November 25th, 2016 - Black Friday on the Wonder

[hamm1207]

I see that you moved from the Fantasy, which is the only DCL ship I haven't been on. Maybe someday but I like the smaller ships. It will be interesting being on the Wonder after dry dock and seeing all the changes. The only one I am not crazy about is Tiana's because I wasn't crazy about the movie but oh well, I will suffer through it somehow-being on a Disney cruise is just horrible

I prefer the fantasy over the dream. She reminds me of the wonder, only bigger and more modern. I'm excited about the food and live music with Tianas..then again, that's one of my favorite movies (minus the creepy voodo dude).

 

[Huskiesrule]

I watched it again last weekend and I am still not feeling it. Of course I went and saw Finding Dory also and I didn't think that was so great either. I'm getting picky in my old age

 

[Huskiesrule]

150 DAYS!!! It seems soooo far away! Anyone else ready for a cruise now?

 

[hamm1207]

150 DAYS!!! It seems soooo far away! Anyone else ready for a cruise now?

Me!!! We had a wonderful, albeit short, weekend trip to WDW. They did a good job with the new Frozen ride; although, it's not Maelstrom... Our daughter sat through and enjoyed the Beauty and the Beast show at Hollywood Studios, so I think she'll be good to go for the shows each night. Oddly, one of her favorite attractions at WDW was The Great Movie Ride--she did get me a pretty funny look during the Alien and horror movies sections...

 

[Huskiesrule]

Isn't she only 1? I am amazed she didn't scream at the Alien part! I would say you are lucky she likes the shows and doesn't mind noises-a true Disney baby.

 

[hamm1207]

She's 7 months old (her 1st birthday is the 1st sea day of the cruise). We were waiting for her to scream, but she didn't--she just there and babbled!

 

[Huskiesrule]

@hamm1207 if it wasn't for our weekly posts this thread would have no one I keep hoping more people find us and maybe they will after PIF in August One can hope!

 

[hamm1207]

@hamm1207 if it wasn't for our weekly posts this thread would have no one I keep hoping more people find us and maybe they will after PIF in August One can hope!

Maybe we're now the only ones cruising! Hopefully things will pick up once the PIF date comes around. We'll probably have some late comers too.

Has anyone done the family portraits on the cruise? If so, how expensive was it and how was your experience?

 

[hamm1207]

One month until Platinum and concierge get to book excursions and what not!! I better start saving some money so we can be PIF by then!

 

[Huskiesrule]

One month until Platinum and concierge get to book excursions and what not!! I better start saving some money so we can be PIF by then!

I was looking at excursions the other day and nothing jumped out at me. The only thing I am debating right now is if I want a cabana-I love the cabana's at CC. Luckily I am PIF as I did that a couple weeks ago thanks to discounted Disney gift cards. Now I have to pay off my PC cruise by Christmas Eve. This 1 cruise a year thing is fun but paying off 2 cruises in a year, not so much!

 

[hamm1207]

I was looking at excursions the other day and nothing jumped out at me. The only thing I am debating right now is if I want a cabana-I love the cabana's at CC. Luckily I am PIF as I did that a couple weeks ago thanks to discounted Disney gift cards. Now I have to pay off my PC cruise by Christmas Eve. This 1 cruise a year thing is fun but paying off 2 cruises in a year, not so much!

We've never done a cabana on CC--how are they? What are the perks? Once our booking window hits, we're grabbing two port adventures, nursery time, and palo brunch. For a few years, we were doing 3 cruises a year and it was awesome (except the money disappearing from the bank account part)...

 

[Huskiesrule]

We've never done a cabana on CC--how are they? What are the perks? Once our booking window hits, we're grabbing two port adventures, nursery time, and palo brunch. For a few years, we were doing 3 cruises a year and it was awesome (except the money disappearing from the bank account part)...

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-cruise-line/ports/castaway-cay.cfm This tells you the price and what is included. We need one as mom and her other half aren't allowed to be out in the sun to much due to their medications. I just like having a cabana that has seating and a hammock that won't be taken from you No need to get towels as they are already there along with cold wash rags, pop and fruit in the fridge. We did a family cabana last time and the private beach in front of the cabanas was quiet, we pretty much had it to ourselves until after lunch. Will probably do a SB cabana this time as no kids will be with us, although I love the private beach at the family side!

 

[Discruisin]

Hey everyone. Glad to find this thread. Looks like it has been pretty busy so far with 20 pages. My wife and I are taking out two girls ages 3 and 5. We took this same cruise last year and this will be our 4th Disney Cruise. We are huge Disney fans and love to cruise. Before children we cruised a lot on Holland American through Europe and South America. Since having children all 4 Disney cruises have been to the Caribbean. But we plan on breaking that cycle this year with a Disney cruise to Alaska in June. I assume everyone on here has been keeping up with all of the news on the new updates coming to the Wonder. That is exciting. It was a great ship prior to the updates but I think with all of the updates they have planned it is really gonna be amazing.

Sorry if this question has already been asked but has anyone cruised out of Galveston before? This will be our third time. It is a nice port, we drove down the night before on Thanksgiving last year from Dallas and stayed the night. That next day we let the girls play on the beach for a while before heading to the ship. Well, I will be looking forward to reading this thread, looks like it has been active so far. Thanks.

 

[Discruisin]

Maybe we're now the only ones cruising! Hopefully things will pick up once the PIF date comes around. We'll probably have some late comers too.

Has anyone done the family portraits on the cruise? If so, how expensive was it and how was your experience?

We always buy the photo package, which gets you all of your pics printed out and the CD's. For a 7 day cruise we usually average about 400 pics the most was just over 500 (I know, we love taking pics with the characters). We also take full advantage of the before dinner family picture sessions. For some reason people do not do those and they are free. We keep going back and have the photographer take family pics then pics of the girls and then just us. We hardly ever wait in line. Those photographers just stand around so we figure might as well take some pics of us since we are paying for them.

 

[Huskiesrule]

Hey everyone. Glad to find this thread. Looks like it has been pretty busy so far with 20 pages. My wife and I are taking out two girls ages 3 and 5. We took this same cruise last year and this will be our 4th Disney Cruise. We are huge Disney fans and love to cruise. Before children we cruised a lot on Holland American through Europe and South America. Since having children all 4 Disney cruises have been to the Caribbean. But we plan on breaking that cycle this year with a Disney cruise to Alaska in June. I assume everyone on here has been keeping up with all of the news on the new updates coming to the Wonder. That is exciting. It was a great ship prior to the updates but I think with all of the updates they have planned it is really gonna be amazing.

Sorry if this question has already been asked but has anyone cruised out of Galveston before? This will be our third time. It is a nice port, we drove down the night before on Thanksgiving last year from Dallas and stayed the night. That next day we let the girls play on the beach for a while before heading to the ship. Well, I will be looking forward to reading this thread, looks like it has been active so far. Thanks.

A couple of us are trying to keep this thread active and I check everyday in case someone wants to chat. Feel free to comment away! I've never cruised HA but the locations you went sound awesome. I did a NCL cruise to Alaska and loved it so enjoy your DCL cruise there.
This will be my 3rd time sailing out of Galveston also and I mainly do it as I have family that lives in Texas. Easier for them to drive and I am the only one that has to fly in.

 

[hamm1207]

We always buy the photo package, which gets you all of your pics printed out and the CD's. For a 7 day cruise we usually average about 400 pics the most was just over 500 (I know, we love taking pics with the characters). We also take full advantage of the before dinner family picture sessions. For some reason people do not do those and they are free. We keep going back and have the photographer take family pics then pics of the girls and then just us. We hardly ever wait in line. Those photographers just stand around so we figure might as well take some pics of us since we are paying for them.

Welcome to the cruise!! We've never sailed HA, but it sounds wonderful, as do the destinations that you've visited! We're hoping to do a Europe vacation next year. We've cruised out of Galveston once before, and we used to live in Houston so we stop by and see friends (sometimes stay with them before the cruise). We decided not to stay with friends this time around, as we're arriving Thanksgiving Day and we didn't want to impose on their family time.

If you don't mind me asking, do you remember the price for the photo package? Also, are you talking about the photographers that are standing around with the portrait signs by them? We've done our pictures with the standard cruise backgrounds (ship, sunset, etc), but we've never used the family portrait people, because I figured that we had to pay extra for those.

 

[Delrea]

I know it's not but it seems so far away! I love DCL but I have to admit it consumes my every waking moment before sail away just dreaming about it Anyone else?

 

[Huskiesrule]

In my spare moments I keep thinking I would rather be on a Disney cruise right now - and then reality kicks in and I remember I'm not rich!

 

[zimzim4]

I can't believe it's now July...June flew by! Getting excited about all the things we need to plan for the cruise!

 

[Huskiesrule]

Yay for July. Some of us get to book excursions and such this month. Here is the schedule from the disneycruiselineblog.com site.

Platinum/Concierge -
Thursday
Jul 28, 2016

Gold -
Friday
Aug 12, 2016

Silver -
Saturday
Aug 27, 2016

New Cruisers -
Sunday
Sept 11, 2016