Photo Trip Report – Panama Canal Cruise plus 3 days in DLR

[jegsnakkernorsk]

After waddling out of Palo, I went to my stateroom to change into pool attire and found a spot to read for a little while out on the 9th deck.


A little more digested and able to move again, DSis and I hit the hot tub in the quiet cove pool area (adult pool).


This sea day was a rough sea day and it was super fun to be in the pool with actual waves in the water - like being in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon.










We found a spot on the 10th deck to look out at the water while drying off. There were a couple spots on the quiet cove area that looked out over the water but everyday those spots were taken by the same people by about 6:30am (I know because I would check on my way to the fitness area and the same belongings would be there already). There was one day we noticed an older couple sitting there and the stuff that was left to save the seats was moved to the table next to the lounges.



Later, DSis and I went back to the room to take nap and enjoy the view from our verandah.

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

I don't have much photos from the afternoon. It was a lazy sea day. Mom and Dad went to a concierge guests party and brought back a mickey shaped rice krispy treat for DSis.


They also got a fruit plate in their room.

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Hard to believe but we're eating again.

Tonight it is Parrot Cay with the Parrot Cay menu.


Our head server, Geoffrey, looked more like Don Johnson from Miami Vice tonight.


Our assistant server, Kristina from Serbia

I liked the colorful skirts better than the uniforms the female servers usually have to wear - ugly vests and uglier pants like the men (which looks fine on men - not so much on women in my opinion).

By now Kristina has our drink patterns down, DSis gets a virgin daiquiri, I get hot tea, mom and dad get wine from the wine package and sometimes share a glass with me.






This banana bread was the best bread of the cruise. I know this is a fact and not an opinion because a table over from us had this banana bread every night after - good for them



These photos are horrible, but I think this is a normal menu for the Wonder, so menus are probably out on the internet somewhere.








The Crab Martinique we learned how to make.

If the menu photos weren't bad enough, check out these action shots - I didn't have enough time to switch settings on my little waterproof Costco camera.






Asparagus Soup

I also had the Grouper - which I enjoyed. The snow peas look more like a garnish, but they were crisp and very tasty.

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Dad had the mixed grill



Mom had this salad


DSis had this steak that she really enjoyed





Lemon Merengue

S'more cake - I had a bite it was delicious

 

[Flossbolna]

I love all your pictures, especially the in-pool ones!! It appears as if the pool was not at all crowded. I would have thought with a cruise with very few kids (Jimmy told us two cruises before yours that there would be less than 200 kids on the Panama Canal crossing) all the adults would at the adult pool. But it looks less crowded than on our sea days.

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

I love all your pictures, especially the in-pool ones!! It appears as if the pool was not at all crowded. I would have thought with a cruise with very few kids (Jimmy told us two cruises before yours that there would be less than 200 kids on the Panama Canal crossing) all the adults would at the adult pool. But it looks less crowded than on our sea days.

Yeah there were 185 kids onboard they told us. It was crowded in the quiet cove pool most days - all the chairs were taken on sea days and the pool always had at least someone in it - until our final day when the weather got chillier closer to LA. We spent more time at the goofy pool as a result. I never spent time at the family pool before, but this cruise it was mostly empty - only a few families at any time. This particular sea day (day four) was pretty rough and I think a lot of people were laying low. But it was fun in the pool!

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

That night after dinner, DSis and I took the arcade cards mom and dad got from being in concierge.

It would be fun if they re-themed this for Wreck-it Ralph or Tron.


The cards allowed us to play two games of air hockey and two games of ninja fruit as I recall - we got four cards.



There were only a couple kids in here this night. Later in the cruise mom and dad got another set of arcade cards and that night was busier with other concierge guests using their cards as well.

the end of day four.

 

[iloverags2]

Oh no! Sasha is on the Wonder now??? I'm sooooooo sad!!!!!! Was hoping to see him in October on the Magic. He was our dining room server on the Magic during our first DCL cruise in 2000. We had him again in Palo in 2012 on the Magic. *sigh*

Your pictures have me longing to be on a cruise right noooooooowwwwww!!!

 

[chris31997]

Thank you for your TR. It was nice seeing the Wonder. We will be on her next year in Alaska

 

[Jcmh]

This really bothered me. The four in the background are cast members working during our cruise on the stage - I saw some as Princes and others as Lion King dancers, etc. Anyway I didn't like that they were talking loudly, complaining about their jobs. One was reading a text from his wavephone that said that he had to escort Cinderella and he was pissed about it. They were kissing (I didn't think I should take a photo while they were kissing - I have some class ). Anyway, my point is I don't think that cast members (whether it is Snow White and Prince Charming or Petter Pan and Belle or Snow White and Belle or Prince Charming and Prince Philip) should be kissing in public and I don't think they should be complaining about their jobs in public. This happened several times on the 9th deck pool area as well. I got an earful hearing one of the actresses/singers telling another all about her boyfriend Ivan, who is married with kids, but his wife is CRAZY and he's going to leave her etc. Not that another guest could have been just annoying to sit by at the pool, but why did working cast members have to be at the guest pool and guest sundeck anyway? If they are on vacation that is one thing, but they were working this cruise. Don't they have their own pool and their own beach? I know I'm going to get flack for this but it's my opinion that this is inappropriate. I thought cast members had to be "on" in public? I do in my job.

I was on this cruise as well, and I am glad you posted this pic because it fills in a gap for me. I saw this group on the cruise, too, but I didn't realize they were cast members. I didn't see/hear them saying anything that would have tipped me off. However, now that I know they are, I am annoyed. My DD (almost 4yo) was SO excited about the princess tea. These guys were seated at a table by us for the tea and completely monopolized the Princesses time every time they made their way around the room. There my daughter sat in her Snow White dress, so excited for a chance to talk to a Princess and all she got was a wave from Tiana because these guys pulled the Princesses over for a chat each time they came by. It was annoying at the time just because they are adults and should have let the Princesses make their way around to the kids before they 'yoo-hooed' them over to their table. But now that I know they were CM's, it *really* bothers me.

Okay... rant over. Thanks for listening.

 

[zimaaaaah]

Thank you for the detailed and picture-blessed trip report! I just booked the Castaway Cay double dip cruise and this is helping to refresh my memory of "our" original Disney ship. Gonna be a long wait, but this type of trip report helps.

 

[TARAMEOW]

Really love your TR. just curious why did the birds die?

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Oh no! Sasha is on the Wonder now??? I'm sooooooo sad!!!!!! Was hoping to see him in October on the Magic. He was our dining room server on the Magic during our first DCL cruise in 2000. We had him again in Palo in 2012 on the Magic. *sigh*

Your pictures have me longing to be on a cruise right noooooooowwwwww!!!

Yeah, I'm glad you are enjoying the photos and day dreaming about your future cruise. Sorry Sasha is on the Wonder at least through the Alaska cruises he told us.

Thank you for your TR. It was nice seeing the Wonder. We will be on her next year in Alaska

I'm jealous. I bought a cruise to Alaska at a local fundraiser and am going on the Norwegian Jewel. I have a feeling I'm going to be very disappointed I'm not on the Wonder!

I was on this cruise as well, and I am glad you posted this pic because it fills in a gap for me. I saw this group on the cruise, too, but I didn't realize they were cast members. I didn't see/hear them saying anything that would have tipped me off. However, now that I know they are, I am annoyed. My DD (almost 4yo) was SO excited about the princess tea. These guys were seated at a table by us for the tea and completely monopolized the Princesses time every time they made their way around the room. There my daughter sat in her Snow White dress, so excited for a chance to talk to a Princess and all she got was a wave from Tiana because these guys pulled the Princesses over for a chat each time they came by. It was annoying at the time just because they are adults and should have let the Princesses make their way around to the kids before they 'yoo-hooed' them over to their table. But now that I know they were CM's, it *really* bothers me.

Okay... rant over. Thanks for listening.

Yeash, that is HORRIBLE!!! I'm so sorry and share in your irritation. But perhaps the one good thing is at least you and your 4 year old DD didn't recognize them as the princes!

Thank you for the detailed and picture-blessed trip report! I just booked the Castaway Cay double dip cruise and this is helping to refresh my memory of "our" original Disney ship. Gonna be a long wait, but this type of trip report helps.

Oh the double dip sounds fun - I love Castaway Cay!

Really love your TR. just curious why did the birds die?

I think because they were sparrows and not sea birds. I think that we were close enough to land (Haiti) and going by at the right time of night that they were attracted by the lights, but they couldn't fly like sea birds - they couldn't glide in the air and they needed to rest. I think they all died of exhaustion. I heard once that all sparrows in the Americas were brought here centuries ago by a group that loved Shakespeare and wanted to reproduce Shakespeare here in the "new world" and sparrows are mentioned a lot in his sonnets so they imported sparrows from Europe that spread through the Americas and even made new breeds of sparrow over the centuries. At least that was a fun fact that stayed in my mind.

 

[Luv2Diz]

I was on this cruise as well, and I am glad you posted this pic because it fills in a gap for me. I saw this group on the cruise, too, but I didn't realize they were cast members. I didn't see/hear them saying anything that would have tipped me off. However, now that I know they are, I am annoyed. My DD (almost 4yo) was SO excited about the princess tea. These guys were seated at a table by us for the tea and completely monopolized the Princesses time every time they made their way around the room. There my daughter sat in her Snow White dress, so excited for a chance to talk to a Princess and all she got was a wave from Tiana because these guys pulled the Princesses over for a chat each time they came by. It was annoying at the time just because they are adults and should have let the Princesses make their way around to the kids before they 'yoo-hooed' them over to their table. But now that I know they were CM's, it *really* bothers me.

Okay... rant over. Thanks for listening.

The more I read about this group of CMs, the more perturbed I get! I have to question what they were doing at a princess tea?! First the unprofessional conversation at CC, then cannon-balling at the adult pool and now this? I really hope someone complained.

Had I been onboard and witnessed this (we seriously considered this cruise) I would have been asking to see the Human Resources Director to report their behavior. I really hope someone from DCL does peruse these threads.

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

The more I read about this group of CMs, the more perturbed I get! I have to question what they were doing at a princess tea?! First the unprofessional conversation at CC, then cannon-balling at the adult pool and now this? I really hope someone complained.

Had I been onboard and witnessed this (we seriously considered this cruise) I would have been asking to see the Human Resources Director to report their behavior. I really hope someone from DCL does peruse these threads.

Well the thing is, each of these scenes were just "one off" things and it's not until this thread that each of us is connecting with a similar story. Just on their own it is a little annoyance, not worth making a federal case. Seeing all these other stories come up really paints a picture. I'm pretty amazed and glad I did say something on my trip report at least.

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

finally,

 

[AmyBiff]

After reading your TR, I said to my dh last night, "remember that group by the adult pool that was always causing a ruckus? They were cast members!" He couldn't believe it. He thinks sometimes I'm too fuddy-duddy about peoples' behavior, but this time he agreed with me.

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

After reading your TR, I said to my dh last night, "remember that group by the adult pool that was always causing a ruckus? They were cast members!" He couldn't believe it. He thinks sometimes I'm too fuddy-duddy about peoples' behavior, but this time he agreed with me.

Hey Fuddy-Duddy, that's too crazy how many people saw them and how bad they were!

I'm still plugging away at uploading and resizing photos if you aren't bored of reliving the cruise yet...

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

So I wake up and here's what I see out my window


We are approaching Cartagena. The water near the harbor was pretty cloudy and seemed dirty, when we were driving around the city I discovered why.



The pilot ship guides us in.























The clouds look ominous but the storm is on it's way out. The town got drenched the night before and flushed a lot of the street rubbish into the harbor (there is litter everywhere - especially up in the hills and in the woods and along all the roads).

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

So DSis and I meet mom in the Quiet Cove Café

(the adult pool was already busy)

And then the three of us headed to Beach Blanket for breakfast














I almost forgot why I took that last photo. I was thinking it was a mistake like many of my photos have been - the one of the elevator floor, of my finger, the one taken inside of my purse, etc. But I did mean to take this photo. Mom's glass had a huge crack in it and all the water was coming out. She didn't notice it for a while, which is what makes it so funny. That and that when anyone in my family drinks a lot of water a dinner, dad would always say that the glass must be cracked. This time it actually was!