I Wonder When I Can Go Again?
Written: Jun 08 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Friendly, helpful people to provide for your every need. Food, Entertainment, fun.
Cons: A few disappointments..noisy toilets,
hot weather on the beach
The Bottom Line: While a three day cruise costs about what we usually spend on week's vacation,it was worth the money and once you do it, you'll want to return as I did.
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| education1's Full Review: Disney Wonder |
I've just returned from my first ever cruise, on the Disney Wonder, with approximately 2,800 other people. I'm already planning how I can save money so I can go again. As in anything, there were a few disappointments, but there were also many good things.
Let me deal first with the disappointments, just to get them out of the way.
1. My sister, who was traveling with me, has to have oxygen at night. Extensive arrangements had been made by she, our travel agent, her oxygen provider and her doctor's office to ensure that the oxygen machine would be waiting in the stateroom on our arrival. When we checked in at the terminal building, the Disney agent who pulled up the computer record, noted that oxygen had been delivered for us. However, when we got to the stateroom it was not there.
After several phone calls, the machine was found and delivered by our stateroom steward.Compared with what we went through to get the same thing delivered to Decatur, Georgia on her last visit to us there, it was really settled promptly.
2. I was really looking forward to relaxing and reading on the beach at Castaway Cay(Disney's private island)on Saturday. But, due partly to the fact that we were not allowed to leave the ship until 8:30, the beach was so hot (87 degrees with little breeze) that we could only stay for an hour and a half. In fairness, I did hear that most people
enjoyed their day at the beach and not even Disney can control the weather.
3. Having not been on a ship before, the noise the toilets made had me covering my ears every time I flushed!
What was good? Everything else! Disney has the best and friendliest dining room servers. I'm told that other ships assign you to one restaurant for the cruise. On Disney ships, you are assigned a table number and a rotation of three dining rooms. The wonderful thing is your servers (one head, one assistant) follow the rotation with you so you get well acquainted even on a three day cruise. At the first dinner our server told us to tell him what we wanted from me menu and he would get it, then if we didn't like it he'd get us something else...no problem. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to try foods I've never tried before just because I didn't want to waste money if I didn't like them.
The servers, as well as all other ship's staff, paid unbelieveable attention to the children at our table (my grandchildren). The cruise was the first time I've eaten with this eight year old boy and eleven year old girl at a sit down restaurant that they were not bored waiting for their meal or for the adults to finish eating. At dinner there was always a "show". Our server was from the West Indies and seemed to be always dancing as he served us. He also obtained for my sister and me our favorite dessert, Creme Brulee, on the second night, even though it was not on the menu in that particular dining room.
While dinner is at an assigned restaurant each night, breakfast and lunch are offered at one or two restaurants each day with open seating. We had breakfast at Triton's and at Parrot Cay and once we ordered room service the night before to be delivered at the time we wanted to get up. (We also left a wake up call, but just to be safe)...
One day we were relaxing on deck, waiting for lunch time in the restaurants, and were seduced by the fragrance of grilling hamburgers from a deck stand, so we just ate hamburgers on deck.
Triton's was by far my favorite restaurant...serving French/European food, including Creme Brulee! Animator's Palate was very interesting, but more fascinating to the children than to me as the pictures on the walls changed colors, along with the lighting and eventually, the servers' vests. The food there was described as "American".
At Parrot Cay, we ate "Island Cuisine" and enjoyed island music and dancing - very enjoyable.
There were many entertainment choices...we just didn't have time and energy to do them all. We did get to the family version of "dueling pianos", the movie "The Rookie" and "Disney Dreams". We wanted to do family Karaoke, but it was scheduled late except for the first night when we were just not oriented enough to get there in time. My daughter saw the Hercules show, but I didn't hear her opinion on it. We also spent some time each day shopping. Thursday, we went to the lobby pin trading and I bought some additional pins. The next two nights we shopped for souvenirs for the folks back home. The gift shops were basically "Disney Stores", but there were some items I hadn't seen at my local Disney store. One of the shops had jewelry and my granddaughter bought a bracelet of butterflies sold by the inch. Since her wrist only measured 5" she was able to get a delicate gold(?)bracelet for $6.25. Definitely the best bargain on board.
Just a word about the children's programs. My eight year old grandson wouldn't go...I think he finally went to one session that sounded like something he'd enjoy, but spent a lot of time watching movies or cartoons on TV (Disney, naturally)...or playing ping pong. We were okay with that...his choice. His sister found some friends in her age group who only went to the night program...so she went to the night program also. She made a friend from England, one from the northern US and one from her hometown of Dacula, Georgia, who is going to attend the same middle school this fall. What are the odds?
I'm sure other cruises are fun and the food is probably good on all of the and maybe their service comes close to Disney's but I really don't believe anyone can match the friendliness of the Disney people. They are from many different coutnries and spoke many languages, but always managed to make us feel special. Guest Services, whether called for problems with the safe in our stateroom or visited with a question on my bill, were prompt and most helpful.
The next time I go here are some things I'll do differently, First I'll try to travel to Port Canaveral the night before the cruise so as to start that first day on board fresh and not tired from airports and early flights.
Second, I'll relax and enjoy the sailaway celebrations on deck. I'd been told to bring bubbles and we walked around the upper deck twice trying to find someone blowing bubbles and/or my grandchildren to give the bubbles to. We found out later they were on the deck below dancing!
Just maybe, I'll schedule my next cruise at a time when the weather will be better so as to avoid 87 degree temperatures on the beach. (By the way, any time the ship was underway we were comfortable on deck, even at 87 degrees.
As I mentioned, this was my first cruise, but I think it was worth the money, which was about $600 per person in a category 11 stateroom. To that you have to add gratuities, which for us was $40 per person because we added more than the basic suggestion for our servers and steward. The recommended amount adds up to about $30 per person. We added $15.50 each for a refillable mug so we could get soft drinks on deck and have it as a souvenir and $1.72 for a cold bottle of water on Castaway Cay. Other than what we spent on souvenirs and photos and the cost of travel to Port Canaveral, that was the total.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
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Epinions.com ID:
education1
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Member: Jackie Jones
Location: Conyers, Georgia USA
Reviews written: 89
Trusted by: 44 members
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