Tan lines or it didn't happen - a (patchy) Mexican Riviera Cruise aboard the Wonder.

Hey my lovelies!

I have a teaser post for you all – it’s a busy week for me with school (three midterms, yucky). Be aware that I’d so much rather recap the trip instead!

Long story short, WONDERful time on our Mexican Riviera cruise. Despite a pesky flu bug and some windy days, the Wonder suited us perfectly. Lauren and I definitely converted Rachael – she’ll be back. The magic is contagious.

We had some awesome servers (Desmond and Monika) and Glen, our stateroom host, was a total lifesaver – not to mention trooper.. our room looked like a bomb shelter. The cast was UNREAL – performers and character interactions.. including a special surprise on the last day that you definitely want to stay tuned for. Lauren and I almost had to be sedated.

The one let down? I miss Captain Henry!

Just a little taste:

Adventures away!

Sun, please.

Prepare for 1800 pictures from formal night..

Souffle.

ARRR.

Do you want a Mexican boyfriend? Bodyguard?

So much love for this background.

The finale you’ll never believe!

Keep an eye out early next week!

 

[mamamouse]

omg girl I'm so with u on our lack of winter friut,it's just not the same,I miss the summer days of driving through Niagara n getting fruit ahwell soon enough I guess.


PSSTTT Courtney why do I feel like Delaware is not far from me (checks google)

 

[enchanted_belle]

PSSTTT Courtney why do I feel like Delaware is not far from me (checks google)

I'm between Philly, Baltimore, and NYC... hour and a half-ish from everything, yet right in the middle of nothing fun :lol:

 

[mamamouse]

well I'm in Canada but only 4 hrs from New york:wave: thats me waving across the pond at you lol

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Such a great update!!

Your Sparkle dress is gor-geous. Gorgeous!!

The picture on deck of beautiful girl sunbathing while much older man behind her is looking so happy he chose that chair? Hilarious! :lol:

 

[Ariel484]

February 20 – Day At Sea

Off went the alarm at 7:30 – AM. On vacation. Um, no thanks? The girls were off to the gym while I continued to be Sleeping Beauty (except not beautiful, because I sleep on my face which is possibly the least cute thing in the world) for a little while. I was slowly coming to when I put the TV on – Make It Or Break It channel? My life was/is complete. So I watched Payson get okay-ed to do gymnastics again and got ready to take a walk around the ship.

OMG. When that show comes on, I just cannot turn away from it. THANK GOD for Payson's miracle surgery that repaired her broken back, amiright?!

Okay, back to the report.

 

[Ariel484]

Okay, caught up and loving it so far! I'll agree with everyone else, your outfits are fabulous. Love the peep-toe shoes and the sparkly dress. Can't wait for more!

 

[tiaragirl]

:lol: Moments like this make me so glad that Dan is understandable of my internetness... Walking around, he kept telling people that I was writing a TR of our Disney trip (to make excuses for him taking pictures of his food... mmhmm). And he's always finding stuff for my blog.

Tell A he needs to step up his game! <3
And how come I'm beating you to TR commenting??? HMMMM. jk jk jk <3


P.S. Come to Delaware and shop with me, kk? I want like all of your outfits

Girl, come on now. I'm doing my best to go to school, write a FANTASTIC TR, and spend time with my boy (down at his place for the weekend). Did I READ your TR? Yes. And I love your tiara and convertible dress. So gimmie a break, wait until I'm back in classes and hating my life and not with the Prince!

Also, good on 'ya for Dan. He sounds like a keeeeeeeeper, plus he supports your TRing. Love this.

Just curious, it sounds like you flew to LA the same day as the cruise. I would have been nervous that bad weather would have delayed the flight and the ship would have sailed without me.
Living in the Northeast I have always thought when I go on a cruise I would fly out at least a day before so I wouldn't miss departure.
Were you panicky at all that a snowstorm would make you miss your trip?
Great report so far!!

Oh my, you just detailed the story of my pre-cruise week! But it all worked out - plus we got in around 11AM, and the ship wouldn't have sailed until around 4-5PM, so there was wiggle room. If we'd been thinking, we would have gone down a day before and gone to Disneyland - but the flights were cheap, and when you're a student the price is what matters most.

omg girl I'm so with u on our lack of winter friut,it's just not the same,I miss the summer days of driving through Niagara n getting fruit ahwell soon enough I guess.


PSSTTT Courtney why do I feel like Delaware is not far from me (checks google)

It's almost summer again! Where in Canada are you at? Our winter has been really mild!

Such a great update!!

Your Sparkle dress is gor-geous. Gorgeous!!

The picture on deck of beautiful girl sunbathing while much older man behind her is looking so happy he chose that chair? Hilarious! :lol:

Aw thank you! If I could switch from wearing black v-necks and that sparkle dress for the rest of my life, I'd be a happy girl!

I knowww, that picture cracks me up - I'd be checkin' her out too, Rach is a babe.

OMG. When that show comes on, I just cannot turn away from it. THANK GOD for Payson's miracle surgery that repaired her broken back, amiright?!

Okay, back to the report.

Okay, caught up and loving it so far! I'll agree with everyone else, your outfits are fabulous. Love the peep-toe shoes and the sparkly dress. Can't wait for more!

I'm SOO excited for it to come back on! It's the best guilty pleasure I have, haha.

Thanks for the compliments - those peep toes are such a life saver - I have them in red, too! I got them at Spring (the nude ones as well) and they're my go-tos!

 

[ChuckElias]

Holy good lord, I love the Golden Mickey’s.

Best. Show. Ever. I will not debate this.

GOLDEN MINNIES?

Ok, I've been on the Wonder 3 or 4 times now, but I have to plead ignorance on this one: where are you guys standing? I don't recognize that background at all. Help me out? (GREAT picture, btw!)

 

[PineapplePrincess]

So the way you feel about dancing with 3 year olds is kind of the way I feel about commenting on your TR, but oh well, here goes anyways. (BTW, I hope this isn't too stalker-ish of me, but I follow your Disney board on Pinterest!):lookaroun

I'm a forty-something teacher with an almost 14 yr. old DD, so I live vicariously through the young, wild, and free peoples trip reports!

You and your friends look like you had a fabulous time! Your hair always looks gorgeous & being the mom of a curly haired girl, I showed her your picture. She is forever straightening her hair & it drives me bonkers (that's probably why she does it)! Anywhoo, she insists that you made those perfect curls with a curling iron & I say it's natural. Would you mind settling the argument?

 

[tiaragirl]

Best. Show. Ever. I will not debate this.

Ok, I've been on the Wonder 3 or 4 times now, but I have to plead ignorance on this one: where are you guys standing? I don't recognize that background at all. Help me out? (GREAT picture, btw!)

Oh, its SO good - I just love it. It's all my favourites, how can you not be in love? One of the people near us at supper was talking about how "boring" it was - are you kidding?! I almost smacked a b...

It's the first time I saw the backdrop too! They had it out on formal and semi-formal nights and background for pictures with fancy Mickey and Minnie. They had it set up to the left of Studio C, so they filed you from the elevator area, down the hall, and you exited by the entrance to Studio C - where there were dance parties going on. Pretty smart system!

So the way you feel about dancing with 3 year olds is kind of the way I feel about commenting on your TR, but oh well, here goes anyways. (BTW, I hope this isn't too stalker-ish of me, but I follow your Disney board on Pinterest!):lookaroun

I'm a forty-something teacher with an almost 14 yr. old DD, so I live vicariously through the young, wild, and free peoples trip reports!

You and your friends look like you had a fabulous time! Your hair always looks gorgeous & being the mom of a curly haired girl, I showed her your picture. She is forever straightening her hair & it drives me bonkers (that's probably why she does it)! Anywhoo, she insists that you made those perfect curls with a curling iron & I say it's natural. Would you mind settling the argument?

Girl, don't worry about it! Comments are the best part - it means that other people are enjoying reading along. You're following my Disney board on Pinterest - um, that's AWESOME?! I have FOLLOWERS?! How did you know it was me? Hehe =)

Hopefully the almost 14 year old appreciates Disney like you apparently do! What grade do you teach? I have an interview for Elementary next week - eep!

Hair is definitely natural! Rachael's is too (though there were a couple nights that we both straightened and curled our hair. All I do is shower, scrunch, and mousse it (Herbal Essences, Totally Twisted mousse is my favourite!). However, I discovered the magic of a diffuser this trip (Rach had one) and it was AMAZING - dries your hair curly! The last few days I used that, but it's 100% naturalll! Tell her to stop straightening or she'll lose the natural curls - such a waste! Straight hair is a fad, and you can destroy your hair so fast - my bangs are just brutal because I have to straighten them daily.

 

[tiaragirl]

What did I eat that was the colour of the H2O shampoo?

February 21 – Day at Sea
Now, the Navigator for the day said that sunrise was at 7AM – we were up on deck at 6:50. The sun was not rising, the sun was UP. Large fail, both on our part and on the part of the Navigator – why was I up at 6:45? Anyway, the girls headed off to the gym and I went in search of the overpriced internet we all know and love. I sent mail to the fam and Andrew, and went back to the room to wait for the exercise queens so we could go to breakfast.

SUN WAS UP BOO

This morning, we headed off to Triton’s for breakfast – the only time Laur/I did this on the trip. We walked in and Rakeesh, one of the waiters on the same dinig rotation as us, came up and had a big old chat. “The girls are here”! What a guy.

THE GIRLS ARE HEREEEE

I remember that Lauren had the Tugboat and really enjoyed it, but I was so engrossed in my breakfast that I don’t remember what else. I had “Little Mermaid’s Morning” – something I read about on a DisBoards TR (the lack of MR cruise reports resulted in me being unloyal to WDWM – oops). Holy. Eat this. Please. I present to you the description from the menu: “two Belgian waffles stuffed with dulce de leche and rolled in sugar and cinnamon. Served with watermelon wedges.” Are you freaking kidding me? They were AMAZING.

Off to do what we do best – tans and pooling. Mostly tanning. Pocahontas was coming on Funnelvision so we staked out a place and enjoyed some sunshine (and more breeze) while we waited.

Lauren and I bailed out on bathing beauty Rachael around 11:45 to go to the 12PM princess meet and greet. We waited forever – probably an 1h45 to see the girls. There was an adorable little family behind us, and when Peter came by to entertain everyone as we waited, he tried to convince the little girl to run up under Belle’s dress when she bent over to hug her brother. It was quality.

PETER BEING BAD

Unfortunately, the waiting forever did not result in the best pictures. We’re looking pretty questionable (and I’m looking pale – which in retrospect makes a lot of sense). Anyway, we had great chats and told Ariel she won for best outfit – the hairpiece really makes it. Though it’s beyond me why they don’t dress her in that pink dress – maybe because Aurora is in pink? I'd post the picture but she made us do a "princess pose".

I know I'm on a Disney cruise, I know I waited 2 hours to see the princesses, but let's get real - I'm almost 22. I look really, really dumb doing a "princess pose"

ALMOST RAN UNDER HER DRESS

CINDERCINDER WAS ACTUALLY GREAT

 

[tiaragirl]

What did I eat that was the colour of the H2O shampoo?

Time for lunch – got some breads and fruit from Beach Blanket and headed back up to find Rachael, who was sleeping in her lounger. She went off to grab some food and Lauren and I caught a few more rays.

FRUIT PLEASE

LAST SOLID FOOD FOR AWHILE

Eventually Poca came on and we chilled out (Kent stopped by). I actually can’t help but sing along to Poca – the music is just so good! It just barely doesn’t make it into my top 3.

MA GIRL

LIVING THE LIFE

Lauren took off and Rachael and I stayed to watch the ice carving demonstration! Very neat/impressive.

HATZ TO KEEP THE SUN AWAY!
I am NOT a hat person.

ICE ICE BABY

We went back to the room around 3PM – at which time I collapsed into bed. I thought I had too much sun – nope. I had flu. After a very unpleasant few hours (happily not missing a show) the girls went off to supper at Tritons (honestly could not tell you what they did before dinner).

 

[tiaragirl]

What did I eat that was the colour of the H2O shampoo?

Rachael took some pictures though – and since I don’t have any, I present the only food pictures of the trip!

TRITONS!

APPLEWOOD SMOKED BACON AND WILD MUSHROOM TART
A fav

LOBSTER MACARONI

CAS DINNER PIC

GRAND MARINER SOUFFLÉ
Rachael loved

While all this was happening, I was hanging out in the room on the (unconverted) couch. Glen apparently knocked on the door, and I didn’t hear him, so he came in and we had a little chat that went something like:

Glen: Are you okay?
Kenzie: Nopeeee
G: Are you sleeping there (i.e. couch that turns into a bed)
K: Yeah, I think so.
G: Do you want me to make it…?
K: I don’t think I can move…

And then Glen pretty much picked me up and put me on the bed for 30 seconds, helped me back to the couched, and legitimately tucked me in. And asked I wanted him to call room service for me. Seriously, lifesaver. He checked on me a couple of times while the girls were at supper and..

They also ran into Pinnoc!

CUTIES

When they came back, Lauren called room service and hooked me up with some Powerade (they’d checked around the ship but couldn’t find any Powerade or Pepto Bismol). I had an interesting sleep – interrupted until around 12AM – but then it was Puerto Vallarta day (AKA try to walk to the laundry and need to take a break day!).

Just a warning that the next two or so days are going to be pretty low key re: trip report – hence the “patchy” part of the title – but I’ll do my best to cover all the exciting parts that I missed.

Sorry ballas.

 

[WDW_Princess24]

The three of you are adorable! My two besties and I have been friends now for 25 years and our all girl vacays are the best! If only one of them didn't get sea sick we could do a Disney cruise!

No bueno that the flu hit you but how amazing of Glen to come take care of you like that!! Looking forward to reading more!

 

[vcstr]

Where did you get that purple sequined dress?! I love it (and am praying it might actually be available to me since we're both in Canada?)

So sorry you weren't feeling well, hope you got better soon after!

 

[tiaragirl]

The three of you are adorable! My two besties and I have been friends now for 25 years and our all girl vacays are the best! If only one of them didn't get sea sick we could do a Disney cruise!

No bueno that the flu hit you but how amazing of Glen to come take care of you like that!! Looking forward to reading more!

Aw, thanks! It's the best to have friends that you've known forever - except they know all the embarrassing things about you too. Lauren and I are pro at reading each other by now - and she tells it like it is (which isn't always to my advantage!).

No bueno at all about the flu - it's making for a boring next instalment but I'm doing my best! Keep reading, it gets better, I promise!

Where did you get that purple sequined dress?! I love it (and am praying it might actually be available to me since we're both in Canada?)

So sorry you weren't feeling well, hope you got better soon after!

Purple sequinned dress was ordered from F21 sometime in December, I think? Forever 21 is my best friend - so cheap and awesome! While you might not find the same one, there's always lots of sparkly things there to choose from!

Keep reading - the flu does not last forever!

 

[tiaragirl]

You don't want anything else?

February 23 – Puerto Vallarta

Bare with me on this (probably very short) day – I’ve got a full five bullet points in my notebook from PV.

The girls woke up fairly early to gym, while I laid like a blob on the couch/bed. They came back after breakfast – and brought me some toast! It was a stunning day, and they were off to Puerto Vallarta. I, on the other hand, relocated to the bed (seriously, the Wonder has some super comfy beds) and watched movies, MIOBI, and Melissa and Joey all day.

COZY AND PATHETIC

My plan was to lay around for a bit and then go do a little laundry, and catch some rays. Low impact, right? Wrong. We were forward on the ship, and the laundry was in the aft. I had to take a break on the stairs halfway there in order to make it to the laundry. Clearly, I was destined for bed. But I was adamant that I was not going to miss PV in it’s entirety, so I took the elevator (a treat, normally we took the stairs), got some water, and collapsed into a lounger.

Who thinks that this was a good idea? Yep. No one. That’s what I thought.

Helloooo Kenzie, you’re already dehydrated and it’s a scorcher. Go back to bed.

So that’s what I did.

I was just waking up around 4PM when I realized the girls weren’t back yet. Cue mother-like worrying. Luckily, I was just getting sincerely concerned when they rolled in. They weren’t too tanned from a beach day – because they went zip lining! Apparently they got a cab in PV and asked him to take them to a beach. He asked if they’d been zip lining before, they said no.. so he was like “do you want to go?” – and they did! They got a much better deal than they would have through Disney, 60$/person. Lauren had my camera, I wanted pictures, so here are the few they took – they weren’t allowed to have them on the zip lining excursion.

GETTING THERE

SKETCHY BUS TO THE TOP OF THE HILL

THE ENTRANCE TO ZIP LINING

I guess it was a great experience – they had to go upside down over water on one part! When they got done the course, they had to ride donkeys back up the hill – Lauren “loved” that part, apparently. Afterwards, there was a tequila tasting. Reports were positive.

HOLLA

That’s the best recap I can do of PV, apologies.

However, the day was not done there! I laid in bed as long as physically possible, took a shower and got ready to go to Toy Story: the Musical. I absolutely would have had to be too sick to move to miss a show on the Wonder. The quality of Toy Story really is phenomenal – even in the costuming alone. The best performance would have had to be Buzz (I just wanted to hug him, he was so good) and Sid. This probably has something to do with my adoration of both of their songs.. FOR THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE, AND A LIFETIME OF PRIDE.. can you download the songs? Best.

After that, I went and laid down before supper (seriously, am I 80?) and we were off to Animator’s Palate! Since we were moving again, and AP is in the rear of the ship, there were some serious vibrations going on. This did not suit my stomach at all. I just ordered plain chicken, and by the time it arrived I was able to eat about three bites and then I bailed hard on supper. Lauren brought it up to me later, but I was passed the heck out and hardly remember them coming back. Oops.

AMAZING MENUS - FANTASIA

I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO BE KINGGG


Just a quick note on how sweet Animator’s Palate it – I probably love it because there’s more Hunchback love, but it’s quite an experience to dine there. The girls were excited to see Sorcerer Mickey come around, and Lauren’s favourite meal was there (she had the steak that night). Very well done on the whole.

OUR BOII MAKIN HIS ROUNDS

SO PRETTY

Tomorrow: the girls go to Cabo, I make a 30$ phone call, and souffle!

 

[mamamouse]

It's almost summer again! Where in Canada are you at? Our winter has been really miild




I'm about 5 minutes from Niagara Falls,it's been mild here too except for a freak windstorm we had this weekend

 

[tiaragirl]

It's almost summer again! Where in Canada are you at? Our winter has been really miild


I'm about 5 minutes from Niagara Falls,it's been mild here too except for a freak windstorm we had this weekend

I'm in New Brunswick for school now - I go to Mount Allison University, outside Moncton. I'm from NS, though - Cape Breton for life!

Occasionally we'll get a snowstorm, but the temperature this winter has been very unreliable - -20 one day, 0 the next, 4 the next. You never know what you're going to get, and you LAWAYS have to check the weather network before leaving the house, lest you be wearing the wrong kind of jacket.

 

[plaz10]

:lol: Moments like this make me so glad that Dan is understandable of my internetness... Walking around, he kept telling people that I was writing a TR of our Disney trip (to make excuses for him taking pictures of his food... mmhmm). And he's always finding stuff for my blog.

Tell A he needs to step up his game! <3
And how come I'm beating you to TR commenting??? HMMMM. jk jk jk <3


P.S. Come to Delaware and shop with me, kk? I want like all of your outfits

PSSSHHH don't let the boys tease you - they like talking about Disney and Disney food too. The fiance was all like "are you seriously taking pictures of my food?" "Um...is Disney coke different than Pittsburgh coke so you've gotta take a picture?" (The answer to both is YES.)

But a few months later, we were at his rents for dinner and he was telling his Dad about the trip and was like "Oh I'll just pull up Jess's TR online and show you!" all proud and such like he did it.

Boys.:shrug: