Halloween Cruisin' on Disney Wonder to Cabo San Lucas W/Mickey Jack & Minnie Sally, Oct. 11-16, 2015

[pepe3penelope]

A few more photos from Day Two:

The stage before the Nightmare Before Christmas Sing and Scream








I love this photo of the Funnel Vision screen:



Food porn from Animator's Palate (sorry, but some of them have already been touched! guess we were hungry!)









Dessert time:





Love this photo of DD and her coordinating American Girl doll that she named Maddie.



Some of my favorite pieces that we saw in the Art Gallery.

 

[pepe3penelope]

I had already past the 1000th mark, but I needed to post this:


THIS IS MY 1004TH POST!!!

 

[pepe3penelope]

Day Three: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 (Day at Sea and Halloween Day)

I woke up around 6:15 instead of 6am. Vacation can be sooooo tiring! I got changed and washed up. I went to deck 9 to visit Cove Café (my 1st time). It had already opened at 6:30 today.














I took some photos while waiting for my Chai tea latte w/soymilk. I saw the pastries in the display and opted for a couple. The “chocolate pillow” (basically a square chocolate croissant) was DELICIOUS! It was quiet, dark, and very adultlike. Just what I needed. I worked on the 1st day on my Surface tablet.







I headed toward Cove Pool and took photos, dreaming that one day I’ll be able to enjoy it one day. The chairs looked so luxurious and inviting!













I went to the Vista Fitness Center. I went here once 3 years ago and surprised myself that I still remembered how to get to the lockers and the fitness room. I brought my earbuds, but I didn’t have music in my phone. I liked the treadmill machine and of course the view was beautiful. I was only able to do the treadmill for 20 minutes and it said I burned 85 calories!!! WHAT?!?! That’s it?!?! LOL! I hope that next time I get to enjoy the showers there and the Rainforest Spa. Disney Wonder, I will be back one day!!!

When I returned to the cabin, DH found the bridge's channel.



From our cabin:




We got the kids ready. Silly DS wanted to "pose" for the camera. Later we headed to BBB for their breakfast.



From BBB aft area...


They were excited and ready for Oceaneer Club. Wait, one last picture before you go in!



UP NEXT: Palo Brunch Day 1 out of 2!!!

 

[jetskigrl]

Ohh, I saw Nina in the Cove Café Pictures. She was my new best friend this cruise I stopped by to see her every day so that she could make me a Frappuccino. I also loved that she added the cinnamon Mickey Mouse on top of my Mom's cappuccinos too

 

[Gabriella Baltazar]

Your report has been gold to me!! My family and I will be setting sail for the first time ever November 27th, and reading your report has made me want to be extremely organized (because you can never be too organized, right?), and much more excited!

 

[pepe3penelope]

Ohh, I saw Nina in the Cove Café Pictures. She was my new best friend this cruise I stopped by to see her every day so that she could make me a Frappuccino. I also loved that she added the cinnamon Mickey Mouse on top of my Mom's cappuccinos too

I liked her...she was very nice. We were so busy this cruise so this was the only time I made it to Cove Cafe. I loved how quiet it was. My favorite part of a vacation day is early in the morning. Quiet, cool air, you can think w/o distractions. I need to visit more often!

Did you and John make it to the Cove Pool? I hope to spend time there in the future!

I love the Disney touches they add. It's magical!

 

[pepe3penelope]

Your report has been gold to me!! My family and I will be setting sail for the first time ever November 27th, and reading your report has made me want to be extremely organized (because you can never be too organized, right?), and much more excited!

I love reading TR's! Everybody's experience is so different!

Thank you for your kind words!

Is this your 1st time on Wonder? Who else is coming w/you? Ask away if you have any questions!

Is your cruise a Merrytime themed cruise? I would love to see the holiday overlay. One day I'd love to do one.

I agree about organization because of time management. It helped me a lot for embarkation day.

 

[bcwife76]

Congrats on passing 1,000 posts!!

Oh I'm dreaming of those black truffle purseittes from Animators... I KNEW I should've ordered another plate ;-) Next cruise I'm pigging out on those bad boys lol

I love early morning photos of the ships, I'm far too lazy to get up early and go up deck. Your photos look so serene

 

[pepe3penelope]

Congrats on passing 1,000 posts!!

Oh I'm dreaming of those black truffle purseittes from Animators... I KNEW I should've ordered another plate ;-) Next cruise I'm pigging out on those bad boys lol

I love early morning photos of the ships, I'm far too lazy to get up early and go up deck. Your photos look so serene

Thank you!!!
I told myself this trip that I'd try new things! That's how I found out items I had been avoiding before I really liked! Perfect example was those pursettes!!!! Yuuummmmyyyy! I don't like mushrooms or truffles but I couldn't taste it.

Wait til you hear about Palo...mandatory place to pig out!

 

[bcwife76]

Oh my god, I didn't think I could MOVE after our Palo brunch

 

[franandaj]

Wait til you hear about Palo...mandatory place to pig out!

Oh my god, I didn't think I could MOVE after our Palo brunch

I was proud of myself. I didn't totally pig out at Palo and leave feeling like I was going to burst. At least the first time!

 

[pepe3penelope]

I was proud of myself. I didn't totally pig out at Palo and leave feeling like I was going to burst. At least the first time!

Wow, Alison! I'm impressed!

One of the BIGGEST things that we LOVE about DCL is Palo brunch!!!

 

[pepe3penelope]

Day Three (Continued): Tuesday, October 13, 2015 (Sea Day) (PALO BRUNCH!!!!!!!!!!)


I forgot to mention in the last post that before we left the cabin I saw our stateroom attendant Wira from Indonesia. I asked him if I could get the DCL lotion everyday. He appeared very willing to do it and gave me a full set everyday! Score!

I last left off with DH and I dropping off the kids at Oceaneer Club. We went back to the cabin to change for what I feel is a major highlight of our cruise...drumroll, please.........PALO BRUNCH!!!

Hmmmmm, can you tell it makes me a LITTLE excited?!?!?!? Ha, ha, ha!


We were running a little late and arrived around 11:05 for our 11am reservations. Now, I have to warn all of you...I have not made it a secret that I LOVE Palo brunch. As a result, the Palo Brunch portion of my TR is going to need TWO posts. Prepare yourself for the amount of pictures I am about to send your way! Are you ready? Ok, here goes!





As previously mentioned on embarkation day, I asked for Tony from Croatia, but he isn’t on Wonder anymore. I heard awesome things about Sasha so I requested him. Request granted! Nice!

I have to say we were beyond impressed with Sasha. He is such a gentleman, so distinguished, confident, knowledgeable, and has such an ease about him.

We opted this cruise to do two brunches and no Palo dinner. We LOVE their brunch!!! Here’s some food porn!

These were our first plates:




Here are the different spreads:



















More pictures on next post...

 

[pepe3penelope]

Day Three (Continued): Tuesday, October 13, 2015 (Sea Day) (2nd PALO BRUNCH POST):

Here are more food stations and displays:














Not long into our meal, Sasha nonchalantly came by to point out that there was a pod of dolphins!!! What?!?! I wanna see!!! I could see them, but barely. Hope you are able to tell:



My favorites are the seared scallops, the rolled vegetables (zuchhini and eggplant…I don’t like eggplant! Again, trying things that I hadn't before and LOVED it!), king crab legs (best I’ve EVER had), salmon orecchiete (I get this again the next brunch), veal saltimbocca, peach almond soufflé, tiramisu, and raspberry vanilla panna cotta. For DH, his favorites were seared tuna, bloody mary with shrimp, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, tomato basil soup, and the chicken parmigiana. He normally doesn’t eat dessert, but he finished off his peach almond soufflé. I was very impressed w/Sasha’s coffee service as well.

Funny side story...I ordered the salmon orecchiete from the kitchen, but then he brought back the fusilli with pesto sauce. I told him I ordered the salmon. I appreciated his honesty when he said he made a mistake and he would get the salmon right away. I loved that he didn't try to cover up his mistake with a bogus answer. He left the fusilli to try. I admit I did not like it...it was just boring for me. I think I only took 1-2 bites.




Alas, here's the salmon orechiette I wanted.



DH really LOVES the tomato basil soup...wait, let me take a picture! Too late!



Our other entrees/courses we ordered:




Our desserts





Ok, I'll admit it. That Alaskan king crab was so delicious that some more sneaked onto my dessert plate!



He surprised us with an anniversary plate!




When we were beyond stuffed, I took, I mean, WE took a dessert plate to go.

Up next: Pick up the kids, get them fed...it's time for the Halloween Dance Party!!!

 

[bcwife76]

Oh how sweet!! I mean, literally sweet ;-)
How cool about the dolphins, it's far off but you can just make it out in the photo!
Man, why did I read this post hungry?! I'm going to my pantry to snack - if I close my eyes, maybe I can dream I'm back in Palo.

 

[franandaj]

Your update today looks almost exactly like mine, except that we both have different favorite dishes and the buffet was much more stocked when you took your pictures! I'm going to have to try that tomato-basil soup. Next time I guess.

I agree with you, I haven't tried the Pesto Fusilli, but it doesn't look all that exciting. I'm not a fan of salmon, but you're right, we should always try something out of our comfort range! I always love seeing a different angle on the same thing!

 

[pepe3penelope]

Your update today looks almost exactly like mine, except that we both have different favorite dishes and the buffet was much more stocked when you took your pictures! I'm going to have to try that tomato-basil soup. Next time I guess.

I agree with you, I haven't tried the Pesto Fusilli, but it doesn't look all that exciting. I'm not a fan of salmon, but you're right, we should always try something out of our comfort range! I always love seeing a different angle on the same thing!

Do you know whether or not your 2 night cruise was sold out? Was curious especially since you mentioned about the portions of food left on the platters.

This vacation I kept telling myself to try different entrees, etc. I'd usually like them! Later in the TR, we stayed across from the DLR for 2 additional nights. We even tried a couple restaurants we had never tried before and really liked them.

 

[franandaj]

Do you know whether or not your 2 night cruise was sold out? Was curious especially since you mentioned about the portions of food left on the platters.

I don't know if it was sold out, but it was very crowded. I think it was just a matter of timing. You said your brunch was at 11AM. Ours was at 10:30. They were replenishing the crab legs when I was taking my pictures. So everything was probably in need of a restock by the time we were hitting the buffet. Come to think of it they had also just put our a new bowl of the scallops. Live those too!

This vacation I kept telling myself to try different entrees, etc. I'd usually like them! Later in the TR, we stayed across from the DLR for 2 additional nights. We even tried a couple restaurants we had never tried before and really liked them.

I've tried a lot of things in my day and I have to start getting pretty creative to do so, but we are going on a Dream Cruise and diNing at Remy so that leaves some possibilities open.

 

[pepe3penelope]

Day Three: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 (Halloween Activities- Part One)

We had just finished eating our AWESOME Palo Brunch.

Lunchtime was so late in the club at 1pm so we picked up the kids and hurriedly brought them back to the cabin after getting some food from deck 9. We really stuck out in our nice clothes amongst people in their swimsuits. All of us got changed for the Halloween festivities! We wanted to get there in time for the 2pm Halloween Character Dance Party, but we arrived at 2:05.

From Star Wars: The Force Awakens, DS was Kylo Ren and DD was Rey. DH and I wore ghost hosts shirts from Haunted Mansion last year so decided to wear them. He and I aren't the costume-wearing kind of couple. For pirate night, I considered it until he quickly shot that idea down!

We brought the provided trick or treat bags, but the kids wanted to see the show. We could see the trick or treat stations spread around decks 3 and 4. I actually couldn't tell how many stations there were. There were SOOOOOO many people on decks 3 & 4. I couldn't believe that they were even trying to do little games at the candy stations. Moving around was actually pretty difficult that I didn't even bother taking pictures.

DS wore his mask for a good 2 minutes (and that's NO exaggeration)!



We went to deck 4 because the lobby atrium was so packed. The show was cute and energetic. It was adorable seeing the characters in their Halloween costumes. However, by the time the show finished, ALL the stations were empty!!! So not cool! How are you supposed to watch the show and trick or treat?!?! The kids were really disappointed. I had heard that the stations run out of candy, but REALLY...how can people do trick or treating AND watch the show.







After the party, we got in line. I really wanted to get as many characters as we could. The kids waited, then waited.



We did these character pictures.




With all the waiting and no nap, DS was so tired. You can see he's progressively losing his cool! In those last pictures, he has an upside down face. Aaaawww!! DH is not in the following pics because he's waiting in the next line for us! That's how long the character meets were!




Now, DS is soooo pooped that he's not even in these pictures!




I decided...ok, that's enough! Let's go back to the cabin!

Up next...Where does DS decide to take a nap? In the cabin or at the dinner table again!!!

 

[pepe3penelope]

Day Three: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 (Sea Day- Halloween Day Continued)

We relaxed in the cabin for awhile. The kids were already tired of wearing their costumes so we got them changed into regular clothes. Ironically, DH and I were also tired of wearing our Ghost Host coordinating shirts so we also changed. I really did NOT want DS to fall asleep at dinner again. It took quite some doing, but he managed to take a nap with DH on the bed. I did have to wake up DS earlier than he wanted. It took him awhile to fully wake up.

Dinner was at Parrot Cay. I have to admit that leading up to this day DH and I find this to be our least favorite restaurant. We just didn’t care for the food before. Admittedly, I had requested to only get this restaurant once and that request was granted. Here are some photos.










I have to tell you that I love me some food, but there are certain foods and several condiments that I do not like at all. Instead of boring you with the long list, I will just say that I do NOT like mustard, mayonnaise, ranch, and mushrooms. I was concerned if some food items contained any of these. I asked our server Noel and I ordered backups in case I didn’t like them. SURPRISE: DH and I actually REALLY liked the food we had this night! I really enjoyed the Baked Crab Martinique.



But, I did NOT like my backup which was the Jamaican Jerk-marinated Chicken tenders. It was dry and not tasty.



DH, like before, really enjoyed his Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower.



Here are some other photos:





Again, DD enjoyed her Mickey Bar. DS enjoyed his strawberry ice cream so much that he was drinking whatever was left in the bowl!!!

Noel suggested the toffee bread pudding (?). DH got it and I got the dessert sampler. I should have listened to him…I kept eating it off DH’s plate and hardly touched mine. Noel offered to give me my own portion, but we were so stuffed and we had plans!

We headed back to the Lobby Atrium for the next Pumpkin Tree Story rendition. We watched from deck 4 because there were already so many people and so that we could get these pictures!!!




Some families had some really, really, cool and clever themed costumes. One of my favorites was of this family that dressed like Captain Mickey, Cruise Director Minnie, First Mates Goofy and Donald. So cute! I wish I took a picture of them!

I approached this couple since one of my best friends LOVES Jasmine:



To be honest, I may have snuck another trip to the shops, but I’m not really sure. We were so tired and went back to the cabin. DH went to Outlook Café for the Irish and Scottish Whiskey Tasting at 10:30pm. We arrived at the cabin to this:






I got the kids to bed and studied the following day's navigator!

Up next: The Day I’ve Been Waiting For…Cabo San Lucas Day!!!