PiperG
Can't wait to enjoy our one day of summer here in
- Joined
- May 5, 2002
- Messages
- 1,617
Background: On November 28th, DH surprised me with the news that we would be on the 12/9 Wonder for our 15th wedding anniversary. I found out by reading a post on the board entitled "PiperG Come with me to Castaway Cay." I was in complete shock as I opened the post and read about all the arrangements he had made. DMIL was coming up to stay with DS7 while we enjoyed an adult-only getaway for this special occasion. 
We flew out the day before, and rented a car with Budget. Previously, we had used DCL transfers, but were thrilled to experience the convenience of a one-way rental. On Thursday, we stopped at the Walgreens for a few things, and then headed off to the port at about 9:40 a.m. In a short 45 minutes, we were at the convenient Budget location, just a mile or so from the port. The folks there helped us with our luggage and were very pleasant. What a great start!
Check-in was very quick, and we were about the 7th family in line at approx 11:00. The next hour went fast as we took turns taking pictures, looking at the ship's model and stepping outside to look at the ship. It was a beautiful day. They let us on at 12:00! We headed straight to Parrot Cay for a yummy lunch.
Without DS7, we wanted to enjoy some of the adult areas that we don't normally patronize. We headed to Signals where we met Christine from Jamaica. She took care of us throughout the cruise, and we even saw her at the Head's Up Bar on Castaway Cay. The Signals/Quiet Cove/Cove Cafe area was nice and quiet throughout the cruise. We also watched Match Your Mate, which was a riot! DH was not willing to volunteer! We only saw Diversions when it was closed, but it was a great venue. It is very upscale, and much nicer than the old ESPN lounge in the stack. We will be sure to spend some time there on our next cruise.
At about 1:30, the cabins were ready so we headed down to 5624. Another surprise for me. . . .DH had roses with a little Mickey in the cabin.
5624 is very far aft, but I really liked the location. We got a little exercise as we used the aft stairs to get to and from Topsiders and the drink station. No noise at all from the restaurant below or the club/lab, which is on this deck. On Nassau day, we had a clear view of Atlantis from our verandah, and on Castaway Cay day we faced the bay. There were two pieces of infrastructure that lowered the portable lifeboats in our view, but they did not block anything. Araya was our stateroom hostess. She was always cheerful and made great towel animals!
We got some ice from deck 9 and cooled down a bottle of champagne in the sink. At sail away, we stayed on the verandah and waived to everyone watching Two Palms while we drank champagne. Perfect!
We had second dining (another first for us). Wow! That was different. The dining rooms were not nearly as crowded and, of course, there were far less children. Stoyan from Bulgaria was our server and Sergio from Argentina our asst. server. Both were more reserved than other servers we have had, but they took excellent care of us and brought out a cake and sang for our anniversary (yes, another DH surprise)
As always, the food was wonderful. I know there are mixed reviews about food on these boards, but I wish I could eat the maple glazed salmon every night! Everything thing I had was wonderful, and I believe all DH's steaks were cooked to perfection (i.e. rare). We had the LAP rotation, which I thought was great b/c we could dress down on the last night and be very comfortable. We did not do Palo this time, because we did not want to miss any of the dining rooms. We love all three, especially AP. I just love Disney music, and get very emotional during the show. I think it will take many, many cruises before I skip that.
O.k. . . .here is a very exciting part!!! On Friday morning, we woke up as we pulled into Nassau. We watched on our verandah as the ship rotated in port. For those of you who have seen Travel Channel video 100 times (like me), you know this is a very "delicate procedure in such a small channel." We then ran up to Deck 9 and watched Captain Henry on the bridge wing. It looked just like the video as he docked the ship! So cool!!
We had wonderful, warm weather in Nassau. We spent most of our day on the ship sipping cocktails that Christine poured, but did walk around Nassau for an hour or so. The ship left port very late (2:00 a.m.) as Captain Henry had granted the CMs some extra shore time. The CM's we talked to throughout the day were so excited that he would do that for them.
They all admire Captain Henry, who went on vacation after we docked in Port Canaveral on the 12th.
On Saturday, we woke up to a gloomy day on Castaway Cay. Although it drizzled while we were on the island, the air was warm and tropical. He went over to the Heads Up Bar, where DH snagged a hammock. We had a great view of the ship and the family beach, but it was nice and quiet. I know many folks were disappointed with the weather,
but we were very, very happy to be back. The island is a bit worn from the hurricanes, but you can see the foliage is really coming back quickly. We will check the progress when we are there again for our January Magic (this time with DS). There is still a lot of dredging equipment in the dock area.
The sun broke through later in the day, and our sail away was gorgeous. I was teary eyed, even though I know I am very lucky to be going on the Magic soon. It is just always hard to leave paradise
We spoke with Captain Henry at the CC party. He is such a great guy! We were one of the last families he spoke with, but he spent just as much time with us as he did with the first family. He spoke fondly of Barb and Tony!
We knew that the Magic would pass us as she headed out to St. Thomas, so at 11:00 p.m. we started looking off our balcony for her. The Carnival ship came first, then the Magic at 11:30 or so. That was a highlight of the cruise. The Magic was a bit farther out to sea than the Carnival ship, but we could see the two stacks. We will be watching for the Wonder as we head out to sea in January on the Magic in January.
The great thing about 2nd dining is that you don't have to get up so early for breakfast. We said good-bye to Stoyan and Sergio (and Michelle, the head server, who was also great) and disembarked with the usual ease. We took DCL transfers back and checked our luggage at the port.
I know several others have posted trip reports, but let me know if I can answer any questions.
Thanks again to my wonderful DH who planned this entire trip! This was a fantastic romantic adventure, and nothing could have made it more perfect. I love you and cant wait for the next 15 years!!! 
We flew out the day before, and rented a car with Budget. Previously, we had used DCL transfers, but were thrilled to experience the convenience of a one-way rental. On Thursday, we stopped at the Walgreens for a few things, and then headed off to the port at about 9:40 a.m. In a short 45 minutes, we were at the convenient Budget location, just a mile or so from the port. The folks there helped us with our luggage and were very pleasant. What a great start!
Check-in was very quick, and we were about the 7th family in line at approx 11:00. The next hour went fast as we took turns taking pictures, looking at the ship's model and stepping outside to look at the ship. It was a beautiful day. They let us on at 12:00! We headed straight to Parrot Cay for a yummy lunch.
Without DS7, we wanted to enjoy some of the adult areas that we don't normally patronize. We headed to Signals where we met Christine from Jamaica. She took care of us throughout the cruise, and we even saw her at the Head's Up Bar on Castaway Cay. The Signals/Quiet Cove/Cove Cafe area was nice and quiet throughout the cruise. We also watched Match Your Mate, which was a riot! DH was not willing to volunteer! We only saw Diversions when it was closed, but it was a great venue. It is very upscale, and much nicer than the old ESPN lounge in the stack. We will be sure to spend some time there on our next cruise.
At about 1:30, the cabins were ready so we headed down to 5624. Another surprise for me. . . .DH had roses with a little Mickey in the cabin.
5624 is very far aft, but I really liked the location. We got a little exercise as we used the aft stairs to get to and from Topsiders and the drink station. No noise at all from the restaurant below or the club/lab, which is on this deck. On Nassau day, we had a clear view of Atlantis from our verandah, and on Castaway Cay day we faced the bay. There were two pieces of infrastructure that lowered the portable lifeboats in our view, but they did not block anything. Araya was our stateroom hostess. She was always cheerful and made great towel animals!
We got some ice from deck 9 and cooled down a bottle of champagne in the sink. At sail away, we stayed on the verandah and waived to everyone watching Two Palms while we drank champagne. Perfect!
We had second dining (another first for us). Wow! That was different. The dining rooms were not nearly as crowded and, of course, there were far less children. Stoyan from Bulgaria was our server and Sergio from Argentina our asst. server. Both were more reserved than other servers we have had, but they took excellent care of us and brought out a cake and sang for our anniversary (yes, another DH surprise)
As always, the food was wonderful. I know there are mixed reviews about food on these boards, but I wish I could eat the maple glazed salmon every night! Everything thing I had was wonderful, and I believe all DH's steaks were cooked to perfection (i.e. rare). We had the LAP rotation, which I thought was great b/c we could dress down on the last night and be very comfortable. We did not do Palo this time, because we did not want to miss any of the dining rooms. We love all three, especially AP. I just love Disney music, and get very emotional during the show. I think it will take many, many cruises before I skip that.
O.k. . . .here is a very exciting part!!! On Friday morning, we woke up as we pulled into Nassau. We watched on our verandah as the ship rotated in port. For those of you who have seen Travel Channel video 100 times (like me), you know this is a very "delicate procedure in such a small channel." We then ran up to Deck 9 and watched Captain Henry on the bridge wing. It looked just like the video as he docked the ship! So cool!!
We had wonderful, warm weather in Nassau. We spent most of our day on the ship sipping cocktails that Christine poured, but did walk around Nassau for an hour or so. The ship left port very late (2:00 a.m.) as Captain Henry had granted the CMs some extra shore time. The CM's we talked to throughout the day were so excited that he would do that for them.
They all admire Captain Henry, who went on vacation after we docked in Port Canaveral on the 12th.On Saturday, we woke up to a gloomy day on Castaway Cay. Although it drizzled while we were on the island, the air was warm and tropical. He went over to the Heads Up Bar, where DH snagged a hammock. We had a great view of the ship and the family beach, but it was nice and quiet. I know many folks were disappointed with the weather,
but we were very, very happy to be back. The island is a bit worn from the hurricanes, but you can see the foliage is really coming back quickly. We will check the progress when we are there again for our January Magic (this time with DS). There is still a lot of dredging equipment in the dock area.The sun broke through later in the day, and our sail away was gorgeous. I was teary eyed, even though I know I am very lucky to be going on the Magic soon. It is just always hard to leave paradise
We spoke with Captain Henry at the CC party. He is such a great guy! We were one of the last families he spoke with, but he spent just as much time with us as he did with the first family. He spoke fondly of Barb and Tony!
We knew that the Magic would pass us as she headed out to St. Thomas, so at 11:00 p.m. we started looking off our balcony for her. The Carnival ship came first, then the Magic at 11:30 or so. That was a highlight of the cruise. The Magic was a bit farther out to sea than the Carnival ship, but we could see the two stacks. We will be watching for the Wonder as we head out to sea in January on the Magic in January.
The great thing about 2nd dining is that you don't have to get up so early for breakfast. We said good-bye to Stoyan and Sergio (and Michelle, the head server, who was also great) and disembarked with the usual ease. We took DCL transfers back and checked our luggage at the port.
I know several others have posted trip reports, but let me know if I can answer any questions.
Thanks again to my wonderful DH who planned this entire trip! This was a fantastic romantic adventure, and nothing could have made it more perfect. I love you and cant wait for the next 15 years!!!
I hope everyone is doing well and your family is enjoying a great holiday.
