Wonder 3 days - just back Pros & Cons

[BowlingAriel]

I just sailed on the 3 day Wonder - the 27th.

Here's what I thought were Pros & Cons

PROS
1. Embarkation was the easiest I have ever had. Appears that later was better. Arrived about 3pm. Only about 10 people in the terminal.

2. FREE DRINK STATION - we were on 8 AFT right under the drink station. Perfect. Sodas, Teas -hot or cold, Coffee, Cocoa (with the chilly weather we used that alot) and my brother used the milk for the kids. Other cruise lines charge you a fee for unlimited. Kudos for Disney.

3. Disembarking - WOW Loved the character & color then to get to the terminal and everything was sorted by cabin number. That took maybe 10 mins to get through! Other cruise lines could learn from Disney.

4. Loved how EVERYTHING was geared towards kids.

5. The Characters were everywhere. No matter what time of day or part of the ship there was a character somewhere.

6. Loved how there was soo much energy with all the shows. The sail-a-way party, pirate night. Seemed to get everyone involved.

7. Was very glad to see that the teen club DID STUFF. My DD16 was impressed that there were actual activities. Not just "hanging out" and listening to music.

8. I want the Ships Horn installed on my car! ** When you wish upon a Star**

9. CM at Guest Services were good/bad. One was overly helpful, 20 mins later the next was was dumber than a bag of rocks. (Pillow Cases and Mattes turned out AWESOME)




CONS
1. Food could have been better - was not please that Triton was our Pirate Night. (even though our waiter brought our Escargot over to AP the next nite)

2. Scheduling - felt like you had to choose between Dinner/Show and anything else. Didn't get to see the trivia game or go to bingo other things overlapped too much.

3. 3 days is WAY to short!

4. They really could do a Character b'fast on the 3 day.

5. Quality of pictures was terrible. Wished they would go back to 35mm. I know the ease of digital. But the same shot printed twice had different color.

6. Redesign the bathroom. I understand the concept of making it easier to get more people ready. Really felt cramped in both bathrooms. And forget about the rough seas. I felt like a fish in a fishbowl being tossed around. LOL

Tried to check everything out. So if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them!

 

[momtokendantom]

What cabin type where you in?

Thanks,
Michelle

 

[BowlingAriel]

I had booked a Cat 7 gty 3 weeks before the cruise - got my docks and we were in Cat 5 7132. When I checked reservation system day of sailing we got a Cat 4 Family room. 8594.

It was Port side - Aft. Blacony was 1/2 white and 1/2 glass.

Right under the drink station.


Oh a BIG PRO

Storage space - there were enough drawers and cabinets and hangers. We had pleanty of room.

 

[kfields1]

How was the weather? Could you swim comfortably at Castaway? How were the waves??

 

[HookedonMagic]

The 3 night has Pirate Night??? That's great news...which night is it? What was your rotation...Triton's is our least favorite menu...I hope we have your rotation. I sailed the Magic in September with my husband...I'm sailing the 3 night Wonder next week with our daughter. She'll love it!

 

[sophie1]

We are sailing the 3 day Wonder in March, We have been told that the Stingray swim on Blue Lagoon is closed since the hurricanes. Do you know if this is true? What excursions did you take if any and did you like them?

 

[BowlingAriel]

kfields1 - Weather was chilly. Although I am not a fair person to ask as I live here in FL. So anything under 70 is cold. Some people were in the Water, it was very cold. The waves weren't too bad, although they did cancel some excursions because of the wind and waves.

HookedonMagic - Yes Pirate night is the second nite. My rotation was PC-T-AP. I was sad because I was looking fwd to Escargot! OUr server was wonderful (Ardi) when we went to AP the next nite, he went and brought us Escargot.

 

[BowlingAriel]

Sophie1 - We didn't take any this time. We've been to Nassau before and have stayed at Atlantis. So we just shopped and hung out at Senor Frogs!!

Not sure about the Stingray swim - I know the Dolphin swim at Blue Lagoon is incredible. Well worth the cost. The excursion to Atlantis is nice, you get to see everything on the property. If you are a beach person - just note that you do not have access to their beaches.

Nassau has some very nice beaches also - Cable Beach is my favorite.

 

[DLANGE3386]

how did you go about getting the pilowcases done? did you label them with room # and name so you would get the right one back? I thought maybe I should write my kids names on them to start. Also can you put in any special requests ?one of my DD is a Minnie Mouse fan! did you just have them use sharpies?thanks!

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

Bummer! Are they the kind that are thermal printed off the computer. If so I am BUMMED! They stink! The ones we got from our last trip at MGM were horrible quality! They were switched to digital and they did the thermal imaging technology. UGH! That is so disappointing

 

[HookedonMagic]

Thanks, Bowling! My daughter loves the Escargot, as well! Sounds like you had a great trip. Thanks for sharing with us!

 

[ClarabelleCow]

We were on the Wonder in August, and were shocked at how nice the pictures were. We ended up buying the 20 picture package they were that nice!!! And it was only a 3 night cruise!! Hope it was just ann off week!

 

[scillacc]

Hi Everybody,
We just got back too from the Wonder. I had the same dining rotation we were late seating though. Our server was Zoran and his sidekick and they were great. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The pillowcases were not a problem and the girl at guest services took them with such a smile. It was cold, let me tell you. My boyfriend did the snorkeling at the family beach and loved it, went out as far as you could go and saw 3-4 foot groupers and lots of other fish. A ray was swimming in the shallow end of the snorkeling area and people got so scared. Take your own snorkeling gear, they charge 25 bucks to rent theirs and if it's cold and you only use it for 5 minutes that's alot of money. I rented a tube and never once used it. My b/f's 11 yr old spent about 10 minutes with the Oceanneers club. She said she was bored and there was nothing to do. Not sure if she wanted to make sure my b/f and I had no quiet time or if she is that clingy to her dad (that probably is it). Because of that we didn't get to go to Palo's nor did we get to go to any of the clubs. The inside state room was great, never wished I had a room with a view, this one was perfectly adequate and tons of storage. We were in room 7003, cat 10. The pictures we thought turned out great. Only complaint was that some they took they only developed into 8x 10s and wanted 19.95 for them. I felt that was too much money. Maybe if we had asked they would have done it into a 5 x 7 for us, but i was soooo tired.

The food was great and we loved it.

 

[BowlingAriel]

DLANGE3386 - The pillow cases are awesome. I bought transfer paper and made a cute iron on with Disney Fonts & Pictures. Each person's name, date of sail and ship name.

If you do a search for VERANDAH MAN he has pictures of the ones he's had done.

You can have anything signed, pillow cases, mattes for pictures, t-shirts, hats. just put them in a zip lock bag (I used the 2 gal size) write your last name and cabin # on the outside. Drop them off at guest services and then you pick them up the last nite about 10Pm. My daughter and nieces were so surprised. All the characters onboard signed them. I put shrapies in my bag, I've read where others have not, and one post talked about how she included different color sharpies.

scillacc - don't get me wrong - we bought a TON also. I asked about the 5x7 size because thats what all my albums hold. They told me no. But as I said before I think that this was a new photo staff. What an odd size - 6x8.

 

[gshoemate]

We were on the same cruise!! We had a great time. I agree with you, they need to do something about the schedule. We would go back to the room, get ready for dinner (late seating), get in line for the show, after the show we would have time for photos and then dinner. We didn't have time for bingo or anything else.

When I dropped off our pillowcases the guy did not look happy. And wouldn't you know it, I got the same guy when I went to pick them up. The first time he went to the back he brought back the photo mat, I told him I also had 2 pillowcases. So he went back again and brought back another ziploc bag. I went and sat down to look at it and noticed I had only 1 pillowcase. So back in line I went and of course, I got the same guy again. So he went to the back for a third time and found my other pillowcase. They turned out great. The pricesses even signed them. I do wish that I would of put something between them, some of the ink went through the other side.

I am now suffering from a cold. I woke up with minor symptoms Sunday morning and by Sunday night I was feeling pretty terrible. Last night I had a fever of 102.5. Going to the doctor today. So please make sure you wash your hands as often as you can. And use the wipes that they provide. And just be cautious. Just because you washing doesn't mean that others are.

 

[UGAFan0829]

I would have to agree with you on the fact that the 3 day is way too short and not nearly enough time to do the things you'd like to...That's why we're planning a 4 day for next year...looking forward to an extra day at sea!

 

[BowlingAriel]

gshoemate I know exactly what you mean. One time the person was nice, the next time they weren't. Sorry you had the same guy.

As for the washing thing, since I own a bowling center I an SUPER GERM-A-PHOBIC. Between shoes and bathrooms and bowling balls. Some people have NO hygiene.

When I leave a restroom I keep the towel I dried my hands off with and touch the door handle with it. Then throw the towel away outside.

I thought their bathrooms were pretty gross - epecially the ones outside the restaurants.

I hope you are feeling better.

1/2 Hour from Disney - so where is it that you live? My brother that we surprised lives in Rockledge and my folks are over on Cocoa Beach. I am south about 90 miles in Jensen Beach.

 

[UGAFan0829]

I thought their bathrooms were pretty gross - epecially the ones outside the restaurants.

Huh, that's weird...were they not clean when you were there?? The DH and I had to stop and use those a couple of times, and both times they were super clean...actually someone was coming in to clean them AGAIN as I was going out.

 

[scillacc]

B/f's 11 yr old is now sick and being taken to the doctor as we speak, I woke up this morning with cold symptoms and generally feel terrible.
I hope you get better and I will post if the 11 yr old has anything important.

 

[BowlingAriel]

Maybe I would walk in after the "potty rush". Could just be me, thats my pet peeve. Dirty Bathrooms.

WOW, I hope you guys all feel better. Its really no wonder everyone caught a cold - the chilly damp weather.