Early Roll Call for 10-31-04 Happy Halloween Cruise aboard the Wonder !!

[acrucifer]

Greetings fellow cruisers! this is an early roll call for the 10-31-04 4 night wonder cruise. so far, my wife and I have taken the 7 day eastern, 7 day western and now we will see the Wonder in all her Glory. I realize that this is an early roll call, but I was hoping that as a group we might get to know one another before we sail. I have been a part of other roll call groups and some have worked out quite well. so if you are sailing on the wonder on 10-31-04, check in here and lets get this roll call thread up and running. get involved with this thread as little or as much as you desire, but do check in.

 

[Bauerbandt]

acrucifer,

We are currently deposited (thru DU) for the 10/31/04 Disney Wonder cruise. This will be our first cruise. Any suggestions or advice would be much welcomed. One child of ours will be having a birthday (5 yrs old) while on board. Look forward to hearing from you (and whomever may have experience with Halloween cruises that would like to add their opinions).

 

[acrucifer]

Hi, and welcome to the group. I am hoping to develop this group into a larger messae board where we can get to know other cruisers and send out quarterly newsletters and keep in touch with one another in months leading up to the cruise. perhaps even plan a meet onboard. Ah but I digress. my wife and I have been on both the eastern and western cruises and I feel like I have so much advice for you that I dont know where to start. your going to love the cruise, for sure. the food is outstanding. disney has clubs and activites for children staffed with youth counselors and the kids are there most of the day (if they want to be) although my wife and I dont have any children, we have heard other parents and children alike praise the kids clubs and activities. the ship is simply breathtaking and beautiful. there is a unofficial guide to disney cruiseline that can be accessed on the home page of the discussion forum. you can download it. I suggest you do so and read it. it has alot of useful information and will answer most of your questions. the personal service in the dining rooms and at your stateroom is also excellant. I suggest getting to the Port as early as you can. they will let you board at about 12:30pm. I would get there at about 11:30am. As soon as you board you should go directly to make reservations for palo. it is an adult only restaurant but it is the best restauant and the ship and serves the best cuisine. northern italian. when you arrive at port you will check in and show your ID and get your key to the world card which allows you to charge things you buy and let s you into your room. ask the cast member who waits on you where on board they are taking reservation for palo. they will know and will tell you. palo also has a brunch they you should not miss. although I have never been to nassau, castaway key is gorgeous and it will leave you feeling exuberant. on the ship they will be selling soda mugs. 20.00 and for that you get free refills for the entire cruise. if your little one drinks alot of soda, it is worth it. water, coffee and lemonade are free but not soda. they also sell beer mugs, if you or your wife is into that. ten dollars for the mug and refills are 3.25 for 22 oz of draft budweiser. there is plenty to do and lots more to talk about but I can see that the length of this post is seriously out of hand so, if u do have any questions, please feel free to ask.

 

[Bauerbandt]

One thing in particular that we would like to get some insight on is what can we expect with regards to Halloween festivities? Are passengers, both adults and kids, usually dressed in costume? If so, is this usually later in the day or evening? Will there be a trick-or treating type event? Is there a Halloween party or multiple parties?

If I look at the itinerary and calendar correctly, Halloween is the day we board.

Thanks again for all of your comments and feedback.

 

[marley]

checking in!!!

This will be our second time on the Wonder. At the time of sailing, our DS will have just turned 5 and our DD will have just turned 8. We are planning on putting them both in the 5-7 group in the Oceaneers club so maybe they can meet your 5 year old Bauerbandt.

We are also being joined by my parents, my DH's parents and my SIL who has a DD age 3. None of them have ever been on a cruise so it should be a lot of fun.

I know the Magic Halloween cruisers always put together their own TOT event for Halloween. I'm hoping there will be enough of us so that I can organize that as well for the Wonder DIS group. From what I've read, Disney doesn't give away much candy to the trick or treaters and my kids are so excited to trick or treat on the boat that I would hate for them to be disappointed!!

Marley

 

[acrucifer]

Welcome Marley,

As you can see, we are just getting this group off the ground. I am sure your DD and DS will not be disappointed with the haul of candy they take in from trick or treating aboard the ship. We can all make sure we have candy and of course if you have kids and most of us do, (although my wife and I do not) we will have candy by the ready for the trick or treaters. Disney is pretty good about celebrating halloween for the kids. they sponsor a "not so scary halloween party" that the smaller kids really enjoy. I have seen this done at the park and it goes off really well. I havent seen it on the boat yet, but this year we all get to experience it. well, thats that for now, or ttfn. Ralph. If you see someone saling with us, bring them over to our thread. thanks.

 

[marley]

thanks for the welcome, Ralph.

I have been "lurking" on the Magic's Halloween cruise thread to get ideas and I did find someone (palmtreegirl) who is actually sailing with us. I sent her a PM so hopefully she will join this thread as well. The more the merrier

Marley

 

[Bauerbandt]

Besides our DS who will be turning 5 during the cruise, our DD will be 7. Like you marley, we plan on putting both our children in the 5-7 group. We'll have to see if they match up together.

I recently met a woman who worked on both the Wonder and Magic up until Dec 2002. She still has some friends on the ships and is willing to get updates for me. If there is anything that either of you would like me to ask her, just let me know.

By the way marley, how is the RDU area these days?

 

[marley]

Bauerbandt,

That would be great if our kids hit it off. The more kids my son knows, the more comfortable he will feel. He had just turned 3 before our first (and only) cruise on the Wonder, and he did okay in the Kid's club but was always ready to leave. Our daughter just loved it so I'm hoping once he is 5, he will enjoy it more. I think they will all love the lab. It looks really cool.

As for RDU, it is getting big, big, big. Have you lived here before? I came here from MD in 1987 for college and have staid ever since. I can't believe the population explosion that has occured even just over the last 5 years. Just amazing in the Cary area. People here say Cary is an acronymn for "containment area of relocated Yankees!". It is very hard to find a true southerner here anymore!

As for your friend, I was wondering where or how I could write the cruise line and make certain requests for the Wonder that the Magic folks enjoy (i.e. lobster as a dinner choice one night, Goofy's sleepover party (not that my kids would sleep over but they would think this was really cool). I'm so excited they just added the Palo's brunch to the 4 day. I can't wait to sign up for that!!!

Marley

 

[Bauerbandt]

marley,

Can you tell me how the Magic folks make their request so that I have something to reference? My kids would love crab legs for a meal.

RDU: Been there three times. We have relatives in Goldsboro and Holly Springs and friends in North Raleigh. We also have family in Columbia, MD. What part of MD were you from?

 

[marley]

what I was referencing was the different "speciality" nights the Magic has. During the Captain's Gala night, guests can choose as an entree a lobster tail. On most cruises, you can get lobster but as far as I know, they don't offer that on the Wonder.

have you checked out www.castawayclub.com ?

It tells you about everything on the two different ships. I understand why they can't offer the character breakfast on the Wonder since there aren't enough days, but other "perks" I think they could add (like the lobster tail or maybe they could make our last night on the cruise a speciality night). I just wanted to write management and suggest they add a few of these "perks" to the Wonder.

I lived in Upper Marlboro, MD. We live on the Holly Spring's side of Cary so we are only 10 minutes from there. You would never know we are in the south right now, though, snow is pouring down out of the sky!!!

Marley

 

[KELLIE JONES]

Hi. My DH and I are going on the Halloween cruise also! I am 27 and my DH will be 31. We dont have any kids, but we would love to hand out candy for all of the kids on Halloween! Only there is a small problem...... My DH is a big scary looking guy, he has ALOT of tattoos ( ie from the top of his head to his feet, including his hands) so parents tend to freak out and grab thier children and run... just kidding, they just have a total look of fear . would us buying candy just be a total waste of time and money?? also, we would love to do a dis meet if you have one!! look foward to meeting everyone from here!!

TTFN,
Kellie

 

[marley]

Kellie,

My kids would probably think the tattoos are really cool and part of his costume We look forward to you all joining us.

Marley

 

[acrucifer]

welcome Kelly,

Glad you found us. This is going to be a fun cruise. My wife and I also have no kids but like handing out candy to the little ones and checking out the halloween costumes. I am also a big scary looking guy so I either let my wife hand out the candy or at least have her standing next to me. she is much more pleasing to the eye and not so threatening. anyway, my wife and I are Disney fanatics and just love the place. this is our third disney cruise. If you have never been, you and your husband are in for quite a vacation. if you have any questions, I will be glad to help and if I dont know the answer, I will probably know where to find it. I think once we pick up a few more members here, we should plan a dis meet aboard the ship, say like a wine, cheese, and beer party on one of the decks aboard the Wonder. we can see if everyone likes the idea.

 

[KELLIE JONES]

Originally posted by marley

My kids would probably think the tattoos are really cool and part of his costume

Marley

LOL!! I never thought about it that way, I suspect your right, hehe. However, Its not the kids I am concerned about. Kids seem to think he is really neat! ( well he does have alot to look at ) And he is very good with children. Once a small boy about 5 or 6 came up to him and did a WWF move on the family jewls and his mother got very embarresed and said that her son thought he was a wrestler that she was so sorry.... well my husband signed an autograph for him! I am sure that made his whole year!!

Originally posted by acrucifer
wine, cheese, and beer

that sounds like a great idea!! Yes acricifer, this is our 1st cruise ever and we think it will be great! and if we like this one, there will be a 7 night cruise!! I cant think of any questions as of yet ( I researched everything I could possibly think of then made a list and checked it twice) Maybe I should be the one handing out candy, I could get a Disney Princess costume ( needed a excuse to buy one anyway ) and he could hide behind the door and

TTFN,
Kellie

 

[marley]

BUMP

anyone else joining us?

 

[Pammy jo]

I'm hoping to get booked this week. This will be our first cruise. We have 3 boys, 3, 5 and 7. The 5 and 7 year old are really looking forward to the kids club, not sure how the 3 yr old will be. He'll start preschool in Sept so maybe by Oct he'll be ready to be left by himself. I'm still in all the planning stages of this trip, but so excited! I'd appreciate any info from you experienced cruisers.

 

[marley]

Welcome Pamy Jo!

We were on the 3 day Wonder when my DS had just turned 3 and he did fine at the Kid's Club but staid there only a limited amount of time. Usually, during an organized event in the morning such as Captain Hook visiting for 1 1/2 hours and then as soon as he finished dinner (all of 10 minutes) one of us would take him to the club for the 7 p.m. organized activity and then pick him up before the big show of the evening. Check out the latest Navigators at www.castawayclub.com for the 4 day cruise and you should be able to plan well in advance for activities for everyone in your family.

All my kids have talked about the last two years is when are we going back? They both loved it. My DD was 6 at the time.

They loved the Mickey waffles, eating breakfast outside every morning at Topsiders, the Mickey slide, the shows, the Sailaway party, having a Mickey Ice Cream bar at all hours of the day. My DD just loved the snorkeling. We bought her her own set of gear before the trip at Target and she practiced during the summer in the pool to get used to the feel of it. Definitely buy a disposable underwater camera. Picture taking was the best part for her. If you walk down almost to the end of the family beach, it is much less crowded and we even got a hammock!

I hadn't expected to buy pictures at Shutters but they were so good, I just had to buy a few. I wish I hadn't waited until the last night to go by and look at them though. It was a mad house!!

I bought the over the shoe door holder like everyone suggests but found no need for it. I did, however, really need more outlets so I am glad I brought an extension chord and this next time I'm bringing a power strip. There is maybe two outlets in the whole room!! I also brought the Big safety pins to keep the blinds shut at night for our porthole room and they were essential. I had no problem keeping my closet door shut like some people report but brough velcro just in case. A sound machine is also a plus to block out noise but I'm a light sleeper

Hope that helps with some of your planning.

Marley

 

[bgomes]

Hi everyone. I just found this site (I was directed here from the Disney area on cruise critic). We'll be joining you aboard the Wonder for the Halloween cruise this year. We are an "older" couple who will be joining my sister and her family for this vacation. It started off as a family reunion, but has widdled down to just us now. We have no children, but my sister and her husband have 3, (boy: 10, girl: 8, boy:5).

We are also wondering about Halloween celebrations. Of course, we would love to hand out candy too. Let us know what we need to do (or where to be) or whatever....

This will be our 6th cruise, first with Disney. Looking forward till it's time to sail: goodvibes

 

[marley]

Welcome Bgomes!

I've only been on one other cruise before (the Royal Majesty) but just LOVE the Disney cruise boats. The rooms are awesome and the staff is incredible.

My DD will be 8 on the cruise and my DS will be 5 so we'll have to try and get them together with your niece and nephew They will have a blast!

Marley