elemusing
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2001
- Messages
- 2,311
Hello all! I have been trying to gain access to post our report, but the boards and the DIS are having tech problems, so this is a bit late.. . . .
I won't go into detail as some of you have, but will post the highlights. Please feel free to ask any questions about anything I didn't post.
The Cast: me - Angie, 32; DH -Roy 32; and DS - Nicolas 5.
We did the 4 day land/3 day cruise. Roy and I have been on the Wonder in 2000 without Nicolas. We really wanted to do the 7 night this time, but thought that we better try the short cruise to see how Nicolas would like his first time at sea.
We stayed at the Polynesian for the land portion. It was our first time at a deluxe resort and we loved it. We usually go for the mods - CBR is our favorite - but we loved the monorail access, the zero entry pool at the Poly and of course, the room service. We ate at both Kona and Ohana and loved them both. We were in room 3230 in Aetoria (I know that isn't spelled correctly, sorry.) It is close to the main longhouse and to the pool so it was a great location. Our room had a fanatastic view of the Grand Floridian. The only complaint I have is the cart traffic at the resort!!! We have never seen so many golf carts and room service carts, etc at a resort. There were constant beeps and engine noises and it was quite annoying whenever we were sitting out on the balcony. And by the way, Nicolas figured out the lock to the balcony in two seconds flat (I had heard that we shouldn't worry about that) so we had to keep an eye on him around the door.
There was alot of windy rain while we were at WDW, but it didn't stop us from having a great time.
But since this is the cruise board - on with the story . . .
We got up early and had breakfast at Ohana the morning of the 12th. Then hit the MK for a few hours before heading back to the Poly to meet the bus to take us to the ship. That was a BIG plus in staying at a monorail resort. It was very quick getting to and from MK not having to wait for a bus ride. If we had stayed at a non-monorail resort, we would have taken the special offered to cruise line guests where you can spend the morning at AK and then board a bus at the AK at 12:30 to head for port.
We arrived at the Wonder at about 1:00pm. We headed straight through the ears with no problems whatsoever. Nicolas was very excited to see the ship. They didn't announce us as we entered. As a matter of fact, they didn't do that for us in 2000 either. I keep hearing from other posters that they do that - but didn't happen for us. We did get our picture made upon entering.
We headed straight to our stateroom (even though we got the speil about them not being ready - doesn't everyone?) and unloaded our carryon bags. We were in stateroom 5020 which is a secret porthole. It has a great view. It is at the front of the ship - but compared to last trip where we were midship - it felt the same as far as motion. It has a split bathroom and we liked that. DS slept on the pull down bed and liked the curtain that made his "bedroom" away from us. He also liked the fact that his "room" had the TV and window!
The shrimp were great at the buffet! And then we hit the pool for a bit. The Mickey pool got VERY crowded immediately. DS didn't get to go down the slide until the last night when we just made a point to go wait in line to do it. (By the way - the day we were at Nassua - they closed the pool in the middle of the day - got everyone out because there had been an "accident." ) When the CM first told me to get my son out because of the accident - I assumed for some reason he meant a bad accident like blood involved - but then another CM said someone went wee wee in the pool!!! Gross. I don't know how they knew that unless someone reported it or maybe it is just that the water in that pool gets very cloudy and nasty fast. But anyway - they cleared the pool and said it wouldn't be open for 2 hours.
Back to the first day - we stayed on deck 9 until 5pm when we did the countdown and heard the horn! Nicolas loved that. I programmed my cell phone to that - so he was anticipating it.
Then we rushed to get ready by our 6pm seating. Ugh. Roy and I had the late seating in 2000 and knew that we would probably get the early one this time because we had Nicolas with us. It is very difficult to get all you want to get done before 5. That gives you an hour to get ready - which can be difficult for some. (me) But we managed and knew it was for the best. Our rotation was APT. I really wish we had Triton's first as there is not really any "fun" stuff going on and it is hard to keep a 5 year old seated for 2 hours at dinner. He liked Animator's and also Parrot Cay. But Triton's was not a good time for any of us.
The food was not good. Now I know some of you will say I should expect "fancy" food on a ship. But I am comparing the choices to what we had in 2000. Roy and I were really looking forward to the crab legs in Triton's and they don't serve them anymore!!! He had the duck and I had the fish that night and we barely tasted our dinners. yuck. I just couldn't eat it. At Animator's I had the sirloin and it was very fatty. I had to cut around and around until I got to the meat. And the salads were bitter lettuce. The only one I had that was good was the Ceasar salad the first night. We did like the appetizers at Triton's. I had the cheese balls (they had a fancy name) and Roy had the shrimp cocktail. Nicolas had a hotdog or pizza every night and was satisfied. Next time - we will let him do dinner with the Oceaneer's Club on Triton's night, though.
Let's see - we went to Atlantis during Nassau day. We took a cab over $4 per person - and did the DIG tour. $25 for Roy and me each and $20 for Nicolas. At first I thought it was a rip off until we got to the part of the DIG in the Royal Tower. It was really neat and I would recommend it. We thought about paying for a day room there or Comfort Suites, but decided that we were hitting the beach tomorrow and could swim on the boat - so why pay for those. So after the DIG we took a cab back ($10 this time total - good deal!) and headed back in time for Nicolas to make Flubber in the kids club. Then we got him a couple of hours later and let him swim. (This was the day they closed the pool) So we headed to the Goofy pool - but it was too deep for him to enjoy (It is about a deep as he is tall). So we played in the hottub for a while and then headed back to the room to get ready for dinner.
The next day was Castaway Cay. BEAUTIFUL weather!!!! I got my hair braided (I must say that this had improved alot since 2000!) Now they have hired several women who boat over on their owen boats to braid for the day. They do wear Disney nametags - but are not part of the ship's crew. I asked. They do take the room charge though. It took 2 and a half hours and hurt like crazy compared to when I got my hair braided in 2000 at Nassau. Also at Nassau I paid $100 (including tip) that we negotiated for the whole head and at Castaway Cay - I paid - gulp - over $200!! You can't negotiate the price. Now my hair is long - but they charge per braid and per cornrow. I saw a lot of little girls crying saying it hurt and saw a couple leave - so please be sure your child is tough skinned before committing to braids.
After I got my hair braided - DH and DS had had enough playing in the sand and water - so we enrolled DS at Skuttle's Cove and then DH and I went snorkling at the adult beach. CLEAR and BEAUTIFUL! We prefer snorkling here to the snorkle course at the family beach just because it gets so cloudy at the latter. We ate a quick no wait lunch and then headed back to the family beach and swam WAY out before we hit water clear enough for snorkling. (I know - we did it early in 2000 and it wasn't cloudy - but this trip - we slept in.) I finally got my underwater picture of Mickey's shipwreck It is between bouyies A and B for any of you wondering.
We headed back to ship around 3 and got Nicolas ready and to the club for practice for the show the kids put on. He practiced from 3:45 - 4:45 and then we watched the 15 minute show at 5pm. Mickey Mouse makes an appearance and all the kids get a free t-shirt- so don't skip this! Then we headed to Studio Sea for our Castaway Club party with the captain. The free drinks and appetizers were yummy, but sadly, we didn't get to talk to the captain as he never made it over to us before we had to go.
Each night after dinner - Nicolas wanted to go to the club and DH and I partied. It was a blast!!! We MADE IT ON MATCH YOUR MATE!!!!! I really wanted to - so when it was time to show off - DH told me to jump up in his arms (I weigh around 250 and he weighs 170 - so it was quite impressive) and we made out and fell on the stage making out. So we got voted on. hee hee And then we WON!!!! We only missed one question! Yea!! We got a free bottle of champagne that we shared later with the other contestants and we each got an olympic like medal that says we are Disney Wonder winners. Pretty cool.
Some of you had asked me to tell you about how DS liked the Oceaneer's Club. He loved it! We always gave him the choice to go or not and he always said he wanted to go. DH and I were a little concerned in the serious attitudes of some of the CM's at check in and check out. They were almost rude. But I guess it is good that they are that serious for the safety of the kids. I know that Nicolas loved it and they must have been good to him or he wouldn't have wanted to go back.
The morning of disembarkation - we were up bright and early as we had early breakfast and an 11:30 am flight out. I was worried about making that - but we made it with lots of time to spare.
Well - this was long - but I always hate trying to find part 1, 2, 3, . .. in other trip reports - any questions - I will be happy to answer!! We are going back for the 7 day in a couple of years!!!!
Angie
I won't go into detail as some of you have, but will post the highlights. Please feel free to ask any questions about anything I didn't post.
The Cast: me - Angie, 32; DH -Roy 32; and DS - Nicolas 5.
We did the 4 day land/3 day cruise. Roy and I have been on the Wonder in 2000 without Nicolas. We really wanted to do the 7 night this time, but thought that we better try the short cruise to see how Nicolas would like his first time at sea.
We stayed at the Polynesian for the land portion. It was our first time at a deluxe resort and we loved it. We usually go for the mods - CBR is our favorite - but we loved the monorail access, the zero entry pool at the Poly and of course, the room service. We ate at both Kona and Ohana and loved them both. We were in room 3230 in Aetoria (I know that isn't spelled correctly, sorry.) It is close to the main longhouse and to the pool so it was a great location. Our room had a fanatastic view of the Grand Floridian. The only complaint I have is the cart traffic at the resort!!! We have never seen so many golf carts and room service carts, etc at a resort. There were constant beeps and engine noises and it was quite annoying whenever we were sitting out on the balcony. And by the way, Nicolas figured out the lock to the balcony in two seconds flat (I had heard that we shouldn't worry about that) so we had to keep an eye on him around the door.
There was alot of windy rain while we were at WDW, but it didn't stop us from having a great time.
But since this is the cruise board - on with the story . . . We got up early and had breakfast at Ohana the morning of the 12th. Then hit the MK for a few hours before heading back to the Poly to meet the bus to take us to the ship. That was a BIG plus in staying at a monorail resort. It was very quick getting to and from MK not having to wait for a bus ride. If we had stayed at a non-monorail resort, we would have taken the special offered to cruise line guests where you can spend the morning at AK and then board a bus at the AK at 12:30 to head for port.
We arrived at the Wonder at about 1:00pm. We headed straight through the ears with no problems whatsoever. Nicolas was very excited to see the ship. They didn't announce us as we entered. As a matter of fact, they didn't do that for us in 2000 either. I keep hearing from other posters that they do that - but didn't happen for us. We did get our picture made upon entering.
We headed straight to our stateroom (even though we got the speil about them not being ready - doesn't everyone?) and unloaded our carryon bags. We were in stateroom 5020 which is a secret porthole. It has a great view. It is at the front of the ship - but compared to last trip where we were midship - it felt the same as far as motion. It has a split bathroom and we liked that. DS slept on the pull down bed and liked the curtain that made his "bedroom" away from us. He also liked the fact that his "room" had the TV and window!
The shrimp were great at the buffet! And then we hit the pool for a bit. The Mickey pool got VERY crowded immediately. DS didn't get to go down the slide until the last night when we just made a point to go wait in line to do it. (By the way - the day we were at Nassua - they closed the pool in the middle of the day - got everyone out because there had been an "accident." ) When the CM first told me to get my son out because of the accident - I assumed for some reason he meant a bad accident like blood involved - but then another CM said someone went wee wee in the pool!!! Gross. I don't know how they knew that unless someone reported it or maybe it is just that the water in that pool gets very cloudy and nasty fast. But anyway - they cleared the pool and said it wouldn't be open for 2 hours.
Back to the first day - we stayed on deck 9 until 5pm when we did the countdown and heard the horn!
Nicolas loved that. I programmed my cell phone to that - so he was anticipating it.Then we rushed to get ready by our 6pm seating. Ugh. Roy and I had the late seating in 2000 and knew that we would probably get the early one this time because we had Nicolas with us. It is very difficult to get all you want to get done before 5. That gives you an hour to get ready - which can be difficult for some. (me)
But we managed and knew it was for the best. Our rotation was APT. I really wish we had Triton's first as there is not really any "fun" stuff going on and it is hard to keep a 5 year old seated for 2 hours at dinner. He liked Animator's and also Parrot Cay. But Triton's was not a good time for any of us.The food was not good. Now I know some of you will say I should expect "fancy" food on a ship. But I am comparing the choices to what we had in 2000. Roy and I were really looking forward to the crab legs in Triton's and they don't serve them anymore!!! He had the duck and I had the fish that night and we barely tasted our dinners. yuck. I just couldn't eat it. At Animator's I had the sirloin and it was very fatty. I had to cut around and around until I got to the meat. And the salads were bitter lettuce. The only one I had that was good was the Ceasar salad the first night. We did like the appetizers at Triton's. I had the cheese balls (they had a fancy name) and Roy had the shrimp cocktail. Nicolas had a hotdog or pizza every night and was satisfied. Next time - we will let him do dinner with the Oceaneer's Club on Triton's night, though.
Let's see - we went to Atlantis during Nassau day. We took a cab over $4 per person - and did the DIG tour. $25 for Roy and me each and $20 for Nicolas. At first I thought it was a rip off until we got to the part of the DIG in the Royal Tower. It was really neat and I would recommend it. We thought about paying for a day room there or Comfort Suites, but decided that we were hitting the beach tomorrow and could swim on the boat - so why pay for those. So after the DIG we took a cab back ($10 this time total - good deal!) and headed back in time for Nicolas to make Flubber in the kids club. Then we got him a couple of hours later and let him swim. (This was the day they closed the pool) So we headed to the Goofy pool - but it was too deep for him to enjoy (It is about a deep as he is tall). So we played in the hottub for a while and then headed back to the room to get ready for dinner.
The next day was Castaway Cay. BEAUTIFUL weather!!!! I got my hair braided (I must say that this had improved alot since 2000!) Now they have hired several women who boat over on their owen boats to braid for the day. They do wear Disney nametags - but are not part of the ship's crew. I asked. They do take the room charge though. It took 2 and a half hours and hurt like crazy compared to when I got my hair braided in 2000 at Nassau. Also at Nassau I paid $100 (including tip) that we negotiated for the whole head and at Castaway Cay - I paid - gulp - over $200!! You can't negotiate the price. Now my hair is long - but they charge per braid and per cornrow. I saw a lot of little girls crying saying it hurt and saw a couple leave - so please be sure your child is tough skinned before committing to braids.
After I got my hair braided - DH and DS had had enough playing in the sand and water - so we enrolled DS at Skuttle's Cove and then DH and I went snorkling at the adult beach. CLEAR and BEAUTIFUL! We prefer snorkling here to the snorkle course at the family beach just because it gets so cloudy at the latter. We ate a quick no wait lunch and then headed back to the family beach and swam WAY out before we hit water clear enough for snorkling. (I know - we did it early in 2000 and it wasn't cloudy - but this trip - we slept in.) I finally got my underwater picture of Mickey's shipwreck It is between bouyies A and B for any of you wondering.
We headed back to ship around 3 and got Nicolas ready and to the club for practice for the show the kids put on. He practiced from 3:45 - 4:45 and then we watched the 15 minute show at 5pm. Mickey Mouse makes an appearance and all the kids get a free t-shirt- so don't skip this! Then we headed to Studio Sea for our Castaway Club party with the captain. The free drinks and appetizers were yummy, but sadly, we didn't get to talk to the captain as he never made it over to us before we had to go.
Each night after dinner - Nicolas wanted to go to the club and DH and I partied. It was a blast!!! We MADE IT ON MATCH YOUR MATE!!!!! I really wanted to - so when it was time to show off - DH told me to jump up in his arms (I weigh around 250 and he weighs 170 - so it was quite impressive) and we made out and fell on the stage making out. So we got voted on. hee hee And then we WON!!!! We only missed one question! Yea!! We got a free bottle of champagne that we shared later with the other contestants and we each got an olympic like medal that says we are Disney Wonder winners. Pretty cool.
Some of you had asked me to tell you about how DS liked the Oceaneer's Club. He loved it! We always gave him the choice to go or not and he always said he wanted to go. DH and I were a little concerned in the serious attitudes of some of the CM's at check in and check out. They were almost rude. But I guess it is good that they are that serious for the safety of the kids. I know that Nicolas loved it and they must have been good to him or he wouldn't have wanted to go back.
The morning of disembarkation - we were up bright and early as we had early breakfast and an 11:30 am flight out. I was worried about making that - but we made it with lots of time to spare.
Well - this was long - but I always hate trying to find part 1, 2, 3, . .. in other trip reports - any questions - I will be happy to answer!! We are going back for the 7 day in a couple of years!!!!
Angie
