karin5

Waiting for any replies, as we are sailing on the Grand in October and staying on Aloha deck. Hope it is a good cabin location.

I took my son on an Alaskan cruise when he was four. It didn't go very well. He didn't understand the "magic" and didn't want to be in the kids clubs. Too overwhelming for him. We tried again at age six. It was a week Bahamas cruise. What a HUGE difference. He loved it! The characters, the pirate party, formal night... I know all kids are different, but I would wait till age five. My son has no memory of the Alaska cruise either.

My family stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront, which is located across the street from the cruise terminal. It was very conveneient. Our luggage was picked up in our hotel room and taken to the ship. It was great.

My sister and I are planning a California Coastal cruise on the Grand Princess for 2016. We are considering a stateroom on Deck 12, Aft. Has anyone had experience staying on the Aloha deck? Is it really noisy? Any other drawbacks? We noticed this deck is a bit cheaper, than a few decks down, and were wondering why. In the past, we stayed on Caribe, but thought we'd try Aloha deck. Thanks.

My family eats only organic, non-Gmo food too. I don't recall Disney having any organic foods on our 2013 cruise. For us, we are going on a cruise in a few months. We will just make the best of it, but after the cruise I will do a cleanse.

By the way, I did do a windstar cruise several years ago, and they did provide organic foods. The food was absolutely amazing.

We cruised with DCL out of Galveston back in 2013. We ran into similar issues with transportation and hotels with DCL. we decided to book a pre-cruise hotel through disney in Galveston at the hotel galvez and also booked transfers through disney. Disney had a driver pick us up when our flight arrived the morning before and we were driven in a private car to our hotel.

 

It actually worked out pretty well for us.

 

We did book the Marriott at bush international for one night after that cruise, however when we tried to book through DCL, they said they didn't have any more rooms available, so we booked it on our own. The transport got a little complicated because we didn't book our hotel through disney, we had to ask the driver who was going to the airport to drop us off at the airport hotel instead of at the airport terminal...

 

The hotel, galvez is a nicer hotel, and it has a nice pool and is right across the boardwalk area.

Why did Disney change the logistics of the Galveston port? I wish Disney provided the shuttle/transportation/driver the day before the cruise to Galveston. Then have a Disney designated hotel in Galveston for the night (I heard Hotel Galvez is gorgeous). I was a bit disappointed for this cruise.

We cruised Alaska on Disney in 2013. Disney was outstanding on this issue. We flew in the day before, and Disney had a driver waiting for us ( I was expecting a bus, and we would have to wait till the bus was full to proceed to the hotel). He drove us about 1/2 hour to our Disney designated hotel in Vancouver, which was right across the street from the cruise terminal. It was just perfect. Disney had cast members at the hotel the day before the cruise to assist with any questions, and just be so helpful. I was really impressed. Then the morning of the cruise, we left our luggage in our hotel room, walked across the street and boarded the ship. A few hours later, our luggage was in our stateroom. Amazing service. We love Disney for this reason.

If you are flying into Hobby airport, it is closer to Galveston. I think by at least a half an hour. A driver would be cheaper from Hobby, than the George Bush airport. Just a FYI. Good luck.

Sounds like you have a good plan. My only question is whether a better option would be a 24 hour car rental that you could pick up in Houston and drop off in Galveston. That way' date=' you'd have the car to use during your day in Galveston. Of course, whether this is a reasonable option depends on whether there are drop off fees, etc.[/quote']

 

You are right. A rental car would be ideal. However, there is only one car rental agency in Galveston, Enterprise. However, Enterprise doesn't rent cars from the George Bush Airport to Galveston. I found this very odd, so I called Enterprise to confirm. Yep, they only rent cars from Galveston to the airport (and these are really pricey).

My family will be on the Wonder this fall, for a 7 night cruise from Galveston. After I booked the cruise, I called Disney to book their shuttle service. I wanted to get a shuttle the day before the cruise to Galveston, and stay at the designated Disney hotel in Galveston. I was surprised to learn, Disney didn't shuttle anyone to the port until the day of the cruise. (In Vancouver, they did it differently for their Alaska cruise). The designated Disney hotel was the Marriott hotel at the airport. I really wanted to spend some time in Galveston, because our plane arrives late morning the day before the cruise. So, I went ahead and booked a car to pick us up at the airport, and take us directly to Galveston. As I recall, Disney was charging $45 per person for the shuttle service, and I got a driver to drive us three, for $140 (It is a 1.5 hour drive). Then I reserved a hotel room for us in Galveston, for a cost of $120 for the night. I had to do a lot more research and planning on my part, but I think it will work out just fine.

For us, we look forward to visiting Galveston, the sea wall and other tourist areas. Plus, we are staying at a hotel very close to the port, so we plan to just walk over in the morning.

Thanks for the information, BullDawg91, Moki'smommy and Ex techie

I'm almost done with our door magnets, just need to attach the magnets now. I'll probably just finish this project, and hope for the best. If they don't stick, I'll take them home, and put them on our fridge.

Thanks for the great review. Well done. I am glad you had a wonderful cruise. I'll be on the Grand in November, Baja deck, aft. I'm concerned about the musty smell on ship, as I have mold allergies. Did you have a musty smell in your cabin?

Concierge doors have a wood veneer that won't work with magnets.

Do the suite stateroom doors on the Wonder have a wood veneer? I heard it was just the Fantasy and Dream. It is my understanding, the suite stateroom doors on the Wonder are metal, so our door magnets will work just fine. Can anyone clarify? I'm very curious. My family doesn't leave until November, but I've been working on our door magnets already. We are in a one bedroom suite.

Thanks, Karin5. I sent a message to your e-mail & look forward to meeting your family in November.

I'm sorry to say, I didn't get your e-mail. I may have caused some confusion to my address, as I wrote in code (wrote out 'dot' and the 'at'), so admin wouldn't delete it. Please try again. My address is kmmjetski@yahoo.com I sure hope to hear from you, as it would be fun to chat before the cruise. If not, I'll see you on the ship. I'm counting down the days, I love to cruise. :)

Wow, your itinerary looks amazing! I look forward to reading about your trip. I loved your Vancouver-Hawaii-Sydney vacation. Hope your Dad is doing well. Thanks for doing another trip report.

Karin5 --

 

I look forward to seeing you & your family on the cruise! Your son is right in between my 2 oldest boys. My oldest will be in 3rd grade next year & my second will be starting Kinder - both love legos & will enjoy getting to meet other boy. And I think that we will have cabins nearby if we are both concierge - we're on deck 8.

 

As to the confusion over our location - We are originally from Pennsylvania (hence PAFamilyof5), but recently moved to Texas, so we can drive to Galveston. All of our family is still on the East Coast, so we're looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving on DCL this year.

PAFamily,

If you'd like to chat behind the boards, feel free to contact me via e-mail: kmmjetskiatyahoodotcom

I think our boys would have a super good time on the cruise. My son loves to meet new kids.

PAfamily, see you on the cruise! We plan to board early, and enjoy the ship. We are flying in the day before.

Hi PAfamily,

Yes, we are on the same cruise. My son will be almost 7 (Christmas baby), by cruise time. He will be starting 1st grade in the fall. My son is very outgoing, and loves Legos and Disney. He is going to love the Oceaneer Club. I am so much looking forward to the cruise. A week of no cooking (even though I love to cook). A true vacation!

We have just booked our first Disney Cruise on the Wonder, sailing on November 2015. This will be the first cruise for my husband & I in over 10 years (and our first cruise on DCL) and our first cruise ever with kids. We have 3 boys who will be 9, almost 6 and 3.5 when we sail. We picked a concierge one bedroom and are curious about the perks. I've seen lots of great reviews about concierge level on the newer Disney ships, but can't find much about concierge service on the older ships. Can anyone who has sailed concierge on the Wonder recently address what type of perks they enjoyed as concierge guests or give us any suggestions for making the most of the service? Also, am I correct that there is no dedicated concierge lounge on the Wonder (as on the newer ships)? Lastly, I know we are still months out, but we are enjoying researching and planning for our trip. We'd love to have an adults-only night at Palo, but don't want to miss out on pirate night or formal night with the kids. Does Disney typically keep the same nights as formal night/pirate night for each itinerary? We will be on a 7-night Bahamian cruise- when would be the best time to book Palo? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for asking these questions, as I have wondered the same things. My family is on the Thanksgiving cruise out of Galveston in a one bedroom suite too. We have a 6 year old son, who loves to cruise Disney. This will be our first suite on DCL. I've read a lot about the perks, as I know some are unwritten and can vary from cruise to cruise.

My family is counting down the days till we fly to Houston. We are so much looking forward to the cruise.

Its five o'clock, so I'd be getting ready for the early dinner soon. Followed by a show, dessert at the buffet and then karaoke till midnight. Oh, what great memories! I love cruising!

Last March I flew from Sacramento to Houston, the day of our cruise. It was not my first choice, but my sister didn't want the cost of a hotel. Our flight left Sac at 6:00 am, and arrived in Houston at 11:30 am (direct flight). We caught the shuttle to the port, and it worked well. We were on ship by 1:30, and the ship left at 4:00. Was I nervous about not catching the ship? Oh yes! I had nightmares about it, as the day got closer. Would I do it again? Maybe, if I was flying a very short distance (from northern to southern Cal).

In November my family will take a Disney cruise on the Wonder out of Galveston. We are flying in the day before, just to give us a cushion. We could encounter fog problems or hurricanes ( hope not). We plan on getting up early and watching the ship enter the harbor, and then relax the morning of our cruise.

Oh, this sounds like a fun thing to do. Is it on the Wonder too? We have a November cruise on the Wonder.

Wow, these prices are incredibly expensive. After adding in airfare, excursions, it is a down payment on a house! My family is planning a British Isle cruise for 2017, but it will be with a different cruiseline at these prices.

Thanks for your excellent review. Love the photos. We sail in November on the wonder to CC. I'm trying to convince my husband to reserve a cabana. Your review may just do it. Thanks

Thanks for your great review. I'm looking forward to more of your posts. My sister and I sailed the Caribbean Princess out of Houston in March. We really liked the new Houston terminal. We flew out of Sacramento at 6:00 am on departure day, and arrived in Houston at 10:45am. We met the Princess bus transportation, and we're on our way to the port with no delay. We got off the bus, and within 20 minutes we were on the ship. It was incredible. I'd go out of Houston again anytime.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatal

Have a wonderful cruise!!!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatal