Disney Wonder
3 night cruise, Family experience December 18-21, 2008
Cabin 2106 in Category 9 Deluxe Outside.
Day 1
From the moment you step off in front of the Disney Cruise terminal you know this is going to be a great trip! It does take a little bit of navigation to get through security and up to the check in level. If you are traveling on birth-certificates and not a passport (even if you have done the on-line check-in) you will be directed to a separate podium for a brief stop - I’m not sure why this happens, but within a few moments we were in the main line for check-in. I waited to check-in while Mark took the girls to say “hello” to Pluto and check out a model of the ship on display. The terminal was bright and nicely decorated for Christmas. The line went quickly because there were about seven cast members checking guests in. We were asked if anyone in our party had been sick in the last 48 hours; thankfully that answer was “no”. It is my understanding that if someone has been sick they will require you to see the physician there to determine whether or not you can sail. This is why it is good to have insurance. So, we are checked in and we head toward the ship when we are stopped for another document check and then for a photo-op (put everything down, tuck away the papers, and smile!). We gathered our things and continued on to yet another check point, where they re-checked our cruise cards and drivers licenses, cross the gang plank, and we are on board.
Greeted in a true Disney fashion, we are announced (loudly) and applauded in. This was a little cheesy, but everyone deserves a hand now and then! The lobby was beautiful, simple elegance, but not overwhelming. Those little Disney touches were everywhere. A statue of Ariel just outside Triton’s restaurant was the first thing to catch my eye. We needed to find a restroom for the girls and some get lunch; lucky for us, the restrooms were right next to the Parrot Cay restaurant. Lunch was buffet style with a lot of options like shrimp, fish, chicken Marcella, soups and salads. The kids loved making their own Sundaes at the ice cream bar. If you are looking for other types of lunch food (such as wraps, burgers, or pizza) you will want to head to the upper decks. After lunch we registered the girls with the kid’s club and got to see what they have to offer. Zoe being 6 and Sophia being 3, I think the club has some nice activities to offer. Later, we met some older kids who weren’t as enthused about the club. The club, in addition to “ala carte” activities, acts as a full “drop-off” babysitting service; we were told that some people drop their children off in the morning and pick them up at the end of the day. The club is open from 9:00am to 1:00am.
After checking out the kid’s club, we headed up to the party. It was great! They pumped out the music and some Disney characters were there too. Once the ship set sail, we headed to our cabin where we unpacked, freshened-up, and headed to a show. Our cabin (Cat 9-Deluxe) was really a nice surprise. It had an ocean-view via a super sized port hole with a ledge large enough for the girls to use as a window seat. The space was good and the cabin was very comfortable. The show was fun, very “Disney-esque”. If you have never done a Disney cruise, the show was comparable in quality and theme to one you would see in the parks. One of the ‘perks’ of seeing it on the ship though, is that your seats have a cup holder for the beverage of your choice (alcoholic or non). After the show, it was time for dinner; our seating assignment was for the Parrot Cay restaurant (again) the first night and I have to say, I think this might have been my favorite one for dinner. It was tropical, casual, and a nice meal. The servers were excellent! They even cut the girls meals so Mark and I could enjoy our food while it was still hot.
Day 2
The Disney Wonder arrived in Nassau and we had an amazing view of the Atlantis Resort from our cabin. With this being only a 3-night cruise, we decided to stay on board instead of trying to entertain the girls in Nassau. It turned out to be a great decision; we had a great sit down breakfast at Triton’s Restaurant (fantastic French toast). We swam in the pool, the girls got their hair braided Caribbean style, we made kites, Zoe made ‘flubber’, and we even saw a first run 3D movie: Bolt! It was an awesome family fun day! We cleaned up in time to have a family photo taken and watch another show. Dinner tonight was at Triton’s, where we were looking forward to a very nice meal when Zoe said she didn’t feel well. I left Sophia with Mark and took Zoe back to our cabin. Just a few minutes after we got to the cabin, there was a knock at our door. It was our Assistant Waiters with my dinner entrée! Now that is service!
Day 3
Castaway Cay – ok, I’m going to say the same thing you hear most everyone else say: It was out of this world! Spending a day here was worth every dollar of a Disney Cruise! The ship docked very early in the morning and our cabin happened to be on the dock side, so we could see all the morning activity. It was like a military operation - Disney style! Crates of food and other items were being unloaded and moved onto flatbed trams where they were quickly whisked away - all directed by the Chefs. It was done with such grace and precision that I was half expecting to see the jungle book elephants lofting by any moment singing a tune. We got into our swim suites, had a quick breakfast, and headed off to the island.
We had made friends with another family the night before and we ran into them on our way out. They had picked up an island scavenger hunt in the lobby so we joined them on the adventure. There are a ton of photo opportunities on the Island from the moment you get off. A big statue of Mr. and Mrs. Frosty-the-Snowman (dressed island style) with blowing snow was our first stop. Then it was down the path, past the post office, and off on our adventure solving clues to find the next one. We had a great time and it made us aware of so many things we probably wouldn’t have even noticed if we would have just headed for a lounge chair. We found our treasure just where a treasure should be: under a pirate flag, in a treasure chest, marked by a big X! After this I was ready for a cool drink and the girls wanted to do an activity in Scuttles cove, which is the Disney Island’s version of the kid’s club. After the girls headed there, we sat on the beach for little while where we enjoyed a mango daiquiri. The girls wanted to eat lunch with kids in the club so Mark and I ate with our new friends. Lunch was excellent, it was a buffet style BBQ under roof and there were many covered areas to sit and enjoy your lunch. They had everything from BBQ ribs and chicken to burgers. So it was easy to find something here that we all liked to eat and if you can’t, you can always head back to the ship. After lunch we picked up the girls and headed back to our spot on the beach. Here’s a tip: the areas closest to the ship were very crowded; as you continue down the beach, the further away from the ship the more open the beach. We enjoyed the rest of the day playing in the water with girls and we were probably some of the last people off the island and back aboard the ship. We went back to our cabin for showers and a little rest before dinner. Unfortunately, I’m going to say everyone else was showering too, because the shower was barely warm. So if you need a hot shower I wouldn’t try to take one between 4:00pm and 6:00pm on Castaway Cay day! After our cool showers we headed up to do some pin trading in the lobby. Zoe was chosen to be honorary crew member that night and they gave her lanyard to wear loaded with pins to trade with ships guests. She had a wonderful time and while we were at the dinner, they delivered two boxes of miscellaneous pins to our cabin (one for her and one for Sophia). Our last dinner on board was at Animator’s Palette, I have to say I didn’t get to see the show that they put on because the girls were worn out and we left right after we ate. Mark stayed to give the wait staff their tip envelopes and thank them for the phenomenal service we received for the past three days. When he got back to the room, he said that the restaurant really came alive and when they “colored” the walls, it was another amazing Disney touch. The food was very good, service of course excellent. The girls were exhausted and they were asleep pretty quickly. Our luggage had to be in the hallway by 11pm so Mark and I packed up and collapsed into bed. The next morning Zoe awoke pretty early so she and I headed up to Beach Blankets where we ate some breakfast. It was great too, everything you could want. We had to be off the ship by 9:00am so after we got dressed and we headed to Shutters to pick out some photo’s and then back to Animator’s Palette so Mark and Sophia could have breakfast; your departure breakfast is in the same restaurant you had your dinner in the night before. We took some last minute photos and then disembarked. Getting off the ship was almost as pleasant as boarding it was. Someone quickly met us in the baggage area and helped us to meet the bus that took us to the rental car location. It was very smooth, not congested at all, and you never felt like you were being herded around. We got our rental car and headed back to Orlando. We had several hours before we had to check-in for our flight, so we did a little bit of souvenir shopping and enjoyed the last few hours in the sun shine before we headed back to cold, wintery Pittsburgh, PA.
Celeste Koutavas
www.EnchantedDestinations.net
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