Wonder 7/31-8/03 incl Hyatt UPDATE & COMPLETE 9/11

[eyeheartgoofy]

Hello, everyone!

We just got back from our first family cruise in Disney's Wonder and I thought I would write up a quick little report. There probably won't be any pictures or anything exciting, but I thought I'd take the time to chronicle the journey for any interested individuals.

CRUISE HISTORY

DH and I cruised on the Magic in Feb 2000, but I was seasick pretty much the entire trip and decided a second trip was NOT on my agenda ... EVER! In fact, I really don't have very many memories of that first trip except for my head spinning and the chilly, cloudy day at Castaway Cay.

Obviously, I gave it another shot (with the help of some transdermal scopalamine patches) and am happy to report that I did not suffer from any type of motion sickness.

THE CRUISERS

Me - 36
DH - 35
DD6
DD4


THE PLAN

Not a lot of planning went into this trip. It was rather spur of the moment. I think we booked about 6 weeks out. I called DCL to get our Castaway Club #'s, then scoured Passporter to find the rooms I didn't want, then booked the trip online. We booked stateroom 7536 (we wanted a verandah). I also booked Palo (6:30pm on Nassau day), filled out the online paperwork, collected birth certificates for everyone (we don't have passports) and booked our flights (arriving in MCO the day before the cruise).

Next, I had to figure out a hotel for the pre-cruise night. I went back and forth between the port hotel with the cool pool that a lot of disboarders recommend (Radisson?) and the MCO Hyatt. I priced them both at the hotel websites and the Hyatt was ~$250 and the other was ~$130, so that sealed the deal ... until I remembered that there was a secret to booking the MCO Hyatt through Hotwire. Sure enough, I found a thread explaining how to book the Hyatt through Hotwire and ended up with a room at the MCO Hyatt for $95.77 (including all taxes!!).

We weren't sure about transportation. I really wanted to be among the first to get on the ship so I could try and switch our 2nd seating dining to 1st seating, so a rental car or a car for hire sounded like our best bet. But, in the end, we just decided to go with Disney's transport service.

My girls had no idea that this trip was about to happen. I thought they would be pretty excited as they both asked if they could go on a cruise when Nick Jr. started airing the commercials advertising the Nick. family cruise departing in Aug 2008 ("It would be fun for the whole family, Mommy!). We didn't actually plan to make this cruise a surprise trip, it just sort of happened. The girls were really excited about a trip to the Wisconsin Dells with their cousin, so I didn't want to damper the Wisconsin excitement by telling them about the Disney Cruise. When we returned from Wisconsin, we just never found the right time to tell the girls - eventually, we decided just to tell them the morning of the trip.

Because of the secret nature of my trip, all my packing had to be done in stealth mode. But, my kids aren't that interested in my laundry habits, so as long as they each had their favorite outfit and Hannah Montana PJ's in the dresser, they didn't care or notice what was missing and packed away in a suitcase. I packed a night light (very useful), a battery operated alarm clock with a light feature (again, very useful), and a shoe organizer (not very useful). I also bought a water camera at Wal-Mart for $9.98 (not sure how useful, I haven't developed the pictures yet ... but the same camera was $19.99 on Castaway Cay).

The night before the trip, DH and I packed up and loaded the minivan.

That concludes the preparation portion of this TR.

 

[Gonecruisin]

Great beginning!

I leave for my cruise on 8/21 and am really interested in up-to-date info.

What are the movies on board?
How rough were the seas?
Was the heat an issue?

Thx

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

DAY 1 TRAVEL TO MCO & HYATT

7-30-2008

The morning of our departure, I was up and showered by 6:30am. DH was up with the girls and had served them breakfast by the time I got out of the shower. We told the girls we were going on a mystery trip. {We used to plan "mystery trips" all the time ... usually the zoo, a picnic, something simple ... but soooo thrilling for little kids. So, the concept of a mystery trip was something both girls understood and both seemed pretty excited.}

We were on the road by 8:00am and told the girls that we were headed to an airport, then a hotel, then a CRUISE!!! The reaction wasn't what I expected ... both girls asked if we were going on a Nick cruise, then acted a bit disappointed when they found out there was no chance of getting slimed or meeting Dora on the DISNEY WONDER . sigh.

We reached the airport without incident, parked the car and hauled ourselves from the cheap-o parking to the terminal. Flight boarded on time and we touched down at MCO about 2.5 hours later.

Once at MCO, we found our luggage and headed up towards the Hyatt. Check in at the Hyatt was a breeze ... they asked if we wanted a room facing the inside or outside of the airport. We chose an outside view. The room at Hyatt looked exactly like the website picture ... but the beds were doubles! I don't know why, but I always assumed they would be queen sized beds. Didn't matter much, it was just surprising. Both girls commented on how small the rooms were (DH and I laughed and told them to wait until we were on the cruise ship!).

We unpacked, then DH and DD6 went on a walk to figure out where we could purchase the DCL transfers. DD4 and I sat on the bed and watched TV. It was storming and raining outside ... very dark and gloomy.

After DH and DD6 returned (turns out, Disney people would be in the lobby of the Hyatt by 9:00am the following morning to sell transfers), we all headed to Macaroni Grill for dinner. After dinner, we puttered around the airport shops for a bit, then headed up to our room for bed.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

Great beginning!

I leave for my cruise on 8/21 and am really interested in up-to-date info.

What are the movies on board?
How rough were the seas?
Was the heat an issue?

Thx

I threw away the Navigators, but I believe the movies were: Wall-E, College Road Trip, the Narnia movie and Swing Vote.

The seas didn't seem rough at all. I was worried because of the storm we had in Florida the night before.

The heat was really not an issue. The only time it really felt lava hot was at the sail away party ... a storm had just gone through and it was very hot and humid on the deck for the party. The rest of the time we were either swimming or in the air conditioned areas of the boat. We never left the ship on Nassau day.

 

[pnyltwk]

our first DCL cruise next year. Please share the rest of your trip when you have the time. I am very interested to hear how it was.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

FRIDAY JULY 31, 2008 PART 1

Because DD6 is an early riser, we were all up and ready for the day by 7:30am without the aid of an alarm clock. We went up to the restaurant in the Hyatt and had the breakfast buffet (it was around $15 per adult, kids were 1/2 price). Breakfast was typical breakfast fare ... nothing spectacular, but it was filling. We were the only family in the restuarant, everyone else was either dining alone or with a business companion.

After breakfast, I took DD4 to the hotel room to finish packing while DH and DD6 went to buy our DCL transfers from the Disney people in the lobby of the Hyatt.

Vouchers in hand, DH and DD6 returned to the room and reported that we needed to be in the Hyatt lobby by 9:30am. So, we sat around for a bit, then headed to the lobby. But, before heading to the hotel lobby, we placed our luggage with the DCL tags attached outside of our hotel room door. We were given strict instructions that our luggage had to be in the hallway of the Hyatt by 9:45am or it wouldn't make it on the ship. This would cause us to become a teeny bit concerned later in the day...

Around 9:40am, a few cruise line CM's rounded the cruisers up (there were about 4 families) and led us down to the cruise line transfer que. Turns out, there were quite a few families already in the que, so we didn't make it on the first bus out of MCO (that bus left at 9:50am, our bus left 20 minutes later). It was kind of silly, IMO, to make us follow the CM's down to the que ... we already knew where it was and our transfers were already stamped ... we could have just gone to the DCL waiting area as soon as the DCL CM's stamped our transfer tickets in the Hyatt lobby.

Anyway, we got on the bus and took off for the port. The bus ride was uneventful and we arrived at Port Canaveral right around 11:00am.

After breezing through security, I headed up to check in (already completed my paperwork online ...highly recommend that) while DH took the girls to see Mickey and the model ship. Check in went smoothly and I was handed a Group 4 boarding ticket, 4 key to the world cards, and 2 Castaway Club lanyards. I politely asked the CM if we could have 2 more lanyards for the girls. She snapped a big mean "No" at me and told me Castaway Club lanyards were only for members of the Castaway Club and my girls most definately WERE NOT members. She told me I could purchase DCL lanyards on the ship or in the snack area if I wanted them for my girls. I understand the policy, I suppose, but c'mon ... I think she could have spared 2 measily lanyards. I thought this was the year of the million dreams and all.

Anyway, I took the Key To The World cards and our TWO lanyards over to DH and the girls. Naturally, we gave the girls the lanyards ... fortunately, no undercover agents arrested us for illegal wearing of Castaway Club lanyards.

We mulled around a bit, registered the girls for the Kids Club and got pictures taken with a mouse, or a dog ... I don't really remember but we definately got pictures with a character in nautical garb.

Finally, they started the boarding process ... I believe it was around 11:45am or so at this time. It took no time at all to get everyone on board. We were on board a few minutes after 12:00pm with our group 4 cards.

The four of us smiled pretty for the photo guy, then strutted on to the ship while our family name was called.

We went up to Beach Blanket Buffet and enjoyed our first meal on the ship. It was about 12:30pm or so at this time. I don't remember what we ate ... but we were full and the girls were itching to try the Mickey Pool.

So, off we went to find a bathroom so the girls could change into their swimming suits. But, could we really enjoy the Mickey Pool?

 

[Googelibear]

Could you really enjoy the Mickey pool? I am intrigued and hope to read all about that soon

 

[CapnJackGroupie]

Can't wait to hear if your girls enjoyed the Mickey pool!

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

our first DCL cruise next year. Please share the rest of your trip when you have the time. I am very interested to hear how it was.

Thanks for reading! I will definately finish this report ... I'm mostly writing it b/c I really enjoyed reading cruise reports while planning for our cruise.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

Could you really enjoy the Mickey pool? I am intrigued and hope to read all about that soon

Sure thing!

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

Can't wait to hear if your girls enjoyed the Mickey pool!

They loved that pool, maybe not on day one though ...

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

0FRIDAY JULY 31, 2008 PART 2

When I last left off, we were searching for a bathroom so the girls could change into swimsuits. Well, the search didn't take long ... there was a bathroom right near the exit of the Beach Blanket Buffet.

After changing, we met DH right outside of the Mickey Pool. The sky was looking pretty dark. I mean, very dark. Dark, dark, dark. Did I mention it was looking dark? But, there were kids swimming, so we quick coated the girls with sunscreen and then noticed a few sprinkles. DH and I sprinted over to a covered table to dump our stuff, just in time for a downpouring of rain. I mean, an absolute downpour. Rain, rain, rain. The lifeguards kicked all of the kids out of the pool. We thought for sure it would let up quickly b/c we could see blue sky, but it kept raining.

We tried to convince the DD's to go exploring a bit since we couldn't swim and it seemed a bit silly to just stand there staring at the pool, but they weren't budging ... they were in their suits and dying to try that darn Mickey pool. So, we waited. And waited. Then, finally, the lifeguard let the kids back in the pool!!! Yeah!! The joy lasted a good 10 -15 minutes before the guards kicked everyone out of the pool again and told them it would be closed for the rest of the afternoon due to developing storms on the horizon (thunder and lightening). Sigh.

Fortunately, it was just about time for our rooms to be ready (about 1:30pm, I believe), so we headed off to find our state room. The girls seemed pretty happy that they at least got to try the pool for a few minutes.

On the walk to our stateroom, we noticed luggage everywhere in the halls. We passed many CM's hauling carts of luggage. But, when we got to our room ... there was NO luggage. Now, I didn't really worry b/c I had read on the disboards that luggage often arrives in bits and pieces and sometimes doesn't get delivered until 4:30pm or so. But, a tiny part of me was wondering if our luggage was still sitting outside of our room at the Hyatt.

The girls loved our room, but instantly wanted to know where the bunkbed was ... I showed them the box and told them someone would set it up for us during dinner.

Next, I gave the girls baths and changed them into fresh clothes and sweaters. (I had packed a light sweater and a change of clothes for each girl in our backpack ... and I'm really glad I did b/c our room was frigid and the sweaters were much appreciated).

After the girls were changed, we headed to the Oceaneer Club for family time. The kids loved it there. It was very cool ... there is a big play structure shaped like a pirate ship, complete with a star filled sky. The girls ran all over the place checking it out and sliding to their hearts content. Around 3:00pm or so, an announcement was made that the Club would be closing in 15 minutes for the emergency lifeboat drill. So, we all headed out of the club and went back to our room.


Up next, the drill, our first meal and the end of day 1.

 

[pnyltwk]

did your luggage show up or did you get to go shopping??? I think that I would prefer to bring my own luggage. Is there any reason that you could not? Sorry to hear that the girls did not get to go for a good swim that first time. But I am sure that they made up for it later.

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Awesome.. TR.. TFS.. subscribing

 

[tngal]

Hey! We were on this cruise, too!! our room was 7576...so just down the hall from you!!

 

[gduvall]

Please finish, can't wait to see if you got your luggage.

 

[Dreamer04]

I am really enjoying your trip report!

 

[TylerAggie]

Enjoying your report and looking forward to more. Robin

 

[DWeaver]

Enjoying your report. Please continue soon.

 

[wilma-bride]

Enjoying your report so far - can't wait to see if your luggage arrived OK.