I must say that the Disney Wonder far exceeded my expectations for this, my 19th cruise.
We arrived at the port at 10:30 via the Radisson shuttle and left our car parked in front of the hotel. We had a room there the night prior to the cruise and requested the 10:20 shuttle to the Wonder.
There were no lines and the terminal building was very comfortable with sofas and Disney movies being shown. There was also a snack bar and a balcony where you could go out and take pictures.
In the middle of the terminal was a large model of the ship with a cut-a-way on the back side of it to view the interior of the ship.
They opened the doors to board the ship at exactly 12:15, not earlier....by that time a line had formed and in usual Disney fashion the lines moved very quickly. As you enter the ship they greet you, ask your family name and announce your arrival to the waiting crew. Mickey was on the stairs waving and a band was playing island music.
We made our way up to deck 9 for a buffet luncheon which was very good, then around 1:00 - 1:30 we went to our cabin - 5020 a secret porthole cabin.
We were pleasantly surprised to see the large cabin, compared to other ships we have been on. There was a queen size bed, and beyond was a seating area with a sofa and table. The sofa makes into a bed at night and the bunk bed comes down from the ceiling to accomodate the 4th person in the cabin. There were curtains that could be closed for privacy at night.
There were TWO bathrooms in the cabin which is wonderful when you have 4 people getting dressed.
One room and a sink & toliet, the other had a shower/tub and a sink.
There was a large porthole which had an unobstructed view the entire time. There was no traffic outside this window at all.
The children's club was wonderful and the staff were very helpful. The 7 year old was given a wristband with a barcode and we were given a beeper. The child enjoyed the club so much that he stayed there for hours. We kept going back to check on him and he wanted to stay and play. There were 100 5-7 year olds the day in was in the club. The 10 year old was able to check herself in and out of the club and she enjoyed all the activities there too.
It was very interesting to eat in a different dining room every night. Our servers and the head waiter were very friendly and efficient. The first night we ate at Parrots Cay and it had a menu of island dishes but in addition they always have available the usual fare of steak, chicken or fish. One unusal thing was that they served all the children in the room first before serving the adults. This meant the children were finished eating way before we got our food and they got restless. I asked our servers to please serve us all at one time during the rest of the cruise.
In Nassau we took a taxi over to Atlantis for $4.00 per person. We walked around the hotel and down by the pools and the large aquarium. They have a very good selection of specimens swimming around and the kids loved it. Then we went up and did some shopping in the hotel. We took a taxi back to downtown and went in the Straw Market which is in a tent to the right as you get off the pier. However, it was so very hot and crowded I had no stomach to shop there for anything. We went in a tee shirt shop and bought a few souveniers and went back to the ship. The 7 year old was anxious to go to his play club.
The Castaway Cay was wonderful. We were among the first off the ship and got an umbrella and chairs not too far from the ship. It got very crowded later in the morning.
We ate at Cookie's Barbeque and the food was ok, nothing to write home about. We left the island around noon and went back to the ship so the kids could go in the Mickey pool and down the water slide.
I must say that disembarking was the easiest ever! We were on first sitting so we had breakfast at 6:45, and when we finished eating and went back to the cabin to get our bags that we had not left out the night before, we were allowed to leave the ship immediately, which was about 7:30 am. Our luggage was in the gray area and we found them right away as they were sorted by deck and stateroom numbers.
We rolled our bags over to the Radisson pick up point and the shuttle took us back to the hotel for our car.
I give this cruise 5 stars - highly recommend it for families. However, it would not be my favorite ship if I did not have children with me, as it really didn't seem to be that much adult oriented as far as activities during the day to participate in. The production shows they had were marvelous - all in all a great cruise.
Celebrity Mercury 2002
Disney Wonder 2002
Celebrity Zenith 2002
Regal Empress 2002
Regal Empress 2001
Golden Princess 2001
Voyager of the Seas 2001
Regal Empress 2000
Carnival Esctasy 2000
Regal Empress 1999
Carnival Inspiration 1997
Ocean Quest
Vera Cruz
Cunard Countess
Cunard Princess
Cunard Countess
Cunard Princess
Premiere Royale 1984
Premiere Oceanic
The Florida 1966
Celebrity Mercury
Disney Wonder 6/13/2002
We arrived at the port at 10:30 via the Radisson shuttle and left our car parked in front of the hotel. We had a room there the night prior to the cruise and requested the 10:20 shuttle to the Wonder.
There were no lines and the terminal building was very comfortable with sofas and Disney movies being shown. There was also a snack bar and a balcony where you could go out and take pictures.
In the middle of the terminal was a large model of the ship with a cut-a-way on the back side of it to view the interior of the ship.
They opened the doors to board the ship at exactly 12:15, not earlier....by that time a line had formed and in usual Disney fashion the lines moved very quickly. As you enter the ship they greet you, ask your family name and announce your arrival to the waiting crew. Mickey was on the stairs waving and a band was playing island music.
We made our way up to deck 9 for a buffet luncheon which was very good, then around 1:00 - 1:30 we went to our cabin - 5020 a secret porthole cabin.
We were pleasantly surprised to see the large cabin, compared to other ships we have been on. There was a queen size bed, and beyond was a seating area with a sofa and table. The sofa makes into a bed at night and the bunk bed comes down from the ceiling to accomodate the 4th person in the cabin. There were curtains that could be closed for privacy at night.
There were TWO bathrooms in the cabin which is wonderful when you have 4 people getting dressed.
One room and a sink & toliet, the other had a shower/tub and a sink.
There was a large porthole which had an unobstructed view the entire time. There was no traffic outside this window at all.
The children's club was wonderful and the staff were very helpful. The 7 year old was given a wristband with a barcode and we were given a beeper. The child enjoyed the club so much that he stayed there for hours. We kept going back to check on him and he wanted to stay and play. There were 100 5-7 year olds the day in was in the club. The 10 year old was able to check herself in and out of the club and she enjoyed all the activities there too.
It was very interesting to eat in a different dining room every night. Our servers and the head waiter were very friendly and efficient. The first night we ate at Parrots Cay and it had a menu of island dishes but in addition they always have available the usual fare of steak, chicken or fish. One unusal thing was that they served all the children in the room first before serving the adults. This meant the children were finished eating way before we got our food and they got restless. I asked our servers to please serve us all at one time during the rest of the cruise.
In Nassau we took a taxi over to Atlantis for $4.00 per person. We walked around the hotel and down by the pools and the large aquarium. They have a very good selection of specimens swimming around and the kids loved it. Then we went up and did some shopping in the hotel. We took a taxi back to downtown and went in the Straw Market which is in a tent to the right as you get off the pier. However, it was so very hot and crowded I had no stomach to shop there for anything. We went in a tee shirt shop and bought a few souveniers and went back to the ship. The 7 year old was anxious to go to his play club.
The Castaway Cay was wonderful. We were among the first off the ship and got an umbrella and chairs not too far from the ship. It got very crowded later in the morning.
We ate at Cookie's Barbeque and the food was ok, nothing to write home about. We left the island around noon and went back to the ship so the kids could go in the Mickey pool and down the water slide.
I must say that disembarking was the easiest ever! We were on first sitting so we had breakfast at 6:45, and when we finished eating and went back to the cabin to get our bags that we had not left out the night before, we were allowed to leave the ship immediately, which was about 7:30 am. Our luggage was in the gray area and we found them right away as they were sorted by deck and stateroom numbers.
We rolled our bags over to the Radisson pick up point and the shuttle took us back to the hotel for our car.
I give this cruise 5 stars - highly recommend it for families. However, it would not be my favorite ship if I did not have children with me, as it really didn't seem to be that much adult oriented as far as activities during the day to participate in. The production shows they had were marvelous - all in all a great cruise.
Celebrity Mercury 2002
Disney Wonder 2002
Celebrity Zenith 2002
Regal Empress 2002
Regal Empress 2001
Golden Princess 2001
Voyager of the Seas 2001
Regal Empress 2000
Carnival Esctasy 2000
Regal Empress 1999
Carnival Inspiration 1997
Ocean Quest
Vera Cruz
Cunard Countess
Cunard Princess
Cunard Countess
Cunard Princess
Premiere Royale 1984
Premiere Oceanic
The Florida 1966
Celebrity Mercury
Disney Wonder 6/13/2002
