Disney Wonder Panama Canal with young children (<5 y/o)?

[Ravenclaw78]

Recently sailed the WBPC and while we didn't have kids that age, we did notice far fewer kids on the ship. I can't remember the number, but we were told it was very low. Overall the ship was far less crowded than typical cruises, even though every cabin was sold. You should have no problem getting nursery time or other reservations. We did notice a lot of the cruisers on board had cruised MANY times and there were a lot of DVC members too. Those veterans get priority booking, but we still did fine with availability.

I'm going on the 2019 WBPC with my wife and 8-yr old daughter. There are over 600 members on the FB group for the cruise and at least 90% of them are Gold or Platinum! There are several of us who are Silver and a handful of first-timers, so it'll be interesting to see what fills up before our Silver booking window opens.

I've read somewhere on this board that there are around 1500 kids on the Wonder for a typical sailing, but only about 150 kids on that poster's Panama Canal cruise. The kids get a lot more individual interaction with the Cast Members and each other. Parents on the FB group have said that they've been called by the club staff when their children weren't in the club, asking if they would like to come play! They also do activities like a sleepover that would never be possible on a normal cruise.

 

[wl1117]

Just to note: We were told that the child must be 5 or older to use the top bunk. That was 5-6 years ago when our eldest was in that age range, so I'd verify that this is still correct (or no longer correct).

 

[DietCokeMommy]

Just to note: We were told that the child must be 5 or older to use the top bunk. That was 5-6 years ago when our eldest was in that age range, so I'd verify that this is still correct (or no longer correct).

We sailed the Wonder in February and were never told this. Our 4 year old stayed on the top bunk with no problem.

 

[PTX]

I'm resurrecting my thread. We're taking the plunge and made the reservation a few months ago. I just replied in another Panama Canal thread asking about excursions, but wanted to ask here too in case this attracts a different set of eyes.

I looked through the official DCL offerings for excursions on the EBPC cruise that can accommodate the ages of our kids (4 y/o and 1.5 y/o). Ports scheduled are Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, Cartagena, George Town, and Cozumel. I know they won't have the patience for at least half of them (cultural tours/sightseeing, cooking lessons, watching crafts/liquor get made, etc.) The only excursion that caught my eye so far was the Puerto Vallarta Las Caletas Hideaway (PV15) since it seems like there are a lot of different activities.

Are there things within walking distance of these ports that we could just do on our own? I figure that way if there's a meltdown, we can just retreat back to the ship fairly quickly. I know I don't want to just stay on the ship while we're in port, even if it means touching land for just an hour or two.