February 5, 2006 WONDER CRUISE

[becka]

I have been looking and the boards and so far I have not seen anyone else going on the 02/05/06 4-night cruise. Is anyone else out there going at the same time?

This will be our first ever cruise and we are very excited. It will be myself, DH, our DS (3) and our DD (12 months). I am a little nervous crusing with little ones but DS is a HUGE Disney fan and I think we will even be able to find some fun stuff for our DD.

We are planning on spending 3 nights at All Star Movies before the cruise and 2 nights at WDW after hopefully at AKL.

 

[becka]

Anyone?

 

[disneybride96]

We are on the Feb. 3rd three night wonder. I think you and I have the ship booked to ourselves. You are the closest I can find to being on my cruise. Maybe we can wave as we pass on the interstate!

 

[Monkey]

We are going on the Feb 05/06 cruise. This is our first cruise as well. I have a 2 1/2 year old and 7 year old and a 14 year old step son joining us.

Can't wait!!!

 

[becka]

We are going on the Feb 05/06 cruise. This is our first cruise as well. I have a 2 1/2 year old and 7 year old and a 14 year old step son joining us.

Can't wait!!!

Hey finally someone else on the same cruise! I was beginning to think we might be the only ones.

I am just so excited. I think I am going to LOVE the cruise and I keep having to talk myself out of booking a 7-day instead of the 4-day. I am sure we will be spending lots of time at the Mickey pool (hopefully the weather will cooperate) so maybe we will see you around since you also have a little one.

Disneybride96 - We will make sure to wave to you on the interstate! Look for a green CR-V packed to the gills with two big carseats!

 

[Jo-Anne]

Make it 3 families! I also thought we were alone! It's DH, me and DD 9 and DS 6. We did a 7 day Magic in Nov 2003 and had a great time. Kids loved the clubs so it was nice to have some Parent down time! Right now we're wait listed for the first dinner seating...hopefully it will come through as it does look like a pretty "empty" ship! We're also doing a 2 days at Disney before and 3 days after the trip. Can't wait for Feb...it's been really hectic at work and I'm looking forward to the get-away. Will also be nice to get away from the snow and ice which we're normally buried in at that time!
Jo

 

[becka]

Make it 3 families! I also thought we were alone! It's DH, me and DD 9 and DS 6. We did a 7 day Magic in Nov 2003 and had a great time. Kids loved the clubs so it was nice to have some Parent down time! Right now we're wait listed for the first dinner seating...hopefully it will come through as it does look like a pretty "empty" ship! We're also doing a 2 days at Disney before and 3 days after the trip. Can't wait for Feb...it's been really hectic at work and I'm looking forward to the get-away. Will also be nice to get away from the snow and ice which we're normally buried in at that time!
Jo

We were originally on late seating but when I checked on-line it said early seating. I think maybe the ages of my kids made some kind of difference. It looks like DCL, Expedia, etc.. all have plenty of availabilty so maybe it will be a relatively "empty" ship.

We are also "sandwiching" our cruise with a WDW trip. We are planning on 3 nights at All Star Movies, then the cruise then 2 more nights at AKL.

 

[patche]

Pick me, Pick Me!! We're going too - first time cruisers, first time WDW, first time to Florida (or the US for that matter!) Cant wait...Me, DH, and two DD's 8 & 12...

 

[becka]

Pick me, Pick Me!! We're going too - first time cruisers, first time WDW, first time to Florida (or the US for that matter!) Cant wait...Me, DH, and two DD's 8 & 12...

You sure do have a lot of first's going on there.

I can't believe that in a little over 3 months we will be cruising. I don't know if I can wait that long!

 

[j_rgonz]

I'm so glad I found this thread! We're be there too!!! Our first cruise. We will be spending 4 days at POFQ first. Cruising with myself DH, DS 7, DD 2, my parents and my older sister. I hope we will run into everyone, although I'm a little nervous about my 2 1/2 year old not being potty trained (we're trying). My parents and I haven't been to WDW for 15 years, and it will be a first for everyone else!

 

[becka]

Welcome j rgonz!

Maybe it won't be an empty ship after all! Good luck with the PT'ing. It is difficult. DS (3 1/2) is about 98% trained....we still have the occassional accident but I think he will be OK but I do worry about him waiting too long to go because he is having so much fun.

 

[becka]

If I am not mistaken our 75 days out is tomorrow. I hope I can get a brunch reservation and the time in Flounders.

I can't believe how close we are getting!

 

[Jo-Anne]

So Becka did you get the ressie's you wanted? Since I have cruised before, I paid up at the 90 day mark and was able to get Palo brunch and dinner booked then. I also pre-registered the kids for the Clubs - hope that saves us some of the hassle of waiting in line to get kids signed up. I also heard that there is a desk in the lobby of the check-in building where we can get pagers, so again a time saver. When we only have 4 days, I want to avoid standing in lines where possible! I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for first dinner seating to come through! Our trip will be here before we know it....I'm so focused now on Christmas and once that is over, I'll be packing Jo-Anne

 

[becka]

So Becka did you get the ressie's you wanted? Since I have cruised before, I paid up at the 90 day mark and was able to get Palo brunch and dinner booked then. I also pre-registered the kids for the Clubs - hope that saves us some of the hassle of waiting in line to get kids signed up. I also heard that there is a desk in the lobby of the check-in building where we can get pagers, so again a time saver. When we only have 4 days, I want to avoid standing in lines where possible! I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for first dinner seating to come through! Our trip will be here before we know it....I'm so focused now on Christmas and once that is over, I'll be packing Jo-Anne

Thanks! I did get what I wanted. I was most concerned about getting Palo brunch and I was able to get a reservation for 10:30 and the Flounder's time to go with it! We are not going to do Palo dinner on this trip because we didn't want to miss any of the regular dinners so brunch was really our only opportunity to try Palo this time. I also got the kids' registered and I was able to book a spa treatment for myself. I agree about not wanting to stand in lines - I want to spend my time enjoying the ship.

 

[BeachMomma]

We are on the 2/5/06 Wonder.......me, DH, DD 8, DS 2, DD 9 months.
I was also thinking about doing brunch at Palo...how long do you think it will last? I know the kids will want pool time ( if it's not too cold).....then comes nap time.......so much to think about! Jill

 

[becka]

Just bumping back up because we are just a little more than a month out. I got my documents for my pre-cruise WDW stay so I am wondering how much longer it will be before we start seeing docs for the cruise?

I have a million things to do before our trip (including DD's 1st birthday). Any previous cruisers have any suggestions about how many clothes we really need to take this time of year. I am afraid we will each need at least 3/4 outfits a day. We need both warm clothes for the mornings/evenings when I assume it will be chilly, something lighter for the (hopefully) warmer midday and then something nicer for dinner. Not to mention that I will need a least a few extra clothes for the inevitable mess my kids will make. I really want to pack light but I just don't see it happening.

 

[Jo-Anne]

Hi Becka - now that Christmas is out of the way, I'm really looking forward to this vacation. When we cruised last time it was Nov and we were on 7 day so we went further south and the weather was perfect - shorts all the way! However, this time, I'm not expecting anything much above 70 degrees - however, much better than 30 degrees or less we'll be having here in Toronto! I've also heard that on deck, it can get a little windy this time of year. So think I'm going to pack in layers and more things like capri's instead of shorts. I'm trying to think about light packing too, so I'm trying to figure out when I can do a load of laundry...last time I did it on the ship and it was a zoo and a real hassle. Maybe I'll plan enough clothes to get us through to end of cruise and do laundry on first day at Coronado.....or just get everyone to turn underwear inside out for double use !
We've changed our plans a bit and are going to stay at Ron Jon's Resort for the 2 days prior to crusie (got a great deal of a total of $99 for both nights in a studio suite). After cruise we're still heading to Coronado for 3 days, so it feels like we'll be busy! If I remember correctly it was about 3 weeks prior to cruise before we received our documents. I'm still waiting to see if first dinner seating comes through. It looks like our ship is full, as I've checked the dis web site and there is no availability for our sailing. We are in a category 11 on deck 6. I was hoping to try for an upgrade at port, but doesn't sound like that is going to be possible, so we might not rush to get onboard until afternoon - especially if weather is good and kids want to spend time at the Ron Jon's water park!
Now back to cleaning up the house from the Christmas mess and a year of putting things in piles! Jo-Anne

 

[BeachMomma]

We are starting to get excited as well. We surprised our 8 yo on Christmas w/ it and it is so nice to be able to talk out loud about it now!
We will also have our 2 1/2 DS and 9 month DD w/ us......I am trying to be realistic about this and know that it won't always be stress-free!
Do you think it's a good idea to bring the little ones to the Pirate Party? I can try to push back naps that day and keep them up late. Do you think it will be warm enough to go in the pool on the day AT Sea day?
I tried to book Palo for brunch on that day, but it was full...we did get dinner there on MOnday night.
Will we be allowed to take our 2 1/2 yo in the kids club to play sometimes if we are w/ him? I'm trying to think of things we can do w/ him if the weather isn't that great. We have not received docs yet. Jill

 

[BeachMomma]

BTW............ Becka, noticed you are from MO. We live in KC. Jill

 

[Jo-Anne]

Hi Jill - we also have a Palo dinner on Monday - 8pm. What time did you get? As for your 2.5 yr old playing in the Oceaneer Club, I think that there is an hour or two each day where it's open to family play so that might be an option...check the kids navigators. There are lots of character greetings throughout the days and movies and family activities. Have you checked out the most recent navigators to get a feel for what's going on? I've used this link to check them out...
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I'm hoping that it will be nice enough to swim on the at sea day...however, it will also be very crowded at the pools on those days too! Go early if possible! I'm hoping for low to mid 70s so for me that will be tropical!
I have a 9 yr old DD Katie who will most likely spend a lot of time in the 8-9yr old Lab group (she loved it last time)...maybe your daughter will be there also? I'm not sure if our kids will last all through pirates night party! They usually crash by 10pm at the latest and I hear the fireworks don't start until around 10:45. Also if they are very loud, my DS 6, won't enjoy! That being said, I'll probably try to have the kids stay awake and join in the festivities and hopefully they'll just sleep in late next morning (yah, I wish!).