Aloha Hawaii! Our 10 Day Cruise to Hawaii on the Disney Wonder, September 7, 2015 Trip Report completed 07/31/2016 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Aloha Hawaii! Our 10 Day Cruise to Hawaii on the Disney Wonder, September 7, 2015 Trip Report completed 07/31/2016
Hello everyone! (Or should I say Aloha )
I've been away from the boards for a criminally long time. I'm so behind on TRs that I started, they'll be my official summer reading! After finally finishing the trip report from our September trip, I had to sink my teeth down into some serious study for a certification. I finished a 90 credit course and passed the test for the course in May. My certification exam will be in July, so I've gratefully put the books down for now... To plan for a new trip!
First a bit of background:
I'm Angela - lover of Disney World and Disney cruises. Homeschooling mom of a teen and tween boys. Trying to finish crocheting a graphghan blanket I started last July - I am Sisyphus and that never-ending blanket is my rock.
"D" is my hubs - close acquaintance of Disney World, becoming fast friends with DCL. Very private, thus the "initial", lol. Would be an awesome football/basketball coach if it weren't for his stressful career.
Max is my 13 year old - BFF with Disney World, but just like all teens looking for new friends, interested in a new hang out buddy - Universal Studios. Well, specifically Harry Potter Land or whatever that is over "there". Second home is the Edge club on the Dream.
Titus is my 10, almost 11 year old - BFF with Disney World, but sometimes wishes it could come outside more and play some more extreme sports, i.e. faster, scarier, wilder rides. Fav cruise thing to do: After swimming, gets pizza and goes back to the stateroom to watch Disney movies - solo.
New additions to the gang: D's mother, Martha and her best friend Anne. They are two "seasoned" ladies with almost opposite personalities. Martha is a riot - outgoing and loves to laugh, but nervous to try new things. Like being on a cruise ship, or Hawai'i, lol. Anne is more reserved, but very sweet and LOVES to travel (esp. the Caribbean and Vegas!) and try new things - Hawai'i has been a dream for her for a long time. As soon as D presented the idea of going with us, Anne wrote a check on the spot. Martha, well let's just say there may be some sedatives involved when we get on the plane. They will miss having a casino onboard the Wonder, but hopefully there will be a lot more fun things to do that they won't miss it
On May 3rd, we got the official "Paid in Full" by DCL, woot! We learned late in the game that we could use Disney Gift Cards to add to a Disney Vacation Account. We also learned that we could save almost 4% by buying them at BJs Warehouse. (Yes, I tried Target, but for some reason, they wouldn't let me buy stacks of cards using a Red debit card, even though it was my money. I will not bore you with that frustrating, vein in forehead inducing experience. ) We ended up saving about $400 by paying for the cruise that way. Another lesson learned: You can get $20 back on each thousand but ONLY if you've had the savings account for more than 3 months, dang! We could've made $180 off of that
We are Silver Castaway Club members, so we can't check in or book shore excursions until June 9, but that's ok. We're looking into doing our own thing when we dock, but more on that later. We have 2 staterooms, directly across from each other (thank you to my travel agent, Chris ) Our stateroom is a category 5A on deck 7, we have an ocean view with a veranda. The ladies will be in a cat 11A, standard inside. We considered an ocean view for them, but we saved some money by getting them a cat 11, plus Martha would've been nervous with all that ocean out there to look at
Here's a quick and dirty itinerary:
Fly to Seattle the day before, then take the train to Vancouver the next morning. Board the Wonder, sail for 6 days at sea, then stop at 4 Hawaiian islands. Stay in Aulani for 3 days, then fly back home with a stopover in Las Vegas.
I've been researching shore excursions and reading Cheryl Pendry's amazing Hawai'i trip report. More coming soon!
Fantastic start! Can't wait to hear all about it! Sounds like lots of fun in store!
We love Hawai'i, and are thinking about an Aulani trip next spring...
Glad I could help out with my trip report - and if you have any questions, do shout and I'll do my best to help answer them. I have to say the itinerary sounds absolutely wonderful. We'll just miss you, as we get off the Wonder the morning you'll be embarking in the afternoon.
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Signing on! You'll be on the Wonder about 2 months after we get off. We're deck 6, though. I'd love to do this itinerary! Doesn't look like you're spending time in Vancouver pre-cruise, or I'd suggest you follow my TR (just started last week) as I've been doing LOTS of Vancouver research for our 6 days there IN A MONTH!6 sea days in a row.....ahhhhhhhhh!
Oooh, Angela, this sounds fantastic! I've always thought cruising to see Hawaii makes a lot of sense. Much better than having to head for an airport every other day to go to another island. Martha and Anne sound like fun additions. If they're missing a casino, send them to Bingo. On the longer cruises the final jackpot can be ENORMOUS!
Fantastic start! Can't wait to hear all about it! Sounds like lots of fun in store!
We love Hawai'i, and are thinking about an Aulani trip next spring...
Thanks! Wow, I hope you get to go
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Glad I could help out with my trip report - and if you have any questions, do shout and I'll do my best to help answer them. I have to say the itinerary sounds absolutely wonderful. We'll just miss you, as we get off the Wonder the morning you'll be embarking in the afternoon.
Your trip report is like a primer for touring Hawai'i. We won't get to do everything you guys did, but I had no idea where to even start - thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Signing on! You'll be on the Wonder about 2 months after we get off. We're deck 6, though. I'd love to do this itinerary! Doesn't look like you're spending time in Vancouver pre-cruise, or I'd suggest you follow my TR (just started last week) as I've been doing LOTS of Vancouver research for our 6 days there IN A MONTH!6 sea days in a row.....ahhhhhhhhh!
I really wish we could see some of Vancouver. As it is, we're barely going to see any of Seattle
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Angela, can you adopt me.....LOL
What a fantastic trip, already so green with envy but of course that means I will be stalking you for updates on this amazing vacation!!!
Can't wait to hear more.
LOL Our family is nutz, you may not like it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by belle0517
Great start. Aulani is amazing!
I've only heard great things about Aulani - I'm trying not to think about it too much!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Oooh, Angela, this sounds fantastic! I've always thought cruising to see Hawaii makes a lot of sense. Much better than having to head for an airport every other day to go to another island. Martha and Anne sound like fun additions. If they're missing a casino, send them to Bingo. On the longer cruises the final jackpot can be ENORMOUS!
Hi Laurie! I will certainly tell them about Bingo I agree with cruising to visit Hawai'i, although we're only making 4 stops. I may have to try the Pride of America cruise around the islands one day
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Great start! I can't wait to read all about your plans and then the trip itself!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy
Great start and I am very interested to hear about your adventures and experiences.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilsEagles08
Checking in!!
I already love the Martha & Anne part! I giggled at the idea of them being lost without a casino on board!!
A teen & tween?! How do you do it?! I have 1 tween who is driving me beyond crazy!
Can't wait to read more!
Yes, they drive me crazy too
**********
Since we initially booked in July of last year, we've done some planning mostly regarding travel. At this point, I have no idea what we're going to do on the actual cruise, but that's ok! We had to plan the travel arrangements first to try and get the best deals. I have been looking at shore excursions and some places that I want to visit, but I'm only just now really getting into the nitty gritty.
Most importantly, we had to figure out the flights. We had to wait for the windows to even open up to browse prices, but in the meantime we made estimates. It looked like the flights would be about a third of the cost of the cruise, which was not surprising since we're flying from the east coast. We also compared the seating of various carriers. This is important because D and Max are tall and have long legs. We'll be flying coach as this is in our budget. We tried several variations of flights/stopovers and looked for the best way to get to Vancouver - it was going to be cost vs. length of flight. We also had to consider getting back, as we'd be leaving out of Honolulu. (There are some lucky ducks who are taking the back to back, back to Vancouver! ) For weeks and months, we checked on flights and it came down to the problem of, did we want to take a flight to Vancouver and stay the night? Or did we want to fly to Seattle, then transfer to Vancouver? At five of us to think about, it was getting to be pretty expensive. Anne is paying her own way, but we wanted to keep costs down for her too.
By December, we were able to finally come up with a plan that was a good mix of how we wanted to get to the west coast, taking into account younger and older travelers. Here are our current travel arrangements:
-We will fly from Baltimore to Seattle via Southwest (I'm using points, yay!). We arrive in Seattle at 11am. (Travel time: 5 hours and 40 minutes)
-We're staying at a hotel near the airport. I still have to think about how we'll get to see a little bit of Seattle that day.
-The next morning, we'll take the commuter train to Seattle to catch the Amtrak Cascades train into Vancouver. The station is the main hub at King Street. (Commuter train travel time: 20-25 minutes) It's a 4 hour trip through part of the Pacific Northwest along the coast. The kids have never been on a real train before so I hope this will be a fun experience for them. I think the ladies will enjoy this too.
-We then take a cab to Canada Place, the port where the Wonder will be docked. (Travel time via taxicab: 8-10 minutes)
-On debarkation day, I think we'll take the rental car shuttle to the Honolulu International Airport, then drive to Aulani in Ko Olina. (Travel time: approximately 30 minutes)
-On our last day in Honolulu, we'll drive from Aulani to the airport to catch the 10pm Hawaiian Air non-stop flight to Las Vegas. (Travel time back to mainland: 5 hours, 40 minutes) We arrive at 7am the next morning. I'm hoping that doing it this way allows us to get some sleep during the flight back to the mainland. (And give us just a few more precious moments in Hawai'i!)
-We plan to catch the free hotel shuttle to the Venetian, where we'll stay for 2 nights. We had originally intended to just stay one night, but we figured the kids wouldn't be able to go to Las Vegas for a long time, so what the heck. We'll count our visit to the Hoover Dam as a school day, lol. Everyone will want to relax a bit and I know the ladies will want to hit the casinos. ...Ok, me too.
-On the last day, we catch a noon flight on Southwest back to Baltimore. (Travel time: 4 hours, 40 minutes) We made sure to book Early Bird seating so we wouldn't have to worry about checking in 24 hours ahead of time. By the time our plane lands around 8pm, I'm sure everyone will be good and tired of traveling!
Whew! Am I going to need a vacation from just moving from place to place??
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Plans sound good! And with the weather around here this week (currently barely 60 and rain), Hawaii must sound so good!!
You'll all enjoy Hoover Dam. I didn't expect to - was humorist my engineer hubby, but I found it fascinating! Definitely the equivalent of a school day! Science, history, it's all there!
Great plans! Not a fan of long flights, but it will be so worth it! Have you looked at the videos of the Cascades train trip on youtube? Spectacular scenery!!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
About This Page: 
(Or should I say Aloha 
)
After finally finishing the trip report from our September trip, I had to sink my teeth down into some serious study for a certification. 
I finished a 90 credit course and passed the test for the course in May. My certification exam will be in July, so I've gratefully put the books down for now... To plan for a new trip! 
Second home is the Edge club on the Dream.
Anne is more reserved, but very sweet and LOVES to travel (esp. the Caribbean and Vegas!) and try new things - Hawai'i has been a dream for her for a long time. As soon as D presented the idea of going with us, Anne wrote a check on the spot. Martha, well let's just say there may be some sedatives involved when we get on the plane. 
) We ended up saving about $400 by paying for the cruise that way. Another lesson learned: You can get $20 back on each thousand but ONLY if you've had the savings account for more than 3 months, dang! We could've made $180 off of that 
) Our stateroom is a category 5A on deck 7, we have an ocean view with a veranda. The ladies will be in a cat 11A, standard inside. We considered an ocean view for them, but we saved some money by getting them a cat 11, plus Martha would've been nervous with all that ocean out there to look at 
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Our family is nutz, you may not like it!
We also compared the seating of various carriers. This is important because D and Max are tall and have long legs. 
) For weeks and months, we checked on flights and it came down to the problem of, did we want to take a flight to Vancouver and stay the night? Or did we want to fly to Seattle, then transfer to Vancouver? 
At five of us to think about, it was getting to be pretty expensive. Anne is paying her own way, but we wanted to keep costs down for her too.
(And give us just a few more precious moments in Hawai'i!)
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