We just got back from a 4 night sailing to Cozumel on the Disney Wonder. I wanted to provide as much detail as possible for those with upcoming cruises. We sailed with our 2 daughters, ages 4 and 7. This was our second Disney cruise. First one was on the Magic in January 2019. We have done both at Concierge level. First time was a family stateroom, this time we did a one-bedroom.
PRE-ARRIVAL
This process was pretty easy. Getting things uploaded to SafePassage and we did same day PCR tests in Katy, Texas. We traveled from Virginia on Thanksgiving Day to be with my sister and her family that live in Katy. I didn't want to take the risk of not getting the mail in test back in time. The test was fully covered by insurance and we had the results in 2 hours. Once we uploaded to SafePassage we had approval on Saturday am.
We stayed in Galveston at the Tremont the night before. Galveston was....meh, but we did Moody Gardens and had dinner at Fisherman's Wharf. Morning of the cruise we got a free shuttle to the terminal.
Port Terminal
I forgot our luggage tags in Virginia so we got the the port at 10am because I knew it would take longer to get our luggage tagged. There was a line of what looked like 20 people. There were very strict about checking your arrival time from what I could see. Once we get in line around 10:10 I feel like I looked back at 10:15 and the line was much longer. We were let in promptly at 10:30.
We went right to testing which was incredibly smooth and organized. It took about 5 minutes to swab all of us. We went though security and up to the waiting area. The entire process was incredibly organized, smooth, and all of the cast members were exceptionally nice and warm.
It took about 25 minutes for the results to come in. They seemed to upload in batches and ours was the first batch. We went right to Concierge check-in and then to the waiting area. We waited for about 15 minutes, they boarded the family of the day and then we were the 3rd family on the ship. It was seamless.
When we got on the ship they directed us to a marker in the atrium. Once there were about 10 families placed there was a short welcome song by Mickey and Minnie. Unpopular opinion.....I preferred this over the sail away party. It was short, my kids were upfront, felt like they got to interact with the characters, and we were on to other things.
We went right to our muster station, took a picture, and we were done. LOVE THIS CHANGE!!! We then went to the concierge lunch at Tritons, which was excellent. We met our hosts (G, Angeline, and Ropa). They were excellent the entire cruise! We learned that there were only 500 people on board and of that just 100 kids!!!
After lunch we headed to our room. The one bedroom was amazing on every level and I would certainly do it again. We also went up and saw the concierge lounge. It is really impressive and much bigger than the Magic lounge. I don't want to make this too heavy on concierge, but every aspect of it was perfect and the service level was just the same as pre-covid.
We went to the pool, which was pretty empty, and had a great time enjoying the waterslide to ourselves. Poolside service, drinks, and food were also great throughout the cruise.
Food/Shows
Every night we would do the show and then go to dinner. Due to the low passenger count they just did one seating around 6:30. All of the shows were top-notch and dinner every night was excellent! The last night we did a birthday cake for our oldest since she turned 8 and were able to share with tables around us.
Kid's Club
Our kids were able to use the club as much, or as little, as they wanted. We never had issues making additional reservations. The new format of rotating around really appealed to our kids. Our 7 year old did not complain about any difference. She also mentioned numerous character visits in the club.
Character Meet and Greets
There was no shortage of characters all over the ship at all different times. We got great pictures. I was impressed with how interactive the characters were, even with the distance. My girls have great memories talking to them and getting pictures. I didn't really care about the masks up for some and down for others and neither did they.
Activities
We ended up doing a lot more activities on the ship this time around. We were able to do the boutique for both girls, and I think this is the last year for our oldest as she is moving out of the princess phase, and the Royal Court Tea. I was happy to get to do it with both of them. There was some pre-covid/covid differences in that you had the charms waiting for me and I felt like there was more stuff given to the kids. We still had great interactions with the princesses. I don't think we will do it again in a future cruises simply because our oldest will have phased out of it by the time we go back (February 2023) and our youngest likes to be her shadow.
We participated in trivia, bingo, Frozen phrases, and Sarge Says. All were done really well and the entertainment staff did a great job. We also saw Encanto which was EXCELLENT!!
You could bring drinks into the theaters, but not food.
Port Excursion
This was a mixed bag. We did the Dolphin Encounter with our girls. That part of it was amazing. The rest....not so much. It was a typical tourist trap with crappy food, really light drinks, and was just overall a bit dingy. We wanted to do something with the girls off the ship though and they loved meeting the dolphins. If there was just an option to go and do the dolphin encounter and leave right after that would be ideal.
Decorations
The ship was decked out and absolutely beautiful. I am Jewish so I wish there had been a little more than just one menorah at guest services. It is what it is though and I am guessing that I was one of the only Jewish people on the ship. Overall, the decorations were very well done.
Getting off the Ship
This was seamless. We woke up around 7:30, took our time to do the final pack up, and walked off the ship at 8:30.
I am sure the low numbers contributed to the experience, but overall it was fantastic and I am so glad we got back on board!
PRE-ARRIVAL
This process was pretty easy. Getting things uploaded to SafePassage and we did same day PCR tests in Katy, Texas. We traveled from Virginia on Thanksgiving Day to be with my sister and her family that live in Katy. I didn't want to take the risk of not getting the mail in test back in time. The test was fully covered by insurance and we had the results in 2 hours. Once we uploaded to SafePassage we had approval on Saturday am.
We stayed in Galveston at the Tremont the night before. Galveston was....meh, but we did Moody Gardens and had dinner at Fisherman's Wharf. Morning of the cruise we got a free shuttle to the terminal.
Port Terminal
I forgot our luggage tags in Virginia so we got the the port at 10am because I knew it would take longer to get our luggage tagged. There was a line of what looked like 20 people. There were very strict about checking your arrival time from what I could see. Once we get in line around 10:10 I feel like I looked back at 10:15 and the line was much longer. We were let in promptly at 10:30.
We went right to testing which was incredibly smooth and organized. It took about 5 minutes to swab all of us. We went though security and up to the waiting area. The entire process was incredibly organized, smooth, and all of the cast members were exceptionally nice and warm.
It took about 25 minutes for the results to come in. They seemed to upload in batches and ours was the first batch. We went right to Concierge check-in and then to the waiting area. We waited for about 15 minutes, they boarded the family of the day and then we were the 3rd family on the ship. It was seamless.
When we got on the ship they directed us to a marker in the atrium. Once there were about 10 families placed there was a short welcome song by Mickey and Minnie. Unpopular opinion.....I preferred this over the sail away party. It was short, my kids were upfront, felt like they got to interact with the characters, and we were on to other things.
We went right to our muster station, took a picture, and we were done. LOVE THIS CHANGE!!! We then went to the concierge lunch at Tritons, which was excellent. We met our hosts (G, Angeline, and Ropa). They were excellent the entire cruise! We learned that there were only 500 people on board and of that just 100 kids!!!
After lunch we headed to our room. The one bedroom was amazing on every level and I would certainly do it again. We also went up and saw the concierge lounge. It is really impressive and much bigger than the Magic lounge. I don't want to make this too heavy on concierge, but every aspect of it was perfect and the service level was just the same as pre-covid.
We went to the pool, which was pretty empty, and had a great time enjoying the waterslide to ourselves. Poolside service, drinks, and food were also great throughout the cruise.
Food/Shows
Every night we would do the show and then go to dinner. Due to the low passenger count they just did one seating around 6:30. All of the shows were top-notch and dinner every night was excellent! The last night we did a birthday cake for our oldest since she turned 8 and were able to share with tables around us.
Kid's Club
Our kids were able to use the club as much, or as little, as they wanted. We never had issues making additional reservations. The new format of rotating around really appealed to our kids. Our 7 year old did not complain about any difference. She also mentioned numerous character visits in the club.
Character Meet and Greets
There was no shortage of characters all over the ship at all different times. We got great pictures. I was impressed with how interactive the characters were, even with the distance. My girls have great memories talking to them and getting pictures. I didn't really care about the masks up for some and down for others and neither did they.
Activities
We ended up doing a lot more activities on the ship this time around. We were able to do the boutique for both girls, and I think this is the last year for our oldest as she is moving out of the princess phase, and the Royal Court Tea. I was happy to get to do it with both of them. There was some pre-covid/covid differences in that you had the charms waiting for me and I felt like there was more stuff given to the kids. We still had great interactions with the princesses. I don't think we will do it again in a future cruises simply because our oldest will have phased out of it by the time we go back (February 2023) and our youngest likes to be her shadow.
We participated in trivia, bingo, Frozen phrases, and Sarge Says. All were done really well and the entertainment staff did a great job. We also saw Encanto which was EXCELLENT!!
You could bring drinks into the theaters, but not food.
Port Excursion
This was a mixed bag. We did the Dolphin Encounter with our girls. That part of it was amazing. The rest....not so much. It was a typical tourist trap with crappy food, really light drinks, and was just overall a bit dingy. We wanted to do something with the girls off the ship though and they loved meeting the dolphins. If there was just an option to go and do the dolphin encounter and leave right after that would be ideal.
Decorations
The ship was decked out and absolutely beautiful. I am Jewish so I wish there had been a little more than just one menorah at guest services. It is what it is though and I am guessing that I was one of the only Jewish people on the ship. Overall, the decorations were very well done.
Getting off the Ship
This was seamless. We woke up around 7:30, took our time to do the final pack up, and walked off the ship at 8:30.
I am sure the low numbers contributed to the experience, but overall it was fantastic and I am so glad we got back on board!
