Our family experienced our first cruise ever aboard the Disney Wonder on
September 1. Our itinerary for the 4-day cruise was Nassau, Discovery Cay ,
day at sea, and debarkation on Thursday.
Traveling party included myself (47), husband (49) and son (15).
We are not big travelers at all, real greenhorns, but hope to begin changing this as son
gets older. We are plain, ordinary folks, not gourmets. We chose Disney
at the recommendation of our niece, a travel agent, from cruise reviews read online, and since we wanted
a cruise that was not so much into the casinos and drunken partying. We aren't
prudes by any means, but with a son with us, wanted to keep it as family
oriented as possible.
We drove from our home in GA the Saturday before and stayed at the
Radisson-at-the-Port. It was a nice place, but it was packed and we were
on second floor, not anywhere near the pool. We had chosen this because
it offered a shuttle to the dock. It does have a nice pool, but next
time, we will just drive to the port ourselves and stay at a cheaper
place. The service there was not the best, but when we returned on Thursday, everyone was great.
Docked with the Wonder were the Sovereign of the Seas and the Carnival Fantasy. The Wonder really stands out among these white ships! It was
very simple getting through security and the lines looked a bit long to
check in, but it did not take any time at all. Husband complained the
whole time because he had to carry my Diet Pepsi and Diet Dr. Peppers.
He thought it made us look cheap, and maybe so, but I am a Pepsi person
and I don't like fountain sodas, so I did not care what anyone thought. (I was not sure if the ship was just a Coke ship or not. As I had read here, the in-room beverage coolers are a joke. They do not keep anything even remotely cold and I wonder if they would really even keep medication cool. But I figured our stateroom would have ice and I brought my own styrofoam cups (I have a thing about sweaty glasses, but thats another thing!)
It was great to have our picture taken upon arrival because that was the
last time my hair looked decent. I do not have good cruise hair! Wind
and humidity are not kind to it. We bought that photo. The ship is just beautiful! I felt somewhat 'herded' up to a buffet at first, but we were so busy gawking at it all. It was crowded and all the seats left were in the sun. It was hot that day and even as seasoned Georgians, the heat was a bit unpleasant. We did eat the food and it was pretty good...I was overwhelmed at the selection. The shrimp were huge! DS did not think much of the offerings. Of course, this kid lives on chicken fingers, burgers and pizza, so when he found out where all of that was located, he was in heaven. Food..24/7...free to him...his kind of place!
Our rooms were ready at 1:30 and we went down. We were on deck 6. Some of our luggage was there already and the rest arrived shortly after. The room was nice, but a bit small at first glance. But, I realize this is the norm for ship
staterooms. I have heard that Disney rooms are larger than most. Actually, I was comfortable in there and it was attractively decorated. I did appreciate the fact that the bed was high enough to slide suitcases under. We never noticed that the big bed was actually 2 twins! Son was not too comfortable on the sofa, but he's 6 ft. tall too. We had a veranda and really enjoyed it. Our niece had sent a 'bon vogage' gift that was on the bed. The room was very clean and our steward Gerald kept it that way and my ice bucket filled (for my Pepsi's).
We set out to explore and were just amazed at how gorgeous the decor was. Totally Disney, yet very elegant and understated. We spent the rest of the day getting our bearings on the ship. We had the early dinner seating and found out it
had been changed from 6 p.m. to 5:45, so we rushed a bit. Our first night was in Triton and they said it was okay to be a bit more casual since it was the first night. My DH wore a sport jacket anyway. We were seated with a nice couple from VA. Our son had no desire to join us to dinner, he was checking out Common Grounds for teens.
Dinner was pretty good. The portions seemed a bit small, but by the time
dessert was over, I was stuffed. I do not usually eat dessert, so maybe
that's why I was so full. I guess they figure that folks snack all day...why give such huge portions? DH had the herb crusted sea bass and it was
just delicious. After dinner, we went to see Hercules, the Muse-ical. We
both enjoyed it. The sea was not rough at all, but I had taken
seasickness medicine beforehand just in case. The whole cruise we had
calm seas and dry, sunny weather.
Next morning we arrived in Nassau. DH and I had breakfast at the Beach
Blanket buffet and went into Nassau. This was our first experience
outside the US. The taxi drivers were everywhere asking if we needed
them, but all were polite when we declined. We walked from the pier into
town and did a bit of t-shirt shopping for our son. We wound up with a
Harley Davidson Nassau shirt and a Hard Rock Cafe Nassau shirt and that
was about it. The Straw _Market was just a bunch of junk and trinkets,
in my opinion, and the heat in the large tent that now houses it was
stifling. The heat that day was in the 90's. We went back to the ship
for lunch and then met our son for the shore excursion, Discover
Atlantis. The tender ride to the Atlantis was smooth, but the boats they
use are a bit ramshackle...not what I'd expect from Disney. I now know
that they are simply contracting with Disney...the boats are not
Disney's. The walk from the pier to the Atlantis was long, in the heat,
and then the tour of the hotel and aquariums was an even longer walk. At
the end, I said to heck with it, and we hired a taxi back to the Wonder.
Well worth the $15 fare. The info on the tour said it involved a lot of walking, but I never dreamed it meant THAT much. Next time, we will just take a cab over and
play in the casino. The hotel Atlantis is a beautiful place for sure and
the aquariums are impressive, but Sea World's are just as nice. The
Atlantis has an great pool/waterslide complex, but of course we could
not access those. Its still a place to see!
We returned to the ship, dead tired and hot! DS was glad to get back to
the teen activities and we readied for dinner in Animator's Palate. A
different type place for sure. The food was pretty good and our waiters,
Ferhat and Jan, were very efficient and fun for the duration of the cruise.
Next day was Discovery Cay. I will try to do justice to this place, but
I had no real enthusiasm for this island. First off, I am just not a
beach and sand person. I can't stand it, so I would have preferred to
stay onboard. But I had read so much about this magical island, I had
to see it. I will say, it is beautiful and from the looks of it, it has
recovered from hurricane damage. If you love white sand and blue water,
this is the place for you. The lunch provided was ribs, burgers, fruit
and some other selections. Quite filling and fairly tasty. I tired of
the sticky salt water and sand quickly and went back to the ship. I had
the whole floor to myself so I took advantage of that and did laundry
while there were no lines. The washers take 38 minutes ($1.00) and the dryers
are awful. They take 2 cycles to dry at $1 a cycle. But, it was better
than having dirty clothes, and I knew about this because I had read it in other trip reports. I was glad I came back early because I was showered and dressed by the time most dragged in from the island. My son came back with red bumps around the edge of his swimsuit. Id packed some calamine for the dreaded sea lice things, but he did not have much of a problem with them. We
had dinner that night at Parrot Cay and son finally graced us with his
presence. He took one look at the menu and turned up his teenage nose.
But Ferhat suggested a sirloin and he ate it up quickly. He enjoyed the
waiter's singing and had a good time, even though he'd _never admit it.
Next day was all at sea and I loved it. _We went shopping on board and
we were disappointed that there were not more shops. I wanted a picture book of the ship since I knew my pictures could not
do the ship justice, but the clerk informed me they did not have one. I
think they could sell a ton of those things! So I bought a Wonder
Christmas ornament and that was it. T-shirts are very expensive and my
kid's funny about his clothes and did not want anything remotely
resembling Mickey Mouse on his shirt....teenagers! I insisted he break
away from his activities and humor his old mom by attending the matinee
of _Disney Dreams with me. He was complaining the whole time
while waiting _for it to start, but once the show started, he was glued
to it. He's a bit out of the Disney character stuff, but always is
amazed at the staging of productions like this. _After it was over, he
pronounced it 'okay,' so that meant it was great. I loved it! The theater was packed and we had a polite audience.
That last night we returned to Triton's. The food was not nearly as
good, but I think we had just snacked too much that day. Folks had
dressed up a bit more for this seating, but not much. We probably should have tried Palo that night, but we were lazy and did not think about it in time to get
reservations.
Next day, debarkation went so smoothly, we thought we'd messed up. We
just walked off the ship and got the luggage and it was over! Too soon!
We found our shuttle from the Radisson waiting and we were back at the
hotel by 8:30!
To end this, I will say I learned a lot about this ship by internet
reading before the cruise. This cruise is an absolute must for any
family with kids. My teen loved it all...we never saw him. The teen
program was great for him, but I'd say a child age 17 and up will be
bored with the teen program (theyll still love the cruise). The ship was absolutely immaculate at all times. The staff was very polite and helpful for the duration of the trip. I went to empty my lunch tray one afternoon and was politely scolded by an employee who told me _'to let him do that because this was our
vacation.' The food was pretty good. Not really what I expected, but
since this was our first cruise, I don't know what I did expect! I guess
visions of unlimited filets and lobster tails were in my head..does any cruise line do that or is that old Love Boat reruns in my head??? Just suffice it to say I came back with more pounds around the middle! I was a bit disappointed that Disney does not enforce their dinner dress codes more. Why mention it in ALL the information if they are not going to enforce it? I know cruises are full of many folks of different means, but I dont think its unreasonable to ask folks to put on a pair of slacks for dinner. A family ahead of us at the last night at Triton showed up in shorts and tank tops! I think that shows either ignorance or either total lack of respect for everyone else that managed to pack and dress appropriately...and I figure its disrespect since they could apparently understand all other printed instructions.
Would I take a Disney Wonder cruise again? YES. We already plan to come
back in April and are trying to talk my brothers family into joining us. I will do a few things differently and maybe know what
more to expect this time. But we had a wonderful vacation and were not
disappointed with DCL. Thanks for all the advice from this Board!
September 1. Our itinerary for the 4-day cruise was Nassau, Discovery Cay ,
day at sea, and debarkation on Thursday.
Traveling party included myself (47), husband (49) and son (15).
We are not big travelers at all, real greenhorns, but hope to begin changing this as son
gets older. We are plain, ordinary folks, not gourmets. We chose Disney
at the recommendation of our niece, a travel agent, from cruise reviews read online, and since we wanted
a cruise that was not so much into the casinos and drunken partying. We aren't
prudes by any means, but with a son with us, wanted to keep it as family
oriented as possible.
We drove from our home in GA the Saturday before and stayed at the
Radisson-at-the-Port. It was a nice place, but it was packed and we were
on second floor, not anywhere near the pool. We had chosen this because
it offered a shuttle to the dock. It does have a nice pool, but next
time, we will just drive to the port ourselves and stay at a cheaper
place. The service there was not the best, but when we returned on Thursday, everyone was great.
Docked with the Wonder were the Sovereign of the Seas and the Carnival Fantasy. The Wonder really stands out among these white ships! It was
very simple getting through security and the lines looked a bit long to
check in, but it did not take any time at all. Husband complained the
whole time because he had to carry my Diet Pepsi and Diet Dr. Peppers.
He thought it made us look cheap, and maybe so, but I am a Pepsi person
and I don't like fountain sodas, so I did not care what anyone thought. (I was not sure if the ship was just a Coke ship or not. As I had read here, the in-room beverage coolers are a joke. They do not keep anything even remotely cold and I wonder if they would really even keep medication cool. But I figured our stateroom would have ice and I brought my own styrofoam cups (I have a thing about sweaty glasses, but thats another thing!)
It was great to have our picture taken upon arrival because that was the
last time my hair looked decent. I do not have good cruise hair! Wind
and humidity are not kind to it. We bought that photo. The ship is just beautiful! I felt somewhat 'herded' up to a buffet at first, but we were so busy gawking at it all. It was crowded and all the seats left were in the sun. It was hot that day and even as seasoned Georgians, the heat was a bit unpleasant. We did eat the food and it was pretty good...I was overwhelmed at the selection. The shrimp were huge! DS did not think much of the offerings. Of course, this kid lives on chicken fingers, burgers and pizza, so when he found out where all of that was located, he was in heaven. Food..24/7...free to him...his kind of place!
Our rooms were ready at 1:30 and we went down. We were on deck 6. Some of our luggage was there already and the rest arrived shortly after. The room was nice, but a bit small at first glance. But, I realize this is the norm for ship
staterooms. I have heard that Disney rooms are larger than most. Actually, I was comfortable in there and it was attractively decorated. I did appreciate the fact that the bed was high enough to slide suitcases under. We never noticed that the big bed was actually 2 twins! Son was not too comfortable on the sofa, but he's 6 ft. tall too. We had a veranda and really enjoyed it. Our niece had sent a 'bon vogage' gift that was on the bed. The room was very clean and our steward Gerald kept it that way and my ice bucket filled (for my Pepsi's).
We set out to explore and were just amazed at how gorgeous the decor was. Totally Disney, yet very elegant and understated. We spent the rest of the day getting our bearings on the ship. We had the early dinner seating and found out it
had been changed from 6 p.m. to 5:45, so we rushed a bit. Our first night was in Triton and they said it was okay to be a bit more casual since it was the first night. My DH wore a sport jacket anyway. We were seated with a nice couple from VA. Our son had no desire to join us to dinner, he was checking out Common Grounds for teens.
Dinner was pretty good. The portions seemed a bit small, but by the time
dessert was over, I was stuffed. I do not usually eat dessert, so maybe
that's why I was so full. I guess they figure that folks snack all day...why give such huge portions? DH had the herb crusted sea bass and it was
just delicious. After dinner, we went to see Hercules, the Muse-ical. We
both enjoyed it. The sea was not rough at all, but I had taken
seasickness medicine beforehand just in case. The whole cruise we had
calm seas and dry, sunny weather.
Next morning we arrived in Nassau. DH and I had breakfast at the Beach
Blanket buffet and went into Nassau. This was our first experience
outside the US. The taxi drivers were everywhere asking if we needed
them, but all were polite when we declined. We walked from the pier into
town and did a bit of t-shirt shopping for our son. We wound up with a
Harley Davidson Nassau shirt and a Hard Rock Cafe Nassau shirt and that
was about it. The Straw _Market was just a bunch of junk and trinkets,
in my opinion, and the heat in the large tent that now houses it was
stifling. The heat that day was in the 90's. We went back to the ship
for lunch and then met our son for the shore excursion, Discover
Atlantis. The tender ride to the Atlantis was smooth, but the boats they
use are a bit ramshackle...not what I'd expect from Disney. I now know
that they are simply contracting with Disney...the boats are not
Disney's. The walk from the pier to the Atlantis was long, in the heat,
and then the tour of the hotel and aquariums was an even longer walk. At
the end, I said to heck with it, and we hired a taxi back to the Wonder.
Well worth the $15 fare. The info on the tour said it involved a lot of walking, but I never dreamed it meant THAT much. Next time, we will just take a cab over and
play in the casino. The hotel Atlantis is a beautiful place for sure and
the aquariums are impressive, but Sea World's are just as nice. The
Atlantis has an great pool/waterslide complex, but of course we could
not access those. Its still a place to see!
We returned to the ship, dead tired and hot! DS was glad to get back to
the teen activities and we readied for dinner in Animator's Palate. A
different type place for sure. The food was pretty good and our waiters,
Ferhat and Jan, were very efficient and fun for the duration of the cruise.
Next day was Discovery Cay. I will try to do justice to this place, but
I had no real enthusiasm for this island. First off, I am just not a
beach and sand person. I can't stand it, so I would have preferred to
stay onboard. But I had read so much about this magical island, I had
to see it. I will say, it is beautiful and from the looks of it, it has
recovered from hurricane damage. If you love white sand and blue water,
this is the place for you. The lunch provided was ribs, burgers, fruit
and some other selections. Quite filling and fairly tasty. I tired of
the sticky salt water and sand quickly and went back to the ship. I had
the whole floor to myself so I took advantage of that and did laundry
while there were no lines. The washers take 38 minutes ($1.00) and the dryers
are awful. They take 2 cycles to dry at $1 a cycle. But, it was better
than having dirty clothes, and I knew about this because I had read it in other trip reports. I was glad I came back early because I was showered and dressed by the time most dragged in from the island. My son came back with red bumps around the edge of his swimsuit. Id packed some calamine for the dreaded sea lice things, but he did not have much of a problem with them. We
had dinner that night at Parrot Cay and son finally graced us with his
presence. He took one look at the menu and turned up his teenage nose.
But Ferhat suggested a sirloin and he ate it up quickly. He enjoyed the
waiter's singing and had a good time, even though he'd _never admit it.
Next day was all at sea and I loved it. _We went shopping on board and
we were disappointed that there were not more shops. I wanted a picture book of the ship since I knew my pictures could not
do the ship justice, but the clerk informed me they did not have one. I
think they could sell a ton of those things! So I bought a Wonder
Christmas ornament and that was it. T-shirts are very expensive and my
kid's funny about his clothes and did not want anything remotely
resembling Mickey Mouse on his shirt....teenagers! I insisted he break
away from his activities and humor his old mom by attending the matinee
of _Disney Dreams with me. He was complaining the whole time
while waiting _for it to start, but once the show started, he was glued
to it. He's a bit out of the Disney character stuff, but always is
amazed at the staging of productions like this. _After it was over, he
pronounced it 'okay,' so that meant it was great. I loved it! The theater was packed and we had a polite audience.
That last night we returned to Triton's. The food was not nearly as
good, but I think we had just snacked too much that day. Folks had
dressed up a bit more for this seating, but not much. We probably should have tried Palo that night, but we were lazy and did not think about it in time to get
reservations.
Next day, debarkation went so smoothly, we thought we'd messed up. We
just walked off the ship and got the luggage and it was over! Too soon!
We found our shuttle from the Radisson waiting and we were back at the
hotel by 8:30!
To end this, I will say I learned a lot about this ship by internet
reading before the cruise. This cruise is an absolute must for any
family with kids. My teen loved it all...we never saw him. The teen
program was great for him, but I'd say a child age 17 and up will be
bored with the teen program (theyll still love the cruise). The ship was absolutely immaculate at all times. The staff was very polite and helpful for the duration of the trip. I went to empty my lunch tray one afternoon and was politely scolded by an employee who told me _'to let him do that because this was our
vacation.' The food was pretty good. Not really what I expected, but
since this was our first cruise, I don't know what I did expect! I guess
visions of unlimited filets and lobster tails were in my head..does any cruise line do that or is that old Love Boat reruns in my head??? Just suffice it to say I came back with more pounds around the middle! I was a bit disappointed that Disney does not enforce their dinner dress codes more. Why mention it in ALL the information if they are not going to enforce it? I know cruises are full of many folks of different means, but I dont think its unreasonable to ask folks to put on a pair of slacks for dinner. A family ahead of us at the last night at Triton showed up in shorts and tank tops! I think that shows either ignorance or either total lack of respect for everyone else that managed to pack and dress appropriately...and I figure its disrespect since they could apparently understand all other printed instructions.
Would I take a Disney Wonder cruise again? YES. We already plan to come
back in April and are trying to talk my brothers family into joining us. I will do a few things differently and maybe know what
more to expect this time. But we had a wonderful vacation and were not
disappointed with DCL. Thanks for all the advice from this Board!
