3-day Wonder (3/13-16) - more info than you can possibly stand!

[wonderapril2007]

Great TR thus far - looking forward to reading more.

 

[pjstevens]

Another great update. Loving the photos. Can't wait to see more.

 

[lori1043]

Loving the cruise report!! I am thinking of going in Dec 09 on a 4 night. We have the 7 night booked but we have never cruised before and my DH is prone to inner ear problems and seasickness. So we are planning on the 4 day with a couple nights at the World. I cry too. I have a bunch of Disney ring tones on my previous cell phone, but it broke!! So I am using my Dh old one until my contract allows me another phone at a cheaper rate! I miss them. I had "Minnie's yoohoo" (you are a true Disney fan if you know that one!!), "A whole new World"(my wedding song), and a few others.

I would like to know what time you all got to the port.
BTW-I am from the same area as you are, well, Katrina hit area. But we are about 9.5 hours away from WDW!!

Here is how i think about work/school interfering with Dis'ing-if we didn't have the darn job we could'nt afford to GO to any place Disney!! It is a bittersweet thing!!

Lori

 

[Dreamfinder2]

OK, I'm padding out my lunch time.

SunKat, that corridor is indeed between the ears and the welcome aboard photo spot. We stopped and had photos taken, but elected not to buy them. It was just a little too vague for us ... it didn't really scream "Disney Cruise" with its generic background. We did buy some photos. More on that later.

Lori, we're Mississippians - hence, "Katrina Country." While we live in the Jackson area, we still had fairly significant damage. Both my kids were in Hattiesburg, and the former Marine "rode it out" down there, and ended up under a table in the hall while trees landed on his roof. But I've spent a lot of time on the coast doing disaster relief work with our denomination, and Katrina has changed me forever. Maybe that's not a bad thing.

Anyway. After we sailed, we just prowled the ship. Again, I was surprised at how well I remembered my way around from the Magic. Amy was suitably impressed. I might mention, too, that we toured the Spa. The girls were enchanted and planned to get a day pass to the rainforest room, the other sauna and steam rooms, etc. Amy had been dealing with some nasty sinus ailments, and she thought the eucalyptus was glorious. The girls took each other on in ping pong and we just generally slummed around until showtime.

Worth noting were the goodies left by the Castaway Club faries - a nice red and black tote bag ... very tasteful ... with another mesh beach bag, water bottles, a squeeze toy for the dogs, etc. We put it to good use. And as DVC members, there were still more goodies: a logbook of sorts, caps, a nice pen. I'm very grateful for simple perks.

Showtime! We fell in that gap between the end of Hercules and the beginning of Toy Story, so our first night was "The physical comedy of Max Winfrey." I went into this little extravaganza a bit bummed, just because I wanted three full-scale shows. (I had peeked in the Walt Disney Theater earlier this afternoon, and Toy Story was in rehearsals ... I was promptly shooed away.)

But Winfrey was just fine, for what it was. Juggling, a lot of clever one-liners. I appreciated his skill, and his rapport with the audience. Would I stand in line for hours to see him? Naah. But for the first night, under the circumstances, it fit the bill.

A little blurry ... sorry:

Amy had one of the best lines of the trip as we were leaving the theater: "Y'all ... I feel like we're moving." Well, duh. We are on a ship, after all. There was just the gentlest of pitches that evening, due to crossing the Florida straits.

Afterwards, we ducked into Studio Sea for "Who Wants to Be a Mouseketeer?" Cute. Disney is so stinkin' shrewd in offering a "family night club."

And dinner. Tonight was Animator's Palate. Amy was especially pumped about this one, after seeing the piece on The Travel Channel on the Disney ships and the technology behind this show restaurant.

Waiting patiently:

We met our servers and our tablemates.

First, the servers. Richard Salabert was the head server, and he was the very epitomy of Teutonic effiency. He was much more engaging, and tended to respond to needs quicker, than our head server years ago.

As for our regular server and assistant server? OK, folks. You will read reams of opinions on other cruiser's servers, but let me state for the record: OURS were the absolute BEST. I'll post photos of them later, but our assistant server was Galina Yordanova, from Bulgaria, and Egi (pronounced "aggie") Prayogi, from Indonesia. My gosh, people. They were superb. None of us drink alcohol, but Galina quickly picked up on what our drink preferences were. And Egi was an absolute hoot. Charming doesn't begin to describe this gentleman. When he made recommendations, I learned real quick to go with his call. He patiently described what each entree was on request, and he REALLY catered to my picky (sorry, "discriminating") wife, steering her away from stuff too exotic. He was a pro, not overbearing or hovering, but one step ahead of our needs. I just don't think I've ever had better service, land or sea.

I've heard that the menus on the Wonder will be changing soon. In the meantime - I started out with an appetizer of wild garlic mushrooms. I love me some mushrooms, and these were in a little pastry shell, nice and flaky and light, and garlic cream sauce. I'm one of those folks who think there's no such thing as too much garlic, and this was spot on. Soup for me was butternut squash. Sources tell me their soups are made from scratch, and this was sweetly divine. No kidding. I had to fight Teresa off from this rich, gold concoction. I asked for Egi to steer me toward and entree, and he was high on a filet mignon but also on a maple-glazed salmon ("it will change your life," he said.) Salmon it was, and it was pink and sweet and just salty enough. Salmon can dry out and be nasty, but not this time. Yeah, babe! And my dessert of chocolate and peanut butter pie - both of which should be their own food groups - was light, with vanilla and coffee sauces on the sides (this was served in a palette, with the sauces filling the little indentations on the plate.) Teresa's entree was lemon peppered oven baked stuffed chicken, which she scarfed up in a ladylike way, and Amy opted for filet mignon, which was at the perfect temperature - medium rare, which is the only acceptable way to eat a steak, IMHO.

We left stuffed. Here's a quick shot of AP:

Is early seating or late seating better? We've done late both times, but I'm just thinking ... it's not real comfortable going to bed with such a full tummy ("I have a food baby," said Amy, rubbing her stomach after dinner.) I may switch things up next time and see.

We turned in fairly early. Amy discovered the glories of camomile tea from the beverage station. And in our cozy stateroom, with that faint, soothing subsonic rumble of the engines somewhere in the bowels of the ship, we were lulled to blissful sleep.

More later. Work beckons. Bleah.

 

[LITTLEKID58]

TFS awesome report

 

[Dreamfinder2]

I hope you don't mind indulging me for just a moment.

What is it about the seas? From the icy north Atlantic to the vast expanses of the Pacific; to the breadth of the Indian Ocean and the polar Artic; to the warmth of our own Caribbean and Gulf, the seas were a mystery to the ancients. I think the seas hold a mystery to me, even today.

I woke up early after our first night in our stateroom, quietly dressed, and crept out on the "secret deck," the deck 7 aft overlook. It wasn't supposed to be unlocked until 7 a.m., but it was open nonetheless. There was no land in sight. I pulled up a deck chair to the rail and gazed toward the horizon. The wake of our ship churned the water and offered up a muted roar.

Here, I thought, is balm for all the worry and bustle of the world. It may be true for all mariners. Certainly it is true - for me, anyway - on this most perfect of ships, on a perfect morning. Even though the Wonder stretched and throbbed and pressed forward, I was struck by the vastness around me ... no matter how large the vessel, the sea is always larger.

I was reminded of the old French fisherman's prayer ... "Dear God, protect me. The sea is so big and my boat is so small."

And as I sat, I was treated to this:

What a sweet epiphany I experienced. I felt as though this sunrise was just for me.

I caught myself singing under my breath (and being thankful no one else was around). It was an old hymn, which I found especially poignant this early dawn:

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

I went back to the cabin. The girls were still asleep. A busy day was ahead. But I felt that this moment, this precious time alone (ok, I don't think I was totally alone) was the reason I was fortunate enough to participate in this cruise.

I trust you find your special moment, too, and that it is transcendent as mine.

 

[frdeb1999]

Wonderful TR and pics....looking forward to more!

 

[pixidustmom]

And as I sat, I was treated to this:



AWWWW! That is such a peaceful moment.

 

[Grumpymom73]

A truley Magical Moment. I'm so happy for you.

Can't wait to read more and your pics are a real treat!

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Dreamfinder, I am here, your sailing buddy you never met, LOL.
We were like ships passing in the night for much of this trip.
First off I have to say, wasn't the weather just absolutely glorious the entire trip?

We checked in at 12 and had lunch from Beach Blanket Buffet by 12:30.

We were in 7623, a standard inside. I sort of dreaded this, because it was a step down, in my mind, from a verandah. But I thought, what the heck, it's just three nights.

Our first cruise, we had a verandah, I spent hours there, I could not imaginge an inside cabin.
We were in cabin 7598, just down from you!


I can't remember what our original rotation was, but I wanted Animator's Palate, Parrot Cay, and Triton's. I felt that dress up night should fall at Triton's, since it's the more elegant of the three. No problem at all to fix.

We had the exact same dining rotation!

Then, the safety drill. The crew makes it as fun and as lighthearted as it can be. Our muster station was in AP, just like on our last cruise.

Safety drill, check!

When the ship's horn plays seven of the most famous notes in musical history, I defy any true Disney geek to remain unmoved. It makes the hair on my arm stand up even now.

AMEN!

Oh weird....Dreamfinder2...we're in your "sailaway party" picture!!!! Cool!

WOW, that is cool, where are you?

Showtime! We fell in that gap between the end of Hercules and the beginning of Toy Story, so our first night was "The physical comedy of Max Winfrey." I went into this little extravaganza a bit bummed, just because I wanted three full-scale shows. (I had peeked in the Walt Disney Theater earlier this afternoon, and Toy Story was in rehearsals ... I was promptly shooed away.)

But Winfrey was just fine, for what it was. Juggling, a lot of clever one-liners. I appreciated his skill, and his rapport with the audience. Would I stand in line for hours to see him? Naah. But for the first night, under the circumstances, it fit the bill.

Hey, I was there too!







We met our servers and our tablemates.

First, the servers. Richard Salabert was the head server, and he was the very epitomy of Teutonic effiency. He was much more engaging, and tended to respond to needs quicker, than our head server years ago. He only introduced himself once, and we did not really need him. Our server kept bringing out extra things, he wa great.

We had Richard too! But he never did anything special for us that we know of since WE obviously had the best servers ever!


I've heard that the menus on the Wonder will be changing soon. In the meantime - I started out with an appetizer of wild garlic mushrooms. I love me some mushrooms, and these were in a little pastry shell, nice and flaky and light, and garlic cream sauce. I'm one of those folks who think there's no such thing as too much garlic, and this was spot on.

I had those too, YUMMY!!!!!!!!!

 

[global_mom]

I hope you don't mind indulging me for just a moment.

What is it about the seas? From the icy north Atlantic to the vast expanses of the Pacific; to the breadth of the Indian Ocean and the polar Artic; to the warmth of our own Caribbean and Gulf, the seas were a mystery to the ancients. I think the seas hold a mystery to me, even today.

I woke up early after our first night in our stateroom, quietly dressed, and crept out on the "secret deck," the deck 7 aft overlook. It wasn't supposed to be unlocked until 7 a.m., but it was open nonetheless. There was no land in sight. I pulled up a deck chair to the rail and gazed toward the horizon. The wake of our ship churned the water and offered up a muted roar.

Here, I thought, is balm for all the worry and bustle of the world. It may be true for all mariners. Certainly it is true - for me, anyway - on this most perfect of ships, on a perfect morning. Even though the Wonder stretched and throbbed and pressed forward, I was struck by the vastness around me ... no matter how large the vessel, the sea is always larger.

I was reminded of the old French fisherman's prayer ... "Dear God, protect me. The sea is so big and my boat is so small."

And as I sat, I was treated to this:

What a sweet epiphany I experienced. I felt as though this sunrise was just for me.

I caught myself singing under my breath (and being thankful no one else was around). It was an old hymn, which I found especially poignant this early dawn:

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

I went back to the cabin. The girls were still asleep. A busy day was ahead. But I felt that this moment, this precious time alone (ok, I don't think I was totally alone) was the reason I was fortunate enough to participate in this cruise.

I trust you find your special moment, too, and that it is transcendent as mine.

I hope that you are a writer as you are a true pro! I have tears in my eyes and that hymn is one of my favorites. As Episcopalians we are quite partial to the oldies but goodies.

Well I must go book a cruise b/c after reading all of this gloriousness we have decided that we need an emergency cruise getaway. We have been to WDW for 21 days (4 trips) in the past 6 months, surely it is appropriate that we get some more time on the sea!!

 

[Horses02]

I was on the same cruise ship as you were on!
What a small world. I love the cruise a lot, the weather was so great and nice to sail.

 

[lori1043]

On our cruise, in 20 months(haha!!) I will be searching for those moments and i will think of your post. God is everywhere and we seem to only slow down enough to "see" Him on vacation or when He decides we need to STOP.

He has stopped us a few times!!

Lori

 

[TotallyAngelic]

WOW - that is a stunning photo of the sunrise! I hope to find some of those quiet contemplative moments on my Disney cruise in October! I am really enjoying your trip report and your descriptions of the food are causing my mouth to water!

 

[Dreamfinder2]

I forgot to mention our tablemates from the earlier post.

We met our three tablemates in Animator's Palate. What a sweet bunch! Honestly, I forgot their names (you'll see why, later), but it consisted of a nurse on the Wonder (mid to late 20's, I'm guessing), her older sister, 30, and younger brother, 16. They were all originally from Arizona, and the nurse still lived in Flagstaff; the other two lived in Anchorage, Alaska.

They were all charming, and at dinner we got some of the inside scoop on medical affairs on board. She told us that her brother and sister came down on a whim, almost, and were staying in her cabin. Medical staff are classified as officers, so apparently she had the room. She said that they dealt with a lot of urgent care things (they had to put in a chest tube for a collapsed lung the week before, before getting the gentleman to a hospital in Nassau and on to Miami), but most of it was run of the mill sniffles, seasickness, and always a lot of GI issues. She said, "Always bring imodium, because we have the authority to quarantine folks to their cabins if we deem them too sick and we have to medicate them. We can't force them to stay, but they won't be allowed off the ship in port." It was fun chatting about the internal workings and relationships of the crew, some of the things she'd experienced, etc.

Know what, though? After that first night, we never saw them again. We laughed about the possibility of "was it us?", but she also had indicated that her schedule was subject to change and it was sort of a treat for her to be able to eat with the passengers. We just assumed that duties called. I felt like we all hit it off right off the bat, and sure didn't take it personally. Honestly, I think one of the joys of crusiing is to get to know your tablemates.

One other thing. I didn't wear my Castaway Club lanyard all the time, but it always got "welcome backs!" from the crew when I did. If you're a DVC member, it's sort of like those "welcome homes" we often enjoy.

Good lookin' family there, Backstage Gal. I saw your kids at the crab races on CC!

More to come with photos from Nassau, etc.

 

[Miscoehill]

The sunrise photo was gorgeous! HE was certainly with you when taking that photo. I'll have to try and convince my DH to do another cruise. We did a 4 day last year with teens and had a blast!

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Good lookin' family there, Backstage Gal. I saw your kids at the crab races on CC!

Isn't that weird we were so close all the time it seems?
Here is a pic of the "kids" (23 and 28) from the crab race: (crab #5)

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Celebrations:Note the "WINNER" caps.

 

[Dreamfinder2]

The girls finally roused themselves. We went to Deck 9 for breakfast at the Beach Blanket Buffet. I had watched the whole docking procedure before breakfast. I swear. It's like parking a building. Amazing seamanship.

We did have a helpful escort:

A nice view of the Hilton British Colonial. I remember visiting Nassau and this place was about to collapse. Ian Fleming had James Bond visiting here; they even have a commemorative room set up there.

And, for discriminating tastes, the (temporary?) tent for the Straw Market:

Breakfast was standard buffet fare, and tasty enough. I'll tell ya, set me up with an omelet station, and I'm a happy man. I like their system of ordering your omelet and fixin's, taking a number, and having it delivered to your table. Good stuff.

Our agenda this morning was a walking tour hosted by Yours Truly, and Amy wanted to look for a knockoff purse. The girls had picked up all sorts of coupons for freebies and discounts at the shopping briefing the day before, so they were all set.

Again, I appreciated the security in getting off the ship. The weather for the day was sublime:

We struck off. I wanted to go more or less directly up the hill to Ft. Fincastle, make a turn to the west, come back into town, and work Bay Street from the British Colonial back to the wharf.

Extra credit for veteran cruisers who can identify this building and statue:

My route, which I thought was pretty good, sorta spooked the girls. We'd only gone a couple of blocks, up past the jail/library, when we were out of the "touristy" area. I felt perfectly safe, but the ladies were on high alert. Folks we met strolling on the streets almost always smiled, nodded, and spoke. But you do take significant risks crossing the streets ... while theoretically Bahamians drive on the left, I think they drive wherever they please. Stop signs are just suggestions. Still, my former Marine son talks about patrolling urban streets in Anbar province, and gave us a little lecture about "situational awareness." Good advice.

Once we reached the top of this pretty significant hill, we visited Ft. Fincastle. I've got a fondness for old forts, and this one was tiny yet historically significant. Amy sez, "What...?"

The view was the best on the island:

The landmark water tower, visible from anywhere:

And Amy even found some purses, but she held off for more variety:

The Queen's Staircase, cut by slaves, is impressive by most any standards. Looking down:

And looking back:

OK, Teresa's calling me to help put some mulch down in the rose bed. Joys.

Marita: Cute!!!

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Dreamfinder, your daughter is lovely!

The traffic in Nassau is just nuts! Reminds me of Paris, everyone drives wherever they please.

If you presented me with those steps to climb, I would bolt and you wouldnt even know what happened!!!

We got out of Nassau with 2 bottles of rum and a cigar, whew!