Disney Wonder Jan 23, 2011

[Kidlette]

Is anybody going to go to the Midevil Times in L.A? There is a pirates one too. We live a couple hours away and have never been. We are thinking of going the night before the cruise. Anybody recommend one over the other? I have always wanted to go. Thanks.

Hey Tonya - how is everything?!?

I went to Medieval Times with my grandma when I was about 15. I was 15, so of course I hated it. Well, I pretended to hate it, but the food was good. You do eat with your hands, which was cool, and the entertainment is - well - entertaining. The one thing I remember complaining about was they try and make it kind of like the actual medieval times, so you only get 1 drink. Since booze was big then you could pay and get more beer - but when I wanted another soda they actually WOULDN'T get me one! They talked in that Renissence type accent and said something about not knowing what soda was and drink was expensive and not plentiful so you had to do with what you were given. Like I said, this was 15 years ago so it may have changed - but that was my experience. I could take it or leave it, and it's SUPER-DUPER expensive! Ryan and I talked about it once for kicks, but it is WAY over priced! It's almost $60 per person!!!! THAT'S OUTRAGEOUS! It's true you can probably find some discount tickets online, but those tickets are never discounted more than a few bucks - certainly not enough to make it worth it (for us anyway). You may like it, but that's my experience and my 2 cents.

 

[jkrislc]

googles111: Medieval Time is running a promotion right now for $29.95 for adults, which is nearly half the normal rate. However, the code doesn't work for January, but it's possible that it could be extended. If I had a choice, I'd do this over the pirate one since you'll get a pirate experience on the ship.

Everyone Else: Has anyone been following the Carnival Splendor fiasco? I was watching her arrival into San Diego live on the local news. It was something. There's a thread on another message board asking if this has changed the way anyone cruises. Makes me grateful for traveling with a flashlight and having a balcony this round since they didn't have air conditioning after the fire. Must have been dark, hot, and stuffy in those interior rooms, which I had last time on the Magic.

While I think cruise ships are safe, I was looking back at the "well known" emergencies and found that three of the ships we've previously sailed on have had some issues. Pride of Hawaii sank before we could travel on her and had to be temporarily replaced by the Pride of Aloha. The Star Princess, which we took to Alaska, had a huge fire, destroying over 100 cabins, two years after we had been on her. Plus, the Diamond Princess, which we had originally planned to book, burned while being constructed in Japan. And the ship we honeymooned on, caught fire sometime after our honeymoon. I'm almost afraid to look at the other ships we've sailed on, but I think one of them ran aground as well. Maybe we should stop cruising

All in all, I think cruising is safe and I love it. If there was a huge hotel fire like the one in Vegas 20 or 30 years ago, we'd be talking about staying in hotels.

Kris

 

[SueTGGR]

Everyone Else: Has anyone been following the Carnival Splendor fiasco? I was watching her arrival into San Diego live on the local news. It was something. There's a thread on another message board asking if this has changed the way anyone cruises. Makes me grateful for traveling with a flashlight and having a balcony this round since they didn't have air conditioning after the fire. Must have been dark, hot, and stuffy in those interior rooms, which I had last time on the Magic.

While I think cruise ships are safe, I was looking back at the "well known" emergencies and found that three of the ships we've previously sailed on have had some issues. Pride of Hawaii sank before we could travel on her and had to be temporarily replaced by the Pride of Aloha. The Star Princess, which we took to Alaska, had a huge fire, destroying over 100 cabins, two years after we had been on her. Plus, the Diamond Princess, which we had originally planned to book, burned while being constructed in Japan. And the ship we honeymooned on, caught fire sometime after our honeymoon. I'm almost afraid to look at the other ships we've sailed on, but I think one of them ran aground as well. Maybe we should stop cruising

All in all, I think cruising is safe and I love it. If there was a huge hotel fire like the one in Vegas 20 or 30 years ago, we'd be talking about staying in hotels.

Kris

Kris - It sounds like we are safe cruising with you but not going anywhere you HAVE BEEN!
I haven't given it too much thought but I'm glad to be on DCL, that's for sure!

 

[jkrislc]

Kris - It sounds like we are safe cruising with you but not going anywhere you HAVE BEEN!
I haven't given it too much thought but I'm glad to be on DCL, that's for sure!

LOL. The good news is that I haven't heard of any major incidents on DCL other than needing to slow because of a faulty engine. And the only exciting thing that has ever happened to me while cruising was watching a crew member getting airlifted off the ship at night. A crew member also told us that someone fell overboard while docked in Puerto Vallarta, but I think he was pulling our leg or they were running a drill.

Kris

 

[Kidlette]

googles111: Medieval Time is running a promotion right now for $29.95 for adults, which is nearly half the normal rate. However, the code doesn't work for January, but it's possible that it could be extended. If I had a choice, I'd do this over the pirate one since you'll get a pirate experience on the ship.

Everyone Else: Has anyone been following the Carnival Splendor fiasco? I was watching her arrival into San Diego live on the local news. It was something. There's a thread on another message board asking if this has changed the way anyone cruises. Makes me grateful for traveling with a flashlight and having a balcony this round since they didn't have air conditioning after the fire. Must have been dark, hot, and stuffy in those interior rooms, which I had last time on the Magic.

While I think cruise ships are safe, I was looking back at the "well known" emergencies and found that three of the ships we've previously sailed on have had some issues. Pride of Hawaii sank before we could travel on her and had to be temporarily replaced by the Pride of Aloha. The Star Princess, which we took to Alaska, had a huge fire, destroying over 100 cabins, two years after we had been on her. Plus, the Diamond Princess, which we had originally planned to book, burned while being constructed in Japan. And the ship we honeymooned on, caught fire sometime after our honeymoon. I'm almost afraid to look at the other ships we've sailed on, but I think one of them ran aground as well. Maybe we should stop cruising

All in all, I think cruising is safe and I love it. If there was a huge hotel fire like the one in Vegas 20 or 30 years ago, we'd be talking about staying in hotels.

Kris

It's funny you mention this - I was not mentioning it because I get frustrated with the media. As a travel agent we ALWAYS hear of cruise ships getting on fire or other such problems, yet, the only times I've EVER heard them on the news have been in regards to Carnival cruise ships. I think it's because Carnival is the most well known cruise line in the U.S. - but I think it's B.S. that they never mention any of the other cruise lines who have experienced these things. Anyway - I just wanted to say thanks for mentioning those other cruise lines, it truly does happen to EVERYONE! And hey, they get their money back, another free cruise, and Carnival is reimbursing them for all of their travel expenses for this trip (airfare - everything)! It would suck to be without bathrooms, A/C, hot food, etc. - but stuff happens and they were absoluteness compensated for it! Anyhow - just my 2 cents

 

[jkrislc]

I think Carnival handled the situation quite well. Even when planing on towing to Ensenada, passengers raised concerns, so they changed the plan to San Diego; they even arrived 8-12 hours earlier than planned.

The other thing that annoys me is the media's attention around the Norovirus. About 1,000 schools get hit by an outbreak each year last I checked, but if one ship on one sailing gets it, it's all over the news. And the sad thing is that passengers are at fault. Proper hand washing and the whole thing goes away. Hence the reason every cruise line makes you use hand sanitizer before entering the buffet and the dining rooms on DCL.

Kris

P.S. Jessica, we'll share our balcony with you should we lose air and power on the Wonder

 

[jkrislc]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=26858045&postcount=260

A great first person account from a passenger aboard the Splendor. Great attitude and addresses how the media misrepresented what happened.

Kris

 

[F&A]

googles111:

Everyone Else: Has anyone been following the Carnival Splendor fiasco? I was watching her arrival into San Diego live on the local news. It was something. There's a thread on another message board asking if this has changed the way anyone cruises. Makes me grateful for traveling with a flashlight and having a balcony this round since they didn't have air conditioning after the fire. Must have been dark, hot, and stuffy in those interior rooms, which I had last time on the Magic.

Actually - DCL has conducted a sea rescue of a Carnival passenger who jumped over board in the recent past. Makes you even more confident in the training of the crew.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ6g5z0xSms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASSglA8ZGdg

 

[F&A]

And not to be out done, the Magic had its own rescue this year:

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/...se-ship-rescue-europe-mediterranean-/104662/1

 

[airtime247]

Okay, 5:30 is way too early to be up on a Sunday! I woke up with a nasty bug yesterday and fell asleep at 8:30 last night. I'm the last one in our house to get it (and the whiniest) so hopefully it doesn't come around again.

We followed the Carnival news and thought they handled it really well. The only bad thing we've ever had happen was a passenger had a heart attack and died while snorkeling at Castaway Cay. He was a family member of some DISers so that made it hit closer to home.

Tonya - we haven't done the Medieval Times there but we did the one at the Exalibur in Las Vegas. I think it's similar enough. We had a really good time. I think the kids will love it.

Sue - Have you decided yet if you will be visiting the Cabo Wabo in port?

-steve

 

[jkrislc]

Steve, I hope you get over your bug very soon.

As for Carnival, it sounds like most of the passengers thought the incident was handled well. In reading up on this incident, however, I did discover that Holland-America, whom we are taking to Alaska, actually lost a ship in 1980. Thankfully, everyone was rescued and there was no loss of life.

Kris

 

[SueTGGR]

Sue - Have you decided yet if you will be visiting the Cabo Wabo in port?

-steve

I think this will be a mandatory stop for us. We are just trying to figure out how best to do it. We are signed up for a beach getaway that goes from about 8 to Noon but that is still tentative. I really wish we had more confidence with doing something on our own. But getting Jeff to Mexico has taken a lot of effort, I think he has had bad experiences in his youth. So I will do what he feels better with. But going to Cabo Wabo is a matter of with or without Alec.

I hope you feel better. I know I am and Alec has had his for about 2 weeks. The cough is the last to leave for him and for me it is a headache, maybe sinus pressure?

Sue

 

[Lizzy'sMom]

Sorry 3 posts in a row.. I am full of questions and info tonight!

Is anybody going to go to the Midevil Times in L.A? There is a pirates one too. We live a couple hours away and have never been. We are thinking of going the night before the cruise. Anybody recommend one over the other? I have always wanted to go. Thanks.

We did the Pirate one a year ago, and it was TERRIBLE - can i just tell you TERRIBLE!

You start out with appetizers that are served in the lobby - those are very yummy.. if you go - eat as much of those as you can!

When the show starts, the waitress comes and asks what you want, not able to really describe the food, and everything was upsell.. buy this buy that,. The food was not very good at all.. it was cafeteria food warmed on a hot plate at best.

The show itself was pretty poor - my hubby described it as a Disney show put on by Kindergartners. Which i think would be really cute, except for the amount of money we spent i expected something in the same category as the Medieval Times show. It was really bad - one of the princesses was supposed to be dancing and what she really was doing was just flailing around...

The theater wasn't even half full, and many people left before it was over.

We went for my birthday, and were very disappointed - i wish we had chosen the medieval times show. (which we didn't chose because we had seen it and thought we would try something new - wow.. what a poor choice! hahah)


The good thing about this show is that they had alot of audience participation - i think every child in the audience was able to participate in one way or another - however , it was with a catch - they took pictures and wanted you to buy them at $20 a pop - it was really hard selling the whole time we were there.


I understand that the Disney ships offer photos for sale, but you need to go there and get them - this was for sure a HARD sell - everyone had something they wanted you to buy and it was almost all $20 or more... i just got tired of all the upsells...

Not something i would recommend doing..

Andrea in Vegas

 

[jessicabohn]

My oldest daughter is 13. I don't know if that's too young for your daughter She's into chorus, gymnastics, and music.

Hello Sailing Sue,

We have an 11 year old (aside from our toddler) who is also into gymnastics, chorus and music, funny enough. Are there any groups (tweens) meeting? Anyhow, i hope they meet but since ours will do the kids club stuff about half the time and will look for other friends the other half, who knows. We are in 2002, I think.

 

[jessicabohn]

Jessica
You can put me down for 2 Adult bracelets . I like micky colors maybe red with black writing . What about handing them out at the meet on the ship. That would save you time mailing them all out. Since they are not flat would they fit in a reg envelpoe?. Anyway thanks Jessica for getting this together.

Where is the meet? There are so many pages on here...

 

[jessicabohn]

it's official, we have lost a cabin and moved a cabin.

Cabin 8538
Karen
Tabitha, 28
Alex Y. , 30
Noah (age 3)

Jonathan's cabin is not coming at all.

Joanna/Matt
Alyshia, 12
JAsmine, 11

Jessica/Jason
Hailey, 3
Alyssia, 1



Karen

Is it easy to change rooms on a supposedly full ship like ours? We were assigned a room that I have read may be noisy and also may be more prone to motion. I can handle it but I fear the toddler waking up at 3am, and my 11 year old gets motion sickness. I guess I will just stockpile dramamine chewables.

 

[jkrislc]

Where is the meet? There are so many pages on here...

I don't recall settling on a place or time. I'd suggest something like 2:30 on the day of embarkation in the Promenade Lounge, but I'm open. We can do the pool deck as well, but it will be more crowded.

Kris

 

[so_oregon]

Our kids, DD 16, & DS 12 would like to meet some kids their age to hang out with in the clubs. My daughter especially would because we're going with extended family and the kids are all boys under the age of 10.

About her: Super sweet, super cute, is a dancer, track and cross country. A little shy...

DS: cross country, video games and Mac computers. Also cute and sweet and on the shy side.

Any help for them, Disney friends?

send me your email off l,ist and I will forward to my GDs, Jasmine and Alyisha, ages 11 and 12 now officially (both had birthdays last week) and maybe they can penpal until the cruise!

Karen

 

[so_oregon]

My oldest daughter is 13. I don't know if that's too young for your daughter She's into chorus, gymnastics, and music.

oops...late night for me, I had your daughter as 12 and son as 16...... sorry!!!

 

[so_oregon]

Is it easy to change rooms on a supposedly full ship like ours? We were assigned a room that I have read may be noisy and also may be more prone to motion. I can handle it but I fear the toddler waking up at 3am, and my 11 year old gets motion sickness. I guess I will just stockpile dramamine chewables.

ship is not full. There were 10 4A cabins 10 days ago when I changed, several 4B and C's and some 9s (I know there are a couplemore now, since I added to the empty cabins)...you can see on disney I, if you put in 2 adults, one child or 2A, 2C or 2A, 3C, what cabins are left.....I just saw that one in the middle was available and asked to be changed....(through travel agent)