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Trip report - DCL Wonder 4 night cruise April 21 - 25, 2002
Cast - for the cruise, Dh, our 2 Dd's 4 & 2 years old and I. For the land portion, MIL, FIL, Dh's aunt, Dh's 2 cousins, Dh, our 2 Dd's 4 & 2
yo and I.
We had flown from LAX to Fort Lauderdale on April 17, 2002 and drove up to Orlando to the vacation home after visiting with Dh's aunt a couple
of days. To our surprise, they decided to join us in Orlando... Thank goodness for the 3 bedroom vacation home and thank goodness our Dd's are
young enough to sleep with us without crowding us off the bed :-)
We woke up at 7 a.m. on the day of our cruise to finish packing for our 4 night cruise, left some spending money for MIL and FIL then left for
Port Canaveral around 10a.m. We didn't mean to leave so early, but Dh was still mad at his dad from the night before (long story), so we
figure it would be a good idea to just find some place to eat on the way to Port Canaveral. We took Dh's cousin's car and left the rental van
for the IL's to use so that it'll accommodate everyone. If anyone is thinking of doing the same... DON'T. Eat before you get out of Orlando
or don't eat till you're onboard. We were unable to find anywhere that served breakfast on the way to the port. When we drove towards the port
and Deanna saw the Disney Wonder, she started singing the Wish I could be part of your World song from Little Mermaid and lifted our spirit
considerably. By the time we boarded by 12:15 p.m. we were quite ready for the Bon Voyage buffet that was served at Parrot Cay. We were not
prepared to see such wonderful spread of food so early into the cruise. All the dishes we tried were excellent, and the peel to eat shrimp were
gigantic!!! We were not onboard for more than a few minutes before all the unpleasantness from earlier were washed away. It is truly a wonder
of a ship!
After lunch, we signed Deanna up for Oceaneer's Club and signed Jessica up for Flounder's Reef. We're planning on having her in the child care
for 2 hours 2 of the nights so that we can have some adult time. We then proceeded to roam the ship and gawk at at all the details of the
ship. Our previous cruise was on Carnival's Fantasy, and though we expected more from a Disney ship, we were not prepared to see the
beautiful detail in everything. We got the safety drill out of the way, then went to the ship's bow to watch the ship leave port. It was such a
wonderful feeling seeing all the small crafts follow the Disney Wonder out of the port. They were soon left behind as the Wonder picked up
speed. We stayed on deck for a while longer enjoying the Bon Voyage party, then headed to our cabin on 2nd deck (we had a category 9 cabin)
to change for dinner. When we got in our cabin, the kiddies went wild because the sail away gifts that we ordered have arrived and was waiting
for us on the bed. They tore through the Bon Voyage, An Oceaneer's Adventure, Sail Away Celebration Steamer Trunk and their Magic Dreams,
making a mess everywhere while we munched on the Mouse Takes the Cheese plate. We went quite a bit overboard with the gifts, but seeing the joy
on their faces really made everything worth it.
At dinner both Dh and I had Shrimp and Lobster Roll and double dessert. Ahhh... the decadence... After dinner we explored the ship some more
and went dancing... well, the girls did anyway... at the family dance floor. We dragged ourselves to our cabin at around 11:30 p.m. What a
day!!!
The funniest thing of the day... Dd singing the song from Little Mermaid in the car and insisted that we record it on the camcorder.
The most magical moment... As we drove into the terminal, seeing Disney Wonder on one side of the car and Carnival Fantasy on the other side and
knowing that we didn't have to wish we were going on the Disney Cruise this time, we REALLY were.
April 22, 2002
Although we were exploring the ship till late, Dd's woke up at 7:30 and proceeded to wake us up. It was just as well since we had two shore
excursions planned for the day at Nassau. After eating a buffet breakfast at Parrot Cay, it was time for our first shore excursion, the
Historic City Tour. It was very informative and the kids liked the drive. When we came back onboard, we took Deanna to the Oceaneer's Club
then picked her up an hour later. Deanna had a blast!!! Disney's children program is so much superior to Carnival's that there is no
comparison. Instead of just one room of one level for children, almost the entire deck 5 was dedicated to children. Flounder's Reef for baby
sitting, Oceaneer Club for 3 - 7 year olds and Oceaneer Lab for 8 - teen. After lunch, we went on our second excursion for the glass bottom
boat. It was really nice and the kids liked seeing the fish in the ocean, but they seemed to like the boat ride itself even more :-P
After the excursion Dd asked to have her hair braided. We were hesitant at first, because she didn't like to have her hair tied up for any
length of time, but caved in when she showed us her very best puppy dog face. It was a great decision and she looked very good with the
"headband" braid (only braided to where a headband would usually sit and loose all other part behind).
We saw Hercules before our dinner. It was a broadway style show and very nicely done. Both Deanna and Jessica stayed alert and were glued
through the whole show.
Our dinner tonight was at Parrot Cay again and the food was simply to die for. Our dinner was late seating, at 8:30, and after all the
excitement, Jessica couldn't stay awake through dinner and promptly fell asleep in the middle of a bite of her main course. Our waiter and
assistant found extra chairs and laid her down on them so that she can sleep easier. After dinner we dropped Deanna off at the Club and
dropped Jessica off at the Reef. We had reserved baby sitting from 10 - midnight and figured that Jessica would sleep through and won't even
know we were gone. Boy were we wrong!!! We went to the midnight buffet (they serve it earlier than midnight), danced a bit at the pool deck and
got some food before we were paged. It seemed that Jessica woke up soon after we left, and no matter what the counselors did, she would not stop
crying. We wondered around a bit more before going to pick Deanna up at the Club. Deanna was watching Lion King with other children and didn't
want to go with us at first till we told her that the ceiling bed would be down in the cabin already and she could sleep in it... She REALLY
likes the ceiling bed :-)
Funniest thing of the day... Dd's liking the boat ride for the glass bottom boat better than seeing the fish from the glass bottom.
The most magical moment of the day... Having both Deanna and Jessica in the program and being able to explore the ship without constantly having
to ask them not to run around. Though our adult time was short, it was wonderful!
April 23, 2002
The kids got up even earlier today at 7 a.m. without an alarm It was strange to see because they usually don't get up till around 9 a.m. at
home in CA, and waking up at 7 a.m. on the ship is equivalent to 4 a.m. at home, but I guess they just want to see everything as early as they
could. Today was the stop at Freeport. We had reserved the Dolphin Experience by ourselves because the excursion onboard was already full
when I had called about it a month prior to departure. After our buffet breakfast we took our first look at the port and decided that we didn't
need to go to the excursion after all. For anyone who has not visited Freeport on a cruise ship before, the ship does not dock at the Marina.
It docks at an industrial shipping yard 30 minutes from the main port because the water at the marina is too shallow for cruise ships... We
looked at the straw market for a little while then headed back to the ship.
For lunch, we ordered room service while Dh took a nap. After lunch we went to the Mickey Mouse pool with the kiddies. I was too busy making
sure the girls had enough sun block on them that I forgot about myself. By the time I remembered, I was already sun burnt... A lesson to be
learned... Put sunblock on before leaving the cabin. When the kids see the pool, they're so eager to jump into it that they won't stay still
for sunblock to be applied easily... We had so much fun at the pool that we didn't watch the time, and by the time we got back we had missed
the night's show yet again - Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer. We resolved to make it to the show the next day then headed to dinner. Dinner was
at Triton's tonight.
We were originally not going to attend tonight's dinner because Mike did not bring any formal wear (for that matter, neither did I). Our waiter
had convinced us last night that we should not miss the dinner. We were very glad not to have missed it, it was simply delicious, though Deanna
fell asleep half way through dinner. After dinner Deanna woke back up and we checked her into the Club while we went shopping. Shopping is
MUCH easier when we only have one child to watch :-D After shopping we picked Deanna up at around 11 p.m. and went to Studio Sea again. The
girls had a blast dancing and leading the other kids dancing around the dance floor. At midnight we dragged the girls back to our cabin to give
them a bath. The girls loved the towel animal that Oscar left as usual and Jessica grabbed and ate all four pieces of the chocolate that was
left. It was past 1 a.m. by the time we got the girls in bed. Dh and I stayed up a bit longer to talk about our cruise. There was absolutely
nothing to complain about on the ship, everything is simply perfect, and that is not just the Mickey fans in us talking! The ship was kept is
perfect condition all the time, the staff was friendly and not complaining about their job as they were on the Carnival. The
children's program is the best we could hope for, the food rivals 4 star restaurants and the only regret we have was not booking a longer cruise.
It was then that we decided we must book another Disney Cruise. The only decision would be whether we take the Eastern or the Western
Caribbean...
The funniest thing today was... When the boy at Studio Sea started dancing with Deanna and Deanna kept running away because she just wanted
to dance by herself.
The most magical moment today was... Every waking moment on the Wonder is a magical moment!!!
April 24, 2002
After the late night last night we knew we would need to have a wake up call to be up at a decent time, and we wanted to see as much of Castaway
Cay as we could, so we set the wake up call at 7 a.m. We were not disappointed. Even from our window Castaway Cay looked like paradise!
We had breakfast at parrot Cay and headed over to the island. On the way to the family beach we passed by the Scuttle's Cove, the kid's club
on the island, and Deanna wanted to join her friends instead of going with us. We had not expected that, so did not bring our pager with us.
We were told that it would be okay as long as we check back every 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. We had lots of fun floating in the water and loved
the fact that all we needed to do to get something to eat/drink was to just walk up to any of the food/drink locations and get it without
having to worry about carrying any money. Around lunch time Deanna decided to re-join us. We got food and took it back to the beach, ate
delicious barbecue and stared out into the beautiful ocean. We were having so much fun that we decided to forego the bike ride that we
reserved. We were surprised to find out later that we were not charged for the bike rides even though we reserved it and were simply no-shows.
That was a nice little surprise :-)
In what seems almost no time at all, our time at paradise has ended and we were heading back to the ship. On the way back both Dd's fell asleep
but woke up not long after we got back to the cabin. After cleaning up, we went to an early show of Disney Dream while Mike took a nap. The
kids loved the show so much that they practically ran back to the cabin to wake Daddy up so that we can all go to watch it again! It is a must
see for anyone taking the cruise!!! The show itself is very well done anyway, but the ending was just incredible!
Dinner was at Animator's Palate tonight and the food is excellent as usual. During each of the four dinners I couldn't resist to have double
serving of one thing or another as there were so many things that I wanted to try. Surprisingly, though we've eaten so much more than we
usually do, both Dh and I actually lost weight rather than gained. We think it is because of all the walking around the ship and on shore. It
was great :-D Jessica fell asleep in the middle of her meal again because she's had such long days and short naps. It's pretty funny as
our girls seem to take turn falling asleep at dinner time throughout the cruise. We resolved to always request main seating on future cruises
while the kids are still young (a good idea as they were both able to stay awake on our subsequent 2 night baja cruise and 7 night Western
Caribbean earlier this year).
This was our last night on the ship and Deanna was determined to swim again before we leave, so I took her swimming while Mike watched over
Jessica. We swimmed until the pool closed at 11p.m. What a day!!!
The funniest thing today was... I didn't recognize our waiter, Aaron, when he helped me at the buffet line on Castaway Cay because I was
staring too intently at the food.
The most magical moment today was... Again, there was too many magical moments today to single any one out. Every moment awake on the Wonder
was the most magical moment!!!
April 25, 2002
The ocean was a bit choppy last night, so the captain decided to go full speed ahead to avoid us being on choppy sea too long. We actually
reached the port at around 4 a.m. in the morning. Most of our luggage were placed outside our cabin by 5 p.m. last night and were gone before
we retired for the night. We finished packing our carry-on and headed to the Beach Party Buffet on deck 9 for a change. It was the most
casual of all the eateries on the ship, but the food was no less wonderful. Our debarkation time was 9 a.m. and we took our time eating
breakfast and watching the people scheduled to leave earlier leave the ship. Both Dd's begged us to stay on the ship, promising to be the best
children in the world if we could only let them stay. We wish we could...
9 a.m. came and it was our turn to debark. Disney had made even this task easy. It was a breeze to find our luggage. As we left the
terminal, both Dd started crying because they wanted to stay onboard so badly. We promised them that we would go again next year... and the
time is almost here... In less than two weeks we will be on our Eastern Caribbean Magic cruise and we have planned to renew our vow on the
Western Caribbean Magic cruise next year... Now if we can only convince our wedding party to save up enough to cruise with us....
So ends our 4 night cruise, April 2002...
(told you it'd be long)
Linda in CA
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