February 16, 2013 WONDERful 5-Night Western Caribbean ~ out of Port of Miami

[Toniann966]

Have any of you been on the Wonder before? Just wondering (besides aquaduck) what the differences are from the Dream.

 

[nchristeutah]

I haven't been on the Wonder and I would love to hear more about the differences. Here are the things I believe are different (please correct me if I am wrong about any of this!):

1 - Water: No Aquaduck (as you mentioned). They do have a water slide but if I read the ages correctly adults are not allowed on it. The splash zone for very small children on the Wonder isn't as elaborate as the one on the Dream and may also not be shaded - at least it didn't look like it in a photo I saw.

2 - Restaurants: Animator's Palate doesn't have the interactive animated character entertainment (no Crush). Instead, the room changes from black and white to color over the course of the evening. The Enchanted Garden on the Dream is replaced by Parrot Cay on the Wonder. I noticed that the Wonder has more of the small food stations listed under their restaurants, but I am not sure it really has more. It might just be that on the Dream these are all considered part of Cabanas.

3 - Artwork: I don't think the artwork around the ship is animated on the Wonder like it is on the Dream. I think this would mean that they don't have the detective game but I am not really sure.

4 - Shows: They have a different set of shows which is nice since we saw most of the shows on the Dream.

5 - Passengers: The Dream holds 2500 passengers while the Wonder holds only 1750. This means less people on Castaway Cay.

6 - Teens: I think that one of the teen or tween areas that exists on the Dream is absent on the Wonder. The dream also offers a spa for teens that doesn't exist on the Wonder as far as I know.

7 - Kids Clubs: The Wonder doesn't have the interactive dance floor that the Dream has but they do have a pirate ship play area which looks pretty fun to me. The two kids clubs are not connected on the Wonder (but are on the Dream).

8 - Staterooms: Interestingly I noticed that the larger staterooms seem pretty comparable (though no rounded window seat porthole on the Wonder). But the smallest cabins on the Wonder are actually bigger than the smallest cabins on the Dream.

Well that is all I can think of. I know there are lots of differences but I think we will all have a great time regardless! I hope that helps!

Natalie

 

[goiu]

We've never been on the Dream, but we were on the Wonder a few weeks ago. From what we talked to people on the ship that had been on the Dream. They said even though it's older they liked the Wonder better. They said the Dream is just too big with too many people! We like the smaller ships. Although, I'm sure we'll try the new ones sometime.

 

[hardingk]

Hi everyone!!

We will be sailing with you too! This thread grew quick! I looked for one a few weeks back and didn't see one yet, and now it's 2 pages already!!

It will be me, DH, and our DD who will be 4 1/2 then! We are also doing B2B, staying on for the 2/21 sailing. It will be our first B2B and I am excited!!!

We'd love to do the FE exchange too! We did it on the Dream last September, and loved it!! I think there were 24 cabins in total in our group. I helped organize it (really just kept a master list). So if anyone needs help, let me know!

 

[hardingk]

We are joining you too! We are doing the b2b! It will be me, DW (Lisa), DH (Geoff), DD6 (Emma) and DS4 (Logan). We booked the Panama, but just couldn't make the dates work with DH's job. Oh well! This will be a fun one too! Plus, we've never done a B2B before.

Count us in for the FE exchange! My kids love it!

Hi! Are you doing the cruise before or after the 2/16 sailing for B2B?

 

[goiu]

Hi! Are you doing the cruise before or after the 2/16 sailing for B2B?

We are doing the cruise before. Too bad it won't be together!

 

[hardingk]

We are doing the cruise before. Too bad it won't be together!

Too bad I'm jealous you get 10 nights on the wonder! You'll have to let me know how the reboarding process goes in between the two sailing.

 

[mom3girls2000]

Too bad I'm jealous you get 10 nights on the wonder! You'll have to let me know how the reboarding process goes in between the two sailing.

There was a woman in our FE group who did the B2B on the Magic in Feb., I'll ask her.

 

[mom3girls2000]

Too bad I'm jealous you get 10 nights on the wonder! You'll have to let me know how the reboarding process goes in between the two sailing.

Ok, according to my cruise mate:

You have to deboard but you have a choice whether you want to go off ship or if you want to meet in a specific lounge at a specific time. If you go off the boat completely you reboard like everyone else.. if you decide to go right back on you meet in the lounge and a crew member takes you through customs and you go right into the boarding process and wait in a lounge for a half an hour or so and come back on board probably a couple of hours or more before anyone else. If you are in the same room you do not have to unpack. If you are in a different room you need to pack and she believes they will move your bags for you (but she wasn't so sure about that last point because they did not change rooms).

 

[hardingk]

Ok, according to my cruise mate:

You have to deboard but you have a choice whether you want to go off ship or if you want to meet in a specific lounge at a specific time. If you go off the boat completely you reboard like everyone else.. if you decide to go right back on you meet in the lounge and a crew member takes you through customs and you go right into the boarding process and wait in a lounge for a half an hour or so and come back on board probably a couple of hours or more before anyone else. If you are in the same room you do not have to unpack. If you are in a different room you need to pack and she believes they will move your bags for you (but she wasn't so sure about that last point because they did not change rooms).

Thanks for this information! We have the same cabin both sailings, so we don't have to move anything either. I guess we just have to make sure our reservations are linked that we are back to back.

 

[goiu]

Ok, according to my cruise mate:

You have to deboard but you have a choice whether you want to go off ship or if you want to meet in a specific lounge at a specific time. If you go off the boat completely you reboard like everyone else.. if you decide to go right back on you meet in the lounge and a crew member takes you through customs and you go right into the boarding process and wait in a lounge for a half an hour or so and come back on board probably a couple of hours or more before anyone else. If you are in the same room you do not have to unpack. If you are in a different room you need to pack and she believes they will move your bags for you (but she wasn't so sure about that last point because they did not change rooms).

Thanks for the info! We are in the same room too. So, we won't have to move either.

 

[hardingk]

Thanks for the info! We are in the same room too. So, we won't have to move either.

Are you on the sailing before or after the 2/16 sailing?

 

[goiu]

Are you on the sailing before or after the 2/16 sailing?

We are sailing before.

 

[nchristeutah]

I have been really curious about what the Disney cruise terminal in Miami will be like. Does anyone know anything about it? Will it be similar to the one at Port Canaveral?

 

[hardingk]

I have been really curious about what the Disney cruise terminal in Miami will be like. Does anyone know anything about it? Will it be similar to the one at Port Canaveral?

Since Disney will only be using it December-April, I don't think it will be like the one in Pt. Canaveral. They are doing the same thing out of NYC this summer, so I will keep everyone posted on how that terminal is!

 

[hardingk]

We booked our airfare today.....sort of. I found great one way airfare into MIA, but the return was crazy, so I just booked the outbound.

 

[mom3girls2000]

How do you know they're only using it for that short a time? Miami's not going to be a regular departure point? I guess it sure won't be well-themed, that's for sure, I can't imagine going to that effort/expense if it's only a temporary port ...

I was just trying to get some info today. Especially trying to find some kind of hotel stay/park-while-you-cruise/shuttle package like we snagged at Port Canaveral, but I'm not having much luck.

 

[mom3girls2000]

Yay !

 

[hardingk]

How do you know they're only using it for that short a time? Miami's not going to be a regular departure point? I guess it sure won't be well-themed, that's for sure, I can't imagine going to that effort/expense if it's only a temporary port ...

I was just trying to get some info today. Especially trying to find some kind of hotel stay/park-while-you-cruise/shuttle package like we snagged at Port Canaveral, but I'm not having much luck.

They haven't released the 2014 itineraries yet, so maybe they will keep using the port for December - April sailings. But either way, they wouldn't be using the pier year round, so I don't think Disney would be able to decorate it like the terminal in Pt. Canavaral.

There are a few hotels near the airport that offer hotel/ park & stay packages with shuttle to the pier.

 

[mom3girls2000]

They haven't released the 2014 itineraries yet, so maybe they will keep using the port for December - April sailings. But either way, they wouldn't be using the pier year round, so I don't think Disney would be able to decorate it like the terminal in Pt. Canavaral.

There are a few hotels near the airport that offer hotel/ park & stay packages with shuttle to the pier.

The only hotel I can find with decent pricing and decent Trip Advisor reviews is the Holiday Inn Express & Suites (Kendall), and I don't think they have a port shuttle. Do you know of any in particular?