November 18, 2012 ~ Turkey day on the Wonder

[sranes]

Ooooo...our FE list is filling out nicely I have a couple of questions for you MR Cruise vets. What is the best beach in PV and in Cabo? I'd like to just hang out and watch the boys build sandcastles. How does the towel situation work out on port days? Are towels provided or taken off the ship?
TIA

Are you with kids? In PV, Kids loved Las Caletas. Boat ride there was entertaining with skits by crew and best of all (for the kids) they could sign up for (moderate extra charge) an in water sea lion encounter with Jenny, a fabulous sea lion, and (no extra charge) a kid friendly zip line adventure. Also time to play on beach and eat but not much time to spare. Saw several whales on way back to ship. My two ten year olds that were along loved that excursion. For adults, maybe just get a water taxi out of port and head for beaches by the arches.
In Cabo we also did the camel excursion and it was terrific. Highly recommend. Who knew there were camels in Cabo? The whole excursion was great - nature walk, Army style transport at site, free drinks, camel ride with guides in full desert garb (we only had to put on helmets with white drapes), lunch and tequila tasting all led by very entertaining guides.
We also contracted right at pier for parasailing which, again, who knew?, you don't even get your feet wet if you do!

 

[rmonty02]

Are you with kids? In PV, Kids loved Las Caletas.
We also contracted right at pier for parasailing which, again, who knew?, you don't even get your feet wet if you do!

I'm going to look into Las Caletas. My boys are 7 and 5 so I'll have to feel them out about zip lining. I'd parasail in a heartbeat, not sure who would be willing to come with? I was thinking of just enjoying the beach, because of the age range of my family. From 5 to 70 years old. Do you think a 70y old grandma can do the camels? Hard to get on/off? Rough ride?
TIA

 

[sranes]

we are sooo excited! can't wait and once again we would LOVE to enter your FE group we just did this cruise in February and our DD 10 had a blast making everything! we can give you all more info if you have space for us to join but our DD is 10 abd our DS is 12

 

[sranes]

I'm going to look into Las Caletas. My boys are 7 and 5 so I'll have to feel them out about zip lining. I'd parasail in a heartbeat, not sure who would be willing to come with? I was thinking of just enjoying the beach, because of the age range of my family. From 5 to 70 years old. Do you think a 70y old grandma can do the camels? Hard to get on/off? Rough ride?
TIA

I fall in the gramma category and I got off and on and I am not limber at all. In fact, I worried a bit about whether I could get off and on the saddle but I did and it was lots of fun. You go up up about 6 steps to a platform that is level with the saddle for an already standing camel. A lot of places the camels are on the ground when you mount and then it gets all wobbly while they stand up. This was a piece of cake. The parasailing the 7 year old would probably enjoy and maybe the 5 year old. I think with smaller kids they can take up to 3 at once. Here is a link to a disboard post from last fall about a family's adventures on the MR cruise and it looks they had pretty young girls go parasailing. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2811133&highlight=mexican+riviera The zip line at Las Caletas is geared for kids - it is not an adult zip line so again, 7 year old for sure, probably for 5 year old.

 

[sranes]

Hey stranger! Are you following us??? Glad you guys are going again. This one will be just as fun. Can't wait to go back to Cabo. We really enjoyed ourselves there. Did you sign up for the Panama also? I haven't checked that roll call lately.



Welcome aboard! Our daughter is 16 also. Glad to see another dd16. We did a girls trip to DL a few weeks ago. I would love to do a girls trip on a cruise....heck I'd like to do an alone trip if it were on a cruise!



Welcome Pixielizzie! I'll add you to the FE and I'll update the roll call when I have a chance.

There are some repeaters up here so if anyone has any questions about the Wonder or the Mexican Riviera, ask away!

I'll still pretty tied up in our business start up. Getting close, but not quite yet so my time is pretty limited. Gotta get up and running soon though.

Has anyone heard anything about when they are going to announce the 2013 itineraries for the Wonder and Magic? Any hope for anything over here? It would be nice it they did the 3/4 nighters to Catalina Island and Ensenada. We did one on a Carnival a few years back and it was a nice trip. Highly unlikely, I know.

Linda

We will join you on Turkey Day can we join the FE we have a dd 10 and a ds 12

 

[sranes]

we are reapeting, actually we just went in February! we would love to join the FE group and we have a DD 10 so the person who wanted maybe their daughters to be friends my girl is very nice and freindly. for the FE we have a DD 10 and a DS 12 if we get in your group we can give additional info

 

[rmonty02]

The zip line at Las Caletas is geared for kids - it is not an adult zip line so again, 7 year old for sure, probably for 5 year old.

Thanks! I'm showing my boys the parasailing pics now!

 

[adnil530]

Did the same cruise over Leap Year and had a great time. Decided to catch one of the last Disney sailings out of Long Beach as the kids have the whole week off school. So convenient as we live in Orange County, CA. Where is the sign up for the FE group?? I can't seem to find the link. Also, is someone posting times for meet and greets. Will be travelling with dd age 10 and ds age 12.

Did anyone notice that Thanksgiving is on day 5 of the cruise which is also usually pirates/fireworks night. Any word if pirate night will be moved up or down a day?

we are sooo excited! can't wait and once again we would LOVE to enter your FE group we just did this cruise in February and our DD 10 had a blast making everything! we can give you all more info if you have space for us to join but our DD is 10 abd our DS is 12

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you and your family with us. No kidding about enjoying the Wonder now while we have the chance. From here in Sacramento, it costs just as much to get to Galveston as it does to Port Canaveral so I'm going to enjoy to the fullest!

I didn't notice that Thanksgiving was on Pirate night. Hmmm. That would be a different kind of feast for me! I wonder what they are going to do. Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday. What did they do last year? Hasn't the Wonder always gone Sunday to Sunday while in CA? I'm not going to fret over it. So long as I eat and don't have to cook, it won't matter to me what we eat.

I think DoubleTrouble may be heading up some meets. Let's see if he gets on and posts some suggestions. We traveled together last April and while I missed a few of the meets, it was certainly fun to have some meets in place... a pre-meet n greet at port and then again onboard.

We have a dd11 who loves the kids clubs. I'm sure that they will be and get along famously.

I'm wondering if you guys would want to join the FE? We're a small group and would love to see what your dd10 has cooked up for this group! We haven't set a cutoff date yet but since we are a small group, how does October 1 sound? That's about 6 weeks before we cruise.

Anyway, welcome aboard! We are a fairly quiet group here. I'm also on the December 9, 2012 Panama cruise and that thread is over 100 pages long. I'm guessing we are all mostly on the quiet side

Linda

 

[sranes]

We would love to join the FE group and that is so funny we are in the Bay area right now... In Redwood City if you know where that is...for Junior Olympics, and we don't know what they did last year... and the our DD 10 will make this one better than the last. Because last time she spent all this time and money organizing for our large group and only a few people had nice stuff, this one will hopefully be better! She is looking forward to it

 

[C2broncofan]

Last year they moved the pirate night to a different night so it didnt conflict with Thanksgiving. I think it was Friday night.

I would post a copy of the menu from last years Thanksgiving if I could figure out how to do it. Sorry

 

[sranes]

oh it is ok when we went on this same cruise n February and it was on Thursday i am pretty sure so i was thinking that it would be the same night but what do i know!?!

 

[adnil530]

Last year they moved the pirate night to a different night so it didnt conflict with Thanksgiving. I think it was Friday night.

I would post a copy of the menu from last years Thanksgiving if I could figure out how to do it. Sorry

Good to know! I just sent you a PM with my email address so that hopefully you can send me a copy of the menu and I will post it here for all to see.

Thank you

Linda

 

[sranes]

Has anyone signed up to make a logo?!? if not my DD 10 would love to design one!!

 

[GhostlyHitchhiker]

Thanks...I think I got it. Glad there is another dd11 aboard. I see 3 so far. I hope they all get along well.

We're all starting to get super excited as the cruise draws closer. My DD11 and DD14 are looking forward to meeting your DDs! I know our two 11-year olds get along already so hopefully yours will fit right in!

My DD14 is around here somewhere on the boards if anyone near her age wants to chat beforehand, she'd love that. Just message me and I'll pass it along.

About Pirate Night/Thanksgiving: I had read from other people who've done the Thanksgiving cruise that they change Pirate Night to Friday typically so it doesn't clash with Thanksgiving. I'm hoping that they do this again.

In Puerta Vallerta we're most likely going to do the Pirate Adventure since we have some crazy pirate fanatics in our group and have heard really good things about this.

In Cabo, is it generally ok to just kinda "wing it" and either go to the beach or shop without having an actual excursion? This is my first time to Mexico, though DH has been a lot when he was a kid (so he's not worried at all). Since we have one "planned event" already and we're a larger group, I didn't want to overplan Cabo and let everyone do what they wanted to.

 

[adnil530]

Has anyone signed up to make a logo?!? if not my DD 10 would love to design one!!

Go for it!

Thanks,
Linda

We're all starting to get super excited as the cruise draws closer. My DD11 and DD14 are looking forward to meeting your DDs! I know our two 11-year olds get along already so hopefully yours will fit right in!

My DD14 is around here somewhere on the boards if anyone near her age wants to chat beforehand, she'd love that. Just message me and I'll pass it along.

About Pirate Night/Thanksgiving: I had read from other people who've done the Thanksgiving cruise that they change Pirate Night to Friday typically so it doesn't clash with Thanksgiving. I'm hoping that they do this again.

In Puerta Vallerta we're most likely going to do the Pirate Adventure since we have some crazy pirate fanatics in our group and have heard really good things about this.

In Cabo, is it generally ok to just kinda "wing it" and either go to the beach or shop without having an actual excursion? This is my first time to Mexico, though DH has been a lot when he was a kid (so he's not worried at all). Since we have one "planned event" already and we're a larger group, I didn't want to overplan Cabo and let everyone do what they wanted to.

I'm sure all the girls will get along. Our dd16 would like to chat with your dd14. They'll be in the same club. I'll pm my daughters' info to you.

C2broncofan did this cruise last year and has said that they do move Pirate Night.

In Cabo, we winged it also. We had split into 2 groups and in our group there were 11 of us. We negotiated with a guy on the pier for a city tour (van was nice) and a glass bottom boat ride. It was a lot of fun and I have relived those moments on this thread earlier, lol. At the end of the day, the 4 of us negotiated with the owner again for a whale watching tour with his company for the next day...absolutely fantastic. If you'd like to see a few photos, there are a few on the weebly page that I made for the FE list.

http://disneywonder11182012.weebly.com/

Also on this website are the Thanksgiving Menus that C2broncofan has sent over. Thank you C2broncofan for the menus!

Have a great week!
Linda

 

[sranes]

ohh and our info is me DW our DH and our kids DD 10 and pur DS 12 our DD has beean on 4 cruises this is her 5th and the rest of us itis our 3rd, we live in California about 15 to 20 minutes away from Disneyland; we go often, and our DD is soo into DCL she cecks the prices every day and finds one to go on that doesn't cost to much... we made an exception with this one because my friend is going on this one so yep

 

[sranes]

ohh and our info is me DW our DH and our kids DD 10 and pur DS 12 our DD has been on 4 cruises this is her 5th and the rest of us it is our 3rd, we live in California about 15 to 20 minutes away from Disneyland; we go often, and our DD is soo into DCL she checks the prices every day and finds one to go on that doesn't cost too much... we made an exception with this one because my friend is going on this one so yep she is sooo excited for this one and does anyone knoaw how to make one of those things below with your cruises and that kind of stuff the one that always pops up below everyone who has ones posts... my DD really wants to make one.

yeah

 

[Double Trouble]

Hi Everyone and Welcome to the latest additions to our group!

I spoke with DCL and the dining schedule is different for this cruise (due to T-Day) as opposed to regular MR trips...here's what they said (some of our friends went last year over T-Day and confirmed this is what they did as well)...

Sunday...Casual
Monday...Formal...Golden Mickeys
Tuesday...Casual
Wednesday...Pirate Night (leaving PV)
Thursday...T-Day Dinner...Semi-Formal
Friday..."Normal" Semi-Formal night
Saturday...Casual

I'll see if I can get the dining rotation orders for this cruise as I suspect they are unique as well. Some people like to be in a certain room on certain nights, but it's just as fun for us wherever we are so I wouldn't worry about it too much if you don't get what you "want". I'll try to get the character breakfast dates as well, as they are tied to your dining rotation.

More to follow...

 

[Goofy's_Gal]

Yes they had a special menu on Thanksgiving. In fact you got to take the menu with you as a gift. I still have the menu.
My wife and I really enjoyed the trip but were looking forward to a traditional Thanksgiving feast.
1) the stuffing was nothing like I've had before, and hope to never have again. I never realized how much I loved stove top stuffing till I didnt get any
2) There were no traditional mashed potatoes.
3) There was no traditional pumkin pie or apple pie

I guess I was hoping for taditional and I got fancy Thanksgiving. Dont get me wrong the food was good I just left disappointed. Maybe next time they can bring my mom on the ship and she can cook for everyone.

I'm right there with you...

I have been absent from awhile - trying to catch up now. Making final payment on Monday. Why aren't I excited yet???

 

[adnil530]

I'm right there with you...

I have been absent from awhile - trying to catch up now. Making final payment on Monday. Why aren't I excited yet???

We must be a busy group as a lot of us have been absent for awhile.

Making final payment will make this cruise a reality! You aren't excited because it doesn't feel anything like fall yet. Thanksgiving seems very far away. You will get there.

Hi Everyone and Welcome to the latest additions to our group!

I spoke with DCL and the dining schedule is different for this cruise (due to T-Day) as opposed to regular MR trips...here's what they said (some of our friends went last year over T-Day and confirmed this is what they did as well)...

Sunday...Casual
Monday...Formal...Golden Mickeys
Tuesday...Casual
Wednesday...Pirate Night (leaving PV)
Thursday...T-Day Dinner...Semi-Formal
Friday..."Normal" Semi-Formal night
Saturday...Casual

I'll see if I can get the dining rotation orders for this cruise as I suspect they are unique as well. Some people like to be in a certain room on certain nights, but it's just as fun for us wherever we are so I wouldn't worry about it too much if you don't get what you "want". I'll try to get the character breakfast dates as well, as they are tied to your dining rotation.

More to follow...

Thanks for doing that Paul! It won't matter to me unless I see choices, lol. Last MR, we had character breakfast on our last sea day. With the end of the trip drawing near, it was almost like a farewell breakfast on the up side, we did have Tritons for formal night and Parrot Cay for Pirate night. Moving Pirate night to Wednesday makes that rotation unlikely.

I'm wondering what the movie schedule will be. Maybe some Disney Christmas? Probably Wreck it Ralph will play which comes out on 11/2. It would be sweet if we got to preview Monsters Inc 3d but it doesn't come out until 12/19. Pixie dust please! Jim Carter was on our last cruise and each time I tried to sneak in to see it the theater was overflowing. DH and I are doing a Pixar Pacific Cruises...can't wait to see the offerings are there. I'm not much of a movie buff but I have my favs. Toy Story 1 and I have history

I also wonder if they will start putting up Christmas decorations before the end of this cruise. That would be a special treat too.

It'll be sad to see the Wonder go. I know she will be back as she passes on her way to Alaska. The Pacific Coast only has so much to offer and so many people are scared to go to Mexico.

Any whoooo.....What are people thinking of as to excursions? I think I like my plan.

1. Puerto Vallarto: Walk the Boardwalk downtown then off to one of the resorts on the beach close to the ship.

2. Cabo Day 1: Up in the air. Maybe a city tour and then the beach?
Cabo Day 2: I'm hoping there is an early run on whales. November is not usually good for whale watching. The locals will know if there have been sightings and if so, up early and out on day 2 in Cabo to go whale watching. Now if I can combine the 2 into one tour all the much the better but thinking about it now, I think they like to go out early for whale watching.

Hope everyone is getting their FE gifts ready! Looks like a small group so it should be fun.

Thanksgiving menus are posted below in a link next to the FE list.

Have a great week!
Linda