Just Relaxin’ on the Wonder – Nowhere, Nothing, Nada. - Complete! and Final Thoughts

[dhorner233]

Milo is a beautiful cat It finally occurred to me what PITA stood for

Loved the pictures of walking around the ship and all of the food! So much delicious food!!!

And so nice to know you still have 5 days to go!!

 

[EJ4Disney]

I somehow lost my subscription to this thread and have just now found it. I am only on embarkation day but I just had to comment and then I will go back and read the rest.

Alison, you look wonderful. Your embarkation picture really shows how much weight you have lost. I am so proud of you. You are doing great. And that room - OH MY - just wonderful.

Ok I will be back!

 

[pkondz]

only instructions for what to do in the port. However, we had received another letter! It told us to be in the Cadillac Lounge no later than 9:45AM for the Back to Back proceedings. Also it was mentioned to be sure and bring all the pertinent documents (passports, signature page, page about not having traveled to Ebola stricken lands) and that this little baby would get you back on the ship.

Seems really well organized.

I emailed Jim to let him know that we would have email access but not text and PLEASE GIVE US AN UPDATE ASAP! It turned out everything was fine and by 11PM on Friday when Milo was hungry he came sauntering up to the door and asked to come in. But it put us in a panic for about half an hour while we didn’t know what was going on.

Phew! Glad that all worked out okay!

we stayed in the cabin as long as we could manage fearing chaos outside, and we were absolutely right!

No doubt!

Everyone including us wanted an elevator going down, so we did the only sensible thing, pushed the button for an elevator going up! Soon an “up” elevator arrived and everyone ignored it since they wanted to go down. Once we hit the 9th floor, we pressed “down” for floor 3, and were on our way down. All those poor people on the 6th floor were dumbfounded when the doors opened and we were in the elevator going down.

Nice!
I've done that, too.

Selfie for “we’re not getting off the ship!”

Look at that grin!

One of the other couples from our table came to breakfast and they commented on how short the 2 day cruise was. We didn’t rub it in that we knew that and were glad we still had five more days.

I so would have.
But I'm bad that way.

As we headed in there the ship was definitely quiet.

Cool empty ship shots!

B2B cruisers get free non-alcoholic drinks at the Cove Café on the switchover so Fran got a Hot Chocolate and I got an Americano.

You get them free during the cruise as well though, right?

Turns out there was a chocolate tasting class on Thursday

HELLO!!!!

She got a brat.

How hard was that to not type "She's a brat"???

 

[mvf-m11c]

That must be scary about Milo and glad that he is safe.

It didn't look that busy on the deck of the ship. Lunch looks good.

 

[DnA2010]

Cats I tell ya...glad he was ok

You didn't rub it in- how kind of you!

Free drinks at the Cove Cafe, nice!

Hope we can do a BTB someday, enjoyed reading about the process!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

He looks calm enough right? He is a little PITA when he wants to be.

This sounds like the definition of "cat".

We didn’t know it then, but learned later that all the stateroom luggage that was supposed to be taken from the hallways the night before, was never picked up. Everyone was having to carry their own luggage off the ship!

D'oh! That couldn't have been fun to deal with. Good thing you didn't have to!

When you dine at Triton’s and on the last day, they always come around with this platter of pastries.

We didn’t rub it in that we knew that and were glad we still had five more days.

You guys are classier than I am.

As we headed in there the ship was definitely quiet.

Wow, that must be pretty cool to see it so empty!

 

[IowaTater]

Glad Milo was okay. That's why I'm terrified to let our little Oshie outside. We have a couple of cats that roam the neighborhood and I'm afraid he would get into a fight with them. Hope the Ghost sisters were okay too.

I can't imagine going on a cruise for only 2 days. It definitely wouldn't be enough for me.

The DotD looks yummy. Do you remember what it was? Almost kind of reminds me of POG juice.

 

[franandaj]

Looked like... quite a night! Hooooo-boy!

We slept really good! At least I did, Fran didn't complain, but she seems to always sleep pretty well!

Uh, oh..... GORGE YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!



sorry.

That's what I usually do, so I'm proud I did at least one brunch where I didn't feel like I was rolling out!

"special"

Thats nice that the B2B went so smoothly! That would have been a nightmare if you had to get all your luggage off without the assistance of the luggage handlers after the 2 day!

Considering we had so much luggage since we were on for a week, we would have had a serious problem!

Looks like you had a nice lunch between the Cove Cafe & Pluto's!

We had plenty of food, I couldn't even finish my burger and we were very happy with our lunch!

I'm glad your cat returned! I understand that panic you must have had until you were told it was all ok!

He seems to like to stay out until that time. If we don't get him just before dusk, we get him around 9-10PM, its rather nerve racking since we never know when coyotes will come to the neighborhood!

Thank goodness Milo came home! I assume the Ghost cats were also fine? I would have been beside myself with worry!!!

Yeah, you're telling me. The ghost cats hide in the cat trees in the living room so we kind of know where they are. Jim just never sees them, but I know where they hide. Yeah, I was trying to rationalize Milo's death because I have a feeling that is eventually how it will go.

Despite the chaos of people disembarking, it looks like you had a very smooth transition for B2B. Your pictures show a very empty ship!

Since we didn't have to worry about luggage everything for us was cool!

How horrifying that all of those passengers had to carry off their luggage. We had 6 checked bags alone w/2 cartoons and 2 kids. NO way! I'm sure DCL heard a lot of complaints. Wonder why that happened.

I'm not completely sure, but that was the rumor. The folks I dined with tonight had opted to take their luggage off, so they could not confirm that Disney did not pick up luggage from the other staterooms.

That must have been so scary worrying about Milo, but at least he's safe and sound.

We worry about Milo on a regular basis which is why I said he is a PITA!

I forgot to mention before that I was cracking up so loudly when I saw your nightly towel animal w/Lucifer on the bed. I completely forgot you brought him along on your other TR's!!!

I just wish our stateroom hosts were a little more creative. They would get bigger tips and we hate finding Lucifer upside down in the stateroom, that's just sad.

I also ordered the Route 66. I wish they'd work on their scrambled eggs though.

I think their eggs on the route 66 are powdered which is why I always get the over easy so I know I have real eggs.

I always thought that it'd be cool to do a B2B one day! I love the idea of boarding a ship w/very few people on it. Unfortunately that sure doesn't last long!

No it doesn't last long, but it was sure fun to not have to put out our suitcases!

I would love to do a B2B and not have the sadness of getting off! Sounds like the process was fairly smooth minus the luggage debacle! So glad Milo came home...I would have been panicked too!

Jill in CO

Yes the whole B2B thing was really cool, plus getting a free coffee beverage was nice, especially since we had planned to go there regardless.

Well, we certainly don't want to miss this meeting!

Of course not!

Well... of course. I mean, he's a cat. That's how they roll.

I might take slight offense at that, but then again he is a PITA, but my Tesla lover boy is NOT!

Oh yuck... that would cause a heck of a lot of chaos.

Evidently it did!

I like the "not our last breakfast" comment. I'm sure that your attitude was a lot different than most last morning breakfasts.

Well if the shoe fits.....

How could you not rub it in??????

I hate to be a not nice person.

It would really be nice to have that opportunity just to walk around on the ship a bit before it gets crowded. Kind of like the pre RD Main Street thing.

Totally like that, but I didn't want to walk around, so those were the only photos I got.

So on a B2B when you're in the same room, can you go back to your room before the 1 pm room rope drop?

Yes, they told us our room would be ready by 11AM, but we wanted burgers and dogs from Pluto's so we had to wait until after 12:00

Really interested in the B2B process--will be trying that for the first time in May. Sounded relatively painless for you this time.

Ask any questions that I haven't answered. It was great fun!

 

[alexandlillie]

Enjoying your trip report! We are doing our first b2b on the wonder over Xmas. When you reboard, can you go to your room? Or do you have to wait until the staterooms are all open?

Loved your description of the cocktail tasting. Giggle even now about the jalapeño drink. Lol

Also are other areas of the ship open during embark? Or do they encourage you just to hang out in the cove. I, hoping to take some photos of the Xmas decor with my kids without people in the background during that time.

 

[franandaj]

Milo is a beautiful cat It finally occurred to me what PITA stood for

I take it you've never encountered that acronym before?

Loved the pictures of walking around the ship and all of the food! So much delicious food!!!

And so nice to know you still have 5 days to go!!

You can see how I gained 10 pounds! Yes, I was definitely glad to have 5 more days to go!

I somehow lost my subscription to this thread and have just now found it. I am only on embarkation day but I just had to comment and then I will go back and read the rest.

Well I'm glad you have made it back over here. You'll have plenty of time to catch up. I'm updating rather slowly.

Alison, you look wonderful. Your embarkation picture really shows how much weight you have lost. I am so proud of you. You are doing great. And that room - OH MY - just wonderful.

Ok I will be back!

Thanks, after the cruise though, I need to lose is all again!

Seems really well organized.

They really were organized with this process

Phew! Glad that all worked out okay!

Yeah, and he has done it quite a few more times since then. In fact Friday night while we at the studios, Jim came by to get them in and again he was nowhere to be found.

Nice!
I've done that, too.

Sometimes it's the only way that you can get on the elevator!

Look at that grin!

We were definitely happy!

I so would have.
But I'm bad that way.

Sometimes I'm too nice

Cool empty ship shots!

It was neat being on there without all the other passengers.

You get them free during the cruise as well though, right?

Not at the Cove. It's the "fancy schmancy" coffee place on the ship. Coffees there run $2.50 to $5.00ish and more if you add alcohol. If you want "free coffee" you go to the drink station where Fran filled her Diet Coke mug. There you can get brown water that they call coffee.

HELLO!!!!

The chocolate tasting is great fun!

How hard was that to not type "She's a brat"???

Just like I didn't rub in our extra five days on the cruise. I'm too nice, I would have never thought of that. Now Milo on the other hand, I often refer to him as a brat!

That must be scary about Milo and glad that he is safe.

It didn't look that busy on the deck of the ship. Lunch looks good.

Milo scares us on a regular basis. It was quite unbusy on the deck of the ship, the next day you will see that it is quite busy.

Cats I tell ya...glad he was ok

Yup. He's definitely a typical cat!

You didn't rub it in- how kind of you!

Free drinks at the Cove Cafe, nice!

Yeah, doesn't happen much!

Hope we can do a BTB someday, enjoyed reading about the process!

I would do it again with the right itinerary!

 

[franandaj]

This sounds like the definition of "cat".

D'oh! That couldn't have been fun to deal with. Good thing you didn't have to!

Ahhh, the coveted Homer award!

You guys are classier than I am.

Wow, that must be pretty cool to see it so empty!

It was, and very peaceful!

Glad Milo was okay. That's why I'm terrified to let our little Oshie outside. We have a couple of cats that roam the neighborhood and I'm afraid he would get into a fight with them. Hope the Ghost sisters were okay too.

In our current neighborhood, I rarely see any other cats at all. The Ghost sisters were fine. They just always hide from Jim, even last night we had some friends over and they were nowhere to be seen.

I can't imagine going on a cruise for only 2 days. It definitely wouldn't be enough for me.

I know, me neither. But I talked to some of the people who were in our mixology class and that was the maximum time they could get off from work. I'm glad I don't have that job!

The DotD looks yummy. Do you remember what it was? Almost kind of reminds me of POG juice.

The drink was a California Dream. As I recall it was good!

Enjoying your trip report! We are doing our first b2b on the wonder over Xmas. When you reboard, can you go to your room? Or do you have to wait until the staterooms are all open?

Our stateroom host told us the room would be ready by 11:00AM which was about the time that they let us back on.

Loved your description of the cocktail tasting. Giggle even now about the jalapeño drink. Lol

Thanks! It was weird, but not so bad after a couple sips.

Also are other areas of the ship open during embark? Or do they encourage you just to hang out in the cove. I, hoping to take some photos of the Xmas decor with my kids without people in the background during that time.

I don't think they limit where you can go. Cove is the only place that has food until Parrot Cay and the other restaurants open around noon. You should be able to get pictures in the atrium and Promenade without a problem.

 

[franandaj]

When I last left you, we were on our way to the stateroom for a nap. They had ropes up over the threshold to the staterroms, but we were renegades and just passed them. When the stateroom hosts said, “excuse me M’am, but the rooms won’t be ready for another hour or more”,

We replied, “Our stateroom hostess told us the room would be ready for us by 11AM”

“Oh, you are B2B? Please go ahead, I’m sorry!”

Yay! And we headed back to our room and took a nap for the next couple of hours! Of course as we were going down the hallway, the scooter began to konk out again. I had to put it in neutral and push it back to the room, and back on the charger again it went. Fran laid down and was out immediately, maybe I didn’t nap. I think I took advantage of being in port and checked FB and the DIS. I also turned on the TV, and I believe that National Treasure was playing (another movie I know pretty well) and I let that go in the background. I don’t have any notes (I started recreating them a day or two after this when I realized that my memory is not what it used to be), but as far as I can tell I stayed in the room until close to 3PM when we had our FB meet and greet in the Promenade Lounge.

There is a Disney Cruising FB group, and one of the gals from our Cruise Meet FB group had held the record for largest group at a meet since October of 2014. Just the week before our cruise her record was toppled by another Disney Cruising member, so she had put out a challenge to our FB to beat the new record. I told Fran that she had to come to this M&G, plus I had actually got to know the folks in this group a little better than the ones in the 2 day cruise. Also we had a DIS thread for this cruise and I had organized the two FE for that thread. The folks from that group were planning on attending the M&G as well. Some were really surprised to see how large a group we had assembled as many of them were not on FB at all. In the end, we did beat the record and now hold the new record for number of folks at an embarkation day M&G photo.



After the photo, we had another muster drill to attend. Fran didn’t take her scooter this time since it was still charging and they didn’t let her go early to get trampled when everyone left the muster drill. At this point, we split up. I had a day bag packed, and said goodbye for now and she went back to the room. I had a private sail away party planned! I headed up to the spa, and pretty soon they led me to the changing room where I put on my robe and got ready for my pampering. The spa attendant came to get me and led me to my private oasis.



After soaking my feet in some warm water and giving them a salt rub, I climbed into my private Jacuzzi tub overlooking the ocean and port.



After my treatment I would be back here to relax and chill out.



So I soaked in the tub for a 20-30 minutes as the ship sailed away and the sun was setting. Then I headed inside here.



To lay here, and receive a 50 minute full body massage.



Then it was back out on to my patio.





I took a quick peek out the door.



And then laid down to relax.



She brought me some fruit and Cammomile tea.





And I sat there for another 15-20 minutes, just relaxing. It was rather nice. But then I started to get restless. I’m not one who can sit around doing nothing for very long. So she brought me the check, and tried a few sales things, but actually I still had a lot of the product from when I did the same treatment a year ago. She also tried to get me to come back and get another treatment later in the week at a discount, but we had a pretty full dance card for the rest of the week. I told her I would think about it and let her know, and then she took me back to the locker room where I showered up and got ready for dinner. I had brought my change of clothes and everything so I was all set!

I came back to the room and realized that I had left the spa without picking up my room key from the desk. I knocked on the door, and a groggy Fran let me in. Guess what she had been doing? If you guessed sleeping you would be right. She was a smart cookie though, she knew I would be having a snack and didn’t deprive herself. She ordered room service and got a BLT, chocolate chip cookies and Mickey bar. No pictures though. I went back for my room key and by the time I was back and she was awake it was around 7:30. We still had 45 minutes until dinner, and I was really hoping that people wouldn’t be lining up again, but we weren’t going to be early and find out.

We came down for dinner a tad bit late and STILL there was a line! What was with these people? We had new table mates (new cruise=new table mates). Things got off to a slow start, but by the end of the cruise we were chatting and laughing. Nobody exchanged phone numbers or emails, but it ended up better than the first night seemed like it was going. A photographer stopped by the table to take pictures of people the first night.



Fran convinced me to try the banana bread. I’m not sure why I never tried Disney's banana bread after all these years, but it was pretty good!



Both of us had the Baked Crab Martinique. I had always been wary of the plantains, but the tortilla chips that they gave us were kind of soggy, so I went with the plantain chips and they might be one of my new favorites! They were really crispy and good.



She had the crab and asapargus soup again.



I went with the Caesar Salad. Since we didn’t have a big meal at 4:30 in the afternoon, I was much hungrier tonight than I was the night before.



Since I had the Mixed Grill the night before, I saved the Prime Rib for tonight. Both of our pieces were huge! We could have shared one, neither of us finished our main course.



I forgot to take a pictures of the dessert menu the night before, so here it is now.





I hadn’t had a Mickey Bar yet, so that’s what I went with, and Fran did so as well. Both the couples at our table were new to Disney Cruise line, and seemed really surprised that a Mickey Bar was an option for dessert.



After dinner we headed back to the cabin to check out the Navigator for the next day. We would be in Ensenada and were considering the idea of getting off the ship.

 

[dhorner233]

Nice spa treatment! And another delicious meal! That piece of prime rib was huge! Everything looks scrumptious! That's a cute towel animal with Lucifer. I guess they gave you chocolates everything evening?

 

[PrincessInOz]

This is an amazing cruise changeover day!

Congrats on holding the record for M&G. That's a heck of an achievement!
Love the chill-ax time you had back in your room and with the spa treatments.
You've never had banana bread before? Next time I'm there, remind me to bake you one.
Dinner looks awesome!

 

[Steppesister]

Definitely love me some spa treatment stuffs! Massage is so rejuvenating and lovely; glad you enjoyed your time there!

Mmmmmm, prime rib! YUM!!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Your spa treatment seems like the best way to enjoy the sail away! That sounds so relaxing.

The crab dip is amazing even though its been like 8 years since I last had it, I still remember loving it! Glad you both got to enjoy it!

My husband isn't a fan of table mates so we always just request to sit alone - he hates the awkwardness of it all after his first cruise experience.

 

[skier_pete]

Love that you guys got Mickey Bars for desert. I did that one night on our cruise too! They are definitely not just for kids.

I don't know if I should share your spa days photos with DW. She would be very jealous!

 

[jedijill]

I love that spa treatment...it is sooo luxurious! Congrats on the meet record!

I love the Disney banana bread. I've been known to request several extra baskets of it.

Jill in CO

 

[cruisehopeful]

Was the spa visit a package type? What is the name of the treatment? I've had some visits there, but never had my own tub and deck like that.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

In the end, we did beat the record and now hold the new record for number of folks at an embarkation day M&G photo.

Nice work! That does look like quite a crowd.

I had a private sail away party planned!

Yay! I remember how much you enjoyed this before. Seems like a nice way to go!

I’m not one who can sit around doing nothing for very long.

That would be my downfall in a spa. "So you mean we just...sit?"

Guess what she had been doing? If you guessed sleeping you would be right.

Was she sleeping? Does the Pope poop in the woods? Wait a minute...

We came down for dinner a tad bit late and STILL there was a line! What was with these people?

Since I had the Mixed Grill the night before, I saved the Prime Rib for tonight. Both of our pieces were huge! We could have shared one, neither of us finished our main course.

Wow! Did that one even get near the oven, or was it straight off the cow?