Diez (10) Noches Calientes en la Riviera Mexicana/17 de abril 2011 (4.17.11 Wonder!)

[savin4WDW]

Kristi, I forgot to ask -- could you show us the video when you're done? I'm psyched to see the bands in action!

 

[padalyn]

whew - I don't read for 24 hours and had 2 pages to catch up on....

I have a few suggestions for everyone (assuming that folks are new to DCL here...if not, please don't be offended at my suggestions!)

Take a highlighter or two. One color for each person.

The navigator is delivered to your cabin at around 10pm each night, I usually read it over cover to cover at that point and hightlight everything I want to do - then in the morning over b'fast I make my final decisions about what I want to do when...extra copies can be obtained at guest relations after 11pm.

In regards to the tastings....I have attended: martini, margarita, wine, champagne, port, taquila (spelling?), and others...they cost between 10 and 40 dollars each (depending on what the tasting is for..I did a reserva tasting that was the 40 dollar one). I also didn't see any on the Dream Maiden - seemed like a lot of things were missing. I also seem to recall reading about a coffee tasting one cruise - but I don't like the taste so I skipped over it completely!

Some family fun to consider is Bingo - always a blast!

There are always tours also - if you have the opprotunity to take the galley tour, stage tour, or the art of the ship tour...do it! They are all amazing and really interesting!

I also recommend doing dinner up in Beach Blanket (I think that is the name of the restaurant on the Wonder...I get them mixed up!) one night - where the b'fast and lunch buffets are served does a sit down dinner - no appointment or assigned time...post excursion - a nice change!

Remember to pack....pirate clothing, jammies for character b'fast, a real blow dryer - the one on the ship doesn't allow for styling at all, some type of outlet extender (I use a heavy duty three 'fer from Home Depot) there are outlets behind the TV that are not used...so a power block provides power for all the camera/phone/e-reader chargers! Oh - and an alarm clock of some type...there isn't one in the cabin at all.

And last but never least - pack a corkscrew if you are bringing bottled wine on with you...you can't buy one onboard, and they charge a 25 or 30 dollar corkage fee...you CAN NOT bring your bottle to dinner...so you can ask your steward for wine glasses in the room each day - or you can buy a big "glass" of some sort and take it to dinner with you. I usually ask the steward and take two "very heavy" pours of wine to dinner with me...most of a bottle.

Ok - enough babble from me...I am looking forward to meeting lots of new friends on this cruise!

Cayla

 

[TNShellBelle]

Okay, I just got home from the gym and really need to hop in the shower before picking up Isabelle and friend from school (early release day) but I am so excited I needed to stop and share.

The wrist bands arrived today and they are so cute

Here are the pictures. Please excuse my paperclips. I could not get a good photo of the wording, so I had to squish them down. Paperclips were the only idea I could come up with in a hurry.

I have 200 bands, so there are plenty of extras for those who did not order initially. They come in Adult & youth.

Payment

They are $1 a band. You can pay me via paypal kh at kristihoward.com (no spaces and the @ sign of course--make sure you put that it is a personal transaction for payment owed, so I do not get charged a fee)

Or you can mail me money, just PM me for my address, or you can give me cash on the ship. Any way I am fine.

I calculated the shipping with my postal scale if you would like me to mail them to you. .85 cents for shipping. If you want them shipped, add the .85cents to your total and get me your address.

Or I can get you your bands at the port or on the ship.

Super excited. These came so fast. Now I have to make a short video to get $10 reimbursed.

Thank you so much for doing this...they look awesome! I will definitely do paypal in the am.

Well tell Mr. Buzz Killer that he's actually WRONG! It's 10 nights and 11 days
17 - 18 - 19 -20 - 21 -22 -23 -24 - 25 -26 and we port on the 27. Teehee!

That is the nickname that I have for my husband.

What types of drinks are the Drinks of the Day? Do they serve them all day?

I honestly don't remember too much (lol) but they were fruity and REALLY GOOD.

 

[HoppingMad]

I have a few suggestions for everyone (assuming that folks are new to DCL here...if not, please don't be offended at my suggestions!)

Ok - enough babble from me...I am looking forward to meeting lots of new friends on this cruise!

Cayla

Cayla, a HUGE thank you. I am not only new to DCL, this is our absolute first ever cruise - I for one appreciate your suggestions.


Penny

 

[Double Trouble]

It seems like this group is really getting fired up, so I thought this would be a good time to unveil my new avatar (and my cruise "alter ego")...I've been jealous of Virdis' for a while now.

I was starting to "WONDER" if anyone was ever going to bring up the tastings! If you've never been (or you have, but your memory got a little "foggy" perhaps), they really are a lot of fun. Basically 4 drinks in about 45 minutes for about $15, with a little "education" thrown in if you're feeling guilty about drinking for drinking's sake (like that's ever a problem).

And Kristi, I think we had Apple and Chocolate martinis on one of our tastings so there is a little "fruity foo foo" and "dessert" for you. They are typically held in the afternoon on most sea days and you do need tickets (buy them early at Guest Services...sounds like many of you already know this and will be racing me to the counter). I think I saw in the recent Navigators they even had two in one day (wine and martinis)...talk about your "Double Trouble"!

I"d like to "second" Cayla's comments about ship tours, etc. We did the stage tour (adults only) on the Magic and it was very interesting (and free, by the way). We've never done the galley tour, but hope to this time. Does anyone have any more info on this one? Also, Cayla is also "spot-on" regarding the wine for dinner as well. We've done the same thing and the only problem I see is how to get enough on board for a 10-night cruise! I guess the kids' carry-ons are going to get a little heavy (lol). Cayla...what's your secret on this?

Can't wait to meet everyone!

P.S. Awesome wristbands!

 

[virdis]

Virdis,

How do you find what rooms are still available on the DCL website for our cruise? I'd like to take a look for "future" prospective cruises.

Thank you,
Deserie

Hi Deserie,

I am afraid that information is TOP SECRET....

Just kidding......we booked this cruise through DCL on their website. If you do this, you are given login information that allows you to change almost anything with your reservation through the DCL website.

To get the list I logged in and retrieved our reservation. Then I modified my reservation to change rooms. You can change categories and see the cabins that are available within each category. Its time consuming but you can "window shop" the rooms that are available. I usually have another tab in my browser to look at stateroom reports as I am browsing.

To get a more complete list, I deleted one of my kids off the reservation temporarily. Since we are a family of 4, I would only see cabins that can fit 4 but I wanted to see all cabins and some cabins only can only fit 3.

I can do this as much as I want. All you have to do is remember not to commit the change of cabin before you log off. They give you all kinds of warnings before you commit so making a mistake is kind of hard to do.

The inventory for cabins constantly changes. So if I did the same search now, I am sure the list will be slightly different (some cabins gone and some others appear).

I REALLY like this ability. I know most people love booking through a TA to get a large on board credit but, I like having this type of control. Our on board credit is only $25 but, I can change everything at will. We have moved rooms several times. To me, that is worth the loss in on board credit. Anyway, that is how I got the list.

whew - I don't read for 24 hours and had 2 pages to catch up on....

I have a few suggestions for everyone (assuming that folks are new to DCL here...if not, please don't be offended at my suggestions!)

Take a highlighter or two. One color for each person.

The navigator is delivered to your cabin at around 10pm each night, I usually read it over cover to cover at that point and hightlight everything I want to do - then in the morning over b'fast I make my final decisions about what I want to do when...extra copies can be obtained at guest relations after 11pm.

In regards to the tastings....I have attended: martini, margarita, wine, champagne, port, taquila (spelling?), and others...they cost between 10 and 40 dollars each (depending on what the tasting is for..I did a reserva tasting that was the 40 dollar one). I also didn't see any on the Dream Maiden - seemed like a lot of things were missing. I also seem to recall reading about a coffee tasting one cruise - but I don't like the taste so I skipped over it completely!

Some family fun to consider is Bingo - always a blast!

There are always tours also - if you have the opprotunity to take the galley tour, stage tour, or the art of the ship tour...do it! They are all amazing and really interesting!

I also recommend doing dinner up in Beach Blanket (I think that is the name of the restaurant on the Wonder...I get them mixed up!) one night - where the b'fast and lunch buffets are served does a sit down dinner - no appointment or assigned time...post excursion - a nice change!

Remember to pack....pirate clothing, jammies for character b'fast, a real blow dryer - the one on the ship doesn't allow for styling at all, some type of outlet extender (I use a heavy duty three 'fer from Home Depot) there are outlets behind the TV that are not used...so a power block provides power for all the camera/phone/e-reader chargers! Oh - and an alarm clock of some type...there isn't one in the cabin at all.

And last but never least - pack a corkscrew if you are bringing bottled wine on with you...you can't buy one onboard, and they charge a 25 or 30 dollar corkage fee...you CAN NOT bring your bottle to dinner...so you can ask your steward for wine glasses in the room each day - or you can buy a big "glass" of some sort and take it to dinner with you. I usually ask the steward and take two "very heavy" pours of wine to dinner with me...most of a bottle.

Ok - enough babble from me...I am looking forward to meeting lots of new friends on this cruise!

Cayla

Thank you Cayla....great suggestions!!! Please share with us if you think of more things. This is our first DCL cruise so we are very interested in preparing for everything.

 

[virdis]

It seems like this group is really getting fired up, so I thought this would be a good time to unveil my new avatar (and my cruise "alter ego")...I've been jealous of Virdis' for a while now. :cool2

Double Trouble.....very cool avatar homie. I like

 

[Susiesark]

HAHAHA...this time I want to try the margarita tasting. And we must revisit martini tasting and, and, and......

Margarita tasting? When?! Where?!

Did anyone else get the e-mail from DCL regarding ordering Easter gift baskets for the cruise? Now I'm WONDERing again if I should invite Easter Bunny to visit our room.

 

[mommafox]

Susiesark, I did get that email. I'm packin bunny goods on my own, with collapsible baskets.

Penny, Some of my fave things to bring are: extra clothes line w/suction cups(because moving the bathing suits in and out of the shower gets old, plus we need more room), soft binder to keep Navigators or keepsakes so they don't get lost in the drawers, hanging shoe organizer which we actually use for shoes so I don't have to shoe-dive before leaving the cabin, and a pop up hamper or two for dirty clothes or toys/blankies, super suction cup hooks to hang my toiletry bag from wherever I want, or use as a purse hook, 2 bathing suits so you don't have to put on a wet one, all the meds you might think you need +thermometer for kids, and I might bring along a clear organizer to hang from one of my suction hooks to avoid a bunch of "stuff" on the desk top. We bring a laptop to load our photos onto pretty frequently to have a backup of them, + extra memory cards.

That's all I can think of right now, except I need to remember workout clothes and shoes along with dress up and beach, etc. Hats, and all that Jaz.

 

[HoppingMad]

That's all I can think of right now, except I need to remember workout clothes and shoes along with dress up and beach, etc. Hats, and all that Jaz.

Great tips Kel - thanks I've noticed lots of recommendations for the shoe organizers - the line for the togs is a great one - better make a list of things to get at Walmart when we get to LA!


This might be a silly question, but where do the kids eat on the night we go to Palo?

 

[mommafox]

Penny, Ah Palo, I can't wait!!! We have a late night res. for 8:30 the last night so we'll probably take the girls to early dinner and then eat ours later in Palo. You can take your kids to any of the 24/7 places or to the buffet before or after your reservation. Or room service is handy for times like that, too.

Our 9-year anniversary is on 4/30 so this is the closest to an anniversary date as we can get!!

We do a lot of breakfast room service because sometimes the stress of going "public" isn't as relaxing as being handed breakfast in your jammies and having the kids eat while watching morning cartoons. That is usually my time to organize things.

 

[HoppingMad]

Kel - I love the sound of room service! I have a feeling the kids will love doing that while we get all spiffy for our 'night out'! I could only get night 2 for our res, which happens to be formal night, but oh well.
Lovely to be able to have an early anniversary dinner alone on a cruise I'm sure it will be very special.

 

[LiserAnn]

This has really be the work week from hell...can we please start this cruise, like tomorrow. No, how about now!

 

[CasaMartinez]

This might be a silly question, but where do the kids eat on the night we go to Palo?

Not sure if all the cruises are the same but on the Med cruise I remember that the kids club also could supply a light dinner (nuggets things like that). My boys were having such a good time at the club that they ended up eating there while we went to Palo. Just another option

 

[CasaMartinez]

I love the idea of martini, beer, wine, etc. tasting!! On the Med cruise the Dis boards set up their own wine tasting and it was great! Not sure it it's doable on this cruise but would you guys be up for something like that?

 

[mommafox]

Helen, I'm already bursting with things to remember to do for my vacation, so no prepared wine tasting for me. Thx for mentioning kids club dinners, each cruise has been so different (Princess, RCI, Carnival) that I wasn't sure what DCL did for kids over meal times.

 

[bitocas]

kristi
the bands are great.thank you very much for your trouble.

 

[Travelbee]

This has really be the work week from hell...can we please start this cruise, like tomorrow. No, how about now!

Ditto to that!

I was starting to "WONDER" if anyone was ever going to bring up the tastings! If you've never been (or you have, but your memory got a little "foggy" perhaps), they really are a lot of fun. Basically 4 drinks in about 45 minutes for about $15, with a little "education" thrown in if you're feeling guilty about drinking for drinking's sake (like that's ever a problem).

I love the idea of martini, beer, wine, etc. tasting!! On the Med cruise the Dis boards set up their own wine tasting and it was great! Not sure it it's doable on this cruise but would you guys be up for something like that?

Helen, I was going to ask the same question if this group wants to set up our own tasting. I'm not sure if someone with a concierge room has to initiate the request though. I know Rob who organized it on the med cruise has a Cat 3 room.

 

[Travelbee]

Kristi - the wristbands are super cute! Thanks for all your work. I send you payment via paypal and will pick up the wristbands at the port or at one of the Dismeets. Thanks!

Does anyone else have a dog that barks to go outside at 3 am to chase possums?

 

[loving _life]

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