ship can dock! On our last cruise (the Panama Canal cruise), the captain attempted for an hour to dock at Castaway Cay, and never could dock due to high winds. So, our Castaway Cay day ended up being a sea day. So, I'm hoping that all works out great the day we go to Castaway Cay and I'll be for sure running the 5K.

I'm sure you'll have better luck in November. We've been to CC 4x in November and docked every time. The only time we couldn't dock was in March. It was DH's actual 40th birthday, and our kidfree cruise so we were REALLY hoping to get to Serenity Bay. But no such luck, storms and high winds. We did have a fabulous sea day anyway! I'm hoping you have the same good luck in November we did. On our Eastern, we renewed our vows on Castaway! We *almost* couldn't dock (gasp!) and I was having minor heart attacks as I was getting my hair done in the salon and I saw us backing out... but after a couple attempts, we docked! Other than being very windy it was great. I would highly recommend a vow renewal there. DCL took care of everything, and my kids LOVED that they were the only kids who were allowed in Palo (for the reception)!

That is very cool for all the So Cal residents that you got the Disney Cruiseline discount. I bet that will help fill up the MR cruises this year. We got the Kids Sail Free discount, so it might be for us, having 2 kids going free now might have been about equivalent to the 25% off.

My TA actually emailed me about the So Cal discount the morning it was released, and had run the numbers for me. It would save me a little under $100 to move from a 5C to a 9D. NO THANKS!! But it's a good deal for those who are traveling without kids.

I can't wait for the 2013 itineraries to come out. I am hoping there will be more cruises to Hawaii... I would do that in a heartbeat. The only reason we didn't book the 2012 Hawaii cruise is it's the worst time possible for our kids. We are fine pulling our kids out of school, if it's the right time of year (ie, a time of year where it won't be as hard to make up things, and they won't miss anything important ... testing, field trips, events, etc), but the spring (which is when the Hawaii cruise is) is the worst possible time, at least for schools here in the Seattle area. The spring until the end of the school year (last day of school is tomorrow!) is just crazy... they cram in everything, state school testing, major projects and presentations, big field trips, parties, assemblies, etc. etc. So, there is no way we can pull our kids from school in the spring, and I know as they get older (they will be 4th and 5th grade next school year), it'll be even harder to pull them at any time of the school year.


I hear you on the pulling them out of school thing. I am a teacher, and in general I don't have an issue with it. Until this last school year, our district was on year round. Which was great because I could travel in the off season CHEAP! But after we booked our November b2b and WDW stay, they changed the calendar from what had been published to a traditional year calendar. We decided to pull the kids out for a week, since the second week was Thanksgiving week. It was no trouble for our DS who was in 5th grade. It was a lot harder than we anticipated on our DD who was in 8th. In her Geometry Honors class, (which was already hard) her teacher ended up being out the whole week before we left- which meant she didn't get the work ahead of time and really missed out. After that we were glad we had booked this one for Christmas, so nobody had to miss. I knew with her being in high school this year it would just be really hard. Although if you have to choose, I'd say early November is a good time to miss on our current schedule. We start the second week of August now and end before Memorial Day. So we've been out on summer break almost a month already!

In sad news, we had to put our beloved Labrador, Dixie, to sleep yesterday. She was just 3 years old. She appears to have had a sudden onset of an autoimmune disease and just didn't respond to any of the treatments. And we spent a small fortune. Sigh. It was so hard to have to decide to do that. And, since I spent that small fortune, it may cut into what excursions etc we can do. We'll have to see. I'm already working Saturday school this fall to earn extra money for the WDW Half Marathon in January! I have a free airline, but I need money for the room and tickets, unless my friend's sister who is a CM goes with us again. Last year I had a Premier Pass to both parks since I would be having 2 WDW trips in there. But with just 5 days or so on this trip, it's not worth it to pay for that. I have to plan carefully to budget for these trips!!!

 

[LovesToRun]

In sad news, we had to put our beloved Labrador, Dixie, to sleep yesterday. She was just 3 years old. She appears to have had a sudden onset of an autoimmune disease and just didn't respond to any of the treatments. And we spent a small fortune. Sigh. It was so hard to have to decide to do that. And, since I spent that small fortune, it may cut into what excursions etc we can do. We'll have to see. I'm already working Saturday school this fall to earn extra money for the WDW Half Marathon in January! I have a free airline, but I need money for the room and tickets, unless my friend's sister who is a CM goes with us again. Last year I had a Premier Pass to both parks since I would be having 2 WDW trips in there. But with just 5 days or so on this trip, it's not worth it to pay for that. I have to plan carefully to budget for these trips!!!

Christine,

I'm so sorry about your Labrodor, Dixie! I can totally relate to your situtation! We had a little dog (a miniature dachshund -- "miniature weiner dog" ), and got him when he was just a pup (9 weeks old). I used to tell people I had 3 boys, but one of them was furry. He was like one of our kids, so was very much a part of the family. Anyway, he was totally fine and healthy, but when he turned 6 years old, he suddenly started eating less, and other things told me he wasn't feeling well. I brought him to the vet, and long story short, the next day he had a blood transfusion. That worked for a few weeks, but then things got worse, and was officially diagnosed as having a very agressive fast-growing bone marrow disorder (similar to Leukemia, but they didn't call it that). We spent 6 - 7 weeks doing everything we could to turn things around, and get him healthy again (and like you, spent $$$$), but then there came a time where he wasn't making the progress everyone had hoped, and we chose the best thing for him at that point was to put him to sleep because his quality of life was so low at that point.... it was the hardest decision ever! So, I totally relate, and I'm sooooo sorry this had to happen. It is so hard to lose a pet, especially when it's sudden and unexpected. Our little dog's name was Scooby. This happened 4 years ago, and we haven't gotten another dog since.... but my best friend here in Seattle has a little dog and we get to dog sit a lot because she travels a lot, so we get our dog fix from her little dog.


That is so cool that you renewed your vows on Castaway Cay!! What a fun thing!!! What do you mean that Disney took care of everything? I assume you had to pay for this?? I bet that was a really special day. I would have had a heart attack, though, with the captain having a hard time trying to dock! I'm so glad that you guys were able to dock, and the vowel renewal was able to happen. How many years have you been married? We just celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary last year. My DH and I went to Phoenix (Scottsdale) for a week together by ourselves. It was such a great time and felt like a 2nd honeymoon.

Good for you for being a teacher! I am a huge advocate for teachers.... I assume you are public school? I am also a huge advocate of public school (although, I know that can be a contraversial topic). I am very involved in our kid's school, and know the teachers well. So many people have no idea how much work teachers put into their jobs (well, most teachers...). What grade do you teach?

Wow, year round school? How does that work??? Our schools here in Seattle (at least our district, we are in a suburb of Seattle) typically start the day after Labor Day in September and get out the 2nd or 3rd week of June. Last day of school this year was June 22. But, the weather here is best July and August, so that is ok we get out so late and start in September.

Well, just 6 months to go until the MR Christmas cruise! Can't wait. I'm so excited to experience Christmas on the ship!

Take care,
Kathy

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Good morning!
I'm sorry about your dog Scooby. It does sound like Dixie had something similar. She didn't respond to the transfusions, plasma, or steroids. Right now we are on vacation in Tennessee at my inlaw's lake house. We always brought Dixie with us, she loved the lake and the woods here. And such a good traveler on the drive across country to get here. So we're definitely missing her here.

I do teach in a public school- 3rd grade. I love it!! The year round schedule we used to have was awesome. We are on trimesters, so we used to be on 12 weeks then off for 3 or 4 weeks. So we'd start the beginning of August, be off all November, off 2 weeks at Christmas, off 3 weeks in March, and end school around June 10 so we'd have 6 or 7 weeks in the summer. It was the best system ever. Ahhh I miss it!! So I know I'll be ready for our Christmas cruise and a great vacation!! We have always taken a big trip in November so I'll definitely miss that this year. So a big Christmas trip it is!!

Christine

 

[LovesToRun]

Good morning!
I'm sorry about your dog Scooby. It does sound like Dixie had something similar. She didn't respond to the transfusions, plasma, or steroids. Right now we are on vacation in Tennessee at my inlaw's lake house. We always brought Dixie with us, she loved the lake and the woods here. And such a good traveler on the drive across country to get here. So we're definitely missing her here.

I do teach in a public school- 3rd grade. I love it!! The year round schedule we used to have was awesome. We are on trimesters, so we used to be on 12 weeks then off for 3 or 4 weeks. So we'd start the beginning of August, be off all November, off 2 weeks at Christmas, off 3 weeks in March, and end school around June 10 so we'd have 6 or 7 weeks in the summer. It was the best system ever. Ahhh I miss it!! So I know I'll be ready for our Christmas cruise and a great vacation!! We have always taken a big trip in November so I'll definitely miss that this year. So a big Christmas trip it is!!

Christine

Wow! I would LOVE that school system, mostly because our family loves to travel so much, and being able to travel in November would be ideal because that is typically low season (before Thanksgiving, obviously). I don't think they've ever had that system here in Seattle... not to my knowledge, and I don't forsee that happening

My youngest just finished 3rd grade. My boys are back to back in school grades, so in our house, we experience each grade for 2 years straight. I LOVED to pieces our boy's 3rd grade teacher. (They both had the same teacher, so we had her 2 years straight). It was a fun grade. But, I don't know about California, but there is a big jump in academics between 3rd and 4th grade.... 4th grade was much harder, but that is the way school goes! In our school system, elementary is K-5, then middle school is 6-8, and then high school is 9-12. So, what I've heard is 4th grade is a huge jump from 3rd grade because it's the 2nd to last year of elementary school, and it's the beginning prep for middle school... 5th grade in our school from what I've heard mimics middle school (so there are 3 5th grade teachers.... math, science and language arts) and each day, the kids rotate between teachers for each subject (and then of course, there are the specialists they throw in... PE, Music, Library...).

But, 3rd grade is such a fun grade! I helped out in class a lot, and it's just a really fun age, and a really fun grade. I really enjoyed that grade a lot!

Have fun in Tennessee.... that is a long drive!! Sorry again about your dog, Dixie... but you have the fun memories to keep her alive!

Take care,
Kathy

 

[Brooklyn]

Count us in!

We are a family of 5 from San Diego! This will be our families 9th Disney Cruise!

We have done:
EBTA 2007
Mexican Riviera 2008
Western Caribbean 2009
EBTA 2010
11 Night Med 2010
Panama Canal 2011
2 Night Cruise to Nowhere 2011
Eastern Caribbean 2011

We love the 7+ day cruises! The 2 night cruise out of LA was AWFUL! We will never make that mistake again. We were supposed to do a 4 night on the Dream in August but decided to cancel. I have been on the Dream for a 4 night sailing for training and really like the older ships better. We are also doing the Hawaii in 2012 and the Fantasy June 2012. When I saw the rates on this one have come down so much I had to book it!

We have 2 daughters, 10 & 6 and grandma always comes with us!

This seems like a VERY quite thread...here's to hoping more people log on and start chatting!

 

[LovesToRun]

Count us in!

We are a family of 5 from San Diego! This will be our families 9th Disney Cruise!

We have done:
EBTA 2007
Mexican Riviera 2008
Western Caribbean 2009
EBTA 2010
11 Night Med 2010
Panama Canal 2011
2 Night Cruise to Nowhere 2011
Eastern Caribbean 2011

We love the 7+ day cruises! The 2 night cruise out of LA was AWFUL! We will never make that mistake again. We were supposed to do a 4 night on the Dream in August but decided to cancel. I have been on the Dream for a 4 night sailing for training and really like the older ships better. We are also doing the Hawaii in 2012 and the Fantasy June 2012. When I saw the rates on this one have come down so much I had to book it!

We have 2 daughters, 10 & 6 and grandma always comes with us!

This seems like a VERY quite thread...here's to hoping more people log on and start chatting!

Hey there!

Welcome!! We were on the Jan 2011 Panama Canal cruise, too! We LOVED that cruise, and if they ever brought the Magic over to the West Coast, I'd do that cruise again in a heartbeat! We considered booking the 2 night cruise to nowhere since we would already be there, and it wouldn't cost us any extra airfare, but we chose not to... we decided we had to get back to Seattle to let the kids decompress a couple days before they started up school again. But, I had heard from these boards that the 2-day cruise to nowhere was awful! So, I'm glad we didn't go...

What was so bad about it for you? Just curious.

We wanted SO badly to book the 2012 Hawaii cruise, but it's just a super bad time for our kids and school, so we couldn't book it. But, it booked out within a couple days from what I heard, so my guess is that they'll do more Hawaii cruises... hopefully at a different time of the year than spring.

Yes, this 8-day MR cruise is a good deal, especially with the Kids Sail Free deal! We had the cruise booked before the Kids Sail Free promo came out, and when the promo came out, we were very excited.... we already had a veranda booked, so our TA just re-booked us with the KSF promo, and automatically saved us something like $2,700.00! So, this cruise is a good deal, especially with it being high season for travel.

Oh, by the way, we also love the 7+ day cruises. We've never done a cruise less than 7 days. I doubt we'll go on the Dream, unless some "too good to pass up" prices comes out. But, we might go on the Fantasy a year or two after it's been in service (to let the newness wear off, and let Disney get the kinks out before we go ). But, it's hard to say... we are happy to stay cruising on the Wonder and Magic. I am like you, we prefer the smaller ships... If you remember, when we left for the Panama Canal cruise at Port Canaveral, we passed the Dream, and I just remember thinking it looked SO huge, and a big "Las Vegas-y"... after seeing it in person, we didn't have a huge desire to even go, although, I'm sure if we did go on the dream, we'd have a great time. But, we just really like the size and the style of the Magic and Wonder.

Glad you are part of the thread... it'll probably get more active as the cruise gets closer, I'm guessing.

Take care,
Kathy

 

[Brooklyn]

Hey there!

Welcome!! We were on the Jan 2011 Panama Canal cruise, too! We LOVED that cruise, and if they ever brought the Magic over to the West Coast, I'd do that cruise again in a heartbeat! We considered booking the 2 night cruise to nowhere since we would already be there, and it wouldn't cost us any extra airfare, but we chose not to... we decided we had to get back to Seattle to let the kids decompress a couple days before they started up school again. But, I had heard from these boards that the 2-day cruise to nowhere was awful! So, I'm glad we didn't go...

What was so bad about it for you? Just curious.

We wanted SO badly to book the 2012 Hawaii cruise, but it's just a super bad time for our kids and school, so we couldn't book it. But, it booked out within a couple days from what I heard, so my guess is that they'll do more Hawaii cruises... hopefully at a different time of the year than spring.

Yes, this 8-day MR cruise is a good deal, especially with the Kids Sail Free deal! We had the cruise booked before the Kids Sail Free promo came out, and when the promo came out, we were very excited.... we already had a veranda booked, so our TA just re-booked us with the KSF promo, and automatically saved us something like $2,700.00! So, this cruise is a good deal, especially with it being high season for travel.

Oh, by the way, we also love the 7+ day cruises. We've never done a cruise less than 7 days. I doubt we'll go on the Dream, unless some "too good to pass up" prices comes out. But, we might go on the Fantasy a year or two after it's been in service (to let the newness wear off, and let Disney get the kinks out before we go ). But, it's hard to say... we are happy to stay cruising on the Wonder and Magic. I am like you, we prefer the smaller ships... If you remember, when we left for the Panama Canal cruise at Port Canaveral, we passed the Dream, and I just remember thinking it looked SO huge, and a big "Las Vegas-y"... after seeing it in person, we didn't have a huge desire to even go, although, I'm sure if we did go on the dream, we'd have a great time. But, we just really like the size and the style of the Magic and Wonder.

Glad you are part of the thread... it'll probably get more active as the cruise gets closer, I'm guessing.

Take care,
Kathy

The 2 night cruise was OVER SOLD. It was CRAZY!!! Especially going from the AMAZING Panama Canal it was just terrible. People were running everywhere. The stores looked like Black Friday. People were grabbing things off the shelves like NUTS. We only paid 100 pp per night so it was worth it just for the extra credit towards platinum since we only take the longer cruises. Right now we have 77 nights onboard and still only gold. Others have saild for 30 nights and are platinum....ugh! So if anything it was worth the credit.

The KFO is great. Prices have even come down for families of 5 which is nice. Now with the GTY offers and Southern California discounts there are so many options for this cruise to be booked by all!

The Dream is beautiful and many improvements throughout but I don't like 4000+ people. I think they needed new ships but I don't think they needed bigger, IMHO I am just glad I had the chance to sail on the 4 night cruise so now I know what I don't want! LOL

So excited for this one...I guess it is time to make a new signature for this cruise. I just made the Hawaii one so I guess I have to add this one now.

 

[LovesToRun]

The 2 night cruise was OVER SOLD. It was CRAZY!!! Especially going from the AMAZING Panama Canal it was just terrible. People were running everywhere. The stores looked like Black Friday. People were grabbing things off the shelves like NUTS. We only paid 100 pp per night so it was worth it just for the extra credit towards platinum since we only take the longer cruises. Right now we have 77 nights onboard and still only gold. Others have saild for 30 nights and are platinum....ugh! So if anything it was worth the credit.

The KFO is great. Prices have even come down for families of 5 which is nice. Now with the GTY offers and Southern California discounts there are so many options for this cruise to be booked by all!

The Dream is beautiful and many improvements throughout but I don't like 4000+ people. I think they needed new ships but I don't think they needed bigger, IMHO I am just glad I had the chance to sail on the 4 night cruise so now I know what I don't want! LOL

So excited for this one...I guess it is time to make a new signature for this cruise. I just made the Hawaii one so I guess I have to add this one now.

That 2-day cruise did sound crazy, but for the price, and the credit toward another cruise was probably worth it for those who did go. The only reason we would have booked it (and even considered it) was to get a cheap and easy credit toward another cruise (we are still silver), but like I said, the benefits of going on that cruise didn't out weigh the stress it'd add to our kids to get home on a Sunday night and have to start school the next day after being gone since Dec 31 (we went to WDW for a few days before the cruise), rather than a Friday night and have 2 days off to relax at home, and adjust back into real life before school started on Monday.

Yah, I hear you about the days sailed vs cruise credits thing. We are going on a 7-day Eastern in November (that'll be our 4th cruise with Disney), and then the 8-day MR in December (our 5th), which means whatever cruise we take AFTER our MR cruise, we will officially be Gold (that is after Silver, right)? But, by the time we sail our MR cruise (our 5th), we will have sailed a total of 45 days, where as like you said, there are some people who are platinum who have only sailed 30 days.

Oh well... we are just happy to go on Disney Cruises! But, it would be nice if they changed their system to days sailed instead of cruises sailed. Maybe they'll start doing 3 day cruises out of LA, and then it'd be easier for us to do the short cruises and then we can get to platinum faster and cheaper. For us, it doesn't make sense to fly all the way to Florida (6 hr flight, plus $$$$) for just a 3-day cruise.

Yah, the Dream does seem beutiful inside, and from all I've heard, it's state of the art, so I bet it would be amazing to go on! I am just not sure I like the 4,000 passengers.... my dad has worked in the cruise ship, and non-cruise ship industry his whole career (he's a Harbor Pilot, so he has piloted many many cruise ships), and he knows too much about ships that most people don't know, which means I know too much that I wish i didn't know! haha! Anyway, he said he would not go on a huge mega cruise ship... only because he has said if something terrible happened and everyone had to evacuate fast, you'd never get all 4,000+ passengers off in time, where as the smaller ships, it's very possible to get all passengers off.

Of course, this sort of thing rarely happens, so it's something I don't worry about, but the stories I've heard from my dad about things that happen in the engine rooms, etc, things we have no idea about, it just makes my dad weary of going on the mega ships.

But, Disney is an excellent company (my dad totallly agrees), and he also says they are one of the safest cruise ships out there, so I feel totally safe on their ships.... But most of all, for me, I just like less people... seems more relaxing to me.

My dad and mom went on the Panama Canal cruise with us. They really enjoyed it. My dad loved the Panama Canal part and watching the pilots, and the pilot on board the Wonder who did the seminars on the Panama Canal, Kenneth Pucket, was a friend of my dad's, so that was cool. And, my dad was able to get us up on the bridge (not during the PC crosssing), and we spent some time up there. It was so cool to see the bridge of the Wonder.... the Mickey Whistle is shaped just like a Mickey Mouse. HAHA! My kids loved that. My dad usually does not like to even go on cruise ships as a passenger because it's too much like work for him, but he did the PC cruise because he wanted the experience from a Pilot's perspective of going through the PC... plus, great time to spend time together, too. That was SUCH an amazing cruise!!!

 

[betsy918]

Hello Everyone. We just booked the Christmas Cruise and we are sooooo excited. We take yearly trips to Disneyland, but this is our first ever cruise. We are a family of 3 from the Santa Cruz area, and my daughter will be turning 8 on the cruise. We would love to know from others how Christmas is celebrated on the ship, and if anything special is done for children on their birthday. Thanks!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Welcome, Brooklyn and Betsy918!

Yay!! More families joining in!! Can't wait to get to know y'all better.

Betsy, you asked about birthdays onboard. They don't know automatically, even though I know my TA had DCL make a note of it. We told our head server, and he got a cake for my son's birthday. We weren't charged for it. Other than that I just put up Happy Birthday door magnets I had made! I am a bit of magnet junkie.

Christine

 

[SanDeeKath]

HI all,

Welcome to the newbies! We are Katherine and Greg (and 2 girls, turning 7 and 12 in December) from San Diego. We are looking forward to our holiday cruise too. We too took the 2n cruise to nowhere and ALMOST cancelled this cruise afterwards. I agree it was just awful. It was packed, there were lines everywhere, people were running to things frantically, the kids area was so overbooked that my daughter just sat in a corner and cried at one point, etc etc. YUCK. It was just a horrible experience. It was our first Disney cruise so we totally got turned off by it and quickly booked the only other holiday cruise that fit into our schedule -- on Carnival Splendor. Then we started to reconsider, especially since our friends wanted to come with us and they were insistent on going on Disney (they heve really young girls, 3 and 5). So we thought we should give Disney another chance. Plus we booked a suite this time so if we hate the crowds, we are retreating to our private area.

I am still a little nervous because frankly I didn't love the Wonder or the food (especially not having a buffet open after around 3pm) and I thought the dining room was terrible (we were assigned to Parrot Cay for both of the nights). It was so noisy and bustly and had no atmosphere and the service was terrible. Having been on about 15 other cruises (not Disney but Princess, RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity), we really expected more from Disney. I wrote a letter to Disney cruises at one point about our experience and they sent me a canned reply saying that their cruiseline has "96% satisfaction, which is the highest in the industry." I took that to mean that I couldn't possibly be right about the problems I pointed out. Got even more turned off by their approach after that. I still have the letter and sigh when I read it. How about replying something like, "we really appreciate your comments and will do our best to look into the things you highlighted." I certainly wasn't expecting anything more than an acknowledgement. Oh well. I let it drop.

But, we are going to stick with this sailing because any day on a ship is better than a day on land. Unfortunately we just found out that our friends will not be sailing with us after all, which is a big bummer. KSF doesn't apply to suite guests so we don't get a discount, but at least we will have concierge service and can order into our room from the restaurants, which will be a huge bonus if we hate the sit down dinners again. Hopefully the kids clubs will be more structured and less of a free for all too.

Anyway, we are hoping and praying that with the bad press about Mexico, this cruise will not be so insanely overpacked like the 2n to nowhere one was! Otherwise we are never sailing Disney again. Also, I hope people mellow out since they know they will be on the ship for 8n, not 2. I really, really hope this will be a better experience because we just don't have that many options on the West Coast anymore for cruises. Also, I hope the drydock will do the Wonder wonders, so to speak, like fix the stabilizers, which were not working during our cruise in January. If we enjoy the 8n, we will be more tempted to book a Hawaii cruise in the coming years, or maybe a coastal.

Either way, Christmas on board will be very special and I am sure the kids will really enjoy it. Although they are too old for all the character stuff (like standing in line for autographs), I know they will love the shows (which were fantastic even on the 2n) and going to a warm climate to swim around will be fun too!

Katherine

 

[SanDeeKath]

Wow, I just realized I vented big time in the previous post. Sorry about that! I don't ever want to be a downer, especially to others. We love all things Disney and can't wait for this cruise to come around! If we didn't think we'd have a great time, we would have cancelled long ago.

Katherine

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

But, we are going to stick with this sailing because any day on a ship is better than a day on land. Unfortunately we just found out that our friends will not be sailing with us after all, which is a big bummer. KSF doesn't apply to suite guests so we don't get a discount, but at least we will have concierge service and can order into our room from the restaurants, which will be a huge bonus if we hate the sit down dinners again. Hopefully the kids clubs will be more structured and less of a free for all too.

Anyway, we are hoping and praying that with the bad press about Mexico, this cruise will not be so insanely overpacked like the 2n to nowhere one was! Otherwise we are never sailing Disney again. Also, I hope people mellow out since they know they will be on the ship for 8n, not 2. I really, really hope this will be a better experience because we just don't have that many options on the West Coast anymore for cruises. Also, I hope the drydock will do the Wonder wonders, so to speak, like fix the stabilizers, which were not working during our cruise in January. If we enjoy the 8n, we will be more tempted to book a Hawaii cruise in the coming years, or maybe a coastal.

Either way, Christmas on board will be very special and I am sure the kids will really enjoy it. Although they are too old for all the character stuff (like standing in line for autographs), I know they will love the shows (which were fantastic even on the 2n) and going to a warm climate to swim around will be fun too!

Katherine

I am sooooo jealous of your suite!! I loved it sooooo much!! It was so nice to have ROOM on a cruise! I am hoping hoping hoping to score a suite again on this cruise. I will be the person camped out at the terminal, waiting to come in and see what's available. I'm sorry your friends aren't going to make it. We had friends that were hoping to join us as well (cruised with them in November), our kids get along fabulously, but the cost of this one being due when it is will just be too much. We had so much fun cruising with friends on our last 2 cruises, it will be a bit of a letdown almost this time without them.

There's a big difference in feel on a 7 night cruise and the short ones. I've done a 4 and 2 3-nights (b2b). The clientele is different and it does feel more rushed. By the time we did the 2 3-nighters, we already had done one 4 and two 7 nighters, so we knew all the ins and outs of the ship. We knew where we liked to eat, when the spa deals were, what shows we might want to see, etc. So WE weren't rushed at all! Doing a B2B was great and the staff treated us like VIPs the whole time. Want to change your dining for the next cruise to main even though your waitlist never came through? Done. Want to keep your head server? Done. Want to link dining with your friends who also have late currently? Done. Want the chef to cook you something not on the menu? Done. Katherine, the meal service in concierge is a nice perk, enjoy it. We'd never cruised concierge till last time. Mike spoiled us forever!

Wow, I just realized I vented big time in the previous post. Sorry about that! I don't ever want to be a downer, especially to others. We love all things Disney and can't wait for this cruise to come around! If we didn't think we'd have a great time, we would have cancelled long ago.

Katherine

Aww no worries at all!!! While I love DCL, I think you really got the short end of the stick there especially on the customer service reply. There's no excuse for that. I got something similar after my WDW trip in January. I was travelling with a Disneyland CM and she was appalled at the customer service we encountered personally at WDW. I got a lame form letter too from my complaint- maybe it's the same dork that wrote yours!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

You might have seen this already on the main boards, but I had to repost it here because I just loved it so much:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmsgsobpenk

We saw this after the debarkation video onboard in March. But onboard, it was preceeded by Clayton and Christiaan, laying on loungers with towels on their heads, starting off the lip sync. Hilarious!

I saw so many cruise staff on this video that really had made our time so memorable. I hope to see lots of them again!

 

[LovesToRun]

HI all,

Welcome to the newbies! We are Katherine and Greg (and 2 girls, turning 7 and 12 in December) from San Diego. We are looking forward to our holiday cruise too. We too took the 2n cruise to nowhere and ALMOST cancelled this cruise afterwards. I agree it was just awful. It was packed, there were lines everywhere, people were running to things frantically, the kids area was so overbooked that my daughter just sat in a corner and cried at one point, etc etc. YUCK. It was just a horrible experience. It was our first Disney cruise so we totally got turned off by it and quickly booked the only other holiday cruise that fit into our schedule -- on Carnival Splendor. Then we started to reconsider, especially since our friends wanted to come with us and they were insistent on going on Disney (they heve really young girls, 3 and 5). So we thought we should give Disney another chance. Plus we booked a suite this time so if we hate the crowds, we are retreating to our private area.

I am still a little nervous because frankly I didn't love the Wonder or the food (especially not having a buffet open after around 3pm) and I thought the dining room was terrible (we were assigned to Parrot Cay for both of the nights). It was so noisy and bustly and had no atmosphere and the service was terrible. Having been on about 15 other cruises (not Disney but Princess, RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity), we really expected more from Disney. I wrote a letter to Disney cruises at one point about our experience and they sent me a canned reply saying that their cruiseline has "96% satisfaction, which is the highest in the industry." I took that to mean that I couldn't possibly be right about the problems I pointed out. Got even more turned off by their approach after that. I still have the letter and sigh when I read it. How about replying something like, "we really appreciate your comments and will do our best to look into the things you highlighted." I certainly wasn't expecting anything more than an acknowledgement. Oh well. I let it drop.

But, we are going to stick with this sailing because any day on a ship is better than a day on land. Unfortunately we just found out that our friends will not be sailing with us after all, which is a big bummer. KSF doesn't apply to suite guests so we don't get a discount, but at least we will have concierge service and can order into our room from the restaurants, which will be a huge bonus if we hate the sit down dinners again. Hopefully the kids clubs will be more structured and less of a free for all too.

Anyway, we are hoping and praying that with the bad press about Mexico, this cruise will not be so insanely overpacked like the 2n to nowhere one was! Otherwise we are never sailing Disney again. Also, I hope people mellow out since they know they will be on the ship for 8n, not 2. I really, really hope this will be a better experience because we just don't have that many options on the West Coast anymore for cruises. Also, I hope the drydock will do the Wonder wonders, so to speak, like fix the stabilizers, which were not working during our cruise in January. If we enjoy the 8n, we will be more tempted to book a Hawaii cruise in the coming years, or maybe a coastal.

Either way, Christmas on board will be very special and I am sure the kids will really enjoy it. Although they are too old for all the character stuff (like standing in line for autographs), I know they will love the shows (which were fantastic even on the 2n) and going to a warm climate to swim around will be fun too!

Katherine

Hi All!

Welcome to the new people, too.

Katherine, I would have vented like you did, too, if I had been on that 2-day to nowhere cruise. From what I read on these boards, it was not a good expereince for many. So, hopefully it was just one of those learning experiences for Disney, and if they do it again, they hopefully will do better.

I have never been on a cruise less than 7 days, but from what I've read on these boards, and heard from my TA as well as others who have done shorter cruises, I think the shorter cruises are just a totally different experience than the longer ones. So, hopefully this 8-day will be a good experience.

We ALMOST did the 2-day cruise to nowhere, but decided not to. I'm glad we didn't. We were on the Panama Canal cruise just before the 2-day cruise, and from what I heard about the 2-day cruise, the other Disney cruises I've been on (including the Panama Canal cruise) were nothing like that.

But, it's super awesome you booked a suite!! I am sure you'll love it!

Btw, no worries at ALL on the vent! I would have done the same!! If I paid money for a trip and it ended up like the way I heard about the 2-day cruise to nowhere, I would have vented, and written letters, too. But, I really do think this 8-day Christmas cruise will make up for the 2-day cruise for you.

-Kathy

 

[Tinkerbellll]

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!!!!

 

[Brooklyn]

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 live, 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!!!!

1. There are lots of kids dressed up and there are also a good number of adult pirates too!

2. Brunch and Dinner are AMAZING! Brunch is def for the seafood lover. I don't eat seafood and I still love it though! Dinner is wonderful with filet you can cut with a butter knife. Are you on 1st or 2nd seating? We always do 2nd seating and go to Palo at early dining time and then we bring our kids to the main dining rooms for dinner. They love the servers and all the dining rooms have to offer.

 

[Brooklyn]

Wow, I just realized I vented big time in the previous post. Sorry about that! I don't ever want to be a downer, especially to others. We love all things Disney and can't wait for this cruise to come around! If we didn't think we'd have a great time, we would have cancelled long ago.

Katherine

I agree with you 100%. It was an AWFUL cruise and representation of DCL. I am a travel agent and I had to do a lots of damage control from all that people out here on the West Coast heard about the experience people had.

We are from San Diego too and have 2 little girls close to yours. The just turned 6 and 10.

You might have seen this already on the main boards, but I had to repost it here because I just loved it so much:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmsgsobpenk

We saw this after the debarkation video onboard in March. But onboard, it was preceeded by Clayton and Christiaan, laying on loungers with towels on their heads, starting off the lip sync. Hilarious!

I saw so many cruise staff on this video that really had made our time so memorable. I hope to see lots of them again!

Yeah they made this video for the Panama Canal. I am so happy they are still using it! It is amazing! We LOVED it!!!