Disneyzellin through the Canal,12/9 - 12/23 the Wonder Final Chapter updated 8/21/13!

Dolphin! How cool!!!

And you had Sasha at Palo....BEST. SERVER. EVAH! He was our regular dining server back on our first Disney cruise in 2000, and then we had him again in Palo in May 2012...still as good now as he was back in 2000.

Thanks for the heads-up on the wine tasting. I have always wanted to do one of those, but may pass now. The Margarita/Tequila tasting I went to was ok (several issues with it actually), but at least we got our money's worth. Three full shots of Patron, and two mini margaritas. All for $15.

Really enjoying your report!
Yup, Sasha was good. Too bad he didn't cook the food! :lmao: You will hear more about our other tasting which was much better!

Details? Details? Where are the details.:rotfl2: I mean I need to know what wines they gave you to taste.
You are right, they looked to be a little stingy on the pouring there.
A proper tasting pour is 4 oz, but I prefer a bit more. Maybe if they don't pour me enough I will have to ask for a bit more.;)

I'm also surprised they seperated it into Red and White. Heck I can taste 5 white and then 5 red....throw in a couple of sparkiling and maybe even an ice wine and I am happy.

Did you sign up for that the first day?
How long have you been following my Tr's? you surely do not expect me to give you details! These pours were definitely *not* 4 oz. Almost a dribble in the bottom of the glass!

We signed up after a few days. As mentioned, some of the things filled up, but most did not. I think because it was a longer cruise there was more space. On a regular 7 day I'd do it pretty quickly!

Great TR :thumbsup2
The pictures of you both zip lining are great - looks like so much fun :goodvibes
Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your cruise
Thanks! Appreciate the kind comments! :)

Good luck with the details!! Since I didn't write the wines down, I know Drew will not remember them either! Just not impressed overall. Not only did they separate the tastings into red and white, it was new world red, new world white, old world red and old world white. Maybe if they combined all four of them into one tasting, you might get 1 full glass of wine:rotfl2: However, when it comes to the details of the mixology, I have it covered as I wrote down all the drinks (just for you!)...you'll have to stay tuned for that part of the report, though and we all know that could take a long time:cool1:
Ahem...now that is not very nice. it might...or it might not take me a long time. That's what makes it fun to follow my TR's...you never know if it will be a long time between episodes...or very short. I like to keep the intrigue!!!

Thanks everyone!

DZ
 
Just want to say "thanks" for the great TR. It is full of amusing anecdotes and I appreciate the frank assessments... tiger cubs, canopy tour,Wal-Mart, wine tasting, chair holders, et.al.. We are on WB in May and EB in Sep.




(Actually, we wanted to join all of you on this one in December, but Dh kept telling me to "book next week"...and VGT disappeared)
 
Like everyone I really enjoy the sea days. No pressure...no need to get off the boat...just floating along. And usually there are a few more activities to do...today was no exception.

Last night was rockin' and rollin'. I don't normally notice, but this was one night that almost rolled me out of bed a few times. I haven't experienced it many times on the Cruise ships, and now I know why the closets have velcro to keep them closed (if you haven't been on a ship you will know what I mean when you go to hang your clothes. You look at that and wonder why. And then you rock and roll).

DW got up early, as usual, while I kept sleeping. But since we were moving so fast it was pretty windy, so no balcony for her. Hmmm, might have been a convenient time for a tablet that is back-lit to read by! ha!!:banana:

On another note, Apparently I got lazy at this point and did not do any more writing while on-board the ship. So from here on out I must rely solely on my memory (AAAAGH!! :scared1:), and Deanna's Journal. You might think this means I have to be nice to her. No way! have you read the things she has said to me???

I finally rolled out of bed around 8:30am, yup I got up early. BBB for breakfast, yup another stack of bacon and syrup. And yes I'm now paying for it and dieting to try to get rid of the pounds I added because of the bacon and syrup. Evil Syrup!

Each day during the cruise they were offering some information about the Panama Canal given by a former pilot of the canal when the USA ran it. This guy was fantastic and we headed over there to watch his presentation. He does a nice job of taking you through what was going on at the time, the politics, etc. It was quite the area taken up by our military at the time, above and beyond the feat that was the Canal itself! He also threw in some very funny stories about his interactions with the captains as they went across. Apparently he even got to know some of the ship captains because they came through there so many times. Pretty amazing stuff.

After that we put on our suits in hopes we could plop by the adult pool for a while. But as we didn't go up at 8am and put a towel on the chairs no luck so we went to the Goofy pool. It's funny, I always thought that when I didn't have my kids I would never go near the Goofy pool, but given that they play movies, etc., it's actually quite nice. Frankly it would be cool if they put a smaller funnel vision by the adult pool and played other movies.

On that front a rant which I don't think I have done yet. Movies. It was very annoying to us that there were not movies running non-stop. This included the funnel vision which for long, LONG stretches of time was not playing anything. This was kind of annoying. Not sure why they wouldn't always have TV shows, movies, whatever playing up there. I was disappointed by that. Same goes for BV Theater...why the big gaps in time? But now that I'm saying this I feel like I already ranted on this. I'm showing my old age again!

One of the things that Jeff from the Disboards did for us on this cruise was setting up the stateroom crawl. I know I already hinted at this and it does not include any alcohol. But he did, with the help of donations from other Disers, get a door prize for each room. Basically we were able to tour a room at each of the different category levels, starting from the lowest and working their way up. This was great. We met in the atrium and drew numbers for the door prizes.

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Everyone gathered together and headed out.

Here are lots and lots of pictures of cabins. We started with a cabin on Deck 1, saw inside, ocean view, veranda, Handicap veranda, 1 bedroom suite and both the Roy and Walt Disney suites.

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Room 1041

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Room 2048

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Room 6048
 
Sorry about yet again breaking this up, but the Disboards only allow 25 images per post. What's up with that???

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Room 7606

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Room 8558

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Room 8100 (1 bedroom suite I believe)

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8100 part 2

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8100 part 3

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8100 part 4

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8100 part 5

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8100 part 6

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I think you can figure out what this is :)

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Entry

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Dining room

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Sitting room. who doesn't need one of those?? :)

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Master

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Master bath 1

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Master bath 2

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Master bath 3

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2nd bedroom

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2nd bathroom

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handicap veranda room veranda. This thing was huge. We could have had the deck party here!

This was a great activity, hopefully other disers do the same thing. Of course we were lucky to include the Roy and Walt Suites as a part of our meet...I've always wanted to know what those suites look like. Yeah...I'd be ok staying there. :)

The show tonight was the Comedy and Magic of Scott Pepper. Very, very good. amazing how magicians do their thing. I'm always floored about that stuff.

so just a warning, in the coming days there are not as many pictures until we get to the Panama Canal. So those of you who are visual...might have to suck it up for that period of time. :lmao:

Anyway, I leave you with the usual:

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Thanks again for sticking with me through this! Let me know if you have any questions.

DZ
 


Just want to say "thanks" for the great TR. It is full of amusing anecdotes and I appreciate the frank assessments... tiger cubs, canopy tour,Wal-Mart, wine tasting, chair holders, et.al.. We are on WB in May and EB in Sep.

(Actually, we wanted to join all of you on this one in December, but Dh kept telling me to "book next week"...and VGT disappeared)

Thanks and welcome aboard. Yikes on the VGT disappearing, though we did IGT and upgraded at the port...so that's an option for next time. Of course you always want to book what you would be ok taking...we were ok being inside if we couldn't upgrade. Would have been quite a culture shock for us though!!

DZ
 
Fun stateroom crawl! We had a 1-bedroom suite on the Magic, with the different layout (there are two different layouts for those suites on the Magic/Wonder). Now that I have seen this one, I'll have to be sure I book a room with the layout I prefer (if we ever fall into some money and I can book one again!).

Sounds like you had an awesome group of DISers on your cruise!
 
What a great idea a stateroom crawl is :)

You certainly had some well organised DISers on your cruise!
 


It was great to do the stateroom crawl and see all the different cabins available. Loved the huge verandah with the HC accessible cabin.....
The Walt and Roy suites were okay...:lmao::lmao::lmao:
 
I'm joining in and catching up on the fun! And it sounds like you all had loads of fun!
 
Another great addition.....enjoyed looking at all the cabin pictures...especially the suites.....since I will never be able to afford to stay in thoes...:goodvibes

Looking forward to the rest of your report
 
Fun stateroom crawl! We had a 1-bedroom suite on the Magic, with the different layout (there are two different layouts for those suites on the Magic/Wonder). Now that I have seen this one, I'll have to be sure I book a room with the layout I prefer (if we ever fall into some money and I can book one again!).

Sounds like you had an awesome group of DISers on your cruise!
I'd love to take credit but it was Jeff and Susan that did most of the work on this stuff. It was huge to have them on our cruise...we were very lucky!!

I did like to Stateroom crawl...we noted that the ocean view rooms with the big porthole were very nice...and actually have a better view of what is going on outside than Verandah because the Verandah view is blocked by the railing. Would have never known that without the crawl!

What a great idea a stateroom crawl is :)

You certainly had some well organised DISers on your cruise!
Ditto from above!! :)

It was great to do the stateroom crawl and see all the different cabins available. Loved the huge verandah with the HC accessible cabin.....
The Walt and Roy suites were okay...:lmao::lmao::lmao:
ha! I agree...the Walt and Roy suites were mediocre at best. :rotfl:

I'm joining in and catching up on the fun! And it sounds like you all had loads of fun!
hi! welcome aboard!

Thanks for writing some more! I love reliving it through your eyes :)
you are welcome :thumbsup2

Another great addition.....enjoyed looking at all the cabin pictures...especially the suites.....since I will never be able to afford to stay in thoes...:goodvibes

Looking forward to the rest of your report
I know, me too. sadly regular rooms in my future. but it is what it is. Just great to be on the ship!

Thanks for the comments everyone!

DZ
 
I did like to Stateroom crawl...we noted that the ocean view rooms with the big porthole were very nice...and actually have a better view of what is going on outside than Verandah because the Verandah view is blocked by the railing. Would have never known that without the crawl!



DZ

That is exactly why I booked a room with 2 of those huge portholes for NYE on the Dream.:3dglasses
 
I'm really enjoying your TR. Thanks for taking the time to do them; you're reports are always a fun read.

My family and I sailed with you on the MR back in 2011. It was our first cruise and we had such a great time. I loved coming back and then finding your report about it. I never did post on that thread, so I'm thanking you for it now.

We were really thinking about taking a PC cruise and actually had the upcoming one booked. We ended up canceling it for the EBTA, but someday we're going on a PC cruise.

Anyway, back to your report. :surfweb:
 
That is exactly why I booked a room with 2 of those huge portholes for NYE on the Dream.:3dglasses
That's what I'm saying. just have to decide if I can give up on the ability to walk out on the balcony...and read a book on the balcony with privacy. tough call!

I'm really enjoying your TR. Thanks for taking the time to do them; you're reports are always a fun read.

My family and I sailed with you on the MR back in 2011. It was our first cruise and we had such a great time. I loved coming back and then finding your report about it. I never did post on that thread, so I'm thanking you for it now.

We were really thinking about taking a PC cruise and actually had the upcoming one booked. We ended up canceling it for the EBTA, but someday we're going on a PC cruise.

Anyway, back to your report. :surfweb:
Thanks, and welcome aboard. Glad you are enjoying my reports. Always good to have another person along for the ride. :thumbsup2

DZ
 
HI everyone! Back again. I have to warn you there are not a ton of pictures over the next few days. Don't take that personally. :)

As was pretty much par for the course, Disney screwed us out of yet another hour, forcing us to move our clocks ahead. :lmao: We got up, grabbed breakfast and headed to the Panama Canal presentation again. This time we talked about the costs of going through the canal and he figured that it would cost $355,000 for the Wonder to go through. yikes! Not sure how they ended up with the cheap cabins with that price. But I also guess it shows you how much money DCL makes given that it can do that twice a year and still make a profit! I don't think I'm too worried about the mouse.

After that we hit our one and only Art of Entertaining session where we got to learn how to make Crabcakes. Yup, you guessed it, this was my new thing for the day. Not sure why we didn't do any others as we really enjoyed this. The chef that was doing the demonstration did a nice job...we all got to taste a crab cake and had a glass of wine to boot. No charge for this one! Free alcohol! Always a good thing.

We then went an sat outside on Deck 4 reading our books for a bit while we waited for the animation class. If you are not already aware of deck 4, it has these comfy chairs that you can sit on.
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This is not from this cruise (that's DS10 right there), but you can see the comfy chairs.:thumbsup2

Then it was time to animate. Another thing I had never done before. We were going to learn to draw stitch. This was very nicely done, I think, and even I was able to draw a pretty good stitch IMO!

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This is DW's stitch.

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This is my stitch. You can be the judge of the *ahem* artistic talent! But I'm at a disadvantage..not sure why it is sideways. It isn't on Photobucket. Don't know what's up with that! Probably user error!!!

After drawing it was off to the DVC presentation. We are always hopeful that we will win the $300 OBC, but we never do. Oh well, it is what it is. Because we put Doug and Audrey down as a referral I think they won some stuff later in the cruise, so at least that is nice! My opinion on DVC? If you are crazy, nutty Disney, stay on property every time you go, and you go at least once a year it is worth it. Mainly because of the cost of the hotel rooms vs. the timeshare. If you are crazy, nutty Disney, do not stay on property and are frugal when you travel to Disney...in my opinion it is not for you. We own Marriott Timeshares so we are a bit biased in our opinion, but to me it comes down to this...Marriott you own forever, Disney you own for something like 25 years. That is significant to me...but again I don't usually stay on property when I go...so it isn't as big a deal to me as it is to others. This is NOT to knock on anyone that owns DVC...again if you stay on property all the time this is a great choice. Extra magic hours and all that. :thumbsup2

oh! we did get a cool DVC shopping bag and portfolio for our trouble...so that was nice. :goodvibes

We headed up to the goofy pool (why even check the adult pool!), got some lunch and hung out to watch Toy Story 2 on funnelvision. Nice way to spend some relaxing time!

Then it was time to get ready for dinner. I hate to do this to DW...but I just have to. She was starting to feel not so great (sick-sick, not flu-sick), so she was taking my liquid dayquil before dinner. Dw has issues when she takes medicine, providing a funny picture opportunity for me. :)

ah, man, I just can't do it. Sorry kids...no picture on that one. it will just have to live in my brain. :)

Dinner was at Animators...and was a Mexicali menu. It really wasn't that good and everyone was disappointed. They had some things that seemed like they would be good (little rolls and such), but no go unfortunately. Again, not sure what is up with the food. :confused3

After dinner we changed and went to the first ever Disney Flash Mob rehearsal. Yup Disney was going to do a flash mob. This was going to be one of my new things. :) It was in Wavebands and they took us through each of the different dances we would do, and assigned us spots on Deck 9 so that we would be interspersed throughout the deck...and throughout the other guests. This would all take place at the Farewell to the Pacific party the next day.

They gave us this sheet of paper explaining it all...thought you guys might want to see it.

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Front page

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Back page

We headed off to the show which tonight was the Comedy and Juggling of Ivan Pecel. He was a good juggler...but did have some awkward part of his act...where he was harassing an older gentleman about his hair. Oh man do I hope that the guy knew about it in advance. To me it wasn't really that funny, and was more uncomfortable than anything else.

After the main show we went to Cove Cafe to relax and read our books for a while. Again, a great spot to just hang out.

Tonight's adult entertainment were Alfred & Seymour. Holy cow these guys were absolutely hilarious...they used music, comedy (both slapstick and verbal), made fun of each other, and clearly have a great time putting on the show. I ran into one of them several times through the rest of the cruise and had a couple quick conversations with him. They were doing a family show the next night...but more on that later.

Again, it's late...time to hit the bed. Sorry about how few pictures I had on this one...once we hit the Panama Canal that will all change and you will wish I didn't post so many pics!

our towel animal:

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Thanks everyone, let me know if you have any questions.

DZ
 
When it comes to the time changes, that's why I only do the WBPC. Not only is it three hours backward but I get dropped off at home.

Sent from my iPhone 5 using DISBoards
 
Thanks for the flashmob instructions. I loved watching everyone, and attempted to record with our new (cheap) camcorder.
 
Wow, a DCL flashmob, what a ton of fun that must of been :cool1:

I however have two left feet so you have probably been booted off my team ;)
 

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