1 Mom, 2 Daughters and 3 Days of Wonder! **Completed 6/29!** About This Page:

[BeatlesBran]

Aw. Reading this PTR makes me miss seeing all of the Austin kids! I need to come by soon. Maybe after the cruise and I can look at pictures and the girls can tell me all about it! You are going to have fun. I hate you!

[HeatherD]

I just read all of your PTR this morning...love the reaction shot of Emily! I hope you have a great girls' trip and look forward to reading all about it (and your Alaska trip and Vegas - love reading what people think of my hometown).

[lauren-roxy]

I love the spunkiness of the Divine Miss Em!! Sounds like you have two very awesome girls that you get to travel with!!

[statelady01]

So now that you have met our cruise newbies, I'll introduce myself for purposes of this report.

I am a newly minted cruise addict. For some reason, for many years, I had an aversion to cruising. I am not sure why really- it was just never tops on my list of travel wishes and I kind of went with that mindset that cruising was for the newlywed and "nearly dead." (Which couldn't be further from the truth but I'll get on my soapbox about that later, I am sure),

You'd think having spent the past 7 years (more or less) as a travel agent and sending many a persons out to sea (of course, in a good way), I would have gotten on this cruise thing a little quicker but at the time I was also going to college and raising my kids and living on a students' budget, so time and $ were not on my side.

Finally, opportunity came knocking when Lynn, Angie and I set sail on the Disney Wonder back in 2006. I couldn't have traveled with a better gal for my first cruise- Lynn pretty much thought of everything. Her travel style on the high seas was as kickin (as my son would say) as it is when we hit the World...The details of that fine adventure are detailed in Angie's trip report here:

Sailing,Swaying,Shandies and Scot(t)s!! **Updated 5/28 Nassau**

My love for the Disney Cruise Line was a case of love at first sight. Coming over the bridge on a gorgeous sun drenched morning- the Wonder was waiting for me and it sent me to tears. Also, I knew as soon as I went through the terminal and out to the observation deck with the beautiful Wonder towering over me, I was completely and utterly hooked. We had a magical adventure and I came back saying it was one of the best vacations and by far, the best Disney adventure I had ever had.

Lynn and I have made a tradition of a girls trip every year- just Moms on their own and it's been a little difficult as of recent to coordinate schedules. I ended up having some commitments last year during Mousefest with my day job so we ended up spending time together the weekend before on Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas. That was a real test "of love for cruising" as far as I was concerned- was it just Disney cruising I love so much or cruising altogether?

I had a lovely time onboard the Monarch and was fairly impressed with Royal Caribbean- so much so that we've booked them to take DH, DBIL and DS to Alaska in July. I'll be back on the Wonder with Dawn (DawnDenise) come December, so by the time the year ends, I will have brought my total number of cruises to 5. I think I'm officially hooked.

There are so many things I love about cruising but one of my favorite parts about it is the vastness of the ocean and the sounds and smells as a ship cuts through the water- with the sight of the horizon surrounding you. I also find the science and business of cruising fascinating- and there's no better place to feed that need than aboard a ship! One of my favorite experiences aboard our December cruise on the Monarch- were our encounters with the ship's Captain- the reception and the Q and A session that was offered. Here are a few pics from that voyage:


I smuggled Captain Mickey aboard Royal Caribbean so as to add a good helping of magic for good measure..


This is me in front of the Monarch of the Seas after we disembarked, barely awake, mind you...

I am really looking forward to being back aboard the Wonder with my girls. There are so many things to share with them and I have many visions of us hanging out on deck and enjoying a beautiful dinner two together.

So there you have it, a little about each of us. Consider us your friends now and come aboard with us by way of the written word--If you care to stick around in the next few days, I will fill you in on the planning and preparation for this most excellent adventure.

Coming Up Next: Plans, plans and not so many plans

[Reese]

What a great pre-TR! Thanks for introducing your family, you have a truly inspiring crew! I , when I read about the scissors! One of the recurring conversations I have with DD5, is, "Who is the only person who is allowed to cut your hair?" Looking forward to more of your TR, I am hooked already!

[Grammy Grumpy]

All the Austin women are such special people. Knowing (and admiring) what you did to prepare Katie for her first trip to WDW way back when I know all three of you will have an awesome trip. I too am very jealous that you will have so many trips under your belt before I get to my second cruise!

Can't wait to hear more of the plans. Almost time now!

[mcc0313]

What great reveals for everyone that Christmas morning....love seeing Em's reaction . Loved your introductions...what a great bond the girls have and what a wonderful mother daughter trip this will be. Can't wait to hear more...

[Kenny]

Glad to meet you, Maureen. Thanks for inviting us along on this sure to be Wonderful Mother/Daughter Cruise.
I, too, was hooked by the "cruise bug" when we took our first cruise last year on the Magic. So much so that we booked again for this year and are planning future cruises as we speak! I think it brought out the ancient seafarers in my blood because, now, I can't wait to see the ocean!
And I love being on the ship, of course, I only have one cruise to base that on, but it was the most relaxing and best vacation I've ever been on.
Now I satisfy my "cruise cravings" by hanging out on these Passporter DCL threads reading about the adventures of others and adding my two cents worth of experiences now and again.
I suppose we can forgive your indiscretion of cruising on one of the "Other Lines" , since you are bringing Katie and Miss Em up right by making their first cruise a Disney Wonder-ful one!

Thanks again for bringing us along. Seeing the Wonder and all the feelings and emotions of a first cruise through the thoughts and expressions of your girls will be priceless, I'm sure, judging from the reaction of Miss Em on Christmas morning.

[statelady01]

I suppose we can forgive your indiscretion of cruising on one of the "Other Lines" , since you are bringing Katie and Miss Em up right by making their first cruise a Disney Wonder-ful one!

[DyanKJ130]

Great introductions! Looking forward to hearing about your plans or no plans!

[statelady01]

So now you have an idea of who we are, I'll share with you some of our plans and the preparation thus far.

As for plans, I planned to have none. I did not book a spa treatment or any time at Palo, just because I have no way of knowing if Katie will enjoy or be able to handle the Oceaneer's Lab- giving me the time for those things. And after all the point of this trip was to spend time alone with my girls. However, if they want to join in the kids programming- I certainly won't stop them. It's their call and I am okay with whatever we decide.

I didn't make any shore excursion plans either because I wasn't impressed with Nassau on my first cruise : and I haven't been back since. One day, I might do an excursion but I was a little leery of it with Katie by myself. If DH were coming with me, we probably would have attempted one- but that can be done another time. I'm hoping that morning pool time on Nassau would work out for us- it might be a very good time for Katie to enjoy fewer crowds.

Prepping DCL for Katie has been easy- I faxed over the medical notations form in January and when I called last, the CM confirmed the autism was noted and even read back to me my only request- that we be seated if at all possible, at a 4 top by ourselves in the dining rooms. It's probably one of my biggest worries at this point- but Katie will probably be ok even if we end up with another family. I purposely chose the late seating for this reason.

Our documents arrived right as expected and I logged on to find we were upgraded from a Cat 12 to a Cat 10! I'm thrilled about that but a little bummed to see we were on Deck 1- however, the split bathroom is well worth it. I may see if at the port, when we check in- if any Cat 9's are open but with a limited budget, I have a feeling it will be out of reach. It's all good though- we still got a nice bump up and I am very grateful for that. I also added a hefty stateroom credit a few weeks ago to try and cover most of our expenses- which I don't forsee being much. I can tell you right now about 85% of that fundage will be spent at Mickey's Mates, Treasure Ketch or on Castaway Cay.

We do plan on two of three shows but other than that, we remain in the category of "Whatever, Whenever."

I booked the Radisson at the Port for the night before our cruise. We only live about an hour's drive from there so it might seem ridiculous to do that, but I am one of those people who likes to get places early and I thought it would be a nice way to kick off the trip. We plan to depart home right after Kevan and the older kids get home from school and head on out. I also thought the girls might enjoy Jetty Park, so we may do that and have a nice dinner before turning in. I got a good room and parking package for $119 I believe.

At this point in time, we've all got new duds for dinners- I posted a thread awhile back about Emily's dress - it's amazing. We are all somewhat coordinated. I've finished most of the buying of tolietries and other so with the exception of me needing a haircut, we are ready. I'll attend to that tomorrow or Tuesday night, along with the packing. My main focus also has to be my day job- 2 days worth of sub plans and my room is kind of a mess, so I need to stay late Monday night to take care of that.

Anytime we travel, I always make Katie a schedule of some kind so she has a general idea of what comes next and what will be happening. It greatly reduces axnxiety and acting out. This time, we stepped it up a bit. Emily came up with the idea of a special book - which I loved. In it, we have a daily schedule as best as we could project one, rules and expectations for behavior and then I also added pictures of my previous cruise so there are concrete images for Katie to connect what she's reading about. I described some things like the safety drill in great detail so she is as prepared as she can be for it.

Here are some pictures of the book:







Tonight, we began reading it all together.



I thought Katie would want to zip through the entire thing, but she only wanted to do about 2 pages. We'll read some more Monday and Tuesday night so we have it covered- and she already put the book in her backpack, so I have a feeling she may read it at school in her free time. It was fun to make and made us all even more excited.

I may have one more installment before we go as I take some pictures of the packing and perhaps a final thought or two right before we leave. 3 more sleeps and 4 months of waiting finally comes to it's rightful end!!

Coming Up Next: It's almost time to go pics and thoughts...

[DyanKJ130]

Great update and photos! Sounds like the book was a hit! And, congratulations on the upgrade!

[Kenny]

Congrats on the upgrade! That's just great!
Emily is pretty smart to come up with the book. It seems to have been a good idea. That must be the type of thing that makes her so Divine!

[iloverags2]

What an excellent idea with the book! I am absolutely excited for you! What a treat to have a weekend just for you and your girls. Enjoy!

[mcc0313]

What a great idea of the book...I think your plans seem great, sometimes not planning can be the best vacation.