Just back from May 23 Wonder

[northernmouse]

We just got home from an awesome WDW land and WONDERful sea cruise. Stayed at the AKL one night, Polynesian for 4 -- both were wonderful. Used the verandah on our category 6 cabin every night -- who could resist with the full moon!

Parks were fun, & DS (10) was completely surprised about the cruise: said he liked it the best of our entire trip. Weather was fabulous, sea was a little rough on the 23rd which didn't bother us (a rock n' roll party, as the CM's said); everything simply could not have been better. Did the new catamaran & snorkel excursion in Nassau which we really enjoyed. Castaway Cay weather was perfect & the entire day was a blast. It was our first cruise (DH, 36, self) and we loved it so much we took advantage of the on-board special & booked a 7-day on the Magic next May!!

Will try and do a trip report this weekend. thanks to all on these boards who helped us plan an exceptional family holiday.

 

[Bbgrizzle]

I'm so glad you had a nice time! We are just back from the May 18th 7-day Magic, which we LOVED. When in May did you book your next cruise? We also booked another cruise while we were on board. It will be for May 10th Western. Will you be on the same cruise as us?

Also, which did you prefer, AKL or Poly? We will be at WDW in December and are planning Poly concierge. We've never stayed there before, but it looks great. After our cruise we checked out AKL and thought it was neat also. We might want to do a split stay and do both. We are concerned about it being so isolated though. Did you find that to be a problem?

 

[northernmouse]

Hi, Bonnie. We are booked for the May 3 Eastern cruise -- so we'll be getting off the Magic the morning that you board. Three days on the Wonder was too short!

It's hard to decide between the Poly and AKL. They are so different. (We'll probably stay between the two when we are back next year.) A couple of things to consider: the Poly's rooms are bigger and brighter. The Polynesian's ambiance is very tropical, the resort feels really laid back and the pool is easy to access. (this may not be so important in December). There is no hot tub at the Polynesian which might be really important in December. [We're Canadians, eh, so it's never too cold for us to swim when we get south in the winter ] I don't think the Polynesian can be beat for access.

On the other hand, the AKL's atmosphere is a hard-to-describe blend of sophisticated-casual. We were in a standard room, which seemed a little dark; I loved how it smelled of teak. The lodge has so many other bright spaces, though, that invite you to view the animals. In December, the animals will probably be quite active because it's cooler. The pool is nice (though our son prefered the Poly slide), and we appreciated the hot tubs.

We had a car, so we didn't find the AKL too remote; in fact, for that resort, the fact it's off by itself is one of its charms.

 

[jel0511]

I was wondering what the on-board special was. We have our first Wonder cruise booked for Nov and are planning on taking a Magic cruise sometime next year. I was wondering what the on board specials were, if there so GREAT, maybe I'll wait until I'm on board to book!!

 

[WDWLVR]

Bonnie - we're on the May 10th cruise with you next year. We booked it while on the Wonder May 11th.

Lori - the rates for booking on board are the same as you'll see with early booking discounts when you log on the Disney Cruise line website. The difference is that if you book on board you qualify for a $100 (for 3-4 day cruises) or $200 (for 7-day cruises) onboard credit for that next cruise. When we booked onboard they even asked us if we wanted to keep our same travel agent (Dreams Unlimited). We said yes (we love Dreams) and by the time we got home the confirmations were in our e-mail. We also recieved an onboard written confirmation the next day. The best part is we were able to book on board and still get the Dreams rebate.

We had pretty much made up our minds before getting on the cruise when we wanted our next one to be so I was able to have all the figures handy when we sat down with Colleen.

Hope this helps! Bonnie - hope we get to meet you next May!

 

[jubury]

Hi Northern Mouse my family and I were also on the May 23rd cruise cabin 6110. It was our first cruise and we LOVED it! We also a booked a 7 night cruise for next may.
The Capt said on the 23rd the sea swells were 30 to 40 feet thats why we were rocking so bad..
My husband and I enjoyed the rocking on the verandah with a bottle of chempagne and chocolate coverd strawberries.

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Mary,
It's so nice to find someone else already booked for next May! Will it be your first 7-day? We left our kids home this time (we missed them the whole time!) but we are taking them next time. Will you be bringing any kids with you? We have 3 DD's, ages by then will be 9, 5 and 22 months. Let's have a DIS meet! We didn't have one for the cruise last week. Someone from these boards was in our same dining section and we didn't even know it!
Bonnie