Dage

If you wish, you can ask your head waiter to arrange an earlier MDR breakfast for you. A lot of people do not go to the MDR on the last morning so there are always empty tables. You could be off the ship and in your car by 7:45, even if you do not keep your luggage with you. We found that in PC, keeping your luggage will not save you much time. In Galveston, we disembarked by group and luggage from later groups was not off the ship while we were getting ours.

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I just came back from a Fantasy SWDAS cruise (western in a 1BR Concierge suite) and I'm booked on the Wonder cruise you are looking at next year, also in a 1BR. We had the option to book the Fantasy again with the same price difference you were quoted We chose to go on Wonder. Here's a few reasons why :

- We already did SWDAS full out, with the entire family in costumes from morning to night. While it was really really fun, it took a lot of prep and took over the entire ship. We didn't think it would be as much fun the second time around without the novelty. We are SW geeks, not just fans.

- We prefer the smaller ships in general because everything is closer. We also prefer the pool setup on them, including the fact you can watch funnel vision from a table while lunching, something impossible on Fantasy.

- My son won't ride the Aquaduck, so we don't miss it. The only thing he misses on the small ships is the detective game but he did all the stories twice already so it's not a big draw for him anymore.

- Tiana's is our favorite MDR. It's only on Wonder

- This year, Fantasy was packed, with even more kids than usual if that's possible. The ship was at full-capacity (not only sold out but the staterooms were all filled with max guests) and it showed in public spaces. It surely had to do with SWDAS. It made getting around less enjoyable at times. We skipped a lot of character signings because the lines were so long.

- We truly prefer the lounge on Wonder. On Fantasy, because it lacks windows, we take things and go in our room to enjoy them. On Wonder, we could hang out in the lounge all day.

- The lineup of shows on Wonder is better than on Fantasy.

- This might sound strange but we prefer the way food it setup in Cabana's on the smaller ships, most notably at breakfast. That's minor but we noted it.

All in all, the Wonder cruise will be more relaxing for us. Also, we haven't done those ports in a while, so we'll get to experience new things.

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DCL always sails at or near capacity, unless your are talking of the Dream. They even release the dates a few days early for gold/platinum members so they have first dibs on cabins since they fill up fast on opening day. It's probably the only cruise line that does not need to do last-minute specials to fill ships.

Also, the repo itineraries and European sailings sell out fast since they are most of the times once-a-year things, like the Panama Canal sailings, the 12-nights British Isles and 11-nights Northern Europe.

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We sailed on Wonder post dry-dock, aft room, 7th floor. The engine vibration is still there. In our room, it caused a LOT of creaking noises, so much that I had trouble sleeping. After a few nights, I realized that the ceiling was hitting the walls in a few specific spots. DCL knew about it too since I noticed small wood inserts in a few places. They missed one, probably because being on the floor in front of that spot, instead of on the bed, caused the noise to stop. I folded up a Navigator and inserted it : problem solved ! It was our tenth cruise and it was the first time we experienced something like that. It wasn't because of rough seas as there were no waves.

There's a video on YouTube of rattling in a suite on our sailing. The poster mentioned that it was so bad that they asked them to sleep in a regular cabin at night and use the suite during the day. The light fixture seems to be ready to fall off the ceiling in the video.

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My son had the beignets and loved them. They come with a chocolate/espresso sauce. I got the pecan tart that evening since I don't like fried foods. My server also brought me the white chocolate bread pudding. He was right : it's the best dessert from the entire cruise, on par with the Grand Marnier soufflé.

I was impressed with Frozen. The performances, puppets, costumes and effects are all great. Unlike many parents, we are not sick of the songs yet. It's the only cruise we've been on where they do a matinee. The place was packed at all three shows.

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Tiana's place is LOUD. You barely hear your servers and can't have a conversation without shouting, even on a 4-top. It was our first MDR in our rotation. It truly doesn't help establishing a good relation with your serving team. From our place, we couldn't hear a word Tiana was saying. I guess they placed the speakers in the columns facing outward, but we were in the center of the room. All that being said, the food and music is great. They match the theming perfectly. The biggest improvement from the dry-dock is certainly Cabana's. They expanded the seating quite a bit. Unlike before, we never had trouble finding a place to sit and didn't have to wait in line at the buffet. They also installed new communal sinks at the entrance which we liked a lot. The rest of the improvements were noticeable but not noteworthy since they simply brought the ship on par with the others.

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In Copenhagen two weeks ago, Mickey and Minnie came out in the Terminal.

The wait to see them was not so bad compared to the usual mob scene at the terminal in Cape Canaveral. Since we had to wait 40-45 min to board anyway, my son chose to do the line even if he knew he would get other opportunities onboard.