[tmoisan]

I am taking the 3 night cruise on the wonder Dec 21-24 with my dh and dd age 7. I have never cruised before, so i have a million questions and appreciate any information anyone here can give me.

I am concerned about motion sickness. I threw up after being on Mission space (but will still do it again next time :) and am wondering what is the best motion sickness deterrent. My doctor said he can give me a prescription, but I did not want ot be tired out on the trip. I have heard of the motion sickness bracelets. Do these work? Can someone recommend a brand?

I am also wondering if anyone has some tips on expediting embarkation/debarkation. How early should we check-in to avoid the lines? We are driving a rental car, is it ok to leave it? Also, we are following the cruise with a trip to Disney and will have christmas presents. Should I leave them in the car or do you think Disney would take them for me early and hold them for 4 days while we are on the cruise?

Since we are not using transfers , do we also have to put our luggage out the night before and how do we get it back? How long does the debarkation take and how early do they let you off the boat?

I am trying to budget for our time on the boat. If you do not drink alcohol and get the drink mugs (we get for free via AAA), what are the other expenses, besides end of cruise tipping and excursions, that we should be prepared for? Did anyone get unexpected expenses billed to their room?

For those of you with kids, how long did your kids play at the kids clubs? Did they enjoy them as activities or see it more as babysitting?

Like I said, a million questions, but I truly appreciate any advice or information you can give :)

[mickey]

concerned about motion sickness. I threw up after being on Mission space (but will still do it again next time and am wondering what is the best motion sickness deterrent. My doctor said he can give me a prescription, but I did not want ot be tired out on the trip. I have heard of the motion sickness bracelets. Do these work? Can someone recommend a brand?

I usually get a bit sick when I go out on the open ocean to fish, but I wasn't sick at all on the cruise. I saw most of the people on board with the little patches behind their ears. It seemed to work for them. I would check those out, they seem to be pretty simple to use, and you can choose to put them on or not.

How early should we check-in to avoid the lines?

Well, it doesn't matter what time you show up, there will be some lines. On the 3 night, I would try to arrive by about 11 AM, and you should be close enough to the front to be ok.

We are driving a rental car, is it ok to leave it?

Disney has secured parking near the ship. They will charge you $10 per night, so the cost will be about $30 to park there.

Also, we are following the cruise with a trip to Disney and will have christmas presents. Should I leave them in the car or do you think Disney would take them for me early and hold them for 4 days while we are on the cruise?

While they may take them for you, you might be safer to just lock them in the trunk of your car, hidden out of sight. The parking lot is fairly secure, and patrolled by security 24 hours a day, I think they should be pretty safe in there.[quote]Yes, everyone has to put out their luggage the night before. You will get it right after you get off the boat. Depending upon when you seating time is for dinner, you will be off between 7:30 and 8:30 AM. It only takes about two minutes to debark, then you go find your luggage and you are out of there.

I am trying to budget for our time on the boat. If you do not drink alcohol and get the drink mugs (we get for free via AAA), what are the other expenses, besides end of cruise tipping and excursions, that we should be prepared for? Did anyone get unexpected expenses billed to their room?

No, I have never had any extra expenses billed to my stateroom. It does happen, but it would be a mistake. The only charges we had on board were internet charges (you think I would get one day off!), souvenirs we purchased and a couple of other small items we charged to our room (rentals at Castaway Cay, etc). We prepaid our gratuities, which was nice, but we felt we overpaid for some, and underpaid for others, so I won't do that again.

or those of you with kids, how long did your kids play at the kids clubs? Did they enjoy them as activities or see it more as babysitting?

Your kids will never want to leave the kids club, and they will be mad when you come to pick them up. They do stuff with them all day, and they are never bored. They have almost an entire floor just for themselves, plus they take them to movies, play sports up to and lots of other fun stuff. I have never had one child who didn't want to stay in there all day long.

[geeman]

[quote]Originally posted by tmoisan
[b]I am taking the 3 night cruise on the wonder Dec 21-24 with my dh and dd age 7. [b]

Wow,what a way to have a wonderful holiday!

>>I am concerned about motion sickness.<<

The initial rocking back and forth might take getting used to, but we didn't feel it at all after the first night. As Mickey stated, though, they do have those bands and ear patches.

>>I am also wondering if anyone has some tips on expediting embarkation/debarkation. How early should we check-in to avoid the lines? <<

We got to the port at around 11 - The lines were long, but moved fairly fast. I hardly noticed the wait, actually. But then again, I'm used to waiting in lines in NY.

>>We are driving a rental car, is it ok to leave it? <<

What we did was rent from Budget, which was right at the airport and right near the port. We drove to Port Canaveral from WDW, then dropped off our rental car there. Didn't have to worry about it again for the rest of the trip. They shuttled us to the ship in time. Same thing going back.


>>Also, we are following the cruise with a trip to Disney and will have christmas presents. <<

This is a toughy. Don't bring anything too expensive if you can avoid it. They should be fine in the car, but just in case.

>>Since we are not using transfers , do we also have to put our luggage out the night before and how do we get it back? <<

No, you can carry your luggage off the ship with you. Unless it's a large amount of bags, just keep your bags with you overnight and take them with you to breakfast. Disembarkation begins RIGHT after breakfast. So, bags in hand, you can just walk off the ship. If you have too many bags, then tag them, leave them at the door, and you'll meet them on the way out. It doesn't matter if you have transfers or not (we got tags the last night and did not have transfers, either)

>>How long does the debarkation take and how early do they let you off the boat?<<

We were off by 9 am. Everyone was off by then.


>>I am trying to budget for our time on the boat. If you do not drink alcohol and get the drink mugs (we get for free via AAA), what are the other expenses, <<

We didn't drink. The beverage stations were just fine. In fact, we had $100 onboard credit (for using the Disney Visa) and didn't really use most of it - only for small souvenirs, etc.. There were no hidden charges, but as Mickey said, mistakes can happen, so check your bill.

>>besides end of cruise tipping and excursions<<

Tipping was expensive. Their "suggestions" are somewhat between reasonable and not, so use your judgement.

>>For those of you with kids, how long did your kids play at the kids clubs? Did they enjoy them as activities or see it more as babysitting?<<

Our table was all adults travelling alone, but those folks we met with kids said the little ones did not want to leave their play area! In fact, there were a lot of kids on board, but other than at character signing time, we hardly noticed them.

Enjoy your cruise!

[mickey]

Tipping was expensive. Their "suggestions" are somewhat between reasonable and not, so use your judgement.

I felt the same way. I thought that our server and assistant at dinner should have gotten more, and our steward who cleaned our room was great, and we gave him more, but the others were suggested way too high for what they did for us, or really, didn't do anything for us.

[crystalrp]

We have taken our kids on a Disney cruise twice. Our oldest, who is now 13, would love to stay with the kids clubs all the time. If not there, then he was very content to remain on the top deck playing basketball. Our 9 year old, on the other hand, is really shy. Though the counselors were wonderful, he did not like staying at the kids club and stayed with us all the time. We did manage to convince him to try it for an hour or so, but he was very happy when we picked him up, and didnt want to go back to the club again. You are given a pager to keep during the cruise, so if the kids decide they want you to pick them up, you can be paged anytime which should help relieve your mind.