Mr. Bill
Bill's Surrogate Granddaughter Devina
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2004
- Messages
- 121
-Disney Wonder May 28, 2004 Trip Report
My trip report will not be a minute by minute of what we did. I dont think that would be appealing to the reader. I will however, post a rough agenda of events and my likes and dislikes.
Bio this may help you understand some of my likes/dislikes. I am a 59-year-old, widower & grandfather. My traveling companion is my surrogate granddaughter. No blood relation but very bonded to this child. Her mother works with me at the hotel I manage in middle Georgia. Her father was recently killed while serving the US Air Force in Iraq. The trip was to celebrate Devinas 8th birthday the first one without her father.
We drove to Port Canaveral. Spent the night on the way at The Jameson Inn Jacksonville, Florida. That made for about a 2½-hour drive the day of departure.
Arrived about 11:30 and visited Shirley at The Perfect Gift.
Arrived at the ship shortly after 12 noon. Lines were not too bad. Entire check-in process took less than an hour. I handed the greeter a card explaining it was Devinas birthday the chorus sprang to life with the appropriate song. Thats guest service!
Ate lunch and went to room 6583 (great location middle of everything) about 1:30.
FIRST DISAPPOINTMENT: On my next cruise I will to try to budget more for the room. I found the category eleven cramped even for one adult and one child. I dont blame Disney for this; I blame a lack of budgeting on my part. The lack of storage space mandated that we walk around two large suite cases for the duration of the trip. Cases probably would have fit under the bed but Im not sure every thing in the cases would have fit in the drawers. I sneaked a peak at a verandah room and became instantly jealous!
Our room was clean. Im very picky about that; hotel management for 30 years. The room attendant called me by name every time we encountered him in the hall. Thats impressive.
SECOND DISAPPOINTMENT: The beverage cooler was a complete waste of space. It felt no cooler than the temperature of the room. Bottled water never became cool from this cooler.
Took Devina swimming in the Mickey Pool. Even though she enjoyed the hot tub at the family pool the Mickey Pool was by far her favorite. The pool and the big yellow slide is a childs dream-come-true. Even though Devina is exposed to a pool on a daily bases at home, this one intrigued her and held her captive.
The sail away party was fantastic. Bring bubbles its adds to the excitement.
I was glad I had the advantage of the education from this forum. Without it, I would have been overwhelmed! The ship is huge and can be intimidating and confusing for a first time cruiser.
I will not analyze each restaurant or each meal. Food is such a personal matter that my opinions could be meaningless to others. I will only comment that I thought the appetizers and the desserts were outstanding. The main entrées were no better or worse than many good/fine dining establishments. All food presentations were far above average.
THIRD DISAPPOINTMENT: A child Smoothie is charged at the rate of $3.75. Thats nearly as much as my martini! I would not mind paying even more for the martini but $3.75 is too much for a childs drink. Along the same line, I resented paying $1.75 (other than at meal time) for a cola. Its not the money as much as it is the inconvenience but considering what was paid for the cruise the cola should be included!
FOURTH DISPOINTMENT: This one really got-to-me. I dont mind tipping. It is a way of life and I am OK with that. What I dont like is people begging for more tips even after a suggested amount has been listed. I got tired of hearing (paraphrased) Arent we giving you great service. Doesnt the assistant waiter do a good job? Lets all stand and applaud our wait staff etc., etc., It appeared to a constant, on-going, never ending, dialog! It was as redundant as the adjectives in that last sentence.
The childs program is fabulous. Devina thoroughly enjoyed all the activities available to her. She especially enjoyed the part where I could be paged to answer her demand for a sweater. The paging system gives peace of mind and a true feeling of security.
The characters where the highlight of the cruise. They possess the patience of Job. Im confident they suffer from much abuse but they never showed anything except charm and loving attention to the children. Signing of autographs is a nice touch.
The stage productions were awesome. Professionalism abounded in the acting, costumes, music and overall production.
Guest service was the best I have experience anywhere! One thing I noticed was the crewmembers always spoke English. A small thing but (to me) is was important. You never have to wonder about what they are saying. While waiting to pay my tips at guest service, two people came to inquire about lost and found; both retrieved the items they had lost! I complimented a lady cleaning the elevator on a job well done. She referred to them as HER elevators. The cleanliness was a matter of personal pride.
Nassau was predictable. The Dolphin Encounter was fantastic. Caution: While holding Devinas hand and walking the sidewalk to the Straw market, I was approached and asked if I wanted to buy some weed! Unaccompanied teens might not be a good idea in Nassau.
Castaway Island was (a little) disappointing. I felt that more umbrellas would have been very appropriate and should have been furnished. Extremely hot the day we were there; we only stayed till about 12:30. The island is beautifully maintained in the typical Disney style. Not having to be tendered to shore is impressive.
Leaving the ship (I cant spell debarkation) was smooth as silk. If only the airports could handle luggage as efficiently Disney does.
Overall it was money well spent and I would recommend it to anyone traveling with/for children. Even though there was good adult entertainment available the Dueling Pianos is a great act - most adults would probably be better entertained on a different cruise line. But again, thats a personal decision.
I will be glad to answer any PMs and/or respond to any post concerning my trip.
My trip report will not be a minute by minute of what we did. I dont think that would be appealing to the reader. I will however, post a rough agenda of events and my likes and dislikes.
Bio this may help you understand some of my likes/dislikes. I am a 59-year-old, widower & grandfather. My traveling companion is my surrogate granddaughter. No blood relation but very bonded to this child. Her mother works with me at the hotel I manage in middle Georgia. Her father was recently killed while serving the US Air Force in Iraq. The trip was to celebrate Devinas 8th birthday the first one without her father.
We drove to Port Canaveral. Spent the night on the way at The Jameson Inn Jacksonville, Florida. That made for about a 2½-hour drive the day of departure.
Arrived about 11:30 and visited Shirley at The Perfect Gift.
Arrived at the ship shortly after 12 noon. Lines were not too bad. Entire check-in process took less than an hour. I handed the greeter a card explaining it was Devinas birthday the chorus sprang to life with the appropriate song. Thats guest service!
Ate lunch and went to room 6583 (great location middle of everything) about 1:30.
FIRST DISAPPOINTMENT: On my next cruise I will to try to budget more for the room. I found the category eleven cramped even for one adult and one child. I dont blame Disney for this; I blame a lack of budgeting on my part. The lack of storage space mandated that we walk around two large suite cases for the duration of the trip. Cases probably would have fit under the bed but Im not sure every thing in the cases would have fit in the drawers. I sneaked a peak at a verandah room and became instantly jealous!
Our room was clean. Im very picky about that; hotel management for 30 years. The room attendant called me by name every time we encountered him in the hall. Thats impressive.
SECOND DISAPPOINTMENT: The beverage cooler was a complete waste of space. It felt no cooler than the temperature of the room. Bottled water never became cool from this cooler.
Took Devina swimming in the Mickey Pool. Even though she enjoyed the hot tub at the family pool the Mickey Pool was by far her favorite. The pool and the big yellow slide is a childs dream-come-true. Even though Devina is exposed to a pool on a daily bases at home, this one intrigued her and held her captive.
The sail away party was fantastic. Bring bubbles its adds to the excitement.
I was glad I had the advantage of the education from this forum. Without it, I would have been overwhelmed! The ship is huge and can be intimidating and confusing for a first time cruiser.
I will not analyze each restaurant or each meal. Food is such a personal matter that my opinions could be meaningless to others. I will only comment that I thought the appetizers and the desserts were outstanding. The main entrées were no better or worse than many good/fine dining establishments. All food presentations were far above average.
THIRD DISAPPOINTMENT: A child Smoothie is charged at the rate of $3.75. Thats nearly as much as my martini! I would not mind paying even more for the martini but $3.75 is too much for a childs drink. Along the same line, I resented paying $1.75 (other than at meal time) for a cola. Its not the money as much as it is the inconvenience but considering what was paid for the cruise the cola should be included!
FOURTH DISPOINTMENT: This one really got-to-me. I dont mind tipping. It is a way of life and I am OK with that. What I dont like is people begging for more tips even after a suggested amount has been listed. I got tired of hearing (paraphrased) Arent we giving you great service. Doesnt the assistant waiter do a good job? Lets all stand and applaud our wait staff etc., etc., It appeared to a constant, on-going, never ending, dialog! It was as redundant as the adjectives in that last sentence.
The childs program is fabulous. Devina thoroughly enjoyed all the activities available to her. She especially enjoyed the part where I could be paged to answer her demand for a sweater. The paging system gives peace of mind and a true feeling of security.
The characters where the highlight of the cruise. They possess the patience of Job. Im confident they suffer from much abuse but they never showed anything except charm and loving attention to the children. Signing of autographs is a nice touch.
The stage productions were awesome. Professionalism abounded in the acting, costumes, music and overall production.
Guest service was the best I have experience anywhere! One thing I noticed was the crewmembers always spoke English. A small thing but (to me) is was important. You never have to wonder about what they are saying. While waiting to pay my tips at guest service, two people came to inquire about lost and found; both retrieved the items they had lost! I complimented a lady cleaning the elevator on a job well done. She referred to them as HER elevators. The cleanliness was a matter of personal pride.
Nassau was predictable. The Dolphin Encounter was fantastic. Caution: While holding Devinas hand and walking the sidewalk to the Straw market, I was approached and asked if I wanted to buy some weed! Unaccompanied teens might not be a good idea in Nassau.
Castaway Island was (a little) disappointing. I felt that more umbrellas would have been very appropriate and should have been furnished. Extremely hot the day we were there; we only stayed till about 12:30. The island is beautifully maintained in the typical Disney style. Not having to be tendered to shore is impressive.
Leaving the ship (I cant spell debarkation) was smooth as silk. If only the airports could handle luggage as efficiently Disney does.
Overall it was money well spent and I would recommend it to anyone traveling with/for children. Even though there was good adult entertainment available the Dueling Pianos is a great act - most adults would probably be better entertained on a different cruise line. But again, thats a personal decision.
I will be glad to answer any PMs and/or respond to any post concerning my trip.
