Disney wonder 2/7-11/10

[blkim]

Day one
What a trip! So much planning and anticipation, but we made it intact. But I should start at the beginning. Leading up to the trip, was of course, Snowpocalypse…..The storm that dumped on DC could have come up to Boston. There but for the grace of a high pressure system went my vacation. Thankfully, it didn’t touch Boston and we got out on time. We left the day before the trip, because you NEVER fly the same day the boat leaves, that’s a nightmare. We planned to arrive in Orlando, rent a car one way to Port Canveral where the boat leaves and then board the ship the next day. That all worked seamlessly, and we were looking forward to seeing the Space shuttle launch on Sunday AM (launch time 439AM, or what NASA calls “really ****ing early”) We woke up at four, turned on the TV to see that the launch was only 30% go because of clouds. All that technology and they cant go because of a few clouds? Yep. We finally left the room to walk down to the beach and on our way everyone was walking back from the beach telling us “it’s a no go, no go on the launch” Bummer. We went back to bed, but not really to sleep.

We got up AGAIN, got our stuff together and returned the rental car. Caught the shuttle to the port, checked the bags and got into the Terminal! We could see the ship, it was right there! With Mickey and the gang in the terminal we were officially on vacation. Lined up for all the photos, check in etc. No suites were available for upgrades, but that was fine. Around 1130am they started boarding the boat. YES, they DO announce you in the lobby, which is SO freaking cool “Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome, the Kim family” and a lobby full of people applaud. Nice! We were herded directly to a buffet in Parrot Cay, one of the three main dining rooms. I mean, we had been on the boat five minutes and hadn’t been fed, cant have that. The buffet was GINOURMOUS, and so good. Shrimp, seafood, prime rib carving station, desserts. A tip: The drink of the day is a Bahama mama, and is half price. IF you order it up on deck at the party. You order it in the restaurant, its not half price. Ooops. After we ate we walked around a little and then it was time to find our room. Rooms are ready at 130pm. Loved the room, and it was plenty big for us, but it is WAY smaller than it looks in the pictures. Un packed and went up on deck, to shoot hoops. Playing basketball on deck, check that off my mental list of stuff Id wanted to do. Lifeboat drill was next, that was very efficient, but this was my first encounter with the more “interesting” people I would see. Love to people watch. The woman next to us spent the entire life boat drill FLOSSING her teeth with a little pick thing. She was hauling treasure outta there to, I thought I would PUKE and no amount Bonine was going to help that. Eeeks. Then we went to the pool area to swim and the kids hit the Mickey slide. I was disappointed because the slide is only available for the under 14 set. I met the height requirement, but I was too OLD. Boo hiss. After that we changed and headed to the Goofy pool area where the sail away party was starting. That was great, lots of singing, dancing streamer waving. The horn went off, “when you wish upon a star” and we were underway.

After the party we walked around a little more, went down to look at the Oceaneers club where the kids would spend time. We also sat on the cool wooden deck chairs on Deck four. Check that off the list, it’s a nice spot. People along the piers, at Jetty Park etc, all waved. Soon it was dinner time! Our first restaurant was Animators Palette, which changes from black and white to color as the meal goes on. This is where we met our waiters that would take care of us for the rest of the trip. We had a table of four, but it was in a line of other tables so you could talk to people at the next table or not, whatever you wanted. Off and on thru the cruise we chatted with our table neighbors, a nice family from DC. Our waiters were Mihailo from Serbia and Brian from South Africa. SO SO nice, but Mihailos accent killed me. Think of the two “wild and crazy guys” that Steve Martin and Dan Ackroyd played on SNL. Yeah, that accent. He would describe all the entrees, talked to the kids, asked us for any special requests. He was so funny tho, he didn’t know it but every time asparagus was included in a meal he couldn’t really pronounce it and said “lovely beef tenderloin with potato and of course delicious Aspergers” Yipeee, dinner AND an autism spectrum disorder, what a bargain! But he and Brian went above and beyond service. Mihailo made a paper treat for each of my kids every night out of their kids menus. A flower, a boat, a fish on a stick, hoppy toads etc. These two really were exceptional in how they treated us and how hard they worked.
At this point in the cruise I was spinning. The motion of the ship made my brain feel like it was it was sloshing around in a snowglobe. I was never nauseous, but always dizzy, walking sideways etc. After dinner the kids were BEGGING to go the club, so we did that instead of seeing the show “Golden Mickeys” This was a theme and we never did see any of the shows, we always had something else going on. We let the kids hit the club for a bit then we went to bed. We had a towel animal of course, an elephant and some chocolate. I put our room service order in and it was off to bed.

 

[blkim]

Day Two

The next morning, right to the MINUTE we had asked for it , the breakfast came. There is NOTHING better than coffee and croissants on the balcony. We were not yet in Nassau, just sailing along at sea, sipping coffee, munching pastry. Yeah, that was a highlight. It was sunny but windy. It was at this point that I heard our neighbors. We came to call them “The Screamingilio” family. They spoke either Spanish, Italian or Portuguese, and I don’t think they were arguing, but every interaction they had was at scream level. “GOOD MORNING POPPI”, “Mamma! Mamma” “eh bambino” Hey, I have kids, kids are loud, that’s fine, but this whole family was unbelievable. Heres another tip. DON’T get a connecting cabin if you aren’t traveling with the family next door. Our cabin didn’t comnnect with the people on the other side of us and we NEVER heard them other than coming or going, minor chit chat etc and they had kids too.

After the room breakfast, of course we had to have the BUFFET breakfast. We hit Beach Blanket for some eggs and bacon, mickey waffles and we sat out on the deck as we docked in Nassau. We did get off the ship, but not for long. Nassau itself is nothing really special and you get totally hassled by vendors. Disney runs excursions and some of them might be nice, but we were back on the boat by 11am. We had read that the boat is practically EMPTY on a port day and that was a good time to hit the pools. WRONG. I don’t think many people got off the boat, or if they did, the came right back. Major crowds at the pools. I think they didn’t really put enough thought into these areas. Unless you go out at like 7am, and “save” a lounger with a towel and a beach bag on it, you wont get one. Course they tell you NOT to do that, but everyone does. Neither the goofy pool or the mickey pool can really handle the crowds. The adult pool is the same way theres, only about 40 loungers which are gone by 8am. The area by the adult pool called the Quiet Cove has a coffee shop, is adults only, but the thing is, it’s a walk way area., so you sit with your latte etc while families walk thru on the way from the pools to the Beach blanket buffet. And this was something that got me. WHY in hell would a family bring the largest freaking stroller on the planet on a cruise ship? These fecking baby land yachts with seven cup holders, all terrain tires and sherpa baskets were ridiculous. So while its supposed to be a quiet adults only area, it doesn’t actually work that way. We spent some time at the pools, the kids went to the oceaneers lab and Tae and I got to have the BEST lunch at Tritons, the French themed restaurant. I had a shrimp cocktail better than anything Ive ever had, with fresh cucumber and avacado. I also had Jamaican jerk chicken that was so well flavored and pasta with garlic that was made to order at a pasta station. After that we picked up Devin at the club when she paged us and I took her to get her hair braided. We had it done on the ship up on deck by the pool. Picked up George at the club and did some more balcony time. Dinner tonite was dress up night, and we were scheduled for Parrot Cay. But Tae and I had Palo reservations so we planned to take the kids to eat the Beach blanket buffet because it was quick and casual and then they would go to the club while we went to Palo. BUT, BB was not open. Oooops. Devin was dressed up because she wanted to wear her “princess dress” to meet Mickey and Minnie and Princess Tiana in her nice dress but the rest of us were in shorts. We skidded into Parrot Cay looking like dorks not being dressed but it wasn’t a huge deal. It was carribean night so there were all kinds of seafood, jerk spiced meat and this fruit dessert that George loved, a coconut crusted banana, drizzled with orange glaze. The kids ate, we took them to the club and Tae and I went to Palo

Palo was SO nice. Quiet, no kids, relaxed service and really REALLY good food. I had grilled shrimp, pan seared scallops that were as big as your head, and lobster marscapone ravioli. We ordred the famous chocolate soufflé and while it was good, it was really no better than a warm brownie with chocolate sauce. But still it was worth it. Picked up the kids, again no show for us tonite since we were at Palo when it was going on.

 

[blkim]

The next day was Castaway Cay. Started off the day with coffee and pastry on the balcony (why mess with a good thing?) with a gorgeous view of the island and the Pirate ship. Tae had booked the jet ski tour for him and George, but it was cancelled due to high wind. Bummer. The weather wasn’t great, only low 70s with a high wind, but we got lounge chairs and hammocks and had a great time. Took the kids snorkeling, but again, they couldn’t see much because of the wind. This was another dork move on my part, Im thinking beach, swimming, sand etc, no I wont take my camera, it might get wrecked. DUH. I could have managed it and there were so many good photo ops. We walked up the beach toward the lunch area. I was told it was a BBQ so Im thinking they have grills on the beach, burgers and dogs. Uh, NO. They have a full service open air kitchen with rosemary lemon grilled chicken, nine kinds of salad, ribs, burgers, dogs, veggies, ice cream the works. Lots of covered seating, it was great. They also held crab races which were fun to watch. We headed back to the ship because on our way out we had chatted with the captain. I asked if there was a way we could see the bridge and he said he would let us know. Came back to a message on the phone that captain had invited us up to the bridge for a tour. WOW. I was amazed at the technology, George stood at the wheel, looked down thru the glass floor on the bridge wings, and saw all the stuff they use to get the weather, chart the courses. What a nice treat, and Captain Gus was so nice to do this for us.

Hit the showers, got ready for dinner, our dining rotation had us in Parrot Cay again. This time it was PIRATE night. We did not dress up. LOTS of people did, I mean whole families in full out Pirate gear. Speaking of familes, there was another family we kept seeing. We called them “Scary Nascar Family” Gramma and Grampa were a trip, Grampa had a wig. I don’t mean a hair piece, toupee etc. I mean a WIG. In a mullet style. It had to be a “custom” piece because who would make a mullet wig? He also dressed all in black the whole cruise (as did the whole family), wrap around black sunglasses day and night with a NASCAR jacket with flames up the sleeves and a gold belt buckle the size of a turkey platter. Grammy was channeling Peg Bundy complete with big hair, bad make up, skin tight sequined tank top and stretchy pants on top of platform shoes. The mom was also a younger version of gramma, only she liked crop tops. NOT a good look for her. The kid, who was very nice, we saw him a lot at pin trading and up on deck, had a spiky buzz cut all around, except the back, where yes, you guessed it, he had a mullet half way down the back. Whatever. Im sure they were nice people, they seemed it, but I have never seen anyone dress like that, honestly it looked like something SNL would do as a skit. Devin put a scarf on her head and George wore a bandana that my friend had worn in the first gulf war, in Kuwait and has carried around lots of places before she gave it to George. Camo print, naturally! That bandana has been around the world a few times. The servers were again SO nice, I mean I could get used to someone calling me “Madame Brenda” and bringing me things. After dinner was the pirate party on deck, and fireworks. Unfortunately it was windy and rainy so Mickey did not zip line across the deck from funnel to funnel. After that they had a HUGE buffet of desserts and giant turkey legs and all kinds of food.

 

[blkim]

The next day was completely at sea, cruising around. They had lots of activities, the kids hit the clubs and we ate lunch up on the deck with burgers and dogs. We sat in the hot tub at the goofy pool and watched an ice carving demo and caught a movie on the Dumbotron. Then the kids did a little ceremony thing called “Friendship Rocks” as an ending to the Kids club programs. This was really cute. Got dressed for dinner which was Tritons. I really liked this night, it’s the last night so the waiters carry flags of their country and sing “it’s a small world”. Which brings me to another thing. How is it that these men and women who don’t make diddly for base pay, usually work close to 15 hour days, share a 200 sq foot cabin with another person and are away from their families and homes for MONTHS at a time have figured out how to treat you extremely well, do a difficult job without ever seeming to mess up, and truly have the best attitude of any service workers Ive ever encountered. How come that happens, but yet here, your average store clerk, waiter, or customer service person, who has a home, is with their family, makes a living wage, sometimes even has benefits cant say please or thank you or even manage to renew your drivers license without treating people like a turd in a punch bowl? Im not saying they all LOVE the passengers, and are SO happy happy all the time, but whatever their circumstances, they put it aside and do their job and since their motivation cant be the pay or the working conditions I cant wrap my head around why other workers in way better situations cant do the same.

We went to bed after some pin trading and character meets. We did not put our luggage out to be carried off the ship. We didn’t have much and we just wheeled it off the ship ourselves. There is one final breakfast before you leave and it was the only time we got a bad meal. Honestly, they just should have fruit, coffee, juice and maybe muffins. They had cooked breakfast but it was almost all cold, the coffee was cold, it seemed microwaved etc. You have breakfast in whatever restaurant you had dinner in, so ours was Tritons and it really was too bad. I think Disney wants to send you off with a big meal, but its so busy with turning the ship for the next trip and getting everyone OFF the boat, they should really go more casual.

Customs was a breeze, but I have to say, on the way down, we used Budget for the one way car rental. On the way back, we used Avis since we got a better rate from them. Yeah, not a good choice. We watched three budget shuttles go by before the first Avis shuttle came. Avis has a smaller office in Port Canveral, it was a longer wait at the office and while we were there, the person at the desk took about three calls from people at the port asking where the shuttle was. When we returned the car at Avis, having replaced the fuel we used they said "oh, if you use the car for less than 75 miles we automatically charge you our rate for refueling" HUH? Im sure it was in the fine print somewhere, but we complained and they took it off. Ive NEVER seen that anywhere else. We barely had to put in two gallons, but I wasnt going to pay their upcharge for it after having paid for the gas we used.

It was a great trip all around, hopefully Ive not offended anyone with my people observations, but we did see a few characters NOT in Disney suits.

 

[twins-and-1]

I am enjoying your trip report. We go on March 21st on the 4 night Wonder. Your report is very informative. Thanks for taking the time to complete it!

 

[Billinaz]

, there was another family we kept seeing. We called them “Scary Nascar Family” Gramma and Grampa were a trip, Grampa had a wig. I don’t mean a hair piece, toupee etc. I mean a WIG. In a mullet style. It had to be a “custom” piece because who would make a mullet wig? He also dressed all in black the whole cruise (as did the whole family), wrap around black sunglasses day and night with a NASCAR jacket with flames up the sleeves and a gold belt buckle the size of a turkey platter. Grammy was channeling Peg Bundy complete with big hair, bad make up, skin tight sequined tank top and stretchy pants on top of platform shoes. The mom was also a younger version of gramma, only she liked crop tops. NOT a good look for her. The kid, who was very nice, we saw him a lot at pin trading and up on deck, had a spiky buzz cut all around, except the back, where yes, you guessed it, he had a mullet half way down the back.

I first saw them exiting the bathroom at the port. The mullet kid threw the used paper towel that he left the bathroom with and tossed it into the drinking water fountain as they passed it. Dad gave a helpful 'dont do that' but they never retrieved it and left it in the fountain. You forgot to mention the dads cowboy boots.....

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Oh my!!!! A mullet-wig...that's something I've not ever seen before. Yikes!



Great tr!!!!

 

[KelsiesMommy]

I first saw them exiting the bathroom at the port. The mullet kid threw the used paper towel that he left the bathroom with and tossed it into the drinking water fountain as they passed it. Dad gave a helpful 'dont do that' but they never retrieved it and left it in the fountain. You forgot to mention the dads cowboy boots.....

Yep...we noticed that family as well

 

[ldeninge]

subscribing! enjoying your report!

 

[KelsiesMommy]

gonna add more? I started my TR also, link's in my siggy! Anyone else from our Meet doing a trip report?