Thursday, December 16, 2010

Disney Wonder Cruise Review Part Two

On with the review!  Here's part two.

Dining

Over all I thought the food was quite good on the Disney Wonder.  Some meals were better than others.

We had late seating.  We had a table for 4, so it was just us at dinner.  I saw many big parties sitting together.  Disney does a fantastic job at putting groups at the same table for dinner.

Day One

Lunch:   Beach Blanket Buffet  - We chose to go up on the Lido deck to the buffet.  We got on the ship pretty late so we got there as they were finishing up lunch.

The food was just okay.  Did not like the selections to chose from.  I only had a couple of things and they were nothing to write home about.  

The restaurant was nicely decorated, showed some wear and was crowded!  They were so many tables crammed inside, it was uncomfortable.  There was seating outside, it was pretty full and just as crowded.

Desserts were pretty good.  I have found that desserts on cruise ships are like desserts at a Jersey diner, they look better than they taste!

This was our first and last visit to Beach Blanket Bingo.

Rating: On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 2.

Dinner:  Our first restaurant was Triton's.  Loved it!  This is when we met our waiters for the cruise.  They were awesome! 

The restaurant is beautiful. Nicely done.

The food.  YUM!  I started with the Chilled Jumbo Shrimp, then had "Chef Louis" French Onion Soup.  Delicious.

For the main course I had "Triton's" Seared Sea Bass with a Mushroom Herb Risotto, Sweet Onion Marmalade, and garnished with a Potato Crisp.  In the words of Rachael Ray - YUMMO!  It was excellent!

I ended with Triton's Sweet Temptations - A Trio of Crème Brûlée, Chocolate Mousse and Praline Petite Choux.  As far as cruise ship desserts go this was pretty good.  It was a chance to try several things that sounded good without ordering three desserts.  The bite size portions were perfect.

Rating:  I give Triton's a 5.

Day Two
 
Breakfast:  We went to Triton's for breakfast for a sit down meal.  

Food was good.  Service was a little lacking.  Took forever.  I feel like the wait staff did not come back often to check on us.  Not sure where they disappeared to.

Rating: I give breakfast at Triton's a 4.

Lunch:  Had lunch on the lido deck.  I went to both Goofy's Galley and Pinocchio's Pizzeria.

Goofy's Galley:  Had a panini and fruit.  Very good!

Rating: 4

Pinocchio's Pizzeria: I have to say in my defense for those who are wondering why I ate at two places for lunch, the pizza slices are small, we're talking bite size.  While trying to decide what I wanted for lunch I went up to Pinocchio's and got one slice, on a napkin.  Thought the pizza was pretty good, so decided to get another piece after my panini.  Hey, I was on vacation, plus I wanted to try as many of the restaurants as I could so I could come back and tell you all about them.  I did it for you!

Rating: 3.5

Dinner:  Animator's Palate.  Another great meal!

What can I say, the decor is unlike anything else.  Cool!

I started with Ahi Tuna Tartare with Caviar, Chives, and Wasabi Cream.  Excellent.  

Next I had Creamy Butternut Squash Soup which was quite good.

For the main course I had steak, filet I believe.  I don't know the name of it, sorry!  It was excellent though.

Finished the meal with Buckled Warm Apple Crumble.  Pretty good.

Rating: 5

Day Three

Breakfast:  Parrot Cay buffet.

Very nicely themed.  This is a Disney ship, so I wouldn't expect anything less!

Nice selection of foods for breakfast.  A made to order station for omelets.  Food was pretty good.

I have to complain a little about the service.  We had to ask a passing waitress for coffee, more than once.  No one came back to see if we needed more coffee.

Rating: 4

Lunch:  Cookies BBQ in the Serenity Bay area.  

I had a cheeseburger and tried the ribs.  Food was tasty!

I topped it off with a small ice cream cone from the soft serve area.

Rating:  3.5

Dinner:  Parrot Cay.

I started with Baked Crab Dip Martinique, a cheesy crab dip which was quite good.  

Next I had the West Indies Romaine Salad, which was basically a Caesar salad.

For my main course I had Pan–Seared Grouper with Baby Shrimp Lemon Butter served with a Saffron-Herb Basmati Rice and Snow Peas.  This was okay.  My least favorite meal.  I love Grouper, so I was a little disappointed.

Last I had Parrot Cay`s Sweet Temptations - A Trio of Crème Brûlée Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue Pie and Chocolate S`More Vanilla Cake.  A nice sample of the three desserts.

Rating: 3.5 
Last Morning
Breakfast:  On the last morning of your cruise you head to the restaurant that you were at the night before.  So we went to Parrot Cay.  There are two seating's, just like for dinner.

The thing I liked about this was your servers from dinner are there to serve you breakfast.

It was a sit down breakfast this time, not a buffet.  Food was good.  I ordered something simple - a bagel with cream cheese and lox. 

Rating: 4
Final Notes

Service:

Our servers at night were great.  They did an excellent job.  Very friendly and took time to talk with us every night.  I can't say enough good things about them.  Getting our food was little slow, but I feel the blame for that falls on the kitchen.

Whew!  I didn't realize I would have that much to say about the dining!

Part Three of my Disney Wonder Cruise review will be coming soon!



Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Disney Wonder Cruise Review Part One

We had a great time on our Disney Wonder cruise!
 
Pre-cruise:  We flew into Orlando the night before and stayed at Coronado Springs for one night.  We used the Magical Express bus.  I love using Magical Express.  You get off the plane, go down to the Magical Express area and before you know it you are on your way to your resort.  The Coronado Springs Resort is beautiful!  This was my third time staying at the resort.  First time since the rehab, love the new rooms!

We had dinner and breakfast at the Pepper Market.  I enjoyed both meals and thought the food was good.

Getting to the ship:  We used the Disney Cruise Line Transfers.  We had to have our luggage ready by 8 am.  Four women had to be ready by 8 am, no simple feat, but we did it!  We went to breakfast and went back to our room until the 11 am check out time.  We had to meet in the lobby at 12:15 pm  for our Disney Cruise Line bus.  The buses usually stop at more than one resort to pick up passengers.  Luckily we were the last resort pick up.  The bus arrived promptly and we were off by 12:30 pm.  It's about an hour and fifteen minute drive to the ship.  We arrived at the port about 1:45 pm.

Getting on the ship:  The process of getting on the ship was pretty quick.  We waited a little while, probably 20 minutes for people to go through security.  Once in the terminal, it was another 15 minutes to check in and get our pictures taken for our ID.  We did the on board check in for our return flights too.

We finally got onto the ship about 2:30 pm or so. They served lunch until 3 pm, so we went right to lunch.  

   Pros of using Disney Cruise Line Transfers:
  • It's easy!  No worries, luggage is taken care of for you.
   Cons of using Disney Cruise Line Transfers:
  • You get on the ship late.  Which has it's own sets of pros and cons.  Pro - no lines or waiting to get on the ship.  Con - You do not have any time to explore the ship after lunch.  You pretty much eat and then have to get ready for the muster drill.  I personally like to get on the ship early, so I was a little disappointed in how late we got there.
Ship: The ship is beautiful!  We did find it difficult to navigate around the ship.  Maps of the ship are located next to the elevators.  We would look at the map to find out how to get where we were going and every single time went the wrong way!  The way the maps face are backwards to the ship, at least to us.

Cabin:  Loved our cabin!  We booked deluxe inside cabins, 2573 and 2571.  They were connecting cabins and located mid-ship on Deck 2.  The location was great!  We never had far to go to get to anything.  This was the first time for two of the cruisers to have an inside cabin.  They both agreed that they did not miss the window at all.

A deluxe inside cabin means you have a split bathroom.  It was nice that one person could be showering, while the other used the "facilities".  The only drawback was having bathroom supplies in both bathrooms.  Sometimes it felt like I was going back and forth between the two bathrooms a lot.

I have to mention the hair dryer.  It was the weirdest hair dryer I have ever used!  It was like a vacuum hose and the end of it was unlike anything I have ever seen.  I should have taken a picture of it to show you, but didn't think of it.  The hose got kind of hot while drying my hair.

The cabin had plenty of storage.  We had more than enough room for our clothes for the 3 day cruise.  I would say you could easily fit enough clothes for four people for a longer cruise too.

The beds were comfortable, but I feel Disney could get better sheets/blankets.  By better, I mean more luxurious.  I have to say the bedding was more luxurious on my last Carnival cruise.  Disney cruises are at least twice the cost of Carnival.  Come on Disney, invest in some better bedding!

Cruise Casual Attire:  I saw the biggest mix of attire on this cruise.  Three day cruises tend to have less people dressed up on the formal night on any cruise line, but I would say it was even more so on the Disney Cruise.

The first night was casual.  I saw everything from t-shirts and jeans to people in khaki's/dress pants with a few people dressed up more.  Our first night was at Triton's, which is the dressier restaurant.

The formal night was the last night and our restaurant was Parrot Cay.  I saw some people dressed up, with men in suits/ties and women in dresses/pantsuits to t-shirts and jeans.

I have to say, it was a bit strange to be dressed formal and going to Parrot Cay, a restaurant that is very casual.  If I were going to this type of restaurant at home I wouldn't dress up.

I liked the rotational dining and going to a different restaurant every night, but think Disney should do away with the formal night.  The navigator did say formal attire optional.  I wouldn't bring anything formal for another three night Disney cruise or even a four night.  I probably would for a seven night cruise though.

Part two of my Disney Wonder Cruise Review coming soon!