May 21-25 wonder report

[DISNEYMAN36]

Trip report wonder 5/21-5/25

Here is my trip report it will wonder on and bounce around just hang in there.

This was our 1st cruise. This is my personal opinion of this cruise and mine only.

We purchased (My self ,Dw, DD 1, DD 9, DD 12 ) a Disney sea 4 night package from a t/a in December Cat 4 with ground transfers every thing went smooth until we found out a few weeks ago we were flying in and landing 2 hours before the boat would leave, I call my t/a and they called Disney. Disney would not change the flight but would fly us in on Saturday for an additional $375.00 that would include a room at the airport Hyatt and the air ticket change fee. We decided to take it. (Not happy But had no choice).

Sat May 20th-
Left Harrisburg at 1:30 arrived in Orlando at 5:30pm checked in very smooth operation. Aiport was Clean the hotel was very nice.

Sunday May 21st
Took ground transfer from airport at 9:30 arrived at port at 10:30 the port was very crowded and the lines were long but went smooth arriving at port was awesome the boat looked impressive.

They started boarding at 12:30 we were boarding pass #4 we were on the boat at 1:10pm. As we walked on the boat our name was announced but we could not hear it from all the noise of music and talking. We were told to go to Parrot Cay and passed it up to go to BBB parrot cay looked empty, BBB was very very crowded. The lines went quick and there was tables just a lot of people. BBB’s food was very good and the staff was outstanding.

Went to our room at 2:00 the room was bigger than I thought and the veranda was great. The room was in great shape no complaints.

We checked out the kids club and they looked great and the kids loved them. They did not use them much but they had a great time when they did.

We had diner at Trenton’s at 5:30 it was very nice food was outstanding our wait staff was just Ok compaired to the service other people were getting from theirs. (They did nothing special)

After diner we went swimming and the only thing my dd 12,09 liked was the slide. We have a pool at home so these pools did not impress them at all, they were shallow and tiny. My dd 1 ½ hatted the pool she is used to being in a real pool not being confined to a 5' pool with 1 inch of water in it. We tried to go in the bigger pool with her but kept being kicked out because she is not fully potty trained and wears a swimming diaper. Just a reminder babys arn’t the only ones that pee in pools. I think Disney needs to make the water in the ear a little deeper or come up with something better.

We dropped dd1 1/2 at flounders and dd09/12 off at the kids clubs dw and my self went to the late show (Mike's super magic show) It was funny and had a nice time. Mike strethed eac bit out a little and it started to get boaring but we still had a nice time.

Picked up dd 1 1/2 at flounders. we were told she did not have a fun time cried alot. My wife noticed that when the kids cry at flounders they are shoved in a stroller and are let to cry themselves to sleep. Not happy but will try again on monday the 22nd. went back to the room ordered room service (all hands/pizza/hambergers) dd09/dd12 came back from clubs and had a great time.

To be continued

 

[Ker-Bear]

Looking forward to the rest of your report

 

[YesGrumpy]

Great start of a report - I like to hear all things (good and bad) so that my expectations are not unrealistic when we cruise. These reports keep me "grounded". Can't wait for more. Thanks for doing it.

 

[disneyisfun]

I was on that cruise with my family...I hope you had as "wonder" ful a time as we did...can't wait to read the rest of your report.

 

[DISNEYMAN36]

continued

Monday May 22
Woke up at 6:30 me and Dw went for a walk for quiet time while the kids slept, then went back and get them ready for breakfast at BBB food was good and lines were small food was fine eggs were a little runny but it was like that the whole trip.

Arrived in Nassau around 9 and went up on deck 10 to watch it was beautiful you have to do this.

We had A dolphin excursion at 2:00pm so we decided to go to the character meet, Lines were too long they were like this the whole trip (get there 1/2 hour + early)

The rest of the morning we walked around the ship
We got off the boat around 11 to find a water taxi ( we booked our own excursion) It was a little confusing on were to go. There was 6 men with tags standing at the end of the pier I asked them how to get to a water taxi he said that was his job and wisked us through the building at a half jog. We ended up at a taxi cab (he lied) and said his taxi was faster to the paridise boat terminal. we decided to take it since he only charged $12.00 for the 5 of us.
We arrived at the paridise terminal way to eairly and had to wait a hour or so. we got on the boat to the Blue lagoon and it started to rain hard.

At the blue lagoon we did the dolphin encounter it was beautiful there dd 1 1/2 freaked out when the dolphin came out of the water and started squeling. But we all had a great time even though it poured all afternoon, it was worth the $400.00.
We got back to the cruise terminal arond 5:00 pm we had Animators pallet at 5:30 we new we were not going to make it back in time so we went to what we thought was the straw market ( who knows) there was not alot of people we bought a couple of nick nacks and my Cuban cigars Nassau was not as bad as I thought it would be but than again we were not with the crowds. I have 3 daughters so we were bombarded with people wanting to braid their hair other than that it was fine.

We got back on the boat cleaned up and went to plutos dog house for diner food was good. The fish sandwich did not taste like fish could have been chicken.

Kids went to the clubs (their choice) Baby went to flounders. We went to the Prominade lounge for a drink and listen to the music and our pager went off for flounders. We went up and again our child was in a stroller shoved in a corner crying hard. We picked her up my dw was visibly upset at the way flounders does things (our opinion) We cancelled the rest of flounders for the whole trip.

Dw dd baby and myself went to see the late show hurcles the show boared me and my wife but we were glad we experienced it. It was a little drawn on for us. Baby slept through it. Around 10:30 the kids came back from the clubs and we had them watch the baby. Dw and Myself went to wave bands for drinks and had a great time. then walked deck 10 till the wee hours. Came back to the room kids were asleep. We had a great day

to be continued

 

[3sons]

Disneyman, I think your right .the clubs are great for 4 or 5 and up, but the younger kids groups are lacking. I would not let DS3 in the club when they combined 5-7 year olds with his group. There were plenty of counselors present, but some of those kids were three x's his weight. They were all excited and running around.

 

[DISNEYMAN36]

Wonder report continued

Tuesday May 23rd. Castaway Cay Day

Woke up we were at castaway cay it was beautiful!!! We sat on the veranda for a while to let the beauty sink in then went to BBB for breakfast no lines food was fine. (same selection all week).

We got off the boat at 10:00 am no lines at the tram but decieded to walk to the family beach (7 min walk) It was a very nice walk I recomend it. The family beach was a little crowded all the chairs in the first 7 rows were taken but we were happy where we were. We went swimming it was in the 80's and humid outside but the water was cold at first but we got used to it. The water is very salty.

Dw and myself went snorkleing while the kids swam. It was fun and we seen fish but not alot of fish.(go way way out dont snorkle in the shallow area) most of the fish are 100 yards off shore.

dd12 dd 09 went snorkeling after us dd 9 did not like it but dd 12 loved it and was out for the rest of the day her back got burnt.

We went to lunch at the barbecue (12:30) food lines for the buffet were small but the free drink station + ice cream lines were a tad long. we sat in the pavilion. The food was very good no complaints. We swam for the rest of the day then went shopping at the shops. We rode the tram back and stopped at the post office. we forgot cash so we could not send a post card. dw,dd went on the boat got cash and got back off. Postcards were sent.
We were back on the boat by 3:30 went to our room to shower and get ready for the pirates diner at animators pallet.

We arrived at animators pallet at 5:30 and were seated. The food was great I had some type of shrimp and scallop pasta (forget the name) Wife had the grouper and loved it also. Kids ate from the kids menu (kids menu is the same as a typical restaurant in the states).

Service was basicly the same as the first night and the head server finaly came by and spent 3 seconds with us.

They did not do the colors on pirate night and we missed animators the second night so that was a drag. The servers put on a pirate show it was nice. and the a small band came on and played diner music for 15 minutes it was nice. Our servers were very very nice and would do anthing for you if asked but we still did not get the personal service other tables were getting from their servers.

After diner dd 12 + 9 went to the kids club they did not want to go to pirate night so they were told to be back in the room by midnight. DW,dd1 1/2 went to the promenade lounge to see the band dd 1 1/2 danced and had a ball we all had a great time. Went to deck 9 for the pirate show got there just after it started it was not crowded at all and found a table easy. The show was great and very well organized we had a great time the fireworks were a great finishing touch. They opened the pirate buffet around 11 it was crowded the ice sculpture and deserts looked impressive the food looked fine but the lines were long we decieded to go back to the room for room service. room service food was good I just wish they had a better selection. We sat out on the veranda, the kids came back from clubs. We went to bed by 1 am.
to be continued

 

[creature teacher]

Hi Disenyman,
We were on that cruise too. We had the same eating schedule as you, except that our time was at 8:00. I was worried how this would work out with a 3 year old, but it worked great. The down side was that I ate so much at supper, that I didn't have room for any dessert after the pirate party!
Who were your servers? Just curious.

 

[tjeagle]

Thanks for the great report! You seem to have a great attitude! Didn't let the "little things" get you down!!

 

[Epperbiker]

Thanks for your report. We were also on this sailing and had a great time overall. I think we will be forever spoiled by the smooth seas! There were times on the Sea day when you could barely see the horizon because the water was like glass.

Our Dining Room Servers, Kiati and Hanaleah (sp?) were fabulous and treated our two year old wonderfully.

Our only disappointed was with Flounders Reef. On our last Cruise, the 3 day Wonder back in October, our son did fine in the Nursery. This time, he started to cry almost the moment we walked in the door. We were forced to cancel our Spa reservation because we didn't feel comfortable leaving him there. As it turned out, our Dining Room table mates also had problems with their 2 1/2 year old, and they cancelled further time there as well.

The biggest thing that I noticed is that the staff seemed so stressed. The one girl never cracked a smile at any point during our interaction during the cruise. I can't say what, but something was definitely wrong in Flounders Reef this Cruise.

We enjoyed the cruise enough to re-book onboard for a 7 day Eastern for September 2007!