Can't Wait to Wander the Wonder...Third time is the charm (hopefully!)

BrytEydBelle

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 16, 2010
Just booked the Wonder last night for a four night Bahamas cruise March 12th 2017. This is the third try for a Disney cruise with my little sister...she graduates from college in May 2017 so depending on where her career takes her, etc. not sure the next time we will be able to cruise together after this.

A little backstory: I enjoyed a fabulous cruise last May on the Disney Dream but experience was dimmed by the fact that I booked the wrong week and my sister had classes so could not go. Did not realize until about five weeks out so we were well past the cancellation penalty. Luckily, Disney was very nice and allowed me to change her out for my husband with just a $50 penalty, but as he does not like Disney, beaches, or swimming, he was not the ideal person to take on such a trip.

I did the future cruise booking while on the Dream and booked another four night cruise on the Dream for March 6th 2017 after triple checking the college academic calendar to ensure we wouldn't have another mishap. All was coming along well on that until three days ago, when my sister's college announced they had amended the academic calendar and spring break was now a week later...seriously : ) I looked at rebooking the Dream, but the price was about $400 higher I believe just due to how much time has passed since I originally booked. Personally, I find $2,000 a little high for a four night cruise in an inside low category stateroom, so I looked to the other ships. The Magic is out of Miami at that time and Miami driving scares me, so that was out. The Fantasy is crazy expensive IMHO so that was not happening. That left the Wonder...after research and some trust in the :tink:Disney Pixie Dust, I booked. Much as I enjoyed the Aqua Duck and the magic porthole on the inside room, they aren't worth the extra cost to me, especially since March is still a little chilly so not sure how much we would even do the Aqua Duck.

Though the last one I considered on an initial look, I am really looking forward to sailing on one of the classic ships. The Little Mermaid is my all time favorite, so I love the statue in the lobby and that the fine dining restaurant is Triton's. I also am intrigued to see the original Animator's Palate show, hoping they don't change with the drydock.

Goals/plans for this trip (in addition to usual fun of characters, swimming, relaxing, and food):
- Brunch at Palo (had booked my last trip for 10 a.m. the day after Pirate's night, but woke up still tired and full so ended up canceling. Plan to book as late as possible this trip).
- Run the Castaway Cay 5K since March is a cooler time of year.
- Enjoy the shows. DH is not a Disney person, so we only made it to the Villains show on the Dream which we enjoyed, but I want to see the other shows too.
- Make Nassau day a sea day and book rainforest room to pamper ourselves on the ship. Maybe a massage?

I will be watching for updates to the Wonder Drydock as I am very curious on what will change. :stitch:
 
Well, scheduling issues again as my sister's school now changed their schedule back to original...Disney is so easy in their rebooking thankfully! Called and got switched back to the prior cruise week, but still on the Wonder as the Dream price was still so much higher than my original booking. Supposedly it is not changing again, but I'm continuing to monitor closely. That is so ridiculous on the part of her school, I have never before had that happen in my years with academia. Praying for no more changes...I am holding out on airfare for a while just in case as that is not refundable.

So rebooked and I now have the Art of Animation booked for the two days after the cruise along with two days in the theme parks afterwords. Little Mermaid is our favorite, so we are staying in the Little Mermaid rooms. Holding out for now on the pre cruise night as I really want to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, but I'm not paying $500...hoping some discounts come out soon. Also planning on one day Magic Kingdom, one day Epcot post cruise. I know general opinion is to do the parks before cruise, but the way scheduling works out, that can't happen. And honestly, much as I loved the Disney cruise experience, I didn't find it as relaxing as say, my recent NCL cruise just because it is Disney and I have to be doing something. I already have lunch booked for Be Our Guest on the MK day as we have never eaten there and want to give it a try. I was pleased I was able to get the reservation as I did not do it right at Midnight, waited until about 8 a.m.
 
Getting closer and so excited! Have now completed most of the big stuff - flights are booked for sister from Michigan (I will be driving from South Carolina). The prices for Port Canaveral hotels have gone way up, so I have booked the two nights prior to cruise at Caribbean Beach resort. I'd rather stay at a Disney hotel anyways!

Since I am silver I was able to pick my Port arrival time 105 days out. I picked a time of 11 (earliest I could get, I am ok with the time since we are coming from Disney world), booked Palo brunch and signed up for character tickets. We're adults but still want to meet Anna and Elsa.

That is really all the pre planning I can do for now, now all that is left is booking FP+ for the park portion, door magnets, packing and losing 20 pounds. Guess what I am least looking forward to? Must get bikini or at least swimsuit ready!
 

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