My report on our first cruise on the Wonder

[disneypoor]

Although it has been a week since we first began our journey on the 3 day Wonder, I felt that I should try to write a trip report. Afterall, I've been reading all of the trip reports that have been posted for about a year now in preparation for our cruise! I'm not much of a writer, but I hope some of you who are also going to be new to cruising DCL will be able to take something away from my report to help you in your planning.

On the roster for this cruise was: me(Susan), DH(Brian), DD(Brianna-11), DS(Brandon-8), and my best friend(Toni). We flew into Orlando last Wednesday, May 31st on Midwest Airlines from Kansas City. Thanks to the tips on this board, we rented a car from Budget at MCO and stayed at the Radisson at the Port the evening before our cruise. The Radisson was much nicer than I had expected it to be. All we did was sleep there because we got in pretty late, but we did get a chance to check out the grounds the next morning, and we thought it was a very nice hotel. We would definitely stay there again.

After we checked out the hotel, we decided to drive around a bit and ended up at Ron Jon Surf shop. We just wanted to say we'd been there. We then found a place to buy a case of bottled water and headed to Budget to return our rental car. We were going to have my husband drop all of us off at the port and return the car and have Budget shuttle him back to the port, but when we passed Budget's office, there was no one else there. We decided to stop in to see how long it would take to get us shuttled over to the port. To our surprise, there was absolutely no wait! We knew this vacation was off to a great start!

The shuttle driver for Budget was very polite and informative. It only took us about five to ten minutes to get to the port. The first time I saw the Wonder, I was blown away! We have never cruised before, and I just couldn't believe how big and beautiful the ship was! We were all so excited and just couldn't wait to get into the terminal. We arrived around 10:00 a.m. and were lucky enough to get a 2 boarding pass. I was so excited about this, but I was even more excited when I heard that having a 2 meant that you would be among the first group to board!

The terminal was also very, very nice. I couldn't believe how many characters the kids got to have their pictures taken with just while waiting to board the ship. I wished that I had their autograph books before we got to the terminal, but the shop inside the terminal was out of them, and I didn't have any luck finding them before we left. However, we did get lots of pictures! This was amazing to me because we have done DL and WDW many times, and we've never had such luck in getting our kids' pictures taken with the characters!

I honestly cannot tell you the exact time that we boarded the ship as I was SO, SO excited that I forgot to look at my watch! It was somewhere around 12:30 (I think). Okay, there is just something about walking through those Mickey Ears! I thought that I just might lose it! I didn't want to act like a kid, but I was sure feeling like one on the inside! We stopped to pose for our picture with Mickey and Minnie, and then came the moment I'd been waiting for! I had read on the DIS that they announce your family as you enter the ship, and I couldn't wait for that! They announced our name, we entered the ship, and yes, I cried! I was overwhelmed with happiness. I'd planned every detail of this trip for my family for the last year, and I just couldn't help myself! The ship was gorgeous, and I just couldn't believe I was finally here with my family! This was a whole new experience for us, and I wanted to savor every second of it!

After we boarded the ship we went straight to Beach Blanket Buffet to grab some lunch. I thought the food was okay. The fresh fruit was amazing! We grabbed a table outside so we could look down off of the ship. It was all so cool! After we finished lunch, we headed straight for the Mickey pool! I knew from reading reports on the DIS that we should have our suits on when we boarded, so my kids and husband were prepared. To my amazement, we were among the first ones in the pool, and my kids were actually the very first kids to go down the Mickey slide! My husband tried to go down it but was ran off pretty quickly! My friend and I decided to try a Bahama Mama and watch Brian and the kids play in the pool. It was great!

We headed to find our rooms around 1:30. My friend had an inside stateroom (#6045), and we had a category six stateroom with a verandah (#6050). We could not wait to check out the verandah! Although we didn't spend a whole lot of time on it, we felt that having that verandah was absolutely amazing! I was impressed with the size of our stateroom, and I really liked the split bathroom. Of course, the kids had to do rock, paper, scissors to see who would get to sleep on the bunk the first night, but they both eventually got their turn! I unpacked all of our clothes, got everything situated, and we ordered room service (just because we could ). I tried the All Hands on Deck cheese platter, and we ordered a few chocolate chip cookies. Both of them were very good. My kids knew from that moment that this was going to be an amazing trip! It's not every day you get to order room service--atleast not in my family! Between the room service and the ice cream, I'm surprised that neither of my kids ever got sick!

After everything was situated, we checked out some of the ship and did the safety drill. The kids thought it was fun too! The crew onboard the ship can make anything fun! We then got ready to go see Hercules and went to dinner at Triton's at 8:00. We really enjoyed seeing all of the shows because that is something we never take the time to do when we go to the parks. When we first walked in to Triton's, I could smell seafood. No one in my family is a seafood eater, so we were very relieved when we were able to order something other than seafood. Our servers did a pretty good job on our first night, but I am sorry to say that the worst part of our cruise was probably the service at dinner the next two nights. I'll tell more about that later.

After we finished dinner, my kids wanted to be checked into the clubs. They stayed for about an hour and loved it. My son really just wanted to stay at the basketball court, but we told him we were not going to spend the entire cruise playing basketball! However, he did con my husband into several games!

Our first day on the ship was great! I forgot to say that we did go to the sailaway party and watched from deck ten. It was good and kindof got everything started. None of us got seasick. We could feel the ship moving on the first evening, and it felt sort of weird, but thank goodness there was no sickness! We went to bed pretty late that night and found a towel lobster with chocolates on our bed when we got back to our stateroom. Wana from Romania was our hostess, and she was amazing! My husband and I tucked the kids in, and we all slept very well that night!

 

[disneypoor]

I thought I'd better break this report up! I guess I'm a little more windy than I thought I was. We woke up pretty early on day two and got to take some amazing pictures of the sunset as we were arriving in Nassau. We had booked a room at Comfort Suites (thank you fellow DISers) so we could go to Atlantis for the day.

Upon exiting the ship, we decided to walk down to check out the straw market before we headed to Atlantis. It was quite an experience, but I'm glad we did it. We then took a taxi ($4 per person each way) to Comfort Suites and headed straight across the street to Atlantis. Atlantis was amazing! My family even talked me into doing the Leap of Faith waterslide. I still can't believe I did it! It's a good thing you don't go head first, or I would have never been able to find my swimming suit bottoms!!! We also checked out the beach at Atlantis, but it started to get a little stormy. We took a few pictures and realized that they were making everyone get out of the pools at Atlantis because of the threat of bad weather. It never did get real bad. It just rained. It was getting close to 3:00, and we decided that we wanted to just go back and enjoy the ship.

We found a taxi to take us back but got dropped off a couple of blocks from where we needed to be because it was actually a holiday in Nassau and there was a HUGE parade going on. As we were finding our way back to the ship, we came across the Hard Rock Cafe. We had to go inside and get some t-shirts! We were really glad we found it! We had known it was there but didn't think we'd have time to find it and check it out, so this was a great surprise!

We got back on the ship (and decided we really didn't need to see Nassau again), and the kids wanted to swim in the pools some more. They swam for quite a while, ate atleast a gallon of ice cream, and then we drug them out of the pools back to the room to get ready for Golden Mickey's, dinner at Animator's Palate, and Pirate Night!

There is an angel on these boards somewhere that went to WDW and got me Pirate Mickey Ears for my kids so they could wear them on Pirate's Night. They were so cute. We had also brought eye patches and swords. The kids were decked out!

We went and saw Golden Mickey's (which we enjoyed) and then went to dinner at Animator's Palate. This was the dinner we were most excited about because we had heard a lot about it. The atmosphere was very neat! I ordered the filet mignon, and I am still craving it a week later! Of course, it took about a week to get it! This was the night when our service went downhill fast! I can't necessarily say it was our servers because we really liked both of them, but something must have happened. It took us an hour and twenty minutes to get our food! In addition to this, we practically had to beg for refills on our drinks. This happened to us the third night as well. We decided that maybe if we were paying for refills they might have come faster. This was a let down because I had told my husband stories of how great the service would be. Needless to say, he was disappointed. We didn't let it ruin our trip though!

We went from dinner to the Pirate Party. Disney really knows how to throw a party! The kids had a blast and were worn out by the time it was over. We then decided to call it a day and headed back to the room to get some sleep so we could be rejuvenated for the next day---Castaway Cay!

 

[disneypoor]

This was by far the best part of our trip! The island is so, so beautiful and breathtaking! We were among the first to get off of the ship and got to put some of the first footprints in the sand for the day. It was awesome! My kids were so excited! I think they would move to Castaway Cay if they could!

We had decided to snorkel and parasail for our excursions. We went straight to the booth to get our equipment for snorkeling because I had read on the DIS that the water can sometimes get stirred up later in the day making it harder to see. We had some trouble getting a mask that would fit my son properly. He was running out of patience and getting ready to give up right about the time my husband saved the day! He went and got a third mask, and it finally worked! All five of us snorkeled and thought it was amazing! I was determined to find the Mickey under the water so I could get a picture. I bet I looked for over an hour before I finally asked a lifeguard who directed me straight to it! I should have asked earlier!!! My husband went underwater and hugged Mickey so I could get a picture. My friend and my daughter went as far out as they could go and got some great pictures! My daughter saw a jellyfish, but the lifeguard told her it wasn't one that would hurt her. She thought it was awesome!

After about an hour and a half, I thought I just might die! I was so tired! The beach didn't look that far away, but I soon realized it was much farther than I thought! I drug myself out of the water and to my lawn chair, and decided that I needed a strawberry margarita after such a strenuous workout!

The kids built sand castles and played in the water for a while. My daughter kept going back to the snorkeling though. She really, really enjoyed it.

After about another hour or so, we went to Cookies to get some lunch. The lunch was okay. My kids loved it! They love hamburgers though! We then headed back to the beach to play for a while before parasailing.

We had scheduled parasailing at 1:00. They were running behind, but it was SO worth the wait! This is amazing! Everyone needs to do this atleast once! The two guys who took us out were very, very entertaining. I was a little nervous about doing this because I'm not real thrilled with heights, but it was probably the most beautiful, breathtaking thing I've ever done. I went tandum with my daughter, and we saw sea turtles swimming around. It was unbelievable! I didn't realize they would dip you in the ocean though. Although it was a quick dip, I was pretty happy to be back onboard the boat when it was over!

Although we were exhausted after parasailing, we decided to go back to the beach to make the most of our day. The kids continued to play and have a blast! We literally did have to drag them back to the ship to get ready for the show and dinner! Of course, a little room service bribery doesn't hurt anything!

Our show for that night was Disney Dreams. It was fabulous! It almost made me cry! I don't know if it was because I knew this was the last night of our trip or because it really was that good, but it was probably my favorite!

We rushed over to play Bingo before we headed to dinner. I was a little shocked when I found out it cost $35 to play. My kids and I shared our bingo boards, but it was an awful lot of fun!

Our dinner was at Parrot Cay on this night. Again, we had the same problem with our service as we had the night before. I was convinced that they only alllowed one drink per dinner! However, the food was delicious, and we didn't complain. There was one thing that does stand out that I think I should mention. There was a loud, loud sound in the restaurant. I thought it sounded like a band playing on the deck below or something, but it was so loud that I couldn't hear anyone at our table. We asked our server what it was. He said that about a month or so ago, they hit something with the propellor and bent it. It was the propellor making that awful noise! He said they won't be able to fix it until they drydock it. I feel sorry for anyone who may have had a room anywhere close to that end of the boat! It was very loud and annoying!

After dinner we rushed back to the room to pack and get our suitcases ready. This was sad! We didn't want our trip to end! We all thought this was the best trip we'd ever taken. We ended up rebooking onboard. We got the ten percent discount and a $100 shipboard credit. We originally rebooked another three day cruise. However, I called and changed it to a four day as soon as we got home! We did WDW for two days after the cruise, and I think we all liked the pampering(and room service ) we got onboard because when we asked the kids if they wanted to do another 3 day and WDW or a longer cruise, they both screamed "a longer cruise!"

So, there you have it. That's our story. I know it's long, but I didn't want to leave too much out. I think I've found a new love. I will continue to be Disneypoor for the rest of my life, but it will be so worth it!

 

[Jennifer48]

Thanks for sharing your report!

I hated leaving the last day as well. Its just so sad!

At least you were smart though and rebooked, I forgot!

 

[WDWLVR]

Great report - thanks for sharing with us.

 

[TheDisneyTraveler06]

I really enjoyed reading your report! We were also on this cruise!

 

[bdink921]

Thanks for the report--sounds like you really had a great time!!!

 

[Ruth B]

Thank you for your great report- i can't wait to go in aug.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I loved reading your report!
I don't know HOW you handled the last night on such a short cruise- I was totally bummed the last night of our 7 day cruise.... I think I would have bawled on a short cruise like that. Seems like it would feel like it just started and then bam- it's over!

Glad you thought to rebook. Your kids sound like mine! My kids and myself really enjoy WDW (DH not so much) but after the cruise we're ALL about a cruise instead of just WDW from now on. LOL

 

[Lindy Loo]

Thanks for taking the time to share, you write so well, I read it like a story to my DD, and she is soooooooooooo excited now!!

We are the first cruise AFTER dry dock, so I hope that noise is sorted!!

Bingo $35, wow thats really steep, whats the prize $1000? I thought they didnt have a casino to stop gambling, then they do bingo ??? crazy?

Not sure my Dd or DH will sit through such long dinners, thought we have palnned a Dis table, so that will be real fun. Can you ask them to speed things up a bit??? Can they do that?

Thanks again...............

 

[WDWINJUNE!]

Thank you for your trip report. It sounds like you had a wonderful time. We are planning on the 3 day next June to celebrate our anniversary and DH birthday I can't wait, this will be our first one!

Laura

 

[J/T Gramdma]

Great trip report --Glad you had a great time. We are booked on the 4-day Wonder in Oct. We have rm 6050-- is it a good rm close to the drink stn / noisey or quiet --close to the clubs. any info would be great.

 

[disneypoor]

Thank you all for your nice responses! To the diser who asked if I was sad---I'm still very, very sad! I'm having withdrawal in a bad way. We have friends that are leaving this week and doing the 7 day on the magic. I'm SO jealous!

To the person who inquired about room 6050---we loved the room! In fact, we tried to book it for our four day next May, but somebody else must like it as much as we did! As for it being close to the drink station, we didn't find it difficult to get anywhere on the ship from our location. The room is sortof located in between two sets of elevators, so getting around is really pretty easy. There was absolutely no noise that we could hear from anywhere! Let me know if you have any more questions.

I thought $35 for bingo was outrageous! I will say that it is for something like six games, and there was a young girl on our cruise that won over $1700 in the final round. It was a lot of fun, but very expensive!

I also hope they get the noise fixed when the ship is in drydock. It was very annoying and it did affect dinner. I couldn't even hear what my husband was saying to me at the table. It was that bad! Our server said he was finally starting to get used to it, but Parrot Cay was his least favorite place to serve since that happened. However, I can see why they can't fix it until drydock because there would be an awful lot of upset people if they cancelled some cruises!

If anyone has any more questions or would just like to know more about the trip, please let me know. I depended COMPLETELY on these boards when planning our trip, so I know how important it is to be thorough. It's funny though because my cruise is over, and here I am---still on the DIS! I just can't let it go!

 

[yazee1]

I enjoyed your report, too. I didn't get to snorket at CC last year, but after reading your report, I'm going to make it a priority.

 

[disneypoor]

I enjoyed your report, too. I didn't get to snorket at CC last year, but after reading your report, I'm going to make it a priority.

My family really enjoyed the snorkeling. My husband and I snorkeled years ago when we went to Cancun, and we didn't see as many exotic fish at Castaway Cay as we had seen there, but it was still a lot of fun, and the kids absolutely loved it! We are going on a four day next May, and we'll be snorkeling again!

 

[Rpsemont]

Thanks for the trip report. MY DD will be 11 when we cruise this Nov. Did she spend much time in the kids club? Make friends?

As far as your time in Atlantis, did you feel it was worth it? DH is not a big water park fan - he'll probably spend time at the casino- and I was wondering if it's really that much different/better/ special than Typhoon Lagoon. If it's just DD and I and the room is $200, that's a bit steep for a day at the water park. Interested in your feedback.
thanks

Anne

 

[disneypoor]

Thanks for the trip report. MY DD will be 11 when we cruise this Nov. Did she spend much time in the kids club? Make friends?

As far as your time in Atlantis, did you feel it was worth it? DH is not a big water park fan - he'll probably spend time at the casino- and I was wondering if it's really that much different/better/ special than Typhoon Lagoon. If it's just DD and I and the room is $200, that's a bit steep for a day at the water park. Interested in your feedback.
thanks

Anne

Anne,
My daughter absolutely loved the kids' clubs! However, because we only did the three night, she really didn't have a whole lot of time to spend in the clubs. We are going to try a four night next May and plan to stay on the ship on Nassau day, so I'm guessing that both of my kids will spend a lot more time in the clubs next year.

As far as Atlantis goes, we did enjoy it quite a bit. We have never been to Typhoon Lagoon (but would love to ), so I'm not sure how to compare it to that. Although my entire family enjoyed it, it is one of those things that now that we've done it, we don't feel the urge to do it again. I don't want to downplay it because it was money well spent as far as we're concerned. We just don't need to do it again. I hope this helps. It is probably just confusing you more, huh? LOL!

 

[jrm11697]

I know this is really late, but i found this when i saw your alaska TR! just want to let you know that we were on the cruise right before yours!!! As you were getting on, we were leaving! thats pretty cool!! we were on the 4 night wonder from may 28- june 1

 

[disneypoor]

This is so funny! I opened up the DIS, and began searching down through the threads I'm subscribed to. I just clicked on the link for this one without paying attention to the title, opened it, and went WTH? This is MY trip report from forever ago! Had me kind of confused for a moment! I always think about the people that are getting off of the ship as we are getting on, and then I always think about the people that are getting on when we're getting off. I used to kind of tear up when I'd see the banner that hangs over the doors in the atrium that says "See You Real Soon". Weird, I know! Thanks for finding this TR and for reading my Alaska report!

Susan