Newbie just back from the 1/26 Wonder!

[stefanmumaw]

Wow. WOW!

we just got back from our first time cruise on the Wonder, and I have to say, it was probably the best vacation I've ever had. The boat was incredible, service was top notch, and the food was as good as I've ever had. Weather was beautiful, and Castaway Cay was better than I ever imagined. And although some are down on Nassau and Atlantis, I would recommend the Atlantis tour to anyone. the grounds are beautiful, and the aquariums were fantastic. it only took about an hour and a half, and we went back to the boat, dropped off the kids, and headed back to the casino for the rest of the afternoon. We golfed in Freeport, parasailed in Castaway Cay, and ate WAY too much. Activities aboard the ship were phenomenal, we couldn't do everything we wanted, there wasn't enough time. And the shows were great! I've heard people downplay the shows, but we saw Hercules the first night, we missed the second night show to take in a movie (Chicago!) which was Who Wants To Be A Mousketeer, we saw this amazing juggler/comedian on the third night, and the Peter Pan ender. I am as skeptical as anyone about cheesy shows and over commercialized Disney, but i can't thing of one bad thing, not even one questionable thing about the trip. It was perfect. Thanks to everyone here for all the pre-cruise advice. It really came in handy. can't wait to do it again. This time, a 7 day Western!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Congratulations, you are officially hooked!

 

[cathie]

We're going on the 3 day Wonder Feb. 27 & enjoyed reading your positive post. I'm sure we'll have more questions for you before we leave. Did you go snorkeling @ Castaway Cay....and my sis wants to know how the coffee is!! Talk to you soon!!

 

[stefanmumaw]

you'll have a great time. we went snorkling in castaway cay. i had never been snorkling before, and the controled environment was a great way to "get me feet wet" if you will. they've got sunken ships, characters statues and a bazillion colorful fish and sea life there to see. it was amazing.

i didn't have any coffee. i'm not a coffee drinker. i did, however, have my share of bahama mamas. mmmmm....tasty.

our dinner rotation was perfect. we had animators palette scheduled for the first night, and the kids went nuts. the food was perfect. it was my favorite restaraunt of the rotation. and Palo's was great. we got our reservation for the last night of the cruise. even though it's not formal, my buddy and i rented tux's and our wives wore evening gowns. i thought we'd feel a little over dressed, but we felt right at home with everyone else who got dressed up in suits and dresses for the night. after dinner, we had our formal pictures taken in the atrium lobby. they came out great. a real memorable experience.

if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

What stateroom were you in? Did you like it?

 

[cathie]

Thanks for the info....sounds like you guys had an awesome time! How are the kids' programs, did your kids go to any of them? We have a 15, 11 & almost 9 yr.old going along with the five of us adults. I want to try the snorkeling along with my brother-in-law & the kids @ Castaway Cay. Did you enjoy Nassau? How about paying for the extras ( like mugs, souvenirs etc.), do you use your credit card or a checking acct. card & what do you think is the best way? We've stayed @ several Disney Resorts but have always prepaid & never used our resort ID's for charging. Hope you don't mind the questions! Thanks!

 

[stefanmumaw]

Don't mind the questions at all. It feels good to answer some questions rather than ask them. I feel like I can finally contribute to the boards in thanks for all the info I got before the trip!

We stayed in 6049 & 6047, inside staterooms. I've never stayed in the other ones, so I can't compare size, but we were only in the room to sleep, and it was plenty big enough for my wife and I and our 4 year old, who got a kick out of sleeping on the top pull down bunk.

The kids we had were 4, 4, and 2, so there wasn't much of scheduled activities that they "preferred". They were in the Oceaneer's club during the day when we were at Freeport, but then only at night after 9:30 (after dinner and the show) to watch movies on the cute little mats with the other kids.

The 2 year old found his way into Flounder's Nursery, which he loved! I was suprised he liked it so much. We used it alot, but he liked it the entire time.

Nassau was great! The aquariums in Atlantis were beautiful, and the kids really liked the watching the fish, and the Dig has a whole story behind it that the tour guide walks you through and explains. Very well spoken and kind, she even pulled our 2 kids aside during the walk to show them things along the route.

We didn't do anything else in Nassau except the Atlantis tour and the casino later.

I decided ahead of time that I would bring a cash deposit with me that would cover the expenses on the boat, then use our "Key To The World" cards to draw from that. I liked that best. The freedom of "swiping", with the accountability of cash. They sent a statement to our room when we got within $200 of the deposit, just to let us know, which was great. I would recommend that way. I asked the guy what happens if we get to the limit, and he said we could put more cash down, or simply leave a credit card for the remainder, which we didn't need, but it was nice to know.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[cathie]

Thanks for answering some of the questions we've had. It's nice to hear some positive info about Nassau (some posts said they didn't like it..I suppose it depends what you what you're expecting.) Did you put the $200 cash on your cruise ID when you boarded? I didn't know you could do that, and did you & your family get any of the refillable mugs..is it like @ the resorts? Thanks for helping us out!! Only 3 weeks to go!!

 

[stefanmumaw]

When we checked in at the port, they asked for a credit card number, and I asked if I could use cash. They said sure, but we'd have to do that on the boat at guest services, which was no problem. You board the boat right there by guest services, so I just walked over and we put $800 cash down for all of our "swiping". As soon as we got to the limit on the cash, I gave guest services an additional $200 cash, and a credit card number with the instructions to use the cash first, then the credit card after, which we never got through the $200 cash. I liked that better, never having to worry about when we got home, what would that mean. I should have given them the whole $1000 when I got on the boat, but I didn't know if there things that were on a cash basis, like souvenirs on Castaway Cay and stuff, but even there, everything can go on your "Key To The World" card. The only thing we needed cash for was anything we bought in Nassau at Atlantis (a shirt) and the casino (they took my shirt!), but that wasn't much.

We did get the mugs. We used them sparingly, strangely enough. Most of the time, when we were on the boat during the day, we were at the Goofy pool on the 9th deck (the kids pool with the slide). Right there next to the pool is a "beverage" bar that serves coffee, water, and lemonade. We liked the lemonade, and that didn't require the cup, so we really didn't use it much. At night, in the clubs, we were drinking a slightly colorful concoction most of the time, so although my wife drank more soda than I did, I'm not sure we really would have spent $22 on soda, which is what we spent on the cup.

Hope that helps.

 

[cathie]

Thanks for the helpful info!! It's nice to kind of know what to expect. We are sooooo excited!!!

 

[ike]

Thanks for your great report. We are going on the Wonder in 1 1/2 weeks & reading your report got me so excited for my trip. We are also staying in the inside rooms. I'm glad you were happy with them!

 

[RoseGarden]

stefanmumaw - you mentioned parasailing at CC, did you book that before you left on the cruise or did you wait until you got on the boat? We leave in early March on the Wonder and the kids have never parasailed. Do you know what the age limitations are for parasailing? Also - is there a kids buffet at CC and was it difficult to find a good spot on the beach - should we try to be the first off the boat? Thanks

 

[Minybear]

stefanmumaw

I am glad your vacation on the Wonder was great. We were on the ship with you and had a great time. We have now rebooked for 7nt Eastern and we are taking advantage of the $200 stateroom credit. I cannot wait until we go back.

 

[joyv]

glad you enjoyed the trip. we're going in May and was wondering about what to do in Nassau. Your info helps a lot. I was thinking of taking the Atlantis tour but I saw the info at the DCL website and they said it could take about 5 hour. Can you tell me how it works? Are you forced to stay with the tour? Any detailed info will be appreciated so I know what to expect. Thanks a million in advance!

 

[disneylover5]

Minybear, We re-booked for the same cruise as you.

We were on 1/26 Wonder as well. We felt very blessed for the WONDERful weather and WONDERful crew. It was our second cruise on the Wonder and love the Disney product. We did not have a much luck at the Atlantis, but ended up back on the ship next to the Goffy pool and had a WONDERful afternoon. We travel a lot with our family DS13, DD9 and DD6friend and have found Disney the best vacation of all.

My friend we travelled with snorkeled at Castaway Cay and loved it. I did last August, but this time the cool water was just to chilly for me.

Anyone who is getting ready to go soon, I am jealous!!
Relax and get redy for the time of your life!

 

[stefanmumaw]

We booked every shore excursion once we got on the boat. Many would recommend getting them ahead of time if the cruise is going to be a full one, but we were the first in line at the shore excursion desk (the line was all of 3 people long when it opened.) and we got everything we wanted. We signed up for the Atlantis Dig Excursion in Nassau, the golf outing in Freeport, and the parasailing in Castaway Cay. We just didn't know what we wanted to do until the excitement of getting on the boat hit us. Then we were ready to do stuff!

I don't know the age limits for kids, but on our 10 person boat, there was a 10 year old and a 14 year old that went up alone, so I know at least 10 years old?!

I didn't see a kids only buffet, but in the kids area (the counselors from the oceaneer's club abd lab are on shore in the kids area of Castaway Cay to do stuff with the kids) the counselors take the kids to each lunch. I'm not sure if it's at the same buffet as the rest of us, but our daughter had lunch with her friends there.

We got to the beach late, (well after lunch, around 1) and it was pretty tough finding a space. so much so we just set our stuff down in the sand and went into the water for about an hour, then packed it up and headed over to the snorkling area.

The Dig Excursion on Atlantis starts at the front of the resort, where you're teamed up with a guide. They take you through the resort, through the casino to the beginning of the Dig aquarium tour. She then leads you from aquarium to aquarium through the underground tunnels, telling you stories about the lost city of Atlantis and the fish you encounter at each of the aquariums. You then head over to the other side of the resort to the other set of aquariums, and it's the same sort of tour. I can't see it taking 5 hours unless you went back and did it again or explored the shops or something on your own. i suppose you could ditch the tour anywhere throughout the the tour, but you really can't do much else other than hit the shops or casino unless you get a room. Then you could hit the waterslides and the pool areas.

Hope that helps everyone. i'm jealous you're going now and I'm not. HEY! Wanna trade? I'll take your spot, you can stay here and work!? Whata say?

 

[taswira]

Who was your server and assistant server? I have my favorites on the Wonder, but since you too were very happy with the service, I was wondering about your servers and where they were from. I think I am going to start a list of recommended servers on one of my websites!

I am so glad to hear everything was WONDERful for you!

Shari

 

[CRSNDSNY]

taswira:
You have some of the best photos I've seen!!!

 

[taswira]

CRSNDSNY - Thank you! I guess you went to my travel site. I am also seeking comments and photos from DCL guests for my site at magicaldisney.com, which is going to end up being a tribute to great Cast Members! That is why I was curious about who stefanmumaw's servers were.

Shari

 

[stefanmumaw]

Our servers were Daniel and Oneil. Daniel is now gone. He was telling us that our cruise was his second to last cruise (I guess a 3 night was following us, and that was to be his last cruise for 3 months).

They were both incredible. I can't think of anything more they could have done to make our trip any better. A perfect example is the "Lost Doll" saga. My DD4 brought her favorite doll to dinner with her every night, and on the 2nd night, she left it at the table by accident. Well, Daniel had found the doll, brought it to our room PERSONALLY later that night, knowing our daughter would have been distraught when it was time to go to bed. he didn't have to do that. He could have given it Guest Services, and we would have gotten it in the morning there, but he knows how kids are, and went above and beyong the call to do that.

That's service. We'll miss him, and Oneil. I hope, if you're going on the Wonder anytime soon, you get the priviledge of having Oneil as one of your servers.