The Platinum Castaway Club - Disney Cruise Line

Disney Cruise #59: Four Days on the Wonder

2007-10-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

Has it really been six months since I sailed on the Disney Wonder? I asked myself that question as the Family Truckster headed towards Port Canaveral for Disney cruise #59. Although we usually take the summer off from cruising, we typical sail in late May and early September. This year, however, our schedule was discombobulated by the transatlantic crossing, which spanned two weeks in the end of August.

The 14-day cruise had been so fantastic that I was worried how I'd make the leap back to a shorter sailing. In fact, I had changed cruise #60 from a 4-day in December to the 7-night Western leaving the day before. I justified it by telling myself that a) I couldn't wait a whole year before we sailed on the Magic again; and b) a 7-nighter would let me down slowly for our January and May 4-night sailings before plunging into 15 days on the Magic in August (we're skipping our usual Feb. anniversary trip to make room in our schedule for the Panama Canal repo cruise and an Adventure by Disney...so we'll only have five cruises next year).

But in the meantime, I feared that our time on the Wonder would feel like a mere sampler. Still, a sample is better than nothing, and I was planning a very laid back cruise. While I adored the transatlantic and would do it again in a heartbeat, I can't really call it “relaxing.” That, of course, was my own choice. On a cruise, you can do as much or as little as you please. But it was my first time in Europe, and even the sea days were chock full of activity, so it was a matter of commando vacationing and packing in as much as I possibly could. 14 days sounds like a lot until you are confronted with a smorgasboard of choices and a limited amount of hours in the day to squeeze them in.

Traffic was light, so we were soon cresting the hill on 528 where we could see the Wonder in the distance. Since we were in our favorite stateroom, all the way aft, I could easily spot our exact position on the ship, too. We had left early, and I expected to encounter a horde of other early birds as we pulled of the expressway around 10:40 a.m. But when we reached the entrance to the terminal, we were the only car. We showed our documents and headed for the luggage drop-off, to join two other lonely cars. Hubby parked the Truckster while I headed upstairs to check in, still marveling at the light number of people.

For me, my vacation begins the moment we get to the port. I know it drives most people crazy to wait; perhaps it's because I've been there so many times, so I don't feel a need to rush onto the ship because I already know what awaits me...it's not a world of discovery like it is for first-timers. Instead, I enjoy sitting in the terminal and people watching. It's fun to watch the families come in, marveling at the ship model and screeching with delight when Captain Mickey or Goofy heads out for photos. I feed off the excitement of others because it lets me see the experience through fresh eyes.

I also enjoy seeing old friends at the port. We've gotten to know many of the people there via our frequent trips, so it's a joy to see them again and again. People are usually so anxious to get checked in and onboard that I don't think they truly appreciate the friendly faces who check them in. We've had the luxury of enough sailings to relax and to get to know them.

Soon enough it was boarding time. Lately, DCL has been selecting a family to kick off the boarding. I think it's part of the current “Dreams Come True” promotion. Personally I like it because it reminds me of the old days, when they used to have a family do the countdown to embarkation time. A little hoopla is a good thing!

Once the family had boarded, everyone got out their numbered cards to prepare for heading onboard with their group. The process is vaguely similar to Southwest Airlines; you get a numbered card when you check in, which indicates your boarding group. When that number is called, everyone with the appropriate card boards. That way, you don't have to stand in line. The kids can run around, watch cartoons, or get a picture with the characters, while the parents can do their kids club check-in early.

Once boarded, the first order of business for us is typically lunch. We headed to the buffet at Parrot Cay, where I was drawn in by the salads while hubby went straight for the shrimp. I also love the baked potatoes, which you can slather with cheese, sour cream, and bacon bits. That was all topped off with a bowl of cold strawberry soup, which generally serves as my dessert.

We still had a while before our stateroom would be ready, since it was before 12 when we boarded and “room time” is 1:30. We headed up to the spa; I had booked our appointments online, but hubby decided that he wanted to add a seaweed wrap for just after sailaway (I already had my own treatment booked for that time slot). As we exited onto deck 9, debating what to do next, the Cove Cafe beckoned to me. A nice cappuccino seemed like just the right start to our leisure time on the cruise. I think Cove is one of the best changes/additions to the Magic and Wonder (originally, it was the teen club but that was moved to larger quarters). It's lovely to stop in for coffee, tea, or a martini and a fresh baked good. You can sit around and read, watch TV, or just chill out. The only slight problem can arise when there are lots of smokers outside, particuarly cigar smokers (Cove is on the smoking side of the deck). When the automatic door opens, the smoke can swirl right in. But that doesn't happen all the time, and on days it's particularly bad, I just get my indulgence to go and enjoy it on my own verandah.

Since most people hadn't discovered Cove yet, smoke was a non-issue. We chatted with the bartender as he made our drinks. He sprinkled cinnamon on the foam of my cappuccino...mmmmm! Heavenly! Hubby had some kind of potent coffee drink spiked with Southern Comfort that stole him away from his usual (equally spiked) Jamaican Coffee.

After our caffeine boost, we headed back to the stateroom to don our swim wear. The time in between initial boarding and the safety drill is prime pool time. It's not such a big deal for the adult pool, which tends to be less crowded even at peak times, but if you have kids it's your best bet for swimming without being in a pack of sardines.

We lounged in the hot tub, and in all the time we were there no one else ventured in. A few souls came and went at the pool, but for the most part people seemed to be wandering around aimlessly, dazzled by the ship.

Eventually we headed back to the room to get ready for the drill. Our luggage had been delivered, so hubby managed to get it all unpacked before we had to head down to Station Q in Animators Palate, our assigned lifeboat location. The roomful of orange Spongebobs listened to the spiel, and then we were finally dismissed so the trip could begin in earnest.

Our first order of business was the sailaway. We thought about going to the deck party, which is all new since the last time we sailed, but instead we got lazy and ensconced ourselves on our verandah. We were in good old 5650, my very favorite room at the butt end of the ship. It has a nice, larger verandah; its wall is solid rather than plexiglass, but that doesn't bother me because I like the way the balcony is recessed and the room's prime location in an area nearly devoid of hallway traffic. While I am excited about the two new ships Disney is currently building, I am going to be like a lost soul with no room to truly call “home” on them.

Oh well, that is years in the future. In the meantime, hubby and I waved to the people we passed as we perched on our familiar verandah. Finally we passed Jetty Park, the last piece of land before heading out to sea and legal monkey knife fights (that one is for my fellow Simpson fans).

Our next order of business was the spa, where hubby had his seaweed wrap and I had reflexology. Since he has ticklish feet, it amazes him that I love to have my feet messed with. Every time we sail, I usually get reflexology, a hot stone massage, and a massage/facial, although not necessarily in that order...I spread them out over the course of the trip, and sometimes I slip in an extra treatment. He generally sticks with a couple of seaweed wraps.

Since my treatment was shorter than his, I got back to the room first. As I gathered my clothes to dress, I realized that I didn't see my horse necklace. It's a very special necklace to me: a silver charm of a girl and horse, hanging on a necklace woven from horse hair. The hair is tightly braided tail hair from my 30 year old Appaloosa, Cochise. I've owned him for 26 years, through thick and thin. I know that he's probably not long for this world, since 30 for a horse is like 100 for a human, plus I had to leave him in IL when we moved to FL because I didn't think he could make a 1200 mile trip. Thus the necklace keeps a part of him close to me, and even when he is gone, I will have that memory.

But now I had somehow managed to lose it! The last time I saw it, it was on the bed among my clothes. I folded the clothes but thought I had left the necklace there, and now it had disappeared. I searched diligently but unsuccessfully; hubby joined me when he returned, but neither of us could find the necklace. I knew it had to be somewhere in the stateroom, but where?!

I was distracted from my worry by the fact that we had Palo reservations. Palo is the adult restaurant that features such wonderful cuisine as a mouth watering rack of lamb, seared tuna, a variety of pastas, and monkfish (a new addition). Palo has its own galley, so basically it's like going to a top-notch Northern Italian restaurant on land, with the same high quality.

Our old friend Dalibor was there as a server, and we also knew the manager and chef from many previous sailings, so it was like returning to a favorite neighborhood restaurant on land. I had the monkfish, while hubby opted for tuna. I got a small side of mushroom risotto, since it sounded very tempting. The quality was as high as always, and I topped it off with Palo's famous chocolate souffle for dessert. Since I adore their gelato, too, I had a scoop of caramel gelato on the side.

There was lots going on after dinner: Wonderquest at 10, Match Your Mate at 10:30, and the new version of 70s Night at 11. Initially I was hoping to attend at least one of those events, but after a full Palo meal both hubby and I were ready to crash, In his case, I think that was helped along by half a bottle of Moscato along with his dinner.

We tried once more to find my necklace, but it was fruitless. I even called Guest Services to see if it might have gotten caught on my life jacket; if it had fallen off on the way to the drill, perhaps someone had turn it in. Nope, no silver charm on a rope of braided horse hair.

I snuggled in bed, my worries about my necklace neutralized somewhat by the gentle rocking of the ship. It reminded me that one of my favorite things about the transatlantic sea days was my sound sleep, invoked by being rocked every night. It had been quite an adjustment when we finally returned home to stationary bedrooms!

The next morning, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast out on the verandah, with Nassau as the backdrop. We weren't planning to disembark, since we've been there countless times. For us, it's simply another day at sea.

I lazed around till lunchtime, while hubby went to the spa for a workout. Then we went off to Triton's for a nice sit down lunch (there is also a buffet option that is quite good). I had made-to-order pasta, while hubby had pumpkin soup and seared tuna. I topped it off with banana cream pie, sure to give me a major sugar buzz.

Back in the stateroom, I made one more search for the mystery necklace. It HAD to be there somewhere! I had prayed for divine help the night before, since I wasn't doing too good on my own, and I kept being drawn to the sofa bed. Both hubby and I had looked behind it as well as we could but hadn't see anything. I couldn't help but suspect that the necklace had gotten stuck among my clothes; I had folded them up on top of the sofa, so it could have slipped behind it. The space was small, but it wasn't an impossibility. Goodness knows the necklace wasn't anywhere else!

Hubby opened the sofa bed, which gave us a wider range of vision, but we still didn't see it. I wasn't ready to give up yet; instead, we pulled it out a little ways, but we still saw nothing. We were just about to give up when a spotted a small piece of silver. The necklace clasp! It had somehow managed to fall into an out-of-the-way spot where it was nearly impossible to see unless you were looking very, very closely. If we hadn't found it, I'd be willing to wager it would have still been there when we returned in January unless the sofa bed was removed for some reason beforehand. With my necklace safely back in hand, I could finally relax and enjoy the rest of the trip. Hubby was relieved, too, but I think for him it had more to do with the fact that he wouldn't have to hack off another hunk of Cochise's tail hair next time he was in Chicago.

We had a spa villa appointment scheduled at 2:30 p.m. I enjoy the couples villa, except for one thing: I am married to a severe snorer. I bring a white noise machine with me, and this time I planned to bring it to the spa to see if it would help during our treatments. Usually when we do a couples massage, hubby is in dreamland enjoying his to the hilt while I lie awake and annoyed to the drone of his buzz saw breathing. The white noise works at night, so maybe it would be effective in a villa too.

The spa villas are fancy treatment rooms that each have a private verandah with a hot tub and bed. You kick off your treatment with a foot bath and a soak in the hot tub, followed by a wrap, massage, or whatever type of treatment you choose. When that is done, you relax on the bed while you sip herbal tea and munch on fresh fruit. It's a very indulgent (and pricey) treatment, but well worth it if you want to pamper yourself. Hubby and I work hard to pay for our cruises, so we never begrudge ourselves some self-indulgence while on board.

After the foot bath, we climbed into the hot tub, which was spiked with Aching Muscle Super Soak and milk bath (you get several choices). We watched the sky turn gray as we soaked, suspecting that rain was on its way. Since it was already mid-afternoon, we hoped that most people would be able to complete their excursions and general wanderings around Nassau before the downpour blew in.

The therapists called us in for our treatments (facial and massage for me, and seaweed wrap and massage for hubby). The white noise, coupled with spa music, helped a bit until the tail end of hubby's massage, when he apparently slipped into a deep coma. He was snoring like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre! I had been dozing off, but his snores were strong enough to be measured on the Richter Scale, so being on a massage table right next to him, there was no way I could tune him out.

Finally the treatments ended, so he was forced to wake up. We trooped out onto the bed on the verandah for our tea (pear for me and berry for him) and fresh fruit. By this point, the rainstorm was overhead and Nassau was getting deluged with a downpour. Fortunately, the Wonder's spa villas are more enclosed than the Magic's, so we were protected behind sturdy doors that allowed us to still look out without getting rained on.

After our villa experience, Cove Cafe was calling me with its caffeinated siren song. Hubby and I stopped to pick up coffee (he had another of the addictive Southern Comfort coffees, while I stuck to my cappuccino), and then we trooped back to our stateroom. Hubby got ready to go see “Hercules” while I did some work. As both a travel agent and a counselor, my work follows me via my laptop wherever I go...even out to sea. I was a little sad not to see Herc, since it will be gone from the Wonder before we sail again, but I've probably seen it over 30 times so I have plenty of memories to draw on. I'm excited to see the interim show, “Art of the Story,” when we sail in January on the Wonder, since I saw it on the Magic during the transatlantic voyage and really enjoyed it. Still, I will miss Herc a bit since it was an original.

On this trip, hubby and I had decided to divide our dining between Palo and the casual dinner option up in Beach Blanket Buffet. We love the main dining rooms, but every now and then we opt to skip them in order to do something different. Since this was a very laid-back trip, that meant laid-back dinners, too (or at least some of them...Palo calls for suits, dresses, and at least a semblance of manners). You can go up to Beach Blanket any time you want during their operating hours, wearing just about anything you want (nudity would probably be frowned on). They offer table service with a variety of options from the main dining room menus, plus there is a salad bar which is a big draw for me. The bar has black olives, cold corn, and kidney beans, which I love to toss on top of some cottage cheese with a drizzle of ranch dressing to top it off. I am a creature of habit, so I make that concoction every time we do the casual dining on the Wonder.

We had a lovely meal, and with the salad on top of it I was so full that I skipped dessert. I had more work to do back in our stateroom, but hubby went to see Michael Harrison's adult cabaret show and stayed for the rock legends show afterwards. He was hoping for some new material in the cabaret, but it was the same old talking tennis ball and use-an-adult-as-a-dummy routine. The rock legends show was new, though...it consisted of a performance by the main stage dancers, as well as dancing and on-stage participation by guests.

Eventually we zonked out to get a good night's sleep before our arrival at Castaway Cay. If the weather was good, we knew it would be a busy day as there's always lots to do on the island.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny, giving us hope for a good weather day. As hubby stepped out onto the verandah, he got quite a surprise. The ship had pulled in rather than backed in! That is very, very, very rare these days. It used to always pull in in the early days of Disney Cruise Line, but that stopped many years ago. Now it always docks butt end first except in special circumstances, like the annual DVC cruise. Today it turned out that they were going to be doing some filming, so we had lucked out. We don't usually have our picture taken in front of the ship anymore, but this time I HAD to do it because it would be unique. We have some old photos in front of the forward-facing Magic, but not the Wonder. Below are a couple of shots of the Wonder taken by hubby:

We had a quick breakfast and donned our swimwear, eager to begin a day of fun in the sun. I was rather confused, since disembarkation was forward rather than the usual aft. Everything was like a mirror image, and I don't adapt well to change, but I followed hubby and eventually made it to the gangway.

We paused for our front-of-the-ship photo, and as we continued down the path I noticed that Captain Jack Sparrow was out for photos in front of the Flying Dutchman. I have a couple of pics with him, but since you can see the Wonder in the background, I thought that would make a unique shot too. We joined the long, eager line and snaked our way slowly but surely towards Jack. After our pic, we headed down the main walkway and had a bit of a debate over whether to set up Base Camp Alpha on the family beach or the adult beach.

At first glance, it would seem that “adult beach” would be a no-brainer. After all, once of the reasons I love Disney Cruise Line is because it has adults only areas that are actually enforced. But I don't really dislike kids, and the far end of the family beach is usually relatively quiet and uncrowded. Thus I sometimes camp out there rather than heading all the way to Serenity Bay.

Hubby was pressing for the adult beach, but I saw a tramload of people that was much more packed than usual, and I had a gut feeling that it would be very crowded. Suddenly something caught my eye...several empty hammocks on the family beach! Apparently DCL has added some new hammocks, and because most people head to the first piece of beach they see, no one had come far enough down to discover them yet. That clinched it for me...I hopped into a hammock, and hubby could see that I had no intention of moving, so he gave in.

I set up shop with a book, while hubby planned out his more active routine. He always enjoys renting a bike, climbing the observation tower, and doing a round or two of snorkeling. He also took over the hammock while I walked over to Cookies to bring my lunch back to the beach. I had a cheese dog, cole slaw, and some sort of fruit and spice cake, which fueled me up for Round Two of hammock r&r. In the meantime, he wandered off to get his own lunch, returning my tray so that it wouldn't attract a hoarde of seagulls shouting "Mine! Mine! Mine!"

Our only fear was the threatening black clouds that hovered ominously just off the horizon. Fortunately they stayed out over the ocean and didn't hamper our beach day. Just in case, we had brought a large plastic bag; if we were caught in a downpour, we could hastily protect our beach bag. But we ended up not needing it, and the intermittent cloud cover was actually quite nice because it kept the sun from beating down too viciously.

Finally we realized that the afternoon was growing later, and we began our hike back to the ship. Even though the ship looks very cool when it pulls in forward, I missed the fact that we wouldn't be disembarking aft with just a quick jaunt up to our far-aft stateroom. Oh well, we were looking forward to the back-out-and-spin sailaway, which is quite a rarity. It was also time for another beverage from Cove Cafe, which has become as addictive to me as Starbucks.

On this trip, we discovered a new species of cruiser: The Locust. On one of our Cove stops, while we were waiting for our drinks, a man came in and proceeded to fill some plates to groaning capacity with all the cakes, cheese, and fruit he could manage to cram onto them. I don't know if he was having a party in his stateroom or if he was a throwback to the ancient Roman custom of binge/purge/binge indulgence, but he didn't even bother to buy any drinks. Granted the food is there for the taking, but it seemed rude to grab it all from Cove when he could simply have called room service and left some for visitors to the cafe to enjoy. I had noticed on the transatlantic that the Cove snack case was literally always bare, and now I can see why...Mr. Locust's distant relatives must have been onboard.

Hubby was looking forward to “The Golden Mickeys,” while I had my sights set on the spa once again. As he headed off for the show, I sank into happy oblivion on a massage table. After my treatment I spent half an hour in the Tropical Rainforest. I read for a bit on the heated tile loungers, then took a scented shower. I just love the “tropical” scent; even after my swimsuit has dried, I can still smell the fruity/floral aroma on it. I washed and conditioned my hair, then headed back to my aft enclave to get ready for dinner.

That evening, we opted for the casual dining again. Since it was pirate night, all of the entrees were from the pirate menu. I had a lovely macadamia encrusted fish dish, preceded by my usual salad concoction of cottage cheese, olives, kidney beans, and cold corn, topped with the ever-present ranch dressing. Yum! Between Palo brunch and the salad bars, I could probably live on cold food for an entire cruise and never feel like I was suffering.

I was too lazy to join hubby at the pirate party, so I did some work via the wireless connection in our stateroom and watched the fireworks from the verandah. For some reason, I was unable to download Word documents which is a big part of my work, so I was tearing my hair out. It wasn't as bad as my work fiasco on the transatlantic since it was only a four-day cruise and since I was still able to contact people via email to let them know about the difficulty, but it was still frustrating. Oh well, that's the price we all have to pay for living in the internet age...you just can't escape your job anymore.

The next morning was a lazy one since it was a day at sea. We didn't bother with breakfast since we were scheduled for Palo brunch. Over the years the brunch has grown on me, and I truly like it just as much as dinner. There are a wide variety of hot and cold items, and I could easily make a satisfying meal just from the cold offerings. But I know how good the hot food is, too, so I always leave some room for Eggs Benedict and perhaps a cut or two of beef or whatever fish dish is currently the catch of the day.

I was extremely pleased to find beef carpaccio among the offerings. It used to be served as an appetizer at dinner, but it has been absent for a long, long time. Now it's just in little individual servings, but it's well worth a try if you are like me and like your beef still mooing. Sitting near a window and enjoying the panoramic view of the ocean made me homesick for our recent transatlantic voyage. Even though we were at sea, it wasn't quite the same as knowing we were out literally in the middle of the ocean. Worse yet, it was already the last day. Oh well, I comforted myself with the knowledge that our next cruise is a 7-day...still not long enough, but even a 30-day cruise would probably go by too quickly.

After brunch was the Castaway Club party, held in Wavebands. We trooped in and chatted with fellow repeat cruisers inbetween the video clips. My favorites are the christening of the Wonder and the footage of the shoreside office. When the new ships are built, I am hoping that they christen at least one in Florida so I can experience the hoopla firsthand.

Captain John gave his requisite talk, and then there was a raffle for cute little Castaway Club clocks. We actually managed to win one quite a while back so I didn't have to hold my breath like the other hopefuls around the room.

The rest of the day was quite lazy for me, interspersed with a little work. Unlike the transatlantic, when I'd actually forced my lazy carcass to exercise, I spent most of my free time either on my computer or reading out on the verandah. As much as I had loved the crossing, it had been such a go-go-go kind of cruise that I was relishing the slow, relaxing pace. On the transatlantic, there were way too many new things to see and do. On the four-day, I have experienced almost everything so I don't have to feel like I'm missing something if I just kick back for some comatose time.

I had one last spa appointment: a hot rock massage. Once again I had opted to skip the show, although even wild horses wouldn't keep hubby away from seeing “Disney Dreams.” He particularly enjoys it now that it has been enhanced, with more laser effects, flying, and an appearance by Timon and Pumbaa.

We were fortunate enough to be able to go to Palo again for dinner. Hubby had gotten a head start on the packing, so he knew he'd have plenty of time afterwards to finish it up and get our bags out for the 11 p.m. pickup. You leave them outside of your stateroom, and they magically appear in the terminal the next day. I had the lamb with mint jelly, although I always feel like a sinner to put any condiment on such a tasty cut of meat. Indeed, it was so delicious that I used very little of the jelly. I just couldn't bear to mask the taste. Dessert was a nice heaping helping of gelato, since I had already had a souffle at the beginning of the cruise.

Hubby went to the pub night show, but I crashed in anticipation of the morning that would come all too soon. We always skip breakfast so we can get an early start home; thus, hubby had found our regular servers and handed out the tip envelopes before we went to Palo. Even though we hadn't eaten in the main diningroom, we wanted to make sure they got a tip since it wasn't their fault that our table was empty.

We awoke bright and early, ready to disembark at the first call that the ship had been cleared. Unlike most other cruise lines, Disney allows you to leave when you want to rather than having to wait until you're called. I have miserable memories of being crowded among smokers in a “non-smoking” lounge on Royal Caribbean, waiting literally hours to be allowed to leave. Ugh! How nice to simply stroll down the gangway whenever I choose.

Sometimes there was a line, but on this day we simply walked off and rode the escalator down to the ground level where the porters were waiting. Our luggage was gathered, we presented our documentation to Customs, and we were climbing into the Family Truckster by 8 a.m. I think that was a record for us!

It's always sad to roll away from Port Canaveral, but as usual I was able to comfort myself with the knowledge that our next trip was just around the corner. We wouldn't see the Wonder again until January, but I knew that many new adventures would be awaiting us when we boarded the Magic in December.

Trip Report #58 - Transatlantic Crossing on the Disney Magic

2007-09-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

TRANSIT AND DAY ONE
It's been a while since I've done a trip report, as lately we have been sticking to the Wonder four-day cruise. There are always new things, but I've gotten lazy. But for #58, I had to document the special experience of a transatlantic crossing on the Disney Magic. The ship had been in the Mediterranean all summer, so now it was being repositioned back to Florida. I'd be cruising for 14 days, with six days straight at sea.

Ironically, my grandparents all came to America from Europe via ships arriving at Ellis Island. Somehow I think that my Disney cruise was a far cry from what they experienced. They all died decades ago, but I suspect they would scratch their heads in wonderment at the concept of their granddaughter taking that same trip just for pleasure.

As you can see, the route I'd be taking was a little different, sailing to Florida rather than New York, but we'd still be crossing The Pond:

The most challenging part was the journey to the port. For our usual Wonder cruises, at its worst it used to be a two hour flight from Chicago. Now, it's simply an hour's drive from our house to Port Canaveral. For the repo, we would have to get to Barcelona, a complicated trip that involved three air legs. First, we'd fly from MCO to JFK on JetBlue, and then we'd pick up Aer Lingus to Dublin (six and a half hours stuffed into a flying metal tube...ugh!). Finally, we'd catch another plane from Dublin to Barcelona, where we were taking a van to the port with several other cruisers who were also on our Aer Lingus flights.

My husband managed to score an exit row on JetBlue, but on the first Aer Lingus flight we were relegated literally to the last row of the plane. At least it was two across, and according to the only map we could find it looked like there was no lavatory behind us. That was a mixed blessing; I didn't relish the idea of cross-legged fellow passengers grouped around my seat, waiting frantically for their turn, while the scent of that nasty blue liquid permeated the area. But it also meant that I would have to hike 17 rows forward to deal with my own nervous bladder. For the last leg, we were in row 7; it didn't seem to have any major pros or cons, other than quicker disembarkation due to being closer to the front.

My excitement for the trip was tempered by a fear of flying (which I planned to combat with Xanax) and sadness at leaving my kitties for two weeks. I had neighbors coming in to care for them, but I knew I'd miss those furry bodies curled up on my feet at night.

We were up late the night before, frantically trying to remember everything and to put our work to rest. I juggle a counseling practice and a travel agency, so I had a lot of loose ends to tie up. I wouldn't have phone access till Sept. 1 (we left on Aug. 17), and I knew that internet access might be spotty, so I wanted to be sure that everything was at least halfway under control.

The next morning, we did a quick review and it seemed that we had remembered everything. Something always shows up missing, but as long as it wasn't anything major we'd be happy! At 8 a.m. we piled into a Happy Limo towncar for the ride to MCO. We had allowed more than ample time just in case the lines were bad. Fortunately, JetBlue's curbside check-in was wide open, and the security line was minimal, so our first leg kicked off without any undue stress.

I stopped at the airport bookstore, as I am a major true crime buff and that store tends to have good offerings. Sure enough, I found half a dozen paperbacks to cram among the rest of my reading material. It felt good to imagine spending relaxed days at sea out at my veranda, immersed in a good gory tale. The Starbucks next door to the book shop serenaded me with its siren call, but I knew better than to indulge in a latte before getting on a plane...I made that mistake in Chicago once, and the resulting continuous potty trips taught me to resist very well.

My one worry was that my stash of empty water bottles would be confiscated by security. I have a weird psychological need for tons of water when flying... not necessarily to drink, but just to have close at hand. It all started on a particularly bad flight that involved a never-ending hold pattern due to thunderstorms in Chicago, a diversion to refuel in Rockford, and an aborted landing at Midway before FINALLY returning safety to terra firma. I had a sinus infection, and sucking on my water bottle was the only thing that kept my ears from exploding after two and a half landings and three take offs. The water was also a godsend during the hot, stuffy hours we sat on the tarmac in Rockford.

The bottles actually serve a variety of purposes; besides keeping me hydrated and providing something to suck on, they also allow me to pop Xanax at any time to quell my fears, and in the worst case I can pour water on my head if I have a panic attack (fortunately, I've never had to yet). As a cognitive therapist I know it's all in my head, but hey, whatever works. Fortunately they let me take the empty bottles through so I wouldn't have to spend a fortune at the concession stand.

Since we had a couple of hours before boarding, we set up shop at a power outlet near our gate. Hubby immersed himself in a handheld game, while I found a free internet connection and messed around with my laptop. I was looking forward to the brief luxury of an exit row, knowing that for the second leg we'd be crammed in the last row. I popped a couple of Xanax pills to get me in good spirits as I didn't want to get panicky before we even got to the transatlantic flight.

Soon our plane appeared, and once it had disgorged its current load of passengers, no doubt on their way to visit the Mouse House, we trooped on board and settled into our seats. I discovered that “exit row”on JetBlue doesn't necessarily equate to more room. There was a slight amount, but not what I am accustomed to. Oh well, it was only a two hour flight so I knew I could survive the sardine can for that brief amount of time. We had booked the window and aisle; another person was in the middle, but I offered to switch with him if he didn't mind me climbing over him when my nervous bladder kicked in. Problem was, my carry-on only fit under the aisle seat, so he opted to switch anyway and adjust his legs around the bag. Fortunately, I never actually had to get up during the flight.

JetBlue was very cool, with individual entertainment screens in every seat offering satellite television. I amused myself with “Animal Cops” and court shows(my secret vice), munching on blue Terra Chips and pistachio biscotti until we arrived at JFK. Not too bad for coach. I had hoped to catch an aerial view of the Statue of Liberty, but no such luck. It's still quite a pretty place to fly into, tho', with all the surrounding water.

Our luggage was spit out on the conveyor in a semi-reasonable amount of time, but getting to our next flight in terminal 4 was a total upchuck. We started in terminal 5, but the air train was running only one direction so we got the grand tour of every single stop, including an inexplicable 15 minute wait at one. The way people crammed in reminded me of the Japanese subway, but with the added challenge of mountains of luggage piled in the mix.

Still, we got to our terminal eventually and joined the Aer Lingus Check In Line of Eternity. While hubby waited, I ran to the ticket sales counter to see if they had any discounted first class upgrades. They did, but it was still rather pricey even though it was only a third of the regular price. The idea of being pampered as we whizzed across the Atlantic danced temptingly in my mind. I was haunted by the thought that our last-row seats wouldn't recline; I'd be trying to sleep with someone in my lap, since pretty much everyone is going to tilt back into snooze position for an overnight flight.

Even though the line was intimidating, it moved quite steadily. We ended up being able to switch to two other seats (aisle and the one next to it) in the long middle row, but somehow that just didn't appeal to me. It would be hard to sleep without anything to lean on, and I imagined being woken up periodically by fellow passengers climbing over me. More and more the idea of popping the upgrade bucks tempted me; finally, I twisted hubby's arm and we whipped out the charge card and moved ourselves uptown.

I made sure that my Xanax level was high and that I refilled my water, which I had to empty before going through security again (ah, the joys of post 9/11 flying). Then we hung out for a while until our ride showed up. It turned out to be a gorgeous new plane; even coach had individual entertainment screens. But first-class was an absolute dream...two-across seating in its own little “module” so you didn't have to worry about reclining into someone or having them do it to you. The seats would go into a full recline mode almost akin to a bed. You also got all the usual first-class accouterments, such as kit with toothbrush, socks, eye shade, etc., hot towel, pre-flight drink, and excellent dinner choices with free-flowing wine. Even with the Xanax I had to have a glass, which probably contributed to my later restful slumber.

As you can see in the photo below, I looked relatively out of it even before the plane took off:

Once aloft, we had dinner and I watched “Shrek the Third” almost to the end, but it was so abysmal compared to the other two that I shut it off in favor of constructing a comfy sleeping cocoon. I woke up once when hubby sneaked by to the lav, then went back into unconsciousness and didn't stir again until final descent. Hubby swears they served a continental breakfast, but apparently that didn't penetrate my coma and he said he didn't dare risk life and limb to wake me up for a bagel.

I had been working myself into a frenzy of fear about the flight due to my previous bad experience. I thought that knowing we were hours away from land would flash me back to the indefinite holding pattern and send me over the edge. I don't know whether it was the Xanax, cognitive techniques, or the very unplanelike first class section, but I actually...dare I say it...enjoyed the transatlantic leg.

As I laid cozy beneath my blanket, I thought about the fact that we were way out over the Atlantic, and it struck me as neat concept rather than a scary one. I think it also helped that I watched a fear-of-flying DVD that explained transatlantic safety precautions (it was made by the author of www.fearofflyinghelp.com, an excellent website for chickens like me). We did hit some turbulence, but I did as the DVD advised and imagined being on a boat going through choppy water...bumpy but safe. It ended up rocking me back to sleep rather than worrying me.

In Dublin, the customs line was somewhat long, but nothing too traumatic. Our luggage was going on ahead automatically, so we trudged off directly to security. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to empty my carefully hoarded water bottles so they confiscated all of them. Bummer! It was only a two hour flight, and I was still pretty drugged, but I still had ugly visions of panicking and needing my trusty H20. I couldn't buy any because all I had was dollars and the shops and vending machines only took euros.

The short haul plane was much different than the flying resort we'd just left. We were in row 7, window and middle, with practically non-existent legroom, but I had suspected as much. It was an older plane with no entertainment system, but I didn't care as long as it was airworthy enough to get us to Barcelona.

The flight attendant switched some people around behind us, and I cringed because my new behind-neighbor was now a toddler just warming up for a nice little screaming tantrum. I repeated my mantra “It's only two hours” and wished I had water to pop another Xanax when suddenly God smiled down on us. The FA said, “Are you two together?” When hubby and I nodded, she said, “Would you mind taking an exit row?” NO PROBLEM!!! I could have hugged her! She led us to a lovely, roomy row that very nicely capped what had been an overall decent flying experience (especially considering that we'd had three plane changes and almost 12 hours of air time).

EVERYTHING cost money on that flight, include beverages! Thankfully they accepted American money, so I bought some water as a security blanket. Since it was morning in Dublin, I also had to indulge in the breakfast, which featured black and white pudding (i.e blood sausage...sounds gross, I know, but I love it and I'd never actually had it in...or even over...Ireland before). After the chow, I sank back into my coma. I don't know if it was the build-up of Xanax, the weird time changes, or a combination, but it made for a pretty painless flying experience. Before I knew it, we were descending and the crowd was murmuring in awe as we spotted the Disney Magic waiting for us below. The dreaded flights were over, and we were almost ready for our vacation to officially begin. We whisked through Barcelona customs, collected our luggage, and were ready to head to the port.

Disney reps. took our bags, and we loaded into our van for the brief ride to the ship. Check-in lines were manageable, especially since we could use the Castaway Club line (for returning cruisers). Then we took our assigned boarding number, checked out the entertainment (dancing, characters, etc.) and trooped aboard the ship. Unlike Port Canaveral, you embarked on deck 1 and went up to 9 in groups on the elevators. There you were announced and appeared on the jumbo TV as you headed to Topsiders for lunch. I tried to convince my husband to go down and eat at Parrot Cay, since it had started raining which eliminates the outside seating upstairs. He ignored me and paid for his folly with a tongue lashing after we made three rounds of the restaurant without finding a seat.

We ended up sitting with another person who was quite interesting to talk to, and he pointed out Disney artist Don “Ducky” Williams sitting a few tables over. I was pleased because I just love attending Don's talks, and I have several of his sketches gracing my walls at home. It gave me something to look forward to on the sea days; even though I've heard his story several times, I love just watching him draw as he talks.

After lunch, we hung out in the hallway till our stateroom was ready. Actually, I don't know if it really was, but after a few minutes a big gang of people propped the fire doors open and descended on the hallway, so of course everyone else followed. We were at the butt end of deck 5, in my favorite stateroom: 5650. It's nice and peaceful, with an oversized veranda and little hallway traffic. It's practically home away from home for hubby and I, although we always notice the slight differences between the Magic and Wonder (no middle dresser drawer on the Magic, different picture over the bed, etc.).

Our stateroom host was Efren, and besides keeping me well stocked with shampoo and conditioner (I wash my hair obsessively when cruising), he was also quite talented with both towel and blanket animals, as well as combinations. One of his combo works is below:

Once in our room, I laid down to finish up the nap I had begun on the plane; reluctantly, I dragged my carcass out of bed for the safety drill, then crashed again till dinner time while hubby unpacked the bags. He had been utterly paranoid about our luggage, even to the point of standing with his nose against the glass at MCO watching for our bags to be loaded onto the first plane. It felt so good to take a hot shower and feel human again!

We ordered a water package of 24 bottles for our stateroom. Normally we just bring our own onboard, but that would NOT have been easy to stash in our luggage along with two weeks worth of clothes, toiletries, etc. It was much easier to simply purchase it on board. Disney is the only cruise line that currently offers unlimited free soda, but neither of us is a pop drinker so we prefer the water. The ship's drinking water is actually quite good, so once we run through what we bring (or purchase, in this case), we simply refill the bottles with tap water.

We met our tablemates, a couple from Arizona, and enjoyed some pleasant chatting over tasty meal. They were part of an internet group; there were actually groups from two different online forums on board, although there was some cross-over. Over the course of the cruise, it was fun meeting people we'd previously “met” online and putting faces with names.

Our first restaurant was Lumieres, and our serving team was Sanjeev and May (see below):

Pragalen as our head server. The menu theme, appropriately, was “Let The Magic Begin.” I had both the blue cheese cauliflower soup and the sangria soup, with duck and figs for dinner and a mint ice cream sundae for dessert. It was so odd to glance out the windows, see the city lights, and realize that were were thousands of miles away from Florida, on another continent. As an added bonus, there was a little Beauty and the Beast show, which apparently was something special for the Med and transatlantic cruises. Peter Pan also came running through the restaurant, crowing loudly, but that wasn't part of the show...it's just the sort of thing that happens every now and then on Disney cruises.

After the meal it was back to our stateroom, where poor hubby crashed hard. I couldn't blame him; unlike me, he didn't sleep well on the plane so he had been running for a long time. I did some reading and relaxing for a bit, then forced myself to go to sleep around 1 a.m., even though my mind clock kept trying to convince me that it was really only 7 p.m.

DAY TWO: BARCELONA
Both hubby and I slept like dead things, interrupted only when his snores woke me up enough to prod him to turn over a few times. We had debated ordering room service to wake us up in the morning, but we decided to just play it by ear. I don't know if that was bad or good, but I do know that we didn't stir till around 10 a.m. We had a shore excursion at 12:45, so we slowly joined the world of the wakeful and headed to Lumiere's for lunch at 11:30. I had a couple of appetizers (bruschetta with goat cheese and potato barley soup), but our tablemate's steak fries tempted me to replace the soup with an order of those. I had New York style cheesecake with strawberry sauce for dessert. Thus fortified, we exchanged some dollars for euros at Guest Services. We hadn't bothered to get any euros before the trip, so hubby figured we could just to it on board. The exchange rate wasn't the best, but it was very convenient and they told us they would buy back any paper euros at the end of the trip for the same rate if we didn't spend it all. Flush with our new, colorful cash, we trooped over to Rockin' Bar D for “Panoramic Drive Through Barcelona.”

It turned out to be a good choice, as the daily was quite rainy and gray. Hubby had wanted to do a bike tour, but he was glad that he didn't because the weather was not conducive. Instead, we stayed nice and dry inside our tour bus as we saw sights like La Sagrada Familia, the Olympic stadium, and the Arc de Triomf. We stopped at La Sagrada Familia, the stadium, and a high-up vantage point that offered a panoramic view of Barcelona...getting off the bus was optional, but conveniently the rain slacked off at each destination so everyone opted to see the sights up close and personal. Our tour guide was British and was quite a wealth of knowledge about the points of interest and Barcelona's culture in general. My favorite part of the trip was La Sagrada Familia. The sculptures and intricate detail are utterly amazing.

We were given coupons to redeem for drinks at a restaurant across from La Sagrada Familia, and the paellas they were serving looked absolutely mouthwatering. I wished that we had more time to explore the city, but with our jet lag there was no way that we could have dragged our carcasses out on the first day.

At the last stop, there was a little gift shop where I purchased a souvenir book with photos and descriptions of all the city's points of interest. I like to do that everywhere I travel so I have a useful memento.

Two things stood out for me about Barcelona. First was how the older buildings and works of art gave it a sense of history that is missing for the most part in America. But second was a sense of sadness at just how pervasive graffiti was. I could easily have imagined that I was in New York; it was EVERYWHERE, even on statues and artwork.

Two other general points that stood out to me were the pervasive number of scooters (and the suicidal nature of their drivers) and the fact that the accepted method of drying clothes is simply to hang them on your balcony or outside your window. I noticed that both of these things were the same in all of our ports of call.

I had heard stories of rampant pickpocketing in Barcelona, so hubby and I got hard plastic pouches to wear around our necks, which we could keep stuffed in our shirts. The only area where I felt rather uncomfortable (and where our guide warned us to watch out for thieves) was around La Sagrada Familia.

We returned to the ship around 4, and hubby logged on (poor guy had to work) while I checked out the sailaway party, which had moved inside due to the weather, and picked up my giant Mickey hand to wave to the music. Excited bodies crammed the atrium and all of the rail space on decks four and five, ready to bid farewell to Barcelona and head off to Gibraltar.

While working, hubby discovered that we could get good wireless signal right in our stateroom, although the reliability was another story. There were rare periods when the internet was stable, but we'd discover over the next two weeks that it was not something to be relied upon.

It was good that the ship stayed overnight in Barcelona, as I noticed passengers arriving very late on the first night and also when we returned from our excursion on day two. At least the overnighter left a long grace period for people who might have had delays or problems with their flights or lost luggage.

Hubby opted to go to the evening show, while I stayed in the room to do some work. Phil Keller, a comic/magician, was the entertainer for the night, and according to hubby his show was excellent.

We had dinner at Palo, since it was a regular rotation dining night (we know the regular menus very well from all our trips on the Wonder). It was so exciting to see our old friend P. J. again. Gemma was our server and took superb care of us.

To start with, there was the usual selection of bread and dipping sauces, plus olives, sun dried tomatoes and prosciutto. For my main course I had planned to have the lamb, which is always an excellent choice, but I was swayed by the special of the day: monk fish. I learned to love monk fish at Jiko before they cruelly took it off the menu. I knew that the Palo version would have to be just as good or better. Monk fish is very interesting because it is close to lobster in texture and taste. The Palo rendition was DELICIOUS! Hubby had his usual tuna, but his fork slipped over to my plate more than once.

He finished the meal with a pistachio torte, while I indulged in fresh raspberry and peanut butter gelatos. They were both good, but the peanut butter was out of this world. It's too bad they didn't have chocolate, too, as it would have been like a divine frozen Reese's.

We returned to our room to wind down for the night,and I heard a muffled P. A. system. Odd, since dinner at Animators (right below our room) had been long over. When it went on for a while, hubby slipped down the back staircase to see if he could hear what was going on. It turned out to be a wine tasting for the crew. Michael Jordan was on our cruise...not the former NBA player, but the manager of the Napa Rose restaurant at the Grand Californian and Disney's resident wine expert. We had already signed up for several of his wine tastings (each with a different theme...we signed up for Italian, German, and Russian River), and apparently he was also giving educational presentations for the crew. Resisting the temptation to try to sneak in, hubby returned to our stateroom and we crashed for the night.

DAY THREE: SEA DAY
Ah, the luxury of a day at sea! We slept as late as we wanted, then showered and headed up to Palo for brunch at 11. Sasha was our server this time around, and he took good care of us as we admired the beautiful view of the ocean and enjoyed the sinfully delicious hot and cold offerings. I had some other interesting views, too, as many people like to stroll around deck 10 and I don't think they realize that they are on display to everyone in the restaurant. Most of them are not all that exciting, but every now and then you get a doozie. My favorite was the guy in the tiny Speedo that left nothing to the imagination...and here I thought the Magic was a G-rated ship!

After dining, I did a 45 minute workout on a treadmill in the spa, followed by a refreshing shower in the locker room (they have a great “rain”-type showerhead that really beats the stateroom showers). Then I stretched out on the veranda with a book until was time to get ready for our first wine tasting.

We've done many previous tastings on our various cruises, and usually they are the same. This time around, they were much different and very special due to Michael Jordan being on board. He had chosen special selections, and as we tasted the three Italian whites and three reds, he presented a lecture complete with slides and facts about southern Italian vineyards. It was absolutely fascinating to see how and where the various grapes are grown. Hubby learned why his favorite moscato is so sweet, among other trivia. It whet our appetite for the next two tastings that we'd be attending later in the week, and we also vowed to dine at Napa Rose when we are at Disneyland and the Grand Californian in April.

Next it was off to the shops to buy transatlantic crossing t-shirts commemorating our voyage. After that, we lazed around until “Golden Mickeys” time and trooped off to the Walt Disney Theater. “Golden Mickeys” used to be my favorite show until “Twice Charmed” came along (although I'll admit that the newly enhanced “Disney Dreams” gives the others quite a run for the money). I particularly like it because of the focus on Walt and the appearance by Roy. I was glad to hear multiple warnings about “No flash photography,” but there still had to be a handful of “The rules don't apply to me” people, and of course they had those obnoxious strobe cameras for maximum blinding of the people around them. But overall it didn't impact my enjoyment too much.

Afterwards, it was back to our stateroom to catch up on work until dinnertime, which promised to be a rather surreal experience, since we'd be spending formal night in Parrot Cay. It's hard to feel dressy when you're surrounded by tropical birds. Still, hubby donned a suit while I slipped into one of my formal dresses. Everyone had a nice little gift waiting in their rooms this evening: A book about transatlantic crossings on ocean liners. I got so wrapped up in reading it that I had to tear myself away to go to restaurant. We also were amused by yet another of Efren's towel animal creations (the stateroom hosts leave a towel critter in all the rooms each night), but at this point he had started incorporating our blanket.

Tonight's menu was themed to the Golden Mickeys. I had indulged in a snack of chicken tenders and french fries earlier, so at dinnertime I opted for a light appetizer (watermelon soup) and main course (sesame seed crusted tofu). For dessert, I tried some sort of pudding with figs that was quite good. Afterwards, we crashed into bed sine we had to be up early the next morning for our adventure in Gibraltar.

DAY FOUR: GIBRALTAR
Our wake-up call came at 7 a.m., as our tour of the Rock began at 8:15. We got some breakfast from Topsiders first (oatmeal and corned beef hash), which we brought down to eat out on the veranda. The chairs were wet so we ended up retreating to eat inside with the doors open so we could still admire the view. I could tell already that I was going to be happy we stuck with our favorite stateroom, despite the excellent deal offered to people who were willing to take a category 12 guarantee. It pained me to think of how much we would have saved and how much spa time it would have translated to. But my clients who took the deal ended up down on deck one, which is not as bad as it sounds since it's an upgrade to Cat.9 and they got portholes so they will have sunlight. Even without having started the marathon six days at sea, I was already enjoying the opportunity to spend some quality veranda time.

We trooped off to Sessions, the meeting point for our shore excursion. We were going to St. Michael's Cave at the Rock and then to the area where the “Barbary apes” (actually, they're monkeys) roam free. On the way, our guide narrated the sights and we stopped at a lookout point where you can see the African coast (although most people were more interested in the sinking scrap iron ship that bobbed half-submerged near the lighthouse).

St. Michaels Cave was gorgeous, with stalactites and stalagmites enhanced by colored lighting. Inside the cave is an auditorium that takes advantage of the natural acoustics. After trekking through and admiring its beauty, I stopped at the souvenir shop to buy a little book on Gilbraltar.

Next it was off to the area where the monkeys hang out. It's strictly forbidden to feed them, but they are still quite tame and will let humans come very close. There was a mama with two babies, which made a great photo op, as did the two monkeys who jumped up onto the van and got into a mad wrestling match. One of the wrestlers came down from the van, so I stood next to him and yelled to hubby to get a photo. Then he jumped onto my back and started playing with my hair. A little disconcerting, but definitely a good photo op. But suddenly the other monkey leaped onto my back and they started wrestling and fighting again! All I could think to do was duck and cover like the old civil defense films used to advise (I did a modified standing version). I stood there, bent over and protecting my head while the simians went at it on my back. Finally they jumped off, and I hurried over to make sure that hubby had captured the mayhem on film

The irony is that, as a huge fan of “The Simpsons,” one of my favorite quotes is when Homer says, “You on land with your laws and ethics. You'll never know the simple joys of a monkey knife fight.” (According to the episode, monkey knife fighting is one of the things that can be done in international waters, along with a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Secretariat, bullfights on the deck, people marrying animals and receiving baskets of illegal fireworks as a wedding gift, and rebroadcasting Major League Baseball with only implied oral consent...it's an awesome episode!). For a while now, my avatar on one of the Disney sites I frequent has been a scene from that episode, with Homer's quote as my signature line. Now, I have a picture of a REAL monkey knife fight taking place right on my back:

No matter how many more cruises I take, I doubt any future shore excursion will top that.

After the tours, our driver offered to stop on the main street to drop off anyone who wanted to explore the town. Hubby and I took that option; we were given vouchers for a free coffee or ice cream at one of the shops, so we stopped there first for our beverages before wandering the streets. We bought t-shirts and some jewelry before making the 15 minute hike to the ship. Even though there were shops catering to tourists, Gibraltar didn't feel nearly as “touristy” as the Bahamas or Mexico (Barcelona was like that, too). For some reason, I felt safer in Gibraltar than Barcelona, although I can't really say why; we were still sure to keep our valuables tucked inside our shirts in their little neck wallets.

We has some time before our next excursion, so we stopped at Lumieres for lunch. Since we would be having high tea later, I opted for a fairly light meal of crab soup and french fries, with chocolate pudding for dessert.

Our next adventure was another driving tour followed by high tea at a shoreside hotel. It was quite similar to tea at Palo, with tea or coffee as the beverage (although the tea was served from standard silver carafes so I don't know if it was the real thing, i.e. made from leaves through a strainer), plus finger sandwiches, scones, and cake slices. Palo actually has more variety, i.e. many flavored teas to choose from, trifles, and chocolate éclairs. But still, it was wonderful to sip the tea with a view of the African coast in the background. After we ate, hubby and I took a hike out to the beach so we could say we'd touched our toes in the Mediterranean. Then we did some browsing in the hotel gift shop before heading back to the van for the ride to the ship.

I knew that I needed to exercise off some of the day's calories, but I was itching for a spa appointment. You can often get something at the last minute on port days, and there are discounts on certain treatments, so I called to see what was available. Sure enough, there was a massage appointment so I took it and headed up to the spa to have my tense muscles pampered. I was so relaxed that I fell asleep during the foot massage.

Afterwards, I really just wanted to read out on the veranda, but I knew that if I didn't exercise then, I certainly wouldn't after dinner. Thus I forced myself to don workout clothes and head to deck four. I prefer the treadmills in the spa, but we were leaving Gibraltar and I thought it would be nice to see some views of the Rock while walking the jogging track and listening to my iPod.

The jogging track on the Disney ships shares the same space as lounge chairs and shuffleboard grids, so it can be a challenge to navigate. Unfortunately today it was also jam-packed with looky-loos gathered five deep to look at the Rock as we left the port. We had spent the whole day docked within view of it, but somehow sailaway increased its excitement factor tenfold. I only managed to walk for half an hour before I quit out of fear for life and limb.

First a man taking a photo suddenly stepped backwards while doing an odd contortion, kicking me in the foot. Next, a guy in front of me decided to play “I'll run backwards as fast as I can without looking so my toddler can chase me.” As they say on South Park, he was coming right for me, and he definitely outweighed my in pounds and girth. I had nowhere to move due to the crowd of people. Survival instinct kicked in, and I held my plastic bottle neck-first in front of me and waited for the impact. A bottle cap in the spine most definitely stopped him before he slammed into me. But I had had enough, so I finally gave up and returned to my stateroom to shower and get ready for dinner.

We skipped the evening show, since it was Michael Harrison (we've seen him on many previous Disney cruises). Instead, we planned to attend the adult cabaret show later in the evening, since it was Phil Keller, the performer hubby had enjoyed so much at his earlier show.

We were in Lumieres for dinner, and it was the usual rotation menu night. However, our tablemates were vegetarian so the kitchen had prepared curry for them and some for us, too. It was phenomenal!

After our evening chow, we headed to Rockin' Bar D to see the cabaret show. We arrived early, and the band, High Frequency, was still playing. They were really good, so we enjoyed the music until it was time for the illusionist to begin (he was the same person hubby had liked so much at the previous show). He did an entirely different routine this time and was very enjoyable. He mixed comedy with magic and had the audience laughed and marveling at the same time.

When we returned to our room, I tried to get on the internet to do some work. It had been virtually useless every day, and today was no exception. I chewed up minutes staring at a “Website cannot be found screen” that stubbornly appeared no matter what site I tried to visit. Finally I logged off in frustration. I wish I could just forget business and relax while at sea, but being both a counselor and a travel agent means that I have to be accessible because emotional issues and issues with reservations are two things that do not wait.

Then it was bedtime once again, as we had a big day planned in Cadiz with another morning shore excursion.

DAY FIVE: CADIZ
Even though we didn't have to wake up quite as early as the previous day, it was still a jolt when the wake-up call startled me out of unconsciousness. This morning we were leaving for a tour of the riding school at 9:30 a.m. Since it was slated to last until 2:15, with no mention of lunch in the description, we wanted to be sure to get some breakfast into us. Then we figured we'd get some quick service snacks when we returned to tide us over until dinner.

I grabbed scrambled eggs, bacon, and oatmeal in Topsides; both hubby and I brought our food down to eat it out on the veranda. Today, the weather was perfect and we basked in the warmth of the sunshine and the promise of an exciting day.

I'd chosen a horse-related excursion (the Jerez Equestrian School) because I've owned horses for over 25 years and I've always trained my own. I am also familiar with the grace and beauty of Andalusians and was anxious to see them on their home turf. They only do a show on certain days of the week and this wasn't one of them, but after a city tour we were slated to watch a training session and then have a tour of the barns.

On the drive over, our guide pointed out various sites of interest and told us about the city's history. It was similar to Barcelona, with lots of high rises (with the ever-present drying laundry at each window) and motor scooters. However, it had many more parks than Barcelona, and some beautiful beaches.

We got to the riding school after 11...it had been over an hour and a half, and my pea-sized bladder was ready to burst! It was a 10 minute walk from the parking lot to the stables, and I kept assuring myself, “You can make it!” and using all my willpower not to break into a run.

Inside, we were taken into the arena building, which had restrooms (thank goodness!), a shop, a bar, and of course a stadium in which the horses are worked and shown. Sadly, we only had about 15 minutes to watch them before it was time for our barn tour. Even in that short time, I marveled at the equine ballet of turns on the haunches at the canter, sidepasses at the trot and canter, an extended trot that made the horses look at though they had springs in their hooves, flying lead changes every step, the flashy Spanish walk, and even some airs above the ground. Most of that is probably foreign to a non-horse person, but trust me, it is impressive and takes a bottomless well of skill and patience.

Unfortunately, photos are not allowed in the arena (or in most of the other areas we visited). I was hoping that the souvenir shop would have a book, but no such luck. Hubby did snap three bootleg shots of the training session, as we didn't know about the rule (we were quickly informed), so at least we have a brief photographic memory.

In the barns, we saw where the stallions are housed in roomy box stalls. Then we toured the world's cleanest and most well organized tack room before heading across the street to see an exhibit of carriages. Afterwards, we had a little more time to wander the grounds before returning to the bus. Of course I spent it in the arena, watching more of the training. The barns and carriages were nice, but if I had know more about the tour I would have just stayed there and watched the horses and riders. I suppose it would have been boring to those who are not horse people, but it held me absolutely rapt.

Now it was off to a winery for a very late lunch. At the beginning of the tour, we had been informed that there was a change. We wouldn't be getting the box lunch that was supposed to be included (which surprised everyone because we hadn't known there was supposed to be food in the first place), but we'd be stopping for tapas instead. My husband was thrilled to see that they were being served at a winery and that ample wine tasting was included. We sat at tables of ten laden with finger sandwiches, prosciutto, potato bread, and bread sticks. There was also bottled water, soda, and five kinds of wine to sample:

Most of them were nearly as sweet and thick as syrup, which was right up hubby's alley since he absolutely loves ice wine which is about as sweet as you can get. He chugged quite a bit of the wine...more than anyone else at our table. They must have thought I was married to a lush. It amazes me that just a few years ago he was a complete teetotaler.

Cruising was actually what led hubby into the world of wine; I dragged him to a tasting session at Palo, and it opened up a whole new world to him. He realized that a good wine can complement or even enhance a meal. He doesn't drink it at home, but he likes to have some when we're out at a good restaurant. and he definitely indulges when on a ship. He liked one of the wines so well that he purchased a bottle.

On the drive home, I could tell he was feeling no pain. He is usually the quiet one while I am usually the talkative half of the duo, but the whole way home he pointed out minutia to me: “Look, there's another high rise. So many people in Europe live in high rises. Wow, there's another ATM. They sure have a lot of ATMS...” It reminded me of the cartoon skit on “Saturday Night Live” called “The Immigrant, the Baby, and the Guy on Mushrooms” (the premise was that the title trio could be intrigued by virtually anything, no matter how common to everyone else).

As we passed over a long bridge span, I spotted the Magic off in the distance. It was beautiful! The traffic wasn't bad, and soon we were back at the ship. Tipsy hubby said, “Do you think the spa has any appointments?” It being a port day, I figured that the answer was yes. Sure enough, I was able to book a seaweed wrap for him and a back and foot massage for myself. Our appointments were at 4:30 and it was only 3, so we headed up to the workout room to get in our exercise allotment. I was tempted to attempt another deck walk, but flashbacks to the danger of the day before led me to opt for the safe zone of a treadmill.

I put in a good, sweaty 45 minutes, then hurried back to the room to shower before my appointment. Just like the day before, I drifted off in the midst of the treatment which went by much too quickly. I reminded myself that I had plenty more spa treatments coming up on the long span of days at sea.

Back in the room, I tried to log on to the internet to work but it was hopeless. By this time, hubby had returned to the stateroom (his treatment was half an hour longer than mine), so we watched a recording of the guest lectures on Gibraltar and Cadiz. They were very interesting, especially since I hadn't gotten a book about Cadiz like I did for the other ports. I knew absolutely nothing about it, so it was nice to learn some facts.

There was a game show called “On The Nose” at 7:45, but our dinner started at 8:30 and I was too lazy to hustle. Hubby went to the show while I hung out in the room. I still needed to take a shower to wash the massage oil out of my hair.

By the time I got to Animator's Palate, our restaurant for the night, hubby and our tablemates were already there. Hubby had a cute Mickey pen, as he had been on one of the winning teams (actually, one of three that had tied for second place). He said that the show was a lot of fun...sort of like “The Price is Right,” as you had to guess at numbers of things (for example, how many hairs are there on Sully's body). The audience was split into six teams, each named after one of the seven dwarves, with a representative on stage to give the answers.

It sounded like he had had a good time, and he was very proud of his prize. We all settled down at our table and perused the Mediterranean-themed menu. I chose the goat cheese appetizer, but for my main course I opted to join our vegetarian tablemates in another wonderful curry, and I tried some of the Indian appetizer, too.

Our assistant server, May, said that one of her friends who works up in Cove Cafe remembered that I am a big fan of their bananas foster martinis (indeed I am!). Being reminded of that wonderful concoction made me crave one, so I had a drink for dessert. That didn't stop me from sampling hubby's butterscotch sundae...actually, I had to sample it multiple times because the ice cream was delicious.

We headed back to our stateroom for a quiet evening of reading (me) and watching DVDs (hubby). On our way, we happened to run into Donald and Daisy Duck in flamenco costumers, as well as Snow White. Fortunately we had our camera and the lines were virtually non-existent, so we got some nice photos.

We stepped out onto the veranda for the sailaway. Even though it was dark out, there was quite a respectable little crowd of people watching us from the pier, waving and yelling as we headed out to sea. Finally we fell asleep, rocked into restful slumber by the rolling waves and looking forward to a lazy tomorrow.

DAY SIX: SEA DAY
This was the first day that we set the clock back an hour (at 2 a.m.), starting to bring the time slowly but surely in line with FL time. That meant we gained an hour,but we still slept in. It's hard to get up when the waves are rocking you like a baby in a cradle. The ocean was “moderate” (four to eight foot waves), so there was enough motion to definitely know that you were on a ship, but not enough to make most people feel queasy. I thought about how nice it would be if this was how the ocean would stay for our six days at sea.

We headed to Lumiere's for breakfast around 9 a.m. I love their eggs benedict, although I knew I shouldn't eat too much because we were scheduled for high tea at Palo at 3 p.m. and I wanted my appetite to be ready. I couldn't resist a danish in addition to the eggs, but hey, it was small!

We were seated with a couple who coincidentally lived only about a mile away, and they were also originally from Illinois just like us. We had a good time chatting and watching the waves. I saw another ship, but there was no sign of land, just the vast blue ocean as far as the eye could see.

Next up on the agenda was a couples massage seminar at the spa. We trooped upstairs and joined several other couples in one of the treatment rooms to see various techniques demonstrated on a “test subject” (one of the main stage performers, ensconced beneath towels and trying to relax amidst the narration and the many pairs of eyes glued to her back). Two of the masseuses demonstrated various techniques, and we also had a chance to try them out on the subject and on each other. It would be nice to have hubby do them to me, but then he would expect reciprocation! Instead, I figured we would just continue booking spa treatments, and now I would actually know some of the moves performed on my prone figure.

As a bonus for attending the seminar, we were told that we would get a free bottle of cellutox oil if we got a massage at the spa. Hubby and I were already booked in for treatments on the six day stretch at sea, so it was something nice to look forward to.

We left the spa and popped into the adult hot tubs to relax a bit until it was time for high tea at Palo. Ever since we got a hot tub at home, we've been neglecting what used to be a very popular pastime for us. I'd forgotten just how pleasant it is to relax in the hot, bubbly water and chat with fellow cruisers. Some people stayed in for a long time, while others flitted in and out, and we had some entertaining conversations. In talking to one person, we learned just how lucky we had been to make our flight connections so smoothly. She was supposed to be on our flight to Dublin, but her flight to JFK was delayed. She was told, “You'll still make it because everything at JFK is badly delayed due to the weather so the Dublin flight won't leave before you arrive.” Turns out that flight was one of the very last that managed to take off before the bad weather took hold. I had noticed it was raining at the time but didn't realize we had made it by the skin of our teeth. Our soak time flew by much too fast, and soon we had to hustle to get ready for tea.

High tea began at 3 p.m., and we managed to make it upstairs right on time. I've always been a tea fan, and besides a wide variety of teas to choose from, Palo also offers four kinds of finger sandwiches (prawn, salmon, chicken curry salad, and cucumber), scones with cream and jam, a selection of mini pastries, and a trifle to top it all off. Our server was Annie Marie, who has served us in the past in the group room. She kept the goodies coming, and I knew that I was going to feel the sugar rush for the rest of the afternoon! As my tea selection, I chose chamomile since it reminds me of my grandmother. She always prepared it through a strainer, which is how it is done at Palo too. No tea bags, just loose leaves steeping in the water. Bags just can't match that taste.

After tea, hubby went to work out, but I stayed in the stateroom and tried to do some work. Yet again, the internet connection was non-existent so I finally gave in and turned my attention to a book. I alternated between reading and napping as the lazy afternoon turned into evening and showtime drew nigh.

Tonight's show was “The Art of the Story,” which I had never seen before since it was only on the Med cruises and the transatlantic crossing out. I figured that the staging wouldn't be too elaborate, since it wouldn't make sense for Disney to invest a lot of money in a temporary show. But I know that a lot can be done with a little; I was remembering my trip on Viking Serenade, which had a main stage roughly the size of the stage in Rockin' Bar D. On that cruise, I had expected to be underwhelmed, but Royal Caribbean did an amazing job of staging great shows in the limited space.

With Disney, my expectations are always high, and I was not disappointed. I was right that the sets were rather lean, but the costumes were colorful and the song and dance numbers were elaborate as the show moved through several cartoons to demonstrate the elements that go into good storytelling.

There were numbers from “Hunchback,” “Mulan,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Tarzan,” and “The Lion King.” I was especially excited that the Lion King song was from the Broadway play rather than the cartoon. Each segment combined live action with scenes from the cartoons to present a very abbreviated version of the story.

Happily, the stobe flashers contained themselves...all but one (probably the same one who was doing it at “The Golden Mickeys”), but I think someone from cruise staff reprimanded them as it stopped pretty quickly. It's sad that someone can sit through multiple announcements, plus see that no one else is disobeyed the rules, and still think it's okay for them to do it.

But even the blinding stobes couldn't ruin the wonderful show. My only complaint was that it was too short (not quite 40 minutes). The pace was so quick that it was over before I knew it. I wish there would have been a matinée because I would have liked to see it twice.

Since it was a regular rotation night (i.e. a menu we were familiar with), we had booked dinner at Palo, with Gemma as our server again. I started my meal with eggplant carpaccio. It was totally different than the version I've had on the Wonder, and so delicious! As we indulged in more Palo meals throughout our cruise, I noticed that the chef, Anil, seems to enjoy incorporating fresh vegetables into his dishes in many delicious ways.

For dinner, I stuck to my guns and ordered the lamb even though the special was monk fish again. Hubby remember how good it had been when he tasted mine, so this time he ordered it all for himself. I just got half an order of lamb because I wanted to try the special pasta of the day too (a vegetable-rich creation in alfredo sauce).

For dessert, I had banana gelato with chocolate sauce. It was very good, but it still couldn't measure up to the godly peanut butter variety that I had had on the first night. The only one that I like as well is hazelnut, but I don't think they offer it anymore (or at least not on the Wonder). Still, I don't suffer with the fruit offerings.

After dinner, we changed into less formal clothes and trooped off to Rockin' Bar D for “Match Your Mate” (a game show similar to the Newlywed Game). The band High Frequency was playing beforehand, and they were very good. At the start of the game, three couples were chosen based on being married for varying amounts of years. There were newlyweds, a couple who had been married for 42 years, and then one smack dab in the middle (21 years). I don't want to give away the questions, but this was a particularly funny version. I've seen “Match Your Mate” many times, and whether it's good or not depends on the couples' responses. This time it was no holes barred, and by the end of the show my face actually hurt from laughing. The best part was the idea of the 42-year couple “christening” all of their cars (apparently they have a lot), but the newlyweds confessed to doing the same thing on their kitchen counter, and the mid-rangers had done it in a box of packing peanuts.

By the end of the show, I was ready to crash as we had an early morning ahead of us. We would be in Tenerife for our very last port of call before our six-day stretch at sea. I could hear the steady hum of the engines, which is like soothing white noise to me. Between that and the ship's gentle motion as it navigated towards the Canary Islands, I slept like a rock.

DAY SEVEN: TENERIFE
It was another day for the alarm clock to go off early, as we had arrived in the Canary Islands and were going on a shore excursion Loro Parque, something that sounded like a cross between a zoo and theme park. I love animals, so I was anxious to see the penguins, dolphins, orcas, tigers, and other critters that populate the park. I was a little worried because I'm not a big fan of most zoos; I like places like Disney's Animal Kingdom, where the animals have natural and relatively large habitats and are provided with enrichment activities, but I can't stand traditional zoos like Brookfield (near Chicago) where the poor, sad-looking creatures act out psychotic repetitive behaviors in their miserable cages and concrete enclosures. Thankfully, I needn't have been concerned as Loro Parque has lovely natural enclosures and very happy and well-cared-for animal residents.

I was also worried because it was listed as a LONG excursion (8 hours), and I wondered what we would do if we got bored. After all, you can only look at animals and orchids (they also have a garden) for so long, and then you're ready for something else. I needn't have worried about that, either. There was so much to see and do that by the end of the day I was regretting we couldn't stay longer.

We woke up bright and early at 7:30 a.m. so we'd have plenty of time to shower and grab a quick breakfast at Topsiders before heading out for the excursion at 8:45. Even though I had slept quite well due to the gentle rocking of the ship as we made our way through the ocean, I still wasn't ready for the jarring ring of the wake-up call.

I wasn't really hungry, but after hubby brought his food down to the stateroom, the inviting smells tempted me and I headed up to get a bowl of cream of wheat. Lunch was included in our excursion, so I only wanted something small to tide me over till then. It was hard to resist the scrambled eggs and bacon, though, and I closed my ears when one of the crew members mentioned the made-to-order omelet station.

Back in the stateroom, we smeared on a light coating of sun screen, packed the camera and some water bottles, and headed out for another day of fun. After checking in in Promenade Lounge, we trooped outside to our tour bus. As we passed through the town, our guide pointed out interesting sights such as the volcano looming in the distance and the beaches, which all have black volcanic sand. She told us some of the history of Loro Parque, too. It was founded by a German man in the 1970s, and at first it was very small and only featured parrots (loros). Over time, it grew by adding land and other birds and animals. The animals are captive born, and many came to the park from less than idea situations (for example, the chimps used to be used by street vendors for photos, the tigers were part of a magic act, and the gorillas were kept alone at various zoos after being expelled from their social groups).

She also warned us that because it is holiday time in Spain, the park would be VERY, VERY crowded. We got there early and were the first bus to arrive, but she warned us that the vacationing hordes wouldn't be far behind us.

On the way in, everyone paused to have a photo taken with a pair of macaws. Then it was off to the front of the park, by the koi pond, where we received our instructions for the day. People from the Disney Magic had reserved seating for three of the shows (dolphins, orcas, and sea lions), but the guide warned us to still arrive early as others have a tendency to try to take over the reserved areas as show time gets closer.

We were also told that we could upgrade to the Discovery Tour for an additional 9 euros. Besides the reserved seating, that would give us a peek at some of the backstage areas, such as the gorillas' sleeping area, the machinery that runs the pengiun habitat, and a behind-the-scenes orca area. It sounded very interesting, so hubby and I did the upgrade, as did many of our fellow Disney cruisers.

Even though we were in a Spanish area, they had multilingual guides since the park draws tourists from many areas in Europe. Thus we had a guide who was fluent in English so we would know what was going on. Most of the workers in the shops and restaurants spoke English, too...some very well, and the others at least passably enough for communication.

First we visited the gorillas, who live together in a bachelor group. As I mentioned earlier, they all came from other zoos where they had been expelled from their original groups. As males get older, they will fight for dominance, and in the wild the ones that lose leave their group and form temporary bachelor groups until they find some females and create a permanent family of their own. Unfortunately, most zoos don't maintain a bachelor group, so the poor males who get expelled must live in isolation. The lucky ones are sent to join the Loro Parque group, where they can either remain with the other males or eventually go to a zoo to live with their own troop of females.

Two of the younger gorillas were play-fighting fiercely, while the oldest was snoozing under a shady tree. After seeing their daytime exhibit quarters, we were taken in back to see their individual “bedrooms.” They are given foliage and paper towels(!) to create a nest each night, and if it's cold, they sleep on the heated floor. We also saw their food, which was quite a diverse mix of things like fruit, cereals, yogurt, and monkey chow. They get full meals, and food is also hidden or placed in enrichment devices that require some effort in order to keep them busy.

We visited the penguin area, which is home to various species. The main habitat has a snow machine that continuously dumps snowflakes. It was fun to watch the cute little black and white critters diving into the water; a line of them stood on a rock, each waiting for its turn to take the plunge. After seeing the main exhibit areas, we went down into the bowels of the machinery that keeps the habitats at the correct temperature and that filter the water continuously.

We also saw the sea lion and dolphin shows, both of which were standard theme park fare but still entertaining. I quickly saw why our guide had warned us about the reserved seating...even with big signs, other park visitors tried to shove their way in, and some got rather belligerent when the guides wouldn't let them. It didn't matter to us, as we had gotten our prime seats for each of the shows. The cutest part was in the dolphin show, where one dolphin pulled a little girl in a boat around the water while the other four followed and performed jumps behind her.

Interestingly, Loro Parque is affiliated with Sea World and has gotten many of its animals, including the orcas, from them. There is a Sea World trainer on staff who assists with the training and shows. We went into the backstage orca area after the dolphin show, and there were many photos of the transport process when the orcas were recently brought from Orlando to the Canary Islands (the orca show is a fairly new addition).

After this last backstage tour, we were released for lunch on our own (the tour included 15 euro food vouchers that could be used at any of the park's various restaurants) and were instructed to return for the 3 p.m. orca show, at which we also had reserved seats. The guide warned us to try to be there by 2:30 to ensure that our seats would be available, and after witnessing the “seat rage” at the previous two shows, I could understand why!

Hubby and I decided to go to a table service tapas restaurant. We still had a stash of euros and our charge cards, so we weren't worried about exceeding the value of our voucher. We were very excited to taste genuine Spanish tapas, since the tapas served at the winery in Cadiz was more like a cross between antipasto and high tea sandwiches.

We are used to the small portions served at American tapas restaurants like Cafe Tu Tu Tango, so we each ordered multiple items. I ordered the trio of grilled cheeses with sauces, Russian salad, and meat with sauce. Hubby ordered tuna, potatoes, mussels, and the variety plate of sausage. When the first platters of food arrived, we quickly realized our mistake. They were huge and heaping! Everything was delicious, but there was no way that we could finish it all, let alone even think about the desserts we'd been drooling over when we first read the menu.

On top of all the food, there was also wonderful crusty bread and mojo sauce. Hubby got cafe con leche to drink, while I ordered peach iced tea. It turned out to be a type of canned Nestea that I've never seen in the United States. It was very good, flavorful without being overly sweet. It was supposedly enhanced with some sort of antioxidant, but with my limited Spanish I have no idea what sort.

We ate what we could of the tapas. The biggest surprise was the potatoes; hubby had though it was some sort of potato dish, but we were served a platter stacked with whole potatoes! They were the small, red kind that you can eat with the skin, and I don't know what they were seasoned with but they were very yummy. My two favorites were my Russian salad (some sort of concoction with potatoes and tuna) and the trio of cheese, particularly the one with berry sauce. Hubby's sausage was very good, too, but I refused to try the mussels. I felt guilty for not finishing our “Spanish buffet,” but my stomach would definitely have exploded.

We decided to shop for souvenirs before the orca show, as we didn't want to worry about feeling rushed on our way out of the park. We both wanted a t-shirt, and I was hoping to find a souvenir book. We located a t-shirt shop fairly easily in a little “village” of stores, but despite seeing everything else from candy to key chains, I couldn't find a book. We figured they had to have one somewhere, so we decided to plot out our path to the orca stadium so we could see the jaguars (we had already seen the two former magician's tigers; they looked like they were having a very pleasant retirement in their wooded habitat complete with pool). The parrot show was starting, too, but we were afraid to see it because it would be cutting our timing too close if we happened to get lost on the way to the orcas.

As we trudged along in confusion, we passed a kiosk selling items for the Loro Parque foundation, and I spotted a lovely book with pictures and descriptions of every exhibit in the park. I bought it and we continued our search for the jaguars; they were nowhere to be found, but our search took us to virtually every other corner of the park, from the chimps and iguanas to the parrots, orchids, and cactus garden. I was sad that we didn't have time to stop and really appreciate all of of those things, but the minutes were ticking away and we had no idea if we were even close to the stadium (we had given up on the jaguars and were now focused solely on finding the orcas).

Eventually we made it to the stadium and settled into our seats to watch the pre-show amusement, i.e. people who were not on the tour but who tried every trick and argument in the book, and sometimes just sheer boldness and belligerence, to get into our section. Once the show started, I was glad that we were not in a splash zone, as they people sitting in those areas got SOAKED! I never realized just how much water a killer whale's tail can displace.

Along with the animals' performance, there was video footage of their travel from Orlando and a hilarious blooper reel of training mistakes. Most involved the segments in which the orcas push the trainers onto the stage and the interesting falls and collisions that can happen when they loose their balance or when there's a bit too much momentum.

Even though I live only 20 minutes away from Sea World, I've never been there yet. After seeing the dolphin and orca shows at Lora Parque and learning about the Sea World connection, I'm curious to go there soon and see if the shows are similar.

At the end of the show, we joined the crush of 3000 people all filing through two tiny exits. By this time, I had learned a major different between Americans and Europeans: In Europe (and, by extension, the Canary Islands), you've not going to get anywhere if you're not extremely pushy. Having been raised in Chicago, I can be assertive with my body when needed. With hubby clinging to the back of my shirt, we wended our way through the sea of pushing and shoving humanity.

What really freaked me out was the number of people who lit up cigarettes in the crowd, then carried them hanging down at their sides in a perfect position to burn someone else. Actually, the number of smokers in general astounded me. I've heard it's much more prevalent in Europe than the U.S., but I was stunned to see it in person. People smoke everywhere and anywhere; thank goodness it was forbidden in the arenas and the interior areas of the restaurants or I wouldn't have been able to stand it.

Even though we didn't have to be back at the bus until 4:15, I wanted to get there by 4 just to be sure. Hubby had plotted out an exit route on the map while we were waiting for the show to begin, so once we got out of the moving wall of humanity, we made a break for the exit path. On the way we passed the aquarium, so we popped in for a Cliff Notes visit. The best part was the shark tank, although I was sad that we didn't have more time to look closely at the wide variety of fish.

We got to the front of the park with time to spare, so hubby said, “Want to go look at the jaguars? I think we're close to them.” Fortunately I said no, as a later study of the map showed that we were nowhere near them, so we would have been off on another wild goose chase and would potentially have been late to the bus. My souvenir book has a nice photograph of them, so I will be content with that.

We stopped at the restrooms, then headed out to the parking lot. I was amazed at just how clean and well kept all of the restrooms in the park were, although it annoyed me that there was a tip jar outside every one (and sometimes an actual person soliciting a tip). As an American, I'm not accustomed to giving money for going potty, and if I had to do that every time, my tiny bladder would drive me to the poorhouse.

Overall, the entire park was very well kept, with a large bevy of clean-up workers and gardeners visibly manicuring the grounds. I was happy that I had chosen Loro Parque for our excursion. My only regret was that we didn't have more time to explore, as I could easily have stayed busy right up until closing time.

On the way out, I saw the parrot pictures lining the wall, but I thought it would be impossible to find ours in the endless sea. Amazingly, one of the workers found it instantly. Hubby had 6 euros left, so we purchased it as another little memory, even though both of the parrots were hiding their heads in the shot.

It was easy to find our bus, since it was in the very first slot. We had made it out before 4 p.m., so we had to wait a bit before the bus driver appeared to open the door. We collapsed into our seats, exhausted but happy with our day of adventure. As the rest of our excursion group trickled on, I flipped through the souvenir book. It really captured the essence of each exhibit. Soon we were on our way back to the ship, and I was amazed at the number of times that my ears popped due to elevation changes in the 30 minute ride.

I was sad that this was the last port of call, as we'd had such wonderful experiences with our shore excursions. Disney did a great job with choosing a wide variety and selecting excellent guides and vendors. Although Loro Parque was our favorite, we loved every one of our excursions.

We got back at 5 p.m. and hubby went to do a workout while I got a coffee from Cove Cafe and settled in to try to get online. Oddly, every time I went to Cove on this trip, there were no cakes or cookies. I always love to grab something week with my coffee, but the display case was always as barren as Mother Hubbard's cupboard. It was almost as though I was preceeded by a swarm of locusts before every visit that had cleaned out every last crumb. I never figured out why, but even though I missed my cookies my waistline is probably better off because of it.

Since the internet didn't work, I gave up and did some work on my neglected trip report. When hubby returned, we briefly debated going to the show as we both like piano music (it was a concert by pianist Jim Brickman), but visions of the hot tub won out. We trooped upstairs to the nearly deserted Quiet Cove pool area and settled into the hot, soothing water. A while later, we were joined by one of the members of the onboard band. Since they are from Hungary and I am Hungarian on my maternal side, we had an enjoyable conversation until dinnertime. I still had to shower and dry my hair (which takes half an hour using the weak wind emitted by the built-in stateroom dryers), so hubby and I had to hustle to be ready on time.

Our transatlantic-themed dinner was in Lumiere's; although there was a curry for our tablemates, which hubby opted for too, I ordered the vegetarian pasta because the selection of vegetables sounded good. For my appetizers, I got a creamy fish soup and a spinach salad, both of which were tasty. The pasta was good, too, and chock full of good things like asparagus and mushrooms, but when I tasted the curry I almost regretted my decision. It was superb! Hubby let me have some of his in exchange for some of my pasta. I wasn't too hungry for dessert but I had a craving for something sweet, so I ordered the butter pecan sundae and just ate part of it.

By this time, we had started to sail away from Tenerife, although it was so smooth that I didn't even realize we were in motion until our tablemates pointed it out. I wondered if the glass-like ocean would hold out or if we'd encounter some wicked waves later. I also marveled at the fact that this was the halfway point of the cruise. Where did the last seven days go? Would the remaining sea days fly by just as quickly?

Back in the stateroom, a nice surprises was waiting for us: a Don Williams print commemorating the western transatlantic crossing to add to the previous memento (the transatlantic book).

As we stepped out onto our veranda to watch the sailaway, I caught a whiff of cigarettes. A very, very close whiff. Up until now, I had never seen anyone on the veranda next door. Now, just when I was ready to enjoy the view of the mountains dotted with jewel-like lights, our neighbor had appeared, lit up, and was sitting right in our corner, even though the ashtray is mounted on the other side. I stayed out for as long as I could stand it, but my sinuses were already rebelling from the rampant smoke at Loro Parque, so I finally retreated to watch from indoors.

When you book a veranda as a non-smoker, it's always a crap shoot as to whether you will have a smoker next door. Smoking is allowed on verandas, so there's not much you can do if you lose the “stateroom lotto.” One good thing about 5650 is that it only has a neighbor on one side, so your chances are a little better (that works for the other end veranda rooms and the ones next door to the navigators verandas, too). Fortunately, although I did encounter our neighbor smoking a few more times over the course of our cruise, it wasn't enough to have much on an impact on my veranda enjoyment.

Hubby stayed outside, trying futilely to capture some night shots of the light-studded mountains of Tenerife. For some reason, his camera was having trouble with the image even when he had it on night vision. I managed to get on the internet for all of ten minutes before it completely died again, but at least got two emails out. Only a few dozen more to go!

Hubby headed off to the deck party, but I put myself on house arrest until I updated my trip report. It's much too easy to let one day pass...then it becomes two...then three...then suddenly the trip is over, and so much has happened that it's impossible to recall the minute details.

At bedtime, I settled into bed while hubby watched some DVDs on his laptop. For some reason I couldn't fall asleep, and the restlessness built into some sort of anxiety attack. I had no idea why; after 57 and a half cruises the ocean is like a second home to me. I popped a Xanax left over from the flight and headed down to deck 4 to burn off my excess energy with the vigorous outdoor deck walk.

It was beautiful outside, with the receding lights of the shoreline on one side and the vast, endless blackness of the Atlantic on the other. I cognitively fought my panic while the sane part of me marveled at the peace and tranquility. There were only a few people out and about, but for the most part the outside decks had wound down for the night. I decided to do a late deck walk before bed every night.

Once I had calmed down, I returned to my stateroom to analyze the cause of my anxiety. Being a doctor of psychology, I look at everything cognitively. What specific thought was I attaching my fear to? It couldn't be the idea of crossing the ocean, as I love cruising and think of the Magic as a second home and a floating resort. I don't worry about sinking or other nautical disasters, and I'm not prone to sea sickness, so what else could it be?

In talking it out with hubby, I realized that for the past week I've only been able to get on the internet long enough to see how many work emails are building, but I can only answer one or two before the connection dies. Besides being a travel agent, I am also a counselor and work with online clients. The travel agency was taken care of, but on the counseling end you can never predict when someone will have a crisis. I take my work very seriously, as people literally entrust me with their emotional well-being. If someone already has abandonment issues and their therapist suddenly “disappears,” that can cause some real problems. I had warned everyone that my availability might be spotty until Sept. 1, but it still bothered me.

I think that the knowledge of all the messages waiting and the inability to act on them was what sent me over the edge. If online access was bad near the ports, my subconscious obviously feared that would be virtually non-existent in the middle of the Atlantic.

Having figured that out, I distracted myself with a book until I could feel my eyelids dropping. Then I rolled over and let the gentle rocking and the hum of the engines lull me off to dreamland. Since I had stayed up later than planned, I was glad that we were rolling the clocks back an hour overnight because I wanted to see Don Williams' presentation at 9:30 the next morning.

DAY EIGHT: SEA DAY
Hubby prodded me away around 8 a.m. for the first day of our six sea day marathon. We showered and grabbed some breakfast at Topsiders before heading to the Walt Disney Theater to see the Don Williams presentation. Although I already know the basic story, he tells it so well that I never tired of hearing it.

The theater was packed with fellow “Ducky” groupies, and we listened to the tale of how he went from bank employee to the only remaining artist in the marketing department. He sketches as he speaks, and at the end of the talk his drawings are raffled off to attendees:

No matter how many times I see his presentation, I marvel at how quickly he can sketch out works of art. He always brings lithos as examples of his painting work, and they are amazing. My favorite is a painting that he did of Walt, with four little sepia-toned Walts around the main portrait. I love his general cruise line work, too. One of my biggest regrets is not buying his poster of Ariel watching a Disney ship, which was sold for ages in Treasure Ketch. I figured it was a standard item that would always be available, but eventually it was retired. Oh well, I am fortunate to have some other gorgeous Don Williams lithos and drawings so I can't feel too badly.

At the end of the talk, Don's sketches were raffled off. Neither hubby nor I won one, but I needn't have despaired because I did get a Stitch sketch by the end of my trip. My foyer is full of Figment and Stitch memorabilia, and I have a beloved drawing of Figment from the first time I ever saw Don on a cruise that hangs right by my front door. Now Stitch can have a place of honor right below him.

After the presentation, we grabbed a quick lunch at Lumieres before hiking over to Beat Street for the Castaway Club party. It was supposed to begin at one, but we wanted to get there early enough to get a seat in Rockin' Bar D. We knew there were something like 1600 repeaters on board, so the main bar would quickly fill and they'd send the excess to Sessions and Diversions.

Usually the doors don't open till the designated time, but this time we discovered that people were already being seated. Fortunately we were there in plenty of time to get a spot in my preferred club. They squeezed in as many bodies as they could; we ended up sharing our table with another family, as did many others. I enjoy chatting with other people, so I don't mind sharing my place, and I also like the new, more interactive format of the party. You get a sheet with questions that are meant to get you up and talking to your fellow cruisers. Sadly, for some reason most people stayed rooted to their chairs. Hubby circulated around a bit, but no one seemed particularly interested in chatting so he gave up and returned to our “base.”

There were some new Med-based queries on the questionnaire. We filled ours out and tossed them into the drawing box; everyone who attends can enter to win a cute little Castaway Club clock. Back when that first started, I wondered how many voyages it would take hubby and I to win one. I feared that it might take a long, long time since we've been trying to get the “Who Wants to be a Mousketeer” crystal for year and have never managed to get picked. But the clock only took maybe six or seven cruises, and now we have one sitting proudly in our family room among a plethora of other Disney Cruise Line merchandise. On that trip, we were at the lucky table as the family we were sitting with won one too.

During the Castaway Club party, they show several video clips. My favorite is the Wonder's christening, when they do a really cool waterfall effect with fireworks that cascade down from deck 4. They also have Tinkerbell flying around the ship via a laser effect. After seeing the difference between the Magic and the Wonder's ceremonies, I can only imagine what they'll do for the christening of the two new ships. I like the video of the shoreside team, too, and since they're in Celebration it always makes me feel at home as I pass the offices almost every day.

Captain Thord came out and made a little speech. He asked how many cruises Tony and I were up to now, but I would only commit to 57 1/2. After all, we were only halfway done and I didn't want to jinx things! I figured it would officially be #58 once we had reached Port Canaveral. We'll hit #60 on the Wonder at the end of 2007, but after this two-week voyage I don't know just how well I am going to adapt back to my typical four-day trips. Thank goodness I have the 15-day Panama Canal crossing to look forward to in 2008.

After the party, it was time for more leisure and relaxation until our next activity. Hubby and I had booked a Rasul (formerly known as the Surial) for 5 p.m. We used to do that pretty regularly, but lately we have given it up in favor of seaweed wraps, hot stone massages, and the like. Since we are usually on the Wonder, there's a limited amount of time so I focus it on spa treatments where I'm the one getting the massage vs. a do-it-yourself experience.

Basically, the Rasul consists of time in a private shower and steam room, along with an array of mud and products that tend to vary. This time around, there was lime body salt for exfoliation and a bowl of minty-smelling mud. There is also a basket of other spa products to try, such as facial creams, toners, and the like.

The Rasul has become rather infamous on the internet, as it can range anywhere from a G rating to an X. As a couples experience, it is often one of the only “alone times” that mom and dad get away from the nagging kids who might burst into the stateroom at any time. For other couples, the uniqueness of the situation can act as an aphrodisiac on its own.

That sort of thing doesn't always happen, of course. You can simply enjoy slathering your parter in mud and enjoying the detoxifying effects of the steam. Since hubby and I have done it so often, we usually stick to the G-rated version now. But take it from me, if you want to be adventurous, remember two important rules: 1) Bring LOTS of extra towels because the tile floor is very hard and you will appreciate the cushioning. 2) Don't slather yourselves with the mud before getting...uh, close. Otherwise it can get in places you don't want it to get! If you're an amorous sort but are worried about privacy, you should have plenty of time, and the attendant will give you a warning knock at the door 10 minutes before your time is up.

Being the boring fogies that we are, hubby and I smeared on the mud and spent our time baking in the steam. I could feel myself becoming limp as a noodle. I put some ultra conditioner on my hair and applied a facial mask, too, so every part of my body was getting some pampering. All too soon it was time to shower off because we know the warning knock was imminent. Even though I was ready for a nap, there was no way I could do that because it was almost showtime.

Tonight's show was “Twice Charmed,” my favorite Disney Cruise Line show, and a rare treat for me considering that it's only on the Magic. I probably won't be onboard the Magic again until next year's Panama crossing, so that means it will be a whole year before I see it again. I was very disappointed that there was no matinees on this cruise, as I would gladly have seen this show twice (and I probably would have done the same for "Disney Dreams" and "Art of the Story").

“Twice Charmed” is wonderfully staged and very operatic. With a little tweaking, I could easily imagine it as a Broadway play. I love the music and the special effects, but my favorite part is the villain, Franco Di Fortunato. The basic premise of the story is that Franco is the wicked fairy godfather of Lady Tremaine and the evil stepsisters. He turns back time to give them a chance to break both of Cinderella's slippers; then, with a little more assistance from their godfather, it's up to them to win over the prince. However, if they fail, they become Franco's permanent servants.

Flash photography was mercifully absent so I was able to enjoy my favorite production with no distractions. I was tempted to sneak down from dinner to see the second performance, but I resisted the urge.

We were eating in Animators Palate, and it was a semi-formal nice with the Prince and Princess menu. I had some sort of vegetarian paprika-based dish for dinner and rocky road ice cream for dessert, laden with chocolate chips and marshmallows.

After the meal, I decided to get some exercise down on deck 4. Unlike the previous night, my anxiety dwindled so I was able to enjoy the brisk night air and the peace of the vast black ocean. I was still worried about my clients, but I had come to realize and accept that there wasn't much I could do. No sense in wasting energy on something I am powerless over. Better to just relax and enjoy my vacation.

DAY NINE: SEA DAY
Ah, the luxury of another day at sea! The seas were calm and the weather was fabulous...sunny, with just a few puffy clouds over the horizon. Even with binoculars, all I could see was a vast blue body of water merging with the horizon. From our veranda we could see the ship's wake, which stirs up a fascinating palate of blues, from aqua to sea foam to cobalt.

Hubby decided to attend the onboard church service and do an early workout. I am not a morning person (back home, we go to church at 11 and I do my exercise in the afternoon) so I trooped upstairs to Topsiders for some oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and bacon to enjoy out on our veranda. I also brought some fruit and yogurt for hubby so he'd have a nosh when he returned.

Earlier in the cruise we had ordered a set of limited edition pins commemorating the voyage. 10 a.m. was our pickup time so I trooped down to Upbeat to get them. They go onto a cardboard “map” that I planned to have signed by Captain Thord and framed. I was looking forward to adding my memorabilia from this cruise to my already vast collection, which has spread from my master bedroom to take over most of the family room. It helps me to not feel homesick for the ships when I'm not out on the sea. Since I work at home and the family room is also my main work area, whenever I have a stressful day I can gaze at my Golden Mickey or my beloved portrait of the ship or any of the other pieces that have a great deal of sentimental value. They remind me of just what I'm working for...knowing that I'm earning funds for the vacation cache makes the stress a lot easier to take.

There was a reflexology seminar at 10:45; although we saw it listed on the spa schedule, there was a note in the navigator that it was in Promenade Lounge. Seemed strange since the massage seminar had been in the spa, but maybe they were expecting a lot of people and needed more space. We trooped down, but no one from the spa was around so we started chatting with Chuck, a fellow travel agency owner I know. I'd been wondering if he was onboard, since he likes the longer cruises. Meanwhile, someone finally showed up from the spa, but it turned out to be a weight loss seminar. Not something I want to think about on a cruise! Since the seminar had started late, we rushed up to the spa hoping that the reflexology one had, too. When we got there, they said it was over already. That surprised me, since the massage one had run a good hour. Maybe no one had actually shown up because they were all confused like we were and were down in Promenade wondering what metabolism has to do with your feet!

With my plans abruptly changed, I enjoyed the veranda till lunch time (soup and Cobb salad at Lumieres, topped off with a delicious chocolate chip cookie sundae). That inspired me to drag my lazy carcass to the treadmill, where my endless laps to nowhere were brightened by the sight of the ocean in front of me and my favorite music filling my ears via iPod.

Next up was a drawing class given by Don Williams. How often do you get instruction from the master himself?! It was down in Animators Palate, and even though we got there pretty early, the close-up seats were already taken. There was a camera so you could watch along on the screens, but unfortunately it wasn't zoomed in so I was pretty much lost when it came to any of the detail work. In theory, we were drawing Mickey Mouse. In practice, mine ended up looking rather mutant since I couldn't see exactly how we were supposed to be drawing the cheeks and chin. I gained even more respect for Don; here I was struggling with a simple drawing, as were most of the other people, and he makes it so easy! It's amazing how he whips off such beautiful sketches. He had prepared some more to raffle off, so several lucky people managed to get a sketch.

At 3:30 p.m., hubby and I both had spa appointments (seaweed wrap for him and hot stone massage for me). I like the hot stones because they feel so good and because it's longer than a standard massage. I also got my free bottle of oil for attending the massage class previously. Even on vacation, my muscles are usually tense because I still use my laptop. It felt so good to have them worked out and then to be slathered in icy-hot refreshing gel.

After the treatment, I met hubby in the hot tub for half an hour of relaxation. It had been over a week, and I was pleased that I hadn't seen any children in either Cove Cafe or the adult pool. There are plenty on board; this is Disney, so of course you see them in other areas all the time. But it's pure bliss to be able to escape to quiet “big kid” areas. I could tell the ocean was much calmer than a few days before because this time the swimming pool didn't resemble the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon. There was another hot tubber or two, but no one was particularly chatty so we just relaxed and enjoyed the bubbles.

After the soak, I headed to Cove Cafe for some flavored iced tea. They usually have three kinds, but at the moment they only had the fruit variety. That was fine with me, and I got myself a to-go cup to enjoy back down in my stateroom while trying to log on for work.

While I struggled with the internet, hubby decided to be a glutton for punishment and subject himself to the movie “Underdog.” I am most definitely not a fan of live action animals talking digitally (“Babe” is the sole exception). That perception almost kept me from seeing “Snow Dogs” many years ago because the commercials centered on talking dogs, although that's actually just a very brief part when the main character has a hallucination. “Snow Dogs” turned out to be a cute movie that I would highly recommend. But Underdog's whole premise is based on digital canine talking, flying, etc., and even the previews make me cringe so I took a pass on the whole ordeal. Afterwards, hubby reported that it wasn't too bad, but I didn't feel that I had missed out on much.

Amazingly, the internet connection was pretty stable for more than an hour, so I was able to do a lot of catch-up. My travel business was quiet, but the counseling end of things was as busy as ever so I felt a lot better about being able to check in with those clients. Unfortunately, the improvement in the internet did not correlate to a return of ESPN, which had been unavailable for the past three days. My NASCAR-addicted husband was showing some pretty severe withdrawal symptoms. At one point we head a loud scream outside through the veranda doors and I asked, “What the heck was that?” he responded, “Some poor devil probably just jumped overboard because he couldn't take being without ESPN any longer.” Men...sigh!

It was time to shower for dinner, which was in Parrot Cay tonight with the Master Chef menu. I had cold potato and dill soup, tomato and mozzarella salad, and asparagus risotto for dinner (actually that was a side dish to another entree, but it sounded good enough to eat by itself). For dessert, I had a tough time choosing between the mint chocolate chip sundae and some sort of banana pudding. With me, ice creams always wins out, but our server brought one of the banana desserts too, so hubby and I each tried half. It was superb!

My only regret of the evening was that I had to miss the adult flubber-making class. On this cruise, Disney offered some activities to adults that are normally only for the kiddies, like making flubber or painting an animation cell. Unfortunately, they started at 9 or 9:30 p.m. Many adults (like us) are on the late dinner seating, which starts at 8:30, so there is no way they can make it. I really regretted missing the opportunity to try those activities.

Hubby decided to go see the cabaret act and the 80s party, but I wanted to catch up on my trip report and some reading. We were moving the clock back an hour, so I didn't have to worry about staying up too late because I'd regain some precious sleep time in the morning. I stayed up till hubby returned from the entertainment, and then we both curled up for another night of sleeping in the sway of the sea.

I woke up a couple of times towards morning and noticed that the ship was rocking more than usual. The next morning, Captain Thord said we had hit some pretty high swells, so that must have been what I noticed. To me it felt like a giant nautical cradle, and I quickly zoned back to sleep each time.

DAY TEN: SEA DAY
Since we had moved the clock back again, I woke up bright an early. I caught part of the sunrise before sacking out for a while more, than went upstairs for some breakfast while hubby worked on his computer. The sea had calmed down to a moderate level, and although there were some puffy clouds on the horizon, for the most part it looked like another lovely, sunny day.

We were scheduled for Palo brunch at 11, but it was only 8 so I figured that I needed something to tide me over. Up at Topsiders, I got some cream of wheat, pineapple, and an omlette to nosh on out on the balcony. The sea looked calm, but we were still rocking pretty good. I figured that it was because of our speed. The chart on the television indicated that we were able halfway to the U.S. already.

Hubby went for a workout, but I was drawn to the veranda for a morning of reading and sea gazing. It is so strange to see NOTHING...no birds, no insects, no other ships, no airplanes...just the vast, never-ending expanse of the ocean. It's a sense of peaceful isolation like nothing I have ever experienced. Between the gentle swaying on the water and the monotonous hum of the engines, it was all I could do not to not off to sleep.

Eventually it was time to get ready for Palo brunch. The pizzas had looked so delicious last time, but we hadn't had room in our bellies! This time, we committed to saving room so we could try the spicy sausage and the grape and cheese pizzas.

One of the things I enjoy about brunch (besides the dazzling array of food, of course!) is the panoramic view that you don't always get at dinnertime if you eat after sunset. What more can you ask for out of life than to sip champagne and watch the ship's wake trailing along behind you as you nibble on crab legs, sun dried tomatoes, cheeses, prosciutto, shrimp...the list could go on and on.

We made our cold food selections from the buffet and ordered our pizza. I had grabbed a sticky bun, even though that was jumping the gun to dessert, because I wanted to make sure that I didn't get too full to fit it in. The thick honeyed filling is enough to make my teeth jingle for a week!

After our pizzas, we each got a half order of eggs benedict, and hubby tried a mixture of tea prepared by Annie Marie. She blended Harmony with chamomile, resulting in a minty yet soothing blend. I had already had my dessert (I'd gone back for a second sticky bun), but hubby sought out a nice, big bowl of fresh berries to cap his meal.

With full bellies, we returned to our stateroom. Hubby was ready to crash, but I had work to do so he wrapped himself in a cocoon out on the veranda while I logged on and tended to my professional responsibilities. The internet connection was more stable than usual, but it still died before I got to the end of my work. Oh well, at least I'd been able to do most of it. My neighbor had emailed me that our cats were doing well, although two are hiding and won't come out for any social activity. The third, Stitch, loves everyone and anyone, so he's been getting lots of loving and playtime.

We didn't have a lot scheduled until showtime, so after catching up with my trip report, I debated on whether to see if the spa had any openings, to work out, or to read. I left it to chance; if the spa had an appointment available, that was obviously what I was meant to do. Unfortunately, they didn't (not that I have to feel too bad because I have a villa booked for tomorrow). Thus I decided to force my lazy, brunch-filled body upstairs to the treadmills while hubby napped in the ocean air. That way, I would earn some reading time later.

When I reached the elevators, I abruptly changed my mind and decided to brave the Obstacle Deck, also known as deck four. It was just too beautful of a day to do my exercise inside. It wasn't too bad; the biggest risk was dodging errant shuffleboard pucks and kids blindly swinging the mallets. I got in a nice 45 minute walk, and when I returned to the stateroom, hubby was still sound asleep on the veranda. He had wrapped himself in a nice little cocoon and looked so peaceful that I left him out there while I read and watched TV.

Eventually he woke up in enough time for a half-hour hot tub soak before the show. The tubs were pretty crowded, but we managed to wedge our bodies into one. Even though the ship's motion didn't feel all that severe, the adult pool's water was rolling even worse than I'd ever seen it before. A few people were bobbing among the waves, enjoying the wave pool effect. It looked like fun, but wimp girl that I am, I preferred the nice hot water to the brisker pool.

We trooped off to the show, something called “When Mickey Dreams” that I had never seen before (like “Art of the Story,” it's for the special cruises). Mickey actually wasn't featured too prominently, other than curling up for bed in the beginning and waking up at the end. After heading off to sleep he disappeared from the stage, which was taken over by white-clad performers dancing and carousing to “Tapestry of Dreams” from the old Epcot parade. I like the music, but I much prefer the original “Tapestry of Nations” version from the first parade. The show made a lot of use of the projection system, and the costumes and props were very much like something from Cirque de Soliel. They performed strange and surreal numbers, but the best part was the Chinese acrobats performing flawless moves on a ship moving over 20 knots.

Towards the end, Maleficent came out for a villains number. I had heard she was in the show and wondered if it would be at all close to Fantasmic, but it really wasn't. She did a dance with the performers, holding what appeared to be real lit candelabras (pretty impressive on a ship), but of course the good dream people defeated her.

The show received a standing ovation and hubby absolutely loved it, but I actually liked “Art of the Story” much better. It's not that it was a bad show, but it was mostly pageantry vs. something with a strong Disney link. Having Mickey briefly at the beginning and end reminded me of how they tried to tie him into the old “C'est Magique” show, which went through a few incarnations before it was totally retired. Actually I had liked “C'est Magique,” and I always figure that the problem with that one and with “Voyage of the Ghost Ship” one of the very first three shows on the Magic when it was launched in 1998. “Ghost Ship” was high on production values and operatic singing but had literally no Disney tie-in so most people didn't like it. Ironically, nowadays they would have easily tied it in with “Pirates of the Caribbean” and had a real crow-pleaser.

I guess I used to be more open-minded, but my years of sailing have geared me to expect that Disney relationship. If you removed Mickey and switched Maleficent to something more generic, “When Mickey Dreams” could just as easily have been on a Royal Caribbean ship (when we sailed on Voyager of the Seas, they actually did have something vaguely similar).

Still, it seemed to be a crowd pleaser, and I was still reeling with awe over the acrobats. They definitely did deserve a standing ovation.

On our way back to the stateroom, we bought a couple of photos that we'd had taken the other night. Then it was time to get ready for Palo, but first I paused on the veranda to admire the gorgeous sunset. Our neighbor came out to smoke (in our corner, of course, although I was hoping that the sunset would draw them to the opposite end), so I went inside and turned on the deck cam. It offered a good view, but not quite as nice as seeing it live.

The deck cam channel is a particularly good thing if you have an inside stateroom. The camera is permanently trained on the front of the ship, so if you don't have a porthole or veranda, you can leave your television set on and still have a window on the world.

In Palo, we were having dinner with several other people in the group room. In addition to the main restaurant, there is a private room that can be reserved if you have a certain number of people. I've been in it a few times before when sailing with friends, and it's a neat experience. I think it's impossible to have a bad experience in Palo, but this just adds an extra little layer of specialness.

I had the eggplant carpaccio for my appetizer and mushroom risotto for my main course. They had peanut butter gelato again, so of course I was in heaven at dessert time.

One of the group that hubby was chatting with said he had spotted a freighter earlier, but for us it had been nothing but a blue expanse of ocean joined with a blue expanse of sky. Hubby did hear a big splash when he was outside napping, but by the time he looked, whatever had made the noise was gone.

When you're sharing good food with good companions, the time really flies. Dinner ran quite late, and I couldn't believe that it was after 11 by the time we headed back to our stateroom. I was done for the night, but hubby headed down to the cabaret show. He has really been enjoying the night life on this cruise, and he's given high marks to the band and all of the cabaret performers. That's one of the things you don't really get to see/do on the Wonder; even though they offer some nighttime shows, the time goes by so fast and we're usually too tired to stay up late when we know there's more action planned for the morning. On a transatlantic crossing with six sea days, you can stay up till the wee hours and know that it's no problem to sleep in. This was another night in which the clock was set back an hour, too, so that gained us even more time.

DAY ELEVEN: SEA DAY
Due to the time change, I woke up at some ungodly hour. I think it was around 6:30 a.m., and hubby was still snoozing like a rock. I read until Topsiders opened, then slipped up the back staircase for some sunny side up eggs and a bowl of Cheerios. I am a big fan of smooshing toast into egg yolks, and by now I was bored with oatmeal and cream of wheat so I figured that cold cereal would add some variety.

Eventually hubby woke up and went off for his morning work-out. I usually prefer to exercise later in the day, so I hung out in the stateroom until he returned. He had decided to go to a cooking demonstration by Michael Jordan, but I was too lazy so we decided to meet up at the Don Williams presentation later that morning. Hubby later told me that the demo had been packed. It was supposed to be adults-only, but unfortunately there was no enforcement so children ended up taking spots that could have been taken by adults. That was one of my few annoyances on this trip. While enforcement of the adults-only areas (e.g. pool, spa, Cove Cafe) was generally good, it was non-existent at the presentations and demos. Everything tended to full, or nearly so, so I didn't think it was right that kids took adult spots. Also, it was very annoying to have a baby start screaming in the middle of one of Michael Jordan's wine seminars. I guess I shouldn't have fretted about missing the adult flubber class; turnabout is fair play, so I should have just crashed it at the kids' club!

I headed off to the Walt Disney Theater for the Don Williams presentation. No matter how many times “Ducky” speaks, I am always there to hear it. Each time he throws in some new bits of trivia, plus it's worth it just to watch him draw. I got there early, so I had a seat down front. I waited for hubby...and waited...and waited. He never showed, so I figured that he must be sitting somewhere else. Sure enough, I found him on the way out. He'd gotten there pretty late, so he didn't want to wander around the theater looking for me.

It was lunchtime, so we headed to Lumiere's. I had broccoli and cheese soup and a reuben sandwich, topped off with a blueberry muffin sundae. The restaurant was packed to the gills, which was no surprise for a sea day. Still, even with the long stretch at sea, overall the ship never seems obnoxiously crowded. Granted, it's not at capacity, but you can still see that it was built to accommodate a healthy number of people. Every time we've wanted to take a dip in the hot tub, there was been space. I've gotten plenty of snacks at the quick service restaurants with only minimal lines. The service has been quick at Cove Cafe, and finding at seat at the shows isn't a problem as long as you arrive a bit ahead of time. I haven't laid out in the cushy lounge chairs on deck 4, but every time I'm down there exercising, I see several available.

When we were done eating, hubby went out to view the art auction while I caught up my trip report. Next on our agenda was another wine tasting with Michael Jordan. Directly after, I had a spa villa booked so I knew that tasting half a dozen wines would put me in a nice, relaxed state for a hot tub, massage, and tea.

We headed to Animator's Palate for the tasting. At the first one, attendance had been somewhat light. Obviously word was getting around the ship that Michael Jordan was on board and that these events were no ordinary Disney Cruise Line wine tasting, as the crowd had expanded considerably for this one. The theme was German white wines, and we tasted six that ranged from dry to ultra sweet. The last one (#6) was an ice wine, which I usually like, but my favorites actually turned out to be #4 and #5. They were sweet without being cloying and had a wonderful bouquet on the palate (which is my fancy way of saying they were good!).

I knew that I couldn't stay for the whole presentation, since I had to get ready for my spa appointment. Fortunately, Michael started off with a Cliff Notes explanation and quick tasting of each wine before going back and giving more detail. I was able to hear the basic facts about each type as I savored it. Michael had brought the selections with him, and he explained that a couple of them are hard to come by (very limited production, only sold in certain areas, etc.).

Finally I had to tear myself away so I wouldn't be late for my spa villa. I don't have as much capacity for wine as hubby, so I had just taken a few sips from each glass (well, maybe more than a few from #4 and #5), and I left the rest in his capable hands to finish up for me. We still had a seminar on Russian wines coming up, and I wondered how it the offerings would compare. I tend to like sweeter varieties of wine, so the German ones had been very much to my liking.

I hustled up to the spa, where I had booked a massage in one of the private villas. Basically, you have a private room with a hot tub and lounging bed out on the veranda. You start off with a foot bath and then soak in the hot tub before retreating inside for your treatment. Besides a massage, you can select various other options such as wraps and facials. Once it's done, you head back outside on the lounging bed to enjoy a pot of tea and fresh fruit. It's rather pricey, but a worthwhile luxury as it's not something that you can duplicate at a spa back home. No matter how nice the surroundings might be, land-based spas can't complete with the Atlantic Ocean panorama.

I had opted for a regular massage. After the foot bath, I climbed into the hot tub and laid back to stare out at the ocean vista. The ship's movement is more prominent on the higher decks. Being up on 9, I stared at the balcony railing as a vantage point and watched the rocking motion. It was almost hypnotic, and I could feel myself drifting off. Through a supreme effort of will, I managed to remain awake until treatment time. I hated to get out of the hot, soothing water with the jets that had been massaging my back, but now I'd be enjoying a full-body massage. I lay prone on the table and drifted in and out as the masseuse worked her magic.

All too soon it was over. I quickly washed my hair in the shower out on the balcony so I could hurry to the evening show afterwards. Then I settled onto the lounger and enjoyed a cup of tea and some fruit skewers. Ah, pure bliss! I hated for it to end, but I was looking forward to the show so I hustled off to my stateroom to change into something more suitable for the theater. I don't think I would have fit in too well in my robe and swimsuit!

I made it to the theater literally two minutes before start time. Hubby was in the back row, so I settled in beside him just before the intro. Tonight it was a crew talent show, and it did indeed feature crew members from myriad departments such as housekeeping to deck workers to the art auction to children's programming who shared a variety of talents. Singing was the most common, but there were also acts such as tap dancing and juggling. In between there were “Dancing With the Officers” segments in which guests cut the rug on stage with various ships' officers. Before each of their performances, we saw a little video clip introducing the guest and showing their practice sessions. The grand finale was Don Williams performing a dance with Cruise Director Rachel.

The show was a real crowd pleaser, with lots of audience support. I had wondered if attendance would be light, but it was quite the contrary...the theater was packed to the brim. The performers were amazingly talented; my favorite was when the onboard auctioneer capped her juggling act by balancing one of the sun lounger chairs on her chin!

After it let out, we went to our stateroom hoping for some internet time, but that was as futile as usual. It's frustrating because often you can log on and it will work for a while, but then it dies and you don't even know it since it's so slow anyway. Thus, you waste 15 expensive minutes or so waiting to see if something will ever come up and then calling Guest Services to log you off. I understand that we're in the middle of the ocean, but I think that the price of the internet packages should have been reduced for the crossing to take the unreliability and slowness into consideration.

We got dressed for dinner, which was a Caribbean menu tonight even though we still have a little ways to go. It's been so odd to see no other signs of humanity for days now! I heard rumors of one freighter that was spotted earlier in the day, but I didn't see it myself. Even many of the satellite TV stations are unavailable (hubby is going through ESPN withdrawal). It's as though the rest of the world could have disappeared and we'd be totally unaware, drifting around and partying on our lovely resort ship. It's sort of like a Twilight Zone episode! But the feeling of normalcy will return all to soon once we reach Castaway Cay in three days. I love the island, but it will be sad too because it will mean that our cruise is almost over. I'm already dreading having to switch back to four-day sailings in October.

The dress code was cruise casual, so I put on a white long-sleeved shirt and khaki pants. We popped down to deck 4 and joined the line waiting to enter Animators. Just outside the door to the promenade area, we noticed a couple having one of the shipboard photographers snap their photo with the moon in the background. It was a gorgeous natural backdrop, with the moonlight reflecting on the inky black water. We slipped outside to see if we could get the same shot, too. We have many photos with a similar “fake” backdrop, so we thought it would be really cool to get an actual outside shot. I was sorry that I hadn't worn something fancier, but you never know when that sort of opportunity is going to come along.

We rejoined the line inside and made our way to good old table 7. I had some sort of cold fruit soup, plus the Indian appetizer brought out by our server. For dinner, I had some vegetable curry and a stuffed veal chop. I skipped dessert, since I'd had some sweets earlier; there are decadent mini poppyseed muffins with frosting that I've only managed to get my hands on twice, and I'd had some before the show.

After dinner, hubby headed off to see the cabaret show and 70s night. The next day, he reported to me that 70s night has been changed completely, so I'll have to make it a priority to catch it the next time I'm on the Wonder.

It was the last night to move the clock back one hour, so my body was giving out pretty early. I opted to stay in the room to do some work. Unfortunately, the typical internet problems caused me to waste more minutes before I realized that it was truly dead. I would get a teaser connection that might let me answer an email or two before it would suddenly stop. Then, just when I thought it was dead, another page would come up. Then, finally, it froze for good and Guest Services had to log me out. They need to have an Internet Logout Hotline number.

At this point in the cruise, I had made peace with being disconnected from work. I already lost some business, but why cry over spilled milk when you're on the vacation of a lifetime? I can always redouble my efforts when I return to the “real world.”

I changed my watch and curled up to sleep, wondering as I drifted off if I'd be able to sleep on land without the rocking of the waves and the soothing hum of the engine. Oh well, at least I'd have warm cat bodies and purring as a substitute once I got home.

DAY TWELVE: SEA DAY
Once again I was up early due to the time change. We were finally in synch with Florida time, so there would be more changes. I hoped my body would stay geared to early rising until the end of the cruise, as that would make getting up for disembarkation much easier. I feel sorry for the people who have to get up that morning and fly somewhere. For us, it's just a matter of an hour's drive and we're home sweet home. That was the major reason that I chose the homebound transatlantic crossing. I wanted to get the stress of the flights over with in the beginning. A vacation is for peace and relaxation, and I had no desire to shatter that with worry about making connections or having our luggage lost with precious souvenirs inside.

Hubby and I decided to have a sit-down breakfast as Lumiere's, as I had a taste for pancakes. I had been hoping for days that Topsiders would have corned beef hash again, but at this point I had lost hope so I thought banana pancakes would make a good option. Hubby noticed that the menu indicated a chef's special...he asked what it was, and lo and behold, it was corned beef hash! My craving would finally be sated. Now, the only other thing I needed to located was the mini frosted poppyseed muffins that I had become addicted to. I only managed to get my hands on some twice; there are plenty of full-sized muffins at breakfast, but without the frosting they just aren't quite as godly.

After breakfast, I debated on how to spend the day. The only official thing that we had scheduled was a Russian wine tasting at 3 p.m., although I was also planning to go to the strudel baking seminar at 10 a.m. I knew that I should do some work; even when I can't log on, I can work on my freelance writing. But instead I dialed the spa to see what appointments were available. I grabbed a facial at 11 a.m. and an aromaflex massage at 5. That will still give me enough time to go to the show, although I wasn't sure that I was going to attend.

Since the internet was once again nearly unusable, hubby went off to the strudel seminar while I lazed around and read until my appointment. I didn't think I'd have enough time to go to the cooking demo, but he returned to the room at 10:45. Fortunately, they had let him take a piece to go for me. He said that the room had been packed full of people; word must be getting around that there is always a wine pairing at the demos. It's one of the few opportunities for a free drink!

I was looking out the veranda door, and suddenly I spotted another ship! I was amazed, as I had begun to believe that we were alone in the world. It was way out in the distance, but with the help of my binoculars I was able to determine that it was blue with some sort of yellow machinery on the front. I have no idea what type of ship it was, but it was nice just to know that there was other humanity in our little corner of the Atlantic. If it weren't for the sun I would have no bearings at all, but each day's sunrise and sunset reassures me that we are heading due west.

I trooped upstairs for my facial, which was as relaxing as usual. It's a very hands-on treatment; not only do they apply the creams and mask, but they also do a head, face, and shoulder massage. Afterwards, I took my shower in the locker room to enjoy the “rain” showerhead. I hadn't showered yet for the day, so I was feeling decidedly gross. It felt good to be nice and clean again and smelling of the yummy spa shampoo.

When I returned to the stateroom, hubby was in the shower as he had just returned from his workout. Being in a rut, we went to Lumiere's for lunch (Parrot Cay and Topsiders are usually open for most meals, too). I had a tomato and mozzarella cheese salad and a steak and cheese croissant. They weren't bad, but the dessert was superior (key lime cheesecake).

Next on the agenda was our third wine tasting. We were both under the impression that we'd be tasting Russian wines. Since we'd never heard of anything but Vodka coming out of Russia, we figured it would be a unique experience.

Surprise, surprise! The wines were actually from the Russian River area of California. Fortunately, I discovered that I wasn't the only one who had made the wrong assumption; another woman at our table had the same thought as me. Still, I figured that it would be another great wine tasting experience.

There were three whites and three reds; the reds were very pricey as they were all limited productions, but since my taste tends more to sweet wine I definitely preferred the previous day's German selections. Still, it was fascinating to taste wines from a region of California that I was not familiar with. It's amazing just how many different nuances the smell and taste can have. It's great fun to hear Michael Jordan talk about the wines, too, because he has such enthusiasm for the subject. Often he starts describing a meal that would be suitable for a particular vintage, describing it in minute detail until your mouth is watering. I can't wait to eat at Napa Rose in April.

I left a little early to get ready for my next spa appointment. At the beginning of the cruise, I had promised myself that I would keep my spa addiction under control. Unfortunately, that's a virtual impossibility. The only thing that stops me is a lack of available appointments. I booked a reasonable number online before this cruise, figuring that with so many sea days it would be hard to add any more spontaneously onboard. That worked a little, but not completely as I ended up adding four additional appointments (as described earlier in this report, I cheated by doing two on port days, and I lucked out with the other two today since I was flexible with my times).

After my appointment, I debated going to the main stage show vs. some hot tub time. As far as I knew, hubby had opted for “Ratatouille.” Neither of us had seen it yet, as it wasn't something that would draw us to the movies. Normally I like Pixar films, but the idea of a rat as a chef just didn't grab me. From what I had heard of it, there was a lot of slapstick/physical comedy, which isn't really my taste. I like subtleties and even some dark humor, which is probably why “The Incredibles” and “Lilo and Stitch” are my favorite Disney movies. I figured hubby could give me his review, and then I could decide whether to catch “Ratatouille” on the Wonder if it's still there in October or to just wait for cable.

Susan Egan, the original Belle from Broadway was performing on the main stage (she was also Meg in “Hercules,”), but I wasn't really in the mood for a singing show. I actually have never seen the play “Beauty and the Beast,” although I've made up for it by seeing “Lion King” four or five times and I'm waiting with bated breath for “Mary Poppins” to come to Chicago, Tampa, or Miami. I knew that showtime would be a perfect time for the hot tub, since there would be no crowd because everyone would either be eating or in the theater.

Hubby had opted for the show, so I had a nice soak. Tonight's dinner was in Palo, so we met up after the show, donned our dress clothes, and headed up to deck 10. Gemma was our server, and she tempted me with a description of one of the night's specials: grouper. Although I like seafood, I am still somewhat of a neophyte with fish. I've only had grouper once before, but I was glad that I had it again as it was absolutely delicious. Dessert was gelato (of course!). I've always loved the gelato at Palo, but the Magic introduced me to the peanut butter flavor, so I'm hoping that they've started making that one on the Wonder, too.

Back in our stateroom, we crashed in bed to sleep off our feast, looking forward to one more day at sea before reaching Castaway Cay.

DAY THIRTEEN: SEA DAY
It was cloudy when I woke up, and water on the veranda indicated that it had rained at some point. I ran up to Topsiders for a quick bowl of oatmeal, as we had early plans. There was a talk with the Walt Disney Theater cast at 9, following by a technical presentation and theater tour at 9:30. We've toured the theater before many years ago, but not since “Twice Charmed” was added and “Disney Dreams” was changed. It's amazing to see just how much scenery and how many props are stored in a very limited space and how state-of-the-art technical feats are pulled of with the limitations of a cruise ship.

The cast talk started late; the doors finally opened at around 9:10 and we all trooped in to meet several of the current cast members. Most of them had had previous contracts with Disney, but there were a couple of newbies, too. On one person's jacket, I noticed the designation “Magic 19.” I could hardly believe that there have been 19 casts already! It doesn't seem all that long ago that I was on my first Magic cruise, but actually it's been almost exactly 9 years ago (our first sailing was on Labor Day weekend, 1998).

The audience asked many of the usual questions, such as “How does the audition process work?” and “Do you have other duties on the ship?” Technical questions were deferred until the second part of the presentation, when we were introduced to the people behind the scenes, like the sound technicians, electrical technicians, props person, etc. It's amazing to see just how many people it takes to keep the shows running smoothly.

We got to see how the final scene change takes place in “Disney Dreams.” There is a Lion King number in which a scrim is lowered, and the focus shifts to a main singer and a singing/damcing ensemble. While that is happening, the main set is switched over for the big finale. Normally, you can't see any of that because the stage is dark, but they did a lights-on run through. It was fascinating! I don't think I'll ever see the show again without appreciating the amount of frenzied activity going on beyond the audience's sight.

Then we were allowed to come on stage to view the main lift. We learned about all of the safety precautions under which the lift operates, and we saw the below-stage storage space. We learned that while land-based theaters move scenery with a system of lifts and pulleys, there isn't enough space on a cruise ship to do that. Instead, everything is done electronically.

Since there were so many people, we had to view the lift in two groups. Then we were able to wander around the stage and view many of the props and scenery pieces up close. Most of them were from “Disney Dreams,” since that was this night's production, but I saw other items like the “Friendship” blocks and the brooms and birds from “Golden Mickeys” and a hat that looked like it might be Franco's from “Twice Charmed.”

As you can see below, I got the chance to sit on Anne Marie's bed and get up close and personal with the Sebastian puppet from "Disney Dreams":

The technicians were milling around and answering questions, so I started chatting with Derek from the Philippines. He had worked on the Wonder for seven years before coming over to the Magic. He was a wealth of information on the electrical and laser effects and all of the testing and checks/rechecks that go into making a flawless show.

I was having such a good time that I didn't realize we only had 15 minutes to change our clothes and get to brunch! Fortunately hubby noticed the time, and we rushed back to our stateroom for a quick change. Outside in the distance I noticed another ship. It was only the second I had noticed so far. A quick binocular check revealed that it was a cargo ship, but we didn't have much time to study it as we had to get to deck 10.

Sasha was our server, and he gave us a quick reminder tour of the cold and hot options. The tilapia caught my eye, as it was covered with a lovely “salsa” of tomato, green pepper, and onion. As I mentioned earlier, the current Palo chef seems to have away with vegetables. After our course of cold foods, I had to try that fish and hubby opted for the veal.

The tilapia was absolutely excellent. It was actually one of the best fish dishes that I've ever had...even better than the monk fish. I wish they had an equivalent at Flying Fish on Boardwalk or one of the other Disney World restaurants.

The hollandaise sauce was particularly good, too. I had tasted it on the prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, so I ordered a half-order of eggs benedict with extra sauce. Hubby got some dessert, but I didn't need any because I'd had a sticky bun with my first course. I have my priorities in order: life is short, so eat dessert first.

Back in our stateroom, hubby logged on and managed to use the internet for a while. When he was done, I logged in from my laptop but it died pretty quickly on me. My email backlog was increasing, but I managed to answer a few and at least I could comfort myself with the knowledge that in less than 48 hours I would be back on my broadband connection. I was sorry that the cruise was almost over, so at least that was one small thing that made the end feel a bit better. I know that Disney can't control the reliability of the internet, but I think they should have lowered the price to reflect the diminished level of service on the crossing. I lost innumerable minutes waiting to see whether I was still connected or whether it had died, and it routinely took over five minutes to open one email. Often, I couldn't log off and had to call Guest Services to do it while my minutes ticked away. A few times, I called to complain and get my wasted minutes credited back, but I finally gave up on that because I would literally have been calling at least once or twice a day.

Our next scheduled activity was “Til We Meet Again,” which had been moved from the last night to this afternoon. They called it something else like “Special Character Greeting,” but basically it was the same event. The characters come out and disperse in the atrium and up on deck 4. The main characters are there, as well as some from the main stage cast. The ship's photographers don't take any pictures; you bring your own camera, plus an autograph book if you are so inclined, and play “Find the Character” among the crowd. The characters are pretty well spaced out, and impromptu lines form for each. It's a loosely organized chaos, but you can get some great, less formal photo ops.

Since we've seen it so many times on the Wonder, we usually skip it unless we just happen to be in the area. Even now and then I seek out Stitch, but not every time. Most guests focus on the princesses, Mickey, Minnie, and the other “big names,” so sometimes we just stop by and focus on the main stage performers or the less sought-after characters.

But on the Magic, it is a must-do for me because Franco and the stepsisters usually come out. Since “Twice Charmed” is my favorite show and since I get to see it so rarely, I have to stalk them and get a photo whenever I am on the Magic. The first time I saw “Twice Charmed,” way back in May of 2006, I got an excellent picture with them. The second time, in December of 2006, only the stepsisters were out so I missed my favorite villain. This time I was hoping to catch all three again.

I know where they usually stand, so hubby and I staked out a spot in that area. It was interesting to watch the other guests trying to figure what was going on. They seemed to be forming a line in a couple of spots where the photo lines usually are, but when they realized that everyone else was milling around, they dispersed. The crowd grew and the clock ticked past 2:30...then 2:35...then finally the big event began. As the characters were announced, they ran down the stairs by Lumieres and out into their spots among the guests. Franco and the stepsisters were among the first. The stepsisters came over where hubby and I were standing, but Franco ran over towards the chairs opposite Guest Services.

At this point, characters were still being announced, so the major chaos hadn't started yet and people hadn't really started taking pictures. I asked the stepsisters if I could get a photo of them together with Franco, so they beckoned him over. They all liked my “Twice Charmed” t-shirt, which I was wearing especially for this photo op (Disney doesn't sell them, but hubby and I had them specially made). Hubby got a great shot, and we managed to escape the atrium just as the real mob scene was beginning:

I wanted to get back to the stateroom and pick up my Don Williams litho, as he was doing a signing for decks 2 and 5 today (in order to keep the lines manageable, each deck was assigned a particular autograph session time).

You could have two items signed, so in addition to the litho I brought a t-shirt with my favorite Don Williams print on it. It's an unusual one, given that he usually does the characters. It's a gorgeous portrait of Walt, surrounded by four smaller pictures of him. Hubby snapped a photo of the print many years ago, when we first saw Don's presentation on the Magic, and we had shirts made. Since I happened to have mine with me, I thought it would be cool to have Ducky's autograph on it. Of course, now I can never dare to wear it again because I'm afraid that the signature will wash out!

The autograph line wasn't too bad, probably because everyone was still busy with the character free-for-all, which lasts about half an hour. Soon my treasures were signed, and I met hubby back at the stateroom where he was preparing for Final Jackpot Bingo. He's much more of a gambler than me, so he'll try a game of bingo or two every now and then when we cruise. I wished him luck and settled in to work on my trip report before my last spa appointment of the trip. I had a reflexology session, and it was scheduled to end just before show time, so we planned to meet in the theater before “Disney Dreams.”

On the Wonder, I don't always go to the shows because we sail on that ship so often and I know them so well. But “Disney Dreams” has been tweaked and improved; I've seen the new version once on the Wonder already, and I was anxious to do a comparison to the Magic's version. The enhancements don't change the storyline, but they add a little extra magic. For example, Peter Pan flies more, there is more extensive use of the laser and the projection system, and Timon and Pumbaa appear in the “Lion King” section.

I found hubby in the front row, and we settled in to enjoy the show. Beforehand, Tinkerbell flies around the theater courtesy of the laser. Soon the curtain was rising and we were immersed in the story of Ann Marie and her quest to find her own magic and fly with Peter to the place where dreams come true. As I mentioned earlier, the storyline is still the same, and the numbers are still based around Aladdin, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Lion King. It was especially fun to watch they show as I remember just how up close and personal I had been with the props earlier in the day. As the scrim was lowered for the Lion King song/set change, I imagined the flurry of activity that was taking place out of sight.

The show was as good as ever, although the flash cameras were out in droves. Those strobe flashes could rival a thermonuclear blast. Being in the front row, it wasn't quite as bad for us but I image the people close to the cameras were viewing the show through a haze of blinding dots. Of course the front row did have its own hazard...the fog machine was working VERY well, so several times we were engulfed in a mist that brought to mind a murky moor!

The audience was oddly subdued, without as much laughing and clapping as usual. I'm not sure why, since things were pretty lively at the other shows I had attended. Maybe six straight days at sea had worn them down, but I missed the energy of an appreciative crowd. At the end, hubby and I gave an enthusiastic standing ovation, and finally the others started joining us. We were clapping for “Disney Dreams” and also for the other wonderful shows that the cast had put on throughout the cruise.

Dinner tonight was the Captain's Gala menu. Our tablemates were at Palo, so it was just the two of us. I ordered the mushroom soup as an appetizer and couldn't choose between the venison and the eggplant parmigiana, so Sanjeev ended up bringing me some of both. I followed his recommendation on the chocolate lava cake for dessert, and it was indeed a delicious choice. The filling was like yummy hot chocolate pudding.

After dinner, we crashed so we'd be ready for an early start on Castaway Cay. Before this cruise, I had envisioned being ready to kiss the ground when we arrived at the island after six days at sea. Now that the moment was at hand, I was oddly ambivalent. I'm always happy to go to Castaway Cay, but the days at sea had been so much fun that they'd whisked by as though time were in fast-forward mode. I didn't care if I saw land; I was perfectly content out at sea. This was enhanced by the fact that our weather for this cruise had been nearly perfect. The water was as smooth as glass, so half the time I forgot that I was on a ship. I could just as well have been at an isolated resort on land. Our arrival at Castaway Cay would mean that the cruise was on its last day, and although I missed my cats and my home and knew that I needed to get back to work, I wasn't quite ready for the cruise to end yet. Oh well, time waits for no one!

DAY FOURTEEN: CASTAWAY CAY
Since the weather had been close to perfect all cruise, I was almost afraid to hope that our luck would hold out for Castaway Cay, too. In the morning it looked rather cloudy, and a couple of times during the day I wondered if we were going to get rained out, but the sun won the battle and we scored yet another weather coup.

Actually, it wasn't quite perfect...the only negative was that it was beastly hot. Hubby and I made sure that we were well slathered with sun screen and had plenty of water. There are various water stations on the island, but we like to bring a couple of our own bottles just to be safe. We disembarked before 9 a.m., and it was already so warm out that we were sweating just from the relatively moderate walk from the ship to the bike rental area. There is a tram that will take you part of the way, but we prefer to hoof it. After any cruise, and especially after nearly two weeks, we know that we can use the extra exercise to combat all the rich food.

We found chairs on the beach near the bike rental stand. When we don't go to the adult beach, we like to head out to the far end of the family beach and set up base camp there. It doesn't get crowded till late in the day, and sometimes not at all. It's near restrooms and the water play structure, and the chairs aren't quite as close together as some of the other areas. All in all, it's a nice little area if you want to be close to the action but not right in the middle of it.

Hubby rented a bike, while I decided to walk. We had two-way radios to keep in touch, so he headed off to the bike path behind the adult beach while I turned off on the newer path halfway down the runway. The runway and paths have been paved since the last time we were at Castaway Cay, so no more bouncy, jouncy bike or tram ride. The original runway was getting pretty wicked due to potholes and general deterioration. I missed it a bit, since it was a piece of the original island dating back to the time before Disney, but the new paving is definitely kinder to the body.

In the middle of the newer path, there is a two-tier observation tower. If you climb to the top, you have a bird's-eye view of the ship as well as the rest of the island and the ocean that extends out past the adult beach. There are binoculars, too, in case you want to zoom in on the sights. There were a few people at the top of the tower when I arrived, so I climbed to the first tier. They left, and my radio buzzed. Hubby was on the far bike path and wanted to know if I could see him waving. I climbed to the top and easily spotted him; then he rode over and joined me at the tower. We made plans to meet up back at our chairs to do a little relaxing before lunch.

I had brought a couple of books, so I lounged in the shade and read until 11:30, when Cookie's Barbeque opened. I hadn't eaten any breakfast, so I was definitely ready for a meal. I had a hot dog, potato chips, cole slaw, and really yummy tomato salad. The apple spice cake for dessert was very good, too, although hubby scorned that for the macadamia nut cookies.

After our meal, hubby was ready for a nap. We returned to the beach, and I continued reading while he curled up on his lounge chair and drifted off to dreamland. When he finally woke up, we headed down to the boat rental area to take out kayaks. He is adventurous and paddles off as far as he can, but I am leery of deep water and paddled back and forth along the shoreline where it was shallow. When he came back, he said that he had gotten a good view of the backside of the Flying Dutchman. The boating area is pretty big, so you can get relatively close to the Dutchman and also to the Magic.

The rentals run for half an hour; when we were done, we headed back to the ship for the sad task of packing. I couldn't believe that two weeks had gone by in the blink of an eye. I had thought I would be happy to see land after six straight days of nothing but ocean, but instead it was a melancholy feeling because I knew that in less than 24 hours my transatlantic adventure would be over.

Hubby went to the farewell show, but I stayed in our stateroom to catch up on my trip report and do some work. When he returned, he was in absolute awe of the pyrotechnics. All he could talk about were the pinwheels of sparks, which he was amazed to see on a ship. He definitely gave the show a big thumbs-up.

Our farewell-themed dinner was in Animators Palate. Over the course of the cruise, there were different spreads for the bread each night, and many of them were notably delicious. The last night's spread was the best of all. It reminded me of what you'd get if you took the white spread at Palo and added sun dried tomatoes. It was all that I could do to stop myself at two pieces of bread.

For my meal, I ordered lobster and crawfish bisque and a citrus salad. Our tablemates were having curry, so I had that for my main course. I also had to try the Indian appetizer, which was a wonderful potato selection. I don't know how it was prepared, but it reminded me very much of the seasoned whole potatoes that hubby had gotten at Loro Parque. The curry was good, but very spicy. It was just at the edge of my tolerance level, but hubby tasted it and downed a red pepper with scarcely a blink. He loves blazing Cajun and Thai food, so this was nothing for him.

I had baked Alaska for dessert, and at the end of the meal Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Donald came in for the grand finale as photos from the cruise flashed on the screens. I couldn't believe that this was the end...but then I remembered that we were booked for the Panama Canal crossing in exactly one year's time, and I remembered how quickly the time until the Atlantic crossing had passed. I had booked this cruise in early 2006, and back then it has seemed like an eternity before I would sail. Now it had come to an end, so I realized that before I knew it, I'd be winging my way to California for a 15-day oceanic adventure. At the beginning of this trip, I had wondered if I would really enjoy two weeks at sea. Sure I love cruising, but could I ever get tired of it? Now I know the answer: a resounding “No!” The show ended with a parade of chefs carrying the flaming dessert and of all the servers and assistant servers.

We said our goodbyes, handed out tip envelopes, and headed back to our stateroom to take care of any loose ends before bedtime. For some reason, I was very sleepy. I could hardly keep my eyes open long enough to fill out the comment card. Maybe it was the culmination of two six-hour time changes over the last two weeks, coupled with the excitement of vacation. Whatever the cause, I was soon sleeping soundly, sad that it was the last day I'd be rocked to sleep by the ocean.

DISEMBARKATION
Hubby was supposed to set the alarm for 6:45 a.m., but he inadvertently set it for 6:15. Since Happy Limo wasn't set to pick us up until 8 a.m., I figured that we'd be sitting in the pick-up area for a while. Oh well, I told myself that it's better to be outside early rather than potentially getting stuck in a long customs line later in the morning.

One thing that I love about Disney vs. other cruise lines is the ability to choose the time that you disembark. You are assigned a breakfast time, but you can choose to skip it and leave the ship earlier if you wish. With most other lines, you can only leave when your luggage tag color is called. They don't give you any indication of when that might be, which means you can literally be sitting crammed in a crowded lounge with hundreds of cranky people for hours since you can't wait in your stateroom. We've done four Royal Caribbean cruises, and disembarkation was the most miserable part of every one of them.

Disney prevents crowds by staggering the breakfast times. That way, people naturally disembark in manageable groups. The ones who choose to skip the meal still trickle out at different times, so that doesn't affect things much.

We always skip breakfast because at the end of a cruise we don't want to look at food any time soon! That was particularly true after a 14 day sailing. We showered, did our final packing, and headed down to deck 3. Since we were coming back from European ports, I wondered if that would have any effect on the customs process. Apparently that doesn't slow it down, as there was no line to leave at all. We joined the little trickle of people heading down the gangway and into the luggage area. We got a porter to assist with our mountain of bags, and she maneuvered them over to the customs counter.

There were only a handful of people waiting, so before I knew it we were presenting our passports and declaration form. The agent scrutinized it, asked me a few questions, and waved us through. We were now “officially” back in America after our two-week soujourn.

With our luggage stacked in the pick-up area, we waited for our ride. We had gotten out nearly half an hour early, so I enjoyed people-watching as the time slowly ticked by. Why does it move like molasses when you're waiting for something like a ride home, yet whiz by like a NASCAR champ when you are onboard the ship?

Finally 8 a.m. arrived, as did our ride. As I watched the port and the Disney Magic recede from view through the car windows, I realized that my vacation was really and truly over. It was a melancholy feeling; I missed my “home” of the past two weeks and the carefree feeling of having an array of activities to choose from, being served delicious meals, and then returning to a magically cleaned stateroom. How could I sleep tonight without candies and a towel animal on my bed?! But I was happy about being reunited with my cats, seeing my friends again, finding out the latest gossip in town, and being able to touch base with my clients on both the travel and the counseling side.

It really wasn't all that bad anyway, as I could reassure myself with the comforting thought that cruise #59 was coming up in October, and that we'd be capping the year with #60 in December. The only think I'm worried about is that after being spoiled by a two-week trip, how will I ever adapt back to my usual four-day routine?!

Trip Report #39: The Wrath of Hurricane Frances

2004-09-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

My husband and I have sailed every year during hurricane season since 1998 with no problem, so I guess it was inevitable that our luck would run out. We like the bargain basement rates that you can get if you are willing to gamble on the weather. We had also never missed Castaway Cay in 38 trips; as a matter of fact, we were on the last Wonder cruise where guests were able to disembark on the island before Hurricane Floyd wreaked its havoc. With all of the cruising we do, I knew that eventually our lucky streak would end.

Cruise #39, on September 9, marked the end of that streak. It was the very first time that we ever personally experienced the disruptions that hurricane season can cause, including a change of embarkation port and missing Castaway Cay. While it was not the most pleasant of vacations, it was interesting to personally experience the challenges. I enjoy being able to report on new and unique things in my trip reports, and now I can speak from firsthand experience about the risks of sailing during hurricane season.

Actually, we avoided the worst of the problems. A few weeks back, Hurricane Charley roared through Florida, followed closely by his slow moving sister, Frances. Between the two of them, they wreaked a lot of havoc in the Sunshine State. It is rare for hurricanes to hit the inland areas, like Orlando/Kissimmee, with much force, but Charley beat the heck out of that area. Frances followed a couple weeks later, beating up on the Disney area (although not as hard as her “brother”) after causing extensive damage in the Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral area.

Due to the weather, both the Magic and Wonder had to abruptly lengthen their cruises. The 8/28 sailing of the Magic went from seven to ten days, and the 9/2 Wonder three day cruise was extended into five. On the surface, being stuck on a cruise ship might sound like a fun and exciting prospect. In reality, people have jobs that they must go home to, children waiting with babysitters, and other responsibilities that don’t stop just because of a storm. With the weather so unpredictable, no one could tell them definitively when they would be able to leave and where they would disembark. Satellite communication was disrupted, making it difficult to stay in touch with people back home. All in all, it was a worst-case hurricane season scenario.
The Magic made a stop in Galveston, Texas, for fuel and supplies, and eventually both ships were able to dock at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (about four hours from Orlando). I can only imagine the mass confusion as people tried to change their flights to leave from the new location or to get back to Orlando International. The Magic’s next cruise was abbreviated to four days, and the 9/5 sailing of the Wonder was cancelled.

I half-suspected that our 9/9 sailing would be cancelled. I already knew that Castaway Cay was out of the picture, since the hurricane parked almost directly over it for a few hours. That wouldn’t be reason enough to scrap the cruise, as itineraries are not guaranteed and can easily be changed if needed. But with Port Canaveral still closed, I couldn’t believe that we would be expected to make a four hour trek to the ship. That would chew up a good part of embarkation day, not to mention the logistics of checking in passengers at a different port.
Surprise, surprise! It turns out that Disney did, indeed, decide to send the 9/9 cruise out of Port Everglades. Normally I would be happy, but the idea of that long journey to a different port was less than appealing.

My husband and I had been scheduled to fly to Florida the Friday before our cruise. We planned to stay in Celebration for the week, meeting up with some friends from New Jersey and enjoying the off season at the parks. Then we would link up with some friends from Celebration with whom we were sailing on the Wonder. In view of the chaos, we were seriously considering canceling the cruise and simply extending our stay in the Orlando area. The weather was nice, other than the typically midday Florida showers, and the parks were virtually empty. At both Universal Studio and Islands of Adventure, we never waited more than five minutes for any attraction, including the normally-crowded Spiderman and the brand-new Mummy roller coaster. After all, we already have Thanksgiving and Christmas cruises booked, plus half a dozen more in 2005, so why mess with the turmoil?

Even though Disney was providing bus transportation from Orlando and Port Canaveral to Fort Lauderdale, most of the buses were scheduled to leave quite late (as it turned out, the last ones didn’t arrive at the ship until 7:30 p.m.). A multi-hour bus ride is not the way I like to start my vacation, especially when it’s sure to be packed with bored kids who are also anxious for the trip to start and not happy to be cooped up in cramped quarters.

Also, I like to arrive at the port as early as possible. It’s so nice to get on the ship early, and the first hours of the cruise are some of the best times for me. My husband and I have a routine: have a relaxed lunch, gather all the new children’s navigators, then soak in the hot tub until safety drill time. Palo and spa reservations are also taken during this time span. It might not sound like a lot, but we are usually on board by 12:30. Even if we arrived by safety drill time, that would be almost four hours gone. The people who arrived at 7:30 lost up to seven hours of their vacation (not to mention the first night’s show and/or dinner).

I know the risks of sailing in hurricane season and that fact that cancellation is normally not possible after final payment. But due to the special circumstances (moving the departure point over 200 miles away), I assumed that the rules would be waived. After all, airlines allow you to cancel or reschedule when your flight time is moved by a certain amount of time, even if the circumstances are beyond their control. We weren’t sure yet what we wanted to do, but I wanted to know our options before we talked to our friends. Surely Disney had relaxed their policy…right?

Wrong! The agent I spoke with curtly informed me that my friends and I would forfeit the whole cost of our cruises if we cancelled! Not just a minor penalty…the WHOLE cost of the cruises! I couldn’t believe that she didn’t at least offer to let us reschedule (goodness knows I have plenty of future reservations to which I could have transferred the money). But no, she insisted that we’d lose all our money, so we might as well sail. Then she wanted to know which bus we would be taking to Port Everglades. Obviously we wanted the earliest one (we could easily go to any resort from Celebration), but she didn’t have that information. Eventually she said we could leave from the Grand Floridian at 11:30 a.m. (putting us at the port around 3:30 p.m….ugh!). It didn’t sound appealing, but she insisted that we make a choice, so I said we’d leave from there.

I called our friends, and they were still game to cruise, so we decided to grin and bear it. But the idea of riding the bus was just as unappealing to them as to us. One of them is in a wheelchair, so being trapped in a cramped seat would have been even worse for her. Instead, they suggested that we do a one-way car rental to Fort Lauderdale and leave as early as possible Thursday morning.

A bit of quick internet research revealed that Thrifty Car Rental is close to Port Everglades and has a free shuttle. They also have a location right across the street from Celebration, so I called to see what type of vehicles were available. They had a Jeep Cherokee for around $35; that would allow us to leave when we wanted and give us plenty of room to sit in comfort and stash the wheelchair and luggage.

On Thursday morning, we hit the road around 8:30 a.m. According to the maps we consulted, looked like an easy drive, mainly all on expressways. Better yet, all tolls were waived in Florida because of hurricane evacuations, so we saved the $11 it would have normally cost us.
Even with a couple of stops, we arrived at Thrifty by 12:30. The agent checked us in, loaded us into the van, and we were on the way to the port within minutes. For anyone who ever sails out of Port Everglades and wants to do a one-way rental, I highly recommend Thrifty. They are conveniently located right at the entrance to the port, and there are plenty of gas stations to top off the car’s gas tank before you drop it off.

It took a few minutes to locate the Wonder, which was not listed on any of the signs. The shuttle drove around while we all gaped out the windows, and finally we spotted the familiar red smokestacks poking up off to the right, in slot 25. It was so surreal to see my sea-faring “home” in such different surrounding. Port Everglades is much different than Port Canaveral with a very industrial look. It is surrounded by buildings, with the city skyline nearby and air traffic constantly coming and going overhead from the nearby airport. That’s a sharp contrast to Port Canaveral, which is pretty much by itself.

Once we found the ship, the van was able to drop us off right at the entrance to the terminal. We were among the first to arrive, so we dropped off our luggage, zipped through the security check, and headed to the check-in area. Disney had transported the Port Canaveral porters and terminal crew all the way to Fort Lauderdale, and it was so nice to see familiar faces in such alien surroundings.

The terminal was very different from the elegant Disney-designed Art Deco building. It was industrial-looking, with wide, open space like a warehouse. It wasn’t at all crowded, since the buses hadn’t started arriving yet, but Disney had set up nearly as many check-in posts as they normally have back at Port Canaveral. Unfortunately, the computer system wasn’t working, so everything had to be done manually. It wasn’t bad with just a handful of people checking in, but I can’t even imagine what it was like when all the buses started pulling in.

Once we had checked in and said hello to many of our friends, we headed outside to board. Normally you go down a gangway, have your photo snapped, and embark in the deck 3 atrium. You walk in on the plush carpeting, with the beautiful glass sculpture overhead and the statue of Ariel on your left, as the cruise staff announces your family name. It’s a very elegant way to start your trip.

But this time around, the embarkation photo was snapped outside, and then you headed onto the ship via deck 1. It felt very strange to see the cruise staff lined up to greet everyone in front of the elevators in the hallway by the medical center! It definitely lacked the pomp of the usual embarkation, but they did the best they could under difficult circumstances.

Actually, I was anxious to get our embarkation photo because it was really one of a kind. We have a wide variety of them, taken over the years, with different backdrops and styles. But none can compare to standing outside at Port Everglades! Later in the cruise, we also got a nice shot with Captain Mickey and a good group shot with our friends in Palo. I recommend taking as many photo opportunities as you can, since you are under no obligation to purchase the photos. It’s a lot of fun to stop by Shutters and see how they turned out. I was hoping to get a picture with Lilo and Stitch (I got one with Stitch alone a couple cruises ago, but I am still stalking Lilo). Unfortunately, due to all of the itinerary confusion, the 7-PALS line wasn’t updated so I didn’t find out about their appearance until it was over. Normally, dialing 7-PALS from your stateroom phone is a great way to find out who is appearing where and when.

By this time, it was 1 p.m., and all the staterooms were ready (I’m sure they had actually been ready for several days due to the previous cancelled cruise). We headed up to good old 5650, my home away from home. I tried my door key…red light. My husband tried his…red light again. A green light means that the door has unlocked. Red means that you can’t get in. After a few more futile attempts, I called Guest Services and was told to bring the cards down to be recoded. My husband did that chore while I stayed by the door with our day bags. Our friends, who were staying one deck up in 6654 (a handicap accessible stateroom) had the same problem, as did countless other people. It must have been one of the effects of the impromptu check-in system.

Once we were inside, we ditched our bags and headed down to Parrot Cay for lunch. We hadn’t eaten any breakfast, since we wanted to get an early start on the drive to Port Everglades, and we knew that there would be no lack of food over the next three days. My husband waited for our friends outside the restaurant while I headed off to Wavebands, where Palo reservations were being taken. The Navigator mentioned that there would be a brunch, but unfortunately not enough people signed up for it (they probably didn’t realize that there was one; it happens only on the four day, but of course our Castaway Cay stop had turned into a day at sea). I chatted with my friend Ali for a bit, marveling at the small number of people popping in to make reservations. It was very apparent that most of the guests had not arrived yet.

Back at the restaurant, everyone had grabbed some lunch and a table. I got a plate and took my usual selection of salads and some freshly carved meat. This time around it was ham (sometimes it is beef or lamb), and it was very good…lean and flavorful. I also took some cold strawberry soup, which I tend to eat for dessert. It’s a lot like a smoothie in a bowl. I hadn’t intended to get anything from the dessert table, but I was tempted by the chocolate mousse, topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. I enhanced it with some marshmallows from the ice cream table.

While we were dining, we saw our friend Chef Vinnie from Jamaica. We met him quite a while back, when he was the chef in Animators Palate and gave one of the cooking demonstrations. If you are on a four or seven day cruise, I highly recommend the “Art of Entertaining” classes. At the cooking class, you get to taste the dish (at the one we attended, it was delicious scallops), and you even get a little taste of wine to accompany it. Vinnie works in Parrot Cay now, so we had a few minutes to chat with him.

After lunch, we all headed over to the spa. Prior to the cruise, I had plotted out a pretty full spa schedule, but I had left some time open in case Palo brunch was added on the sea day. Since the brunch was cancelled, I decided to slip in another treatment. My friends are spa people too, and of course my husband is just as bad as I am, so between us we planned three days full of decadent treatments.

Normally the spa is quite crowded, but because of the delays in transportation, there was only handful of people. I noticed that there is no longer a charge for the exercise classes; they used to be free, but a charge was instituted a couple of months back. I was glad to see that they’re back to being free, as I enjoy the yoga classes. There is normally an early morning yoga session on Castaway Cay; of course, that wouldn’t be happening this time, but I will be looking forward to it in November.

When Floyd rampaged over Castaway Cay a few years back, it totally destroyed the dock and caused major damage to the buildings and equipment. The island was out of commission for many long weeks. Disney did an admirable job of restoring it, but my husband and I knew it so well from previous visits that changes and remnants of the destruction were still apparent.
This time around, we were told that most of the damage was cosmetic. Due to the cancelled cruise, the ship had time to go to Castaway Cay, and virtually every crew member had gone ashore to start the restoration. They were confronted with a newly formed beach where the path from the ship to the family beach had once been. There were rocks everywhere, and Mother Nature had done what Disney was planning to do: dredged the adult beach. Thankfully, the buildings and dock were pretty much intact, so once the sand is removed from where it shouldn’t be and put back where it should, guests will be able to return to the island paradise. Hopefully that will be done within a week or two.

Once we had finalized our spa schedules, we headed off to our staterooms. Normally my husband and I spend a little time in the hot tub, but between arriving a later than usual and spending some time chatting over lunch, we realized that it was almost time for the safety drill. Our luggage had arrived, so Tony put away what he could (he is the packer/unpacker of the family), and then we trooped down to lifeboat station Q in Animators Palate, looking like mutated relatives of Spongebob in our bulky orange life vests.

At the drill, it was apparent that many, many people still had not arrived. Usually the bodies are packed in like sardines, but this time there was enough room for everyone to sit, with lots of chairs to spare. Seeing how late the buses were coming in made me happy that we had chosen to drive.

After the drill, it was time for our first spa appointment. We like to kick off our cruises lying on a massage table up on deck 9; there’s no better way to officially start your vacation. Normally, this coincides with the sailaway, but since we were still waiting for so many people, the ship remained stationary. They did blow the Mickey whistle at the traditional time, though, so I got to hear the first notes of “When You Wish Upon A Star” as I luxuriated in the bliss of a reflexology treatment.

Reflexology is very similar to a foot massage, but the masseuse works on the pressure points of your feet. I love having my feet massaged (actually, I love any sort of massage), and I usually schedule this treatment on the afternoon of Castaway Cay day. The returning cruisers party usually starts at 5:15, and I like to spend as much time on the island as possible. If I schedule a regular massage before the party, I have to allow enough time to wash my hair, which gets yucky from the massage oil. With reflexology, I can pretty much go right from the treatment to the party, since they only work on your feet. You don’t even have to get undressed, so it’s good for shy people too.

But with Castaway Cay being a sea day, I decided to schedule a couple of more intensive treatments on Saturday and flip the reflexology to Thursday. I was quite exhausted from waking up early and driving for four hours, so it was like Heaven. I kept drifting off to sleep. It was absolutely wonderful, but the time went by too quickly, and soon enough I had to peel my comatose body off the table and return to my stateroom to get ready for the show.

The first night is usually kicked off with “Hercules,” a live vaudeville-style production based on the cartoon. If you’ve never seen the movie, it won’t make as much sense and you’ll miss some of the inside jokes. But it’s funny in a very corny sort of way, and Hades, Pain, and Panic always steal the show. This was a brand-new cast (this was actually their cruise performing for guests), so I was anxious to see how well they would do. We usually cruise enough to see the casts at the beginning of their contract and then again towards the end, and I love to see how well they come together as their time on board progresses.

The theater was pretty much deserted, so we decided to sit down front. Typically, we either like to sit all the way in the front or all the way in the back; we’re extreme show viewers. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the cast did, and I enjoyed seeing the twists incorporated by the new Hades/Pain/Panic team. Although the show is scripted, it allows some leeway for the cast to add some improv. The best part is towards the end, when Hades reads the top five things he must do to rule the cosmos. I guarantee that you will laugh! You will also enjoy the antics of the fifth moose/muse.

After the show, it was time to get ready for dinner. Beforehand, we decided to watch as much of the sailaway as possible. At 8 p.m., there was activity near the ropes. It was quite a unique site, as night had descended, and the Fort Lauderdale skyline provided a postcard backdrop of twinkling lights. We watched as the ship was untethered, and it backed slowly out of the dock. The verandah of 5650 provided a perfect vantage point. Unfortunately, it was dinner time, so we couldn’t watch the ship turn and head out to the ocean. Instead, we headed down one deck to Animators Palate.

Most of the restaurants are located aft: Palo is on deck 10, Beach Blanket Buffet is on 9, Animators is on 4, and Parrot Cay is on three. This makes them very convenient to my favorite stateroom. There is even a “secret” back stairway just outside of 5650 that will take you all the way up to the buffet. It’s handy for grabbing a quick snack or bringing breakfast or lunch down to enjoy on your verandah. The only restaurant that is in a different location is Triton’s, which is midship on deck 3.

We met up with our friends, as we had linked our reservations so we could dine together. Our server was Richard from Chile, with his sidekick Laszlo from Hungary, and they had us in stitches throughout the cruise. Animators Palate features a show, but it was nothing compared to the dinner theater performed by our dining team. I laughed so hard that my face actually hurt! Our head server was our old friend Rita from Brazil, so we were in excellent hands.
The look of the menus has changed, and Animators Palate has to be the best. They are hardbound with a little cartoon on the front that actually appears to move when you tilt the menu. There are three different ones, although my favorite was the Lion King. The menus are much more elegant and remind me of the early days of Disney Cruise Line.

I selected a variety of appetizers for my dinner. The seafood wrap at Animators is one of the best food items on board, and I love goat cheese so the duck-and-goat-cheese flatbread is an old favorite. That’s the great thing about a cruise ship. You can mix and match your food items any way you want and order as much as you want. It’s a great opportunity to try something new because you can always exchange it if you don’t like it. My very first experience with escargot was on the Disney Magic, at the urging of a server. Turns out I actually liked it! It tastes like mushrooms drowned in garlic butter.

The dining room was less populated than usual. Overall, this cruise felt a bit like “Voyage of the Ghost Ship,” as there were less than 2000 people on board. I don’t know if they altered the cancellation policy or people just couldn’t get there, but the crowd was definitely light. Oddly enough, the adult pool was packed every single day. Usually, the family pools do a booming business, while there are only a handful of people scattered in the adult area. This time, a lot of people must have left the kids at home, as the adult hot tubs were always backed with bodies, and the pool was full of swimmers and loungers.

After dinner, we would have typically gone to 80s Night, but my husband and I were exhausted from the long journey to the port. We said goodnight to our friends and crashed into bed. Oddly enough, this was the only time I’ve ever had noisy neighbors in 5650. It’s so far off the beaten path that it’s rare for anyone to pass it by, and there are no staterooms across the hall. The peace, quiet, and isolation are a big part of the reason why it’s my favorite. But this time, I could hear people talking loudly nearby, and they didn’t go away. I was already in my nightgown and to lazy to open the door to locate and glare at them, so I just turned on my white noise machine. Problem solved! Soon I was drifting into Disney dreams.

I never figured out which stateroom the yakkers were in or why they were out in the hall so much, although I did hear them throughout the cruise. That is very unusual in 5650, but I bring the white noise machine anyway. I felt sorry for the people closer to the head of the hallway, as there was a little boy outside banging on the door of one stateroom almost every time we passed. I don’t think he ever brought his key (or maybe his parents confiscated it so he couldn’t run up charges). My husband noticed that he had a sibling who delighted in leaving him out there pounding while she refused to answer the door or taunted him and then slammed it. That’s why I loved my far-aft home…there is only a stateroom on one side, and no one across the hall, which greatly reduces your chances of being near the Family from Hell.

I had pre-ordered breakfast, which served the dual purpose of acting as a wake-up call and giving us a chance to enjoy some quality verandah time eating outside. You can fill out a door hanger the night before, and your order will be delivered the next morning at the time you specify. They are usually so prompt that you can set your watch by them.

By the time we woke up, the ship had docked in Nassau. Despite the hurricane damage, they were already welcoming tourists. Since Castaway Cay was not going to be in any sort of shape for guests for at least a couple of weeks, our altered itinerary had us staying in Nassau overnight. Then we would head out for a day at sea on Saturday. Our port of disembarkation was still up in the air, although I was rooting for Port Canaveral. We couldn’t make a car reservation, since we didn’t know where we’d be, so we were planning to take the Disney bus. After hearing horror stories of the infamous four-hour ride from other guests, we were none too keen on experiencing it ourselves.

We always pretend that Nassau is a day at sea, so we had booked our typical spa treatments. For me, it was a hot stone massage, while Tony had his usual seaweed wrap. We also spent some quality verandah time and hole up in the Tropical Rainforest for a while. The Rainforest was nearly deserted, which surprised me, but I didn’t mind as that meant I had no trouble getting one of the four heated tile loungers. I love to curl up in them with a good book. The mild sauna and scented showers are also favorites. My husband likes the hotter steam rooms, but I have low blood pressure so I can’t handle those for too long. The mild sauna is just the right temperature for me to relax without getting light headed.

We met out friends for lunch at Beach Blanket Buffet. Normally I like to eat inside, in the air conditioning, but the weather was very pleasant so we opted to dine al fresco. The buffet has a nice selection of salads, main courses, and best of all, free soda. Disney recently introduced no-cost soda at the buffet and the deck 9 beverage station. Although I prefer iced tea, the free pop is a boon to families with soda-drinking kids or people who can’t live without their Coke or Sprite. They also upgraded the iced tea in the table-service restaurants from the Nestea swill that comes out of a tap to the fresh-brewed kind. But oddly enough, we were served tap iced tea at lunch in Parrot Cay on Saturday. I can tell the difference the moment the first drop touches my tongue. Oh well, it’s nice to get the real stuff most of the time. If your tastes are adventurous, you might want to try one of the flavored hot teas over ice. Back when tap tea was the standard, I used to get the hot stuff in either black currant or mint and pour it over a glass of ice for a real taste treat.

That night’s show was “The Golden Mickeys,” which is my favorite. My husband still prefers “Disney Dreams,” and I’ll admit that it’s a wonderful show. We’ve seen it over 40 times, since we’ve caught it twice on some cruises that have had an afternoon matinee, and I never get tired of it. But “Golden Mickeys” could have been written based specifically on my taste. It has my favorite Disney character (Stitch), my favorite villains (Ursula and Cruella), and one of my favorite Disney movie songs (“Son of Man” from Tarzan). Add in the tribute to Walt, the adorable Snow White number with the kids playing dwarves and the “Lion King” number that always reminds me of the Broadway play and you have a winner.

There are many other songs and movies represented, including “Sleeping Beauty,” “Mulan,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Lady and the Tramp,” “Pocahontas,” and “Toy Story.” You may wonder how they fit all this into less than an hour…picture a series of rapid-fire Cliff Notes-version numbers. The cast was excellent, and my only complaint was that, as always, it was over much too quickly.

We were scheduled to dine in Palo that night, so after the show we hurried back to our stateroom to change from our vacation “uniform” of t-shirts and shorts to something a little more formal. Actually, I usually wear jeans rather than shorts to the theater because it tends to be quite cold. The attire on Disney Cruise Line tends to be quite casual, especially on the Wonder. But my husband and I enjoy dressing up for dinner, especially when we’re eating at Palo. It adds to that “special occasion” atmosphere.

Although I have favorite items in all of the restaurants on Disney’s ships, Palo is definitely a step above. It has its own galley where the food is made to order, just like in a land-based restaurant. In addition to the usual menu items, there are always one or two specials to tempt you and make your decision all the harder.

We were dining with our friends, and one of them comes from an Argentinean family. Coincidentally, our waiter Marcello was from Argentina, as was the chef. Needless to say, there was immediate bonding, and the chef, Christian, whipped us up a batch of chimichurri sauce. It is primarily meant to be eaten on beef, but I discovered that it was wonderful on my cod, too. It is very heavy on garlic, which I absolutely adore. Between the never-ending appetizers and my main course (the cod was one of the specials of the day), it was a challenge to save room for dessert. But there’s no way I would ever miss that famous Palo chocolate soufflé. My husband is not as big of a chocoholic as I am, so he opted for the pistachio tart. The panna cotta is good, too, but for me the soufflé is the ultimate. Normally it is topped with both chocolate and vanilla sauce, but lately I’ve been opting for vanilla only. It provides a pleasant counterpoint to the richness of the soufflé.

By the time we were done working our way through all the courses and chatting, it was too late to make the “Match Your Mate” show. Our friends were still game for partying, so they headed off to Route 66, but my husband and I were ready for bed. After all, we had to rest up for a another big day of spa appointments, shows, and eating!

Normally Saturday would be Castaway Cay day, but for the first time in 39 cruises we were going to miss the island. I think it was a lot easier knowing that in advance. I can only imagine the disappointment when the ship can get close to the island but cannot dock because of the wind or wave conditions. That almost happened to us last November, but somehow the captain managed to get the ship in. It would have been so sad if he’d had to give up after trying so hard. This time, we already knew that there was no possible way the hurricane-damaged island would be ready for us. Our sadness was tempered by the fact that at least there was no major damage to the dock or structures, and we were looking forward to the additional activities that we knew would be planned for our impromptu sea day.

Sure enough, our Navigator listed all sorts of fun things to look forward to the next day. There was a cooking demonstration, galley tours, “The Making of the Magic and Wonder,” and even a towel animal folding class. I had two spa appointments (spa taster and seaweed wrap) that unfortunately conflicted with most of the events. But my husband was looking forward to seeing the galley and picking up towel animal information for our website. How to make towel animals is one of the most frequent questions I receive.

Once again, we planned our breakfast order as our wake-up call and drifted off to dreamland. In the morning, I was vaguely aware when we left Nassau because I could hear the thrusters, but then I drifted back to sleep until the food arrived. Even though it was somewhat sad not to be at Castaway Cay, I was pleased to have extra time to enjoy the verandah. On a three-night cruise, I typically have to slot in some time for relaxing outside, and it’s hard to fit into a rush-rush schedule when you’ve got less than 72 hours on the ship. My husband and I take three-day cruises because they allow us to maximize our vacation time, but they fly by with lightning speed.

As much as I love Castaway Cay, it sends a subliminal signal that the cruise is almost over. A day on the island is always hectic, as we try to fit in as much beach time as possible. This time, even though it was Saturday, the change in routine made it feel less like the last day. Instead of hustling, I felt so relaxed. The only thing I had to hurry for was my spa appointment at 10:30 a.m.

I had scheduled a spa taster, which consists of a 25 minute massage, followed by a mini facial. I used to get the Absolute Face and Body treatment, which is a much longer version, but the price recently went up significantly. The spa taster is a more economical way to indulge. It goes by quickly, but then again, all spa treatments do.

While I was in the spa, my husband did his workout routine. When we cruise, he is great about actually doing some physical activity to counteract the effects of so much food. And speaking of food, when my treatment was done, it was almost time for another meal. In the Navigator, we had noticed an activity called “Eat Lunch with the Cruise Staff” at 12:30 in Parrot Cay. We always enjoy chatting with the crew members and learning more about behind-the-scenes life, so it sounded like lots of fun. We headed to the buffet and loaded up our plates. It was a combination of favorites that you usually find at Cookie’s Barbecue, such as lobster burgers and ribs, combined with some other yummy options like banana rum soup.

We looked around for the cruise staff table and were a bit stymied till I noticed a familiar blue shirt. The lunch was being hosted by Linsay from Canada…and it turned out that we were the only guests who showed up! I was very surprised, but I had noticed that a lot of the activities were sparsely attended. I don’t think that people on the three-day cruise are as used to the prospect of on-board activities, whereas people expect them on the four-day, with its normal day at sea. Oh well, we spent some pleasant time chatting with Linsay about life on the Wonder.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in a combination of lazing around the Rainforest and spa treatments. Both my husband and I had scheduled seaweed wraps. Tony also managed to slot in the towel animal class and the galley tour (he especially enjoyed the oven-fresh chocolate chip cookie served to the participants at the end). Onboard activities are a rare treat for us, since we’re usually on the three-day cruise. We have no four-day trips scheduled, and we won’t be on the Magic for a week-long trip until July of 2005, when we sailed from the West Coast.

Also, this was our last chance to see the “original” Wonder. Soon it will go into dry dock and be changed to be on a par with the Magic. The teen club will be moved to where the ESPN Skybox is currently located, and Common Grounds will become the Cove Café, a coffee bar for adults. Barrel of Laughs will be come the Diversions pub. We haven’t personally seen the changes on the Magic yet, but they will be in place on the Wonder by the time we sail again in November.

The seaweed wrap is one of my all-time favorite spa treatments, although I don’t usually get more than one over the course of a three-day cruise (my husband does at least two). First they slather warm seaweed all over your body, and then they wrap you up in foil like a baked potato. You are topped with a heavy comforter and baste for a while, during which you get a scalp and foot massage. Then, after showering off, you climb back onto the table to top it all off with a massage. By the end, you feel like you’ve sweated every last toxin out of your body. Earlier in the cruise, we had recommended this treatment to our friends, and they both loved it.

“Disney Dreams” is the grand finale show on the last evening. As much as I love “The Golden Mickeys,” this one is still my husband’s favorite. Occasionally he will even admit to getting a bit moist-eyed at the end. This show has been around since the beginning (“Hercules” has, too, but the third original show, “Voyage of the Ghost Ship,” was retired a while back). It’s a totally typical Disney story of a little girl named Anne Marie who meets Peter Pan and learns how to find her own magic in order to fly. Along the way, there are songs from “Cinderella,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “The Little Mermaid,” and a powerful “Lion King” number.

The only annoyance was all the rude people who ignored the “No flash photography” announcement and flared their cameras throughout the whole show. I had noticed this at the two earlier shows, but it was downright obnoxious at “Disney Dreams.” The ones I like best are the idiots who have the cameras that strobe first, and then flash, for a double dose of annoyance. My husband often takes photos, but he is courteous and never uses the flash. In night vision mode, the pictures come out great. A while back, the cruise staff used to run herd on the worst offenders, but I haven’t seen the “No Flash Photography” rule enforced for quite a long time. I sure wish they would start up again.

After the show, my husband dragged me to “Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer” in Studio Sea. We have seen it in the Walt Disney Theater, and he was anxious to see how they adapted it as a small family show. In the scaled down version, you only have to answer five questions, and you are playing for an etched glass piece. You get two lifelines (50/50 and Ask the Audience), and even if you don’t make it, you still get a contestant pin. They really moved the show along at a good pace (one of the things I hated about the big-stage version was that, like the t.v. version, there was so much small talk and lagging). They actually managed to fit three contestants into half an hour. The first two didn’t make it all the way, and we had to leave before the third one was done in order to get ready for dinner. I was disappointed that we didn’t make it as contestants (they do it through random numbers) because I knew the answers to almost every question. Most were easy, but a few were rather tricky!

Our last night’s dinner was in Triton’s, the most elegant of the three restaurants. I really enjoy the green and blue lighting that subtly changes throughout the course of the meal. Once again, Richard and Laszlo kept us entertained, and the food was delicious. We slipped out temporarily before dessert to take photos at “’Til We Meet Again.” This event is held at 10 p.m. in the atrium. It’s a very informal photo opportunity with the characters, including people from the main stage, such as Peter Pan, Anne Marie, the Muses, Phil, Hermes, Hades, Pain, Panic, Mulan, and the Lion King singers. My all-time favorite, Stitch, is usually around, too. He used to hang out around the piano, but this time we found him up on deck 4. You can get quite a few photos with a wide variety of characters in a short amount of time if you are quick with your camera. Since the overall crowd on the ship was light, the attendance was a little less than usual. We snapped some great shots before returning to the restaurant for dessert.

We made our selections, but Richard had to bring some extra (and of course I had to taste those, too). I knew that we’d be skipping breakfast in the morning, so I figured a bit of indulgence wouldn’t hurt. By the time we were done, the 70s Party had already started, so my husband and I opted to head to our stateroom to pack. It was already pretty late, but we didn’t have to worry about putting our luggage out because we typically just keep it with us and carry it off ourselves. Our friends were ready to party, so they headed to Wavebands. I highly recommend the 70s Party; there are some fun dances, like “Car Wash,” and you’ll love the appearances by John Travolta, Gloria Gaynor, and the Village People. I always hate to miss it, but it’s rough when it’s on the last night. I wish that 80s night and 70s night could be flip-flopped, but it’s a problem logistically because the main stage dancers appear during 80s night, and on the last night they’re already busy with “Til We Meet Again.”

On disembarkation morning, we slept in a little later than usual because our friends were going to the sit-down breakfast, and we all wanted to ride the bus back to Orlando together. My husband and I rarely eat breakfast on the last morning because we’re so stuffed from the after-effects of stuffing our faces for three straight days. We were so happy to be docked at Port Canaveral. The prospect of several long hours cooped up in a bus was not my idea of the way to end such a lovely vacation. Over the years, I have gotten very spoiled with using Happy Limo or driving. This time, we would still be on a bus, but at least the ride would be mercifully short.
We sat near Guest Services, waiting for our friends and doing some people-watching to pass the time. Being a long-time student of psychology (I will complete my doctorate by the end of this year), it fascinates me to observe human and family dynamics. Real life is so much better than any movie! You can get a good snapshot of parenting styles and who is in control in a household simply by watching a few minutes of interaction.

The departing guests seemed to come in waves. For long stretches, the atrium would be empty. Then suddenly a huge crowd would descend, almost as though a silent signal had been broadcast, and there would be a line. It would clear out and remain empty until the subliminal message was broadcast again.

We ended up disembarking around 8:45 a.m. There was no line to leave the ship, and we’d all kept our luggage with us, so we didn’t have to pause to find it down in the terminal. Surprisingly, there were long lines at Customs, but they moved quickly. You should your ID and turn in your form, and hopefully you are waved through. The biggest delays are caused by the people who don’t pay attention and have the proper documents ready.

Disney’s disembarkation is a breeze compared to other cruise lines, which make you wait until they call your group. On Disney, you can linger and get off late, as we did this time. Or, if you are heading back to Disney World to visit the parks or have an early flight, you can choose to leave as soon as the ship is cleared by the authorities. It’s such a smooth, simple system. I’m amazed that other cruise lines don’t adopt it. On Royal Caribbean, disembarkation is only slightly less unpleasant than having flaming bamboo shoots stuck under your fingernails.

We were guided to a bus that was already pretty full. I didn’t mind, as that meant we wouldn’t have to wait too long to leave. But it also meant that we couldn’t find four seats together, so my husband and I split off from our friends and headed farther back. We got two seats together, but I think they were the last ones. A few more people trickled on, and I noticed that they had to split up in various parts of the bus.

It had been a long time since I’d taken Disney transportation. Years ago, they used to show a Disney Cruise Line video and Disney World trivia questions. Now, it’s just a long string of cartoons. I enjoyed that, as it kept my mind off the fact that the child in front of me was finding great amusement in playing with her “seat recline” button. How I missed riding in a private towncar! But I didn’t want to book anything with all the uncertainties surrounding where we would disembark. In November, hopefully I can book with Happy Limo for the usual Port Canaveral round trip.

Another trip was over, and goodness knows this had been a unique one. Really, our luck has been uncanny. It’s amazing that it took 39 cruises to hit one with so much disruption. This was a very unusual year; itinerary changes are fairly commonplace to avoid storms, but not cancellations. Previously, the only time Disney Cruise Line ever cancelled a cruise was during the Norwalk scare, and never before have they ever been forced to extend a cruise. I’ve always known the risks of sailing during hurricane season, and I figured that I would eventually deal with them in person. I thought they would probably involve itinerary changes, but I never considered the possibility of a changed embarkation location!

In retrospect, I guess I don’t mind that we couldn’t cancel because it turned out to be a great trip after all. However, I don’t know if I’d feel that way if we’d taken the bus and missed most of the first day on board. Oh well, the $100 credit was nice. Extra money always comes in handy for spa treatments. And I’m not letting this experience deter me…I already have reservations for the same three-day cruise next year, and I'm counting the days until #40 on Thanksgiving weekend.

If you'd like to see the "hurricane navigators," click here. Just remember that they are not representative of a typical three-day Wonder cruise.

Trip Report #38, June 2004 on the Wonder

2004-06-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

Kicking Off Cruise #38
It’s so hard to believe that we just finished Disney cruise #38, especially since we only started cruising in fall of 1998! When I tell people how many times we’ve sailed, I have to catch myself because I usually start to say something in the twenties. Thirty-some seems incredible to me, and it will be even more so when we hit 40 in November.

But it was, indeed, #38, and as usual we sailed on the Disney Wonder and stayed in stateroom 5650. This time around, since we were sailing the Thursday after Memorial Day, we combined our cruise with a visit to Disney World. The good part of doing that is the fun of an extended vacation. The bad part is that when it’s time for the cruise, it’s a melancholy excitement. I’m always excited about sailing on the Wonder, but that means the trip is almost over and I’m just one short weekend from returning to reality.

Off for a Holiday Week of Fun
But that’s getting ahead of the story, which starts the Friday of Memorial Day weekend at Midway Airport in Chicago. We typically fly ATA out of Midway. They like to shuffle their flight times around, but we’re usually on one that lands in Orlando around midnight. Even when we’re doing a cruise only, we still fly out a night early just in case of delays. Chicago is notorious for weather delays in the winter, but snow isn’t the only problem. Even in the spring and summer, we’ve been delayed by fog and thunderstorms. Being a compulsive planner, I like the extra breathing room that arriving a day ahead provides. We fly out after work, so it doesn’t even cost an extra vacation day.

We usually take Cicero Avenue straight north to the airport. There was a bit more traffic this time around, probably due to the holiday weekend, but we still got there in a respectable amount of time. We park at an offsite lot, Midway Park Savers, that is not owned by the airport. It’s right across the street from the Orange Line (train) entrance, so you can walk rather than take a shuttle bus. I am not a big fan of shuttles, and you have to walk pretty far to and from the Midway shuttle bus anyway. When you’re returning and the airport is crowded, it can be an absolute free-for-all to get on the parking shuttle buses. With Midway Park Savers, we always know they’re just a brief walk away. The only potential glitch is the chance of rain, but so far we’ve never gotten rained on either coming or going. Just in case, we pack rain ponchos; one of us would don a poncho, pick up the car, and drive over to pick up the other person and the luggage.

The weather was sunny and warm this time around. The airport had a pretty good crowd due to the holiday. We had already done online check-in, so we had our boarding passes, and we’d switched to our favorite exit row. We fly ATA so much that we know the good seats on all of their planes. We’re usually on a 757-300, which is 44 row plane that uses every bit of Midway’s short runways to take off. I would think it would be much harder to land, too, but a flight attendant once told me that it takes less space to land than a smaller 737 because of the power of the reverse thrusters.

When he did our online check-in, hubby noticed by the seat map that the plane was very full. We sat down at a table near an electrical outlet so I could do some work on my laptop while we were waiting, and we bought some dinner at the food court. Midway has really come a long way from a tiny outpost to a modern airport. While it still can’t rival O’Hare, and while its baggage service is still the pits (waiting an hour or more for your bags is not uncommon), the food court and shops are really nice. I usually get Mexican food at Lalo’s or a baked potato at Gold Coast Hot Dogs. Hubby is partial to Potbelly Sandwiches or Harry Carey’s Restaurant, and if you have sweet tooth, you can stop by Ben & Jerry’s for dessert. The bookstore is nice for some pre-flight browsing, and there are various other little shops.

The Midway Gates of Hell
We didn’t have too much time before our flight, and unfortunately we were leaving from gate A4B. Gates A4A and A4B are the worst gates in the whole airport. They are not really “gates” in the commonly accepted definition. Rather, they are an add-on that requires the walk from hell in a never-ending, narrow walkway. Personally, by the time I’ve completed the walk, I’ve wondered if I’m still really on airport property. One of the gate agents summed it up quite well: “By the time you reach the plane, you’ll be halfway to Florida.” There are some chairs in the walkway, but people usually sit outside the walkway entrance, not realizing just how far they are going to have to hike in order to board. We know the drill, so we went all the way down to the boarding area at the door of the jetway to wait.

At boarding time, the first set of rows was called, then the next set shortly thereafter, but hardly any people passed by us. That seemed odd, since we knew the plane was full. Usually, the minute boarding is announced, the crowd rises up immediately like a tidal wave of humanity engulfing the jetway entrance. Hubby surmised that the people who had been called were still in the process of walking to the gate down the never ending path. Apparently he was right, as the crowd hit a few minutes later. We never heard them call any more rows, so we figured that it had disintegrated into a free-for-all and joined the line. It’s a good thing we did, as there was no rhyme or reason to the boarding process and overhead space was at a premium. Ironically, once we were all on board, we had to wait an additional half hour for our flight crew. They had just landed on a delayed Boston flight, probably on the other side of the airport, and now they were frantically running many miles to the A4B outpost.

The flight itself was smooth and uneventful, just the way I like it. Soon enough we were touching down at Orlando International Airport to kick off our Memorial Day week vacation.

Journey to the Port
Orlando was hot an sunny, and the days sped by as we visited the theme parks and spend late afternoons at Typhoon Lagoon. All too soon, it was Thursday morning and time to head to Port Canaveral for the 38th time (actually, the 39th if you count our voyage on Sovereign of the Seas five years ago). We had arranged a 10 a.m. pickup with Happy Limo. We like to get to the port a little early so we can relax before boarding. It takes 45 minutes to an hour to get to the ship from the Disney World area and 30 to 45 minutes from the airport, depending on the traffic. From Orlando International, you can jump right onto the Bee Line (528) at the North Exit. From Disney World, you can take I-4 to 528. Once you’re on the Bee Line, it’s pretty much a straight shot, with only one split-off.

We chatted with our driver, Chris, as the miles whizzed by, and I knew that we were close when we drove over the first huge bridge. It’s always so exciting to catch your first glimpse of the ships in the distance. The terminal area wasn’t crowded yet, so we dropped off our bags with a porter and headed through the security checkpoint. You have to show identification just to get onto the terminal property, and then you go through a screening akin to the one at the airport. It actually seems to be more thorough, as they require you to boot up your laptop. Then it’s up the escalator, where crew members will make sure that you’ve filled out your documents correctly and route you to the check-in deck.

The check-in area is huge, so there is rarely much of a line. There are Castaway Club (repeat guests) and concierge check-in lines at the far right, but you can check in at any line if there is crowd at the designated desk. It was great to see all of our port friends again. We always feel like we’re being welcomed home. When we first arrived, there was only a handful of people waiting to board the ship. Then suddenly it seemed like the crowd exploded from nowhere! Soon the entire queue was filled.

There is plenty to do and see while you are waiting. The shop model is fascinating, and it’s a neat photo opportunity. You can almost always count on a character appearance by favorites such as Chip, Dale, and often even Captain Mickey himself. There are television monitors that show cartoons, but from what I’d seen, the kids are usually much too excited to watch. They seem to prefer wandering around in awe or stepping outside to look at the ship (there is a large outside area where you can smoke or just step out to get an up close and person view).

Because we sail so often, we know many of the people at the port. We saw many of our friends, including Tanya, Dorothy, Art, and Barbara. It’s always great to be greeted by old friends and familiar faces, and saying hello to everyone makes the time go even faster. We are booked on the Magic for a California cruise in 2005, and it’s going to feel strange to sail from a new port full of new people.

Time to Board
You never know exactly when boarding will start, as it depends on how quickly the ship is ready. Although it’s hard to believe, they turn over that huge vessel in something like three hours. By 9 a.m. one set of guests have departed, and by noon it’s just about time for the next set of guests to board. Boarding usually starts by 12:15, although it may be a little earlier or later. This time it was early, with people marching through the Mickey head, pausing for an embarkation photo, and then stepping onto the Wonder right around noon. We’ve gotten to know several of the Shutters photographers, so we said hello to Monika as our photo was snapped.

We headed over to Parrot Cay on deck 3 aft for lunch. The same buffet is also served on deck 9 aft, at Beach Blanket Buffet. Each one has its advantages. The biggest plus for Parrot Cay is if you are a soda drinker, as you can get soda included with your meal. Beach Blanket Buffet has a more limited beverage selection (think punch and lemonade), but you can dine outside if you prefer. We are not soda drinkers, but I discovered my first nice surprise of the trip: REAL iced tea is now served on the ship! For years, it has been the Nestea-type stuff that comes out of a tap. Some people don’t notice the difference, but to a real iced tea fan, that tap stuff is an insult. It bears about as much relation to real iced tea as instant lemonade does to fresh-squeezed.

In the past, I always requested the servers to prepare hot tea for me and then serve it over ice. Now, happily, the real thing is readily available. Oddly enough, although fresh tea was served at lunchtime in Parrot Cay and at dinnertime in Triton’s, I still received the tap stuff when I ordered iced tea on Nassau day at Triton’s for lunch. Hopefully the changeover will be complete by our next cruise, or maybe they serve the tap tea at lunch to save labor.

I like to load up on salads at lunch, while hubby focuses on the jumbo shrimp. There is always some type of fresh carved meat, and this time it was lamb (my favorite), with mint jelly on the side. I got some cold strawberry banana soup, too. There are fresh sandwiches by the soup bar, and also a kid-friendly table with items like corn dogs, macaroni & cheese, and chicken tenders. Even though it’s meant mainly for the little ones, I’ve seen more than one “big kid” partaking of the comfort food.

We were seating with a family from the DIS boards; it’s always fun to meet people in person that we’re already “met” online. As we ate, we poured over our Navigator to plot out our first day activities. The two things I highly recommend checking out immediately are the start times for Palo and spa reservations, particularly if you have very specific times and treatments in mind. If you have an infant and will want to take advantage of the onboard babysitting, you’ll want to get to Flounders Reef to make reservations for that early, too. You don’t have to worry about running frantically to the kids clubs, as every child on board is assured of a spot. But I’ve had several parents tell me that it’s a good idea to register before the safety drill because the line can get pretty bad afterwards.

That space of time before the drill is pretty much the only time you’ll need to run around or worry about anything. Once you have your reservations all made, you can kick back and relax for the rest of the trip. You probably won’t be able to go to your stateroom immediately after boarding, as they aren’t usually ready until around 1 or 1:30 p.m. That gives you plenty of time to eat, get ressies, register the kids, and generally check out the lay of the land.

When we stopped by Wavebands, where Palo ressies were being taken, we were greeted by Pietro, the manager of Palo, who we know from previous cruises. We also saw our old friend Ali, and at various times during the cruise, we saw Rita and Kapoor, two other friends from many past trips. You can tell that we like dining onboard; many of the crew members we know are associated with food!

A Dip in the Pool
I highly recommend packing swimwear in your day bag, as embarkation day before the safety drill is an excellent time to enjoy the pools. It is probably the least crowded that you will ever seem them. Hubby and I have a tradition of kicking off our cruise in the adult hot tub. This trip was no different…well, okay, maybe a little different. Usually the pool is ice cold, which is why I opt for the hot tub. But for some reason it was nice and warm this time, so hubby did laps while I paddled around. We were the first takers, but as the afternoon progressed, more people wandered over to take advantage of the nice, warm water. One rude (or maybe illiterate) person brought his young kid; when I’m in the hot tub, I like to see how long it takes a crew member to come and shag them out, but since I was in the pool, I pointed out that it was adults-only myself. They left without comment, although I suppose there wasn’t much they could say. Maybe, “Oh, we didn’t noticed the eight signs” or “But rules are for other people, not us.” I’m sure that people wouldn’t like it if the adults took over the Mickey slide, so they should be respectful of the adult areas.

Disney is very good about enforcing the rules, which is one big advantage over Royal Caribbean. On RCCL’s Voyager of the Seas, the kids rampaged from one exercise machine to another in the spa after running soaking wet out of the adult whirlpool, and the supposed adults-only pool on Radiance of the Seas was the only indoor pool. That might not sound like a big deal, except that it was an Alaskan cruise, and the kids would have frozen to death if they didn’t take over the adult pool.

On Disney, in the pools and the adult clubs I often see kids asked to leave. After we moved to the hot tubs, I even saw a group of teenagers carded at the pool. I enjoy seeing the kids onboard, but it’s great to have the option to totally get away from them for some quiet time. If you really can’t stand being around children at all, then Disney is not the right cruise for you. It is inevitable that you’re going to see lots of them on board. But if you like knowing that there are nice, peaceful, enforced adult areas, you’ll love the Wonder.

t amazes me that many parents don’t seem to consider babies as “kids.” There have been quite a few times I’ve seen people with infants be asked to leave the pool or the nightclubs. The best one had to be the people who brought their toddler to the adult beach and then left her on a chair while they went swimming. The poor kid just sat there yelling and screaming! A crew member had to wade out into the water to find the parents, and they were highly offended that they were asked to leave. It’s bad enough they didn’t abide by the adults only rule, but that poor little girl could have wandered into the water and drowned as they weren’t even within sight. Oh well, I guess it takes all kinds.

After a hot tub capper, we headed to our stateroom around 3:30 to see if our luggage had arrived so hubby (the packer of our family) could get our bags unpacked before the safety drill. He has it down to a science, and he was done by the time we heard the warning signal. We donned our life jackets and headed to Station Q in Animators Palate. All of the lifeboat stations are located on deck 4. Many of them are outside, but there are also several stations in Animators and the Walt Disney Theater. Since we are usually in stateroom 5650, we know our station quite well, and I’ve finally mastered the art of donning and tightening the life jacket. The drill only takes about 15 minutes. They start off by taking attendance, and then you see a demonstration of how to use the life jacket and hear an announcement about emergency procedures. Then you are dismissed and join the rest of the salmon. For me, once I’m out of there, I know that my vacation has officially begun.

It’s Spa Time
Hubby and I have sailed so often that we don’t usually go to the sailaway party anymore. Sometimes we enjoy sailaway from our verandah, but more commonly we like to book spa appointments for right after the drill. This time around, I had booked a hot rock massage and hubby had booked a seaweed wrap. The seaweed has been around for as long as I can remember, and it’s a favorite for both hubby and I. The hot rock treatment is new to the Wonder, although I’ve had it a few times at a spa near my home. I was anxious to try it, although a little apprehensive about the boost in the treatment prices. They had gone up quite a bit since our last sailing, so we decided we’d do one more spa-heavy cruise and then probably cut back a little on our next trip. I was looking forward to trying the treatment that replaced the Absolute Face & Body, but at over $200 vs. $144 for the old AF&B, it probably won’t be a regular thing.

We headed up to the spa to join the second-wave crowd. Usually there are a lot of people waiting when it first opens to take appointments, typically around 1 p.m. The second wave arrives right after the safety drill, waiting anxiously for the doors to reopen at 4:30 p.m. There are people who already have treatments booked, as well as a large number who are still hoping to make appointments.

Soon enough we had checked in, filled out our consultation sheets, and were ready for our treatments to begin. I just love lying in a semi-coma on a massage table when I heard the ship’s whistle and feel the movement begin. The spa is all the way forward, so you always hear those notes of “When You Wish Upon a Star” announcing that your voyage has begun.

The hot rock treatment was excellent, and hubby loved his seaweed wrap (but of course he always does). In a hot rock massage, the heated stones are used to give the massage, and several are also placed on various parts of your body. It is so warming and soothing that I had to struggle not to fall asleep. The masseuse performs some traditional massage as well. Back on land, I’ve had his type of treatment done with both hot and cold stones (actually, the cold is frozen marble), but all hot is my preference.

Hercules the Muse-ical
I emerged in a blissful state of relaxation, and I could have easily taken a nap, but it was almost showtime. The first night’s show was “Hercules,” which I’ve seen countless times, although not as many as “Disney Dreams.” Herc is a lot of corny fun that makes the most sense if you’ve seen the movie. Even if you haven’t, you can still appreciate it, but you might get somewhat lost in the plot. For me, it never becomes boring because there are many opportunities for ad libbing, so the cast is able to have fun with the show. We have seen various casts, and each new set of actors adds their own touch. I also like seeing how the same cast evolves over the course of their contract. We saw this group in April, on our Easter cruise, and it was amazing to see how much they have added.

Basically, this show is a Cliff Notes version of the movie “Hercules,” done in a vaudeville style. The only big thing missing from the movie is Pegasus (he makes a brief appearance in the beginning, and you see him at the very end on the Magic, but not the Wonder). Other than that, it’s amazing how they worked in so much material from the movie. The jokes are silly, but they still make me laugh. Originally I wasn’t fond of this show, but over time it grew on me, and now I always look forward to it.

I think that the best part is the interplay between Hades, Pain, and Panic. Hades was funny in the cartoon, but in the stage version, he is even more like a wicked stand-up comedian, and Pain and Panic are his two foils who totally steal the show. With each new cast, Hades often gets new jokes, but some remain the same. My favorite is the big finale, when he is cast into the River of Death and he says, “It’s warm…must be the kiddie pool.”

Chow Time
We were on late seating dinner, as usual. Since we come from Chicago, 8 p.m. is like 7 p.m. to us, and we like not feeling rushed before dinnertime. The shows are arranged around the dining times so that guests who eat early see the show after dinner, and those who eat late see the show beforehand. The shows last about an hour, so if you are on the late seating, you will have plenty of time to get ready after the entertainment.

We were scheduled to start off in Triton’s, which is the most formal of the three restaurants. That worked well for us, since Mickey and Minnie were out for formal portraits. Hubby donned a jacket and tie and I donned a dress so we could get a portrait taken before eating. The pictures are taken near the front of the restaurant, so it was nice and convenient.

We were at table 21, which was a table for eight. I know that some people don’t like eating with others, but hubby and I love to meet new people on the cruise. We eat alone every day back home, so we like to dine and chat with others onboard the ship. Our table mates were two couples from South Carolina (not traveling together…it just worked out that way) and a mother and daughter from Georgia, originally from Jamaica. The two couples were celebrating wedding anniversaries, and the little girl was celebrating her birthday. I could have embarrassed hubby by revealing that he would be celebrating his 50th birthday at the end of the month, but I didn’t because our November cruise is perilously close to my 40th and I didn’t want to take a chance at retaliation.

Our tablemates were all great fun, and I was sorry that we would be at Palo on Friday night because the two South Carolina couples were both eating at Palo on Saturday and the mother and daughter were going to try to move to early seating, which means we would be alone on the last night. I would love to have fun tablemates like them on a weeklong cruise. Three nights goes by so quickly; just when you’re all getting to know each other, it’s over. If you do Palo one night, that makes it all the shorter.

Our head server was Michelle, who we know from several previous cruises. Our server was Richard from Chile. We had never had him before, but kept the whole table in stitches with his stories. He kept trying to convince us all that he and Michelle were married. I had camembert cheese and vichyssoises (cold potato soup) for my appetizers, duck for my entrée, and the white chocolate domes for dessert. It was a hard choice, as one of the vegetarian entrees, a vegetable curry, nearly lured me away from my original choices.

Crashing Early
On our first night, we often crash early to build up energy for the rest of the cruise. We used to go to the 80s party, but we stopped when they removed the Michael Jackson dance numbers. The dances, performed by the main stage cast, are the best part of the party. We heard later that the numbers have been restored, but we didn’t know that on Thursday night so we headed for our stateroom after dinner with sleep on our minds.

There were a pair of towel swans waiting for us, as well as a huge supply of shampoo (I’d warned our stateroom host, Emy, about my hair washing obsession when cruising…my hair is usually either oily from the spa, full of chlorine from the pool, or salty from the ocean, so I spend a lot of time in the shower). Before we crashed, I ordered room service for the next morning. There are door hangers in each stateroom from which you can order continental breakfast to be delivered at a specified time the next day. We typically use breakfast as our wake-up call, as they are great about showing up right on time, and sometimes even a little early. If I didn’t have a verandah, I would probably just eat in a restaurant, but eating outside on your balcony in the sea air is such a perfect way to kick off the day. The room service staff on the Wonder is excellent.

I also called 7-PALS, which is the character appearance hotline. I am obsessed with getting a photo with Lilo and Stitch, but the timing is always off. They always seem to be out when we’re at the spa or have to be somewhere else. I did get a photo at Til We Meet Again a few trips back, but I’ve been itching for a nice photo from Shutters. I was in luck: Stitch would be in the atrium at 9:45 on Friday morning, although there was no mention of Lilo. Since breakfast was coming at 9 a.m., I figured I could eat, grab a quick shower, and rush down to deck three for a picture.

As we prepared for bed, hubby realized that he’d forgotten my white noise machine. It is an invaluable marriage saving tool when you are married to a snorer, and it also drowns out hallway and neighbor sounds. Happily, one of the assets of 5650 is that it is located so far aft that there is virtually no hallway traffic. There is no one across the hall, and it’s very rare for anyone to walk by unless they are totally lost. There are staterooms overhead, but for some reason I’ve never heard noise from our upstairs neighbors while in that room. With no extraneous noise, the only thing I had to worry about was snoring. Hubby has lost 50 pounds, so that problem has cut down quite a bit. As long as I was able to keep him on his stomach, he was quiet.

“Sea Day” in Nassau
Whenever we sail on the Wonder, we stay on the ship and pretend that Nassau is a day at sea. If you have never been there, I recommend that you disembark and look around, but if you’ve seen it once, you probably know that you won’t be missing too much if you just stay on board. It happened to be a holiday, so the stores were all closed anyway, although the street vendors, straw market, and hair braiders were out in full force.

We woke up to the room service knock and went outside to enjoy our breakfast in the sunshine. The weather was perfect, sunny and not too hot, and we had an unobstructed view because there were no cruise ships next to us. All that was nearby on our side was a Coast Guard sailboat. Although I’ve seen the Coast Guard in Nassau many times, I’ve never seen them on a vessel with sails before. We finished up, took quick showers, and headed down to the atrium. Stitch had just come out when we arrived, so we joined the line and got some really neat shots. He loves to ham it up for the camera, as well as to throw the occasional autograph book. I was pleased at the prospect of finally having a professional photo with my favorite character; I couldn’t wait to visit Shutters later to see how the shots had turned out.

On the way back to our stateroom, we passed the Buena Vista Theater and saw that “Home on the Range” would be starting in half an hour. We’ve never seen it, so we decided to give it a go. It was cute, but definitely no “Lilo and Stitch.” I remember reading a review in which the writer stated that it was okay, but more like that quality of a made-for-television special than a feature film. That didn’t make sense to me at the time, but it did once I saw the movie. It was cute, but in an uninspired way. It had none of the evil humor that made “Lilo and Stitch” my favorite, nor did it have the impact of a classic like “The Lion King.” I also hated the digital animation, which made it resemble a diorama. Cartoons should either be all traditional, like “Lilo” (yes, I know there were some digital parts, but it’s the closest thing to classic animation I’ve seen lately) or all totally, unmistakably digital like “Shrek.” Using digital effects in traditional animation looks really cheesy. I cringe every time I see that phony-looking water in the opening of “Tarzan,” or worse yet, the digital hydra in “Hercules.” I have nothing against digital effects, but I think the two mediums need to be kept separate unless there is a compelling reason to combine them.

Okay, enough of my tirade. The movie wasn’t a favorite, but at least it gave us a few laughs. It’s nice to be able to see Disney movies on the ship, especially considering what you’d pay in the theater on land. We don’t usually go to the movies on board because they generally don’t fit into our schedule, but this time around it was too convenient to pass up.

After the movie, we headed to Triton’s for lunch. I enjoy their Hawaiian salad, which is not on the menu but which they invariably offer, along with made-to-order pasta. The menu items are good, too, particularly the pumpkin curry soup. The salad has pineapple in it, and I like to add maraschino cherries. Everything at lunch was delicious, but as I mentioned earlier, I was surprised to discover that the iced tea at Triton’s was the tap stuff. Other than that, everything was delicious. Hubby and I were still somewhat full from breakfast, so we skipped dessert.

More Spa Treatments
Next, we spent some quality verandah time before our spa appointments. Hubby managed to fit in some exercise before his appointment, but I was lazy and curled up outside on a chair with a paperback. The exercise room is free to use, and the treadmills are especially neat because they look down onto the bridge. There used to be free exercise classes, too, but now there is a charge of $10 for most of them. Although I enjoy the yoga on Castaway Cay, I wouldn’t do it now that there is a charge. I belong to a health club back home, so I can take plenty of yoga and other classes when we get back ashore.

My treatment was the Absolute Spa Ritual, which has replaced the Absolute Face & Body. I was anxious to try something new but a little amazed at the price (over $237 as opposed to $144). I doubt I’ll be doing it every cruise, but I figured that one indulgence wouldn’t hurt. In the future, I might switch to Ladies Morning, which is similar to the old AF&B and which costs around $125. Hubby had a hot rock massage, which he was really looking forward to after hearing how much I’d enjoyed it on Thursday.

The Absolute Spa Ritual was very pampering. It involves a massage and a Japanese silk facial, which is different from the facial in the AF&B. It is such a luxurious treatment. My only reservation is the price, but if you really want to spoil yourself, it is a great way to do it. I always love a massage, and the facial left my skin baby soft and glowing. Hubby reported that he really enjoyed his hot rock massage, too.

The Golden Mickeys
The Friday evening show was “The Golden Mickeys,” which is my favorite. Hubby still insists that “Disney Dreams” is better, but for some reason I prefer the new kid on the block. We were on board for the premiere of “The Golden Mickeys” in September of 2003, and I fell for it instantly. The show uses an awards show format, with a character named Ensign Benson as the unlikely and reluctant hostess. It is so fast paced, and it includes many of my favorite songs, such as “Son of Man” from “Tarzan,” and “Cruella De Vil,” as well as an appearance by Elvis Stitch. It’s always a riot to watch Rhona Rivers interviewing people as they enter the theater. Some of the things the kids come up with are priceless.

I love the musical numbers, but my favorite part is the beginning, when Roy Disney himself talks about his Uncle Walt’s background as classic footage flashes on the screens. Disney cartoons and movies are great, but I always enjoy biographical material on how it all began. Sure, it was all started by a mouse, but I like to see homage paid to the genius who invented that world-famous rodent. I love the statue of Walt and Mickey in the Magic Kingdom, and I have lots of artwork with the two of them together and a copy of the statue “Partners” gracing my family room. The sequence about Walt never ceases to make me misty eyed.

We sat in the second row on the right hand side. We have our favorite spots, but we also like to view each show from different angles. We cruise so much that I think we’ve seen “Disney Dreams” and “Hercules” from every section of the theater. The show was great, as always, although there were two minor glitches by the performers. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen an “oops,” let alone two in one show. But overall I enjoyed it as much as always. I was hoping they might have a matinee because of the Nassau holiday (they did that on Good Friday on our last cruise), but no such luck this time. Otherwise, I would have definitely seen it twice.

I’m glad that Disney modeled “The Golden Mickeys” on the “Disney Dreams” concept of incorporating lots of familiar characters and songs. I think one of the biggest reasons that people never really warmed up to “Voyage of the Ghost Ship” and “C’est Magique/Morty the Magician” was because they were not “traditional” Disney entertainment. “Ghost Ship” was totally original, although looking back, it reminds me just a bit of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, with no Disney characters. “C’est Magique” was the same way (no known characters), and with a New Age twist that probably made kids antsy (personally, I enjoyed it). Even morphing it into Morty and adding a guest appearance by Sorcerer Mickey wasn’t quite enough.

By contrast, Golden Mickeys is much like the entertainment you see at the parks, only on a grander scale and with state of the art special effects. You hear all the kids in the audience squealing with delight as they see Snow White, Terk, Stitch, Princess Aurora, and more all appearing on the stage. It’s a real family pleaser.

Later in the cruise, I discovered that Golden Mickey statues are for sale in the on-board shops. I had one more shelf available on my entertainment center where I keep all my Walt and Mickey knick-knacks, so I decided that a Golden Mickey would fit into that space nicely. As I mentioned, my family room has a Walt and Mickey theme. My entry foyer is heavy on Figment and Stitch, with some attraction posters from the Magic Kingdom thrown in for good measure. My master bedroom is my Disney Cruise Line homage room, complete with all sorts of ship knick knacks on every available bit of dresser and nightstand space and artwork scattered on the walls. Framed photos from Shutters fill in the remaining wall space. It keeps me from getting too homesick until our next cruise.

Palo
After the show, we headed back to our stateroom to dress up for dinner at Palo. Palo is the adults-only alternative restaurant. It costs $10 per person, and it is work every single penny. Palo is like a restaurant on land, with its own galley and meals that are cooked to order. It serves Northern Italian cuisine, but even if you like simple meat and potatoes, you will still find something to eat. For steak eaters, the filet mignon is as tender as butter, and you can have it with wine sauce or gorgonzola cheese (my favorite). Our table mates, who went to Palo Saturday night, like plain food so they ordered the filet with no sauce at all, and they pronounced it excellent.

Myself, I am usually torn between the filet and the daily specials, although there are several other regular menu items that I like, too. I adore the lasagna, but that is a special that is usually offered on Thursday, and we like to eat at Palo on Nassau night (Friday). If it’s not available, another special usually tempts me away. This time, it was the chicken pasta with a lucious white sauce, although I was almost lured away by the veal scallopini. The chef, Christian, did an absolutely wonderful job.

One word of advice: if you order an appetizer, you may want to skip the antipasto…not because it’s bad (it’s actually delicious), but because you will be getting a LOT of food, and you MUST save room for dessert. Palo chocolate souffle is one of the most divine desserts I’ve even eaten. But one thing I never skip is the bread basket with three sauces, which are downright addictive.

Our server was Dalibor, who we know from many previous cruises, and our friend Dragan was there too. They are both excellent servers, although honestly I can’t say that we’ve ever received anything less than excellent service at Palo. It’s so much fun to make friends with crew members over the course of our cruises and to see how some of them even move around. We initially met Ilana in Palo, and she has now joined Guest Services.

We had a table by the window where we could watch the sunlight slowly fade, with the lights of Nassau twinkling in the distance. Because it was a holiday, we got an extra added treat. At nine o’clock there was a beautiful fireworks show that was the perfect complement to an excellent meal.

Match Your Mate
After our meal, we returned to our stateroom to change clothes and head down to Wavebands to see “Match Your Mate.” It is very much like the Newlywed Game, except that the couples have been married for varying lengths of time. There is one set of newlyweds, one couple who has been married the longest, and one that is somewhere in between. This show is always entertaining, but sometimes much more so than others. It all depends on the couples; some are very shy, while others are willing to “let it all hang out.”

This time around, the couples were a bit subdued, although some of their answers were good for some hoots and hollers. “Match Your Mate” is always a fun way to cap the night in Nassau, and then we head directly to bed to rest up for the island.

Another Great Day at Castaway Cay
Our 38th visit to Castaway Cay dawned bright and sunny. I didn’t know if we would be able to match the “Mary Poppins weather” (practically perfect in every way ) that we had experienced in April, but amazingly enough, it was almost identical this time, too. It was just a bit warmer, but still not muggy enough to be uncomfortable.

Usually we’re among the first people off the ship, but hubby wanted to take the theming tour at 10 a.m. It is one of the few activities that we have not done yet. We slept in a bit and had our room service breakfast delivered at 9 a.m. Then, hubby headed off to learn all about the theming of the Disney Wonder while I stayed back to enjoy some quality verandah time. I love the big but cozy verandah of 5650, but on a three day cruise, it can be a challenge to find enough time to fully enjoy it. Perhaps our next door neighbors were having the same problem, as I never saw them outside even once during our cruise. That’s very unusual…usually I catch at least a few glimpses of our neighbors, sometimes it seems like we come outside on the exact same schedule. But this time, it was obviously an opposite schedule, or perhaps they just weren’t in their room very much.

The verandah was shady, with a perfect little breeze. 5650 is on the starboard side of the ship; since it almost always backs into Castaway Cay, that means it offers an idea vantage point of the island (boat lagoon and beaches) rather than the dock. I settled in with my book, occasionally peering over the railing to watch some crew members doing a lifeboat drill and to observe the jet ski tours leave and return. The time went by quickly, and before I knew it, it was 11:30 and hubby had returned. He really enjoyed it, and he was spouting off all sorts of facts about the patterns of the ship’s carpeting (for example, the only red carpets on the ship are outside the theaters) and how the chandelier in the atrium is actually made of plastic. I guess he was eager to share his new knowledge.

All Ashore
We gathered up our beach gear and headed down to the gangway on deck one. Since it was later than usual, we decided to have some lunch and then set up camp on the family beach rather than go all the way to the adult beach. We knew that the area at the farthest end of the beach, near the Heads Up Bar, rarely ever gets crowded, so there was no hurry.

The only thing that we missed was the photo opportunities. When you disembark early, there are Shutters photographers at various points of interest, such as the Fresh Catch sign, and there are usually several Disney characters out near such landmarks as the post office and Mount Rustmore. Fortunately, we already have almost every conceivable photo, but it’s fun to get your picture taken and see how it turns out,

Our first stop was the post office to mail a batch of postcards. There is an internet group that mails cards to children who are going to be going on a Disney cruise. The kids get a real kick out of getting a postcard from “Mickey.” Most people mail the cards from their hometown, and I doubt that the kids pay much attention to the postmark. But since we sail so often, we like to get some names and mail the cards from Castaway Cay, with a Disney Cruise Line stamp. If you’re going to mail anything, be sure to bring cash because you cannot charge the stamps on your Key to the World card. Also, be aware that it can take many weeks for the mail to make its way to the United States.

Our next stop was Cookie’s Barbecue. I wasn’t too hungry yet; we usually skip breakfast on Castaway Cay day, so my stomach was confused. Hubby had plenty of lobster burgers and fresh fruit, but I had a light meal and some chocolate chip cookie dough yogurt to top it off. Once again, I forgot all about the Caesar salads until I had already gotten my food. There are fresh salad stations, but they are near the picnic shelters rather than in the main serving lines. The salad looks delicious, so next time around I’m going to have to remember to try one before I pile too much on my tray at the main buffet.

Next, it was off to the beach. We hiked down to our secluded end spot, where there were still plenty of prime chairs with umbrellas. Even though it was after noon, the four hammocks near Heads Up bar were still unoccupied, too. But I knew we wouldn’t be doing much lying out, so we opted for chairs rather than hammocks. We chose a shady spot near the restroom, and hubby went off to rent a bike while I headed into the water. He had brought his snorkel gear and wanted to pedal over to Serenity Bay to see if he could find some fish. I had brought a $1.50 air mattress, so I grabbed my book, paddled out into the water, and read while lounging on the mattress in the balmy ocean.

The sun was warm and shining brightly, so I had to force myself to go back ashore a couple of times to reapply sunscreen. I am very fair skinned and burn quite easily. Even though hubby always packs blue aloe vera gel with lidocaine, which is a real lifesaver for burned ghost-people like me, I prefer not to get fried in the first place. This time around, my frequent and judicious use of sunscreen kept me relatively unscathed.

Stop, Thief!
Hubby returned a couple of hours later to report that someone had stolen his bike! He left it in the rack like he had done so many times before, and when he returned, it was gone. Apparently crime has invaded the island paradise of Castaway Cay! There is no place to get another bike at the adult beach, so he just headed back.

He reported that the water at the adult beach was very shallow, and he didn’t see many fish. He guessed it was because the shallowness meant that the water was a bit too warm for his finny friends. Although Serenity Bay is far from the official snorkeling area, he and I have seen quite a large variety of sea life there. We have both seen stingrays and “aquarium fish” in a rainbow of colors. Hubby’s most exciting find was a barracuda, while mine was a nurse shark, although the ink squirting squid was a close second. Recently, we went snorkeling in the shark reef at Typhoon Lagoon, and somehow it wasn’t quite the same being with nurse sharks in a tank when you’ve had one pass within inches of your leg in the open sea.

Hubby took over the air mattress for a while, and I paddled around with him. Then we decided to return to the ship, as I had a spa appointment scheduled for 4:30. It’s always so sad to leave the island, knowing that in less than 24 hours vacation will be over. But I took comfort in the fact that I’d be back in September, and I had my fingers crossed that we’d have a repeat performance of the lovely weather.

One More Spa Treatment
Back on the ship, it was time to prepare for my last spa treatment. I was scheduled for a reflexology foot massage at 4:30. I knew that meant I would be a little late for the Castaway Club party at 5:15, but the good thing about a foot massage is that you don’t have to undress. You also don’t get massage oil in your hair, necessitating a washing.

I showered off all the sand, washed and conditioned my hair, and checked myself for any early signs of sunburn. Fortunately, other than a couple of small pink spots where I probably applied my lotion too thin, I was relatively unscathed. Even though it felt odd to disembark so late, it was probably a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, when we go to Castaway Cay as early as possible, we tend to spend a bit too much time in the sun. Even though we know better, common sense quickly flies out the window when we’re on vacation.

Since I had eaten a light lunch, I was feeling some hunger pangs. There is no reason to go hungry on a cruse ship; on the Wonder, food is only a phone call or a few decks away. I didn’t feel like waiting for room service; even though they are fast, I had my spa appointment coming up. Instead, I ran up to deck nine for some french fries and lots of honey mustard sauce for dipping. Their sauce is absolutely exquisite…the fries are merely a delivery device. I noticed that they serve cheese nachos and chili dogs, so I asked for a fusion creation: chili cheese nachos. They turned out pretty good.

In the stateroom, hubby had been channel surfing and found a really neat show on the Magic’s last dry dock, when major changes (Diversons, the Stack, etc.) were made. It was a fascinating program, showing time-lapse footage and lots of details on how the old spaces on the Magic were transformed into something completely new and different. I wish they would show it on the Travel Channel or Disney Channel so I could tape it. I already have “The Making of the Magic,” the show about the initial construction of the ship, as it is on the free travel planning DVD you can get from Disney’s website.

After seeing the show, I was doubly curious about what will be done to the Wonder when it goes to dry dock in a few months. We will sail right before, in September, and then we will see the “new” Wonder when we return for our traditional Thanksgiving cruise. I am excited about the prospect of having a place like Diversions, especially if they offer the beer tasting event like they do on the Magic, and I also can’t wait to check out the coffee bar.

When I was done pigging out, I tore myself away from the television and headed to the Vista Spa, where I succumbed to an hour of bliss. I know that reflexology purportedly has health benefits, but I enjoy it just because I love a good foot massage. Any additional benefits over and above relaxation are frosting on the cake. I nodded off, although I did stir twice: once at 5 p.m. when the Mickey whistle blasted as the ship headed out to sea and once when someone ran across the deck overhead bouncing a ball. One of the design oddities of the Magic and Wonder is that the basketball courts are directly over the spa...not the best planning move. But despite the slight disturbances, I quickly became comatose again and dozed until the massage was over.

The Castaway Club Party
For those who may not know, the Castaway Club is the name of the club for returning Disney cruisers. You become a member automatically once you sail, and you receive little benefits on your subsequent cruises. You get a gift in your stateroom (currently a towel, although it might be changing soon because we received a notice that the towels were out of stock and we’d receive one in the mail later; then the towel showed up in our room the next day).

Since our first return cruise was way back in January of 1999, we have seen the gift change several times. There have been two different types of tote bags, plus picture frames, in addition to the current towel. I like the towels, but we have received an inordinate number of them by now. My favorite was the original blue tote bag, which holds an amazing amount of stuff. I still have one left, and I still strain the poor things to its limits. We sold several on Ebay, and now I wish I had kept them as I will be sorry when the last one finally gives out due to my constant abuse. The second bag was a black sports type that is nice, but not nearly as handy.

As a returning cruiser. you also get to attend a party with the captain and some of the officers, where you can get a free drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) and munch on hors d’ouvres like cheese sticks and chicken strips. The captain and cruise director give short speeches welcoming everyone back, and if you bring your camera, it’s often a good photo opportunity with the captain.

The party is almost invariably held at 5:15 on Castaway Cay day on the three night cruise. Its location varies, depending on the number of repeat cruisers on board. When the crowd is light, it is often held in the Cadillac Lounge. On the flipside, sometimes it’s so large that it takes over every club on Beat Street (usually only happens on the Magic…I don’t think I’ve ever seen it take over Route 66 on the Wonder). This time, it was held in Studio Sea, and the crowd was pretty light.

I arrived a bit later than I expected, so Captain Henry was already giving his speech. I slipped in and found hubby at a table towards the front. I was full so I didn’t partake of snacks and drinks, but I was glad to say hello to the captain and to meet Kara, the cruise director. We had actually met her before, but not since she’d taken her new position. Tony reported that our friend Linsay was also there, although I missed her due to my late arrival.

Disney Dreams
When the party ended, we headed to the theater to see “Disney Dreams,” which is still hubby’s favorite show. I think he could watch it all day, if possible; even after seeing it at the theater, he always keeps it on our stateroom television all evening. It runs on the television every hour for people who might have missed it. They show “Hercules” on Thursday, but they haven’t started showing “Golden Mickeys” yet. I hope they do soon, as I could watch that one as much as hubby watches “Disney Dreams.”

This show has a very Disney-esque plot. A little girl named Anne-Marie makes a wish to be able to fly to the place where dreams really do come true. With the help of Peter Pan and the inspiration of several popular Disney stories (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, and The Lion King), she finds her own magic and ends up with the requisite happy ending.

“Disney Dreams” doesn’t move as quickly as the “Golden Mickeys.” That’s neither a bad nor a good thing; the pace of each show is just right for its style. “Golden Mickeys” has an awards show format, while “Disney Dreams” is more of a traditional story that lends itself to a slower pace. My favorite numbers in this show are Aladdin and Little Mermaid, but I always enjoy the powerful rendition of “Circle of Life” from “The Lion King.”

“Disney Dreams” is a traditional feel-good show that the kids will love. They squeal with delight as their favorite characters appear on stage, and there are all sorts of neat surprises such as the real bubbles during “Under the Sea” and the fireworks at the end (be sure to stay for the second curtain call).

The Last Supper
It was time for our last meal on the Wonder. We skip breakfast on the last morning, as we are usually much too tired of eating and prefer to disembark a little early. I wondered if our tablemates from Jamaica had been successful in moving to early seating. The others were all slated to eat at Palo, so that would mean we’d be dining alone. I know many cruisers who would absolutely love that, but we like communal meals.

When we arrived, the mother and daughter were already there, and we were joined shortly thereafter by the two couples from South Carolina. Even though they had dined at Palo, they were having so much fun at their regular table that they came just to socialize. Apparently we had missed quite a wild dinner at Animators Palate! Between Richard and our tablemates, Table 21 had been the “rowdy table” of the evening.

We had another fun night, as Parrot Cay is a great place to be rowdy. There is a limbo line and lots of commotion as tables compete to make the most noise for their favorite servers. I discovered that I could create quite a din by banging our metal table number with my spoon. We were having so much fun that by the end of the meal, my face actually hurt from laughing so much.

Our friend Chef Vinnie, who is the head chef at Parrot Cay, stopped by to say hello. We met him at a cooking demonstration on the four day cruise of our Wonder “three-peat” (three cruises in a row), so we always touch base when we are on board. He is an absolute genius with seafood (well, actually, with any food).

We were sorry that our cruise was ending, and we wished we had been on a week’s cruise so we could have gotten to know our tablemates better. Ironically, one of the couples had such a great time that they booked another cruise on the Wonder in September…the cruise right before our next one!

Richard entertained us with more of his stories. If you ever have him as your server, be sure to ask him about the helicopter. He had us all in stitches, but finally we all reluctantly had to go. Our tablemates needed to finish packing and put their luggage out. We keep our bags with us and carry them off the ship ourselves, so we don’t have to worry about the 11 p.m. deadline. But we wanted to stop by the atrium to see “Til We Meet Again” and then change into more casual clothes before the 70s party.

Til We Meet Again
When we got to the atrium, “Til We Meet Again” was already in progress. It is the final character appearance, and a prime photo opportunity. A wide variety of characters descend down the staircase in front of Triton’s and into the atrium to take photos with the crowd. The Shutters photographers are not there, so you will need to bring your own camera. In addition to “traditional” characters, there are also performers from the main stage. Usually it’s the bunch from Hercules, and I’ve often seen Peter Pan and Anne Marie, too. This time, Peter was out with Wendy. Usually there are a couple of characters up on deck four, too, but the majority of them are down on deck three.

I was hoping to see Stitch, who is usually near the piano, but he wasn’t out so we headed back to our stateroom. Sometimes there is almost no crowd, and sometimes the amount of people is enormous. This was one of the crowded times, although I don’t think that anything will ever beat the crowd that showed up on our Fourth of July cruise. In July, in addition to the characters, there was a balloon “drop & pop,” so the atrium was wall to wall people, and the sound of breaking balloons rivaled any fireworks display. That July experience was crowded, but very exciting.

This time, there were no balloons, but the crowd density was still large. But even when there are a lot of people, you can still get at least a couple of good photos. When the crowd is minimal, you can get at least half a dozen. We could have gotten some this time, but we opted to head back to the room to change.

The only bad thing about Til We Meet Again is that it can be hard to get there on time if you have the late dinner seating. We actually arrived a little while after it had started, since we had spent a lot of time chatting with our tablemates. It starts at 10, but 10:15 or even 10:30 would probably make it a little easier.

Flash Back to the 70s
Once hubby and I had changed, we headed to Wavebands for the 70s Party, our favorite adult event. It starts at 10:45, which means I like it so much that I am even willing to sacrifice precious sleep to attend. I know that I have to be up early for disembarkation, but I am always drawn to the bell bottoms and platform shoes.

We like to arrive a bit early in order to get a table as far away as possible from the smoking area. There are several non-smoking areas; unfortunately, all but one of them are directly in front of smoking areas. This means that if you don’t choose wisely, you can be sitting directly in front of a smoker even though you are technically at a non-smoking table. As you face the stage, the left hand side of the room is all non-smoking. The ventilation is poor, so the smoke and smell will still drift over to you, but at least you won’t be elbow to elbow with a smoker. I wish that the lounges would be non-smoking during all shows, but no such luck.

As it turned out, the club was almost deserted. Saturday is a bad night, especially at 10:45, because people are still rushing to get their luggage out. Sometimes the 70s crowd is still decent, but it was small on cruise #37 and almost non-existent this time around. I was beginning to worry that it would be cancelled, but the cruise staff held a “Cliff Notes” version (only two Gloria Gaynors and John Travoltas instead of three, and only three of the Village People showed up for the special guest appearance instead of the usual five. Hubby got roped into being a Village Person, so of course I had to jog back to our stateroom for the camera. He’s done it a couple of times before, but not since they started going shirtless.

We had a great time dancing, and one of the John Travoltas was hilarious. Even though the crowd was small, everyone seemed to be having a great time. After hubby’s guest appearance, we had one last dance and then headed back to our stateroom. It was a fun cap to another excellent cruise. I wish that the 70s party was on Thursday or Friday night, but I know that it wouldn’t work logistically. We like 70s night much better than 80s night, although I was happy to hear that the Michael Jackson numbers have been added back into the 80s festivities.

Another Goodbye to the Wonder
Back at our stateroom, hubby took care of the last minute packing while I filled out the Customs form and comment card. I also made out some thank-you cards to the many crew members who made our vacation extra special once again. I recommend bringing some cards because it’s a nice little way to recognize people in non-tipped positions who go that extra mile. We also like to bring little “extras” like phone cards or Florida lottery tickets to add to the tips for those who deserve a little something more.

We hit the bed, and all too soon it was morning and we found ourselves docked at Port Canaveral once again. I always start out cruises with a few minutes out on the balcony, looking out at the port, and that’s typically how I end them too. Hubby and I showered and packed up the last few items, and then I stepped outside and said a quiet little goodbye to my favorite stateroom and favorite ship. I knew that we would be returning, but September seemed so far away. At least our next three cruises come in rapid succession: September, November, and December. And I don’t want to hurry the next one too much because when it comes, it will mean that summer is over.

We hiked down to the midship elevators (most of the time, the aft elevators are not crowded, but on the last morning they are packed with people going to and from the restaurants, which are located aft). We pressed both the “Up” and “Down” buttons, as you are often better off going up when you’re on deck 5 on that last day. Otherwise, the elevator is usually full of people heading down from decks 8, 7, and 6. Sure enough, two full elevators of “Down” people passed us. We hopped in an empty one heading up, and as we headed back down, it was full before we reached deck 5 again.

There was no line for disembarkation, so we said a quick goodbye to Captain Henry, who was standing at the gangplank, and headed off the ship. Unlike Royal Caribbean, on Disney there is no wait to leave the ship. Royal Caribbean makes you wait until your luggage tag color is called, which can be literally hours, and you can’t wait in your stateroom. You have to find space in a public area of the ship. With Disney, you simply leave whenever you choose to. You can have your assigned breakfast, eat at the buffet, or (like us) skip the food altogether.

Once we entered the luggage area, we saw that there were lines at Customs. They moved rapidly, at least until the people two parties in front of us got to the Customs Officer. They didn’t have their ID and documents ready, and of course it took them forever to find what they needed in their luggage. They never thought to step aside and let anyone pass, either. Finally, after several minutes, I rolled my eyes and said to hubby, “Didn’t they say ‘Have your ID and customs forms ready’ about a hundred time?” A man in the group directly behind the line-holder-uppers said, “I think it was more like two hundred!”

Eventually, we made it through Customs and back out into the real world. It is always so sad to see the ship from the other side of the fence and to look up at the verandah where I was just standing not so long ago. Disembarkation is always hard, but at least I could take comfort in the fact that we’d be back the Thursday after Labor Day and I’d be looking out at the port from that same verandah, knowing that other adventure is about to begin.

Trip Report #37, April 2004 on the Wonder

2004-06-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

It seems like only recently that hubby and I were preparing for our very first cruise; hard to believe that was way back, in September of 1998. I remember wondering what to expect and if I would even like cruising. Now, Easter weekend of 2004 marked our 37th Disney cruise and our 41st cruise in total, since we have also sailed on four of Royal Caribbean’s ships. RCCL was a good experience, but Disney is superior. The Magic and Wonder are beautiful ships, and even though we don’t have children, I think Disney does the best job of catering to adults. Also, RCCL’s embarkation and disembarkation procedures are a nightmare compared to Disney’s. Overall, Disney Cruise Line just can’t be beat.
As usual, we were doing a three night sailing on the Wonder. We enjoy sailing on the Magic, too, but doing Wonder cruises on holiday weekends helps us to maximize our vacation days. Usually we just fly to Florida the Wednesday before our cruise, but this time we flew out the previous Friday night and spent the week in Kissimmee. The weather was very cool and dry, so we didn’t get to do much swimming, but we still had a good time. Of course, like all vacations, the week flew by much too quickly. The only good thing about it was that, as the days flew past, we were closer and closer to our cruise.

Kickoff at Port Canaveral
On Thursday morning, we were up early to meet our towncar. As usual, we booked our transportation with Happy Limo to pick us up for the familiar journey to Port Canaveral. It’s a relatively easy drive, but I prefer to kick back and relax on the way. We usually aim to arrive at the port no later than 11 a.m. That means we get there before the bus crowds, and it also allows some time for any unforeseen delays. When we leave straight from the airport, the ride usually takes no more than 45 minutes. If you are leaving from the Disney World area, add about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on your hotel, since you are farther away from the port. It’s a straight shot down the Beeline (528) and traffic is usually minimal, although there is some construction going on. Fortunately it didn’t slow our progress.

Our driver was right on time, and we piled in and headed for our “home on the ocean.” During the ride, I sorted through our documents to make sure we had filled out everything and signed the appropriate forms, while hubby attached the luggage tags to our bags. Soon enough we were cresting the tall bridge and could see the ships in the distance. No matter how many times I sail, that first glimpse of the Disney Wonder still gives me chills. The Carnival Fantasy was the only other ship in the port. I thought there would be a Royal Caribbean ship, too. The port looked very bare with just two. Oh well, no matter, as long as the Wonder is there!

Our driver showed his port pass and we readied our documents and ID as we were waved toward the terminal. We produced our drivers licenses and were checked off on the manifest; then we were waved up to the unloading zone beside the terminal building. It was about 10:45, and the crowd was still very sparse. There was only a handful of people in front of us in the security line I dug up my laptop, as you are required to boot up your computer in order to pass through security. I always bring my laptop with me so I can work on updates for my Disney Cruise Line Planner; it’s very convenient, but unfortunately I own the world’s slowest booting laptop. It takes forever to boot up, and then even longer to be shut down. Oh well, better safe than sorry. It always surprises me that I am not required to turn it on at the airport. The cruise line definitely has good security.

Once we were through and my laptop was safely turned off and stashed, we headed up the escalators and into the main terminal. There are are crew members stationed nearby to help stragglers fill out their documents and make sure they have everything they need. I had our paperwork and birth certificates stashed securely in our document pouch. There is a special line for Castaway Club members at the far end of the counter, but since the line was minimal at all the counters, we simply went to the closest one.

The crowd was minimal early on; often, on the three day cruise, most of the people have booked a land and sea package, which means they arrive later, on buses from the resorts. The embarkation line didn’t really start to build until well after 11 o’clock. It builds much more quickly on the seven day cruises because there is no land portion. With more people arranging their own transportation, they tend to arrive early. Even though it’s the same amount of passengers, the crowd to embark the Wonder is much more spaced out.

If you arrange transportation on your own, there are several options. We use a towncar from Happy Limo, as we like being chauffeured in our own private vehicle and making our own schedule. Some people opt for a one-way car rental, as several agencies have offices at Port Canaveral, and some (Budget, Avis, and Hertz) will shuttle you to the port after you drop off your car. I like a towncar because it’s a direct ride, with no stops unless we opt to do a grocery stop. Happy Limo offers a free stop if you want to bring your own beverages and snacks but don’t want to lug them on the plane.

People often comment that the wait to board the ship seems to be so long, especially if you arrive at the port early. Personally, it’s always the opposite for me. Over time, we’ve gotten to know a lot of the port crew members, so time seems to fly because we’re always greeting and chatting with friends. Even if you are a first timer, there is lots to see and do. The large model of the ship never fails to intrigue me, and there are cartoons on television monitors for the kids. You can always count on a character appearance; this time around, it was Chip and Dale, and Captain Mickey often shows up too. You can also look through the Welcome Sheet that you are given at check in to see what will be going on once you board.

All Board!
The boarding time varies, depending on when the ship is ready, but lately it’s been pretty early (between noon and 12:15). It can be as late as 1 p.m., but I’ve only seen that happen once or twice. On this trip, we were stepping on board and heading to Parrot Cay for lunch by 12:15. First we paused for our embarkation photo, the first of many photo opportunities. Take advantage of them because you’re not under any obligation to buy and it’s fun to stop at Shutters, the onboard photo shop, and see how they came out.

The embarkation backdrop has changed several times over the years. This time, they were using my favorite backdrop, which is a sepia toned drawing of a celebratory crowd waving off the ship. I like that one because it’s so festive. It reminds me of the scene in “Titanic” where the ship is leaving and everyone is crowded onto the decks and lining the shore to see it off. Of course, “Titanic” might not be the best analogy, but I don’t worry about the comparison because it’s not too likely to find an iceberg in the Caribbean. When I think of the Titanic, I think of a beautiful classic luxury liner, and Disney really captured that style well with the Magic and Wonder.

As you board, a member of the Cruise Staff announces your name on a microphone, continuing the festive atmosphere, and you head for lunch. Since we boarded pretty early, we headed for Parrot Cay on deck 3. Beach Blanket Buffet opens a little later if you like to dine al fresco. The buffets are virtually identical, but if you are a soda drinker, Parrot Cay is your best bet. You can get soda there without any additional charge, but it is not available at the deck 9 buffet.

Almost every time we sail, I notice a few little tweaks. This time, there were some new items on the buffet that were very good. My favorite was the new turkey dish…I don’t recall the name, but it was a thin slice of pounded turkey with some sort of light breading, served with a red sauce. There was also a divine apple/cranberry cobbler with vanilla sauce for dessert. Usually it’s plain apple, but this time around the cranberries added such a nice little zing of flavor. I stuck to that, while hubby did a sampler plate of several tempting cakes.

There are many more hot dishes and cold salads to choose from, and of course the famous peel and eat shrimp. Hubby had loaded up his plate, and our table was right where people walk in so quite a few of them were checking out his shrimp pile. Personally, I mainly opt for the salads. There was one that reminded me of some type of coleslaw topped with bacon bits and other with big, delicious mushrooms. There is also a table with sandwiches and soups, included my favorite strawberry and banana soup. To me, it tastes like a smoothie in a bowl. If you are travelling with fussy kids, there is a kid friendly buffet table with items like chicken strips and macaroni & cheese.

The line for the buffet went in spurts as people wandered aboard. I love people watching and hearing their comments, especially the kids. They never cease to amuse me. We were seated at one of the first tables, right on the aisle, so it was a great spot to observe people as they waited for the buffet. As one little girl stood in line with her dad, she told him very seriously, “Wow! I never thought this would be so popular that people actually wait in line for it!”

We finished up our lunch and headed to our stateroom to drop off our day bags. If you arrive at the port early, be aware that you will not be able to go to your stateroom until sometime between 1 and 1:30. It takes some time to clean up after the 2600+ guests who just disembarked a few hours earlier and get the ship ready for the new crowd. The stateroom areas are roped off until they are ready; in the meantime, you can register your children for the clubs, make Palo and spa reservations, or just wander around the ship admiring the décor and artwork and get your bearings. An easy way to remember how to get places is: Forward fun, aft eat (the Walt Disney Theater and the clubs are forward, and most of the restaurants are at the back of the ship).

I had thought that spa reservation time started at 1:30, so hubby and I played ping pong at one of the tables on deck 9 until about 1:15. Of course, “play” is a relative term, since the wind on deck was adding an additional challenge. Then we headed to the spa on deck 9 forward and were surprised to find it open. Turns out I had misread the times; spa tours started at 1:30, but reservations started at 1. I definitely don’t need a tour, as I’ve had just about every treatment possible. But there wasn’t much of a crowd waiting to make reservatins, so we were able to easily get the times and treatments that we wanted. I signed up for a massage right after the safety drill, an Absolute Face & Body at 11 a.m. on Nassau morning, and a reflexology treatment at 2 p.m. on Castaway Cay day. Hubby loves the seaweed wrap, so he booked one on both Thursday and Friday.

Hubby stopped down at Wavebands, where Palo ressies were being made, and he reported that it wasn’t crowded at all. I think that because the crowd at the port was light, the “ressie scramble” didn’t pick up until a little later. But it’s still a good idea to go for your preferred Palo, spa, and Flounders reservations as early as possible, as you never know how quickly they will book up.

R & R Before the Safety Drill
Once we had our ressies and had gathered a set of kids navigators for my website, hubby and I changed for some pre-safety drill hot tubbing. We always pack swimsuits in our day bag because those first hours of the cruise are the least crowded time for a dip. Many people don’t think about packing swimwear, so you often have the pool almost all to yourself. The kids pools are more crowded than the adult one, but the amount of people is still minimal.

There were actually more people than usual at the adult pool. Most of them were just lounging in chairs or at the edge of the pool and soaking up the sun, but a couple brave souls had ventured all the way into the chilly water. There were people in both hot tubs, but there was still plenty of room, so hubby and I selected one and climbed in. Relaxing in the bubbles and chatting with the various people who come and go is a great way to kick off the cruise. As I said, I am a people watcher, and I like to count the number of people who pass by and dip a finger or toe in the pool, but for some reason no one did that on this trip. Usually I count at least a dozen “dippers,” but this time it was all or nothing…they either passed by without pausing or else came prepared in swim wear and climbed in.

A few stray kids tried to invade the adults-only sanctity, but they were quickly shooed away. As we chatted with one couple in the hot tub, they said they had taken a Princess cruise to Alaska and were amazed at the number of kids on board. They told us that one of they few things they didn’t like about the cruise was the fact that there was nowhere to go for some peaceful adult time. We had the same experience on Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas to Alaska. In theory, they had an adults only pool on Radiance, but it was the only indoor pool. Being an Alaskan cruise, it was much too cold and windy to use the outdoor family pool, so of course the kids all came inside and took over the “adult” pool to swim. I can’t say that I blamed them; that was very poor planning on RCCL’s part. I believe in respecting rules, but I also don’t think it’s fair to restrict the kids to a pool that’s not usable.

On Disney, everyone has their own pools (I must admit that I’m jealous of the Mickey slide!) and activity areas. DCL did an excellent job of planning, and no matter how many children are on board, they never seem to be underfoot. This cruise had a high kid population due to the holiday, and it was no exception. Of course, you’ll see them at the shows and meals, so you wouldn’t enjoy it if you really can’t stand kids at all. Personally, I get a kick out of watching them, but I also like some quiet time, and that’s very easy to get. I know people think hubby and I are crazy for taking 37 Disney cruises when we don’t have any children, but it truly is the best adult experience that we’ve found. Royal Caribbean is nice, but all of their ships that we’ve sailed on are like Radiance, with no enforcement of the adult areas, not even the exercise room and spa.

By the time three thirty rolled around, the other people who had been in the hot tub with us had all “abandoned ship.” Dark clouds were rolling in, and we heard the threatening boom of thunder and saw a flash of lightning. We decided to get out just as a crew member came along to clear out the pools due to the lightning. A light sprinkle of rain was just starting; it had turned into a full-fledged downpour by the time we reached our stateroom. Thankfully, it was a typical Florida shower that had blown over by the time the safety drill started.

Eight Blasts of the Ship’s Whistle
Our luggage had already arrived when we reach our stateroom after hot tubbing. Hubby started unpacking and managed to get almost everything put away before we heard eight blasts of the ship’s horn and the announcement beckoning us to our lifeboat station. Our station was in Animators Palate; since we are in stateroom 5650 so often, I know Station Q quite well. The stations are located at various points around deck 4, including the Walt Disney Theater and the outdoor deck areas, depending on your stateroom location. Our other usual staterooms are the secret porthole rooms, which have an outdoor meeting area.

If you’ve never done a safety drill on a cruise ship before, it’s a quick and relatively painless process. At the appointed time (4 p.m.), you don your life jacket and troop to your station, where attendance is checked. Then you listen to a safety announcement and it’s all over. The worst part is being crowded in with dozens of other people while looking like an orange Sponge Bob in your bulky life jacket. But despite the inconvenience, it’s very important to know where you’d need to go in case of an emergency.

The Wonder is well equipped, with lifeboats that each hold 145 guests and five crew members. There are more than enough lifeboats and life rafts to accommodate everyone. Fortunately, the chance of an emergency is very remote, but it’s good to know the equipment is there, just in case. I know logically that problems can happen, but the ship looks so much like a giant resort hotel that it’s hard for me to believe something of that size and mass could ever sink.

Decadence at the Spa
After the drill, we trooped back to our stateroom. Hubby finished unpacking, and then it was time for our kick-off spa treatments. Although they were scheduled for 4:30, we like to get there a little early because a line tends to form just before opening. There are all the people checking in, as well as a large crowd hoping to make their bookings. I was one of the first two there, and as I passed the time chatting with the other person, a woman from England. As the clock ticked closer to 4:30, quite a line of people formed behind us.

A few minutes before the spa opened, two women barged their way to the front. I moved over so they couldn’t pass me and pointed out that the spa wasn’t open yet. One of them said haughtily, “Well, I am here for a treatment.” I pointed out that so were the rest of the people. Ms. Haughty said, “Well, they’re not all here for that. They’re hear to make appointments.” In her eyes, I guess that relegated them to some sort of second-class status. “Well, I’m here for a treatment,” I responded gave her an evil look that dared her to step past me. She didn’t, but neither did she go back to the end of the line. I was surprised that the other people she’d barged in front of didn’t say anything. Sometimes I think rude behavior is on the rise in our society because people are afraid to confront it. The English woman said, “Oh, I thought Americans queued, too, but I guess it must be a British thing.” “No,” I said, “MOST Americans have manners. It’s only the rude ones who don’t queue.” I’m sure Ms. Haughty was oblivious to our pointed comments.

Another woman barged through the line to join the Haughty Duo and told them, “I should have know I’d find you at the front.” “Yes,” said Ms. Haughty, “I’ve been standing here since 4 p.m.” That would be quite a trick, since the safety drill was at 4, and I was the second person to arrive at the spa afterwards. Since I am a trained psychologist, I debated offering my services to help her cure her delusions, but then I decided she was probably a hopeless case. Besides, why work while you’re on vacation?

Shortly thereafter, the spa doors were flung open and the restless mob streamed in. Hubby and I filled out our consultation forms and were directed to the locker rooms to meet our therapists. When I had made my booking, they had asked if I minded a male masseuse. I’ve had so many massages that I am not shy at all, so I said that would be fine. For a long time, Disney only had females (the other cruise lines typically have both, and I’ve had men do my treatments on Royal Caribbean). Then the Vista Spa added males in the hair salon, and now they’ve made the leap to doing treatments too.

Of course, if you have a preference, they will respect it. The spa personnel go out of their way to make the clients feel comfortable. Many people have their first spa experience ever while on board the ship, so they tend to be a little nervous. The therapists are used to this and will help you feel as comfortable and relaxed as possible.

My masseuse, Kevin, was new to the ship. He had been on board when we sailed last time, but he’d been in training. He gave me a wonderful back massage that left me feel relaxed and ready to enjoy my vacation. Since the spa is located on deck 9 forward, you can hear the ship’s whistle blast “When You Wish Upon a Star” as you leave Port Canaveral. I love to hear it while lying in the spa in a dreamy stupor. It’s the perfect way to kick off the weekend. I met up with hubby after his seaweed wrap, which takes longer than a massage, and he reported that it was as good as ever.

Our next spa treatments were on Nassau morning. As usual, hubby was having a seaweed wrap, while I was scheduled for an Absolute Face and Body. That is a combination of a massage and a long, luxurious facial. That treatment is so relaxing that I almost always fall asleep, especially during the facial. When people ask my favorite treatment, it’s always a toss-up between the seaweed wrap and the Absolute Face & Body. The only bad thing about the seaweed wrap is that you have to get up and shower off before the massage, but it’s such a great detoxifying treatment. And the AF&B does have one bad part, too; after the massage, you have to emerge from your comatose state long enough to roll over for the facial.

I love having spa treatments on Nassau day, and often we spend some time in the Rainforest too (this time we didn’t because there was a Golden Mickeys matinee). It’s a quiet, uncrowded time, as most people have disembarked. I thought the ship would be more crowded this time because most of the shops in Nassau were closed for Good Friday. But surprisingly, most people had disembarked anyway. Judging by all the braids I saw later that evening, the hair braiders never take a holiday. I also heard that Atlantis was very crowded, since a lot of people headed over there after giving up on the closed shops.

My last spa treatment was a reflexology session at 2 p.m. on Castaway Cay day. I had debated booking it for later, but hubby convinced me that it was going to be cold on the island. As it turned out, he was very wrong! But it was probably just as well; we disembarked before 9 a.m., and even with sunscreen I managed to get some sunburn, so it was probably best that I returned to the ship a little early.

I love reflexology, mainly because I love foot massages. Reflexology is also supposed to have a number of wellness benefits. I don’t know if it really does, but I do know that a good reflexologist can come up with lots of information about the state of your health, even if you don’t discuss it beforehand. For example, my feet revealed my bad habit of never drinking enough water, which tends to leave me in a constant state of semi-dehydration. Hubby is always lecturing me about it, but I was surprised that the relexologist was able to tell via the treatment.
When I was done, I met up with hubby for a little time in the Rainforest, an area of saunas, steamrooms, and scented showers. It also contains heated tile lounge chairs that are the perfect spot to curl up with a good book. You can buy a one day pass or get one that is good for the length of your cruise. There is a discount on day passes if you get a hands-on spa treatment on the same day.

There was one big change at the spa this time. The Ladies Night treatment, which used to be offered Nassau night during the dinner/show times is now Ladies Morning. It is the same treatment (massage and facial in a private treatment room, followed by champagne and chocolates in the Rainforest), but the time has changed. Personally, I think Nassau morning is better because you don’t have to skip dinner or a show. The Golden Mickeys is on the second night of the three day cruise, and I love that show so I’d never want to miss it, even for a spa treatment. Nassau is okay if you’ve never seen it before, but hubby and I usually don’t bother to disembark any more. And even if you want to, you can easily kick off your day with a treatment and have plenty of time to go ashore later.

Another change is that the surial bath is now called the rasul. That is the name that it had when we sailed on RCCL’s Radiance. We didn’t do it on this trip, but according to the description, it is still the same neat couples experience. If you’re not familiar with it, it consists of being in your own private shower and steam rooms with a bowl of mud, exfoliate, and various spa products. You and your significant other get the room for an hour, and what you do is up to you. Technically, the rasul can accommodate up to three people, but I don’t know anyone else well enough to share the experience with besides hubby!

Watch for other changes coming soon to the Vista Spa, including some new treatments. Hopefully there will be new offerings in time for my next cruise, and I am looking forward to trying them out…purely for research purposes, of course.

It’s Showtime
Hubby and I like to do second seating dinner, which means that our showtime is at 6:30 p.m. and dinner follows at 8:30. When you have early dining, you eat first and see the show afterwards. I know that people with small children usually prefer the early seating, but it makes me feel too rushed. Since we are from Chicago, 8:30 is really 7:30 for us anyway, so it works out very well. The only downside to late seating is that it can be hard to make the farewell character greeting on the last night. We’ve been known to eat our meal, then slip out for photos and return for dessert.

If you miss Hercules or Disney Dreams, don’t worry. A recorded version is shown hourly throughout the evening on your stateroom television. Unfortunately, they do not show The Golden Mickeys yet, but I am hoping they will add it in the future. Even though we rarely miss a show, we like to watch an “encore” while we are getting ready for dinner.

Hercules
The first night’s show was Hercules, which we always go to see even though it’s not quite on a par with the Golden Mickeys and Disney Dreams. It’s a totally different type of show than those two, but a lot of fun in its own way. It’s full of corny humor that makes a lot more sense if you’ve seen the movie. By now I know all the jokes, but it still gives me a good laugh. Hubby will always have a soft spot in his heart for this shows because Hercules is one of his top three favorite Disney movies.

I headed down to the theater a little after 6 and was one of the first in line at the doors. I thought it would be open already, but the doors didn’t open until around 6:15. I headed down to the front row; someone was already sitting on one end, so I plopped down on the other. A teenage boy (perhaps a relative of Ms. Haughty) said, “Sorry, these seats are all reserved,” gesturing at all the remaining seats in the row. Seat saving in the theater is forbidden, and there is a note in the Navigator that says so. Still, I wouldn’t mind if it was just a couple, but he was beyond the limits of common courtesy.

I rolled my eyes and said, “You can’t save a whole row.” He said, “It’s not the whole row; it’s nine seats.” I’ve got to hand it to him; he definitely had brass ones. I replied, “The Navigator says you can’t save ANY. Nobody minds a reasonable amount, but nine is not reasonable. If you have a problem with me, I suggest you complain to the staff.” I was hoping that he would, as I would have loved to hear that conversation, but instead he just sauntered away. Meanwhile, a woman and her granddaughter sat down next to me. Turns out the granddaughter had tried to sit there originally and was told by Mr. Brass that the seats were “reserved.” Being a kid, she fell for it. When they saw other people sitting there and Mr. Brass leaving, they returned.

I had a very nice chat with the grandmother while waiting for the show to start. It was her first cruise, and even though it had just started, she was having a great time. Her granddaughter was curious about what happened to Mr. Brass, so she looked around and spotted him a few minutes before showtime. He was standing near the door, apparently looking for the rest of his party. Goodness only knows where they ended up sitting, or if they even showed up.

Hubby and I managed to restrain ourselves from ordering smoothies while waiting, since we knew we had a Palo dinner ahead of us that night. Also, I was wearing shorts and the theater tends to be chilly, so I knew that I’d be shivering if I had a cold drink. The smoothies are delicious; I think there are various flavors, but we usually get strawberry or chocolate. They are sold in front of the theater and also inside, so you can order one very conveniently. Just beware…they are very addictive!

We were anxious to see the show, as this was a new cast for us and we always like to see how they customize it. All of the shows are different when there is a new cast, but this is most pronounced with Herc because there are more opportunities for ad libbing. Each cast puts its own unique twist into the show. Herc has been around since 1998, and it has also been interesting to see how it’s evolved over the years.

Before the show, Cruise Director Jacqui came out to introduce it, and Captain John also came out to greet everybody and welcome them to their new home for the next three days. Then it was showtime!

The cast was very good; they’ve been on for about a month, and they really had it together. My favorite parts of the show are Hades’ interactions with Pain and Panic. As usual, Pain and Panic stole the show. I know most of the jokes, but they’d worked in quite a bit of new material. I am a real comedy buff, so that is my favorite part, but I enjoy the songs from Hercules so I like the musical numbers, too. It will be interesting when we sail again in June to see how this cast continues to evolve the show. At the end of the show, be sure to stay until the end of the curtain call for a very cool pyrotechnic effect.

The Golden Mickeys
Friday’s show was The Golden Mickeys, Disney Cruise Line’s newest offering. We saw it when it debuted Labor Day weekend, and now we were interested to see if there were any changes with the new cast. There was a few tweaks, like Ensign Benson’s costume (instead of dress whites, she now wears blue) and some new cartoon footage (watch for the quick clip from “Brother Bear”), but overall the essence has remained same. I’m glad, as I love it just the way it is. My only complaint is that it’s too short; it moves so quickly that it’s over before you know it. Of course, all of the shows are less than an hour, but this one is so fast moving that the time really flies.

At least the fun starts a little early. The festivities kick off before the show begins, as you head to the theater. In a style befitting a gala awards show, paparazzi flash cameras at the arriving “celebrities” (guests). You can pause to be interviewed by Rona Rivers, who is waiting right outside, which means you will appear onscreen inside the theater.

The premise of The Golden Mickeys is an awards show to honor Disney films in various categories such as heroes, villains, friendship, and romance. This is used as a framework for numbers from popular movies such as Snow White, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, Tarzan, Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, Pocahontas, 101 Dalmatians, The Little Mermaid, and Toy Story. There is also a guest appearance by Stitch and lots of cartoon clips from various other movies (my favorite is Darla from “Finding Nemo” in the Villians sequence).

But best of all is the beginning, where Ensign Benson gets some help from Roy Disney himself after finding herself unexpectedly thrust into the role of hosting the show. There is lots of old footage of Walt that I really enjoy. I love reading biographies and stories of the early days of Disney, so I just love seeing the classic footage. Another highlight for me is a special appearance by Elvis Stitch during the Comedy sequence. Terk from Tarzan steals the spotlight from Ensign Benson, and Stitch joins her for a rousing rendition of “Trashin’ the Camp.”

If you have small children, be aware that the Villians sequence may be scary, especially if they are sitting in the front. Ursula appears in larger than life form, and her tentacles come very close to those in the first row. Other than that, the sequence is reminiscent of Fantasmic, and the scariness is offset by Cruella DeVil and her entourage performing her signature song. Once of the biggest crowd pleasers always seems to be the Toy Story tribute to friendship. The other is the Snow White sequence in the beginning, when children get to join Snow White and Dopey on stage in the role of the remaining six dwarves.

I love the musical numbers, but I also enjoy The Golden Mickeys from a technical standpoint. It is so amazing to see what they can accomplish on a cruise ship stage, with such limited space. From blending the cartoon and real worlds in Snow White to Princess Aurora’s color changing dress to Ursula’s menacing tentacles and the cartoon backdrops in many of the numbers, the show is a technical marvel.

As the end of the show approaches, Ensign Benson slowly but surely gains her confidence. She may have started off with a severe case of stage fright, but in typical Disney fashion, there is a happy ending.

Since it was Good Friday and most of the shops in Nassau were closed, there was a special Golden Mickeys matinee. We decided to see it so we could have our evening free. I had noticed that even though the stores were closed, the ship was still pretty much deserted, just like a usual port day. Sure enough, the show was much less crowded than I expected. There were a lot of people in the middle section, but the sides were virtually empty.

On the surface, it might sound ideal to watch a show in an uncrowded theater. That would be true at the movies, but for stage shows, I personally like the energy of being in the midst of a large, lively audience. The people at the matinee were so quiet and reluctant to clap that I was reminded of Hades’ line, “Is this an audience or a mosaic?” I still love the show regardless, but I imagine it must be harder for the actors to perform if they don’t get an enthusiastic response.

We decided to go to our regular evening performance, and this time around there were lots of people and plenty of enthusiasm. Since there have been some changes, hubby took lots of new digital photos. If you want to take pictures, please do it WITHOUT a flash to be courteous to those around you. Sometimes the constant flashes are almost blinding, but on this trip I was happy to see that most people followed the rules and did not take flash photos. We have a digital camera with night vision that takes great flashless shots of all but the darkest scenes. I noticed a couple of other people around us using flashless digital cameras, too.

The big evening crowded laughed, clapped, and cheered at all the appropriate times and gave the show a well-deserved standing ovation at the end. I was very pleased to have seen my favorite show twice, and if it wasn’t dinner time, I could easily have sat through a third peformance.

Disney Dreams
Even though this was cruise number 37, I think we have seen Disney Dreams closer to 40 times. I love The Golden Mickeys, but Disney Dreams is hubby’s unwavering favorite (and I must admit that I never get tired of it either). Sometimes there is a matinee, so we double dip and see that plus the evening performance. Of course that doesn’t count the innumerable times we’ve watched it on our stateroom t.v.

Like Hercules, Disney Dreams has been around since the debut of the cruise line. Like The Golden Mickeys, it features a variety of scenes from various Disney movies. It is framed around the story of a little girl named Anne Marie, who wishes she could fly to the place where dreams come true. The Blue Fairy drafts Peter Pan to assist her in learning to make her own magic.

There are scenes from Aladdin, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid (my favorite), and The Lion King. As much as I love the musical numbers, my favorite part is towards the end, when Tinker Bell pixie dusts the cruise ship. I never get tired of it, no matter how many times I see it.

There was no matinee this time around, so we saw the pre-dinner show. Then, of course, we had to turn it on to watch again as we dressed for dinner. If I were travelling with children, I think that it would be so neat to put them to bed and let them fall asleep watching Disney Dreams on t.v.

Memories of Retired Shows
Besides these three shows, in the past Disney has attempted some “non-traditional” fare. One of their original offerings was Voyage of the Ghost ship, a swashbuckling pirate adventure with no Disney characters at all. But when people are sailing on a Disney ship, they want to see familiar characters/stories and hear familiar songs. Ghost Ship was retired, but ironically I think it would have been a success if it had been released later and tied into the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It would have been a natural fit.

There was another offering, which was originally titled C’est Magique, on the seven day Magic cruises. It was a new age-type magic show in the mold of something like Cirque du Soleil. In the original version, there was absolutely no dialogue. Personally, I really enjoyed it, but it contained no “Disney” elements so it was soon retooled into Morty the Magician. This time around, there was a story line and an appearance by Sorcerer Mickey. But even The Mouse himself couldn’t salvage it, and now it’s retired too.

Hopefully, if Disney Cruise Line ever retires Hercules and introduces another show, it will be on a par with The Golden Mickeys. I’d love to see a Lilo and Stitch theme, since they go with the whole tropical concept. The fact that Lilo & Stitch is my all-time favorite Disney cartoon has absolutely nothing to do with it!

Movies
Usually when we’re on the ship, we don’t go to the movie theater. Disney does have some really good offerings; they premiere movies from their studios on the Wonder and Magic the very same day that they debut on land. On our cruise, “Home on the Range” was already playing, and “The Alamo” made its debut. For the premieres and the really popular new movies, the screening is often held in the Walt Disney Theater, which is the main show theater. It is larger than the Buena Vista Theater, which is the regular spot for films.

I supposed that if you’re a movie buff, seeing films on board is a great savings over theater prices. But it’s not worth it for me because my cruise time is priceless, and I rarely spend it doing something that I could do at home. The movies will come out on DVD pretty quickly, but I can’t recreate the cruise ship experience in my living room.

But if you have kids or really enjoy seeing movies as soon as they are released, you’ll probably spend some time in the theater. Besides the first run offerings on the big screen, you’ll be able to see various older movies on your stateroom t.v. There is also a channel that plays classic Disney animated films 24 hours a day. For some reason, Hercules seemed to be on every time we turned on the cartoon channel. It was fun to see it and recognize how the movie dialogue had been worked into the play.

Photo Opportunities
On the way to dinner on the first night, I was very excited to spot a new photo opportunity. Throughout the cruise, the photographers from Shutters take portraits in front of a variety of backdrops. We have just about all of them, but there’s one that is generally only offered on the four night cruise that I’ve been coveting. It is a backdrop of the bow of the ship, with a sunset in the background. When I saw that it was available on this cruise, hubby and I had to take advantage of it. We have quite a collection of ship photos, and we always love adding new ones.

You cannot use your own camera at the back drops, but there are plenty of photo opportunities with the Disney characters where you can use your own camera in addition to the shots taken by the photographers. To find out where and when particular characters will be, call 7-PALS from your stateroom phone or look at the board outside of Shutters or in the atrium. Characters are among the most popular photo offerings, so the lines can get quite long. Be sure to get there early to get a picture with your favorites, as the line will be cut early if it gets too long.

I was hoping to find Lilo and Stitch, but they remained elusive. I have a photo with Stitch that was taken a couple of cruises ago, at the farewell gathering on the last night in the atrium, but I want to get a professional shot. The farewell is a character bonanza, with lots of traditional favorites, plus several of the main stage performers. The Shutters photographers don’t take pictures at this event, so you’ll definitely need to bring your own camera. The characters descend the staircase outside of Tritons and go out into the crowd in the atrium. There will be crew members on hand to keep some semblance of order, and you will probably be able to get several good shots if you move quickly. The only bad thing is that late dining often interferes with this event. We did attend it this time, but sometimes we run out of the dining room for photos and then return for dessert. If you have late dining and want to attend, you can also let your servers know that you will need to leave a little early. They are great about accommodating your request.

The farewell is a free for all, but the other character photo events are very well organized and controlled. On board the ship, they usually take place in the atrium. On Castaway Cay, they will be at various points along the main path in the morning and at the gazebo near Cookies in the afternoon. You may also run into them at various places on the ship; on this ship, I had my hand gallantly kissed by Captain Hook when I ran into him in the hallway. Later in the trip, as I was carrying my lunch back to our beach chairs on Castaway Cay, I heard people chuckling and turned to find Mickey right behind me! You never know where a character will turn up.

On this trip, we also got some neat shots on Castaway Cay. There are photographers at the family beach snapping photos on the sand and in the water. We got a picture of hubby and I standing in the water and another one of me lounging in a hammock. Take advantage of as many of the photo opportunities as possible because you’re not under any obligation to purchase the pictures.

Shutters can also develop your film and transfer your digital pictures onto a CD. Hubby purchased a waterproof camera to take photos on the island. He was going to have them developed on board but opted not to because he still had a few shots left to take. At the airport on the way home, he was forced to put the camera through the x-ray machine. The security agent swore up and down that the machine wouldn’t harm it. Back at our house, he used up the last few shots taking photos of our cats. When he had the film developed, the cat pictures were grainy and much too bright. Thankfully, the photos from Castaway Cay were okay, but the film that hadn’t been exposed yet was ruined. Next time, he’ll opt for the onboard developing.

Another cool thing to take advantage of on board is to purchase Christmas cards. The cards were offered for the first time in 2003, and they were such a hit that they’re now a permanent item. Even if you are sailing early in the year, you can buy your cards early. You choose a photo and a decorative scene, such as Mickey’s hand holding an ornament or Mickey lounging on the beach. You select some text, your photo is added, and voila! Cool personalized postcards. We already have our 2004 cards, as we bought them back in February.

Dining at Sea
I covered the embarkation buffet earlier, but that’s just the first part of a long weekend full of delicious dining opportunities. Hubby recently lost over 50 pounds, while I lost 25, so we do try to watch what we eat. But when we are on the ship, we allow ourselves to do some indulging. I think that the only way to maintain good eating habits is to give yourself a break every now and then. I do make some concessions to my new eating style, though. Between meals, I always used to snack on the delicious chicken tenders from Plutos, with plenty of honey mustard. Now, I refrain from most between meal snacks. I also skip some of the desserts or have something light. For example, in Parrot Cay the cold mango soup is actually an appetizer, but I ordered it to cap my meal instead of to start it. Disney also offers some excellent sugar-free desserts. Hubby gave a thumbs up to the sugar-free strawberry shortcake at lunch in Triton’s.

But I do allow myself to have special treats, like the chocolate souffle at Palo. With so many goodies around, it’s impossible to resist everything. Hubby and I try to balance the indulgence by keeping up with our exercise routine. He likes to work out in the fitness room, while I prefer walking and water jogging at Castaway Cay.

The Wonder has three main dining rooms: Triton’s, Animators Palate, and Parrot Cay. Each is themed differently, and each has a different menu. Animators is the most famous because of its show, where the walls literally change from black and white into color. But personally, I like Triton’s best because it has my favorite menu. I also like the Little Mermaid theme and the blue and green cast to the lighting. You eat at a different restaurant each night, and your server teams moves along with you. On this trip, our head server is Rita, who we know from many previous trips. Our servers were Rolly and Agnes. They took good care of us, handling all of our special requests cheerfully and efficiently.

In addition to the three regular restaurants, there is also Palo, an adults only alternative. You have to make reservations to dine there, and there is a $10 per person surcharge, but it is well worth it. Palo is the equivalent of a fine restaurant, with meals cooked to order. It reminds me of something like D’Antonio’s in Celebration, Florida. The cuisine is Italian, with many delicious pasta dishes. There is also steak and seafood, and even an assortment of pizzas. The pizza is delicious but filling, so I usually skip that (it makes a great appetizer if you have a large group, but generally it’s just hubby and I).

Your meal is kicked off with fresh bread and three dipping sauces (olive, red pepper, and garlic mayonnaise), as well as antipasto. We skip the antipasto because we like an order an appetizer off the menu, but we also want to save room for dessert. Hubby loves the Italian fish soup as a starter. It is a red soup chock full of shrimp, mussels, and scallops. I really enjoy the portobello mushroom appetizer. For dinner, I know that the filet mignon with gorgonzola cheese is always good, but often I’m tempted away by a special. On this trip, I tried the special lasagna, and it was absolutely divine. Hubby can vouch for the fact that I am not really a pasta person, but the lasagna was out of this world. It was chock full or beef and cheese, and it was topped off with an utterly delicious white sauce. If it were a regular menu item, that would probably be my usual order. Hubby opted for the tuna, as usual, which he orders as rare as possible. He would be happy if it were totally raw, as he loves sushi. Palo offers the next best thing: a quick sear on either side, leaving a nice, pink middle.

For me, no visit to Palo is complete without chocolate souffle for dessert. I like it with lots of white hazelnut sauce and just a dab of chocolate sauce. Mmmmmm! Hubby tends to switch off between the pistachio torte and the panna cotta. No matter how full I’m feeling (which is usually pretty full, since I tend to overindulge in the bread and sauces in addition to my meal), I always make room for that chocolate bliss.

A secondary benefit of eating at Palo is the view. I especially like dining there on Nassau night, with the lights of the city as the backdrop. One of my most memorable Palo visits occurred on the Magic, when we were in Key West. Our dinner was timed just right so that we watched the sunset right from our windowside table.

Even though there is a surcharge to dine at Palo, we always add on an additional gratuity for our Palo server. We base it on what we would tip in a similar land-based restaurant. If you want to add something, you can put it on the slip when you pay for the surcharge.

The other onboard dining experiences were all excellent. I always have eggs benedict from Triton’s for breakfast on Nassau morning, and we vary between Triton’s and Beach Blanket Buffet for lunch. On this trip, hubby convinced me to lunch at Triton’s by reminding me about their delicious curried pumpkin soup. They also make fresh pasta and a wonderful Hawaiian-type salad. I always request added maraschino cherries. It may sound like an odd combination, but it is delicious.

If you want to sleep in or don’t feel like leaving your stateroom for breakfast, you can pre-order continental items the night before. You fill out a card, place it on your doorknob, and your food and beverages will be delivered the next morning at the appointed hour. The room service staff on the Wonder are great. They are so prompt that we use them as an alarm clock. If you have a verandah, enjoying your morning coffee outside is the perfect way to start off your day.

We did find a new culinary treat on this trip in an unexpected place: Cookies Barbeque on Castaway Cay. After I got my food in the regular line, I noticed that there were tables where you could get a fresh Ceasar salad. You'll have to be on the lookout because you won't see this in the regular buffet line. I had already loaded up on food so I skipped it, but hubby got one and pronounced it quite good.

Onboard Accommodations
I am a creature of habit, and I love deck 5 in general and stateroom 5650 in particular. When we’re not there, we can be found in one of the non-adjoining secret porthole rooms (either 5520 or 5020). Unlike the other decks that contain guest staterooms, deck 5 only has rooms in the forward and aft sections. The middle of the deck is taken up by the Buena Vista movie theater and the kids clubs. The activity areas are well removed from the staterooms, so they won’t cause any disturbance. Actually, I think you get less hallway noise and traffic on deck 5 because it does not have an endless hallway of rooms like the other decks.

The secret porthole rooms are forward, and 5650 is aft. Aft is my favorite area of the ship, and the farther back, the better. 5650 is the last guest stateroom on the starboard side of the ship. Being so far off the beaten path means that it is quiet and peaceful. Generally, the only time I ever hear anyone passing by is the first afternoon, when people are lost. Once they learn their way around the ship, they don’t venture back to my peaceful little zone.

This trip was no exception. We were in 5650 and never heard any disturbance when we slept in a bit on Nassau morning, even though there were lots of kids on the ship. I would see them when we walked through the hallways, but I never heard them anywhere near our stateroom. We also spent some quality verandah time; 5650 has a solid metal verandah rather than a plexiglass railing (this is true of all the staterooms past the navigators verandah rooms), and it is deeper and a little larger than the regular verandahs. It feels more private and secluded, and it’s nice to only have a stateroom on one side because you only have one neighbor. Even though a three day cruise literally flies by, we still found time to lounge around outside. I like to go out there for a little while each morning and then spend some time on the verandah on Nassau afternoon (I just pretend it’s a day at sea).

Nassau (Sort of)
Speaking of Nassau, on this trip, for the first time in ages, we actually disembarked for the first time in ages. No, we weren’t anxious to have our hair braided or to stock up on liquor and smokes. We happened to be in port at the same time as the Celebrity Century. Cruise Director Rick, formerly of Disney Cruise Line, is now a cruise director at Celebrity and he happened to be working on the Century. We haven’t seen him in ages, so we broke our tradition of staying on board and disembarked in Nassau to meet up with him for a quick visit. His ship was only in port for a few hours; it didn’t arrive until 2:30 p.m. and left at 7:30 p.m., but we still managed to get together to say hello.

It was great to see Rick again after over a year, and he is doing great. Our stay in Nassau consisted of disembarking the Wonder, walking over the Century, which was docked right next to us, visiting with Rick, and then heading right back to the Wonder. That was enough for me; if it weren’t for Rick, we would have just pretended it was a day at sea and stayed on the ship. I did notice one classy perk at Celebrity; as the passengers returned to the ship, they were handed hot towels to freshen up.

The rest of our Nassau day was filled with spa appointments, quality verandah time, and the Golden Mickeys matinee. The matinee was only because of Good Friday, since there was less to do in the port. But even without an extra stage show, there is plenty to do on board. There are always movies and various activities like a family animation class. For lunch, you can choose from a buffet on deck 9 or a sitdown meal at Tritons.

37 Times at Castaway Cay
Like The Golden Mickeys and Disney Dreams, Castaway Cay is one of those things that I never tired of. Hubby and I have extraordinary luck. In 37 cruises, many of which are in the winter, we have never missed docking at Castaway Cay. There have been a couple of close calls in the colder months, but we’ve always made it in. We’ve never been totally rained out, either. We have encountered a couple of storms, but we’ve always gotten in at least of couple of hours of beach time.

For some reason, hubby was convinced that it was going to be too cold to swim this trip. He was so convincing that I booked my reflexology treatment at 2 p.m. on Saturday, figuring that the cold would entice us to leave the island early. Boy, did he turn out to be wrong!

Actually, at about 6 a.m. Saturday morning, it looked like things might be a wash-out. I was sound asleep, but hubby was out on the verandah watching a wicked thunder storm blow through. He was fully convinced that it was going to stick around, but our luck held and it cleared out just in time for disembarkation. The only signs that remained were some dark clouds that blew away by late morning, wet sand, and water on the beach chairs.

Hubby had booked the brand new jet ski excursion for 9:45 a.m., so we disembarked bright and early. We were stepping on the island before 9 a.m. We had some postcards to mail, and the post office is supposed to open at 8:30 a.m., at least according to the posted sign, but it was deserted. We figured we’d just stop back in the afternoon.

Usually we go to the adult beach at the far end of the island, but very now and then I like to stay at the family beach. Serenity Bay usually lives up to its name as an oasis of peace and quiet, but sometimes I like to be in the thick of things. At the far end of the family beach, near the Heads Up bar, there is a nice, uncrowded area. It takes a bit of walking to get there, but it is close to restrooms and the game room. There are three hammocks in the area that often stay undiscovered until lunchtime.

We were going to head over there, but since we were so early, I noticed a couple of unoccupied hammocks behind the bar across from Cookie’s Barbecue. Although they were right off the main path, they were shaded by a clump of palm trees that gave the area a secluded feel. They weren’t right by the water, but we don’t have any young swimmers to watch, so that doesn’t matter to us. We claimed one of the hammocks and adjacent lounge chairs and set up “base camp” in this new location.

As the clouds disappeared and the sun grew stronger, the temperature started to climb. It turned into one of the most gorgeous days I can ever remember on Castaway Cay. It was warm enough to swim, but not unbearably hot and muggy. Hubby did jet sking, snorkeling, and lounging, while I split my time between swimming and reading in the hammock. When we first arrived, the water and beach were nearly deserted. It was amazing to watch how the crowd grew and multiplied as the morning wore into afternoon.

A Jet Ski Adventure
The jet ski eco-tour is a brand new offering on Castaway Cay. There have always been pedal boats, sailboats, and kayaks for rent, but the jet skis are a new addition to the fleet. You cannot take them out on your own. You sign up for a guided tour, and you are led on an excursion with two stops as the guide shares some history and ecological information about the island.

Hubby though he would have difficulty getting a spot, but it turns out he was the only person in the 9 a.m group! I think this is because this tour is new, and not many people know about it yet. Once the word gets out, I suspect it is going to get very popular. The price tag is a bit steep; it’s $95 for one person, but there is a price break for a second person riding on the same jet ski. But I think there will still be a lot of people who are willing to pay the price in order to jet ski in Paradise.

Personally, I’d rather pay the extra money to be assured that I am going with a trusted vendor. Hubby once rented a jet ski at the public beach in Nassau. The vendors there are all independent, with no regulation. The jet ski died out in the middle of the ocean, and he had to wait until it drifted back to shore, mile from his starting point. When he finally got back to the beach, he made the mistake of telling the vendor where he left the jet ski before demanding his money back. Of course, the guy disappear with his money.

At least when you ride a jet ski at Castaway Cay, you know that Disney has carefully selected the vendor. Hubby was very impressed with the guides’ knowledge and their focus on safety. There is one guide in front and another in back, and you wear a life jacket and go at a controlled speed. You stick pretty close to the island and the surrounding area rather than going out into the open ocean. One of the two stops is on the opposite side of the dock, where the guides talk about the mangroves. For that stop, you stay on your jet ski. The second stop is at a sandbar, where you climb off your jet ski and learn about how the sand bar was created and some of the history of the Bahamas. If you are lucky, you might even get to see wild crabs! Hubby was fortunate enough to see the crabs and get his photo taken holding one. The guide said that this is the first time he’s seen the crabs there since the tour started.

The whole experience, from start to finish, lasted about an hour. The tour itself was about 30 minutes, and the rest of the time was spent on orientation and instruction. Hubby really enjoyed it and highly recommends it to anyone who wants to get a unique view of the island or who just wants to say that they rode a jet ski at Castaway Cay.

A Lazy Day on the Island
My day was much more lazy. I like to jog in the water for exercise, and if I went out a little ways it was deep enough to give me a workout. At first, I was nearly the only one in the water, but as the morning wore on, more and more people took the plunge. The beach chairs were filling in rapidly; you could tell each time when a tram must have dropped off a load of passengers because a new herd of beach goers would wander down the sand, looking for a spot.

After I was done in the water, I curled up in the hammock with a good book. The palm trees provided plenty of shade, and even though I was on the family beach and it was pretty crowded, the area was relatively quiet. It was quite a while before anyone even took the nearby chairs. I think most people want to be closer to the water, and many even bring the tiny chairs right down into the ocean. It’s a good way to keep a close eye on the kids and also to cool off and relax.

Finally a large family group showed up and managed to scrounge enough chairs to set up “base camp” in the area in front of me. They put together a pretty impressive camp, but I didn’t see too much of them. The gang of kids immediately headed for the water, leaving mom to hold down the fort and keep an eye on their stack of water toys. I had a very nice, peaceful interlude until hubby returned from jet skiing and snorkeling. Then, since our chairs were very close to Cookies, we brought our lunch over to the beach. By the time we were done eating, it was time to head back to the ship so I could shower before my 2 p.m. spa appointment. So much for hubby’s prediction of cold weather; it had been an absolutely perfect day. The only good thing about returning to the ship a little early is that I burn easily. Even though I’d been applying sunscreen, I had a bit of a burn going already. But I was still sad that I missed kayaking.

We had packed up and were just leaving when I saw a family heading onto the beach to find a place. I pointed out our hammock, and they happily claimed it and settled in for the afternoon.

The Silent Auction
Shopping is a popular activity on cruise ships and in port, but hubby and I have just about every t-shirt and quite a bit of assorted DCL merchandise, so we usually don’t buy too much in the onboard stores. I always look at the Silent Auction merchandise, but usually nothing catches my eye. I already own my all-time favorite DCL item, which is a copy of the picture that graces the bed over stateroom 5650, so it’s hard to find something that measures up.

On this trip, I finally found another piece of artwork to fit into my DCL bedroom. It was a gold-framed picture of the ship, with clouds in the background. In the clouds you can see WDW. For some reason, that really struck me as neat. Hubby recently bought a framed poster at Art of Disney that features Walt and Mickey walking over a bridge with the parks and various characters behind them, on land and in the clouds. I absolutely love items that depict Walt and Mickey together (we also have Triple Self Portrait handing in the same room). For some reason, this picture reminded me of that one, even though Walt and The Mouse are nowhere to be seen. Maybe it was the parks and the clouds. The blue matting was perfect for our bedroom and the starting bid was reasonable ($75), so I decided to give it a go.

To participate in the Silent Auction, you write your bid on the appropriate sheet. The items and sheets are placed outside the Walt Disney Theater during the times that the shops are open. You must bid at least the designated minimum, and others can come along and bid more. When the auction closes on the last day, the highest bidder wins. If you are the winner, you will receive a call in your stateroom. You must pay for your item by 11:00 p.m. on that last night. It can also be shipped for an additional fee.

I decided that if I could get the picture for $75, that would be great, and if someone wanted to go higher, I would bow out. I had awful luck when I was trying to get my stateroom picture. The opening bid for that one was considerably higher, but when I bid for it on a couple of occasions, someone always topped me. For only $75, I thought someone would surely swoop in on this picture, too. But when we got back from dinner that evening, there was a phone message waiting for me…it was mine for the minimum bid!

I trooped down to Treasure Ketch to pick up the newest addition to my Disney collection. You pay in the store, and if you are taking your item with you, they will make sure that it is securely swaddled in bubble wrap. Now it is proudly hanging in my bedroom, among lots of other DCL paraphernalia. We have everything from a model of the ship signed by one of the captains to Captain Mickey and Minnie figurines to Steamboat Mickey to crystal etchings and even a nautical bedspread. Various photos from Shutters take up any remaining wall space and dresser tops. I am always homesick for the ship in between our cruises, but when I step into the bedroom, I can almost convince myself that I’m onboard.

If you’d like to bring a little bit of the ship back home with you, too, I highly recommend checking out the auction. Besides some cool artwork, there are unique items like genuine captains hats with signatures, framed sets of trading cards, dishes from the restaurants, promotional crew member items, and even bolts of cloth from the Animators Palate costumes. The items change regularly, so don’t be surprised if they are different on your cruise.

Flash Back to the 70s
On this cruise, we didn’t attend much of the adult entertainment. There is an 80s party on the first night, but I don’t like it as much any more because they took out the Michael Jackson dance numbers that the main stage actors used to perform. I wish that the 70s party was on the first night because then I can party until the wee hours and sleep late on Nassau morning. But we were pretty sleepy Thursday night, so since it was the 80s party, we skipped it in favor of our nice, comfy bed.

Other adult events that we like are the Wonderquest adult scavenger hunt and Match Your Mate, an at-sea version of the Newlywed Game. I don’t know if they had Wonderquest; as usual, Match Your Mate was on Nassau night, but we were pretty busy bumming around the ship so we missed it. We usually try to see it because it’s different every time, depending on the contestants. There are three couples: newlyweds, people who have been married for a few years, and the couple that has been wed the longest. That mix usually makes for some pretty hilarious results. My favorites are the couple who were honeymooning on the Magic because they had met there the year before (and had “discovered the magic” on the deck 7 aft verandah), the couple who shared intimate details about their tryst in a Six Flags parking lot, the elderly couple who had been discovered in an intimate position by a Boy Scout Troop that happened to hike by, and the even more elderly couple who took their honeymoon in Mexico with a young hitchhiker in tow. They spoke no Spanish and he spoke no English, but each night they would make him sleep outside the car while they carried on inside! They had been married for something like 60 years, so it was even more hilarious to imagine this scenario way back in the 1940s. Sometimes the show is more tame, but sometimes it’s even wilder; I can’t say much more here, since my website is a family site.

On the last night, we made up our minds to not miss our favorite event. After dinner, we stopped at our stateroom to change and headed down to Wavebands. I like to get there early to get a table as far away as possible from the smoking section. Many of the non-smoking tables are directly in front of the smoking section, which means you might as well be sitting in a smoking area. Combine that with generally poor ventilation and if you have allergies (like me), it can be a nightmare. There is one section off to the side that is all non-smoking, so we always stake out a spot there.

Sometimes it’s pretty crowded, but amazingly this time it was almost deserted. When the 70s party is on the last night, the turnout tends to be smaller because people are busy packing. But even when the crowd is light early on, the tables slowly but surely fill up as the hour grows later. This time, it started light and stayed light. I suspect it might have been because there was a higher than usual kid population on board due to the holiday. It’s more fun when it’s crowded, but we still had a good time. We did some dancing and then watched the special appearances by “Gloria Gaynor,” “John Travolta,” and “The Village People.” Like Match Your Mate, the dancing and lip syncing are always different, and the cruise staff does a great job of picking people to perform. On this trip, they didn’t have much of a choice because the crowd was so small. As a result, the performances where much tamer than usual, although one of the guys (an Italian man) was pretty funny. I was still glad we attended; I only regret it when I have to drag myself out of bed early the next morning for disembarkation.

Goodbye for Now
Sunday morning marked the end of Disney Cruise #37. We don’t put our luggage out the night before (if you do, it will be transported down to the customs area for you). Instead, we just take it with us when we leave the ship. You can go to the buffet or have a sitdown beakfast at a pre-assigned time that is based on your dinner seating time. But after a long weekend of overindulgence, we are usually too stuffed to even think about breakfast. We had some cookies and fruit left over from earlier in the trip, so we nibbled on that as we packed our final odds and ends and prepared to say goodbye to the Wonder for seven weeks.

Disembarkation is a real breeze. If you’ve never done it before, or if you’ve been through the arduous process on another cruise line, you will be pleasantly surprised. There is a disembarkation talk, but you don’t need to attend in person because it will be replayed all evening on your stateroom television. If you don’t go, be sure to view it on t.v. because it gives some important information on customs forms, identification requirements, etc. Even though we sail frequently, we still watch it because things change regularly.

We had given out tips and turned in our survey the night before, so in the morning there wasn’t much left to do other than leave the ship. When we left around 8 a.m., there was no line in the atrium, so we simply walked down the gangway and back into the real world. There are porters to help you with your bags if you need any assistance. We pack pretty light, so we can manage our own luggage. There was a short wait in the Customs line, but soon we were turning in our form and passing through on the first step of our journey home.

Depending on your form of transportation, you will either pick up your car in the parking lot across the street, meet your towncar or limo in the pickup area of the lot, or catch a van to a rental car agency in the pickup area. There is a big, white canopy in the designated area, and there are signs that mark lines for the rental car and Radisson Hotel shuttle van. The lucky people continue their vacation in Cape Canaveral or Orlando area, while the unlucky ones (like us) head to the airport or to home by other means.

Oh well, I shouldn’t complain because we are very fortunate to be able to cruise as often as we do. Even though we had to say goodbye for now, it wouldn’t be too much longer before we returned. And once again, we were leaving with memories of another “wonder”ful trip.

Trip Report #36, February 2004 on the Wonder

2004-06-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

Escape from the Chicago Winter
My hubby and I think the best way to spend our wedding anniversary is at sea, so Disney cruise #36 was our annual February cruise. Although we were married on Valentines Day, we usually sail a week or so early because the airfare is cheaper. Besides being our anniversary month, February is also a great month to sail if you live in a cold climate. December and January are bleak, miserable months, so by the time you get to February, you’re ready for some sunshine and lush, green vegetation to replace the gray skies and snowy landscape.

As usual, we flew on ATA out of Midway Airport. Living in Chicago, we have the advantage of choosing from two airports and multiple airlines. We used to vary between American, United, and ATA, but lately American and United haven’t had any good deals. ATA is generally pretty reasonable, even compared to Southwest. They have assigned seats, nice leather seats with adjustable headrests, and in-flight entertainment (you pay $2 for the headphones, but then you can keep them for future trips). Most of their fleet is pretty new; I love the 757-300 stretch planes, although landing in one of those on Midway’s short runways is a real experience.

Of course, our trip began with the trip to Midway. We live in the south suburbs of Chicago, and it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour to get to the airport, depending on traffic. Our most direct route is Cicero Avenue, but sometimes we opt for Pulaski, which takes us out of our way but tends to have less congestion (“less” being a relative term). Lately, we’ve had pretty good luck on Cicero, and this trip was no exception. We made one of our best times ever, reaching the airport within half an hour.

I absolutely hate shuttle buses, so we usually park at Midway Park Savers, an independent lot that is within walking distance of the Orange Line entrance to the airport. The lot is so vast that they have an internal shuttle to bring you to the front if it’s really crowded. But usually we get a spot close to the front. Some of the spots are tight, especially if you drive an SUV. I have an Aztek (yes, a Survivor car, although I prefer to think of it as a Canyonero, ala the Simpsons). That means that sometimes I must be choosy about where I park if I don’t want another ding in my door or to have trouble getting out. But as I said, usually there are plenty of good spots to choose from.

We’d been going through a multi-day snowy period in Chicago, so the parking lot was coated in white and people were parking willy-nilly without regard for the yellow lines. I chose a spot by the fence, figuring that was safe enough, and hubby and I gathered our luggage, huddled in our coats, and headed across the street. It’s a chilly walk through the bus stops and parking garage before you reach the warmth of the terminal building, and we were wearing light coats because we didn’t feel like carrying big, bulky ones around Florida. The cold made us step very lively, and soon we were in the terminal.

The security line was short, so we were through within minutes. We had done web check-in, so all we had to do was head to the gate and wait. We knew that there wouldn’t be many people on the flight; we could tell when we changed our seats (online check-in allows you to switch to an exit row). Boarding proceeded in record time because of the light crowd, and our flight managed to take off as scheduled. I was pleased because we’ve had weather delays on three of our last four flights. I guess we were due for an on-time trip.

Unfortunately, the wind was against us. The captain warned us that it would be a bumpy ride, and the usual two hour and nine minute flight stretched out closer to three hours. At least we spent them in comfort because we’d selected our favorite exit row, a two-across row with tons of legroom and kitty-corner from the restroom for easy access. We bring books, handheld games, CD players, a DVD player, and a laptop computer, so we’re well prepared for delays. I am finalizing my Disney cruise planning CD, so I spent some time working on that and then rewarded myself with a few games of pinball (in between white knuckle periods when the turbulence got especially bouncy). Even though the flight was longer than usual, the time passed quickly because I was busy, and soon we were touching down in Orlando.

Usually we catch a hotel shuttle and then take a town car from Happy Limo to the port in the morning. I know that some people do a one-way car rental, but I’ve never tried that because I prefer being a passenger. But since I am doing research for my CD, we decided to do a rental from whichever company was cheapest and then have Happy Limo pick us up for our return. We used to use the Disney Cruise Line bus a long time ago, for our first cruises, so this way I’d be able to report on all of the options firsthand.

Three car rental companies (Avis, Budget, and Hertz) offer a free shuttle from their Cocoa Beach location to Port Canaveral. Two (Avis and Budget) are onsite at Orlando International Airport. You have to take a shuttle from MCO to Hertz, but I’ve used them before via Priceline when we do quickie weekend trips, and it’s still a smooth experience. Their shuttles are always right there waiting, and they’re only a few minutes away from the airport. I had no big preference, so I went with the one that offered the best deal.

First, I looked for discount codes on www.mousesavers.com, but none of them made much of a difference for a one-way rental. Finally, I went to www.hotwire.com. They don’t handle one-way rentals, but they have a link on their site to several major companies that automatically puts in a discount code. I found the cheapest prices using their link, and the least expensive company was Budget, so that’s who I chose. I was glad it wasn’t Avis because I’ve seen massive crowds waiting for their shuttle on disembarkation day. I don’t know if it’s that bad for embarkation, but I didn’t want to find out. On the other hand, the number of people waiting for Budget is usually modest, so I figured they were a good choice.

At MCO, we headed to the Budget counter, which is the farthest one down on the left hand side, meaning that it’s a pretty good hike. There were quite a few people in front of us, and two people working the counter, so we waited about 15 minutes. I am used to booking through Priceline, which means that the rental is pre-paid. I’ve read about some companies trying to raise the price on a regular booking when you arrive, so I was on guard for that. The reservation contains a disclaimer that the amount may not be exact, but I expect it to be pretty darn close.

Fortunately, the price given to me at the counter was within 99 cents of my quote. The agent brought up the insurance and upgrades, but he wasn’t overly pushy. We had rented the cheapest car, but we ended up being upgraded to a Taurus. It was a nice, big vehicle with a cavernous trunk. It had over 16,000 miles on it and a shimmy when driven over 60 m.p.h., but it had really good acceleration, and overall it seemed capable of getting us safely to the port. We loaded up, checked the car for any pre-existing damage (nothing but a minor ding; we always document any problems with our digital camera, just in case), and were on our way.

Wake Up, Sleepyhead
The next morning, we got a later start than we had planned, so I was hoping the wait for the shuttle to the port wouldn’t be too bad. Since we had a rental car, we had spent the night in the Disney World area. The drive from the airport to Port Canaveral is only about 40 minutes, but starting from Disney World adds another 20 to 30, depending on traffic and where you are staying. We were on the road at 10:00 a.m., heading down 417 to 528, which goes directly to Cocoa Beach, where it turns into A1A. That’s the main drag where the car rental companies are located. Expect to pay a toll to get on 417, plus more $1 tolls and then a $1.25 toll on 528.

Thankfully, traffic wasn’t too bad, and we arrived at Budget a little after 11, after a quick stop to fill up the car with gas. The Budget office was just past the Radisson hotel, on the right. It was quite different from the hustle and the bustle of the airport location. They directed me to pull the car around the back, and hubby unloaded the luggage while I went inside to pay. There was no one else waiting for the shuttle, so within a few minutes we were piling in and heading to the ship. I noticed that they had two vans, which must be good at crowded times.

Port Canaveral is not far away, and within minutes we were passing the Disney Wonder. No matter how many times I see it, I am always in awe of its size and beauty. It looks so classy, even in comparison to the newer ships. My stateroom, 5650, is in the butt end of the ship, on the side facing the terminal, so I caught sight of it as we drove past.

We pulled up to the terminal building and stacked up our luggage for the porter. Your bags are taken to the ship for delivery to your stateroom after sail away. You should have a day bag with the items that you will need immediately after embarkation. One item not to forget is your swimwear. Most people don’t realize that before the safety drill on embarkation day is an ideal time for a dip. The pools typically aren’t crowded because many people don’t think about packing their swimsuits in their day bag. Usually you’ve just arrived after a hectic morning of travel, and you’ll probably be hustling for Palo, spa, and/or Flounders reservations, so after all that is done, a swim or a soak in the hot tub is a great way to unwind.

We never forget our swimsuits, which were safely packed in our day bag. The security line to get into the port wasn’t too bad, but be aware that if you have a laptop computer, they will make you boot it up. Soon we were through and heading up the escalator to the massive check-in area.

The check-in counter is built to handle a large volume of people. Also, on the 3 and 4 day cruises, many people are on land/sea packages and check in at their resort. That means that your wait time is typically minimal. There were plenty of check-in agents available, but we wanted to say “hi” to our friend Tanya and she was already waiting on someone, so we chose to wait. Soon she was free and welcoming us back for our 36th departure.

I was surprised that the embarkation line was pretty minimal, especially since we’d arrived at the port later than usual (the shuttle had dropped us off around 11:30). I know that the wait to embark seems like forever to some people, but to me time jumps into fast forward mode the minute I enter the terminal building. People were wandering around, looking at the ship model, and getting their photo taken with Captain Mickey. Soon enough it was noon, and the boarding announcement was made. Time to head through the giant Mickey head and onto the Disney Wonder!

As you board, your photo is taken in front of a dated sign, and then you give your name to a member of the cruise staff and they welcome you aboard over a microphone as you walk into the atrium. By now, it’s very familiar to me, but if it’s your first cruise, the sight of the red carpeting, the enormous blown glass chandelier overhead, the statue of Ariel, and the twin staircases is very impressive.

We headed aft to Parrot Cay for lunch. The embarkation buffet is served in two locations; Parrot Cay is an indoor restaurant where you are assigned to a table, and Beach Blanket Buffet, which is up on deck 9, is a buffet restaurant with indoor and outdoor self-seating. Both have pretty much the same lavish spread. The only big difference is if you are a soda drinker. You can get soda included with your meal in Parrot Cay, where a crew member will come to take your drink order. In Beach Blanket Buffet, you get your beverage at the end of the line, and the selection is limited to things like coffee and non-carbonated beverages such as fruit punch and lemonade.

Of course, if you are a big soda drinker and want easy access in any location, you can buy an all-you-can-drink soda mug. Then, you can have it filled at one of the bars and bring it with you to the buffet. But hubby sticks to coffee, while I prefer iced tea, so we never bother to get one.

The buffet contains a wide variety of salads and hot dishes. I am a salad buff myself, while hubby focuses on the jumbo shrimp. There is also a carving station at the end of the line, which usually has beef although I’ve occasionally seen ham or lamb too. Then you can head to a table where breads and soups are available. My favorite is the cold strawberry-banana soup, which tastes a lot like a smoothie. I usually get a bowl and have it for dessert, although there is a table laden with lots of tempting dessert items too. There is also a spread of kid-friendly items like chicken fingers and macaroni & cheese, so if you little one turns up their nose at the selection on the main buffet, bring them to the kiddie section.

As we chowed down, we read through the information sheet and Navigator (activity list) that we had been given to plot out our strategy for the day. You will definitely want to read those sheets thoroughly because they contain important information like the times/locations for Palo, spa, and Flounders reservations. They also tell what is happening in the evening (showtimes, activities, etc.) so you can get an idea of what you’d like to do after the safety drill.

I noticed that the spa and Palo reservation times were staggered. On our previous few trips, they both started at the same time (1:30), which could pose a challenge unless you send one member of your party to each location. Now, Palo started at 1 p.m. and the spa opened at 1:30, so you could take care of one and then head directly to the other.

The Palo reservation process is very orderly. It usually takes place in Wavebands, where you line up and go to the correct table for the night of your choice. You also go to Wavebands if you want to make a change in your dining arrangements, like switching from late seating to early or visa versa. But be warned that if you are on late seating, a switch to the earlier shift might not be possible. Because of the number of families and children on board, first dining spots go very quickly, and the dining rooms can only hold so many people. You can get on the waitlist or make a request, but it’s not guaranteed.

Of course, hubby and I never have that problem because we like the second seating. First seating is at 6 p.m., which is really 5 p.m. to those of us on central time. That’s pretty early to eat, and it feels like we’re rushed in our daytime activities. We like to laze around the ship on Nassau day, and on Castaway Cay day, the Castaway Club party is usually from 5:15 to 6, which would bring us right up to dinnertime. We prefer 8:30, which gives us plenty of time to do whatever we want all day without rushing. When you are on second seating, you see the main stage show before you eat, and first seaters see it afterwards. Personally, I like the 6:30 showtime. It’s easier to get ready for a show early than for dinner, as you don’t have to get all dressed up.

Spa reservations take place in the Vista Spa on deck 9. They will take you on a spa tour, but if you already know what you want, you can ask to skip it and make your reservations immediately. The tour can be very informative if you’re not familiar with some of the more exotic treatments like the seaweed wrap (one of my favorites). Of course, I have the spa offerings memorized, so I always have my treatments planned out in advance. If you are only interested in the Rainforest (a room containing heated tile loungers, saunas, steam room, and scented showers), you won’t have to worry about reservations. You just come to the spa and sign up when you want to go in. For all the other treatments, appointments are a must.

The spa also has a list of the classes that will be offered throughout the cruise. The classes are free, and there is a really nice variety. My favorite is the beach yoga on Castaway Cay, and they have started offering Pilates, too. If you are a fitness buff, you’ll also want to check out the fitness room, which is free. The equipment is available on a first come, first served basis.

You will need to make reservations for baby care at Flounders as early as possible, but you don’t have to worry as much about the Oceaneer Club and the Oceaneer Lab. If you child is on board, they will get a space. I don’t travel with children, but our tablemate told me that it’s a good idea to register your child early, even though you don’t have to worry about registrations filling up. She said that the line was very short before the safety drill, but when she brought her daughter in the evening, it was massive.

Once you are done with your lunch and reservations, it’s time to relax. If you brought swimwear, now is the time to hit the pool or hot tubs. If not, you can explore the ship or go to the shore excursion or port shopping talks. They do a lot of little giveaways at the shopping talk, so if you like freebie, be sure to attend. Last time I went, which was several cruises ago, I got a neat little dolphin keychain from Del Sol that looks like it is made of clear plastic but that changes color in the sunlight.

Hubby and I headed for the hot tubs at the Quiet Cove adult pool, which is our usual embarkation agenda. Usually they are warm rather than hot, but this time they were blazing! I turned on the jets to see if that would cool things down, but it didn’t make much difference. We have a high tolerance, but we spend half of our time sitting on the edge and dipping our legs. The heat felt really good after the sub-zero temperatures we had left behind in Chicago. The weather was very nice, and it seemed to be drawing people out because the adult pool was the most crowded that I’ve ever seen it. Usually there are a few people laying out on the chairs or dipping their toes in the water, but this time there were sunbathers everywhere and lots of intrepid souls swimming in the pool or hot tubbing.

The time before the safety drill always flies by, and soon we had to drag ourselves out of the water and don our lovely orange life jackets. Because we are in stateroom 5650 so often, we could probably find our lifeboat station in our sleep. We had dropped off our day bags in our stateroom before lunch, and when we arrived before the drill, the rest of our bags were already there. That was really fast; it usually takes a little longer, so don’t panic if your bags don’t show up immediately. It takes quite a while to distribute the luggage for 2600 guests. In 36 Disney cruises, they have never lost any of our bags yet, so you can have faith that yours will show up in time to dress for dinner.

I stepped out on the verandah for a few minutes before leaving for the drill. I love stateroom 5650 because of its peaceful location, just about as far back in the ship as you can get. It has a verandah with a solid metal railing rather than plexiglass, but it’s curved due to the shape of the ship so it’s larger than normal. It is also somewhat recessed, which gives you more protection in case of bad weather so you can still sit outside in a light rain. Best of all, it’s so far back that it there is almost no hallway traffic, except for the safety drill when people pass by to use the staircase down to Animators Palate (the stairs are only open for the drill). You might hear an occasional lost soul, but for the most part people don’t wander that far aft.

We trooped down the stairs to Assembly Station Q. All of the stations are at various locations inside and outside of deck 4. The lifeboats are on deck 5, but they would be lowered in case of emergency. As we headed in, we saw our friend Sasha. I was very excited because he had left the ship several months before, and I didn’t expect to see him again. He had been called to do a brief fill-in, and coincidentally it coincided with our February cruise. We said a quick hello as we headed past him to our station; there was no time to talk, as the drill was beginning. But afterwards, we were able to have a proper greeting and let him know that we’d see him at the events later.

The safety drill is only about 15 or 20 minutes long, and then you head like salmon back to your stateroom. We’re lucky that 5650 is located right at the head of the staircase, so we get “home” very quickly. We had booked spa appointments for 4:30, so we whisked into spa gear and headed out for our first decadence of the trip.

The Vista Spa
The spa is usually one of the first things we do. Sometimes we watch the sail away from our verandah, but most times hubby and I are sprawled on massage tables and semi-conscious as the ship leaves Port Canaveral. The earliest you can make an appointment is 4:30, when the spa opens after the drill. On this trip, I had booked a regular massage, while hubby had scheduled a seaweed wrap. After the drill, we headed up to our stateroom to change and then hustled off to the spa. It was a little before 4:30, and the line outside the doors was building, Most of the people were there hoping to make an appointment, so they were separated from the people coming for a treatment.

Before your treatment begins, you are given a sheet to fill out with some general health questions. If you have multiple treatments throughout your cruise, let your therapist know so they can save the sheet; that way, you won’t have to fill out another one. Hubby and I know the questions by heart, so we whisked through them and waited to be called in for our treatments. My massage was wonderful, as usual. I was drifting off to sleep, but I was conscious enough to hear the ship’s whistle blast out “When You Wish Upon a Star” as we sailed away. Meanwhile, hubby was getting slathered in warm seaweed and wrapped up like a baked potato. For years I tried to convince him to try a seaweed wrap, but he wouldn’t. He loves the Elemis bath synergies, which he buys on the ship, so I knew that seaweed would be right up his alley. I don’t know if it was the idea of stripping down and donning paper panties or being covered in a green, gooey substance, but I couldn’t talk him into it.

Finally, a little over a year ago we did three cruises in a row on the Wonder and I signed him up for a wrap. At first he claimed to have hated it, but then he had to admit that he was pimping me and that he’d actually loved it and wanted to book another one. Now, he always gets at least one, and sometimes more. It is a very detoxifying treatment, and ibeing combined with a massage that makes it even more of a treat.

On Nassau day, we had scheduled a surial bath in the morning, plus an Absolute Face & Body (massage and facial) for me and another seaweed wrap (of course) for hubby in the afternoon. It’s been a while since we’ve done the surial, so it was really fun to relax in our own private steam room and slather each other in mud. It’s a neat couples experience where you are escorted to a private room containing a shower area and a steam room with three seats, each with its own top and side showers and cold water hose. You are given mud (anywhere from one to three types) and a selection of spa products to use. Then you are closed in for an hour; the attendant will knock on the door 10 minutes before your time is up.

When you arrival for your surial, you will be given a locker key so you can undress and store your clothes. But we’ve done this so much that we just wear swim gear and robes so we don’t have to bother with the locker room stop. We arrive ready to jump right into the surial as-is.

We had a great time, as usual. Covering up in the mud and then steaming myself into a good sweat feels almost as detoxifying as the seaweed wrap. In order to start the steam, you usually have to jiggle the button and hold it in for several seconds. Don’t panic if it doesn’t seem to be working; just push in the button and count slowly to ten. Once we got it going, we used some devils mint defoliant and then slathered ourselves in red clay-like mud. People often worry that the grout is dirty, but don’t worry. The room is clean even if you notice the clay-colored tint. After several years, the vivid color from the mud has dyed it, even when it is freshly cleaned.

The hose and showers in the steam room are cold, but there is a hot water shower out in the main area of the surial chamber. We washed off the mud, and then I tried some lotions while hubby applied some instant refreshing gel. He uses a lot of the spa products, but I think that one is his favorite. The Chicago winters are hard on his knees, so he always keeps tube of it around the house.

Once the surial was over, we headed off to lunch and then back to the spa in the afternoon for more treatments. While the rest of the ship is in Nassau being pursued by hair braiders and haggling over t-shirt prices, I prefer to be pampering myself. Hubby was having yet another seaweed wrap, and I was looking forward to my Absolute Face and Body. It’s a really long and relaxing treatment that starts out with a back of the body massage. After that, you flip over for a lengthy facial that always puts me to sleep. The only part I don’t like is having to regain consciousness enough to turn over after the massage. When I am done with the AF&B, I feel like a limo noodle as I leave the spa.

On Castaway Cay day, hubby opted out of spa treatments, so I finally managed to get a seaweed wrap of my own. Sometimes I like to do a cabana massage on Serenity Bay, but it’s always a hard choice between giving up precious island time or just having something done later, after I return to the ship. On this trip, I scheduled the wrap for 3 p.m., which would allow me to enjoy a full day on the beach and still get back early enough to avoid most of the returning crowds.

Hubby headed back to the ship with me, as he planned to relax in the Rainforest. We got back a little early, so I joined him in there. It’s a great way to prep for a treatment, as the heated tile loungers or the mild sauna always put me into a state of relaxation. Soon enough, it was time for my treatment and I was covered in the warm, gloppy seaweed mixture and wrapped into foil to bake for a while. Usually you wear paper panties during this process, but they were out of stock, so I was provided with a paper sheet and sarong.

Normally you get two wraps; the seaweed and then a plain one after you shower off to really sweat the toxins out. But both hubby and I prefer to bake in the seaweed a little longer and forgo the second wrap. The second part of the treatment is a back of the body massage, although on one memorable trip hubby actually skipped the massage in favor of staying in the wrap even longer! I don’t think that he had one bit of sweat left in his body by the time it was done. For myself, I would never skip the massage at it’s the perfect capper to the treatment.

Three day cruises go by much too fast, but we do manage to squeeze quite a bit of spa time in. I like to go to some of the classes, too, particularly the beach yoga. The only reason that I skipped it this time was that you have to meet quite early; everyone meets in the spa and then travels to the adult beach together. Since the weather forecast was calling for storms, I opted to sleep a little later in case the yoga was rained out. As to whether our streak of 36 beach days remains intact or was a washout, that comes a little later in this report.

Food, Food, Food!
People often associate cruising with unlimited food, and they’re not far off the mark. In between various main meal options, on Disney you will find quick service food stands serving items like pizza, hot dogs, and chicken strips and Scoops, serving soft-serve ice cream with toppings. These are not open 24 hours a day, but room service is available around the clock in case you get a late-night hunger pang. You will also find other options, like cookies, fresh fruit, and wraps throughout the day.

Over time, hubby and I have found our favorite items and settled into a rut at the restaurants. This starts with his heaping plate of jumbo shrimp at the embarkation buffet, while I pile on my favorite salads. We both like the cold strawberry/banana soup, too; I eat it as my dessert, but hubby enjoys it with his meal because he can never resist the regular dessert offerings. In Animators Palate, I love the duck and goat cheese flat bread (extra goat cheese, please), and In Tritons I always go for the vichyssoise (cold potato soup), and either the beef or the lamb (with lots of mint jelly on the side) for dinner. We were on the Animators/Parrot Cay/Tritons rotation on his trip, so we skipped Parrot Cay to go to Palo on Nassau night. Kapur, who we met as a head server many cruises ago, is how the manager of Palo, and Dalibor, one of our favorite servers, was back from vacation. They took excellent care of us as we indulged in a delicious Palo meal.

Palo is an adults-only restaurant that requires reservations and incurs a $10 cover charge. It can be hard to fit it in on such a short cruise, but if at all possible, I highly recommend it. Palo has its own galley, and all of the food is made to order, just like in a restaurant on land. The cuisine is Northern Italian, with daily specials supplementing the regular offerings. The spread includes antipasto and fresh bread with three yummy dipping sauces, although lately hubby and I been skipping the antipasto to save room for a full meal of appetizer, dinner, and dessert.

I love the steak with bleu cheese, but on this trip I opted for something new and tried the shrimp scampi-stuffed chicken breast. Hubby was tempted by veal scaloppini, one of the daily specials. Both were excellent choices, as was my chocolate souffle for dessert. Palo has a variety of excellent dessert offerings, and although hubby is adventurous and has worked his way through all of them, I am in a souffle rut. It is a chocolate lover’s dream.

We are not big breakfast eaters, but I always make room for breakfast on Nassau day because I dearly love the eggs benedict from Tritons, with a side order of corned beef hash (it’s not on the menu, but you can request it because it is served in one of the breakfast skillets). There is also a very nice breakfast buffet on deck 9 if you want something faster and a little less formal. On Castaway Cay day, we skip breakfast because we know that we’ll be indulging in a big lunch at Cookies Barbeque. A smaller version is served on the adult beach, but we usually return to the family beach to eat because hubby loves the lobster burgers that are served there.

Onboard the ship, it’s always a toss-up as to whether we’ll eat lunch at Tritons (sit-down) or Beach Blanket (buffet), because I really enjoy them both. I like a relaxing sit-down meal, and if you are a soda drinker, it will be included with your meal at Tritons (personally, I stick to water and iced tea). They also serve a great Hawaiian salad, to which I like to add a handful of maraschino cherries. But at the buffet you can sample a wide variety of offerings, and they have excellent made-to-order pasta. This time around, we opted for Tritons because I had a taste for an ice cream sundae…real ice cream, not the soft-serve glop that is served at Scoops. I know there’s nothing wrong with soft serve, but it reminds me of the stuff that is served at Old Country Buffet or Ponderosa. I think I am still prejudiced by memories of the old days, when Scoops served real scooped ice cream. It was so delicious! But that was discontinued years ago because you can do a lot more volume with soft serve than with hand scooping. Anyway, sundaes were not actually on the dessert menu, but I knew that they could whip me something up in the dining room.

We were seated with a couple and their three year old daughter. They had another one on the way, so they wanted to do a cruise before the new member of the family arrived. Their little girl was just the right age to really be fascinated with the characters. Our first dinner was in Animators Palate; she had wanted to go to the kids club because they were going to have a character party, but when her parents realized that they were in the restaurant with the show, her dad went to retrieve her. She made it through quite a while, but the show is at the end of the meal, which can be a long time for a little one to wait. Finally her parents gave in and dad walked her back to the club. When he returned, he reported that they had met Lilo in the elevator. Lilo and his daughter walked hand in hand to the club, and she got the biggest kick out of it. The next night we were in Palo, but at our last meal, in Tritons, they showed us the cutest portrait that had been taken at the princess party. They had selected a picture with Princess Aurora and had also gotten signatures from the other princesses in the frame.

On this trip, our server was Atilla from Hungary. I’m pretty sure that he served us before. My grandma was from Hungary, too, so we discussed delicious native dishes like chicken paprikas and grape strudel (something I’ve never found at any restaurant…I haven’t had it since my grandma passed away 25 years ago). Our assistant server was Arlan; after the first night, he had my “special” iced tea waiting. I hate the regular stuff, which comes out of a tap, so I always request freshly brewed flavored tea. Our head server was Michelle, and our old friend Ali was the dining room manager, so we were well taken care of.

Adult Activities
Many people think that because we’ve childless, we’re crazy for taking so many Disney cruises. What they don’t understand is that Disney puts as much effort into taking care of the “big kids” as they do with the little ones. Granted, if you really can’t stand children, then Disney probably isn’t the cruise line for you. There will be lots of families on board, although surprisingly, we saw just as many kids on all of our Royal Caribbean cruises, including Alaska.

But although kids will be around, they won’t impede your enjoyment. You’ll have plenty of adults only areas to escape to (supposedly RCCL has this, too, but I never saw any enforcement). And when you’re around the kids, it can be a lot of fun to watch them meet the characters or explore the ship or see the shows with an expression of awe and delight on their little faces. After 36 cruises, I enjoy the opportunity to see the cruise through fresh eyes, and the kids remind me of my sense of wonderment the very first time I set sail.

Hubby and I are in a rut on which adult activities we attend. Our favorites are 70s Night and Match Your Mate. I love Wonderquest, too, ibut we don’t usually get to attend. We’re always on the second dinner schedule, and it starts too early. I wish they would have it a bit later, especially since it’s an adult activity and there are (theororetically, at least) more adults on the late seating. Wonderquest is a very wild scavenger hunt that is played in teams. I don’t want to spoil it, but I will warn you that hubby is often borrowed by many teams because of a unique physical characteristic (and by “borrowed,” I mean physically grabbed and dragged up to the host). I said it was wild!

We like 80s Night, too, but we skipped it this time around because we didn’t know that the main stage dancers had started performing their dance routines again. On our last trip, they weren’t part of the party. Other than that, the 80s Party consists of dancing, trivia for free shots, and an amusing battle of the bands.

Match Your Mate was on Nassau night, so we headed down to Wavebands after sticking around for some dancing at the Sailaway Party. The contestants for Match Your Mate are chosen via a combination of number of years married and general rowdiness. Three couples are selected: newlyweds, longest married (we once saw a couple who had been wed for 60 years), and a pair that is somewhere in the middle. If you want to be selected, be enthusiastic to the point of insanity. Jump, shout, yell, wave your arms, and maybe even do gymnastics (I’ve seen it done).

Using rowdiness as one of the selection criteria usually helps to ensure some pretty wild contestants, and this trip was no exception. Because the show is adults only, it can get a little more risque…of course, it’s a Disney ship, so there are still some limits, but it’s generally a riot. I won’t go into specific details because I don’t want to give away the questions, but let’s just say that the words “dong” and “ta tas” came up a few times. There was also a stunning revelation about what goes on at lunchtime in a Six Flags parking lot. I was laughing so hard that my face hurt.

The 70s Party was on the last night. I prefer it to be first because I can stay up late and then sleep in on Nassau morning, but I like it so much that I am usually willing to give up some shut-eye, even though it means I will be half asleep the next morning when I disembark. When we arrived at Wavebands, the crowd was so small that I was afraid they might cancel it. A few more people trickled in when Dueling Pianos ended, and the dance floor started to fill in. As we bumped and grooved, more and more people showed up. I think that they were probably delayed by last minute packing, since the party starts at 10:45 and you have to have your luggage out by 11 if you want it to be delivered to the terminal.

There are usually several freestyle dance numbers and then a Soul Train-style dance line to “Car Wash.” They also do the Electric Slide, but I bail on that because coordination isn’t one of my stronger points. That leads into the appearances by Gloria Gaynor and John Travolta, capped off by an appearance by the Village People.

A few years back, my knee cap popped off while I was dancing at a 70s Party on the Magic. For a long time after that, I had to wear a clunky knee brace and take it easy when dancing. Finally, not too long ago, the doctor gave me a clean bill of health and said that I can abandon the brace and be wild once again. I’m glad because I love dancing, and it also allows me to pretend that I’m actually burning off enough calories to make a dent in the dessert I just devoured.

While I was shaking my groove thing with hubby, someone from the cruise staff came up to ask if I would “volunteer to help out.” I’ve been on enough Disney cruises to know what that means, but I figured what the heck. Hubby had appeared as John Travolta a couple of cruises ago (he was full of champagne at the time), so I played along.

Once the line dance was over, the volunteers were called up to the stage. There were three men and three women…the men were told that they would be judges and sent to sit down on the sidelines, while we were prepped to participate in the Gloria Gaynor Lip Sync Contest. I was the only one who knew what was going on; the men would soon be getting theirs when they discovered that they would be performing as John Travolta. The contests are the best part of the party. Because different guests are chosen every time, it’s always a different show.

I was pegged as the second Gloria. I knew that hubby was waiting at our table with his camera in hand. Usually we don’t bring it to the party, but we had just gone to “Til We Meet Again” to get photos of the characters, so we had it with us. Oh well, when he was John Travolta, we happened to have it with us too, and I had gotten some great incriminating photos. I guess that turnabout is fair play.

While the first Gloria performed, I waited out in the hall with #3, an older woman who seemed to be ready for anything. She told me, “I‘m always volunteering for all sorts of things!” We were not allowed to watch, but I assured her that it was going to be lots of fun. The guy on cruise staff who had picked me overheard us and said, “You’ve done this before?” I responded that it was my 36th Disney cruise, and I think he nearly fainted! Most of the cruise staff knows us, but he was one of the few who didn’t. I’m sure he’ll never forget us now.

When it was my turn, I nearly strangled myself with the Feather Boa of Power, but once I recovered from that little mishap, I launched into some wild moves for the three judges. I’ve seen the show enough times to know the sort of things that will crack up the crowd. When watching, I like it best when the contestants are really wild, so I tried to put on a performance that I know I would have enjoyed.

The third lady was even wilder. She went right out into the audience and grabbed some guys to bring back to the stage. The crowd went absolutely wild! I was sorry to miss the first performance, but I don’t think it could have topped #3. When we were done, we kicked the guys out of their chairs and settled in to watch them strut their John Travolta stuff. They were even crazier than we were. One performed a lap dance for us, and another did the infamous “body floss” routine with the white jacket. Sometimes the contestants are shy and it’s not as much fun; I like it when everyone really gets into it.

To top it all off, the Village People made their appearance. They whipped off their shirts as soon as they climbed on stage and led us all in a round of YMCA. After that, there is still dancing, but that usually my cue to head off to Dreamland. As we walked back to our stateroom, hubby proudly showed me his blackmail photos. I think he just pointed and kept clicking! All in all, it was another great 70s Party.

Of course, the adult activities are not all wild p& crazy parties and games. If you want peace and quiet, you can opt for the Dancing Under the Stars event at the Quiet Cove Pool, have a romantic dinner at Palo, or sip a cocktail and listen to piano music at the Cadillac Lounge. And on Castaway Cay, you’ll get plenty of quiet time and relaxation at Serenity Bay, the adults only beach.

Often the adult beach is nearly deserted, but on this trip there was quite a good crowd. I suspect that there were more people than usual traveling without kids, since school was in session. Or who knows…maybe they just convinced the kiddies to stay at Scuttles Cove and escaped for some child-free time. Even where there are a lot of people, there is still plenty of room. You just might have to walk a little farther down the beach to find a spot.

Stage Shows
In addition to the adult entertainment, there are plenty of activities for families. We usually don’t go to those, but we rarely miss the main stage shows. On the three night cruise, “Hercules” usually plays on the first night, followed by “The Golden Mickeys” and “Disney Dreams.” On this trip, the order of the first two was temporarily flip-flopped, so I got to see my favorite first.

This was only the third time that I’ve seen “The Golden Mickeys,” at it premiered on Labor Day weekend. But I already know that it’s going to be like “Disney Dreams”; I’ll never get tired of it, no matter how many times I see it. Like “DD,” it is a compilation of scenes and characters from popular Disney movies. The story line that holds it all together revolves around an awards show where Golden Mickeys will be presented in such categories as Romance, Comedy, Heroes, and of course Villians. A character named Ensign Benson is reluctantly thrust into the role of hostess. She receives some encouragement from Roy Disney, who shares some of the story of how his Uncle Walt never let hardships get in his way. I just love that part; with all the turmoil on the Disney board and Roy’s resignation, I’m always afraid that they’ll pull him out of the show. So far he’s still there, thank goodness. Hubby says he gets teary eyed at the end of “Disney Dreams,” but it’s the first part of “The Golden Mickeys” that always chokes me up.

The numbers include scenes from Snow White (check out the cute little kids from the audience playing the dwarves), Sleeping Beauty (the color changing dress is very cool), Toy Story, 101 Dalmations, Mulan, Tarzan, and the Lion King. The show moves at such a rapid pace that it will be over before you know it. One of the highlights, at least for me, is when Terk takes over the comedy sequence and Elvis Stitch makes an appearance before they are all frightened off by Ursula. If you are sitting in the front tow, watch out for her tentacles!

I always get a laugh out of “Hercules,” but this time I was nearly rolling on the floor between Hades and the fifth Muse. Hades is always funny, but often Pain and Panic steal the show. Not this time! His constant jokes and wisecracks reminded me of the old days, when his monologue towards the end of the show was much longer. The fifth Muse is always good, too, and each actor brings his own unique style to the role. The one who is playing him now had both hubby and I cracking up at his antics. That’s one thing that I like about “Hercules.” There is some room for improvisation, so each cast brings their own unique touch and it’s a slightly different show every time. By the time we sail again, there will be a new cast, so we’ll have yet another new experience.

“Disney Dreams” is the grand finale on the last night of the trip. I never get tired of seeing Peter Pan teach Anne Marie to find her own magic. It contains scenes from Aladdin, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and the Lion King, but the pace isn’t nearly as fast as “The Golden Mickeys.” This is Disney Cruise Line’s signature show, and I hope that they never get rid of it. Just about every time that we’ve seen it, it’s earned a well-deserved standing ovation.

Castaway Cay
In the adult activity section, I mentioned the adult beach, which makes a good lead-in to our day at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island paradise. It’s always a highlight of our cruises. Like “Disney Dreams” and “The Golden Mickeys,” it’s something that I never get tired of. I’ve been to RCCL’s private island, CocoCay, and it is very nice, but in a different way. CocoCay is more rustic, whereas Castaway Cay is like Central Casting’s version of a perfect tropical island.

Sometimes the weather can prevent docking, but in all of our cruises we’ve been fortunate enough to never miss the island. Amazingly, we’ve never been totally rained out either. There have been a couple of days where a storm snuck in later in the day or it rained in the morning and then cleared up, but we’ve never had a total washout. We carry large garbage bags with us to protect our stuff, just in case, but we’ve always managed to get in at least some beach time, and usually the weather is good all day.

On this trip, I was a bit worried. The night before, Captain Henry had told us that the weather wasn’t looking too good. A storm was poised on the radar, ready to strike. Would our streak be broken? I went to bed wondering, and when I woke up the next morning, I listened anxiously to the thrusters as we docked. I’ve been in stateroom 5650 enough times to know the sound of a smooth docking vs. a wavy, windy day when the Wonder is struggling to dock. On our Thanksgiving trip, docking was a real challenge, but this time everything sounded just the way it should.

I dragged my sleepy body out onto the verandah and was greeted by sunshine and a nice, blue sky, with just a sprinkling of non-threatening clouds. It felt warm enough for a nice swim, at least for a hearty Chicagoan like me. We like to disembark early, so we took quick showers, slathered on our sun screen, packed up our beach bag, and headed down to deck 1. There was no line, so we flashed our ID and room cards and stepped down the gangway and onto Castaway Cay for the 36th time.

Our first order of business was a quick stop at the post office, and then we paused for the photo opportunities on our way to the tram. Normally we walk rather than ride the first tram and then catch a ride to Serenity Bay, which is a bit too far away for walking. But the first tram was just pulling in, so we decided to hop on board. Once we climbed off, it was just a short distance to the tram stop for the adult beach, but as we arrived, we saw that it had just pulled away. We knew it would be a little while before it came back, so we settled in to wait. Since we wouldn’t be among the first on the beach, I figured that getting a hammock would be a lost cause. There are only four on the whole adult beach, so if you’re not an early bird, they’ll be claimed by the time you get there.

When the tram returned, we climbed aboard and rattled down the old runway to Serenity Bay. As I had expected, there were quite a few people on the beach already. As I hiked down the sand, looking for a lounge chair, I noticed that the last hammock didn’t seem to be occupied. The beach yoga was just finishing up nearby, so I don’t think anyone had wandered down there yet. We shifted the hammock into the shade, and hubby settled in for a nap while I went for a swim.

One of my biggest pleasures on Castaway Cay is to go for a nice little water job. Working out in the pool at the health club back home always seems like a chore, but doing the same exercise turns into fun when it’s done in the ocean. I headed out to the boundary of the beach, and just as I was approaching it, a man at the shoreline called out, “Look behind you!” I turned and saw a gray blur approaching me. I’ve seen many stingrays at Serenity Bay, so I thought that this was another one. The man said, “No, it’s a nurse shark.” I did a double take and watched in amazement as the little creature glided by me. Sure enough, it was a nurse shark, just like the ones I’ve seen at aquariums. I’ve seen some interesting critters, including an ink squirting squid, and hubby has had a couple of close encounters with Barry the Barracuda, but the nurse shark was by far the most exciting so far.

I did a little internet research once I got back home, as I had been surprised to see a shark so close to shore. But it turns out that nurse sharks are bottom feeders who like to hang out in shallow areas. The only odd thing was that they are usually nocturnal, and this was a morning encounter. When I got back to the main part of the beach, I heard from other people that there had actually been two nurse sharks swimming around. I sure wish that I would have had a camera!

After I got back, I took over the hammock while hubby headed off for some snorkeling. I love to settle down on the beach with a good book. The only minor unpleasantness in an otherwise lovely beach day was the two chain smokers who settled down in the chairs next to me. We usually try to pick a spot that’s not too close to other chairs, but since we had taken a hammock, we couldn’t be as choosy. But of course the wind was blowing my way, so my relaxation was somewhat hampered by the yucky smell. Unfortunately they were chain smokers, so they didn’t go more than a few minutes with lighting up. In between, I noticed that they just dropped the butts into the sand rather than using an ashtray or disposing of them in one of their drink cups. Sadly, on our past few trips, I have noticed that the beach is becoming very littered with butts. If you try to bury your toes in the sand, around the chairs and umbrellas, you will most likely find some. I know that the beach is an outer area where smoking is allowed, but I wish that smokers would pick up one of the ashtrays near the bar rather than littering the beach. The same people don’t throw cups, napkins, and plates on the ground, and cigarette butts are in the same category.

Other than that, I enjoyed my reading time, and all too soon hubby was back from his swim, announcing that it was lunchtime. Time goes fast enough on a cruise as it is, and it seems to shift into quadruple speed when we reach the island. I think it must because docking at Castaway Cay signals the arrival of the last day of the cruise. I dearly love it, but I still feel melancholy because I know that in less than 24 hours I’ll be back at Port Canaveral. Oh well, I never let that interfere with my enjoyment of the beach.

Hubby had a taste for lobster burgers, so we packed up and headed to Cookies. Personally, I opted for a cheeseburger and K. C. Masterpiece barbeque chips, which I like to dip into the cole slaw. I know it sounds gross, but it’s a real taste treat. The buffet lines were pretty long, but we had no trouble finding a picnic table. You can select one under one of the large shelters or opt for a free-standing table with umbrella. After we had finished eating, we stopped at the gazebo for a quick photo with Mickey and then headed back to the ship.

On the way, we stopped at Gils Fins and Boats, but a wicked wind had blown up so there were no boat rentals. We were a bit disappointed, but we figured we’d just head back and spend some time in the Rainforest. There was a matinee performance of “Disney Dreams,” but it interfered with our spa appointment times, so we figured that relaxing in a sauna would be a nice way to spend the rest of the day until treatment time.

The last time we were on Castaway Cay, it was all decked out for the holidays. It was odd to see it transformed back again; even though our last trip was Thanksgiving, it didn’t seem like that long ago. This year, we are sailing on both Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I can hardly wait to see it decked out in its holiday finery twice.

Christmas in February
Speaking of the holidays, when we sailed at Thanksgiving, we noticed that Shutters was selling Christmas cards made from photos taken on the ship. We had a set made with our portrait in front of the Christmas tree in the atrium. On this trip, we noticed that they were still for sail; I realized that not everyone sails as often as we do, so offering the cards all year gives people a chance to buy them no matter when they are on board. That way, they can have their cards all ready when Christmas rolls around again.

We had gotten great comments about our 2003 cards, which featured our picture in the middle of an ornament dangling from Mickey’s hand. I had chosen that design because it reminded me of the decorations in the terminal building. We decided that if we found a photo we liked, we would have some made for Christmas, 2004. This time around, I chose a design of Mickey making a “snow”man out of sand on Castaway Cay. We took as many photo opportunities as possible, and we decided on a nice shot with Mickey in his formalwear. Hubby and I were dressed up for Palo, so it turned out to be a lovely shot. We bought 25 cards, and if we find another shot that we like on an upcoming cruise, we’ll probably get 25 different ones.

We got several other shots, too, including an embarkation shot to add to our collection and a photo of Mickey on Castaway Cay in his tropic gear to match the one we got of Minnie a few months back. They also have a great new backdrop of the ship with an ocean full of fish below it. I was hoping for a picture with Stitch, my favorite character, but I never saw him listed in the Navigator. I did get a photo with him at “Till We Meet Again” on the last night, but that’s another story.

Character Greetings
That’s a good lead-in to a bit about character greetings. When you sail on a Disney ship, you are probably expecting to catch lots of sightings of the characters. Happily, you will not be disappointed. Various characters will make appearances throughout the cruise for photo and autograph opportunities. It’s easy to find out when and where they will be. There’s a board posted in the deck 3 atrium and one at the entrance to Shutters on deck 4. You can also dial 7-PALS on your stateroom telephone to hear a recorded schedule.

At most of the events, there will be a photographer from Shutters on hand, and you can also bring your own camera. I recommend taking as many opportunities as possible to let the photographers snap a shot, even when you take one yourself. It’s fun to head to deck 4 and see how your photos have turned out, and you’ll probably find several that you like enough to buy.

On board the ship, most of the character appearances will be in the atrium. The schedule will have details on whether there will be autograph signing or whether it will be a photo opportunity only. For the most popular characters and events, such as the Princess Party (typically held on Nassau morning on the 3 night cruises), you’ll want to arrive a little early. The line grows quickly, and it might be cut if it gets too long.

On Castaway Cay, the best spots to meet Mickey and the gang are at the post office and Mount Rustmore in the morning and the gazebo near Cookies in the afternoon. The appearances start around 9 a.m., just in time for the main flux of people disembarking the ship. You’ll know the exact times and who will be where if you check the board or call the character greeting line before you head off to the island.

One of my favorite character greetings is “Til We Meet Again,” held on the last night of the cruise in the atrium at 10 p.m. We don’t always get to attend because we are always on the late seating of dinner, and we’re not always done in time. But when we are, we head over for the last big farewell.

At “Til We Meet Again,” you will not only see assorted characters but also many of the main stage performers. At various times I’ve seen the Muses, Pain Panic, and Hades, and Peter Pan is usually out clowning around with Anne Marie from “Disney Dreams.“ They all come down the staircase in front of Tritons and head out into the waiting crowd. Usually some of the characters will be up on deck 4 for photographs too. This is a less formal event than most. Everyone crowds together, and once the characters come out into the atrium, you try to head for your favorites. They stay out for about 20 minutes, so if you are lucky, you can get several good photos. The Shutters photographers don’t take pictures here, so be sure to bring your own camera.

On this cruise, we weren’t planning to attend, even though I was itching for a photograph with Stitch. I didn’t know how crowded it would be, and I didn’t want to rush through my dinner. Our last meal was in Tritons, where you can see the atrium through the window. “Til We Meet Again” started just as we ordered dessert. I glanced out and happened to notice that the crowd was very minimal. Hubby had our camera with him, as he always take a photo of our servers on the last night. I told our server that we would be back, and we hurried down the hall to see if we could locate Stitch.

We had to go out the back door, since the front is closed during the event. As we approached the atrium, I could hear disjointed banging on the grand piano and a voice saying, “Stitch! Stop that!”, so I knew that we were headed in the right direction. Sure enough, as soon as I turned the corner, I saw him making mischief. The line wasn’t bad at all, so we quickly joined it. Finally, I would get my coveted photo!

Stitch was doing all sorts of antics to amuse the waiting people. One little boy wanted an autograph, and his pen was promptly stolen. Then Stitch tossed it back at him! You could tell he was having a lot of fun clowning around. That’s one nice thing about “Til We Meet Again.” Because it is a little less formal, there is usually more time for interaction. This was especially true on this trip, since the crowd was smaller than usual.

When it was my turn, I told Stitch, “You’re my favorite character.” He gave me a big smooch and immediately headed back for the piano to serenade me. His handler finally managed to get him back on task, and she used our camera to snap a photo of Stitch with hubby and I. We still had time, so hubby confessed that he’s always wanted a photo with Pete Pan and Anne Marie. I’ve often seen them near the shore excursion desk, so we headed that way, and sure enough, there they were. Minnie Mouse was nearby, too, but amazingly, her line was shorter than theirs. We got our photo and started working our way back to Tritons and dessert. On the way, hubby had to pause to tell the fifth Muse how much he enjoyed his act.

Although we didn’t stay for the grand finale, I highly recommend it. When the photo/autograph session is over, the characters head back up the staircase and turn in each direction to give everyone one final photo opportunity. Then, pixie dust is dropped over the crowd. The kids always get a real kick out of that.

Disembarkation
Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy “Til We Meet Again,” it signals the end of the cruise. We still had the 70s Party to attend, but I knew that the fun was almost over. Fortunately, disembarkation on the Wonder is usually a breeze. On other cruise lines, it can be a long, tedious process where you have to sit around and wait for your color to be called. On Disney, you leave whenever you prefer once the ship has been cleared. In 36 Disney cruises, we’ve only had significant delays twice. One occurred when someone else mistakenly took our luggage, and the other was due to a change in the terrorism alert level (fortunately they seem to have that worked out now).

But that’s jumping the gun a little. On the afternoon of the last day, there is a disembarkation talk in the Walt Disney Theater that covers all of the details you’ll need to know about tips, customs forms, breakfast, etc. Don’t worry about attending as it will be replayed all evening long on the television in your stateroom.

We hate to rush our packing on the last night of the cruise because we’ve busy up until dinner time, and then we’re usually rushing somewhere afterwards. Instead of worrying about the 11 p.m. deadline to have it out, we just pack at our leisure and carry it with us when we disembark. Also, since we eat so well on a cruise, we generally skip breakfast on the last morning because we’re usually not hungry. Of course, if you want, you can go to your assigned seated or grab a quick bite at Beach Blanket Buffet. But personally we just like to roll out of bed, shower, finish up our last minute packing, and reluctantly head home.

Hubby is usually an early bird, but on this trop he slept in till 7:30, much later than he normally would since we had scheduled Happy Limo to pick us up at 8:30 a.m. As he rushed to get things together, I ran down to Shutters to pick up our Christmas photos. They are the only shop that is open on embarkation morning. Usually it’s pretty crowded, but I lucked out and was the only one at the cash register. The guest services line can be long on the last morning, too, so we always get a printout of our bill at dinnertime on Saturday night. It’s usually pretty quiet then, and that gives us time to find any errors and deal with them before the disembarkation rush.

It’s always so sad to leave my nautical home. Before we go, I like to step out on the verandah for a few minutes to say a last goodbye. But I couldn’t delay the inevitable for too long, so I reluctantly stepped in to gather the luggage and join hubby for the long trip home. We left the Wonder for the 36th time, already looking forward to our return in April.

When we carry all our luggage bags with us, we go to the mid ship elevators before heading down. It’s too crowded to walk across deck three because there is always a big crowd of people heading into Parrot Cay for breakfast, which makes us feel like salmon trying to swim upstream. We also select both the up and down buttons. Often, the down elevators are already crowded with people from decks 8, 7, and 6. By going up first, we are already on board when it heads back down.

Sometimes there is a minor line to disembark, but this time around everyone was just strolling off the ship. On the way out, we paused for a chat with Captain Henry, who was bidding goodbye to the guests. As we stepped onto the gangway, I had a flashback to Chicago…the temperature was in the 40s! Brrrr! Oh well, that might be chilly, but at least it’s not single digits, and I prefer a view of palm trees to snow.

We were running a little early, but our Happy Limo driver was waiting for us already. It felt good to settle into the town car and take a nap on the way to Orlando. Driving myself out to the port wasn’t bad, but my preference is always to be chauffeured.

When we reached the airport, the tote board informed us that our plane was delayed. We stopped at Bow Wow Meow to pick up some cat nip toys for our pets and then headed through security and to the gate. When we got there, there was no explanation for the delay, so I found a seat near an outlet, plugged in my laptop, and did some work on my planning CD while the trip was still fresh in my mind. I had wanted to work on it during the trip, but although I had good intentions, I never opened the laptop even once while we were on board. Since the ship date for the pre-orders is March 8, I figured that the delay would be a good time to get some work done.

Delays are always an annoyance, but I’d much rather have them happen going home than when I’m on the way to the ship. It really wasn’t bad because working made the time go by quickly. Eventually we were told that it was on its way in from Chicago, and that we would be able to board as soon as possible after everyone deplaned. I knew that the weather wasn’t supposed to be bad in Chicago, so I had no clue why it was running so late.

When it finally landed, I’ve never seen an airplane be readied so fast. I swear they must not have even cleaned it; as soon as the last person stepped off, they were calling the pre-board to get us on. It was a 737, rather than my favorite huge 757-300. We had gotten an exit row, but since I’m not familiar with the seat configuration on that plane, it was a little smaller than I am used to. There are three exit rows all in a row, and we were in the middle one, which is only two seats across. It wasn’t bad, but the three seaters had a little more legroom.

Once we were airborne, the pilot got on the intercom and explained the delay situation. I was wondering if it had been mechanical, but it turned out to be even more interesting. Our original plane had been in some foreign country, and it had been seized by the FBI for searching because of suspected drugs on board! That left no plane to run its route and eventually make its way to Orlando. Finally, at Midway, they managed to grab a plane that was supposed to go to Denver and re-route it to Florida (I don’t know what happened to the poor Denver passengers). Whew! I was hoping to get some more details on the news, but I never saw anything about it once we got home.

Hard to believe that another trip is over and I’m back in the cold and snow. At least working on my trip report has given me the change to relive some of the highlights, and Easter week (our next trip) is not so far away.

Trip Report #35, Thanksgiving 2003 on the Wonder

2004-06-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

Ever since the Wonder set sail, it has been out tradition to spend Thanksgiving at sea. The terminal and the ship are always festively decorated, and it's a great way to kick off the holiday season. This year, we were also in for a new treat: for the first time ever, Castaway Cay had also been transformed into a Christmas wonderland. This has been a year of "firsts" for us, such as the Fourth of July fireworks and the debut of the "Golden Mickeys" show on our last trip. That's one of the things we love about Disney. They never settle for the status quo; they are constantly dreaming up new surprises.

But I don't want to get ahead of myself, as that was on the last day of the cruise, and so much happened before that. It's amazing how much fun and how many experiences can be crammed into three short days. As much as I love Castaway Cay, I always find arriving there a bit melancholy because I know that I'm less than 24 hours away from arriving home in Port Canaveral.

The Busiest Travel Weekend of the Year
The trip ends in Port Canaveral and starts there, too, but for hubby and I, the journey really starts in Chicago. As usual, we had booked our outbound flight for the night before our cruise. Thanksgiving weekend is known as the busiest travel weekend of the year, and I am a compulsive planner, so I built lots of extra time into our schedule to allow for any potential delays. I'd rather get to the airport early and have to sit around at the gate than leave late, get stuck in traffic, and feel my stress level rise as precious minutes tick away and the chances of making my flight grow slim.

Hubby had taken a vacation day, so he had everything ready when I got home from work.. We loaded my Aztek Canyonero, did a last minute pet check, and were on the road with time to spare. We fly ATA out of Midway, and hubby had checked us in online that morning, which is a real time saver. But a word of caution: ATA still hasn't ironed all the bugs out of their online check in process. We usually change our seats to an exit row or bulkhead, and we've had trouble with getting them to honor our boarding passes because they erroneously assign our seats to someone else at the airport. Generally I can get them to honor my pass, since I got the seats 24 hours in advance and it was ATA's mistake to give them to someone else. But it takes a lot of arguing, and I've even had to call their Web Check In Help Desk on my cell phone and have the phone person argue with a supervisor at the gate. Fortunately, this didn't happen on the way out this time (the trip home is another story, but I'll get to that later).

Hubby and I debated whether to take Cicero or Pulaski. We live south of the airport, and Cicero is closer, but Pulaski can be faster when the traffic is bad. We opted for the more direct route, and although Cicero was busy, the traffic was keeping a slow but steady pace that got us to Midway in a reasonable amount of time. We park at Midway Park Savers, an offsite lot across from the Orange Line entrance, so we turn off before reaching the main part of the airport where the backups can be very bad. I like being able to walk to the airport vs.taking a shuttle bus, and there is a "One Day Free" coupon for the lot on ATA's website. The parking spots are pretty tight, but I can usually find one to maneuver my Canyonero into with too much trouble.

As we turned off Cicero, I breathed a sigh of relief because the parking lot was only a few blocks ahead. I said to hubby, "That wasn't bad at all!" He was just about to agree when we noticed that traffic was at a standstill. The parking lot is right before a set of train tracks, and there was a freight train chugging along. The cars were stopped just far enough back to prevent us from making it to the parking lot gate. So close but yet so far!

We waited for about 10 minutes while the turtle train crawled by. Finally, it ended and we were able to drive those last few feet to the parking lot entrance. I had been worried that the lot would be full; to my amazement, we got the second spot by the entrance! I couldn't believe my luck. Usually on a normal day I end up parking about halfway down. Now, on the day before Thanksgiving, I wind up with a primo spot! Hubby and I gathered our bags, headed across the street, and joined the stream of salmon heading from the trains to the terminal building.

Usually, there are only one or two other parties walking to the terminal, but this time the stream of humanity seemed endless. I was wondering how bad the ticket counter and security lines would be, but when we got into the airport, we found that lines were virtually non-existent. Before we knew it, we were through security and on our way to the gate to await our flight to Orlando. We were on our usual flight, which leave some time between 8 and 8:30 p.m. and gets in between 11:30 p.m. and midnight (ATA likes to vary the exact time). Even though the late arrival is rough, I prefer to fly out a night ahead because Chicago's weather can be so unpredictable and there is always the potential for mechanical problems or other delays, too. In the past, we've experienced a six-hour diversion due to storms and a ten-hour delay due to fog. Fortunately, neither of those was on a cruise trip, but I've learned to be cautious. When I've got a ship to catch, I want to allow as much of a cushion as possible.

The plane was a bit late coming in from Vegas, so that made us a bit late in boarding. But soon enough we were settled into the huge 757-300 (my favorite type of aircraft, although getting that large of a plane off the ground at Midway is nothing short of miraculous) and winging our way to Orlando. I was sitting in the row behind hubby, but since there was no seat in front of me, I could easily lean forward to chat with him.

Lately, our flights have been very quiet and uneventful, but this time I was in front of the Restless Smoker and next to the Wrestling Couple. I knew that the woman behind me was going through Nicotine Withdrawal because she begged her companion, "Give me a cigarette! NOW! I won't smoke it, I swear. I just need to hold it." She rattled, kicked, and poked my seat the whole way to Orlando. Finally I reclined, figuring that if I was going to be jostled for two hours, I might was well suffer through it in comfort. She did provide me with one of my favorite quotes of the trip. She was talking to someone on a cell phone while waiting for take off and informed them, "The time zone in Orlando is about one and a half hours different than the time in Chicago." I'm not sure when that extra 30 minutes snuck in!

The Wrestling Couple next to me were fairly subdued for most of the trip. But as soon as we started our initial descent, they launched into a smackdown that never ceased until we parked at the gate. I thought I was going to end up with one of them in my lap. Smack, poke, punch, push...they would have done well in the WWF. Between them and the woman behind me, my fellow passengers were more entertaining than the in-flight videos.

Over the River and Through the Woods, to Mickey's Ship We Go
Flying in the night before gave us the opportunity for a good night's sleep. Even with our late arrival, we were able to sleep in a little. We arranged for Happy Limo to pick us up at 10:00 a.m. for the journey to Port Canaveral. That's what I like about taking a towncar; you choose your own pick up time and have a nice private vehicle to yourself. You can also have a free grocery stop, which we often use. After I had made our reservation for 10, I read on the DIS boards that embarkation now starts at 11:45 (it used to be sometime between 12:15 and 12:30). I debated an earlier pick up, but decided that the extra sleep would be more valuable.

Traffic wasn't bad, so even with a grocery stop, we arrived at the port around 11. Our driver told us that Happy Limo recently got a stretch Hummer. I can only imagine the size! Once we had pulled in, we had to wait a few minutes for a spot to open up in the drop off area on the side of the terminal building. Soon enough, we were able to pull up. A porter took our luggage for later delivery to our stateroom. The security line to enter the terminal was minimal, and then we were on our way upstairs to check in.

I noticed that the catchphrase "The Disney Difference" is being used a lot by DCL lately. I can vouch for the fact that there is a BIG difference in the embarkation process. Boarding Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas to go to Alaska was a nightmare. You literally waited in line to get a number to get into the check in line. Then you were herded into another line to get another number and be placed in a group for boarding. The whole thing was totally disorganized, so nobody knew where to go or what numbers were being called. We suffered through well over an hour of confusion before finally getting to the boarding area, only to discover that hubby's key card didn't work. Then we waited another half an hour while they found someone who could fix it. Ugh!

Contrast that with the Disney process: check in at your resort if you are on a package, or else head over to one of the vast expanse of check in counters, where there is typically little or no crowd because they are fully staffed. Then head over to the boarding line and wait until it's time to pass through the giant Mickey ears to begin your vacation. The RCCL waiting area was a warehouse-like room with folding chairs. The DCL terminal has couches and televisions, as well as many things to look at, like a model of the ship. Disney characters have been known to pay a visit too. One person in your party can hold your place in line while the others explore, and you can even buy coffee or another beverage at R. E. Fresh's.

Over time, we've become friends with several people at the port. We love being welcomed by Tanya, Barbara, and the rest of the excellent port crew. We chatted with them a bit and didn't even realize how quickly the time was slipping away. Before we knew it, it was 11:45 a.m. and boarding had begun!

As we stepped up for our embarkation photo, we saw that there is a new backdrop. It is tan colored for an old time look, with a scene of people (and Mickey) waving farewell on the decks of a ship, sort of like the sailaway scene in Titanic. It matches the folders that the Shutters photos come in. It's hard to describe, but I really loved it and had to buy the photo. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll post a scan on the Shutters page of my website. I have a lot of different embarkation photos, and this one is my favorite.

I like the new earlier embarkation time, although I'm sure it's a challenge for the crew to get the ship turned over so quickly. Palo and spa reservations are taken at one, so if you arrive at the port early, you'll have plenty of time for a leisurely lunch before the "ressie scramble." If you arrive later, you'll still have time to get the reservations made and then eat lunch before the safety drill at 4 p.m. Of course, the times are subject to change, so check your information sheet when you board the ship.

Spa reservations are taken at the Vista Spa on deck 9 forward. On this trip, Palo ressies were taken in Wavebands on deck 3 forward, although the location sometimes varies. Since they both start at the same time, it's wise to send a different member of your party to each location. The Palo process is very organized, with tables labeled for each day. Dining rotation changes can also be requested in Wavebands. Our friend Ali, the dining manager, was there, assisting guests with their various requests.

We had lunch at Parrot Cay, where I was greeted warmly by Katrina and Lito, two of our former servers. It always amazes me that they can remember us. Hubby piled his plate with jumbo shrimp, while I opted for salads and carved beef. We both had the delicious cold strawberry banana soup...mmmmm!

Between lunch and the ressie scramble, it can feel a bit hectic when you board, but things settle down very quickly. If you like the water, be sure to pack swimsuits in your day bag because embarkation is one of the best times to enjoy the pools and whirlpools. It is our tradition to don our swimwear and soak in one of the adult whirlpools until safety drill time. At first, we were the only ones in the whirlpool, but as the afternoon wore on, more and more people joined us. We had some very pleasant conversations with our fellow travelers until we reluctantly had to leave because it was almost four o'clock.

One word of caution: if you plan to use the hot tubs for any length of time, bring a swimsuit that you don't mind getting faded. The chemicals are wicked; hubby once had a navy blue suit fade out to orange, and I have a pair of pink tie-dyed shorts that started out as solid purple. Now, we have "special" suits that we use strictly for the whirlpools, and we save our good swimwear for Castaway Cay.

Back Home Again
Our home for this trip, as usual, was stateroom 5650, a secluded Category 6 cabin that is as far aft as it's possible to get on deck 5. Stateroom size is another Disney Difference. On many cruise lines, the staterooms border on being closet sized, even in the more expensive categories. That's especially true on the older ships, but even on Radiance and RCCL's Voyager, one of their new mega-ships, we were amazed at the lack of space in the rooms as compared to the Magic and Wonder.

On Disney's ships, your stateroom will be the same size whether you are in Category 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, or 5. The only difference is the presence or absence of a porthole or verandah. Cats. 11 and 12 are somewhat smaller, but still generous for the cruise line industry. Cat. 4 is a family room, which is a little longer, and Cats. 3, 2, and 1 are multi-room concierge suites that are larger than my first apartment!

I've had people ask whether the service suffers if you are in a cheaper category. The answer is a resounding no! Other than the fact that concierge service is limited to the top three categories, you will get the exact same service whether you're in Category 4 or 12. The Cat. 10, 11, and 12 staterooms are right across the hall from Cat. 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5 staterooms (Cat. 4s are on deck 8, where there the staterooms are all on one side). This means that a Cat. 11 room will have the same stateroom host or hostess as the Cat. 5 or 6 across the way. All staterooms are cleaned twice a day and receive turndown service, complete with chocolates and towel animals. You're in for the same first class service no matter what category you book.

Another Disney difference that families with small children really appreciate is that virtually all of the staterooms have a bathtub (the handicapped rooms are the exception, as they have a roll-in shower). Most ships have showers only, but I've talked to many parents who like to have a tub for bathing their little ones.

As I mentioned, 5650 is a Cat. 6 stateroom, meaning that it has a verandah. Most of the Cat. 6 and 5 verandahs are similar, but the aft-most staterooms have solid metal instead of a plexiglass rail, and some (like 5650) have a larger than average balcony.

People often ask, "What is the best stateroom?" The word "best" is vary subjective and is different for almost everyone. You have to determine what is most important to you. Do you like being near the elevators? Would you rather be in a more secluded spot? Does hallway noise bother you? Do you need adjoining staterooms? Are you sensitive to motion? Do you like upper decks, or would you rather be closer to the water? These are just a few of the considerations that should go into choosing your ideal room.

If you party into the wee hours of the night, a room under the nightclubs might not bother you, but a family with small children who crash early might hate it. Being near the elevators is convenient but can also mean more hallway traffic (although I've been near them a couple of times and have never noticed excessive noise). Being next door to a stateroom that sleeps four or next to adjoiners can mean more potential noise since they might be occupied by larger families (we learned this being next to the adjoining secret porthole rooms). In contrast, a stateroom that only has a neighbor on one side, like 5622, may be quieter.

5650 has only one neighbor, plus it's at the end of the hallway and there are no staterooms across from it, so there is virtually no hallway sound. I like that, as we usually sleep in on Nassau morning and then go to bed early so we're up with the sunrise on Castaway Cay day. I also like being as close to the water as possible, and deck 5 is the lowest deck with verandahs. The larger verandah is the icing on the cake; I know that some people don't like the solid metal verandahs, but it makes no difference to me.

The majority of people I've talked to seem to favor mid-ship, and I've met lots of forward fans as well. But I'm a major aft fan myself, and I've met many others like me. I've stayed on almost every deck in various areas, but aft has won me over.

Even though there were lots of large families on board for the holidays, which means more potential for hallway noise, 5650 was an oasis of peace and quiet as usual. We slept late with no disturbances and spent many relaxing hours lazing out on the verandah. Our stateroom host, Jhony, kept the room clean and left us an amusing towel animal each night. One of our former hosts was servicing the rooms at the head of the hall, so each time we passed through the hall, we got two greetings. We've been in 5650 so often now that I've lost count, and I always enjoy staying in my "home away from home."

Decadent Dining
Hubby and I have been dieting since the summer, but on a cruise we give ourselves permission to indulge. I don't think a person can stick to dietary constraints if they never splurge once in awhile. The trick is not to use the splurge as an excuse to get off your eating plan entirely.

Another new discovery on this trip was that the menus have changed again. The changes are relatively minor, and most were for the better, like the addition of cold mango/papaya soup at Parrot Cay (yum!). I was very sad to see that the cold avocado soup was gone, but at least the vichyssoises is still offered in Triton's. We'll post the new menus with full details of all the current offerings.

We were on the Tritons/Animators/Parrot Cay dining rotation. Rotational dining is another Disney difference. Instead of eating in the same restaurant every night, you rotate through three different ones, and your dining staff rotates with you. Our servers, Arnold and Marian, took excellent care of us and indulged all our special requests. Our head server was Stephanie, who we're never met before; turns out she just came over recently from the Magic. It's always fun to meet new crew members, as they quickly become old friends. Speaking of which, one of our former head servers, Kapoor, was also on our rotation.

We really enjoyed our tablemates; they were a couple from Orlando and a family from Celebration. The only thing that I regretted was that we had to give up one night in a main diningroom to go to Palo. The three day cruise is too darned short!

Our friend Chef Vinnie was onboard on this trip. If you are on the four-day cruise, be sure to go to the cooking demonstration and you might see him. His scallops are sensational!

We went to Palo on Nassau night, as it's very enjoyable to eat with the city lights as a backdrop. Our server, Nico, was from Italy, which fit in nicely with the theme, and he took great care of us. Along with my veal (the special of the day), he talked me into trying the gnocchi, which he promised would be just like his Mama makes. They were very delicious. Hubby opted for tuna, and it was prepared just the way he likes it...seared on the outside and pink on the inside. Of course, he is a sushi fan, but if I want something rare, I'll stick with beef or lamb.

For dessert, I had the famous chocolate souffle, while hubby opted for the pistachio torte, with panna cotta on the side. So much for diets! I think we must have consumed an entire week's worth of calories in one meal, but it was well worth it.

Ivan, the manager, was making the rounds to be sure that everything was going smoothly. The food and service were both top notch; Chef Patrick is doing his usual excellent job.

Of course, we didn't suffer too badly at our regular rotation restaurants either. At Triton's, I had my beloved vichyssoises, and since it was Thanksgiving, I had the special turkey dinner with all the trimmings. In Parrot Cay, hubby had the Mixed Grill, which has changed a bit and is every bit as delicious as its previous incarnation. I ordered it with lamb chops only (it usually comes with beef and sausage too) and slathered them with mint jelly. Even though the mango/papaya soup is technically an appetizer, I had that as my dessert.

There are some changes to the breakfast and lunch offerings, too. The new breakfast items in Triton's (special pancakes and French toast) are not printed on the menu yet, but hopefully they will be by our next cruise. At Beach Blanket Buffet, home of the famous Mickey waffles, they are still offering made to order omelets, and they have added something new for lunch: in addition to made to order pasta, they also serve fresh crepes with your choice of sauces and fruit fillings.

I am going to have to check out the new Triton's items, but in the morning I am typically lazy and order room service to enjoy on my verandah. On this trip, I finally met Morgan, who I've talked to on the phone when placing my order for goodness only knows how many cruises. Before we sailed, I had heard he was working in the dining room, but now he is back in room service and doing deliveries. It was fun to finally meet the man behind the voice. I think he probably knows my usual order by heart now.

At dinner, I usually don't pay much attention to the attire of my fellow cruisers. I like to dress up, but I don't really care what other people do. However, on the DIS boards, dress codes are a very controversial matter. Many people feel that the no jeans/no shorts suggestion should be strictly enforced. I'm sure they will be happy to know that Palo now has a sign requesting that no jeans or shorts be worn there. I don't know if it's enforced, but on this trip people were quite dressy. There was no one attired like my two favorites that I spotted on previous cruises (the barefoot woman in jeans and the fashion plate couple with the husband in jeans and a flamingo pink t-shirt while his wife wore a muumuu and flip-flops).

The main diningrooms don't have signs, although there is a "no jeans or shorts" request in the Navigators. Perhaps it was due to the holiday, but I was amazed to see people a lot more dressed up than usual at Triton's and Parrot Cay. I remember a couple of Thanksgivings ago, when I wore a formal dress to Triton's, which is supposed to be the most dressy restaurant, and discovered that I was totally overdressed as compared to my fellow cruisers. This time, my dresses fit right in.

It's Showtime!
Disney is synonymous with entertainment, and you're in for a real treat with the main stage shows on the Wonder. The two old standbys are "Hercules" and "Disney Dreams," both of which have been around since the inception of the cruise line. The first couple of times I saw "Hercules," I wasn't too fond of it, although hubby loved it. Now that I've seen the movie, the cornball humor always gets me laughing. Lately, Hades, Pain and Panic have been stealing the show.

I've always loved "Disney Dreams" from the very first time I saw it. We've missed "Hercules" a few times, but we make it a point never to miss DD. As the cruise director says, it's Disney's kiss good night to the audience. It features characters and songs from a variety of Disney movies, including "Cinderella," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid" (my favorite sequence), "Aladdin" (my second favorite), and "The Lion King." The plot revolves around a little girl named Anne Marie, who meets Peter Pan and has to find her own magic so she can fly away with him to the place where dreams come true. As I'm sure you can guess, there is a happy Disney ending. My favorite part is when Tinkerbelle covers the ship in pixie dust at the end.

"Disney Dreams" is hubby's favorite (he's even confessed that it makes him misty eyed), but I must admit that I was won over by "The Golden Mickeys" on our last cruise, and I loved it just as much this time around. "The Golden Mickeys" is a brand new show that just debuted on the Wonder Labor Day weekend. It is structured like "Disney Dreams," with a loose plot acting as the thread that binds together a series of sequences from popular Disney movies and cartoons. In this show, the plot involves Ensign Benson, who reluctantly agrees to host the show despite a lack of confidence. She gets a boost from Roy Disney himself, although now that he has resigned, I'm guessing that the beginning might change. I hope that it doesn't change too much because it's my favorite part of the show. Roy tells Ensign Benson the story of his Uncle Walt as old-time clips roll on the screen. He explained how Walt's first creation, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, was stolen from him and how he fell on hard financial times, but through it all he never lost hope.

That beginning is so cool. I love to hear about the history of Disney and see the old footage of Walt. One of our dinner tablemates said it actually brought her to tears. Then the show shifts to numbers highlighting various themes, such as Romance, Comedy, Friendship, and of course, Villians, as Ensign Benson hands out the awards...or at least tries to. The numbers include Snow White (with kids from the audience playing the seven dwarves), Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, Tarzan (featuring my favorite song from the movie, "Son of Man"; this sequence will remind you of the Tarzan Rocks show at the Animal Kingdom), 101 Dalmations, Toy Story, Sleeping Beauty, the Lion King (the costumes will remind you of the Broadway play), Pocahontas, and Lady and the Tramp.

Terk also comes out to lead a rousing rendition of "Trashin' the Camp," featuring my all-time favorite character, Stitch (okay, second-favorite character, as Figment will always be number one with me). When the villians take over, you'll be amazed at the life-like Ursula. We were sitting in the front row, and her tentacles were only inches away. As footage of various Disney villians flashed on the screen, I had to laugh when Darla from Finding Nemo popped up!

This may sound like a lot, especially given the fact that there is an opening number and a grand finale too, but the show is over in less than an hour. That is my only complaint with this show; it's way too short! It is so action-packed that you'll find yourself trying not to blink so you won't miss anything.

There have been some minor changes, but they are all improvements. My favorite is at the ending, when Ensign Benson trades in her dress whites for a beautiful princess-style dress. It really enhances the happy ending (I'm sure you can guess that by the end of the show, she's gained new confidence and poise).

If you get to the theater early, you'll get the red carpet treatment. Since this is an awards show, the guests are treated like celebrities as they enter the theater. The paparazzi snap photos, and there are even "celebrity interviews" that are broadcast on the jumbo screens inside of the theater. I had to stop and be interviewed so I could embarrass poor hubby, who was already inside, by welcoming to cruise #35 onscreen.

Speaking of red carpets, this cruise also featured another exciting event...the "premear" of "The Haunted Mansion." When a Disney movie premieres on land, there is a gala premiere on the ships, too. The movie was shown at various times throughout the cruise so everyone would get a chance to see it. We went to the 2 p.m. showing on Nassau day in the Walt Disney Theater. Usually movies are shown in the Buena Vista Theater, but for newer releases, they are often shown in the larger venue too.

I've always been a fan of the Haunted Mansion ride, so I was interested to see how it would translate to the big screen. Although it was slow moving in parts, Madame Leota (the face in the crystal ball) was a riot, as were the singing busts. And of course the hitchhiking ghosts put in an appearance too.

I was hoping to see "Brother Bear" and "Pirates of the Caribbean," too. They were both still showing on board, but with so much going on, we never got around to seeing them. Oh well, I can always catch them on DVD.

A Lazy Morning in Nassau
Hubby and I have been to Nassau so many times that we rarely disembark anymore. For us, it's just a lazy day to recuperate from a late night of partying and enjoy a leisurely breakfast out on our verandah. Before going to bed on Thursday night, we ordered room service for 9 a.m. Friday morning. I actually woke up a bit early, but I forced myself to go back to sleep so that I would be well rested for an early rise on Castaway Cay morning.

Around 9, hubby and I crawled out of bed because we knew that our breakfast would arrive at any minute. Room service is very prompt, so we often use it as our wake-up call. I went out onto the verandah to check out the weather, and when I stepped back into the room, the food had arrived. It was delivered by none other than my buddy Morgan, who I always think of as the "voice of room service" because he always seems to be the one who takes my call. I've talked to him on so many cruises that he probably knows my usual order by heart. Before this cruise, I heard that he was working as a server in the dining room, and I was anxious to meet him in person. But he moved back to room service, although not on the phone...now he is doing deliveries, so we finally got to meet him face to face.

If you are not as lazy as us, there are many options for breakfast. Room service offers continental options, but there is a huge spread up at Beach Blanket Buffet or you can opt for a table service meal at Tritons.

Once we were fueled, we had gained more energy, so we decided to exercise. Hubby has lost almost 50 pounds since the August 2002, and I have lost almost 30. Even when we're on vacation, we try to minimize the damage by keeping up with our workout routine. We grabbed water bottles and headed to the deck 4 promenade, but after a couple rounds it was closed off due to crew lifeboat drills and maintenance. We headed up to deck 10, which is another nice place to jog or power walk.

As we headed up the aft stairs, I noticed how the style of the carpet changed between decks 9 and 10. Another Disney Different: the seamless changing of themes. It changed from nautical to a pattern that matches the Palo décor, just as the walkways change between the different lands in the Magic Kingdom.

Hubby walked a couple more round with me, then headed to the spa to relax in the Rainforest. I continued my walk and enjoyed noticing more of the seamless theme shifts. As I walked past the Quiet Cove adult area, the music was slow and relaxing to complement the peaceful atmosphere. Just a few steps away, by the family pool, the music changes to energetic tunes that match the lively area. It changes again as you approach the Mickey pool and the gleeful youngsters played in the ears and splashing down the slide.

In addition to the sounds, I enjoyed the delicious smells from the restaurants in the aft area. They wafted up to signal the winding down of breakfast and the preparations for lunch and dinner. I watched my fellow passengers as they strolled the deck, basked in the sun, sipped drinks, played basketball, soaked in the whirlpools, splashed in the pools, or enjoyed the glorious morning in some other way.

Before I started working out regularly, I used to do a mile on deck 4, wanting to get done as quickly as possible and never walking any extra. Now, I walked for 45 minutes without even realizing how far I'd gone or how much time had passed. I finally had to quit because I'd worn my stiff canvas shoes and they were giving me a blister. My poor feet couldn't take any more abuse, so I headed back to my stateroom for some quality verandah time.

It was noon already, and the premiere of "The Haunted Mansion" was only two hours away. Time was flying much too fast, but it had been a lovely morning in Nassau. As I stood on the verandah, I noticed a Coast Guard ship pulling out, and then I did a double take. The Imperial Majesty Ocean Breeze was docked nearby, as usual, but I didn't recognize it at first because it had gotten a complete paint job. I always look for that ship because it's such a dog. It does overnight cruises, with most of the passengers sailing for free in exchange for going to a timeshare presentation. The ship is ancient, and it's always amazed me that it has boarded-up portholes! Actually, I guess "puttied up" would be a more accurate description, but it looks very tacky. Oh well, the food must be fresh because once I spotted some of the Ocean Breeze crew sitting on a trapdoor and fishing!

But now the ship looks almost decent, as the color scheme is brighter and the blocked portholes aren't so prominent. Oh well, I'll still stick to the Disney Wonder. It certainly stands head and shoulders over the Ocean Breeze, and even when compared to the new mega ships it holds its own.

A Green Christmas
As always, the terminal and ship were decked out in holiday finery, but as I mentioned earlier, there was a new surprise this year. For the first time ever, Castaway Cay had also been transformed for Christmas. At the disembarkation area, there were really cute iconic decorations, like a snowman, tree, giant presents, and a sleigh dubbed the S. S. Kringle. Be sure to bring your camera, and the Shutters photographers will be out there in the morning to take photos, too. Even the usual photo backdrops had been decorated. For example, the "Fresh Catch" backdrop was festooned in garland and ornaments. Carolers at the post office added to the festive atmosphere, and the tram was decked out in garland, with a giant set of reindeer horns on the front. Our cruise was very windy, but I hear that when the weather cooperates, you might even see some snow.

The decorations fan out all over the island, and many have a nautical flair (for example, the buoy Santas and the lighthouse tree topper). The typical music has been replaced by Christmas carols with a Caribbean flair (thank goodness...I think if I hear "Cheeseburger in Paradise" one more time, I'll go insane). Even the crew members get into the spirit in their red and white winter hats and scarves.

This is another big Disney Difference. We've been to both of RCCL's private islands, Labadee and Cocoa Cay. Labadee is anything but private. It's part of Hispanola (Haiti), and the natives shake you down for money when you try to sit in a lounge chair and even when you exit the bathroom. The Labadee marketplace was worse than Nassau's Straw Market. I had several merchants physically grab me, which I feel is a major violation of my personal space and not something I expect on a supposedly private island.

Cocoa Cay is much nicer than Labadee, and like Castaway Cay, it really is private. But somehow I doubt that it's undergone a holiday transformation.

The best was yet to come; sailaway, which typically takes place at 5:00, was delayed until 5:45 so we could see the Christmas tree lighting in the dark. It was such a lovely farewell. With Captain John and Mickey standing by, the tree suddenly was ablaze in lights as guests watched from decks 4, 9, and 10. You would also be able to see the tree lighting from your verandah if you have a view of the dock.

In case you won't be sailing over the holidays, we've posted a selection of Castaway Cay Christmas photos. And if you will be sailing, check them out anyway as they will really build you anticipation.

Smile for the Camera
Another neat holiday addition is the Christmas cards that are now offered at Shutters. You pick a photograph and a style, and your cards will be ready by the end of your cruise. I suggest taking advantage of as many photo opportunities as possible so you will have lots of pictures to choose from. There is no charge for having photos taken; you only pay if you buy. The friendly Shutters staff will be on hand all around the ship and on the island, too.

We chose a formal portrait that was taken in front of the huge Christmas tree in the atrium. It was a hard choice, as our Palo photograph came out really good too. Usually they take it at your table, but we asked the photographer to let us pose in front of some of the Palo Christmas decorations. The style we chose was Mickey's hand holding an ornament that contains the photo, with a drawing of the ship at the top. This is only one of several styles from which you can pick.

We noticed that there are now several more options for digital enhancement on your photographs. I've always liked the border that you can get digitally added to your embarkation photo, but now you can have one added to your photo with the captain too. We were busy during the captain's party so we missed that photo op. But later, when I was looking at our other photos, I noticed a neat border on the portraits with the captain listing his name, the date, and even "Wonder Facts."

But Shutters doesn't just take the photos. If you take your own, and you can't wait to see how they turned out, you can drop off your film for processing. They can handle just about any type of film, including Advantix and underwater cameras. When you drop off your film, your photos will be ready for you the next day.

Indulgence at the Vista Spa
Hubby and I believe that a cruise is the most relaxing type of vacation and that it should include plenty of time in the spa. He had two seaweed wraps, while I opted for a shipboard massage, a cabana massage, and an Absolute Face and Body (massage and facial). Hubby also spent some time in the Rainforest, a room containing scented showers, steam rooms, saunas, and heated tile lounge chairs. He noticed a great addition to the Rainforest: there is now a table containing a variety of spa products that you can sample. That has always been available in the Surial Bath (a private couples sauna room where you and your partner get to slather each other with mud). I'm really glad they've added it to the Rainforest, too, as the Elemis products are great and I know that people will really enjoy trying them.

Yet another new additional at the spa was pilates and yoga classes. I tried out the beach yoga on Castaway Cay, and it was the perfect way to start my day. Although the class starts at 9 a.m., you meet in the spa at 8:15 so there will be plenty of time to get to the adult beach, where it is held. It was very windy that morning, so when we got to the beach, there were huge white-capped waves crashing onto the shore. The relaxing sound of those waves was the perfect backdrop to the class.

The class was about 40 minutes long, and the level was simple enough to where even a beginner would feel comfortable. We used towels as mats, and our instructor led us through some sun salutes and simple poses such as the Warrior, as well as a progressive muscle relaxation exercise. I hope they continue to offer this because if they do, it's going to become a regular part of my Castaway Cay day. I had a massage scheduled at 10 a.m., so the timing worked out perfectly. The massage cabanas are right at the adult beach, and I was already relaxed before I even collapsed onto the massage table. What a way to kick off the day!

Hubby was quite excited to see that there is new equipment in the workout room. He loves elliptical trainers, so he was pleased to see brand-new ones that are almost just like his favorites at the health club. He took new photos to post on our website.

Castaway Cay...Barely!
Amazingly enough, we've never missed docking at Castaway Cay, nor have we been totally rained out, in all of our Disney cruises. What's even more amazing is that we sail mainly during hurricane season and in the winter, which are the more problematic times. When the cold fronts come in, the wind and waves can prevent the ship from docking. I had read on the DIS boards that this had happened to a couple of cruises in the weeks before ours, but the ocean was calm when we docked in Nassau so I thought that we'd be fine.

The next morning, I awakened to the drone of the side thrusters. I've been in 5650 enough times to be able to tell when the ship is having a hard time getting in. It sounded labored, which surprised me, since the weather had seemed calm the day before. I went out on the balcony and was greeted by gales of wind and frothy white water! As I watched, I began to think that I'd have yet another new experience on cruise #35: a missed CC docking and a day at sea. But finally Captain John managed to back us in. I think he must have used every bit of his skill to do it. Out of all our previous cruises, I can only remember one other time when it was that bad.

I was pleased that we had docked but a bit concerned about the gloomy gray skies and the wicked wind. But hubby and I are prepared for every eventuality. We always bring rain ponchos and plastic bags to keep ourselves and our gear dry in case of a sudden downpour. We planned to disembark separately, as I was doing the beach yoga and he had signed up for the nature walk/kayak trip. Since my meeting time was 8:15 at the spa and his was 9 a.m. in the Promenade Lounge, we made plans to meet at the adult beach later.

Although the wind was strong, I was still warm enough to do the yoga in my swimsuit. But I noticed a lot of people who were bundled up pretty well. I suspect that they were the natives of warmer climates, like Florida. When it's winter in Chicago, so anything above 60 degrees feels warm to me.

After yoga, I settled into a hammock to read. There are only four hammocks on the adult beach, so usually you have to be very early to get one. But on this trip, the threatening sky was keeping people away and the beach was virtually deserted. The ocean waves looked inviting for body surfing, and when I stuck my toe in, the water didn't feel nearly as cold as I'd thought it would. But after yoga and a massage, I was feeling supremely lazy so I opted to relax with my book.

Eventually hubby showed up. The kayak part of his trip had been cancelled, but they'd still gone on the nature walk (I think they refunded half of the price). He was eager to share all the trivia he'd learned about the plant and animal life on Castaway Cay. We decided to head over to Cookies for lunch and then return to the ship, as a matinee of "Disney Dreams" had been added in case the weather got worse. As we rolled along in the tram, he explained that the beautiful red "flowers" were really leaves and how many of the plants were native to the Bahamas, but not originally to Castaway Cay. He told me about the birds they had spotted and how most of the island is in its native state, with only a relatively small area developed. I don't think I've ever seen him so enthusiastic about nature! He is already looking forward to signing up again on our next trip in hopes that he'll be able to kayak through the mangroves.

By the time we reached Cookies, the sun was making an earnest effort to displace the clouds, and more and more people were heading off the ship. We got some food and found a table in the sun. I had a cheeseburger and some ribs, while hubby indulged in his favorite lobster burgers. And of course I topped off my meal with a generous serving of frozen yogurt. In deference to my diet, I had managed to avoid Scoops for the entire trip, but no visit to Castaway Cay is complete without some frozen cookie dough yogurt.

Somewhat reluctantly, we headed back to the ship. I was sad that we hadn't had a chance to swim, and I noticed that quite a few brave souls had now made it into the water. But the idea of seeing the "Disney Dreams" matinee was appealing, as it would give us extra time to pack at night and get to bed a bit early. At least I was happy in the knowledge that once again our docking streak was unbroken.

The Castaway Club Party
I don't think I've ever missed a Castaway Club party, except way back in the early days of Disney Cruise Line before there even was such a thing. Since I consider hubby and myself to be Platinum members, it's a matter of pride to attend on each cruise. The party is typically held on one of the clubs on Beat Street (or, in the case of a really large number of repeaters, the entire Beat Street area might be taken over). On #34, it was in Studio Sea, but usually it's either Wavebands, the Cadillac Lounge, or Barrel of Laughs.

If you are a repeater, you will receive an invitation with all of the specifics. This time, Wavebands was the place, so at 5:15 we headed down for some snacks, a Bahama Mama (or a glass of wine in hubby's case), and some pleasant conversation with the crew. This trip was the first time that we've met Cruise Director Teresa, and we also chatted with our old friend Brent, Mike (the hotel director), and of course Captain John. The party is a great opportunity to meet some of the officers and even to get a picture with the captain.

There are some other nice little benefits to the Castaway Club, too. When you board, you will find a nice little gift in your stateroom. Currently, you receive pins and a towel, although it has changed many times over the years. My collection includes two different types of bags and Magic and Wonder picture frames. The towel is probably my favorite, although the old blue bags were very handy. We still bring on of our old ones on almost every trip.

Adult Antics
Disney is most commonly associated with kids and family entertainment, but on the Wonder they do a great job of keeping the adults busy too. If you just want to be lazy and enjoy some quiet time away from pint-sized horde, head over to the spa, the Quiet Cove pool, or the adult beach. The kids might try to invade, but you'll find that Disney takes the adults-only rule quite seriously. As we soaked in the Quiet Cove whirlpool on embarkation day, we watched as crew members shooed away kids who tried to take over the pool.

If you're in the mood for a party, you'll discover that Route 66 is an adults-only playground after 9 p.m. There are various events and theme nights; our favorites are the 70s Party and the Match Your Mate game show. On this trip, I thought that 70s Night might not be as hilarious as usual because the women who played Gloria Gaynor were all very subdued. But when the guys stepped up to do their John Travolta dances, all hell broke loose! The entire room was in hysterics. I don't want to give too much away in case you've never been to this event before, but let's just say that this was the first time I've ever seen an encore (and what an encore it was!).

Match Your Mate is always good for a few laughs, too. Three couples are chosen as contestants; the ones who have been married for the shortest length of time, a "mid-range" couple, and the ones who have been married the longest. On this trip, there was an elderly couple who had been married for an unbelievable 65 years! I think that's the most we've ever seen on any of our cruises. I don't want to give away the questions, but I do have to share the funniest moment. The elderly gentleman told the story of his honeymoon, when he and his wife were driving through Mexico. This was in the 1930s, and they were driving a giant car. They picked up a little Mexican boy who was hitchhiking and who didn't speak a word of English. Each night, they would remove one of the huge bench seats so the boy could sleep outside of the car, and then they bedded down inside and...well, you know, did what newlyweds do. When he told this story, everyone in Wavebands was practically rolling on the floor.

I saw Wonderquest on the Navigator, but we didn't get to do it because it began at 9:45 p.m. and we were still at dinner. It's a really crazy scavenger hunt type game that I highly recommend. We also missed 60s night, which I haven't seen yet. Apparently it has replaced 80s night on the 3-night cruises. I was sorry to miss it, but it was on the last night and we still had packing to do. Oh well, at least we'll have another new experience on cruise #36 in February.

Now It's Time to Say Goodbye
Parting is always such sweet sorrow, especially on a three day cruise when the days seem to whiz by at quantum speed. We know the disembarkation procedure by heart, but if it's your first time, the cruise director gives a talk that is repeated on your television throughout the evening. It details everything you need to know about luggage, customs, etc.

Disembarkation is a huge Disney Difference. RCCL's embarkation might be a pain, but it's nothing compared to their horrible disembarkation process. They issue you colored luggage tags, and you cannot leave the ship until your color is called. This may not sound bad, but I know from personal experience that it might be a couple of hours before you are called. People gather like cattle in the public areas of the ship, anxiously waiting for liberation.

On Disney, you get colored luggage tags, too, but that's just so you can easily find your luggage when you disembark. You leave the ship whenever you want to, once it's been cleared by customs. You can leave early if you have an early flight, are heading to Disney World, or are spending the day in Cape Canaveral or Orlando. If you have a late flight, relax and enjoy a leisurely breakfast before heading off. You have an assigned breakfast seating based on your dining rotation, but you are free to skip it if you choose. You can skip breakfast altogether (which is what we usually do, since we're typically tired of eating by the end of the cruise), or you can eat whenever you want up at Beach Blanket Buffet.

You can leave your luggage out the night before to be brought down to the terminal for you (which is where the colored tags for identification come in), or you can keep it with you and carry it off the ship yourself. You leave via the exit in the deck 3 atrium, present your forms, ID, and proof of citizenship at customs, and that's it...you're done! I still haven't figured out why the rest of the cruise industry doesn't follow Disney's lead.

We had arranged an 8 a.m. pickup with Happy Limo, as we were heading to the Kissimmee area to spend the day before our late evening flight. Our driver was waiting for us when we arrived with a big, beautiful limo! We piled in and headed away from Port Canaveral; already, I was missing the Wonder and wishing that our next trip would be sooner than February. But I know that I do have to go to work sometime!

Web Check-In Roulette
Use of web check-in used to be pretty uncommon in Orlando, since most people are there on vacation and don't have access to a computer. But that is changing rapidly due to the availability of internet cafes, laptops with wireless connections, and business centers in hotels. More and more, we see fellow passengers clutching the tell-tale black and white boarding pass printouts.

As I mentioned earlier, it's always a crapshoot on whether ATA will honor our seats when we select them via web check-in. I had been lulled into a false sense of security because it had been a while since we'd had any problems, but our lucky streak was about to end. Boarding had just begun when hubby was paged to the check-in desk. Not a good sign. At first I told him to go himself and I would watch the luggage, but then I decided that I'd better go along because he is very mild-manner while I'm more...uh, persuasive. I got there just as I heard the agent saying that his seat had been double assigned. Considering all the problems we've had in the past, we have ATA's customer service number programmed into our cell phones. Even when we've checked in first via the internet, they have tried to let the person who got our seat later, at the airport, keep it, and I refuse to accept that. On occasion, I've actually called customer service to back me up and handed my phone to the desk supervisor to let them duke it out.

But things didn't turn so ugly this time, as the person working the desk was someone who has dealt with us in the past. When we saw who it was, he immediately told the other person, "I'm sorry, but these people selected those seats first." I breathed a sign of relief, as the plane was literally full and I didn't want to set stuck crammed somewhere in the back.

The flight was a bit bumpy, but not too bad. As we descended into Midway, I looked out over the houses below decorated with blinking Christmas lights and they reminded me of one of those miniature villages. There was no snow yet, but I still felt the Christmas spirit in the air. On the way out, I had found it hard to believe that it was Thanksgiving weekend already. Now, having seen the beautiful decorations on the ship and Castaway Cay and having heard a variety of Christmas carols, from Caribbean style to traditional, I was definitely in a holiday mood. We've already got our reservations for Thanksgiving 2004 on the Wonder, and next year we'll be spending Christmas on the ship too. But happily, we won't have to wait that long to sail again, as we embark on our annual anniversary cruise in February, and I can't wait to see what new surprises will be in store.