Cruising on The Disney Wonder: My Advice

I sailed on a seven-night Mexican Riviera cruise on the Disney Wonder in February 2011. Here’s what I learned.

What to do:

* See all shows in the Walt Disney Theatre. Disney’s Broadway-style shows are more enchanting than any show you’ve ever seen! You never know when something is going to fall from somewhere!

* Go to game shows at Studio Sea. I once got picked for “Who Wants To Be A Mouseketeer”! If you don’t get picked to be a contestant, leave.

* Get characters’ autographs.

* Play ping-pong, fooseball and shuffleboard with your family.

What not to do:

Adults, you may not agree with me on these next two:

* If you see “Mini Soccer” listed in your Personal Navigator (your daily schedule of shipboard activities), don’t fall for it: It’s basically the same activity you would get if you went to the soccer court at any other time of day, except there’s a crew member watching. So, if there’s something different you want to do at that time, do it!

* Don’t eat at the Beach Blanket Buffet. You may not notice this if it’s your first cruise, but there isn’t much of a selection for kids to pick from–well, at least not for me. Breakfast might be an exception.

* Don’t go to the “Pirates in the Caribbean” deck party.  All it is is dancing slightly stupid moves, and you can’t even dance because you’re packed in a crowd!  The whole time I was there I was thinking, “The real thing will start soon; just wait.” But it never did!  (P.S. You may want to be there for the last 5 or 10 minutes; that’s when the action is.)

* Don’t make a daily schedule for yourself based on what you see listed in the Personal Navigator because some of the activities probably won’t happen.  I made a schedule, and 65% of the activities didn’t happen!

Tips:

* Get into a relationship with your dining-room servers. Ours, Munir and Johanna, we couldn’t say goodbye to them.

* Get out of the Oceaneer’s Lab and stop playing Wii or whatever you’re doing.  Go to the pool: You can get more exercise there and there’s fresh air. It brings back memories too.