tksbaskets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2002
- Messages
- 4,457
We proceeded right to our stateroom to drop off our backpacks and pick up our navigator. Our luggage had yet to arrive. Our stateroom 7510, catagory 8, was great! Quite spacious and the four of us had no problem moving around. The only traffic jams occured if more than one person wanted to cross the room at the end of the big bed. We may have been so comfortable because we are used to camping in our pop-up 
Our early dining rotation was Tritons, Animators Palate, Parrot Cay, Parrot Cay.
Next stop, the Beach Blanket Buffet on deck 9. I was really glad that I had poured over these boards and the drawing of the Wonder from the Disney Web site because I knew my way around pretty well. The family was happy to follow along. The best part of the whole vacation for me was my DH saying to me, "Thanks for organizing this vacation for us". It was so sweet. We sanitized our hands (CM handed out wipes before any buffet) and enjoyed the buffet. I agree with Tony, the peel and eat shrimp were great!
Off to the lifeboat drill. My family was in the beating sun for the entire drill. It was quite efficient and soon over. Bringing sun glasses or hats for your shorter family members in the front is a must! Next stop for us was the Goofy pool. The boys really enjoyed swimming in the pool when it wasn't super crowded! Being right next to Scoops was the favorite for my other DS!
We signed the boys up for the Ocenears Lab. I quickly snatched up the navigators for all age groups. I'll get them to Dave for his web site as soon as I get his address. I also got navigators for each day to share. My eldest DS (by 15 minutes) liked the organized activities in the lab, my other DS liked EVERY activity in the lab. Had to drag him out kicking and screaming most times. Overall a wonderful experience for the boys.
We changed into our fancy duds for dinner (luggage arrived around 5:30) and off we went. We were table 21 and had great table mates from California. They had a 13 yo son and 16yo daughter. Great company for our family. Tritons was very elegent and the only downside was that our chairs were packed in like cord wood. DS had to go to the loo and he had to climb over his seat to get out. The food was very good in every restaurant. DS #1 had a sirloin steak EVERY night. Was a running joke by the last night with our server Ganesh from India (great server!) and our assistant Yuroslav from Bulgaria was SO polite!. DS#2 was very adventurous with his selections. He had everything from lamb shank to sea bass. Pretty unusual for an 11 yo! DH and I tried different dishes but my taste ran more towards the beef dishes. Every dessert we had was wonderful! DS#2 had a Mickey ice cream bar each night. We went shopping and then off to Hercules the Muse-ical. The boys really enjoyed the show. DH and I thought it was cute. We really liked the muse in drag. He was really funny! Our stateroom was made up and we received a NYE cruise lithograph in our room. Made an early night of it and were rocked to sleep on the Wonder. Byron was our stateroom host and made great towel animals every night. DH started leaving his sunglasses in plain sight for him!
Nassau day dawned bright and sunny. We had breakfast at the buffet in Parrot Cay - yummy! At 10 we went to the Buena Vista Theatre to see Santa Clause 2 which was great. The boys went off to the lab for a bit and DH and I relaxed on deck. The beeper sounded (issued from the lab) that our 10-12 yo had left the lab for our stateroom. The DSs were very good about paging us when they left the lab. We walked into Nassau which DH and I both described as "seedy". Past about 30 cabbies wanting to take us places and 10 women wanting to braid my hair and into the business district. We picked up a couple of color changing shirts from Del Sol and the DSs wanted to go back to the ship to swim. Thus ended our 35 minute trip into Nassau. Plenty for the DH and I also. We were happy to be back on board! Lunch at Parrot Cay for their buffet (yummy again!) and the DSs headed off to the lab and DH and I to the adult pool. About 20 min later DS#1 was back because he wanted to swim. DS#2 was plucked from the lab when it was time for our dinner. Table 21 in Annimator's was much more spacious. We enjoyed the color change show throughout dinner. I had the best steak I'd ever tasted there too! Most of our dinners lasted from 6 to about 7:30 or later as we lingered over coffee and dessert. Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer was fun but since we weren't choosen, a little slow moving. The MC was our cruise director Rachel. She is from England and has a delightful accent. After the show, off to the lab for the boys and DH and I went to dueling Pianos with Carl and Larry. What fun that was!! Wanted to go again but so much to do, so little time. Off to bed we all went around 1130 or so.
12/31 found us in Freeport. We had signed up for the Dolphin encounter at 8:15 so it was and early breakfast at Beach Blanket. The DH and DSs proclaimed all buffets 'great' while I much prefered the selection and coffee in Parrot Cay (DH agreed about the coffee). Drink deck 9 swill, I mean coffee, at your own risk! We throughly enjoyed our dolphin encounter. Took a bus to Lucayan Harbor (very upscale harbor with several yahts) and a beautiful sunny day. We then took a pontoon boat to Sancuary Bay for our encounter. Ask me for more details (as you can tell, I can go on and on like the Energizer Bunny) but we found it very educational and fun. We did very little shopping as we all found the vendors extreemly pushy. We were back on the ship by 1:15 and had a GREAT lunch at Tritons. We caught the 2:15 show of Island Magic and the DSs both had huge grins watching that performance. We brought our dessert from Tritons to the show. The DSs went to see Treasure Planet after while DH and I went to the adult pool again. See a pattern?? I read, DH sunned, now this is the life! There were so many parties scheduled for NYE all over the ship. Even the lab had it's own party. Our dinner in Parrot Cay was a special NYE menu that was served in all the dining rooms. (hence going to Parrot Cay the next night too). Saw everything from jeans to tuxes that night. Overall, people dressed according to the suggestions given by Disney. DSs went to see Lilo and Stitch with the lab and DH and I went to the show - John Ferrintino. He was a hoot. Hooked back up with the DSs about 11 - DS#2 was bummed that the little kids (8yo) were at the lab NYE party. There is a big difference between an 8yo and 11 3/4 yo. We went to the family party at Studio Sea but about 11:30pm the boys were falling asleep in their chairs and a bit cranky. It had been a very long day so off to bed we all went. Happy new Year! Went to sleep dreaming of all the fun to be had on Castaway Cay and the pins we could only purchase there. Heard they closed the decks at 2am because of the wind. Women were all doing Marilyn Monroe impressions with their dresses, drinks flying overboard, security was afraid overly-celebretory guests would be too! We slept throught the excitement.
NY day, 2003. We awoke at 8:30 and looked out and saw....the ocean?????!! Not good. Captain John came over the speakers to say he had tried to dock 3 times already that morning but the 49 knot winds coming over the ship prevented a safe arrival. He tried once more at 9:30 but couldn't do it. WHAT A BUMMER! The seas were very choppy. Chairs were blowing across the deck on deck 10. We all looked at the beautiful island from the back of the Wonder. It was a sunny day and it would have been lovely. We understood that Captain John couldn't risk the ship but we all discussed taking the life boats over! Well, our last day on board turned into a day at sea. The lab redid their schedule and DH and I spent most of the day sunning. DSs spent a good amount of time in the Goofy pool and at scoops. They went to see Treasure Planet again for good measure. DSs humored their DM and took part in the Disover the Magic show. I knew from these boards that they would get free T-shirts! We had a great dinner at Parrot Cay without our table mates who were gorging themselves on buffalo wings at the promonade lounge (they highly recommend them!). The Disney Dreams show was as wonderful as everyone says. Kind of sad knowing it was our final night. Had to have our bags packed and outside the room by 11. Hit the sack right after.
Debarkation day (thought I'd never be done didn't you!) we had a great BIG breakfast at Parrot Cay (you go to the dining room you were in the night before). I had read so much about the farewell breakfast being pitiful I was expecting a slice of bacon and little silver dollar pancake. We had the express breakfast off of a large menu. It had eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown patty, and two pancakes along with juice and coffee. We were stuffed! We were off the Wonder by 8:15. I recommend the porter service as they took our customs form and got us on the proper bus to the airport. Sad to go, but what a wonderful vacation!
Misc. thoughts and observations:
Shutters took some great pictures. Even when their photographers were snapping away you were welcome to take pictures with your own camera. I purchased the 10 picture package and it was slick as all get out. I didn't mind the pictures being a strange size because I plan to scrapbook them all.
The hamburgers on deck 9 are GREAT. Scoops was the DSs favorite spot. Tiny little cones which make sense because then you finish them. It's not like you can't go back!
Beach Blanket Buffet - OK, (psst...go to Parrot Cay if you can). Avoid the coffee on deck 9. Never made it to Tritons for breakfast but the sit down lunch was superb!
The adult areas never had children in them. Most children were well behaved. Never really saw screaming meemies running wild.
If you don't have fun on the Wonder - you must be dead!
Our early dining rotation was Tritons, Animators Palate, Parrot Cay, Parrot Cay.Next stop, the Beach Blanket Buffet on deck 9. I was really glad that I had poured over these boards and the drawing of the Wonder from the Disney Web site because I knew my way around pretty well. The family was happy to follow along. The best part of the whole vacation for me was my DH saying to me, "Thanks for organizing this vacation for us". It was so sweet. We sanitized our hands (CM handed out wipes before any buffet) and enjoyed the buffet. I agree with Tony, the peel and eat shrimp were great!
Off to the lifeboat drill. My family was in the beating sun for the entire drill. It was quite efficient and soon over. Bringing sun glasses or hats for your shorter family members in the front is a must! Next stop for us was the Goofy pool. The boys really enjoyed swimming in the pool when it wasn't super crowded! Being right next to Scoops was the favorite for my other DS!
We signed the boys up for the Ocenears Lab. I quickly snatched up the navigators for all age groups. I'll get them to Dave for his web site as soon as I get his address. I also got navigators for each day to share. My eldest DS (by 15 minutes) liked the organized activities in the lab, my other DS liked EVERY activity in the lab. Had to drag him out kicking and screaming most times. Overall a wonderful experience for the boys.
We changed into our fancy duds for dinner (luggage arrived around 5:30) and off we went. We were table 21 and had great table mates from California. They had a 13 yo son and 16yo daughter. Great company for our family. Tritons was very elegent and the only downside was that our chairs were packed in like cord wood. DS had to go to the loo and he had to climb over his seat to get out. The food was very good in every restaurant. DS #1 had a sirloin steak EVERY night. Was a running joke by the last night with our server Ganesh from India (great server!) and our assistant Yuroslav from Bulgaria was SO polite!. DS#2 was very adventurous with his selections. He had everything from lamb shank to sea bass. Pretty unusual for an 11 yo! DH and I tried different dishes but my taste ran more towards the beef dishes. Every dessert we had was wonderful! DS#2 had a Mickey ice cream bar each night. We went shopping and then off to Hercules the Muse-ical. The boys really enjoyed the show. DH and I thought it was cute. We really liked the muse in drag. He was really funny! Our stateroom was made up and we received a NYE cruise lithograph in our room. Made an early night of it and were rocked to sleep on the Wonder. Byron was our stateroom host and made great towel animals every night. DH started leaving his sunglasses in plain sight for him!
Nassau day dawned bright and sunny. We had breakfast at the buffet in Parrot Cay - yummy! At 10 we went to the Buena Vista Theatre to see Santa Clause 2 which was great. The boys went off to the lab for a bit and DH and I relaxed on deck. The beeper sounded (issued from the lab) that our 10-12 yo had left the lab for our stateroom. The DSs were very good about paging us when they left the lab. We walked into Nassau which DH and I both described as "seedy". Past about 30 cabbies wanting to take us places and 10 women wanting to braid my hair and into the business district. We picked up a couple of color changing shirts from Del Sol and the DSs wanted to go back to the ship to swim. Thus ended our 35 minute trip into Nassau. Plenty for the DH and I also. We were happy to be back on board! Lunch at Parrot Cay for their buffet (yummy again!) and the DSs headed off to the lab and DH and I to the adult pool. About 20 min later DS#1 was back because he wanted to swim. DS#2 was plucked from the lab when it was time for our dinner. Table 21 in Annimator's was much more spacious. We enjoyed the color change show throughout dinner. I had the best steak I'd ever tasted there too! Most of our dinners lasted from 6 to about 7:30 or later as we lingered over coffee and dessert. Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer was fun but since we weren't choosen, a little slow moving. The MC was our cruise director Rachel. She is from England and has a delightful accent. After the show, off to the lab for the boys and DH and I went to dueling Pianos with Carl and Larry. What fun that was!! Wanted to go again but so much to do, so little time. Off to bed we all went around 1130 or so.
12/31 found us in Freeport. We had signed up for the Dolphin encounter at 8:15 so it was and early breakfast at Beach Blanket. The DH and DSs proclaimed all buffets 'great' while I much prefered the selection and coffee in Parrot Cay (DH agreed about the coffee). Drink deck 9 swill, I mean coffee, at your own risk! We throughly enjoyed our dolphin encounter. Took a bus to Lucayan Harbor (very upscale harbor with several yahts) and a beautiful sunny day. We then took a pontoon boat to Sancuary Bay for our encounter. Ask me for more details (as you can tell, I can go on and on like the Energizer Bunny) but we found it very educational and fun. We did very little shopping as we all found the vendors extreemly pushy. We were back on the ship by 1:15 and had a GREAT lunch at Tritons. We caught the 2:15 show of Island Magic and the DSs both had huge grins watching that performance. We brought our dessert from Tritons to the show. The DSs went to see Treasure Planet after while DH and I went to the adult pool again. See a pattern?? I read, DH sunned, now this is the life! There were so many parties scheduled for NYE all over the ship. Even the lab had it's own party. Our dinner in Parrot Cay was a special NYE menu that was served in all the dining rooms. (hence going to Parrot Cay the next night too). Saw everything from jeans to tuxes that night. Overall, people dressed according to the suggestions given by Disney. DSs went to see Lilo and Stitch with the lab and DH and I went to the show - John Ferrintino. He was a hoot. Hooked back up with the DSs about 11 - DS#2 was bummed that the little kids (8yo) were at the lab NYE party. There is a big difference between an 8yo and 11 3/4 yo. We went to the family party at Studio Sea but about 11:30pm the boys were falling asleep in their chairs and a bit cranky. It had been a very long day so off to bed we all went. Happy new Year! Went to sleep dreaming of all the fun to be had on Castaway Cay and the pins we could only purchase there. Heard they closed the decks at 2am because of the wind. Women were all doing Marilyn Monroe impressions with their dresses, drinks flying overboard, security was afraid overly-celebretory guests would be too! We slept throught the excitement.
NY day, 2003. We awoke at 8:30 and looked out and saw....the ocean?????!! Not good. Captain John came over the speakers to say he had tried to dock 3 times already that morning but the 49 knot winds coming over the ship prevented a safe arrival. He tried once more at 9:30 but couldn't do it. WHAT A BUMMER! The seas were very choppy. Chairs were blowing across the deck on deck 10. We all looked at the beautiful island from the back of the Wonder. It was a sunny day and it would have been lovely. We understood that Captain John couldn't risk the ship but we all discussed taking the life boats over! Well, our last day on board turned into a day at sea. The lab redid their schedule and DH and I spent most of the day sunning. DSs spent a good amount of time in the Goofy pool and at scoops. They went to see Treasure Planet again for good measure. DSs humored their DM and took part in the Disover the Magic show. I knew from these boards that they would get free T-shirts! We had a great dinner at Parrot Cay without our table mates who were gorging themselves on buffalo wings at the promonade lounge (they highly recommend them!). The Disney Dreams show was as wonderful as everyone says. Kind of sad knowing it was our final night. Had to have our bags packed and outside the room by 11. Hit the sack right after.
Debarkation day (thought I'd never be done didn't you!) we had a great BIG breakfast at Parrot Cay (you go to the dining room you were in the night before). I had read so much about the farewell breakfast being pitiful I was expecting a slice of bacon and little silver dollar pancake. We had the express breakfast off of a large menu. It had eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown patty, and two pancakes along with juice and coffee. We were stuffed! We were off the Wonder by 8:15. I recommend the porter service as they took our customs form and got us on the proper bus to the airport. Sad to go, but what a wonderful vacation!
Misc. thoughts and observations:
Shutters took some great pictures. Even when their photographers were snapping away you were welcome to take pictures with your own camera. I purchased the 10 picture package and it was slick as all get out. I didn't mind the pictures being a strange size because I plan to scrapbook them all.
The hamburgers on deck 9 are GREAT. Scoops was the DSs favorite spot. Tiny little cones which make sense because then you finish them. It's not like you can't go back!
Beach Blanket Buffet - OK, (psst...go to Parrot Cay if you can). Avoid the coffee on deck 9. Never made it to Tritons for breakfast but the sit down lunch was superb!
The adult areas never had children in them. Most children were well behaved. Never really saw screaming meemies running wild.
If you don't have fun on the Wonder - you must be dead!
I recommend the cream brule cheese cake - still dreaming about that wonderful confection!
Once at the harbor, which I mentioned was very upscale, we were met by the Disney CM who would be there all the day as a contact for us. We then were taken about 5 minutes from the bus to the Dolphin Encounter retail shop where we signed waivers and boarded our boat to Sancuary Bay. Swim folks were issued fins there too. The sea was rough that day and it was quite the wild ride. The boat was nice and the scenery was beautiful on the ride over. The boat ride took about 15 minutes or so. Most people slathered on the sun screen then.
