Cass, Rob & Kira - Christmas on the Wonder??? Get the fog outta here!

Timon said:

I believe Santa found them at the Dollarama Store

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Darn we don't have those around here.

we bought the halloween bucket and a generic bucket. I loved that the refills were so cheap and we love popcorn. Claire has to have it for every movie we ever see...well I like to as well. LOL. But she realized on our last cruise together they had popcorn and Skip bought the expensive little cup each night. We brought these to almost every show and filled them both and they hit the spot! We only got the generic one first, but then saw later they were selling the Halloween one and we had to have that one as they were sold out at the party before we boarded.

Day 5 Part 3

Okay, so I totally lied to you all again

I thought I had done the Art of the Theme Ship Tour yesterday, and I had circled it on the Nav and had intended to go, but I actually never made it so today was the actual day that I did that tour and I have pics to prove it...well sorta



This is the only Disney "touch" located in Palo on the Wonder. And it's not technically in the restaurant, it's out in the lobby area, very hidden

And then I also took these pics of the Open House in the Lab because we popped in there real quick during the tour.









After my tour, I headed back to my room to find Kira watching Mickey & The Gang shorts on the TV and Rob doing this...



We enjoyed the sunset from our verandah once again






We watched Moana in the Buena Vista Theatre afterwards, what a great movie

It was also really great to watch a movie on Christmas Day again! Before Kira, it used to be a tradition for Rob and I and we've really missed it! This was the first time we did it as a family

After the movie, we got changed for dinner and chilled in the room until it was time for dinner.

Hmmm, I also forgot about going to see Stitch! How could I forget about Stitch!!!

This was the ONE character meet she could not live without! For those of you who don't know, we used to have Golden Retriever siblings, whom we named Lilo and Stitch. We got them as puppies two months before I got pregnant with Kira so she grew up with them. They were awesome dogs! We lost Stitch in 2013. That was the year of our last Disney World trip and Kira ended up buying a Stitch pillow pet, as a memory of our Stitch and she has slept with him every single night since she bought him.

We lost Lilo just over a year ago, and just after she passed, Kira quietly stole Lilo's blanket from my bed and has been sleeping with it ever since. Stitch was a tough loss but she was younger then and not as attached to him as she was to Lilo. To this day, she still has some tough days, missing Lilo and crying about both of them.

So, she has a super soft spot when it comes to anything Lilo & Stitch, so we made sure to get in line early to see him. It was worth the wait, she had a great time!



He was playing with her little Santa hat





Dinner time!!!

Tonight was Animator's Palate, our favourite restaurant in all the ships, which is why I requested this dining rotation, so that we could eat there three times









See that bread knife below? We ended up buying one in the shops later on for $10




Hmmm, are there two Rob's???

I prefer to sit alone so I can put all my crap on the extra chair, he just came over for a quick pic before I sent him back



Aaron asked Kira if she wanted some chicken on her Caesar Salad today and she said yes...



Oh look! The chicken strips that she doesn't like

Funny because she ate every single bite of this

My Appys...







Rob's appy...



Rob's dinner..pretty sure he also got the beef dish but I just took a pic of mine.




And I actually had two entrees tonight because while I am a meat and potatoes girl, I really wanted to try the turkey, especially since it was Christmas dinner after all





The turkey was DEEEEE-LICIOUS!!! So was my beef!

Fantastic Christmas dinner and no cooking or cleaning! Can't beat that!!!!

I'm pretty sure that Kira went up to the kids clubs after she finished her dinner. Gotta say how fantastic it was to have her there for a little while and then have her just go check herself into the kids clubs and enjoy the rest of our dinner alone

Just having her check-in and check-out, in general, was amazing!!! It's funny how I went from NO WAY on day 1 to HECK YEAH on day 7






Rob's dessert...





And mine...



I just had a bite, not the biggest ice cream fan.

Shouldda had a hot dog for dessert


We picked Kira up from the clubs, or maybe she just met us at our room?




I hit up the adult pool tonight finally! I had been looking forward to it, one of my favourite parts of vacation, remember?

I especially love the adult pool on the classic ships, so big, with some privacy in the hot tubs, unlike the newer ships

I hopped into the pool first, as usual and I FROZE!!! Now, I can handle cold water, I run very hot so usually I am swimming when everyone else around is freezing their tookuses off but this water was so cold I could only do one lap before running to the hot tubs!

This sadly cut into my swim time

Kira and Rob walked by, heading to the family pool so I joined them there. Rob was sitting, all bundled up in the chair while Kira was swimming. I joined her for a bit, that water was much warmer!

It wasn't long before they closed it all up

Okay, second biggest pet peeve coming up...



Why do they close all the pools so darn early??? They used to keep the adult pool open until midnight, now it's 11pm. They used to keep the family pool open until 11pm, now it's 10 or 10:30pm!

This is sooooo dumb! There is nothing to do as a family after late dining, they really need to keep the pools open much later!!! They don't consider that some people are coming from the west coast, or earlier time zones and since we only finish dinner at about 9:30-10pm, I am not ready for bed by 11 and would love some pool time, both alone and with my kid!!!

I wrote this on the feedback form, even though there is ZERO room for extra comments and I have already written an email to DCL about it, that's how upset I am about it

I don't think it would kill Disney to keep that one lifeguard until midnight! They keep the pizza place open until midnight and the late movie is still on the Funnel Vision until midnight, so why not the pools and hot tubs????

After we were kicked out, we stayed there to watch some more of the movie, Enchanted. It was really windy though and I looked over at Kira and she looked miserable...



I got her attention and asked her if she was okay.

She gave me the biggest, cheesiest grin I have ever seen and nodded her head.

HAHAHAHA!

She was on

She was so happy! It might have just been my most favourite moment of the entire trip, seeing her smile, knowing how happy she was in that moment.

BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER.



(Well, best one since I lost my Mom)

It was getting windy but I knew she didn't want the day to end. I looked over and chairs were just flying backwards



Windy-blown Rob




I went to use the washroom and I passed by Pinocchio's coming back and spotted some cinnamon pretzels!! I asked them if they had any regular ones and they said to come back in 5 minutes, as they had to bake them.

I haven't seen pretzels on any cruise before! I know I read about them and people post that sometimes they have them one or two days. They aren't advertised, there's no signs anywhere, but they had them and I was excited



Kira and I shared it and it was delicious!!!!!!!!



I remember thinking to myself that we need to do this again...family, pool, hot tubs, movie, pretzels

Sadly, we never did, not the whole thing anyway

Great new installments! Kiras picture with the sunset (?) is gorgeous! And I love your blue/purple-ish shirt!

I hate sauna and can't stand the wet heat - not even for 5 minutes. But this Frozen sauna I would love to join in. It's all about the guests...

What a wonderful Christmas! You'll be able to look back on those memories for a long time.

Sounds like a really lovely and super relaxing Christmas day. So sweet to see her so happy that night.

It is so great to read about how you were actually able to enjoy Christmas day again! I was so sad when I read your introduction about how how Christmas has become such a difficult day for you since losing your own mother. It is so wonderful that for once you were able to be just happy with your family!

I had to catch up today - but what a fun read!! So many thoughts.

I totally forgot about your embarkation hullabaloo until I read about it in the report; WOW WOW WOW. What a MESS. It was so sweet of you to bring candy and treats for the cast members; I bet they had a stressful day. And how odd to do all the Sailaway Party and all that at the "right" time, even though people still weren't onboard...interesting!
Your FE gift is SO CUTE! I have to think of a FE for my cruise in March. I have a few ideas, but I've gotten lost in the deep, dark hole of Etsy and Pinterest. I just need to pick something.

Christmas day looked SO FUN! And I totally think it's good that you sent Christmas 2017 vibes into the Universe....you never know! In fact, just after I read that in your TR, I went and looked at the cruises around Thanksgiving. It's honestly not that bad, if I stay in an Inside room. Hmmmm.....might have to do that this year!

Thanks for posting information too about the religious services on Christmas Day...I was always curious about that so thanks for the info!

Kira is just precious - so sweet. I love all her adorable animal friends. I will have to keep my eyes open for fun Stitch toys.

I bet Kira felt like a real grownup lady, being able to check herself out of the kids clubs! How fun!

As always, loving your TR...I love seeing all the fun times you guys had!

Day 6 Part 1

Today was our Nassau, Bahamas day. Today was also Boxing Day, which is also a huge holiday in the Bahamas. We celebrate Boxing Day in Canada too but it's more like a version of the US's Black Friday whereas the Bahamian people have a huge parade/celebration called Junkanoo.

We just decided to check out downtown a bit, see what the parade was like, grab a souvenir for Kira and enjoy more time on the ship.

I forgot to post that the night before, Kira got a little note from one of the YA CM's, named Louise. Kira loved her name (same as the love of her life, bear!) and she said she was super sweet!







I tried getting up early and checking out the sun rise but I didn't sleep well and woke up at 5am with a terrible headache. Sadly, this was the case for the rest of the cruise, minus one day.

Here's what our view looked like...


We hadn't docked quite yet but were in the process.

We got dressed and went to Cabanas together today.



Too hot and sunny to enjoy the outside deck for me.



Sitting there, we noticed that Kira got a new freckle



As we ate our breakfast, we watched the crazy birds soaring right over people, trying to get their food!



After breakkie, we went down to Guest Services. I think it was because Kira's lanyard broke and Rob wanted to check to see if they could replace it. I still had mine as I don't like things on my neck but he wanted to check anyway. While he did that, I took some pics.



The CHUCK burger





We got some sunscreen on and grabbed our passports and headed off the ship.



This was the first time we were able to get a good view of our ship from the outside and also our first view of another ship...





We made our way downtown to find some souvenirs but almost all of the shops were closed due to the Junkanoo parade.

We did hit the Hard Rock shop but for some reason, we never checked out the Cafe part

Right across from the HRC was a Subway, which Kira posed in front of because she is Subway crazy




We walked up and down a few streets, all shops were closed!

We walked down the street where the parade was and it was disgusting!!!

There was garbage ALL over the place, I mean EVERYWHERE!!! It smelled like garbage, smoke and urine. The smoke was quite horrible, I was having a hard time just breathing








We walked down to the Straw Market, which also was closed.



I was getting hot and the smell was overwhelming so we just decided to go back to the ship. There were some vendors inside the secure area at the terminal, I told Kira she could find something there.

On the way back, Kira made a few comments, interesting view coming from a 10-year old.

"I don't understand why they don't just put their stuff in the garbage? Don't they realize that if they don't clean up after themselves, their island is not going to be nice anymore and no one will want to visit?"



Well, they definitely put the JUNK in Junkanoo

She picked out a purse for herself and one for her cousin Dani and we got back to the ship pronto!



Another shot of Atlantis.

One day, Atlantis, one day



Kira wanted some pool/slide time so Rob took her while I cooled off in the room.






Photobucket is misbehaving right now so I will have to end this chapter now.

Wow, that doesn't really encourage me to explore Nassau. We've done one other Disney cruise (4 night Dream) and stayed on the ship for the Nassau day. We've been debating if we do the same next month or if we go to like the Pirate Museum or something. At least it's our last day, so we'll know by then if we want more time on the ship vs. getting off at Nassau.

Found this TR yesterday and caught up today. Really enjoying reading all about your cruise!

I can understand how you feel about Christmas, I lost my mom the day before my 29th Birthday, so Birthdays are hard for me sometimes. Holidays are hard too but I just try to focus on good memories to get through them.

Crazy with all the birds in Galveston, but it looks like a nice place. I definitely consider cruising from there in the future. That was a nice beach across from your hotel, too bad it was so gray and yucky while you were there (that part would make me feel right at home, LOL, we rarely get any sun here in Western NY in the winter.

Sorry it was such a bad day getting on the ship but it sounds like it has been better since then.

I had been to Nassau a couple times and I really have not much desire to go back there, if I was on a cruise there, most likely I would either do a beach day at one of the resorts or just stay on the ship.

Funny that you are docked next to the NCL Gem, we were on that ship back in 2013.

Timon said:

Not only are there festive reminder stickers, there are also cute little DCL cruise stickers and one each of the four Disney ship logo names. Is it bad that I put the Disney Fantasy sticker on December 23rd, 2017, the date of the Fantasy Christmas sailing

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Absolutely not! We are actually booked on that cruise, so we have been reading your review with great interest. We have done two Disney cruises (Halloween and regular), but not a Christmas cruise, so your review has been great so far for finding out what happens on board, what extras go on and little hints and tips that we have already squirreled away for later this year!

Bring on the next trip report update!

Hi Cass!

I just found your report! I am loving it so far!!

I have to say after 3 visits, I am just not impressed with Nassau at all. We were there last October and it just felt dirty and nasty. We did a little bit of wandering, but because it was a Sunday, so many things were closed. Then we ended up in a part of town that just didn't feel safe at all, so we went and grabbed a drink at Senor Frogs and went back to the ship. We went to Amber Cove and Grand Turk after that, and after experiencing better ports, I realized even more how gross Nassau is!

Oh, and that Welcome to The Bahamas sign makes me so sad. The first time we went, there were only a handful of stickers on it, but now it is so covered and it just looks so junky now! I still get pictures of it, but it makes me sad how junked up it looks.

Thinking about your mom and realized we have that in common. We lost my dad on 12/12/2012 so the holidays are tough on us as well. I think this is a really good idea for a future Christmas break! Now I just need to convince my mom, wife, and kids


We have been to Atlantis a couple of times but won't go back. I didn't find it as nice as most Disney hotels and it was really expensive. We no longer even get off the ship when going to Nassau.

Somehow I didn't get alerts and got behind, finally caught up and waiting for more
Glad you had a good Christmas! My grandmother passed away this year just before my mom's birthday and Thanksgiving. My mom was definitely not herself for Christmas... Hope that Fantasy 2017 cruise works out for you!

We were in Nassau on our 2010 Wonder cruise and did a sightseeing bus trip with a visit to Fort Fincastle. That was okay, but I wouldn't do it again. I took a lot of pics and after the vacation I really wondered why the heck I took a ton of pictures at this bus trip but much less of the beautiful Wonder itself (herself?) and being onboard. That really bummed me out.
We also did a glass bottom boat tour in Nassau. But that was pretty good.

Just found your trip report, we were on the Wonder for NYE just after you departed. I had the same experience with my 9 year old and the check in/out of the kids club. When we first boarded it was like "NO WAY" but by the end of the trip we wished we had done it because he knew the ship better than we did. We started letting him go back and forth from our cabin to his cousin down three decks below and he did great every time. I love seeing all the holiday decorations because they were GONE completely by the time we boarded the ship! I'm sorry you guys got delayed boarding, but the bright side is at least you guys got out that evening - I have a friend on board this week and they boarded even later, and did not depart until the next morning! The fog will definitely make me hesitate to book out of Galveston again. Thanks for a great trip report!

Only a Billion in Canadian $....Bargain!!!!

That really is super gross. So was the parade ending then when you got there? People are pigs, but the grossest thing to me is that you were smelling urine on top of all that! ICK!!!!!

LOVE it so far! I like the ticket present too- so hilarious

Great trip report! We will be on the wonder in 2 weeks (our 1st cruise)! I am so excited!

I noticed that there was closed captioning on the funnelvision movie. Are all movies on board closed captioning?

Thanks!