Our family took the Very Merrytime Cruise out of Galveston, with port stops at Key West and Castaway Cay. We drove to the terminal on the day of embarkation. The Disney Wonder is a good sized ship, but certainly must feel small to veteran cruisers compare it to the megaships at other cruise lines. We enjoyed the manageable size and other than a few deck parties, we never felt like there were too many people on board (there were supposedly 2600-2700 guests on our cruise, including over 1100 children). We could always find a spot near the pools.

First, some notes on the weather on this cruise: The weather did not completely cooperate on the cruise, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been; you had to roll with mother nature. The first day at sea, heading to Key West, the ship faced 45-50 knot winds constantly, all day, with 9-12 foot waves normal. Despite going at full speed and with the stabilizers, we were rocking. No one in our party got sick as we adjusted our food and drink intake, but needless to say, you earned your sea legs on that day and if you were prone to motion sickness, some medication might have helped.

Port day at Key West ended being very windy, with our plans to parasail canceled. We ended up just spending some time strolling along the streets and doing some shopping. Castaway Cay also started out rainy in the morning with alternate periods of overcast sky and torrential downpour. However, the rain stopped before noon and the sun came out, making the rest of day nearly perfect. The next day at sea was wonderful and the last day at sea saw the return of some ship movement (but not as bad as the first day) and some rain during the last night as we got closer back to Texas. Read more