The Wonder...03/23

[singledismom]

We set off to WDW on 03/19 for the Land/Sea vacation and made it to the Wonder on 03/23

The cast:
Myself: 30
Son: 8
My sister: 30 something
My niece: 12

Day one:
Because we did the Land/Sea vacation we didn't make it to port until after 2. Won't do that again. We almost missed the buffet and did miss our Dismeet.
We were in 2500. This is an outside porthole room that sleeps 4. Our Stateroom host was Emy. She did a swell job, especially with the clean towels. We had PTAP rotation with Michelle from Australia and Putu from Indonisia. They were GREAT!!! Pierre was our Head Server and actually checked on us quite a bit. We were in the Disney Theatre for the Assembly Drill, which wasn't that bad. We saw the comedian guy the first night for the family show (can't remember his name) He was pretty funny, after dinner at Parrot Cay (my favorite) we put the kids in the club and went to WaveBands

Day two in Nassua:
Did Parrott Cay for breakfast. Myself and DS went to the public beach on Paradise Island (got this idea from Barb and Tonys site)
This was very interesting. First the cab driver waits until they can fill up their van then they pile you all in and head over, next they drop you off at what looks to be like in the middle of nowhere. There is a little dirt path they tell you to follow up over the hill. Thank goodness there were other people with us, because I was getting a little worried, but low and behold.... at the top of the hill is PARADISE, with some annoying merchants and hair braiders fo course. "Hey pretty lady, do you want your hair braided?" This was quite annoying as I have very short hair and would look extremely ridiculous(?) even if they could get a braid or two in there. I did wheal and deal for a Sarong though. I thought that DCL would have been handing out towels when you got off, so I didn't bring any with us. It started to rain and sand was blowing pretty hard and my son was crying because the sand was pelting him in the legs. There was nowhere to run for cover and we needed some type of cover, so I bought a sarong. She started off at 20$ and I ended up paying 15$( I later found out I could have bought a Mickey one for 14$ on the ship or in Castaway Cay though) There was quite an under tow that day and my son was not having fun, so we headed back to the ship. It stopped raining by the time we got back so we decided to go shopping for some souvenirs. We had stopped at a few stores before we made it to the Staw Market, I wish I would have went staight to the Staw Market, it was alot cheaper and more interesting. We then headed back to the ship to go to the Goofy pool and get something to eat. My sister and niece did the DCL Historical Tour, they realy enjoyed this. I had a 5:45 spa app. for the Spa Taster, so my son went to the Kids Club and I went to the Spa. Nelanie was my consultant. The message was WONDERful. I also bought some of their facial products. While we were doing our thing my sister and niece went to Who Wants to Be a Mousekateer and won 80$. They missed a question that had to do with the movie Broomsticks and something else(sorry, don't remember) Dinner that night was at Trintons, this was my least favorite menu. After dinner did some shopping and went to the Family Sailaway Party on deck 9 and called it a night.....

stay tunned for day 3 and the Dolphin Encounter

 

[singledismom]

Woke up to a nice and bright sunny day.

We started off with breakfast at Beach Blanket and had to meet in WaveBands at 9:30 for our Dolphin Encounter. By the time we finally made it to the sanctuary it was after 11. (long process) The encounter was WONDERful and the trainer was great. (Did you know the dolphins have ears?) There was a group doing the dolphin swim while we were doing the encounter and that looked real cool, can't wait to try that next time. We did a little shoping afterwards and headed back to the ship around 2:30. Did a little more shopping in the market area right by the ship. I have to say that I like Freeport better then Nassau. It does take longer to get to Port Lucaya, but it's so much more prettier and you don't get tired of hearing, "Hey pretty lady, would you like me to braid your hair?" My sister did horse back riding (non DCL) while we did the dolphins and she loved that as well. She got to go waist deep in the ocean with the horse. When we got back to the ship we went to grab something to eat and got ready for dinner at Animators Palate. How cool is that place? After dinner we went to Wave Bands for 80's night, that was alot of fun.

Day 4, Castaway Cay:

Another great sunny day. We decided this was a sleep in day and didn't get off the boat until 10:30. We hung out at the family beach until lunch time. After lunch we checked out the shop and headed over to the BB. We had reservations for 2 pm, but we got there about 1:40, no one was waiting so they took us early. We had the ride to ourselves. WARNING, WARNING...you will get a face and mouth full of salt water !!!! After the BB ride we headed over to the Parasailing stand. They take 20 people at one time on to the boat, so even though your only in the air 7 to 10 min. ,it actually takes over an hour for everyone to take a turn. My son didn't weigh enough, so we had to go together, which was a good thing, because he was a little freaked out at first. But I have to say that was the most peacefull 7 min. of my vacation. You can see the whole island from up there, plus more. We were the last boat that went out for the day and were literally the last people back to the ship. We saw Disney Dreams before dinner and did the last minute shopping for pictures and souveniers. We also did the last Meet and Greet with all the characters.

Day 5:
We did breakfast at Parrot Cay and had no problems or lines leaving the ship.

Final thoughts and my personal opinions:

Over all this was a great vacation. I will not do the Land/Sea combo again though, it was just too exhausting. I think the Kids Club could do better with the sharing and alotted times of the computers and games. We didn't care for the Beach Blanket Buffett, you got better attention and food at Parrot Cay. We only got to eat breafast there though, we always seemed to miss the lunch buffet and had to eat at Plutos or Pinnochios. I think they should give you a heads up when characters are going to be doing formal pictures (maybe we just missed the posting), we would have loved getting our pictures with Mickey and Miney in there formal or captain gear. This was our first cruise, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but the entertainment staff was great as were all the shows!!!!

 

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks for the great trip report!!!

I have a question. Our cruise just had the Freeport stop added on. So, I would love to hear more about Freeport!!! You mention that you liked Freeport better than Nassau. And said that you enjoyed Port Lucaya. Is this where you took the boat to for the Dolphin Encounter? Or is this right there at Freeport. What was available for you there? Beaches? Food? Facilities? etc.

Thanks!

 

[hsteacher]

Thoughts on Freeport -- hopefully helpful:
There is very little to do without catching a cab at the port. There is a small, straw type market (maybe 10 little booths all selling just about the same thing and definitely the same things you just saw in Nassau the day before).

The cabs (we did not do a Disney excursion), you get them at the port BUT it is $5 per person and they wait until the cat is full -- this didn't take long at the port but the return trip from shopping in Lucaya is another story. So right away, it cost us $20 just to get a cab one way.

Shopping in Lucaya (by the resort which I have heard on these boards is beautiful though we didn't visit as we had been to Atlantis the day before) -- shopping is sparce -- we spent about an hour there and didn't have much variety or different than Nassau. Remember in Nassau, you can shop the straw market without paying a taxi.

Getting a taxi back to the port -- will NOT take you unless the taxi is full. We waited over 45 minutes and still no one to fill the taxi. I complained loudly (my husband reminded me we were not in America and women probably didn't talk to men the way I was talking to the cab driver) and he finally told me that for $10 more he would take us back. So, $30 to get back. Total of $50 in taxi fares.

There is nothing to do in Freeport without a taxi and I felt Freeport paled in comparison to Nassau (which certainly isn't great either but at least you can do something without paying so much in taxis).

This is just MY opinion -- I love the day at sea. The only positive in my mind about Freeport is that we could go back to the ship and it wasn't as crowded as if it was a day at sea.

 

[singledismom]

We didn't have the problems that hsteacher did with the cab,but our transportation was included with the dolphin encounter. We boarded the taxi bus for a 20 min narated ride to Port Lucaya. Once your at Port Lucaya you then get on a boat that takes you to the dolphin sanctuary. After the encounter the boat brings you back to the port. Port Lucaya is set up like a square with maney outside resteraunts and bars. They also have name brand stores, like Tommy H, Nautica, perfumania and others. They also have outside vendors like Nassua. From there you can cross the street to the public beach. I think I like it better because it wasn't as crowded or pushy as it was in Nassua. We only had to wait maybe 5 min. for a cab to go back.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks!

I appreciate the input, as I am sure others do as well. Port Lucaya does sound nicer than the port at Nassau, but what expensive taxi costs! If cruisers do want to taxi into Lucaya and back, it may be a good idea to get together with another family to fill a taxi to get there and back... No waiting either way!