28 January 2018 -> Disney Wonder to the Southern Caribbean!

d3boyz

swimmin' with the fishes!
Joined
Apr 1, 2005
We’ve never started a thread before but after about 10 cruises, maybe it’s our turn?!
Borrowing liberally from others who have posted AWESOME threads for their own special upcoming voyages, here goes …

Once upon a time, in waters far far away, Disney decided to see if Pirates still abounded ...

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… and less that ONE YEAR until we SET SAIL on the Disney Wonder and find out!


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Fajardo Bay Webcam

Live webcam overlooking Paomino & Culebra islands. (No view of the cruise pier)
http://weather.rabirubia.com/FajardoCam.html

Puerto Rico Surf Cams
Links to various surf webcams around Puerto Rico. (For current weather conditions)
http://www.comoestaeso.com/surf-cameras/la-ocho-live-surf-cam/

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Kings Casino Webcam
This webcam is hosted by Kings Casino and will show the cruise ships in port.
http://www.kingscasino.com/web-cam/

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Rodney Bay Webcam

The Rodney Bay webcam is hosted by Cleopatra Villa Rentals. (No view of cruise port)
http://206.126.123.14/view/index.shtml

Bonaire for DCL.JPG
No Webcam Links available

Aruba for DCL.JPG
No Webcam Links available



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DCL fb.png
https://www.facebook.com/groups/100836923727090/

Roll Call:
DH (John), me (Deb), DS (Jack (25), Basia (25, our new DD!), Will (22), and Tom (21)), Mathew (21) and Deirdre (23).
We will also have Terry, Marie, Brecklyn (11), John, Sr, and Cheryl with us as well.
 
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Hello my husband Dan, and our son Isaiah (3) will be on this cruise along with my mom and dad (Mike and Tammy) and my aunt and uncle (Carolyn and Robert). We are very excited!!!

As foster parents we currently have placement of two other children (3 and 4) who may or may not be with us (they've been with us for almost 3 years so they are on the reservation). While we go to Disney Word all of the time, this is the first cruise for the kiddos. They are already having a great time picking out fish extenders and their pirate gear!

Lindsey
Key Largo, FL
 
Hi All,

We are on the cruise as well and staying aboard for the trip up to Port Canaveral. A few years ago we sailed southern aboard RCCL but these are different ports with the exception of St Lucia. We did go out of San Juan getting in 1 day pre cruise. Wonder is our favorite ship as well as some of our favorite cast members. Starting to research private excursions, any thoughts ?
 


Hi! We will be there, just booked yesterday!! I am new to this forum and this will be our 3rd Disney Cruise. I was deciding between this one and the Jan 21 option with St Kitts and Martinique. We were more excited for this option with St Lucia and Bonaire (in addition to Antigua and Aruba).
 
Hello
Me and DH will be on this cruise and we too will be staying aboard for the trip back to Port Canaveral. We did the southern on Disney in
2014 and had a blast!! We cannot wait to go back to Aruba, we did that on a Panama Canal trip and fell in love. We're also excited about Bonaire
we've never been before. Super excited we can't wait!
 
Hi, DH, DS and I are on this cruise, also. We have never been to any of these ports including San Juan. Looking forward to learning what are the must do's. We love the Wonder and are excited to see her reimagined and the new Frozen show.
 


Hello
Me and DH will be on this cruise and we too will be staying aboard for the trip back to Port Canaveral. We did the southern on Disney in
2014 and had a blast!! We cannot wait to go back to Aruba, we did that on a Panama Canal trip and fell in love. We're also excited about Bonaire
we've never been before. Super excited we can't wait!
What did you do in Aruba?
 
What did you do in Aruba?
We did a catamaran snorkel tour. The water is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It was open bar after the snorkel, they took us to a wonderful restaurant right
on the water for lunch and then had some time to swim in the ocean. It was PERFECT!!
 
My fiancé, myself and my "10 year old at time of cruising" daughter will be on this cruise! Her brothers don't get to come along since they will be in middle school and high school. Too hard for them to miss!

I've spent two weeks in St. Lucia on vacations but all the other ports are new to me! My fiance has gone on a couple vacations to Aruba. Even though we live in So CA, we'll be wanting some warmth and sunshine come January I'm sure!
 
Hi gang. My husband Tim and myself (Annette) are on this cruise. We did the Southern Caribbean out of Puerto Rico on the Magic in Feb of 2016 with the other ports. While we enjoyed several of those ports we really didn't like Martinique, so thrilled to be going to some new ports again on this cruise. We also love the Wonder and the smaller ships (I like the older spas - dark and quiet!) We like to do Fish Extender groups as well, has anyone started on for this cruise? Do you all have your airfare yet, it seems to be getting pretty high. Looking forward to meeting you.
 
Oh thats interesting to hear...! I kind of wanted to book another southern for Martinique but it wasn't in the cards. Was there something in particular you didn't like about it?

I just realized I never actually 'checked in' for this cruise! :o My husband and I are booked in a concierge cabin (a first and probably last for us)! This will be our 8th DCL cruise. We've done a southern itinerary twice - first time was on the Wonder in Oct 2014 and the second was with RCCL. I really have no clue what we are going to do on St Lucia or Antigua this time as this will be our third visit to them.

We did already purchase airfare as we had issues getting to SJU last time due to winter storms and I wanted to make sure we routed south instead of through JFK this time. If I know what flights I want I just book right away and then stop looking. ;)

We don't participate in FEs anymore (we like to just sprinkle and receive sporadic pixie dust) so I can't help you there..!
 
Hi everyone! We will be on this cruise too! It's our first time doing the Southern Caribbean, but 13th Disney Cruise. It will be my husband, daughter (11) and son (9). Can't wait!
Lisa
 
Hi gang. My husband Tim and myself (Annette) are on this cruise. We did the Southern Caribbean out of Puerto Rico on the Magic in Feb of 2016 with the other ports. While we enjoyed several of those ports we really didn't like Martinique, so thrilled to be going to some new ports again on this cruise. We also love the Wonder and the smaller ships (I like the older spas - dark and quiet!) We like to do Fish Extender groups as well, has anyone started on for this cruise? Do you all have your airfare yet, it seems to be getting pretty high. Looking forward to meeting you.
Maybe you're the lucky one to start and manage the FE group for this cruise?! I haven't participated in a long time ...
 
We are hoping to keep this cruise. Planned on flying in a day or two early but found out it is my daughter(who is a senior) homecoming weekend. So either cancel the cruise or fly in the day of. Hate to take my chances, but right now have air, transfers and will add insurance through Disney--- so I think we may give it a go even though I swore I would never fly in the day of. Our 9th or 10th cruise(depending if we sneak a short one in)--- hubby has vertigo--- so just myself and my two teenage daughter, one a senior, the other a freshman in high school. Looking forward to some new ports. Haven't really researched any excursions yet.
 
Hi! We are planning to be on this sailing, as well as the next sailing back to PC. This will be our first B2B cruise. Does anyone know if Disney does anything special for those who are on it for a B2B cruise?
 
Hi! We are planning to be on this sailing, as well as the next sailing back to PC. This will be our first B2B cruise. Does anyone know if Disney does anything special for those who are on it for a B2B cruise?

We're also doing this back to back... We're in the same stateroom so it'll be like one long eleven night cruise. I asked questions a while back and was told we can leave our luggage in the room. We'll also be among the last ones to debark and the first ones allowed back on board. I understand we'll get instructions the night before and will wait at the port in a special waiting room with other back to back sailors.

We just paid in full. We're staying one night at the Miami Airport Marriott and three nights at the La Concha Renaissance San Juan Resort before the cruise. This will be our first trip on a classic ship. Our two prior cruises were on the Fantasy. We're really looking forward to this cruise.

Still looking at excursions but will likely book some with Disney and some with outside vendors. We love snorkeling and being on the water.

Martin
 
You're flying out of Miami to San Juan? But you're going back to Orlando. Why not fly out of Orlando?
 
You're flying out of Miami to San Juan? But you're going back to Orlando. Why not fly out of Orlando?

We live in southwest Florida. Booked a one way car rental from our local Avis to Miami and another from Port Canaveral to our local Avis office. One way flights from Miami to San Juan were $111 per person. I booked the cars (and hotels) with points.

Martin
 
Yes, the back to back is great when you are in the same stateroom, no packing. A lot of how it works depends on the number of B2B'ers, this cruise looks to have many ! With large numbers they have generally told us (letter night before) to be off by 9:30, proceed through customs and re-enter the terminal right away. The concierge waiting area is not big enough for large groups so you just hang out in the waiting area until check in opens for B2B, check back in and wait to board. We have re-boarded very early once but normally just before pre-boarding new guests. Our stateroom host told us he would do our stateroom early so when we re-boarded it would be ready, they ask only that you not go in and out so as not to disturb the hosts working in the area and also so when new guests are boarding they do not get annoyed they are not allowed in their rooms while we are walking through freely. We have also been offered free coffee in Cove when there were not dozens of B2B staterooms. Note: if you are changing staterooms, you pack your luggage and leave it into he room, the stateroom host moves it to your new stateroom while you are off the ship.

On the last night, or second to last, the Head Server will ask if you would like to retain your dining room team and shared table. We normally do however on our last B2B there was a mix up and got moved on the second leg, disappointing since our serving team was better than excellent. Everything else is treated like 2 separate cruises, new KTTW cards, lanyards, billing, etc.

Just one last note, be sure to stay out of the laundry room when you re-board, I will be there and love having the place all to myself :laundy:
 

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