October 16, 2011 Mexican Riviera on the Wonder

[anthonysmama]

Hi there! I'm so glad I found this thread! This is my family's first ever cruise and I'm a total Disney freak so of course I just had to book us on Disney! Our cruise party consists of myself (Brandy), my DH (Ned), our DS (Anthony - 10), and DD (Valerie - 19 mos @ cruise time)! We are so very excited for our first cruise and lookin' forward to meeting some great new friends while onboard! Been reading up on some of the message boards about what to expect, so I can stop feeling like such a Newbie!! Was wondering if we should do the FE...? I think my kids, at least Anthony, would find it fun! Anyone else planning to participate? Lookin' at them on eBay now.

The countdown till cruise day has us SOOO very excited!!

Brandy

 

[DisneyKim68]

Hi Brandy,

Welcome! There are few of us doing the FE, would love to have you join us! PM your info to tomoyo if you would like to participate

 

[tomoyo]

deleted

 

[MindyA]

Setting sail for cruise in 92 days. First cruise for Mindy, Kyle and our kidos Samantha, Austin, Weston, Tyson and Bayleigh! Cant Wait!

 

[boiseflyfisher]

Actually, don't PM me. Unfortunately, we're jumping ship. Something's come up and we can't travel in October anymore. We had to reschedule to next fall, ugh another year to wait for our first cruise!

Hopefully someone else can take up being in charge of the FE. Hope you all have a good time!

Sorry you won't be joining us! I'm still not sure if we will be taking part in the FE as we may be moving right after our cruise and I'll have a lot of stuff to prepare for.

A side note, it looks like our ship won't be very full if they don't add a discount to our sale date. Right now it appears that there are a quite a few cabins in each category still available, including suites. That's okay with me. We did KSF Mexican Riviera in the spring and I was hoping to experience a cruise that wasn't totally full. Right now we are in a GTY 9B, with them still booking that category. Maybe we will get an upgrade!

 

[2inpink]

Hi everyone! I just found this website! We will be joining you on the 10/16 sailing and we are so excited!! DH and I will be going along with our DD's who will be 3 and 7 months old! This isn't our 1st cruise, but it is our first with the DCL. We did a carnival cruise last year when our older DD was 2 but this will be our first time taking an infant. Any advice on traveling with an infant?

 

[Jes11]

Hey, my name is jesica, im 13 years old and super exited to be going on the disney cruise for the 2nd time. my family is going on board with a big group of people and they all have little kids, so i'm looking for anybody who might be my age on the ship....

 

[DisneyKim68]

Hi Jesica,

My daughter Kaitlyn is 12 and we'll be on this cruise. This will be the first cruise for our family!

 

[Jes11]

thats awesome, we should totally meet up on the ship! You are going 2 love the cruise its so awesome!....And did u know that there is unlimited ice cream buffet??

 

[DisneyKim68]

Hi Jes,

She'd like that! Do you use Facebook? If so I can pm you her info and maybe you two can chat and get to know each other a little bit before the cruise.

 

[Jes11]

No i actually don't have a facebook, but thats a gr8 idea though! ...i guess we'll just have to keep in touch through this thread....

 

[phred84044]

Hi there! I'm so glad I found this thread! This is my family's first ever cruise and I'm a total Disney freak so of course I just had to book us on Disney! Our cruise party consists of myself (Brandy), my DH (Ned), our DS (Anthony - 10), and DD (Valerie - 19 mos @ cruise time)! We are so very excited for our first cruise and lookin' forward to meeting some great new friends while onboard! Been reading up on some of the message boards about what to expect, so I can stop feeling like such a Newbie!! Was wondering if we should do the FE...? I think my kids, at least Anthony, would find it fun! Anyone else planning to participate? Lookin' at them on eBay now.

The countdown till cruise day has us SOOO very excited!!
Brandy

Welcome aboard Brandy and family!!! As first time cruisers I hope that you will enjoy it as much as we do and once you do Disney...you won't want to try anything else. And if you do, like we have, you will be severly dissapointed as you become spoiled with Disney! Your children are similar in ages to two of mine (Carson age 9 and Baby Grace age 1 year today) so we'll have to get them together.

Setting sail for cruise in 92 days. First cruise for Mindy, Kyle and our kidos Samantha, Austin, Weston, Tyson and Bayleigh! Cant Wait!

Hmmm...I think this is the family that we will all have to watch out for; I've heard some interesting stories about these ones! All kidding aside, Mindy is my wife Tracy's (disneymom84074) dear sister. This will be our 3rd Disney vacation together; two previous Disneyland vacations and we finally talked them into this Disney cruise. Welcome aboard Mindy, Kyle and family!

Hi everyone! I just found this website! We will be joining you on the 10/16 sailing and we are so excited!! DH and I will be going along with our DD's who will be 3 and 7 months old! This isn't our 1st cruise, but it is our first with the DCL. We did a carnival cruise last year when our older DD was 2 but this will be our first time taking an infant. Any advice on traveling with an infant?

Welcome aboard 2inpink! We have done two previous cruises with DCL and the children (much younger back then) did well both times. I think Carson was 2 years old one our first DCL cruise. This time we'll have Baby Grace (1 year old) so we may be in for a treat. At first, $6.00 an hour for Flounder's Nursery sounds expensive but later in the cruise you'll be willing to pay more for some alone time without the baby!!!

Hey, my name is jesica, im 13 years old and super exited to be going on the disney cruise for the 2nd time. my family is going on board with a big group of people and they all have little kids, so i'm looking for anybody who might be my age on the ship....

Hi Jesica, I will let our daughter Karlee (age 12 at cruise time) know that you're looking for some friends on the cruise. Our group will have several 11-13 year olds; 4 girls and 1 boy, I believe. Maybe I'll get her set up with a login here so you can talk.

 

[anthonysmama]

Awesome!! We are soooo excited for our first cruise and I know it will not be our last!! We will definitely be doing Disney every time we cruise! I am a huge Disney fan! I went a little crazy with magnets for our door, so we will not be hard to find but our room is 7041. What deck are you on Phred84044? ( Sorry to post with your username but I didn't catch your name. )

 

[anthonysmama]

So sad to hear that babies are not allowed in the pools. Valerie LOVES the water! Glad they at least have the splash area for the little ones tho.

Been researching like a mad woman < > on what to pack and I think I finally got my list ready...now to finish buying all the stuff that I still need.

A couple questions for you "seasoned" cruisers...

#1. One of the packing lists I found on here (and lots of other peoples' threads) said to bring two way radios to keep in touch when away from the kids and such. Good idea? Do they work well on the ship?

#2. Formal night...getting mixed answers on this one. A friend of mine who has cruised before, but never on DCL said VERY formal and when I called DCL the man who helped me said it can be as formal as I want, or not at all if I choose. I really don't wanna stick out like a sore thumb ::NEWBIE:: (showing up in a super formal prom style dress when everyone else is wearing "Little Black Dress" style). But on the other hand, don't wanna be the sore thumb who's underdressed! Maybe I'm thinking too much about it, but its making wanna bring both so I can run back to my room before anyone sees me to change if I come out TOO done up/not done up ENOUGH!

#3. Question I forgot to ask DCL when I called and I'm hoping to save myself from calling again and bugging them...I keep hearing people talk about putting things in the fridge in their rooms, are there refrigerators in all the staterooms? We booked a Standard Inside for this cruise.

I could go on and on with questions I'm sure but I won't. I'm just sooo excited!!! 87 more days!!

 

[phred84044]

So sad to hear that babies are not allowed in the pools. Valerie LOVES the water! Glad they at least have the splash area for the little ones tho.

I didn't know that babies were not allowed in the pools. If they are in a swim diaper, not sure what the problem would be. Maybe since they can't verify that ALL babies are in swim diapers they go the safe route and let no babies in the pools. I guess they don't want any AFR's to ruin it for everyone!

A couple questions for you "seasoned" cruisers...

#1. One of the packing lists I found on here (and lots of other peoples' threads) said to bring two way radios to keep in touch when away from the kids and such. Good idea? Do they work well on the ship?

#2. Formal night...getting mixed answers on this one. A friend of mine who has cruised before, but never on DCL said VERY formal and when I called DCL the man who helped me said it can be as formal as I want, or not at all if I choose. I really don't wanna stick out like a sore thumb ::NEWBIE:: (showing up in a super formal prom style dress when everyone else is wearing "Little Black Dress" style). But on the other hand, don't wanna be the sore thumb who's underdressed! Maybe I'm thinking too much about it, but its making wanna bring both so I can run back to my room before anyone sees me to change if I come out TOO done up/not done up ENOUGH!

#3. Question I forgot to ask DCL when I called and I'm hoping to save myself from calling again and bugging them...I keep hearing people talk about putting things in the fridge in their rooms, are there refrigerators in all the staterooms? We booked a Standard Inside for this cruise.

I could go on and on with questions I'm sure but I won't. I'm just sooo excited!!! 87 more days!!

1. Not sure that two-way radios are needed any longer on the ships. Each room now comes with two Wave phones which double as communication from the kids club counselors to you and can also be used to communicate to others in your party. You can dial between the two in your room and to any other Wave phone on the ship; so if you have a large party you can round everyone up. These phones are separate from the stateroom phone.

2. The answer that Disney provides, "it's as formal as you want it to be" is accurate. It is your cruise and they don't want you dressing up in a tuxedo if you don't want to. On the other hand, if you're wearing shorts that night (which are typically frowned in the dining rooms for dinner anyways) you may be a bit under dressed. To give you an idea of what we've done in the past, here is a picture of formal night from our cruise is 2007:

3. Yes, there are fridges in every stateroom. Always nice to store snacks and leftovers for a middle of the night snack. Or, just call room service to bring some cookies or a Mickey ice cream bar!

Keep asking away...I'm an unlimited source of information. Although I can't post the link to our family Disney blog here (because we run advertising on it) you can look it up in google by typing in the keywords: We're, Dreaming, of, Disney, and you should be able to locate it. We have additional Disney information, tips, etc. there.

Trent-

 

[Jes11]

Hi Jesica, I will let our daughter Karlee (age 12 at cruise time) know that you're looking for some friends on the cruise. Our group will have several 11-13 year olds; 4 girls and 1 boy, I believe. Maybe I'll get her set up with a login here so you can talk.[/QUOTE]

ya that sounds awesome ... I'd love 2 chat with Karlee!

 

[anthonysmama]

I didn't know that babies were not allowed in the pools. If they are in a swim diaper, not sure what the problem would be. Maybe since they can't verify that ALL babies are in swim diapers they go the safe route and let no babies in the pools. I guess they don't want any AFR's to ruin it for everyone!



1. Not sure that two-way radios are needed any longer on the ships. Each room now comes with two Wave phones which double as communication from the kids club counselors to you and can also be used to communicate to others in your party. You can dial between the two in your room and to any other Wave phone on the ship; so if you have a large party you can round everyone up. These phones are separate from the stateroom phone.

2. The answer that Disney provides, "it's as formal as you want it to be" is accurate. It is your cruise and they don't want you dressing up in a tuxedo if you don't want to. On the other hand, if you're wearing shorts that night (which are typically frowned in the dining rooms for dinner anyways) you may be a bit under dressed. To give you an idea of what we've done in the past, here is a picture of formal night from our cruise is 2007:

3. Yes, there are fridges in every stateroom. Always nice to store snacks and leftovers for a middle of the night snack. Or, just call room service to bring some cookies or a Mickey ice cream bar!

Keep asking away...I'm an unlimited source of information. Although I can't post the link to our family Disney blog here (because we run advertising on it) you can look it up in google by typing in the keywords: We're, Dreaming, of, Disney, and you should be able to locate it. We have additional Disney information, tips, etc. there.

Trent-

Yeah. I was exploring all the things there is to do on board on the DCL website when I stumbled across the disclaimer about babies in the pools. Its at the bottom of the description page for Mickey's Pool on the Wonder. I guess I can respect the thought, but I still don't fully understand it. That's what swim diapers were created for, but oh well, I won't be the one to argue the issue. I'm sure our baby girl will have fun playing in the splash zone while on board and we'll be sure to take her in the water on the beaches at the ports. It'll be all about taking turns in the pools for my husband and I...or sneaking in a swim while the kids are at the kids program & the nursery. We'll figure it out.


Awesome! Thank you so very much for all the info! So glad to hear that there are fridge's in the rooms and the Wave phones sound perfect for what I was wanting to use them for! As far as formal night goes, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I was feeling so very lost and now I know exactly what I'm going to pack for each member of our family. (Beautiful family photo by the way!) I found your blog and have been reading through it and watched the video you made from your 2007 cruise. Loved it! Now I'm even more excited for October to get here!!


Thank you again for the info and I'll be sure to post more questions if I think of any more that I haven't had answered by the website or my many calls to DCL!!

See Ya Real Soon!

~Brandy~

 

[anthonysmama]

Just wondering...

Is anyone else planning to dress up for Pirate Night?

Brandy

 

[DisneyKim68]

Just wondering...

Is anyone else planning to dress up for Pirate Night?

Brandy

Yep! When I was at Disneyland I bought the pirate Mickey Ears and a Mickey Pirate shirt. Not sure what else at this point, but since our cruise is right before Halloween, I should have no problem finding pirate accessories!

 

[bradc]

Last year my 3 year old was sad she couldn't get in the pool (not potty trained at the time). She did have a lot of fun in the splash area, especially when she had some water toys to play with.