skylynx
DIS Sponsor in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2003
- Messages
- 1,280
Just back from the 5/6 Wonder, with a bonus second day at Castaway Cay and the same child lost twice in one day!
We flew from Chicago to Orlando on Friday, May 4, and got in early enough to check out the Character Wearhouse for bargains and then to enjoy what we think is one of the best food values at Downtown Disney (Earl of Sandwich-with refillable sodas). The kids, DD 14 and DS 11, immediately started trading pins. It was a delicious feeling to know we still had the whole wonderful adventure before us. Life is good.
On Saturday we went to Typhoon Lagoon for most of the day, then later got DD some stuff at the Ron Jon surf outlet store on I-Drive, and shuffled the luggage for the cruise, as we intended to leave one of the suitcases in the car trunk at the port.
Sailaway day started beautifully. Hurtling down the Beachline we held our breath waiting for the first glimpse of Wonder, now visible a bit earlier from the new, higher eastbound bridge. There she was! After all that can go wrong with four people traveling with lots of luggage and passports and pin lanyards and Gameboys and reservation numbers and car rentals, there was little that could stand in the way of this long-anticipated cruise becoming a reality now. Check in was a breeze as there were no lines. Got overanxious DS logged into the Oceaneers Lab in the terminal, and had time to get our picture taken with Pluto before our boarding group was called. We ate our traditional first lunch at Beach Blanket Buffet, then got into our stateroom 7536 at 1:30. Our souvenir gift box from Dreams Unlimited was waiting for us, along with the Castaway Club gifts. The kids were already ecstatic at check-in to receive the Castaway Club lanyards and extra trading pins! The luggage came right away, so we were able to completely unpack and stow the luggage under the bed before the lifeboat drill.
By four p.m., the sky had clouded over to a murky gray, and lightning loomed threateningly on the western horizon. I fretted that the sailaway party might be cancelled or moved inside, as this is one of my most favorite DCL events. But despite the ominous sky, people started drifting over to the Goofy pool area. The MC was fussing with the mikes and amps, and before long DH and I had our sailaway cocktails in hand and the party got started. Oh joy! It began raining midway through, but the band played on and the characters even turned up. We did an accelerated countdown and the synchronized horn send off, although we remained firmly tied to the dock.
About 15 minutes after the countdown we saw a family scurrying onboard through the crew gangway apparently they were late and the ship waited. I was glad for them, as I can only imagine in my nightmares what it feels like to watch your ship sail away without you. Our servers were some of the best weve had on our nine cruises so incredibly relaxed and efficient and cheerful. Our table # had been changed at the last minute (not by us) and we ended up at a table for four sandwiched between two larger tables of 8. DS raced through his food so he could get to the lab, and that was the last we saw of him until after midnight when we went to go drag him out. DD retreated to Aloft for some intense conversation we couldn't possibly understand, as adults. So DH and I enjoyed sitting on the verandah.
Last year on the same cruise at Nassau wed rented a room at Comfort Suites and did the Atlantis, so this year we let the kids stay on the ship and DH and I walked to the British Colonial Hilton (hes a Brit, and so likes to check out remnants of the former Empire) then ended up drinking Dos Equis at Senor Frogs. DD was ensconced in some teen activity in Aloft when we got back on the ship and couldnt stop to chat because she was in the middle of a scavenger hunt. We dressed in our formalwear (DH in a tux, me in a black dress with uncomfortable shoes and lots of rhinestone jewelry) and headed off to a sunset dinner at Palo. After gorging ourselves on filet mignon, chocolate soufflé, and whatever was resting on an array of other plates that just kept appearing at our table, we waddled around the deck a while, visited the shops, and wondered where the kids might be. They turned up around midnight, when wed just come in from stargazing on the verandah. I lie in bed reading a scary book. Life is good.
Castaway Cay day started out with a troubled sky, too. Exhausted from the night before, we broke tradition of being amongst the first to disembark and yet still found a great spot on the family beach with hammocks and umbrellas to set up "Pirate Camp." Last year we brought a big pirate flag along with some fishing line and tied it to the hammock post so the kids could easily find us. This year worked just as well. Except that it started to rain after about twenty minutes. Everyone huddled under the shelter of Cookies for about a half hour until the storm passed. After that it did get sunny for a while so we got some great pictures, but it clouded over again later. The water was pretty rough (and cold) so the snorkeling wasnt optimal. After lunch we headed out to the adult beach. What a difference from when we where there in January on a Magic cruise! Then the water was so shallow you could walk out to the buoys and still be in only waist deep. This day you were up to chest level after about ten steps! Still, it was lovely to watch and listen to the water. Sunbleached and itchy, we decided to visit the adult pool and hot tub for a while. While there, the announcement was made that since the weather had been less than brilliant, the captain had decided wed go back to Castaway Cay again tomorrow! I must confess I love days at sea, but looked forward to another day on the island with perhaps less turbulent water and better snorkeling. We dress up in our pirate gear and relish the dinner and deck party. We fall asleep halfway through the on deck POC movie, then retreat to our cabin. The kids still come back later than we do. DD tells us how cool her Teen Wildside shore excursion was with kayaking, snorkeling, and bike riding. I am happy she is happy.
Castaway Cay day two looked much better at the outset, but a strange sort of haze (possibly from the southern Florida fires?) kept the sky from being that beautiful blue much of the day. The water still seemed cold, but DD and I did the snorkel trail. She didnt bring fins so I shared mine with her, each of us swimming a bit crookedly with one! I tried to understand how we could possibly be swimming against the current in both directions. We saw Gary the Grouper under the lifeguard stand, and lots of large and colorful fish by the far rock breakwall. Exhausted, we recovered in the hammocks then DD went off to join her teen people so DH and I broke Pirate Camp and moved to Serenity Bay. It wasnt too serene today, either, but I snorkeled out with both fins this time to check on the fish around the little wreck at the buoy. In time that should be a nice little reef. Wed decided to go back to the ship a bit early, so went to go collect DS at the kids program area around 2. They told me hed checked himself out at 11:30. Hmm. We walked back to Groupers Pavilion, figuring it would be the only place hed go on his own, as hed complained about the water being too cold earlier. No Jack. Went back to the kids area to see if hed returned. No Jack. Walked down the beach, searching. No Jack, though every third kid looked just like him. Had the kids counselors call the ship to see if hed boarded without us. He hadnt. By this time I start to panic about where hes been the last two and a half hours. Im getting a stomachache. I gave his description to the counselors and they radioed to all the lifeguards. They called his name over bullhorns, and in a little over five (terrifying) minutes he was located. Turned out hed checked out of the kids programs with a new friend whose family had rented some paddleboats and Jack went with them. Then he went swimming with his new buddy. I hadnt taken the pager with me (which was dumb) because in the several times hes cruised, hes never checked out of the lab while on the island (in fact I couldn't pry him out with a crowbar). For the same reason, I hadnt given him a meeting place to find us if we were no longer at the family beach. So technically he had no way to tell me what he was doing, and we were no longer at the Pirate Camp when he looked for us. Or so he alleges.
Oh, but it gets better. I am so relieved to see him, I cant stay mad, especially since I have determined it was mostly my fault for not giving him a contingency plan if he checked out. We go back to the ship. I threaten to revoke his check out privileges, but relent because he has been responsible about letting us know his whereabouts all the other times, and I hate to squelch what is the most fun part of the cruise for him. He takes off to play basketball, and I happily watch him running around on the Jack Cam (what we call the channel on the stateroom tv that shows the bow of the ship and the bball court). He has deathly serious instructions to come to the stateroom and leave a note where he is whenever he changes locations. He does this diligently for two hours. His last note says he is on the sports deck, so we go to check on him to see if hes going to join us for dinner. He isnt there. We look to see if hes gone back to the lab. They tell us he did check in, but then checked out again at 6. It is now 7:30. We walk the two top decks, search the arcade, the shops, the atrium, Shutters, anyplace he might be. No Jack. We return to the lab and ask them to page me if/when Jack checks back in. While I check the room to see if hes returned or left an update, DH runs into Jacks friend from earlier on the island who is looking for him, too, so now we know they are not together. We go to dinner without him, but now I am too nervous to eat. Reluctantly, we leave our barely touched appetizers and go to guest services. They tell us to check the room one more time, then let them know if we want them to issue a security alert. By this time I am feeling like the biggest sucker on the face of the earth. Not only should I have revoked Jacks check out privileges, but I should have insisted he stayed within my arms reach the rest of the cruise! We walk into the room and Jack is sitting there innocently watching tv. Where have you guys been? he says. Ive been looking for you everywhere. We call off the latest search, make him put on long pants and a button up shirt, and off we go back to dinner which luckily is still available for us. In a short time, the meal becomes festive again proving 1) I have appalling short-term memory 2) my parenting skills are pretty bad 3) a really tasty rack of ribs in Parrot Cay can improve ones mood dramatically!
DH has to go off at the crack of dawn to retrieve his green card. We eat a quick breakfast at Beach Blanket because we are then off to do a parks day and our first visit home as DVC members. That report will be on the DVC Disboard site. All in all, another great cruise...and we rebooked #10 (with kids) and #11 (without kids) onboard!
We flew from Chicago to Orlando on Friday, May 4, and got in early enough to check out the Character Wearhouse for bargains and then to enjoy what we think is one of the best food values at Downtown Disney (Earl of Sandwich-with refillable sodas). The kids, DD 14 and DS 11, immediately started trading pins. It was a delicious feeling to know we still had the whole wonderful adventure before us. Life is good.
On Saturday we went to Typhoon Lagoon for most of the day, then later got DD some stuff at the Ron Jon surf outlet store on I-Drive, and shuffled the luggage for the cruise, as we intended to leave one of the suitcases in the car trunk at the port.
Sailaway day started beautifully. Hurtling down the Beachline we held our breath waiting for the first glimpse of Wonder, now visible a bit earlier from the new, higher eastbound bridge. There she was! After all that can go wrong with four people traveling with lots of luggage and passports and pin lanyards and Gameboys and reservation numbers and car rentals, there was little that could stand in the way of this long-anticipated cruise becoming a reality now. Check in was a breeze as there were no lines. Got overanxious DS logged into the Oceaneers Lab in the terminal, and had time to get our picture taken with Pluto before our boarding group was called. We ate our traditional first lunch at Beach Blanket Buffet, then got into our stateroom 7536 at 1:30. Our souvenir gift box from Dreams Unlimited was waiting for us, along with the Castaway Club gifts. The kids were already ecstatic at check-in to receive the Castaway Club lanyards and extra trading pins! The luggage came right away, so we were able to completely unpack and stow the luggage under the bed before the lifeboat drill.
By four p.m., the sky had clouded over to a murky gray, and lightning loomed threateningly on the western horizon. I fretted that the sailaway party might be cancelled or moved inside, as this is one of my most favorite DCL events. But despite the ominous sky, people started drifting over to the Goofy pool area. The MC was fussing with the mikes and amps, and before long DH and I had our sailaway cocktails in hand and the party got started. Oh joy! It began raining midway through, but the band played on and the characters even turned up. We did an accelerated countdown and the synchronized horn send off, although we remained firmly tied to the dock.
About 15 minutes after the countdown we saw a family scurrying onboard through the crew gangway apparently they were late and the ship waited. I was glad for them, as I can only imagine in my nightmares what it feels like to watch your ship sail away without you. Our servers were some of the best weve had on our nine cruises so incredibly relaxed and efficient and cheerful. Our table # had been changed at the last minute (not by us) and we ended up at a table for four sandwiched between two larger tables of 8. DS raced through his food so he could get to the lab, and that was the last we saw of him until after midnight when we went to go drag him out. DD retreated to Aloft for some intense conversation we couldn't possibly understand, as adults. So DH and I enjoyed sitting on the verandah.
Last year on the same cruise at Nassau wed rented a room at Comfort Suites and did the Atlantis, so this year we let the kids stay on the ship and DH and I walked to the British Colonial Hilton (hes a Brit, and so likes to check out remnants of the former Empire) then ended up drinking Dos Equis at Senor Frogs. DD was ensconced in some teen activity in Aloft when we got back on the ship and couldnt stop to chat because she was in the middle of a scavenger hunt. We dressed in our formalwear (DH in a tux, me in a black dress with uncomfortable shoes and lots of rhinestone jewelry) and headed off to a sunset dinner at Palo. After gorging ourselves on filet mignon, chocolate soufflé, and whatever was resting on an array of other plates that just kept appearing at our table, we waddled around the deck a while, visited the shops, and wondered where the kids might be. They turned up around midnight, when wed just come in from stargazing on the verandah. I lie in bed reading a scary book. Life is good.
Castaway Cay day started out with a troubled sky, too. Exhausted from the night before, we broke tradition of being amongst the first to disembark and yet still found a great spot on the family beach with hammocks and umbrellas to set up "Pirate Camp." Last year we brought a big pirate flag along with some fishing line and tied it to the hammock post so the kids could easily find us. This year worked just as well. Except that it started to rain after about twenty minutes. Everyone huddled under the shelter of Cookies for about a half hour until the storm passed. After that it did get sunny for a while so we got some great pictures, but it clouded over again later. The water was pretty rough (and cold) so the snorkeling wasnt optimal. After lunch we headed out to the adult beach. What a difference from when we where there in January on a Magic cruise! Then the water was so shallow you could walk out to the buoys and still be in only waist deep. This day you were up to chest level after about ten steps! Still, it was lovely to watch and listen to the water. Sunbleached and itchy, we decided to visit the adult pool and hot tub for a while. While there, the announcement was made that since the weather had been less than brilliant, the captain had decided wed go back to Castaway Cay again tomorrow! I must confess I love days at sea, but looked forward to another day on the island with perhaps less turbulent water and better snorkeling. We dress up in our pirate gear and relish the dinner and deck party. We fall asleep halfway through the on deck POC movie, then retreat to our cabin. The kids still come back later than we do. DD tells us how cool her Teen Wildside shore excursion was with kayaking, snorkeling, and bike riding. I am happy she is happy.
Castaway Cay day two looked much better at the outset, but a strange sort of haze (possibly from the southern Florida fires?) kept the sky from being that beautiful blue much of the day. The water still seemed cold, but DD and I did the snorkel trail. She didnt bring fins so I shared mine with her, each of us swimming a bit crookedly with one! I tried to understand how we could possibly be swimming against the current in both directions. We saw Gary the Grouper under the lifeguard stand, and lots of large and colorful fish by the far rock breakwall. Exhausted, we recovered in the hammocks then DD went off to join her teen people so DH and I broke Pirate Camp and moved to Serenity Bay. It wasnt too serene today, either, but I snorkeled out with both fins this time to check on the fish around the little wreck at the buoy. In time that should be a nice little reef. Wed decided to go back to the ship a bit early, so went to go collect DS at the kids program area around 2. They told me hed checked himself out at 11:30. Hmm. We walked back to Groupers Pavilion, figuring it would be the only place hed go on his own, as hed complained about the water being too cold earlier. No Jack. Went back to the kids area to see if hed returned. No Jack. Walked down the beach, searching. No Jack, though every third kid looked just like him. Had the kids counselors call the ship to see if hed boarded without us. He hadnt. By this time I start to panic about where hes been the last two and a half hours. Im getting a stomachache. I gave his description to the counselors and they radioed to all the lifeguards. They called his name over bullhorns, and in a little over five (terrifying) minutes he was located. Turned out hed checked out of the kids programs with a new friend whose family had rented some paddleboats and Jack went with them. Then he went swimming with his new buddy. I hadnt taken the pager with me (which was dumb) because in the several times hes cruised, hes never checked out of the lab while on the island (in fact I couldn't pry him out with a crowbar). For the same reason, I hadnt given him a meeting place to find us if we were no longer at the family beach. So technically he had no way to tell me what he was doing, and we were no longer at the Pirate Camp when he looked for us. Or so he alleges.
Oh, but it gets better. I am so relieved to see him, I cant stay mad, especially since I have determined it was mostly my fault for not giving him a contingency plan if he checked out. We go back to the ship. I threaten to revoke his check out privileges, but relent because he has been responsible about letting us know his whereabouts all the other times, and I hate to squelch what is the most fun part of the cruise for him. He takes off to play basketball, and I happily watch him running around on the Jack Cam (what we call the channel on the stateroom tv that shows the bow of the ship and the bball court). He has deathly serious instructions to come to the stateroom and leave a note where he is whenever he changes locations. He does this diligently for two hours. His last note says he is on the sports deck, so we go to check on him to see if hes going to join us for dinner. He isnt there. We look to see if hes gone back to the lab. They tell us he did check in, but then checked out again at 6. It is now 7:30. We walk the two top decks, search the arcade, the shops, the atrium, Shutters, anyplace he might be. No Jack. We return to the lab and ask them to page me if/when Jack checks back in. While I check the room to see if hes returned or left an update, DH runs into Jacks friend from earlier on the island who is looking for him, too, so now we know they are not together. We go to dinner without him, but now I am too nervous to eat. Reluctantly, we leave our barely touched appetizers and go to guest services. They tell us to check the room one more time, then let them know if we want them to issue a security alert. By this time I am feeling like the biggest sucker on the face of the earth. Not only should I have revoked Jacks check out privileges, but I should have insisted he stayed within my arms reach the rest of the cruise! We walk into the room and Jack is sitting there innocently watching tv. Where have you guys been? he says. Ive been looking for you everywhere. We call off the latest search, make him put on long pants and a button up shirt, and off we go back to dinner which luckily is still available for us. In a short time, the meal becomes festive again proving 1) I have appalling short-term memory 2) my parenting skills are pretty bad 3) a really tasty rack of ribs in Parrot Cay can improve ones mood dramatically!
DH has to go off at the crack of dawn to retrieve his green card. We eat a quick breakfast at Beach Blanket because we are then off to do a parks day and our first visit home as DVC members. That report will be on the DVC Disboard site. All in all, another great cruise...and we rebooked #10 (with kids) and #11 (without kids) onboard!
Here's the link to the DVC post cruise part of our trip report 
