Just Relaxin’ on the Wonder – Nowhere, Nothing, Nada. - Complete! and Final Thoughts

[rndmr2]

Looks like you had a nice lunch, I would go to the Parrot Cay too if I go on a DCL cruise, looks like it is much less hectic than the regular Buffet.

WOW Love the room! What is that extra little room for, is it a closet?

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Great update. Parrot Cay looks to me like Cabanas on The Dream? That is a fabulous buffet. What were those cute little sticky buns? They looked really nice! Were they filled with tuna?

That food looks divine. Another voter for the seperator plates. I buy the disposable ones for home! That meat yum and those desserts! Oh my. You did well to restrain yourselves.

Why did you have your lugguage with you? Why did they not take it to your room from the port? At PC you unload and the next thing you see your bags it's in your stateroom. You just remember to pack a small daybag with some items incase you need it before.

Wow lovely room! So spacious. I am very impressed. Looking good so far!

 

[pkondz]

First because we usually have way more bags than normal people.

So you're saying you're abnormal people.


I'm okay with that.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but.... it looks like it's ready for a birthday party.

And of course the shrimp!

Well.... of course. Because... shrimp.

For those wondering, this is a roasted Calabaza Soup

You didn't try it though, did you?
If you did, what was it like?

Fran asked for this.

I assume... chicken? Or is it actually veal??

And then finally I went up and got us some desserts to split, but first the selections.

Mouth watering... drool.

I made a resolution at the beginning of this cruise that I would not stuff myself to the point of bloating and overeating. I actually accomplished this for most of the cruise.

Good for you. That's a tough one though.

But for the last three cruises we have always had the farthest back room on the ship

Why? Personal preference? Less motion? Luck of the draw? I have no idea.

Oh, let’s see what’s behind that door there…well what do you know? We should have brought the house elf along, that would have been a perfect place to sleep!

What the heck is that? I guess you can shove your suitcases in there instead of under the bed.

OK, let’s check out the Verandah.

That's huge! Is it all yours? Or was there another room sharing?

 

[afwdwfan]

Wake up, "shoot! It's already 5:30 AM." (Dialogue may be slightly modified to fit the friendly family boards.).

I think we know what you mean.

The drive down was uneventful, a few potty stops along the way, the requisite Southern California traffic, and rain. RAIN? WT@$&!?

Rain? What? Really???? I thought that never happened!

We were pulling. into the port around 10:45, perfect timing! What we did NOT count on was that the knuckleheads directing traffic were only letting folks picking up passengers drive up to meet the porters and drop off luggage.


Oh sure, if we wanted to wait until after 12PM, we could drive on in, let a porter unload the luggage from our car, then I could drive across the street to the Wyndam, park my car, walk back across the street and THEN go through the boarding process.

Well... that makes a lot of sense. You can be picked up but you can't drop off... so maybe you should have paid someone picking somebody up 20 bucks to drive you in?

We had to wait to cross this entrance where they were letting people drive in to pick up passengers.

Those entitled pricks.

At the desk here, they were checking your little booklet. Actually they weren’t checking them, you just had to have one. They didn’t even look inside the book to check the date or anything.

Wow! So you can't drive up close to the port unless you're picking someone up, but you just have to flash an official looking booklet to gain foot access?

I had just heard the announcement and they were currently boarding group 3.

Sweet!

Cool! Your timing turned out to be perfect!

I always start with the salad.

Why? There's so much real food to choose from!

And of course my plate with the separated sections.

Wow. I've never seen that much empty space on a plate that I've filled at a buffet.

Anyone who has been on a cruise, you know that all that they try to do is stuff you full, overly full.

And? This is a bad thing?

Oh, let’s see what’s behind that door there…well what do you know? We should have brought the house elf along, that would have been a perfect place to sleep!

Ok... I'm at a loss. What is that room even for anyway? It looks like a closet with no place to hang anything. I guess it is a good place to store luggage, at least.

Yeah, I think I’m going to like this room!

Looks awesome! That verandah is huge!

 

[mvf-m11c]

What a big difference from the SD port to the one in Florida where it is cluster. The Navigators looks great to do those different activities.

Lunch looks very nice at Parrot Cay looks good and it is bright.

The Verandah room looks so big and spacious. I really like the deck where there is a lot of space and I could enjoy my morning going outside.

 

[kid-at-heart]

Wow, both a tub and a shower. How wonderful! Love your room. I think a cruise to nowhere would be ideal. To me, a vacation is not having to do anything but relax.

kate

 

[Steppesister]

I'm here- ish. After Wednesday's exam I can hang out here for the whole afternoon and catch up everywhere. Looking forward to seeing what all you got to enjoy!

 

[Leshaface]

I'm here and will be back to read!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Hi Alison! Thanks for the bat signal! I'm in!

If you're looking for exotic ports of call, thrilling excursions, and visits to indigenous peoples, you won't find it here.

Forget it, I'm out.

What you will get is a look at a relaxed, indulgent cruise vacation with plenty of good food and drink and sunrise photos.

Ok, I'm back in. But I'm expecting nice sunrises and will be keeping count of foods I can't pronounce.

I'll give you a little time to think about it.

(Jeopardy theme)

Her timing?
Not so much.

A week earlier would have been helpful.

At least you know how to handle it at this point.

If we're going to dinner with friends, a party (maybe someday), or something local, I build in half a hour. If it involves suitcases or overnight, I double it.

Yes! I may or may not have been known to do this as well.

We were pulling. into the port around 10:45, perfect timing! What we did NOT count on was that the knuckleheads directing traffic were only letting folks picking up passengers drive up to meet the porters and drop off luggage.

This gets a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Nice shot there!

By this point it was 11:25, I stopped looking at the time after this. From here on out we were practically home free

And you beat noon. Take that, mean parking people!

For those wondering, this is a roasted Calabaza Soup

And there's #1. No idea what that is.

Let me tell you, this is my new favorite room on the Wonder!

It looks very spacious!

Oh, let’s see what’s behind that door there…well what do you know? We should have brought the house elf along, that would have been a perfect place to sleep!

So...I guess you can dump your suitcases in there? Or misbehaving kids?

Yeah, I think I’m going to like this room!

That verandah is huge!

 

[Leshaface]

Schooner or Later??

For those not native or transplanted to Southern California, we rarely actually need jackets. They are mostly worn as a fashion statement and usually cause excessive heat. Sensible people lacking a fashion conscience normally wear a flannel or denim shirt for the correct amount of warmth in evening and winter.

So true. My first 'Winter' there, I couldn't believe how nice it was, that was 2006. 2007--totally opposite! When I would get ready for work at 3 in the morning, I'd be wearing layers, sitting in front of that pathetic excuse for a heater that are in apartments, freezing! At night DH and I actually had to cuddle

Wake up, "shoot! It's already 5:30 AM." (Dialogue may be slightly modified to fit the friendly family boards.).

There is no plane to catch. If we run late that only means we have to wait less time for our stateroom to be ready.

I do love that there is no flying involved with 'local' ports. I don't know if I ever told you (mainly cause we weren't sure ourselves!) but we were supposed to go that cruise but it ended up not being money efficient in the long run...we compromised and got DLR AP's

I had just heard the announcement and they were currently boarding group 3.

Sweet!

Perfect timing!

Sigh how I do miss looking through these...

Child's plate. Excellent

Uh, how brilliant are you?! Adding a slice of cheese on TOP of mac and cheese?!

In the end I still gained 10 pounds on the cruise. At least I have taken off two of those pounds already.

It's crazy how much one can gain on a cruise! But, eating is what you're supposed to do.

Woah! I can't get over how spacious this is! Do you know, are all corner rooms like this HA?

OK, let’s check out the Verandah. Not bad.

Oh yeah, but then there is the rest of it.

I hate you.

 

[franandaj]

DW and I were just talking about how we no longer enjoy "stuff your face" eating. While I am OK with the occasional buffet, I generally prefer less food and better food. While I remember Parrot Cay being pretty good, the buffets in general on the cruise got real old, real fast for us. Same thing at WDW. We used to go to several buffets to catch characters, but now we would rather just limit it to once a trip max.

Edit: And WOW what a room. That verandah is massive! It looks bigger than the room!

I'm still OK with buffets, but I take advantage of the fact that you can go back again and again. I don't take more than I really want in any one platerfull. Sometimes you can't do that like when they cut that piece of meat off the roast beef. I would have liked half or even 1/4 of what they gave me, but you kind of have no choice. they wat to give you too much!

Lunch looked very nice. I am glad that they still do the Schnitzel and the corn dog nuggets. That room is out of this world.

Corinna

Yeah, while I enjoy all the first plate stuff, the second plate stuff is kind of what I really want, and I'm so glad they still have all of it!

I hate the buffet too and much prefer to sit down for the first meal. Your plates looked good!


Jill in CO

Not counting Palo Brunch, I think we ate at one other buffet, no two, but Palo Brunch is a whole different matter!

We don't either!

Seems a lot of people share this sentiment!

Yes, that is exactly how we like it too and we ALWAYS go and have lunch at the "other restaurant". I am on vacation, it's enough if I have to go and get my food, no need for fighting for a table and juggle drinks around.

Exactly. I don't mind the buffet on Day 1 so much since I can get most of what I want, but you'll see we don't do a lot of buffets.

Your room is AMAZING!!! You got really lucky there - those large verandas are such a blessing.

We really didn't need such a large verandah, but it was kind of cool. I got my exercise walking back and forth taking pictures in the mornings.

Oh, and btw - thanks for filling me in on what to expect on embarkation day San Diego - should be fun trying to get ALL of our luggage on board.

Yeah, I thought of you two as I walked back to the Wyndam to pick up my car and I saw the people dragging their luggage to the ship. You will probably have some pretty full suitcases as your trip is what three or four weeks long?

What a WONDERful room indeed!

I'm really liking your painted fingernails.

You're so funny, you pick up on all the little things!

Your plates with the food never touching always cracks me up.

Why? Because food touching is ewwww!

We enjoyed Parrot Cay. I think I liked Triton's the least. While it is quite pretty, I prefer the less formal....at least when I was with Joshua anyway. With Michael it might be another story. #WishingAndDreaming

That's funny, it's why I like Parrot Cay the least and Triton's the best! You'll see that we get a bit of mileage out of Triton's eventually.

 

[franandaj]

What a great looking lunch you had! Good for you for sticking to "just enough".

It was tough, but I'm sure I would have put on a ton more weight if I didn't!

And WOW! What an amazing room. You definitely had room for me in that house elf cupboard. If not, one of those deck chairs on that amazing verandah would have worked just as well. That's definitely got to be one of the best rooms on the ship!!!

You and Jill both! Definitely one of the best, the only better one I've had so far was the Concierge one bedroom from a couple years ago.

That is an awesomely huge room! That is so much area to expand and have a nice relaxing vacation!

It was! I'm spoiled by that room now. I'm going to want it every time I sail on the Wonder, but I can't have it next time.

Great pictures! The food looked delicious! Good for you for not stuffing yourselves. I would be tempted to eat until I was sick! Everything looked so good!

Every other cruise I have stuffed myself silly, and it just doesn't feel comfortable an hour later. I had to restrain myself, but I felt a lot better for it.

And the room! Holy cow! I could be happy just hanging out in the room and the veranda! All that veranda just for your room? Everything is beautiful! Off to a great start!

That's one of the reasons I need a verandah room. As you will see for the first part of the trip, we spend kind of a lot of time in the room, so it' needs to be comfy.

If you ever need a house elf, just call me Doby!

Jill in CO

Omg, Alison! I completely forgot about how you don't like your food to touch each other. I'm the same way!!! In particular, I hate my salty stuff to touch my sweet stuff. Unfortunately, DD8 is the SAME way!!! She is actually worse cuz she wants separate salty from sweet utensils!

Good! A kindred spirit! Someone who can relate! Although I am developing quite a passion for salted caramels!

Your stateroom is so massive and the balcony is beyond massive! Does that mean you spend a lot of time out on the balcony?

I'm not sure what you deem "a lot of time". It's not like I go out there and sit on the lawn furniture. You can't see over the balcony so it's not great for sitting. Also it's not much fun to stay out there by myself. However, I do tend to go out there when pulling in and out of port, and at sunrise and sunset. You'll see pictures!

Our 1st Wonder trip we did Parrot Cay and this last time we did BBB. Next time we will follow suit and do Parrot Cay again. I agree it's less chaotic, stressful. I like that they seat you and bring our drinks.

I like that a lot too. Our next cruise is on the Dream in 36 days and I think @dizneeat has mentioned in her TRs that Enchanted Garden is the place where you can be seated and have waiters bring your drinks.

 

[pepe3penelope]

I like that a lot too. Our next cruise is on the Dream in 36 days and I think @dizneeat has mentioned in her TRs that Enchanted Garden is the place where you can be seated and have waiters bring your drinks.

We LOVED going to Enchanted Garden for your breakfasts when we were on Fantasy 2 years ago. We really liked Cabanas, but you get your drinks, it feels more crowded. We also loved how beautiful Enchanted Garden is. Also, they can make custom egg orders for you. DH and DD were in heaven ordering their eggs easy up!

I'm not sure what you deem "a lot of time". It's not like I go out there and sit on the lawn furniture. You can't see over the balcony so it's not great for sitting. Also it's not much fun to stay out there by myself. However, I do tend to go out there when pulling in and out of port, and at sunrise and sunset. You'll see pictures!

I love seeing the ship coming in and out of port. We have only done outside cabins. I have secretly wanted to do a verandah for obvious reasons. However, the last cruise made me realize my fear of getting too close to the railing when the ship is moving would prevent that. Jetskigrl (Patti) was kind enough to invite me and the kids to their concierge suite. When we went out to their long verandah, DD started to sit on the lounge chair to lean forward and look at the ocean. I swear, my heart stopped and I yelled, "Stop!" My crazy imagination feared she'd fall overboard! I told DH and said, "I guess this means we are never getting a verandah, huh?" He agreed cuz he knows it freaks me out. When she ship is docked I'm fine.

 

[franandaj]

Looks like you had a nice lunch, I would go to the Parrot Cay too if I go on a DCL cruise, looks like it is much less hectic than the regular Buffet.

I've only been to Parrot Cay, but I can't imagine BBB being more relaxing. The later your board, the more they try to convince you to go upstairs to BBB. They say things like, "you have a view of the port and the ocean from up there!"

WOW Love the room! What is that extra little room for, is it a closet?

I have no idea, but you'll see in the next post what we use it for. One of the couples at our dinner table had the same idea as well, they had the same room on a previous cruise.

Great update. Parrot Cay looks to me like Cabanas on The Dream? That is a fabulous buffet. What were those cute little sticky buns? They looked really nice! Were they filled with tuna?

I think Cabanas is the equivalent of Beach Blanket Buffet, but @dizneeat would know more of that to confirm. I think those little sandwiches were filled with tuna, but Fran doesn't remember.

That food looks divine. Another voter for the seperator plates. I buy the disposable ones for home! That meat yum and those desserts! Oh my. You did well to restrain yourselves.

I actually have my own corelle plates with separators, and then I even have two of those plates like they give the kids at the buffet. I totally use them when we have Indian food, BBQ ribs (coleslaw, beans, corn), I even do the separated plates at home!

Why did you have your lugguage with you? Why did they not take it to your room from the port? At PC you unload and the next thing you see your bags it's in your stateroom. You just remember to pack a small daybag with some items incase you need it before.

Our day bags may be a little bigger than most.

Wow lovely room! So spacious. I am very impressed. Looking good so far!

Are not your rooms this spacious? I am getting a little worried about the Dream and Fantasy.

So you're saying you're abnormal people.


I'm okay with that.

I never claimed to be normal. Quite the opposite!

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but.... it looks like it's ready for a birthday party.

I think it's the whole Caribbean theme.

Well.... of course. Because... shrimp.

Exactly!

You didn't try it though, did you?
If you did, what was it like?

No I didn't, but I'm guessing it's like a butternut squash soup.

I assume... chicken? Or is it actually veal??

It was Pork.

Good for you. That's a tough one though.

It was, yes and no. I wanted to eat a bunch, but I know how icky I feel after eating too much so I was able to avoid it for almost all the cruise.

Why? Personal preference? Less motion? Luck of the draw? I have no idea.

No, the Handicapped Accessible rooms on the "Classic ships" are pretty much at the back of the ships. On our first cruise Fran was OK without the scooter, but that was over 15 years ago. Since then (we started cruising again in 2012) we have always had HA rooms at the back of the ship. On the Dream and Fantasy we will have a new situation, our rooms will be in the middle of the ship.

What the heck is that? I guess you can shove your suitcases in there instead of under the bed.

Pretty much what we decided. You'll see pics in the next update.

That's huge! Is it all yours? Or was there another room sharing?

That was all ours!!!!! No sharing at all!

I think we know what you mean.

;laughing:

Rain? What? Really???? I thought that never happened!

Yeah, pretty much the same sort of "rain" you had when you were in San Diego. But yeah, it never happens which was why we were so surprised.

Well... that makes a lot of sense. You can be picked up but you can't drop off... so maybe you should have paid someone picking somebody up 20 bucks to drive you in?

Really, except it would have been harder to get our stuff in someone else's car than just to haul it ourselves.

Those entitled pricks.

Wow! So you can't drive up close to the port unless you're picking someone up, but you just have to flash an official looking booklet to gain foot access?

Pretty much.

Cool! Your timing turned out to be perfect!

That's why I totally overestimated on our departure time. It all worked out into my master plan.

Why? There's so much real food to choose from!

Well because I know what kind of food I will be eating for the next week. I figure that I better start with salad then I won't feel so guilty for everything else that I will be eating for the nest week!

Wow. I've never seen that much empty space on a plate that I've filled at a buffet.

I could go back as many times as I wanted. No need to fill it full on the first time!

And? This is a bad thing?

Yes it is, unless you want to come back 20 pounds heavier, it can happen easily!

Ok... I'm at a loss. What is that room even for anyway? It looks like a closet with no place to hang anything. I guess it is a good place to store luggage, at least.

That's pretty much what I figured. Or a place to put the bad kids in time out.

Looks awesome! That verandah is huge!

It was insanely huge, but I wasn't complaining!

 

[franandaj]

What a big difference from the SD port to the one in Florida where it is cluster. The Navigators looks great to do those different activities.

Lunch looks very nice at Parrot Cay looks good and it is bright.

I swear, it was a big difference for San Diego and EVERY other port! It has been the only one that was such a PITA! The Navigators are great because there is always so much going on!

Parrot Cay is very bright. It is very festive. I like it better than up top because up there you don't have waiters to bring you drinks.

The Verandah room looks so big and spacious. I really like the deck where there is a lot of space and I could enjoy my morning going outside.

It is big and spacious because it is Handicapped Accessible and we just happened to luck out on the verandah. The people next to us had like an eight foot wide verandah.

Wow, both a tub and a shower. How wonderful! Love your room. I think a cruise to nowhere would be ideal. To me, a vacation is not having to do anything but relax.

kate

Actually most rooms on the Disney ships have a tub and shower (not separate) but the tubs are not nearly as big.

I'm here- ish. After Wednesday's exam I can hang out here for the whole afternoon and catch up everywhere. Looking forward to seeing what all you got to enjoy!

Come by when you can. There will be more going on here than the other report, although I do have a few more posts to put up there!

I'm here and will be back to read!

Hi Alison! Thanks for the bat signal! I'm in!

Forget it, I'm out.

OK never mind.

Ok, I'm back in. But I'm expecting nice sunrises and will be keeping count of foods I can't pronounce.

OK glad you're back in. I think there will be less of those kinds of foods on this TR than my normal ones.

(Jeopardy theme)

At least you know how to handle it at this point.

Yeah, I've gotten used to it.

Yes! I may or may not have been known to do this as well.

You do what you gotta do.

This gets a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

It took me a while to figure out what this means. I had to read it out loud to Fran and then I went DOH!

Nice shot there!

Thanks!

And you beat noon. Take that, mean parking people!

Yeah! Mean parking people! <-- not a thumb!

And there's #1. No idea what that is.

I read your replies while in the drive thru at Starbucks. I totally LOL'd when you said you were going to keep track of the foods that you couldn't pronounce, but when I saw this I was totally gafawing, to the point that I wondered if the cars around me thought I was nuts!

I actually had no idea what this was either, and I didn't eat any, but Fran tells me it was like a butternut squash sort of soup. but she didn't have any either.

It looks very spacious!

It was.

So...I guess you can dump your suitcases in there? Or misbehaving kids?

Since we didn't have any of those kids, I'm going to go with suitcases.

That verandah is huge!

I know. Huh?

Schooner or Later??

Close. Boathouse on the Bay.

So true. My first 'Winter' there, I couldn't believe how nice it was, that was 2006. 2007--totally opposite! When I would get ready for work at 3 in the morning, I'd be wearing layers, sitting in front of that pathetic excuse for a heater that are in apartments, freezing! At night DH and I actually had to cuddle

Normally I don't even get a jacket out of the closet. I'm going to have to buy one this Winter for my summer trip to Alaska!

I do love that there is no flying involved with 'local' ports. I don't know if I ever told you (mainly cause we weren't sure ourselves!) but we were supposed to go that cruise but it ended up not being money efficient in the long run...we compromised and got DLR AP's

Oh man! You and your family could have enjoyed the verandah with us!

Perfect timing!

In the end, yes! I was very pleased.

Sigh how I do miss looking through these...

It's one of my favorite pastimes on the ship. Planning what we will do the next day!

Child's plate. Excellent

I love those!

Uh, how brilliant are you?! Adding a slice of cheese on TOP of mac and cheese?!

The more cheese the better!

It's crazy how much one can gain on a cruise! But, eating is what you're supposed to do.

AT least that is what the CMs think you should do. I felt guilty sitting at Palo and watching all the "fit" looking people walking by exercising while I ate.

Woah! I can't get over how spacious this is! Do you know, are all corner rooms like this HA?

Sort of. Our room on Deck 7 wasn't quite as big.

I hate you.

Thanks! <--not a thumb

We LOVED going to Enchanted Garden for your breakfasts when we were on Fantasy 2 years ago. We really liked Cabanas, but you get your drinks, it feels more crowded. We also loved how beautiful Enchanted Garden is. Also, they can make custom egg orders for you. DH and DD were in heaven ordering their eggs easy up!

This is good to know. We are on the Fantasy in about 15 months, but the Dream in about five weeks!

I love seeing the ship coming in and out of port. We have only done outside cabins. I have secretly wanted to do a verandah for obvious reasons. However, the last cruise made me realize my fear of getting too close to the railing when the ship is moving would prevent that. Jetskigrl (Patti) was kind enough to invite me and the kids to their concierge suite. When we went out to their long verandah, DD started to sit on the lounge chair to lean forward and look at the ocean. I swear, my heart stopped and I yelled, "Stop!" My crazy imagination feared she'd fall overboard! I told DH and said, "I guess this means we are never getting a verandah, huh?" He agreed cuz he knows it freaks me out. When she ship is docked I'm fine.

I can see with kids how you might freak out about them falling over. I have this weird fear of my wedding ring falling off when I am on the verandah. It is something about the wide expanse of the ocean and how it so large and something so small falling in and getting lost. We all have our things, and that's why the world is beautiful.

 

[franandaj]

Getting Settled in

The first thing Fran did was lay down on the bed and take a nap. If there is one thing we have learned over the years, it takes two days for her to catch up on sleep before she can really enjoy a trip. Good thing we booked two cruises, because she might almost miss the first one!

My job is to get us all settled in so we can enjoy the trip. The first thing that I noticed was the distilled water and extension cord that I had ordered (for my CPAP machine) were not in the room. So I headed down to guest services to fix this. I was really pleased to find out that I didn’t have to return the extension cord until the end of the 5-night cruise.

For those who are not aware, power strip extension cords are now on the “do not take” list for Disney cruises. I decided to take some pictures of the ship all decorated for “Halloween on the High Seas” on my way back to the room.





Boy they need to change THAT flower arrangement, I don’t know who picked that one out, maybe it was some guy named Jack.















[Continued Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

This was Triton's my favorite restaurant, but it was all "packed up" because the ship was in port and they weren't serving food here until after the ship set sail.





This is "Shutters" where you can check out your pictures that have been taken on the ship and eventually purchase them if you like what you have seen. We purchased the picture package for the second cruise, but not the first. It was almost the same price (around $200) for each cruise. We figured that on a five day cruise we could get enough pictures to make it worth it, but on a two day cruise.




Many of you know that Disney ships have an art gallery on board. Most of the time, we come home with something from there, but surprisingly we did not on this cruise. If I were to pick a picture, this one was probably my favorite of the lot.



When I got back to the room, two of our suitcases had already been delivered, so I got to work unpacking. The stateroom hostess had put one of the annoying channels on the TV, you know the ones that tell you all the information for first time cruisers when they board the ship. And by the time I got to unpacking I think I had heard the spiel about the muster drill at least three times. So I clicked around on the channels and found Ghostbusters on the TV. That sounded good, a movie I know inside and out and could not pay attention to, but still entertain me. Except after about 10 seconds I realized that they were speaking in Spanish! Maybe, it took less time to figure that out, but it was really weird. I found the English version and watched the end of the movie while I unpacked.

Pretty soon it was close to 2:30PM and they were having a DVC Members meet. I had never been to one before and heard there are free drinks so I decided why not? The drink that they were serving was the Drink of the Day, Sunken Treasure. I remember these from the last cruise and they were one of my favorites.



I ended up bailing on the meeting early because it was really silly. They were playing a game where you had to identify a Disney song within about 3-5 seconds of hearing a snippet. We were divided into teams, half the room were Pirates, who were encouraged to say, “Aaaaaargh!” every time their team was mentioned. Our half of the room were the Incredibles, and we were supposed to put our fist in the air and yell, “I’m Incredible!” every time our team was mentioned. What made it even more silly was that after ever song was identified, the host told us to stand up and do strange things like, “act like Jungle animals (ie Jungle book)” or “I want to see puppets! (ie Pinnochio), now, you got no strings!”

I just wasn’t feeling it, and it was getting close to 3PM when we had our Meet and Greet for the FB and DISboards groups. So I grabbed a bottle of water on my way out and I went down to the Promenade Lounge for the meet. Now these things are usually pretty uncomfortable for me. I am not really a social butterfly. Especially when I don’t know people, I’m not really good at making small talk. So after I picked up our pins (ordered for the cruise participants on the FB group), and I left.

When I got back to the room, the third suitcase had arrived. I decided that we wanted room service delivery on the first day. Even though we had Brunch at Palo, that wasn’t until 10:30. Fran needs a little food in her tummy to take morning pills and I don’t mind a small snack early on, so we filled out the room service card and put it on the door.

It was also getting on time for the muster drill. I’ve had some comments about folks who have never been on a cruise, so I’ll explain what goes on here. You’ve all heard of a ship that’s name starts with a “T” and ends with “ick” that no one on a cruise ship likes to mention? Well a lot of rules and regulations came from that experience and one rule is a safety requirement that everyone needs to know what to do in the event of an emergency. Every person on the ship has an assigned location where they head in case of emergency. I think they are almost all on Deck 4 where the life boats are located. At 4PM on embarkation day, everyone has to head to their designated spot and one person per room gets their room key counted to confirm that you were there. The person in charge talks with a bull horn about what to do in case of an emergency and then everyone on the ship leaves their stations and rushes the elevators and staircases all at once in a huge frenzy.

We headed straight for Deck 9 because it had been sooooooo long since we had eaten and our assigned dinner time wasn’t until 8:15. So what did we get? Ice Cream!



And I also picked up a plate of fruit.



The deck was getting very crowded with people waiting for the sail away party, so we decided to go back to the room and I could finish up unpacking. The last suitcase was waiting outside our door, and I was quite relieved to find this as our Pirate clothes were packed in this case. As we were coming in Fran noticed that I didn’t completely finish filling out the room service card, I only filled out the back part with our order, so I grabbed it off the door and brought it back inside so I could finish filling it out. I worked on finishing unpacking since all our suitcases had arrived. Ghostbusters had started up again, so I put it on to drone on in the background while I continued to unpack.

Once I was all unpacked, I was so pleased with myself for being all settled in for the next week!







Fran was back to her napping as I finished up. The ship was supposed to sail out at 5PM, and the shops were going to open at 6PM. We had planned to go up there when they opened to see if there was any good merchandise, but 6PM rolled around and the ship was still in port. I let Fran continue to sleep while I took pictures of the Sunset.







These small boats were driving around the harbor and I kept looking at them wondering, “are those guns on the front of that boat?” Yup. Those are definitely guns.



Back to the Sunset

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And finally the shot of the port when the ship had finally turned around and actually left the port.

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What I forgot to mention is that when we were coming back from the muster drill the scooter barely made it back to the room. In fact I had to put it in neutral and push it from the elevator. You can have free 50MB of internet for each cruise, so I signed us up as soon as we got back from the muster drill and I downloaded what I thought was the manual for Fran’s scooter and it said that the beeps she was experiencing was a “throttle issue”. We found over the course of the cruise that her scooter would do OK for a while when it had a full charge, but died really quickly. We kept it plugged in at every possible opportunity.
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Since we had finally left the port, the shops would be opening as soon as we hit international waters. It was time to get Fran up and dressed for the evening.
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Our first stop was going to be the gift shop, but since we would be heading directly to dinner we needed to get on our pirate garb. I had her take a picture of me in the room to catch the entire ensemble from head to toe, since the photopass photographers only get you from the waist up.

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We always start off at the Treasure Ketch, it’s the more upscale shop with jewelry, watches and more adult clothing.

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Fran got one each of these shirts.

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And these T-shirts.

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Then we went over to Mickey’s Mates.

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She picked up these two shirts there.

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Her loot, back in the room.

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It was while we were browsing in the store that we ran into Patti (aka jetskigirl). After our purchases we went to get our pictures taken. We went to two different photographers and they took a total of six pictures. We ordered the picture package for the second cruise, but not the first, so we picked out the best of the lot and purchased that one.

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[More to come later][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL]

 

[dizneeat]

How awesome are those portholes!

I ended up bailing on the meeting early because it was really silly. They were playing a game where you had to identify a Disney song within about 3-5 seconds of hearing a snippet. We were divided into teams, half the room were Pirates, who were encouraged to say, “Aaaaaargh!” every time their team was mentioned. Our half of the room were the Incredibles, and we were supposed to put our fist in the air and yell, “I’m Incredible!” every time our team was mentioned.

We usually go to the DVC meets (yip, free drinks and a hat ), but the meet you described is one that we leave VERY early as well. But they are not always like this. They can be pretty informative (showing layouts of new resorts and things) too. But again, I do NOT blame you for leaving early.

And I also picked up a plate of fruit.

Now, that looks yummy!

Once I was all unpacked, I was so pleased with myself for being all settled in for the next week!

Doesn't it just feel so good, when you have "moved in" and everything is out of the suitcase?

These small boats were driving around the harbor and I kept looking at them wondering, “are those guns on the front of that boat?” Yup. Those are definitely guns.

They were in Port Canaveral as well! We had not seen them on previous cruises, but we were stunned about the "armed" boats as well.

Ah, how beautiful! I have always loved the skyline of SD and we cannot wait to go back.

Now, that is what I call a costume! Thanks for sharing.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I really like the portholes with the pumpkin shape faces. DCL does really well even during the Halloween season.

Great pictures from outside of the sunset and SD.

A nice selection of treasures that Fran bought.

Very nice pirates costumes that night.

 

[rentayenta]

Fantastic update! Love the pics of the ship. Your costumes are fantastic!

I am a total unpacker too. I hate living out of a suitcase.