A Splash Of Wonder & A Dash Of Christmas Cheer: A Trip Report With Pictures

[eyesing2]

Subscribing - was also on this cruise and actually have pic of your husband and other "village people"! What a blast! Can't wait to read the rest of your trip report.

 

[Namsupak]

What a wonderful trip report! Thanks for all the wonderful food pics. And the cruise looks amazing... I hope I get to go on one someday. Getting pumped for my first Christmas at Disney in 2 days. Hope I can write as good of a trip report as you have

 

[Blaynexox]

great installment! The spa visit looked fantastic, as did the hercules show! I just LOVE your potato head costumes. The Mary Poppins one is great!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Hi tskbaskets......wait until you hear "Welcome Home" that first time. It is magical. Welcome to the DVC--it is addicting too. I think we are addicted to everything Disney (including the cruise line now) because Disney just does everything so well!!

Tinkerbellmom1, I can't believe you would even include me with Fatherforce & Zweilhund. I enjoyed both of their reports so much & I am really glad you are enjoying mine. I love trippies with lots of pics for the exact same reason they make you feel like you are there-so I am glad you like all the pics.

Eyesing2 we have to chat......We had the best time, did you??? Do you have the Village People pic in digital format that you could email or pm to me? My hubby had the camera in his pocket so the only way I got the picture I did was to wrestle it away from him once he got off stage. I would love to have another pic of that.

Namsupak have a wonderful time at Disney. Christmas there is so special. Here's a bit of pixiedust for you to help you have an extra great time. Thanks for reading.

Blaynexox...the spa was divine. I am glad you like my potato head pics. I have a few more to share as we go along. I wish I had done 2 boxes, there were so many more pieces I wanted. Oh well, something to look forward to getting next time.

I hope to get another day up sometime this weekend.

Thanks ya'll for reading along!!!!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Your Mary Poppins Potato is too cute!!

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the Exotic Rasul! I have heard so many stories about it! I'm thinking about adding it to our anniversary trip in May! Oh, do they provide any shower caps? I don't want my hair to get wet or muddy!

 

[UtahMama]

I am SO jealous! That all looks like SO much fun!!!! I love your Go-Go's impersonation! You look adorable! You make me want to cruise Sooooo badly, especially the pampering part! !!!!!

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Thank you so much for sharing.............great report.

 

[Disneygrl36]

FTB....I love Mary Poppins too!!!! I forgot to get her proper shoes though, I think those shoes are for Cruella. I have got to get more parts. They do not give you a shower cap for the Rasul. I just had my hair up in a ponytail & that seemed to work ok for me.

I am glad you are enjoying Utahmama...you have given me so much enjoyment reading your trippie that I am glad I could return the favor a bit. The spa & pampering were WONDERFUL!!!! I highly recommend it & we are thinking about a whole day of pampering on the 7 night we have booked. I had fun being a Go-Go although I felt a bit ridiculous in the towel get up.

Hi Littlekid58....welcome.

I have started on Day 4. Hope to have it up by the end of the weekend.
Finished my Christmas shopping today. Yippee!!!

 

[ElenitaB]

I'm loving your trip report.

Our cruise was just a few weeks ago and now it seems like a lifetime ago (sigh). However, as with all WDW trips, the cure to back-at-home malaise (another trip) has already been booked.

So while the planning begins for our next cruise (this time a 4-nighter), I'm totally enjoying your trip report! Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Hi ElenitaB.....I too cry at all those things you have listed in your tag. I am such a Disney sap. Having the next trip planned does help ease the pain of being home from a Disney trip. I hope you have many more magical trips in the future & I am glad my report helps ease the pain of being home.

I am uploading pics & will have day 4 up later.

 

[Disneygrl36]

I awoke to what felt like the ship vibrating. I got up & looked out the window & figured that we must be docking at Castaway Cay. I was right…….DH heard me up & we jumped up & threw on some clothes & rushed back to our special Deck 7 aft & watched us pull into the island. Those ropes that they use to pull the ship in & dock it are HUGE. We could see the Christmas tree & best of all we could see the Flying Dutchman.
Here are a few pics of Castaway Cay from aft Deck 7.
The tree.

The post office.

We hurried up to Beach Blanket Bingo & got some breakfast so that we could head off the ship as soon as we were cleared. We sat outside & enjoyed another hearty breakfast. I actually took a pic of my plate of assorted breakfast foods. We called DMom & DDad & they weren’t ready to head out yet, so we told them we would meet up with them on the island.

We were headed off the ship by 9am & headed straight to the post office…which wasn’t open yet. We meandered along enjoying looking at the Flying Dutchman as we walked. It is really cool to be able to see it sitting out there in the bay. This also gives you a good chance to get a good look at the Wonder as well…she really is a beautiful ship.
Love Donald hanging off the back.

The Flying Dutchman.

We decided to head straight over to Serenity Bay—it was sunny & looked like it would be a beautiful day.
Here’s the cute tram to take us over…..looking like a reindeer for Christmas.

We got chairs & DH went to get us floats (which is all I had been dreaming about for months-a float & a drink & the beautiful blue ocean). The beach was not crowded at all & we enjoyed sitting out & putting our feet in the water a bit.
Here’s Mickey enjoying the beauty of Serenity Bay—see it was sunny at first.

Here’s the view from a hammock.

Then, it started to get a bit windy & the next thing we knew here came the rain. We left our chairs & made our way to the picnic area & sat over there under shelter for a bit. I took this time to write in my journal & we chatted with some fellow passengers. After a while, the rain slowed down so we headed back to our chairs, but it was still very windy & overcast, so we just sat up under the umbrella & watched the ocean. We started getting hungry for lunch & headed over to eat & ran into DMom & DDad who had finally made it off the ship. We enjoyed a nice lunch together. I especially liked the ribs-they were yummy & I never eat them at home. We also had yummy burgers, mahi-mahi & chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It was at this time that Mickey had his accident…I had put him in the top of the bag & DH went to get something out & his hand broke off….Oh no. We had to use a sticky thing that I had used to put up our door decorations to hold his hand on for the rest of the cruise & it was a running joke..hurry up & take the picture as his hand would fall off onto the plate.

After lunch, the four of us went back over & camped out under the umbrella to enjoy our day in the sunny Caribbean-Ha.

It was a very windy & so it was a bit cold. We made the best of it, but it wasn’t the ideal day that I had dreamed about & we didn’t even get to use our floaties. Oh well, this was the point that I told DH that we had to book another cruise so I could get my perfect day on Castaway Cay. A bit of back story, DMom & I had taken a Disney cruise back in 1999 & we had the exact same kind of weather on our Castaway Cay day so I am 0/2 on nice days in paradise. I think I am due for a perfect day & am already starting my prayers for great weather in October now

We headed back to the ship about 3:30 or so since the weather didn’t look like it was going to improve. We shopped at She Sells Seashells a bit for the customary t-shirt & postcards. We then stopped by the post office to be able to get a neat stamp for my scrap book. We only mailed one postcard from here because we had heard the service was so slow, but I am happy to report that it only took about a week because we received it in the mail this week.
Here's me with the Christmas decorations.

Once back on board we relaxed a bit it the room & then I took a shower & headed to the spa for my blow out. I never really go get my hair fixed, but we were dining at Palo & I wanted to pamper myself a bit. It was very nice chatting with the stylist who was from South Africa. I enjoyed talking to her about how she ended up on the Wonder & what it was like working on a cruise ship. She did a good job but I was shocked that it was 55$ for a wash & blow out. I probably wouldn’t do this again because of the price, but it was a nice experience. I went back & got into my dress & we were all set to head to Palo for our 6:30 reservation. It really is a beautiful & elegant restaurant…the only bad thing about dinner is that it is DARK & you can’t see the beautiful view out all the windows. It really reminds me of the California Grill as far as the look of the place goes. We had Carina from South Africa as our server & she was really great. DH & I both had a glass of Pinot Noir with dinner. The food was wonderful. They start you out with bread & an anti-pasta platter. I had a shrimp appetizer while everyone else had salads. I had the filet mignon as my main course. DH had the salmon. DDad had some kind of ravioli & DMom had lasagna. We choose 2 chocolate mousse for dessert (I had heard it was too die for)…Carina asked what else we wanted & we said nothing that we just wanted to share the mousse, but she insisted on bringing us something else to try & we told her just to pick for us. She brought the pannacotta & gelato as well & we really enjoyed the gelato sampler—it was pistachio, chocolate & raspberry & was so good & creamy. The mousse lived up to the reviews I had read. It was wonderful. Dinner was superb & we enjoyed the different & quieter dining atmosphere. Superb & I highly recommend making reservations for dinner here.
Here’s the chocolate mousse.

DH & I at Palo

We were given our pirate bandannas here because we had missed Pirate Night dinner in the regular dining rooms. I did this on purpose so that we wouldn’t miss one of the restaurants-since you repeat the 2nd restaurant on Pirate night.

We headed straight to the late showing of the Golden Mickey’s from dinner. We had to split up because the show was packed. DH & I ended up with pretty decent seats in the first row of the 2nd section stage left. It was a very cute show.
Here are a couple of pics from the show-all my show pics are taken without a flash..just so ya know.

We headed back to our rooms to change into our pirate shirts for the Pirates in the Caribbean party. This was about as piraty as I would get this group…t-shirts & we all tied on our bandannas. We went back up to Deck 10 where we had watched the sail away party & found a spot.

It was cute seeing the characters all dressed up like pirates, but it seemed more like just a dance party to me & it was too crowded for us to dance.
Captain Hook

The highlight was Mickey zipping between the funnels to save the day.

The fireworks were really cool too!!!! See a Hidden Mickey??

It was fun being a pirate. Arghhhhhhh!!!!
DMom & Ddad in their pirate shirts

DH & I in our pirate shirts

After that, DMom & DDad decided to call it a night & DH & I went to the Cadillac Lounge. We enjoyed a couple of adult beverages (Cosmo’s for me & Coco53 Cadillac’s for DH).

We listened to Bobby Hamilton sing & play the piano which was a real treat. His voice reminded me of Louis Armstrong. He sang the cutest song called “Popsicle Toes” which I found highly amusing…maybe it was the Cosmo’s talking. It is very dark & romantic in this lounge & we highly enjoyed this quieter evening.

Boy, the drinks packed a whollop. We walked back into the atrium & had it all to ourselves where my DH posed for this picture with Ariel.

We were so tired, but happy & so we crashed from a very full day.

In honor of pirate night here’s Captain Jack Potato…..

Next up….Day 5 a day at Sea to relax & reflect.

 

[GrayFal]

Melanie, I followed your link from over on the cruise trip report board...
I am going with the LOVELY ibouncetoo on the Wonder next year before Christmas....My last 4 cruises have been at Christmas time, I almost think the ships would look 'naked' without all the beautiful decorations.

Thanks for taking the time to post .

Really enjoying your report! We are doing a 3 day on the Wonder this time next year, with a stay at OKW beforehand, so I'm very interested in all your details

How did your parents like their Cat 11? My first cruise on the Wonder was in a deck 7 aft Cat 11 (solo) and I loved it and the location. I actually prefer the layout of the inside staterooms, with the bed in the 'back'. Ok, ok, I love having a verandah too.....I guess I'd really be happy ANYWHERE on a DCL ship

I am looking forward to the 11 myself....a different ship in a different cabin!

 

[tinkerbell87512]

Im really enjoying the report! The pictures from castaway cay are amazing specailly the one of The Flying Dutchman!! Wow! your making me want to book a disney cruise ASAP! haha
CAnt wait to read more!

ps i love mr. pirate potato!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Welcome GrayFal...I am glad you found me. I can imagine if you always cruise at Christmas that the ship would look bare if you cruised at a non-holiday time....just like how bare your house looks after you take your decorations down. I hope you & ibouncetoo have a WONDERFUL time.

Thanks Tinkerbell87512...it's not hard to make people want to go on a Disney cruise. It's so much fun & Castaway Cay is beautiful. I sure hope we get better weather next time around.

I will try to work on my trippie & get another day up over the next couple of days, but I have to work until 8pm tomorrow night & babysit the neice on Wednesday night. I'll do my best, because I always hate waiting....hang in there with me....it is the holidays ya know.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Here a couple of things to help keep you all tied over until I can get the time to write the next day.....

This is a pic of all of us taken on the cruise. I got the characters to autograph the mat & then framed it. This one is ours & I did one just like it as a surprise for DMom & DDad for Christmas.

Here's a close up of my Disney Christmas tree in our dining room. Our big tree is mostly Disney too....who would have guessed??

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Here a couple of things to help keep you all tied over until I can get the time to write the next day.....

This is a pic of all of us taken on the cruise. I got the characters to autograph the mat & then framed it. This one is ours & I did one just like it as a surprise for DMom & DDad for Christmas.

That is such a WONDERFUL idea!! I MUST do this on our cruise! How great!! You have some AWESOME ideas and so much creativity! Did you bring the mat with you or did you get it at Shutters?

 

[bgsnmky]

In noticed that you do recommend Palo's. I just want to make sure this is an extra cost right? but you still recommend it.

Also, I love the framed pic and the autographs...I went out loud "I have to do that". My last trip I got a chip and dale stuffed animal in sailor outfits and had Chip and Dale sign them.

Would you recommend late or early seating? What do you miss out on if you do one vs the other?

 

[Blaynexox]

I love the posts!! Its too bad it wasnt nice out at Castaway Cay. I love the picture of the Flying Dutchman! That is really cool. And once again I just love your potato head! .. Pirate Potato Head is TOO cute!

 

[Jennifer48]

Here are a couple of pics from the show-all my show pics are taken without a flash..just so ya know.

Glad you clarified that

That mat came out awesome!

I'm sorry to hear that another Castaway day was not so nice for you. That just means you have to cruise again!

Oh and your Christmas tree is beautiful!

 

[amy2girls]

lOVE YOUR PICTURES