12/06/08 "Wonder"ful Trip Report About This Page:

[HeatherD]

So, even though some time has passed, I decided to talk about our first experience with DCL. I'll include some pictures (we only took 1200) once DH reduces the size of them, since we leave them at full resolution on the computer. So, let me introduce the cast of characters on this trip:

Who
Me! - 36 years old
DH - also 36
DD - 7
DS - 3
MIL - let's say 60-something!
FIL - 77

What
3-night cruise aboard Disney Wonder

When
December 6-9, 2008

Where
Nassau & Castaway Cay

Why
Celebrating our 10th anniversary early (really 2/28), to enjoy holiday Disney. We honeymooned in WDW 10 years prior (a month before AK opened) and stayed a week at AKL after the cruise.

DH and I have cruised before, both times on weekend trips to Esenada, Mexico (on Carnival (boo!) and Royal Caribbean (better)), but the kids had never gone before. We opted for a shorter cruise to determine if they could get their sea legs and boy could they! They took to it like a, er, dolphin to water....

We had a Verandah and DS loved watching everything from it, including the vast blue ocean as we zipped through the water. He got a kick out of seeing other ships in the water and in port (Carnival ships are now "whale of a tale" ships, because of their fishtail appearance on top). Speaking of verandahs, we found out the morning of our cruise that there was a shuttle scheduled to launch at 4:30! Wow!!!! We got excited at the prospect of seeing a launch. Unfortunately, by the time we boarded the bus, we discovered that the launch was scrubbed. We had a portside stateroom, therefore a "frontrow" seat for any Space Center activity. So though the launch didn't happen, I got a zoomed in view of the shuttle on the pad with my camcorder.

As I've seen with many posters in other threads, we did not enjoy Nassau. We chose not to do any excursions, since most fun-sounding ones excluded anyone under 5 and we had DS. So, after looking around a little bit, DH and FIL took the kids back to the ship where they had a great time playing in the pools. I stayed with MIL and we continued to shop, since everyone seemed to think there were such good deals to be had there. I didn't see any deals, so the visit wasn't that thrilling for me. It's always nice to give something a chance before deciding, so I can speak to it with "I did" rather than "I heard", but I will elect to stay onboard next time (though our next cruise won't include Nassau anyway).

That night we went to Palo for dinner. It was wonderful! Our server was great and was very good-natured when my FIL coveted a Pasta Spoon (we’re trying to find those as a gift for him, but so far have only found large quantity orders).

Castaway Cay made the whole trip worth it! Great Googly Moogly it was fun and beautiful and Disney and sunny and warm and neat and relaxing and..and...sigh. We enjoyed it! DH and I ate a quick breakfast and left early to stake a claim on a good spot, figuring the rest of the family would be along shortly. Apparently, without us breathing down their necks, they move even slower and it was more than an hour later that they got there. In the meantime, I found a teeny tiny hermit crab that I had sitting in my hands to show the kids. For an hour. Poor guy!

We spent the day on the beach. DH and I snorkled. DD built a sandcastle. The kids played at the kids club (love that feature!). We loved having short chairs for the edge of the water, a hammock to kick back in and regular chairs. There was something for everyone in the group! I wrote postcards to the family, with my usual smart-aleck “wish you were here” line and then sent them from Castaway Cay. (On our next trip, since we’re going there, I think we’ll send the postcards from Hell. It seems like the thing to do!)

There was a lot packed into a short amount of time, and we managed to enjoy so much of it! Knowing now that everyone has taken to sailing quite well, we even agreed that a longer cruise on its own (without a stay at WDW) would be a great vacation in itself. So while I still have to convince DH that the kids would like an Alaskan cruise, I did manage to convince him that we should tack a 7-day cruise onto a conference he has scheduled at WDW in October 2009. We’re looking forward to it and managed to avoid the fuel surcharge without even trying! Now that’s doing it right!

[Lemap760]

Sounds like everyone had a great time.

[NanaTink]

Sounds like you had a great time despite Nassau. Our reaction was the same as yours. Enjoy your longer cruise...I bet you will be hooked like we are!
Thanks for sharing!

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had a great time Heather and are looking forward to hopefully another cruise

[DyanKJ130]

Sounds like you had a WONDERful time!! for sharing your experience with us! I have enjoyed reading it

[jhoshowski]

Thanks for sharing! DH and I did a 10 night cruise with RCCL for our honeymoon. We will be doing a 4 night on the Wonder in November 2009 for my parents' 40th anniversary (13 of us going) and we can't wait!

[Carly'sMommy]

Sounds wonderful!

[mikeandsydsmom]

Sounds like you all had a ball.

[HeatherD]

We did have a ball! And now I'm gearing up for my next cruise - which is so far away that I can't do anything other than "wish list" right now (Oct 2009). We've got 3 other trips planned (Newport, Hawaii and DLR), but this is the one that I'm looking toward!

OK - I'm going to attempt to link some pictures. This is new for me, so I'm going to see if it works using Facebook. Otherwise, I'll have to poke DH into placing them on Shutterbug or something!

[HeatherD]

Well, I can't figure out how to get each picture here, but I'll see if a link to the album works....

Heather DiFulvio's Photos - Disney Cruise | Facebook