Anyone Been on the Disney Wonder?

We have been on the Wonder, and we're headed back next month. You'll love it! :)

There's clubs for the kids, so you can occasionally have adult time. The food, entertainment, crew, pools - everything is great. There will be game shows, competitions, dance parties, and more. You won't be able to do everything offered.

Have you been on a cruise before? If not, here's things I wish I had known before my first Disney cruise.

You can just walk off the ship in port, and explore on your own, and it's possible (especially on Castaway Cay) to have a great time on your own. But, booking a shore excursion will let you travel farther away from the ship, and explore places you couldn't walk to.

It's possible to opt out of the tips that will be charged to your room/credit card, but I wouldn't. Sometimes, that's all the pay the crew members receive. Plus, you'll want to tip, trust me - they'll treat you all exceptionally well! If necessary, start saving now so you can give the customary tips (about $20 per day per person).

Set aside some money for at least one professional photo, too. There will be plenty of portrait options offered. If you buy the CD of all the photos, you can get all the prints (all enlargements) for about $50 more.

HAVE FUN! It will be amazing! :)

Everything you ever wanted to know about a Disney cruise, and probably more than you'll ever need to know, can be found at www.disboards.com in the forum section. Seriously, you can find anything there. Another great general cruise resource is www.cruisecritic.com, where you can find info on different ports, different lines, and more.

I haven't been on the Wonder but I did go on the Disney Fantasy. I'm dying to go back. A previous poster mentioned getting a cabana - if you can connect with another family through Disboards, you might be able to split one. Try to find a family with kids similar ages to yours and hopefully everyone will get a long. The cabanas are big, so if there are only 5 of you, adding another family would not make it too crowded.

Find out if there is going to be a farewell meet & greet with the characters on your last evening (maybe around 4 or 5 p.m.). We met and got pictures with 8 characters in under 30 minutes, as opposed to waiting 20-30 minutes in line to meet just one at a normal meet & greet.

We took a cruise on the Disney Dream last September and it was wonderful. We splurged and got a private cabana on Castaway Cay for the day. It was about $500 extra but it was worth it to us. We thought we were in our own paradise island. You have to reserve them in advance and they usually sell out before the cruise. It gave us a chance to get out of the sun and then we had a place to wait out a really bad rainstorm. People without cabins hustled back to the boat or to a covered area to wait out the storm. We watched the rain and after it had passed we went out to enjoy the beach again. It also gave us a place for our granddaughter to take a nap (without going back to the boat. Meals were very good and you rotated to different restaurants and your waiters went with you. However, if you want to have a wonderful meal, we upgraded to their 5 star restaurant for an adult only meal for a special family occasion. We booked the child care on the boat for that evening. Children have to be potty trained to go into the pools (no swim diapers) but there was a separate Nemo themed water play area they could visit with diapers. There are gift shops all over the boat and they are quite expensive. We bought some Disney stuff in advance and packed it and brought out a few surprises along the way. Also, bring your own sunscreen and hats! Have fun - it was a wonderful experience for our family.

Awesome. Kids will love it. So will you. Disney knows how to do everything right!!!!!