Just got back from the Wonder - thanks all for good advice/wishes

[Ocruise]

Hi everyone! We are back from the Disney Wonder. I wanted to thank everyone for their kind thoughts, words & advice regarding my ear infection & flight fears. I wanted to let everyone know how the trip went.

 

I had no problem with my ear, it did not burst or rupture. The medicine I was on really worked. I went to my ear doctor the morning of my flight & my ears were pretty much cleared at that point. My left ear did remain clogged for 12 hours or so after the flight, but nothing very painful. I recommend anyone who had an ear infection close to flying to follow the regiment I did, it really worked in 48 hours.

 

Our flight out to Orlando was good. For anxiety, I took 2 Diazepam (10 mg of Valium total). This definitely took the edge off, I felt somewhat drowsy but did not fall asleep. (I must be pretty resistant, because 1 of these is supposed to really knock you out, 2 made me feel relaxed but I was totally lucid, not out of it at all.) When we were landing there were some lightning strikes in the distance. My husband saw them, that goodness I didn’t! I asked the pilot what would happen if lightning struck the plane. The stewardess replied “it’ll just bounce off the plane”. The pilot said that it could cause a small hole in the plane. I kept moving at that point because there were people behind me. What I wanted to ask him was if the plane gets that small hole, can it make it to land? Or would that small hole quickly expand & crash the plane (God forbid!)? Well thank God the lightning held off until we landed. The lightning started in earnest as soon as we landed. We could not get our luggage for 2 hours because there was such a lightning storm (union rules don’t allow them to get luggage in a lightning storm). We had a driver waiting for us to take us to Cocoa Beach, we gave him an extra 20.00 tip, because he was so nice about the 2 hour delay.

 

We used Art’s Shuttle instead of Disney Transfers both ways. We highly recommend them. A new mini van, air conditioned both ways, great drivers. Much better that waiting for those cruise ship buses to fill up! http://www.artsshuttle.com/

 

 

The cruise was great. We had taken 1 Celebrity Cruise (Horizon), and 1 Carnival cruise (Paradise) prior to this Disney cruise. I’ll make some comments in relation to my 3 cruises. The food on Disney was great, in our opinion, Celebrity had better food, but we liked Disney’s food better than Carnival (we thought the food on Carnival was very good). The Disney staterooms seem a little more cramped when compared to Carnival (we had ocean view on both cruises). I liked the idea of a split bathroom, but it was very cramped. In terms of embarking & dismemberment Disney was the most organized of all of our cruises, they really have their act together.

 

The only negative thing I found with Disney was on our first day on the boat, there were kids constantly sneaking into the “adult’s only” pool. Often, a DCL staff member would shoo them out, but there were several times either myself or another woman would have to get up to report kids in the pool. I feel that they need to station a staff member there for that purpose, it was annoying to have to get up to get a staff member to ask the kids to go to their own pool. What I could not believe were several rude parents who actually brought their kids to the adults only pool! Despite dirty looks from the adults at this section, they walked right past the many sights saying “18 years or older only” and lets their kids swim in the pool. When a staff ember asked them to leave, they were argumentative saying that the kids pool was too crowded, they did not have enough room to swim in the kid’s pool. I thought that was so rude and I noted on my comment card that they need more supervision to keep this area kids free as promised. We were among a group of honeymooners who felt annoyed that this pool was frequently invaded by kids and adults ignoring who this pool was meant for and bringing their kids.

 

We always strongly prefer to have a table for 2 when we dine at cruises. Carnival & Celebrity was able to accommodate this, Disney was not. However, we had a table for 4 and never had to eat with the other couple. They went to Paolo’s 3 nights, & we went to Paolo’s the night they were at our table. So it worked out well after all. We did meet a lot of very nice people on the ship. We like to mingle, but we just prefer to eat alone for dinner. Paolo’s was everything everyone brags about. We had no problem getting a reservation; we were on line at 12:30, the 2nd couple on line. They started Paolo’s reservations exactly at 1:00, like the navigator says, not earlier. We went to lunch at Parrot Cay after getting Paolo’s taken care of (we wanted to go there because this was the night we skipped). Paolo’s is now 10.00 a person. What we also liked about Disney is that sodas are free, finally a cruise line that does not skimp on sodas!

 

Remember I was asking for a good hotel to crash while in Nassau? Well go to the Wyndham Crystal Palace. We walked in like we were staying there & used their beach chairs, no problem. No one ever asked us for id, the lagoon had excellent snorkeling. Instead of a cab, we took the 10 bus (catch it on Cable street). It is 1.00 per person & takes U.S. dollars. Nice mini-vans, air conditioned, and 2.00 each way (better that a 15.00 cab ride). It lets you off & drops you off in front of the hotel. The 10 bus stops at all the hotels on the cable beach strip, just wave when you see the bus so it knows to stop.

 

Well, I just wanted to share information that I found helpful & thank everyone for their well-wishes and good advice!

 

Marina

[Cotton]

Hi Marina and welcome back! Glad you enjoyed your Disney cruise, and SO glad to know the ear problem didn't ruin the vacation. (There were several add'l replies to your ear thread after you left.)

 

So Disney "dismembered" you? What part of you is left? You'd better stick w/us Carnival folks if they're gonna do that to you, girl! :D :D :D (I know what you meant, just kidding.)

 

Did you really think the food was THAT much better than Carnival's? I'm a little surprised, as a friend (fellow gourmet) took her grandkids a coupla months ago on Disney and said she was disappointed that it wasn't as good as Carnival's. Oh well, diff'rent tastes. Glad you're back and ok.

[Ocruise]

Hi Cotton,

 

Yes, I would sail Carnival again in a heartbeat. I thought Dinsney had an edge to the food, but like I said Carnival had great food as well, pretty close all in all. My husband preferred the deserts in Carnival to Disney. On the Paradise I had the best Key Lime Pie i've ever had. But Carnival was a much better value for the money, the Paradise cost us 900.00 PP for a 7 night cruise , while Disney was 1200.PP for a 4 night cruise (both oceanview cabins). I think Disney is way overpriced.

[betsyrossapk]

Ocruise,

We did the same thing the 1st time we cruised & stopped at Cable Beach. We took the bus to get there as well & had such a nice time there, that several yrs later, we booked a land trip & stayed at the Radisson Cable Beach at the time. A cruise is a great way to check out an area for future travel.

[halos]

I'm glad you had a nice time and VERY happy that your ear is OK!!!!

 

Thanks for the review as well!!

So, all in all, is Disney worth all the extra $$$$$?