zerog
May 27th, 2007, 10:38 PM
Day 2 - Nassau
We ate breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet (deck 9). As it turned out, we ate breakfast there every morning. Food was average, at best. Yet, we ate enough to hold us over until lunch.
We left the ship later than I would have liked (around 10:30am), but we have 2 small children who don't move very quickly. Our excursion was full access to Atlantis. Instead of paying Disney $438, we booked a room at the Comfort Suites Hotel for $283 total, using a AAA discount (they never asked to see the card).
When you get off the ship you'll walk down the dock, through a building to get out into the main part of town. Before we got to the building, some taxi drivers were waiting. We told a taxi driver that we were headed to the Comfort Suites - she was wearing an official looking document around her neck, so we figured she was legit. She told us to wait while she found some more people heading to Atlantis. We must have waited 10 minutes while she asked every passenger walking by if they were going to Atlantis. I was about to go find another taxi, when she finally found another someone. I had read that taxi fees were $4 per person - I asked her how much it cost to go to Atlantis and she confirmed the 4 dollars. Meanwhile, I was carrying what looked like a small suitcase, so I was stopped twice by Bahamian customs who asked me what was in the bag (change of clothes, water bottles, sunscreen, camera, etc.).
Check-in/out at the Comfort Suites went smooth. No surprises. I got the access cards to Atlantis with no problem.
We walked from the Comfort Suites to Atlantis. It wasn't too far. Once there, as it turned out, we ran right into kiddie pool area - with water slides, a giant bucket that dumps every 5 minutes, and water guns. We found the towel hut where they issued us 6 towels and a wrist band.
Finally, we were ready to start our excursion. But, it was getting close to noon. The problem was, we had to be back on the ship to either catch the show (Golden Mickeys) or eat at the early dinner. We wouldn't find out till about 4:45pm that we had in fact been moved from late to first seating. We would need to time shower and change clothes. So, getting a late start and all the delays (taxi, hotel check-in, walking) we weren't really left with much time. I had planned to let the kids swim a while and then check out the aquariums.
Atlantis is a big place. Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes. It was busy, but that didn't bother us. We could have easily spent an entire week here.
So the kids had fun at the kiddie pool and I rode the 'lazy' river - which wasn't so lazy on the rapids part. There is a fork in the river: one way to the rapids and the other to the "Power Tower." I never did find out what the power tower was.
Around 2pm, my kids were hungry. I had planned to bring some snacks from the ship, via room service, but that didn't pan out. I was thinking PBJ and chips. We ended up eating hamburgers/fries at a restaurant for $50. We finished eating after 3pm. There wasn't much time left to see the aquariums. We walked some more to see the Hammerhead sharks and some other fish, but we had no time left to visit the Dig.
We took a taxi back to the ship. We had to wait in line at the Nassau customs building. We were finally back on the ship about 4:30pm. Figuring we had time to relax, we laid around the stateroom. The sun tends to wear you out. Then the phone rang about 4:45pm. We were moved to early seating; "see you at 5:30pm." Oh S***, back to rush mode. We were 15 minutes late to dinner, at Animator's Palate. Each table setting included a pirate bandana.
Again, food was average at best. The changing of the pictures on the wall kept my kids interest and my 4 year old DD didn't fall asleep. The problem here was we had just had a big lunch at Atlantis (3pm). None of us were really THAT hungry at 5:45pm. It would have been helpful if we had known ahead of time that we had been moved to early seating. Perhaps we would have had a few snacks to hold us over.
After dessert, a short movie was played. Then the waiters and waitresses came out clapping. After a short speech, everyone left. That was it - no dancing, no characters... it was pretty much business as usual. I failed to mention in my day 1 review, that nothing happened at dinner to set it apart from going to any restaurant, USA.
We had a little time before the Golden Mickeys, so we went to Shutters to view our ship photos. We found the embark and character photos, and stacked them for later purchase (as recommended on these forums). They moved our photo's the next day, but they remained stacked.
We arrived 15 minutes early to the Golden Mickeys and again got great seats. The pre-show began just as we walked in, which consisted of a host walking up to random people (kids included) and asking them questions. They showed these interviews on 2 screens at the front of the theater. My 4 year old DD really enjoyed the show; my 7 year old almost feel asleep. Me, I guess I am hard to please. It was just okay for me, dawg. Jeeez, I'm starting to sound like an American Idol judge. Side Note: I recently saw the broadway production, The Lion King. Now THAT is an excellent excellent show - did I mention "excellent?" I realize that talent and props are limited on a cruise ship, but still...
Now it was time for the pirate party. Just like the Sailaway party, go to deck 9 if you want to dance and deck 10 if you want to watch others dancing. Also like the sailaway, it started to get old after about 20 minutes. As luck would have it, it began to rain. People ran for cover. It almost sounded like those running the party were begging folks not to leave. It stopped raining after about 10 minutes and they lit off the fireworks. Sorry, but there was nothing spectacular about the 3 minute firework display.
At 11pm (day 1 too), they were showing POC 3 in the Disney Theator. My wife took my DS, but he fell asleep after about 15 minutes. For the portion of the movie that was seen, my wife stated that it was interesting watching the movie while rolling with the ship - kind of a 3d effect.
Bottom Line - this review may sound negative, because I've emphasized all the disappointments that occurred throughout the day. What's missing is the ambiance and excitement of just being on the ship. Also, those priceless moments of watching my children's excitement. The Wonder is a beautiful ship, all the workers are helpful and nice, as well as fellow cruisemates. And finally, it IS nice to be pampered - no housework, no cooking, no cleaning!
We ate breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet (deck 9). As it turned out, we ate breakfast there every morning. Food was average, at best. Yet, we ate enough to hold us over until lunch.
We left the ship later than I would have liked (around 10:30am), but we have 2 small children who don't move very quickly. Our excursion was full access to Atlantis. Instead of paying Disney $438, we booked a room at the Comfort Suites Hotel for $283 total, using a AAA discount (they never asked to see the card).
When you get off the ship you'll walk down the dock, through a building to get out into the main part of town. Before we got to the building, some taxi drivers were waiting. We told a taxi driver that we were headed to the Comfort Suites - she was wearing an official looking document around her neck, so we figured she was legit. She told us to wait while she found some more people heading to Atlantis. We must have waited 10 minutes while she asked every passenger walking by if they were going to Atlantis. I was about to go find another taxi, when she finally found another someone. I had read that taxi fees were $4 per person - I asked her how much it cost to go to Atlantis and she confirmed the 4 dollars. Meanwhile, I was carrying what looked like a small suitcase, so I was stopped twice by Bahamian customs who asked me what was in the bag (change of clothes, water bottles, sunscreen, camera, etc.).
Check-in/out at the Comfort Suites went smooth. No surprises. I got the access cards to Atlantis with no problem.
We walked from the Comfort Suites to Atlantis. It wasn't too far. Once there, as it turned out, we ran right into kiddie pool area - with water slides, a giant bucket that dumps every 5 minutes, and water guns. We found the towel hut where they issued us 6 towels and a wrist band.
Finally, we were ready to start our excursion. But, it was getting close to noon. The problem was, we had to be back on the ship to either catch the show (Golden Mickeys) or eat at the early dinner. We wouldn't find out till about 4:45pm that we had in fact been moved from late to first seating. We would need to time shower and change clothes. So, getting a late start and all the delays (taxi, hotel check-in, walking) we weren't really left with much time. I had planned to let the kids swim a while and then check out the aquariums.
Atlantis is a big place. Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes. It was busy, but that didn't bother us. We could have easily spent an entire week here.
So the kids had fun at the kiddie pool and I rode the 'lazy' river - which wasn't so lazy on the rapids part. There is a fork in the river: one way to the rapids and the other to the "Power Tower." I never did find out what the power tower was.
Around 2pm, my kids were hungry. I had planned to bring some snacks from the ship, via room service, but that didn't pan out. I was thinking PBJ and chips. We ended up eating hamburgers/fries at a restaurant for $50. We finished eating after 3pm. There wasn't much time left to see the aquariums. We walked some more to see the Hammerhead sharks and some other fish, but we had no time left to visit the Dig.
We took a taxi back to the ship. We had to wait in line at the Nassau customs building. We were finally back on the ship about 4:30pm. Figuring we had time to relax, we laid around the stateroom. The sun tends to wear you out. Then the phone rang about 4:45pm. We were moved to early seating; "see you at 5:30pm." Oh S***, back to rush mode. We were 15 minutes late to dinner, at Animator's Palate. Each table setting included a pirate bandana.
Again, food was average at best. The changing of the pictures on the wall kept my kids interest and my 4 year old DD didn't fall asleep. The problem here was we had just had a big lunch at Atlantis (3pm). None of us were really THAT hungry at 5:45pm. It would have been helpful if we had known ahead of time that we had been moved to early seating. Perhaps we would have had a few snacks to hold us over.
After dessert, a short movie was played. Then the waiters and waitresses came out clapping. After a short speech, everyone left. That was it - no dancing, no characters... it was pretty much business as usual. I failed to mention in my day 1 review, that nothing happened at dinner to set it apart from going to any restaurant, USA.
We had a little time before the Golden Mickeys, so we went to Shutters to view our ship photos. We found the embark and character photos, and stacked them for later purchase (as recommended on these forums). They moved our photo's the next day, but they remained stacked.
We arrived 15 minutes early to the Golden Mickeys and again got great seats. The pre-show began just as we walked in, which consisted of a host walking up to random people (kids included) and asking them questions. They showed these interviews on 2 screens at the front of the theater. My 4 year old DD really enjoyed the show; my 7 year old almost feel asleep. Me, I guess I am hard to please. It was just okay for me, dawg. Jeeez, I'm starting to sound like an American Idol judge. Side Note: I recently saw the broadway production, The Lion King. Now THAT is an excellent excellent show - did I mention "excellent?" I realize that talent and props are limited on a cruise ship, but still...
Now it was time for the pirate party. Just like the Sailaway party, go to deck 9 if you want to dance and deck 10 if you want to watch others dancing. Also like the sailaway, it started to get old after about 20 minutes. As luck would have it, it began to rain. People ran for cover. It almost sounded like those running the party were begging folks not to leave. It stopped raining after about 10 minutes and they lit off the fireworks. Sorry, but there was nothing spectacular about the 3 minute firework display.
At 11pm (day 1 too), they were showing POC 3 in the Disney Theator. My wife took my DS, but he fell asleep after about 15 minutes. For the portion of the movie that was seen, my wife stated that it was interesting watching the movie while rolling with the ship - kind of a 3d effect.
Bottom Line - this review may sound negative, because I've emphasized all the disappointments that occurred throughout the day. What's missing is the ambiance and excitement of just being on the ship. Also, those priceless moments of watching my children's excitement. The Wonder is a beautiful ship, all the workers are helpful and nice, as well as fellow cruisemates. And finally, it IS nice to be pampered - no housework, no cooking, no cleaning!