DizMare
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2000
The Brophy Family Cruise on the Disney Wonder
January 20 24, 2002
The Cast all first timer cruisers
Me and DH, mid-forties
DD age 12
DS age just three weeks shy of 11
Entertainment
Lots of great piano players! Although we spent a set in the Cadillac Lounge with Kenne and had to leave after he murdered his fourth song. He could play well, but he reminded my dh of Andy Williams in his cavalier way with lyrics and tunes.
Started into the Seventies dance party, but was turned back by a wall of cigarette smoke (dh insists it was mostly smoke generated by smoke machines for ambience). It was very thick whatever it was.
Liked Hercules and Disney Dreams, although I think I was expecting more based on the reviews. DH who hadnt read the reviews thought they were quite good. The never ending talk by the Cruise Director before Hercules (he must have said just one more thing five times) was annoying, but I suppose necessary. Saw Snow Dogs and Royal Tennenbaums. Liked Snow Dogs and fell asleep during a bit of RT (a combination of exhaustion and non-interest). I did really like the idea of seeing first run movies for free. We enjoyed the band at the Goofy Pool. I feel like we didnt get to do all there was to do onboard and so there will be plenty more to try when we go again.
Weather
The weather was perfect. Highs in the high 70s to low 80s. Sunny every day. We never needed our jackets or sweaters. Water at CC was warm enough to get right in. It was particularly wonderful to think of everyone shoveling snow back in Philly.
Wine Tasting
We enjoyed this very much. Got to taste six nice wines, get a pin and learn something too. We signed up for this the first day at Guest Services.
The Spa
We really liked the spa. We got the rainforest pass ($45 for 4 days) and we shouldnt have as we only had the time to use it twice. But we did love it and spent a whole lot of time in there. For the most part, we were alone or with only one or two other people. Very relaxing.
The surial bath was a hoot. Lots of good muddy fun! No one tried to sell us any products, which I was glad of, as we were in a hurry to get back to our room .
A tip from dh: Turn on the steam right away before you start your mud stuff, so it has time to fill the room. The hour goes real fast.
Disembarkation
I bolted out of bed at 5:05 a.m. on the last morning to see us dock but we were already there. Very sad. DH and I went to deck 9 for coffee, then watched from the prow as two other cruise ships docked. We woke two very reluctant kids at 6:30, and were at Tritons by 7. The breakfast was terrible. Maybe they did it on purpose to ease our way back into the real world.
After a quick trip to Shutters to check the photo of us taken at Palos, we got in line to exit the ship. Grab a porter, grab our bags, out into the terminal. Hey, where was customs? Oh, that one man was it? Well, that certainly was painless.
Our porter accompanied us across the street to the parking lot where Jack from Tiffany awaited. We were off the ship at 8:05 and in the airport at 8:55. We checked in for our 12:20 flight. A few minutes later we thought to ask if we could get on an earlier flight, and we could have, but our luggage would arrive after us and some special paperwork would be required. Ah, never mind.
Orlando airport is a comfortable place to while away a few hours. Security lines looked long, but only took about 5 minutes to get through (at about 11:30 a.m.). I got pulled aside this time and wanded, but I did not have to remove my shoes.
We board on time and pull away from the gate. The flight attendant announces: The captain has designated this a homework flight, so if any of you kids have homework, get your pencils out now. Lots of laughter, but groans from my kids who actually DID have homework to do. More groans from the parents when we were told due to weather in Philly, we would be delayed for 45 minutes.
We arrive safe and sound in Philly only 10 minutes behind schedule. The captain made two more announcements about homework and insisted that it would be checked at the end of the flight. Pretty funny.
Tips from this Board that worked (or would have if I had used them):
Over the door shoe hanger: actually, I purchased a hangup bath accessory holder from the dollar store (same as a shoe holder, except the pockets say things like sponge and shampoo and at the top is a regular hanger). We hung this on the wall outside of the bathroom where there was a hook. This was a wonderful place to store fsrs, sunglasses, etc. Packed flat and the price was right!
Charge your tips before the last day: We noticed very long lines the last day of the cruise. The day before we walked right up.
Put kids bathing suits in carryon: The only time the Mickey pool wasnt mobbed was in the first hours of the first day.
Bring water shoes for CC: really wished we had done this. Very painful sand.
Watch the disembarkation talk on TV: much nicer to listen to sitting on your own couch, sipping you mocha/coffee. Our lunch tablemates were mad that they wasted valuable fun time going to it; they didnt know it was on TV. Thanks, all!
Use a baggage handler to get through customs faster: This was a great tip and well worth the (money) tip.
Bring a steamer iron: the laundry room iron wasnt very good and there was often a line to use it.
Use Dreams Unlimited: Donna and the gang at DU saved me $700 when the price dropped.
What I wouldnt do next time:
Get off the ship in Nassau
Take Tiffany I believe I would rent a car from Avis
Buy a Rainforest Pass just wasnt time to use it everyday
Buy soda and wine we didnt open either bottle and left most of the soda
Pack dress socks for dh
Well, thanks for reading. It was a terrific cruise and I cant wait to go again! Thanks to all who patiently shared their knowledge with me that knowledge made my cruise even more special.
January 20 24, 2002
The Cast all first timer cruisers
Me and DH, mid-forties
DD age 12
DS age just three weeks shy of 11
Entertainment
Lots of great piano players! Although we spent a set in the Cadillac Lounge with Kenne and had to leave after he murdered his fourth song. He could play well, but he reminded my dh of Andy Williams in his cavalier way with lyrics and tunes.
Started into the Seventies dance party, but was turned back by a wall of cigarette smoke (dh insists it was mostly smoke generated by smoke machines for ambience). It was very thick whatever it was.
Liked Hercules and Disney Dreams, although I think I was expecting more based on the reviews. DH who hadnt read the reviews thought they were quite good. The never ending talk by the Cruise Director before Hercules (he must have said just one more thing five times) was annoying, but I suppose necessary. Saw Snow Dogs and Royal Tennenbaums. Liked Snow Dogs and fell asleep during a bit of RT (a combination of exhaustion and non-interest). I did really like the idea of seeing first run movies for free. We enjoyed the band at the Goofy Pool. I feel like we didnt get to do all there was to do onboard and so there will be plenty more to try when we go again.
Weather
The weather was perfect. Highs in the high 70s to low 80s. Sunny every day. We never needed our jackets or sweaters. Water at CC was warm enough to get right in. It was particularly wonderful to think of everyone shoveling snow back in Philly.
Wine Tasting
We enjoyed this very much. Got to taste six nice wines, get a pin and learn something too. We signed up for this the first day at Guest Services.
The Spa
We really liked the spa. We got the rainforest pass ($45 for 4 days) and we shouldnt have as we only had the time to use it twice. But we did love it and spent a whole lot of time in there. For the most part, we were alone or with only one or two other people. Very relaxing.
The surial bath was a hoot. Lots of good muddy fun! No one tried to sell us any products, which I was glad of, as we were in a hurry to get back to our room .
A tip from dh: Turn on the steam right away before you start your mud stuff, so it has time to fill the room. The hour goes real fast.
Disembarkation
I bolted out of bed at 5:05 a.m. on the last morning to see us dock but we were already there. Very sad. DH and I went to deck 9 for coffee, then watched from the prow as two other cruise ships docked. We woke two very reluctant kids at 6:30, and were at Tritons by 7. The breakfast was terrible. Maybe they did it on purpose to ease our way back into the real world.
After a quick trip to Shutters to check the photo of us taken at Palos, we got in line to exit the ship. Grab a porter, grab our bags, out into the terminal. Hey, where was customs? Oh, that one man was it? Well, that certainly was painless.
Our porter accompanied us across the street to the parking lot where Jack from Tiffany awaited. We were off the ship at 8:05 and in the airport at 8:55. We checked in for our 12:20 flight. A few minutes later we thought to ask if we could get on an earlier flight, and we could have, but our luggage would arrive after us and some special paperwork would be required. Ah, never mind.
Orlando airport is a comfortable place to while away a few hours. Security lines looked long, but only took about 5 minutes to get through (at about 11:30 a.m.). I got pulled aside this time and wanded, but I did not have to remove my shoes.
We board on time and pull away from the gate. The flight attendant announces: The captain has designated this a homework flight, so if any of you kids have homework, get your pencils out now. Lots of laughter, but groans from my kids who actually DID have homework to do. More groans from the parents when we were told due to weather in Philly, we would be delayed for 45 minutes.
We arrive safe and sound in Philly only 10 minutes behind schedule. The captain made two more announcements about homework and insisted that it would be checked at the end of the flight. Pretty funny.
Tips from this Board that worked (or would have if I had used them):
Over the door shoe hanger: actually, I purchased a hangup bath accessory holder from the dollar store (same as a shoe holder, except the pockets say things like sponge and shampoo and at the top is a regular hanger). We hung this on the wall outside of the bathroom where there was a hook. This was a wonderful place to store fsrs, sunglasses, etc. Packed flat and the price was right!
Charge your tips before the last day: We noticed very long lines the last day of the cruise. The day before we walked right up.
Put kids bathing suits in carryon: The only time the Mickey pool wasnt mobbed was in the first hours of the first day.
Bring water shoes for CC: really wished we had done this. Very painful sand.
Watch the disembarkation talk on TV: much nicer to listen to sitting on your own couch, sipping you mocha/coffee. Our lunch tablemates were mad that they wasted valuable fun time going to it; they didnt know it was on TV. Thanks, all!
Use a baggage handler to get through customs faster: This was a great tip and well worth the (money) tip.
Bring a steamer iron: the laundry room iron wasnt very good and there was often a line to use it.
Use Dreams Unlimited: Donna and the gang at DU saved me $700 when the price dropped.
What I wouldnt do next time:
Get off the ship in Nassau
Take Tiffany I believe I would rent a car from Avis
Buy a Rainforest Pass just wasnt time to use it everyday
Buy soda and wine we didnt open either bottle and left most of the soda
Pack dress socks for dh
Well, thanks for reading. It was a terrific cruise and I cant wait to go again! Thanks to all who patiently shared their knowledge with me that knowledge made my cruise even more special.
)
