This is my last report, a part of the series I wrote earlier this week from Dining Experience, Entertainment, and Mexico Adventures.
This is the link to my Facebook page with pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/jason...-and-what-i-will-not-forget/10150118629712659
As you can see there were so many memories on this trip. But I still have some favorites:
What I Will Not Forget
Caitlin and Cinderella - during one of the Princess Gathering photo sessions, Caitlin was wearing her Belle gown and her Cinderella glass slippers. She took pictures with Belle, and then we moved on to Cinderella. She gave Cinderella a big hug, and then she "innocently" started to lift up Cinderella's skirt. You have to imagine that there were lots of people in line who watched this took place. Cinderella, the Princess that she was, told Caitlin that little princesses don't do that. The next thing Caitlin did was she lifted up her Belle gown to show Cinderella the glass slippers that she was wearing. "Awwwwww". Cinderella then slowly lifted up her gown to show Caitlin that she was "not" wearing glass slippers.
Down Mickey, Down - so during one of our many attempts to take pics as a family, we had the opportunity to take pics with Mickey Mouse. If you knew my daughter Caitlin, she was playful as ever. During the photo shoot, she kept hugging Mickey and holding Mickey, and she kept moving around. Next thing, the Mouse went down. Oooops.....poor Mickey. But he got up in no time
Everyone's Little Brother - Evan (or Evee as we fondly call him), was the youngest of all of the 10 kids. It was a delight to watch the other 9 kids play with him. His voracious appetite was so fun to watch. We were so glad that we brought him along with us on this trip. It would not have been complete without him.
I think I've covered quite a few things about our trip.But, my blog will not be complete without giving props to the world-class service we received aboard the Disney Wonder.
Our Dining Servers - our party of 20 was assigned to Vitchuron (from Thailand), and Lito (from the Philippines). We met "V" and Lito on Sunday night at Tritons, our very 1st dinner. They were getting to know us then, and I don't think they knew what they were in for. Not only were we a huge party, but we were pretty diverse when it comes to our "pickiness". Prior to our cruise, I registered my family online and I indicated the 3 of our kids have very high levels of allergies. Once we got to our dining table, the Head Server, Witt (also from Thailand), came over and informed us that he was aware of our kids' allergies and would like to know what type of meals they can serve them and how they should be prepared. We weren't expecting them to ask for details, so initially we just asked for little things like hotdog (with no bun), but he wanted more details, something that they could prepare for the kids in order to still make their meals special. Witt did this every night. He came over to our table and asked what "we'd" like for them to prepare for Ethan and Caitlin. There was one night, when they prepared one of Caitlin's favorites, Filipino Chicken Adobo on steamed rice. They also prepared a very simple dish that Caitlin likes to eat, ground beef with tomato sauce (I guess you can call that meat marinara sauce, but without the pasta). That was a hit for her, we even got some of those "to go". On the nights when the kids had steak, our Lito, V, and Witt even went out of their way by slicing the steak into bite size pieces for the kids. Thank you!
Me and Arnold Palmer - to those of you don't know, but one of my favorite drinks<Photo 2>is Arnold Palmer (basically, a mixture of iced tea and lemonade). I ordered it on my 1st dinner, and by the time we attended our meals the next day, Lito, one of our servers already knew what to get me. The best part of dining, not only in this cruise ship, but dining at a sit-down restaurant, is when your waiter anticipates your needs without you having to ask. My glass of Arnold Palmer was never empty. Lito also knew to have chocolate milk ready for Caitlin by the time she got to the dinner table. Thank you, Lito.
Birthday Cakes - we had 2 birthday celebrants during the cruise, Isabella, and my sis-in-law, Ate Baby. Again, instead of just giving them a slice of cake or any dessert, they baked 2 cakes especially for them. These 2 cakes were flourless and eggless, so those in our party who were allergic to wheat were still able to eat the cake. We're not talking a small piece of cake either, they were the nice round cakes that were beautifully decorated for the ocassion. They were one of the moistest cakes we've ever had.
Two of everything - ok, this is going to sound like indulgence to the max, but on most dinners, I ordered not one but 2 of almost everything. I'm a foodie, what can I say. It looks like by the 2nd dinner, Lito and V caught on to my way of ordering, they anticipated that I was going to order a 2nd appetizer, a 2nd entree - so to save me from having to ask, after ordering my 1st one, they made recommendations that will be a great match to my 1st order. They did the same for my desserts. Remember I gained 5 lbs. during the cruise, and now you know why and how! HA!!!!
Thank you - I have to admit that one of the saddest moments during the cruise was when we all left the breakfast dining table. It was the last meal that Lito and V prepared for us. Our group thanked them endlessly as we bid them our farewell. Thank you Lito and V. We'll see you soon!
Disney Clean - Has anyone been to Disneyland and ever said "hey this place is dirty"? Me? Never! I expected the same with the Disney Wonder. It was spotless! There were people working 'round the clock who were cleaning the restrooms, polishing the floors, cleaning the windows, clearing the tables. Our stateroom was also kept clean. I was amazed by the attitude of these "cast members". I'm sure it's part of their training to be friendly to the guests. It felt like they all wanted to make a really good impression, and they sure did.
Oceaneer Lab and Oceaneer Club - these were the two huge play areas for the kids (3-12 yrs. old) on the cruise. Before boarding the Disney Wonder, all the kids were given a Mickey band. This band served as their identity, it also had information about the people in their party, and a password to check them out of these play areas. Since we had a huge party, we all authorized every adult in our party to have the ability to drop off or pick up the kids, therefore making it easier for the rest of our party. One cool thing about the Mickey Band, it was also able to detect the information about my kids' allergies. The cast members knew what to or what not to feed them during snack time. Oceaneer Club closes at 11pm. So if there were kids who were at Oceaneer Club, and the parents were still out and about the cruise ship, they moved the kids to the neighboring Oceaneer Lab, a facility that was open till midnight.
Flounder's Reef Nursery - It was for those under 3 years old. Evan had the opportunity to go here twice. He must have been so used having the company of 19 people because during the times he went to Flounder's Reef, he was fussy and sad. Picture this....the drop off area at Flounder's Reef was probably no more than a 12 x 12 living space. The ceiling must be 8-9 ft from the ground. While I was waiting to pick-up, to my left, in came a gigantic Disney Character. It scared the living crap out of me....it was Captain Hook. I almost fell off my chair. I could not even smile after seeing Captain Hook. Why he went to Flounder's Reef? I will never know!
I don't know what else to share at this point other than wishing we were still on vacation. There's no doubt that cruising with Disney is on top of our list as one of our very best family vacations ever. It ranks highly with our trip to Kaua'i last summer. It was worth it for us to take our 4 kids on this memorable experience. Will I cruise with Disney again? I hope so. Will I cruise with other cruise ships other than Disney? I'm sure I will.... I am in no way ruling out other cruise ships. I'm an equal-opportunity traveler. But at this stage in our lives, while our kids are growing, I am glad that we were able to share this Disney adventure together.
Thanks for following our journey! Adios!!!
This is the link to my Facebook page with pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/jason...-and-what-i-will-not-forget/10150118629712659
As you can see there were so many memories on this trip. But I still have some favorites:
What I Will Not Forget
Caitlin and Cinderella - during one of the Princess Gathering photo sessions, Caitlin was wearing her Belle gown and her Cinderella glass slippers. She took pictures with Belle, and then we moved on to Cinderella. She gave Cinderella a big hug, and then she "innocently" started to lift up Cinderella's skirt. You have to imagine that there were lots of people in line who watched this took place. Cinderella, the Princess that she was, told Caitlin that little princesses don't do that. The next thing Caitlin did was she lifted up her Belle gown to show Cinderella the glass slippers that she was wearing. "Awwwwww". Cinderella then slowly lifted up her gown to show Caitlin that she was "not" wearing glass slippers.
Down Mickey, Down - so during one of our many attempts to take pics as a family, we had the opportunity to take pics with Mickey Mouse. If you knew my daughter Caitlin, she was playful as ever. During the photo shoot, she kept hugging Mickey and holding Mickey, and she kept moving around. Next thing, the Mouse went down. Oooops.....poor Mickey. But he got up in no time
Everyone's Little Brother - Evan (or Evee as we fondly call him), was the youngest of all of the 10 kids. It was a delight to watch the other 9 kids play with him. His voracious appetite was so fun to watch. We were so glad that we brought him along with us on this trip. It would not have been complete without him.
I think I've covered quite a few things about our trip.But, my blog will not be complete without giving props to the world-class service we received aboard the Disney Wonder.
Our Dining Servers - our party of 20 was assigned to Vitchuron (from Thailand), and Lito (from the Philippines). We met "V" and Lito on Sunday night at Tritons, our very 1st dinner. They were getting to know us then, and I don't think they knew what they were in for. Not only were we a huge party, but we were pretty diverse when it comes to our "pickiness". Prior to our cruise, I registered my family online and I indicated the 3 of our kids have very high levels of allergies. Once we got to our dining table, the Head Server, Witt (also from Thailand), came over and informed us that he was aware of our kids' allergies and would like to know what type of meals they can serve them and how they should be prepared. We weren't expecting them to ask for details, so initially we just asked for little things like hotdog (with no bun), but he wanted more details, something that they could prepare for the kids in order to still make their meals special. Witt did this every night. He came over to our table and asked what "we'd" like for them to prepare for Ethan and Caitlin. There was one night, when they prepared one of Caitlin's favorites, Filipino Chicken Adobo on steamed rice. They also prepared a very simple dish that Caitlin likes to eat, ground beef with tomato sauce (I guess you can call that meat marinara sauce, but without the pasta). That was a hit for her, we even got some of those "to go". On the nights when the kids had steak, our Lito, V, and Witt even went out of their way by slicing the steak into bite size pieces for the kids. Thank you!
Me and Arnold Palmer - to those of you don't know, but one of my favorite drinks<Photo 2>is Arnold Palmer (basically, a mixture of iced tea and lemonade). I ordered it on my 1st dinner, and by the time we attended our meals the next day, Lito, one of our servers already knew what to get me. The best part of dining, not only in this cruise ship, but dining at a sit-down restaurant, is when your waiter anticipates your needs without you having to ask. My glass of Arnold Palmer was never empty. Lito also knew to have chocolate milk ready for Caitlin by the time she got to the dinner table. Thank you, Lito.
Birthday Cakes - we had 2 birthday celebrants during the cruise, Isabella, and my sis-in-law, Ate Baby. Again, instead of just giving them a slice of cake or any dessert, they baked 2 cakes especially for them. These 2 cakes were flourless and eggless, so those in our party who were allergic to wheat were still able to eat the cake. We're not talking a small piece of cake either, they were the nice round cakes that were beautifully decorated for the ocassion. They were one of the moistest cakes we've ever had.
Two of everything - ok, this is going to sound like indulgence to the max, but on most dinners, I ordered not one but 2 of almost everything. I'm a foodie, what can I say. It looks like by the 2nd dinner, Lito and V caught on to my way of ordering, they anticipated that I was going to order a 2nd appetizer, a 2nd entree - so to save me from having to ask, after ordering my 1st one, they made recommendations that will be a great match to my 1st order. They did the same for my desserts. Remember I gained 5 lbs. during the cruise, and now you know why and how! HA!!!!
Thank you - I have to admit that one of the saddest moments during the cruise was when we all left the breakfast dining table. It was the last meal that Lito and V prepared for us. Our group thanked them endlessly as we bid them our farewell. Thank you Lito and V. We'll see you soon!
Disney Clean - Has anyone been to Disneyland and ever said "hey this place is dirty"? Me? Never! I expected the same with the Disney Wonder. It was spotless! There were people working 'round the clock who were cleaning the restrooms, polishing the floors, cleaning the windows, clearing the tables. Our stateroom was also kept clean. I was amazed by the attitude of these "cast members". I'm sure it's part of their training to be friendly to the guests. It felt like they all wanted to make a really good impression, and they sure did.
Oceaneer Lab and Oceaneer Club - these were the two huge play areas for the kids (3-12 yrs. old) on the cruise. Before boarding the Disney Wonder, all the kids were given a Mickey band. This band served as their identity, it also had information about the people in their party, and a password to check them out of these play areas. Since we had a huge party, we all authorized every adult in our party to have the ability to drop off or pick up the kids, therefore making it easier for the rest of our party. One cool thing about the Mickey Band, it was also able to detect the information about my kids' allergies. The cast members knew what to or what not to feed them during snack time. Oceaneer Club closes at 11pm. So if there were kids who were at Oceaneer Club, and the parents were still out and about the cruise ship, they moved the kids to the neighboring Oceaneer Lab, a facility that was open till midnight.
Flounder's Reef Nursery - It was for those under 3 years old. Evan had the opportunity to go here twice. He must have been so used having the company of 19 people because during the times he went to Flounder's Reef, he was fussy and sad. Picture this....the drop off area at Flounder's Reef was probably no more than a 12 x 12 living space. The ceiling must be 8-9 ft from the ground. While I was waiting to pick-up, to my left, in came a gigantic Disney Character. It scared the living crap out of me....it was Captain Hook. I almost fell off my chair. I could not even smile after seeing Captain Hook. Why he went to Flounder's Reef? I will never know!
I don't know what else to share at this point other than wishing we were still on vacation. There's no doubt that cruising with Disney is on top of our list as one of our very best family vacations ever. It ranks highly with our trip to Kaua'i last summer. It was worth it for us to take our 4 kids on this memorable experience. Will I cruise with Disney again? I hope so. Will I cruise with other cruise ships other than Disney? I'm sure I will.... I am in no way ruling out other cruise ships. I'm an equal-opportunity traveler.
But at this stage in our lives, while our kids are growing, I am glad that we were able to share this Disney adventure together.Thanks for following our journey! Adios!!!
