Taking on the Wonder June 14th 2007 Trip Report w/ Pictures! (Completed 8/3 pg. 9)

[timandlesley]

Lovin' it Darlene, can't wait for more. Great video too!!!
Lesley

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Excellent! Great pics, details, etc. Love it!

 

[momtotanmanandraerae]

I find your TR after you replied to Tim and Lesley's thread. By the way, if anyone here hasn't read their trip report. Do!! Right Away!!

I would love to go on a Disney cruise someday. I am enjoying reading your report of it. The safety drill does not seem fun but mandatory I know!

I am jealous that you live so close!! I would probably go all the time then!

Keep the report coming!

 

[2angelsinheaven]

We arrive up on Deck 10 forward and make our way to mid ship to hunt for John, we make quick work of it and spot him shortly thereafter. YES! He's managed to get us a table and 4, oh no 3 chairs, I volunteer to stand but John Sr. quickly vetoes that and offers. Ok after the running around, unpacking, safety drill, etc I'll take a seat.

Things are just getting started kids are dancing and parents are trying to dance and we have a wonderful view of it all.



We are introduced to all the awesome cruise staff CM's who will be entertaining us during our cruise.

This is my just about one of the sealers of the deal when comparing DCL to other lines, in all our cruise no other ship has ever had a Sailaway party let alone one like this! Disney goes ALL OUT. This is a must do.

However here is my tip, if your not interested in being right next to the stage and don't mind watching from above head to deck 10, it's not nearly as crowded and the view is great as you can see the entire midship deck 9 from up there. Plus like I stated earlier there are chairs and tables...

Just before 5pm the Disney Characters are introduced and we know it's almost time.

All the favorites are there, Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto. They do some really cute Disneyfied dances to Disney songs and Disney versions of songs, everyone is starting to go wild. The energy here is thick.

I think I catch John Sr. dancing out of the corner of my eye...lol. It's that Disney magic that will turn any adult into a kid again, even if only for a few minutes.

John enjoying the party ready to wave at everyone as we sail out to sea with his Stitch gloves.

Sue getting in on the action with some of our Mickey gloves.

The characters ask us to join in for a count down to go time!

The most wonderful sound in the world the sounding of the Disney horn to the tune of "When you wish upon a star". Yes it's really real and we are on our way to the Bahamas!



I've giving Sue a play by play now on what will happen next, we drop the lines, and we set sail, no turning back now, it's happening, she is super excited as well. And is waving her gloves madly to the tunes of YMCA and the Cha Cha sli de. The smiles all around are contagious you just can't help but break into laughter, happy tears, etc. Your are leaving the "real world" behind for four days and spending it with Mickey and all his friends, can it get any better than this? I think not.

John and I bid John Sr. and Sue farewell as we rush to the side of the ship to wave goodbye to all our friends back at the terminal, but for some reason no one is there. Hum. Infact we are not moving, hum again. We see two DCL buses pull in, seems there may have been some late comers. We head back to the table to join in on the dancing fun.

Here's John all ready to wave with no one to wave to:

While we wait I decide to go snap a photo of our car in the parking lot...lol (ours is the black cherry SCION next to the open handicap spot)

Smile, me waiting to wave....

Another view of the Sailaway Party...

Just as I'm snapping the photo above I feel a slight movement, could it be, are we leaving? Yup. I yell to John and we run over to the side to this glorious sight....

Both of us wave madly, I won't lie a happy tear or two feel from both of our eyes. We had been waiting so long for this and both of us were super excited to be able to take John's parents on their first cruise. It's was going to be truly magical and it was only just beginning.

John Sr. and Sue blowing the camera a kiss...

John and I, not sure what he's looking at....

We stick around for one more dance I think it was something from High School Musical before heading back to the room to get ready for the first show. Hercules! John's favorite.

Up next... Hercules and our first night of way too much food!

 

[ReneeDisney]

Hi! I found your trip report after reading Tim and Lesley's trip report!

What great photos! Can't wait to read more and experience a Disney Cruise!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I am so loving this TR. Wow - two late DCL buses? Wonder what happened?

Great photos. Loved the video of the safety drill but the links to the other two videos won't work. Can you re-type the links?

Can't wait to read more!!!!!!

 

[WeatherbySwann]

Excellent work! BTW I love John's Tiki Grumpy shirt

But wait . . . no Donald at Sail Away party?!

 

[LITTLEKID58]

TFS

 

[2angelsinheaven]

Sorry for the delay guys, John surprised me with an inpromptu trip to WDW Tuesday morning, we just got home. I'll post more of our cruise TR and I'll add the WDW stuff too. Got more videos too, the 4th fireworks were INCREDIBLE!

 

[ReneeDisney]

Sorry for the delay guys, John surprised me with an inpromptu trip to WDW Tuesday morning, we just got home. I'll post more of our cruise TR and I'll add the WDW stuff too. Got more videos too, the 4th fireworks were INCREDIBLE!

How wonderful! Hope you had a great time!!!

 

[timandlesley]

Hope you guys had a great 4th, what did you end up doing?? Did you love POFQ?? Can't wait to hear the details!
Lesley

 

[2angelsinheaven]

Excellent work! BTW I love John's Tiki Grumpy shirt

But wait . . . no Donald at Sail Away party?!

Nope, sorry no Donald at Sailaway or Daisy. But they are on the ship.

The T-shirt is from the Disney Store, we found it on sale in the DS at the Florida Mall for $4.99! We all got Tiki shirts, John Grumpy, Me Pooh, Sue Eyeore and John Sr. Big Bad Wolf.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

Hope you guys had a great 4th, what did you end up doing?? Did you love POFQ?? Can't wait to hear the details!
Lesley

Oh we adored POFQ! It's so quiet and just beautiful. John and I are already trying to plan a trip back.

The details are a secret for now...lol. Saving them for the TR but I can say it was amazing and we got some pixie dust.

I hope you guys had a wonderful 4th as well.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

I am so loving this TR. Wow - two late DCL buses? Wonder what happened?

Great photos. Loved the video of the safety drill but the links to the other two videos won't work. Can you re-type the links?

Can't wait to read more!!!!!!

Not sure, maybe a late flight or traffic on the main highway to the port. I've fixed the videos so fingers crossed they work now.

 

[Sooze]

Hey! I just found your Wonder Trip Report. My DH and I will be going on our FIRST EVER cruise on the Wonder in January 08. I'm so excited to hear all about yours so I can get some great tips and ideas.

Thanks!
Susie

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Not sure, maybe a late flight or traffic on the main highway to the port. I've fixed the videos so fingers crossed they work now.

Videos work just fine now. That one of the lifeboat drill with the CM pretending to throw the other overboard is hysterical. Those lifeboat drills are usually so boring.

You know, that's the first time I've ever heard an American accent over the PA system on DCL.

Your pictures are so clear to view - how wonderful.

 

[ILUVEVERYTHINGDISNEY]

Love your trip report. I am a subscriber. I was in disney over the weekend but we left on Monday. I go on the cruise in Aug and I can't wait. I am so excited. Reading your trip report makes me even more excited. Keep writing.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

I promise to update my TR again tonight, heading to my Mom's for a belated
4th of July dinner tonight and then I'll upload the new photos and finish up some more of the cruise TR.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

After the Sail away Party we headed back to our room to get changed for our first show in the Walt Disney Theatre Hercules, this has to be another major plus for cruising. It's super easy to go from one activity to another, no major walking, no driving, nothing, just hop in the elevator and your at your next activity. Love it!

When we arrived back at the room we had some pretty cool views of the Space Center, Navy Base and Airforce Base.

We're almost out to sea...

On the way out we were able to see a TON of Sting and Eagle Rays swimming past the ship, the water was that clear. Also we spotted a shark and some flying fish, sadly no Dolphins this time but the other sites were pretty cool.

While everyone was cleaning up we ordered room service as we knew it would be awhile before dinner and hey we're cruising it's ok to eat 4 meals a day...lol.

So I placed an order for Chicken Tenders and a couple of BLTs and four glasses of ice cold tea, oh yeah and a few Mickey Bars. Yum!

However I think everyone else had the same idea as it took some time to get our food, infact our show started at 6:30pm and the food showed up at 6:20pm, thank goodness we were only 3 floors above the theatre and it was just a hop down in the elevator since we were directly above the entrance.

The food came, we tipped the server and scarfed it down, grabbing the Mickey bars to go.

We flew down to the theatre bypassing the snack stand already full from our speed snack we had just inhaled...lol. We were able to find four seats together right by the sound booth. Nice seats. We have done the front row and about 1/2 way up before and let me tell you the back is the way to go, you can see everything and the sound is just right.

John and I adore Hercules, but Sue found it a tad boring and too loud. The jokes had been updated since our last cruise in August 06' and due to this it was like a new show to us all over again. LOVE IT!

After the show John and I headed to check out the pins in Mickey's Mates and found a ton we "needed", yes we are addicted to pins.

I told John we'd wait till nearer the end of the cruise to see if we really still "needed" the $100's of dollars worth of pins we were drooling over. He agreed. So wait do we do next? Head down to the lobby to pin trade.

We met a very sweet CM named Katrina who was working her first contract onboard, we said "hello" as her Mom also posts here and we wanted to send some greetings from home. Katrina talked to us for quite awhile and we found four awesome pins we'd been searching for in Mickey's Pin Trading book and left in their place four great CM pins for someone else to find.

Before we knew it we had to bid Katrina farewell as it was time for our dinner in Parrot Cay. Hooray!

I know this place gets pushed aside much of the time but we love PC. It actually has my favorite meal out of all of the regular rotation locations. Plus we were happy to see our request for a table for four had been honored.

We meet our waiters Engelbert and Zandy (I hope I spelt that right). Two lovely gentleman who would be taking care of us each night. We talked a bit and introduced ourselves. When it came time to taking my order I knew exactly what I wanted....

Lump Crab Dip with Chips (Sorry no picture)

Cream of Sweet Onion Soup

Mixed Grill

And to finish it off Creme Brulee Cheesecake

Ok roll me out of here now...lol

John got the exact same thing, bypassing the soup and John Sr and Sue both got salads, the salmon and whatever the sugar free desert was that night. Chickens, live some, it's a cruise indulge...lol. Yes I'm sure I packed on 2 or 3 pounds with that meal but it was soooo good.

Ok so here is the "fun" part, during dinner we hear a loud crash and shortly thereafter our legs are drenched in freezing water, what in the world. Well turns out the lady seated next to us had enjoyed one too many drink of the days and had backed up into the wine bucket knocking it and all it's icy goodness all over our legs. Ouch! I thought it was funny but John not so much. I had to play referee to calm him down.

But in the end all was well and we all enjoyed a great dinner together. We saw our friends and they had been seated with the "one too many" lady and her family and a couple they called the mutes, who apparently didn't talk during the entire cruise. Our table for four was looking better and better.

Our after dinner plans were to go to 80's night in Wavebands (the onboard club) and I had not a care in the world, tonight I was going to rock out to Bon Jovi and Madonna.

So we bid John Sr and Sue goodbye as they finished up their dinner and headed to Wavebands were we met up with some friends.

To Be Countinued...Up next 80's night....

 

[disneypoor]

Keep it coming, Darlene! I'm loving it!