We'll still have fun, right? Long post from a first time cruiser

[fredms]

I think one of the great things about the cruise is no matter which cabin you have all guests are treated equally (concierge service aside). The waiters treat a category 11 or category 3 guest with the same amazing hospitality. And all activities are open to everyone.

You truly don't need to spend an extra dime (except pictures if that's something you want) and your experience will not be lacking. As you are only on the ship for three days I'd recommend staying on board on the Nassau day and exploring the beautiful ship, enjoying less crowded pools, catching a movie and of course the food. The time will fly by.

As far as your son and video games - you can try to not even tell him its available and then restrict his card to charges in case he stumble across the arcade. I think you do that at guest services once on board.

Have an amazing trip. It sounds like you deserve it.

 

[disneyfan551]

Has anyone else taken a cab to the Marriott to enjoy Cable Beach? I'm really interested in this, since we are considering going to Blue Lagoon to enjoy a nice beach. More info. would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by disneyfan551
Has anyone else taken a cab to the Marriott to enjoy Cable Beach? I'm really interested in this, since we are considering going to Blue Lagoon to enjoy a nice beach. More info. would be greatly appreciated!!!

I've never taken a cab to the Marriot but in August we did stay at a resort on Cable Beach. It is a really nice beach, too! The highlight of that trip was taking a jet ski out of Cable Beach, peeking around the corner and seeing the Wonder docked.

You will see many fish and sea life on Cable Beach as well so don't forget your snorkel equipment!

 

[jrabbit]

Someone on these boards had a very truthful saying: "book the cheapest room on the best ship". Well you almost have done that, I belive you said you're in a cat 11, well cat 12 is a little cheaper and you're on the Wonder and we all know that the Magic is the best ship afloat

You will have a Wonder-ful experience on this cruise. If you can come up with the money, you can tour "The Dig" at Atlantis on your own for much cheaper than the DCL excursion. The Dig and aquarium are fantastic. We really enjoyed it - but doing it with DCL we did not have as much time there as we would have liked and it cost more (go figure!)

If you just choose to get off of the ship and wander around Nassau, be prepared - it's like stepping out of civilazation and into a 3rd world country - we were not prepared for the shock on our first cruise.

If you get off the ship to wander the town, the best way to avoid the hair braiders, is for everyone to wear a "skin head wig" (not the skin head racist group). If you got no hair showing, they can't braid it. You might get hit up for some miracle hair grow stuff however.

 

[WVMD]

One thing I would suggest is to go to eBay and buy a few of the pins on sale there. You can get 10 pins for 25-30 dollars - and then let your kids use these to trade with. Saves money as the pins are around $6.50 each onboard. My DD had a bunch of pins to trade - and ended up with great pins that she traded with the crew for.

 

[nedleycan]

Hi Frieda! As a fellow Canadian, I too understand your problem. But, as they say on the islands "No problem Mon". We went on the 4-day Wonder last December and did not do any excusions. We took a cab to Paradise Island when we were in Nassau to a public beach and just hung out with the kids. I didn't find the people very pushy at all. If you have travelled to other islands in the past, Nassau was no different to me (either in the people or the poverty). Freeport (which I don't think you will visit) was not great. Castaway Cay was fantastic! You will love it there and there is no need to do any excusions there.
Also, another way to save money is to bring some wine/liquor on board with you. We love our wine, and love to have a drink before dinner (when on vacation). We would open a bottle of wine every day in our cabin and sit and enjoy it. We got glasses from our server which we clean ourselves. Sometimes I would even take the glass of wine up on deck to enjoy the view. We saved lots of money on drinks by bringing our own. And we waited to buy our drinks until we got to Florida. There is a grocery store close to the port, so we stopped there on the way (we rented a one-way car, rather than doing transfers... cheaper for 4 people, and more flexible).
We did the sureal bath in the spa, but nothing else (oh ya, except Palo... which you MUST do!)
Have fun, eh!

 

[Frieda]

I can sure see why everyone loves these boards so much. Everyone is so friendly and helpful. I've gotten a lot of good advice. I'm going to check out the Disney pins on Ebay. My husband is interested in the whole pin trading idea.

I think it's too late to not say anything to my son about the arcades. (He's seen pictures, darn) but I'll just have to tell him no video games.

I've heard about bringing in your own wine/liquor. We are not big drinkers so that shouldn't be a problem. Hopefully we won't spend too much on the alcohol. We have friends who had a pretty hefty bar bill. Yikes!

I'm looking forward Castaway Cay and even Nassau. Like I said, we've been to other islands before and had to deal with very persistent people. It's all part of the experience and it can make for some good stories when we get back .

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Grumpy's Mom]

Just wanted to mention that if you do choose to get off the ship and walk around, bring a soft-sided cooler with you and order a room service (free) picnic lunch. (I don't think there is a "picnic lunch" on the menu, just order what you would like for lunch, and remember to include the cooler and ziplock bags on your packing list.) That has always been one of my family's favorite cost free events--the children love picnicking, and and what a great place to do that!! You will have wonderful pictures to take home.

Also, I bought snorkeling equipment -- masks and breathing thing, at Target recently for $12 - $18 per set- on clearance!

I agree with all the other posters - you will have a fabulous time regardless!

 

[Scratch42]

If you can't find anything cheap on e-bay, you can always make your way over to the outlet store at Premiere where you will find some cheaper pins to trade. Usually around $2.99 per pin, sometimes less.

Great Place for buying your souvies also! Remember though, souvies you see on the ship are usually not available on land so if you see something you like buy it! That's including the pins!

They also have a discounted section in the back corner of the shop. Go there the first night for some extra savings!

Happy Pin Trading!

Scratch

 

[kcatoir]

We just returned from our first land and sea (first visit to wdw).
We too didn't have much extra money for excursions etc...We knew ahead of time we would not be doing the spa, palo's, lots of extras etc...
We had planned 2 excursions the aquarium at atlantis and snorkeling at CC.
Well we ended not getting off the ship at Naussau, kids had stuff they wanted to do on board...movies, character meets, swimming etc, so that saved us some.
We did go snorkeling (less than $100) for all 4 of us and it was a blast.
Needless to say we had a great time without spending a lot of money.
We didn't purchase alcoholic drinks either, were not big drinkers and DH had cold and was on Meds so couldn't mix with alcohol.
If you want soda or alcoholic drinks bring them on board with you (we did bring soda). There is a grocery store on the way to the pier.

You definetly don't need all the extra's to have a great vacation.
You won't feel left out.
It was one of the best vacations we ever had and we stayed within our budget without feeling deprived.

Have a great time,
I wish we were going again!!!!!!!!!