Mike & Missy's Saying Goodbye to the Wonder 09/19/10 Pre-TR--Now a TR!--Updated 12/05

[iloverags2]

I so prefer PC to BBB for lunch after boarding! Much more relaxed atmosphere. And those chairs by Cove Cafe ROCK! Can't wait to hear if your room was ready!

 

[JenGC]

We wasted a little time driving around the city and found the Western Kentucky campus. We also drove by the airport to make sure we knew where to go that evening since we'd never been there before.

How funny! I just happened upon your TR and saw that you went through Nashville (where I live!)! I work in Antioch so you drive right past me!

Then you said you went to Western Kentucky's campus....I graduated from there! Totally awesome! lol I went on the Sept 26 and 30th cruises so I'm singing "it's a small world after all!"

 

[UGAFan0829]

Thanks for sending me the link to your TR. Can't wait to read all about it!

Thanks for being here, my friend!

I do think it is someplace we'd like to try! Thank you!

You're welcome, Jennifer! I'm glad to hear that it's someplace you'd like to try!

I so prefer PC to BBB for lunch after boarding! Much more relaxed atmosphere. And those chairs by Cove Cafe ROCK! Can't wait to hear if your room was ready!

I agree, PC is definitely much more relaxed! I'm working on a new installment now!!

How funny! I just happened upon your TR and saw that you went through Nashville (where I live!)! I work in Antioch so you drive right past me!

Then you said you went to Western Kentucky's campus....I graduated from there! Totally awesome! lol I went on the Sept 26 and 30th cruises so I'm singing "it's a small world after all!"

How very cool that I passed right by you AND went by the school you graduated from...very neat! How do you like living in Nashville?

 

[UGAFan0829]

We took the Forward elevators down to deck 1 and found ourselves a little puzzled. Normally, on the other decks, when you get off the elevator, you have stairs straight in front of you, and then access to the hallways on either side that lead to the rooms. Deck 1 is a little different though--each side is actually crew member areas. So, when you get off the elevator, there is a door to the right of the stairs that you actually have to go through that leads to another door that opens into the hallway where the rooms are located. Confused yet? The configuration of deck 1 definitely takes some getting use to!!

Thankfully, by the time we figured out where we were going, our room was ready!! We would be spending the next 4 nights in room 1036, which is a Cat. 9.

I was anxious to get inside to see what the two portholes looked like! And this is what we opened the door to:

I was actually surprised at the size of the room. I did miss the steamer trunk, but other than that, there was plenty of room. Of course the next thing I did was take lots of pics of everything!

I think the only thing I didn't get pictures of was the bathroom, and it looked the same as every other split bath that I'd been in!

Next, we took a few minutes to call everyone back home to let them know that we'd made it on the ship. And I checked out our Castaway Club gift:

There were two metal water bottles inside along with 2 rice krispie treats in the shape of a flip flop.

At a few minutes before 2, we made our way up to Diversions for the DIS meet. We ended up meeting several people, but I can't remember anyone's name except for Crystal. So, we ended up chatting with her and her daughter for a while before we headed back down to the room to get ready for the safety drill.

By the time we'd made it back to the room, our luggage had arrived, which meant I could now decorate our door!

We still had plenty of time for the drill, so we unpacked a few things. I brought my over-the-door shoe holder again, which worked great for us on the last cruise. I really recommend these things, even on a short cruise, and I have to thank Jennifer48 for talking me into getting one--now I'm hooked!!

At 4, the alarms sounded, so I'm sure you know where we headed next...

Thankfully, our station was in the Walt Disney Theater this time, so it was nice and cool, unlike the last time when we were out on deck 4! The drill went really fast, and we were in and out of there in no time!! Thanks to everyone in our section for showing up on time!!

We followed everyone back down the stairs to deck 1, and headed back for our room. Mike and I had been debating on whether or not we wanted to go to the Sailaway Party, and believe it or not, we decided against it. Call us party poopers, but we were starting to get a little tired at this point. We went to the party on all our other cruises, and they'd all been the same, so I don't think we really missed anything other than knowing who our Cruise Director was! We decided to hang out in the room, unpack and get ready for dinner.

Turns out that we were ready for dinner a few minutes early, so we headed on up. But first, we had to make a stop in the Lobby for some pics with Mickey and Minnie! Our timing was just about right as we ended up being one of the first in line and actually had to wait for them to make their appearance!

Continuted in next post...

 

[UGAFan0829]

Done with pictures, we headed on to Parrot Cay for our first dinner of the cruise!

We were the first to arrive at our table. While we waited for the others, our server came over and introduced himself, who was Ramsay from India. Within a few minutes our tablemates arrived who were a couple and their son from West Viginia, and another couple and their daughter from Boston. They all seemed very nice. Next, our assistant server, Zoltan from Hungary came around to introduce himself and get our drink orders.

Then came time to eat!!
To start Mike had the Ahi Seared Tuna:

I had the Baked Crab Martinique:

These were the very same appetizers that we had on last year's cruise!
We both had the Cream of Asparagus.

Next for me was the Island Spice Grilled Rib-Eye:

And the Mixed Grill for Mike:

Lastly, for dessert, Mike decided on the Creme Brulee Cheesecake:

There really wasn't anything on the menu that really appealed to me, so I told Ramsay that I didn't want anything. Of course, he ended up bringing me this Ice Cream Sundae instead, that turned out to be pretty yummy:

Dinner was great! Our tablemates were pretty quiet for the most part, so other than finding out where they were from and how many cruises they'd been on, we really didn't talk about much else.

With full tummies, we decided to head back to the room for a few minutes. When we arrived, we found this nice box from DVC-

We hung around for a few minutes, then decided to kill some time by heading up to the shops. We checked out both stores, and the only thing that I saw that I really wanted was this really cute Mickey watch.
(I didn't get a picture of it, but this is from the Disney Store website. This picture really doesn't do it justice though, as the stones on the Mickey are muck prettier and sparklier in person!)

I'd been wanting a new watch for a while, and we'd actually seen the same one at Everything Pop where I tried it on. I liked it, but it was a little big and the girl told me they couldn't size it there. However, when we asked about it in Treasure Ketch, they told me they could size it there. So, I looked at it again, but couldn't decide.

After leaving the shops empty-handed, it was time to head back to the Lobby to meet one of my favorite Princesses, Tiana!!

I think I'm partial to her cause she's a Southern Belle!!

The only other thing that I had planned for the night was to catch "Match Your Mate" at 10:30, but we still had plenty of time to kill before then, so we decided to head on into WaveBankds to see "The Wheel" which was a gameshow that was right before "Match Your Mate". Both shows turned out to be really fun! I so wanted to be on Match Your Mate, but Mike and I just weren't brave enough to do something silly enough to earn us a spot on the show--maybe next time!!

By this time, it had gotten pretty late, and we were really tired. If it hadn't been for wanting to see the shows, we would've been in bed way before now. So, we drug ourselves back to the room, where we found this little creature waiting on the bed:

But before we could make it to bed, we discovered that we were somehow hungry again!! And of course everyone knows what you do when it's late and your hungry!! Yep, we called good ol' room service!! We both had a Cheeseburger:

Once again, we filled our tummies, then tucked in for a night of Disney dreams while the boat rocked us to sleep!

 

[tigger2on]

Do you have to pay in DVC points to get DVC gifts in your room?

 

[Mom2CJ&Kitty]

Again, great pictures and loving your summary. Thanks!

 

[natale1980]

Do you have to pay in DVC points to get DVC gifts in your room?

We still got a DVC gift without booking with point, but it wasn't that cool.


GREAT TR! Makes me want to cruise alone with my DH even more!!!

-nat

 

[iloverags2]

Yep, Deck 1 sure is fun to navigate! Glad you were able to make it to your room and it was ready for your arrival.

And how awesome your muster drill was in the theatre...you really can't beat that!

All your food looks sooooooo yummy!!!!

 

[JenGC]

How very cool that I passed right by you AND went by the school you graduated from...very neat! How do you like living in Nashville?

I really like it. I am born and raised here so no where else is the same. I tried living in San Antonio for like 4 weeks and I came home. I wouldnt mind moving to gatlinburg tn though. THAT PLACE I could get use to!

Did you hear that Opry Mills mall isnt planning on reopening? Something about the insurance company wont pay for the damages from the flood so they are taking them to court. Not sure what they are going to do about it. The Opryland Hotel is scheduled to open Christmas so here's hoping!

 

[jessrose18]

Glad you liked parrot cay dinner, i thought the menu looked good. Great report, cant wait for more

 

[Jennifer48]

The over-the-door shoe hangar has to be one of the best tips I found on the DIS. So glad you loved having it!!

Love the pic of you and Mike with Mickey & Minnie!

What was in the DVC box? Anything? It looks like its made of wood.

Love the watch! I hope you got it!

 

[Tngrl78]

We were the first to arrive at our table. While we waited for the others, our server came over and introduced himself, who was Ramsay from India.

We had Ramsey on our cruise last year! He was great. Our son loved him... Ramsey did a lot of magic tricks for him. On this cruise, after we ate one night, we walked by Triton's and looked in the window and saw Ramsey... so we went in to say hi. Of course he probably didn't remember us (ok, I'm sure he didn't remember us) but I think he liked the fact that we remembered him.

Love the TR... just makes me want to go right back and get on the next sailing...

 

[UGAFan0829]

Do you have to pay in DVC points to get DVC gifts in your room?

Not at all--we cruised on cash last year and still received a gift in our room. However, I have read from others here on the boards that it's sometimes hit or miss as to whether you'll get the gift, even if you're cruising on points or not.

Again, great pictures and loving your summary. Thanks!

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

We still got a DVC gift without booking with point, but it wasn't that cool.


GREAT TR! Makes me want to cruise alone with my DH even more!!!

-nat

Cruising with just my DH is wonderful. Of course the vast majority of all our vacations are just him and I since we don't have kids, but we still enjoy every minute!

Yep, Deck 1 sure is fun to navigate! Glad you were able to make it to your room and it was ready for your arrival.

And how awesome your muster drill was in the theatre...you really can't beat that!

All your food looks sooooooo yummy!!!!

Yes, Deck 1 was definitely a little confusing at first. Thankfully, Mike has a great sense of direction, so he always knew the way to where we were going. I am a very different story though. I was constantly getting turned around the entire time!

I really like it. I am born and raised here so no where else is the same. I tried living in San Antonio for like 4 weeks and I came home. I wouldnt mind moving to gatlinburg tn though. THAT PLACE I could get use to!

Did you hear that Opry Mills mall isnt planning on reopening? Something about the insurance company wont pay for the damages from the flood so they are taking them to court. Not sure what they are going to do about it. The Opryland Hotel is scheduled to open Christmas so here's hoping!

I know what you mean about Gatlinburg--there and Pigeon Forge is great. We love vacationing there from time to time, but haven't been since last year, and that was a really short trip with my Dad. I'm glad you like Nashville. I'm a big country music fan, so of course I love Nashville.

That's terrible to hear about Opry Mills--what a loss. Did Bass Pro ever re-open--I thought my brother-in-law had told me that they were planning to, but aren't they in Opry Mills too?? So sad!

Glad you liked parrot cay dinner, i thought the menu looked good. Great report, cant wait for more

Thank you!! Dinner was great!

The over-the-door shoe hangar has to be one of the best tips I found on the DIS. So glad you loved having it!!

Love the pic of you and Mike with Mickey & Minnie!

What was in the DVC box? Anything? It looks like its made of wood.

Love the watch! I hope you got it!

Yep, the shoe holder is definitely awesome! I loved having everything right there in the little pockets!

There was nothing in the box, but it was still kinda cool. I'm not sure what we'll use it for though!

I'm about to update on the watch, which I totally left off in the last update!!

We had Ramsey on our cruise last year! He was great. Our son loved him... Ramsey did a lot of magic tricks for him. On this cruise, after we ate one night, we walked by Triton's and looked in the window and saw Ramsey... so we went in to say hi. Of course he probably didn't remember us (ok, I'm sure he didn't remember us) but I think he liked the fact that we remembered him.

Love the TR... just makes me want to go right back and get on the next sailing...

Ramsay was great!! I know what you mean--reading everyone else's TR's can definitely give you the fever!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Before I start on day 3, there’s something I want to add from Day 2 that I totally forgot. (See what happens when I don’t take notes, and try to write from memory!!)

As we were sitting in WaveBands waiting for “The Wheel” to start, Mike said he needed to use the restroom. Of course I didn’t think anything of it, but then I noticed that he’d been gone longer than normal. So, I sat and waited some more until he finally returned. And that’s when I figured out why he’d taken so long. He hadn’t been to the restroom at all-He'd been really sneaky and had ran back up to Treasure Ketch and bought that watch that I’d been looking at!! I didn’t think to get a picture of it then, but I did take one once I got home.

Now, on to day 3, this was Nassau day!

Since this was our 3rd time cruising to Nassau, we decided to stay onboard and enjoy the ship. If you remember, I actually booked a Couples Massage for Mike and me at 9:15 that morning. Since we were pretty tired from the night before, we decided to sleep in as long as possible and skip breakfast. I think we finally woke up around 8, showered, got dressed and headed up to the spa right at 9. This was only my second spa visit, and the first time for an actual massage, and Mike’s first time ever. He was a little nervous and I was excited as I remembered how awesome my treatment on the Magic was last year!

We checked in right away, and instead of us waiting in the lobby, they actually took us back to the dressing room area to wait. Mike went to the men’s side, while I went to the ladies side. There were some cushioned loungers back where the sauna is, and that’s where I was told to wait. After a few minutes, I began to get worried that they had forgotten about us. Eventually someone came and got me and Mike and led us to our treatment room.

Of course I can’t remember their names, but we had two really nice ladies who were going to do our massage. After the lead us to the room, we sat down as they asked a few questions about our sleep habits, stress levels, etc. They then told us that they were going to leave to room for us to get undressed then lie face down on the massage table under the blankets. It felt a little weird, but the table was really comfy, and there were several blankets to lie under, so we were well covered. Of course the lights were dim, and they had soft spa music playing, so that was relaxing in itself. In just a few minutes, the girls returned and before we knew it, we were being massaged! It was totally quiet, other than the occasional question from one of them asking how we felt, if the pressure was okay, etc. It really seemed like the massage lasted forever!! And by the end, we were both really relaxed. I think Mike was really impressed. They left the room one last time for us to get re-dressed, and then they came back in and gave us some feedback. They told us that the oils they used would make us sensitive to the sun, so we had to be careful about that. They also told us that we would sleep like babies that night, so I was very interested to see if that was true, especially since I’d not slept well since we left home.


We left the spa feeling really relaxed, and actually a little tired. Since we’d left the camera in the room, we decided to head back down and grab it before we went back up to check out the views of Nassau and grab some lunch.

The first stop was at Pluto’s where I grabbed a cheeseburger, fries and slaw. Mike had a hot dog that he decided to make into a slaw dog with some fries.

There was nowhere else for us to be until dinner, so we decided to walk around the ship and check out the views of the island. Of course I snapped several pics along the way.

As we passed the Goofy pool, we noticed that Minnie was out in her tropical wear, so we decided to stop for a quick visit!

It wasn’t really that hot of a day, but after just a little while, Mike and I both had gotten really warm and I began to feel tired. I think all the oils that were still on our skin from the massage had a lot to us being so hot. So we decided to head back to the room to cool off and maybe even catch a nap.

Now, I’m not usually one who likes to nap or rest on a trip—I can save that for home, but I had started to feel unusually tired by this point. So, I gave in and decided to rest. Even then, when I’d finally fall asleep, I only slept for a few minutes before I wake up again. I don’t know what was going on with me, but I think not getting a good nights rest for the past 4 or 5 nights was finally catching up to me—that and all the excitement was taking it’s toll.

By this point, we were really dreading dinner since this was dress-up night. So, we decided to do something that we’ve never done before, and skip dinner. I remembered that Beach Blanket Buffet would be open for casual dining, so we decided that we’d try it out. We both felt bad about skipping out on our servers, so we decided to head up to Guest Services to ask that they let our serving team know that we wouldn’t be there.

Tonight was also the showing of Toy Story the Musical, which I really wanted to see since this was the first time we had sailed since it had been introduced. And since we decided to skip our regular dining rotation for dinner at BBB, we knew that we could eat dinner when ever we liked. So, we decided to see the early showing of Toy Story, and then head to dinner afterwards.

 

[mousetravel]

for updates! (I updated mine today, too!)

Before I start on day 3, there’s something I want to add from Day 2 that I totally forgot. (See what happens when I don’t take notes, and try to write from memory!!)

I also never take notes, so then I have to try to remember everything while doing my TR's. I think I'll take notes on our next trip!

He hadn’t been to the restroom at all-He'd been really sneaky and had ran back up to Treasure Ketch and bought that watch that I’d been looking at!! I didn’t think to get a picture of it then, but I did take one once I got home.

Awwwww! That's so sweet


Since this was our 3rd time cruising to Nassau, we decided to stay onboard and enjoy the ship.

We were thinking of doing this also on our upcoming cruise. We've already been to the Bahamas on several cruises, and may decide to stay on board this time, checking out the new ship! (And maybe catching some extra character meetings like ya'll did)

 

[Jennifer48]

aww Mike! Man he gets you the best gifts! He really pays attention

Did Mike enjoy his first massage? I'm sorry to hear about your sleep troubles. I hope they got better!

 

[iloverags2]

How awesome Mike picked up the watch for you!

Spending the day on board sounded just perfect! Especially since it seems like you needed to get a bit of rest in. Nothing like a relaxing day for doing just that.

 

[UGAFan0829]

aww Mike! Man he gets you the best gifts! He really pays attention

Did Mike enjoy his first massage? I'm sorry to hear about your sleep troubles. I hope they got better!

Mike really enjoyed the massage. I think he was really surprised about how relaxed he felt afterwards. I think he was also happy about how comfortable they made us feel as well!

The sleep troubles were definitely no good!

How awesome Mike picked up the watch for you!

Spending the day on board sounded just perfect! Especially since it seems like you needed to get a bit of rest in. Nothing like a relaxing day for doing just that.

It was definitely a nice relaxing day! We enjoyed it very much in spite of feeling so tired!

 

[UGAFan0829]

At about 5:50, we headed on up to the Walt Disney Theater so that we could get a good seat for the show. I was glad that we got there early, as it was slowly beginning to fill up. Mike and I both ordered drinks while we waited, but of course I didn’t think to get pics of them. I had a Bon Voyage and Mike had a Peach Colada. They were both really yummy! And before we knew it, the show was starting!!

The show was really cute! I was glad that we decided to see it, even as tired as we were. I don't want to give away too much, but I was a little sad that the story didn't include the characters from the newest movies.

Once the show was over, we decided to make a quick stop at Treasure Ketch to get my watch sized. It was a little too big out of the box, so they removed a couple links for me, and it fit just right.

Watch fixed, we decided to head on to Beach Blanket for dinner. I was really interested to see what this dining experience would be like.

When we arrived, there was a short line at the the door. Unlike breakfast, for dinner they actually had someone seat you. The line moved very quickly, and we were lead to a table in no time. Instead of there being food where the normal buffet is located, there were display items of what could be ordered from the menu. It was very different eating here for something other than lunch or breakfast!

To be honest, I really can’t remember the names of each dish that we had, and since I don’t have a menu to reference, I’ll just post pics.
Mike’s appetizer:

And mine—I do remember that this was some short of Mushroom Risotto, which was out of this world!! If I had to chose, this would be my pick for the yummiest thing I had during the whole cruise! (Sorry about the messy looking dish, I had tried scooping out some of the tomatoes before I remembered to take a pic!)

And for our main courses—I went with the pasta that was pretty yummy as well:

And Mike had some sort of steak, which he really enjoyed as well:

We ended up deciding against dessert, as we were just too full! We were very pleased, and were very glad that we’d decided not to go to the hassle of getting dressed up for our regular rotation. BBB turned out to be an awesome choice, and we certainly wouldn’t hesitate doing it again on another cruise. I really hope that DCL continues to offer this an another option for dinner as it really worked out great for us.

Since we were already on deck 9, we decided to take a walk around the ship to see Nassau at night. It was definitely different still be docked this late, as we weren’t set to leave until 1 a.m. Walking around the ship after dark is one of my favorite things to do—everything is so peaceful and calm, and I love seeing everything all lit up!

This was the Royal Caribbean ship that was docked near us—not nearly as pretty as the Wonder, in my opinion!

After a short tour around the deck, we decided to head back to the room to call it a night. Tomorrow was Castaway day, and our plan was to try and be off the boat as early as possible. We returned to find this cute little creature waiting for us:

Since we were still in port, we thankfully didn’t have to worry about any of the rocking noises keeping us from falling asleep tonight. We were out and sleeping pretty good in no time!