November 4, 2010 Wonder Cruise

[Tikihula]

Hi. This will be our 5th cruise, all of them Disney, either 3 or 4-day cruises. We'll be at WDW November 2-10th, with our cruise right in the middle of our stay.

Cruisers will be me, DH, and... (it's a surprise and they don't know it yet) my daughter-in-law and grandson age 10. We're having a big family gathering and will be staying at AKV in two 2-bedroom villas, with my sister, her DH, and their 2 DDs and DGD joining us from the west coast. My son and his family (wife and 3 boys) will also be flying in. My son told us to include his wife and oldest son on the cruise reservation, but it's going to be a surprise for them. I'm so excited that they can join us! We've reserved one of the secret porthole rooms, but we're hoping for a free upgrade to a verandah room.

Our last cruise was just recently in Nov '09, and I surprised my DH by inviting his sister to come along. She'd never been to WDW or on a cruise before, so we met up in Epcot and the next day she joined us on the Wonder and had a blast. We even talked her into visiting Atlantis Resort and going parasailing on Castaway Cay.

So, is there anyone else joining us? Sure would be fun to get to know a few fellow sailors . Or maybe we'll just have the whole ship to ourselves. Yeah!
Looking forward to meeting everyone.

 

[IrishCowboy]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list

 

[cmadara]

Hi there,
I am glad we have a thread to meet others going at the same time!
The travelers are myself DM 45, DH 50 and DD 12- 13 at the time of the trip.
She is very nervous about not "knowing" anyone and that she will have to hang out with us! hopefully this will give her the opportunity to meet others her age before the trip.

This is our first cruise and we are so excited! We are headed to WDW after the cruise for just 1 night- staying at the Poly- because we have to head back to school. It is Teacher's Convention here in NJ so that is how we have the time off. I am a teacher and it is the perfect time for a vacation.

Let's hope more people join our thread and let's keep in touch!

 

[Tikihula]

Hi there,
I am glad we have a thread to meet others going at the same time!
The travelers are myself DM 45, DH 50 and DD 12- 13 at the time of the trip.
She is very nervous about not "knowing" anyone and that she will have to hang out with us! hopefully this will give her the opportunity to meet others her age before the trip.

This is our first cruise and we are so excited! We are headed to WDW after the cruise for just 1 night- staying at the Poly- because we have to head back to school. It is Teacher's Convention here in NJ so that is how we have the time off. I am a teacher and it is the perfect time for a vacation.

Let's hope more people join our thread and let's keep in touch!

I didn't realize we'd be at WDW during "Jersey Days" when school is out.

They have such wonderful programs for kids and teens - your daughter will probably end up making good friends right away, even if it's only a 3-day cruise.

Have you requested early seating or late seating for dinner? You can choose which you prefer. There are usually more kids at the early seating. We just don't like eating a large meal late in the evening so we always request early seating, then we go to the shows or other activities after dinner.

Holler if you have any questions - we're not experts but we do have those 4 other cruises under our belt and have loved every one of them.
Bev

 

[cmadara]

Hi again,
We picked early seating. We usually eat dinner at home around 6 anyway. Plus, I want to have room for evening snacks!
Yes, it is Jersey Week. We head to WDW every other year at this time and always see people we know. The weather is perfect at this time.
I was reading a trip report for a trip that was taken the same weekend we are going, but all of a sudden the person stopped posting. "Parker Bros."
He had written that he had gotten sick when he came back- it went from H1N1 to bronchitis to pneumonia. I really hope nothing has happened.
It was really a great trip report- tons of pictures and detailed descriptions!
Have you done the FE's on your previous cruises. It sounds like fun.
I will be thinking of questions as we move along on our countdown. Hopefully others will join in.
Keep in touch.
Cindy

 

[Tikihula]

Hi Cindy. Wow, sorry to hear about Parker Bros. I hope he's just recuperating and nothing more serious.

We did the magnet exchange last time and it was fun, but I'm just not creative when it comes to ... creating stuff. Or coming up with original ideas for FE. Anyway, we probably won't get involved in that, other than putting magnets on our stateroom door so we can find it easily. But I'm sure there will be other cruisers who will sign up for the FE.

I keep looking at the updates to the new Disney Dream cruise ship and I'm so tempted to sign up for a cruise in Nov '11. But they give good discounts if you sign up while onboard a cruise, so I guess I'll wait until we're onboard in Nov '10. Gosh that seems so far away.

 

[cmadara]

Hi Bev,
The Dream is the new ship, right? I think I saw an ad for it on tv. I will have to look into booking another cruise while on the ship. I have read that you can put down a date and then change it later? I know that once we get there, we will be hooked and want to do another one.
Yes, November seems so far away! But it sure is fun to read these boards and dream!
Well, hang in there- less than 9 months now!!
Hopefully others will join us. My daughter is anxiously awaiting "meeting" a girl her age for the trip.
Have a good day!
Cindy

 

[Tikihula]

Hi Bev,
The Dream is the new ship, right? I think I saw an ad for it on tv. I will have to look into booking another cruise while on the ship. I have read that you can put down a date and then change it later? I know that once we get there, we will be hooked and want to do another one.
Yes, November seems so far away! But it sure is fun to read these boards and dream!
Well, hang in there- less than 9 months now!!
Hopefully others will join us. My daughter is anxiously awaiting "meeting" a girl her age for the trip.
Have a good day!
Cindy

Yes, the Dream is the new ship that will be taking the Wonder's place at Port Canaveral when the Wonder sails around to start doing the Alaska cruises.

And yes, once you have another cruise reservation, you can change the date, assuming there are openings. I wouldn't wait until the last minute, but with today's economy they probably have a lot more openings than they used to. It seemed the Disney ships always sold out until the last year or two. Oh, and you can also transfer your reservation to a travel agent, too, if you find one that is offering a good onboard credit for booking with them.
At least that's what I've been told.

I'm very surprised nobody else has jumped in with us. I have a link posted on the PassPorter boards, too, for our cruise date. Maybe we'll have some folks from that web site joining us on the cruise.
Cheers! Bev

 

[luv2cruise2]

Hi all!
I'm going solo on this cruise & am really looking forward to it.
This will be my 14th cruise but 1st Disney one.
Do any of you go on cruisecritic.com? I started a thread there but there's been nobody join it yet.
I look forward to chatting with you over the next 9 months.
~Jo~

 

[cmadara]

Hi Jo,
Welcome! Wow, cruising alone- that's sounds cool!
Since you haven't gotten any response on the other board and neither has Bev, maybe we WILL be the only ones on the ship!
You have been on many cruises- I would be interested to see how Disney rates with the others once our cruise is over. It seems like such a long time away- but it will go quickly- nothing like wishing my life away!
I would be interested in learning some cruising tips from both you and Bev as this is our 1st cruise.
Let's keep in touch!
Cindy

 

[luv2cruise2]

Hi all!
Cindy ~ I'm so glad I found this thread ~ there's so much to learn about Disney! I'm really looking forward to the cruise as it has a few things different from others I've taken, eg rotation of dining rooms, pop available free for lunch, Disney characters just to mention a few! I'm spending 3 nights at DW then taking the Freedom of the Seas cruise after the Disney one ~ making my air fare count this time!!
Bev ~ is there a Pirates night with fireworks on the 3 day cruise? That sounds like fun if there is.
Take care.
~Jo~

 

[trasor]

Also heading down for Jersey Week (Ocean Twp., Monmouth County). This is our first (of many to come, I'm sure) Disney Cruise. We are all so excited. There is so much to learn about and reading this board has become my new favorite hobby.

 

[cmadara]

Trasor- did you get hammered with snow again? We sure did! I think we have a total of 3 feet on the ground. Ugh! I hate snow!
Welcome to our little gathering! I see you have young ones. It is always so special to see the excitement of Disney through their eyes. We took our DD to WDW for the 1st time when she was 5-everything was real! She loved the Princesses.
Can't wait until November! As I have said before- wishing my life away!
Good luck digging out.

 

[trasor]

cmadara - since we are on the coast we were oh so lucky to get 1/2 a day of sleet and slush yesterday before it turned to snow making the bottom layer a frozen heavy mess. Luckily, my DH has a big snowblower so he is happy as a pig in you know what out there cleaning up. I can't wait for my DD to go back to school tomorrow. There was a time when I would have loved 2 snow induced house bound days but kids definitely change that. lolI can't wait to meet more cruisers as they check into this board.

 

[Tikihula]

Welcome to the newcomers! We are slowly building a group of fans for our November cruise, and hopefully we'll have some more join us.

Jo - Yes, there is a Pirates in the Caribbean Party on the 3-night cruise. It happens the night we leave Nassau. We always bring our pirate gear (pirate themed t-shirts, bandannas, earring, eye patch, etc.) and dress for the party. In fact, we wore it to dinner on our last cruise, not realizing that most folks were dressing up just a wee bit to dine at Triton's. We definitely felt "underdressed" and probably should have waited until after dinner to change into our pirate clothes, but at least there were a few kids also wearing pirate gear at dinner.

There are fireworks after the Pirate Party, and then there's a late night buffet on deck that includes everything from pizza and turkey legs to lots of wonderful desserts. This time I'll remember to dine lightly at dinner so I can indulge in some of those chocolate confections at 10pm.

I've read some of the cruise reviews on cruisecritic.com but never posted there.

 

[luv2cruise2]

Hi all!
Bev ~ thanks for the quick response. Wow that sounds like a fun time!!
I love food & fireworks!:

Do any of you have opinions on the food plans at WDW? Do you think they're worthwhile/less expensive?

Just sitting here watching the Olympics & hoping we get a gold medal in something this time we host them. Well we didn't get one in moguls.
Take care & have a great weekend.
~Jo~

 

[cmadara]

Hi-
I have never used the food plan- we like to plan a character b-fast and maybe Ohana's, but the rest of our meals are on the run- counter service. So it always seemed like a waste for us. But then I heard they have a new plan for counter service? Not sure what that is. Maybe ask in the dining section of disboards.
We have been following the Olypmics as well. Love it! Whistler looks so beautiful, but I have to admit, I HATE snow!
My husband and I are planning a summer trip up to Maine and then crossing over to Novia Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Do you know anything about that part of Canada. I realize Canada is HUGE but just wanted to know if you have ever been there.
Are you headed to WDW before or after the cruise? We are headed for just 2 days after the cruise. We will be staying in the Poly and just plan on going to EPCOT and Magic Kingdom because of the short time. It will be the Food and Wine Festival- so much fun- tons to eat and drink!
Take care and stay warm everyone- even you, Bev in Florida- lucky!

 

[luv2cruise2]

Hi all!
Cindy ~ I posted a long response to your post last night while using my netbook & watching Olympics & somehow poof it was gone!

Thanks for the suggestions re dining. I'll have to investigate as I think I'd just catch a meal wherever I happen to be. I'm going to DW from Nov 1 & hope to see Epcot & AK mainly as I've never been there. I do want to try the boat to DD & the monorail. After the cruise I'm taking the 7 day Freedom of the Seas Eastern Caribbean as I loved that ship when I did the Western last Nov.

Whistler does look nice. We've never been there but did drive out to BC in Sept. The scenery out west is amazing!

Funny you should mention going down east. Our DD just moved to Fredericton NB last summer so we plan on going down in June. Matter of fact I was just checking out when the Church lobster dinners begin as I'd like to go there again in PEI. Quite a feast to be had! We drove down in 2001 & were on our way to the border coming from NH when we heard about 9-11(still hard to believe that happened!)
We also drove down in 1969 (probably before you all were born!!)

There's quite a bit to see down there. Halifax was nice. We went to Pier 21
which is where my DH entered the country in 1961 (like your Ellis Island which is much better!). We also went to the cemetery where the Titanic victims are buried, to Peggys Cove a nice fishing village & to the monument
to the Swissair plane crash.
In PEI there was a potato museum, Anne of Green Gables house & the big bridge to get there plus the yummy lobster dinner & beautiful scenery.
In NB we saw Hopewell Rocks, Hartland covered bridge & St Andrews by the Sea, a neat place where you can go whale watching (if it's not foggy!).
Well, I think I've rambled on long enough.
Do have a great day ~ looks like we're finally getting some of the white stuff!
~Jo~

 

[cmadara]

Wow thanks! Some really good info. I have heard about the lobster dinner and it is high on my list of places to go. My DH and I also like to bike ride, so we thought of renting bikes in PEI and explore that way. Also, I think we will take the ferry from Portland, ME, explore the coast of Novia Scotia up to Halifax, do the things you mentioned and head over to PEI. Really looking forward to this summer's trip as we have never been to Canada except for Niagra Falls.
Now on to Disney Plans! You will love EPCOT. The Food and Wine Festival will be going on then. If you go on www.allearsnet.com, they have past festival reports including lists of each country's food and alcohol sampling. This is alot of fun! But also very easy to blow through tons of money When the Festival starts in Sept, on all ears, they will give a list of the countries, menus and prices and then you can kind of decide what countries you want to hit and what you want to skip. I must say our favorite comes from your country- The Chedder Cheese Soup-YUMMY!
We are headed to EPCOT on Sunday after the boat docks.
You mentioned something about SNOW! I am so tired of snow. We have about 3 feet on the ground- 2 major snowstorms in less than a week and I am so tired of it! You can have it all. It looks pretty when it is falling, but quickly it turns into black snow which is not so pretty. So, if you want snow, I hope you get it- me, I hope it goes away as quickly as it came!!
Enjoy!

 

[luv2cruise2]

Hi all!
Cindy ~ you're welcome. Thanks for your help with the dining.
I think PEI would be a great place to bike ~ quaint & quiet.
We really enjoyed the trip down east & the lobster dinner for sure!

We just got a sprinkling of snow today. 3 feet sounds terrible!
Hope it stays away Friday as I hope to meet a friend for lunch an hour's drive away.
Take care.
~Jo~