It's over but the Wonder lives on!!!

[MagicMe]

Funny to think that after months (years) of planning, we are already back home!!! Those first few days back are always so very depressing!! Of course, there is the next cruise although it’s two years away!!

I’ve never written a trip report before so I’m not even sure myself how this will turn out. I think I’ll start with a little background and the members of the traveling party. This could take a while so sit back with your coffee and set a spell….

BACKGROUND: Our first cruise was a land and sea adventure back in 2000. This was when the on-deck night party was for the millennium! We traveled as a large party (20 all together)…which made everything fun and difficult all at the same time!! They had just announced plans for 7-day cruises on the Magic so as we left the Wonder, we had visions of a 7-day cruise we were going to plan. Of course, getting several families together (between sports schedules, school schedules, and not to mention $$$), the years went by faster than we expected. Finally, we settled on taking a cruise in 2006. One member of the family that did not sail with us in 2000, definitely wanted to cruise with us this time (his daughter had been bugging him ever since we returned from our first cruise) but since they hadn’t been to WDW in four years (YIKES!), he wanted to include a couple of days at the parks. Sooooo, we opted for another land and sea adventure! Since I already had plans to travel to the world in the fall, I decided just to join everyone on the cruise portion of their trip.

TRAVEL COMPANIONS (15 in all):

Cabin 1: That would be ME and my Mom
Cabin 2: My DB with his DS and DD (these are the first timers!!)
Cabin 3: My DS with my DBIL and their DS and DD
Cabin 4: My other DS with my DBIL and their two DS
Cabin 5: The above mentioned DS and DBIL’s two DD

PRE CRUISE TRIP REPORT:

Okay, everyone flew down ahead of me to WDW on Thursday staying at Saratoga Springs (both my DS’s and their families are DVC members). They spent time at the pool swimming and some time at the parks. I understand that they had a great time on Friday but that Saturday was a little more difficult with the crowds. (Hey – I tried to tell them that it was free dining and to expect a lot of crowds – but they’re not DIS’ers so they learned the hard way!).

I, on the other hand, traveled on my own flying down on Saturday. This was my first time flying Southwest. I was pleasantly surprised how quick I was able to get through checking in my luggage and then through the security checks. I headed to the airport early and was on the other side of security in 20 minutes total. Nice surprise and plenty of time to relax!! Now the boarding was a bit unusual. I was coveting my “A” boarding pass and decided to get in line along with the other masses. I was on the 11:50 AM flight to Orlando and found that I had apparently picked a very popular flight for the under 4 years old crowd!! Half the people at our gate were in the pre-board line!!! So much for my “A” pass. As it turned out, I lucked out!!! Not sure who he was (since he didn’t seem to be traveling with any family and he definitely was not handicapped) but this gentleman was sitting in the aisle seat on the bulk head row!! I slipped past him and snagged the window seat. At that point, I had a great flight down to Orlando. Our flight attendant was very funny and kept us amused during the instructions both before take-off and at landing.

Since I’m a bit of the worrier, I had decided to travel down on Saturday and not have to worry about any delays if I tried to travel on Sunday. So I booked one night at the POP. This was the first time I stayed there (or at any value). Again, being the worrier that I am, I decided to pick up my own luggage and made my way to ME. This is the second time I used ME (the first carting my own luggage) and it still remains a great experience. Took me all of two minutes to check in and waited no more than 10 minutes in line for our bus. POP was the first stop so off I went. Check-in was also an easy experience. Okay – got my “Key to the World” card – check, got my map to my room – check – and off I go!!!! Found my room and unpacked to a minimum (after all, I’m only there one night and then off to the WONDER!!!!). After roaming around awhile, taking several pictures (I’m a big scrapbooker) and grabbing something to eat, I finally got in touch with the family. I decided to take the bus over to DTD and meet up with my DS and her DD. We were only there about 20 minutes and it started to POUR!! After several delays, we were finally able to get back to her resort and tried to dry out before heading to the POLY for dinner at O’Hana’s. We had ADR’s for 9:30 (again, she waited too long to make the ADR’s – told her “free dining”! – and that was the only time they would take our crowd of 15). Of course, we (being the worriers that we are) were there by 9:10 and ended up finally getting seated at 9:55!! Now, I’ve eaten at O’Hana’s before and loved it but this was not the best experience. Upon seating us, they seemed to rush the appetizers out and then the hot vegetables and potatoes (which are always yummy) but no meat??? Finally, they started bringing out the meat. Of course, by this time we had already eaten the vegetables and potatoes (if we had waited for the meat they would have been cold). This was really not coordinated very well. They never came back to offer us additional meat and we had to ask several times for more potatoes. But the real issue came when we waited 30 minutes before they brought dessert!!! We had also asked for coffee for the adults. We asked before dessert came and after dessert came. They finally brought the cups and poured the coffee only to find out that the coffee was lukewarm!! Of course, on top of all of the serving issues, they failed to mention to my sister when she made the reservations, that they stopped running the “kid” fun at 9!!! And we were traveling with five kids!!! End result – we’ll probably take more advantage of Chef Mickey!!

With dinner over, my DS and DBIL drove me back to POP and made arrangements as to where they would pick me up (by the first Rubic’s cube) the next morning for our travel to Port Canaveral. Now, before I sign off of the pre-trip portion of our cruise trip, I have to tell you that the POP was a very nice place. The room is a bit smaller which may have been a problem but it was just me! There are also a lot of children so expect there to be noise (although I was given a room overlooking a beautiful courtyard and found it to be quite quiet). I did have one issue. Returning from dinner I found that my “key” would not work. I tried and re-tried before I trekked up to the main area and they reset my key. After trekking back to my room, I again found that my “key” would still not work. Of course, it’s now well after midnight and I am not happy about trekking back to the main area again. This time a very nice cast member accompanied me back to the room. We talked a bit while walking especially about working third shift. Since we were stopped on the way out with someone that had been locked out, I asked him if he had a lot of trouble with people and their keys (especially with keys that did not work). He noted that they sometimes have trouble with the key mechanisms at night with the humidity (what???, hello, you’re in FLORIDA!!! ). After getting back to my door, I tried my third key and it still would not work! He tried his key and it finally opened!!! Finally in my room 35 minutes later!!!! He assured me that everything should be fine in the morning! But needless to say, being the worrier that I am, I decided not to leave that room until I was picked up the next morning!!!!

Next up….arriving!!!

 

[jrose529]

Great report so far! I'm looking forward to hearing more about the Wonder. I've sailed the Magic before, but have been devouring trip reports about the Wonder.

 

[MagicMe]

Whether any one is reading this or not, I guess I’ll just continue on….

I woke up Sunday morning and began to get ready for the trip to Port Canaveral. Now, after doing my research on the DIS, I knew that we could get an early start and end up spending more time on the ship but when we discussed what time we should leave at dinner the night before, my one DS and her DD informed everyone that the “book” states that you can’t board until 1PM. After several attempts to tell them again that we could get on the ship earlier than that, I gave up. Since I was actually traveling with them, I really had no other choice but to remain frustrated that they didn’t seem to care about all the careful research I had done!!! So everyone decided to leave at 11AM making one stop to pick up some wine. We were finally on our way!!! The trip was as boring as any other car trip on a straight road except for the knowledge of where we were headed. Suddenly, our first glimpse of the ship!!! I was traveling in the car with the first timers’ so the look on my niece’s face when she first spied that ship was priceless!!

We pulled up to unload our luggage (that’s three car loads of people) and the majority of the families headed to the terminal to check-in while the guys parked the cars. Funny – as we got out of the cars my niece asked when we could get on the ship. My sister looked up and told her that it looked like we could board right away since people were already on deck eating!!! (Will people never listen to me???? ) My two DS’s and I headed to the Castaway Club line and in no time flat, we were checking in. My room was just me and my Mom so since we had all of our paperwork completed on line (with print outs of the appropriate pages for signatures) and had our Bahama paperwork completed, a quick look at our ID’s and we had our “Keys” in our hands along with the lanyards and Castaway Club pins!!!! It was so quick and easy! We were actually checked in before our drivers came back from parking the cars!! So now there was a bit of a delay since my brother had to check in on the regular line and proceeded to get someone “earning their ears”. This gentleman was very nice but I think he was so new that he was taking everything very slow so as to not make any mistakes! Of course, my two DS’s took advantage of this time to sign in my niece and nephew for the kid’s programs (the others took advantage of the teen program) and my younger niece and nephew had their pictures taken with Minnie in front of the ship model. OH BOY, it was our turn to board the ship. All keys were swiped and we headed to the entrance. But first a stop for that pre-board picture. Now getting 15 people to all smile and not blink at the same time is not easy so after several pictures taken, we decided enough – we had to get on that ship!!!! They announced us in groups and FINALLY we were back!!!!

Once on, they sheparded us towards Parrot Cay for lunch. My DBIL wanted to eat where it was cool but since there was a five minute wait at Parrot Cay, we headed up to Beach Blanket Buffet to grab our first cruise meal!!! One note to DCL - congrats on having those sanitizing wipes before entering each of the restaurants!!! What a great idea to try to cut down on the germs in a closed-in environment!!! Now if you could only get those guests to stop coughing on the buffet line! (Seriously, we actually changed lines one time when these two in front of us just kept coughing and not covering their mouth!!!) As we relaxed eating on deck, the teens ran off to check out their spot. We followed shortly to see what was up. My one niece was technically 12 but turns 13 in three weeks and desperately wanted to hang with her two teen cousins (they were both 14) so we checked and they had no problem with her upgrading to the teen program. After lunch we were able to get to our cabins and check them out and look over our Castaway Club gift bag – boy is that terrific!! Of course, it was too early for luggage so since no one had packed their swimsuits in their carry-ons (still haven’t figured out why I did all that research and no one listens??), we decided to explore and check out the fitness center/spa area. We made a couple of reservations for a few things at the spa and then just kicked back waiting for the sail away party.

4 o’clock and that mandatory boat drill!!! Yuk! Thankfully, there was a little breeze this time around so it wasn’t quite as stifling as the drill I remember from the last time. However, it’s still frustrating when you have those families showing up 10 minutes after the start of the drill. It’s frustrating cause you’re delayed waiting for these people while you’re hot and sweaty and want to get this over so you can return the life vest to your room and start your trip. Okay – I feel better!

Before we knew it, the “when you wish upon a star” horn sounded and the sail away party was underway!!! We waved to the CM’s at the terminal with their large Mickey hands and to the ships still in port waiting for their turn!!! Might have been me, but it seemed that they looked longingly at our ship where everyone seemed to be dancing and having a blast as we sailed away!!!!

At this point we headed in different directions including back to the room where our bags started to make an appearance. We had second seating for dinner so my Mom and I decided to check out the variety show in the Walt Disney Theatre. The show was a juggler and he was quite good. After the show we just kicked around a little until it was dinner time. Our first dinner was in Triton’s. We had the TAAP rotation. Now we had “linked” our cabins when we made our trip reservations so they were aware that we were traveling as a group. We arrived at Tritons to find that they had grouped us together in one large table so we were very pleased that we didn’t have to worry about where to sit. This was our first encounter with our servers (Chintana –or “L” and Joe). We were so lucky!!!! These two were the best!!!!! I swear they must have been taking notes as we talked because before we left they knew all our names. Now our group is fun loving and we have a good time when we’re on vacation. “L” and Joe fit right in!! I can’t say enough about our servers!!!! Dinner was great and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We left Triton’s with the teens heading off to the teen club and the kids going to the kid’s club. The adults walked around and enjoyed Deck 9. I finally decided to grab a drink and head down to check out another tip I learned during my research on the DIS. Now I had cruised before but never checked out this deck completely. So a couple of us headed down to Deck 4 and found those COMFY chairs!!!! Nothing gets better than relaxing on those comfy chairs with the cool night breeze! After spending time just hanging out, we decided it was time to head back to the cabin to grab some sleep for our first stop – Nassau!

Next up – Raining Mondays always get us down!!!!

 

[RoyalVizier]

You've got quite a group there!! Great report!

 

[MagicMe]

Woke up at 7AM and got ready to head up top for breakfast but first a stop on Deck 4 to take pictures of us docking into Nassau. The weather is looking VERY iffy!!!! After watching us dock, my Mom and I headed up to have breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet. We ran into my niece and proceeded to grab a table outside. Now it had been raining but the chairs and table had been dried off. Unfortunately, we no sooner sat down and the breeze kicked up and the rain started again. So we snagged an inside table and finished eating our breakfast. My niece left us a little early as she had a spa treatment at 9:15. We headed over to the spa after our breakfast to check with my sister who had just completed a spa treatment. My brother and niece we’re taking the power boat excursion in Nassau (he tried for the Dolphin encounter and although we tried to tell him to make his reservations on line early – he waited until we were on ship and it was sold out of course). Guess it all worked out in the end because they no sooner got off the ship and the skies really opened up!!! The power boat excursion ended up getting canceled!!

The crew worked quickly and added various events to the daytime navigator to make up for the rain. They added a couple of movies and scheduled a few more “in door” events to keep everyone busy!! I have to hand it to them – they really worked quickly!

Well, I decided to see a movie (Step Up) since I had never even checked out the movie theater on my last trip. Several of our group decided to take a taxi to Atlantis to try a little gambling (my 18 year old nephew was so looking forward to this!!). After seeing the movie, I found my Mom (who had stayed on board while my nephew was in the kid’s club and my other two nephews were hanging out with the teens) and we relaxed on those comfy chairs watching to see our group come back on board. It had stopped raining and the sun had come out so my sister and brother and their daughters had headed to the straw market to check it out. At some point my Mom had decided to go up to Deck 9 to see if she could find the two teens that had remained behind and low and behold we run into our entire group (guess we weren’t paying that close attention to the people coming back!!!) . Everyone grabbed some ice cream and talked about their day. My two DS’s and DBIL’s went to the DVC meet while a couple of us headed down to clean up and my two older nieces and my 18 year old nephew went back on land to check out a place they knew in Nassau (where my nephew could take advantage of the drinking age of 18)!!

A few of us tried out the prize bingo in the promenade lounge! Funny how whenever my DS and DBIL are together and my DS leaves – my DBIL ends up winning something!!!! It happened at the DVC meet and it happened again at Prize bingo! He won an “event winner” DCL coffee mug and a “gold” medallion! Really cute. They only played three games so we were done in plenty of time to get in some shopping (the shops had re-opened at 5) while the younger kids got their pictures taken with Captain Jack Sparrow (who by the way was great and totally stayed in character ). We then headed to the show. The show was Hercules the Muse-ical. We had seen this show six years earlier but after that much time who really remembers. Plus the fact that they do a lot of ad-libbing so we all enjoyed it!

There was some time before dinner so I decided to check out “Who wants to be a Mousketeer” in Studio Seas. BTW, our entertainment crew was wonderful!!! Especially Ian. He was nuts and the kids (and grown-ups) all loved him. We first met Ian at the sail away party when he decided to swim with the kids in the Mickey pool (that would be fully dressed!!! )

This was our “formal” night and we were scheduled to eat at Animator’s Palate . Now our first night when we were all getting our wine, my two sisters, my two nieces and I had requested some ice for our wine. Well, we arrived to our table at Animator’s Palate to find cups of ice at each of our places!!! This was the Captain’s Dinner so lobster was on the menu. They tried some new items on our cruise in preparation for some upcoming 7 and 10 day cruises so we really lucked out! Once again, “L” and Joe catered to our every want. My sister ordered soup from the kid’s menu (she loved the corn chowder) and my two DBIL often ordered a separate appetizer and entrée that they shared (in addition to their own). They joked about making up this fictitious guy and ordering something for him. Every night, “L” would ask what he was ordering!!! Additionally, my brother turned Vegan a few weeks before the cruise (I mean, come on, why pick that time????) which was too late to notify the ship but they worked with him to ensure that he had options. Between dinner and dessert tonight, my two sisters and their families snuck away to get their “formal” pictures taken in the lobby (the ones that they take in front of the cruise ship and the one with them on deck and the moon behind them). Our servers just worked around them until them came back and we were able to order dessert!

After dinner the kids headed their way and the adults headed down to Wavebands to check out the 80’s night!!! This was crazy!! The entertainment crew was dressed up as rockers from the 80’s and they had everyone dancing (including my 75 year old Mom – thanks Ian )!!! We finally decided to head back up to Deck 4 and those comfy chairs. This actually became a ritual and how we ended every night on board. We were relaxing and just gabbing when who comes jogging by but “L”!!!! We waited until she came around again and started cheering her on!! Turns out she jogs almost every night (four trips around – a ten minute break – and then another four trips around) – no wonder she’s so tiny!!!

Well what started out as a somewhat dismal day had of course turned into a WONDERful day as we all headed to bed. Of course this didn’t include the teens. Their program had activities until 2AM and our teens took full advantage of this. It was so great to know that you could let them have their freedom and know that they were safe. And they loved every minute of it!!!!

Next up – Castaway Cay – rain or shine!

 

[HappyLawyer]

great report thanks for sharing.

 

[jrose529]

Great report so far. Those deck 4 chairs were our favorite spot on the Magic two years ago! We spent every free moment there. I can't wait for April and those comfy charis!!!!!

 

[mommyintn]

Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[ElenitaB]

Great reports... more, please!

 

[tae1218]

Great report! I can't wait to read more.

 

[MagicMe]

Since we were only on a four day cruise and since today has been really kind of quiet, I am trying to finish this trip report in one day!!!

Thanks to jrose529, Royal Vizier, mommyintn, Happy Lawyerand ElenitaB for reading my report and giving such kind support!! It's very nice to know that someone is actually reading and enjoying your trip report!



Well, up early to get ready for the day!!! Bummer, we were already docked at Castaway Cay!!! There goes my chance for docking pictures! Still, headed up to Deck 4 again to grab some early pictures before people began crawling all over the island!! Got some great pictures of the Flying Dutchman!!! Did I mention yet that it was sunny!!!!! Boy was that a relief since the Captain had reported the night before that the weather may not cooperate!!!

We delayed our exit to Castaway Cay to take advantage of the Character Breakfast (which we were scheduled to attend at 9AM in Parrot Cay). My brother and his DD missed the breakfast as they had booked the StingRay excursion and had a 9AM time slot (actually he booked the Extreme excursion which also gave him snorkeling equipment and an hour bike ride). Now, having been to WDW more than enough times and being a big advocate of the character meals, I was really somewhat disappointed in the character breakfast on board. The characters are rushed around from table to table accompanied by a handler and of course a photographer. The handler arrives at your table first and you are informed that there is one picture per family! They loved it when we nicely informed them that technically there were five families at our table!!!! Of course, we didn’t actually push the issue as we were missing one family and only two families really wanted to have their picture taken (and really only with Mickey). Still, it felt like you had to push your children together, yell smile, and push that camera button real quick before Mickey was on to other tables!!! Really, this is probably one thing I would skip next time. It seemed like you had more time (and one on one time) with the characters in their meet and greet lines during the day/evening than at breakfast. Not to mention that “rushing” the characters around actually left you feeling like you had to “rush” the breakfast. Character meals at WDW are much more relaxing and you definitely have more interaction with the characters. I mean, not one of the characters even acknowledged any of the adults at the table. Not one salt shaker knocked over by Chip or Dale and not one hat removed by Goofy !!! Just not the same!

After breakfast, we gathered our belongings and children and headed off the ship and on to Castaway Cay. Now having been there before, we already knew that if we walked further, we would find plenty of chairs, umbrellas and beach!!! And we did! I mean, finding beach chairs and umbrellas (all together) even after leaving the ship around 10:30 is not easy but we just walked a bit past Cookies and low and behold, there were plenty to be had!!! We staked out our chairs and ran into my brother and his DD who both had a marvelous time with the Stingrays! Several of us took off to claim our floats and snorkeling equipment (which we had reserved ahead of time) and lugged everything back to our area. Okay, now for some fun!!! Since it was a long hot walk (the tram had just left so we hiked the whole way), we cooled off in the water first. Then the kids and a couple of the adults started snorkeling. After getting a bit wet, I decided to try out the float. Being Pooh sized I wasn’t sure how well this would work but I was able to lay on the float (I didn’t worry too much about how graceful I probably looked ) and enjoy the sun on my face and the cool water lapping slightly over the float. Since the “sun on my face” began to seem a bit hotter than it should, I decided to head back to the umbrella/chair and add some more sunscreen. At this point a couple of us decided to check out the shopping for those Castaway Cay items. When we got back I relaxed a bit with a book and before too long the smells from Cookies were calling us! We had a great lunch before heading out for some more sun and water. My younger niece decided to get corn rolls (??) in her hair while the rest of the kids continued with snorkeling and some of us adults took the beach chairs into the ocean. What a great time, sitting there with our beach drinks and just soaking up the atmosphere!! At 2:15 we gathered the teens to get them headed over for their teen banana boat ride at 2:30! The clouds were moving in and they were getting darker!!! When a few showers hit, we just stayed in the ocean (the ocean water was warmer than the cold rain!) and waited them out. By the time the showers stopped and the teens returned, we realized that a lot of people had headed back to the ship. What a shame…even though it was still overcast, it had actually cooled a little and we were able to really enjoy the water and beach!!! As it got closer to 4, the clouds started getting black so we decided to head back. We were able to snag some room (okay we shoved like sardines!) on the tram so we didn’t have to walk all the way back. Of course by the time we got back to the ship there was a line waiting to get on. Here’s where I need to give big kudos to my DBIL. We ended up behind a lady with her young DD (who was in a stroller). At one point, the mother left the DD and since this was holding up the line I started to push the DD in line so they could keep their spot. Turns out the mother was looking for her camera. Now it was just a throw away type of camera but she had a lot of memories of the day with her daughter in those pictures. She realized that she had rolled the camera in the towel when it started to rain and without thinking had thrown the towel into the large bins they have. Well, my DBIL helped her methodically check the towels in the bins until they found the camera!!! Pixie dust!!!! AND, since I was watching her DD in the stroller and we had gotten to the gangplank, I had moved out of line until her mother could join her (really I had no choice anyway since only her mother would be allowed to get her back on the ship!!!). Just after we moved out of line both the mother and my DBIL came back with the camera. The people that were behind me when I moved out of the line stopped their entire family to let us back in line!!! More pixie dust for all!!!!! Especially since it was drizzling this entire time!

Back on board, we all headed up for some hot showers and clean up for the night ahead!!! It was pirate night! Well – two dressing up out of fifteen isn’t too bad – right???? Of course the two dress ups were the youngest of the group. My eleven year old niece wore a striped shirt and a pirate goofy hat (the kerchief kind with the floppy goofy ears) while my eight year old nephew transformed into Captain Jack himself!!! Yup, he had the complete outfit, wig and make-up (compliments of his older sisters) to rival any Captain Jack that Disney had!!! All I can say is that it’s a good thing we didn’t run into Disney’s Captain Jack as we wouldn’t want to confuse anyone!!!!

It was also Golden Mickey night in the Walt Disney Theater. Now they didn’t have this particular show when we sailed in 2000, so this was an entire new experience. Disney really does everything completely. What a trip! We “walked” the red carpet, and our Captain Jack and sidekick were interviewed on the red carpet (luckily my DBIL had his video camera and recorded it on the screen in the theater). It was way too cute!!! The show was spectacular and I would highly recommend not missing it! Of course, you have to enter the area from the center of the ship so that you get the entire experience!

After dinner, most of the crowd went to Shutters to look over the pictures while I went to Studio Seas to watch “Walking the Plank” . Again, a very cute family “game” show. And they time it that you can enjoy it and still make it to your second seating dinner on time. Our Pirate dinner was back in Animator’s Palate again. It still amazes me how they theme everything completely. Our servers were in costume and helped us with our pirate “hats”. Everything was wonderful as usual and “L” and Joe were there with any request! We continued to enjoy their company and hopefully they enjoyed our family just as much. We walked out of dinner completely stuffed and already just a wee bit late for the start of the Pirate party up on deck 9. We passed the tables being set up for the Pirate buffet and found the party area packed!!! Unfortunately, it was very hard to enjoy this party when it was so packed. We wrangled a small obstructed viewing area up on Deck 10 and pretty much waited for the finale!!! Just as predicted here on the DIS, Mickey saved the day and the fireworks started! Now, this is not Wishes by any stretch of the imagination but realizing that you are surrounded by water out in the ocean and watching a fireworks display is spectacular in itself. Of course, it was over too soon and even though the party continued, we decided to skip the crowds heading to the buffets. Now this was probably the only time we regretted having a late seating for dinner. We were so stuffed we couldn’t even look at the food. The kids headed off to their various activities while the adults grabbed drinks from the drink station and headed down to those comfy chairs on Deck 4!!!!! Again, we sat there soaking it all up and knowing that we had only one more day left on the Wonder! We again got to cheer “L” as she jogged around with a couple of her CM’s. She is truly a wonderful person and we really enjoyed getting to know her. After a hour or so, we headed back to grab some sleep so that we could enjoy our last full day.

BTW, the one person I forgot to mention was our wonderful host, Arturo and his fabulous towel animals. We came back to our room each night with our beds turned down and a cute towel animal (and two chocolates) every night!!!

Next – Our Beautiful Day at Sea!

 

[MagicMe]

Tae1218 -thanks for reading my report!!! We had such a great time!



Everyone slept in this morning. Maybe we didn’t want to wake up knowing that this was our last day!!! The kids were getting grumpier (getting up between 6-7 every morning and going to bed after 12 is starting to take its toll)!!! The teen activities went well into the night so most of them (except for our Castaway Cay day) slept later than the rest of us. Both the younger members slept in today too. A day at sea is very relaxing!!! We went to Beach Blanket Buffet and ordered some omelets for breakfast. My sister and I had 11 o’clock appointments at the spa for the “cocktail” experience. This isn’t that bad of a deal (if you’re watching your $$$). Last trip I splurged and got a seaweed wrap (which was fantastic by the way) that included a scalp massage, foot massage and back massage as part of the experience. I didn’t have the $$$ to splurge this time (seeing that I have a trip planned to WDW in the fall) so I opted for the “cocktail”. This lets you pick three choices (out of 6 or 7 items) to sample. We both elected to have the scalp massage (which includes a neck and shoulder massage), and a foot massage (well I actually got a top of the foot and ankle massage as I am so ticklish on the bottoms of my feet that anyone touching there just causes me to tense up which kind of defeats the purpose of this whole experience!!), and I opted for a mini-facial while my sister opted for the hair treatment. It was a very relaxing experience. There was the inevitable sales pitch (for some kind of oil that would lessen my stress) at the end which I explained was out of my $$ range and she backed off although she did tell me that I really should get some type of aromatic oil and be sure to rub it into my tense shoulders! Of course, it was over all too soon and we had to leave the spa and back into the world.

Since everyone else was in the pool, I attended the Castaway Club event on my own. This was different than what I expected. They offered coffee, soda, water and snacks set up outside Wavebands. Your invitation included a card to fill out that you deposited in a box when you entered Wavebands. They had set up this “game” where they had several questions and in order to answer these questions you had to talk with fellow cruisers and also talk to the officers at the event. Everyone had some trouble finding that person that had sailed at least 10 times (ended up he was someone that worked with the marketing firm that represents DCL) and there were several people in the group that were on the maiden voyage of the Magic back in 1998!! Most of the rest of the questions were actually pretty easy to answer but just in case, they showed you clips from the Disney Vault that answered all the other questions (except for the Bonus Kids question of how many chicken fingers are cooked every day on the Wonder – believe it or not only 650!!!) BTW, our cruise director was fantastic! He was so personable and I could listen to his Australian accent all day!!! And believe me, he was everywhere!! Once you completed the questions you filled out your name and detached the card and added it to another box. These cards were used to pull ten names for a special clock. I wasn’t that lucky at this event but I did get some luck later on.

I left the event clockless but grabbed a few Mickey Rice Krispie treats for the younger kids to enjoy later at the show. I went back up to Deck 9 and met up with my Mom. Lunch was almost over at the buffet so I thought I would head over there. It was a seafood buffet and since I (gasp) don’t eat seafood, I picked up some chicken fingers out by the Mickey pool (hey someone has to eat those 650 chicken fingers!!! ). I took some pictures of the group at the Cove Pool and then decided to check out the jackpot bingo in the theater. Now I didn’t play bingo (except for the prize bingo) all week so I had no clue as to the cost. They were selling the packets (five games with six cards for each game) for $35 and offering a second card of six for the last jackpot prize game at and additional $15. I really wasn’t sure about spending the $$$. I got out of line and was actually leaving when I ran into my two DBIL. They bought their packet of five up at the pool and came down to play. Well, I decided what the heck, marched down and purchased the $35 packet and opted not to purchase the additional card (I figured if I couldn’t win the jackpot with the six cards included in this packet then it wasn’t meant to be). I got close on the first game (missed by one – although there were a lot of us in the same boat). The rules are that when you need only one more for bingo, you need to stand. So you know how many people are close!!! The first game was actually won by four people so they had to split that pot. The next game was a corner game. This time I had BINGO!!!! I was lucky that there was only one other winner so we split a pot of $266. GREAT!!!! I made $133. That covered my bingo charge and my spa charge!!!!! With a little left over! The next game was a game where you only needed seven numbers on one card (they didn’t have to be in order and of course the free space didn’t count). Now, the weirdest thing with this game was that when they called the seventh number (really, they only called seven numbers entirely!!), someone yelled BINGO!!!! And it was a good bingo!! How lucky is that??!! Not sure what the fourth game was but the tension mounted for the final game which was a coverall. This went on and on. I don’t really think I was ever really that close (my closest card still had four numbers needed) when someone yelled BINGO!! They got two adult members from the audience to verify the card. Since there were so many numbers called they actually verified the card by calling out the numbers that were not called. The gentleman that won got a prize of $2400!!! His family was in our row so we told his wife to take the winnings and book another cruise!!!!

I took my winnings receipt and went down to Guest Services and had them put the winnings on my account. After that, I headed back to the room to freshen up for our last night. Of course I had to do that dreaded packing! Yuck! Bad enough they’re kicking us off the ship but we have to spend part of our last day packing!!! I packed up everything leaving out what I needed to sleep and to get ready the next day. We all ended up meeting back in the theater for the last show – Disney Dreams. We saw this show in 2000 and although again we didn’t remember everything I did remember the pixie dust at the end. They will tell you that this is an “award winning” show and it was a great show, but we all preferred the Golden Mickey show the night before. Maybe because there was some comedy to it?


After the show, I again went to Studio Seas to check out the show while everyone else went to Shutters. Then we all headed to Parrot Cay for our final dinner. This was the “Til we meet again” dinner. The food and our service were great!!! But it was also very sad as this was our last dinner with “L” and Joe. Even now as I write this, I tear up!! All I can say is that I hope both “L” and Joe have a great life. “L” is from Thailand and is married to an Englishman now living in Scotland. Her “off” time is in late October and she will visit her husband. She expects that he will not want her to return so we know that we will not have a chance to see her again. I believe that once her visa comes through, she will run to Scotland and have a great life!!! Her husband is one lucky guy!!!! We took numerous pictures with “L” and Joe and handed them our tip envelopes. All I can say is that when it came to our servers, we ignored the suggested tip value and they really earned every penny. They made us feel like we were royalty!! Of course as part of her duty, “L” informed us that our breakfast was set at 8AM in Parrot Cay the next morning and that it was essential that we be prompt!!

We left Parrot Cay and headed over to the adult section to check out the duty free shop for perfume – well that’s what my nieces wanted to check out. They were doing something in Diversions but that ended as we were standing there and the entertainment crew escorted everyone from Diversions to Wavebands to enjoy 60’s night!!! Well, since my younger niece didn’t want to go to the kids club, her Mom and Dad couldn’t make Wavebands. Then my younger nephew beeped his Mom and Dad that he was done with the kids club so they couldn’t make Wavebands. My 14 year old nephew who LOVES the Beatles desperately wanted to go to Wavebands but had to settle for standing just outside the entrance and listening to them. Of course, being 60’s night, the first set was all Beatles music. It was good but the crowd was not as big as the 80’s night on Monday. Guess everyone was winding down. After the first set, my nieces and I headed up to Deck 4 where we ran into the rest of the family. The kids were playing shuffleboard and the adults were on their comfy chairs!!! After awhile, the kids all headed up to the arcade and the adults just commiserated on our last wonderful hours. After all this time, it was actually ending all too quickly!!! Of course, it’s really like that with all vacations but somehow we want it to last!!

As midnight drew close, we all knew that we had to be up and ready so we headed back to our rooms leaving our comfy chairs behind for someone new to enjoy!!!!!

Lastly – leaving all too soon!!

 

[ibouncetoo]

Really enjoying your report! It seems like your group had a great time doing their own thing and then all meeting up for meals. I hope you tell us a bit about how the 'first timers' enjoyed their cruise too!

 

[MagicMe]

It’s finally here. That morning when you wake up and flip on the “on-deck” TV and see Port Canaveral in the background!!! Yuck!!!! I guess all those people asking the captain to turn the boat around (like he never hears that) just didn’t work!!

Okay, okay – I’m up and reluctantly get ready and pack up my carry-on (or in this case carry-off) bag. I dutifully check all the drawers and the closet for any errant pieces of clothes that wanted to stay on the ship!! Guess I’m just too efficient. Everything is empty and ready for Arturo to clean for the next family!!! I still can’t believe that another family will be in this room in less than six hours, beginning their adventure! Since we are ready and there’s really nothing else to do in the room, my Mom and I head up to Deck 4 and sit by the railing watching the first crowds leave the ship. Somehow those waving Mickey hands just aren’t the same when you have to leave the ship!!

As the clock neared 8 AM, we walked down to Deck 3 and headed back to Parrot Cay for our last moments on board. “L” and Joe were there ready to serve us as usual!!! We knew that they had to finish and then turn the restaurant around quickly for the lunch that would be served to the new travelers. They were excellent as usual. “L” remembered and automatically brought the ketchup with my Mom’s eggs. My brother and this DD woke up earlier and ate at Beach Blanket Buffet so they just joined us for coffee. Of course, my brother didn’t go to the disembarkation talk or listen to it on the TV (over and over and over), so he didn’t bring his luggage with him. In fact, when he showed up at 8:15, his DS was still back in the cabin. We explained that they expected everyone out of the cabins in our area at 8AM and that we were to take all our remaining luggage with us so that the “hosts” could start the process of turning the rooms over for that next group. He went back to the room and rousted his DS taking all their remaining possessions and meeting back up at Parrot Cay.

Well, the time had finally come. We dragged it out as long as we could including those inevitable bathroom breaks, but it was now time to officially say goodbye to “L” and Joe and walk that plank off the ship! There were hugs all around as we gathered our luggage and then down the hall and off the ship. Our luggage was waiting for us in the “Donald” section (except for that errant bag that lost it’s tag – if you’re going to let a 12 year old put on their own tag – make sure they know how to do it!!!). That errant bag was spotted (luckily it had a lot of bright orange in it) over by the escalators and was retrieved. We got in the customs line and everyone in our group was waved through easily.

We rolled our luggage over to the cars (rolling luggage has to be one of the best inventions!!) and grudgingly left Port Canaveral longingly looking back at the Disney Wonder.

Our day wasn’t yet over. We headed back to Sarasota Springs to swim and grab some lunch. This started out good but the Florida skies opened up! We waited by our tables under the umbrella but the rain started coming down harder and the wind kicked in getting us all soaked! Okay –not too bad for those in swimsuits but I and my Mom had elected to just soak in the sun and not swim so we were dressed. We gave up and ran to the arcade. It took awhile but the rain finally stopped. Everyone retrieved dry clothes from their suitcases and changed. I actually dried out pretty quickly once the sun reappeared. We decided to head over to DTD for a little last shopping. We spent about an hour at DTD. My one DS and her family were flying back on an earlier flight on Airtran so they decided to head back to the airport. We were leaving a little later on a Southwest flight so we spent a few more minutes in DTD but then saw that the skies were clouding up again and decided to just head to the airport. We just managed to get in the cars when the rain started again!

Dropping the cars off at the airport parking garage was certainly an adventure. Now, our luggage had to be packed the night before we left and we still had liquids so we needed to repack a few things. This all happened in the airport garage. I had most of my “no-no’ items in a toiletry bag so I just took that out of my carry-on and placed it in the front pocket of my luggage. I’m done!!! Course, other members of my traveling party took a little longer. But finally we were ready to head into the airport. We checked our luggage and walked up to the food court area running into the other group. They were checking on-line as the departure boards were reporting “delayed” on their flight but on-line and when they called, they were told it was “on-time”. Our flight in the meantime had been delayed from 8:15 to 8:50. We all went to the food court to grab something to eat and then the Airtran group left to head to their gate. The Airtran flight left on time. We hit the bathrooms and checked out a few more shops and then decided to work our way through the security area. Shoes off and luggage ready I see them take a bag to the side. This doesn’t stop us from clearing security but I notice that the lady that was in front of my sister is the owner of the bag. They are filling one of those gray bins with cans and tubes of items (all those “no-no” items we’ve been warned about for two weeks). The two security guys are really trying to be nice and the woman is insisting that she was able to bring them with her on her trip down. Of course, they are having nothing of this and she leaves with a much lighter carry on. It amazes me that she is highly upset and continues fuming and mumbling all the way over on the tram! Like it was their fault!!!

Our flight has now been delayed until 9:15 and while waiting we will be informed that it will be delayed until 9:40. We’re all tired and at this point, can’t wait to actually get home! We sit there knowing that OUR ship is already sailing with another family!!

Our plane lands and people unload. The last person passes and they immediately start boarding our group. We are barely on the plane and they shut the door and pull away. Now I haven’t traveled extensively but I have traveled by plane numerous times and I have never been on a flight that is cleared right away for take-off. We pulled back from the gate, taxied out to the run way and immediately took off!!! The flight itself was quiet and uneventful. We landed, retrieved our luggage, retrieved our car and headed home.

It was great to be home but depressing to be home!!! I really feel for my DB as he is dealing not only with the depression you can feel after a cruise but he also took his DS to college the next day! He is a single father and his DS has lived with him since the divorce 5 years ago. So this is actually the first time he is really alone.

Well, the only thing we can do is to start planning our 7-day cruise!!!! Two years!! Hopefully we will make it and maybe we’ll run into some of you!!!

Thanks to everyone on the DIS for the tips that I learned while researching my trip.
I can’t say enough about the COMFY chairs on Deck 4. But don’t tell too many people. We were able to enjoy those every night and I wouldn’t want to have to fight anyone for those chairs!!

 

[MagicMe]

iboucetoo - thanks for reading!!!

The first timers were my brother and his 18 year old son and twelve year old daughter (she upgraded to the teen club to spend time with my 14 year old nephews). Although they really enjoyed Friday at the parks, I was told that Saturday was so crowded that it was really difficult to enjoy anything.

This was their first cruise ever and they honestly were not aware of everything they could do. I think some people actually think you just get on a ship and sit in your room???? He got a real kick out of the "horn" on that first day. Of course, he was a bit overwhelmed but quickly caught on. Funny, he complained about the $$$ he had to spend for the tickets to WDW but Sunday evening he was down at the excursion desk trying to book several excursions for his daughter. The dolphin encounter at Nassau was booked with a long waiting list so he opted for the Power Boat excursion which ended up getting canceled. Since they couldn't do the dolphins, he booked the Stingray excursion on CC.

His DD loved the freedom of roaming the ship and having so many options available. He too loved that he could spend time with her and still let her take off for her own fun!!! His 18 year old DS even enjoyed himself. He had a great time at Nassau and did find things to do on the ship. He even spent some time with this Dad one night!!!

My DB was one of those people that wasn't really sure about taking a cruise. He went on the cruise for his DD who wanted to go ever since we came back from our 2000 cruise and told them about it. He decided that with his DS heading off to college and his DD getting older, this might be his last real chance to have this trip. As noted in my report, he still wanted to hit the parks too so that's why we all opted for the 4-day and not a 7-day. By the end of the cruise, he was wishing that we had booked a 7-day!!! And he's actually talking about joining us in two years for a 7-day cruise!!!! Guess he's a convert!

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Great report! I really enjoyed it. Can't wait till it's my turn on the Wonder!

 

[mydisneydream]

Hadn't heard about the deck 4 chairs....sounds like a must!! Maybe quiet time away from the kids...

 

[jrose529]

Hi MagicMe,

I loved reading your report! Thank you so much for completing it so quickly! It felt like I was there with you in those deck 4 chairs!!! 7 1/2 months, and I will be there.
My biggest fear in going from a 7 day two years ago, to a 4 day in April is that I won't be ready to leave. They'll have to drag me off!

Enjoy your trip to OKW. That's our home resort. I think we'll spend a couple of days there after the Wonder.

Thanks for reliving your "Wonder"ful memories with us.

 

[teach22180]

Thank you so much for your great report! It brought back happy memories as we were on the Wonder two weeks before you (flying home the DAY the special limits were imposed!)

I agree; it's hard to think someone ELSE is enjoying your cabin just a few hours after you leave. I had a hard time with that, too!

And, I'm so glad your servers were so good. We just loved Pearl, our server, and she made our table so much fun. The best part was on the morning we left, she pointed out her husband who was another server in the dining room! We were having so much fun that we almost forgot we were supposed to be sad because it was our day to leave!

I enjoyed hearing how you managed such a large group, but I'm sorry you had so much rain. Sounds like Disney handles it well, though. Thanks again.

 

[HiYaPal]

Great report! I really enjoyed it. Can't wait till it's my turn on the Wonder!

Great report! If I am lucky enought to get L in a couple of weeks I'll tell her what wonderful things you said about her!