We just got back from the 3 day Wonder, and we had a WONDERful time. It was our first Disney cruise. I have to say the knowledge I learned from the DISboards really was helpful. Here are some of my tips/observations:
- used Disney busses to get to & from the port. Very nice & very easy. The CM's at the airport are great and really get you excited about the trip.
- arrive at the port at 11:00 or sooner if you can. We were able to board the ship by 11:45.
- went up to Beach Blanket Buffet for embarkation lunch, even though we were directed to go to Parrot Cay (thanks to the DIS for that tip).
- Getting on the ship early really makes things easier. Hardly anyone at BBB when we got there, had no problem finding an outside table. After that we were able to explore the ship with it virtually empty. Able to quickly make dining changes.
- Cat. 5, Deck 7. We're hooked.
- Try to be just past the aft or forward elevators, rather than midship. There's much less traffic.
- Dinners: Triton's - pretty good. Animator's Pallette - just OK. (show is pretty cool, but it doesn't blow you away.) Parrot Cay - can't comment, had Palo that night. Palo - OMG, incredible food & service, the Chocolate Suffle, that first bite was one of the best of my life!
- Nassau - not that impressed. Getting a cab is very easy, you immediately are approached by about 20 people offering it. The people there are generally very nice. Atlantis is pretty cool (the beach area is beautiful), bought a couple of Cuban cigars, but after a couple of hours, we were ready to get back on the ship. Apparently quite a few people do not get off the ship in Nassau. The ship was pretty busy all afternoon, especially the pools.
- Castaway Cay - Very nice. It was cloudy and very windy in the morning. Apparently a front had just come through. Serenity Bay is very nice but was taking the brunt of the wind. The weather was much more pleasant in the family beach area. Cabana massage was nice, but being my first massage, it felt kind of wierd, so I wouldn't do it again. And it's REALLY expensive for what it is. Cookie's BBQ was pretty good. The Talapia sandwich was good. Snokeling was not very good, I would prefer to snorkle at a different port of call. There just weren't many fish. We love Castaway Cay. By the way, if you're going to send a post card from Castaway Cay, have your post cards already filled out before you get off the ship, because the post office is right near the ship, and we passed it before we realized it. Also the post office closes at 4:00, so keep that in mind if you are thinking you will mail them on your way back to the ship. Also, the post office accepts cash only. OK, enough about the post office!
- Pools - We love the Quiet Cove Pool area (Adults only), it is very nice and really does separate you from all the kids action. Although you will see some families with children passing through, but they don't hang around. Plus the spa is right there so it was easy for me to hang out at the pool while my wife finished up at the spa. Never swam at the other pools. Goofy pool is really small & Mickey pool is always full of kids, as it should be.
- Spa - This was more of my wife's arena. She loved it and had a massage every day. She did the Hot Store Massage & the Seaweed wrap thing and she loved both. We looked at the Rainforest Room and it looked really nice. We didn't do it though due to it only being a 3 night cruise, and not having enough time. We will both definitely use it when we do the 7 night.
- Shows - Hercules was hilarious! I loved that show. The Golden Mickeys started out pretty good, but all in all wasn't that great. Disney Dreams was the best of the three and even got me tearing up a couple of times. Classic Disney.
- Rebooking onboard - We did this right at 5:00 on the Nassau day and there was no line. Very easy.
- Tipping - We went to Guest Services to charge our tips to the room. We did this with no wait in the morning of our Castaway Cay day before we got off the ship. That evening the lines at Guest Services were very long.
- De-embarkation - this was extremely easy. After breakfast we casually walked off the ship, got our bags, went through customs, checked our bags with Delta, & got on the bus - all this in a span of 10 minutes.
- Lesson learned. After leaving the ship at the end of the trip, don't go spend the day at WDW before an evening flight. We were still in cruise mode and were exhausted at WDW, it just didn't seem as fun as it normally is. Try to get a flight in the early afternoon, if at all possible. End your trip with the cruise.
The ship was incredibly beautiful, inside & out. The service was magnificent, much better than at WDW. Disney has definitely done this right. We WILL be back, going on the 7 day.
- used Disney busses to get to & from the port. Very nice & very easy. The CM's at the airport are great and really get you excited about the trip.
- arrive at the port at 11:00 or sooner if you can. We were able to board the ship by 11:45.
- went up to Beach Blanket Buffet for embarkation lunch, even though we were directed to go to Parrot Cay (thanks to the DIS for that tip).
- Getting on the ship early really makes things easier. Hardly anyone at BBB when we got there, had no problem finding an outside table. After that we were able to explore the ship with it virtually empty. Able to quickly make dining changes.
- Cat. 5, Deck 7. We're hooked.
- Try to be just past the aft or forward elevators, rather than midship. There's much less traffic.
- Dinners: Triton's - pretty good. Animator's Pallette - just OK. (show is pretty cool, but it doesn't blow you away.) Parrot Cay - can't comment, had Palo that night. Palo - OMG, incredible food & service, the Chocolate Suffle, that first bite was one of the best of my life!
- Nassau - not that impressed. Getting a cab is very easy, you immediately are approached by about 20 people offering it. The people there are generally very nice. Atlantis is pretty cool (the beach area is beautiful), bought a couple of Cuban cigars, but after a couple of hours, we were ready to get back on the ship. Apparently quite a few people do not get off the ship in Nassau. The ship was pretty busy all afternoon, especially the pools.
- Castaway Cay - Very nice. It was cloudy and very windy in the morning. Apparently a front had just come through. Serenity Bay is very nice but was taking the brunt of the wind. The weather was much more pleasant in the family beach area. Cabana massage was nice, but being my first massage, it felt kind of wierd, so I wouldn't do it again. And it's REALLY expensive for what it is. Cookie's BBQ was pretty good. The Talapia sandwich was good. Snokeling was not very good, I would prefer to snorkle at a different port of call. There just weren't many fish. We love Castaway Cay. By the way, if you're going to send a post card from Castaway Cay, have your post cards already filled out before you get off the ship, because the post office is right near the ship, and we passed it before we realized it. Also the post office closes at 4:00, so keep that in mind if you are thinking you will mail them on your way back to the ship. Also, the post office accepts cash only. OK, enough about the post office!
- Pools - We love the Quiet Cove Pool area (Adults only), it is very nice and really does separate you from all the kids action. Although you will see some families with children passing through, but they don't hang around. Plus the spa is right there so it was easy for me to hang out at the pool while my wife finished up at the spa. Never swam at the other pools. Goofy pool is really small & Mickey pool is always full of kids, as it should be.
- Spa - This was more of my wife's arena. She loved it and had a massage every day. She did the Hot Store Massage & the Seaweed wrap thing and she loved both. We looked at the Rainforest Room and it looked really nice. We didn't do it though due to it only being a 3 night cruise, and not having enough time. We will both definitely use it when we do the 7 night.
- Shows - Hercules was hilarious! I loved that show. The Golden Mickeys started out pretty good, but all in all wasn't that great. Disney Dreams was the best of the three and even got me tearing up a couple of times. Classic Disney.
- Rebooking onboard - We did this right at 5:00 on the Nassau day and there was no line. Very easy.
- Tipping - We went to Guest Services to charge our tips to the room. We did this with no wait in the morning of our Castaway Cay day before we got off the ship. That evening the lines at Guest Services were very long.
- De-embarkation - this was extremely easy. After breakfast we casually walked off the ship, got our bags, went through customs, checked our bags with Delta, & got on the bus - all this in a span of 10 minutes.
- Lesson learned. After leaving the ship at the end of the trip, don't go spend the day at WDW before an evening flight. We were still in cruise mode and were exhausted at WDW, it just didn't seem as fun as it normally is. Try to get a flight in the early afternoon, if at all possible. End your trip with the cruise.
The ship was incredibly beautiful, inside & out. The service was magnificent, much better than at WDW. Disney has definitely done this right. We WILL be back, going on the 7 day.
