My Three Hour Tour - Disney Wonder 12-6 to 12-9-07

[PoohJen]

Caution: if you’re not familiar with my prior trip reports, be forewarned, I like ‘em long and detailed to tide me over ‘til the next cruise!

Cast: Me, DMom 66, DSKie (pronounced "Key") and DSRy both 10, and a whole bunch of crazy Dissers! The twins and I have sailed twice before on the Magic, and Mom (and Dad) had joined us on our last Magic cruise. I think she was most excited of all about this little cruise! Alas, DH, DS15 and DDad couldn't join us this time.

This 3 Day Wonder, which I affectionately dubbed as my 3 Hour Tour, was the icing on the cake to a week at WDW and Saratoga Springs (thanks, Pat!!!). Mom, twins and I joined this huge group of crazy Dissers for the MVMCP/Wonder tour: GrayFal (Pat), HannosMom (Linda) and her DH Ed, their sweet DD Chichihoney (Sarah), TiggerSisters Tiggerspal (Peggy Jo) and IBounceToo (Jackie), and Dizney-cruiser Janice and Dsis Linda. And we were joined on the cruise by Faireygodmother (Dee) and family!

Now, the interesting thing about this group is that we have all met through the DIS and prior Disney cruises and enjoyed each other’s company enough to travel together again!

Thursday: Embarkation Day

Oh my God, it’s here! It’s hard to have the cruise at the end of a WDW stay…you keep waiting for Cruise Day! (next time, I’d do cruise first, then WDW). The EIGHT of us in Pat’s SSR suite were amazingly organized that morning. We ate whatever food we had left from the week (i.e. oatmeal and M&Ms), packed up and headed out to the BUS that Pat had rented to take us to Port Canaveral! We were joined by the above group, and several of Pat’s wonderful family and friends.

Oh! Did I mention the twins had no idea we were cruising?

I had only decided to join these folks on the Wonder two months ago, and never told the twins. They knew the others were cruising, and that we would go with them to the Port and wait for Grandma (who lives near PC) to pick us up. They got a little suspicious when I checked the luggage (hey, they’ll just hold it for us; I don’t want to lug it around), but when I finally tried to tell them we were sailing, they didn’t believe me!!! Later, when they asked if I was serious, I told them no (“We KNEW it!”). Ultimately, when I needed them to sign in for the Oceaneer’s Lab, they were finally convinced when I showed them their Key to the World cards – you should have seen the look of amazement and the ear-to-ear grins!

Okay, back to our trip report already in progress….

The PatExpress arrived at Port Canaveral promptly at 10 a.m. I just love the anticipation of Embarkation Day!!! Driving up to the Port, spying the ship from the bridges, going up the escalator to the terminal… I also enjoy getting there early, before a lot of people arrive. I use the time to explore, take pictures, get organized, and take full advantage of having the whole day on the ship!

I just love the model ship - can I have one for Christmas?!! Wouldn't it be cool, marching little model PoohJen and family figurines around the ship? "Time to hit the buffet for breakfast...c'mon, time to hit the pools...c'mon, time to snack at Goofy's Galley...c'mon, time for lunch...c'mon time for more cruisin' fun and maybe some room service...c'mon time for Golden Mickeys...c'mon, time for dinner in the dining room, our wait staff misses us!...and so on...

The terminal was bright and decorated for Christmas, and hardly anyone was upstairs. We waited about ½ hour before the ticket windows opened. It was a breeze, as I had filled out all the paperwork ahead of time online. The twins had ditched me for some Disney cartoons, having decided earlier that I was not to be believed.

We had all received the coveted Boarding Pass #2, and were on the ship by noon. We posed for pictures with our families and with our big Dis group. And then, of course, comes the magic of the announcement as you enter the atrium; my eyes tear as they announce our family name, and I swear my jaw drops every time I enter those ships, just looking up and all around.

We headed to Parrot Cay for lunch with Hannosmom and family. Along the way was a life-sized gingerbread house….mmmm, you could smell it all the way down the hall. It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas….

Lunch was a wonderful buffet assortment…I enjoyed the long-anticipated jumbo shrimp and a bowl of chilled mango soup…except it was strawberry soup this time, but oh-so-good. Warm bread pudding with lots of vanilla sauce was first on my list of desserts. The twins enjoyed corndogs and the first of many plates of macaroni and cheese. I had learned on my first cruise that there was no need to argue with them about menus, they certainly wouldn’t starve on the ship, and so pizza and mac-n-cheese is pretty much the cruise staples they’ve come to expect!

Well, that’s all the battery life my laptop has for now…more tomorrow!

 

[mormadsmom]

 

[PoohJen]

After a relaxing lunch - and forcing myself away from the dessert table - hey, the cruise was young and I needed to pace myself! - the twins and I head for Deck 9 for some pool time. Our modus operendi on embarkation day is to wear our swim suits onto the ship, so they were ready to roll! The Mickey slide wasn't open, so they head for the Goofy Pool hot tubs - they had the place to themselves! I grabbed a few lounge chairs for Mom and I and sit back to relax and 5 days of full throttle WDW park commando-ing! I should note that the hot tubs were actually Hot! That's a first for me on a Disney cruise; I hope it's the norm now on the Magic! Of course, they grew cooler over the weekend as more bodies crowded the whirlpools.

Pat's friend Sheila came over to join me (what fun to have friends on the cruise!) and I was so glad our sons hit it off immediately.

The deck was starting to fill up, and folks were even lining up already for snacks at Pluto's and Pinnocchio's! I went to check out the cabin and unpack...only, I forgot, I had nothing to unpack, since I checked all my bags. Waiting for me on the bed was our Castaway Club tote bag, with 2 mesh bags inside, some hand wipes and little novelty items. Yayyyy! Mom and I had to fight over the mesh bags; they come in handy!

Ok, not to take the pixie dust out of the air but...the bag was 'slightly' disappointing; last time around it contained some Castaway Club cups and, more importantly, small tubes of SPF 30 sunblock! Likewise, when we checked in, we DID get the lanyards (Yay!!!), but no pins ("they are getting ready to do something new" "okay, great, but in the meantime, I'll take the old pins!") It's like we got the dregs of what remained until they roll in the new gifts next month.

Meanwhile, back in the cabin...We four were in an inside Category 10. The Cat 10 has a split bathroom, which was only $20 more than the Cat 11 - and so worth it!!!! Still, having had two Cat 6s (clear verandahs) for my prior two cruises, this did seem a bit dark. I'm a sucker for natural light, but for a 3 hour tour, who cares?!!! My deposit on our cancelled Christmas Magic cruise was paying for this jaunt, and since DH and DS weren't with us, keeping the cost down was important. And for a 3 night cruise, I would do it again!

We were way down in steerage, on Deck 2 - 2085. The pros was not much hall traffic/noise. The cons...well, not so much cons as less-than-pros was some minor ship noise (pipes banging) and a looonnngggg walk to anywhere! I HATE noise of any kind during quiet times, even 'white noise', especially when I am trying to sleep, but I can honestly say the noise level was barely noticieable and didn't interfere with my sleep at all.

As for the distance...well, on these cruises I have a rule that I must take the stairs to ALL places; a trade off for the mega-calories I am absorbing. That's all well and good when you are on deck 6 and headed up to Deck 9, but when you are starting out from deck 2????? Yikes, 7 floors every time I needed to run up to the pools, to the buffet, or to get a Diet Coke to wash down my creme brulee! I must admit....I saw a little more elevator action on this trip than in cruises past...

so...where were we? Our super-friendly room steward knocked to introduce himself; he was always smiliing whenever I saw him during the cruise. After that, it was up to the Promenade Lounge (just one flight of stairs!) for a 3pm meet and greet with our Dis board meets thread! It was good to put faces to Dis names, and fun to run into folks throughout the (short!) cruise.

Almost 4 pm, time to gather the kids and Mom and head for the Lifeboat Drill. Fairly well organized as we marched to our allotted location on Deck 4, and it was over quickly and painlessly. Curious to consider whether it would be so civilized in the event we hit an iceberg. Certainly less picture-taking would occur, I expect.

Up next: Sail Away, unpacking, Room Service and Hercules!!!

 

[BAIC03]

This post is so awesome!

 

[Hannosmom]

Yes it is awesome! I've been smiling all the way through.

 

[The Disney Fanatic]

More please!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Loving it. We're doing a 3-day Wonder in April after spending 4-nights at SSR. We've also done the Magic so we're curious about the differences between the Magic and Wonder (not much, I'm sure) but also in how fast a 3-day might feel.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[GrayFal]

Okay PoohJ - keep it coming!

signed, the proprietor of the Pat Express

 

[Hannosmom]

Okay PoohJ - keep it coming!

signed, the proprietor of the Pat Express

Good one, Pat!!!

 

[PoohJen]

You know, you have to treat a 3-Day Trip Report much like a 3 Day Wonder Cruise....you need to draaaggg it out, savor every moment and morsel to make it last...

Well, that's my excuse, anyway.

Now, where were we...???

After the lifeboat drill, back to the room to put the vests away, and the twins run up to the sail away party on Deck 9. Bags had arrived and I began to unpack. First order of business...the Door Magnets!!!! Yayyyyy!!! Despite being a world-renowned procrastinator, I had somehow found time in the two months leading to the cruise to make some door signs in secret. It really is so much fun, both to make them and to have your cabin door so decorated and personalized! Here's a few I made for the boys:

Here's a few for some DiS friends:

The above designs (except for Weasley, the adorable kitty!) were all...ahem...borrowed...from the Dis Signs thread on the cruise board and the Creative boards on the Dis!

I also had lots of little door magnets of various Disney characters in Christmas gear, so they hung on the door like little ornaments. Doh! I can't believe I never took a picture of my door! I'll just have to go back now and reenact it.

There were very few decorated doors on the Wonder - much more prevalent on the Magic (maybe because such a longer cruise?). But as I said, it brightened the door (and made it easier to find!) and it was great fun to surprise my DIS friends with some signs too! Okay, I admit it, I'm a Door Sign Junkie!

Now then, second order of business...hanging my over-the-door shoe holder!!! Yes, even on a 3 day cruise, these are a life saver! Definitely the NUMBER ONE CRUISE TIP on the Dis Boards!!! Everything goes in there: sunblock (oh, we'll get to that later), room keys, sunglasses, hairbrush, pocket camera, etc. etc. Don't know where it is? It's in the shoe holder! We even keep one now at home in our "mud room" - hats, gloves, sunglasses, bug spray, boy scout neckerchiefs, etc.

With my door signs up and my shoe holder expertly hung on the shower room door, I suddenly realize the Sail Away Party is in full swing without me!!! I start to run up the stairs, bump into Mickey and all his friends in full Sailing regallia, and hit the party at the Goofy Pool. They're doing YMCA and then a few line dances. I realize we're moving and I run back to try to see the Mickey Hand Wavers - drat, I missed them. Then the party wraps up. What?!!!! Apparently, I had missed the whole thing; Mickey and friends must've been on their way BACK from the party when I ran into them. phooey.

I check on the boys; Kie is on the sports deck, playing basketball. This became his favorite hang out for the weekend. Back down to the room to unpack, I oh-so-cleverly pick up the phone and order rooms service - The All Hands on Deck Cheese Platter, and the Tortilla Soup. Ah, that should tide me over 'til our 8pm dinner.

I was just soooo full of cleverness that day. When we packed our bags at SSR, I filled one with all the stuff we wouldn't need, and shoved that monster under the bed, never opening it. How efficient! When all our bags were unpacked, I had mentioned to the room steward about putting them under the bed, but I don't think I was clear, as he never did it for us. Such a short cruise, we just stowed the others out of the way in the room (although at least one more would've fit under the bed - I was too lazy). I'm fairly certain on my past cruises the rooms steward deftly stowed them for us.

Room service arrived within twenty minutes. Now, where did I put those singles for the room service tips? Anybody? Trick question - they're in the Over The Door Shoe Holder!!! Aren't you paying attention?

Review: Alas, anyone who has sailed DCL before can tell you the All Hands On Deck Cheese Platter has greatly suffered in quality over the years. Maybe they found too much was wasted in the past, I don't know. It was quite sad looking, a little bowl of grapes adorning some Town House crackers with thin slices of mild cheese sticking to the plate. There may have been a little brie there too. The tortilla soup was surprisingly thin (I had remembered a thicker broth), with tortilla strips, but it was tasty and hot.

Mom and boys came down and applauded my foresight at getting a little snack for the room. The boys dressed for the 6pm show and settled back to watch Monsters Inc while Mom and I finished unpacking, showering, etc. The boys had a newfound interest in Monsters Inc., having just visited the new attaction - Laugh Floor - at Magic Kingdom. A good show!!!


Off to see one of the last performances of Hercules! This was already off the Magic by the time Mom sailed, so I was glad she could see it now. The singers - especially the Muses - were AMAZING. Outstanding. I have seen many a Broadway show, and they were top quality all the way. The humor had been updated since I last saw it in '04. The talent was wonderful, the music (not the actual lyrics though, imho) very good, and the boys enjoyed it. I was glad to have the chance to see it, but look forward to the Toy Story show that is rumored to replace Herc.

Don't know what we did in the45 minutes between Herc and dinner. There was bingo, there was tree lighting in the Atrium, there was pin trading in the Atrium lobby as well. I guess we just got caught up in the hustle and bustle, and caught part of the tree lighting as we waited to enter Triton's for dinner.

At dinner, the table reservations of all our Dis friends were "linked", so that we were all right near one another. We were at table 9, which as you enter is along the right side wall. It was nice, relatively quiet, but I had the strange feeling it was the same table I had last year. It was, but more on that 'tomorrow'.

After a week of living on oatmeal and granola bars at WDW, how nice to have a full menu to pick ANYTHING I want! Yum! I made the mistake (I swear, it was innocent!) of asking the waiter whether I should have the bacon wrapped filet mignon or the roast duck (I just wanted to try the apple stuffing and whatever cheesy mashed potato they were serving with it); as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew I had goofed and yes, of course, he brought me both! Thankfully, HannosDad helped me with it!

Our servers were Witt from Thailand and Elisabeth from Marseilles, France. We were seated with our wonderful DIS friends Linda, Sarah and Ed. Witt bent over backwards to make everyone happy, and did magic tricks for the kids. He was so patient and wanted to much to please us all. Elisabeth was VERY new, and according to Witt a bit homesick. She was very nice, but clearly still learning her way. The head server came over to chat, and found out we had all sailed several times on the Magic. I found it odd that he said, in all seriousness, "oh, Please don't compare us to the Magic!". I wonder if the Wonder is often a training ground for the Magic? They needn't worry. The food was good, the service a bit slow and disjointed, but I think that was due to new staff; they were really soooooo friendly and accommodating, and knew our names right off the bat!

Before dinner, I had laid out clothes for the boys to change into later. They were thrilled to be allowed to run down to change (they are almost 11) after dinner, while we lingered over dessert to chat. I went down soon after to bring them to the Lab.

Signing them in was a breeze, as I had pre-registered them online at home, and checked them in while at the terminal. I had elected not to let them sign themselves in and out, as we had informally set a rule at our house that you had to be aged 12 for that privilege. When my older son was 12, we let him sign in and out, and the Lab would send me a text message each time, telling me he was there, or telling me where he was going when he checked out. That worked great. I wish the Lab had an option whereby they could sign themselves in, but not out, but they didn't offer that. No big deal.

Later back in the room, Mom decides she's just gonna take a quick rest. I try to talk her into walking around the ship a little, but to no avail. Boy, was she sorry she didn't! I left the room around 10, wandered around and passed by Mrs. Claus reading a Christmas story to a group of children gathered around her on the Atrium floor. She was flanked on either side by the Walt Disney Theatre Performers (the Herc cast!). When she finished her story, the chorus came down the staircase to sing the poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas". It was really beautiful, and put everyone around into the Christmas mood.

From there I went to the shops, and traded with the CM in Mickey's Mates for a great Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party pin. Then across to Treasure Ketch to purchase a gold-plated bottle of sunblock. At least, I think that's why a bottle of SPF 15 Coppertone cost $12.50!!! Never mind that the dollar store brand at home kept us protected all summer; I had forgotten it (yes, left it in the shoe holder at home!) and the kids' faces were already a little pink from this afternoon.

I will cherish that bottle all next summer as a happy memory from our Wonder cruise!


Next I walked through the clubs at Route 66 - music from each decade 60's and up playing in Wave Bands, football showing in Diversions, music in the Cadillac Lounge. I saw some of Pat's family (but not Pat...hmmm...couldn't keep up, Pat?), but couldn't find anyone else I knew; I think after a long week of WDW vacationing, my Dis group had hit the wall!

Just as well....up to get the kids at the Lab. Kie was playing Guitar Hero III with a group of about 6 other kids, and Ryan was playing a video game near by. Off to bed, we had certainly made the most of our first day on board! We quickly drifted off to sleep to The Jungle Book playing in our cabin...

 

[naner]

Great TR so far to your 3 hour tour!!!

 

[vllygrrl]

Thank you thank you for your trip report. We'll be doing a "3 hour tour" on the Wonder Dec 4-7, so this is a great preview of what to expect! I love the fact that there already seem to be so many holiday activities going on - my DS will love it!

 

[monkeygirl]

Loving the TR! When will we see the next installment??

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hope you'll be posting more!

Do you know what all video games they had for the kids - -I saw you mentioned Guitar Hero. My guys have wanted to try it out.

 

[dizney-cruiser]

I feel like I just woke up from a nap and found this!! Too funny!!

The one thing that I didn't like (and Linda HATED) was how fast it was!! We are doing a 3 night Disney Dream Cruise this September, but paired it with a 4 night in the same stateroom!!!

I was also a nervous wreck the morning of departure when I found out that Pam forgot to bring her Passport/Birth Certificate! I think she just ended up crawling into Jackie's suitcase