One Way Trip to Canada, Eh? FINAL THOUGHTS 08/10

[MAGICFOR2]

With our tummies full, we headed out and it was 1:50, so we decided to head up to Deck 6 to become “gate lice” and wait for the room hallways to open. Everyone started gathering right in front of the stairways and elevators, and sitting on the steps – making it hard for anyone to get through. Of course when they opened the gate, the people who had waited the shortest amount of time pushed their way in first, swinging their huge backpacks back and forth, making sure they pushed anyone back who even thought about stepping in front of them!


When we found our stateroom, #6014, one of our bags had already made it.
We had a deluxe ocean view – loved it! For some reason this is dark:

We had a nice Castaway Club gift waiting for us – great day bag, rice krispie treats – deliciously soft and marshmallowy- 2 metal water bottles and a ship’s wheel key chain!

Closet and safe:

Bathrooms with nice sized H2O toiletries. Pretty good and natural, but I still liked my Arbonne better. (The soap felt “clingy” to my skin and I didn’t like the shampoo at all)

I had a goal today. With this being one of the only warm days we would have, I was determined to have some pool time before we sailed away. So we quickly donned our suits and headed to the Quiet Cove Pool.

We spent some relaxing time at the pool while I finished my DOTD. All too soon, it was time to go back to the cabin and get dressed for the Muster Drill. We didn’t have to model our lifejackets, just head out to our station and meet up.

Now it was time for Disney’s Sail Away Party!!!! Except it was announced that we didn’t have clearance from the port to leave until 6pm, so we would have our party at 4:30pm, but we wouldn’t really be leaving until six. We ran up to Deck 10 so we could observe - there were lots less people down there – I think there were a lot less children on this cruise – it’s usually packed down there

On second glance, I see the shade areas are pretty packed - probably with creamy white Canadians and Pacific Northwesters - it was 87 degrees! Smarter than me - avoiding sunburn - more on that later.....

All of our favorite characters came out to celebrate! We were handed shiny blue streamers to wave around and be festive!

NEXT: DINNER AND A SAIL AWAY

 

[MAGICFOR2]

We left the party to get ready for our dinner at Triton’s. We had asked a bartender for a wine glass, and I poured myself one to take with me. I know – dining faux pas – but it happens, and I really wanted MY wine I had brought along. We had a table for 10 all set up with some great people from our cruisemeet thread. Our table was right up against the window, so we had a great view of the sail away, which happened right at 6!

Michelle ordered dessert, and her husband Brian, (Trimix), ordered the same thing:

Hmmm, I don't see pics of Triton's here - the are probably yet to be downloaded - and serious Faux Pas - I didn't take many food pics - I don't know what I was thinking! (or not!)
I think I had the Sea Bass and Risotto - I know it was delicious - I think with all the excitement and getting to know our table mates, I barely paid attention to our dinner - except I know it was fantastic, and our head server, Agnelo was fantastic - constantly telling us he didn't want us to have a good experience, but an excellent one. Our AS, Luis tried really hard and we liked him, but he seemed to be new - he had a hard time remembering to bring extra beverages and refills.


After dinner, we walked around the ship and got our bearings. We saw Peter Pan greeting kids in the atrium, and we did a walk-by.

We stopped by the cabin to freshen up and refill my wine, and found this gift from Disney Vacation Club:

We met Michael from the Philippines, our Cabin Steward. He did a great job taking care of us, except when I thought our fridge wasn't working, he promised to bring a bucket of ice, and there was never ice furnished, the whole cruise. If I had reallly needed it, I would have reminded him, but the fridge worked well, and it just wasn't an issue.

I realized I hadn’t decorated our door yet, so I did that before we headed back out. DVC had added a magnet to our door, too!

We saw that Mickey Mania was happening in Studio Sea, so we got a table and enjoyed cheering the contestants on.

We couldn’t pass up being officially Welcomed Aboard at the Welcome Aboard show:

This show was fun and fabulous as always!

I was looking forward to the Match Your Mate show tonight, but we were so tired that we just wanted to relax and watch TV. We went out on Deck 9 to the drink station to grab a coke, and it was FREEZING out there! A strong cold wind was blowing – this is the first time I’ve cruised outside the Caribbean, and I was expecting to walk out to a warm, moist air – yikes!

When we got to our room, we found our first FE gifts, tucked in our FE:

This was a hand made laundry bag and custom wrist bands . They said West Coast Repo, Apr 27 – May 3, 2011. Nice momentos. Thank you! We had 58 people on our FE exchange list, so that was a lot of laundry bags to make! I was looking forward to passing our gifts out! I tried to keep track of all the givers, but sometimes they were anonyMOUSE, and sometimes there were several together and I wasn’t sure who the giver was, but this was a really fun activity!

We climbed in to our nice comfy bed and it wasn't long before we were having Disney Dreams!

NEXT: PINS APLENTY!

 

[DMMarla07860]

great report so far, if you get a chance check out my trip report

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2715132

 

[eandesmom]

Oh I love those laundry bags, what a great idea!

 

[Mindyjoy]

I'm still in! Loving everything so far!

 

[lozzypop]

Loving the trip report so far! Mostly because I spotted myself in the Sail Away party photos I am one of the pasty Canadians standing in the shade.

 

[dizneeat]

Great start to your cruise!

I love the sailaway party - so much fun, and did I spot Christiaan the cruise director in one of your pics?

Can you believe that in three cruises we have never been IN a pool on the Wonder?
Guess I need to try the quiet pool on the DREAM then.

Loved your CC club gifts - even though we received the same ones last year it is so exciting to see someone receive those gifts!

And aren't FEs fun? Love your laundry bag and I hope you took a few more photos of your FE loot!

Can't wait for more!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

great report so far, if you get a chance check out my trip report

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2715132

Thanks Julia! I'll be there!

Oh I love those laundry bags, what a great idea!

I thought it was great! Really something we could use, and so thoughtful!

I'm still in! Loving everything so far!

MINDY! You're Here! Thanks!

Loving the trip report so far! Mostly because I spotted myself in the Sail Away party photos I am one of the pasty Canadians standing in the shade.

Hi! I'm so glad you're here! I never used the tern pasty! I mentioned Pacific NW too, because most of us are pretty white with all the snow and rain we get! I'll have to go back and look for you! (Were you part of" table 19?")

Great start to your cruise!

I love the sailaway party - so much fun, and did I spot Christiaan the cruise director in one of your pics?

Can you believe that in three cruises we have never been IN a pool on the Wonder?
Guess I need to try the quiet pool on the DREAM then.

Loved your CC club gifts - even though we received the same ones last year it is so exciting to see someone receive those gifts!

And aren't FEs fun? Love your laundry bag and I hope you took a few more photos of your FE loot!

Can't wait for more!

Yes! Christian is a great CD!
Now why haven't you been in the pool? At Quiet Cove you don't have to worry about UFO's!

I had seen your photos of the CC gift, so I knew what to expect, but I was surprised at the nice quality of the bag!

FE's are alot of fun! I'm going to go for something smaller next time, though - I had to check an extra bag just to bring it all, and to bring it all home! I think I have pics of all the "loot" we got!

 

[dizneeat]

Yes! Christian is a great CD!
Now why haven't you been in the pool? At Quiet Cove you don't have to worry about UFO's!

I had seen your photos of the CC gift, so I knew what to expect, but I was surprised at the nice quality of the bag!

FE's are alot of fun! I'm going to go for something smaller next time, though - I had to check an extra bag just to bring it all, and to bring it all home! I think I have pics of all the "loot" we got!

Good to hear you liked Christian as much as we did! He won my heart with his liquid sunshine (pouring rain to us non Disney trained folks) comment during our first cruise.

I always wanted to try the Quiet Cove pool, but somehow it never worked out.
Guess I will HAVE TO on the DREAM in the summer!

I love my CC Club bag - I even use them for excursion day here with my class!

We signed up for FEs at all three of our summer cruises! We are 3 months out and there are already 50 cabins on my list!!!! 6 groups do repeat cruises and we do a daily (small) gift per person! I am not liking the amount of space the so far prepared gifts take up on one of our dressers. We are only allowed 2 suitcases for free, so I guess we will have to pay for an extra one just for the FE stuff!
Well, it will give me a little room for souvenirs, won't it?

 

[glennbo123]

Looked like a great send-off.

"Same Thing". I'll have to be careful that I don't ever do that.

 

[DMMarla07860]

I saw myself in two of your sailaway pictures

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Good to hear you liked Christian as much as we did! He won my heart with his liquid sunshine (pouring rain to us non Disney trained folks) comment during our first cruise.

I always wanted to try the Quiet Cove pool, but somehow it never worked out.
Guess I will HAVE TO on the DREAM in the summer!

I love my CC Club bag - I even use them for excursion day here with my class!

We signed up for FEs at all three of our summer cruises! We are 3 months out and there are already 50 cabins on my list!!!! 6 groups do repeat cruises and we do a daily (small) gift per person! I am not liking the amount of space the so far prepared gifts take up on one of our dressers. We are only allowed 2 suitcases for free, so I guess we will have to pay for an extra one just for the FE stuff!
Well, it will give me a little room for souvenirs, won't it?

Liquid Sunshine - I like it!

Wow! That's alot of gifts to prepare! Yes, you will have a little more room for souvies, but you will also receive alot of items to take back!

Looked like a great send-off.

"Same Thing". I'll have to be careful that I don't ever do that.

I had seen people get a "Nothing" on their dessert plate before- but this was new to me.

I saw myself in two of your sailaway pictures

Yup! I see you! I remember spying on you getting your groove on!

 

[anewmac]

This is one reason why we are afraid to do a west coast cruise... its cold here LOL. Weve done a 3day to ensenada and we didnt get to relaxe on sea say it was so cold in July.

What was in the Vacaton Club box besides pins? Lanyards? I mean "necklaces" lol

That Fish extender gift is awesome a mickey laundry bag how cool what a great idea and wristbands neat!!

 

[nunzia]

Enjoying the report! Do they just know if you are DVC or do you need to tell someone?
I hadn't thought about the cold..hmm..we'll be going in September so hope there are some warm days..or I will just bring my hoodies

 

[MAGICFOR2]

This is one reason why we are afraid to do a west coast cruise... its cold here LOL. Weve done a 3day to ensenada and we didnt get to relaxe on sea say it was so cold in July.

What was in the Vacaton Club box besides pins? Lanyards? I mean "necklaces" lol

That Fish extender gift is awesome a mickey laundry bag how cool what a great idea and wristbands neat!!

Yikes! That cold in July? No thanks.
The box was a wood box, and it actually had a coupon for a pin we could get at the DVC desk - they like to talk to ya - and some "necklaces".

We got more goodies from DVC throughout the week.

Enjoying the report! Do they just know if you are DVC or do you need to tell someone?
I hadn't thought about the cold..hmm..we'll be going in September so hope there are some warm days..or I will just bring my hoodies

Thanks! We booked with points, so it was on our ressie, but you have a sign in on all the Disney sites that is the same - somehow it gets matched up, I think.

As for the weather - what is your itinerary again? If you are up in Vancouver/SF - you will definitely want layers - it can be cold an rainy and that damp wind is way colder than your dry NM wind. (I live in the high desert, too) We wore light jackets with layers under for all our days except one in SF. If you are heading to the MR, you can probably get by with just a hoodie during the first night and maybe into the first day and then it should warm up great for you!

 

[megsablue]

...We got more goodies from DVC throughout the week.
...Thanks! We booked with points, so it was on our ressie, but you have a sign in on all the Disney sites that is the same - somehow it gets matched up, I think.

Do you mind if I ask what else you got? We had booked on points, but we never got any of our DVC stuff until we asked (then we got the wood box, pin, lanyards and the magnet) - then we didn't get anything else the rest of the trip. I'm curious to see what else you got, if you don't mind sharing (I realize it might be in the rest of your trip report!)

 

[nunzia]

Yikes! That cold in July? No thanks.
The box was a wood box, and it actually had a coupon for a pin we could get at the DVC desk - they like to talk to ya - and some "necklaces".

We got more goodies from DVC throughout the week.



Thanks! We booked with points, so it was on our ressie, but you have a sign in on all the Disney sites that is the same - somehow it gets matched up, I think.

As for the weather - what is your itinerary again? If you are up in Vancouver/SF - you will definitely want layers - it can be cold an rainy and that damp wind is way colder than your dry NM wind. (I live in the high desert, too) We wore light jackets with layers under for all our days except one in SF. If you are heading to the MR, you can probably get by with just a hoodie during the first night and maybe into the first day and then it should warm up great for you!

We are going on the trip that goes to SF, then down to San Diego and Ensenada..so maybe chilly in SF and then warmer down south. I get enough heat here, so nice and foggy is fine with me

 

[castawaycayfans]

It has been nice reading your report, although with a tear in my eye. We had such a wonderful time on that cruise. It is funny how everyone was waiting in the hallway to get in the cabins. Our kids were in the pools and I kept a check, but spent most of my time on a chair on the deck until the crowd thinned out. Our side seemed to have something going on because they didn't open the doors until closer to 2:20. It was hard getting up and down the stairs to check because of all the people sitting on them. We just left the kids in the pool until 3:00, while I was able to pull the suitcases in and unpack. Maybe after school gets out I can make a report. But I am enjoying yours! I look forward to your next installment.................

 

[lozzypop]

Hi! I'm so glad you're here! I never used the tern pasty! I mentioned Pacific NW too, because most of us are pretty white with all the snow and rain we get! I'll have to go back and look for you! (Were you part of" table 19?")

No - we were part of the "single-Mom" tables 33 & 34. We met some great people on the cruise and I was the source of knowledge even though I was a first timer just like everyone else at our table. Yay disboards!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Do you mind if I ask what else you got? We had booked on points, but we never got any of our DVC stuff until we asked (then we got the wood box, pin, lanyards and the magnet) - then we didn't get anything else the rest of the trip. I'm curious to see what else you got, if you don't mind sharing (I realize it might be in the rest of your trip report!)

Oh, that stinks you had to ask. They put a Welcome Home magnet on our door, and then we got a phone call telling us to stop by the desk and say Arrrgh on pirate day and they gave us a pirate Mickey pin and some tatoos, and then we went to the presentation and got hats and a bag and a pen and of course the vacation planning books. Then we went to a sales presentation and got a print of the famous Walt and Lily on a cruise with the stuffed Mickey in Lily's hand. I don't mind telling you here, because I might forget. Did you get daily calls from DVC on your phone?