Girl’s Cruise on the Disney Wonder! January 4th-8th Tons of Pictures!

Girl’s cruise!!:sohappy:

Who: Me, my mom, my sister-in-law, and my friend from CA

When: January 4th-8th

Why: I got a great deal on the cruise, and my family couldn’t go. Airfare was cheap, so I decided to invite just the girls to get away for a few days.

I’ll start off the report with a thank you to all the husbands who parented (it’s not babysitting when it’s your kids, it’s parenting:D) while we were away. Our hubbies did start calling it the “Suckas cruise” because they were sure they were “suckas!!” for staying home while we sailed off to paradise.

Okay little background – I’ve been on three Disney cruises now. A 7 night, a 5 night, and now a 4 night. We’ve got another 7 nighter scheduled in May!! I’m becoming addicted to cruising. I will never want to stop going to the parks, but cruises are such a wonderful vacation. Disney cruises can cost a little more, but they are worth every penny. Disney knows how to do it right.

Day 1 – January 3rd – Travel Day
This morning I woke up at 7 and headed out the door at 8:15. I flew out of Providence with snow everywhere. I left my coat in the car (no need for it in FL!!) and made the FREEZING walk from the parking garage to the airport. Flight was on time, I settled in for a long day of flights. I flew to Dulles, where I sat for three hours and then Orlando where I met my sil, the first to arrive.

After I got my bags, we went to get our rental car from Budget. The rental agent was insistent that we needed to upgrade our car to an SUV to fit four women and all their luggage. I decided to risk it, and we all ended up fitting quite nicely in the Chevy Impala.

My mom flew in at 6:30 pm, my CA friend was delayed until 9:30, so we drove off in search off an Outback. We came across a Ruby Tuesday’s first, so we ate there. Then we headed back to the airport, filled up the car and headed for Port Canaveral!

We usually stay at the Radisson. They have a great pool, free shuttle, huge Jacuzzi tubs in their suites and free parking. This time I decided to try another one for experience’s sake. I’ve read great things about the Residence Inn and we tried that. It was very nice. It’s all suites (at the Radisson the suites are a little more), the pool looked nice although we didn’t try it, and it included a great hot breakfast. The shuttle isn’t free but we didn’t need it anyway. Parking for the length of the cruise is free there also.
It was late so we just repacked a little and went to sleep. It was dark so I don’t have any pictures. The pictures start tomorrow!!
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2- January 4th – Boarding and sailing away!

We woke up around 8 and started getting ready. We all went downstairs around 9:30 for our FREE hot breakfast. On my last cruise we got to the port around 9:30 and we weren’t allowed in to check in until around 11:00 or so. I debated getting there early again, but I just love being some of the first people on the boat! So I decided it was worth the wait, if we had one.
We pulled up to the port a few minutes after 10:00 and I was shocked to see everyone already going in the terminal! So I dropped my luggage and everyone off, gave them my ID card and told them to go check in!

I drove to Budget and dropped off the car. Well I tried to. In all the excitement I realized I forgot to fill it up, and they were going to charge $6.99 a gallon to do it! So I left again and headed to the gas station which was right outside our hotel. Then back to budget to jump on the shuttle.
By now the other three were calling with updates and possible upgrades. It was killing me not to be there! The 5 minute shuttle ride seemed like at least 30. I did meet some nice couples who were headed out on a 46 day cruise with Norwegian that day!! 46 days!!! I can’t even imagine how much I would weigh after a 46 day cruise.:lol:

Finally I was to the port. I headed through security and met up with everyone. We had a category 10 inside room. I hadn’t stayed in a category 10 before, but I knew it would be fine. Well, when the girls were checking in, the cm mentioned that the ship was not full and upgrades were available for purchase. We decided when the price was split 4 ways, it was worth it to get a porthole. We upgraded to a category 8 and ended up on deck 6. I’ve always stayed on deck 2, and deck 6 definitely was super convenient.

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Now finally it was time to relax. Well not quite. Disney has just starting taking a picture for ID purposes that is associated with your Key to the World card. Apparently this was the first day they were doing it. It all went very smoothly. Here is a pic of the new picture stations:

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Okay, now it was time to relax and take some pictures in the terminal!!

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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For all you photography buffs out there – I am addicted to the sharpness of prime lenses. Not to mention the speed. My bil accidentally broke my cheap 50mm (Canon) so I rented the more expensive (1.4) version for the cruise. It’s definitely next to buy on my list. I also brought my 85mm which I love and used last time we cruised. It was hard to use inside small spaces sometimes, so this time I wanted to try the 50mm and it rarely left my camera. Now on a cruise, a prime is hard to use. Whenever I wanted to be in the picture, I had to turn over my camera. A prime lens stresses people out. They can’t figure out why they can’t zoom, and why they have to stand so far back (in some cases). I was very happy with the pictures I took, but I’m thinking next time I cruise I’m going to splurge and rent the 24-70mm. It’s super fast, a wider angle, with a zoom, what could be better? Well I guess $1200 to buy it outright, but I’ll settle for renting for now!:)

Mickey showed up soon, so we got in line. I love Captain Mickey!:sohappy: Unfortunately I didn’t make this picture because of the very reason I stated above. My lens freaked her out. I stood far enough back and was showing her how to take this picture, that’s why I got one where no one was ready. Well then she took it and cut off ¾’s of my body! Oh well. Here’s Mickey anyway!

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Next we went outside to see the ship up close. It’s just as beautiful as the Magic, not that I expected anything less.

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I made it in this one with my mom:

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Finally it was boarding time! We were in boarding group 3 and were some of the first ones on.

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Everyone else headed to the Spa to check on reservations, and I headed to change the night of our Palo’s reservations. While we were there, my sil thought to ask the dining cm’s if we had our own table for 4. We didn’t, so they moved us to one.

I took some pics of the adult areas. The names were all changed from the Magic, and the theming was a little different.

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I loved this sign:

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Next we were off to Parrot Cay for our first huge meal! It was all wonderful of course!

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After lunch we went up to deck 9 to walk around, get some ice cream (!!!) and soak in the sun.

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There’s a lovely, slightly hidden area on deck 7. It’s hardly ever got anyone on it, so we took our ice cream there. The first of many ice cream breaks:

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our room was ready at 1:30 so we went to check it out.

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Our luggage wasn’t there yet, so we went back to deck 9 and relaxed in the adult only area. Very comfortable chairs there!!

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Next was the lifeboat drill. We all put on our lifejackets and gathered in our assembly station.

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After we dropped our lifejackets back off, we went to the sail away party. It’s always fun. There were two ships near us with people gathered up on the decks watching us. With all the cheering and dancing going on, I’m sure they were curious!

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We were the first of the three ships to pull away. This was the 49 day cruise ship! See all the people watching us leave?

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As the ship leaves the terminal some employees come out with giant Mickey hands on to wave goodbye. Sorry I have my small lens on, so they’re kind of small!

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Our first dinner was at Parrot Cay, so we went back there. We met our servers whom we would get to know during the week. Dinner was delicious as expected.
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The first night’s show was “The Golden Mickeys”. I’d seen it twice before but I’m not tired of it yet! The shows were the times I pulled back out my 85mm lens.

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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After the show we unpacked. Let me add here that the rooms onboard are set up so well. We had 4 women in one and had plenty of storage and living space. The split bathrooms are awesome to help multiple people get ready at the same time. We stored all our suitcases under the bed, and had plenty of room to put everything else in drawers or the steamer trunk.

Here’s the bunk beds pulled down:

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Mom and CA friend decided to call it a night, and sil and I went up on deck with my tripod and we took some pictures and had pizza and ice cream just because we could.

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I was shocked to find our favorite deck empty. This is deck 4. We spend a lot of time here relaxing, reading, and looking at the ocean.

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Some interiors:

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We finally were in bed around midnight.

More to come!:)
 

Coree

Well-Known Member
I'm lovin' it, Tammy. You're going to talk me into that anniversary cruise by the time you're finished with your report. As always, your photos are awesome!
 

scorp111

Well-Known Member
Great pictures, and it looks like a great time!

Cruising can be addictive. We haven't done a Disney cruise yet, but I definitely see one in our future.
 

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