Now on the Wonder!

[DLM1980]

Rant over! One fun thing that happened to us at the Endicott Glacier...no, we didn't see a whale. While out on our verandah a hummingbird flew by. What? Yes, a hummingbird! What in the world does he/she have to work with in that rather bleak environment? Was there a feeder on the Wonder? Did he/she subsist on the drink of the day? Maybe someone with more knowledge about birds than me can enlighten us.

I believe when we were in Ketchikan we discovered they have a hummingbird festival. My partner was excited to hear that because he luvs those little birds

 

[ahen]

We go the end of August and I can hardly wait.

 

[mmmears]

Currently on the Wonder heading to Tracy Arm. I am not a trip report writer, but here are a few observations so far.

Updates after dry dock are great to see: covered areas on deck 10 with loungers. New Aqua Lab looks fun. LOVE the new Cabanas. Bright, fresh look and feels less congested. Had dinner tonight at Tiana's Place and enjoyed the live show. Last night was Animators Palate. I really noticed the new chairs- much more comfortable. Food has been very good. Our servers Quentin and Putu are great.

Could you post a pic when you get back, or explain what they did on deck 10 with the covered loungers. I'm asking since we found it cold up on deck 10 when we went (2011). I would love to go back, though! Also, did they take away part of the nice, warm Cove Cafe and make it just for concierge guests? If they took a bunch of space, that would probably make me seriously have to rethink going with Disney again, TBH. There just wasn't much space up there to begin with... We had a balcony cabin and did spend quite a bit of time out there, too. Thanks for all the info -- I hope you have a great rest of the cruise! :

 

[terrybsw]

In all fairness if they prohibited smoking all together (which I personally wish they would), it would destroy the experience for many smokers, so as much as I would like to see it completely smoke free, I do understand there may need to be a balance.

Carnival Paradise used to be a non-smoking ship but they couldn't sustain it. Was nice while it lasted.

 

[terrybsw]

Could you post a pic when you get back, or explain what they did on deck 10 with the covered loungers. I'm asking since we found it cold up on deck 10 when we went (2011). I would love to go back, though! Also, did they take away part of the nice, warm Cove Cafe and make it just for concierge guests? If they took a bunch of space, that would probably make me seriously have to rethink going with Disney again, TBH. There just wasn't much space up there to begin with... We had a balcony cabin and did spend quite a bit of time out there, too. Thanks for all the info -- I hope you have a great rest of the cruise! :

If you look across to the other deck, it is the area under the white "awning" flanked by the blue and yellow flags. I don't remember those being there before dry dock (but I could be wrong!). They really didn't take up much space, per se, but allow covered / shaded places. Below in this picture is the Quiet Cove area. The glassed in area to the R up top, is the concierge lounge - which used to be part of the Quiet Cove coffee area. There is an upstairs area on the opposite side that is open to anyone and enclosed. We liked spending time in there when it was raining. The only drawback is that there is a 3/4 wall between the "open to anyone" part of Quiet Cove and the concierge lounge so when kids are playing in the lounge, you can hear them.

 

[terrybsw]

If you look across to the other deck, it is the area under the white "awning" flanked by the blue and yellow flags. I don't remember those being there before dry dock (but I could be wrong!). They really didn't take up much space, per se, but allow covered / shaded places. Below in this picture is the Quiet Cove area. The glassed in area to the R up top, is the concierge lounge - which used to be part of the Quiet Cove coffee area. There is an upstairs area on the opposite side that is open to anyone and enclosed. We liked spending time in there when it was raining. The only drawback is that there is a 3/4 wall between the "open to anyone" part of Quiet Cove and the concierge lounge so when kids are playing in the lounge, you can hear them.

Whoops. The picture didn't post.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

We were on the Wonder last week, and it was AMAZING!!! Doug Jones said in his glacier talk that there is speculation that Sawyer Glacier is breaking up, and that is the reason for so much ice in Tracy Arm. Of course I've only been up Endicott Arm, but it was unbelievable! We saw Dawes Glacier calve twice!! And there were seals everywhere!! Hundreds of little black heads visible as we began to sail out.

 

[mmmears]

Thanks so much for the photo and explanation. Sad that they took away space from the Cove Cafe, since the ship doesn't have many glassed in, warm viewing areas to begin with. I have no desire to pay for concierge (which I'm willing to do at WDW) since I just don't see the value in it on DCL, but this makes me feel like they aren't thinking of the majority of their passengers on the ship.

 

[terrybsw]

Rant over! One fun thing that happened to us at the Endicott Glacier...no, we didn't see a whale. While out on our verandah a hummingbird flew by. What? Yes, a hummingbird! What in the world does he/she have to work with in that rather bleak environment? Was there a feed: their ability to echo-locate. He told us to watch before we entered the arm or after we left the arm.

We were on the Wonder last week, and it was AMAZING!!! Doug Jones said in his glacier talk that there is speculation that Sawyer Glacier is breaking up, and that is the reason for so much ice in Tracy Arm. Of course I've only been up Endicott Arm, but it was unbelievable! We saw Dawes Glacier calve twice!! And there were seals everywhere!! Hundreds of little black heads visible as we began to sail out.

It was like seal happy hour!

A woman on deck caught one of the calvings and was kind enough to share with those around her.