January 21, 2010 - Wonder

[KSandbergFL]

does anyone know if you get your money back if excursion is canceled due to weather???? or do you just lose????

one year we had an excursion cancelled -- not due to weather, but because we were the only people who had signed up. We were not charged.

 

[hawky7]

Haven't started packing either, got a really bad stomach flu for a couple days, and now I don't have any more days off until the day we leave (wed night!!) So I suppose I should be working like crazy to get this done.

I also STILL have not done a FE...I'm gonna cheat and use my snowman card holder, so I hope it will give you all a good laugh that mine will not be at all disney. Still haven't finished my door decorations either. Actually I haven't finished much of anything, and its starting to stress me out QUITE a bit!!

I really really can't wait for this trip!!! Is it Thursday yet.... are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet??? Thats my little kid tantrum. Its just I really wish we were on the ship NOW!

 

[Melynny]

Hi guys, I am in Orlando now. Thanks for posting the spa package stuff Hawky.. now I am really torn. It looks like its going to be a good week here in the 70s, with rain on Sunday. I have not heard about Rain on Fri and Sat.. BUMMER! We had both of our excursions cancelled on our last curise, they did not charge us, but we booked them thru disney, not sure about other companies.

Feeels so good to be here... I think tomorrow us old folks are going to be Disney Defectors and go to Aquatica... LOL

 

[hawky7]

JEALOUS you are already enjoying the magic! I still have another 5 days of work before we leave, yes working all the way thru Wednesday, then straight to the airport, overnight and to the port. Going to be crazy... Oh well it will be worth it when we get there!!! Have you gone to WDW at all? Wondering if its insane crowded there. Thats our joke on the west coast, is that there is NO longer slow days at Disneyland, because there are sooo many passholders... So there is never an "off" season. Its really too bad.

Well hope you have a blast! See you soon!

 

[Purplejewel]

I'm about to start packing . I can't believe I'm leaving in the morning for Disneyworld! I'm so very excited. I checked the weather and it looks great for my 4 days at Disneyworld but it is still calling for rain and thunderstorms possible on Friday and Saturday of the cruise. I really don't want my excursion to be canceled. I want to play with sea lions . Also, I don't want to have it rain all day when we are docked at Castaway Cay . Hopefully, the rain will only be a few hours and then clear up so it doesn't interfere with excursions or fun on the island. If my excursion gets canceled, I don't really want to walk around Nassau - been there; done that. I hope I can get a spa treatment booked to take up some time that day if I have to. Well, got to go pack.

 

[Melynny]

Today was our 1st full day here, It was cloudy and rainy. But still 75! We did not do anything at WDW or Aquatica. I just shopped, by the looks of the traffic, it does not seem too busy.

We don't have our annual passports this year, so we will prob. just do one park hop day. This is our 3rd vacation to florida this winter, so we prob wont' do much.

I did find some GREAT deals at the Coldwater Creek outlet. Everything in the store was 50% off the lowest price. Unbelievable! I checked my reciept and some things I thought were 9.99 ended up being 7.49. Now I have to go back!

 

[Purplejewel]

I'm putting my four daughters to bed now and then going to bed myself. Don't know how I'm going to sleep though knowing my vacation starts in the morning . Even having to get up at 3:45 a.m. to go to the airport isn't going to get me down. Vacation is finally here. See everyone on the boat Thursday.

 

[CC197823]

I was checking out the port canaveral webcam this morning and saw the wonder pull in. I can't believe the next time it docks there we will be boarding.
If you weren't aware of this check it out around 4 or 5 to watch it pull away, my kids got a kick out of watching it.

http://http://www.portcanaveral.com/webcam.htm

 

[LuvtheEars]

Yes it is here! We are waiting for the hotel shuttle
to take us to the port right now!

It's very warm and the sun is shinning!

We'll see everyone on the boat on Thursday!

 

[KSandbergFL]

Hi there....

In case you aren't watching the main DISBoard threads, there are reports of a diarrhea/vomiting outbreak on the Wonder, on the Jan 10-14th (4-nt) cruise. Several families were quarantined to their rooms.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2372330

I wouldn't be too worried. DCL will surely have sanitized the entire ship (as much as humanly possible) by Thursday. Just be diligent, and wash your hands every chance you get. We also stick to using our own stateroom bathroom, and avoiding the public ones.

 

[Chloe's mom]

I also saw that thread about the sickness..... makes me paranoid. I just hope that they disinfect the ship effectively! Nobody wants to end up with that......

 

[KSandbergFL]

To all of you packing up and heading out today --- good luck!

Best wishes to you, for a happy and fun cruise! Maybe we'll run into you on the boat tomorrow! Can you believe it's finally here!?!?

 

[hawky7]

WOOOOHOOOO finishing packing up right now and leave for the airport in like 2 hours, I suppose I shouldn't be on the disboards then huh??? See you all soon!!!

 

[KSandbergFL]

WOOOOHOOOO finishing packing up right now and leave for the airport in like 2 hours, I suppose I shouldn't be on the disboards then huh??? See you all soon!!!

haha, that's funny.

we have a mere 45-minute drive to the port. we'll get to sleep in! we'll put the bags in the car tomorrow morning around 10am, and be in the checkin line by 10:45am. too easy!

 

[CC197823]

haha, that's funny.

we have a mere 45-minute drive to the port. we'll get to sleep in! we'll put the bags in the car tomorrow morning around 10am, and be in the checkin line by 10:45am. too easy!

KSandberg
Our drive is about 1hr 45min so we will be right behind you!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend

 

[hawky7]

Lucky for both of you who are so close!! As for me, my flight was delayed...like usual. Our new flight gets in around 11 am tomorrow, this was after the lady looked at me like I was crazy telling her I HAD to be ther by noon AT the latest!!! So now I get to go like this Bend to Portland, Portland to Seattle, Seattle to Houston, Houston to Orlando...ughhh ...don't expect me to be smiling until after a nap!! LOL

 

[Fivepin]

Getting ready to go in about half an hour. We have a 2 1/2 hr drive to the port. See everybody there.

 

[KSandbergFL]

how was everyone's cruise?

 

[Melynny]

Well, we drove all the way home yesterday after leaving the ship. I can't believe that we were in sunny Florida yesterday and now today we woke up to SNOW! not much just flurries.

We both have a terrible cold... not the stomach type symptoms that were reported, but really, really bad stuffy noses, sore throats and head aches! What a nice souvenir.

Someone stole my door decoration, BUMMER!

However WE did have a great time! It was so, so much better than our 1st Disney Cruise. I am so glad that we gave it a second chance! We ended up walking to the Hilton and doing their Day Pass. It worked out great for us. No schedule to keep and it was nice, we got to see 2 of the other ships dock and really the water there was very clean, the pool was great.

I am bummed that we were both feeling bad by Castaway day. I really wanted to snorkel, but I was just beginning to feel bad and I just looked too long, OH well that will be something to save for next time.

We really enjoyed our stateroom host and our server this time. That was really what was missing last time and it really made a difference.

Loved Pirate night, and seeing the Flying Dutchman! Ready for our next one!

 

[KSandbergFL]

We had a good cruise.. leaving the boat on Sunday morning is always so "depressing". I joked to my wife that we should turn around and get right back on the 4-day cruise... and if she had said "yes let's do it" -- we just might have!

Some notes/highlights:

* Thanks to everyone for participating in the fish-extender exchange! My DS8 really loved everything... it was hard to get him interested in lunch when all that chocolate was around!

* This was our first inside (no window) stateroom. It was fine... yes, we did miss a window or verandah, but our overall cruise experience did not suffer at all. The room was comfortable and cozy, and we would not hesitate to book another inside room.

* Did anyone go to Cabbage Beach on Friday? We got there at around noon, and stayed until about 4pm. We were really surprised by how BUSY it was.... much busier than last September 2009. We figured it was because -- this time there were four cruise ships in port, and in September there was only 2. The water proved to be too cold (for us) for much swimming or snorkeling, but we had a nice time just playing in the sand and relaxing. I got a 30-min massage at the massage cabana by the Sunrise Beach Club.

* Did ya'll see the RCCL Oasis of the Seas? That's a big ship, made the Wonder look tiny! The new Disney Dream is gonna be comparable to the Oasis, but not quite as big.

* Did you notice that we left Nassau later than scheduled? There is another thread here, that says someone DIED (in their room, I think), and the Wonder had to stay in Nassau until the authorities cleared everything. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2379613

* Isn't Castaway Cay the happiest place on earth? On Castaway Cay day, we got to the beach around 10am. We lounged around in the sand, took a bike ride, then ended up at the cabana with the outdoor pool tables... Since the water was too cold for swimming, around 2:30pm my DS8 started begging to go back to the boat to use the Mickey pool... so that's what we did. He played for a good 2 hours, while my wife and I took turns in Vista Spa taking a steam. After dinner, we finally found time to let DS8 play some computer games in the Oceaneer Club, while DW and I went to the adults-only pool (we had the hot tubs all to ourselves!).

* This will probably be our last January cruise. The KFO price was unbeatable, and we did have a good time... but after going in September, we missed the warm water. We put a deposit down on a Sept 2010 cruise, so we will be going again in 8 short months! Yay!