Mandymouse's Holiday of Firsts ~ Day 4

[mandymouse]

Castmembers

Paul & Mandy

Travelling & Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

Tuesday 8th June ~ High - Mid 90'sF

We were up at 'stupid o'clock' this morning, well 4.20am to be precise. We got ready and arrived at the Jetty Park at Port Canaveral around 5am. Now as daft as it sounds, me and Paul have always wanted to see the Disney Wonder return to port. She usually arrives at the estuary around 10am (UK time) when we're watching her on a webcam at home, so this was one of those little things we've always wanted to do

Well, literally as we got parked and passed the guys fishing on the pier, we could see her returning home

After taking some pics at the pier, we drove up to the terminal to see her dock

It was a lovely sight to see her all lit up, and after taking our photos we headed back to the hotel

We went back to bed, but I couldn't settle, I was just too excited

We left the hotel around 9.30am, but the Cruise terminal wasn't open, so we drove around a few times, but when it still hadn't opened after 10am, we decided that Paul would drop me off with the luggage on the main road, he'd leave the car in the car park and we'd walk in together

Once through security, we went up the escalators to the DCL terminal. We were given boarding # 4 and we entered the non-US line, and we were seen after a couple of minutes

The CM took our paperwork, our photograph, gave us our Gold Castaway Club Lanyards and we went off to take some photos around the terminal

Cont'd ..

 

[mandymouse]

Cont'd

Boarding started around 11.50am and 10 minutes later our boarding number was called and we were heading through those big Mickey Ears and onto 'our' ship

The CastMember announced 'Welcome aboard the Disney Wonder the Martindale family' .... and we were home

We took the lift up to Deck 9 and Paul went to the Beach Blanket Buffet to get some lunch while I looked after our carry ons. He seemed to take ages to return, so I decided to give the BBB a miss and I picked up a plate of melon and pineapple and some tuna wraps and turkey ciabatta from Goofy's Galley

After lunch we found some loungers at the Adults Only area Quiet Cove. I ordered a couple of Bahama Mamas and at 1pm I popped down to Wavebands to see if we could get a reservation for Palo High Tea (as there had been none available on-line)

Kim, our Palo server for the past few years was working on the Palo reservation desk, and she called me over. We had a little chat, and as she was about to put me on a waitlist for High Tea, a woman behind me said she was cancelling her reservation, and would I like it ? .. would I ? .. would I ? I was thrilled to have the opportunity to do this for the first time

I left Wavebands a happy bunny, got changed into my swimwear and joined Paul (and my Bahama Mama) at the Quiet Cove

Around 2pm I went in search of our room. We were on Deck 5, stateroom # 5144. Our cases were already outside our room, and as I approached, I saw our stateroom host Dom, who asked me to sign for a couple of things. One I knew would've been for our Castaway Club gift, but I didn't have a clue what else I was signing for (and I was too excited to ask ). I made a start on our unpacking straight away. Half way through it, I noticed a tray of goodies, I thought 'Ooh, that's nice' and carried on with my unpacking (numpty !!!) ..

.. then a few minutes later I spotted a bottle of Asti in a bucket of ice, and there was a little message on it from Kerry and Becky

My eyes filled up for a moment or two as I figured out that Paul must've arranged this from them. What a lovely surprise, as we've never ordered in room gifts before

A short time later Paul returned to the room, and we sorted out our door magnets and Fish Extender (I can't believe I forgot to take a photo of them)

After getting changed, we cracked open our bottle of Asti and relaxed

We then wandered around the ship taking photos and stopping occassionally for a refreshing drinky

Cont'd ..

 

[mandymouse]

Cont'd

Next it was nearly time for the Muster Drill, so we returned to our room to pick up our lifevests then went down to our Muster Station which was in Animator's Palate (Yay, no standing outside in the searing heat )

After returning our lifevests to our stateroom, we went for a wander (in other words in search of some cocktails )

We popped into Diversions and had a drinky and some Nachos.

After a while we noticed that the ship was moving away from the dock, so we legged it up to Deck 10 where the Sailaway Party was in full swing (though we had missed the characters)

At some point we ran into Sailor Goofy ..

.. and we did a little shopping, where I bought this

Before long it was time to get ready for dinner. We were on late seating (8.15pm) and tonight we were in Triton's (our rotation was Tritons/Animators Palate/Parrot Cay/Parrot Cay/Tritons). We were sat with 3 other couples (2 married couples and a Gran & Grandaughter) and they were all very friendly and chatty

For starters Paul & I both had the Tomato & Basil Soup, then I had the Slowly Braised Lamb Shank and Paul had Grilled Beef Tenderloin, then we finished off with the Sweet Temptation for me (A trio of mini Crème Brûlée, Chocolate Mousse and Praline Petite Choux) and Paul had an ice-cream sundae, and we also enjoyed a couple of the speciality cocktails too. It was all very nice and we had a lovely evening

We popped into the Promenade Lounge for a final drink when I was approached by a guy who asked me if I was from the DIS, and were we here for the 'meet'. We had completely forgotten that a meet had been arranged for after late dinner in the Promenade Lounge. Anyway we joined Mike, his wife Eileen and their son Pat, but sadly no-one else turned up. Evenso, we enjoyed a drink and a chat together before saying goodnight

When we got back to our room we found this little towel animal and another Castaway Club gift of a luggage strap, keyring, DCL organiser and a mini box of choccies (I'm loving these Gold Members perks )

Then we turned in ~ what a great day !!

Tomorrow ~ Our first visit to Key West

 

[cannp123165]

Sounds like a great day - I love your Dooney and Bourke purse.

 

[Jordanblackpool]

Great Day! And some great photos!!! The deck and pool area looks lovely!

 

[natalielongstaff]

what a great surprise gift i dread to think what your bar bill is at the end of the cruise though

 

[disney_princess_85]

Lovely day and lovely Gold Member extras. Your purse is really cute! You look fab in your dinner outfit, by the way.

 

[Jets fan]

Mandy your cruise reports always make me yearn to be on a Disney cruie ship

Tina

 

[Goofysmate]

Well worth getting up so early to see the ship coming in & being able to get some great photo's.
I'd love to have my photo taken with sailor goofy
What a lovley gift from you duaghters waiting for you in your cabin
Do you pick what time you want to eat & in what resturants , what if you don't want to sit with others at a table.

 

[wickesy]

Great day Mandy.

 

[gemmybear83]

Oooh just catching up Mandy!

Great first day on the ship - all the photos have got me very excited! Can't wait to see what you thought of Key West as we off there in December on our cruise

 

[jjk]

what a fantastic day Mandy

 

[PJB71]

Oh what a fantastic sight seeing her all lit up, god I soooo wish I was back on that boat

What lovely gift from your DD's

 

[irongirlof12]

yay, she's home! i love the piccie of you on the ship with the wind in your hair and ya shae on , you look so relaxed and happy

 

[Muscateer]

What a fantastic day and a lovely surprise from your girls too. The cruise photos always makes me want to do a cruise so keeping fingers crossed.

 

[Tinks1984]

Mandy, what a fantastic day! I loved the photo's of the Wonder coming back into port! And the ones from on board are just amazing to see, I hope I can do a Disney cruise one day - looks amazing!

I LOVE Paul's t-shirt too, I own one I know it's a men's one, but there was just no other Stitch t-shirts and I NEEDED to bring one home with me, so that one it was

Love the gift from the girls, ever so cute! And all those little gifts were just great little touches, makes you realise why we all love Disney so much!

 

[suzycute]

I admire your dedication at getting up at 4.20 (didn't know such a time existed!) although the sight of a fully lit up Wonder looks amazing!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[jockey]

Fab Day Mandy, I love your Dooney & Bourke purse

 

[TotallyAngelic]

WOW ..... brilliant report ... loving every minute ... it's really helping me build up excitement for my transatlantic in 79 days

 

[wilma-bride]

Lovely first day on board the Wonder Mandy - I feel quite homesick now

What a sweet thing for Paul to dao, arranging that surprise. Great gold membership perks btw - I think we have a way to go before we will be reaching that level. 2 cruises down, 1 more booked - several still to go