From the Sea to the World - Completed!

[Captain_Oblivious]

And a family playing shuffle board and taking up all space. I think they were annoyed with the runners who wanted to pass them all the time. But I can tell you that at least this runners was rather annoyed with them as well…

Because, of course, shuffleboard takes precedence over all other activities.

In the one hot tub was a group of people who seemed to be a “party crowd”. Two of the women would dance around – holding an ipod in their hand and sharing the headphones. I was really scared that they would drop the ipod into the hot tub.

Yeah, that's just begging for an accident.

The restaurant as two equal sides, but only one was open and we were given a table at the window. Which was just beautiful! The restaurant is on the top deck (just below Palo) and has large windows. We were seated just in time to have a lovely view of the sun setting over the sea.

Very nice! We'll have to remember this just in case we cruise on the Wonder again.

This is my salad – I did get a little much of the Ranch dressing…

Are you sure you got a salad with your ranch dressing?

Remember how we chose to go there because we did not feel like a full big meal? Well, once Michael looked at the menu, he saw that there was a rib eye steak and he just could not resist ordering it. So his meal really wasn’t that light after all…

I can't blame him. That would have caught my eye as well. Looks good!

 

[Flossbolna]

I can see where you would be just overwhelmed with food after a while.

Very sad when that happens. If I go on a longer cruise, I really have to make sure to pick and choose the highlights!

Great idea going to the matinee show of the evening and then relaxing at the pool.

Yes, I thought so, too! I was very happy that Disney offered this. I had read about it here on the DIS and they seem to have it sometimes, but not always. Depends on how much they need to rehears (when they get new staff for example).

Dancing in a hot tub with an ipod...... yup I would have been waiting for her to drop it.

I kept wondering what the effect on the people in the tub would be. I grew up with the strict instructions to never bring anything electrical into water. But I guess the Ipod battery does not have enough electricity to do any damage to people?

Dinner looks good and I can see my "light " dinner turning into a ribeye and baked potato.

Looking at the picture of Michael's steak I keep thinking I should have eaten it, too! It does look really delicious!

 

[Flossbolna]

Yeah, after that big lunch at Palo, I understand not being hungry. But I've also done with Michael did, and somehow find an appetite anyway! And I can see why, that steak looked good.

I nearly fell for it myself. And I keep looking at the picture and wishing I could have that steak now...

 

[Flossbolna]

Because, of course, shuffleboard takes precedence over all other activities.

I think they did not understand that this deck was the designated jogging path. But next cruise I will make a point to give shuffleboard a try myself!

Yeah, that's just begging for an accident.

But they never dropped it. I was quite amazed...

Very nice! We'll have to remember this just in case we cruise on the Wonder again.

I can only recommend it! I never thought I would go there when we were planning the cruise. But it was nice to have this as an option and it worked out really well for us.

Are you sure you got a salad with your ranch dressing?

Yes, there is a tiny bit of green underneath it!!

I can't blame him. That would have caught my eye as well. Looks good!

I think it is one of my best food pictures from that trip. It looks so delicious!

 

[Flossbolna]

And we will use this post as a tribute to some of my TR friends! I am sure you know who you are!

 

[Flossbolna]

After dinner we decided that we needed some exercise, so we started walking around. I think we first went out to deck 4 and walked around there for a bit. Then we headed inside and explored the hallways a bit more. We were surprised how empty the ship was, but I think when we started our walk everyone was still either at dinner or at their show. The ship was so serene with everyone away in the theater or in a restaurant.

Walking around the hallways of the ship I started to to take many pictures of hallways, elevators and art.

I especially liked all the cartoon art:

an elevator lobby:

and a staircase:

walking along the 5th floor where the kids clubs are there is the full nautical flag alphabet along the wall, I thought this was the most important letter:

And then this is again the hallway outside the Buena Vista Theater, the cinema:

This picture is at the staircase next to the entrance to Animators Palette, quite fitting:

Another elevator lobby carpet:

And then we came across two paintings of the Magic and the Wonder:

Magic:

Wonder:

This is the entrance to Parrot Cay where we were supposed to eat that evening, but didnt:

And walking back to the atrium from there we had to pass through the Promanade Lounge  remember that from my first day on the ship when I thought we were already at the entrance of the restaurant, but it was only the bar:

We also headed to Shutters, which is the ships photographer. There are a number of photographers onboard who take your pictures  with the characters, at meals, on Castaway Cay, in the evenings with various backdrops. We did not get many pictures of us taken, just at meals. But we wanted to check them out and were rather appalled at how bad all of our pictures were. Especially our picture at Palo was a disappointment. The photographer had made a deal about getting a second chair to place Michael directly next to me. And then we saw the picture, we realized that Michaels jacket feel oddly, and just a small tuck would have made it look much better. The same thing happened with my necklace which was a bit out of place. You would think a photographer would notice this. Well, in the end they saved us a lot of money because if we had looked passable on these pictures I would have bought some! We also had some fun looking at strangers and realizing that they had no reason to be happy with their pictures either.

After this we headed back to the room for a short stop, this is our elevator lobby:

A map of our floor:

Another map with a directory:

and our hallway:

Next: Part 2 in the next post

 

[Flossbolna]

After the quick stop in the room, we headed up to Route 66. I had requested to go to the Cadillac bar to get a cocktail.

On the way there – while travelling along the route, I think it must have been around Arizona, we saw a ship officer in a white uniform heading towards us. It was Jimmy, our cruise director. Since Michael and I had practiced shouting “Jimmy” whenever he stepped on the stage, I did exactly that when I saw him there with nobody around. And gave him a high five – as he said that he loves to do that. This is actually totally out of character for me, I would normally only do this with good friends or when I am quite a bit drunk. So I guess it shows how relaxed and at home I felt on that ship. Jimmy was very nice and chatted with us for quite a while. He told us that our ship was sold out and had a lot of kids – the Panama Canal cruise which would start 4 days after we got off, was sold out, too. But had much less passengers and especially only about 200 kids. He said that that would change the dynamics of the cruise quite a bit.

After our brief encounter we found a nice seat in the Cadillac Lounge and looked at the menu. I noticed that drink prices here were more expensive than at other places. Around 10$. But the drinks also sounded very interesting, and more “high end”. Still, a friend of Michael’s had been on the Wonder recently and had recommended to get a Pomegranate Cosmo. We thought that that sounded delicious, but it wasn’t on the menu. We asked the server who came to take our orders and he said that they could certainly make it. So that’s what we ordered.

When our server took our order, he placed these wonderful linen cocktail napkins in front of us with the DCL logo:

There was a piano player playing infront of the fake skyline:

He was quite good and we enjoyed listening to him for a while. Then we got our lovely drinks:

At some point the piano player had a break, which was nice as it made chatting easier. After a while he started with the next set and this was all Simon & Garfunkel. After a few songs we decided that this was not our style and since we had finished the drinks we decided to do some more walking around the ship.

And I took more pictures! This is the normal ship map, but displayed in the Route 66 elevator lobby:

And this is the wall art in the staircase there:

If you go up one floor from there you are in the elevator lobby outside the Walt Disney Theater which has its own individual carpet:

Even the hallways there are special:

We went for another round outside and I thought it would be useful to have a picture of the life vest instructions:

We went back into the Atrium, which was empty and quiet as it was late at night. For the first time we noticed that there were screens introducing the senior officers on the ship one after another with a little bit of biographic information. It was really interesting to see where all these people came from. I think Jimmy, the cruise director, was the only American. Most of the other senior officers were Europeans.

Also in the lobby I found this very fancy map of the ship:

We somehow ended the evening with another visit to Shutters. Now that it was closed for business, it no longer showed the pictures they had taken, instead they had large pictures of various Disney landmarks. We had fun identifying the pictures. And then we came across this one:

And I decided when I saw this that it would be a perfect little contest for this TR! I have a double question about this picture for you. Send me your replies BY PM ONLY!!! We don’t want to have spoilers on the thread!

For those of you who come up with the correct answers I will have a little price!

So, the questions are:
1) Where was this picture taken?
2) Why is it no longer possible to take this picture today?

And with that I will leave you for today – we headed to bed as tomorrow would be an exciting day: My first visit to Castaway Cay!

Next: Serenity

 

[eandesmom]

There is SO much food on a cruise it's a bit crazy and it actually can make you want to exercise! Unfortunate that the shuffleboard players were taking up the whole space, the running/walking path is pretty clearly marked, it wouldn't seem that hard for them to stay off. How lovely that you got out and did some laps!

Very funny about the dancing ipod woman, I'd have been worried about that too but glad the hot tub did open up enough to let you in. I've never seen the menu for Beach Blanket at dinner so that was nice to see.

On the way there – while travelling along the route, I think it must have been around Arizona, we saw a ship officer in a white uniform heading towards us. It was Jimmy, our cruise director. Since Michael and I had practiced shouting “Jimmy” whenever he stepped on the stage, I did exactly that when I saw him there with nobody around. And gave him a high five – as he said that he loves to do that. This is actually totally out of character for me, I would normally only do this with good friends or when I am quite a bit drunk. So I guess it shows how relaxed and at home I felt on that ship.

That is SO funny! I can't picture you doing that, I love it!

Jimmy was very nice and chatted with us for quite a while. He told us that our ship was sold out and had a lot of kids – the Panama Canal cruise which would start 4 days after we got off, was sold out, too. But had much less passengers and especially only about 200 kids. He said that that would change the dynamics of the cruise quite a bit.

Some good friends of my parents were on that cruise, they loved it! Older obviously and no kids.


Castaway Cay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait.

 

[englishrose47]

Great pix of the Tour of the ship!!! So many details that I would not have noticed !!!!

 

[cmaee]

Hi! I found your TR today and have spent the better part of my afternoon catching up on your trip. Your trip has sounded lovely so far and I am looking forward to reading the rest!

 

[dekkerdisneydreamer]

Hello!

I'm mostly a lurker on TR's, but I have read all of your previous reports and am definitely enjoying this one! My DH and I will be taking a cruise for my 40th birthday and this is just the inspiration I need to start planing.

It might be too soon, though. We aren't going until October 2015!

 

[CRdisMom]

Walking around a resort has to be one of my favourite things to do. You get such a better idea of where you are. I guess if the ship had more kids that would definitely change the dynamics. Love the updates and the hints on drink prices

 

[rndmr2]

Looks like you had a nice evening, sorry your pictures didn't come out good but like you said it might be a good thing since it saved you some money!

Looking forward to seeing Castaway Cay, I really want to try a Disney cruise and that stop is one of the main reasons why.

 

[mrsswat]

First let me say how much I am enjoying reading your trip report. Brings back many fond memories of the few we took with out two daughters and makes me want to return to that ship.....

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

On the way there – while travelling along the route, I think it must have been around Arizona, we saw a ship officer in a white uniform heading towards us. It was Jimmy, our cruise director. Since Michael and I had practiced shouting “Jimmy” whenever he stepped on the stage, I did exactly that when I saw him there with nobody around. And gave him a high five – as he said that he loves to do that. This is actually totally out of character for me, I would normally only do this with good friends or when I am quite a bit drunk.

Nice job stepping out of your comfort zone!

Still, a friend of Michael’s had been on the Wonder recently and had recommended to get a Pomegranate Cosmo. We thought that that sounded delicious, but it wasn’t on the menu. We asked the server who came to take our orders and he said that they could certainly make it. So that’s what we ordered.

More proof of why it never hurts to ask.

For those of you who come up with the correct answers I will have a little price!

So, the questions are:
1) Where was this picture taken?
2) Why is it no longer possible to take this picture today?

Hmmm...I need to think about this for a bit.

And with that I will leave you for today – we headed to bed as tomorrow would be an exciting day: My first visit to Castaway Cay!

My favorite part of the cruise!

 

[Poolrat]

I kept wondering what the effect on the people in the tub would be. I grew up with the strict instructions to never bring anything electrical into water. But I guess the Ipod battery does not have enough electricity to do any damage to people?

Of the many devices I have seen dropped in a pool I have not heard of any electrocuting anyone. I cannot remember but I think the pool was empty the one and only time I dropped my phone in the pool.

And we will use this post as a tribute to some of my TR friends! I am sure you know who you are!

I LOVE that you high Fived Jimmy the cruise director. That is great.


As for the picture..... Sending a PM now

 

[GoofyFan1515]

I mentioned that our head server Josip had commented on how we would eat “at the Croatians’” today for brunch. He told me me to tell Josip that Dragan might be older, but that he is more handsome than Josip. It appeared that these two had some good hearted rivalry going on between them!

To me this shows how much these guys enjoy their job. It is fun for them, and the guests, when there is something like this going on.

It looks like lots of delicious food to choose from at Palo. I especially love almond croissants, and that walnut bread and the warm sticky buns look and sound quite yummy. (I think I see a theme starting to emerge here) I've never tried caviar, but a cruise like this sounds like a great opportunity to give many new things a try!

So which one of your German/Croatian "friends" did you have to bribe to get your table knocked over so you could get more of the prosecco???

In the meantime Michael had ordered the chicken parmesan since it was highly recommended not only by Sasha, but also by another server who passed our table with a serving and pointed out that this was their best dish.

Okay, something besides "breads" that looks really good!

I am not a chicken fan, but I love poached eggs. So there was no question that I would get some egg benedict type of dish. They had three different versions, the classic, one with spinach and one with smoked salmon. I went with the spinach version – which normally comes with a cream sauce, but I asked for it to be served with the sauce hollandaise. It was truly excellent!!

Something else I haven't been adventurous enough to try before, but that also looks pretty good!

We had seen the evening before that they were showing Disney Dreams, this nights show, not only at the usual times, but there was also a 2pm afternoon show. We had talked about it and decided that it would be worth it to go there during the afternoon when the pools were crowded and then enjoy the pool while everyone was at the show or dinner in the early evening.

Sounds like a great choice going with the early show!

I can certainly understand feeling the need to exercise after all that food. Too bad the runners and the shuffleboarders had to compete though.

Not sure I could take my MP3 in the pool or hot tub with me. That would be the one time I would somehow manage to drop it.

Remember how we chose to go there because we did not feel like a full big meal? Well, once Michael looked at the menu, he saw that there was a rib eye steak and he just could not resist ordering it. So his meal really wasnt that light after all&

Okay, I agree it would have been hard to be hungry again, but if anything was going to be a temptation, that looks like a great choice!

And we will use this post as a tribute to some of my TR friends! I am sure you know who you are!

Well that can't be Rosie. You would have to ruin the top of the next page to be a tribute to her!!!

I especially liked all the cartoon art:

It's hard to beat cartoon art, especially when it is art of Goofy being, well, Goofy!!!

and a staircase:

So where's the clock??? Isn't there supposed to always be a clock at the top of the stairs like that???

On the way there – while travelling along the route, I think it must have been around Arizona, we saw a ship officer in a white uniform heading towards us. It was Jimmy, our cruise director. Since Michael and I had practiced shouting “Jimmy” whenever he stepped on the stage, I did exactly that when I saw him there with nobody around. And gave him a high five – as he said that he loves to do that. This is actually totally out of character for me, I would normally only do this with good friends or when I am quite a bit drunk. So I guess it shows how relaxed and at home I felt on that ship.

What WOULD your co-workers have said if they could have seen you then...............

After our brief encounter we found a nice seat in the Cadillac Lounge and looked at the menu. I noticed that drink prices here were more expensive than at other places. Around 10$. But the drinks also sounded very interesting, and more “high end”.

Not bad, as long as you are also getting the "high end" alcohol instead of the cheap stuff.

We went for another round outside and I thought it would be useful to have a picture of the life vest instructions:

Great information to have, and nice to get the "Big Cheese" teaching you the proper way to wear it.

And I decided when I saw this that it would be a perfect little contest for this TR! I have a double question about this picture for you. Send me your replies BY PM ONLY!!! We don’t want to have spoilers on the thread!

For those of you who come up with the correct answers I will have a little price!

So, the questions are:
1) Where was this picture taken?
2) Why is it no longer possible to take this picture today?

Submitted part of my answer..........still trying to come up with the rest.

 

[Flossbolna]

There is SO much food on a cruise it's a bit crazy and it actually can make you want to exercise! Unfortunate that the shuffleboard players were taking up the whole space, the running/walking path is pretty clearly marked, it wouldn't seem that hard for them to stay off. How lovely that you got out and did some laps!

The problem with the food on the cruise is not only that there is so much, nearly everything was also really good and tasty! And at least a little bot of exercise was really quite refreshing.

Very funny about the dancing ipod woman, I'd have been worried about that too but glad the hot tub did open up enough to let you in. I've never seen the menu for Beach Blanket at dinner so that was nice to see.

I was surprised how nice the experience of ditching the dining room and eating up there was.

That is SO funny! I can't picture you doing that, I love it!

Yes, I loved it to and kept talking about that moment for quite a while to Michael.

Some good friends of my parents were on that cruise, they loved it! Older obviously and no kids.

I have heard lots of great things about the Panama canal cruise. I am currently following a wonderful TR from Jegsnakkernorsk and speedo, who are two sisters and who did the PC cruise with their parents. I can only recommend reading it, it has lots of great pictures!! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3118355

Castaway Cay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait.

Coing up soon!

Great pix of the Tour of the ship!!! So many details that I would not have noticed !!!!

I only started noticing the details when Michael and I actually took our time to just walk around and look. There was so much to see!

Hi! I found your TR today and have spent the better part of my afternoon catching up on your trip. Your trip has sounded lovely so far and I am looking forward to reading the rest!

Hopefully I can get some more reading material up tonight!

 

[Flossbolna]

Hello!

I'm mostly a lurker on TR's, but I have read all of your previous reports and am definitely enjoying this one! My DH and I will be taking a cruise for my 40th birthday and this is just the inspiration I need to start planing.

It might be too soon, though. We aren't going until October 2015!

Hi and I remember you from my previous TRs! I am glad that this TR helps you to get into the mood for planning your cruise! I think that will be a perfect way to celebrate a 40th birthday!!

Walking around a resort has to be one of my favourite things to do. You get such a better idea of where you are. I guess if the ship had more kids that would definitely change the dynamics. Love the updates and the hints on drink prices

It was really nice to have the time to just explore and enjoy being on the ship! And I am happy that people find my reports about drink pricing useful!! It was something I was wondering before my cruise as it is one of the things that is not covered by the cruise fare.

Looks like you had a nice evening, sorry your pictures didn't come out good but like you said it might be a good thing since it saved you some money!

Looking forward to seeing Castaway Cay, I really want to try a Disney cruise and that stop is one of the main reasons why.

Yes, I guess I will always have the memories of our time on the ship with or without overpriced pictures. I just thought it was strange that they would not take better care to take good pictures of people.

Castaway Cay coming up soon!

First let me say how much I am enjoying reading your trip report. Brings back many fond memories of the few we took with out two daughters and makes me want to return to that ship.....

I am happy that you are enjoying the TR! I think the Wonder is a great ship, even if she is not the newest one in the fleet (and soon will be the only "outdated" one), I would happily sail on her again!

 

[Flossbolna]

Nice job stepping out of your comfort zone!

It's funny how this became one of my favourite memories of the cruise.

More proof of why it never hurts to ask.

Yes, that was one thing that I learned on the cruise. They really try to do everything to make you happy.

Hmmm...I need to think about this for a bit.

It would not be worthy of a contest if it were sooo easy.

My favorite part of the cruise!

Coming up soon - hopefully!