May 15th-19th Disney Wonder(ful) Cruise-All in one Thread (long)

[LuvindisCruiser]

I know it's kinda late, but I promised myself I would type up a trip report about our adventure, especially because I enjoyed reading all others before our trip!

Cast of Characters:
DH- Willingly went on Disney Cruise because I worked the whole year before to pay for this cruise and DisneyWorld for 5 days before we set sail !
DH not a huge fan of Disney, but loves cruises!
Me- A huge Disney fan, have grown up traveling to Disneyland, and try to go at least every other year, if husband allows.
DS5- Matthew, first cruise, first time to Disneyworld. Went to Disneyland when he was 3, and still remembers alot of the rides.
DD5-Megan, Matthew's twin sister, and info. above applies to her, too !!
Miss Megan is also known as Princess Jasmine!

We started our vacation five days before staying at Port Orlean Fr. Quarter, and did four full days of the Disney parks. We didn't see everything of course, but hopefully someday, we can visit again and see more.
We did the parks from open to close, with a rest in the afternoon, and some fun in the cool pool at our resort.
After fours days at the parks we were so ready for some downtime and just relaxing for a change of pace. DH was looking forward to the Kids club !

We left our hotel about 9:30, pretty close to time I wanted to leave and enjoyed our drive to Port Canaveral.
We got to the Port about 10:40, went over the bridge, and then we saw her........... The Disney Wonder. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L-! Wow, she looked awesome ! We followed the signs to our Wonder very easily and Disney Personal checked for our names as we pulled in, and told us where to go.
DH unloaded us and all our luggage right at the curb, Disney porters gathered all our luggage and off it went. The kids and I went in to the terminal and DH went to park the car right across from the terminal.
We went inside to the registration desk and walked right up, there wasn't very many people in the terminal yet. She took all my paperwork I had already filled out, checked our birth certificates, and gave me our room keys for all of us. OUr rotation was P,T,A,A, and we were table #75. By the time I was done, DH was already in the terminal, he didn't have to check himself in at all. WE all did our potty breaks and checked out the model of the ship.
DH and the kids went and got in line to board the ship, and were about the 10th family in line.
I went to make sure the kids were signed up for the kids club because I had done it on-line before we left. And, I had to get their pagers and their wristbands. They were all signed up and everything was correct in the disney system. That was easy !!
While waiting in line Mickey and Minnie came out to take pictures in front of the Disney Model. We didn't wait in line for that picture, because frankly we were tired of waiting in lines by that point, so we stayed put and waited in line (to get on the ship)
While we waited we met a couple behind us who had a son named Matthew who was also 5, so the boys kept themselves entertained and tortured our Megan for awhile. Next to us was another family with another Matthew who was also 5. Those poor counselors in the kids club !!
It was finally time to Board! A little before 12:00 they let us start boarding the Disney Wonder. We got announced as we entered The Wonder, and then took our Welcome Aboard pictures.
The Wonder is very pretty ship and we enjoyed looking around as we walked onto our ship.
They directed us to Beach Blanket Buffet, but we told them we wanted to go to Parrot Cay. but, supposedly it would not be open for another half an hour. We were too hungry to wait so we went up to the buffet.
And, it was actually pretty good for a buffet! They had some really good wraps, and peel and eat shrimp, and others yummy things that I cannot remember. I did try the Strawberry soup I have been hearing about............ Hmmmm I don't know....... it tasted like melted strawberry ice-cream to me. But, that's just me. They had some other amazing desserts and wonderful fruit !!!
WE ate outside and enjoyed our very first of many meals that we would be totally enjoying on the days to come.
Let me just state this here: I was very impressed with the food on this Disney Cruise. I wasn't expecting alot from things I have heard. And, plus we have been on two other cruises Norweigen and Celebrity with amazing food. So, we went not expecting too much, but we were totally surprised with all our meals. The presentaion was great, and the food was great. Palo's on the other hand... above and beyond....DO NOT MISS PALOS! But, that I will post later !!
I will continue later on the rest of our adventure for embarkation day !!!

 

[khoffman923]

Great start for your trip report. Can't wait to read the rest. Be sure to give all the detail you can as I am researching for my family's first cruise next Summer.

Thanks!

Karen

 

[3mickeys&me]

Great trip report. We were on the same cruise and had a WONDERFUL time too. We also did the parks for 4 days before the cruise too!

Can't wait to read the rest of it

 

[jillane88]

Can't wait to hear the rest of the report. I too have twins who will be 5 during the cruise and I'm anxious to hear how yours did.

Heather

 

[piglethappy]

Great start!! Can't wait to hear more!!

I noticed you are from Albuquerque, so are we!!!

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

.............After lunch.
We decide it's time to hit the pool. We are ready to check out this mickey pool we have heard so much about and have seen advertised on all the videos. We go out the doors of beach blanket buffet and head straight on back (or is it forward) to the pools. The first area is the mickey pool, and there were only a few people in it at the time. (this will be the only time we will see it this empty) We grab a few chairs and the kids go wild !! Looking around the pool area, we are pleasantly surprised at the availability of food all around us. We had Pluto's dog house to our right with lots of choices (hamburgers,hot dogs, chicken sand.,bratwurst, and fries,etc) to our left we had scoops: vanilla and chocolate ice-cream, about 3-4 different toppings, and lots of fruit, I loved the pineapple, ( I wish I had some right now), across from us to our left we had to soda fountain area. And, around the corner at the goofy pool we had Pinocchio's Pizzeria, with about 3-4 different pizzas to choose from. We were full from lunch, but would be trying and sampling during the length of our cruise !

About 1:30 I went to check if our room was ready yet. So, I took our carry-on and the kids back-pacs and went on my search for stateroom #5524. SECRET PORTHOLE ROOM !! I made our reservations about 11 months in advance and was fortunate enough to be able to get this room. (thanks to DIS-for that info!) We were on deck 5, which I thought was a great location for us. The kids club was down the hall. And, The Walt Disney Theater was right below us. So, I walk in to our cabin........... and I was again pleasantly surprised. It was a decent size room. I like that there was two separate bathroom areas. One had the shower and sink and the other had the toilet and sink. There was definately enough room for all our clothes. And, the porthole was huge. We did have a bit of a blocked view, but we could definately see out and enjoy looking out at the ocean waves during our trip. For no extra charge, I was not going to complain. The sitting area was a good size with the couch (pull out bed for Princess Jasmine) and a desk with chair and a small table. I was a bit curious where Matthew's bed was coming out of? So I checked out our room a bit, and enjoyed the cleanness and quietness of it for now. Because later with all four of us, it was like a tornado went thru it.

So, I went back to the pool and we all hung out for a while longer then we all went to our cabin, it was about 3:00 by now and we wanted to see if our suitcases had arrived yet. When we got to our cabin one was waiting for us at our door. WE went in and the kids thought it was great. Matthew was a bit worried about where his bed was. Kirk our room steward would later tell him it was a magic bed and only came out at night. We loved Kirk, he was great and he had fun with the kids and made great towel animals for them.
Our luggage arrived while we were in our room, so I decided I better unpack now while I had a chance before the big Safety drill !! I didn't realize until later that I missed the Dis meet at 3:00, I was so bummed.
About 5 till four the announcement came on to meet at our stations with our life jackets. So, the four of us bumping into each other on the way out of our cabin make it to our station with all the other grumbling families and wining children. I felt sorry for the infants who had to wear the lifejackets, they looked even worse than ours !!!
It only lasted about 15 minutes than we were excused from the mob of jackets and everyone bumping into each other ! I should of videotaped that, it would be funny to watch now !
We went back to our cabin to put our lifejackets away. and get ready for the Sail Away Party!
We found a spot up on deck 10, looking down at the deck party. The kids sat on one of the storage units they use for towels. But, at least they were able to sit down and watch all the action. They had a surprise in our cabin from Mickey, some bubbles! So, they were busy blowing their bubbles. They were more interested in their bubbles than they were with the party going on.
I got the drink of the day, Bahama Mama, my favorite ! It was so good. After my drink of the day, I was ready to join the party. Princess jasmine and I went down to Deck 9 and joined the rest on the dance floor (on top of the covered goofy pool) The staff showed us some dance moves, and then some Disney entertainers/singers came out and sang for us. Then Mickey and pals ran out and the excitement really started. Megan and I had alot of fun dancing while DH and Matthew sat up on deck 10 and watched. Actually, Matthew was sitting next to his buddy Matthew. They didn't seem to be having half as much fun as we were!
At about 5:00, our cruise director came out (I'm going to call her Julie (from the Love Boat, because she really reminded me of her) and I don't remember her name. She was great though. So, she came out to start the count down of our departure.
10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1.. And the ships horn ripped through the air with the coolest 7 chords ever........ When you wish upon a star.......... And, the confetti was blown out and going everywhere! Then we started to slowly move on out. Our Cruise is on it's way!
I went to look over the side of the ship and saw the cast members from the terminal waving good-bye to us with their big Mickey hands. It was great!
We stayed for awhile and then went to our cabins to get ready for dinner.

We had early seating at 6:00, but every night before dinner their were character appearances in the atrium where you could take pictures and get autographs. So, we went to get in line (again) to wait for our picture with Donald and Daisy. The line wasn't too bad, some nights were worse than others, just depending on who the characters were that night. Tonight was cruise casual attire, so Megan and I had on sundresses and the guys had khakis and button up shirts.
Our dinner tonight was at Parrot Cay, we had a table to ourselves, but the tables were really close so we did get to talk to the others around us. I really am not going to be able to remember all I ate each day, because frankly, I ate ALOT! But, I do know we were very happy with our dinner. The only downside was that it took forever to get our food that night. Matthew was exhausted, and was complaining about how hungry he was. He didn't want an appetizer, so he very hungry. Megan got the tomato soup and absolutely loved it. Every night she would ask if it was on the menu. Finally, Matthew just fell asleep on his chair scrunched down with the tablecloth over him like a blanket. DH, picked him up, but he just stayed asleep on DH's lap. Finally, at about 7:00 our main course came and Matthew woke up. He ate a few bites and that was it. but, he was a little more awake and had ice-cream for dessert. I had some kind of Expresso Walnut Chocolate cake that was AWESOME. I think even better that the choc. souffle in Palo's (don't flame me for that) It had huge chunks of walnuts. OH YUM !!!

After dinner Matthew was in no mood to see Hercule the muse-ical, he just wanted to go to our room and watch T.V. That's my son.........
DH didn't really seem to mind, he was tired too. So, Megan and I walked them to our room, got our stuff. (little jackets for both of us, the theater is kinda chilly) -info. I got from the dis- thanks for the warning!! When we walked in Kirk had pulled Matthews bed down, all beds were turned down, we had a cute lobster made from towels, with chocolates on our bed and our Navigator for the next day. The kids thought this was so cool ! So did I. Matthew was really amazed about his magic bed and couldn't wait to climb on up and enjoy it ! So we left the boys to their evening alone. There a few Disney movies to choose from at all times for the kids and the adults. I don't know how many times we saw different parts of the Aviator with Leonardo Decaprio, but never saw it all.
So, megan and I went to the Disney Theater, took the steps down one deck and we were there! Very convenient.
The show was great, it was very entertaining and the actors were all great. Megan really enjoyed it too. We had a great time together watching it. After the show, we walked around the ship a bit before we went to our room. The movement of the ship really wasn't very bad. The only time we really noticed it was at dinner, but I think people say that is when you are crossing the gulf stream. Besides that we didn't really notice it.
We got back to the room expecting the boys to be asleep, but noooo, Matthew had gotten his second wind and was having a good time watching a movie with Daddy, who looked like we just woke HIM up!
There were other fun things to do that night like Family DAnce Party at 11:00 and family Karaoke from 9:45-11:00, but we were all tired and wanted to get some rest for our day on Monday.
Monday we were in Nassau, and the kids wanted to check out the kids club.

So, we get rocked to sleep by the Wonder as we dreamt Disney.

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

Today is Nassau day.
We didn't have any excursions planned, so we thought we'd walk around a bit and shop, DH and I. And the kids would try out the kids club.

We got up, already docked in Nassau. We went and had breakfast at the buffet at Parrot Cay. It had quite a bit of selections, so we had a great breakfast to start our day. While we were eating Donald and then Daisy came through the restaraunt and we got some good pictures with them.

We then went to get the kids settled into the kids club and they were both anxious to check it out. It's an easy process, you just tell the counselors the kids names to be inputted in their computer, and we let them know we'd be off the ship for a few hours. The kids always had to squirt some soap on their hands when they entered the club, and then go wash it off in the bathroom. The kids ran off and didn't look back. O.K. good-bye guys..............

We got off the ship on Deck 1 where the gangway is and walked to Nassau, a very short walk from the ship. Of course once you step onto the sidewalks of Nassau, they offer you every mode of transportion possible, and lots of offers to take you to Atlantis. We could see Atlantis in the distance and it did look like a really cool resort to visit, just not today.
We shopped the shops of Nassau and ended up at the Straw Market. Now, this was interesting. You have hundreds of people set up in tiny areas selling their merchandise. It is covered, but is very hot. I cannot believe they are here everyday, selling their merchandise, in the heat, to make their living. WOW. We'd walk by and they'd say " Hey, miss what ja lookin' for, tell me how much?" (with the island accent, of course) Oh my gosh, I don't know how many times they'd motion me to their booth to look at their stuff. " How 'bout a T-shirt, shot glass, beach towel, straw purse, knock-off purse"
So, about $100.00 later we left with 2 louis vitton purses, 2 princess straw purses (which they did embroider Megan's name on) and a shark tooth necklace for Matthew. Definately interesting. On the way to the ship we went to a liquor store and got some mango rum.

We got back on the ship about 12:30, went to get the kids from the Kids club, but they informed us they weren't ready because they were getting ready to make chocolate chip cookies.
So, we went to lunch at Tritons. It was great ! A sit down lunch, no kids dropping their forks, and great food. Can't ask for more than that. After that we put on our suits and hung out at the adult pool for awhile and took a nap.

We finally picked up the kids about 2:00 and took them swimming, and had fruit and ice-cream pool side. We pretty much just chilled out the rest of the afternoon. the pools weren't too bad, because everyone was on the Island.
Dinner tonight was at Palo's, so we took it easy and took the kids back to the cabin to nap, because they would be at the Kids club tonight while we had a night out !!!

Tonight was Dress-up night, so we got ourselves all fancied up and went to get our pictures taken with donald and Daisy in their formal attire before dinner. WE had to get the kids into the club by 5:45 for they could have dinner with the club that night. They took them to Beach Blanket Buffet, and it sounds like the food is already on the tray for the kids to eat. So, I have no idea what my children ate on that night. I guess one night of just dessert and juice wasn't going to hurt them?....................................
So, we're off to Palo's. We check in with the host, and he seats us right next to the window, so we have a great view of Nassau and the Atlantis Resort. DH had Filet Mignon AND Lobster tail and I had .....???? I have no idea, but I know it was awesome. For dessert I had to have the chocolate Souffle and DH had the tarimasu. Oh, yum. This was one of the best meals we have ever had. Our waiter was great and very attentive. So, of course we gave him a good tip !!
After dinner we walked around the deck a bit before picking up the kids. They were going to do some kind of experiment and Matthew didn't want to leave yet. So, we picked up Megan and went to Who wants to be a Mouseketeer. They handed out numbers before the show, and my DH said, "if they pick my number I am not going up there!" Oh, don't worry honey, they won't!!!!!!!!! Well guess whose number they picked first. DH's number. So, off him and megan went to be in the hot seat. They put Megan in the hot seat and DH got to help her out. There were five questions and Megan know the first 3 answers, but used her lifeline for the second two. One question was: Who did Arial fall in love with? Of course Megan know that right off.(Prince Eric, in case you are wondering.) So, she got all five answers and won a mouseketeer pin and a glass stand with the mouseketeer logo on it. It was very exciting, and she looked so cute up there !
After our Mouseketeer adventure, we picked up Matthew and went to the Mike Super show in the theater. We bought a few goodies in the lobby of the theater to keep the kids busy during the show. He was a comedian/magician and he was very good. The kids loved his magic tricks.
We went back to our room and changed, and put the kids in some comfy clothes in case they fell asleep in the club. It was going to be a late night for them !!
We dropped them off about 10:00 and we went to "know your mate" in wavebands, which is kinda like a Newlywed kind of game show. We didn't get picked, but had so much fun watching the three couples get embarrassed.
Afterwards it was time for 80's night !!
WE had a blast. My era was in the 80's, so we had a great time dancing to Madonna, Michael Jackson, the Go-Go's. And the disney dancers were there entertaining us and performing, and just helping everyone to have a great time. We won a couple of drinks and I even got on stage with 4 other girls impersonating the go-go's. We had a great night out. We planned on leaving about 12:15, but as we were walking out of wavebands at 12:30 our pager went off saying that "Megan would like to be picked up at the kids club" I guess she had enough. People were leaving by now anyways, some were staggering out, and some were blaming it on the rocking of the ship. Whatever, same difference, right?
When we got to the Kids club, Magan was wide awake and Matthew was asleep on a Mat. I'm sure he'd been asleep for awhile! So, we rocked our way back to our room, holding one sleeping child, and another very tired princess.

Once again, we fell asleep to the rocking of the ship, or was it those Bahama Mama's............... whatever, we slept great. Another great night of dreaming Disney as the Wonder sails towards Castaway Cay.

 

[3mickeys&me]

Great post, I am really enjoying it!! It was such a wonderful cruise, Can't wait to go and do it again!!

can't wait to read the rest.

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

Today is Castaway Cay !!
We wake up already at port, we look out our window and see our island! Gorgeous.... white sands, blue waters,... can't wait !
We have breakfast first at Beach Blanket buffet, and eat outside.
We are thoroughly entertained by the seagulls during our meal. One family put their trays down at a table by the railing and then left to get something, but while they were gone a few seagulls swooped down and grabbed their sausage !!!
I don't know how many times different families had to move closer to the inside of the eating area because these birds were eating everyones food. Some food was taken while people were still at their table eating, these birds were not shy !!

After breakfast we went and got ready for Castaway Cay. The weather was a bit overcast and not too hot in the morning, but we packed all our sunscreens and suntan lotions.I had also bought the kids some sand toys, so we had those to take with us, too. When we got off the ship, Disney had towels you could take with you on the beach and maps of the island.
At the end of the pier there was a few photographers: One took your picture with the wonder behind you (we bought that one) and another photographer with a background of a fish or something? I don't know we didn't take that picture.
We went to the shuttle area and waiting for our shuttle. You could walk to the main area, but we waited for the shuttle instead. The post office is also there on our right as we walked to the tram. I had postcards to send, but waited to do it later when I bought some at the store on the island.
The tram took about 5 minutes, and then we loaded up and went a few yards to our stop !
We got off and Scuttle's Cove was to our right, where the kids club was set up to do activities during the day. But, it is not by the beach at all, they have alot of sand to play in and did activities like building sandcastles and stuff.
We went to the family beach and found a shaded area pretty close to the water and set up all our stuff. The kids right away took out their sand toys and went to the water with DH. The water was a bit chilly at first, but you get use to it right away and then it feels great. We put our chairs at the edge of the water and dug up seashells. There was alot of little tiny seashells that we found and kept four souveniers. The fish would just swim right around your feet, the kids thought this was great and had fun running after them. We pretty much played in the water all morning and hung out on the beach.
We got hungry about noon and went to check the food. There was a bit of variety, Cheeseburgers,BBQ ribs & chicken, potato salad, a salad stand where a cast mbr makes you a salad, drink station, and a fruit cart. With the best pineapple and Mango, yum !! Oh, and ice cream cones. It was really nice to be able to have lunch on an island and lunch was included !!
After lunch we went to take our picture with Mickey in his island attire, (we bought that picture, too)
We hung out some more the rest of the afternoon at the beach till about 3:30 and then noticed some rain clouds coming our way. DH and the kids decided to go back on the ship and play at the pool. So, they went back and I stayed and shopped a bit and got some postcards for back home and to send to Meg and Matt from Mickey.
F.Y.I. the postcards from the island do take about a month to reach their destination, we just got ours last week. But, the kids were excited to get a card from Mickey and Minnie saying that they really enjoyed meeting them !!
While waiting to get on the ship, there were a few sprinkles that did fall, but that was about the extent of our rainstorm.
I met DH and the kids at the Mickey Pool, we had some more fruit and ice-cream and then went to our room for some naps before dinner. Tonight was pirate night !!! YO..HO..HO..HO.. !!!
Pirate night for us was in Animators Palate, so we weren't going to be able to see the light show tonight, we would see it tommorrow night instead.
For dinner we had a special menu on a treasure map. I kept the map as a souvenier, so I do know what was for dinner on that night !!

Appetizers:- Blackbeard's Jumbo Crab Cake
- Cannon SMoked BBQ chicken drumsticks
- The Buccaneer's Sun-Ripened Pineapple
- Pearls of the Carribean(Crabmeat,Shrimp, SAlmon,
mixed in pearls of Couscous with lemon grass
infused with Vinaigrette)

Soups and
Salads: - Honeydew Melon and Mango Soup
- Carribean style spicy vegetable gumbo soup
- Hideaway bay Salad
- Jerk Chicken Salad
- Mr. Smee's Bib Lettuce w/ Raspberry Vinaigrette

Main Course:
- Treasure of the Seas Grilled Shrimp and Seared Scallops
- Jack Sparrow's Fruit Marinated Roasted Loin of Pork
- Castaway Cay's chicken breast rubbed with pirate
island spice
- Capt Hooks coconut Crested oven baked snapper
- Black Pearls' oven roasted beef tenderloin
Desserts:
- Triple Layered Choc cake
- The lost banana Treasure ( caramel rum sauce and
vanilla ice cream flambeed by your head server
- Calypso ice cream Sundae

Bread today was Jamaican Banana bread (yum)


So, as you can see we had quite a variety, and all was good.

There was alway a childrens menu with crayons to keep them busy.
They had the main childrens favorites like Mac and cheese, speghetti, nuggets, mini burgers, etc. The kids also had appetizers and desserts to choose from with each menu.

Dinner was alot of fun, we all got a red bandana that said Pirates in the Carribean that everyone wore for the rest of the evening. The head servers with the children had a little parade dance going around the restaurant before dessert. OUr kids left after the main course because they wanted to go to the club to make flubber. So, it was just DH and I for dessert. So, we took our time and enjoyed it with our coffee. The coffee wasn't the best though. The morning coffee was fine, but in the evening it was way too strong !!

The show tonight was Golden Mickeys: some of the kids got to be interviewed before the show. Matthew wanted to be one of the kids they picked but we got there too late. It was another great show, and we had a good time.

After the show we went and saved a spot for the Pirates in the Caribbean Deck party at the goofy pool !! Everyone at the party still had their red bandanas on and were all having a great time !
The characters came out and danced and partied with us, and there was a bit of a show-down between Capt. hook and the rest of the gang. Even stitch was there !!! About 10:00 Matthew decided that he had enough of all this and wanted to go back to the room. (He is SO not a night owl) He claimed his eyes hurt and started to cry about wanting to leave. My DH said he would take him back to the room and put him to bed. Fine, good-night party poopers !!!! Megan and I stayed and had fun by ourselves. We joined the conga line, did the cha-cha slide, and watched the fireworks !!!
The fireworks were great !! I guess Disney is the only cruise line to have a firework show and offer free Softdrinks on board. Just F.Y.I. !
After fireworks we danced a bit more up by the stage until it was time for the mid-nite buffet. Actually it was a buffet from 11:00-11:45 and it was called Pirate buffet. It had a a variety of meats and salads, with breads & fruits and lots of desserts !! Megan had grapes and I had a dessert, we were still too full from dinner !!! We then walked around the deck a bit before going back to our room.
DH and Matthew were fast asleep.
So, I put out our breakfast order for the morning: we had brunch scheduled at Palos' at 10:30, so we just ordered some cereal, juice, and muffins for the kids and Coffee as usual for us. Our order should arrive between 7:30 and 8:00 in the AM.

So Good-night once again, tommorrow is our day at Sea ! Sweet Disney Dreams !!

 

[3mickeys&me]

Wonderful report~ can't wait to read the rest!!

 

[DVC Jen]

ack! there isn't more? fine leave us hanging here.

 

[3mickeys&me]

More More More, we need to hear about the rest of your trip!!

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

Whew- it's hard to believe today is our last full day on our amazing vacation.
WE knew we had to make the most of it, and enjoy every minute, because tommorrow it's back to the real world, we have to climb out of our Disney Realm that we have been in for the last 9 days.

So, we wake up about 7:30 to the knock of room service delivering our morning coffee, along with cereal, muffins and juice for the kids. We're not doing a breakfast this morning because we have Palo Brunch ressies at 10:30.
So, the kids have a nice little breakfast watching the ocean go by as they watch their Disney cartoons.

WE get ready and take the kids to the kids club about 9:30, today they were going to have a treasure hunt with Capt. hook and Peter Pan. And, their lunch with the club was scheduled at 11:30, so they had a busy morning in the club with their friends.
WE went to Treasure Ketch and Mickey's Mates to do a little shopping without the kids. They did enough souvenier shopping at WDW !! I found myself a DCL 2005 Watch which is really cool. I started my pin collection, I figured not many Disney fans have cruise pins, so what a great way to start.
I got a DCL picture frame to put one of our hundreds of pictures in, and got a few other "must haves" until DH had to drag me out !!!

Now, it was time for our Palo Brunch.
WE got there at 10:30 and was led to our table by the host. OUr waiter came and introduced himself and handed us our menu's. He explained that it was a brunch buffet, but we could order a few things from the menu, also. And, informed us that the drinks were also included, like Mimmosa's and a couple different types of Bellini's. Good to know !
So, then he takes us on a buffet tour. Wow, the items on this buffet were amazing. The highlights were: King Crab legs (already cracked and split), jumbo peeled shrimp, pizzas (made to order) huge variety of crackers and cheeses, oh and the dessert table just made your mouth water. WOW!
I ordered the eggs benedict and it was the best I have ever tasted, it was so delicious, and hubby ordered the talapia, which was also just wonderful.
And, for dessert.......... what didn't we have ? It was all so good.
Once again, Palo's overdid themselves and I cannot say it enough to all you future DCL passengers "GO TO PALOS" You will not be disappointed !!

After our huge brunch we went to the adult pool and took a nap in the sun for a bit and got our tans a bit darker. After a full stomach and the rocking of the ship, it knocked us out !! And, it was so much more quieter at this end of the pool !!
We finally dragged ourselves out of our comatose state of relaxation and went to get the kids. WE picked them up about 1:30, and they had such a fun time with their treasure hunt. And, they both got a piece of treasure, they were so Excited !!
We were going to hang out at the Mickey pool, but it was closed due to cleaning. I didn't want to know what happened, thanks goodness we weren't in it at the time. And, it was closed for the rest of the afternoon .
So, we found some spots at the goofy pool and hung out there. The cruise staff came out about 2:00 and did some family fun stuff, which kept us entertained and having fun in the sun. I, also did some laundy on deck 6 while DH and the kids were in the pool. There was also an ice carving demo that was pretty interesting. So, we pretty much just had a relaxing time on our last full day at sea !!
About 3:30 we headed back to our cabin and ordered the 'all hands on deck cheese platter (2), and milk and cookies for the kids. It only took about 15 minutes to be delivered, and was pretty good !!! Then the kids took a little nap while we watched some part of "the Navigator" again !
We took the kids to the kids club about 4:30 bacause they had to get ready for their graduation ceremony 'Celebrate the Journey' at 5:00.
The ceremony was in the Walt Disney theater, and it took a little bit to get all the kids in and seated, they all came in wearing their DCL t-shirts and Mickey graduation ears !! They were all so cute, there was a video they showed on the video screens about their days on the cruise and all the fun they had in the kids clubs. They performed a disney song and them Mickey and Minnie came out to join them !! We all had a great time. And, the kids got a free T-shirt. (well, I know I paid for it) And, some of the kids got to keep their mickey ears, I wish we would have kept ours, but I don't know what happened to them once the kids got back to the club.
Now it was time for our last dinner of our cruise. It was Animators Palate, and tonight was our light show since we had pirate night the night before.
When we walked in everything was in black and white, all the walls and the wait staff. WE had a great dinner, Matthew and Megan both picked out appetizers tonight, since this was their last dinner they went all out !! DH also had TWO appetizers that night! We were making the most out of it. But, to tell you the truth by our last night, we were almost sick of eating so much. (Almost) We had another great dinner, and enjoyed the scenery around us, and the changes that were being made. There were different scenes of Disney Movies that went from black and white to color on the video moniters while we ate. At the end everything was in color from the walls to our wait staff. F.Y.I. it's not a big dramatic change, but it's still pretty cool to see. We did have a good wait staff, I don't remember their names, but our waitress was really good with the kids. After dinner, it was time to hand out our wait staff tips, which we did very willingly because they were a great staff and deserved to be tipped for their service.
Our show tonight was Disney Dreams, and it was so good. And, there was quite a few Disney characters in the show with some really great performances. Disney does a great job on these shows, and all of them were a definate 'must see'.
After the show we went to our room to finish our packing because we had to have our luggage outside our door by 11:00, to have them ready for us when we got off the ship the next morning.
While we were packing our room steward, Kirk came by to give the kids a little surprise. He presented them both with a certificate called magical memories. They each had their name on each one and it said, "Across the seas and over the years, may you always remember celebrating your Magical Memory with the Cast and Crew of Disney Cruise Line" And, their magical memory it said was "Creating Towel Animals" Because Kirk said, They both enjoyed their towel animals so much and they were really great kids and so well behaved ! WOW, my kids? ha ha, they are great kids, though. So, that was a great surprise and so nice of him to do for them.
After Kirk left though Matthew was not such a good kid anymore. He had enough of running around for the day and he was not going anywhere else for the night. He was done, and wanted to go to bed, NOW !! DH said that was fine, he was too tired too anyways. So, I told Matthew to at least take a shower then he could go to bed and watch a little T.V. So, what did Matthew say? "I DON'T WANT TO TAKE A SHOWER, I JUST WANT TO GO TO SLEEP!, WWWAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH !!!" O.K. Mr. Cranky pants !!! So what if he hadn't taken a shower our whole cruise, he got cleaned off with all that chlorine in the pool, didn't he? One more night wasn't going to hurt anyone, besides he was sleeping by himself anyways. So, I told him fine and Megan and I left the room and went off by ourselves to enjoy our last night of our cruise. Tonight was "Till we meet again" get together at 10:00, so we went and staked out our spot to wait for the Disney gang to make their appearance. Megan had her autograph book and I had the camera, and we were ready to say good-bye. We were in the atrium and they all came down the staircase to where we were at. The lines for the two princesses was already forming right in front of the staircase, and then once all the other characters got to a spot, then a line would form for them. We got the autographs of Snow White, Cinderella, Stitch, Minnie, Donald, goofy, and we got some great pictures with all of them. Of course, it's just Megan in all the pictures since Mr. Cranky pants was already in bed snoring away. After everyone got their pictures, the characters went back to the staircase so we could get some final pictures with all of them, and then sang a song. Once they were done, "hidden mickies" came flying from the ceiling all over us !! It was great, Megan had just as much fun gathering up all the mickey's as she did with the characters !!! This was another 'must do' on the cruise that shouldn't be missed. Even if only half your family gets to go.
After our farewell, Megan and I walked around a bit before going back to our room. We just didn't want it to end, but we were tired and we had a long day tommorrow to re-introduce ourselves back to the world of 'reality'.
Back in our room the boys were out ! I put out our luggage, and Megan and I took our showers and got ready for bed. There was no putting out our room service card tonight. In the morning we were on our own, having to go somewhere to get coffee instead of having it delivered. Like I said, back to reality.................
Well Good-nite princess Jasmine, we had a wonderful time together our last night of our cruise. We will be dreaming of our spectaclular fantasies while visions of princesses and pixie dust fills our minds !

Tommorrow............... Debarkation, we are back to land, trying to get our sea legs, and reality checks in.

 

[3mickeys&me]

Great report. Glad to hear Palos was so much fun. We will defiinetly do that next time!
Its so hard to believe that our cruise was a month ago. Time really flies. Our family can't wait to do it again!!! Who knows maybe next time we will be on the same cruise again.

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

Our last morning has arrived way too soon.
This morning we wake up early, everyone has to be off by 9:00!!!
We slowly wake up, not wanting our Disney journey to end today. It's hard to get up and going when you don't have your morning coffee delivered to your room.
We get the kids up, who watch one last Disney movie while we get everything packed up and make sure we haven't forgotten anything. We packed up all our nightly chocolates, our DCL shampoo and conditioners, DCL stationary, all our navigators, anything that has DCL and we could keep as souveniers.......... all packed !!!

We have our last breakfast at beach blanket buffet and eat outside while enjoying one last meal on board our Disney Wonder. We finally got our morning coffee, but it was SO not good this morning. I think they did that on purpose, so we wouldn't linger over one last cup of coffee. They needed us off now, to get ready for those passengers getting on in 3 hours.
After breakfast we went down to Deck 3 where we entered the Wonder just a few days before to say our final good-byes. One of the counserlors was there saying good-bye to everyone and she gave Matthew and Megan a good-bye hug. Good-bye counselor, good-bye all our fellow passengers, good-bye to Mickey and all his friends, good-bye to a Disney Wonder(ful) vacation.

And, we walked right off, back into the terminal and found our luggage in the Daisy Duck buggage area, and off we were........... It was so easy. We have been on other cruises where you wait endlessly for your color to be called. But, not with Disney we just walked right off. Whew. We walked across the street to the parking lot, our car was parked right in front, jammed all our belongings in, and drove away from the Disney Wonder...........................

Our flight wasn't until 4:00, so we drove to the Character Warehouse to check it out and to hopefully buy some last minute souveniers, but there really wasn't too much there to buy. We went and got a coffee in the same shopping center, because we were still trying to get our caffeine for the morning, since Disney's coffee just was not up to par that morning. We drove to Downtown Disney where Megan and I got some WDW pins to add to our new collection, and then we just had to face the truth. Our time was over here in the magical land of Disney..............we had to go.

At the airport we had lunch in the food court where DH and I felt like we were still moving. Once in a while we'd swear we were back on the ship rocking away.

We boarded our plane, and 4 hours later we were back home in the Land of Enchantment. New Mexico we are home................

Well, thank you all for reading my trip report and helping me to re-live such an amazing vacation. And, thank you, all fellow Diser's for the great tips and secrets that I would never have known had it not been for you !!

I don't think I would have done anything differently on this trip, because everything worked out great, and I credit that to all the planning and searching I did for this vacation. And, it was so worth working part-time the whole year before to take my family on a vacation that we will remember forever! And, guess what?........ We actually came home with money left over. So, in October hopefully Me, mom, my sister, and the kids are going to Disneyland for the big 50th celebration. Disney twice in one year, coast to coast, wouldn't that be so cool!................................

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E............ see you real soon !!

 

[off to neverland]

I just read your report and loved it! Thanks so much for sharing....

We are going to cruise on the Wonder a year from this August. It seems so far away..........

Anyway, thanks again for the fabulous report!

 

[markey]

I have a question about the new pre registered kids clubs. This will be our 6th cruise, but the first where you can register on line ahead, which I have done. From what I read on your first report I get the impression that you can now get their wrist bands and pager before you enter the ship, is this correct? This will be great, but will change our schedule of events when boarding, only kidding just one less thing to do. Thanks!

 

[PrincessLuvers]

Enjoyed your report. Thanks for taking the time.

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

I have a question about the new pre registered kids clubs. This will be our 6th cruise, but the first where you can register on line ahead, which I have done. From what I read on your first report I get the impression that you can now get their wrist bands and pager before you enter the ship, is this correct? This will be great, but will change our schedule of events when boarding, only kidding just one less thing to do. Thanks!

Yeah, it was great !!
The kids had their wristbands, I had their pagers, and I also
had Palo ressies for dinner and brunch. All before I walked on
the ship. No more scurrying all over once your on board.
Just walk on, and enjoy your first afternoon of vacation on
the Wonder !!!

 

[pjew]

Oh My, what a wonderful trip! I actually started to cry and the very beginning when you spoke about the sail away party. I cried of joy!!
Our first cruise ever and that is our Disney Cruise is this Dec. and i can't hardly wait!!!

I enjoyed your vacation and you have a wonderful kids!!!