Disney Wonder 31 Aug - 4 Sep

I was on the same cruise. My daughter is 14 and did take part in Common
Grounds for teens. We barely saw her for most of the cruise. Did you
happen to see the new show The Golden Mickeys?

Mike

"Mike" wrote in message
...
Don't see much about Disney Cruises on rtc, so I though I would post this
for
those who may be considering such a cruise.

Just got off a 4-day Wonder cruise with my two daughters, ages 13 and 10.
Their ninth and eighth cruise, respectively, and my 10th.

Our three most recent cruises have been on Princess (Regal/Panama Canal,
Sky/Alaska, and Royal/British Isles) and they were all 10 days or longer.
My
wife and I did a three-day cruise on the Carnival Fantasy in 1994 and did
not
particularly enjoy it. My wife and I and our daughters (7 and 4 at the
time)
did a four-day cruise on the Nordic Empress in 1997 and liked it very
much.

We have also done seven-day cruises on Dolphin (1993-Seabreeze, best food
of
any cruise I have taken), NCL (1995-Seaward), HAL (1997-Noordam), and
Celebrity
(1999-Horizon) and enjoyed them all.

With that as background, I really enjoyed our four days on the Wonder.
The
ship is striking and easily to navigate, and the dinners were as good as
those
I have recently enjoyed on Princess (that may have been the biggest
surprise).
We liked all three dining rooms. The wait staff was young and pleasant
(Darko
from Croatia and Morgan from Slovenia) but not polished. We had to wait
for
bread when we sat down for dinner and my wine glass was often empty.

We paid for the cheapest inside (Florida Resident), were upgraded twice
and
ended up in a Category 8 room (7002) that slept four. The room was just
big
enough for the three of us for the four days and I liked the way the room
was
divided at night so the girls didn't keep me up and I didn't bother them
when I
got up early. The room steward (Rosello) was quietly efficient and earned
an
extra tip by finding part of an electronic device I had dropped in the
room and
could not find.

I found a nice quiet area (The Quiet Cove) to hang out while may daughters
participated in the swimming activities yet could briefly come and see
me/report it. The shows were outstanding, as you would expect from
Disney, and
the Walt Disney Theater was a perfect setting. We especially enjoyed
"Hercules" which was clever and sardonic and adult in the finest sense.
"The
Golden Mickeys" on the first night was fun and "Disney Dreams" on the last
night was sweet although aimed at the younger children.

We only left the ship for Castaway Cay, one daughter going parasailing and
the
other going to the Family Beach while I took video of the Parasailer.
(Having
been to Nassau several times, we did not get off there). The last day was
the
Sea Day and I used it to finish two books and my daughters spent the day
eating
and swimming.

My 10-year spent a lot of time in the Oceaneers Club. My teen missed the
first
night's teen meeting (at 10:30 pm--just too darn late for what had been a
long
day) and so spent most of her time either with me and with her sister or
in the
Quartermaster and the Internet Cafe.

Perhaps my biggest enjoyment on the cruise was seeing the Disney magic at
work
on the younger children. I wish I had had an opportunity to take my
daughters
several years ago. We live in Orlando and the Disney Cruise is like being
a
Disney World 24 hours a day for four days (not necessarily for everyone,
but
hey at age 59.8 I loved it!). I feel several years younger just having
been on
this cruise. The mix of peoples was invigorating and no sour pusses were
found
anywhere. The ship was sold out but never felt especially crowded (maybe
because I spent the sea day in the adult area).

Would I do it again? Definitely not a four-nighter for all the obvious
reasons, not the least of which is that we can afford longer cruises. My
wife
did not go for work reasons, but had she known about the no-smoking in the
staterooms (a surprise to me) she would have added that as another reason
not
to go. She is not a big Disney fan, but if she stopped smoking and if
Disney
starts going to Bermuda on seven day cruises and we can get a deal and our
daughters beg me again, we would.

The ship is a stunner and the experience was quite satifying.


Mike


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I was on the same cruise. My daughter is 14 and did take part in Common
Grounds for teens. We barely saw her for most of the cruise. Did you
happen to see the new show The Golden Mickeys?


Yes and we enjoyed it very much, as we enjoyed Hercules two nights later. The
Disney polish and professionalism was quite evident.


Mike