July 24th Wonder

[budget mom]

This was our first cruise. The cast includes myself and DH along with our 4 children DS 11, DD 8, DD 6, and DD 3. We arrived (in 2 batches b/c of airline trouble) at MCO from Arkansas the day before our trip. Thank goodness we weren't flying in on the day of our cruise. We stayed at the Ron Jon. Because of the mess up I had to get a ride with Tiffany's Town Car from the airport at 10:45 pm with my 3 daughters. I love this service. The driver was waiting and very polite. B/c of our late arrival we were moving slowly on our departure morning. My husband had rented a car from Budget, so he dropped everyone and luggage off at terminal around 10:30 or so. We pulled right up to the curb, all of our stuff was promptly taken by a porter and the kids and I proceeded into the terminal. I kept our bathing suits sunscreen etc. with us in a carry on bag. All went very smoothly at check in, I decided to let the kids explore while I finished the paper work. We got in line to actually get on the ship before hubby got back from Budget. Mickey and Minnie made their first appearance and my 3 younger kids went WILD. That's how it would go for every other character appearance for the next 4 days. We were allowed on the boat around noon and directed to BBB. We were all starving since we hadn't eaten since the Memphis airport the night before. Everything was fresh and tasty. We scored a big round table inside and began to chow down. After a few trips back for a few more things and at least 3 trips to the desert bar we left to go explore. We immediately found the Mickey pool and everyone screamed (sorry if anyones eardrums were ruptured) can we go swimming NOW? It was great to say sure, why not. We had not worn our suits underneath--should have--so we ducked into a restroom to change. The pool was getting full but not as bad as the day at sea. My 3 y.o. thought the pool was perfect. She could touch with no problem. I loved her expression when the little fountain deals squirted up. The older ones began going down the slide. My son located the drink station and began enjoying the soda that is included (NOT FREE! just kidding). My husband kept checking things out and came back around 2 or so to say we could get into our rooms. We all went to the rooms and the kids and I went up to get registered for the clubs before the drill. No problem in the clubs, at first I thought it was gonna take a while and was sorry I hadn't registered them on line but got finished pretty quick. Went back to the room to unpack. We ordered a snack before the drill, which arrived promptly. We had 2 CAT 9 rooms side by side on deck 2. We booked too late to get connecting, but we were happy with the ones we got. They were actually bigger than I had imagined. ( we stayed at all star movies once!!!) They made the call for the drill. We all went to our station and lined up. I was expecting it to be in the sun and hot, but we were in the shade and it went really fast. I am glad I had talked to the kids about it being a drill and not to get all worked up with worry about something bad happening. After the drill the 2 youngest were about to split their seams to go to the club which didn't open until 6:30. We went up to deck 9 and enjoyed the sail away party. It was lots of fun to finally get moving. We weren't sure what to expect. We were shocked to see the sea going by our porthole so fast when we got back to the room!! After changing for show and dinner ( we had late seating at 8 pm) I took DD's to their club and met DH and other 2 kids at Hercules. We sat in the back but all the seats were great. After the show we checked on 2 in the club and they wanted to go to dinner with us. We had Triton's and hung out their with all the characters until our seating. I loved watching all the action going on with the photographers and all the characters. We had a table all to ourselves which was fine. It was kind of nice not worrying if our kids were bothering our table mates. I had been worried about having the same server each night.....that quickly changed as soon as we met Ardi. We loved him from the beginning to the end. He had a great personality and was an extremely good waiter. The kids loved his oragami that he made each night. I knew right then we wouldn't miss any of our nights with Ardi. After dinner everyone was exhausted so off to bed we went. The ocean seemed very smooth and nobody had any trouble with sea sickness. My 3 y.o. had her Dad bring her to me in the middle of the night. He didn't mind since he couldn't sleep anyway. I'm not sure what the problem was. I'll continue with day 2 soon.

 

[budget mom]

Day 2--We were up early to be ready for Dolphin Encounter excursion. We all went up to BBB and had breakfast as we were getting really close to Nassau. It was neat to see the island getting closer. We met for our excursion around 9:15 and were off the ship soon after. The walk from the ship to the boat that took us to the Blue Lagoon Island was long and hot for our 3 y.o. It would have been nice to have the stroller. It took about 10-15 minutes to reach the boat. I wasn't expecting much for the boat ride over to the island. It was ok and did take about 45 minutes. The kids didn't really enjoy the ride. We arrived at the island and followed the crowd over to the encounter area. We sat thru the dolphin info talk and then went over to the area where you get in the water with the dolphin. I thought it was confusing..we weren't sure as to what to do. Finally all the families got settled around the dock and waited to begin. The whole family loved touching and playing with the dolphins. We were in the last of 3 groups to get in the water. I thought the trainer did a great job. Next we walked over to the "beach" part of the island for lunch. The food was not very good. The fruit punch that was included with the meal had to be picked up over at the bar area...there was music playing and somebody trying to get people to dance in order to win something at the bar. It was annoying. The water and beach were nice, but we were ready to leave by the 2 pm boat. After getting back on the boat and into dry clothes we got the kids a snack at Pluto's and took all of them to the clubs. We just wandered around a bit on the ship... Played ping-pong and ate some of the delicious pineapple from scoops. DD 8 paged us around 5:30 since her group was going to dinner. We got them all out and got ready for the Golden Mickeys. DD 3 wanted to go back to the club, but when we got there they were at BBB for dinner. I didn't want to go all the way up there so I took her back for nap with Dad. DD8 and 6 and DS 11 and I all loved the show. Dinner was at Animators Palate. It was a real treat. Our server Ardi was great again. We went to bed early again. No complaints from the kids.

 

[auntie k]

Hello fellow Arkansan! Great trip report - keep it coming!! We don't leave until Oct 9 and I need the "fix"!! Glad your family had a blast!!

Just curious - is Memphis closer to you or was it cheaper? Your report confirmed I'm glad we are going in a day early - we are using the new Delta direct flights out of LR. They got as low as $168!

 

[budget mom]

Hello auntie k-I am thru Conway all the time. My parents live in NE AR and they have a place on Greers Ferry. My SIL lives on Petit Jean MTN. Anyway, we are in Van Buren and just 10 min from the Ft. Smith airport. We always fly NW to Memphis and then right into MCO. The only other choice is American to Dallas. We flew out of LR 3 or 4 years ago and still had to go to Memphis, that's when we decided to try the small jet out of FS. You are going to love the cruise---my report is kinda stalled out right now. We had to go see Sky High and are now having a sleep-over. OH BOY.

 

[Ker-Bear]

Enjoying your posts. Looking forward to day 3 and 4

 

[budget mom]

Tuesday-Castaway Cay. We didn't get up quite as early, but I had trouble sleeping and got up around 7. We all did breakfast (in shifts) at BBB. DH and kids loved the birds swooping down for food. I'm not sure of the time, but as soon as we got on our suits and packed up our beach stuff we headed off the boat. I was expecting lots of people, but as we had our pic made etc. there was hardly anyone around. I didn't know about the tram and was pleasantly surprised. Much better than our walk at Nassau! After we got off the tram I saw the wagons to the left. Our 3 y.o. loved riding in the wagon and it was nice to let all of our junk ride as well. As we rounded the corner at the snorkel rental there seemed to be no one on the family beach. Not what I was expecting! We went down...almost to the "jungle gym" thing they have in the water for the kids. I rented snorkel stuff for 3 kids and 1 adult. We just played around in the water. The kids played on the jungle gym. I was really glad we had brought DD 3's life jacket. It made watching everyone alot easier. Slowly but surely lots and lots of people started arriving. I'm not sure if we were in the way or what.. but a kid jumpled off the platform and landed right on DS 11. You have to be extra careful watching the kids here. There was a lifeguard present. DH is not a big beach fan so he volunteered to take DD 3 back to the boat around 11. I stayed with the others and we snorkeled. We saw lots of fish.....the sand hadn't been totally kicked up yet. We saw the Mickey and were pretty much ready to head in for lunch. We located the buffet and enjoyed our lunch. We saw Mickey and Minnie and headed down to find the hair braiding area. DD8 and 6 got their hair done by 2 really nice women. It was in the shade and didn't take very long. We swam a little more, but there were just tons of people so we headed back to the tram. It was about 2:15. We met DH and DD3 as they were getting off tram. He said the club pager went off with a message saying DD8 wanted to be picked up at the club on CC?????We hadn't even checked any of them into the club that day. I'm not sure if they punched in the wrong # or what. His nap-time wasn't working out too well!! Our 3 y.o. had to have her hair braided, so they headed down there and we went back to the ship. We left note for them to meet us at the pool. This was probably our most favorite time on deck 9 b/c most people were still on the island. We snacked, swam, and played ping pong until time to head back to the room to get ready for show and dinner. DD3 insisted on going to the club. They directed me to BBB where they were being served dinner. The staff was super. DD had taken off her bracelet, but the counselor just made her a temporary and had someone get her a tray immediately. They are very organized. I headed down to the show and met everyone there. I can't think of the guys name, but we loved it. The kids are still talking about it. After the show DD6 wanted to go to club...just by luck they were getting ready to make Flubber. We headed to 8 oclock dinner at AP. It was pirates night. DD 6 paged us half way thru dinner..Ardi our server was so nice..he got her order of mac n cheese out fast. After dinner we checked DD3 out of club and headed up for the fireworks. We thought they would be around 10 pm. If we had known they weren't until later we wouldn've waited. Everyone was just too tired. We did manage to leave before it was all over...I'm sure that made getting back to our room easier. We wasted no time getting to sleep!

 

[TamieH]

Thanks for the great information. We will be on the Wonder 10/16-10/20. What night was Pirate's Night on your cruise? Thanks

 

[budget mom]

Pirate night was on Tue.(3rd night). It is a late night but at least the next day is at sea so you are able to sleep later...that is unless you have 4 kids with you! Ha!

 

[Dreamer04]

Good trip report! Can't wait for the rest!

 

[budget mom]

Wednesday--last day--at sea. Still didn't sleep in, but it was nice not to feel like you had to get up and get going. Again, breakfast was in shifts at BBB. Youngest 3 kids went to the club early. My 8 y.o. asked to go with my 6 y.o. and they said no problem. That made her very happy. My 3 y.o. joined her group in the theatre for Pooh's movie. Again the counselors greeted her and checked her in outside the theater with no problems. Oldest son, DH and I headed for pajama bingo. Be sure and wear your pajamas as they gave away a key chain to those who did. We bought two 35$ packs. They also offered one for 25 that had 3 games. So, (it took me a minute to figure it out)each pack had 6 cards for each game that was called. I think they called 5 games. It was fun even though we didn't win. It took about an hour. I wanted to play later in the day for the big jackpot, but I didn't. DH and DS went up to the gift shop to have a small ship signed by the captain. DD's and I hung out in front of Triton's and saw tons of characters. They were at a tablet signing autographs. We waited for Triton's to open and enjoyed a great lunch with nice servers. My kids were quite insulted that Ardi, our server, wasn't with us!!! They had become spoiled for sure! We went up to swim on deck 9 for a while. It was really packed so we headed back to relax in the room. I checked the 3 girls into the club so they could do their graduation deal at 4:15. DH, DS and I watched the show at 5. I don't know what I was expecting, but I probably wouldn't have them "graduate" again. It was cute, but everyone was just trying to see their own little one on the stage--the show really didn't involve the kids. I thought the slide show was awesome. After that we got the girls and dressed for our last show Dreams. Everyone loved it and we headed for PC. It was really hot and crowded outside PC and for the 1st time I felt a little sea sick. A few others commented on the seas being a little rougher. I have a feeling it was actually pretty calm we had just been used to not feeling it at all. It was plenty cool after we were seated and I quickly felt better. In fact it was so cold DS went to room to get a jacket. We said goodbye to our wonderful wait staff and headed back to begin packing. YUCK. I got everything together easily and put out for pick up by 11. I had no idea our stateroom person was the one who loaded all of that up. That was a tough job no doubt. We got tucked in when I suddenly realized I had sent our birth certificates down with our luggage. I went up to GS at midnight to find out if this was a problem. They assured me we would get our luggage before we went to customs. Needless to say, I worried all night about not having these documents in my hot little hand. I hadn't even gotten them out of our carry on from the first day, so I was worried they weren't even where I thought they were.

 

[cruiselightupmylife]

Anyone out there Sailing in May 20, 2006. We're DVC members sailing on our second cruise as DVC members. We've been members since 1992.

Since our first 4-Day Disney Cruise, we have decided that, Life is what you do between Disney Cruises.

 

[budget mom]

Thursday--last day. I was awake extra early (5:45!) in anticipation of disembarkation. I went to BBB for coffee and some cereal and muffins for the kids to eat in the room when they awoke. All went smoothly....we were not in the first group, but I'm sure we were off by 8:15. Luckily, we spotted our bags and I quickly located our BCs. All went smoothly thru customs etc. We all carried our luggage and made it to the Budget van that seemed to be just waiting for us! OVERALL......The kids and I loved the cruise. I would love to do it again. My DH felt very confined and would not want to do another cruise. I would definately do the late seating again, 8 oclock was perfect. I'm not sure I would like it any later than this. Both DH and I agree that we have never had such great "customer service". Each cast member we came in contact was always eager to answer any questions or help in ANY way. Their care is amazing. I once asked at guy sweeping on deck 9 where something was and he didn't "quit" until he was certain I was satisfied. I know we will never encounter anything like this again. The ship was extremely clean and I loved the turn down service each night. With all the kids we can certainly be messy. We enjoyed the food and as I've said we loved our server. I bought the 10 picture photo pack and it was fun picking out the pictures each day. I can't say enough about the kids staff. It was a quality program for sure. The counselors always seemed to be interacting with the kids when we showed up. Finally, this board is wonderful. I love having a Disney trip planned so that I can lurk around here and get lots of useful info. You guys are great! Thanks! I can't wait until we head to WDW again. If I can answer any questions I'll be glad to.

 

[LucEeyore]

Thanks for the great trip report!!

 

[AspiringCindy]

Budget mom, would you recommend taking a stroller on the Blue Lagoon Beach Day excursion. I know it would be hard to push the stroller on the beach, but would it be benefit to and from the shuttle? Also, when you return(boat shuttle) where does the boat leave you off? Right by the ship or by the original pick up?

 

[budget mom]

Sorry for the delay....I've been out of town. You are dropped off at the same point. The only difference is you go thru some sort of welcome/info building on the way back to the ship. I'm not sure about taking the stroller. It might be too much to keep up with on the island. I will say between my DH and me, our 3 y.o. was carried about 75% of the way. We normally don't do a stroller or really carry her that much, it was just the heat and the pace. I wasn't sure where we were going, we were just following the people in front of us so we didn't want to lag behind. I will say I was glad to see the wagons on CC!

 

[AspiringCindy]

Thanks! I still have to decide whether to bring a stroller on the ship or not. We are renting a car...so I can leave it in the car at port if need be!