Day 8
We had set our alarm call for 7:00 AM as Aqua Aerobics was offered again this day. We got up and got changed into our swim stuff and headed up to the adult pool. There were quite a few people for this, but we were the only people who had already done this when it was offered before. Some people decided that it was too much like hard work and left during the class, but we also had a couple of late arrivals. This was great fun again and provided a good work out. I have to say though that getting into the water with my sunburned legs was not a pleasure at first.
Once we were changed, we headed to Triton's to get some breakfast. Graham had his fresh fruit with yoghurt and Granola followed by Scuttle on the Run. I had the Mango Mountain Hike followed by Eggs Benedict and Hash Brown.
After breakfast, we headed up to deck 4 for "Walk a Mile". I had a special mission that day. During the Transatlantic cruise, I had bought a wristlet while we were waiting to do "Walk a Mile". This then resulted in me having to carry it with me around the ship. Graham and the male member of cruise staff were very amused by this and decided that it should be a rule that whenever you buy something that is not strictly necessary, you have to carry it for mile first before you can truly call it yours. Graham had reminded me of this ever since I bought my Dooney and Bourke handbag. Somehow the fact that I walked more than a mile with it during our afternoon in Aruba did not seem to count. So the handbag came to "Walk a Mile" with me that day to satisfy the new tradition. Once we finished our three laps around the ship, Graham had to concede that the bag is really mine now.
Once we were finished, we headed back to our cabin. My intention had been to get changed out of my gym kit and into something more comfortable. For once, I actually had nothing planned. The order of the day was to keep out of the sun. Graham decided to work on his boat in our cabin and I decided to join him and read my book. We briefly went to guest services to borrow a pair of scissors and then we settled down to our respective tasks.
It was our turn that day to have our lithographs signed by Ducky Williams. They had organized the signing sessions by deck over three different days. On this day, it was the turn for deck 6. Deck 6 was the only deck that got a signing session on its own. They had combined decks 7 and 8 on one day and decks 1, 2 and 5 on another day. Even though our signing session was only for one deck, the line was huge when we came down to deck 4. The signing was in the open area between the Walt Disney Theater and the shops and the line went all the way to the midship elevator lobby. We decided to wait for the line to go down a bit. We took the scissors back to guest services and then sat down on deck 4 on the seats overlooking the atrium. It was nice just watching the world go by.
After a while, I went back to check out the situation. The line had gone down considerably. I decided to go and collect Graham and the lithograph, which I had left where we had been sitting. Graham went to sit down by the shops and I joined the line. While I was waiting my turn, I managed to take some photos of some of the character scenes in the shop windows.
Soon it was my turn. I took my lithograph up to be signed. A member of cruise staff, who was there for crowd control, had taken my camera and offered to take a photo. I had a short conversation with Ducky Williams and then took my signed lithograph and joined Graham while I was waiting for the ink to dry.
Once the ink was dry, I took the lithograph back to the cabin and then we headed to Triton's for lunch. The menu was the same as on the first sea day, but as I had really enjoyed it, this was no hardship. Graham had Lobster Ravioli followed by Chicken Curry with Rice and Poppadom and Coconut Cream Pie for dessert. I had Tortilla Soup followed by Chicken Curry with Rice and Poppadom and Coconut Cream Pie for dessert. Triton's was relatively empty so this provided a welcome opportunity to take some photos of the mural at the back of the restaurant.
After lunch, we headed back to the cabin to check the Navigator for anything that we might be interested in. I was actually quite tired and opted for a nap. Graham had originally planned to go to a seminar organized by the gym/ spa called "Powerful Posture". However, when he read the description, it became obvious that this would be yet another sales pitch for expensive food supplements that may or may not work. So he decided to give this a miss and have a nap instead.
Once I woke up, I decided to do my Fish Extender run. After bouncing around ideas and a few design changes along the way, I decided to make bag charms/ zip pulls from crackle glass beads in the colours of the ship and pewter ship wheel charms. As I had nearly 100 cabins on the list, I needed something that was small and lightweight. I was rather pleased with the end result.
I started on deck 8 and worked my way down. The person hosting the website for our cruise meet thread had gone through a lot of trouble compiling a list that listed all the participating cabins so that you could easily work your way down one side of the ship and up the other. This made the Fish Extender run a lot easier. Still, I only got decks 8, 7 and 6 done that afternoon, but that covered about 70% of the participating cabins.
While I was doing deck 6, I quickly checked in at our cabin. Graham asked if I fancied going up to the Cove Cafe to get a coffee. I told him that I wanted to finish off deck 6, but then I would love to head up there.
Once I had finished my round of deck 6, I went back to our cabin to let Graham know that I was done. We headed up to the Cove Cafe. They had speciality loose leaf teas on the menu and I rather liked the sound of the Russian Imperial Earl Grey. To my disappointment, they had none of the loose leaf teas, but just the standard tea bags that they have at all the restaurants, the spa and the drink station. I passed. I definitely won't pay for something that I can have for free elsewhere on the ship. Instead I decided to have a Mocha, which was very nice.
We enjoyed our coffees and chatted to the bartender, who was from Ireland and had worked for another very upmarket cruise line before. The other cruise line has very small ships with only suites and is completely all inclusive. He told a few stories and I got the distinct feeling that he much prefered the more laid back atmosphere on the Wonder.
Once we had finished our coffees, we headed back to the cabin to get our stuff for the Rainforest Room. As per usual, we virtually had the place to ourselves while most people were either at early dinner or the show. We spend a couple of hours relaxing and I even was brave enough to try out the experience showers. The fog shower was a little cold for my liking, but I loved the tropical rain shower.
Soon it was dinner time. I had brought the dress that I was going to wear up to the spa so that I could get showered and changed up there.
Dinner that night was the rotational menu at Triton's, which is my least favourite of the rotational menus. For instance there is no appetizer on there that I would enjoy so I always opt for two soups instead. Graham had Escargot, French Onion Soup, Braised Lamb Shank with Mashed Potato (which our server had substituted for the Polenta that should have come with this dish). For his dessert, Graham had chosen the Creme Brulee. I had French Onion Soup, Tomato and Basil Soup and Beef Tenderloin, Mashed Potato, Bacon-wrapped Green Beens. For my dessert, I had the Grand Marnier Souffle, which was divine.
After dinner, we headed straight to bed. We knew that we had a long and exciting day ahead of us the next day. I took a quick photo of the towel lobster that our stateroom host had left us and then switched off the lights.