It’s a Wonder Cruising With Disney: A day-by-day guide

For Spring Break, Bode, Hadley and I joined my mother-in-law Linda aboard the Disney Wonder to sail the Mexican Riviera and life has never been the same.

I mean, just look at this kid.

Since Disney Cruise Line’s inception back in 1995, I knew I wanted to take my children someday but I must confess, we were not huge Disney fans. Sure, we love most Disney films but we’ve never been to the theme parks and consider Mickey only to be a mouse (and not a god).

But after seven days aboard the 2,400-passenger Disney Wonder, we’re now bonafide mouseketeers. It wasn’t any one thing that made this our favorite vacation ever but rather the culmination of superb service from the 945 crew members, fantastic amenities interspersed throughout the 10 decks, delicious food at the nine restaurants, professional-quality shows, first-run movies like Mars Needs Moms and the simple magic that only Disney can provide.

I’ve been on cruises before that offer wonderful children’s programs but the difference with a Disney Cruise is everything is about the kids. Little girls wandered the halls wearing princess dresses and boys sported Mickey ears. Some families went all-out decorating their cabin doors. Our waitress even patterned our ketchup into Mickey ears.

The Disney Wonder launched in 1999 and many of the reviews I read on TripAdvisor were harsh (too old, not maintained, etc.) While there were times it definitely showed its age (particularly creaking most noticed at night), crews work around-the-clock cleaning and painting.

This old ship (me) should be so lucky to have that kind of TLC.

So, welcome aboard! As you’ll see from Day 0.5, our trip did not start well….