WBPC Disney Wonder May 1st-15th and Disneyland CA May 19th-23rd 2015
Hi all!
This is my second trip report and it will be a huge undertaking but I really want to relive the trip so this will be a nice (late) summer project.
Here is the background on the trip:
So my name is Cameron and I booked the WBPC cruise for May 2015 right about a year ago now. I booked solo as I am single and could not find anyone else among my family or friends who had the time or money to go along. Which was suiting me just fine as I actually enjoy traveling by myself. However apparently my Aunt (who never listens closely to anything you say) found out I was booked and said she would like to come along. Why didn't I ask? Anyhow I added her and got THE LAST of the "affordable" balconies at the time. I was not happy over it, not the room location itself, but as that was much more than an ocean view room which would've suited me just fine. But my aunt said we "needed" a balcony on a two week cruise. I admit it was nice and as I was still saving money over a single in an inside vs sharing a balcony I shouldn't complain.
So the cruise started in Miami and ended in San Diego. I had never been to Disneyland and thought this would be a great time to go. I asked my aunt. She wanted to get on home and really was distressed I would make her fly home by herself but she did think she might be able to handle it if I wanted to go on to DL. I asked my WDW traveling friend if she wanted to go. She always says while we are in WDW how she likes this or that better in DL because unlike me she has been to both parks. I thought it would be nice to have her go. I had enough SouthWest points to get her airfare as I knew cost was a prohibitive factor for her. She pounced on the idea but hesitated over the dates. The weekend the ship got back was the date of one of her friends graduations. So taking a closer look at all these factors I still decided to go to DL though fly home first with my aunt then fly back out four days later with my friend. It actually only wound up costing more SW points in flights but through a mutual friend we got that covered. The hotel was actually cheaper in the week than weekend and then I did not have to pay for the train or a rental car from San Diego so it really wasn't horrible. Plus by having our park days be Tues-Fri instead of Sat-Tues we got in on the 24 hour event on Friday. You'll have to read until the bitter end of this report to see how that went
I had a blast planning this trip. I LOVE to plan no matter the fact more than half the plans never work out. However it serves to extend the vacation on the front end. First off was having to spend the night in the Miami area. Years ago I sailed on Celebrity out of FT. Lauderdale and Royal out of Miami. Both times we stayed at a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. But this time I wanted to wake up and see the ship so a port area Miami hotel was a must. I wound up with reservations at Hampton Inn Bayside and also at B2 which is a boutique hotel. I read up on everything I could find for both of them and then with my aunt chose B2. It changed its name last December and is now the YVE. So at least we knew going in that the room would be small and the elevators ridiculously busy, but we wanted the view it offered and the convenience of the CVS drugstore right across street.
Second was the flights. I now wanted to fly directly into Miami and not have to try to get transportation from FT. Lauderdale down. Not that it would've been hard. We live three hours from DIA and there is always construction going on now so unless we wanted to get up at some unspeakable hour to catch a morning flight or spend the extra money for a hotel in Denver the night before it was looking like an a noonish flight would be best and that would not get us in before 4pm Florida time. I know I didn't look at ALL shuttle options but the ones I did had many stipulations for arrivals after 4....i.e: so many passengers required or surcharges. So looking back at flying into Miami. Unfortunately SW does not fly there. Neither does my second favorite airline Frontier. Delta does though not direct. While looking at their flights I was shocked at the price of close to $300 one way from Denver!!!! But I did see their promotional credit card though and saw that the 40,000 points I would receive after my first $500 spent in the first three months with my first year annual fee waived would cover my flight. So I signed up! By the time I got my card and points earned a month later the fare cost was $164 so my aunt bought at that price and I used my points. Coming home was easy as Southwest flies from San Diego to Denver direct. I love being able to book SW with points and when the flight goes down in points I can change for free and recover my points. Think I did it twice on this flight.
Coming home from the cruise we would spend the night in Denver. We live at 10,152 feet so after two weeks at sea level it seems like the wise thing to do so we don't suffer from the altitude. Denver is only half as high. I always think the squirrels in Denver look HUGE next to our little chipmunk size ones!!! Anyways I booked a hotel with an airport shuttle and free parking for 14 nights. We would have my uncle take us to the hotel and use the shuttle. Getting back we would use the shuttle to get to hotel and my mom would stay the night with us and we would go home together. When I flew back out to CA i would utilize the parking and shuttle but skip spending the night. All for the low price of $109 through ParkSleepFly. I thought I was a genius utilizing the parking situation. However you real read of a slight mishap with this plan . It all wound up fine in the end .
Then the DL planning. Certainly not like WDW planning . But I did have to choose a hotel. Could not afford any DL hotel so I knew I wanted across the street as I had NO plans to drive. Chose the Tropicana. Tickets I got on CheapTickects through Ebates (which reminds me I need to see if my refund posted) just before the price increase. I glanced at dining reservations but my friend is a chicken finger and fries gal so why bother just for me. I did spend time going over the maps (thanks to JacksGirl!!). Made notes of things I really wanted to do and then that was it. Now it was just a waiting game.............
Just some pictures to show you why this trip was greatly needed. Even though we had a very mild winter our spring hit us hard. This was on April 17th and fell all in one day!!!!
I woke up at 3 a.m. and for some reason thought it was 4 and I was awake early. Once I realized I had another hour and half I lay in bed going over all my packing. I always hate second guessing everything so I was glad when I got up at 5:20. I had a quick bite to eat. Then at 6:05 Mom drove me over to her sisters house so she could say goodbye to both of us together. At 6:45 my uncle had the luggage all loaded in his truck and we hit the road. We were making excellent time as it was a bit early for the road construction to start. But then we were only about 5 miles from the hotel when there was an accident that delayed us. We were on the interstate and had just missed an exist so had to wait it out. Once we got moving it was just two more exits and we actually pulled up just as the airport shuttle did. Actually I had us on the 9:30 shuttle but this was the 9:00 shuttle that was running a bit late and since they had room we hopped on. I think Aunt Connie was shocked she didn't have more time to say goodbye to her husband but he is impatient and I don't think he would have enjoyed just waiting for the shuttle.
DIA is undergoing construction so the shuttle dropped everyone off at one stop unlike usual at each airline. So because I was disoriented I was having us walk the wrong way. It wouldn't have been so bad as now we had plenty of time at the airport, but Aunt C does not travel light and had 2 checked bags and 2 carry ons. Both her husband and I asked if she could handle that much luggage. She said she had a system. Well......she didn't! I ended up hauling one of her checked bags. None of hers was a set and since my 1 carry on and 1 checked bag were a set they rolled quite nicely together with one hand and I used the other for hers. Fortunately once we finally got to the Delta counter it had hardly any line and the big bags were gone.
Aunt C's ticket had TSA precheck on it but mine did not. She said she would wait with me. Security started to get backed up though and they started sending people through precheck and we were part of that group. SWEET not to have to pull out liquids laptops or take off shoes!!!!!
By the time we got to our gate it was 10:30. I wanted to get some coffee so I left Aunt C and on my way back I no longer saw our flight listed at the gate. I went up to find out they had just changed gates and she was actually picking up the mike to announce it. It was only one gate down so an easy move. We started to board at 11:20. This was a 2 1/2 hour flight to Atlanta. It was smooth except for one rather significant drop just before landing. If I had had to go to the bathroom I don't think I would have had to after that drop!!!Our layover was 2 hours. I will not do anything under 1 hour at Atlanta and as it was we just had time to eat (albeit sit down) and potty before we left again. We landed on concourse E and the next flight was on C. I will not take the trains anymore after a very unpleasant experience of almost losing Mom there so we walked which of course took some time. We ate at TGIFridays. Here are my first pictures of the trip.
I don't remember what it was called but if was chicken with sort of a sweet sour sauce on a bed of spinach, mushrooms, and squash with a tomatoa and mozarella salad. It was REALLY good but I was REALLY hungry too. We each got two margaritas without knowing how much they cost. They were good as they should be for $11.50 each
Not our plane thank goodness but I realize this is just routine maintenance and of course you want good tires at landing.
We just made it to our gate when boarding started at 6:25. This flight was 1 1/2 hours. I finished the move I had started on the other flight and then took a quick nap and then it was time to get off. I had no issues with these Delta flights once on them but my seats had got switched so many times because the planes kept changing and the times kept changing (by like ten minutes) that I had to constantly monitor them to keep Aunt C and I seated together. Only an issue since I booked on points and she paid so we were not linked. Oh and another perk with the Delta credit card was my checked bag was free. Aunt C had to pay $60 for her two bags. Don't worry she has the money
Once off the plane we headed to bag claim and then right out the door to the Taxi line. I thought it was too easy. And it was because hardly any taxis were coming. I don't know if it was because we were at the last bag claim. Think so because we saw taxis they were just already full. Anyway it took about 15 minutes to get our taxi, may have been less. Then it was a short 1- to 15 minute ride to the YVE hotel. It cost $25.40 plus tip. The hotel staff was excellent. We were the only ones checking in right then, about 9:45 pm. We received a voucher for a free appitizer in the lobby restaurant. So we checked out our room first.
Small but functional for one short night. Only a king bed but like I said one night and I wanted THIS view which only had king beds.
Next we went to the CVS across the street and got some sunscreen, water, and wine. Then to the restaurant to get our appetizer plus a drink as it was ladies night.
Sorry I was hungry again so forgot to snap before eating! It was crab cakes and I forget the drink. Not that tasty but enough alcohol to relax me for bed. I just had to shower first (this bathroom made the ship bathroom look humongous by the way)and then get all electronics charging and rearrange the suitcases for carrying on the water and wine. I was in bed by midnight but not asleep until 1 am.
I had slept like a baby. The bed was very comfortable and I was very tired. Although I had hoped while planning this trip to be awake and watch the ship come in, I knew by the time I had got to Atlanta the day before there I would just be too tired. I did have to get up at 5:30 for my bladder but I was still groggy and could not make out the ship. When I did finally wake at 6:45 I looked closely to make out the WONDER.
Now it was getting REAL
I actually went back to bed after this as I was still tired. Though I did eat the little package of cookies from the plane. I love the Delta cookies! About an hour later both of us were up and ready for coffee. We went down to the lobby which was still very quiet. They had the coffee right in the entrance to the restaurant. We drank it in the lobby. I cannot believe I did not take a picture of the lobby. It wasn't real neat but it was different. We decided to head over to the CVC again because after organizing our bags last night I figured we could get more wine and water. I had brought an extra duffle bag that I had to put some stuff in already which sort of left it just floppy and I like my bags full . So just one more wine and a twelve pack of water. Aunt C got a snack to eat.
Back through the lobby of the hotel it was starting to get busy with people checking out. We had a bit of a wait for the elevator. Once I got the new drinks packed I called for our bags to be picked up. Then Aunt C called everyone back home. I took some more pictures out the window. None of them turned out well though. After a while it became obvious we were not getting our bags picked up. I think it had been close to 45 minutes now. I called again and they came right away this time. We handed off our 4 big bags now that I had the duffel. We finished up with our toiletries and said goodbye to our teeny room with the great view. It took a little while to get an elevator downstairs. I would have just taken the stairs but Aunt C puts all her valuables in a rather big rolling carry on. And it was heavy. Plus we weren't sure where the stairs got out at. I hate getting into service areas of the hotel. We hadn't seen a stair entrance in the lobby. There were some real gentlemen who let us on the first elevator that came without already being packed. These guys had been waiting longer than us. I knew we had plenty of time yet and told them that but they insisted.
We got checked out at about 10:20 and grabbed our bags which they had right in the lobby (being watched) and got right on a shuttle so fast I did not even know what was happening. It only took ten minutes to get to the port. We had the front bench in the shuttle and no one in the front passenger seat so I got these photos
Disney ships are just SOOOOO much prettier!
We were the only ones on our shuttle getting off on the WONDER but there was three other couple on the shuttle. I think we had already passed the Carnival ship and Norwegian. There was also Royal Caribbean and I think a Princess though I don't see any pictures of that now so I am not positive. The shuttle was $6 per person and we tipped $5 between the two of us. Now we weren't far from the porters, only like two van lengths, but with all our luggage now it became a bit of a hassle. And it seemed like the porters were just watching us. They weren't busy helping anyone else at the moment either. Fortunately one of the porters finally came over to help. Guess he wanted the tip more than any of the others! Then we started to head into the terminal.
This backdrop was before going through security. I liked it better than the photo op backdrop getting onto the ship. Which did not even say Panama Canal so of course I did not buy our photo. We looked stupid anyway
Check in went very smooth and quick. The gentleman who checked us in let Aunt C have a gold lanyard though this was only her fifth cruise. That made her very happy. I personally like the silver color the best followed by the black for platinum (2 more cruises until I get that) but now that there aren't that many perks that go with those colors it really is just a different color. Anyhow it was now time to find a seat as it was only just past 11:00 and already packed.
I had to find the bathrooms. Aunt C called everyone back home again. It was getting quite chilly in the terminal. I took a few pictures of the terminal as I thought it was actually nicer than Port Canaveral, though of course not Disney themed.
We looked at the Navigator for the day. I saw that Big Hero 6 was playing in the BV Theater that night and planned to go see it Aunt C said she didn't think she could make it up that late. We did see that there would be quite a few old movies playing and decided we should see some of them. Actually the time went by fairly quick and then boarding started. We had boarding group 3 and tried to get closer to the entrance to the ship. Just like PC the entry gets bottle necked with people who have later boarding numbers just standing right there with all there bags and the whole family!!!! You feel bad pushing your way through and of course they glare at you but hey they are the ones in the wrong place! Once we got up to the entry hall and away from the masses I took a picture of our room-the top deck of Navigator Veranda's, third one from left.
Then looking back down at the poor suckers who have to wait a bit longer.
Then we took our boarding pictures and got on. We hadn't come up with anything clever to be called on our boarding. Actually when they asked for our name we just stared at them and one guy said "Are you family?" I said "No" Of course I meant family NAME but then it had taken me by surprise the way he said it, I don't know why. Think I really offended Aunt Connie Anyhow we both tried to explain when he just sighed and asked our given names. Think he was glad to get rid of us.
Certainly a lot less kids although they are still there. The first night at dinner I was wondering why the dining room "felt" different and then I realized it was the noise level. Much quieter than a cruise full of kids. But actually the ship is just less crowded all together. I knew the exact number we had on board but guess I did not write it down. It was around 1800 passengers for a ship that normally holds about 2400. It really makes a difference in the feel!
Once we were officially on the ship we headed to guest services to get a list of the tastings. I wanted to try as many as possible and that required trying to space them. Also try to work around the few other activities we already had booked. We did already have a mixology class that one of the ladies in charge of the Dis group had arranged. Thank Joanne!! So we took the list to lunch with us at Parrot Cay. I prefer the sit down restaurant for embarkation lunch as it is less chaotic than the buffet. And it is still a buffet with the plus of the waiters bringing your drinks and of course the fact you do not have to fight for a seat. Also your bags are easier to deal with.
I loved the soup!!! It was chilled pineapple coconut. I never saw it again but heard other people say they had it at lunch sometimes but I never really wound up eating lunch after this day. We were seated with a couple from San Francisco. They were friendly and soon I was talking to them all about Disneyland as they go there about once a month. I think Aunt Connie started to feel left out. But I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and did pick up some pointers.
After lunch we had decided on the tastings. Aunt C was going to only join me on about half of them. I had really wanted another mixology class but none of them worked time wise. Thank goodness for the Dis one!! By now it was 1:30 so we headed up to our room. Our side of the hall still had the rope up but it only took about five more minutes and we got into our home for the next two weeks.
As always it felt tiny only for the first hour or so. We worked on putting up our carry on items. I started to leave the room for what I cannot remember and there was my suitcase with Aunt C's coming down the hall. I left her to get her stuff put away, as it really is easier for only one person to be in the room during unpacking and packing.she was still working on it when I got back so I just sat outside. You can see our hotel behind the red flags to the right of the second picture. It is white and smaller than the building to its right but taller than the building on its left.
I got started on my bags before the safety drill. But had to stop for it. We met in Animators Palate. It was funny to see the restaurant all drab, no place sittings. I do remember wondering about the family that sat with us. Three kids under the age of five and they just seemed odd the way they spoke to one another. Oh well, I am sure Aunt C and I seemed odd to them!!
So now we went to get a good spot for sailaway. Of course we had to get our sailaway drinks. We got margaritas. Then we found a great spot at the front of the ship. Unfortunately it was really hot. But we stuck it out thinking it is only a short while. However we were the last ship to be leaving. It seems Disney is always the last to leave port. Anyone else notice this? We watched the Royal Caribbean ship leave. Followed by the Carnival (it was cool to watch this ship just pull out sideways from the dock and then go behind us to turn around to be heading the right direction), followed by the Norwegian........
Then it was time for dinner as we had the 5:45 seating. We hadn't even started to move. Big disappointment but we did wind up getting over it. I was also getting upset because I couldn't seem to connect with Mom over the phone or with texts. I knew I wouldn't be talking to her much over the next two weeks and just couldn't believe it kept going to voicemail both on the home phone and cell. Also if I got a call coming from her when I answered there was nobody there. The texts said they couldn't send???? Aunt C wound up getting a call from her and I basically snatched her phone from her and took off with it because I needed to use the restroom. Basically I acted like a jerk to my Aunt and still feel guilty over that.
We still had to get tidied for dinner so back in the room I just threw all my stuff, which had been all over the room since we left for the drill, in the closet so it would be out of our host way for turn down. We headed down to Animators which had been transformed since the safety drill. We were sharing an eight top table. The other six consisted of three married couples. One was a bit younger than my Aunt Connie and this was their second cruise on Disney. They had booked rather last minute and got a good deal in an oceanview. They had enjoyed their first cruise so much with their kids and grand kids on the Fantasy. But this cruise was just for them. I hate to use names of people I did not ask to write about so we will call them Maryland as that is where they are from. The second couple was a bit younger than me (39) and had been married for 10 years but no kids. I cant recall how many cruises they said they had been on. They will be referred to as Vancouver. Then the last couple were right about my age. they had three kids but decided the kids could not be gone for two weeks. They too had booked later getting a great deal on the oceanview. At least their kids got to spend the time with the grandparents in Florida and were getting 4 days in WDW. This couple was from Ohio. I liked Maryland the best and Ohio the least. But we all got along ok. Ohio's wife never did speak much and I know that really bothered some of the others. Especially Aunt C. I just figured she didn't have much to say!!!
Continued in next post. I don't know why I can only upload 10 pictures per post? But the dinner and sunset ones are coming up.
Appetizer was Chicken Bastela, basically a spiced chicken in phylo dough. It was good. I was obviously hungry as I ate some before the photo!!
Salad couse was couscous salad, I love couscous!!
Main course I got Linguina al Gamberi, because of the artichokes and tiger shrimp.
Dessert was a sundae that I don't see on the menu now. But how can one go wrong with the sundae?
We went out on deck four to walk off some of dinner. This was a nightly ritual as Aunt C absolutely cannot relax without this. And it is a good idea. I enjoy it but she is fanatical about it. Anyway we saw all of our dinner companions taking the stroll. Only us and Vancouver wound up doing it every single night. Tonight it was perfect timing for the sunset. Wish I would've had my camera instead of just my phone. The phone camera just doesn't like sunrise or sunset as it always gets a sunspot. I just got my phone so I am sure there was a setting I could've changed but I haven't figured it out to this day. Here are the best I got.
Back in the room I became obsessed with getting unpacked and all situated. So much so I missed out on Big Hero 6. Aunt C went out for one more walk on deck four as she was feeling bloated. After she came back I went to Shutters to turn in the raffle ticket for a free photo package. They said it had to be turned in by midnight, but when they did the drawing the next day they let people put the tickets in right up until the drawing. I got some water at the beverage station. Back in the room I showered and felt compelled to do MORE straightening of stuff before getting into bed. I had to move the towel bunny.
We had decided to split time on the bed. I drew the first week of being on the bed. This had been a bit of a stressful situation for me. When we booked the Wonder still had the split twin beds. That would've been ideal for our situation (and I am sure others) but Disney feels that this works better for their family market. Even in that case I feel that some families who book two staterooms and have the kids sleep in one don't like the idea as I am sure little Johnny and Suzy (especially teen age ones) don't want to share a bed. Anyhow I had a hard time breaking the news to Aunt C. It really bummed me at first because typically she could be expected to have wanted the bed the entire cruise and the last four Disney cruises I'd been on I had been stuck on the sofa bed (which really isn't THAT bad but still) I was just glad she said she had no problem splitting time on the bed. Anyhow the bed felt really good by the time I slipped into it at around 11p.m. First official day done
I got up at 5:30. I don't sleep in well the first day or two of vacation. I really think this was the only day I awoke before Aunt Connie though. So I went on down to Guest Services to grab an extra Navigator so we could each have our own to keep and take home. I don't know why I always feel I have to take all the papers from every vacation home. I know some people actually look bak on them and of course some scan them in and post them on their TR's. Sorry I won't be doing that here. There is another TR with all of them scanned in if you are interested http://www.disboards.com/threads/i-...-canal-trip-report-completed-6-14-15.3412433/
After getting the Navigator I headed up to get a cup of coffee at the beverage station. It was very quiet up there. It was starting to get light so I headed up one more deck to catch the sunrise. It was right at 6:02. It was at the aft of the ship and only one other guy was up there taking photos. Thank goodness I had my camera with me.
This was such an awesome first sunrise!!! It was so peaceful to watch the sun come up with my cup of coffee. Unfortunately there was no chairs around for me to relax in. The deck below was Beach Blankets seating but it was roped off for cleaning. So after the sun was above the water I decided to walk around the top deck. I caught this in the windows of Palo.
I just really love being up before everyone gets out there. Once again it is the peacefulness of it all. And even though Aunt Connie liked spending that time on our veranda, I like being out to see the ship before it feels up with people. I am a ship person. My mom just got back from Alaska sailing on Princess. She did not take ONE ship picture I did tell her how disappointed I was in her. But she takes more people pictures while I take more pictures of things or scenery. So here is more of the ship....
I got back to the room about 6:30 and Aunt Connie was out on the veranda watching the sunrise. She must have got up right after me because she had got her coffee already. We must have just missed on another at the coffee station. Our room was super convenient to the beverage station though. We were aft and just two decks down. So it took us a minute to get there if we used the stairs. Which we usually did. I think I started to cave on the last two days and there were a few nights she had knee issues but other than that it was stairs all the time. Giving us opportunity to eat more Which it was time to go get breakfast after we got ourselves all together. We did the buffet today. We got there at 7:10 just after its opening time of 7:00 so it wasn't crowded yet. We sat outside. I love to sit out back and miss the amount of seating for that on the Fantasy.
I got some Muesli, potatoes, cantaloupe (that seems to be hiding behind the muesli bowl but I assure you it was there and I ate it), and a chocolate croissant. I'm sure more coffee was just out of the shot along with a glass of water.
After breakfast we both walked around a bit, I think mainly on deck ten but we may have done a lap on four. Then we headed to the room to brush our teeth. We had decided to go see the old movie "Meet Me In St. Louis" which was going to start at 9. Since it was just after 8 she decided she better go walking some more (she was already complaining over how much food she was eating, which I had known I would be hearing all through the cruise but it still was already getting on my nerves ) I stayed in the room to take notes of the trip thus far. When she got back we headed down to the BV theater.
There were a couple other people waiting outside the theater. We thought this was a bit funny but we just waited too. A few more people showed up and finally one of them asks why we are waiting. She was a crew member on her off time going to see the movie. One guy said there was life raft training in progress. She thought it was odd they were in there when a movie was scheduled so she went in to find out what was up. She came out saying they are just finishing up. They got out at 9:05. Then all of our small group (20 some people) headed in. It was COLD in the theater. I always remember it being that way. Back on the Fantasy in 2012 we had brought some pool towels down to cover us and had lucked out in that they had just come from the dryer and were toasty warm. However here I had brought my lighter of the two jackets I'd packed. It was not enough . Halfway through I had use the bathroom anyway (coffee and water recall) and I went on outside on four for about 5 minutes to warm up . I did really enjoy the movie though. Much more than I thought I would. I am not really into old movies or movies in general, Disney excluded although I don't even watch those diligently.
After the movie we walked together on the promenade. At some point we split. I have no idea what Aunt Connie did but I know I checked out another public restroom (I was staying hydrated). We met in shutters for the drawing. That area was PACKED. We did not win which was just as well. We aren't big formal picture people nor did we have kids to get photo ops.
I was going to be doing a wine tasting just after noon. I thought this was a tasting Aunt Connie would join me on because she loves her wine. All the wine we brought on board was for her. But that is the exact reason she used to say she didn't think she should. She like only certain wine, always white and mostly chardonnay, and only certain brands. I had thought she could expand but I was wrong. So since I did not want to go to the tasting without eating we split up again and I went to get a panini from Goofy's Galley. Unfortunately I guess I did not take a picture I ate it out aft just soaking in the sun. Then I headed through the Outlook bar on my way down to the wine tasting in Cadillac Lounge. I liked this so I took a photo.
They also had a monitor showing our location. We were sailing past Cuba most of the day. I did not have any luck with my pictures of Cuba turning out but here is the map.
Most everyone was already seated when I arrived for the wine tasting. I rook an empty seat asking if I could sit there and the lady next to me said she thought so but I should ask the instructor. The instructor said that was for the single people (those attending without anyone else-though I fit the other single description too!). So I guess it was okay for me to sit there anyway. We had the wines lined up for us.
This was actually a first of a series of wine tastings. You would have benefited the most by taking all of the classes but I really didn't care to be spending that much time devoted to wine. I like to branch out . So anyway this class had a variety of white and red, old and new. Later classes would have been specific to old white, new white, old red, or new red. In this class we learned how to distinguish the different types. old wine has less alcohol content because of the temperature where the grape is grown. The old area is of course the European countries where the temperature is lower so the sugar content of the grape is lower. Also the aroma is going to be less. In the areas of new wine, ie: Australia, California; the temperatures are higher so the sugar content of the grape is higher thus the alcohol and aroma are greater. However the taste is bigger/bolder in the old wines. We learned too of the need for the red wine to decant at least half an hour before drinking. Aunt Connie really dislikes red wine so there was another reason she did not want to do the wine classes. Some of the other things we learned were to pair wines with similar tasting food. If your chardonnay has a buttery taste to it pair it with a fish in butter sauce for example. It is not a set rule of white for fish and pork and red for red meat. Whatever TASTE you pick up in the wine that is the kind of food to pair it with. Also when changing courses and wines do not drink cold water as that dulls the taste palate but room temp water or better yet a bite of the new course of food would work.
I enjoyed the class. There was a lady in it who had the kids club page her because her kid wanted to leave. She said not to worry she would be back and she was. Our instructor asked her what she told her kid. She said "Mommy is in school right now and needs to finish her lesson" We all thought that was excellent.
So right after my wine tasting I plopped myself down at the future cruise desk and booked my next cruise. So much easier now that you only have to put down $200 as a placeholder cruise. I did change it to the 2016 WBPC one week after I got home from Disneyland as I realized I loved this cruise so much
Then I walked outside to find Aunt Connie reading on the promenade. We headed up top to watch the City Boys perform. They did a lot of the old Beach Boy songs and others in that vein of music. They were good, but I did not have a hat or sunscreen on so I took a quick trip to the room to grab those while Aunt Connie got a pina colada and found us some shadier seats.
After the City Boys were done I stayed out to get some sun. Aunt Connie headed to the room for a nap. after a bit I hopped in the adult pool. It was not too crowded that afternoon and it was just the right temperature for me.
I headed back to the room about 4:00 to take a shower as I had a pedicure before dinner tonight. When I got to the room the message light was on the phone. It was the spa. They had called around 11 a.m. but I'd never noticed. I could have got an earlier pedicure but I was fine with the way the day had been spent. Although since we had early dinner I was worried about getting to it on time. Aunt Connie said she would be fine going into dinner by herself as ling as she knew I would be coming. So I headed to my pedi while she went out for another walk. I had my pedi scheduled at 4:30 but they did not even get me in until 4:45. And of course it was pushing into dinner time. But I used the Navigator app to see what was on the dinner menu and then text Aunt Connie my order. That came in really handy. I really enjoyed my pedi. Yes it is more expensive than on land but I just wanted to treat myself for once. I really liked the room they do them in and looking out over the ocean. And it was a quality one. I still have the polish on. My toenails don't grow that fast but it looks like this week might be it and then even though there are NO chips at all it will just look too grown out.
Dinner that night was at Parrot Cay. I really like this on the WONDER and am not excited that they will most likely change it to the restaurant they put on the MAGIC during the big refurbishment. I like the colors. I like the birds singing. And I just have special memories in it. Anyhow when I sat down the appetizers had just been brought and our waiter brought mine over as soon as he saw me. I guess I did not say much about our waiters yet. That is because I was not overly impressed. However I wasn't disappointed either. They were nice guys but did not seem very engaging. And though I am sure I wrote their names somewhere I cannot find them in my notes! So not much of an impression was made I guess.
Our dinner mates were amazed I knew what to order. I showed them on the app. They showed me a few things too. Technology just really amazes me. Though some people say why carry your phone with you on a cruise htis made it convenient. You have the phone for pictures and access to the navigator. Also if each in your group has a smartphone and are carrying it around you can use this app to text one another. Much easier than the wave phones or trying to track someone down. That having been said and this example of our having used it, Aunt Connie stopped carrying her phone after a few days and I will say now I got frustrated with trying to find her at times.
Dinner tonight was Taste of the Caribbean. I apologize for these photos but I am still posting them.
I skipped the appetizer and go the chilled Pineapple soup. Not as good as the pineapple coconut the first day.
Now is when my memory really fails me. One of us got the Cajun Baked Bahamian Snapper but I don't know if it was me or Aunt Connie. I would guess me as it is positioned in the photo more in front of me.
And the other the Bonaire style Seafood Fettuccine. This looks angled so I would say it is hers. Sad that I can't recall for sure. I think this is the only time I even took a picture of her food!!!!
Then dessert. Banana Coconut Mousse of the no sugar menu only because it was the only thing that appealed to me that night.
We had a bit more conversation at dinner tonight as we started to know one another. This is when we found out were everyone was from. After dinner we dis our walking and saw Vancouver and Ohio out doing laps themselves.
After a mile we were by the forward lobby and the entrance to the theater. Aunt Connie had to use the restroom so I was waiting with the early crowd for the second show. I was standing off to the side as I did not want anyone to think I was crowding in line. This one big guy, I mean tall and hefty, not fat, leaned against the wall with sort of a thump. Then alarms start going off, lights start flashing and the fire doors start to close!!! One of the crew comes storming out of the theater to reset them and starts yelling at everyone that is what happens when you press buttons and thanks for checking (said sarcastically), accusing people in that area of doing that. Of course he didn't believe it was just because that guy leaned into the wall at probably just the one wrong spot with too much force. I have never seen any crew be that nasty. I know it was a bit of a safety thing but I still think there could have been more tact involved. Also i wasn't sure if I felt safer because I saw the doors do function or unsafer because it was a malfunction . We then went upstairs and I got some more ship lights pictures.
We headed to the room and I was pooped. Not much sleep and a lot of activity over the past couple days. I was in bed by 8:00 and even though I spent some time looking through my photos thus far I am sure I conked out after ten or so minutes. Here was our towel animal before I hopped in bed.
The next day we'd be in Cozumel and even though I have been there several times I was still looking forward to it. You'll hear about my Ceviche search next.
I actually managed to sleep in a bit today, not waking until 7:30. We had no excursions planned so we thought we might just get off ship around 10:00 or so. Aunt Connie had been up already and had got coffee. She came back just as i was waking with a cup for me. However it had no cream. She knows I like my cream so I thought this was odd and I asked her why not. She said because I already had my creamer in the room. I had to laugh a little because I did bring a little flavored syrup that she had seen me use yesterday. She thought it was cream. I had to wonder about her thought process anyway as the bottle was like 2 oz big. She knows I use 2 oz in ONE cup of coffee. Maybe she thought I'd brought several!!! But she did go back to get me cream. She made some phone calls once back in the room. I talked to Mom for about three minutes and then started to get ready for the day. I went and got my extra Navigator and some more coffee. I also stopped in the Cove Cafe to get a little pastry. Back in the room Aunt Connie was still making phone calls while I put in my contacts and put on sunscreen. At about 9:30 we were all ready to get off the ship. It was nice to be able to walk right off and not be in the rush of those getting off. I stopped for some ship photos.
We just walked slowly into town stopping at some of the shops. One of the first places we stopped was the duty free shop because it was right there. Aunt Connie looked at Opium which she said she hadn't seen forever. She doesn't do a lot of internet shopping. But she thought it was a little pricey and she might she it cheaper. She actually called my Mom to she how much it might be in the states.
I thought it was really hot but Aunt Connie thought it felt good. She had actually been down in the Riveria Maya just two weeks prior so she had already been in the heat, but for me I was coming from cool weather for the past six months so this was the first day over 80 I'd really had (without the breeze we'd had on the ship). I think it really only got to mid 80's but I was just really hot and drinking lots of water. It was quiet in town today because it was only the Wonder in port and it was a Sunday. The locals even wondered why there was a ship as Sunday is VERY rare to have a ship in port. They acted like they had no clue it would even be in. But surely they have a port schedule if they have a business??? Maybe not as I work in a ski resort at a retail store and they do not always give us a schedule of groups. Anyway a lot of the shops and many restaurants were closed. Including the one I like to go to for Ceviche. We had made it to the town square at by 10:30 and knew it would probably not open until 11:00 as that was when it opened last year when we stopped in Cozumel (not on Sunday). But as 11:00 came and went we realized it just may not open so we asked one of the guys renting scooters where might be a good place to get Ceviche. He recomended a little hole in the wall place called Camila's. It was pleasant in there though very small. We were the only ones in there at that time. We had passed a big restaurant that was full of locals which I'd sort of thought might have been a better place to eat even if it did not have Ceviche. I mean if everyone is there it must be good right? So I was a bit nervous about Camila's but it turned out to be really good. We each got a margarita and since I was starving I got the tortilla soup.
They were big margaritas and the soup was a good size too! And both very good. There were several different types of ceviche on the menu but we both ordered the same kind that came served in an avocado, which you can't see as it is under all the ceviche. I think Aunt Connie wished we split one order but I ate every last bite of all my food.
There was free wi-fi at the restaurant so I spent some time checking email and sending people some pictures so far. As we were finishing our lunch a couple of guys walked in. They too were on vacation but not from the ship, from a resort. We told them how wonderful it had been. I think I found a new favorite ceviche restaurant. And like most places in Mexico it was happy hour so the margs had been two for one.
We went back to a store Aunt Connie had seen a shirt in to get that. She does this often, not buying when she first sees it but going back to get it. This wasn't one of the souvenir shops but kind of like the equivalent of a Marshall's so it was full of the latest styles and a lot of young ladies were shopping there. I think we were the only non locals in the store. After that we made our way back to port and did a bit of duty free shopping. Mom had not gotten back to Aunt Connie on the price of Opium so even though she really wanted it she was sure it must still be priced too high plus it was sort of in the sun so she decided to skip it. I got a couple bottles of chocolate Baileys. I had never seen that before. I wanted to get a bottle of Kahlua too but I didn't see anything less than a liter bottle. I was sure I'd got a smaller bottle of it before. I did grab some of the little shot size bottles of a raspberry tequila and a rum to add to my sail away drinks. Then we got back on the ship by 1:45.
I was looking forward to spending a little time on the ship before most got back on. But maybe a lot of people on this cruise were like myself and Aunt Connie and had not decided to do a lot today. Though it wasn't crowded in the adult pool I still felt it was too many for me so I headed to the promenade to read. Unfortunately the side facing the mainland was closed for cleaning. It was okay sitting on the Cozumel side as that was in the shade anyway. I just missed looking out over the water. Plus you can see the mainland better at this time of day and I missed that. Not that it would have mattered anyway as I fell asleep pronto. Aunt Conni had been talking to her husband but she came out to join me about an hour later. I spent about another hour out there and then headed to take a shower. By 4:35 I was heading up to the top decks to get the drink of the day, a blue margarita, and watch us pull out of port. Aunt Connie did join me. Say goodbye to Cozumel and land for the next two days.
After we had pulled out we walked from the front of the ship to the aft stopping to watch some Pixar shorts on the funnel vision. Aunt Connie never wants to watch the Pixar films as ,though she won't say it in so many words, she thinks they are just for kids. But whenever we have them on at home or in this case she sees them she really thinks they are quite funny for adults.
After being in the wind we had to go back and fix our hair before dinner. Tonight was Triton's and the traditional French menu. Which I guess might be why I have so few pictures of the food as I always get the same appetizer: escargot; same soup:french onion; and desert: Grand Marinar souffle. I do however switch up my entree and tonight I got the wild mushroom ravioli off the vegetarian menu. Aunt Connie got it too.
We did our after dinner walk even though I was exhausted. I know I really did'nt do much but it was the heat that had got to me today. The main show tonight was a magician act. Now I don't care to do the dhows really at all and certainly not magic as it just does not entertain me (sorry everyone). I think Aunt Connie was a bit dissappointed but she didn't voice anything. I hadn't asked if she wanted to go. We just went back to the room and both had to prop up our legs and ice them. Here is our little towel critter.
We both had to prop up our legs and ice them. It was pretty quiet as we were just reading. I started to hear a "plop-plop" in the hall. At first I thought it was just my lanyard hitting the door as I had it hanging up on the backs of the entry door and there was some ship movement tonight. But then I realized it was definitely water. It was coming from the AC. So I called maintenance and they were there in less than five minutes. He took a look at it and said the drain was clogged. He hoped it was an easy clog and one he could get to from up above otherwise I guess those lines run behind the bathroom walls and he would have to get in there. Fortunately it was an easy one. He did have to go get some more tools and he left the door propped open. Our room host came by to get us our ice (which we didn't need as we'd had enough left form the a.m., he was very good with always leaving it both a.m and p.m.!!) and saw us both with our legs propped up and the AC hanging down and wondered what was going on and if we were okay. He was so sweet. He kept asking about our legs for the next few days until we did convince him it is just the heat and humidity that bother them. Anyway it was probably a good thing we did not go to the show that night as this happened right at 8:15 and it could have gotten worse if we didn't get back until 9:30. At the very least it would've kept us up longer but as it was I was asleep by 9:30.
I slept until a little after 6 and was up before Aunt Connie today so I got the coffee. I had wanted to call last night to set up time for room service to bring coffee for us. I had done this on my last cruise and loved it, but Aunt Connie did not want to be tied to a time to get up. This had just rubbed me wrong how insistent she was not to have the coffee delivered. I really had been looking forward to just enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee on the balcony we "had" to have. But if I was getting up to get coffee myself I had to get dressed and it just ruined it for me. Even on the days she brought it it just wasn't the same. I guess I just let this get to me too much. So I dropped off her coffee and went to go get the Navigator. Before going to the room I stepped out to the "secret" deck just at the end of our hall. I always wanted to spend more time out here but it just didn't work out. I know one day I did take a towel out here and laid in the sun for a bit.
When I got back to the room I saw our invitation for our private mixology to be held later in the week. The lady who put this together for us did a really nice job with the invite and I wish I would have taken a picture of it.
Aunt Connie went out to take her walk. She now felt she needed to make sure it was a two mile walk in the morning. I sat on the balcony and started to read some, but quickly got distracted just staring out at the water. When Aunt Connie got back we decided to eat at Parrot Cay for breakfast. I like the combination of buffet but being seated and having the drinks brought to you. Plus as I've said I like the feel of Parrot Cay. We got there at 7:50 but the doors did not open until 8:00. I'm not that good at reading the Navigator . There were two other people waiting. They had been there since 7:30 as they were not too good at reading either . We first thought they were together but each was traveling solo. We started chatting and decided to all share a table. The lady was from Denver and a retired teacher. He was from Salem Oregon. They both said they do a lot of solo traveling. She had been on the WBTA last year and loved the sea days. He had gone on a catamaran in Cozumel with drink that had been stocked for 120 people but only 36 people actually got on so they unfortunately HAD to drink it all themselves!!! It was interesting getting to know them and to be able to chat when we'd see them.
Here is breakfast.
After breakfast we headed to the room to grab our sweatshirts as we were going to be watching "42nd Street" in the BV theater and knew it would be cold. I actually grabbed both sweatshirts I had brought. One to wear regular and the other to put over my legs as I had not brought any long pants. I had brought in a packet of Emergen-C to add to my water and managed to let it fizz all over the sweatshirt I had over my legs. I was planning on doing laundry later anyhow but it made it sticky.
After the movie we went to the other end of the ship to the Walt Disney theater to listen to the talk about the construction of the Panama Canal. They had a retired Panama Canal ship pilot on the ship to hold a series of these talks. We had missed the first one on day one but since the lady we had breakfast with said how great it had been we thought we should go. While it was interesting I just did not care for the guy or the way he gave his talk. I know Aunt Connie liked it much better than me. When I said I probably wouldn't go to the rest of his talks she was a little upset. She was not comfortable going to one by herself. But I noticed you could listen to the talks on the tv in the room so she got happy again.
I stopped at Guest Services to let them know the AC was fixed. They had left a message on the phone wondering how things were. Then it was time for me to head to the chocolate and liquor tasting. This one was fun Aunt Connie skipped it and did some reading.
You would taste the liquor, taking you time to see how it really tasted in your mouth. Then you would taste the chocolate, or in one case cheese, and see how it altered the taste bringing out more flavor. The pairings were champagne with melted white chocolate, meritage with milk white and dark chocolate as each brought out a different taste, port with the milk chocolate and Parmesan cheese, and malt with the melted dark chocolate. I lave port anyway and found this to be the best pairing but I also really liked the meritage wine with the dark chocolate which is what most in the class preferred.
After the tasting I stumbled to the room, well I wasn't that bad but I knew after grabbing my laundry and getting that going I was going to need to eat. So I went to the buffet as Aunt Connie did not want to eat (she was still stuffed from breakfast) and got some mac and cheese and some fruit.
And the view
I then threw my clothes into the dryer and went to find Aunt Connie on the promenade. She was talking to the guy from breakfast. She said she was glad I came to rescue her as he was a big talker about himself and she was getting tired of it. We just moved to the other side of the ship and then I went back in to get my clothes. I also used that time to do my daily email. I just used the free 50 gb of data you got on the first day and that worked for the two weeks. I had one issue later that I will talk about when we get to it. I also went ahead and took my shower then as we had a tequila tasting right before dinner.
Both of us went to the tequila tasting. It was Patron tasting. It was a bit informative but of course I was just there for the shots. I did not grab any decent pictures of this. It was just 4 shots of tequila one being a coffee flavor which I really love. There was a plate with a lemon and an orange wedge. Also salt and cinnamon. You can use the orange and cinnamon together and this cuts the bite.
After the tasting we went to get dressed and go down to get our "free" drink as tonight was Formal night and the captains reception. It's artsy because it is tilted (I know I am borrowing Josh's words from easyWDW)
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Anyhow I added her and got THE LAST of the "affordable" balconies at the time. I was not happy over it, not the room location itself, but as that was much more than an ocean view room which would've suited me just fine. But my aunt said we "needed" a balcony on a two week cruise. I admit it was nice and as I was still saving money over a single in an inside vs sharing a balcony I shouldn't complain. 
!!! Anyways I booked a hotel with an airport shuttle and free parking for 14 nights. We would have my uncle take us to the hotel and use the shuttle. Getting back we would use the shuttle to get to hotel and my mom would stay the night with us and we would go home together. When I flew back out to CA i would utilize the parking and shuttle but skip spending the night. All for the low price of $109 through ParkSleepFly. I thought I was a genius utilizing the parking situation. However you real read of a slight mishap with this plan 
. It all wound up fine in the end 
.
. But I did have to choose a hotel. Could not afford any DL hotel so I knew I wanted across the street as I had NO plans to drive. Chose the Tropicana. Tickets I got on CheapTickects through Ebates (which reminds me I need to see if my refund posted) just before the price increase. I glanced at dining reservations but my friend is a chicken finger and fries gal so why bother just for me. I did spend time going over the maps (thanks to JacksGirl!!). Made notes of things I really wanted to do and then that was it. Now it was just a waiting game.............
Our layover was 2 hours. I will not do anything under 1 hour at Atlanta and as it was we just had time to eat (albeit sit down) and potty before we left again. We landed on concourse E and the next flight was on C. I will not take the trains anymore after a very unpleasant experience of almost losing Mom there so we walked which of course took some time. We ate at TGIFridays. Here are my first pictures of the trip.
Anyhow we both tried to explain when he just sighed and asked our given names. Think he was glad to get rid of us. 
I did tell her how disappointed I was in her. But she takes more people pictures while I take more pictures of things or scenery. So here is more of the ship....
) I stayed in the room to take notes of the trip thus far. When she got back we headed down to the BV theater. 
. Halfway through I had use the bathroom anyway (coffee and water recall) and I went on outside on four for about 5 minutes to warm up 
. I did really enjoy the movie though. Much more than I thought I would. I am not really into old movies or movies in general, Disney excluded although I don't even watch those diligently.
. So anyway this class had a variety of white and red, old and new. Later classes would have been specific to old white, new white, old red, or new red. In this class we learned how to distinguish the different types. old wine has less alcohol content because of the temperature where the grape is grown. The old area is of course the European countries where the temperature is lower so the sugar content of the grape is lower. Also the aroma is going to be less. In the areas of new wine, ie: Australia, California; the temperatures are higher so the sugar content of the grape is higher thus the alcohol and aroma are greater. However the taste is bigger/bolder in the old wines. We learned too of the need for the red wine to decant at least half an hour before drinking. Aunt Connie really dislikes red wine so there was another reason she did not want to do the wine classes. Some of the other things we learned were to pair wines with similar tasting food. If your chardonnay has a buttery taste to it pair it with a fish in butter sauce for example. It is not a set rule of white for fish and pork and red for red meat. Whatever TASTE you pick up in the wine that is the kind of food to pair it with. Also when changing courses and wines do not drink cold water as that dulls the taste palate but room temp water or better yet a bite of the new course of food would work. 
. We then went upstairs and I got some more ship lights pictures.
.
