Michelle & Guy's Romantic Escape At Sea DCL Wonder 12/14-12/18/08 About This Page:

[jagmom08]

Cast: Me, 29, CPA, mother of 2 crazy kids; DH, 32, AutoCAD drafter, father of our 2 crazy kids (they are not appearing on this cruise)

DCL Wonder 12/14 4 day to Bahamas and Castaway Cay

We started off the day by getting up at ten after 4. I meant to get up at 4 to give us plenty of time to get ready and on the road, but of course, my daughter got up about 4 times last night and so I didn’t get as much sleep as I would have liked. Being as excited as I am, I was surprised that I got right to sleep after going to bed the first time and after each time I got up with dd.

We got on the road at 4:55, so 5 minutes ahead of schedule. The airport is an hour from home, so we had a bit of a drive. I gave dh a review of the Harry Potter books so he could start reading the 7th one on the plane.
We got to the airport around 6 a.m. and easily got our luggage checked in. I had purchased our airfare back in February, so we each checked 2 bags and didn’t have to pay any extra fees. That was very nice, as we ended up bringing 4 bags total. All of them are only mostly full, to leave room for souvenirs.

Even though we have enough stuff for an army, I can’t shake the feeling that I am forgetting something. Oh well, we have passports and credits, that’s all we really need.

We ate breakfast at the airport McDonald’s (or Mickey Doggles, as DS says). $10, not too bad for the airport. Inevitably, when we fly, we are always in the back 40 of the airport, so we took the people movers to our gate. Both of us pulled out our books and started reading until boarding got under way.

We were almost the last people on the plane. I don’t try to get in line as soon as they call for boarding; it just seems silly to hurry up and get in line when you can just sit in the boarding area. They are assigned seats, people! (unless you are traveling with kids, then I think it makes sense to have one parent get on and get settled.) Of course, if everyone waited for final boarding call, then it would be a big line again. On second thought, board away people. J

Take off and landing went super smooth, which is a great way to start a vacation. We had a pretty chatty neighbor and I felt bad that we didn’t chat back, but both of us were absorbed in our books. With 2 toddlers running around, we don’t get much uninterrupted time to read, so it was nice to have the time to read.

Before we knew, we were touching down in Orlando.

I finally remember what I forgot! My shower pouf. Darn it.

[jagmom08]

My aunt, who lives in Venice Beach, picked us up the airport baggage. We had a little bit of an issue at baggage. Three of our bags came out safely, but one duffle bag didn’t show. We patiently waited until it looked like no more bags were coming and then headed to the lost bag area. It was conveniently located right by our carousel. I was worried because the bag that didn’t come in held all of our bathroom stuff.

Luckily, our bag was found in a very short amount of time. The baggage lady was super nice and very helpful.

We headed to the car and made our way towards Downtown Disney. I wanted to do some Christmas shopping, but first we needed to eat lunch. I had heard good things about the Earl of Sandwich, so after parking in the back 40 (see a theme here?), we got to the restaurant. It was packed. The line was super long, but it moved quite fast. I had the Ham & Swiss sandwich and a Caprese salad, since I couldn’t choose between the two. I thought the prices were pretty reasonable. Sandwiches were $5.75 and the salads were similar. The sandwiches had a lot of meat on them, also.

Now, on to shopping. First, we went to Days of Christmas, which was packed. There was a line to get into the store! Except for Black Friday, I don’t think I have ever had to wait to get into a store to shop. Crazy! Ornaments were half price, so I picked up on to add to my tree. Next stop, Once Upon A Toy, where we got ds a stuffed Sully.

Then, we decided it was time for some ice cream. Ghiradelli here we come! I had cookies and cream ice cream with caramel topping, dh had strawberry cheesecake and my aunt had Rocky Road with hot fudge.

It was time for the mother load. World of Disney. I was hoping to find some sweatshirts for a couple of people on my Christmas shopping list, but we didn’t really see anything that appealed to us. The clothing selection seemed sparse. However, I did manage to find a few souvenirs I couldn’t live without.

We got back to car and decided to drive over to the Grand Floridian and check out the gingerbread house and Christmas decorations. The gingerbread house was pretty amazing, but I think that there is a lot that isn’t gingerbread, or maybe it looks so real that the untrained eye can’t tell?

A tip, if the Grand Floridian parking lot is full to non guests, then head over to the wedding pavilion and park there. Its a short walk over to the hotel.
After spending a little more money in the hotel gift shop, we headed back to the car and started making our way to our hotel for the night. We stopped at Chili’s for supper, and it was 2 for 1 drinks. I wasn’t going to drink both of my margaritas, but the first one went to so easy that the second quickly followed.

My aunt dropped us of the Springhill Suites Marriott Aiport. We arranged to take the shuttle at 9 a.m. so that we could get back to the airport in plenty of time for the first Disney Magical Express to the ship!

[jagmom08]

I am going to post some pictures, but I can't remember how to resize them.

[Colexis Mom]

Great updates!! I hope you have a great time on the cruise!!

[Kenny]

Yay!!! I'm glad you were able to update tonight! Great start! Have a Wonder-ful cruise! We'll all be wishing we were right there with you!
Can't wait to hear all about it!

[chezp]

Great updates - I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[DyanKJ130]

Great start!!

Originally Posted by jagmom08

I am going to post some pictures, but I can't remember how to resize them.

What operating system are you using?

Looking forward to more

[jagmom08]

My computer is Windows Vista, but I have my pictures in Kodak Easyshare.

[jagmom08]

We are back! It was a wesome and the weather was beautiful. We rebooked on board to take the rugrats. Woohoo!
Now its back to reality and 6 more inches of snow since we left.
Hopefully I will get some time to post more later this week. Tomorrow I am going to be MI for a job interview, so I will back on a plane at 6 a.m. Then I need to finish my Christmas shopping! Eek!

[Kenny]

Yay!! I'm so glad you had a good time! Can't wait to hear all about it!

[chezp]

Welcome back!

[DyanKJ130]

back!! Can't wait to hear all about it!

[jagmom08]

We got up around 8 a.m. and got dressed and ready to go. Somehow an hour slipped by in an instant. The shuttle was coming to get us 9 a.m. and we got downstairs at ten minutes until 9 a.m. We quickly ate breakfast and then got on the shuttle to the aiport. The shuttle dropped us off right outside the Disney Magical Express area. We went inside and I got checked in while dh sat with the bags. And, drum roll please, we got the coveted boarding pass number 2. I was smiling ear to ear. The bus was leaving at 10 a.m. so we had about a half an hour to wait. DH worked on reading HP 7. I was too excited to do much other than just sit there and try not to jump up and down.

Around 10 a.m., we saw the famous port hole bus pull up and a few people went outside to line up. Baording the bus was quick and painless. Disney cartoons were playing. Again, dh read and I sat there taking it all in. After the bus got underway, I pulled out the laptop and hooked up Microsoft Streets and Trips with GPS, so we could track our progress towards the ship. The bus ride flew by in a flash. I thought it was supposed to take an hour or more, but it was only 45 minutes or so.

We pulled up to the port and got our first look at the ship. It looks amazing. We got inside the terminal and went and sat down, since we had already checked in at the airport. I wandered around and took pictures. I went outside and boy was it windy today. But, compared to the weather back home, it still felt nice.

In no time at all, they were calling the 1st family of the day and I knew boarding group 2 would be called shortly. There were a lot of people milling around the boarding area, but as we approached when they called our number, it appeared that not everyone reads Passporter and the disboards. They didn't know that they would be calling boarding groups, so lots of people were just milling around.

We got in line and at first, I was wondering when they were going to call our name. I thought it would be in the terminal, but it was after we walked up the gangplank and actually got on the ship.

We entered the ship, they called our name and we were on our way to Parrot Cay. The food on the buffet was good, but there isn’t a ton of selection. I tried the strawberry mint soup that I had heard raves about, but I didn’t think it was that great. Don’t get me wrong, it tasted fine, but to me it tasted like a melted strawberry milkshake. The desserts were the best part. We shared a apple crumble that was really tasty. Dh and I eat pretty fast, so we were out of there by 12:30 or so. We headed up to deck 9 to check things out. The pools seem pretty small, but the ship itself isn’t huge either. We quickly peeked into the Vista Spa. We wandered around for a bit and also checked out deck 10. We sat down for a bit next to the Quiet Cove pool, but we felt a few sprinkles, so we relcoated to an area outside of Cove Café. Dh sat down to read some more, but I was still too excited. I wandered around some more and took a few pictures. Then I decided to get a hotdog from Pluto’s Dog House. It was okay, nothing to write home about or get again. (Geez, I kind of sound like a downer about the food.)

It was finally time to check out our room. We headed down to Deck 1 and easily found our room. It’s a nice size for 2 people. The bathrooms are super tiny, though, but that is to be expected. Dh wanted to read some more, so I decided to watch a little tv while drinking the Champagne from our REAS package.

[jagmom08]

When it got to be about 3:30 p.m., dh was finally done reading but it was almost time for the muster drill. We took the obligatory picture with our fabulous orange life vests and headed to our muster station. Considering the windy weather on deck, we were lucky to be in the Walt Disney Theatre. We got there really early, so we turned around and walked out on deck 4 for a bit. Closer to 4 p.m., we went back to the theatre and got through the drill painlessly. Then we quick went back to our stateroom and dropped off the vests and headed up to deck 9. We kind of wandered around and then decided to go up to Deck 10 and check things out from that angle. I got my Drink of the Day, a Bahama Mama. It was really good. Dh thought it was a bit strong, but he hadn’t had 2.5 glasses of champagne either. As we were enjoying the sail away party, we saw 3 dolphins jumping in and out of the water. They didn't jump way out or anything, but enough so you could see that there were dolphins.

After the ship got under way, we headed to our room to get ready for dinner. Our rotation was PTTA. I was really glad, since this rotation didn’t make us miss Animator’s Palate on our Palo night, which was Day 2.

I like to dress up, so I wanted dh to dress up a little too. He wore khaki pants and a button up shirt to dinner. I wore a skirt, with a dressier shirt and heels. Dh said he felt a little overdressed. Lots of people were wearing jeans and very casual clothes. But, I didn’t let it bother me. We were seated at a table for 8. Two of the people never showed up until the last night. There was an older couple and then a mother and daughter. It was everyone’s first Disney Cruise.

I had the chicken fritters for an appetizer. Sadly, I have already started to forget stuff, so I can’t remember what dh had for an appetizer. (note, don’t feel silly about taking pictures of the food, because it helps you remember what you ate.) For dinner, dh had the Mixed Grill and I had the pork tenderloin. I know Parrot Cay seems to be most people’s least favorite of the 4 restaurants, but it was my second favorite. The pork wasn’t dry at all and the sauce was awesome. For dessert, dh had the crème brulee cheesecake and I have a chocolate smore cake.

I have to give kudos to the dining staff, being able to serve meals all the while the waves were rocking the boat. According to a lot of the staff, it can get a lot worse. I think we had 6-8 foot waves.

After dinner, we headed up check out the stores. They had a really good deal going of 40% off all t-shirts so I got one for myself and a few other things. Then we went back to the lobby to watch the tree lighting ceremony. A little boy was selected to light the tree and then they had also picked some girls to sprinkle pixie dust as the tree was lit. It was very pretty.

After the lighting ceremony, we headed up to the Walt Disney Theatre for the Golden Mickey’s. I really enjoyed this musical. It had a cute twist that I wasn’t expecting. There is a part where some of the villains make an appearance that I felt would be too scary for small children. I really enjoyed Tarzan’s part. Ladies, it was the highlight of the show. I only wish I could have a got a picture of those abs!

After the show, we went back to our room, since the rough seas were making us both feel out of sorts. Neither of us took any meds during the entire cruise, but we probably could have used a little something on that first night. I wish I wouldn't have filled the prescription for the patch, as it was $45! I did see one kid using an airsick bag (shipsick bag?). There was also an attendant in the bathroom handing them out.

We went back to our room and saw our first towel animal, which we think was a rabbit. I hadn’t ever mentioned them to dh. I think he thought it was cool but a little strange. I wonder how the whole towel animal thing got started.

[jagmom08]

Day 2 Atlantis

We got up fairly early, but still sleeping in for us. Normally, we get up at 5:20 a.m. so getting up around 7:30-8 a.m. is a real treat. I wanted to try Tritons for breakfast, so we headed up there. Again, I don’t remember what dh had because I didn’t take a picture of it, but I had a combo platter of French toast, pancake and a Belgium waffle and bacon. I also ordered scrambled eggs and it came with hash browns. It sounds like a lot but you got one small piece of French toast, one small pancake and one small waffle. It had a special cinnamon honey butter or something that was excellent. The waffle was the best, the French toast unmemorable and the pancake mushy. The scrambled eggs were at best, weird. The hash brown was really good, but I like a really crispy hashbrown. I am sad that we didn't get to go to Triton's for breakfast more than once.

After breakfast, we wandered around the ship. We tried to go on deck 4 and walk all the way around, but part of it was blocked off. We went up to deck 10 to take in the scenery and watch the docking. I didn’t get any pictures though, because we weren’t going to go back to room before we got off the ship and I didn’t want to take my nice camera to Atlantis.

Before long, it was time to get off the ship. I believe we got docked around 9:00 a.m. and we were able to get off by 9:45. I wanted to get off as soon as we could, to get the most out of our Atlantis day. Going into Nassau, I was a little nervous about getting a cab and being harassed. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth it all went. We walked off the ship, down the pier and into the welcome center building. Right away, we saw the area for cabs and a man asked us where we were going. We told him, “Atlantis,” so he put us in a group with a bunch of older ladies. Soon enough, we were stuffed into a cab and on our way. Dh thought the driver was driving a little crazy, but I didn’t really notice. In any case, we made it there in one piece.

We got dropped off at the Comfort Suites, as we decided to do the renting a room thing, so that it would be a little cheaper. Not sure if that worked out, after all was said and done. With all the taxes and fees, the room cost us $171 plus $20 for cabs there and back and then our lunch for $38. I guess we probably still saved a little and it wasn’t that much extra hassle.

We “checked in” and got our room keys, which were actually just heavy paper, so not even a real key. We walked over to Atlantis. That place is huge! It took us a little bit to actually get to the waterpark part and then find the locker station and get a locker. Dh forgot his hat and sandals, so he was bit grumpy, but he got over it. The weather was beautiful, 80 degrees and sunny. In the morning, there was hardly a cloud in the sky.