My thoughts about the Disney Wonder

[KY Transplant]

We just returned from the Disney Wonder from the 1/27 to 1/31 2008 cruise.

 

It was just my wife and myself. No kids.

 

The accessibility to Port Canaveral and the embarkation was a dream. Disembarkation went easily as well.

 

The Wonder is a fine ship but not as elegant as I had hoped. Even though there was an adults area that was enforced the overall ship catered overwhelmingly to kids. The shows and movies were of no interest to me. Again all geared towards younger interest. The Pirates in The Carribean party....again a kids event. The only thing an adult could hope for was peace in the adult hot tub and pool area unless they drank and then there were the bars.

 

The service in the dining rooms was good but not outstanding. The food was disappointing. Pinnochio's Pizza was standard cookie cutter type pizza...no gourmet pizza like on Carnival or RCCL. Goofy's Doghouse however put out some great burgers, dogs & brats as well as other snack food. The self service soda area was super.

 

I will probably catch some flack for this one...but its my opinion that Palo is over rated. The service was excellent but the food was only slightly better than the dining room and very scant portions. This chocolate souffle that everybody said that was "to die for" was well... I don't see what the excitment was about. My opinion...save your 30 bucks.

 

Unless you are on a tour getting off in Nassau to see the sights is a waste. The people there are very aggressive and seem to only want to braid your hair or put you in a cab.

 

Castaway Cay was the saving grace of the cruise. The island was superb. Very clean and well maintained and no aggressive vendors trying to pull you in their store. Plenty to do. Water was crystal clear and warm.

 

The wife & I went snorkeling in the family lagoon and found the statue of Mickey along with the treasure chest. Not many fish. However in Serenity Bay we discovered a shipwreck that had an abundance of tropical fish. We saw 3 large starfish, several dollarfish and a live conch as well. Not a bad snorkel for free.

 

The rest of the time was spent in a hammock at Serenity bay enjoying the abundant sunshine and the 88 degree weather. El Perfecto! We really appreciated the second day Disney gave us because the ship needed "hull maintenance".

 

So would I book Disney again? Probably not unless I start missing Castaway Cay. The RCCL cruises are much more elegant and adult oriented. My advice to those with chilfren is definately book Disney. They will have fun and sometimes the fun for us oldsters is to enjoy the laughter in our little ones eyes. I wouldn't hesitate to bring my grand children here...or my grandchildren's mother!!:D She is just a kid at heart and a big...no make that a HUGE mouse fan.

[HurricaneFloyd]

Hi KY Transpant.

We were on the same cruise (drove back to NC yesterday) and you are pretty much right on with all your comments. We found te same shipwreck at Serenity Bay and saw a baracuda out there. The lifegurads came out there and brought us back on the jet skis. Turns out we weren't supposed to snorkel out that far.

The kids loved the Disney Cruise but overall I think I wouldn't pay for the Disney Cruise again if it was just my wife and I going. We didn't really get to experience much of the adult entertainment since we had three kids with us and it was tricky to get them all three in the clubs and happy at the same time. Looked like mostly bars on board though for the adult crowd. Everything else on the ship was definitely geared for kids - very cheesy shows, long lines to take pictures with people in costumes and deck parties with canned music and some bad dancing. I'm not panning the cruise. Overall, our family had a great time but if you are a couple w/o kids and don't like bars, you will be bored.

Castaway Cay however was pretty darn close to paradise on earth. I could have stayed there another whole week and loved it. The food was superb (tangy babyback ribs, grilled salmon, shrimp kabobs, blackened mahi-mahi)! I thought the snorkeling there was tons of fun. True, if you are an experienced diver you may think it ho-hum but it was plenty good for novices like me. We brought our own snorkeling gear and were glad we did.

Like I said, our kids loved it and were begging to go again before we even got home but for my money, I don't see us doing it again. 4 day cruise for family of 5 costs us almost $4K counting cruise, tips, drinks, souvenirs, gas and hotel. Would have cost more had we flown too. Since our favorite part was Castaway Cay, I'd be more inclined to rent a house in the Bahamas or nearby for a week and just enjoy the beach and skip the shows and deck parties and towel animals. Have to say that the food in the restaurants was very good though and they would gladly bring you whatever you requested and we never washed a dish which is not something that would happen if we rented a beach house.

I'm glad we did it one time but probably won't repeat unless the price comes way down (which ain't gonna happen). ;)

[cruiserbryce]

while I agree with some points...as far as this

Unless you are on a tour getting off in Nassau to see the sights is a waste. The people there are very aggressive and seem to only want to braid your hair or put you in a cab.

 

never go to Jamaica!!

[Matt in FL]

I didn't have a good feeling again about Nassau. There are too many people "hanging around" and soliciting. We spent most of the day on the ship. It would be nice if Disney could find another island in the Bahamas and skip Nassau.

[HurricaneFloyd]

Totally agreed. It's hard to get excited about Nassau. My two girls did not want to get their hair braided but I bet we were asked a dozen times about it. Each time we declined, the braiders seemed kinda upset. And the taxi guys were everywhere. Even as we were walking back to the ship, they kept asking. I'm like, "We are getting back on the ship. No, we don't need a taxi." Not a huge deal but that is one of the reasons why cruise line's private islands are so nice. No solicitors.

There has to be a more interesting port within a reasonable distance for Disney... Freeport, Key West, Cancun, Turks and Caicos...

Not really complaining though. It's a cruise geared for kids and there was plenty to do for the them on board so the ports aren't super important to the kids. Castaway Cay was the highlight of the trip for me though. I'd say skip Nassau and add another day there.

[KY Transplant]

Right on...another day at Castaway Cay in lieu of Nassau or a Key West/Castaway Cay split...sounds like a winner. All we have to do is convince Disney.

[Host Mick]

I rather liked Nassau.

Once off the ship, there were vendor everywhere but if you're not interested a simple "No Thanks" works and they move on. At the Straw Market and the later temporary Straw Market the vendors weren't aggresive and it was fun talking to them about their goods and their live in the little shops.

We also took the opportunity to walk around town just to see the sights. We stopped into a little store, bought meat pies and Red Stripe and sat on the porch with some Bahamians and chatted for a while. We all agreed thet we'd like to trade lives for a while. They want to live in the USA while I wouldn't mind living in The Bahamas for a year or two. While walking by the Governor's mansion, we met a guy who says that he was an official tour guide. (I'll believe him) He walked with is up the hill there pointing out various residences and telling us about the history of the Bahamas, slave trade, colonialization, independence and the history of Bar-B-Que that they claim to have invented. he walked with us back to the downtown and politely asked for a tip which we did because it was worth it.

A vast majority of posts here about ports are all about excursions and how to get to excursions and how to pay less for them. To be honest, many of the excursions seem too expensive for what you get out of them (except for the submarine in the Virgin Islands, that was expensive but very cool). To me travel is about history, sights and people... and food, oh yes, the food is important. If skip the people part, you miss out on a lot.

[K8T]

Having been on the 20th Jan 4 night Wonder. I too agree with the OP.

 

We used this as a taster, as we had been tempted last year in the Med. and to be honest, didn't do it because we thought it may be a bit too much Disney! The 4 nights was ideal to get an idea of what it would be like.

 

The ship was OK, but a little 'tired', we are used to larger ships and found the Wonder small. However, with the number of children going through it, there is bound to be a lot of wear and tear.

 

Our Cabin however, was probably the largest we have had on most of our cruises, (cat.9 outside deluxe) and we loved the split bathroom. It was also spotless.

 

The food was good, but what we would expect from a good cruise, the wine waiters were non-existant and no one seemed to have any idea about the wines on the wine package!! We loved the wraps and burgers, HATED the BB Buffet. Went once for breakfast and it was horrendous, kids running around, pushing you out the way, no tables and if there were they were not cleared and sticky. We stayed in the restaurants after that experience.

 

What really got me cross and I did make a complaint about, was that we had a couple of days it was really cold, rainy and windy. Because we were eating second sitting we wanted to give dd something to eat around 5ish to keep her going and BB was closed, but the outside food outlets were open. However, there was no where to eat in the warm and dry.

 

The chairs and tables were wet and our dd 3was sat shivering in the wind eating her tea - not good. I asked if we could just go inside BB Buffet, but was refused and told to take the food to our room. I didn't want Pizza and burgers in our room, so we had no other option but to sit there. This should not be allowed. On other ships the buffets are usually open to go in a sit down with a coffee etc., and the server area roped off for preparation of the dinner. Why couldn't they do this? I didn't receive the courtesy of a reply and it was the same the second day.

 

The kids club was very well organised, we liked the ID wristband and being given a pager, the first time we have come accross this on a ship, although we didn't use the Club much, what our 3 dd went to, she enjoyed.

 

The shows were good and a delight for children, the only exception was Hercules. I know people rave about this, but I found it tedious!! Too much talking and held neither my attention of the other children around us. This is supposed to be a childs dream holiday, the entertainment should be child appropriate (I shall probably get blasted for this!). Older children than ours were being taken out. Also with the comedian, he was very funny for adults, but the kids had no idea and he took a long time before doing anything visual.

 

We hated the queues for photos etc. If there was a long one, we just didn't do it, although a couple of times we passed and there were only a few in line, so we got in quick. Luckily we had spent 6 days in WDW beforehand, so we had our quota of photos.

 

We would agree, Nassau is neither here or there, but we find all the Caribbean Islands a little like this, hence we always cruise Med, or Baltics, much more interesting. We liked Castaway Cay, but the family beach was way too crowded, and very unpleasant, further on up was much more civilised, why do people want to all sit in the same place, shoulder to shoulder and no room to spread out in the sea?

 

The Mickey pool was also much too small for the numbers on board and although dd was quite happy in the medley, I didn't like it for her and there were too many 'big kids' in the ears, which was the only place the little ones could safely paddle.

 

However, we did enjoy ourselves. We went to the adults only area a couple of times and it was an Oasis of calm, which made a change for us and it was also good to relax at mealtimes and in public areas with dd, I find on 'normal' cruises I am always a little uptight about how she behaves and I do tend to expect a lot from her. Here I could let her run ahead in the corridor and figit a little during the meal.

 

I don't think we will do it again in a hurry, although if Disney places a ship in the Med, we probably will book now, but it was what we expected, a fun ship, with lots of kids and a chance to wind down from WDW.

 

We have heard people say 'once you have cruised Disney you won't cruise anything else' - this is certainly not our experience, but we enjoyed it for what it was.

 

Kate

[NancyIL]

I was on the same Jan. 20th Wonder cruise as K8T - with my 82-year-old mom. I love the Disney theme parks, but had never been on DCL. My mom lives 10 minutes from Port Canaveral, wanted to go on one more cruise, but didn't want to travel far to a port. I suggested the 4-day Disney cruise - mostly because it was a smaller ship than Carnival Glory or Mariner of the Seas, and I assumed in much better condition than Sovereign of the Seas. Besides - I wanted to cruise on a Disney ship! :)

 

My mom rented an electric wheelchair for the cruise, and we had a handicap- accessible cabin at the back of deck 6 - which was HUGE as cruise ship cabins go. Loved the cabin, but thought the location of the HA cabins way at the back of the ship was a poor idea. They should've been placed close to elevators.

 

I liked all of the Disney touches on the ship, but I really missed the beautiful atriums I'm familiar with on RCI and Princess. I also like a grand 2-story dining room, although I enjoyed the rotational dining on DCL. I found the dining room food to be comparable to what I've had on RCI and Princess, with Holland America being a bit better - although that cruise was 4 years ago. I thought Palo's desserts were exceptional, and the brunch buffet was very good.

 

I went on a 2-hour historic city tour in Nassau that was booked through the ship. I enjoyed that, in spite of the crummy weather. I went back to the ship afterwards for lunch, and didn't venture back out. We finally had nice weather at Castaway Cay, and I thought Serenity Bay was very pretty and uncrowded. But alas - I am not a beach person, so a few hours on Castaway Cay was plenty for me. I decided right then that a double dip cruise was NOT for me.

 

I love shows, and thought all 3 stage shows were excellent. My favorite was The Golden Mickeys. I also felt that the comedian/juggler was a bit TOO adult for a Disney ship, and wasn't surprised to read that he had an adults-only show later the next evening in one of the lounges. I rarely see movies in the theater, but wouldn't you know it - I had already seen Enchanted and National Treasure before cruising! I still enjoyed watching Enchanted again in the lovely theater. I agree that the sailaway party and the pirate party were a bit too sappy for my tastes, but I'm sure little kids love the silliness. DCL really does cater to kids and families, and they do that very well.

 

Overall - I enjoyed the ship, but I can't say that it was a great cruise. I have a couple more Disney cruises booked - one of which is with a bunch of Disney fans from a different Disney forum. I'm hoping that my next Disney cruise will be more fun - because I'll be with other Disney fans.