Reimagined Wonder from Galveston, November 10, 2016 - COMPLETED

[ukintheus]

Welcome to anyone that follows along on our adventures from Galveston on the newly reimagined Wonder. It was another opportunity that couldn't be missed for those of us that live close when they announced that the inaugural sailing for the Wonder post-dry dock would be from Galveston and so we booked on opening day and had been waiting patiently.

Our itinerary was going to be:

11/9/16 - Tremont House, Galveston
11/10/16 - Embarkation
11/11/16 - Day at Sea
11/12/16 - Cozumel
11/13/16 - Day at Sea
11/14/16 - Debarkation

Wednesday, November 9th.



We both had to work all day so it was an early start to be packed and ready to leave the house by 5:20 am to be in work by 6:00 am. After the day crawwwwlllled by we finally got on the road at about 4 pm and made the slog through rush hour traffic across Houston and down to Galveston and made it down there at about 6 pm. I had booked us into the Tremont House for the night as I had noticed a really good rate of $139/night (plus taxes etc) about 2 months ago. The Tremont is a really beautiful historical hotel. We have stayed there once before prior to a cruise and really enjoyed it and the fact that it is so close to the Strand and the Pier area. As we checked in we were told they had upgraded our room and it was a really nice surprise to walk into a one bedroom suite. Pixie dust already!

The bedroom area, which seemed larger than the regular size room even without all the other stuff.




Kitchen/Butlers pantry - notice I already have put the ice bucket to good use.



Living room and dining room





I was starving at this point and so we left to go in search of dinner. We ended up at Olympia Grill at Pier 21. They still had the happy hour running for about 15 more minutes so I ordered a lemon drop martini and Scott had a beer and I inhaled most of the hummus in the first few minutes.



I had a lamb shank with pasta for my entree and Scott had lamb chops with grilled veggies but I forgot to take photographs because I was too busy feeding these two. They were feral but would come and take the food from your hand, although if you tried to touch them, they would swipe at you and run. They did pretty well for themselves with my food though.



It was pretty breezy out and the temperatures were definitely getting to be on the chilly side so we didn't hang about too long after we finished eating and we walked back to the hotel. I had seen that there was a rooftop bar at Tremont House and we hadn't been able to go up there last time we stayed because of the winds, so we decided to go and see what it was all about.



It was very quiet with very few people up there so we tried to tuck in out of the wind and had a glass of wine.



The Carnival Liberty was in port as she had been having some propulsion issues and had cancelled her last couple of sailings.



I was getting pretty cold and so we called it a night and headed back to the room. I took a nice hot shower to warm up and we were in bed by about 10 pm to get ready for all the excitement tomorrow.

 

[ukintheus]

Thursday, November 10th

After a good night's sleep we got up at 8:15 am and got ourselves ready to go. I had to do a quick check on Marine Tracker as the Carnival ship was hogging all the video feed from the pier camera.



We left the hotel close to 9 am and went to the Sunflower Bakery for breakfast. I'd read about it online but we'd never tried it. It's not particularly close to any of the main hotel areas but it was a great place if you have transport.

I had the crab cake eggs benedict and it was amazing.



Scott had the big breakfast.



They also bake their own bread there and have this pastry case. It felt like you gained weight just walking through the door!





It was about 9:50 am when we left the cafe and so we took a slow drive over to the port parking area. We got our first glimpse of the Wonder.



We had to find something to pass a bit of time as we were very early and so we drove around a little before getting to Lighthouse Parking at about 10:00 am. We loaded our luggage onto the shuttle and they told us we would have a bit of a wait as they tried to see if anyone else would show up. In the end there was one more couple that were going on the Carnival ship. We dropped them off and we pulled up to the terminal at about 10:20 am. There was already a long line of people eager to board and they opened the terminal doors at about 10:35 am. We waited a while to get through security and also to check in but eventually made it upstairs to wait for boarding.



Killing time by taking selfies.



Galveston has expanded the Terminal 2 buildings and there is now much more room. In one corner is the character photo opp.



And the pre-boarding photos are now done here, which was nicer I thought.



And then the boarding gate, which has 2 KTTW scanners.



At about 11:45 they announced the family of the day and boarding began!

 

[ukintheus]

We walked along the ramp and up to the ship. She looked so shiny and pretty (forgot to take a photo!) and then we were on and into the atrium....and....wow!! Just absolutely gorgeous.







We had a quick chat with Peter the cruise director. As the ship had arrived with no passengers our cabins were ready, so we headed aft and they had the doors to Tiana's open so we snuck a quick peak in there.







The New Orleans theming is so cute and very well done.





One quick picture of the inside and we headed back out as some crew members were beginning to appear from the galley.



The doors were closed when we went past later, so I was glad to get to see it before they shut the place up.

We went to drop our bags in our cabin. We were in a standard inside room this time around and there didn't appear to be too many changes.





This bag has been around a while.



We also had these anniversary buttons and mickey head confetti from Guest Services. They had to have a note of this in our file as this is the second time we have sailed in November and they have celebrated our anniversary even though I didn't mention anything about it.



We also got these two travel mugs.



I threw our magnets on the door while Scott was taking the photos and we were both ready to get out and explore the ship.

 

[shoreline]

Thanks for posting your report. I'm on the 12/23 sailing so I'll be following along

 

[ukintheus]

Thanks for posting your report. I'm on the 12/23 sailing so I'll be following along

How fun to have Christmas on the ship, the 4 night was just enough to make you want to stay on longer! LOL

 

[ukintheus]

We went up the stairs to deck 9 and took a stroll through Cabanas. The food seemed very similar to the usual offerings and I forgot to take photos again!! Ugg..

New carpet inlay was very pretty.



New hand washing station.



The murals are themed from Finding Dory.



We walked along deck 9 and walked through the Pete's Boiler Bites area. I was happy to see the Sharma station as it was one of my favorite additions on the Magic.



The new Edge space where the arcade used to be.



It was closed when we went past but I went in later and took this pic.

 

[ukintheus]

The adult pool had been refurbished and looked lovely with the wood replaced that had been so weathered and also the pool surface.



There were some new offerings on tap at Signals, but the only draft beer available at the moment due to the Texas liquor laws was Shiner Bock.



I had the drink of the day which was a Bay Breeze and Scott got a Shiner Bock - officially the start of vacation when the drinks are here!




The new concierge sun deck looked really lovely.





We went in to take a look around Cove Café although nothing had been done in there it seemed, it looked exactly the same. We went up to what was left of Outlook Café. There are a few chairs and tables left up there and access from Cove on deck 9 or the outer door on Deck 10. Nothing had been done with the remaining space in terms of updates though.



Boooo.....LOL It's only "boo" because I don't ever see us splurging the money for concierge.



We continued our wander around and made our way to the front of the ship.





They have added these covers to Deck 10 areas, similar to the Magic. They made for a good wind break today. LOL



Heading on back and going past funnel vision and the main pool. Funnelvision had been updated with a new screen that really popped.





The new Twist and Spout slide and Aqua lab area.

 

[bcwife76]

Yay I was hoping you'd do another report! And boy, you don't waste any time!!!

Since we switched our January cruise from the 13th on your sailing to the 14th on the Fantasy, we won't be on the Wonder til end of August so I'm LOVING all the photo and description updates

How nice of them to remember your 'sailing in November' anniversary, cute little bonus!

 

[ukintheus]

We were ready to go and check out the new After Hours space and we hadn't been very good in planning our route, so we doubled back a lot. We got swept up in going to see something, then our attention got drawn to something else and so we zig-zagged around. Like moths to a flame! LOL

After Hours was so awesome, I loved it about the most of all the changes I think. It transformed the old and outdated Route 66 area into a beautiful nightclub type feel. Very posh indeed!

Walking in to where the old Route 66 sign used to be.


Azure (was Wavebands) looked beautiful.







We continued to Crown and Fin. This is the elevator area - so pretty.



Crown and Fin is very red, at night it does mute down a little bit.







Nothing to do here but take a photo!



The inside has a lovely new carpet and furniture. The décor is really well themed and it did transform the space somewhat, but the basic layout is the same.





New carpet in front of the stairs and elevators was lovely.



The Cadillac lounge is very similar but I do love the new overall touches.







So after digging around here for a little while we made our way back out.





10 out of 10 for me on this area. The refurb gave it a totally different feel.

We ended up going back across the Atrium...



And up to the merchandise areas. The Golden Mickey's were tonight and they had the red carpet down - it was super thick and cozy to walk on.



The store fronts have been opened up similar to the other ships so that the area doesn't feel so small.





Nothing too much new going on here.



We popped our head over to look down into the atrium. I just love the new carpet colors.

 

[ukintheus]

Yay I was hoping you'd do another report! And boy, you don't waste any time!!!

Since we switched our January cruise from the 13th on your sailing to the 14th on the Fantasy, we won't be on the Wonder til end of August so I'm LOVING all the photo and description updates

How nice of them to remember your 'sailing in November' anniversary, cute little bonus!

Thanks for following along. I didn't take any notes on this trip - the 4 nights made it seem like it was going by way too quickly and I didn't want to "waste time" on my trip report. LOL I'm trying to catch up a bit before my memory fails me. It will be fun to be on the Wonder for Alaska - and the changes will all still be there.

 

[ukintheus]

We decided to go and check out the kids clubs. To be honest, we've never been in them before! They looked pretty awesome and there was a ton of space.













We never knew that they were connected! LOL I loved this walkway with the pixie dust in the carpet.

















So we finished our exploring of the kids clubs and agreed that they looked really great.

 

[ukintheus]

As we continued our very uncharacteristic march around the ship (we usually plonk ourselves down somewhere and get into immediate vacation mode) we headed off to Animator's Palate to see the changes in there. It now looks very similar to the other's on the other ships. The furniture looked nice and comfy which was important seeing as we were having muster in there. I have to admit to being a bit sad that they won't have the show with Mickey any more though.









OK, so after a quick snoop in here we are off again!! I should have worn my fitbit!!! Up to deck 9 again to take a look at the new offerings. Daisies Delights is now where Goofy's used to be and they have added some soups and a rice bowl/noodle station next to it.



Heading back towards the main pool they have added Sully's Sips which is a smoothie bar plus they serve some adult beverages too (all for an additional fee).



Next to Sully's Sips is the new Eye Scream, which had 3 machines all with 2 flavors each. I had a mango one day and it was really good.



We ended up at the spa to take a look around. They have rebranded it to Senses Spa to match the others.



The rainforest room had been completely remodeled and looked beautiful.





No real changes to the gym. Not that I would know having only ever walked through it. LOL



We decided to buy the rainforest room pass for the 4 nights at $116.82 including taxes for the two of us.

After all this walking and talking and being very busy indeed it was time for this.



I went to use the restroom by the elevators next to the gym and was pleasantly surprised to see it had been completely refurbished too. (I don't know why I took my camera with me )





We sat for a while but it didn't take long for us to begin to want to wander again, plus we were starting to get hungry as we'd completely missed lunch with all our busyness!

A couple of pitas did the trick and we walked back to Cove to eat them.



No change to the Signals bar other than the new draft pumps, unless there were some behind the scenes things done.



Signals was pretty busy and everyone was definitely in vacation mode. You could tell how excited everyone was to see all the new stuff.



We wanted to catch our friend Susana before muster drill started so we went to have a quick chat with her and then went to Animators for drill. The drill was over fairly quickly - they always seem to be quicker when you are sitting! and then it was up to Deck 10 for the Adventures Away party.





We waved goodbye to the shoreside staff and were soon on our way.



We walked up to the front of the ship to get some views of leaving port. It was pretty chilly and I really wished I had packed jackets. It never fails to be chilly when I don't!







We wandered back along deck 10 just taking in the sights and ended up popping into Palo to see if we could see any familiar faces and say hello. We didn't hang around long as they were about to open.





We decided to get changed and go to the Rainforest Room for a little while. We took our books and when we got down there we had the entire place to ourselves. We really enjoyed the heated loungers and also tried out both of the steam rooms, plus all the aromatherapy showers. It was worth the price of the pass just to have the place to ourselves for a couple of hours. We stayed until the last minute we could and still allow us time to get back to the room and shower before going to 70's music trivia in Crown and Fin. For anyone that knows us, you will already appreciate that we have done more in these few hours than we do in DAYS on an ordinary cruise!!

 

[saxmangeoff]

I'm loving all the pictures and descriptions!

 

[bcwife76]

Man you covered a lot of ground!!!

Before the refurb the kids club and lab were connected by a 'secret passageway' that only staff and kids (with staff) could use so are you saying now the kids can go freely between the club and lab? So is there only one entrance now for the kids club/lab that you noticed?

 

[thumpie's mom]

Thank you for the great pictures!

 

[ukintheus]

Man you covered a lot of ground!!!

Before the refurb the kids club and lab were connected by a 'secret passageway' that only staff and kids (with staff) could use so are you saying now the kids can go freely between the club and lab? So is there only one entrance now for the kids club/lab that you noticed?

No, there were two entrances, we just never knew about the "secret passageway", they kept it a big secret from us!! Ha ha. I didn't know that the two were linked at all.

 

[Kari0180]

Very excited to read your report, we'll be on the 1/13 sailing and I can't wait to see the new changes!

 

[NoodlesMom]

I'm loving your report!!! We will be sailing in 29 days.

 

[ukintheus]

Very excited to read your report, we'll be on the 1/13 sailing and I can't wait to see the new changes!

We will be on the 1/13/17 sailing as well! We are going with my Mum, Sister and Nephew.

 

[ukintheus]

After a really relaxing time in the Rainforest Room I had to really get myself moving to shower, wash my hair and get ready for dinner. We wanted to do the 70's music trivia in Crown and Fin and made it down there just as the first song was playing. Jo from the UK was the host for all the adult activities and she was really good and funny. All the adult trivia was very well attended and was a lot of fun. I think we got an all time high of 47 out of 50 for us on the score but we still didn't win - LOL.



On our way out to dinner we stopped into Azure and checked out the new drink menu.





Tonight we had dinner in Tiana's Place. Our rotation was Tiana's, Tritons, Tritons and Animators. It worked out perfectly for us as the second night was Pirate Night and we had dinner booked in Palo.

The atrium was full of people getting photos done and checking out the Christmas decorations. The tree lighting ceremony had been at 7:30 pm so I snapped a quick picture with the lights on.



The gingerbread house was up but not yet decorated much and although they worked on it every day it wasn't finished when the cruise ended.



The line to get into Tiana's was long so we just found a seat in the Promenade Lounge until the doors were opened and the line went down. If you want Tiana's to be a surprise for you then skip this next part.

I'll start off by saying that I just LOVED everything about Tiana's. I've heard some negative stuff about noise etc, but we thought it was fantastic and I wouldn't change anything about it at all.

The place settings are so cute and I love the new china pattern. We also met our servers, assistant server was Christian from Costa Rica and our server was Omar from the philippeans. Our head server was Gilbert from India. They were a good team and we enjoyed getting to know them over the next few nights.



I forgot to take a photo of the front of the menu, but here's the menu.





We were seated to the left when you walk in, the stage is opposite from where the buffet used to be.



We really enjoyed the live music.



For appetizers I had the shrimp and grits and Scott had the boudin. The shrimp and grits was really good, the boudin was so-so if you are from Louisiana (which he is) but the actual flavor was good.





Next I had the creamy tomato soup and Scott had the seafood pepper pot. They were served in the cutest little pots with the lids on and you removed the lid yourself.





Next was pork tenderloin for me and sea bass for Scott. Our entrees were just OK, not as good as the rest of the meal had been. The tenderloin needed something (maybe I should have added some salt) and the sea bass had a bit too strong of a fishy taste. But we didn't leave a bite, so that tells you something.





We just couldn't make our minds up about dessert, so we decided to try 4 of them.

We just wanted one order of beignets but Omar insisted on bringing us one each. They were sooooo good!!



The chocolate gateau was my next favorite - it was light and fluffy and really chocolatey.



Scott preferred the bread pudding, which was another winner in the dessert department. Note the side plate with the droplet of water and ripples - so cute!!



And lastly the pecan tart. This wasn't as good for us as it seemed dry and not as flavorful as the rest although this is their signature dessert, and I think it would have been good with a cup of coffee.



The band played again and the second "show" part of the meal began. I heard from a castmember (take this as you wish) that on 7 night sailings the "shows" will be on separate nights if you go to Tiana's twice. The first part is that Tiana comes around to all the tables and the band plays.



And the second part is a mardi gras parade.



This is Christian our assistant server.



And our server Omar.



Tiana got on stage to sing.



The back up band There is now a long server station in the area where the buffet used to be.



We loved it all, it was such a nice change from Parrott Cay and was much better than Carioca's which didn't really do much for me personally. This was fun, a lot of energy and just a great way to kick off the cruise with our first night.

We decided that we would go to Azure after dinner to see what the new game (to us) "Seriously!" was all about.







It started at 10:15 pm and Jo was in good form. Scott was trying to get where we wouldn't be noticed because he was sure we would get picked. This had more to do with the fact that he was mouthy during 70's trivia with Jo (all in good fun) and so she nicknamed him "Head". Of course as soon as she saw him she picked us, and she did call him "Head" the entire cruise. We did miserably at the quiz show which was based on us having to come up with the same answer to questions. That's never likely to happen with us! LOL We were the 2nd out of the four couples to have to sit down, which I was completely OK with, especially as we weren't allowed to have our drinks on stage with us.

There weren't too many people in there so we decided to stay and watch Maryellen Hooper at 10:45 pm. She was funny and it wasn't until about half way through her act that I realized I had heard her on one of the Sirius XM radio comedy channels before. Her show was only about 30 minutes so we left Azure at about 11:15 pm and went to bed. Tonight the clocks had to go forward 1 hour but it was an at sea day tomorrow. This was waiting for us on our bed.