2017 WBPC: Zen, Self-Deprecation, and Reflections of a Life Well Cruised

[JohnGalt]

Thanks so much everyone. Traveling this weekend so I haven't had time to post. Look for more on embarkation day tomorrow night.

JG

 

[lizzyb]

Great start to your review! Really enjoying it!

 

[RetCM]

Enjoying the report! We're booked on this cruise for next year. Maybe if you had flown, they would have lost your luggage!

 

[JohnGalt]

Following and gobbling up every word! Love your writing style!

And I think you still made the right choice in driving. Yes you arrived a bit later than your flight did but in the end you got there without the whole "oh my gosh what if our plane NEVER takes off" fear in your throat.

Thanks for saying that. As my wife and I labored over the decision to drive or not to drive, she made the same point you did; that avoiding the inevitable stress of waiting at the airport, wondering if the flight would take off or not, made driving the better choice. When she said that, the decision crystallized for me.

JG

 

[JohnGalt]

See my avatar? 1930s tornado in NW Oklahoma. Your concerns make sense to me.
Love the TR.... More, please.

Thanks much! Yes, living in NE Oklahoma causes one to be very circumspect, when crummy weather is predicted.

JG

 

[JohnGalt]

I just found your thread! I love the perspective, usually trip reports are posted by the wives and this is a fun change of pace.

I've recently been doing a lot of work with sociology and have seen a lot of "tests" where people need to choose to gamble for a prize (say you either get $100 or nothing) or accept a lower cash amount for certain. Just because the wheel spun the 100 doesn't mean that you made a bad choice, you did what it took to be sure that your needs were met for certain. Winning at a big risk certainly does not make someone a genius (perhaps stupid but lucky).

Anyway I'll be following along to see what happens, this is a great story and the soundtrack is superb so far.

LOL. I hadn't thought of our dilemma in that context, but I think you are exactly right! It was a risk/cost analysis, and in the end, I opted for a safer, albeit costlier alternative.

JG

 

[JohnGalt]

Day 1, Sunday April 23, Embarkation Day, Part II
Music Recommendation: “Come and Get It” Badfinger

We had arrived at the port well before our assigned PAT. In calculating what time to leave our very comfortable and accommodating B&B, I must have skillfully padded my calculations by 30 seconds, through some kind of prescient foreknowledge that I would slow us down in security. Because once the fiasco with security was over, we marched upstairs, signed a few documents, and as they handed us our KTTW cards, the announcement was made for open boarding. Perfect timing. We walked right on to the beautiful Disney Wonder; home for the next 2 weeks. As they announced our names and we took that first star-struck look around the atrium, it occurred to me that we were finally here. All of the planning, the huge late-game travel changes, the great pre-cruise dolphin swim, the dinner at Fishlips, the fun and quirky B&B, even the TSA Maleficent lady; everything had worked in concert to get us to this enchanted location at this moment. Tears welled up inside me, and I did what any of you would have done in such an emotionally vulnerable state. "Honey, let's hit the buffet," and we made a beeline to Cabana's.

Note that it is now a little past noon, and I'm still being pack-mule with several tons of water on my back. That's what it felt like. (And yes, I would like some cheese with that whine. Thank you for asking.) It was still over an hour before I could lay my water burden down in our stateroom, and negotiating the twists and turns of the buffet line with all that on my back just wasn't very appealing to me. So we found a table outside next to the Plexiglas window, very close to where the water slide terminates. One of the great pleasures of this cruise was that we could ALWAYS find an empty table near a window outside on deck 9. I don't know if we were on a different schedule than everyone else, or just lucky. I set my water-laden backpack down in a chair, and I went to survey the options. DW agreed to let me go first, and she settled in with some coffee from the beverage station, which was also very close to our table.







With the exception the salad bar, we're not real big patrons of cruise ship buffets. Oh yeah, and the hand scooped ice cream. With the exception of the salad bar and the hand scooped ice cream, we're not real big patrons of cruise ship buffets. Well, and the sushi, when it was out. And the prime rib roast they were carving. Ok but seriously, we may have snacked around at the buffet from time to time; I mean, we were on this ship for 14 days. But excepting what I've listed above, and shrimp and crab legs, we generally don't eat at cruise ship buffets. All of that notwithstanding, I found a few items to sample, and I returned to our table. DW then took her turn. Not finding anything she was particularly hungry for in Cabana's, she wandered down to the soft serve station, coffee cup conveniently in hand. She returned with this ice cream coffee concoction that became her go-to afternoon treat. Coffee Floats.






My DW's Coffee Float addiction started out innocently enough. Just a tasty treat in the afternoons on our balcony. But soon she was requesting them in the main dining room. I guess we all just watched as she spiraled out of control. When she started storing them in our stateroom refrigerator to get her through the evening hours when the soft serve was closed, I had to acknowledge that she had a problem. I was terrified that her Coffee Floats may be a "bridge beverage" so when we got home, I took action. It took 2 therapists and a 7 step program to get her off the wicked brew. So please, let this be a warning to all. Remember my DW and be careful with the Coffee Floats!

At 1:30, hunger sated, we went to our stateroom: 7530, starboard side, foreword. I wanted to inspect the room and unpack our cloths, but our suitcases hadn't arrived yet. And besides, I was exhausted. Liberated from all that water-weight, this "unladen sparrow" collapsed on the bed.

SIDE NOTE: The above background music selection is especially appropriate for these Cabanas pictures. And not just because of the lyrics. For you movie buffs out there, this song was part of the soundtrack of a movie that featured a few quirky scenes on a cruise ship, and the name of the movie is the same as the name of the cruise ship featured in the movie. Anyone??

 

[adSimba]

I'm surprised that I'm not familiar with that film, it looks like a trip, I'll need to give it a try sometime.

but to be fair, did any of the Cabana's food not last?

 

[JohnGalt]

I'm surprised that I'm not familiar with that film, it looks like a trip, I'll need to give it a try sometime.

but to be fair, did any of the Cabana's food not last?

It seemed to me that Cabana's was well stocked and the food lasted the entirety of the 14 day cruise. We didn't eat there often, but when we did, the food was fine. I think I have a few pictures of salads I ate from Cabana's that I'll include in future posts. We probably would have eaten there more, but we discovered the shawarma counter. More on that later too.

JG

 

[JohnGalt]

I woke up an hour later and saw that DW had collapsed too. We had done a lot in 3 days and it was catching up with us. It was actually pretty nice to take a quick, pre sail-away nap. I looked in the hall and saw that our luggage had arrived. We spent some time unpacking our suitcases and storing our clothes. There was ample storage space for both of us. I think there were a few drawers we didn’t even use. I also inspected the room and made sure everything was in good working order. Everything was fine. We had absolutely no complaints about the condition of the room.




I did have one design concern. Well, not really a concern. It’s just not what I was expecting. Having sailed Disney a couple times before, I have become a big fan of the curved plastic shower doors we had on the 2 previous Disney cruises. But when I went in to the bathroom to check it out, I found that this stateroom did not have the shower with the curved plastic door. Instead, our head was configured with a small tub and shower curtain, where one could take either a bath or a shower. Some may prefer this, but I was disappointed. It’s probably because I had a bad experience. Eight years ago on another cruise line, a frisky shower curtain accosted me, without even offering to buy me dinner at that ship’s annoyingly inconvenient upcharge venue. It’s been 8 years, but I have yet to make my peace with cruise ship shower curtains. I know, I know. I shouldn’t judge all, by the reckless act of one clingy sheet, but how can you judge me, gentle reader, unless you too have been engulfed in plastic madness? And so yes, color me a BIG FAN of DCL’s shower doors! All ranting aside, the shower turned out to be just fine. The shower curtain respected certain boundaries; probably a result of all the strict Disney training. And while I don’t think either of us ever took a bath, I can see that if you had small children, this configuration would be very desirable.




The ships horns blew a bunch of times in succession, indicating that it was time for the life boat drill. We were not required to don our PFDs. We just needed to proceed to the appointed place, KTTW cards in hand, so the crew could perform the required census. The drill was efficient, short, and painless. After the drill, most passengers headed up to decks 9 and 10 for the sail away party. We opted to head back to our balcony for sail away, and watch for dolphins. We have heard that you can frequently see dolphins along the jetty on the starboard side of the ship, as the ship departs Port Canaveral. But sadly, the dolphins were a no-show today. This really affected DW, since she had forged such an emotional bond with this intelligent aquatic species just the day before. Here is how she felt about not seeing dolphins as we left Port Canaveral:



We watched from our balcony, as Port Canaveral faded into the vastness of open water. And then a small emergency erupted. We realized that we had gone 4 whole hours without eating anything! This is a cruise ship, and that is just NOT acceptable. We had opted for the late seating this cruise. Everyone has their own preferences, but we have found that late seating usually works best for us. We realized that the Be Our Guest variety show was due to begin in about 45 minutes, and we wouldn’t be seated for dinner for another 2 ½ hours. We quickly hustled our way up to the lido deck in search of some calories! And that’s when we discovered the shawarma counter. Guys, the shawarma’s there are amazing! My wife liked the beef / lamb combo. I preferred the chicken. We were so glad that we discovered this counter service on the first day. We had 14 days to capitalize on our new-found love of these Mediterranean morsels of goodness. Sure, we would usually wander through Cabana’s and see what flavor of hand dipped ice cream they had that day, and sometimes we would get a salad. But nearly every day of our cruise involved shawarmas at some point; either for lunch, or, as a pre-show snack to tide us over until our 8:15 dinner seating. For my money, the best improvements that have been made to the Disney Wonder since the last time we sailed her are Tiana’s Place, and the shawarma counter. I'll talk a little bit about Tiana's place in my next post.

 

[RetCM]

Shawarma! I do love thee. The last couple of cruises I've been on have had it. I can't wait to get it again! How is it so magical? My mouth is watering right now.

 

[JohnGalt]

Here's this:

 

[JohnGalt]

Day 1, Sunday April 23, Embarkation Day, Part III
Music Recommendation: “Life’s Been Good” Joe Walsh

Content that we had stored up enough calories to get us through the 2 hours till late seating, we headed off to the Walt Disney Theatre for the welcome aboard variety show – “Be Our Guest.” This show was a teaser of sorts; a sampling of the entertainment that we could anticipate during the first week of our cruise. It’s designed to get you pumped up for the shows and entertainers that week, and for DW and me, it succeeded wildly. The a cappella singing group Edge Effect was fantastic. We couldn’t wait to see their full show. And of course, the Disney Wonder Dancers (the Dancing Wonders?) were amazing as usual with their rendition of “Be our guest” from “Beauty and the Beast”. One of the pleasant surprises from this opening night show was Hector the magician. Hector is a super talented magician from Spain that we had neither seen nor heard of, but based on his performance in this opening night teaser, and his subsequent performances in the Walt Disney Theatre and Azure, we should be seeing more of him. He is definitely personality plus!!

The program that night also included a performance by the man woman dance instructor team, and although they were up against some stiff competition from the other performers, they held their own and did a really good job. In fact, DW was so impressed that she began to entertain the idea of her and me taking the classes that this dynamic dance duo were offering throughout the cruise. Um, I needed to squash this idea quickly, before it germinated into a full blown Patrick Swayze fantasy. “You know Sweetie, there will probably be a performance on stage in front of everyone at the end of the cruise.” DW suddenly changed her mind and decided we didn’t need to take those classes. Dance dilemma averted, bullet dodged. Bottom line, we loved the “Be Our Guest” show, and it definitely got us excited about the week’s entertainment line-up.

We now had a little bit of time before the 8:15 seating for dinner, so we wandered around the ship and checked out some of the places we hadn’t been to yet. I think this is when we first went to the Senses Spa, and turned in our voucher for 5 days use of the Rain Forrest room. Approximately one week before the cruise, I had gone online and purchased 5 days for each of us. There was a voucher showing our purchase on the desk in our stateroom when we first arrived. When we turned in the voucher at Senses Spa, they put 5 little stickers on the back of each of our KTTW cards. Each time we used our Rain Forrest room privileges throughout the cruise, they would write the date on one of the little stickers, indicating that we had used up one of our days. I’ll talk more about our Rain Forrest room experience in another post.

We also checked out the gym while we were at the Spa. We worked out in the gym on every sea day, and even a couple of the port days. Sometimes we worked out twice a day. I’ve seen debates on other bulletin boards about this being a vacation and, why would one want to work out on vacation. At the end of the day it’s all about personal choice. To DW and me, working out is a vacation. DW, more so than me, feels incomplete if she doesn’t get a daily work out in. For me, it’s more about offsetting the additional calories that I know I’m consuming. I like to eat, so, I better make myself like the work out! Note that we also eschewed elevator use for the entirety of the cruise. I think we only took the elevator 3 times: 1) Once when I was still being pack mule; 2) Once when we were running late to a show we wanted to see, and an elevator presented itself at a very opportune time; 3) And at the end of the cruise, when we did self-debarkation with all of our luggage in tow.

It was time for dinner. We felt very lucky to have the TP, TR, AP rotation. Tiana’s Place has received so many positive reviews and glowing recommendations. We were very excited to finally get to try it out. It did not disappoint. Even though there wasn’t a band playing New Orleans Jazz that evening, Supper Club Tiana did come out and welcome us, and then she visited each table and did private introductions like a good Southern Hostess should. I think Louis the alligator was also making his way around the room, wreaking havoc, dancing with little kids and trying not to knock furniture over. The menu that night was the “Let the Magic Begin” menu. Here's what we had:

















It was all great. The highlight for me was the mint-chip sundae, but DW raved about her espresso creme brulee. I managed to pry a bite away from her and she was right, it was fantastic, but I'll stick with my sundae.

I would be remiss if I didn’t give Ebrahim & Patricia a shout-out at this point. Ebrahim, from South Africa, was our Server, and Patricia, from Great Britain, was our Assistant Server. I know I sound like every other putz that has ever written about their servers, but these two folks went above and beyond; they contributed significantly to the overall enjoyment quotient of our cruise, and I happily put that in writing on our comments card at the end of the cruise. DW and I learned very early on that one should NEVER ignore Ebrahim’s recommendations. They were spot-on. And, on the rare occasion that we did choose to ignore him, he brought us what we ordered, AND what he had recommended. It was uncanny. He was always right! His recommendation was always better. And Patricia – she is so cute and so funny and so personable; you can’t help but to love her. I am confident that she won’t be an assistant server for long.

DW always likes to take a walk around the ship after dinner. And while I’m not a big fan of walking just for walking’s sake, I am a big fan of being outside on a Disney ship at night. As we strolled, we talked about our plans for the next day. We wanted to get an early start. Drinking our morning coffee on the balcony was high on our priority list. We also wanted to put our best foot forward and get an early work-out in at the gym, yet still leave time to get some oatmeal from Cabana’s. Although it was late April and we were off the coast of Florida headed due South, the wind coming off the water had just enough of a chill to it that after 2 laps around deck 10, DW was ready to head to bed.



Back in our room, I filled out our breakfast room-service door hanger thingy (that’s the technical name) and put it on our door handle. I did this dutifully every night of the cruise. We have found that having coffee brought to our room so we can enjoy it on the balcony before getting dressed for the day, is one of our greatest cruise pleasures. I wound down that night by reviewing the next day’s Navigator. It was going to be another busy day. One of the big events for us tomorrow: Palo Brunch. I looked over at DW and she was already out for the night. I envy that about her; the ability to be deep asleep 2 minutes after lying down. I chuckled to myself. It had been a very full day. I lay there and reflected that we had done so much during the last several days, that it seemed like weeks ago when we were struggling with the decision to drive or not. The stress of that decision was long past. Life these last two days had been very good, and that made me think of the Joe Walsh song above.

It’s always at these twilight moments, just a few seconds before I surrender to sleep, that the ghosts of cruises past haunt me. Try as I may to pretend that I don’t miss our daughters being with us on the cruise, there is something about the onset of slumber that brings a certain brutal honesty: I miss having the girls here with us on the ship. Logically, I know it needs to be this way. They both have wonderful, kind husbands and they are busy carving out lives for themselves, creating families where before there were none. But I still miss them. I remember one cruise to the Caribbean, where DW and our daughters traipsed around the islands in tie-dye t-shirts that they had made for the cruise. I think someone on one of the islands asked if they were triplets. DW loved that! Time to turn out the lights. Goodnight everyone.

 

[adSimba]

my good sir, I ordered no *feels* with this otherwise upbeat post. You write well I am now slightly melancholy for your past experiences. (and perhaps a bit apprehensive of my future ones)

 

[JohnGalt]

my good sir, I ordered no *feels* with this otherwise upbeat post. You write well I am now slightly melancholy for your past experiences. (and perhaps a bit apprehensive of my future ones)

LOL! Thanks much, and sorry for the rather somber tone at the end of the last post, but it does accurately express how DW and I feel sometimes. Although this will mostly be upbeat, there are probably a few more reflective moments like that coming up. Heh - when you see me use the Beatles "She's Leaving Home" - uh, you might just wanna skip that part.

JG

 

[bcwife76]

*blink blink* I have something in my eye......

 

[Jodyfarmgirl]

Day 1, Sunday April 23, Embarkation Day, Part III
Music Recommendation: “Life’s Been Good” Joe Walsh

Content that we had stored up enough calories to get us through the 2 hours till late seating, we headed off to the Walt Disney Theatre for the welcome aboard variety show – “Be Our Guest.” This show was a teaser of sorts; a sampling of the entertainment that we could anticipate during the first week of our cruise. It’s designed to get you pumped up for the shows and entertainers that week, and for DW and me, it succeeded wildly. The a cappella singing group Edge Effect was fantastic. We couldn’t wait to see their full show. And of course, the Disney Wonder Dancers (the Dancing Wonders?) were amazing as usual with their rendition of “Be our guest” from “Beauty and the Beast”. One of the pleasant surprises from this opening night show was Hector the magician. Hector is a super talented magician from Spain that we had neither seen nor heard of, but based on his performance in this opening night teaser, and his subsequent performances in the Walt Disney Theatre and Azure, we should be seeing more of him. He is definitely personality plus!!

The program that night also included a performance by the man woman dance instructor team, and although they were up against some stiff competition from the other performers, they held their own and did a really good job. In fact, DW was so impressed that she began to entertain the idea of her and me taking the classes that this dynamic dance duo were offering throughout the cruise. Um, I needed to squash this idea quickly, before it germinated into a full blown Patrick Swayze fantasy. “You know Sweetie, there will probably be a performance on stage in front of everyone at the end of the cruise.” DW suddenly changed her mind and decided we didn’t need to take those classes. Dance dilemma averted, bullet dodged. Bottom line, we loved the “Be Our Guest” show, and it definitely got us excited about the week’s entertainment line-up.

We now had a little bit of time before the 8:15 seating for dinner, so we wandered around the ship and checked out some of the places we hadn’t been to yet. I think this is when we first went to the Senses Spa, and turned in our voucher for 5 days use of the Rain Forrest room. Approximately one week before the cruise, I had gone online and purchased 5 days for each of us. There was a voucher showing our purchase on the desk in our stateroom when we first arrived. When we turned in the voucher at Senses Spa, they put 5 little stickers on the back of each of our KTTW cards. Each time we used our Rain Forrest room privileges throughout the cruise, they would write the date on one of the little stickers, indicating that we had used up one of our days. I’ll talk more about our Rain Forrest room experience in another post.

We also checked out the gym while we were at the Spa. We worked out in the gym on every sea day, and even a couple of the port days. Sometimes we worked out twice a day. I’ve seen debates on other bulletin boards about this being a vacation and, why would one want to work out on vacation. At the end of the day it’s all about personal choice. To DW and me, working out is a vacation. DW, more so than me, feels incomplete if she doesn’t get a daily work out in. For me, it’s more about offsetting the additional calories that I know I’m consuming. I like to eat, so, I better make myself like the work out! Note that we also eschewed elevator use for the entirety of the cruise. I think we only took the elevator 3 times: 1) Once when I was still being pack mule; 2) Once when we were running late to a show we wanted to see, and an elevator presented itself at a very opportune time; 3) And at the end of the cruise, when we did self-debarkation with all of our luggage in tow.

It was time for dinner. We felt very lucky to have the TP, TR, AP rotation. Tiana’s Place has received so many positive reviews and glowing recommendations. We were very excited to finally get to try it out. It did not disappoint. Even though there wasn’t a band playing New Orleans Jazz that evening, Supper Club Tiana did come out and welcome us, and then she visited each table and did private introductions like a good Southern Hostess should. I think Louis the alligator was also making his way around the room, wreaking havoc, dancing with little kids and trying not to knock furniture over. The menu that night was the “Let the Magic Begin” menu. Here's what we had:

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It was all great. The highlight for me was the mint-chip sundae, but DW raved about her espresso creme brulee. I managed to pry a bite away from her and she was right, it was fantastic, but I'll stick with my sundae.

I would be remiss if I didn’t give Abrahim & Patricia a shout-out at this point. Abrahim, from South Africa, was our Server, and Patricia, from Great Britain, was our Assistant Server. I know I sound like every other putz that has ever written about their servers, but these two folks went above and beyond; they contributed significantly to the overall enjoyment quotient of our cruise, and I happily put that in writing on our comments card at the end of the cruise. DW and I learned very early on that one should NEVER ignore Abrahim’s recommendations. They were spot-on. And, on the rare occasion that we did choose to ignore him, he brought us what we ordered, AND what he had recommended. It was uncanny. He was always right! His recommendation was always better. And Patricia – she is so cute and so funny and so personable; you can’t help but to love her. I am confident that she won’t be an assistant server for long.

DW always likes to take a walk around the ship after dinner. And while I’m not a big fan of walking just for walking’s sake, I am a big fan of being outside on a Disney ship at night. As we strolled, we talked about our plans for the next day. We wanted to get an early start. Drinking our morning coffee on the balcony was high on our priority list. We also wanted to put our best foot forward and get an early work-out in at the gym, yet still leave time to get some oatmeal from Cabana’s. Although it was late April and we were off the coast of Florida headed due South, the wind coming off the water had just enough of a chill to it that after 2 laps around deck 10, DW was ready to head to bed.

View attachment 252011

Back in our room, I filled out our breakfast room-service door hanger thingy (that’s the technical name) and put it on our door handle. I did this dutifully every night of the cruise. We have found that having coffee brought to our room so we can enjoy it on the balcony before getting dressed for the day, is one of our greatest cruise pleasures. I wound down that night by reviewing the next day’s Navigator. It was going to be another busy day. One of the big events for us tomorrow: Palo Brunch. I looked over at DW and she was already out for the night. I envy that about her; the ability to be deep asleep 2 minutes after lying down. I chuckled to myself. It had been a very full day. I lay there and reflected that we had done so much during the last several days, that it seemed like weeks ago when we were struggling with the decision to drive or not. The stress of that decision was long past. Life these last two days had been very good, and that made me think of the Joe Walsh song above.

It’s always at these twilight moments, just a few seconds before I surrender to sleep, that the ghosts of cruises past haunt me. Try as I may to pretend that I don’t miss our daughters being with us on the cruise, there is something about the onset of slumber that brings a certain brutal honesty: I miss having the girls here with us on the ship. Logically, I know it needs to be this way. They both have wonderful, kind husbands and they are busy carving out lives for themselves, creating families where before there were none. But I still miss them. I remember one cruise to the Caribbean, where DW and our daughters traipsed around the islands in tie-dye t-shirts that they had made for the cruise. I think someone on one of the islands asked if they were triplets. DW loved that! Time to turn out the lights. Goodnight everyone.

View attachment 251980

We had our baby bird leave the best and now the last one will fly in two years time.
This is and always has been life.
Love your writing style and the sign off and the picture were brilliant touches.

 

[JohnGalt]

We had our baby bird leave the best and now the last one will fly in two years time.
This is and always has been life.
Love your writing style and the sign off and the picture were brilliant touches.

Thanks! That's so kind.

It's funny how the timing of this review has worked out for me. I knew I wanted to write one, and we took a bunch of pictures and a ton of notes in preparation, but when we got home, I just wasn't motivated. I think I needed some distance to gain perspective. Or more likely, I was just being lazy.

JG

 

[JohnGalt]

Great trip report! We are celebrating our 30th on the EBPC in October.

I'm so jealous! You will have a fantastic time!

Thanks for following -

JG

 

[Jodyfarmgirl]

Thanks! That's so kind.

It's funny how the timing of this review has worked out for me. I knew I wanted to write one, and we took a bunch of pictures and a ton of notes in preparation, but when we got home, I just wasn't motivated. I think I needed some distance to gain perspective. Or more likely, I was just being lazy.

JG

I meant to say "nest" not best and it is my daughter's daughter leaving the nest next - my point being that the world just keeps spinning....
And now after my mistakes of autocorrect and careless proofreading, I must praise your bravery in writing a report.