Trip Report How did you ever get the kid to like cruising? Sea turtles, mate… sea turtles. Surf n’ Turf 2017

To quote the Jewish Elvis, “Hello Again”. For those interested in a back story leading up to this short and sweet journey towards a series of firsts you can have at it here:
Going for gold, a Disney trip full of firsts!
What turned into the most stressful and ridiculous two day work week, we slept hard and fast to a 04:00 wake up on Wednesday morning. I opted to make breakfast and coffee for the ladies this morning to reduce our number of stops on the way down. I even filled up the night before to make our drive smoother. We cruised through the ATL and soon were filling up in Tifton before 9, half way there! Another 3.5 hours and we were turning on to 192. Lunch was the first order of business and the ladies outvoted me and chose Cracker Barrel. I was hopeful we would hear about our room during lunch but we had not. After lunch we hoped for the best and made for The Grand Floridian and soon we were passing through the gate.

As we pulled into the parking lot we still had not heard if our room was ready so I ran in and checked with the DVC desk. Our room was ready! We parked and made our way to our room.

Up next: What a lobby!

 

[imahistorygeek]

This was our best serving team. We asked for coffee on the first night and they brought it out each additional night without having to be asked. Daughter ordered ginger ale the first night and it was waiting on her the other two. We've never had that type of service.

 

[lostpro9het]

In addition to the lack of color throughout the restaurant while you dine another difference between AP on The Wonder and on The Dream is there is no “fish tank” art or face time with Crush. In the place of Crush we have wall mounted canvases that get sketched out while you eat

The above repeated all over the restaurant all evening revealing new sketches each time. The whole evening felt like something was building up and as we were ordering our desserts our wait staff asked us to please be sure to wait for the finale. We had no idea what they were talking about but figured we better stay for the show. Soon after being served dessert the selling and walls erupted with color and sound and the sketches started coming into color and life.

Soon after the eruption of sound and color occurred the main man came through and said hello to everyone! It was an exciting end to an excellent dinner.

The kid was pretty tired so we walked her to the room then came back up to Azure for Match Your Mate. As always, it was quite entertaining and we had a great time. I enjoyed a La Fin while watching the entertainment, a brew I strongly recommend whenever you are at the Canada pavilions. After MYM we were pretty beat and made for our room excited by our first full day at sea in the morning.

Up next: Cabanas breakfast.

 

[lostpro9het]

So the morning came and we planned the night before to have some cold breakfast sent to our room and I would go up to Cabanas to pick up some hot items similar to how we did on our last cruise. This meant I got to get up early and make a breakfast run, not a big deal as I'm up at 04:40 every morning anyhow. Cabanas did not open until 7:30 but I was up well before 7 and set out to get some quiet pictures. The skies and seas were beautiful yet again!

With most of the boat still fast asleep I had a good opportunity to get some close-ups of the kids pool area so I took full advantage. Again, kids on this cruise have it sooooo good.

So after a few minutes of walking the deck and taking pictures Cabanas was finally open. I was on a mission to pick up more POG juice for the day’s Castaway Cocktail as well has picking up some hot breakfast food. I posted a short breakfast walkthrough of cabanas below. By the time I got back to the room our coffee and cold breakfast items had been delivered. The ladies didn’t wait on me and started attacking breakfast before I got there.

Up next: A day at sea and Tiana’s!

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

I can't wait to read about Tiana's. I'm so excited about it for my next cruise.

 

[LeighM]

Loving your pictures of the Wonder! Now that I'm within a year of our vacation, and I'm starting to add up numbers, plus the idea of only being at WDW for 3 days has been making me think of canceling the cruise portion of the trip. But seeing your pics reminds me of why I wanted to go in the 1st place

 

[DisneyJeff]

@lostpro9het & @imahistorygeek (and anyone else for that matter), what ship would you recommend for a first-time cruise? We want to plan a cruise for our 20th anniversary in 2020.

 

[imahistorygeek]

@lostpro9het & @imahistorygeek (and anyone else for that matter), what ship would you recommend for a first-time cruise? We want to plan a cruise for our 20th anniversary in 2020.

Our first cruise was on the Dream, however, there are other factors you may want to consider.

- Where do you want to cruise? Certain ships have certain itineraries. The Dream only does the Bahamas, the Fantasy, only the Caribbean (I think). The Magic and Wonder have more Itineraries to choose from.
- How many days? Long trips exclude the Dream.

There are so many factors to consider. With that said, if you want to just dip your toes into cruising, I'd recommend a 3-night on the Dream. If this is a once in a lifetime trip, I'd consider a longer itinerary on one of the other three ships.

Whatever you choose, you can't go wrong. I would look at previous Personal Navigators of cruises you may be interested in and look at the activities. They may also help you decide.

 

[lostpro9het]

@lostpro9het & @imahistorygeek (and anyone else for that matter), what ship would you recommend for a first-time cruise? We want to plan a cruise for our 20th anniversary in 2020.

To echo my better half, it all depends on what you want to do but at the end of the day you wont be disappointed! While the Dream accounts for 4 of our cruises I think The Wonder might have won me over but there are always pro's and con's, just very few cons IMO.

 

[lostpro9het]

After a very leisurely breakfast we went topside to snag a spot by the pool. The ladies had an appointment at Senses for a massage and I had a reservation to do nothing! This picture pretty much represents 70% of my day.

I’ll let the ladies talk about their massage. The entire day was pretty much perfect however I did hear the captain say we had to make a medical detour for a passenger so sometime during the day we neared a port and a boat came by for the pickup.

After several hours of sunning and pooling it was time to get our Cabanas on.

The afternoon showing of Rouge One was approaching and Laura and I made for it while the kid did kid stuff. We refilled the popcorn bucket along the way.

After the show we realized its been over 24 hours on the boat and we had yet to step into a giftshop!

It was pirate night for the cruise so Mickey was out in full gear.

As promised:

Up next: a few more beers, a little DCL competition, and Tiana’s.

 

[coachwnh]

p next: a few more beers

Sounds good!

 

[MinnieM123]

That gift shop had some NICE stuff! Can't place my finger on it, but for some reason the merchandise looked so attractive. Seemed like it was a bit more upscale than many of the gifts shops in WDW. Perhaps it also had something to do with the displays, lighting, etc. Different things (some sublminal) draw me in. (I haven't been exactly thrilled with the gifts shops at WDW over the past 10 years, at least.)

 

[flynnibus]

That gift shop had some NICE stuff! Can't place my finger on it, but for some reason the merchandise looked so attractive. Seemed like it was a bit more upscale than many of the gifts shops in WDW. Perhaps it also had something to do with the displays, lighting, etc. Different things (some sublminal) draw me in. (I haven't been exactly thrilled with the gifts shops at WDW over the past 10 years, at least.)

Because it is...

The junky stuff is over in another shop.

 

[flynnibus]

@lostpro9het & @imahistorygeek (and anyone else for that matter), what ship would you recommend for a first-time cruise? We want to plan a cruise for our 20th anniversary in 2020.

Don't do a 3day... don't be scared of the longer cruises. Now that all the boats have been updated... the itinerary is probably the bigger swing.

 

[lostpro9het]

So after RO and some more pool time the ladies and I parted ways, they went to the stage show and I went……you guessed it, Crown & Fin. On the way to the pub I noticed the door down the way had changed their Lego man, and just in time for pirate night!

Side note: The Wonder doesn’t have a dedicated art gallery but rather presents their pieces along the hallway as seen below.

OK, so the ladies were at the show and I was at C&F for some 70’s trivia and beer. Before the Trivia started I got an impromptu English Ale education from the tender behind the bar. He went into the ins and outs of Fuller’s and its popularity across the pond. He also spoke of how the first bottle below is a limited release and that pint-ish bottle runs about $35. He invited me to a beer tasting the following day at 3 but, sadly, there was no way I was leaving Castaway at 3 the next day. We spoke a bit more about beers, the C&F ale they had, and we parted ways with me ordering one of my DCL go-tos, De Koningshoeven Breweries La Trappe Quad. This beer is insanely good that never gets old. At 10% it will kick your but tastes amazing. I learned, while enjoying my quad, that my mad skills in 80’s and 90’s trivia DOES NOT translate to 70’s skills…at least the beer was good.

So after the trivia ended I heard the captain come on over the PA and announce that The Fantasy was a short distance away and had challenged us to a “signal off” of sorts. The captain didn’t want us to be alarmed as he had accepted the challenge and soon we would be hearing Disney themed signals blearing from top deck as well as signals coming back from The Fantasy. It was pretty cool and I did my best to get a pic of the Fantasy off a ways.

TRIVIA TIME: Any know where this mirror is from?

Soon the ladies were back from the show and we made for the cabin to get ready for our night with Tiana. I still say that is one of the creepiest towel animals…makes me think of a butchered turkey just hanging there…

Up next: Tiana’s Place

 

[mcstensrud]

@lostpro9het & @imahistorygeek (and anyone else for that matter), what ship would you recommend for a first-time cruise? We want to plan a cruise for our 20th anniversary in 2020.

Hi Jeff,
We have been on the Wonder (6) times (4) of them were DVC cruises, the Dream (2) times and the Magic (1) time soon to be (2) in May!
Since we don't have any kids we like the ships with the bigger adult pools.
We also have been on the 3,4,5 and soon to be 6 night cruises.
You can't go wrong with DCL I would just see what is available when you want to go and Book It!

 

[lostpro9het]

My apologies for the delay, it was midterm week and the students are losing their S#!7. This weekend was also filled with a whole lot of awesome as I took to the kid so see The Dropkick Murphys at a very small venue in Birmingham, Alabama, of all places. The show was pretty awesome and I think it opened her eyes to some never before seen sides of people… There are a handful of Murphy fans on this site based on the comments I’ve received in the past so this is for them:





Tiana’s Place update coming in a few minutes!

 

[lostpro9het]

So dinner time had arrived and the most anticipated meal of our trip was here. Reviewing the restaurant ahead of time had us excited. From the live band, to the appetizer, and amazing desserts we couldn’t wait to try it all! We, of course, still had a table all to ourselves and were very impressed with the theming

We were quickly seated and I had to talk Laura out of stealing the glassware…

The menu’s came quickly followed by bread service and Tiana!

Up next: A little food, a little music, and a little dance!

 

[lostpro9het]

Like I said, looking over the menu beforehand had me invoking Veruca Salt as “I wanted it all”! For the appetizers we “shared” the boudin sausage fritters, shrimp and grits, Prince Naveen’s Cajun Charcuterie board, and the iceberg wedge salad.

While we were enjoying our apps, The Crawfish Crooners came on stage! They played all during dinner and were very good!


Selfie tangent…

Next our mains came out. The kid went with the roasted creole half chicken. Laura went with the Cajun spiced sea bass and I went with the roasted pork tenderloin. We shared the mushroom pasta just to experience it

Our mains were amazing but the best was yet to come I think and I just hope we had room left to experience it!

Still the come: The dessert menu does what!?!?

 

[lostpro9het]

While we enjoyed our mains Louis decided to join Tiana on making the rounds. He was everywhere, fast!

Completely engulfed in food regret our service team presented us with this:


I mean, come on! How much theming can this place have!!?!? After acting like a kid for five minutes and constantly playing with my menu I decided to open it and say “gimmie it all please”…with a side of coffee.

We went with the beignets, AMAZING, bananas foster sundae, AMAZING, and finally the six layer chocolate Doberge Gateau…you guessed it…AMAZING!

While we were finishing up our dessert the party started! The mass began on stage with Tiana and Louis who gathered folks to join in the party line which ultimately found its way all over the restaurant!

Our experience at Tiana’s Place was nothing short of phenomenal! The experience at this dinner alone is well worth a trip on The Wonder. Sadly, though, we had to leave as it was time for the pirate nit fireworks. The show was on par with The dream and we enjoyed it but were ready for bed and a full day at Castaway Cay in the morning!


Still to come: Sooooo many sea animals!

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

The Dropkick Murphys at a very small venue in Birmingham, Alabama, of all places

Is this at Iron City? My old employer held our company Christmas parties here every year. Really cool little spot and has had quite a few bigger artists come through to play some small shows. Funny seeing WDWMagic posts that feature my stomping grounds.