New to DCL! Tell me all about the WONDER!

[AXiDMonica]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new to DCL. I have sailed with Carnival 13 times with three more booked and once on Royal.

 

Now that the Wonder is going to be sailing out of Miami (my hometown) I am THRILLED and just booked a cruise for January 2013 this morning! I should add I'm a HUGE Disney fan. I've been over 50 times since 1989... so I think this will be a huge merging of my two biggest loves -- Disney and CRUISING!

 

All that said... I have NO clue how ANYTHING on DCL works. Can you gurus share your knowledge about this ship with me? I hear you can drink all the soda you want for free and also that you can take your own alcohol onboard. What else is there?

 

Thanks to you all in advance!! :D

[Shmoo here]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new to DCL. I have sailed with Carnival 13 times with three more booked and once on Royal.

 

Now that the Wonder is going to be sailing out of Miami (my hometown) I am THRILLED and just booked a cruise for January 2013 this morning! I should add I'm a HUGE Disney fan. I've been over 50 times since 1989... so I think this will be a huge merging of my two biggest loves -- Disney and CRUISING!

 

All that said... I have NO clue how ANYTHING on DCL works. Can you gurus share your knowledge about this ship with me? I hear you can drink all the soda you want for free and also that you can take your own alcohol onboard. What else is there?

 

Thanks to you all in advance!! :D

 

Wow! That's a pretty big request. As time goes on, you'll probably do better to ask more specific questions.

 

I'll start with a few FYIs. Yes, soda onboard is included in your cruise price. That would be the sodas you get at meals and at the drink station on the pool deck. Sodas ordered from poolside servers, in bars/lounges and from room service cost.

 

You can bring whatever (and as many) drinks onboard with you as you wish, but you must carry it on, not in your checked luggage.

 

Extras costs onboard will included photos, theatre snacks (candy, bagged popcorn, soda, etc), tastings, Palo.

 

Always have your camera with you, you never know where the characters are going to show up.

 

Pirate night, special pirate menu in the MDRs, pirate party with fireworks.

 

Speaking of MDRs, there are 3 of them. You will be assigned a rotation and table number when you check in for the cruise. You will have the same servers and dining companions (if you are seated with additional guests) in each dining room. The specific table will most likely be in a similar area in each dining room, but not necessarily. i.e. your table might be near a window in one dining room, but more centered in another.

 

That's all for now.

:)

[Host Mick]

It would be helpful to you to read the Disney Cruise Line Tip Thread stickied to the top of this forum.

Enjoy your cruise.

[gometros]

I'll echo Shmoo and Mick. It's a good idea to read the tip thread, then come back with specific questions. Shmoo highlighted some differences. One other one that people new to DCL may not realize is that there is no casino on board. Also the ship is mostly non-smokiing (there are a few designated areas on the ship and smoking from private verandahs is allowed).

[AXiDMonica]

I will read the sticky and as time goes by I'm sure I will be back!

 

The info above did help. I didn't know about the casino (or lack thereof) and fireworks!? So exciting!

 

Thanks so much!

[gometros]

Mick - I decided to take my own suggestion and read the tip thread myself, even though I've been on 7 cruises (never know what new things you might learn).

 

I did notice that the first item aboard boarding needs to be updated. I understand that the boarding procedure has changed. I haven't cruised since the change, so I cannot speak to it first hand, but as I understand it, when you check-in online, you choose the time slot you plan to arrive at the port and that determines the boarding time?

[gometros]

Two other quick corrections:

 

14. On Castaway Cay if you want your photo taken with Captain Jack Sparrow, do NOT ride the tram to the beach area. It does NOT stop near him. You must walk in to the beach. The signs say 20 minute walk in it takes us 10 minutes. He will be along the way in the sand and the photos have the flying Dutchman behind you, great photo! Check the Navigator for times that he will be there. The Flying Dutchman is no longer there, so I don't know if Captain Jack is either.

 

22. If you need to change dining times or make a Palos reservation go to Wave Bands club directly upon boarding to take care of this. The sooner you do it the better your chances of getting what you want. Wavebands is only on the Wonder. On the Magic, it's Rockin' Bar D. In general, I guess it would be nice if we could get someone to update this section to take all three (eventually four) ships into account.

[jrm116]

I havent cruised since '06 on the WONDER. I was so thrilled to hear that the Wonder is coming back to FL! Although I live no where near Miami, i love crusing and miami is one of my fav US cities.

 

I am considering a Wonder cruise for either NYE or Spring break. I havent been in so long i dont know how things work now. Like the OP, i would love any info/tips on the ship and DCL!

 

also, how do you book a flight? through disney or the airline??

[Shmoo here]

I havent cruised since '06 on the WONDER. I was so thrilled to hear that the Wonder is coming back to FL! Although I live no where near Miami, i love crusing and miami is one of my fav US cities.

 

I am considering a Wonder cruise for either NYE or Spring break. I havent been in so long i dont know how things work now. Like the OP, i would love any info/tips on the ship and DCL!

 

also, how do you book a flight? through disney or the airline??

 

We booked our own flight when we sailed out of Port Canaveral. You can usually find cheaper rates on your own.

 

That said, when we did the Med cruise in 2010, we let DCL book the airfare. We did that because, if something were to happen and we didn't make the connection from the airport to the ship in Barcelona, DCL would see that we got to the ship at her next port.

 

The biggest tip I can give is - don't try to do everything. There is so much available onboard, you can't possibly do it. I know, we did 24 nights on our B2B Med/TA and there were still things we didn't do.

 

Gives you a good excuse to go again.

 

:)

[Love2cruisemom]

I am so glad we are getting the Wonder back in Florida! She is a great ship and has a great crew. You will enjoy your cruise.:rolleyes:

[Shmoo here]

I am so glad we are getting the Wonder back in Florida! She is a great ship and has a great crew. You will enjoy your cruise.:rolleyes:

 

I'm not :(

 

It was so nice to have a DCL ship we could cruise on without having to also allot for air travel.