April 3 - 6 on the Wonder - 3-nights trip report with PICTURES

[nzdisneymom]

Just as we were beginning to play anyway, up walked two familiar faces: Cindy's boys! They were passing by and saw me sitting there, so they stopped to see what was going on. I learned that their parents had gone back into Nassau to shop, so I encouraged them to stay and join me in playing the game, which they did, and we had a fun time making fun of the easy questions and stressing over the difficult ones .

I had forgotten that's what the boys were up to while Nonoy was cleaning our room! And thanks to Deb playing Pirate Trivia with them, that kept them from "riding the midship elevators" for thirty-minutes while they were cleared out of the room! I was afraid that Deb was going to end up being their playmate by default and certainly didn't want them to intrude on her time. The boys enjoyed her company, particularly Zachary, and it was nice to know that they had a "familiar faced adult" that they might run into from time to time.

I am truly forever indebted to Cindy for her thoughtfulness!

We were so glad to have you join us! I think one of the best parts of a DCL cruise is meeting other DISers and making new friends! We enjoy meeting new people, and having spent a few months on the board getting to know you ahead of time, I felt like I was meeting an old friend. We have made DISer friends on each of our cruises that we still keep in touch with!

Oh - and I ran into David (from entertainment) two times during the day and both times he greeted me with a cheery, "Hi Deb!" Again, how in the world do they remember so many names???? Amazing!

It really is amazing how they remember names and faces -- and I was there one of the times when David saw Deb and he was very interested to see how she was doing and make sure she was enjoying herself. It's nice to see CMs connect with guests and go out of their way to make sure they are having a good time.

 

[Deb T.]

I had forgotten that's what the boys were up to while Nonoy was cleaning our room! And thanks to Deb playing Pirate Trivia with them, that kept them from "riding the midship elevators" for thirty-minutes while they were cleared out of the room! I was afraid that Deb was going to end up being their playmate by default and certainly didn't want them to intrude on her time. The boys enjoyed her company, particularly Zachary, and it was nice to know that they had a "familiar faced adult" that they might run into from time to time.

Hehe - yup, your boys were with me! They did not intrude on my time at all! They're polite and inquisitive and I enjoyed spending time with them and with Ness2289's adorable DD during the cruise! I love hearing things about the cruise from a child's point of view!

We were so glad to have you join us! I think one of the best parts of a DCL cruise is meeting other DISers and making new friends! We enjoy meeting new people, and having spent a few months on the board getting to know you ahead of time, I felt like I was meeting an old friend. We have made DISer friends on each of our cruises that we still keep in touch with!

I also felt like you'd been a forever friend! We also still keep in touch with our tablemates from the Med cruise last summer and hope to get together again with them this summer!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Here are a few of the parting photos from Nassau taken by Nathan:

 

[nzdisneymom]

While Gary and Nathan enjoyed a quick dinner and evening stroll, Zachary and I headed down for dinner at Tritons. We were early, so we stopped to listen to the performers in the Promenade Lounge (whose names escape me now - it was a man and a woman). I had passed through there on Thursday night and they were singing but there was no one in the lounge and I felt sad for them... although they didn't seemed bothered in the least. So since we were about 15 miinutes early for dinner, Zachary and I sat down and listened to a couple of songs.

As we headed to find the line to go into Triton's, we saw Deb T. and then we saw Ness2289 and her DD. We were excited to share the news that Deb was going to join us for dinner, and Ness2289 was glad to have her join us!

There was a lengthy queue building up but it turned out it was for photos rather than for dinner, so we found the dinner line. As we were getting in, Ness2289 pointed out DISer Pryncesa and her family, so we were introduced all around. They had the same rotation as us and were at a nearby table.

It was Pirate night so our table was set with bandanas, but no special pirate menu since it was just a 3-night cruise. I was bummed from having pretty much skipped dinner the night before, but nothing on the menu really appealed to me, so I opted to skip appetizer and salad and just have an entree from the lighter fare. I chose the grilled steak with white rice and vegetables. Zachary had the chicken, but he ended up not staying very long - he pretty much ate and dashed, although he did have me tie his bandana on his head (after Ness2289 instructed me on how to do it).

The Pirate bandanas were different - they were specifically for the Pirate party rather than the black and white ones that they have had in the past, so they make a nice keepsake. A group of four pirates were seated next to us in full pirate regalia. I had a moment where I questioned our safety rotfl2: ) in sitting next to them.

Alfredo and Catherine, our serving team, were very gracious about having a different person at our table and I kept assuring Alfredo that my husband was NOT coming to dinner, no offense but he just didn't want to come to dinner. I didn't want Alfredo to take it personally, especially since I had had a not-so-great experience in Parrot Cay (although not due to anything from DCL but just from myself and the sea). We got all adjusted and situated and settled in to hear about each other's day. Again, I was interested to hear what Ness2289 and DD had been up to as first time cruisers. Her DD had been a bit leary of the Lab the first night but found plenty to do on Friday!

Zachary finished dinner and left before my entree had even arrived, so he left me sitting on one side of the table by myself... I kiddingly said "you may wonder why I've called you all here tonight...." We looked a bit unbalanced, but it was a very enjoyable dinner.

In reviewing my dinner, the steak had good flavor but it had a lot of fat on it and it was not as tender as I would have liked it to be, but I managed to work around it. They had good bread, too, and then came the best part -- dessert! As Deb mentioned, Alfredo didn't even let me tell him what I wanted for dessert -- he brought the creme brulee cheesecake over from Parrot Cay. I didn't mind having him fetch it for me since Parrot Cay and Triton's share a galley area, and I really really wanted to have some! It was every bit as good as I had remembered.

While we were having dinner, Ali our head server came over to apologize to Deb about the last evening's dinner. He said a lot of folks didn't make the late seating and there was a lot of room service that had to be taken care of. He also made an off-hand remark about some of us "cheating" on the dining room by having our dessert delivered in from Parrot Cay. Deb and I had both commented on our plates being obviously NOT from Tritons.

After dinner, Deb and I wandered over to the gift shop for a look, and then parted ways to freshen up before going to see Enchanted at the Buena Vista Theater. The boys had seen it with me locally. Zachary had enjoyed it, but 11 1/2 y.o. boy Nathan didn't like it so much. They both said they did not want to see it again. The Golden Mickeys was the evening's show in the Walt Disney Theater, but neither wanted to see that either. But as it turned out, when I went back to the room before going to the movies, Nathan decided to go with me because "I've got nothing better to do." Zachary also decided to join us, I think mostly because he heard that Mrs. Deb was going as well!

The movie was every bit as good as I remembered, and it was fun to see some aspects that I missed the first time. The boys stayed for the movie and enjoyed it in spite of it being more for "girls."

After the movie, Gary and I went up to Deck 10 for the fireworks. Nathan was going to see what was going on in the Lab and Zachary was just going to hang out in the room. The fireworks were scheduled for 10:25, so we made it up (although we took the long way - we went up to Deck 10 via the Aft elevator only to be turned away because it was blocked off, so we went down to 9 and then back up the outside steps to where we could watch from near where they shoot them off). As Deb mentioned, we found her in a PRIME SPOT for fireworks viewing AND for seeing Mickey fly through the air.

As soon as the fireworks were over, we made our way down to Deck 9 and looped around to queue for the dessert buffet. We noticed there were no handwipes, so Deb asked one of the servers about it, so he went to check. It was the first "lax" thing I saw on the ship. We joked that the trip was nearly over anyway, so they didn't care if we all got sick.

The dessert buffet was beautiful and had loads and loads of desserts. But I found my favorite on the other side where the hot food was -- and that was the fresh strawberry crepes with ice cream! Mmmmmmm..... next time I'll skip the dessert side and just head straight for the crepes!

They had turkey drumsticks and fajitas and several other foods. If it wasn't nearly 11 p.m. and if I hadn't had a good dinner, it would've been delicious! As it was, the crepe was a perfect ending to the day's food!

We got drinks and found a place to sit by the Mickey pool where we chatted until very late. We saw Rachel go by in her Pirate dress which was pretty fun. Gary and I got back to the room after midnight to find Zachary had already had his shower and gone to sleep and Nathan was just waiting up for us but was ready to sleep as well.

We had cool showers again, but they felt good, and off to zzzzzzz........... Castaway Cay is tomorrow!

 

[ibouncetoo]

I'm really enjoying this 'double' trip report. It's great fun! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your adventures.

I am enjoying you report. I am doing a solo cruise in December so it is interesting to read about one, I have gotten late dining so I am thinking of skipping the dining rooms as I would hate to be at a table in the dining room all alone.

My first cruise (4 days on the Wonder) was solo also. I HIGHLY recommend going to the meets section and getting to know other DISers on your cruise. If you feel a connection with anyone, post (or PM) that you'd like to link dining. I've eaten with DISers on every cruise (even when brining my own family with me) and it makes for a great experience.

.

 

[wonderapril2007]

Love the dual TR.

 

[kellykell9]

Great TR!!! Getting me really geared up to book my first Disney cruise!
Kelly

 

[Deb T.]

As Deb mentioned, Alfredo didn't even let me tell him what I wanted for dessert -- he brought the creme brulee cheesecake over from Parrot Cay. I didn't mind having him fetch it for me since Parrot Cay and Triton's share a galley area, and I really really wanted to have some! It was every bit as good as I had remembered.

Cindy ~ I need to apologize... I did have it in my earlier post, but then I almost immediately edited it out after I'd realized I'd jumped ahead of your story. I figured you might want to build upon the suspense of not being able to eat your very favorite, much anticipated, coveted dessert the night before. After all, you'd been excited for months just knowing that you were going to be able to eat that specific dessert! So, for those who didn't read it before I yanked it, here's what I'd originally written:

"Cindy didn't even have to tell Alfredo that she'd love to have a creme brulee dessert (that was only offered in Parrot Cay)! When she started to ask, he interrupted her with great flourish and announced that he knew exactly what she would like for dessert! Soooo funny! And since he was going to be headed that way, I asked for lemon meringue pie, too!"

 

[Deb T.]

While we were having dinner, Ali our head server came over to apologize to Deb about the last evening's dinner. He said a lot of folks didn't make the late seating and there was a lot of room service that had to be taken care of. He also made an off-hand remark about some of us "cheating" on the dining room by having our dessert delivered in from Parrot Cay. Deb and I had both commented on our plates being obviously NOT from Tritons.

Hmmmmmmpf. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Too little, too late, IMHO. Especially when he added the snide comment about our desserts!! Come on now, really?!?! People ask for special requests all the time! Seriously, folks, at this point he knew I was not pleased with him, so he was "all show" for the others at the table and STILL couldn't be completely nice!

 

[Deb T.]

Deb T. - good to see you piggybacking here.

Great start! Can't wait to read more from all of you. When you first said something about requiring people to post my first thought was "well... do I have to be nice?" Glad to know I don't have to (post or be nice).

But quite honestly... can't wait to hear more. And see more pictures!!!

I'm really enjoying the double trip report!

I'm really enjoying this 'double' trip report. It's great fun! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your adventures.

Love the dual TR.

Great TR!!! Getting me really geared up to book my first Disney cruise!
Kelly

THANKS everyone, for all of your kind comments! I'm quite enjoying the double TR, too, because Cindy is doing an excellent job of reminding me of several things I'd already forgotten about the trip! This will definitely end up being a great keepsake for me!

I had a GREAT time hanging out with her and all the other DISers on our cruise! I highly recommend starting a Meets Thread for your particular cruise so you can get to know everyone before sailing. Then be sure to set up a DIS Meet once onboard the ship! It's awesome to put faces to names. And, you really will be surprised how many times you'll run into each other during the cruise! It truly enhances the trip!

 

[Deb T.]

I slept in a little again this morning. (Between staying up late not wanting to miss a minute of the fun, and my creaky cabin, I wasn't getting much sleep. ) But, knowing we were docked at CC was enough to get me out of that comfy bed! So, up I went to Beach Blanket for another buffet breakfast. And, lo and behold, there was Ness2289 and her DD again! So, I had another wonderful breakfast with them!

I headed back to my cabin to slather on sunscreen. Folks, PLEASE, this is the Bahamas and the sun is strong so DO use sunscreen! I've been to CC 5 times now and each time I've seen plenty of lobsters at the end of the day! Save yourselves the discomfort, pain, and potential carcinogens by wearing sunscreen. And, don't forget to put some on the tops of your feet and even dab a little on your hairline.

I put a bottle of water, extra sunscreen, my newly acquired DVC hat, a book, and cash for CC postcard stamps in my new Castaway Club Welcome Gift mesh bag and headed to Deck 1 aft to disembark.

Here's a little known hint for navigating through the hallways onboard the ship: The carpet has a pattern that includes a red and a blue anchor in a circle.

The RED anchor always points AFT (toward the back of the ship) and the BLUE anchor points FORWARD.

The trick I use to remember this is there are 3 letters in red and 3 letters in aft! I enjoyed sharing this little bit of trivia at dinner the night before.

CC's post office is small and cute. For regular (small) postcards, you can use 50-cent stamps. For anything larger, you have to use 65-cent stamps. Go early because they do run out of stamps! There is also a clue outside of the post office for the Pirate Treasure Hunt. I didn't play it this time, but have on previous cruises. It's fun, and it gets you to areas of the island that you might not have seen otherwise.

I had decided to get my exercise in by walking to the adult beach this morning. However, when I got to the second tram stop and the Serenity Bay tram was just getting ready to leave, I changed my mind and hopped onboard for the long ride down the abandoned air strip.

I chose a lounge chair just a few umbrellas down from the entrance to SB. Last time I was here, I'd hogged a hammock all day so I decided to let someone else have them this time. I dragged the chair from under the umbrella so I could lay in the warm sun for a little while. I was too sleepy to read, so I was just laying there relaxing when I heard a familiar voice whisper, "Deb? Are you awake?" Ness2289 had successfully checked her DD into Castaway Cay's Children's Programming and had just arrived to enjoy the perfect tranquility the AB has to offer! She was looking forward to a quiet stroll along the beach, so I suggested she drop her bag under my umbrella and then join me when she was done. We enjoyed resting and chatting for about an hour before we decided to check out our lunch options.

We looked over the adult offerings and then decided to check out Cookie's BBQ. The main difference I noticed was Cookie's has corn-on-the-cob (one of my favorite foods) whereas SB does not. Also, at SB, fresh fruit is offered right there on their little buffet line but at Cookie's it's all spread out on a table away from the main food lines. We found a nice quiet picnic table toward the back where we sat and ate and chatted until 2pm! Since we work for the same school system, we have a LOT in common!

We parted ways so she could pick up her DD and look for postcards. I decided to look in the gift shop to see what was new and decided to treat myself to a cute CC sweatshirt. And, I ran into Ness2289 in there, too! "Long time, no see!"

I'd planned to be back on the ship in time to shower and attend DVC's Member Celebration in Diversions at 4pm, so I knew I didn't have time to go all the way back to Serenity Bay. I strolled along the family beach for a little while and then casually made my way back to the ship. I had a marvelous view of the island from my verandah, so I sat out there for a while and enjoyed the view and watching the various watercraft zipping around.

It felt odd not running into Cindy or any of her family on CC all day since we seemed to always be running into each other on the ship. I was really looking forward to hearing what all they'd done during the day!

more later...

 

[nzdisneymom]

Cindy ~ I need to apologize... I did have it in my earlier post, but then I almost immediately edited it out after I'd realized I'd jumped ahead of your story. I figured you might want to build upon the suspense of not being able to eat your very favorite, much anticipated, coveted dessert the night before. After all, you'd been excited for months just knowing that you were going to be able to eat that specific dessert!

Oh Deb - that's too funny - I had read your post shortly after you posted and didn't know you had editted it out. Please don't worry about posting something before me -- I, too, am loving this dual trip report because you are also reminding me of things I have forgotten.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hmmmmmmpf. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Too little, too late, IMHO. Especially when he added the snide comment about our desserts!! Come on now, really?!?! People ask for special requests all the time! Seriously, folks, at this point he knew I was not pleased with him, so he was "all show" for the others at the table and STILL couldn't be completely nice!

That's so true. I would have to say that I wasn't impressed with Ali even before I learned about Deb's experiences... and knowing what happened, I felt like he was trying too hard. I will say that while I'm sorry things worked out so poorly for Deb with her first dinner, I'm glad the turn of events ended up with her joining us at our table!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Saturday morning, I wake up about 6:30, just like every other day of our vacation. But today I was excited because it was Castaway Cay day and I didn't want to waste a moment of it. Gary and the boys were still zzzz'ing, so I quietly got dressed, grabbed the camera and our gratuity form and headed out for the quiet of the morning.

I went to Guest Services to take care of our gratuities before there was a line, so it only took a few minutes to get everything squared away. We got our ticket stubs to put into the envelopes so we'd be all set for later in the day. I noticed that our cabin steward's name wasn't the same as what we had seen on his name badge and on the ice-request form, so when I saw him later in the morning, I double checked to make sure it was printed for the right person (it was). Because if for some reason it was mixed up, I wanted to have time to straighten it out.

Gary got up and went for a run around Deck 4 rather than waiting to run on Castaway Cay. The boys were still sleeping, so I told him we would wait for him to come back and shower and then we could all eat breakfast together. While waiting for the kids to get up, I got the pictures downloaded off the camera and charged up the battery, and then went out on the verandah to watch the activity of the CMs getting ready for our day at Castaway Cay.

Gary got back, the kids were up, and we went up to BBB for breakfast. It was nice to have a family breakfast since we weren't having family dinners After breakfast, we got ready to head out to CC, waiting for the "ok, you can go now" call over the speakers. We had our verandah door open and enjoyed listening to the "beach tunes" coming in from the pier.

We applied sunscreen to our faces, but I was irresponsible with it and didn't insist on sunscreen to other body parts. In hindsight, I should've - Nathan and I both got sunburned on our shoulders. Next time we'll be sure to apply it everywhere, including our ears! We grabbed our red DVC hats because we knew Terry the DVC guy was going to be out looking for the caps to hand out DVC pins. We had a DVC day-bag that we filled with what we needed for the day and headed off board.

We had just gotten off the ship when I realized that I had left our camera in the room. Oh well, no one wanted to go back to get it so we just figured we'd be pictureless for the day.

The one thing Gary and Nathan wanted to do was paddle-boat, so we hiked down to where the rentals are and talked to the CM about it. We decided to wait til later in the day because it was pretty windy in the morning and the water was a bit cooler than comfortable. We thought conditions would improve later and agreed to come back to see later in the day.

We went over to the family beach and found some chairs and an umbrella, but then realized we had a bit of a hike to the water's edge at that point - we had originally set up by the snorkeling area. So the boys and I walked down the family beach while Gary went back to fetch our things.

We found a good spot for the boys to have space on the beach to play as well as there being some chairs and shade. We were near the last lifeguard stand on the family beach and as it happened, it was also near the walk-through to the paved path that is right by the hairbraiding, so that made it easier when we needed to walk back to the middle of the activity and for lunch. I love that CC has the short chairs in addition to the sunloungers, so I took two of the chairs down toward the water's edge so I could sit comfortably to actively watch the boys as they played.

After Gary got back with our stuff, he and Zachary swam out to the dock where kids 14 and under were allowed to jump off and do the ropes until the tide went out too far. Nathan spent most of his time digging on the beach in the sand, but he did get in the water some with Gary and Zachary. Gary went back to lay on the sunlounger in the shade and nap while I stayed nearby to watch the boys. We saw several families with the big floats and decided that next time we'll rent them because they looked like fun. We had talked about how later in the day, you could sometimes find the floats abandoned later in the day. But we didn't stay that long.

It started getting busy around where we were, so we decided to go get some lunch at Cookies BBQ. I had a burger (first one on the cruise) and corn. We got some BBQ chips to save for later in the day if we wanted them since we'd only been able to get the plain ones onboard. We thought we'd get ice cream later, but they didn't have flavors that we wanted.

We walked over to the Bahamian shops which I didn't remember being there before until Gary reminded me of looking through them with one of our fellow-passengers in 2005. We didn't find anything we liked but they did have thimbles for $7 so I felt like we got a good deal at the Straw Market the day before.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Oh yeah, while I was down at the water's edge, Terry the DVC guy came by and gave me a pin! Then as we were heading up to lunch, he saw Gary and the boys with their caps on, so they got their pins then, too!

And one other thing about the morning -- while playing in the water, Zachary ended up getting a scrape on his hand. It was bleeding, so I hiked him up to First Aid. The last time we were at CC, he had a fall on his bike and scraped his knee up pretty badly, so he had to go to First Aid then, too, but it was a further walk from bike trail than from the family beach. The First Aid center is near the gift shop just past the Gazebo, so we went to get it cleaned and make sure it was ok. He got a big universal (no, not universal studios) bandaid for it. It was fine but I just wanted to make sure he kept it clean. it was a good time for me to go up that way since I needed to use the restroom anyway

So after lunch and checking out the shop, the boys wanted to see about paddle-boating. Zachary had decided he, too, wanted to join the fun, so we briefly went through the main gift shop (didn't find anything we couldn't live without) and then went to rent a paddle-boat. They got a 4-seater since it was the three of them, and the lifeguard / CM said I could just sit on one of the ones that wasn't going out so I could observe. It's $10 for 30 minutes but as they said, they are on Bahamian time which basically means as long as there isn't anyone waiting for it and it's not time to get back on the ship, stay out as long as you like.

So Gary got on the back while the boys began pedaling. They switched places a few times and went out nearly to the ropes that mark the boating area. They got close to the Flying Dutchman. While they were out, one person on a sail boat thing ended up flipping himself over as his sail got caught and ripped on something, so Gary and the boys helped wave to get a CM to come out to help him. I saw them waving and my heart stopped for a moment until I realized they were helping the other guy. I couldn't see as far as they were out and for all I knew, something happened to Gary and the boys needed help getting their dad back to shore (ok, over-worry-er, over-active-imagination here). Thankfully all was well.

When they got back to shore, the boys wanted to go back out but it was well after 1 p.m. and both Gary and I were ready to head in after being in the sun for so long. So we strolled back to the ship talking about the things we would do differently the next time we go to Castaway Cay (which will be in December but the boys don't know about that trip yet - and if I can keep my mouth shut and keep them from reading this trip report, I might actually keep it a secret til we leave!).

Back on board, they headed for ice cream while I headed for the shower. Still no hot water but it was actually a perfect temperature for a mid-afternoon-wash-off-the sand and sea shower. I felt greatly refreshed. We had the verandah opened again and I enjoyed listening to more of the beach-tunes while beginning the chore of packing.

There was a DVC members party scheduled for 4 p.m. that I wanted to be sure to go to, so I wanted to get all the packing done ahead of time and still have time to roam about the ship. And I did! The nice thing about a 3-night cruise is that there really isn't a whole lot of packing to do And since we were driving and not flying, I could pack a bit differently and not worry about what all I would end up hand-carrying off the ship.

While I was packing, the boys set off to tour the ship with our camera. I just today, a week later, got a chance to look at the pictures and will share some of them later in this trip report. It's interesting to see the ship through the eyes of tween boys!

Here's a tip -- if you don't bring your own hairdryer and don't like the one in the stateroom, you can always open both your verandah door and your stateroom door at the same time and create a wind-tunnel that will give you a nice blow-dry!

One of my favorite things about DCL is the lotion that you get in your stateroom. When we sailed last, we got a new set of lotion and shampoo, etc. every day, so I came home with lots of lotion. I was hoping to replenish my supply with a few more lotions this trip, but we only got the original set that was in our stateroom when we checked in. So when I saw Nonoy in the hallway, I asked him if I could have an extra lotion. He said he'd take care of me and gave me two more sets of lotion, shampoo, and conditioner. That was really nice and I really appreciated it! If anyone ever sails and doesn't want their lotion, you can send it to me (LOL).

It's nearly 4 p.m. and time for the DVC meeting. Zachary wanted to go, so he met me and Gary down in Diversions a few minutes before. There were not a lot of members there which I was glad about because I thought it might increase my chances of winning one of the cool prizes (like the DVC pillow I was coveting on the last cruise). They had cookies and coffee, so I split a cookie with Zachary. Deb T. came in and joined us. She had been to Pluto's for a snack -- I'll let her tell you about it, but let me just say that it made Gary's dinner decision for him!

Kathy and Terry got the meeting underway and it was great to see and hear about some of the things that are upcoming. And the trivia questions are always fun and they always make sure everyone whose name is drawn gets a prize. I won a little day bag like the ones we had gotten as give-aways on the Med (and I used that day on Castaway Cay) for being enthusiastic. And then later they drew our name for a question. I didn't know the answer (how many points can a person own at any one DVC property?) but Deb T. did, so I used my "Ask a Neighbor" option to say 2,000 (???? who knew?????) and got to pick my prize -- guess what I picked? Yep, the DVC pillow.

They kept calling names and awarding prizes until there couldn't have been anyone's slip left in the bag except Deb's , and then they were done except for the grand prize. They put everyone's name back in the bag and had a kid come up to do the drawing for the big beach bag -- and he ended up pulling out his own family's name! how funny was that?

After the meeting, it was time to go up to Deck 10 to watch us pull out of Castaway Cay. It was such an absolutely beautiful day - great temperature, great weather, great family time. We watched the final preparations for us to leave from Castaway Cay with a bit of sorrow but also much thankfulness for such a beautiful place and a wonderful time there.

After we were on our way, we went down to get ready for dinner. It was dress-up night but I was pretty much all packed and decided to just wear jeans. We had Animator's Palate for dinner and I noticed in the queue that there were a lot of people really dressed up, some casually dressed, some in jeans, and some even in shorts (nice ones, though). It truly was a mix of dress. Gary had decided to go to Pluto's to get taco's for dinner, so we had picked those up on our way back to the room after sailing away from CC. Nathan decided he wanted to go see College Road Trip again, so Gary went with him to see it while Zachary and I went to dinner.

 

[Googelibear]

Marvelous, simply marvelous. I am enjoying this trip report so much!

I can't wait to read more. This "Duett Trip Report" is really fantastic.

Thank you!

 

[nzdisneymom]

On the way to dinner, we had a few errands to do, including picking up the D Sea U t-shirts for the boys and turning in the pager, and checking Shutters to see the pictures that were taken at CC that morning. We didn't like any of the pictures, so we put them in the unwanted picture box, and then we took our shirts back upstairs along with the graduation caps.

When we went back downstairs for dinner, there was a big jam of people already waiting. So we just hung around til the line started to move. Deb came down and then when Ness2289 and her DD came along, we just jumped in the line with them since we were all going to the same table. Our table was set for seven, but as Nathan and Gary were not joining us, we had two empty seats, but it was nice that the dining staff had made the adjustment to our table.

Zachary took a lot of pictures at dinner of the restaurant and food. I ordered the caesar salad (that was no longer on the printed menu but very delicious anyway) and the filet mignon. It was very good. We caught up with everyone about their day. We had two big topics of conversation -- one was the limited amount of time for character pictures during the dinner time and how you had to cut dinner short to get the pictures that you wanted, and the other was the whole neighbors smoking on the verandah thing. Gary had said there were a few times he had to come in because of the smoking (although some of it was coming up from Deck 4 which is just a hazard of having a verandah on the port side of the ship), and Ness2289 said that her neighbor must've been on the same schedule as she was because whenever she went out, they went out. We were talking about how at WDW the rules are now no smoking on the balconies of the rooms and wondered if DCL will ever implement that for verandahs. When we got back and I was reading the boards this week, I saw a couple of threads voicing those same thoughts.

It was fun to watch Animator's Palate through the eyes of first-time cruisers, and I noticed a lot more of the detail of the show because Deb was making sure to draw our attention to the more subtle aspects of the show. I think our table location was much better than our previous cruises, too, in terms of being able to see the show and notice the changes.

For dessert, Zachary and I chose the strawberry shortcake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. It was delicious. This was also the first dinner that Zachary had stayed the entire time for. We handed out our gratuity envelopes but basically had to chase down Ali so we could go. He never even came to our table and if I hadn't already charged the gratuity to our room, I might would've reconsidered leaving something for him. But we did have the 7th place set at our table.

Oh yeah -- I forgot an important part of the afternoon -- we had not ordered any Mickey Ice Cream Bars from room service the whole trip so we had to make sure to order them during the afternoon.... it would not have seemed like a DCL adventure without doing that!

After dinner, Gary and Nathan had already made it back from the movie, our bed had been turned down, and we had our comment card. I filled out the card and on it I put that we had only had warm water in the shower (but it was hot in the sinks in both bathrooms) and marked the rest of the card appropriately.

Zachary wanted to see Disney Dreams although I wasn't crazy about seeing it as I had seen it before. It's a good show but I was aware of the limited amount of time we still had on the ship, but since he wanted to do it and I knew Gary didn't want to go, I certainly didn't want the child to have to go by himself (although he would have gone and been fine). I also wanted to drop by the Shopping Desk to enter the sweepstakes from my Nassau shopping, so Zachary and I took off early to do that and drop off the comment card. We were at the show about 1/2 hour early so we were able to get our favorite seats.

The show was really good and it was fun to see the actors and figure out which parts they had played in Toy Story the Musical. It reminded me that the performers have more than one show that they do. The girl who played Annie also played Andy in Toy Story. And the woman who was the Blue Fairy played Bo Peep. The others moved in and out so quickly that I was never quite sure who was who which is exactly what you want in a performer... to not be identified as "Andy who is playing Annie."

After the show, I took another walk through the shops and still came up with nothing I had to have. I stopped to talk to the rebooking lady to get a quote for next year (and found out that once Nathan turns 13, his cost is going up) but we didn't rebook. I went back upstairs to see how things were going and make sure our luggage was out before going back down for the Til We Meet Again show that I have missed on our other two trips (because I was packing).

Nathan and Gary had both had their showers. Nathan's was barely warm, but Gary said when he turned on the water for his shower, it went clunk, glunk, and nothing. He turned it off, turned it on again, and a bunch of silt and gunk came out... followed by a lot of lovely hot water! He asked me if I had called and I said no, I had just put it on my comment card that I left in the box before 8 p.m. He said he was getting his shower about 8:45 p.m. We don't think it was coincidence!

It also triggered something in my memory from a conversation I had with a CM on the Med cruise... that the "plumbing" is handled from a central place and they can fix anything without having to come into your room. If we had just called and reported it on the first night, they could've mashed a button and fixed it. I had made sure to put it on the comment card so that the next guests would have hot water. Anyway, I will definitely call the first moment next time (if there is a next time).

We had everything out in the hall that needed to go, so I went to find a good spot for the Til We Meet Again show, and who do I run into but Deb! She had a good spot at the mid-ship elevator balcony, so I slipped in by her. It was so cool to see all the characters. I made a video clip of the last part and if I can figure out how to upload it and link it here, I will.

Not only was it a bit sad to say goodbye to the characters, it was sad to say "so long" to our new friends. GoofyJJ and his son were in the balcony where we were for a little while, and then Ness2289 and her DD joined us. It was an unplanned DIS meet and a chance for final hugs and "safe travels."

After the show, I went up to get hot chocolate for me and Gary, only to find that he had already gone to bed. Oh well. I had thought about sitting out on the verandah for a while but knew I needed to get to sleep because we had an early day and a bit of a drive the next morning.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We had main seating (6 p.m.) for dinner so that meant our breakfast time was 6:30 (I think - I didn't pay much attention to the breakfast speech from Alfredo if he even gave it to us -- I'm pretty sure he did, though). But because I'm an avid reader of the DIS, I knew we had another option and that was BBB (or the Cove Cafe or maybe even Goofy's Galley, although I didn't check). So I asked Mickey for a 7:15 wake-up call thinking we could be ready for breakfast by 7:45, eat and still have time to come back and clear out of our stateroom without holding Nonoy up too long.

I woke up again at 6:30. I peeked out and sure enough, we were docked at Port Canaveral. Such a sorry sight... 3-nights is definitely not enough! I got dressed quietly, grabbed the camera and my KTTW Card, and headed up to Deck 9 to scope out breakfast. Sure enough, breakfast was available and would be for a while, so I strolled in the early morning, pre-sunrise light for some final views and thoughts of our vacation. There were a few other ships in port, too.

I went back to the cabin around 7 a.m. Gary was getting up and the boys were rousing. Everyone got dressed and Mickey called and we went up to BBB for breakfast - another family breakfast! It was so nice to not have to schlepp our hand-luggage with us to breakfast nor to trip over others' luggage! We didn't rush, but we didn't dawdle over breakfast either.

After breakfast, we went back to the cabin to get the last of the things situated and head out. We went down the Aft stairs and found a long line of people queuing for the 2nd seating breakfast with all their bags at their feet. We wound our way through the Promenade Lounge to get to midship where we peeked in Tritons and saw the same sort of thing. But we weren't needing breakfast, so we said see ya real soon to the Wonder and headed down the gangway. It was 7:50 a.m.

At the bottom of the escalator, a porter was waiting so we said yes, we needed one. He got our stateroom number and took Gary and the boys to get the bags while I got a place in line for going through customs. They easily located the bags and joined me in line and then whoosh, we were through customs, out of the terminal, across the street, and at the car in no time flat. We were pulling out of the parking lot at 8:12 a.m. and that's only because I took a few extra minutes in the parking lot to readjust some things we had in our hand-luggage.

And that's that! We drove home via I-95 and stopped at the Character Premier outlet shop at St. Augustine for a final Disney moment for our week of Disney vacationing, and then back home to reality.

I'll post some pictures later that go with Saturday as well as some in general from around the ship, and I'll try to figure out how to upload and share some of the video.

And I'm sure I've forgotten things I wanted to share or will have some other random thoughts for later.

Thanks so much for reading and commenting and sharing our memories! I'm always glad to answer any questions and read any comments or suggestions for things to do (or not do) so fire away!

 

[Ricky's Girl]

I am really enjoying this trip report! We've just booked our first cruise on the Wonder for next March so I really appreciate all of the information and tips you've shared.

A couple of questions if you don't mind. When you're at CC can you make charges on your KTTW card or should we take some cash? Also in Nassau should we use cash or cc? Thanks for the tip about having some cash to tip the guides at the Forts.

 

[nzdisneymom]

I am really enjoying this trip report! We've just booked our first cruise on the Wonder for next March so I really appreciate all of the information and tips you've shared.

A couple of questions if you don't mind. When you're at CC can you make charges on your KTTW card or should we take some cash? Also in Nassau should we use cash or cc? Thanks for the tip about having some cash to tip the guides at the Forts.

The only thing you need cash for on Castaway Cay is the post office; everything else takes your KTTW Card -- the gift shop, the Bahamian shop, the bars, the recreational rentals.

As for Nassau, I think it's a matter of personal preference regarding using credit cards in the shops. Some places, like the straw market and shops like we found at the forts, only take cash. We opted to use cash at Del Sol because I had enough and because I had not called our bank to let them know we would be out of the country. I guess it really depends on how much you plan to spend.

I also wanted to say that it really is a nice gesture to tip your tour guides - the ones who drive you around and narrate for you, especially, even when you're already paying for the excursion... so plan for a few dollars for that in addition to the guides at the forts.