Nov. 24 2017 7-Night Bahama Cruise out of Galveston on Wonder

[HunkyDory]

Does anyone have 1st dining for this cruise?
[\QUOTE]

We booked around that same time I think and I was also surprised 1st seating was already full. On the FB page, people were discussing this. They said waitlisters often get moved to early dining after the final payment is due because some of the early diners drop out. Someone also claimed that you can ask to be moved once on board because they save some spots for this scenario. No idea how valid this is since this is my first Disney cruise. I always had first seating on Carnival so we decided just to give late dining a shot this time around to see what it's like. Might backfire lol!

 

[HunkyDory]

(Sorry about the above I need to read up on how not to screw up the quotation formatting.)

 

[Stefileslie85]

I'm excited to get started on FE stuff!

Does anyone know if pin trading is much of a thing on the cruise? I haven't been to Disneyworld since 2004- when I bought 4 pins but trading wasn't even on my radar. I have a 6 year old daughter now so she might enjoy it. Do they have any pin gatherings or do any of the crew wear trading lanyards? Thanks to anyone who might know!

From what I have read their may be an officer pin trading event. Also some of cast members may be wairing pin trading lanyards but it's sporadic. I found this DISboards thread if you want more info.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/is-pin-trading-happening-on-the-ships.3523629/

 

[Stefileslie85]

From what I have read their may be an officer pin trading event. Also some of cast members may be wairing pin trading lanyards but it's sporadic. I found this DISboards thread if you want more info.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/is-pin-trading-happening-on-the-ships.3523629/

FYI my family was on this same exact cruise last year and I just took a look at our Personal Navigators. We did have Officer Pin Trading on day 4 (Nassau) of the cruise. It was at Preludes (deck 4 forward) at 7:15pm.

 

[HunkyDory]

FYI my family was on this same exact cruise last year and I just took a look at our Personal Navigators. We did have Officer Pin Trading on day 4 (Nassau) of the cruise. It was at Preludes (deck 4 forward) at 7:15pm.

Very cool! Thanks so much for taking the time to look.

 

[Cassi Cox]

Did book an airline with the cruise? I want to look into baggage fees. And what transportation do you use from the airport to the port? It's our first cruise and I am attempting to get everything in order. thanks!

 

[Stefileslie85]

Did book an airline with the cruise? I want to look into baggage fees. And what transportation do you use from the airport to the port? It's our first cruise and I am attempting to get everything in order. thanks!

We live in Texas so we'll be driving down to Galveston so unfortunatly we don't have any fist hand info on flights or airport transfers. I did some digging and found that Disney Cruise Line has an Air and Ground Transportation page on their website that goes over air travel options and ground transfers from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport to the port of Galveston, as well as some hotel info. To find it go to DCL's website click on the Help link, then click on Guest Services, and finally click on Air & Ground Transportation. On the Guest Services page you can also find a link for DCL's Air Program. If you have trouble finding it let me know and I can copy and paste all the info they have for Galveston. Hope this helps a little.

 

[Texasrosebud]

Hey Everyone! I have been really busy so just now getting back to the boards. Just read all the post again and getting really excited about the FE. Hope everyone of you are doing well. We have had some crazy weather here in North Texas the last few days.

 

[Stefileslie85]

Hey Everyone! I have been really busy so just now getting back to the boards. Just read all the post again and getting really excited about the FE. Hope everyone of you are doing well. We have had some crazy weather here in North Texas the last few days.

We are very excited about the FE also. We only have one more gift to get/make. Definatly some crazy weather in North Texas. We were woken up by tornado sirens at 2am this morning and had to wake up the kids and head to our safe room. Luckily we were not hit with anything to bad and had no damage. On the positive side our girls got to work on their Disney coloring books for an hour in the middle of the night so they were excited. Come on Castaway Cay!! 239 more days to go.

 

[Stefileslie85]

Happy Easter! 222 more days!

 

[StefaniaLOL]

Hello everyone! New to disboards and joined just for this cruise thread.
This is our first Disney Cruise!
It will be myself and my two daughters: 4 and 12. I am sure the girls will love it! Any advice? Is it here that we join the FE group?

 

[Stefileslie85]

Hello everyone! New to disboards and joined just for this cruise thread.
This is our first Disney Cruise!
It will be myself and my two daughters: 4 and 12. I am sure the girls will love it! Any advice? Is it here that we join the FE group?

This is the place to sign up for the Fish Extender for this cruise. I will post our rules and guidelines so you know how it works. If you want to join Personal Message (PM) me with your room #, and an email address so I can send you the final list of everyone in your group. Since you are new to the DISboards you will need 10 posts to PM. Once you have reached 10 posts PM me with your info as we are keeping most of it private. To PM me all you have to do is click on my avitar or screen name and then click on start a conversation. Feel free to post here or http://www.disboards.com/forums/test-board.88/ to get your post count up.

As far as advice as the Beach Boys say, get there fast then take it slow. It's easy to over plan. With all the things to see and do try and plan some free time to take it easy and just relax. Other than that we took this same cruise in 2016. Here are some things that we did not know until we found them out by reading the DISboards or until we got on the ship.

1. They offer a gingerbread house building class. You can get tickets by going to the customer service desk. We suggest going as soon as you board because they say the classes fill up fast.

2. Their is a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. On our cruise it was the first night at 7:30pm.

3. If your family wants to meet characters their are three things you can sign up for in advance online. The Princess Gathering, the Frozen Meet and Greet and the Disney jr. Character Breakfast (which on our cruise was in Animators Palate).

4. CVS pharmacy is within walking distance from where the boat docks in Key West. It's great if you forgot to pack anything or want some bottled water or drinks for your in room fridge.

5. Starbucks is within walking distance from where the boat docks in Key West also, just incase you need caffeine.

6. If you want coffee on the boat Cove Cafe is the closest thing to Starbucks you'll find. It's located on deck 9 mid ship in the adult only section on the ship. They have a reward card with a free coffee after you buy 4 or 5 (I can't remember which).

7. Deck 9 is also where the free self serve soda fountain and soft serve ice cream machines are.

8. The ship has a movie theater which plays a mix of Disney movies including ones that have just come out in theaters. On our previous cruise Moana came out the day before we left and they had 3 or 4 showings of it.

9. We thought the Frozen, A Musical Spectacular was great and on our cruise they had shows at the normal evening show times and a matinee show at 2:30pm. Hopefully they do the same for this cruise.

10. If you want a private table for dinner call now and request one otherwise you may be seated with other people.

11. On our cruise the average temperatures were highs around 78 lows around 70. The water temp at Castaway Cay was around 76 which is cold when you first get in but ok after a couple minuets.

12. Castaway Cay has strollers and wagons you can just grab free of charge once you get off the ship.

Hope that helps. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

 

[Stefileslie85]

For those that are interested in joining the Fish Extender for this cruise here are my rules and guidelines. We will be making groups with a maximun of 10 cabins in each group. You are welcome to join more than one group if you want more than 10 cabins. The last group will be closed one month before the cruise and I will then start a latecomer’s group or a pixie dust group. If someone drops out of a group before the cruise, I will not replace them in a group (unless the group agrees).

Real names are not required – it is DW(Darling Wife), DH(Darling Husband), DD(Darling Daughter) and DS(Darling Son). If you want to give your real names in case someone in your group wants to make personalized gifts that's fine but it's optional.

Info required to join the FE is room #, who is in the room, ages of any kids and an email address to send the final list to. Optional info is any allergies, favorite characters and real names. The only person that will have your email is me and I will delete it from my contacts once we are back from the cruise. I will send an email to all participants in each group as it closes. I will have everyone email me back so I know they have received their email and everything is correct. After that, the only email you will get from me is if there are any changes in your FE group.

There is no spending limit (spend what you are comfortable with). Gifts can be per person or per cabin, your choice. Please make sure to hang your extender as soon as possible for those who want to deliver early (or daily - it does happen). There is no set day to deliver, just have everything delivered before Thursday November 30th at 6pm so people have time to pack. If there is no extender, please do not leave anything as the participants may have changed rooms.

I will let everyone know of any room changes up to 48 hours before the cruise, then I will be traveling to Galveston and have limited access to the internet. If you have any changes less than 48 hours before the cruise you will have to wait until you are on the boat and go door to door and drop off a note to your group with the changes.

I will try to check this thread often so feel free to ask any questions.

 

[Luann Crownover]

I have heard conflicting answers to this, so I will ask all you experienced cruises for assistance. I plan on having a scooter on the cruise due to bad knees. Will I be able to take it off the ship when we get to Castaway Cay or will I even need to? I have heard that there is a tram from the ship to the main area and I have heard that there is not. I don't plan on going far out on the beach and I understand the scooter would probably not fare well there, but I thought I might use it in the shop and restaurant area. What are your suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[Stefileslie85]

I have heard conflicting answers to this, so I will ask all you experienced cruises for assistance. I plan on having a scooter on the cruise due to bad knees. Will I be able to take it off the ship when we get to Castaway Cay or will I even need to? I have heard that there is a tram from the ship to the main area and I have heard that there is not. I don't plan on going far out on the beach and I understand the scooter would probably not fare well there, but I thought I might use it in the shop and restaurant area. What are your suggestions? Thanks in advance!

My family has no firsthand experience using a scooter on Castaway Cay but I checked DCL's web site and it does say they allow motorized scooters off the boat at Castaway Cay. The web site also says that while standard and electric wheel chairs do fit on the tram, electric scooters do not. I would call DCL to confirm this. Last year when we went to Castaway Cay we got off the boat around 9:45am or so and their was a pretty long line for the tram so we decided to walk to the family beach. It seemed like a pretty long walk to me but I did it in flip flops so it couldn't have been that bad. The pathway was paved all the way to the beach so it would be doable with a scooter. Of course once you reach the beach there are no pathways on the beach just soft sand and plenty of free lounge chairs and umbrellas. Disney does provide beach wheel chairs free of charge on a fist come first serve bases. There is no paperwork or anything to fill out. All you have to do is walk up and grab one from the wheel chair, waggon and stroller pick up area across from the first tram stop. Again I have no firsthand experiance using them so I do not know how easy or hard they are to use on the sand. Their are paved pathways from the beach to all the eating and shopping areas. If you do decide to take the tram you board it at the "Cargo Handling Tram Stop" and it is about 400 feet on paved pathway from where we get off the boat. From there the tram has 3 stops. "Scuttle's Cove Tram Stop" which drops you off near the east end of the family beach and across from the wheel chair, waggon and stroller pick up area. "Pelican Point Tram Stop" which drops you off on the west side of the family beach. "Serenity Bay Tram Stop" which drops you off at the south side of Serenity Bay the adults only beach. I hope this helps a bit. Maybe someone on here with some firsthand experience can comment.

Also just fyi below is some info I found about Castaway Cay on DCL's web site.

"Disney’s Castaway Cay

PATHWAYS
There are paved pathways throughout the main Castaway Cay promenade that provide access to First Aid, She Sells Seashells and Everything Else, Cookie’s BBQ, Cookies Too BBQ, Spring-A-Leak, Pelican Point Tram Stop, Buy the Seashore, Gumbo Limbo, Pop’s Props, Dig In, Conched Out Bar, In Da Shade Games, all pathways leading to the Cabana’s and all restrooms (excluding Serenity Bay).
Hard-packed sand pathways provide wheelchair access to Gil’s Fins and Boats, Heads Up Bar, the massage cabanas at Serenity Bay, Lookout Point leading to Pelican Deck of Pelican Plungeand Castaway Air Bar.
The remaining areas, which consist mainly of beach areas, are accessible through the use of sand wheelchairs, which are available free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis.

TRAM SERVICE
Personal and electric wheelchairs are able to board the tram that runs on Castaway Cay;
however, motorized scooters and the sand wheelchairs do not fit on the tram.

SAND WHEELCHAIRS
Castaway Cay has a limited number of sand wheelchairs available on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no charge for this service. The majority of these chairs can be picked up across from Scuttle’s Cove, with a few available at Serenity Bay. Your personal wheelchair may be left at Scuttle’s Cove or Serenity Bay while you are using the sand wheelchair. Please take all personal items with you when leaving your wheelchair at these locations.Please note: Sand wheelchairs are not designed for use in the water and may cause injury if used inappropriately."

 

[Luann Crownover]

My family has no firsthand experience using a scooter on Castaway Cay but I checked DCL's web site and it does say they allow motorized scooters off the boat at Castaway Cay...

Thanks so much! Great info! I had looked at Disney site and didn't find nearly this much info. I appreciate the help.

 

[Stefileslie85]

Glad to help

 

[Stefileslie85]

Our Fish Extender Group #1 is closed and Group #2 is open and is more than half full. Only 4 more to go till we close group #2 and open group #3.

Group #1 Closed:
Stefileslie85 - DW, DH, DD 4, DD 2
ptcruisers - 2 Adults (female)
Chris Boudreaux - DH, DW, DD 16, DD 13
emsandows - DH, DW, DD 9, DS 8
labela - DW, DH, DD 12
Cassi Cox - DH, DW, DS 7, DS 4
Bea Tapia - DW, DH, Mom, DS 9
Texasrosebud - DW, DH, DD (Adult)
SadieSue - DW, DH, Grandson 5, Grandson 2
Luann Crownover - Grandma, Mom, DD 21, DD 16

Group #2 Open:
Kat1213 - DW, DH, DS 5, DS 2
Holmes1907 - DH DW, DD 14
Kim Ray - Grandma, Mom, DS 5
Mystery Inc - Mom, Dad, Child 7, Child 4
HunkyDory - DW, DH, DD 6
StefaniaLOL - Mom, DD12, DD4

 

[MelodyO]

Just trying to get enough posts so that I can get replies and some invitations by disigners.

 

[MelodyO]

I only have 39 days till my trip!