She said it wouldn't be boring!-WONDER WB Caribbean cruise - Bonus Posts Wrap up

[franandaj]

Glad you got right back on track! Way to go. The whole gluten-free thing still confuses me. truth be told I've gained almost 10 lb this last year. My metabolism has virtually stopped. I had a bunch of tests ran and the only abnormality was low Vitamin D. I'm taking a little Vit D gel cap daily. I'm sort of at a loss. I think I need to start walking regularly again.

I was going to say it was easy to get back on track, but I could have just as easily slipped back into my old eating habits. However, I don't want to have bypass surgery in 10 years, so I'm sticking to this @#%&! diet for the time being. I do have to say planning the menu for next week was pretty depressing. Meat & Veggie, Poultry & Veggie, Fish and Veggie... and so on. I need to get some creative recipes to make low glycemic index/load side dishes. I'm thinking of finding a recipe for Texas Caviar. Although I could also just buy some at the deli.

Gluten Free is pretty easy. All you have to do is ask the question, "Is this made from wheat products?" If the answer is "yes", then you're not supposed to eat it. The confusion and problems come when you get to what she is really after, which is not in fact gluten, but glycemic load. Gluten free is an easy way to cut out most of the products that have a high glycemic load, but actually one of the worst offenders on the scale is white rice, which is gluten free. A baked potato is not far behind.

Wow! 10 lbs for you is a lot considering how small you are. I hope that you figure it out. I have a Vitamin D deficiency too. I was taking two 5000 IU pills once a day before the blood test and it still came up low. Now I'm taking two in the morning and one at night. I hope you get your stuff figured out. I think you need to get out of Utah and back to sunny Southern California, that will get you the Vitamin D you need!

 

[franandaj]

Final Thoughts and Recap

This was our second Cruise with the same itinerary. I’m glad that my next three (four) cruises are all to different places as we have had our fill of Grand Cayman and Cozumel for now.

Let’s compare plans vs actual:

Day 0

The plan was to fly, arrive late and cook some dinner in the room. Well, everything went according to plan EXCEPT that I forgot to throw the Keilbasa in the suitcase before we left. Major rookie move so we didn’t have meat in the suitcase this trip.

Day 1


Our plan for this day was to get my saxophone stored during the cruise, buy beverages (adult, Diet Mtn Dew and water), arrange transport to the Port of Miami and rest. We did all that and enjoyed some tasty meals as well as napped.








I’d say that this day went just as planned!


Day 2 (or Day 1 of the Cruise)


My goal was to arrive at the port before noon. Check.

Book a Chocolate tasting. Check, and we got a Tequila Tasting too!

Lunch at Parrot Cay. Check.

We didn’t head to the room to relax. But never in my wildest Dreams would I think that I would have spent the sail away in a hot tub watching us pull out of port!





Even though it was Halloween night and some people were dressed up. I chose to save it for the night Disney designated as Halloween Night. Dinner this evening was at Triton’s and it was fantastic! This is my favorite rotational menu!


I’d say this day was half as planned half surprises, but they were all good surprises!


Day 3 (or Day 2 of the Cruise)


I put the room service tag on the door for breakfast the night before so that we could sit around leisurely in the room that morning. However, the coffee was so vile the that I couldn’t drink it. Also the food wasn’t enough to tide us over so I ended up getting a fruit plate at Goofy’s.


We didn’t end up dropping off the FEEs like I expected. We got a pass to meet Elsa and Anna so we did that.





Also Fran had a pedicure and I went to the Art of Entertaining. Both were unexpected, but happy changes. We did keep to our schedule by lunching at Triton’s and this was as lovely as expected.


Both Mixology and Palo dinner went as planned and both were as fabulous as expected. I had a lot of fun shakin’ it up!





It was crazy to head down to Animator’s Palette for the Truffle Pursettes, but those were something that I really wanted to try, so score another win for this trip! We got some great formal pictures, another win!





But our room steward continued to bomb out with Lucifer’s interaction with our towel animals.


Today was all morning surprises/changes (again all good), afternoon evening, just as planned.


Day 4 (or Day 3 of the Cruise)


Plan - Visit BBB or Triton’s for Breakfast: Actual - we did Triton’s

Plan – Be at tendering station around 11AM to shop for rum cakes before our excursion: Actual – total fail, not on our account, but the town was closed and we didn’t even tender to a point where we could shop at all. We ended up in this people pen.





The tour was half OK, half cool. Hell was neat, but we were rushed. The Turtle Farm was pretty neat and we spent just enough time there.


Plan – Grab lunch on deck, that’s it until dinner. Actual – We did get lunch on deck which was fine. The chocolate massage was an unexpected treat, although a little weird. The Pirate dinner was a disappointment, although that was expected. The Pirate dress up, party and buffet was fun though!





Today was a combination of things that went as planned and things that didn’t, of the unplanned there was good and bad. I guess overall it evened out.


Day 5 (or Day 4 of the Cruise)


Plan – Visit Chankanaab. Actual – We scrapped Chankanaab in favor of shopping and laundry (we realized the day before that the last day was going to be full of heavy eating and drinking and the likeliness of laundry getting done was slim).


Our buffet breakfast was quite tasty, and gave us plenty of fuel to explore some of the stores on the Cozumel waterfront. I’m going to stick with our decision to have lunch on the ship. Free, tasty, and less chance of Listeria. We went back on land to do our shopping and came back to the ship for a stress free day and plenty of time for laundry.





Originally I thought tonight was Pirate Night. Plan – Pirate costumes, Actual – Halloween Costumes! This was a LOT of fun and I’m really looking forward to our Baja Cruise with Jenny and Pam next October. I hope that Disney does the Halloween on the High Seas Celebration again!





Dinner was fine, it was my least favorite rotational menu, but I made some good choices so it was still OK.


Today went completely off the plan, but it was still a good day!


Day 6 (or Day 5 of the Cruise)


Plan – Palo Brunch. Actual – We did enjoy our Palo Brunch! And it was very nice to have our favorite server Hristo.





Plan after Brunch? None! So it worked out well, the Chocolate tasting was very tasty and the Tequila Tasting was a lot of fun. Again, I got to “shake my booty!”





Dinner was all right. As I mentioned in the original post, we are creatures of habit and seem to get the exact same thing from this menu every time.


Since there was only one plan (Palo Brunch), I would have to say this day went off without a hitch! It was definitely one of the more fun days. I love days at sea! I need cruises with more days at sea!


Day 7 (or Day 6 of the Cruise) aka Get off the Ship!


Usually this day is really sad. I didn’t wake up that way. We had fun ahead of us (or so I thought). We took our time at breakfast (as planned) and said goodbye to our wonderful serving team.





The rest of the day did NOT go as planned. I did not expect Fran to get sick and feel bad for the next day.


Day 8-11 (Conference and free days)


Plan Thurs – Sat Conference, Sun – Mon On our own. Actual: Thursday evening through Saturday night were completely jam packed! Although that’s not something that we have control over. I can say that at next year’s conference (which is not combined with a cruise) will be much more relaxed. The activities are spread from Thursday evening all the way to Sunday evening.


As far as the on our own days, we made the best of what we could with the weather and time that we had.


Overall Thoughts


This was our second time sailing on this same itinerary. It’s become a little bit tiresome. We have three Disney cruises (technically four), and one additional cruise planned. One of the Disney cruises is to the Bahamas, the other two are to Baja California. The non Disney cruise is down the Mississippi from Memphis to New Orleans. I suspect that our next Disney Cruise that we book will either be through the Panama Canal, to Alaska or the Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy. Any will be a welcome change, however, the PC cruise would repeat the ports of all of our recent and upcoming Wonder Cruises. It does have a lot of days at sea, so I would be OK with that!


The Wonder is a beautiful ship and I would not hesitate to sail on her again. In face we are on May 15, May 17 and October 18 of this year! I will be sad when she finally goes in for the major upgrade as I have heard the Magic is not so much so any longer.


Miami was a decent port, even though all we saw was Ft. Lauderdale. We’ll have to see how it is sailing out of Port Canaveral after a WDW vacation. It’s been 15 years since I’ve done that.


Some things that I didn’t necessarily expect:


One thing I didn’t plan on until we got on the ship was to get a Drink of the Day every day. I succeeded at that one! Each one was tasty, but they were all very sweet. Next time I may stick with my standard cocktail or a glass of wine rather than the DOTD.


Day 1 – Paradise Cocktail





Day 2 – Yellow Bird





Day 3 – Sunken Treasure





Day 4 – Tequila Sunrise





Day 5 – High Tide





We got quite a few rare photo opportunities with characters, but I think my favorite was Peter Pan.





The last thing I didn’t expect was the blatant disregard that our stateroom host had for Lucifer!





All in all it was a fabulous trip and I will remember the joy we experienced on the cruise and hope that we can repeat it over and over again for many years to come.



Some other random thoughts. As I was reviewing this update for posting, I realized one thing I really like about these new boards. Since I write my updates in Word and post them after the fact, there is always something I want to change, a typo, the way I worded a sentence. On the previous boards you had to scroll down and make the change, but here you can do it right in the preview mode.

The downside is that you can only have one post previewed and queued up to go at a time. In the past I would review them all and then post them in rapid succession when there was more than one. Now I have to read each one before posting which gives a more likely time for someone to sneak in between posts. Oh well, it's give and take.

I'm going to write a few posts about our recent mini trip to Disneyland and then I'll post a link to my new PTR/TR for the trip coming up in April!

 

[kaoden39]

Hi!! Chocolate tasting? Yummy! I'm really interested in the mixology classes. I think that might really be fun.

 

[franandaj]

Hi!! Chocolate tasting? Yummy! I'm really interested in the mixology classes. I think that might really be fun.

Did you read the whole report? There were pictures of everything. I think you would like it a lot.

 

[kaoden39]

Did you read the whole report? There were pictures of everything. I think you would like it a lot.

I've read quite a bit, I don't always comment. I need to go back and look through and make sure I didn't miss anything. Your next cruise is the one I'm really interested in. That's our ship. I imagine there are a lot of things that are similar though with all of the ships. Another thing that I want to do ins the drink of the day.

 

[rentayenta]

Awesome recap and 10 lb is a lot for my height. Michael thought I was 5lb under weight so he's saying I have only gained 5 lb. Love that man!

 

[PrincessInOz]

What a fab recap. On the whole, there were a lot of highlights to this trip.

Look forward to reading all about your awesome cruises over the next few years!

 

[kaoden39]

I just sat and binge read all of the posts about the cruise. I am so excited to go. More now than I was before even. Everything looks so good! I can hardly wait to hear about your next cruise too! There are so many things I want to try and being on a 3 day cruise I know we will be limited. That just means that we will need to plan our next cruise.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice recap from your trip Alison. There were a lot of highlights from your trip.

Always look forward to reading your trip reports.

 

[dgbg100106]

Love your TR, from the beginning to the end, and I really love the recap! Nice way to tie everything up.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Thanks for sharing. I thoroughly enjoyed following along.

Corinna

 

[Flossbolna]

Thanks for the trip report! I really enjoyed it. I understand that you are getting tired of the same ports over and over. However, on the Panama Canal cruise, the only one you would repeat is Cozumel. Grand Cayman is not a port on the PC cruise. BUT since you have been to the Mexican Riviera and are going back there, you would repeat Cabo and Puerta Vallarta. So all in all a lot of repetition again. But as you say, the PC cruise is more for the sea days than the ports anyway - and for the extra entertainment. I think you would really enjoy that!

 

[franandaj]

I've read quite a bit, I don't always comment. I need to go back and look through and make sure I didn't miss anything. Your next cruise is the one I'm really interested in. That's our ship. I imagine there are a lot of things that are similar though with all of the ships. Another thing that I want to do ins the drink of the day.

The Drink of the Day is good!

Awesome recap and 10 lb is a lot for my height. Michael thought I was 5lb under weight so he's saying I have only gained 5 lb. Love that man!

I didn't mean it in a bad way. You're just so petit. Me, it would take losing 30 lbs before anyone would notice I've lost any weight! Your man is a sweetheart.

What a fab recap. On the whole, there were a lot of highlights to this trip.

Look forward to reading all about your awesome cruises over the next few years!

Thanks! I'm looking forward to taking all those cruises over the next few years!

I just sat and binge read all of the posts about the cruise. I am so excited to go. More now than I was before even. Everything looks so good! I can hardly wait to hear about your next cruise too! There are so many things I want to try and being on a 3 day cruise I know we will be limited. That just means that we will need to plan our next cruise.

Yes, the next cruise will really apply to yours since it's the same ship. I'm not sure how different it will be since it will be my first cruise on one of the larger ships.

Very nice recap from your trip Alison. There were a lot of highlights from your trip.

Always look forward to reading your trip reports.

Thanks Bret! There were a lot of highlights to this trip.

Love your TR, from the beginning to the end, and I really love the recap! Nice way to tie everything up.

Thanks! I hope you have a great time on your trip!

Thanks for sharing. I thoroughly enjoyed following along.

Corinna

Thank you!

Thanks for the trip report! I really enjoyed it. I understand that you are getting tired of the same ports over and over. However, on the Panama Canal cruise, the only one you would repeat is Cozumel. Grand Cayman is not a port on the PC cruise. BUT since you have been to the Mexican Riviera and are going back there, you would repeat Cabo and Puerta Vallarta. So all in all a lot of repetition again. But as you say, the PC cruise is more for the sea days than the ports anyway - and for the extra entertainment. I think you would really enjoy that!

It's good to know that Grand Cayman is one that we would skip. Our cruise in May stops in Ensenada, as does the October Cruise. I wouldn't mind repeating Puerta Vallarta, as it's been almost three years since we were there last. I liked the idea of the morning show that you talked about, plus the trip through the locks looked fascinating.

 

[afwdwfan]

I suspect that our next Disney Cruise that we book will either be through the Panama Canal, to Alaska or the Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy. Any will be a welcome change, however, the PC cruise would repeat the ports of all of our recent and upcoming Wonder Cruises. It does have a lot of days at sea, so I would be OK with that!

Oh wow... you've got a lot of cruises in the pipeline! I have to say, I think the Panama Canal cruise would really be a cool one to do. Either way, I know you'll find an acceptable itinerary and have fun with it.

While I haven't gone on a cruise myself, I enjoyed reading about yours. I wouldn't mind doing a Disney cruise sometime, but I don't know when/if it will happen.

Some other random thoughts. As I was reviewing this update for posting, I realized one thing I really like about these new boards. Since I write my updates in Word and post them after the fact, there is always something I want to change, a typo, the way I worded a sentence. On the previous boards you had to scroll down and make the change, but here you can do it right in the preview mode.

The downside is that you can only have one post previewed and queued up to go at a time. In the past I would review them all and then post them in rapid succession when there was more than one. Now I have to read each one before posting which gives a more likely time for someone to sneak in between posts. Oh well, it's give and take.

I like the new Dis. There is definitely a give and take and a pretty strong learning curve to it, but I really think it is an upgrade overall.

 

[Pinkocto]

Thanks so much for sharing this latest adventure. I'm so glad Fran was able to enjoy it as much as she did

If they don't have our cruise as a Halloween one I'll be quite disappointed. Of course I haven't given a single thought to what I'll dress up as.

 

[eandesmom]

I know what you mean. But in a way cutting it all out at once also makes sense because I can keep Fran from making me go through the Drive throughs whatsoever. Besides a salad, the only drive through food I can think of that fits my "new" diet is the chili at Wendy's without cheese and crackers. I really think that is problem #1. By cutting out drive through food, we are conquering 3/4 of the battle. She doesn't realize how toxic that food is and keeps perpetuating it.

The funny thing is that the day the Dr. put me on this diet, I said, "OK I want sashimi for lunch from Lazy Acres".

Fran said, "OK, I'll drop you off at Lazy Acres, go through Wendy's and be back to pick up you up." without skipping a beat. There is no way I can live with this, but if I can lose enough weight to get my numbers to a reasonable level, I can keep them there with what I know now.

What numbers are the problem? One post sounded like diabetes but then I thought you said something bout avoiding bypass surgery but the pork comments don't exactly give with that lol. I am so sorry you are having to deal with it.

I hope she gets the study, she can't even take her daily pills regularly so this 12 hour pill is pushing it.

Well technically since potatoes, and beans don't come from wheat it all is, but it's a moot point since they closed before we got there!

Well yes, if it were baked chicken but fried is typically dredged in...flour.

No I know it isn't sustainable, so I'm looking at it as a "six week cleanse". I want to get another blood test after eating and living like this and see how it works. I am taking my meds and eating like a martyr. Hopefully in six weeks it will be better and we will get a second opinion from another doctor, and if she talks crazy like this one then we will get a third opinion, but I think my current doctors has taken the Crazy Train.

I think there is a happy medium somewhere but a 6 week cleanse is a good thing!

The Doc is not advocating a vegan lifestyle, she still says I can eat meat, just pretty much meat and vegetables, nothing else. that's what's so bad. I need other things besides meat and veggies. While I am mostly complying, I still have milk in my coffee and I am still having a glass of wine at night with dinner. There are some things you can't take away from me.

NO fruit then? Is that the no wine or is it that wine has gluten? My gluten free friends advocate vodka.

I was going to say it was easy to get back on track, but I could have just as easily slipped back into my old eating habits. However, I don't want to have bypass surgery in 10 years, so I'm sticking to this @#%&! diet for the time being. I do have to say planning the menu for next week was pretty depressing. Meat & Veggie, Poultry & Veggie, Fish and Veggie... and so on. I need to get some creative recipes to make low glycemic index/load side dishes. I'm thinking of finding a recipe for Texas Caviar. Although I could also just buy some at the deli.

Gluten Free is pretty easy. All you have to do is ask the question, "Is this made from wheat products?" If the answer is "yes", then you're not supposed to eat it. The confusion and problems come when you get to what she is really after, which is not in fact gluten, but glycemic load. Gluten free is an easy way to cut out most of the products that have a high glycemic load, but actually one of the worst offenders on the scale is white rice, which is gluten free. A baked potato is not far behind.

Basmati rice is a lower glycemic index than jasmine or plain white rice.

Awesome recap and 10 lb is a lot for my height. Michael thought I was 5lb under weight so he's saying I have only gained 5 lb. Love that man!

As usual, Michael gets brownie points!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Nice recap! It was cool to see some of the different ports of call (for me, anyway).

This was our second Cruise with the same itinerary. I’m glad that my next three (four) cruises are all to different places as we have had our fill of Grand Cayman and Cozumel for now.

I can understand that. I get bored if I go to the same place over and over too. Variety is the spice of life!

I will be sad when she finally goes in for the major upgrade as I have heard the Magic is not so much so any longer.

Really? I hadn't heard that. What's wrong with the Magic?

I'm going to write a few posts about our recent mini trip to Disneyland and then I'll post a link to my new PTR/TR for the trip coming up in April!

Sounds good to me! I will eagerly await the future installments.

 

[EJ4Disney]

Alison, I thoroughly enjoyed your trip report. I can't wait for the next one.
Thanks so much!!

 

[kaoden39]

What numbers are the problem? One post sounded like diabetes but then I thought you said something bout avoiding bypass surgery but the pork comments don't exactly give with that lol. I am so sorry you are having to deal with it.




Well yes, if it were baked chicken but fried is typically dredged in...flour.



I think there is a happy medium somewhere but a 6 week cleanse is a good thing!




NO fruit then? Is that the no wine or is it that wine has gluten? My gluten free friends advocate vodka.






Basmati rice is a lower glycemic index than jasmine or plain white rice.




As usual, Michael gets brownie points!

I also think that Basmati has a better taste too. Or maybe I've fooled myself to believe it?

 

[rentayenta]

I prefer Jasmine but we eat more Basmati.


Michael is a good man.