DECEMBER 6, 2009 Winter WONDERland sailing!!!

[taswira]

Lori - I'm a firm believer that there are good parents and bad parents, and the behavior of their children is a direct reflection of their parenting. HOWEVER, unless children are used to the hours they will keep on the cruise, it can make even not-too-young kids irritable by late dining time. You have to factor in where they are coming from (say from California to FL - they're already 3 hours off their schedule!), plus the change of environment and activities. It can be tough for some.

Among the "disappearing guests" (due to the bad server) that graced our table on our Jan. '07 Magic cruise was a family with a baby/tiny toddler who liked to crawl around under the dining table and we were told "She throws up a lot." Umm . . excuse me? LOL

Not all kids have problems with the changes though, and anyone with well-behaved, adorable-looking, Disney-attired little ones are likely to find me asking for permission to photograph them.

 

[taswira]

Was the background on the cruiser list there before? I LIKE it! Nice to have CC to look at when perusing the list.

No, I added it. That and any photographs are from my past Wonder cruises. It's funny - I shot a lot more photos on all my Wonder cruises than on my Magic sailings. I don't know why.

As I said, I'll probably end up having "the list" evolve into more of a website with itinerary, info, resources, etc. You know the drill. But I'm not rushing. According to our counters, there's still time!

 

[lori1043]

Lori - I'm a firm believer that there are good parents and bad parents, and the behavior of their children is a direct reflection of their parenting. HOWEVER, unless children are used to the hours they will keep on the cruise, it can make even not-too-young kids irritable by late dining time. You have to factor in where they are coming from (say from California to FL - they're already 3 hours off their schedule!), plus the change of environment and activities. It can be tough for some.

Among the "disappearing guests" (due to the bad server) that graced our table on our Jan. '07 Magic cruise was a family with a baby/tiny toddler who liked to crawl around under the dining table and we were told "She throws up a lot." Umm . . excuse me? LOL

Not all kids have problems with the changes though, and anyone with well-behaved, adorable-looking, Disney-attired little ones are likely to find me asking for permission to photograph them.

Oh I am there with ya!!!

I was just stating that yes, a 2 year old at the late serving would be rough! But I guess now mine are older(and even when they were younger, but I know sometimes a tantrum happens, I don't care how tired they are-they will not interrupt anothers good time, meal or whatnot. We'd kindly bring them out for a few moments for a small firm conversation about our expectations and then come back in. If they are tired, the would do better in my book to lay thier heads down on my lap or curl up on the chair until we are done. I'm telling you, we are strict in that area b/c of those past jobs and knew we'd be more strict with any kid that came from us!!! This is part of the reason why we were waiting till they were older. I know there are many mindsets out there and I probably am offending some of them, but if you had a LONG day and your kids are past the point of tired- go back to your room with them b/c they need sleep more than food at that point! I am sure you can get a semi healthy snack sent to the room. My kids are far from anywhere near perfect, but we have our limits!!!

Anyway, I am out of the cruise anyway and I just wish you ALL a BUNCH of FUN and great memories in the making! I wish I was there!!! I wish you all the Disney and Carribean magic you can get out there on that gorgeous water. I wish you all safety and health for the cruise . I wish you and your kids so much happiness on that cruise-have some for us!!! Watch a movie from the pool and slide down a Mickey slide and have a fancy pina colada for us!! Enjoy every moment of your kids and even the few (or many) moments to yourselves. Please give Capn. Jack a big squeeze from a south Louisiana fan on the BEACH! Mostly I wish you peaceful moments and a lot of love!

Lori

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Lori Im really sorry you wont be able to join us on the cruise and I hope everything works out well for you and your family....and Shari you are right about the time difference..Im seriously concerned how Im going to be on my trip..I am NOT a morning person...Im a bear...seriously and factor in as you say a 3 hour time difference behind FL time zone I will be a grizzly for sure....as it is when I go to DL, the first couple of days Im up but after that forget it...its too hard...and this trip will be 9 days total...Im gonna have to do some serious changing of my sleep pattern before we head out or I will die i tell you

 

[taswira]

...and Shari you are right about the time difference..Im seriously concerned how Im going to be on my trip..I am NOT a morning person...

The only time your "First Seating" time may get you down is on debarkation morning, when early diners are expected to have breakfast and be off the ship the earliest. Aside from that, your dining time only affects dinner and you can choose to sleep late if you don't have scheduled activities. Early dining also means you watch the later stage shows. Nightclub activities tend to start after that.

If your roommate situation will require you to be an early riser, try an afternoon nap before dinner if you are able. Napping doesn't work for me but some swear by it. Just make sure you don't have lunch too late or fill up on snacks, because you will want to be hungry at dinner or you won't enjoy it. And if you stay up late, there is always free food to be found, so no worries there except calories!

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

Lori,

I want to add my "sorry you aren't going on this cruise" sentiments here too. I hope that things come together for you and you will be able to get a vacation and be stress-free soon.

Holly

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

Lynn,

I went and looked at the first few posts - because I'd recalled you said you were going to be at WDW for some part of this vacation. Since you'll be there BEFORE the cruise, it'll give you time to get accustomed to the time change.

Of course when you are at WDW you'll be excited to get out there and see everything - but pace yourself the first day and you'll feel better. It might be rather crowded there those first few days but should thin right out.

Smiles,
Holly

 

[lori1043]

Oh, thanks everyone! I wanted to say too,that cancelling it was a relief, so that must have abeen a big sign, if you may!! We'll be fine and get to go another time. Like I said, we may still do WDW for a week for free dining at a value/mod-so we are gonna have some kind of fun. But without the added expense at a bad time!!

Lori

 

[Long Gone]

I was reading another post about the fish extender.

Thought this might be fun to do as a Secret Santa.

Is anyone familiar with this?

Thanks.

We did a Secret Santa on our cruise last year. I thought it was fun and the kids had a great time. We had a fairly large group of participants so we were broken up into about 4 groups of 5 cabins. Each group gifted the other cabins in their group. I know that some members of other groups gifted everyone. DW didn't like it so much. There were lots of "dollar store" items that she didn't want to pack halfway across the country. We ended up throwing out a lot of the stuff. We gave out locally made Christmas candies.

 

[Long Gone]

ha ha! I bet you'll get a wonderful server. You also have children with you and they'll probably bend over backwards to make them happy.

Palo is just going to take determination because there is only one day that they have brunch. On a longer cruise there are more days as they only do brunch on at sea days. Dinner probably won't be as difficult to get.

We had Daniel as our server and Arnold as our head server. I can't remember the assistant server's name. Arnold was terrific. He came by at least a couple times each meal and was very friendly. Daniel was OK. It happened to be my birthday on the last cruise. My wife had arranged for a birthday cake before the cruise. On my birthday, she reminded Daniel right before dinner. He never brought it! She finally said something to Arnold and they had to improvise. Our assistant server was great. He was very attentive and he always made sure the kids were happy. To me, our server wasn't terrific, but his shortcomings didn't make our vacation any less enjoyable.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

We did a Secret Santa on our cruise last year. I thought it was fun and the kids had a great time. We had a fairly large group of participants so we were broken up into about 4 groups of 5 cabins. Each group gifted the other cabins in their group. I know that some members of other groups gifted everyone. DW didn't like it so much. There were lots of "dollar store" items that she didn't want to pack halfway across the country. We ended up throwing out a lot of the stuff. We gave out locally made Christmas candies.

oh that sounds like fun...I want to do something like that

We had Daniel as our server and Arnold as our head server. I can't remember the assistant server's name. Arnold was terrific. He came by at least a couple times each meal and was very friendly. Daniel was OK. It happened to be my birthday on the last cruise. My wife had arranged for a birthday cake before the cruise. On my birthday, she reminded Daniel right before dinner. He never brought it! She finally said something to Arnold and they had to improvise. Our assistant server was great. He was very attentive and he always made sure the kids were happy. To me, our server wasn't terrific, but his shortcomings didn't make our vacation any less enjoyable.

that would have made me mad...especially if he was reminded right before dinner...and when you say "improvise" what do you mean by that??? Are you saying you didnt end up getting the cake you were supposed to???

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Lynn,

I went and looked at the first few posts - because I'd recalled you said you were going to be at WDW for some part of this vacation. Since you'll be there BEFORE the cruise, it'll give you time to get accustomed to the time change.

Of course when you are at WDW you'll be excited to get out there and see everything - but pace yourself the first day and you'll feel better. It might be rather crowded there those first few days but should thin right out.

Smiles,
Holly

oh right i guess I think you guys should read my mind or something because I was thinking more along the lines of when I get to Orlando having the morning issues...my problem on the cruise is going to be this...one of the things that I most want to do is have coffee on the veranda while the sun is coming up...Ive always thought that would be amazing...since Im such a non morning person that will be hard for me except for the fact that room service will help wake me up because if I had to do it on my own it may not happen except once if Im lucky

 

[taswira]

When I took my mother on a birthday cruise on the Wonder several years ago, they forgot her birthday cake also. They went ahead and served dessert to everyone at the table. I was shocked and managed to get the HEAD server over and remind him about the cake. He brought a birthday cake as everyone was ready to leave the table to not miss the deck party. The cake was one of those jelly-filled things. She couldn't touch it. She is diabetic and was SUPPOSED to have a sugar-free cake.

Anyway, sometimes bad things happen, but in general, Disney is the best you can get. It is safest to keep reminding them of things if something is important though, because they can get very rushed and distracted.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

When I took my mother on a birthday cruise on the Wonder several years ago, they forgot her birthday cake also. They went ahead and served dessert to everyone at the table. I was shocked and managed to get the HEAD server over and remind him about the cake. He brought a birthday cake as everyone was ready to leave the table to not miss the deck party. The cake was one of those jelly-filled things. She couldn't touch it. She is diabetic and was SUPPOSED to have a sugar-free cake.

Anyway, sometimes bad things happen, but in general, Disney is the best you can get. It is safest to keep reminding them of things if something is important though, because they can get very rushed and distracted.

yeah I just have to remember that....thank god no birthdays when we go so really Im not going to ask for anything special except I heard something that one of you might answer for me...just reminded me when I was writing this...I heard that like if I want something specific that only one of the other restaurants have that I can ask them to get it for me...in my case it will be creme brulee..I absolutely love it but at present time only one restaurant serves it (Tritons I think) and if I wanted creme brulee every night would they get it for me?

 

[taswira]

I heard that like if I want something specific that only one of the other restaurants have that I can ask them to get it for me...in my case it will be creme brulee..I absolutely love it but at present time only one restaurant serves it (Tritons I think) and if I wanted creme brulee every night would they get it for me?

ABSOLUTELY!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

ABSOLUTELY!

great...I dont know that I will want creme brulee every night but then again if it is really good I might

 

[taswira]

great...I dont know that I will want creme brulee every night but then again if it is really good I might

Ha-ha . . There are lots of great desserts to be tried! If you do want to have creme brulee when in restaurants that don't have it on the menu, it is easiest for the server if you let him know at the start of the meal. They get rushed closer to the end. That is especially true of first seating because they have to clean-up and re-set everything for second seating so can sometimes get a bit frazzled by dessert time.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Ha-ha . . There are lots of great desserts to be tried! If you do want to have creme brulee when in restaurants that don't have it on the menu, it is easiest for the server if you let him know at the start of the meal. They get rushed closer to the end. That is especially true of first seating because they have to clean-up and re-set everything for second seating so can sometimes get a bit frazzled by dessert time.

ah another good tip...thanks a bunch

 

[Long Gone]

When I took my mother on a birthday cruise on the Wonder several years ago, they forgot her birthday cake also. They went ahead and served dessert to everyone at the table. I was shocked and managed to get the HEAD server over and remind him about the cake. He brought a birthday cake as everyone was ready to leave the table to not miss the deck party. The cake was one of those jelly-filled things. She couldn't touch it. She is diabetic and was SUPPOSED to have a sugar-free cake.

Anyway, sometimes bad things happen, but in general, Disney is the best you can get. It is safest to keep reminding them of things if something is important though, because they can get very rushed and distracted.

That's exactly what happened to me. We were the last people in the restaurant waiting for the cake. They made 'mickey ears' using a table napkin.

One other tip I read was to try something new every meal, or try all of one thing. I did this with the fruit soups. There was an orange/mango soup the first night that was excellent. The other nights they were good, but not great.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

That's exactly what happened to me. We were the last people in the restaurant waiting for the cake. They made 'mickey ears' using a table napkin.

One other tip I read was to try something new every meal, or try all of one thing. I did this with the fruit soups. There was an orange/mango soup the first night that was excellent. The other nights they were good, but not great.

lets see...here are some tips that have stuck that Ive received so far:

1. You can call Disney Cruise Line at 1-800-601-8455 to order shipboard credits

2. The frigs are not frigs they are just cool boxes, if food is cold it will stay cool. There is no refrigeration. If you need stuff to really stay cold you need to keep it in Ice

3. You can call up to a week before you sail and find out which movies are showing during your cruise.

4. Up by the where all the workout equipment is there are two AWESOME showers

5. when you first board you are usually directed by the CM's to go to BBB to eat embarkation lunch....you can politely say "no, thanks, I prefer to eat at Parrot Cay

6. Don't forget to latch your closet doors closed!

7. the water is super-filtered on the ship. It is truly no different than spending the money on Aquafina or Daisani.

8. stop by the drink station and grab a drink to take with you to the shows or movies instead of buying a can a pop there. If you want a snack stop and grab pizza or hot dogs or fruit on deck 9 to take with you. again save money over buying a bunch of snacks for the kids.

9. Take a pop-up hamper and a over the door shoe holder

10. room service..Soda, alcohol, bottled water --- you pay for + 15% grat. Tea, milk, juice, and (I believe) Coffee --- no add'l charge

11. reminder...check the alarm clock when you get into your cabin to make sure the previous tenant hasnt set the alarm

12. Be sure to write NO SALES PITCH on the card you have to fill out before the treatments to avoid them trying to sell you products you dont want

13. at BBB there is no ice machine so if you want ice you must bring it in from drink station before coming in

14. You can ask for one of the tubs of hand wipes for your room

15. get your bill from guest services mid stay, just to see how much you've spent, and also incase they do make a mistake or two

16. Feather Pillow - ask your stateroom attendant if you want one

17. change machines in the laundry room never hold enough quarters so make sure you have plenty

18. DO YOUR CRUISE DOCS ONLINE AND PRINT THEM OUT!!!!

19. No water/liquor/sodas/other foodstuffs in the checked baggage, either bulk or single items. Yes, that includes no checking cases of beverages with the porters. If you want to bring it, you'll need to bag it up and carry it on yourself

20. You can ship one box per stateroom, of a size in line with a recordkeeping box, 12 inches on a side is a good guideline, no more than 20 lbs.

How did I do???