Originally posted by CRB#33
I can't get it to open for me. 
Here it is below for you.......
Short
Disney cruise is long on positives
By Pat Morgan
Cox News Service
September 7, 2003
NASSAU - When I told my husband I'd booked us on a four-day cruise aboard the Disney Wonder, he said, "I'm not really a Disney person and I'm not really a cruise person. Otherwise, that sounds fine."
As we departed the ship after the cruise, he said, "Next time book the seven-day cruise."
It's that good. Great food, roomy cabins, lots of activities to please every member of the family, incredible programs for kids (and plenty of places to escape them).
Here are the Top 10 Tips for a short Disney cruise:
1. Use the kids' programming. I was astounded by the quality of the free kids' programming aboard the ship. Available for ages 3-12 in either the Oceaneer Club (ages 3-7) or the Oceaneer Lab (ages 8-12), the clubs open at 9 a.m. and close at midnight or 1 a.m. Teens from 13-17 also have their own area and the littlest ones (3 months to 3 years) are accommodated in Flounder's Reef nursery (though the hours and space are limited and this service is not free; it costs $6 per hour for one child, $5 per hour for each additional child).
Nobody knows how to please kids better than the folks at Disney. More than once, feeling guilty that we were spending so much time away from our daughter on a "family vacation," my husband and I went to pull Savannah out of the Oceaneer Club only to have her beg to stay. Savannah had tea with Wendy Darling of Peter Pan fame, she danced the Dance of the Seven Dwarfs with Snow White, and she became a Mouseketeer, certified by the head Mouse himself.
Plus, there are story times, movies, puppet shows, crafts, computers, costume dress-up areas and free-play time.
Older kids in the Oceaneer Lab have a variety of lab stations to explore, with video games, computer time and special programs that teach them about Disney animation or let them provide the voices and sound effects for an original radio show.
Children can come and go at the clubs as often as you want during the day (during the first-day registration parents decide if older kids can come and go on their own or if they must have a parent sign them out; kids younger than 8 must be signed in and out each time.) At mealtime the whole group goes to one of the shipboard restaurants (closed to the rest of the cruisers) for kid-friendly eats.
Parents are given a pager when their child is in the club and are required to provide a previously determined password each time they sign out the child.
2. Don't over-schedule at
Castaway Cay. Every Disney cruise makes a daylong stop at Disney's private island where passengers can take advantage of everything from parasailing and snorkeling to bicycling to cabana massages and hammocks under shade trees
We booked our day's events before we boarded the ship and made the mistake of trying to cram too much into our time at Castaway Cay: snorkeling, parasailing, a banana boat ride, float rentals and a beach-side cabana massage.
3. Eat at Palo. Atop both the Disney Wonder and the Disney Magic is an adults-only restaurant you do not want to miss. Named for the poles that line the canals of Venice, Palo features a stunning dining room overlooking the ocean, amazing Northern Italian food and flawless service.
You can book dinner there for $5 per person (reserve as soon as you board or even earlier if you can, especially if you want a specific night). It's the only place on the ship where you will have a different wait staff so you'll also want to add a gratuity.
For the price of a good bottle of wine and a fat tip, we had a truly memorable meal.
4. Consider skipping Nassau and/or Grand Bahama Island. The four-day cruise always stops at Castaway Cay and Nassau; on alternate weeks it stops at Grand Bahama Island or has a day at sea.
If you crave nonstop action, book a shore excursion. But if you long for a little down time this is an ideal opportunity to stay on the ship and take advantage of the uncrowded pools, restaurants, exercise equipment and sundecks.
5. Do your drinking on the ship. Many three- and four-day cruise passengers have a land/sea deal that includes a few days at a Walt Disney World resort. If you enjoy having a few drinks, but not every night, plan your party time aboard the ship where almost any alcoholic drink you order will cost $4.75. Similar drinks at the resort hotels go for $7 and up. (This advice does not apply to wine that can be pricey on the ship.
Don't buy the "soda package," the cruise version of those refillable mugs sold at all the Disney resorts. The resort mugs go for about $10, the four-day cruise mug is $20. Water, coffee and tea are readily available on pool decks, and you can drink all the free soda, iced tea, lemonade or fruit punch you want while in the ship's restaurants.
6. Spend some time in your cabin. I was impressed our cabin actually felt more like a hotel room than a hotel room closet. Disney says its cabins are, on average, about 25 percent larger than "industry standard." Best of all, 75 percent of the cabins are outside rooms and more than half (about 300 staterooms) feature an outdoor veranda (made kid-safe with Plexiglas).
7. Skip the "mandatory" debarkation talk. Watch iton TV while you pack.
8. If you have kids, do the sail-away and farewell parties on the pool deck. Yes, they are crowded, but they also provide the best chance to interact with the Disney characters without waiting in lines.
9. Ask if you can see the schedule for the entire cruise on the first day. You won't get the hour-by-hour breakdown of each day but you can get a general guide. This lets you know which activities will be available every day.
10. Be friendly.
