7th/11th January '07 4 Night WONDER'ful Cruise

[mandymouse]

Castmembers

Mandy (me) ~ 43
Paul (DH) ~ 42
Kerry (DD1) ~ 15
Becky (DD2) ~ 13

Sunday 7th January, 07

We were up around 7.30/8am and had breakfast in the Pop Century Food Court.

We left the resort around 9am and arrived at Port Canaveral at 10am. Luckily the terminal was open so we emptied the cases out of the car, and I was informed that I could check us all in while Paul parked the car.

We were handed an embarkation ticket Number 2, and I went up to the desk to check us all in. It was really quiet and within 10 minutes we were handed our ‘Keys to the World’ and given our Castaway Club lanyards and pins.

As promised, I was wearing my pink cowboy hat so that my fellow DISers would recognise me. First Betsy & Mike arrived (who I had met the night before) and then Robin and Mike turned up and within ½ hour most of the people I had spent the last year chatting to on the DIS had arrived (Kelly and her family, Paula and her family, the 3 Sisters Mary, Sue and Ann & her hubby Tom).

We all hit it off straight away and we arranged to meet in Diversions later on. Around 12ish, it was announced that embarkation numbers 1 and 2 could board, and within minutes we were walking through those large Mickey Ears and towards the Wonder. We had our photo taken before entering the ship and then it was my favourite part, where they announce your name as you board ‘Welcome Aboard the Martindale Family’. I would love to do something daft like bow as the CM’s clap, but I just had a huge smile on my face as I realised I was back home.

We went straight up to Deck 9 and chose our lunch from the Beach Blanket Buffet and as it was a lovely hot day, we sat outside. We had a quick change and sat by the Goofy Pool where I had my first proper Bahama Mama of our holiday.

We went for a wander to find our room (Stateroom #7586), and it was ready (though our bags hadn’t arrived), so we went in to take some video.

Our meet was between 2pm & 3pm, and nearly everyone was there (hopefully we would meet our friend Wendy another time). We had a lovely chat and Betsy gave out little gift bags with Disney Wonder buttons that she had made and bottles of bubbles for the Sail Away Party. After the ‘meet’ we went back to the room and our luggage had arrived, I quickly put everything away, and I put my lovely door signs on our door that my very clever DIS friends had made me ~ thanks again Kelly and Robin.

At 4pm we went to the lifeboat drill, which thankfully went quite quickly as it was very hot with those life vests on.

At 4.15pm the Sail Away Party started on Deck 9, it was brilliant, and probably the best one we’d seen. The DJ was really good, and getting everyone in the party spirit. We were up on Deck 10 taping Captain Mickey with sailors Minnie, Chip & Dale, Pluto and Goofy and it was loads of fun when the camera would show you on the huge screen above the stage.

Our dining rotation (as was all of my DIS friends) was PTTA at 6pm. So after the party we got changed and headed for Parrot Cay. We had 2 brilliant servers Sunil (who I think was from India) and Jorge from Italy ~ they were excellent fun and they really looked after us during our Cruise. At one stage our Dining Room Head Server Rajeev, came over and asked about someone celebrating a birthday, so quickly I dropped Paul in it and said it was his birthday later in the week too, but they said tonight they would just concentrate on me.

We had a lovely meal and a bottle of Asti Martini and as the desserts were being served all our servers gathered around the table and sang Happy Birthday to me and brought me a cake out (yes as well as my dessert).

After dinner we had some photos taken with Captain Jack Sparrow, who was absolutely hilarious, and then the girls went off to the Teen Club in Aloft. We wandered around the Promenade Lounge and ended up in Studio Sea where we met up with our friends. ‘The Sisters’ were taking part in the Karaoke and they were really good, and it was great to see so many kids taking part and singing all the songs from High School Musical.

After karaoke, we moved to Wavebands for 70’s night, as we entered a CM grabbed Paul and asked him to help him out. Paul was gone for ages, and we sat and watched girls pretending to be Gloria Gaynor (well done Suzi for taking part) and guys acting like John Travolta. Next thing the DJ announces the Village People, and into the room runs 5 guys, without shirts, wearing different head gear and including PAUL ! wearing a cowboy hat. Well I was absolutely gob-smacked, and before long we were all up on the dance floor doing the actions and taking photos of ‘our Village People’.

Well we had a great night, I haven’t laughed so much for ages, we all got up for a boogie and at one stage Sue, Kelly and I had won a DCL beaker for doing the ‘Cha Cha Slide’ on the stage, my only regret was that I hadn’t brought my camcorder tonight ~ never mind I’ll try to bring it to 80’s night tomorrow night.

We got back to the room around 12.45am and the girls strolled in around 1am (the only difference was, we were shattered and they weren’t ! ).

Tomorrow ~ Nassau

[mandymouse]

Monday 8th January ‘07

We got up around 8ish and the ship was arriving in Nassau. It was a beautiful, warm day and we sat out on Deck 9 and ate our breakfast from the Beach Blanket Buffet.

We weren’t planning on going into Nassau, but we got off to take some photos and video of the ship.

Once back onboard, we got changed and found some loungers out in the sunshine by the Goofy pool. We spent 3 or 4 hours here, on and off, and we joined Betsy & Mike in the BBB for lunch.

At 2pm Kerry had an appointment to have cornrows done in her hair. They looked lovely and she was really pleased with them.

We had a lovely relaxing day, we sunbathed for a while, then we went off to the Promenade Lounge to use the internet and say ‘hi’ to our DIS friends back home and we found out that Betsy had luckily won free use of the internet while onboard (well done Betsy). We ran into Robin & Rick who were joining in with a quiz that looked fun (I wish we’d come down earlier) and we finally got to meet Wendy (who we had missed the previous day, I think she had boarded late and then had suffered with sea-sickness the night before).

After the quiz, we all went to our staterooms to get changed for dinner. Tonight was ‘Dress Up Night’ though to be honest I loved getting dressed up every evening for dinner. I wore the dress Paul had bought me from Dillards for my birthday, and I think we all scrubbed up pretty well.

Tonight we were dining in Triton’s. The food was delicious and we tried one of the cocktails of the day and had a bottle of Asti Martini (a great party wine) with dinner.

After dinner we wandered around up on top deck, and we played table tennis and basketball (which was quite difficult in my heels).

The girls left around 11pm for the Teen Club, so we went down to Studio Sea where ‘The Sisters’ were well into their karaoke. We were then joined by Betsy, Robin and their hubbies and after the karaoke finished, we went to Wavebands for 80’s night. Paul made sure that someone went in before him (he didn’t want another Village People night). Once again we had a great evening with our friends and after a good boogie I think Paul & I got back to the room around 1am, followed by the girls around 1.30am

Tomorrow ~ Castaway Cay ~ Woohoo !

[mandymouse]

Tuesday 9th January ‘07

I woke up around 7.30am and wandered onto our verandah to find that we had already docked at Castaway Cay.

We all got up and had breakfast at the BBB and around 9.30am we disembarked onto Castaway Cay.

As we wandered to the family beach, we took loads of photos and it was great to see the Flying Dutchman anchored in front of the Disney Wonder.

The beach was quite empty, so we took our usual ‘falling out the hammock’ video and we found some loungers.

It was a lovely morning, just chilling on the beach, reading a book and listening to the DJ in the background. Around 12ish we went for lunch at Cookies BBQ. I thought the food was really nice on the Island, especially the burgers and potato salad (mmmm).

It started to get rather cloudy, and the girls were getting bored, so we walked back to the ship, but first we took more photos and hit the shop for T-Shirts and souvenirs.

Once back onboard, the girls vanished to the Promenade Lounge to use the internet, so Paul & I went ashore again to pick up a T-Shirt that he’d seen earlier. Once back onboard we got ready for dinner and PIRATE NIGHT !

First we had photos with Pirate Stitch and then we went in to dinner.

We were once again in Triton’s tonight, and it was the Pirate Menu too. The menu is so cool, it is rolled up like a treasure map and it made a great souvenir. All the servers were dressed like pirates too and the evening had a great atmosphere. As always, the food was delicious as were the cocktails and Asti.

Now it’s Paul’s birthday on Friday, and as a surprise I had booked us all into the Contemporary Resort for the night, a tower room with a Magic Kingdom view, I don’t know how I managed to keep this to myself for a few months, but tonight I revealed the surprise to him and the girls. It was nice to see the shock on their faces.

After dinner we saw Pirate Goofy, then had a walk around the shops onboard and then we went to see the Golden Mickey’s show, which was really good.

After that, we headed up to deck 10 for the Pirate’s in the Caribbean Party, it was quite chilly so we sent Paul back to the room to get our jackets. The Party was lots of fun, and the Disney characters were dressed like Pirates ~ but I must admit that I really miss the Tropical Deck Party that used to be on a few years ago.

After the Party, the girls went off to a Glow Jam party with the Teen Club and Paul & I hit the wonderful Dessert Buffet. We were not hungry at all, but there was no way that I was going to turn down more desserts from the huge selection.

We were really tired tonight, so sadly we missed going to Studio Sea and Wavebands, and by the sounds of it, everyone had a great night and I was sad to miss everyone singing in the karaoke – especially Kelly. I think we were in bed for around 11.30pm and the girls rolled in around 1.30am (can’t be bad ! )

Tomorrow ~ Brunch in Palo & a Day at Sea

[mandymouse]

Wednesday 10th January ‘07

We had a lovely lie in today as today was ‘a day at sea’. We got up around 9am and took our time getting ready as we had a reservation in Palo for 10.30am. We’ve never had the opportunity to try Palo’s as its adults only, but as the girls were pretty much doing their own thing, we thought we’d give it a try.

It was nice to dress nicely for Palo, and it was a lovely restaurant. We were shown to our table and our server Carina from South Africa introduced herself. We ordered a champagne cocktail (a mimosa) and then we were given a tour of the various food tables.

Wow ~ there was a fruit table, a seafood table, a table with different cheeses and breads, then we were shown the various egg dishes that we could choose from ~ then shock of shocks we would then be choosing our ‘lunch’ dish, then finally we were shown the dessert table.

Once we got back to the table we were laughing at how much food we could eat, now I always thought that brunch was a meal between breakfast and lunch, not a meal of breakfast and lunch ~ LOL

So we carefully decided not to eat too much from the various tables, then we’d have an egg dish (I had an omelette and Paul had an eggs with salmon dish), then we had a delicious beef tenderloin for main and although we were full to bursting we tried some of the lovely desserts ~ the tiramisu was out of this world.

After lunch we rolled ourselves back to the stateroom to get changed to sit out in the sun. I managed to squeeze myself back into my tankini and shorts (though the hems were really starting to pull) and we went to find a lounger. We expected it to be busy, and we finally found some loungers on top deck only for us to realise that it was getting rather cloudy. I think I last under an hour, it was a bit blowy on top deck, so I returned to the room to write up my trip report and start packing.

The girls went off to see the matinee performance of Disney Dreams and we went to Shutters to choose our photos and then we went to the shops to buy presents and souvenirs. The girls then went off to watch the Santa Clause 3, which they enjoyed.

We all got dressed for dinner, and tonight we were dining in Animators Palate. Once again a lovely meal. We gave our servers their tips and took some photos with them. The servers brought a birthday cake out to Paul and sang Happy Birthday to him.

After dinner we got changed, finished off the packing (as your cases should be left outside your room by 11pm and your stateroom host will take them ready for when you disembark ~ otherwise you have to carry all your luggage off yourself).

The girls went off to the Teen Club, so Paul & I went to see ‘The Guardian’ in the theatre, which was quite good.

When the film finished we went to see if any of our friends were about. We found Sue and Mary in the Promenade Lounge and we were joined by Robin. The sea was a bit choppy tonight and I know quite a few people were suffering with the swaying of the boat, so it was a shame that we didn’t say goodbye properly. We all sat chatting for an hour or so and I think we said our ‘goodbyes’ around 11.30pm.

Paul & I were out for the count not long after and we were then rudely awoken by the girls coming in at 2.15am from their goodbye parties (they’ll be sorry tomorrow when we have to attend Immigration at 6am).

Tomorrow ~ Leaving Home

[mandymouse]

Thursday 11th January ‘07

I was up around 5.30am, and I quickly showered before getting everyone else up, as this morning we had to report to Immigration in one of the theatres for 6am. Immigration is such a drag, but it is the only downside to the Cruise (apart from actually leaving the ship).

It was quite busy, but we were dealt with within ½ hour and we received our passports back. We then went up to deck 9 for our final breakfast in the BBB. After breakfast we headed to the Atrium and there was quite a line beginning to build waiting to disembark. As we reached the Atrium, the doors were opened and people began to leave. It was only about 7.50am and within no time we were leaving our beautiful ship.

½ hour later we had retrieved our luggage, and we were back in the car heading back to WDW.

Thoughts

This has been the BEST CRUISE EVER. We met some wonderful people, and two weeks later I still miss them very much. We had so much fun with them all. My daughters also had a fantastic time in Aloft and they enjoyed meeting our friends and their families especially Chad, Jimmy and Carolin.

I would also like to add that our Dining Servers were superb (or as my girls would say ~ Legends), they were very attentive and nothing was too much trouble. If the girls didn’t want the starters on the menu ~ they would bring some fruit out for them, if they weren’t keen on the desserts ~ they would get them ice-cream with sprinkles on, and even when we had ordered our desserts they brought extra ones out for us to try.

Our Stateroom Hostess Nerine from Jamaica was great too, we never saw her in our room, no matter what time of the day we came back and everything was always magically done. We would often see her in the corridor as we left for dinner and she would always comment on how nice we looked or say ‘have a great evening’.

We really had a fantastic time, and all the above people helped to make it WONDERful ~ I can only hope that we all get to meet again one day

My New Friends

Betsy & Mike

Robin & Rick

The Sisters ~ Sue, Ann & Mary

How I will always remember Mary & Sue ~ with those beer glasses !

Ann & Tom

Kelly's & Paula's families

Robin, Betsy, Me, Mary, Sue & Kelly

[Michelle]

Mandy, great to read the trip report again.


Thanks for posting.

[Bob_and_Dawn]

Great report Mandy

Thanks

Dawn

[Jools]

Lots of lovely food and cocktails (along with all the sights and shows). Sounds great

[kevbrydon]

What a Fantastic trip report... so informative for us cruise virgins and great photo's.thanks for sharing!

[nixieh]

Great report Mandy, thanks for posting it. It was really interesting to read about the things you got up to as you have older children who occupy themselves. That is one of the things I loved about the cruise, there is so much for everyone to do, whether old or young, with kids or without.

Nicola

PS Great photos, you all looked lovely.