November 19, 2009 3-day Wonder Cruise

[tinkmom2]

Hi,
I just paid off my bounceback cruise today! Yippe! How is everyone? Are we doing a FE exchange? I am starting to look for stuff now

 

[Tikihula]

Hi,
I just payed off my bounceback cruise today! Yippe! How is everyone? Are we doing a FE exchange? I am starting to look for stuff now

What's an FE exchange?

 

[A10560]

Count us in! Myself 26, my husband 29 ds 3 and ds 1. Both boys have birthdays in January so almost 4 and 2. I can't wait for the Christmas decor. Anyone know what temps we are going to be looking at for this time of the year. I am most curious about the Castaway Cay water temp. I know the boys are brave enough I just wonder if we will be able to handle it!

 

[tinkmom2]

What's an FE exchange?

A FE exchange is a exchange our group will do on the cruise. It is almost like a stocking at Christmas but it's a pouchlike and hangs from the fish next to your stateroom door hence the name fish extender. You can make your own or buy them on ebay like I did. There are threads about them here on the disboards. Each day or however many times you want you go around to the staterooms participating and drop off a little gift and usually when you return to your stateroom there are things waiting for you. Some choose to give per person or per stateroom You can make gifts or buy them it's totally up to you.

 

[tinkmom2]

Count us in! Myself 26, my husband 29 ds 3 and ds 1. Both boys have birthdays in January so almost 4 and 2. I can't wait for the Christmas decor. Anyone know what temps we are going to be looking at for this time of the year. I am most curious about the Castaway Cay water temp. I know the boys are brave enough I just wonder if we will be able to handle it!

Hiya,
Cool. I think an exchange is lots of fun! I looked at the weather channels site and average temps are around 85 lows 65. For Florida highs 74 lows 58. I am going to the MVMCP and am curious what we should be packing. But I know for Nassau to pack shorts and tropical stuff for sure When we went to Castaway in March the water felt cold so I am sure it will be freezing lol

 

[AmyM]

Hi Everyone!!!

Just joined the sailing today...sure wish we could have gotten a bounce back offer! We sailed last October in a Cat 3 and rebooked for the mediterranean but needed to switch to RCCL due to school conflicts. But the good news is we had a nonrefundable suite deposit so we booked this one We'll also be staying at Disney before. Either OKW or BWV....We are me DM-41, DH-43, DD-16, DS-14 and maybe DF-17

 

[tinkmom2]

Hiya everyone! Just wanted to let you know I bought some stuff for the FE exchange from Oriental Trading Company. There was a coupon for deferred billing til November for orders of $49.00. PM me if you would like it. Can't wait for our cruise! Our 90 days is fast approaching. I get to book my WDW dining Tuesday! For excursions off the Wonder I think we are doing the Glass Bottom Boat Tour at Castaway. It was canceled last time due to weather. No Palo's for us this time but I think we are getting the Rainforest Room Pass.
Well hope all is well with everyone!

 

[Staceynj]

Hello,

Me and my family and a close friend and her boyfriend will be on the cruise. My husband and I have two sons age 13 and 10. It will be our first time on a Disney cruise. ( I am super excited) We will be staying at the Animal Kingdom lodge from the 14th until the 19th. For the previous cruisers do you have any tips? I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Stacey

 

[Tikihula]

I'm up early trying to get online to make shore excursion reservations. Having a lot of trouble with the Disney web site. My password isn't working so fafter several attempts I created a new account and can get to the DCL site, but after I log in I can't get any further! Very frustrating. Can't even get to my reservation.
Anybody else having problems??

 

[Tikihula]

Well, it took me from 6:15-9:30am to check in online, make shore excursions, and print out the forms to sign and bring with us. That DCL web site is in definite need of repair. Most of the time it just locked up and wouldn't move.
We're signed up for the last parasailing trip of the day on Saturday. Also signed up for the Discover Atlantis tour so we can see the aquarium again and wander the resort. Wish we could afford to swim with the dolphins but that will have to wait for another trip.

 

[tinkmom2]

I went on right away at midnight Disney time and it wouldn't let me fill out my paperwork. I had to do that this AM but I can't print anything because my puter is being difficult and won't recognize my printer. I was able to book the glass bottom boat tour on Castaway right before lunch so we don't loose our lunch And I booked the Exotic Rasul for my DH and I as a surprise. I don't like the way the new site is and have had tons of trouble signing in too. I would let them know about it! I have sent Disney more than one complaint email including about their dining site. They can't fix it if they don't know

 

[disneylover74]

We booked our cruise in January on the Wonder and can't wait to get back on the boat. We went last year in February and we are finally going back. It's myself(35),DH(32),DD(4),DS(14),DDAD(72)and DMOM(71). All of us went last time except my stepson. He is really excited about the teen club and being able to escape if he feels the need. Can anyone tell me about the kids club and the teen club. My daughter wasn't old enough to participate last time and I have heard mixed emotions from different people. Any info would be great. TIA!

 

[Tikihula]

Hello,

Me and my family and a close friend and her boyfriend will be on the cruise. My husband and I have two sons age 13 and 10. It will be our first time on a Disney cruise. ( I am super excited) We will be staying at the Animal Kingdom lodge from the 14th until the 19th. For the previous cruisers do you have any tips? I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Stacey

Hi Stacey,
We're staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge from the 12th-19th, too. Our first 6 nights will be at Kidani Village, and the last night (18th) we'll move to Jambo House and stay in a 1-bedroom concierge room so we can do the Sunrise Safari the next morning. Maybe we'll run into you sometime. Will you be at Kidani Village or Jambo House? We're Disney Vacation Club members so we're using our points.
If you haven't already signed up online for your shore excursions, do so soon as some of them fill up fast. You'll have a great time on your Disney cruise. See you there!

 

[sueandkent]

Hello
My husband (45) and myself (45) will also be joining you on this cruise. We are not new to cruising (4 prior Princess cruises) but we are new to Disney. Neither of us have been to Disneyworld either and will be there from the 14th to the 19th staying at the Port Orleans Riverside. Our children are grown but we thought this might be fun anyway. I have been to Disneyland a couple of times.
Thankfully someone over on the Cruise Critics boards directed me over here, these boards look like they'll be a wealth of information for rookies.
I would like to now more about the Christmas event that was mentioned a few posts ago. It had never occured to us that Disney would be in Christmas swing prior to U.S. Thanksgiving. We're from Canada. Looking forward to following the info provided on this thread and we welcome any suggestions you may have that involves activities not totally geared for kids.

 

[gmark2000]

Checking back in here. It's been awhile since my last visit. I booked Palo last week. Looking forward to a great meal as always.

Say, does our cruise group have a name? See my signature? My previous three cruises named themselves.

 

[tinkmom2]

My daughter and I have been busy making FE gifts! Can you tell we are excited to go on our bounceback cruise? I feel like we are better prepared this time No Palo's for us this time. We are going to try to have some alone time at the Exotic Rasul and Rainforest room. We also want to try the night clubs.

 

[sueandkent]

Woohoo! I just bought Very Merry Christmas Party Tickets for November 17th! It is our first time seeing Disney at Christmas. I can't wait to see the boat all decorated! Should be awesome!

Can you explain more about the Very Merry Christmas Party, thanks.

 

[tinkmom2]

Hi,
The Very Merry Christmas Party is held through select dates through November and December. The park closes down to regular patrons at 7 and only ticketed people are left in the park. There is a special Christmas Parade and other fun events. I hear those with MVMCP tickets can get into the park as early as 4. We are going on Nov 17th. Check out this link http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/mvmcp.htm#tickets

 

[Tikihula]

Hello
My husband (45) and myself (45) will also be joining you on this cruise. We are not new to cruising (4 prior Princess cruises) but we are new to Disney. Neither of us have been to Disneyworld either and will be there from the 14th to the 19th staying at the Port Orleans Riverside. Our children are grown but we thought this might be fun anyway. I have been to Disneyland a couple of times.
Thankfully someone over on the Cruise Critics boards directed me over here, these boards look like they'll be a wealth of information for rookies.
I would like to now more about the Christmas event that was mentioned a few posts ago. It had never occured to us that Disney would be in Christmas swing prior to U.S. Thanksgiving. We're from Canada. Looking forward to following the info provided on this thread and we welcome any suggestions you may have that involves activities not totally geared for kids.

First timers! What fun!! You'll have a wonderful time, and after the hectic activity at the parks you'll find the cruise to be a wonderful way to unwind and recover from sore feet. Unless, of course, you try to do every available shore excursion during the cruise.

Disney starts decorating for Christmas right after Halloween. There's no interim decorating for Thanksgiving, it jumps from pumpkins to wreaths, almost overnight.

We are 2 mature adults and absolutely love spending time at the parks, at our resort, and on the cruise ship. While you're at Port Orleans, be sure and take a leisurely boat ride to Downtown Disney to look around. We like to do that on our first evening at WDW. There are wonderful stores and a lot of restaurants to check out. Hopefully you've read some guide books (PassPorter Guide to WDW is the best) and looked over some maps so you'll have an idea of how much there is to see and do.

These DISBoards have topics on almost everything you need to know about touring WDW and DCL, so do a lot of reading and don't be afraid to ask questions. Have a wonderful time on your first visit!

 

[sueandkent]

Thanks for the warm welcome. Over the coming weeks we are planning on doing some reading and light planning for our land portion of the trip. We have been warned to use ADR's for dining however we really prefer to not be tied down to anything. If we eat corndogs until we get on the ship then I guess that's the way it goes.
Thanks for the hint on the boat to downtown disney, that was definitely on our list. We have also heard about a Boardwalk.
Also, thanks for the Mickey's CHristmas info. I had found some info myself too before your post. I don't think it's something we would attend however we do look forward to seeing all the decorating. Will the ship be decorated?
We are not planning any shore excursions at this point either. Probably will just find a beach in Nassau for the day. At Castaway Cay we will likely head for the adult beach. Only 2 1/2 months now until vacation time.