ºoº "7" Days to 4-day Wonder December 5, 2004, Sunday, 7-Mousefest Meets, UPDATEDºoº

[RaySharpton]

ºoº Hello. My name is Ray. I will be going on my first cruise on the DCL 4-Day Wonder on Sunday, December 5, 2004. ºoº

ºoº I signed up with the 2004 Mousefest Sea and Land Package because of Deb Wills from www.AllEarsNet.com and many other Web founders, and Disney book authors of the Disney websites that I met last year at different Walt Disney World meets.

ºoº So I thought that there might be other families, and couples, and child at heart people like me that might want to get to know each other here and share similar question and answers on this forum before we cruised.

ºoº Maybe we could just share ideas or information about what to expect on the Wonder's December cruise with all the special decorations.

ºoº There are several free Mousefest events open to everyone that you might want to show up and say hello that I have listed below.

2004 Mousefest Meets on board the Disney Wonder Cruise Line
(All these Mousefest Meets are open to everyone except for the MouseEarVacation Mousefest Paid events which are not listed here. Please come by and meet and greet.)

ºoº Port Canaveral Coffee Shop 12/5 at 10:00 with Dave Marx and Deb Wills before boarding the Wonder

ºoº Bon Voyage Party 12/5 at 4:30 with all the different Disney web founders, and Disney book authors.

ºoº Sunrise Walk 12/6 at 7:15 A.M. with Deb Wills from www.AllEarsNet.com .

ºoº 'Round Nassau Town Walking Tour 12/6 at 10:00 A.M. with Dave Marx at www.PassPorter.com

ºoº WaveBands in Route 66 70's Disco Party 12/7 at 10:00 P.M. with Dave Marx, et.al.

ºoº Celebrity Breakfast at Parrot Cay 12/8 at 9:00 with all the Disney Web founders and Disney authors.

ºoº Hidden Mickey Hunt 12/8 at 4:00 P.M. with Steve Barrett, the author of the hidden mickey's book.

November 11, 2004....

Below is a quote from Jennifer and Dave Marx with two links showing a BROWSING version of the Mousefest Pocket Guide and a larger link that allows you to PRINT and CUT OUT and STAPLE together your own 2004 Mousefest Pocket Guide for both the sea and land portions.

The Pocket Guide is intended to be a concise list of the meets so you can carry it with you while you’re on your vacation. We take the information already available online and format it carefully. We’ll distribute free, printed copies of this booklet at the events. If you’d like a sneak peek at the Pocket Guide before you arrive, you have two options:

1. Download the "Browse" PDF file -- it’s specially formatted for easy viewing onscreen. You’re also welcome to print it if you wish. The actual printed booklet will be smaller. Download here: Browse version (2 MB) www.passporter.com/mousefest/mousefestpocketguidebrowse.pdf

2. Download the "Print" PDF file -- it's formatted to allow you to print an actual booklet that much likes what we'll be distributing at the events. This version isn't very helpful if you just want to look at it onscreen, however. The pages should be printed back-to-back, then folded in half and stapled. Download here: Print version (5 MB) www.passporter.com/mousefest/mousefestpocketguideprint.pdf


Note: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print either of these files. Most people have this on their computers already, but if you do not visit www.adobe.com for their free Reader. If you have problems viewing the files or they seem weird, you may also need to upgrade to the most recent version of the Reader (also free).

MOVIES TO BE SHOWN ON OUR CRUISE (from Dave Marx):

ºoº Around the world in 80 Days
ºoº Brother Bear
ºoº Confessions of a Teenaged Drama Queen
ºoº Finding Nemo
ºoº Home on the Range
ºoº The Incredibles
ºoº Ladder 49
ºoº Miracle
ºoº Mr. 3000
ºoº National Treasure
ºoº Pirates of the Caribbean
ºoº Princess Diaries 2
ºoº Raising Helen
ºoº The Village

Ray

 

[RaySharpton]

whoops...double post

 

[RaySharpton]

ºoº bump ºoº

 

[RaySharpton]

ºoº This will be my very first cruise, and I'm starting to get a little excited about it.

ºoº So...I'll start...

ºoº I think that I got a pretty good deal for one person at $586.85 including everything plus some extras. That came out to about $147.00 per night including a category 11 stateroom #6521, taxes, etc.. And all the meals. That would be hard to beat at a Walt Disney World Resort with meals, and entertainment. Cool.

ºoº Of course, there are separate costs for tips, Palo dinner and brunch, foot massage, and drinks outside of scheduled meals.

ºoº I was also thinking about some of the things that I want to experience on the DCL trip:

ºoº To watch the sun set each night from some nice spot on the ship.

ºoº To watch the sun rise each morning, if I can wake up early enough...lol.

ºoº To find a nice soft, comfortable lounge chair on the deck and watch the ocean, and the clouds, and to people watch.

ºoº To visit the Palo bar to just look out the windows (I hear that it is a nice view) whether I drink water, or a beer, or a special drink.

ºoº To make reservations and have dinner at Palo restaurant.

ºoº To do the Palo Brunch.

ºoº To do a bridge tour.

ºoº To try a wine tasting class and any other interesting classes or tours.

ºoº To actually get in the adult pool and whirlpool and relax.

ºoº To make a point to see all the evening shows, and go to all the evening dinners.

ºoº To find a shady place on Castaway Cay beach and briefly sit in a hammock to see if I like it.

ºoº To actually get in the ocean and lay in one of those blue water floats in shallow water and feel the soft white sand with my toes and fingers. Look up at the sky and clouds and say, "This is the life!".
ºoº To maybe share an area with others with lounge chairs on the beach and enjoy a beach drink.

ºoº To take the beach tram to the adult beach and visit.

ºoº To take a cab to the Nassau hotel and spend $50.00...or not...on a little blackjack or something fun, and if not to much walking tour the resort, or just stay on the ship.

ºoº Just some thoughts.

ºoº I do have a little trouble walking any distance which might make me not do some things, but I hope not.

ºoº Any suggestions from some of you DCL pros out there?

ºoº Thank you inadvance. ºoº

ºoº Ray ºoº

 

[RaySharpton]

ºoº

 

[RaySharpton]

ºoº :sigh: ºoº

 

[mommyof2cuties]

Hello,
My family is also sailing on the Wonder 12/5/04, and we are also 1st time cruisers. I am so excited, that I think I have become obsessed about learning as much as I can before we set sail, LOL.

 

[RaySharpton]

Welcome to the DIS, mommyof2cuties. Your very first post and you posted on my thread. Wow. That's cool. I feel honored.

I almost didn't check my thread this morning because no one has ever posted on this thread for weeks.

Needless to say, I am very happy to see that you and your Dear Family will be going on the December 5th DCL Wonder cruise.

I am so excited about this being my first cruise, too.

The DIS is a great place to ask any question that you want to get answers from so many people.

A couple of months ago, I bought a paperback book, called "The Field Guide to Disney Cruise Lines," written by Jennifer and Dave Marx.

This book had a lot of great information and pictures.

Click here, if you would like a direct link to a page about the book.

Deb Wills site on her AllEarsNet has a internet copy of information on the DCL that is free to look at.

Click here, for a link to the "Magical Disney Cruise Guidemap". My WebTV cannot use PDF fromat, but if you go to the link at the top of the page it will take you there.

And there are some other great web sites that show copies of past "Navigators" that the DCL puts in your stateroom everyday to show what is going on that particular day on the Wonder.

Click here to a direct link to dcltribute's site to see the Wonder's navigators.

And dcltribute also has some great maps from WDW to DCL, and menus, etc..

Click here to dcltribute's front page and see the links in the column on the left side.

Click is for another great DCL website called Platinum Castaway Club for many of the same and more information as in dcltribute's website.

If you have not seen these already, they are great places to research. I'm going to try and find some photos that show the Wonder decorated for December.

Thank you again for posting and I hope some more people post here, too. The more, the merrier.

Sincerely, RaySharpton

 

[RaySharpton]

ºoº Well...I guess that there aren't many DISers going on the December 5th DCL Wonder Cruise this year.

ºoº I finally found some Wonder pictures that crsndsny posted. They show the Christmas decorations on the Wonder.

ºoº Click here, to see pictures. ºoº

ºoº Ray ºoº

 

[RaySharpton]

ºoº Well...I guess that there aren't many DISers going on the December 5th DCL Wonder Cruise this year.

ºoº I finally found some Wonder pictures that crsndsny posted. They show the Christmas decorations on the Wonder.

ºoº Click here, to see pictures. ºoº

ºoº Ray ºoº

 

[RaySharpton]

 

[UKDEB]

Hi, Ray

We are also taking our first cruise on the Wonder on December 5 with our UK DIS buddies Kev & Tam and Mandy & Mark. They've all cruised once before, spookily enough on the same 7 day Magic cruise, although not together as such - a family trip for K&T and part of their WDW honeymoon for M&M.

Matt (dh) and I are huge WDW fans, but had never really considered a cruise until recently. K&T were spending the evening with us and talking about an adults only break in the Med. The conversation moved on and they asked us if we'd ever thought about a Disney Cruise. Somehow the transition from "No, not really, don't especially fancy it", to making online enquiries took around 10 minutes!

M&M already had DCL reservations for October (I think), but once they heard we'd booked for December, they were soon changing their ressies (Kev is convinced it's down to his good looks and charm, and we're humouring him, so just go along with it if you don't mind ).

Matt and I/Kev and Tam have also booked cat 11 staterooms at a great rate (around $440 from memory) through Dreams Unlimited - at the moment we have 'Guaranty' status. I think Mandy and Mark may have something a little grander. Mark has linked the reservations so that we can all eat together (later sitting) and we definitely want to eat at Palo, so we will be arranging that as soon as we board. Anyhoo, this <i>has</i> to be our cheapest ever Disney stay! Disney hospitality and all our meals thrown in for $440 a couple?! I still haven't really got my head around that.

When we first booked, I scoured this forum for others cruising at the same time. I was surprised not to find a thread given that this cruise is part of the MouseFest gathering. Not sure that we will necessarily want to join in with any meetings, we'll have to wait and see.

Matt and I are so excited. We're especially looking forward to the shows, Palo, Castaway Cay and a few Disney 'moments' (**sigh**). We've also got the DCL Passporter and are regularly checking out all the sites you mention.

You know you can subscribe to this thread and receive notification when someone replies, right? Just thought it would save you hours of fruitless checking.

 

[Kevin Stringer]

Hello Ray

Kev here, as in 'Kev & Tam' mentioned previously in Deb's post.

We are all very much looking forward to our 'adults only' cruise. Last time we went on a 7 day cruise with our 2 girls.

Can't wait to relax with a beer while watching the surf drift by. Relax with a beer while watching one of the great show. Relax with a beer while eating a lovely meal. Relax with a beer in one of the nightclubs.

I may even relax with a beer while dipping my toes in the waters of Castaway Cay.

Oh, and by the way, the fact that we are all cruising together IS down to my good looks and charm. Just because we are all going to spend some time on a floating marvel is purely coincidental.

Cheers

Kev

 

[Vickibean]

I'm also going on the December 5th Wonder cruise. It's our 2nd, having cruised RCCL last September. I can't wait!!!!!! It's my 4 year old son's first cruise. I booked a Category 12, and heard that you can upgrade when you get to the terminal if there is anything available for cheap!! I also visited Nassau on our last cruise and think it's nothing special. We plan to use the day to take full advantage of everything on the Wonder.

 

[RaySharpton]

Hi Vickybean. Welcome to the DIS. This must be my lucky day, after two months, I have three DISers posting to the December 5th thread. And you made one of your first posts, here. I feel honored. Your the second person that is new to the DIS posting that posted here. So a very BIG WELCOME to the DIS, Vickybean.

I am getting very excited, too. I'm sure that your little one will be very excited, too. What great memories you'll give him.

I hope that you get a great upgrade, but from what I here, all of the rooms, I mean staterooms are great.

I hope to see you there.

Sincerely, Ray

 

[RaySharpton]

Hi, Deb. Thank you so much for posting. I think that it is great for all of you to be planning such a great get together.

Now let's see if I can rememember all of your names...Deb and Matt...Tam and Kev...and...Mandy and Mark.

I am planning on making reservations for Palo when I get on board, too.

And $440.00 per couple is a great price. You sure that its not per person for a couple. If it is $440.00 total for the both of you, then that is an outstanding deal.

I don't think that I would have gone on this DCL Wonder cruise unless Deb Wills and others at Mousefest hadn't said that there were other people were on the cruise solo. So I thought what better way to experience a cruise than with other people that I met on the land portion last year.

But, $440.00 for a stateroom is an incredible price. I might have to compare prices next December and talk to DreamsUnlimited, and Costco, too.

I hope to see all of you onboard.

And thank you Deb for the tip of subscribing for this thread. I have had to go back several pages just to find it since no one usually posts here. That is until you posted...lol. And thank you for that.

Sincerely, Ray

 

[RaySharpton]

Hi, Kevin and Tam. Sounds like you have a great itineary there. And it sounds suspiciously like mind...lol.

And I hope that they serve several UK beers on board. Maybe you could suggest some good ones for me to try. I may have to try all of them several times.

I hope to see all of you, and thank you for taking the time to say hello.

Sincerely, Ray

 

[UKDEB]

Originally posted by RaySharpton
And $440.00 per couple is a great price. You sure that its not per person for a couple. If it is $440.00 total for the both of you, then that is an outstanding deal.

Ray, of course you are quite right, that is <i>each</i>, not per couple. I was getting a bit carried away with my discounts!
Still, as you say, still a great price.

 

[RaySharpton]

No problem, Deb. I love a good discount, too.

I always thought that I would have to pay a couple's fee or double price to cruise, or share a roommate.

I really did not want to do either.
Last year at the Mega-Mouse Meet in WDW, many of the people on the DCL Wonder cruise said that they were able to pay for a stateroom at about 1-1/2 a couples price. Still more than one person, but better than paying double.

I also thought that it would be nice to experience the DCL Wonder cruise with other people that I met last last year.

I guess not many people here on the DIS are going by way of Mousefest.
But that is why I posted here. I am a DISer, too. And I hoped to bump into some other DISers on board the Wonder, too.

Only 66 more days to go.

 

[RaySharpton]

Only 65+ days and counting