Cass, Rob & Kira - Christmas on the Wonder, The Sequel ~ 2017

[DisneyPiPhi]

How was your cruise?

FABULOUS! Loved every minute of it and can't wait to go back!

 

[bcwife76]

What a great location for that hotel - oh, the warm weather must've felt so nice after all that snow! Love your mom/daughter swimming traditions

I am so excited to read along!! Miss you, my friend! xoxoxoxo

Oh my goodness, @podsnel where have you been lady?!!! See, a @Timon trip report gets ALL peeps out on the Disboards

 

[Joyce T. Powell]

Yay! Our lovely Timon is back at again!

I'm in my comfy chair with my mug of cocoa and ready to read all about your adventures!

 

[kid-at-heart]

Christmas on the Wonder - The Sequel


Hello fellow Disboarders and welcome to my latest Trippie

I've entitled this one "The Sequel" because basically, it's the exact same thing as last year

If you've read my trippie from last Christmas, you will find many things eerily familiar in this installment

I've even debated on whether or not to actually write this one because it's so similar but since the main reason I write these things is to relive and remember my own vacation experience, I figured...why the heck not

This might be a slow-go as I have a lot of stuff going on but I will do my best to update it fairly regularly

Let's get this baby started

Christmas on the Wonder - The Sequel


Hello fellow Disboarders and welcome to my latest Trippie

I've entitled this one "The Sequel" because basically, it's the exact same thing as last year

If you've read my trippie from last Christmas, you will find many things eerily familiar in this installment

I've even debated on whether or not to actually write this one because it's so similar but since the main reason I write these things is to relive and remember my own vacation experience, I figured...why the heck not

This might be a slow-go as I have a lot of stuff going on but I will do my best to update it fairly regularly

Let's get this baby started

Yea! It may be the same cruise as last year but Kira is a year older. Besides, it is winter, we could all use a Disney cruise fix. Thanks for taking the time to share.

We had a trip scheduled for this April 2018 but "life" (91 year old mother and 13 year old dog - health issues) got in the way. Sad but since we had to cancel this April we turned around and scheduled a b2b for late April/early May 2019. Hopefully we will see you or some of your readers on our cruise(es). Hint, hint.

Kate

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Enjoying another one of your awesome trip reports!!!

 

[Jillpie]

Cass!! Woohoo a Cass trippie!!! Well didn't this just make my night. Now you know I usually find you when the entire report is done, so now I'm sitting here, like, I have to wait for more now?? lol. Love it so far!

 

[Timon]

Day 2 Part 1

I woke up and headed out on our balcony to find this beautiful view...

It was a little foggy and overcast so no spectacular sun rise over the Gulf. It was also sprinkling a little so if you know me at all, you know that this was the PERFECT kind of day for me

We got showered and dressed and headed out to Rob and Kira's favourite place, The Waffle House!

Bunny ears and all

We're pathetically nostalgic so we waited a a few minutes while they cleaned "our" booth.

I noticed that prices have gone up a tad but still really cheap for what you get.

I got my usual and gave the waffle to Kira.

This time I tried the country ham...

Rob also got the All Star with his pecan waffle, of course! I didn't take a pic of the waffles because they arrived while I was stuffing my face

While we were eating, Kira noticed a kid who was wearing a Stitch hoodie. Of course she would notice She was wondering if they were going on the cruise too and I told her to go ask the family but she was too shy. Turns out they did go on our cruise and we spotted them in the terminal as well as a few other times during the week. They ended up being in front of us in the line to see Stitch (for the first time ) and oddly enough, they were also Canadian, from Toronto I think?

It's a Small World after all....

Once we filled our bellies, we headed over to Target.

I haven't really mentioned it yet in this report but Galveston is FULL of birds, so much in fact that Kira and I renamed it Birdston last year

So we were just laughing at this guy in the Target parking lot who was camping out feeding them all

We don't have a Target anymore so I spent more time here just looking at everything. I love Target, well not the ones we had in Canada because the shelves were almost bare but I love them when I go to the USA

If this had better lettering I would have totally gotten it because, well...#truth!

And while I also didn't care for the lettering on these, as a fan, I thought they were awesome!

I bought some clothes for Kira and of course, I found my cruise staple

On the way back to the hotel, I spotted the webcam that I watch often at home. I watched it constantly during hurricane Harvey, worried about the damage to one of my favourite places.

It had started to get super foggy now as we headed back to the hotel.

And it was drizzling again so we just camped out in our room watching Christmas movies. I know, who am I, right?

I enjoyed some balcony time with the balcony owner. I felt like the bird and I bonded since we spent so much time together this trip.

We waited a bit but the fog was not clearing. I had two plans for that afternoon and neither of them panned out. I would have loved to go to Pleasure Pier to enjoy some of the rides but it was closed during the week, only open on weekends. I was bummed because we had missed it last year due to the rain and it had been open during the week last year but after I booked the cruise, I checked their website to find it only open on weekends

After my initial disappointment, I looked into other activities for us to do that day and settled on two of them. Visiting Sea Wolf Park was the first but seeing as it was right on the water, I knew the weather would impact our visit. So that was out. Next up was something Kira was new to and I was excited to share with her....go karting!

I had checked on the website and it said they were open from 3pm-11pm that day. The rain had stopped now and I didn't think the fog would affect our enjoyment so we headed down the island and found the go kart place.

We found it....CLOSED!

What the frick???!!!!

It was well after 3, why the heck was it closed??? I was kinda choked because I had told Rob and Kira where we were going and they were all excited about it.

Here we are with our super sad pathetic faces on

Oh well, hopefully we will be back some day and I did promise Kira that I would take her to the one we have in Calgary in the summer.

We were pretty hungry by now so we opted for an early dinner. As much as we wanted to go back to the RFC, I wanted to try someplace new. I had checked online before we left and found a spot that I wanted to try. That's the name of it...The Spot.

On the way there, I wanted to get a photo of Kira in front of the Convention Center, a little tradition I would like to keep up

We had wanted to walk out on the breaker again like last year but the weather wasn't ideal so Rob just pulled over and Kira and I hopped out to get a quick pic. She also recreated the "Galveston Beach Dance" for me, which I will save for the trip video She's a funny kid!

Here's the end result...

And here's a little collage...

I really hope to continue this tradition as the years go by


And here Rob capturing us capturing the moment

Oh look, there's the closed pier

 

[bcwife76]

Such a same about the fog impacting everything that day for you (but what the heck about the Go Karts??? Doubt the fog had much to do with that being closed).

Oh what a great tradition with those photos!

 

[Jillpie]

great update, thanks! Your stories, even just hanging out days, are just terrific. You really do have a way of putting us right where you are, and i know this is mundane, but I love that you separate your thoughts into paragraphs. Can I just say, those pictures at Waffle house, yum!! It cracked me up because now that our son and his wife, live 30 minutes from Disney, my DH wants Waffle house so bad and for some reason we just never go. I'll have to indulge because we LOVE breakfast out. Ihop near his house always wins though. Can't wait for more, and I don't even care if you don't get to the ship lol, I love your stories!!

 

[AussieDisneyfans]

Yeah - my first day back on the DIS Board after my Christmas break and I find a new trip report from you - fantastic.

I loved the photo of your house covered in the snow - so beautiful.

Loved Kira's reaction to the news of a Disney Cruise!

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Day 1 Part 1

A quick pic before Rob headed to Park2Go. It was windy as well as cold but that didn't stop me from wearing my spring jacket, capris and skechers


Where we're going, we don't need....r̶o̶a̶d̶s̶ socks.


Sorry, I make a lot of weird movie references, it's all part of my...ummm, charm.

I also freaking love that Houston has the highway numbers on the lane that you will need, what freaking genius is responsible for this???

While there was a small amount of traffic as we approached the core, it didn't last long.

I love highways in big cities in the USA, they have highways on top of highways on top of highways

PALM TREEEEEEES!!!!!!

We just got back from the Wonder yesterday
Sad day, but happy to see another TR from you! Yey!
I dress the same way as you when we travel even in the winter Vacation mode all the way right from the start.

There are highways over highways in Canada, no?
I think Toronto has them.
I also love the painted signs.

 

[Timon]

Day 2, Part 2

We found our destination, super convenient, right on the Seawall, not far from the Pier.

This place is unique in that there are several different parts to it.

We found where we wanted to be and went inside.

It was all decorated for the holidays. Love the hot dog and burger ornaments LOL!

This is where you go to order your food. They give you a buzzer and then you can go sit wherever you want and then when the buzzer goes off, you come back here and pick up your food.

Very nice toppings bar here.

I wanted to sit upstairs, outside so off we went!

You can probably see why I wanted to sit there

LOL!

There were a few downsides to sitting up there...it was slightly chilly with the wind so Rob ended up getting his and Kira's jackets from the car. There were tons of birds everywhere, which was fine, something different for us, you just had to wave them away when they started to get a little bold and the worst part was the noise from the construction crew that were repairing some of the roofing damage caused by the hurricane, I'm assuming.

The view won out though and we stayed put!

If you order a milkshake, you get a separate pager and they actually deliver those to you. Rob and Kira are ice cream fiends so they shared this.

It wasn't too long before our beeper went off so I grabbed our food.

Rob got the seafood platter. He said it was very good. I tried some of his fish and I thought it was quite delicious!

Kira got the kids chicken strips and enjoyed those....

I got me a burger. It was good, not quite as good as the RFC burger but still very yummy. It did cool off fast since we were sitting outside so it probably would have been a little better had we stayed indoors.

We were the only ones up here

Once we filled our bellies, I stopped in the washroom, which was small but different and unique, which I love.

There's a dessert place downstairs where we stopped to get an ice cream for Kira and a cheesecake for Rob and I to take back to the hotel.

Sorry, looked kind of gross because the caramel was running all over the place. It was okay, not as good as it looked. It's also sideways but whatever

Back to the room, Kira and I got ready for the pool again.

After getting dressed, I gave her a Christmas card from her aunt & uncle. They gave her US cash for the cruise and since we were embarking tomorrow, I thought it would be nice for her to know that she had it to spend on the cruise. The funny thing is that the card was super cute and funny and it popped up and played some music when you opened it, which scared the CRAP out of her when she opened it

I only got the tail end of her laughing about it but I wish I had gotten it on video, it was the funniest thing!

It was her aunt's birthday that day so we sent her a birthday video but I think we did it before she opened her card, otherwise we would have said something about it in the video.

Kira and I spent several hours in the pool together. Rob joined us later poolside with a newspaper while we swam and enjoyed the hot tub one last time.

I have pics but accidentally put them in the previous day's post (see ETA comment in Day 1, Part 2)

Once Kira and I were all pruney, we went back to the room for a shower. We snuggled and watched the rest of Santa Clause and then Kira watched Boss Baby again while Rob and I caught up on some emails.

I was getting my bed ready for her to sleep in when she suggested that she sleep on the floor. I laughed and told her that she wouldn't be very comfy on the floor so she then suggested that she slept in the chair. At first I said no but then I had an idea. I put the stool right up against the chair and then put one of the robes on it. She tried it out and loved it!

She watched one last show and enjoyed a snack before going to sleep.

I eventually swapped the robe for a sheet and blanket and an extra pillow and she said it was perfect

So, we all got our own bed to sleep in that night. I told her to slip in next to me if she was uncomfortable but she never did and she said she had a great sleep!

Tomorrow is cruise day

 

[SplashMom]

Yay! I'm excited to read your newest trip report...I love them! I feel like we are neighbors, even though you are in Calgary and I am in Nova Scotia, lol! Kira is getting so tall, she will pass you soon!

We were in Disney for a week in mid-December to see the decorations and loved it. In six weeks, we will be doing a 4 night Bahamas on the Magic. Your trip report will get me excited for that, lol. Can't wait to read more.

 

[Darkrobe]

I wonder where she got that from hmm?

 

[Timon]

Day 3, Part 1

I took a few pics today so I am going to have to split this day up into many parts

I've you've read my cruise report from last year, you will know that this was a very tough, stressful day for me in 2016. The fog delay was crazy and I wasn't feeling my best, it took HOURS to drop off bags/park/board and we didn't get on the ship until about 5pm

After seeing yesterday's fog, I was a little worried and anxious to get the day going.

I was NOT wanting a repeat of last year so I kind of had a back up plan if we did have a fog delay. My plan was to use valet parking ($20/day) that way we could all be together, skip the parking lines and just be at the terminal for when they opened it up.

I later learned that this plan would NOT have worked in a fog delay (more on that later) so I am thrilled that there were no boarding delays and the entire process was much smoother for us


I knew the ship tends to enter the channel around 5am, so I set my alarm for 5:30am so that I can check the Maritime app and see if she made it into the channel or not.

If she had been sitting outside of the channel like she was last year, I knew we would be in for a rough day.

When I opened it up, she was already in the channel WOOOO HOOOOO!!!

I was already awake now so I quietly snuck out on our balcony (LOVED the balcony!!!) where I found my buddy waiting for me...

It was wonderfully peaceful and quiet so I just sat and enjoyed the view while I watched the Wonder sail into the channel on the app.

She reached the turning basin and did her little flippy-doo...

And then backed into Terminal 2, which is WAY southwest of where she actually turns.

It was then that I realized that I actually could see her from my balcony!!! I watched her back in to her spot which is the very left part of this terrible photo...(near that tall post, upper left where the bright white lights are)

I decided to text my friend Nancy to see if she was up. She was and she kept me company for the next little bit as I watched the sun rise over the Gulf

Pretty fantastic way to spend my morning

Here is a better photo of the (now) two ships in the port, Wonder is on the left.

Eventually my family woke up...

And then we got showered and dressed and they headed off to Waffle House. Kira taking a pic of her daddy taking a pic of her

While they were off eating, I got us all packed up and ready for the cruise.

They got back and enjoyed the last few minutes on the balcony...

And then we were off!! We got places to go and mice to see

Passing by the Hotel Galvez...

I love the names of the streets here Can you see that name?
Avenue O 1/2 LOL!

Then we got into downtown and were detoured due to this...

No biggie, we just went around and then we pulled into the Terminal!

And right up to Terminal 1 where the porters were waiting for us...

Looking back towards Terminal 1...

And then we headed to Parking Lot A.

Did we find the crazy lines that we found last year???

Stay tuned to find out....

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Hi joining in. I love reading your reports.

 

[Jillpie]

Woohoo almost there!!!

 

[Impromark]

I'm a fellow Calgarian who'll be headed off on my first cruise this October with spouse and beanie-boo loving daughter. Sound familiar?

Your TRs have been fantastic! I'm taking notes and have questions.

Mark

 

[bcwife76]

Yes it's sailing day!!! And so far looks a LOT better than the year before

 

[jedijill]

Woot Woot! Another Cass trip report! I need this to pass the time until my cruise on the Fantasy in August!

Jill in CO