June 19 - 22 Wonder Cruise! FI's birthday and first cruise!!!!!

[kvaday]

Love your TR so far! Sounds like you had an amazing first day. Cant wait to read more!

 

[Brena]

I woke up around 7:30 am and showered and straightened the stateroom before waking FI up. We were in the Bahamas!!!! This is FI's first time out of the country so we kinda made a big deal about it. FI quickly showered and dressed and we headed to Triton's for breakfast. We each got a small fruit plate FI got the Little Mermaid's Morning which is two Belgian waffles stuffed with dulce de leche and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. He said that it was good, but he wished there was less dulce de leche. I got a mushroom and cheese omelet with bacon and a hash brown. Everything was good.

While we were eating breakfast we heard the announcement that the Wonder had docked in Nassau and that we were free to leave the boat. We stopped by our room for quick sunscreen spray and then we headed down to deck 1 to disembark. We were parked next to a Carnival ship and there were people everywhere! We headed down the pier and saw a postcard-like photo op.

We offered to take another couple's picture in exchange for them taking ours. This worked well throughout our trip.

After taking the pictures we headed off towards the entrance to the city. They cleverly (and annoyingly) guide you into a building that you are forced to walk through to enter the city. I'm not sure if it's like that at all of the cruise destinations. Like I said, FI has never been out of the USA before so he was very shocked by the amount of people trying to get our attention to get my hair braided, rent a scooter, get a taxi, etc. I do wish that we would've taken a horse-drawn carriage ride through the streets, but after FI's reaction to Nassau it may have been for the best.

We set out in search of souvenir. I thought that the Queen's staircase was much closer than it is and tried to find it. I realized that FI was not having fun. He was very nervous and it was a complete shock to him. Seeing how uncomfortable he was (and it was very hot!) I quickly found the Del Sol store where I had wanted to buy my cousin a color-changing bracelet. It was really really cool and something I think a teenage girl will love.

After I bought the bracelet I asked FI if he wanted to keep shopping or go back to the ship? FI said "whatever you want." but I could tell that he wanted to go back to the ship. And I really didn't have much more shopping to do. So I said "Let's go back to the ship."

Now is a good as time as any to mention that we really really really really enjoyed the ship. More than either the Bahamas port or Castaway Cay. Blasphemy, I know!!!! The reason I think that we prefer the ship to Castaway Cay is because currently live 45 minutes from the beach and I grew up in a beach town. The ship was a novelty. Castaway Cay is pretty cool though. I think that if the weather was cooler than we would've enjoyed it more.

Back on the ship we went up to Deck 9. We hadn't checked out the Goofy pool area until now because it had been really crowded and the adult areas were more pleasant for us. After seeing all of deck 9 we went to the spa to make an appointment for a "pampering package" for me at 4:30.

We headed back to Tritons for lunch and had the most fantastic time. This is the experience I chose to write about on my DCL comment card. We were seated at a table with Agus as our server. Agus was super awesome. He was funny and seemed very interested in our day and our plans. The restaurant was very empty so we had his undivided attention. He offered to take our picture and teased me about taking pictures of our food.

FI had chips and dips for a starter and half a roasted chicken for lunch. He loved the roasted chicken. I had the mushroom risotto which was really good, but I could only eat a little bit of it. I had a delicious Key Lime pie for desert and FI had his favorite desert of the trip, a pear-pineapple cobbler.

We stopped and I took a picture with Ariel in the atrium. Then we were off for a quick bathroom break and then on to Wavebands for our Discover Atlantis excursion. On the way to Wavebands FI told me that Agus was what he had pictured as the serving staff. I told him that Agus is what DCL strives for. I don't mean to give the impression that Donovan and Alvan did not do a good job serving us. Everything was timely and well prepared. We were never thirsty. It was on par (and sometimes above) with the service we get in really nice restaurants. But there was not a lot of fun or "magic" from our servers.

We checked in at Wavebands and waited for the excursion preperations to begin. We were ready to discover Atlantis!!!!!!!!

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Mmmmmm that looks so good. Ok newbie here, what is wavebands?

 

[Brena]

Mmmmmm that looks so good. Ok newbie here, what is wavebands?

Wavebands is a nightclub on Route 66, which is adult-only after 9 pm. But until them I do believe they have family stuff and it's one of the meeting places for excursions.

 

[Brena]

Sorry about the break... wedding planning got in the way!

Ok... so we have just gotten to Wavebands. There are about 20 other people waiting in the room. Just as the clock struck 1:15 pm (the time on our excursion tickets) they told us to start queuing up for an Atlantis bracelet and a goofy sticker so that we could enter the Atlantis aquarium and they would know that we were with Disney.

After everyone was braceleted and stickered we followed our excursion coordinator down to the 1st deck and disembarked the boat. He then led us through the "Welcome to Nassau" craft building (but not through the shopping area, they opened a door for us!) and onto a bus. Our bus driver took us through a quick tour of the island. We had thought about booking the Island Tour when we first made our reservations but I'm glad we didn't. I'm pretty sure that this was the same thing.

We arrived at Atlantis safe and sound and eager to see sealife! They broke the bus into 2 tour groups. Our guide (it's an Atlantis guide, not a Disney guide) led us through the Atlantis mall and into the Atlantis casino. We got some pretty cool Chiluly glass sculpture pictures.

Here are some pictures of Atlantis ceiling...

We were then led into the aquarium! It was a really neat experience, especially if you ignore their "atlantis was discovered here" story. I do wish that we would have gone through on our own however, because going with a group was a lot of waiting on everyone to be able to take pictures. We saw several sea tanks that included:

huge manta rays!

creepy spiny lobsters

huge grouper fish (not the kind we eat!)

exotic jellyfish

eels

The tour was a bit longer than we would've liked so we ended up skipping out early. Besides, I had a spa appointment to make!

We left Atlantis to find a Disney bus just waiting for us outside the door! It was full pretty quickly and we headed back to the ship. We were fascinated by the driving in Nassau. It was crazy!!! And I saw several toddlers without car seats. It's just not something I'm used to.

We dropped my camera off in the room, took some Dramamine, FI grabbed his DS and we headed up to deck 9. I had scheduled a pampering package that included a back massage, scalp massage, foot massage, a facial, an hour in the sauna and Rainforest room, and strawberries and champagne!

One of the spa assistants led me into the locker room where I changed out of my comfy spa dress into a thin white waffle robe. I was very uncomfortable because the robe was slightly see-through so I hurried to my spa room. It reminded me of a doctors office with the cabinets and a table to lay on. There was a window that looked onto deck 9, but the shades were down (thank goodness!) I was told to take off my robe and crawl underneath the cover on the table and lay on my tummy.

The back massage was heaven! I was asked if the pressure was comfortable for me a couple of times but it was just right! I love facials so that was a treat. It was nice to completely unwind. My appointment started at 4:30 and the ship started to leave port at 5. I could really feel the movement of the ship. FI said that he could see the land dipping above and below the window (I think he was right outside the spa). But I was laying down so I felt fine.

Before my spa treatment I was asked to fill out a survey and one of the questions was "what is your biggest problem area?". I was honest and said my tummy. After my spa treatment was done my massagist left to let me get re-robed and to grab a detox program that she swore would "change your life and make your tummy nice and firm". I became really quesy and had a horrible headache. She came back and I tried to be polite and stay through the sales pitch. However after a few minutes I was surprised when my body decided it was going to "detoxify" itself!

She was very sweet and practically carried me back to my clothes. They told me I could come back another time for my sauna hour and I headed to FI. As soon as he saw me he knew something was wrong. We headed straight to the room where I took a nap and unfortunately missed Toy Story. Next time I'll take dramamine every 24 hours! I thought that since we would be in port most of the time I'd be ok. Here we are looking pitiful.

After my nap I felt loads better so we got dressed for dinner. Tonight was Triton's. We took a walk down to deck 4 and headed to Shutters to see how our pictures were turning out. Of course, on the way there we passed by the cruise reservation desk. FI said why don't we just see what the cost is of a 7-night cruise.

We sat down and spoke to the nicest, least pushy woman alive. She simply found a western cruise for the month that we wanted, wrote the price on a form with her extension number on it, and let us go.

We walked around deck 4 and did that awkward thing where you want to say "I WANT THIS!!!!!" but feel like you have to talk about the logical side of things because this is not just my decision. Eventually (2 minutes into the convo) we both blurted out with that we really really want to do another cruise and FI loves the cruise more than anything.

We returned to the reservation desk 5 minutes after we'd left it and booked a 7-night Western for February 21, 2009!!!!!!!! And the best part is that even with the fuel surplus it only cost us $200 more than what we paid for our 3 night!!!!!!!!!!! We booked another catagory 11. I was now ok with missing Toy Story.

We were in fantastic moods. We had booked our next cruise at a phenominal rate and we kept seeing little ones dressed as pirates. Life couldn't get better.

Oh, but it could. It was time for dinner and then the Pirates in the Carribean party!!!!!!!!

Tritons is beautiful!!!!! I love the windows to the lobby. I had delicious escargot (FI tried it and denied it) and the mixed greens salad to start. FI had the tomato-basil soup and it was sooo good. For the main course I tried the Coquilles St. Jacques but it was too rich for me. I sent it back to the kitchen and got the lamb shank instead. It was delicious. FI got the plain sirloin. We both ended with creme brulee but couldn't finish it. It was yummy but we were too full.

We decided to head to Deck 10 to catch the fireworks.

We sat on a bench located above the adult pool. It allowed for perfect fireworks watching. The adult area was very quiet and uncrowded. Especially compared to the party at the Goofy pool!

We tried out the "fireworks" setting on my new camera. It worked out pretty well I think.

I had been chatting with our fireworks neighbors and they mentioned that it was a full moon. Of course we had to go check it out. It would've been very romantic except for their were teenagers next to us throwing hot dogs at each other.

I still wasn't feeling my bestest so we decided to skip the buffet and order cookies from room service. We grabbed some Italian cocoas from the Cove Cafe' and went to our home. We found a monkey waiting for us!

The cookies arrived quickly and were huge! We soon went to sleep after hanging a glow stick that had arrived in our fish extender on the bathroom door. I forgot to mention it, but the night before I had walked right past the bathroom and into the wall. And FI had stubbed his toe. The glow stick worked out great!

Tomorrow: Castaway Cay and more fish!!! And more seasickness and dehydration. We're a sorry bunch of travelers!

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Oh no, not sea sickness after the massage! Poor girl. I am very worried about that. I have never cruised before, but I went on a whale watch out at sea and someones personal boat when we were lobstering. I tossed my cookies both times and did not recover quickly. In fact I could not even eat the lobster or enjoy the whale watch. It is not pretty. Can't wait to hear about Castway Cay.

 

[HoosierFrog]

I love the pics at Atlantis. My DW and I are planning on doing the Discover Atlantis excurssion. Maybe we can just get there and make our own tour. I really just want to see it, but heard tickets at atlantis were now $35 for the Dig and with a $4 taxi ride both ways, you're best just going with the Disney Excurssion.

Can't wait to here about CC. Oh, and don't let wedding planning stress you out TOO much.

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

I love your photos!
Me & my sister are trying to convince my mom and dad to go on a 7 day next year and we almost have them convinced

 

[wilma-bride]

I am really enjoying your trip report - great pictures. So, would you recommend the Atlantis Aquarium excursion or not? Would my 5 year old be bored?

Looking forward to reading more and I hope you started to feel better. Good luck with the wedding planning

 

[Zoiebear]

It sounds awesome

 

[yazee1]

I am enjoying your report. I love TR's with pictures.

 

[natale1980]

Is your next cruise on the new ship?

-nat

 

[MandyMommytoReaghan]

Can't wait to hear more! Excellent TR so far. Loved the pics!

 

[Brena]

Oh no, not sea sickness after the massage! Poor girl. I am very worried about that. I have never cruised before, but I went on a whale watch out at sea and someones personal boat when we were lobstering. I tossed my cookies both times and did not recover quickly. In fact I could not even eat the lobster or enjoy the whale watch. It is not pretty. Can't wait to hear about Castway Cay.

I'm thinking that if I would've been vigilant about my Dramamine and kept hydrated that I may have been able to skip the seasickness!!!! FI's parents recommended that we go to the dr and get seasickness patches, they're supposed to work better.

 

[Brena]

I love the pics at Atlantis. My DW and I are planning on doing the Discover Atlantis excurssion. Maybe we can just get there and make our own tour. I really just want to see it, but heard tickets at atlantis were now $35 for the Dig and with a $4 taxi ride both ways, you're best just going with the Disney Excurssion.

Can't wait to here about CC. Oh, and don't let wedding planning stress you out TOO much.

I am really enjoying your trip report - great pictures. So, would you recommend the Atlantis Aquarium excursion or not? Would my 5 year old be bored?

Looking forward to reading more and I hope you started to feel better. Good luck with the wedding planning

I was a little worried about the Atlantis excursion but it was awesome! I don't think that your 5 year old will be bored because there are a lot of windows and a lot of fish activity. There's also a "touch tank" with starfish, sand dollars, sea slugs, etc. There were many kids in our Atlantis tour group and they only seemed bored when we had to wait for some of the group to use the bathroom.

Thanks for the wedding planning well wishes! So far it's been going really well. I have a great future mother-in-law. Today she accompanied us to a venue open house and gave me a binder that she decorated in my wedding colors. My FI's parents have been wonderful to us.

 

[Brena]

I am enjoying your report. I love TR's with pictures.

Me too! The TR's on this board really got us excited for our cruise.

 

[Brena]

Is your next cruise on the new ship?

-nat

I think that our next cruise is on the Magic. I'm so excited to see the new ships though. I also heard that they will be redesigning the cruise terminal for them!

 

[Brena]

Can't wait to hear more! Excellent TR so far. Loved the pics!

Ask and you shall receive!!!!!

We slept in a bit on our 3rd Day - Castaway Cay day!!!!!! We had another yummy breakfast in Tritons and then made our way down to Deck 1 so we could disembark the boat.

The day was already hot so we decided to jump on the tram. Our goal was to take a look around Castaway Cay, buy a Christmas ornament, and find Marge's Barges so that we would know where to go at 1:30 for our glass-bottom boat tour. We went to She Sells Seashells Everything Else and got a cute Castaway Cay ornament. We toddled around and took some pictures (asking a CM to take a picture in front of the boat). After awhile we were roasting so we decided to head back to the boat for some lunch.

We decided to hit Deck 9 for lunch. While I grabbed our lunches (salad and fruit from Goofy's Galley for me, chicken fingers and fries from Pluto's for my FI) my FI went up to Deck 10 to get some pictures of the amazingly clear water and Castaway Cay.

We finished up our food and it was time for our glass bottom boat tour! We headed down to Marge's Barges and waited a short while until our excursion was called.

The boat is a regular-sized fishing boat with two small rectangular panes of glass. There are a couple of seats at the front of the boat (you can't see the glass to well from them) but most of the people had to stand. The glass panes were scratched and foggy but you could make out what was going on. We had much better luck looking over the side of the boat. The entire boat is shaded.

The boat puttered along for about half an hour before we reached our destination. We were given handfuls of oats to throw for the fish. Man, did the fish love those oats!!!!! They were swimming over each other and fighting for them! FI found an "underwater" setting on our camera and got some great shots.

After about 20 minutes we headed back towards Castaway Cay. The guides stopped to let us get some great shots of the beach (unfortunately FI was concentrating on getting some shots of a crab on the rocks so all we have is a bunch of rock closeups. With no crab.) We also got some great Flying Dutchman shots. The tour was fun. We didn't have to move much (gets a thumbs up from FI ) and we saw a lot of fish.

After we returned we took a quick nap in our stateroom (now it was FI's turn to be a little seasick). We made sure to wake up in time to watch the boat pull away from Castaway Cay. We found some comfy lounge chairs outside of Cove Cafe' to watch Castaway Cay retreat.

I really wasn't feeling very well and I realize now that I'd gotten seriously dehydrated. Normally I keep glasses of water nearby and sip throughout the day, but I had completely forgotten to drink ANY water since we'd been on the cruise. I hadn't had very much to drink at all.

We stayed up on Deck 9 for awhile, just relaxing and enjoying the breeze. Tonight was formal night and we'd promised our parents pictures of us all dressed up. We dragged ourselves back to our room and got ready.

We found the photo backdrop of the ship pretty quickly and had our pictures taken. We were in Animator's Palate for dinner that night so we lounged on the jogging deck until it was dinner time. This was FI's favorite thing on the entire cruise and he wished we weren't in our formal wear. Several people complimented us however!

We lined up for dinner and had strangers in line take our picture. Then we entered Animator's Palate.

Ok, my only complaint about AP is the chairs. They're really hard to move and I was in a dress and heels! Eventually we got our chairs out and sat down. The food in Animator's Palate was our favorite of the entire cruise!!!!! I had the fillet mignon with scallops. The steak was made to look like a little boat with scallop smokestacks! FI got the Lemon Peppered Oven-baked Stuffed Chicken and he said it was outstanding!!!! For desserts FI got Strawberry Shortcake and the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, I got Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie and a sundae. They were soooo delicious.

Our AP dinner seemed to take a lot longer than usual and we were really tired. Plus we had to pack up and put our bags out. We headed back to our room and I lacklusterly helped FI pack our bags. We openned the door to find the luggage cart right in front of us! Thank goodness we made it.

I arranged for a wake up call at 7 am (we had to be back in AP at 7:30 am) and we crawled into bed, falling asleep immediatly! I have never slept so well as I did on this cruise. It was amazing.

Next up: Disembarkation (boo!!!!!) and final thoughts

 

[natale1980]

amazing pictures!!! They looked better then the ones I got snorkeling.

-nat