4/5/07 Wonder cruise trip report

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Greg had to work a little Thursday morning so we didn’t arrive at the Port until noon. On the way we saw several of the new buses. They really look GREAT. I love the colors and port hole windows.

They had started boarding already when we arrived, and wern’t giving out boarding passes by the time we arrived. It was a quick easy check in. Our new passports never did arrive, luckily we had sent off for birth certificates just in case.

We walked right onto the ship with No line. Of course my husband wanted to say our name was Kadidlehopper, when they asked for our name. Luckily I was there to stop him.

We decided to go up to Topsiders Buffet for lunch. It was cloudy and slightly cool, so we opted to sit inside. After a nice lunch we walked around the top 2 decks taking pictures of the ship and ourselves before it got crowded.

By then it was time to check out the room, which I already told you about.

I unpacked our carry on back, then we were off to wander the inside of the ship. Looking for any changes we could see around the ship after drydock.

Parrot cay was the biggeest inside change we noticed. Outside of course was the kiddie water area. This was great for the little ones , plus it gave the other Mickey hear for the other kids to play in,so it helped with the crowding problem of the Mickey pool.

new kiddie water area

We loved the Jumbotron screen too. Of course it is identical to the Magic's screen.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Then at 3:00 in the Promenade lounge we had our cruise board meet. For those who dont know I had posted for almost a year everyday and NEVER had one person join me for this cruise.

Some of the great people on these boards did stop by and say hello to help me stay bumped up and to keep me from being so lonely. Then a miracle happened just about a month before our cruise Kay posted and said she and her friend Linda and her DD were coming along. I almost fainted!!!

Then about one week before the cruise Tracie and her family joined my thread.

So we had a great meet. Kay, Tracie, Linda, Rusty(Tracie's DH) and Danny, (Tracie's DS) and us. It was fun and everyone was very nice. I think we visited for about 45 minutes because we had to zip back to the room and get ready for the safety drill.

Finally it was time for the sail away party. The sun was peaking out from the clouds. It was a bit windy, but nice. I have done many cruises with DCL but this one had to have the most lively crowd I have ever seen for the sail away party. Even the deck 10 crowd was waving the arms and yelling at the top of their lungs. It was a good party, but I really missed not having a live band.

One thing I have never had them do before when I cruised was they gave away a few tote bags to kids during the party. My husband had the camera so I didnt get any picturesof the party, sorry.

Then just before the characters were about to leave the party we did the big countdown from 10 to 1. Lots of yelling and streamers,but the ship didnt move?

So as the music and dancing continued for a bit I walked towards the front to join my husband. I had my Mickey hands on all set to wave, but we just sat here. They had cast off the lines already but we didnt go. I never did hear why, but about 20 minutes late we finally were on our way. YEAH!!!!

No Dolphins this time but lots of sea gulls were along the way. The shores had many people waving and cheering as we cruised down the channel. A few even had on Mickey hands just like me. I figured they were probably people who had cruised DCL before.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

We stayed on deck until 5:45 but we had 6:00 dinner,so had to go and change our clothes.

Our rotation was Parrot cay, Tritons and then Animators Palate.

new sign

We met our housekeeper Kim as we went to our room to change. Then our 2nd surprize of the cruise happened. DH had packed the wrong slacks, these were old ones that were too small. He only brought one pair because on a 3 day that is all he would need.

Of course the stores are not open yet to see if they had pants, but after I rubbed it in a bit, we decided to just have room service which was very good. They were fast and efficient. They even had a sugar free dessert we could order. They never use to have sugar free available on room service. That was a nice surprize for us. DH is diabetic and likes the sugar free desserts.

Well we were done quickly with dinner, so took a stroll around the ship. By then the stores were open so we went to see what was new and I had promised a fellow diser to look for a limited edition pin she wanted. They still had it, so I bought it for her and found a cruise line sweatshrit for me..

By now the early showing of Hercules had let out and the store was packed,so we left.

After returning our souvenirs to our room and checking out the towel animal it was time to get an early seat for the late showing of Hercules. We enjoyed seeing it again since it had been almost 2 years since we had seen it. Last May when we cruised we didnt have the chance to see it.

After the show we went to the Promenade Lounge and enjoyed hearing a duo, Ben and Dana. They were very good, but they were having some trouble with their equipment so while they were working with that, DH went up to deck 9 and got some pizza and pop to snack on while we listened to some music

[mom x4,grandma x4]

.

There was an 80's late night dance party but just too late for me.

Friday--Nassau There was a few people dancing but one couple in their 30's really stood out. They were so good and so graceful. They had obviously had lessons and danced often. They both had the slender build of a dancer too, which made them all the more graceful looking.

Around 10:30 they have Match your Mate which is always funny. If you've never seen this one, be sure and catch it on your next cruise.

By now it was a little after 11;00p.m., and I was ready for bed.

We were up by 6:00 A.M. and it was pouring rain and cool.

We got dressed and went up to the buffet at 7:00 A.M. when it opened and had a good breakfast, biscuits and sausage and fruit.

Well DH only had shorts to wear and he forgot to bring a jacket so we wernt to sure if we were going to walk into town or not. I on the other hand had long pants, long sleeve short and a hooded sweatshirt as well as a billed cap.

Women always seem to remember these things, right ladies??

We have an arrangement, he lays out his clothes and then I pack everything, so never pay attention to what he lays out, guess next time I'd better check a little closer for him. Ha Ha.

Well about 9:45 the rain let up and quit so we went to the straw market where we bought a very nice wooden eagle for our entryway shelf.

We browsed through a few shops and bought 4 pirate mugs to replace some old mugs we had. Then back to the ship. Most of the stores were closed due to Good Friday. No pants ot light wieght jackets either, those stores were closed.

We went to Topsiders buffet for lunch about noon when it first opened because we had a 12:45 excursion to Ardastra gardens. It had started raining again, but it had warmed up to low 70's by then. We wondered about it because our excursion was mostly outside, but we reported anyway to the Cadillac Lounge. 5 minutes later they announced it had been cancelled, which was no surprize to us.

waiting in the Cadillac lounge for our excursion

[mom x4,grandma x4]

We wernt even disappointed because we have been to Nassau many times and will be back again in a few months. besides since they refunded out money that gave me more money to spend if I saw something I wanted to buy on board.

Of course 20 minutes later it had stopped raining for about 2 hours, but then it started sprinkling again. We decided to go out on deck 4 and relax a bit. By then a huge yacht had docked near the ship. It was called The Callisto.

We got a plate of fruit to munch on and just relaxed for awhile and watched people going to and from the ship with shorts and tank tops getting wet. Others had plastic on that looked like garbage bags, but at least they kept dry. I saw many people throughout the day but nobody complained about the weather. This was a very happy group of cruisers.

The rain did let up enough for them to have the ice carving demonstration. I always enjoy watching that. This time NO power chain saw, due to the water it wouldn’t of been safe, he just used hand tools. It was a dolphin over waves. Just gorgeous!!

Animation drawing is always fun, this time you learned how to do Mickey and Goofy.

I saw many kids with their kites after they made then. They are so creative in their designs they draw on them.

DH decided to return to the room for a nap while I decided to take a few inside pictures of the ship to send to friends who have never been on a cruise ship before.

As I passed by the desk where you book future cruises the lady was sitting there and we had her card which said she wouldnt be there until 5:00 P.M. Usually they have a line and we have to sit for an hour to get to rebook. She said she wanted to come out early because so many people were staying on board due to the weather and she thought they might stop by. I told her stay put, I'm going to wake up my husband to rebook before you get busy.

I dashed down to the room, and he wasnt there??

He was out looking for me. Eventually I found him and told him that there was NO line so he went right down and booked 2 more cruises. So now we have 4 cruises booked between now and the end of 08. HOORAY!!!

door sign

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Castaway Club reception was at 4:45 but chose not to go this time.

There was always something playing on the Jumbotron screen too, even when it was raining. Nemo , Cinderella III A Twist in Time, the bridge Tour, High School Musical and of course Pirates of the Caribbean just to name a few things.

We were hungry and decided to go back to the room and order room service.

Again they were very fast and everything was perfect on the tray. we had a very quiet leisurely meal. Usually on a 3 night cruise Topsiders is closed at dinner, however it was open from 6:30 to 8:30. on night. We have eaten in their at dinner on the Magic before and it was very nice. But again with no long pants we wernt going to go there.

Yes they did have some brown pants, in the stores on board but they were very expensive and pretty ugly. Also would of clashed with his dinner shirts anyway.

I told DH, well we saved tip money by not going to the dining room, just some for room service,so all the more money to spend elsewhere!!!

After dinner we discovered a few of my pictures were blurry to re-took some and took the last few shots I wanted inside. Then it was time for The Golden Mickeys.

We have seen it many times but it was still very enjoyable to see again.

Next was back to the room to get ready fore the pirate party.

I didn’t bring my full costume this time, just a pirate t-shirt and Mickey pirate ears. But it was too windy to wear my ears and I forgot bobby pins to fasten them on with. Plus is was cool enough I wore a sweat shirt so nobody could see my t-shirt anyway. The weather did stay clear so we had fireworks too!!

Mickey getting ready to repel down to the crowd

 

[mom x4,grandma x4]

We didn’t want to go to the buffet, but instead went to the adult pool because Ben and Dana were suppose to be performing. Their instruments were there but they wernt. Must of been on break. We decided it was about 11:00 P.M. so we decided to turn in for the night.

We didnt go to the clubs at night on this trip. There is NO live band anymore and that was the main reason for us to go to the clubs. We love live performances.

There was adult Karoake, that was pretty good this time.

For anyone who might be interested these are the movies currently playing on the Wonder.

Wild Hogs

Road to Terebithia

Meet the Robinsons

Saturday Castaway Cay

We were up around 6:00 a.m. and watched a beautiful sunrise. It was nice and warm and you could tell it was going to be a great day. We were scheduled to arrive at 8:00 a.m. but we were there at 6:45 a.m. It was smooth sailing from Florida to Nassau and then to Castaway Cay, so we made good time.

We enjoyed watching us pull in from our verandah, then up for breakfast around 7;00 a.m..I believe they started letting people off around 8:30 but we waited until about 9:15 because we wanted the characters to be out. We always have our pictures taken with them on CC because the lines are short and move quickly.

We saw Max, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Minnie, Mickey and Pluto and of course Captain Jack was there too!! He had a long line, but it moved quickly.

 

[mom x4,grandma x4]

First thing we did was rent bikes and we rode to the new bike path which is 5,000 feet long. we rode down it and parked to go up in the observation tower. It has been closed the last 2 times we have been there, but this time it was open.

It was a great view from up there and they have 2 telescopes viewers to look through. Plus if you look around the ground area on one side there is an old outhouse with a stork in it and one just outside of it. The other side has a tandem bike with 2 storks on it. It was really cute.

new observation tower

outhouse with stork can only be seen from the tower

tandem bike with storks, only be seen from tower

view of ship from tower

After finishing that trail we continued down the runway to the old trail that runs behind the adult beach. it was perfect riding weather, it was warm, but not too hot yet. it was quite breezy which felt good. At the end of the trail there is a nice viewing area of the ocean and adult beach down to the left. Then we rode back to return the bikes.

I could hardly believe it, i made it.!!! I havnt riden a bike in about 3 years. I could really feel my old legs but at least I did make it for the fun ride. Wish the grandkids would of been there to witness it. I dont think they will believe me when I tell them.

They had a Hula dance with Lelo and Stitch by the Gazebo which was fun to see. They had crab races but I didnt get to see what it was. I think it is like Mr. Toads race accept with crabs.

It was around lunch time so we caught the tram back to the adult beach and just relaxed on some loungers for awhile. The water was COLD so no getting in the water for us. Only one brave lady on the adult beach while we were there.

Now we decided to have lunch before it closed a 2:00 p.m.. Just had cheeseburgers and fruit.

Now we decided to return to the family beach area to watch the people enjoying the water. There were many people there in the water, they were much braver than us.

All of the ocean excursions were cancelled due to choppy seas, so the beaches were full all day.

We did see a lot of people feeding the stingrays. That is a very popular excursion. The grouper game room was pretty busy too. Everyone was enjoying the sun after having rain the day before.

Now I was ready to check out the shops because we were way ahead of budget, but I didnt find one thing I wanted that I didn’t already have.

That is the bad thing about cruising so often. They don’t have new items out for us very often.

Ok, now we are going back to the ship. Still taking a few more pictures along the way. I have seen the flying Dutchman a few times but never noticed the faces on the side of it, so this time

we got a few good close ups of it and a few more pictures of us too.

Now that we were back on board I needed one last picture of Diversions to show friends. As we took the pictures a man asked us if we were there for the DVC presentation.We said no. But since we didn’t have anything better to do right then we said we wanted to get a pop and would be right back.

only one other man was there. We agreed to meet with them later to get more details. Then at the end of the 45 minute presentation Burt said now for the drawing. We both said what drawing??

They had $300 room credit to give away.

The presentation was interesting .

Since there was only 2 of us we could opt to split it at $150. each or we could have the drawing and have one winner and one looser.

With no hesitation we both looked at each other and said we would be thrilled with spliting it because neither one of us had expected anything.

So now we had another $150. to spend on board.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

We went back to the room so DH could do some figuring about how we did our vacations and what joining DVC would cost. We decided it wasnt right for us, but it would be great for someone who stays in resorts a lot. But we live close to WDW so go just for the day. We never travel to the other places they have and dont plan on it anytime soon accept for cruises, but when they offer Florida resident discount we get great rates which we couldnt do if we did the DVC program. So for us it didnt work.

But the surprise of $150 room credit really made it worth our time.

We had only spent $42 so far,not including the pin that we bought for someone else. So tonight we need to shop!!!

We stood out on the balcony and watched us pull out to head home, i

I once again put on my Mickey hand to wave at the CM's on the pier. It is always a sad wave for me because I know we are almost done with another cruise.

We called room service for one last time for dinner. They had a great sugar free coffee Mocha cake. Now I packed everything accept for the toothbrushes.

We went to watch Ben and Dana which was to be followed by Trivia but the times seemed to be off and we got tired of waiting so we moved on.

The show the last night was Disney Dreams which is Greg's favorite.

Now to find something to spend the $150 on. We have cruised DCL so many times it was hard to find something we wanted that we didnt already have. Finally we found a shirt, and sweatshirt, so with what we had already bought brought us up to the $150.

We took one last stroll around the decks enjoying the solitude, and got some great pictures of the sunset.

It was late and we were tired so we decided to retire early. I watched The Jungle Book on TV and went to sleep.

We woke up around 5:30 as the thrusters began to dock us at Port Canaveral. We got up and started to go out and watch the docking, but to our surpize it was FREEZING outside. It was 50 degrees and very windy.

So i unpacked my jacket, we went to Topsiders for a quick snack and the right off the ship abut 7:45 a.m.. There was NO line we just walked right off. We didnt check our bag since we only had one bag and a small carryon, We just walked right through customs and out to the car.

I know we didnt do a lot of events on the ship, but this trip was more of a relaxing 3 day weekend for us instead of a family vacation where you pack everything in that you can in 3 days.

It was a very good trip. The only things that would of made it better would of been the Steel Drum band playing by the pool and a live band in the club and for the deck parties. Then it would of been an awesome cruise. if they had the live music we would of went to the club too.

mom x4,grandma x4

a few extra pictures:

flowers at castaway cay

close up of flower

this outhouse is on top of a bathroom and has a silly looking stork in it.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

one of the new disney cruise line buses. we saw several of them.

waterfall fromt he hot tub into the adult pool

 

new Teak furniture by the adult pool with padded covers

Teal tables and chairs by adult pool area

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Flying Dutchman

 

 

stats for the flying Dutchman

 

close up for the sid eof the Flying Dutchman

[mom x4,grandma x4]

View of the wonder from CC

 

games in Diversions sports bar

me goofing off

 

thanks for viewing my report,

we had a great time.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

some how the first part of this report wound up on it's own thread, so look for the other 4/5/07 wonder report to see how it started.

 

sorry everyone,

mom x4,grandma x4

[coldinerie]

thanks for taking the time and posting the photos, we are going in may and I really enjoyed seeing the pictures~ Again, thank you!

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Glad you enjoyed it.

Kathy

[FloridaGram]

"Eventually I found him and told him that there was NO line so he went right down and booked 2 more cruises. So now we have 4 cruises booked between now and the end of 08. HOORAY!!!"

 

You must be DCL best passenger! Do you get an additional discount after a certain number of cruises! You should!

 

Do you get a FL resident discount onboard ? Or do you have to book through DCL on the phone? How do you know when they offer one? I could go more often if it were a bargain. but I think I will be going on RCCL more often. First DCL in 18 days!! WOOHOO!

[Rudi610]

Great review and loved the pictures. I am going to try to talk the wife into taking a Disney cruise either later this summer or maybe at Thanksgiving. During summer, we would have to settle for a 4 day Bahamas (did that already on RCCL), but a Thanksgiving cruise could be a 4 day or 7 day. But Disney's prices are making RCCL look really good though, any way you slice. But on the other hand, my kids are at that perfect age where the Disney magic shines best (3 under 10). Decisions, Decisions!!

[FloridaGram]

Great review and loved the pictures. I am going to try to talk the wife into taking a Disney cruise either later this summer or maybe at Thanksgiving. During summer, we would have to settle for a 4 day Bahamas (did that already on RCCL), but a Thanksgiving cruise could be a 4 day or 7 day. But Disney's prices are making RCCL look really good though, any way you slice. But on the other hand, my kids are at that perfect age where the Disney magic shines best (3 under 10). Decisions, Decisions!!

 

Hi Rudi,

I will be going on my 9th cruise, 1st DCl later this month. I'll let you know if it is worth it. I have been on Carnival, RCCL,NCL and HAL so I have some history to compare it too.

[lainied]

Great review. I loved your pictures. I've been thinking about taking my 4 year old on a disney cruise, but cost was a major factor. after seeing this review I think it would be worth every penny. Thanks and keep them coming.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Great review. I loved your pictures. I've been thinking about taking my 4 year old on a disney cruise, but cost was a major factor. after seeing this review I think it would be worth every penny. Thanks and keep them coming.

 

 

I think that at least once people should try DCL if there is any way possible to financially do it. especially if they have young kids. 4 is a great age because it si still all magic to them. all the charcters are real to them and makes it just that much more exciting.

we have taken out grandkids at various ages and often think how great it would of been if DCL had been around when our kids were little. I would of tried to to it at least once. I probably couldnt of afforded it very easily but i would of tired.

 

I know we get Florida rates often and dont have to pay airfare or hotel which helps a lot. But here is what we do to help afford a cruise.

 

all tax refunds go into a special bank account set up just for this cruise, so a savings that draws interest. all rebates we get from buying things go into that account, even if it's only a dollar.

 

when ever we break a bill ALL change goes into a penny bank, NO acceptions.

all ones goes into an envelope and when we get 25 of them we deposit it into the account so we cant touch it.

 

once a year a BIG garage sale, all profit goes into the account.

rarely buy fast foods, always cook home meals during the week.

 

on weekends instead of going to a nice sit down restaurant, we get pizza or burgers. If we had $ 40 budgeted for a meal out, and it only cost $25 for pizza or burgers, we would take $15 and put in the bank.

 

Also I use coupons when I shop. If I save $5 on a shopping, then I take $5 cash and put in the bank. so I am actually paying full price for the groceries, but my savings go into the bank.

 

It is amazing how many corners you can cut to save for a cruise if you are dedicated, and still be able to go out and have recreation in the meantime.

My grandkids collect pop cans to turn in for spending money too.

 

It adds up fast and you really dont miss the change or a dollar here and there.

anyway it does help make a cruise more affordable.

 

most ports you can explore on your own if excursions dont fit the budget too. At least you are on the ship.

 

Good luck and I hope you find a way to to DCL at least once while you child is still young.

 

mom x4,grandma x4

[scottishwee35]

Hello Kathy

 

It is me, again lol

 

I was reading your trip report and thought it was good and some photos of place which I never see it before and I told my husband that we missed out lot on the Wonder Cruise.

 

Never mind, 10 days on July 07, we hope see lots more things on Magic Cruise:D

 

Lovely photos of you and Greg.

 

Scottishwee35

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Hi Deborah,

are your kids going to make a count down chain for your cruise?? That is always a fun project for kids to do and helps to pass the time until the cruise arrives.

 

Kathy;)

[scottishwee35]

Hi Deborah,

are your kids going to make a count down chain for your cruise?? That is always a fun project for kids to do and helps to pass the time until the cruise arrives.

 

Kathy;)

 

Yes, I did it twice and looking like not show up?? strange

 

See mark X in box?

 

Deborah

[JJJDalli]

Thank you Mom x4 Grandma!

I looked at the website you posted and the FL Resident discount rates are great! I have been adamant about taking the kids on Disney for their first cruise but the regular prices are outrageous!

I will check the website regularly to get a time when the kids are out of school...

Thanks again!

 

Julie

[WErlich]

That was an awesome review. I am going to try to use your savings method too. We are taking our first cruise this year with NCL. We would love to take our 3 year old on a DCL vacation next year and after reading your review I will try to make it affordable.