dotfurio
What happened to the disappearing act?
- Joined
- May 22, 2014
- Messages
- 2,914
We just got back from the June 2 sailing of the Wonder to Alaska. This was our first cruise trip and most of the tips I have I found from some of the great reports on here! I just had to say how amazing it was and share some the tips we loved that worked great for us. I’ll be happy to answer any questions I can. We arrived in Vancouver the day before and stayed a couple days after to sight see.
The first thing we did when we got on board was get our tickets to the tea party and drop off a picture mat and markers for character signatures (you’re allowed to drop off two items to be signed per cabin). The tea party was fun – led by Rapunzel and Tiana. We had apple juice and cookies and danced. The tea party was held on Tracy Arm day at 4. I think there were more adults there than kids, but they require you have a kid to get tickets
. The picture mat looked great, except they taped my markers to the FRONT, and so it tore a little. Luckily it didn’t mess up any signatures.
We also hit up the kids club to get bracelets for our kids. It stays on the entire trip and is used to check them in and out. They do really great with security. Kids have the option of transferring between the club and the lab, and they always go with 2 escorts. They have mats available at the club for the kids to take a rest if they want to. They text you on your wavephone when they want to be picked up. One neat thing about the Oceaneers Club is the slide. One of the cast members told me it’s the only kids club slide on all the Disney ships. The last night of the cruise the kids have the option to participate in a little show in the Walt Disney Theatre with Mickey and Minnie. They sing and show a slide show of everything they’ve been doing in the clubs all week. Totally cool. Our oldest went to Edge. She LOVED it and made some great friends from around the world! We hardly saw her besides dinnertime and excursions. The last night they have a farewell party and exchange addresses and phone numbers.
They say to take your camera everywhere, and we weren’t sorry we did. You never know when you’ll have a character encounter. There are plenty of scheduled appearances but we also ran into several just randomly. Belle was one of the nicest – I know we caught her a couple times on her way somewhere and she took the time to chat with our daughter. She’s so good at carrying on a conversation as Belle.
Our first day at sea left a lot of kids pretty seasick (and some adults, I’m sure). Luckily my family did ok, but you might want to come prepared with Seabands or meds. The health center doesn’t open until 9 and for some poor kids it was a miserable wait.
On Tracy Arm day we set ourselves up for viewing on deck 9 at the outdoor seating for Beach Blanket Buffet. Be sure to bring your binoculars! We had a table and had our chairs right up next to the rail. Another nice thing about the location is we were close to food and drinks. They do a great BBQ at lunch time. We were at the back of the ship, so the last to see the glacier as we turned around, but my husband checked the front of the ship as we approached and said it was 4-5 people thick. We claimed our spot around 10 a.m. and there were still about half the rail tables available. We hit the glacier at 4. Luckily it was a sunny day, though a bit chilly. We bundled up and kept our youngest in the kids club for most of the time. We saw humpbacks, orcas, and lots of seals. The cast members said sometimes you can spot mountain goats, but we didn’t see any that day. I’ve heard other posters say deck 4 on Tracy Arm day is great for character sightings, and that was apparently true for this sailing as well. We heard several people mention all the character pics they got on deck 4 throughout the day.
There is so much food. Too much. Our servers kept asking if something was wrong with the food or if I didn’t feel well because I just couldn’t finish everything, and believe me, this girl knows how to eat! lol Our main server, Joel, was outstanding. Our youngest was usually tired and bit cranky by dinner time and he always had a little magic trick waiting to entertain her. He also offered to get her things that weren’t on the menu when she was being picky, such as fruit for her appetizer or a grilled cheese one night. All of the restaurants were great, but my favorite by far was Animators Palate. DO NOT MISS the show your first scheduled night there! We dined at Palo one evening. It was elegant, our server was knowledgeable and friendly, and the view was amazing, but the food we ordered wasn’t any more impressive than the regular dining. My shrimp was overcooked and the “spicy” pasta dish was rather bland. One food tip we loved – ordering cookies and milk from room service every night! They also have a nice little cheese platter we enjoyed with our wine.
Overall, we never really felt crowded even though our cruise was full, I think. We never had to wait long for characters and it was never over-crowded at any events. The most crowded feeling day was our last day at sea. I imagine everyone was trying to squeeze in as much fun as possible before we all had to return to reality. Even so, it was never uncomfortably full of people anywhere.
We had a few opportunities to hang out at the adult lounges. Our favorite was Diversions. In the evening they have a little snack buffet with hotdogs, nachos, wings, veggies, and cheese. There are board games around the room and chess/backgammon tables. And here’s a tip- this is the perfect lounge to hang out at on the day you disembark. There were people sitting in lobby and halls with their luggage waiting for their turn to be called to disembark. We went to the Diversions lounge with the kids and played board games for the hour it took for us to be called. We were the only ones in there. We figured it was ok to bring the kids since it was disembarkation day and they weren’t serving anything in there.
The first thing we did when we got on board was get our tickets to the tea party and drop off a picture mat and markers for character signatures (you’re allowed to drop off two items to be signed per cabin). The tea party was fun – led by Rapunzel and Tiana. We had apple juice and cookies and danced. The tea party was held on Tracy Arm day at 4. I think there were more adults there than kids, but they require you have a kid to get tickets
. The picture mat looked great, except they taped my markers to the FRONT, and so it tore a little. Luckily it didn’t mess up any signatures. We also hit up the kids club to get bracelets for our kids. It stays on the entire trip and is used to check them in and out. They do really great with security. Kids have the option of transferring between the club and the lab, and they always go with 2 escorts. They have mats available at the club for the kids to take a rest if they want to. They text you on your wavephone when they want to be picked up. One neat thing about the Oceaneers Club is the slide. One of the cast members told me it’s the only kids club slide on all the Disney ships. The last night of the cruise the kids have the option to participate in a little show in the Walt Disney Theatre with Mickey and Minnie. They sing and show a slide show of everything they’ve been doing in the clubs all week. Totally cool. Our oldest went to Edge. She LOVED it and made some great friends from around the world! We hardly saw her besides dinnertime and excursions. The last night they have a farewell party and exchange addresses and phone numbers.
They say to take your camera everywhere, and we weren’t sorry we did. You never know when you’ll have a character encounter. There are plenty of scheduled appearances but we also ran into several just randomly. Belle was one of the nicest – I know we caught her a couple times on her way somewhere and she took the time to chat with our daughter. She’s so good at carrying on a conversation as Belle.
Our first day at sea left a lot of kids pretty seasick (and some adults, I’m sure). Luckily my family did ok, but you might want to come prepared with Seabands or meds. The health center doesn’t open until 9 and for some poor kids it was a miserable wait.
On Tracy Arm day we set ourselves up for viewing on deck 9 at the outdoor seating for Beach Blanket Buffet. Be sure to bring your binoculars! We had a table and had our chairs right up next to the rail. Another nice thing about the location is we were close to food and drinks. They do a great BBQ at lunch time. We were at the back of the ship, so the last to see the glacier as we turned around, but my husband checked the front of the ship as we approached and said it was 4-5 people thick. We claimed our spot around 10 a.m. and there were still about half the rail tables available. We hit the glacier at 4. Luckily it was a sunny day, though a bit chilly. We bundled up and kept our youngest in the kids club for most of the time. We saw humpbacks, orcas, and lots of seals. The cast members said sometimes you can spot mountain goats, but we didn’t see any that day. I’ve heard other posters say deck 4 on Tracy Arm day is great for character sightings, and that was apparently true for this sailing as well. We heard several people mention all the character pics they got on deck 4 throughout the day.
There is so much food. Too much. Our servers kept asking if something was wrong with the food or if I didn’t feel well because I just couldn’t finish everything, and believe me, this girl knows how to eat! lol Our main server, Joel, was outstanding. Our youngest was usually tired and bit cranky by dinner time and he always had a little magic trick waiting to entertain her. He also offered to get her things that weren’t on the menu when she was being picky, such as fruit for her appetizer or a grilled cheese one night. All of the restaurants were great, but my favorite by far was Animators Palate. DO NOT MISS the show your first scheduled night there! We dined at Palo one evening. It was elegant, our server was knowledgeable and friendly, and the view was amazing, but the food we ordered wasn’t any more impressive than the regular dining. My shrimp was overcooked and the “spicy” pasta dish was rather bland. One food tip we loved – ordering cookies and milk from room service every night! They also have a nice little cheese platter we enjoyed with our wine.
Overall, we never really felt crowded even though our cruise was full, I think. We never had to wait long for characters and it was never over-crowded at any events. The most crowded feeling day was our last day at sea. I imagine everyone was trying to squeeze in as much fun as possible before we all had to return to reality. Even so, it was never uncomfortably full of people anywhere.
We had a few opportunities to hang out at the adult lounges. Our favorite was Diversions. In the evening they have a little snack buffet with hotdogs, nachos, wings, veggies, and cheese. There are board games around the room and chess/backgammon tables. And here’s a tip- this is the perfect lounge to hang out at on the day you disembark. There were people sitting in lobby and halls with their luggage waiting for their turn to be called to disembark. We went to the Diversions lounge with the kids and played board games for the hour it took for us to be called. We were the only ones in there. We figured it was ok to bring the kids since it was disembarkation day and they weren’t serving anything in there.
