We're back!

[bobbiwoz]

Great 3 day Wonder cruise! Castaway Cay alone is worth the trip! I like to snorkel, DH likes to chill out on the beach, we both had our fill of things we love! Serenety Bay, the over 18 year old beach, is sooo very pretty! There were 1000 children on the cruise, none were with us, but they all looked like they were having a ball.

The Wilderness Lodge was beautiful with the Christmas Decorations and holiday music playing. We checked in before 11AM, on Sunday the 14th, and the room was ready!!!! Studio 1547, facing the woods, was wonderful! We entertained Floridian friends for the first time in our villa. They were suitably impressed with the accomodations and WL, but I don't think they were WOW ed as much as we are, they like BC themeing best. We ate dinner at Whispering Canyon and they were totally surprised by THAT experience! Our server, Steve, found out we were celebrating DH's birthday, and DH was surprised with a huge coffee filter "hat" and a real birthday treat which included lots of whipped cream, chocolate cake and gummy worms, yummy!

This was only a one-night stand, but we didn't have to leave WL until 3 on Monday and we throughly enjoyed a resort day after checking out around 10. We walked to FW to visit the animals, take a boat ride around the lake, and eat at the Trails End. FW wasn't decorated yet. We saw a Bald Eagle soaring. Returning to WL, we used the Sturdy Branches facility's lockers and took a dip in the quiet pool, a first for us. We didn't know there were jets in the pool, fun!

DH and I kept saying that we were so pleased to have this great DVC resort to enjoy! We couldn't be happier, it was a great trip!

Bobbi

PS. We arrived at MCO around midnight before the cruise, waited for nearly an hour for the rental car, arrived at an Orlando motel with ressie in hand to find the front door locked and a sign that says "Sorry, full." Now we didn't give up, we figured someone would answer either the doorbell, or the ringing of the phone as we called and called. We wasted at least 1/2 hour trying to get in, called the hotel chain whose nice reservation person then booked us into a nearby hotel. The problem for us was there didn't seem to be a way to get from where we were to the new hotel, (it was nearly 2AM and we were exhausted), but finally we made the correct turn. So much for coming in the night before the cruise to get a good night's sleep and be well rested! It also began pouring as we left the motel for the ship, not a great way to begin the adventure!

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

GREAT report thanks for taking the time to report it I am glad you had a great time! I cannot wait these last 24 hours are gonna kill me!

 

[tinkgrl]

Bobbi,

Glad you had a great trip!!! Email me soon!!

Allison

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Sounds like things didn't start off too great -- but, boy did they get better in a hurry! Happy to hear you ended up having a great time in spite of "no room at the inn".

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

Thanks for the "fun to read" trip report

It sounds like you had great fun after the rocky start!

Lisa

 

[jennymouse]

Bobbi, I think my 10yo granddaughter Skye was on that cruise with you. She went with her other grandparents. They cruised Thursday through Saturday. She said something about getting to be on TV? That they were shooting a commercial or something to that effect? She said it was raining the first day and that her grandfather got sea sick, but the rest of the cruise went good.

 

[TOMAR@SSR]

Thanks for the great trip report bobbi !! Glad to hear you guys had a good time on the cruise, and also @ WL. Sorry your first night was alittle rough.

_____________________________________
maria

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thank you all for reading the report and sharing our pleasure!

jennymouse, I know there were some people from ABC who were on the cruise with TV related business, so maybe that was the commercial your granddaughter mentioned. I shared a shore excursion with the mother of one of the ABC people, she was invited to go on the cruise as a birthday present.

Lots of people felt queasy that first night out. It was especially hard walking up stairs, back and forth, back and forth, like drunkards we would go. Many cast members on Saturday kept reminding us that the Wonder's stabilizers take away 90% of the ship's rocking motion! Neither DH nor I were bothered, we ate the early dinner (yes, you can change your seating time on the ship, we had been scheduled for the 8:30 meal). After dinner, we saw the show and then we went to sleep around 10! So, any rocking motion put us deeper in slumber, we both had a great night's sleep.

Bobbi

 

[MiaSRN62]

Bobbi,
Thanks for the report. Glad you had a nice time despite the rain and the motel mixup !