Mexican Riviera Cruise with WONDERful Souvenir in the Works! 6/7 PTR Link!

[Leshaface]

You are doing bettiner thanI will next year....getting ready topost an update befire Chrsitmas. Cant wait to see your pcitres.

I still need to wrap all my presents, buy some more, AND bake before this Saturday. But my trip was so much fun I just have to share it now!

Are you already ready for Christmas? I've been back for a week and still haven't finished my tree or wrapped anything let alone start a TR.

Pam! Ugh, almost! I still need to buy a few more things for my brother, mother, brother in law, and DH. Then I need to wrap since I haven't got ONE thing wrapped and i'm baking for a party on Saturday afternoon that I need to start on Friday! Yikes, this week needs to slow down. So you are going to be doing a TR?! When you get started post the link here on my TR!

Well that should provide for some good reading material on the road to Vegas!



I've got to go finish packing and get on the road!

Yay! When are you guys leaving??

 

[Leshaface]

Sunday, December 11, 2011

My alarms (yes, as in multiple. I set an early alarm as an ‘anticipatory’ alarm to get me prepared for the real alarm that’s going to be going off in about 10 minutes, then the real alarm goes off, and lastly a ‘get your butt up” alarm goes off 5 minutes after that ) all around 4:45am. I wanted to get on the road by 5:30 so this allowed plenty of time to pack the very last minute things like makeup and toothbrushes. Before leaving town, we wanted some breakfast so we stopped off at McDonald’s and ordered some Egg McMuffin’s and OJ. We got on the freeway at 5:49. Meh, 19 minutes behind schedule but that’s okay. We were surprisingly not very tired driving down there. Here’s a pic of us driving and the sun rising.

The coffee that I made that morning went right through DH so we stopped off at Starbucks so he could use the restroom and I ordered me some coffee. Figured it would be my last good coffee for the rest of the week (I would be wrong). We drove all the way through, no accidents, no traffic and made it to the San Pedro Port at 8:30am.

Here's the first glimpse of the ship! <----that's exactly how I looked when I saw the ship!

And getting closer

The woman at the entrance said to come back in an hour since it was still a little early so we went and gassed up our car so we wouldn’t have to deal with it once we left, and we drove around a bit. We started getting antsy, so went back a little before 9:15am and others were trying to park as well.


Pulling up to the terminal

DH dropped me off in the front with our luggage (Do this if you have a lot of luggage like us! It’s much easier) and he went and found a parking spot right in the front and I grabbed a porter who told me where to go after he took our luggage. DH came back and we walked to the terminal together, where they check the booklet that is mailed to you before you’re allowed inside. From there we took the escalator up and were handed a navigator and asked one member from each family to fill out the health questionnaire. They weren’t supposed to start checking in until 10am, but they opened early and they told us to go over and start checking in right then at 9:40am! A very nice guy checked us in and we inquired about upgrading our stateroom if there was any availability. After we got our KTTW cards, he told us to go over to Conceirge Services to see about upgrading. Turns out there was quite a few rooms available and we were able to score a Oceanview Stateroom for only $192.00 more! After getting our room number we headed over to security. DH was worried at this point because we had a lot of alcohol with us (even though I specifically told him Disney allows this) but we went through with no problem at all. Not a glare or an odd look like, “These people are alcoholics and need help.” After walking through security, we were handed our boarding card at 10:10am

And sat in the terminal watching Disney movies for about an hour and a half. Yes, it was a long wait, but we got a great boarding number and I was happy with it. DH was not. He hates waiting! They started announcing boarding numbers at 11:50am and we were in line in no time. Also, I must point out, there was NOT a lot of people at all, compared to our cruise in June. We were completely squished in the terminal at Port Canaveral so this felt way more comfortable to me.

And soon, they were announcing, “Disney Wonder welcomes the Crow Family!” and we were greeted by Snow White and Goofy waving at us.

We were told to go and enjoy a lunch buffet at Parrot Cay but I really wanted to add our Disney Reward Cards before doing anything so we got in line at Guest Services.

We waited for about 7 minutes or so before we were told to come back later because they couldn’t add any gift cards or rewards cards until later that day. So we went straight to Parrot Cay but not without taking some pictures along the way.

And a REAL gingerbread house! It smelled wonderful!

We were welcomed with sanitizing wipes for our hands and they lead us to a corner table. I took a picture with my cool panoramic option

This buffet was WAY better than the lunch buffet we had on the first day at Enchanted Garden on our last cruise. Much more options and everything looked so appetizing.

We were sitting right by a window and took a picture of some of the food that was waiting to board

And I got my first drink on the ship. On the Navigator the drink of the day was supposed to be Cocktail Paradise but it was a Bahama Mama, which is fine with me since it’s muy delicioso! (using some of my Spanish )

And what I found out on this cruise, which we didn’t find out on our last cruise, is if you buy the souvenir glass, you get a discount on other DOTD’s (Drink of the Day’s).

After lunch, we went exploring our new home for the next week.

 

[PizzieDuster]

Yeah! I'm so excited you are writing your report! I couldn't wait! I love all the pictures!

 

[franandaj]

I'm glad you got a great update for your trip, sounds like it started off pretty good.

Yay! When are you guys leaving??

Evidently tomorrow now. But that's OK, if we would have left tonight we would have had lots of negative energy in the car, crankiness and it would have been icky. I hope everyone wakes up tomorrow with a good attitude and we get a good start on a nice trip.

 

[LuvEeyore]

I'll have to remember to buy the drink of the day souvie glass now!! So glad you have gotten started. Merry Christmas!!

 

[sjs314]

So excited to read more!

 

[nsiordia]

I love your shirt design, did you get it here on the board?

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Shell54]

Woot! You started your TR..looking forward to reading all the details. How did the Wonder compare with the Dream?? We're sailing on the Magic in June and I'm wondering about the difference between old and new ships

 

[Pinkocto]

Off to a great start! So you didn't stay at at a hotel the night before right? Sounds like the car did ok which I'm so glad about
So awesome about the upgrade!

I really want to do a TR, I've just got to figure out how to start it. Ha!

So much to do before Christmas and not enough time. This is what always happens with me.

***Editing to add that I figured it out and will start my TR as soon as I get all my pictures downloaded.

 

[Leshaface]

Yeah! I'm so excited you are writing your report! I couldn't wait! I love all the pictures!

Thanks! And there are WAY more pictures to come!

I'm glad you got a great update for your trip, sounds like it started off pretty good.



Evidently tomorrow now. But that's OK, if we would have left tonight we would have had lots of negative energy in the car, crankiness and it would have been icky. I hope everyone wakes up tomorrow with a good attitude and we get a good start on a nice trip.

Oh goodness! Well, I hope you guys have left already, or are getting ready to leave! Another update coming up

I'll have to remember to buy the drink of the day souvie glass now!! So glad you have gotten started. Merry Christmas!!

Yes! The souvie glass is nice to have. Also i'll be using it to make drinks at home when I feel like I need to be back on the ship.

So excited to read more!

More you say?? Coming up!

I love your shirt design, did you get it here on the board?

Can't wait to read more!

Yup! One of the Disigners made it for me. I added a couple of suggestions and it turned out great! I'll post a better picture of it in my next post.

Woot! You started your TR..looking forward to reading all the details. How did the Wonder compare with the Dream?? We're sailing on the Magic in June and I'm wondering about the difference between old and new ships

You could definitely tell that the Wonder is outdated as far as upkeep in the stateroom goes, but it's over 10 years old. It still looks great. I think the Magic got refurbed not too long ago right? DH and I were watching a show on the DIY channel showing the entire re-do of the ship. But I liked the layout of the Wonder way better than the Dream.

Off to a great start! So you didn't stay at at a hotel the night before right? Sounds like the car did ok which I'm so glad about
So awesome about the upgrade!

I really want to do a TR, I've just got to figure out how to start it. Ha!

So much to do before Christmas and not enough time. This is what always happens with me.

***Editing to add that I figured it out and will start my TR as soon as I get all my pictures downloaded.

Omgosh! I completely forgot about the night before! I'll add that to my next post, thanks Pam

Yes! You don't have to start your TR until after the Holidays if you want. There is definitely no time limit on TR's. I think I started my WDW TR about 3 months after my trip.

 

[Leshaface]

*Thanks to Pam, she reminded me about the night before the trip, so i'm back tracking a bit.*

We originally were going to stay the night in Anaheim so I could do some Christmas shopping at Downtown Disney and hit Disneyland for a little bit. Saturday morning came and we woke up early, about 8am (Early for a Saturday, so don't poke fun) and we started watching Nothing Like the Holidays with John Leguizamo. Really cute and fun movie. It was now 10:30 and neither of us were in the mood to get up and get dressed. I just decided that we'll get more things done around the house today and we'll just leave early the next morning. I'm really glad we stayed because we had special ordered Christmas lights for our house a week ago and they had come in late Friday night (I wanted to Christmas lights that Disneyland uses on Main Street -the big, bright gold/white lights) so DH put those up that afternoon instead of doing it when we got back from vacation.

Also, to make it easier for people just wanting to read the Navigator's, i'm going to be posting Single Posts just for the Nav's.

 

[Leshaface]

 

[Leshaface]

First picture of the cruise

Here is the logo up close

And I must say, if you're looking for a good dark shirt iron on transfer, please look into amymickey.com. I actually found out about her here through the DIS and her transfers are amazing and easy! I bought 5 sheets for $15.00 and she mailed them within days after my order. So if you're wanting to make shirts for your next trip, check her out.

Here is our KTTW cards with our dining rotation

A = Animators Palate
P = Parrot Cay
T = Tritons

A lot of people were saying that the ideal rotation would be to have Tritons on the second night (for Formal night because it looks the part) and to have Parrot Cay the 5th night (for Pirate night). But we didn't want to go through the hassle of asking our TA to request that for us, so we left it as is, and it worked out well.

After our lunch at Parrot Cay, we decided to go exploring!

This is where all of the lounges and clubs are located. This area is definitely not as good as The District on the Dream. There are only 3 clubs/lounges located here where as The District had 5. Oh well, it still worked out well, because there wasn’t a lot of people on this cruise and it never seemed too crowded, except for all the shows at 10:30 in Wavebands. It was packed!

Radar Trap - Place to buy your liquor

This is where all the live performances are held. It’s a really neat place.

Since today was Sunday, that meant FOOTBALL and the Green Bay Packers played at 1:15 and they would be showing it here in Diversions, since it is after-all, a sports bar.

Luggage being placed on the ship:

The bar menu:

DH grabbed a Long Beach and we sat down as other men started making their way in for the game. Actually, I’m surprised at how many men were able to pry themselves away from their wives to watch the game However, the TV’s were not getting a signal so the technician came down to try and fix it. It was 1:00pm when we got into Diversions, and it was now 1:25 with no game. I didn’t want to waste anymore time sitting there, so I told DH I would be back. It was time to explore some more!

First stop: Up to Deck 9 for the Vista Spa!

When I got there, a group had just left but they told me to wait a few minutes and they would start another one. One of the CM’s working there asked me to take a seat in the chair that was in front of him and he started giving me a massage. Ahhh, it felt really nice. Then he started using the hot stones Even better! He gave me a menu of the services that they offered:

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[disneybarbie]

Sounded like a great start to the cruise Lesha!

How did the Wonder compare to the Dream when you first saw it? Did it still have that 'wow' factor? It looks beautiful inside from your photos - love the Christmas decorations and gingerbread house

Lol my DH would have been just the same about finding the sports bar once we got onboard to watch some football! I like the look of some of those seminars at the spa - I hope they have things like that on my 2013 cruise

Btw I'm the same about morning wake-up alarms.. I have a 'wake up' one.. then 30mins later a 'get up' one.. it's sooo dark here in the mornings at the moment, makes it hard to get up & go to the gym!


Emma x

 

[Leshaface]

joining in

Hi and welcome!

Sounded like a great start to the cruise Lesha!

How did the Wonder compare to the Dream when you first saw it? Did it still have that 'wow' factor? It looks beautiful inside from your photos - love the Christmas decorations and gingerbread house

Lol my DH would have been just the same about finding the sports bar once we got onboard to watch some football! I like the look of some of those seminars at the spa - I hope they have things like that on my 2013 cruise

Btw I'm the same about morning wake-up alarms.. I have a 'wake up' one.. then 30mins later a 'get up' one.. it's sooo dark here in the mornings at the moment, makes it hard to get up & go to the gym!


Emma x

Nothing beats the lobby of the Dream. It's much bigger and grander! That's what DH missed about the Dream. But the Wonder is still really nice. I think it's easier to navigate the decks on the Wonder vs the Dream. But the Dream had way more lounges and bars than the Wonder. Then again, I loved that there wasn't many people! The Dream holds 2500 passengers and the Wonder holds 1750 passengers. You could definitely tell the difference too.

So we ended up rebooking for 2013 - a dummy of course since we don't know what we want to do yet, but we're thinking about either Eastern or Western Caribbean, Summer 2013 depending on how the family situation goes

Glad to hear i'm not the only one that has multiple alarms!

 

[Leshaface]

Soon after my mini-massage, we had a couple more people to begin a tour. They take you through all the rooms there in the spa, with a CM in each room explaining what services are done in that particular room. I forgot to take pictures, until I got to the Rainforest Room.

I was really hoping to utilize this room since we had a full 7 days on this cruise, but unfortunately I never had time! There were only 40 passes available so if you're thinking about getting it, I would purchase it asap. And I want to say it was $90? Maybe less? But you get full use of the Rainforest rooms whenever you want.

Then they lead us into the gym.

I think I like this gym better than the Dream gym. Much bigger with more machines and more space.

We were then taken to the Spa Villas.

I REALLY wanted to do this after reading disneybarbie's TR, but DH wasn’t feeling being there for 130 minutes. In fact, I had it booked originally for the first Cabo day, but he just didn't want to 'waste time' in the spa. UGH seriously?! Anyways, after the tour, they ask you to fill out some cards for a raffle that would be held there at 5:30 and you had to be present in order to win the prize. I was able to fill out two, one for me and one for DH.

After the lovely spa tour, I went outside to the Quiet Cove Pool area. It was freezing! I was really worried it would be like this for the rest of the cruise.

Signals Bar

I had to take a picture of the sign and the kids in the spa. I guess kids are allowed the first day, but let me tell you, the CM's were like hawks on any families that brought kids through this area. If a kid as much as touched the side of the pool, a CM would walk over to the parents and tell them that it's not allowed. They're amazing!

I then went inside to the Cove Café where specialty coffees are served.

Cigars anyone?

I also went and checked out the family pool areas, for future reference

and made my way back inside

I headed back to Diversions to grab DH who had a few more empty glasses on the table . It was now 2:50ish and the DISmeet was meeting at 3 in the Promenade Lounge. But I wanted to go to the Stateroom first and put our things up. It’s tiring lugging around 20 pounds of drinks and not being able to partake!

 

[franandaj]

Oh goodness! Well, I hope you guys have left already, or are getting ready to leave! Another update coming up

At the time you wrote this I was still trying to wake Fran up and get her out of bed. We are finally on the road, and now on I-15.

I wouldn't have sat there either! Did you do any spa treatments? The chocolate one is right up my alley! I can't wait to check out the Navigators from a large screen, too hard to read on my phone.

 

[Pinkocto]

I love your pictures! You took some that I've never seen before on anyone elses TRs. That DH, I hope you were able to get into the spa for yourself even if he wouldn't 'waste' the time.

Loving your TR!

 

[Shannon84]

Oh my gosh it looks like you guys are off to such a great start!! I LOVE the shirts you had made

You have me so excited to go on a cruise now