Taking Winnie on a Wonder Cruise - A February Mexican Riviera Trip - All wrapped up 6/14

[franandaj]

It’s to fight off the cold. You can just crawl in.

OK, that would make sense.

What? How are people supposed to cheat?!?!?

That's the point.....

Why I was so pleased to almost make a perfect one.

I can see that!

Oh right. Didn’t think of that.

I still have to get caught up on movies....I haven't even finished all my shows that wrapped up in May.

What the heck does that mean???

I never could figure that one out.

 

[franandaj]

I am finally caught up! Looks like a fabulous trip thus far aside from getting little sleep. One of these days I will make a cruise with you all!

October 2024....

 

[franandaj]

I last worked near restaurants 13 years ago, so used to go out for lunch regularly then. Since then I've worked at mine sites, which are remote and not near anything. My current one is much closer though, and my new team has gone out twice in the 6 months I've been here.

Bummer that you're so remote, but nice that your team has found the time to go out!

Once again, you've caused me to actually laugh out loud, and I have an office mate now LOL

Hopefully by now you're back to a private office.

Whoop whoooopp!

Well it was.....

SO pretty!!

This is kinda "sunrise northern lights-esk"

I've never seen northern lights, so I wouldn't really know.

I never saw it before, but this looks bright and cheery.

It was bright and cheery before too, but mainly because of the giant porthole windows next to the area.

I sometimes order cream of wheat on cruise ships, as its's something from my childhood I don't buy/make
If I was having an omlette, it would be kinda opposite to yours, as it would be more meat focus, with bell peppers for the veg.

I like oatmeal when it is made in large batches, not instant just add water kind of stuff.

Dorian would probably have benny most days, especially given the choices of variety

Fran did enjoy her Bennies on the cruise.

you do like your V8! or was this tomato?

It's an easy way to get veggies inside your body. Lord knows I need more of those daily.

yup, I'd not pass it up either! Fruit is SO expensive here right now

Hopefully it's leveled out for now.

Pretty sure my daughter will have this every day when we get her on a disney cruise.

Smart girl!

Yum, sounds good, but good to know that it is rich, probably too rich for me too.

When they served us the tiny portion, it was really good, but eating it for a entree was too much.

Noted! Although it sounds good, I don't think I will try as I suspect it would be too rich for me also.

Better without the mascarpone.

 

[franandaj]

No! Then I'll fall further behind!

Well I gave you plenty of time to be caught up. But now I'm going to wrap it up quickly. I've got another one to write.

Were they good, or ruined by dead grapes?

They were very good, no dead grapes!

Do you, though?

tsk, tsk, one of these days your salad dodging days will catch up to you....maybe they already have!

Sounds like an improvement.

Actually in my research for Egypt I discovered that their falafels are made with Fava beans instead of chickpeas. Recently I tried some Fava Beans and they were quite tasty!

Well, at least you tried it. Experience is a good thing.

Yes, I did try it!

 

[franandaj]

Just found This TR. I have been away from the DIS for a few months due to computer issues once again so I am getting back into the swing of things now.

I'm sorry you came in at such a downer of a time.

So Sorry for what Fran has had to deal with all this time (and you too). I remember you had said there were health issues and hospital/rehab stays but had no idea. So glad she is able to travel now at least.

She had this one last trip. I don't think she enjoyed herself, but she promised me that she would go.

I feel your pain from when she had that ileostomy. I'm a nurse and have taken care of a lot of those and there are always issues with them, I don't think I have ever seen one that didn't leak all the time.

It was a pain to deal with. We got pretty good at the colostomy, she just couldn't go on any longer.

Looking forward to reading the rest of the TR, enjoying it so far, I'm only on page 2 at this point so I have to go back to catch up.

I'm going to finish even though it's bittersweet.

 

[franandaj]

March 3 Day 7

We woke up just before 1AM or should I say she woke me up to go potty. Then she woke us up again around 2:30 AM. Later, I started having a nightmare and woke myself up when I realized that it was just a dream and I could end it by waking up. That was 4:30 AM. I checked out the verandah door and it was too early for the sunrise.

Still dark.

Fran woke up and asked if we could get her to the potty. By the time I got her back in bed it was almost 5:30. She asked for her phone and started looking up the dinner menu on the app. Then we started looking up some other menus and before you know it, I couldn't go back to sleep.

The app said that sunrise was at 6:40AM, but I'm not sure what they call sunrise, because as far as I could tell it meant the sun was up in the sky. As I mentioned in a previous update when I take my sunrise photos it's still dark when I start. I peeked out the door at 5:45AM and it was already light outside.

There weren't any clouds in the sky so the sunrise was pretty boring. It was also cold out on the verandah. I kept popping in and out to see when the golden orb would finally rise over the horizon. When it finally did, the pictures weren't very impressive, so I gave up.

You might wonder why the latter picture is darker, well that is the magic of manual settings on the camera. Plus I zoomed in on the sun which also makes the aperture smaller thus letting in less light. It’s also possible that I had moved the shutter speed to a faster setting. Or maybe you didn’t even notice. Carry on!

I got the third suitcase out and started filling it with anything else we wouldn't need anymore. The Cove Cafe didn't open until 7AM this morning, and it was just barely after 6AM, so I got out the computer and decided to launch this trip report.

In all honesty I wrote the opening over a month before the trip started and had been sitting on it because I was unsure how the trip would turn out. Overall it went pretty well. Yes I might have liked to sleep through the night. I would have liked Fran to accompany me for more of the Character meets, movies, and Trivia games, but all in all it was still a good time. We ate too much, had lots of tasty beverages, but mostly we got out of the house, and weren't in the hospital. We couldn't say that for most of the last year.

At 7AM I went up to the Cove Cafe for my last (and free) coffee of the cruise. When I got back, we got Fran dressed for breakfast. We agreed that today we would go to the buffet so that we could have a quick breakfast and have one last meet with characters.

I'm going to have to post this in segments as the pictures are not cooperating.....

 

[franandaj]

Here’s Fran’s first plate, that bowl you see? Full of syrup for her waffles.

While she ate, I went up and got myself a plate.

After we both finished our first plates, she asked me to get her a bowl of fruit.

I know oatmeal doesn’t seem like a luxury, but when it’s prepared in large quantities it’s really good. At home we always have the packets of instant oatmeal, so when I find myself in a situation where I can have real oatmeal, I love to take advantage of that!

And I got myself a Mickey Waffle. One trick that I use at Disney where butter is in those self serve pats, is I always grab the butter first and put it in my pocket. Usually it’s frozen solid. I find that at the ship’s buffet as well as at the Plaza Inn at DL. There’s only been one time when I forgot about the butter and found it hours later when it squished out onto my hand.

Despite my best efforts to have soft butter, the waffles just weren’t hot enough to melt the butter on top. But the syrup was! Fran was a little miffed that I didn’t use her bowl of syrup, she got it for both of us. But I wanted hot syrup dispensed moments before pouring it on my waffle. I know picky, picky, but it’s the little things that make me happy!

Then she had me get her one last Egg Benedict for the trip. She asked for extra hollandaise, believe me there is a Benedict in there!

Then it was time to go meet characters. Evidently Fran didn't remember the character part. I was running low on candy so we stopped by the 6th floor, she said, "Maybe I could stop in the room and go potty."

It was 8:50. Stitch was coming out at 9AM and there would already be a line. What part of meets did she not remember? I asked if she would mind if we met stitch and then found a potty, so she agreed.

In hindsight I should have just taken her back to the room and gone by myself. By the time we got to Stitch his line was closed. I went to the next set of Characters which was Chip and Dale. While waiting in line there was a terribly loud child wailing. I was blocking it out, but she turned to me and said, "How can you stand that?" I decided it was best to take her back to the room. After I got her situated I came back and the line for Stitch's 10AM appearance had started, so I joined that.

After I met Stitch I got in line for Rapunzel. As I got closer to her in the line, Fran sent me a text. "Where U? Winnie needs draining."

I texted back that I only had a couple people in front of me and would be back ASAP.

Back in the room we got her all settled. At home we might have emptied the bag and rinsed it out, but for the purposes of this trip we brought a lot of extra supplies and we hadn't really used them much, so we just tossed the bag and replaced it with a new one. Besides, we would have done that before dinner anyways.

After that, I went down to Guest Services to increase the tip amounts for our servers and stateroom hostess. I also double checked that the placeholder cruise I booked actually went through. That’s another thing that you can only do through the app. They used to have a future cruise desk where you did that with a person. They still have the desk, it was just never occupied.

When I got back to the room, I filled out the envelopes and disembarking luggage tags, while SW: The Rise of Skywalker played in the background. At this point we were basically packed for leaving the ship. We had a few things to throw in the last suitcase after dinner, but that's about it.

We continued watching SW: The Rise of Skywalker until I was ready to go to lunch. This time they were serving it at Tiana's because there was a private party in Triton's.

We split just about everything. Seafood and Chicken Gumbo, but I couldn't find any seafood. I think this was the same recipe as the soup we had on embarkation day.

Thai Chicken lettuce wraps. These were OK. I thought we might get some more interesting veggies than just carrots and cabbage. Maybe they might have even had a sauce to drizzle over them, but I still ate them all.

And this sausage on a pretzel roll. It was really good, but super filling. We gave up without finishing it.

 

[franandaj]

She wanted the red velvet cake and this was the only time they were serving it. But photobucket doesn't want you to see the picture!

I got this Strawberry shortcake thing which was somewhat disappointing. The cake had been sitting out for a bit so the edges were more crispy than they should have been.

We went back to the room for a few minutes before I left to go get in line for Spidey. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss the lineup and I got there super early. Turns out that I was like the eighth party in line, so once he came out I wouldn’t have long to wait. I looked at this hallway for a long time. It took a while before I could get a shot without people. I took a ton of pictures so if I had to I was going to photoshop it!

Spidey really liked my shirt. He was intrigued that it showed various kinds of cats. I think he was one of the few characters who was allowed to speak. In fact I think Rapunzel also liked the cat shirt and was another speaking character.

And here we are trying to sling webs.

After that I went back to the room to get ready for our Mixology class.

 

[NAB]

So sorry to hear about Fran.

I have been a lurker of your trip reports a long time. I know of your love of Disney, cats, and music. Remember you moving into a big house and a lot of Disney art.

Love all your pictures . I’m glad you will still be traveling. Can’t wait for more of your trip reports. Fran will be always there with you in your heart. Glad she is pain free now.

 

[jedijill]

I miss Fran so much and I’m glad I got to spend time with her on the cruise.

I’m looking forward to our future shenanigans knowing Fran will be keeping an eye on us!

Jill in CO

 

[Malia78]

Big hug Alison! So good to hear your stories again--it sounds like you are moving forward strongly and with grace. Fran is definitely there with you. Very excited to hear all about your plans for upcoming adventures and will eagerly wait to hear all about them.

 

[DnA2010]

Fran will be watching over you and smiling

Will be back to comment when I’m on pc

 

[sharksfinatic17]

So sorry to hear about Fran. I have read so many of your trip reports (but rarely, if ever comment) that I feel like I know her (and you). Glad you have such good friends to be able to continue your adventures.

 

[disgeek009]

I'm so sorry for your loss! I've read so many of your trip reports and am so glad you're continuing with traveling and writing. Thanks for this update. I love Fran's shirt at dinner.

 

[Flossbolna]

So good to see you here again!

We still miss Fran and often talk about how sad it is that no one gets to experience her lovely humor anymore! I am grateful that she doesn’t have to deal with pain anymore and I am sure she is watching over you and is thrilled that you will get to travel with your friends!

As to the trip report: I love the look of the shawarma and will have to make sure to get it in Alaska!

It is funny that looking at the menus in the app made Fran go to dinner. For Michael it worked the other way around. We ended up skipping 2 dinners because Michael couldn’t find anything he wanted.

And I think those dining room pictures turned out wonderful. Both your shirts are so on point!!

 

[dizneeat]

I miss Fran so much and I’m glad I got to spend time with her on the cruise.

I’m looking forward to our future shenanigans knowing Fran will be keeping an eye on us!

Jill in CO

Let me add to that - we miss her too, but consider ourselves so lucky to have been able to spend time with her during our visit and cruise.
And I am sure that she will not only keep an eye on you, but she will cheer you on while you two are exploring new grounds (please let Austria be one of them - and bring more time )

 

[Flossbolna]

(please let Austria be one of them - and bring more time )

I totally can get behind Austria as a destination, but only if Jill and Alison also make it to neighboring Bavaria with the more time they are bringing!!

 

[dizneeat]

I totally can get behind Austria as a destination, but only if Jill and Alison also make it to neighboring Bavaria with the more time they are bringing!!

Maybe I can allow a day or two.

 

[jedijill]

Maybe I can allow a day or two.

Ladies don’t fight! I need to come back if only to restock on those amazing gummy bears from Passau!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Nice to see you back on the DIS. I'm certain that Fran is watching over you. One (of many) things I really love about the parks is that there are memories around virtually every corner. It feels like home. I hope the parks continue to bring you the same comfort ... and some new adventures (like Egypt!) sound great too!

Let me know if/when adventures take you to WDW.

~Christine