Disney Wonder Cruise Review Part Three

For those of you who are wondering, yes I did fall off the face of the earth for awhile!

I'm back!

Here is the final installment of my Disney Wonder Cruise Review.


Entertainment:  Of course the entertainment was spectacular! 

The Sail Away Party did not disappoint.  What a fun way to get the cruise started!  

Loved the evening shows.  My favorite was the Disney Dreams - Enchanted Classic. 

Pirates IN the Caribbean was a lot of fun.  The cruise director, Christian, and his staff did a great job.


I have to mention the Karaoke.  We were lucky enough to have talented fellow passengers that were a hoot to watch!  Whenever I hear Hey Jude, I will think of the couple of guys who sang it in Portuguese. Too funny!


Port Tour:  We chose to go on the Nassau Forts and Junkanoo Discovery in Nassau.  I really didn't expect much from this tour.  I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.  You go on a driving tour through Nassau and visit a couple of forts.  There are guides at the forts who give an informative tour.  The highlight of the tour was the Junkanoo Discovery.  When we pulled up to a small house and the driver told us that this was the Junkanoo musuem, we had 30 minutes there.  I thought, "How are we going to spend 30 minutes here?"  I had no idea what we were in for and had a great time!  The four of us highly recommend this excursion!

Castaway Cay:  Wow!  Loved it!  There is something for everyone.  We did try to snorkel.  Didn't stay in long.  The water was cold.  We ended up spending most of our time at Serenity Bay, the adult beach.  


The only disappointment I had was that the Flying Dutchman was being repaired so she was not in the water.  


Service:  We had great service.  We got off to a bit of a bumpy start with our cabin host.  The beds were arranged into a king bed.  I love my sister, but did not want to sleep in the king bed with her.  We asked our cabin host to arrange the beds in the two twin bed format.  He kept asking if we wanted the couch made up.  Not sure if it was a language barrier or him not wanting to pull the beds apart.  We did get our point through to him and tipped him a little extra.  From then on, service was great!


As I said before, our servers at dinner were fantastic!  They were extremely friendly and may just be the best servers I have ever had on a cruise.

Getting Off the Ship:  I cannot believe how fast we got off the ship.  I was in shock.  I have been on several cruises and never got off a ship that fast before.  We did have late seating for breakfast.  Not sure if that had something to do with it. 

Final Notes:

On the last day of your cruise, you go to the restaurant that you were at the night before.  Your servers are there to take care of you.  I liked that we got to see them one more time.  You are assigned a time.  This is different from other cruise lines I have been on.  Seating was open.  Not on Disney.

There were lots of families and kids but there were many adult travelers as well.  I was paying attention since we were on an adult trip.  Disney does a great job of catering to all travelers!

Suggestions to Disney:

A pocket size map of the ship to carry around with you would be nice. 

Early entry to the ship for Walt Disney World Resort guests.  I didn't like how late we got to the ship from our Disney resort.

Photo Pass on the ship.  You could purchase photos when you get home that way.

Was the cruise worth double the cost of other cruise lines?  Hmmmmm.  I think you should go on a Disney cruise and decide for yourself!!! 

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!

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!

How To Dress For Dinner On A Disney Cruise

With only two weeks to go before my Disney cruise, I have started to think about what to wear. Probably should have started thinking about this sooner. Oh well, I'm going on a cruise and I'm going to have a blast!!  To help with the decision making process, I googled "what to wear on my Disney cruise".  

This is from the Official Disney Cruise Line site:

Dining Dress requirements vary by venue or theme night on your cruise. In general, most meals are "Cruise Casual"—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops. Most cruises also have special theme nights with additional attire requirements. Here's a breakdown of these events by cruise itinerary.

On 3-night cruises:

• One cruise casual night—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops
• One pirate or tropical night (deck party)
• One "dress-up night"—jacket for men, dress or pantsuit for women

On 4-night cruises:

• First night: cruise casual—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops
• One pirate or tropical night (deck party)
• One "dress-up night"—jacket for men, dress or pantsuit for women
• Final night: cruise casual—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops

On 7-night cruises:

• First night: cruise casual—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops
• Three additional "cruise casual" nights—no shorts, swimwear or tank tops
• One pirate or tropical night (deck party)
• One formal and one semi-formal night—formal wear for men: tuxedo or suit; for women: gown or dress; semi-formal wear for men: suit/jacket; for women: dress or pantsuit. 

Dress for dinner at Palo on all cruises:

• Men: dress shirt or jacket, no shorts
• Women: dress or pantsuit

 
Thanks Disney, I still have no clue what to wear! What is cruise casual? I know resort casual is a step above very casual clothes. No jeans, flip flops, t-shirts, and short shorts or very short skirts. Back to google.

Okay, the only thing I can find on cruise casual is what Disney has above. You can wear jeans if you want.

Here's what I'm thinking for my three night cruise:

• Cruise Casual Night - capris with a nice shirt
• Pirate Night - capris or jeans, maybe jean capris, not sure yet, with a nice shirt or white blouse - closest thing I could get to pirate attire!
• Dress Up Night - pantsuit or really dressy slacks with a dressy top

Hopefully this will be appropriate and I will not stick out like a sore thumb.  I think my choices will be fine, given the guidelines provided by Disney.

Look for my full report on what people wear on a Disney cruise and my thoughts on cruise casual in a few weeks!

New Enhancements to Disney's Private Island, Castaway Cay!

Three weeks left until my Disney Cruise!  Sail away is rapidly approaching.  Can't believe it's coming up so fast.

Thought I would share this video of all the new things on Castaway Cay.  Pretty cool!

Four Weeks Until My Disney Cruise!

Time is flying by!  Before you know it, I will be setting sail on the Disney Wonder.

I can't wait to be on the ship and experience all she has to offer!  So what am I looking forward to on the ship?  Let me tell you!

The entertainment!  Anyone who knows Disney, knows they know how to keep you entertained!  Here's how:

Three Broadway Shows:

1. Disney Dreams - An Enchanted Classic: award-winning, musical live show celebrating the value of dreams, starring some of your favorite Disney Characters
2. The Golden Mickeys:  Musical live show presented as an awards ceremony in which characters from Disney movies are nominated in a series of categories.
3. Toy Story –The Musical:  Musical live show based on the hit Disney-Pixar film.  The light-hearted story of Woody and Buzz Lightyear's friendship. 

First-run movies and digital 3-D films:  I wonder what they will be showing on our November cruise.  I'm hoping Tangled!  It starts in theaters November 24th.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

Quiet Cove Pool: The adult only pool.  This is an adult trip!

Nightclubs and Lounges:  I plan on checking them all out but am especially looking forward to:

1. Cadillac Lounge - A piano bar with complimentary hors d'oeuvres - including caviar - are served throughout the evening.
2. WaveBands -  Entertainment and fun interactive activities for the entire family during the day. At night, the club caters to adults only, offering dancing, games, karaoke and 2 full bars serving mixed drinks.
3. Promenade Lounge - Activities for the whole family, including Pirate Scavenger Maps for Castaway Cay (hope I'm not too old for this!), Pirate Trivia and Bingo (yes I like Bingo!)

Character Greetings:  Yes, I am looking forward to meeting Mickey!  I really, really, really want to meet Captain Jack!

Deck Parties - The Sail Away Celebration and of course Pirates In The Caribbean!

In case you couldn't tell - I'm really excited about this cruise!  I feel like a kid right before Christmas!

Like the Beach Boys song says: 

We'll get there fast

And then we'll take it slow

That's where we wanna go

On a Disney Cruise!

Okay, the song doesn't say on a Disney Cruise, I added that!  :)

Countdown Continues!

Another week has gone by, five more weeks until my Disney cruise!

I received my Special Cruise Documents yesterday!  The documents are in a spiral bound little travel booklet. I think it's pretty cool! So what's in the booklet?

• Your Luggage Tags
• Welcome Aboard Letter from the President of Disney Cruise Line
• Vacation Checklist - Things to do right now, before you leave home, check in, before you get to the port, and as soon as your on the ship.
• Vacation overview - Embarkation information, vacation summary, port adventures
• Reservation Details
• Important Extras - Airline check in, gratuity guidelines, contact information on little cards to give to people so they know how to reach you on the cruise.
• Cruise Documents - Cruise Contract, Cruise Contract Signature Form, Embark-Departure Form, Payment Authorization Form, Onboard Airline Check-in, Ground Transfer Purchase Option

The booklet contains everything you need to know for your upcoming cruise.  I love having all the information at my fingertips.  The spiral bound booklet makes it easy to find all the information.  No rummaging through a bunch of papers - if you even get any.  I know the new way is paperless, but I like having a hard copy of things to refer to.  Of course Disney does it better than anyone else.  I haven't even stepped on the ship and I'm already impressed!

Dining On The Disney Wonder

The countdown continues with only 6 weeks until my Disney Wonder cruise!  There are so many things that I am looking forward to on this cruise (I may have said that before!).  This week let's talk dining!

Cruises and food go hand in hand.  One of the first questions I ask anyone who has just come back from a cruise is "How was the food?"   I'm not a very picky eater, so I am sure I will have plenty of meals that I like.  I am more excited about the dining experience.

Some of the things I am looking forward to:

Rotational Dining - Leave it to Disney to come up with something like this!  You go to a different restaurant every night and your servers follow you.  A new experience every night of our 3 night cruise!

Themed Restaurants - No one does this better than Disney!  

• Animator's Palate - The scenery changes right before your eyes! The artwork on the walls goes from black and white to color during your dinner.  Your servers are in on the act too!  How cool is that?!
• Parrot Cay - Themed after, you guessed it, the tropics! The perfect place for Pirate of the Caribbean night (can't wait!).
• Triton's - Elegantly themed featuring beautiful Art Deco touches.  

Table/Dinner Assignment - I have heard that Disney does an excellent job pairing you up with dinner mates.  Since we will be adults traveling without children, I am interested in seeing how this works out.  If what I have heard is correct, Disney will try to seat us with other adults without children and even have our rotational dining assignment with adults without children or adults with older children.  We'll see!

Room Service - I have heard you can order Mickey Bars (chocolate covered, vanilla ice cream bars shaped like a Mickey head, aka heaven on a stick!!).  I hope this is true and will let you know!

I also plan on trying:

• Beach Blanket Buffet -  On Deck 9 for lunch when you first get on board. I heard there are chocolate chunk cookies to die for at the buffet.  That's all I have to hear!
• Pinocchio's Pizzeria - pizza
• Goofy's Galley - salads, sandwiches, ice cream and cookies
• Pluto's Dog House Snack Bar - hamburgers, chicken

Look for the full dining review when I return!

Cruise Countdown Continues - Castaway Cay!

Seven Weeks until my Disney Cruise!

I have high expectations for my upcoming Disney Cruise (I've said that before and will probably say it again!). I've heard a lot about Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. I am no stranger to a private island, having experienced three other cruise line's versions. On my first cruise we visited a private island and it was the highlight of the cruise for me.  It was my favorite of the three I have visited.  I guess you could say it's the benchmark that I compare all others to.  I can't wait to see how Castaway Cay stacks up to the competition!

The things I enjoyed most on my private island experiences are:

• the feeling of isolation

• relaxing

• being served frozen fruity drinks right on the beach

I am looking forward to being able to do these things at the adult beach, Serenity Bay, on Castaway Cay!

I am also looking forward to exploring the island a little bit and enjoying the Disney details! In my opinion no one does details like Disney! They think of everything.

Here's some other things I plan on checking out: 

Snorkeling 

Can't wait to discover some of the hidden treasures Disney has placed in the snorkeling lagoon!

Pelican Plunge!

 

An Aqua Trike!

Spring-a-leak Playground and Scuttle's Cove

Even though this is an adult/girls trip I still want to check out all the fun for the kiddies, especially the new water features!  Okay, maybe I want to get splashed too!

Hopefully I will get to experience all of this in the one day we're at Castaway Cay.  If not, there's always next time!

Yo, Ho, Yo, Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me!

Ahoy me hearties! I be setting sail with three of me mateys on a great, grand ship in eight weeks!

I love pirates.  My favorite attraction in the Magic Kingdom is Pirates of the Caribbean.  I love the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Captain Jack Sparrow.  I'm a huge fan!

Guess what I am most looking forward to on my Disney Cruise?  All the pirate stuff!

I cannot wait to see the Flying Dutchman!  Hopefully I can get a picture with Jack Sparrow and the great, grand ship in the background!

What I'm most looking forward to is the Pirates IN the Caribbean night!  What is it?  I'm glad ye asked!

The festivities begin at dinnertime.  The servers will be dressed as pirates.  You can dress up as a pirate too if you would like.  If not, there will be a bandanna on your table for you.  Since I did not lose the 40 pounds I wanted to, I will be wearing the bandanna!  Dinner will be pirate themed of course! From the menu on parchment paper, like an old treasure map to the pirate themed dinner selections.

After dinner there's a deck party with Disney characters dressed in their pirate garb.  I can't wait to join in the fun as characters and crew members show us some dance moves for Yo, Ho, Yo, Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me!

That's not the best part.  Just when the party is getting going, Captain Hook, Smee and some scallywags try to mess up the fun!  Shiver me timbers! 

In true Disney spirit, Mickey and friends come and save the day during a fantastic finale with fireworks!

 

Arrrrr mateys!  This be a grand time, aye!

Fun Friday Featuring Disney Cruise Line!

Earlier this week I mentioned I'm going on my first Disney Cruise.  For Fun Friday I had to post something about the Disney Cruise Line!

Watching this makes me even more excited to go!

Enjoy!

Wednesday is Disney Cruise Line Day!

At least for the next nine weeks!  That's when I am going on my first Disney cruise!  I'm so excited!

I have been on several cruises with Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess cruise lines.  I love to cruise.  I cannot wait to experience a Disney cruise!  

Here are some of the reasons:

1.  It's a girls only trip! My two sisters, sister-in-law and myself are going on a 4 day adventure.  One night in Walt Disney World and then three nights on the Disney Wonder.
2.  The Disney Difference (this comes straight from the horses mouth - the Disney Cruise Line website!) -

• Every voyage includes the attention to detail and world-class hospitality that Disney is famous for.
• Activities: Join in fun-filled activities at lavishly themed onboard venues all day long—where every family member feels as if their cruise were designed specifically for them.
• Dining: Savor Disney's one-of-a-kind Rotational Dining, where Guests "rotate" through 3 different restaurants with personalized service from servers who travel with you to each meal.
• Entertainment: Immerse yourselves in Broadway-quality, original Disney musicals that can't be seen anywhere else—as well as special moments with Disney Characters and first-run Disney movies.
• Deck Parties: The family comes together for unique themed celebrations on deck, including the only fireworks spectacular at sea.
• Castaway Cay: Most cruises include a stop at Disney's island paradise, reserved exclusively for Disney cruisers. 

3.  Curiosity - I have to be honest when I say this:  What makes the Disney Cruise experience so special that people are willing to pay more for it?!  Disney consistently charges more than other cruise lines, sometimes twice as much (sometimes more) and people pay it!

I have high expectations for this cruise.  Knowing the Disney product, I'm sure I won't be disappointed!