Just back from our trip : (

[edan]

Well, after months of excitment and aticipation, our trip is over.

Let me just say that TS Berry made for a lousy cruise.

Our trip seemed to be cursed from the start.

One of out stateroom doors would not open (6640) 6642 opened fine. Security could not open it. After waiting an hour, they they finally brought the master key.

Our meal tickets were switched all over the hallway, eveyone had the opposite sides, lol.

There was in "incident" report of things stolen from room 6642 still attached to the little fish beside the door. We thought we had mail, so we read this first thing. YIKES.

As we finally headed for the pool and lunch there were 500,000 screaming kids in the tiny tiny pool, LOL. Seriously, it's Disney so it's to be expected.

As we sat down, the skies darkened........... and that was the last time we saw the sun................

We awoke in the Bahamas to see a fine mist of rain and to be told the shops and Straw Market were closed, due to a National Holiday.

We went over to the Atlantis, only to find we purchased rooms needlessly.

Disney sells tickets to access all the slides and pools. They said they were the ONLY cruise line to do this, but ppl we met in the limo off the Sensation bought their tickets to access the pools as well when we got there.. hmmmm....

Don't really understand why that is not on these boards. The cruise director himself told us the Wonder sells those tickets exclusively. He wasn't talking about day passes.

It rained and misted the entire time there. We basically sat out in the rain all day. We just couldn't see wasting 436.00 and the kids did the pools and slides. They loved the grounds and the aquariums. They want to go back and just stay there for future vacation. We did see two sweet kitty cats that live at the Atlantis, and since we are cat lovers the kids thought that was neat. They were in the bushes near the Leap of Faith , where you get towels. That goodness they have those little covers on the chairs, or I would have been DRENCHED a few times when the rain blew in and started in earnest.

So, no sun, no shops, no seeing the beautiful blue water.

The next day we wake up to the ship attempting to dock at Castaway Cay.

NO go.

Three more attempts. NO go. Keep in mind, it's still raining and storming and seas are very rough.

Sadly, we are unable to dock. No fishing trip, no beach, no snorkling. Oh well, it's really a blessing to me that we didn't dock. But kids were really upset.

That really just put the cherry on top of the big, SUCK SUNDAE!!!!!!!

Now, I will say, shows were great, really really wonderful. Out of all our cruises, they have the best shows.

Dining room staff was excellent. Great with kids. My DD loved the O. Club. My older ones liked the PC 3 movie . Great it was showing.

The land portion of our trip was ok. I won't report that here, since it is not the place.

My thought of the Wonder? Well, it's hard to say. Weather really really really influences a cruise. I have never been on one that was rainy the entire time, so it's hard to give a fair assessement. Food was on par. No better or worse that CCL and RCI.

I do give the rooms a thumbs down. Very small. My DH and I were running into each other. We never did that before with other lines.

And actually, my DD and I loved that hairdryer! LOL!!!

I also give the traffic flow of the restaurants a thumbs down too. Very cogested, with the layout and one entrance only to Parrot Cay and An. Palate. I have never seen a line waiting to go in like I did on Wonder.

I like the sanitary measures they take.

There was A LOT of motion on this ship too, but no more that any other we have been on with a tropical storm (or hurricane in our other case) nearby. Now, I like the motion, but I am never pron to MS. Although, I have to admit, I took Bonine 2 nights just to be safe.

Who knows? Had the weather been beautiful, we might be raving about the trip. I know all of you love it for a reason. It certainly isn't the fault of the cruiseline the weather was bad. I am very sad that my kids' first experience was like this, made me wonder if God was mad at us or something, lol.

My greatest tip is this : DO NOT MISS THE SHOWS!!!! Hercules was great. Disney Dreams is great, (this is supposed to be the best show, it's award winning) but Golden Mickeys is the BEST!!! Be sure to look nice and if you go in close to the show time, you MIGHT wind up on the big screen! They asked my DD to be in the show, but she was shy and declined. They only ask about 7 or 8 kids to participate. Please, don't miss a show!

Let me say this, I am soooooo glad to be home!!! Makes us appreciate what God has blessed us with here. I am looking forward to my next vacation in July, where we rent a house on a private lake in the mountains of North Carolina and just do NOTHING for a week! YEAH!!!!

Good luck to those of you cruising very soon. I am sure you will probably have a great time. We just had the "bad luck" of the storm with us.

Happy Sails!

[FattyGwynn]

So sorry to hear about the weather ruining your trip. What a bummer. We are sailing in 10 days and I've got my fingers, toes, legs and everything else crossed that we don't get another tropical storm or worse.

 

What did you do on the day you were supposed to be on Castaway Cay?

 

Did they close the pools or any other outside portions of the ship due to the weather?

 

I'm praying we won't have a similar experience, but just in case, I wanted to know what to expect.

[lagbunch8]

I'm so sorry that you had such bad weather. You have every right to be bummed. I have thought about trying to squeeze in a 4 night in September but, I don't know about the weather. I feel that this summer/fall is going to be active because we have been so dry. It tends to go in cycles like that. I hope your next vacation has perfect weather. You deserve it.

 

Mary

[Jeanne B]

That's too bad you had such rainy weather, that can really make or break a vacation but at least you've come back and have been able to talk about some of the positive things from your trip.:) On our first cruise a couple of years ago, we had weather delays on the way down so we had to fly out of a totally different airport 2 days later, we had bad weather the first half of the cruise and there was a blizzard in the northeast when we returned so the airport was closed and we were stuck in Florida for 2 days after and it was the coldest 2 days FL had had in 2 years, will we cruise in January again? No way, not being from the northeast. I had spent so much time planning this cruise and it was so incredibly disappointing to have the weather cause so many problems (although fortunately we had 2 or 3 goods days out of the 7 on the cruise).

 

We've gone to WDW in early May a couple of times with fantastic weather, last year was the first time we went in late May and we got some very heavy rain the last few days of our trip, too close to hurricane season so we decided after that trip to avoid late May for both WDW and cruises.

 

Regarding the passes, from what I've read on the Bahamas forum here and on disboards cruise forum is that Atlantis sells the daypasses which aren't guaranteed every day, depends on capacity, for $100 plus and that Disney also recently starting selling all-access passes but they're just as expensive, if not more (I'm thinking they're closer to $120 from Disney). Did the people you spoke with say how much they paid for their passes?

 

I literally waited until just a couple days before our cruise this past Nov to book our room at CS just so I could watch the short-term weather forecast because I didn't want to waste my money, that's the one disadvantage of booking a room at CS or Atlantis, you're usually stuck with paying for the room regardless of the weather. Although we were fortunate and had fantastic weather in early Dec.

[edan]

In retrospect, the passes that the CCl ppl bought probably were day passes.

They told us they paid like 105 for adults and 75 for the 8 yr old.

We still came out cheaper with the 2 rooms at CS, as we would have to buy 5 "adults" passes and 1 child. I am not sure how much DCL passes are. I guess the thing is if you wait to buy passes over at Atlantis (on a pretty day_) you run the risk of them not being available.

What kinda makes me mad is that there is nothing about these "passes" in the shore excursion book you get, nor on their website. And I don't mean the Atlantis sold passes, I mean the ones that DCL 'exclusively' sells. I can understand if it is brand new and not printed in the booklets, but they could update the website for sure. I wish the info had been available so we'd have waited and NOT booked the rooms. It is a gamble to get the rooms to save $$. If the weather is nice, you did great. Either way, we gambled and lost, lol.

We have cruised once in August and Once or twice in Sept. and never had this much bad weather due to hurricane season. And one of those times there was a full fledged hurricane out in the gulf with us. The difference was were we were in relation to the storm. We were getting all that wind and back lash. Capt John was very gracious in his apology and he did try 3 times to dock. There just wasn't enough power in the Wonder against all that current and wind. There were 45 knott(if that is correct?) winds against us, as he had to "back" the ship in to dock it. There was also a stiff current coming off the "beam" of the island. "Beam" being Capt John's word, not mine, lol. I will say it makes for an interesting tale. I have never been anywere before that the ship found it impossible to get into port or the dock, lol. It truely was an example of the elements and Nature's power over mere man! I would imagine it is VERY seldom the ship cannot dock in Castaway Cay!

I am just very very grateful that Central Florida got a lot of rain, so the workers at the Port told us. That was a good thing about the storm.

The day we missed CC, it was just a day at sea. They scrambled to schedule a lot of onboard activities. We LOVE days at sea, they are our favorites! BUT not when it's rainy and BAD,lol. Oh well, at least I got to sleep in the morning of CC. I slept til almost 11, off and on....

[cheriemek]

It's tough to admit that even our best laid plans (being confirmed cruise critics) depend upon the weather. Glad to hear that you made the best of it anyhow!

[metrowon]

Your probably not alone with your experiance, as the weather was nasty in the region. Did Disney give you anything back, on board dollars, or a coupon for same time next year? We did the Hurricane Ivan cruise 2 years ago, a shortened 7 day cruise, and all Disney did was throw on board dollars at us, and a 25% off coupon for the next year. Just wondering, if we missed something on your review? Metrowon

[edan]

No, sadly, Disney offered nothing to compensate the loss of a port. It would seem a good PR move to offer something, 1/2 price drinks(LOL) or SOMETHING. I guess they feel the loss too, as all the excursions that were planned had to be cancelled and they didn't get any $$$. My DH had a bit of a time making sure we were not charged for a fishing trip that could not happen.

I am sure the Sensation (CCL) was not having a good time either, as we were pretty much in the same area. After Nassau I am not sure what their next stop was, but I think it was just a 3 day cruise as well. I think I might lurk over at the CCL board to see if they got any thing.

[Jeanne B]

Usually if a port is missed due to bad weather they just refund the port charges, we missed GC on a NCL cruise a couple of years ago and we were refunded the port charges (which are minimal, like $12 pp) but they did offer free rum punches for several hours so that was nice.:D

[Host Mick]

I don't think that The Bahamas charges DCL for berthing at CC. The port charges are usually for tugs, pilots and port maintenance.

[Jeanne B]

I don't think that The Bahamas charges DCL for berthing at CC. The port charges are usually for tugs, pilots and port maintenance.

 

Yes, I think you're right about CC, I meant to say they refund the port charges, if there are any.

[falconfan]

I am sure the Sensation (CCL) was not having a good time either, as we were pretty much in the same area. After Nassau I am not sure what their next stop was, but I think it was just a 3 day cruise as well. I think I might lurk over at the CCL board to see if they got any thing.

 

We were aboard RCCL Mariner of the Seas at the same time. We missed their private island and sailed through the storm to San Juan. By the time we got there we were south of the weather and had decent weather for our other two stops.

[rrfsteve]

I sailed onboard the wonder for over a year. Due to weather we missed CC twice. If on a 4 day cruise, and you miss cc on day 3, the ship returns to cc for the 4th day.

 

Honestly, you missed nothing. CC on a good day is awesome, but if you did dock, whould you want to have a beach day in a storm??? Plus, the captain no doubt found you smoother, better weather than at CC!

[edan]

I sailed onboard the wonder for over a year. Due to weather we missed CC twice. If on a 4 day cruise, and you miss cc on day 3, the ship returns to cc for the 4th day.

 

Honestly, you missed nothing. CC on a good day is awesome, but if you did dock, whould you want to have a beach day in a storm??? Plus, the captain no doubt found you smoother, better weather than at CC!

 

 

Hence the comment in my trip report about it being a "blessing" that we did not dock. As we had sat by the pool in the rain at Atlantis the day before, I wasnt' looking forward to doing that again.

And alas, no better weather was to be found no matter where Capt John went.

As for what we missed? Well, I'd have loved to been the judge of that myself.

[rrfsteve]

Yeah - im sorry, it does seem like you had a sucky vacation. the bonus is, nomatter what, your next one should be better!

[edan]

Yeah - im sorry, it does seem like you had a sucky vacation. the bonus is, nomatter what, your next one should be better!

 

THanks, : ) At least it makes us appreciate being home! It made us feel like our house was the the best resort in the country! LOL.