Getting ready for Disney Wonder Mexico Cruise Nov 2012

[Jillian724]

I like to research, prepare and plan for trips. Just booked a cruise and 52 days left. Disney Wonder Mexico Nov 26, 2012

 

1) Ship Activities - we have gone onto the Disney website and booked dinner time, spa appointments, Palo and nursery. It doesn't appear like we will know the schedule for shows, character meets or other activities until we get on board. Anything else I can work on ahead of time?

 

2) Ship Excursions - I'm trying to find a link to a website that has excursion reviews. I read that it is more expensive to book through the cruiseline.

 

3) Exercise - I assume they have a gym. Do you find out about classes and times once you get on board?

 

4) Crib - Do we need to order a crib? If yes, how?

 

5) Disney education - Our two year old doesn't know much about Disney. I notice they have a Toy Story show and we will rent that movie. Are there other movies we shoud rent? Are there particular characters we should get him into before the cruise? (note - i found the list of characters from the disney site. I also saw the movies associated with the final farewell show. I might be all set on #5)

 

6) Other - I'll read lots of reviews and tips on this website to learn from others.

[Shmoo here]

I like to research, prepare and plan for trips. Just booked a cruise and 52 days left. Disney Wonder Mexico Nov 26, 2012

 

1) Ship Activities - we have gone onto the Disney website and booked dinner time, spa appointments, Palo and nursery. It doesn't appear like we will know the schedule for shows, character meets or other activities until we get on board. Anything else I can work on ahead of time? If you go here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr-stateroom-navigator.htm you can see some of the Navigators for DCL. It will give you an idea of the shows and what kinds of activities are available during your cruise.

 

2) Ship Excursions - I'm trying to find a link to a website that has excursion reviews. I read that it is more expensive to book through the cruiseline. Generally it does cost more to go with an excursion throught the cruiseline (that's true with all cruiselines, not just DCL). Here on Cruise Critic is the Ports of Call board, they have a forum for Mexican Rivieria: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=203

 

3) Exercise - I assume they have a gym. Do you find out about classes and times once you get on board? AFAIK, yes. We've never used them, so don't know the specifics. :D

 

4) Crib - Do we need to order a crib? If yes, how? DCL is aware of your child's age. They should have the crib (actually a pack N play) in the room. If you're worried that it won't be there (rarely has happened), you can call DCL and be sure it's noted on your reservation.

 

5) Disney education - Our two year old doesn't know much about Disney. I notice they have a Toy Story show and we will rent that movie. Are there other movies we shoud rent? Are there particular characters we should get him into before the cruise? The Toy Story show onboard is pretty much the same as the movie. You might start making him aware that the characters are going to be onboard by viewing the Cruise Planning Video on the DCL site. Be sure to make him aware that the characters are big, not the little ones he sees in the cartoons.

 

6) Other - I'll read lots of reviews and tips on this website to learn from others.

 

 

See my answers in red.

[GASPARTY]

See my answers in red.

 

You are the best and most helpful person on this site. Just wanted you to know!

[Shmoo here]

You are the best and most helpful person on this site. Just wanted you to know!

 

Why, thank you! Just tryin' to spread the Magic.

 

:)

 

BTW it's Shmoo (no "c") ;)

[twinmom0506]

Your two yr old may find the nursery boring. During the open house time (on your Navigator)for the Oceaneer club, take him there to check it out. They have a big tunnel slide in there. He may find that more fun, but a parent has to be there. During secured times, he will not be allow there as it is for 3 - 8yr olds.

 

Watching the planning DVD will give your child an idea what to expect. It was very overwhelming for my kids to see all the characters. You will have a character breakfast schedule for you. Your wait staff at the your first dinner night will let you know when. If you have the early seating for dinner at 5:45pm, your breakfast will be 7:30 (I think, I just remembered it was very early). You will get to see about 6 characters at that time. As for getting your child to know the characters, I didn't really bother. My kids watched the tv in our cabin and learned who they are. The TV only played Disney shows.

 

You can also booked online for wine or beer tasting (for a fee).

 

We had the first seating for dinner, therefore, our evening show was late - 8:30pm. There will be a pirate night - bring a costume for your child if you like. But the fireworks were really late - 10:30 pm.

 

Other shows reference alot of the classic Disney movie. A book with some of the stories will be helpful for your child. My kids love books so we read alot of the stories before I even told them about our cruise. I only told them 1 wk before.

[lake53]

Great info we are going on this trip also. We have two little ones and your info is very helpful. Thanks Tom

[gambit57]

We plan on trying to get our kids to nap late on Pirate Night. We'll see how that goes. See you guys aboard.

[chipq]

Just a caution about non-DCL shore excursions (shorex). The port of calls boards will have info on all sorts of excursions and tour companies. This is a good start point. The bigger private tour companies do cruise line tours a lot and will rarely have any problems getting the tour back to the ship; if they did and as word spread they would go out of business.

 

However, it is important to know that if you are on a non-cruiseline shorex and you do not make it back to the ship by sail time, you will usually be out of luck. If you do a private shorex make sure you leave plenty of time to return to the ship.

 

On a side note, it is somewhat entertaining to have a good spot to watch the pier during the moments leading up to and including sail away. Some of the pier running to catch the ship is fun to watch.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[gambit57]

On a side note, it is somewhat entertaining to have a good spot to watch the pier during the moments leading up to and including sail away. Some of the pier running to catch the ship is fun to watch.

 

I'm gonna be doing this for this cruise. Didn't realize it was more than a super super rare occasion until recently.