February Trip including 4-day Wonder 2/8 - 2/12

[1stdisneycruise]

Day Two:

After seeing a very large crowd waiting for the Radisson shuttle the day before I decided to take my wife and kids along with most of the luggage over to the cruise terminal by car and then ride the shuttle to the cruise terminal alone.

After waking up and getting ready we went to the parking lot to make sure that we had everything packed and the bags tagged for the trip and then headed across the street for some McD's breakfast. The kids played in the indoor playground for a short time and then we headed to the cruise terminal about 9:30. After dropping off the wife and kids I headed back and was pleasantly surprised to not see as large a crowd waiting for the shuttle as the day before.

On the shuttle I met a nice couple from South Carolina that we would continue to bump into many time throughout the cruise. Dropping off my wife was a great choice. While waiting to enter the terminal she was joined by a fellow DIS member (ljm23) that we had talked with for a short time the night before by the pool. She was the first person to check in and we were in boarding group 2. The family was checked in had their photos taken before I was back with the shuttle. After I had my photo taken we were waiting around talking to fellow cruisers not realizing at the time that one of them was another DIS member (jedijill).

While my wife and kids were checking in and getting a pager for the kids club when the couple from South Carolina (Robbie and Amanda) sat down next to me and we started talking some more. I found out they had originally booked a cat 12 and were bumped to a cat 9. They asked if there were any upgrades available and were able to upgrade to a room with a verandah for just over $200. At this point I realized I forgot to tell my wife to ask about an upgrade during check-in. I ran to the desk to see if there were any upgrades left and of course there were not.

I returned without any good news and my wife, Robbie, Amanda and I continued to talk until it was time to board. They were in boarding group 4 so we parted ways not knowing we would see them again so many times.

In line for boarding we met up with Laura (ljm22) and Mike (mem22) again. After pictures and boarding we met Jill (jedijill) and all decided to have lunch together in Parrot Cay. We had a great lunch, the conversation and the food was wonderful. Jill recommend the strawberry soup which is fantastic. I cannot believe that the only picture I took was my daughter with Minnie. It would have been great to have a picture with the whole group.

After lunch we went our separate ways to explore the ship. Since it was almost 1:00 at this point my family headed to Wavebands to change Palo reservations. The only time available for Palo online was boarding day at 6:00. We wanted to move to another day so we wouldn't miss the sail away party and we wanted to try and add brunch. After successfully getting both things we wanted at Palo, and meeting another DIS member (2gr8brits) in line, we headed to our room to change.

We were in cabin 5518, it is a cat 8 room next to one of the secret porthole rooms. We loved this location and will try and stay here again on future cruises. It is close the the elevators but always seemed quiet as it is down a dead end hallway. We met our stateroom host Dalton who was wonderful the entire trip. We found our Castaway club gift a note that we had a $100 on board credit which was a nice surprise. We are still not sure what that was from, our thought was our Disney Visa but thought that credit would have only been $50.

The only complaint that we had about the room was that the window was dirty. Ironically, when we returned to port final day I awoke to someone cleaned the window. I wish I would have taken before and after photos but here is a before with our view of the terminal.

After changing into bathing suits we headed upstairs for a swim, an adult beverage, and our DIS board meet by the Goofy pool.

In addition to others already mentioned we met Mike and Annette (anetnmike), Tracy (elmo2200), Ken and Donna (not sure DIS name). I know my wife talked to other but I never got their names.

After the meet we went back to our room to get life jackets and go to the ever fun safety drill. Then a rush back to our room to drop off jackets, pick up the camera and head up for the sail away party.

After the sail away party all of our luggage had finally arrived and we let the kids go to the clubs while we finished unpacking and relaxed for awhile until dinner. After getting ready for we hung out in the promenade lounge for a bit before dinner where my daughter was happy to dance.

Dinner the first night was in Parrot Cay. We met our dinning companions, a nice family from Canada who had been at WDW for a few days prior to the cruise. We also met our wait staff, Server Salomie, Assistant Server Tita and head server Tektas. Tita seemed to be new and a little overwhelmed at times. But Salomie was wonderful and Tektas was a pleasure to talk to.

After ordering my son decided he was too tired to stay up and wanted to go to bed. My wife took him back to the room. When the appetizers arrived Salomie asked about my wife and son and I explained, adding I would gladly eat DW's appetizer but not to bother bringing the main course. When Salomie arrive with the main course she informed me that she had sent my wife and son their meals to the room. The food was was good but I really enjoyed was the smores cake dessert.

After dinner I dropped my daughter off at the Lab and then went back to the room to check on my wife and son. My wife informed me that Salomie herself had walked their meals up to the room. My wife was feeling a little sea sick so I left her to go to sleep and headed Wavebands to watch match your mate where I saw Robbie and Amanda again. I watched match your mate which was hilarious then picked up my daughter and was off to bed before too late since we had a early date with a dolphin in the morning.

I DO NOT SEE YOUR STREAMERS. FOR THE SAIL A WAY PARTY? I HOPE THEY STILL HAVE THEM?
I AM LIKING THE TR I HOPE THE WIFE IS GOING TO START TO FEEL BETTER OK GO TO GO BACK AND READ SOMEMORE

 

[1stdisneycruise]

THANK YOU FOR THE VIDEO. WE WERE WONDERING WHAT IT WAS LIKE. IS IT ONE FAMILY IN A GROUP OR A BIG GROUP OF PEOPLE YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL YOUR TURN. WE HAVE A 6 YEAR OLD AND A 9 YEAR OLD PLUS HOW HIGH WAS THE WATER? I SEE THE ONE LADY HAVING TO HOLD UP HERE dd THE WHOLE TIME BESIDE YOU GUYS I WOULD NOT WANT TO HAVE TO DO THAT.
I HOPE TO HEAR ABOUT CASTAWAY CAY BEFORE WE LEAVE ON TUESDAY
GREAT JOB!

 

[cbmeadors]

THANK YOU FOR THE VIDEO. WE WERE WONDERING WHAT IT WAS LIKE. IS IT ONE FAMILY IN A GROUP OR A BIG GROUP OF PEOPLE YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL YOUR TURN. WE HAVE A 6 YEAR OLD AND A 9 YEAR OLD PLUS HOW HIGH WAS THE WATER? I SEE THE ONE LADY HAVING TO HOLD UP HERE dd THE WHOLE TIME BESIDE YOU GUYS I WOULD NOT WANT TO HAVE TO DO THAT.
I HOPE TO HEAR ABOUT CASTAWAY CAY BEFORE WE LEAVE ON TUESDAY
GREAT JOB!

First you go in as a family to take a group photo with the dolphin kissing on person in the group. After all the families have done that they take everyone in groups of 10 for the encounter activities.

As far was water depth my guess would be about 36 - 38 inches. My son is 48" tall and the water was to his armpits. There were come smaller kids who were up to there chins. I think the little lady beside us was holding her daughter because she was scared, I think she could have stood up and was just been to chin. Others just picked up there children when it was time to do activities with the dolphin.

I will try to put up the next day, Castaway Cay day, later today or tomorrow.

 

[cbmeadors]

Day Four:

Deaven was up very early. She watched the sunrise and ship dock and took some great pictures.

Once she managed to get the rest of us out of bed we started the day with breakfast at Triton's. We had always done breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet before, but we enjoyed breakfast at Triton's much more. O'Neil was our server and he was great. After breakfast we left the ship to enjoy the day at Castaway Cay.

I snapped a few pictures of the Wonder and Flying Duchman on our way to the beach.

We had purchased some snorkeling equipment before the trip and wanted to try it out. We grabbed the supplied snorkel vests and put on our gear but the wife and kids chickened out once they touched the water. I was determined to go so Deaven took the kids farther down the beach while I snorkeled. I was surprised at the number of fish I saw.

Despite what the sign said, the water was a little cold.

There are a lot of items to look at in the snorkel area and the fish will swim right up next to you.

I did get what I thought was an interesting picture of the Wonder.

After snorkeling I found Deaven and the kids just past the play structure in the water. Despite the kids not wanting to get in the water to snorkel they were playing in the water now. I grabbed a chair and joined Deaven and I sat at the edge of the water and watched the kids play.

I was shocked at how few hammocks there were. I remember there being many more that I saw this time. All the hammock were taken, although few were actually occupied.

After another hour or two we left the beach to eat some lunch. Lunch wasn't bad but my son in a very picky eater and ended up with chips and ice cream for lunch. After lunch we talked the kids into going with the kids group so we could go to Serenity Bay which we were not able to do on our first cruise. We dropped the kids off, grabbed a few things, and were off to wait for the shuttle since we heard it was a long walk to Serenity Bay.

Serenity Bay was wonderful, I could not get over how quiet it was. I found an empty hammock which made me very happy and I enjoyed cold beer. Deaven wanted to walk out into the water since it was low tide and we could walk out quite far and still only be knee deep. We saw some star fish and sponges.

After walking around for a bit it was back to the hammock. We sat around and enjoyed a couple drinks. After about an hour we headed back to get the kids for some more family time. We picked up the kids and headed back to the family beach. Since it was low tide the play structure was closed but the kids and I played in the water anyway. Sophie and Deaven decided to take a nap on the lounge chairs and Jake and I found a float that someone had left and returned to the boat. Jake laid on the float and I pushed him out to the roped off area where we floated around and talked. It was nice to have some time just father and son.

About 4 we headed back to the ship. Deaven took the kids to the room to change and order room service. While the kids ate Deaven and I got ready for dinner at Palo.

We took the kids to the theater where the kids group was about to watch HSM3 and then we were off for a quite dinner alone. After all the reports about Palo I was worried it couldn't live up to the hype, but I was wrong. Palo was amazing, our server Michael was great and the food was fantastic.

After dinner we picked up the kids and headed to the Pirates in the Caribbean party. Sophie had a great time down on dance floor before the party and then watching from the rail in front of the stage. Jake and I watched from deck 10 with Jill and snapped some pictures and video of the party and the fireworks.

No surprise as all, after the party Jake declared he was tired and ready for bed. But what was a surprise was that despite the rest of us having at least a little nap we were all ready for bed.

 

[anetnmike]

You are doing a great job Brett! I thought Mike was the only guy crazy enough to snorkel in that freezing water! He was amazed at the amount of fish that he saw as well.

 

[TammyNC]

I'm enjoying your report, will be back to read more.

 

[SeeDisney]

CBmeadows.


Thank you for your recent report. We heading to the Wonder in two weeks.

Question -- how long was the dolphin excursion?? How many hours? I'd like to take my two older children but I haven't RSVPed yet.

 

[mousetravel]

Thanks for reporting on your Dolphin Excursion. We are doing the excursion next month and I had planned on trying to get the upgrade to the swim. I'm glad you let us know it's an extra $90, not $40, which is what I've read on here too. I'll just plan to bring extra $$ just in case.

 

[3littleHalls]

Great pictures!! THanks for the report.

 

[georgemoe]

The people at Blue Lagoon Island were very friendly and they have a beach that is available in the lagoon to use after the dolphin encounter. There was another boat leaving not long after we finished our encounter so we purchased some pictures and souvenirs then boarded for the return trip.

Great trip report cbmeadors! Thanks.

I have a question about the return trip to the Wonder. About what time were you able to catch the water ferry back and how long was the trip? Were there multiple stops along the way?

Looking forward to the rest of the report. Thanks!

 

[cbmeadors]

CBmeadows.


Thank you for your recent report. We heading to the Wonder in two weeks.

Question -- how long was the dolphin excursion?? How many hours? I'd like to take my two older children but I haven't RSVPed yet.

We had to meet for the excursion at 9:30 and we got back to the ship about 2:00.

 

[cbmeadors]

Great trip report cbmeadors! Thanks.

I have a question about the return trip to the Wonder. About what time were you able to catch the water ferry back and how long was the trip? Were there multiple stops along the way?

Looking forward to the rest of the report. Thanks!

We caught the 1:00 ferry which didn't actually leave until about 1:30. There was a stop at the ferry terminal between the bridges on Paradise Island. After that stop we returned to the spot where we were picked up near the straw market. I think we were back about 2:00.

 

[elmo2200]

Great TR!!! Your pics are way better than mine. Do you have them where people can order prints?
The snorkeling was great!!! I was comfortable in my wetsuit but it did take a lot of space in my suitcase. Today I developed my snorkeling pics and not one of my 35mm pics came out. Bummer!!! I still need to check DD's underwater digital camera....

 

[ldeninge]

Thanks for a great trip report so far!
Looking forward to the rest. Your kids are adorable!

 

[cbmeadors]

Sorry for the delay in updating.

Day 5: Day at sea

The kids had still not been to the Mickey pool. We started the day by grabbing the kids some breakfast at BBB. Deaven and I skipped breakfast since we had a reservation for brunch at Palo. After hurrying to finish eating the kids played in the Mickey pool and went down the slide more times that I can remember.

After the Mickey pool it was back to the room to change. We dropped the kids off at their clubs and were off to Palo. The view at Palo is much better for brunch.

The brunch was awesome, you get a complementary mimosa or other type drink. There is a buffet with so much to choose from, and everything was fantastic. There is also several hot dishes to choose from. We stuffed ourselves it was great. Michael again was our server and was terrific, he gave us a tour of the buffet and explained all of the hot dishes. He then took care of our drinks and ordering the hot dishes.

I didn't get a picture of the rest of the buffet, only the desserts.

I think we did some shopping in Teasure Ketch afterward but I am not sure, I think I was in a food coma

We picked up the kids changed and were off to the family pool. I think we saw HSM. Spent some time in the hot tub with the kids but the goofy pool was too warm and crowded. The kids played in the water while the wife and I enjoyed the sun and some drinks. Occasionally we would take turns and slip off to the adult pool to cool off. The water temperature was perfect, it was cool without being cold perfect to lounge around in or just jump in to cool off. There was an ice carving demonstration by the goofy pool, it was great to watch, the whole thing only took less than 20 minutes.

Sophie wanted to do the Friendship Rocks show so we all left the pool and got Sophie to the Lab for prep. Deaven and Jake took a nap and I snuck off to the Rainforest room. The Rainforest room was great and I was surprised it wasn't more crowded for an at sea day. I spent some time in the stream room, showered to cool off, back in the steam room and again a shower and then I grabbed one of the heated tile loungers. I rolled up a towel, put it behind my head to relax and fell asleep for quick nap. I woke up just in time to run down, change and grab Deaven and Jake to watch Sophie in friendship rocks.

After the show we checked out Sophie and I think we took the kids shopping. I think we took some pictures with the photographers and then the kids wanted to go to the clubs again. When it was time for Who wants to be a mouseketeer Jake wanted to stay in the club. Deaven and Sophie were picked to participated on stage as the Red Minnie's.

Despite some points from the audience (me), they did not win. But fun was had by all. After the game we picked Jake up and headed to our favorite restaurant Animator's Pallet. We said goodbye to our wait staff and half of our table mates, two of them had been stuck in the room sick since Pirate night. After dinner we started to watch Till we meet again, but surprise Jake wanted to go to bed and Sophie to the lab. That was ok because we still had to pack and get our bags out in the hall. We ordered Mickey bars one last time from room service and then we went to bed.

 

[pmama]

Great TR! Very informative. It's getting me so excited.

 

[cbmeadors]

Day 6:

Sad times, we had to leave the ship. When I woke up there was someone cleaning our window, so we finally had a nice clean window, at least for an hour. We took our time getting ready and didn't make it to Animator's for our table service breakfast so we headed up to BBB for some food. I was sad to see that the omelet station was not open. We ate and talked about our favorite parts of the cruise. We saw Michael our server from Palo, it seems everyone on the ship has multiple jobs.

After breakfast we walked around a little my son insisted he had been on ever deck except 2 so we had to go to deck 2. After that we headed for the atrium to exit. We bumped into Robbie and Amanda from South Carolina again, we must have bumped into them at least 5 other times that I did not mention in the report, it was very funny.

After customs and the shuttle to the Radisson we headed to the Kennedy Space Center again. Our tickets were good for two days and there were a few things we weren't able to do the first day. My daughter was picked to help out in the Mission to Mars show and got to put on a space suit. The Space Center was extremely crowed this time since there was originally a shuttle launch scheduled for the same day. We weren't able to see the IMAX movies because the lines were so long. We purchased some souvenirs and the loaded up the car and headed toward Savannah, GA.

I think we got to Savannah about 6 and checked into the Comfort Suites. We were surprised by how big the room was for the $. Great value, big room, high ceilings, two beds, couch, desk, refrigerator, microwave. Pool was a little small but other than that we were very happy. After settling in we drove around town a bit and ate at Fuddruckers. We love that place and the one by us closed a couple years ago. After dinner everyone was tired so we headed back to the room and watched some tv while I started pulling all the pics and video off the cameras onto my laptop.

 

[OogieDaddy]

Great trip report. We can't wait to do the dolphin encounter. Now DW wants an underwater video camera.