You bet your aft we had a good time! A Wonder trip report Update 12/30 p.59-611

[Pinkocto]

That time frame should work for me, too.

Corinna

Excellent!

 

[Pinkocto]

I enjoyed all the photos again. For some reason at the moment seeing photos of the Wonder makes me really emotional. Still, a week from now I am hopefully sitting by the window of our hotel room in Miami and watch the Wonder come into port. I think there will be a few happy tears then.

Corinna

Not long now!

 

[rentayenta]

That time frame should work for me, too.

Corinna

​

I enjoyed all the photos again. For some reason at the moment seeing photos of the Wonder makes me really emotional. Still, a week from now I am hopefully sitting by the window of our hotel room in Miami and watch the Wonder come into port. I think there will be a few happy tears then.

Corinna

Hopefully? Happy tears for sure!





Hi Pam! ​

 

[dolphingirl47]

Hopefully? Happy tears for sure!​

There are a few unknowns. We do no arrive in Miami until 9:20 PM. By the time we got our luggage, made our way from the airport to downtown and have checked in at the hotel, it probably is 11:00 PM, by which time we will have been up about 22 hours and our body clock is telling us that it is really 4:00 AM. So we may actually sleep until a reasonable time that first morning. There is also no guarantee that my request for a room with a port view will have been granted. Still, one thing is certain. When I see the Wonder for the first time on this trip, whenever and wherever this is, there will be happy tears.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

Hi Jenny!

I don't think I'll call DCL about the necklace, if its meant to be I will find one.

 

[rentayenta]

There are a few unknowns. We do no arrive in Miami until 9:20 PM. By the time we got our luggage, made our way from the airport to downtown and have checked in at the hotel, it probably is 11:00 PM, by which time we will have been up about 22 hours and our body clock is telling us that it is really 4:00 AM. So we may actually sleep until a reasonable time that first morning. There is also no guarantee that my request for a room with a port view will have been granted. Still, one thing is certain. When I see the Wonder for the first time on this trip, whenever and wherever this is, there will be happy tears.

Corinna

I am glad you're going on the cruise for sure though. . My goodness, 22 hours awake does make for a looooong travel day and following day.

Regardless of the little factors, you'll be on the amazing Wonder on a long cruise. ​

Hi Jenny!

I don't think I'll call DCL about the necklace, if its meant to be I will find one.

I hope you find it.

Any fun plans for this weekend?​

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm heading to Pennsylvania to see my grandparents, my grandma isn't doing well.

How about you guys? I hope you have a fabulous weekend is Josh back to 100% ?

 

[rentayenta]

I'm heading to Pennsylvania to see my grandparents, my grandma isn't doing well.

How about you guys? I hope you have a fabulous weekend is Josh back to 100% ?

I am so sorry friend. Sending love and light your way. Safe travels. How far is Pennsylvania? Is it something old age related?

Joshua is back to 100%. Thanks for asking.

I was going to try to have an update this morning but it didn't happen. Crazy weekend planned but fun. We've got a bar mitzvah this morning and then we all have hair appointments in the big city (Salt Lake) . Gabby has to work.

Hair should take forever because Chloe is getting a Brazilian Blowout. What is that you ask? https://www.brazilianblowout.com/faq.aspx We normally wouldn't engage is something like this but Chloe's hair is growing in straight so what she's got is about 3-4 inches of new growth that is straight and the rest, a good 12-18 inches of totally curly hair. She's over it and I don't blame her. She's been a mega trooper through her shots and seizures and the fun body havoc that comes with diff dx and multiple medications.

I am sure we'll go to a late lunch after as Chloe and M have to skip the luncheon for her hair. Joshua and I will leave about an hour after.

Tomorrow I am flying with M to Orange County. He's got a job in Big Sur that starts Tuesday so he and I are flying to SNA, grabbing the Motorhome and driving up the coast. This is sorta last minute. We'll stay one night in Santa Barbara, not sure where yet and then one night in Carmel at the http://www.laplayahotel.com The shoot has him staying here the entire job. They are shooting in Big Sur though. I fly out of Carmel/Monterey on Tuesday morning. He'll have to drive the Moho back down the coast alone. I wish I could have stayed the week but it was impossible.

We were researching dinner ideas and we want to try two places; one in SB and one in Carmel.

The one in SB is Trattoria Mollie. We have a reservation for Sunday night. If it's good enough for Obama, it's good enough for me. http://www.tmollie.com/tmollie/Welcome.html

And AW Shucks in Carmel. Who doesn't love an oyster happy hour?
http://www.awshuckscarmel.com

Our flight is early tomorrow, not terrible but we have to leave the house by 6 am. I do love a good road trip though. We did something similar in Portland a few years ago and it was so fun. I've got the kids all taken care of as far as activities. ​

 

[dolphingirl47]

You are definitely having a busy time ahead of you. Enjoy your roadtrip.

Corinna

 

[rentayenta]

You are definitely having a busy time ahead of you. Enjoy your roadtrip.

Corinna

Thank you Corinna. I am crossing my fingers for you for port view and uneventful travel. ​

 

[rentayenta]

Hi all. I didn't think I'd get an update in before our road trip but M and the kids decided to watch The Hobbit: the desolation of Smaug. My options are to slam my head into the wall, poke my eye out with a hot fork, or finish an update. My insurance company surely thanks me for choosing to update.

It was finally dinner time. I did forget to share this cute pic of me and Joshua on the deck. He was thanking his mumsie (me) for the trip.

After enjoying the deck and watching the sunset, we ventured in to dinner.

Pam can correct me but I think the rest of our table mates were sat before us. Pam and I had requested to sit together. I was hoping we'd also sit with a family with kids Joshua's age.

We had tablemates. Very nice table mates. And for future updates, as you'll hear more about said table mates, they'll be referred to as parent, adult child, adult child's SO, tween, and friend of tween. Parent was generous and decided to treat them all to a cruise. In one cabin was parent, tween, and tween's friend. In the other cabin was adult child and adult child's SO. Adult child and adult child's SO had recently moved in together and had been dating about 6 months. No judgement on shacking up, I did myself. This was parent and tween's 6 or 7th Disney cruise, yay them. To say the dynamic was interesting would be an understatement. I couldn't put my finger on what was unsettling but something was fishy.......we all chatted and it seemed like we'd have a blast during our MDRs and boy did we ever. Huh Pam?

I was overwhelmed by the sheer coolness of AP. The concept is brilliant. The art and changing colors lend to the mood and vibe. It's brilliant. AP would be our first and last dinner MDR and of course the final breakfast.

My menu:

If you've read any of my other bazillion reports you know that Lady is my all time favorite. I was in heaven. Serious heaven.

Menu photos. Sorry they are cell photos.

Ariel was on our wall:

Other shots around the joint:

I had read SO much about Disney's food and couldn't wait to dig in although I was under the impression I wasn't going to stuff myself silly. I'm still carrying 3 solid cruise pounds. Ho hum.

We had enjoyed our chicken fingers just a couple hours earlier so we weren't starving.

Arjay from the Philippines was our assistant server and Ozzy from Turkey was our main server. Paulo from schmoozeville was the head server, ya know guy who walks around telling us our real servers a doing such a good job because of him. Nice guy, not my style. He reminded me a little of Mr. Big from Sex and the City. I think I had some transference going on. I like the worker bees better. Maybe it's because I was a server for many years. Ozzy and Arjay were friendly and prompt and we really enjoyed them. We got to know them more as the cruise went on.

We both ordered water for drinks and Pam got a diet Coke. I was pretty mellow from the day before and the emotion of today. Joshua was soda'd out already as he doesn't drink much at home. We both failed our Drink of the Day goal. Disney losers. With our drinks came as did a basket of bread aka Bread Service; garlic and herb focaccia with a Rosemary Virgin Olive Oil. I picked at a piece. Joshua devoured it.

For appetizers I ordered the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup. It was fabulous!

Joshua didn't want an appetizer so I ordering him the Truffle Pursettes. I just had to try them as I had read so much about them. They were so good too. I could have had these for a main meal but double the portion of course. I love that rich truffle flavor. The sauce was light so it went perfectly together.

Joshua wasn't all that hungry so he ordered the Grilled grain-fed Sirloin Steak off the lighter menu, medium-rare. Sadly it came out more medium-well but he's not picky and ate about half anyway. It tasted very bland to me. We both said Michael makes a way better steak. This was the only so-so meal of the trip. It came with his choice of veggies and baked potato or steamed rice. He chose a baked potato of which he didn't touch. I'll let Pam-ella fill you in on her eats. Plus kids, her pics a way better!

I ordered the Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin at the suggestion of Ozzy. I was torn between that and the veal chop. The tenderloin was served with wasabi mashed potatoes and bok choy in a Tamarind- Barbecue reduction. I ordered it medium-rare and it was cooked perfectly. I only finished about half of it and it pained me to have it thrown away. I hate wasting food. I liked both the BBQ sauce and wasabi potatoes. I am not huge starch person, I'm usually more impressed with whatever protein is being served.

Remember the black and white from before? Look at it now! Amazing!

More Ariel in the darkened dining room:

Joshua had his Icebreaker at the Edge at 9:30 so he said his good eyes and rushed off, wave phone in hand. I told Pam if he made it more than a couple hours I'd be shocked. I hoped he would......

We chatted and enjoyed our dinner. Pam was so much fun and I am so glad we decided to take a chance and request a table together. Score! Our tablemates were mellow, chatting but not overly so. Tween's friend was only 9 and wasn't able to go into the Edge so they opted for the Oceaneer's Lab after dinner. Sweet kids.

Dessert menus presented after our delicious dinner:

I knew exactly what I was going to get even before I sat down:

It doesn't get any better than this for me.

I also ordered what could have been the worst cup of coffee known to man. How can Disney call it coffee? There was hardly enough cream and sugar to choke it down. Seriously Disney, you're top notch across the board; I am begging you to invest in more than instant muck served as coffee. I got decaf to be exact. Sewage.

Dinner was relaxing and wonderful. Pam and I looked over the Navigator and mulled over our evening choices. Guess what these two party girl did? We opted for Mary Poppins on funnel vision.

Before the movie I wanted to run upstairs and grab a light blanket as its chilly on deck. I came back to find tomorrow's Navigator for our day at sea, some chocolates, and a towel swan. Lovely. There was also the onboard booking temptation paper as well as Joshua's OBC and my Rainforest pass.

Here are a few shots of the room after turn down:

I grabbed those blankets you see and headed to deck 10 for some Mary Poppins. Pam met me up there too. There were more people than I anticipated but no where near crowded.

Jane and Michael Banks!

I don't think we watched the movie more than 10 minutes when I got a text from Joshua saying: this (meaning the club) sucks. LOL! I was not surprised at all. He met Pam and I and cuddled with me while we all watched the movie. It was the perfect way to end our first ever Disney cruise day; full bellies, good friends, on the open sea, watching a Disney movie. I mean how cool is that?!?!

We made it until almost midnight but couldn't stay awake another minute. Joshua and I said bye to Pam and headed to our cabin. I made sure to put out the room service ticket before laying down. I opened the door to the verandah so we could sleep to the sound of the waves. Wow, just wow. It was so relaxing and soothing. We fell sleep quickly.

Up next: our first sea day.

To be continued......




​

 

[twindaddy]

Love your trip reports, but you are a sadist! You are torturing us with the suspense of these table mates...

You should start a contest with your followers...guess what was crazy about our tablemates...

 

[Kimmy510]

I am totally loving your TR! Will be on the Wonder in less than a week! Reading your posts get me more excited with every picture! Thanks for sharing! (& Pam, too!)

 

[PrincessInOz]

What a great update. I'm loving this TR and it sounds like you, Pam and Joshua were having a great night (after Joshua ditched the club). Loving the food porn.

Nice turndown service.

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm so glad Josh is back to 100%, that is fabulous news!

Did the Brazilian Blowout work?

How was the bar mitzvah?

As I'm writing this I notice I somehow missed an update. Went back to read, boy that had me laughing. I'll be back tomorrow with my pictures. I loved that we watched Mary Poppins, that was great fun

My grandma is 87 and broke her hip in December. Had it replaced, healed well, but will be at a nursing home indefinitely because she is now immobile. Not good. She is totally wasting away and I think this was the last time I'll see her alive. Absolutely heartbreaking and I'm in a bit of shock seeing her like that. My dad and I went up and back today, just got home, 11 hours driving.

Safe travels and have a fabulous trip!!!

 

[mattykin]

Awesome trip report, I would love to do one but not sure I have what it takes lol Cant wait to hear more about your wonderful trip

 

[Linda67]

Wonderful update
You are really capturing that relaxing feeling of being on a Disney Cruise
Have fun on your road trip. We have driven that coast line so I know how beautiful it is and Carmel is gorgeous

 

[dolphingirl47]

What a lovely finish to the day. I never really got the "show" at Animators Palate and normally we make a quick exit before dessert and the show. They have done a great job reimagining this on the Magic and I was captivated by this from start to finish. It will be tough going back to the original version.

I got the giggles when you mentioned that you had Paulo as your head server. We had him as our head server on the inaugural Hawaii cruise in 2012 and poor Paulo got at the wrong end of Graham's sense of humour. Paulo was on his first contract with DCL then and obviously keen to prove himself. A couple sitting at a table close to ours had a huge Remy stuffed toy that always came to dinner with them. Graham had been joking for a while that there was a rat in the dining room. I told him that this should not surprise him on a ship where a mouse is captain. Anyway, one evening Paulo came by and Graham asked him what the word for rat was in Portugese. Paulo told him and then wanted to know why Graham was asking. Graham then told him that there was a rat in the dining room. Poor Paulo went as white as a sheet. Graham then gleefully pointed out the rat to him. Paulo most certainly did not see the funny side of this. We saw him again on our back to back cruise last May and he still could not look Graham in the eye.

What a shame that Joshua did not enjoy the club, but watching an open air movie sounds like a great finish to the day.

Corinna

 

[jedijill]

Dinner looks fab. I don't drink coffee so I don't subject myself to the swill DCL serves.

Can't wait to hear more about the tablemates.

Great end to the day!

Enjoy your CA trip!

Jill in CO

 

[Pinkocto]

I do not have very many pictures in this time period at all.


I found you guys waiting in line to go into AP where you gave me my FE bag. Thank you again for that you were going to deliver it to my room but didn't remember my room#, which was just as well because I hadn't put up my fish extender yet.

You were right, our tablemates were already there. There were a few moments of them pretty much ignoring us and talking to themselves. Now some history from me, on our second cruise, also on the Wonder and our first dinner was also in AP we didn't introduce ourselves to our tablemates. The entire cruise we had no idea what each others names were. After a few meals we found we just couldn't ask. It was an awkward situation and one I never want to repeat. So I made sure to chat with our tablemates before too long. We got some history, was this their first cruise, ect, but still no names and more silence. This would not do, I said to myself, so started chatting again and finally got everyone's names.

Dinner was quite lovely, I started with the tomato tarte which I thought would be cold but was actually hot. It was like a mini pizza on a pastry crust, very good.

I skipped the salad course and had another appetizer. These are so tasty!!!

For my entree I decided on the snapper but don't care for seared fish. I asked Ozzy if I could have it well done but he very much discouraged this saying it would be tough. So I said I would yield to his wisdom and take it as it came.

Well it came tough. I was very worried he had listened to my request and asked for the chef to make it well done so I didn't mention anything to him. Big mistake. I felt like I was being read the riot act when he found out I wasn't happy with my meal. Come to find out later that two of our tablemates also ordered the snapper and theirs was tough too. Thank goodness it wasn't my fault and he didn't ask for mine well done.

Around 9:20 Josh headed down to the Edge. Jenny you escorted him, he didn't seem too confident about getting there on his own. He hadn't eaten his baked potato and I asked if he minded if I had it. No boundaries left he seemed all too happy to share. He also shared some of his scallops with me, he had ordered a side of scallops with his meal.

I love this restaurant. Not the best pictures with that big counter in the way, sorry guys. Better ones tomorrow.

I had the cookie sundae for dessert, absolutely scrumptious!

I don't know where to put this in but it must be mentioned. The baked potato soup arrived and Josh excitedly put his spoon in to get a taste. I quickly said in a somewhat animated tone, 'Wait! your mom needs a picture first!' It was like he was a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. A panicked but very funny look came over his face and instead of just licking the spoon clean of soup he wiped it on his napkin you were chatting with someone so missed all if this and I'm not sure if you remember us telling you later. It was hilarious.

Ozzy was so nice and found a strawberry cheesecake for the adult child's SO in another restaurant. It almost seemed like he was going to take it with him but they all managed to eat most of it. They said they were stuffed to the gills!


I love that we went up to watch Mary Poppins, that was so magical. I went down to my room with the intent to bring my blanket to the movie but my steward seemed to have hidden it.

Josh brought some pizza with him when he found us at the movie. And at some point went and changed into his bathing suit intending to go into the hot tub but it was so windy he never went in. But did get another piece of pizza before they closed

You bundled me in warm towels when you left. I almost left too but you said there wasn't much left. I did stay until the end.

And turned up the heat full blast when I got to the room. Of course then woke up in the night to a tropical rainforest atmosphere....

What a fabulous first day of vacation