ukintheus
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2009
Welcome to the tale of another fun adventure in the Gulf of Mexico aboard the Disney Wonder.
This adventure was booked fairly last minute in early December for myself, my Mum and my sister, Maureen. My husband, Scott, was back at work in Saudi Arabia right after Christmas and so it was a perfect, quick 4 night cruise, that we could squeeze in for us girls.
Here's a picture of the three of us about a year ago on the Panama Canal cruise, which was awesome, and Scott came along on that one.
The plan was that Maureen would come down from Tennessee, we would go on the cruise and then she and Mum would go back to TN so that Mum could spend some more time with her. The cruise timing was perfect for us to have a short get away together. So, time to get this trip report rolling as I have been so busy at work that I am behind on getting it started!
Thursday, January 9th - Embarkation Day
Our previous cruise at the end of November had been delayed by fog and so the day started very early for me as post-fog cruise paranoia snuck up on me, and I was checking to see where the Wonder was in the middle of the night. Thankfully I did manage to get to sleep on and off for the rest of the night.
At 6:30 am the Wonder was showing up at the pier in Galveston, so my worrying was all for nothing (of course!)
I sent Mum and Maureen a screen capture from the Galveston cruise cam that our ride had made it.
We all were up and in the kitchen ready for a cup of tea by 8 am. I took our kitty, Charlie, to be boarded at the vet at about 8:30 am. He has to have medication, and he isn’t very nice about it, so he gets to be boarded while the others stay home. Here is a photo of him staring at me that morning trying to telepathically tell me it was time for his breakfast before I got up.
Mum and Maureen had both packed before getting to my house, so there wasn’t much left to do that morning and we were ready to leave early, but we had an hour or so to relax before we left the house at just before 10 am. After the major boarding fiasco from the fog delay on our last cruise, I elected to avoid the initial cruise terminal crush and get down to Galveston an hour or so after the terminal opened. Here is the amount of luggage we considered necessary for three people for four nights.
The traffic down to Galveston was very easy and we didn’t get stopped in anything that was significant enough to make the journey longer than normal. We made it to EZ Cruise parking by 11:45am. I’ve been using EZ Cruise since many other parking lots that serve the cruise industry have dropped Disney since their time in Galveston became so short. They do a good enough job and the shuttles run frequently. We didn’t have to wait long for a shuttle and DCL were the only ship in town. As they reminded everyone about passports, we just HAD to look at my sister, (see last trip report for details on why ) she definitely wasn’t being allowed to forget it.
We were at the terminal a little before noon and there were no lines at all outside. One of our fellow shuttle bus people offered to take this photo of us – turned out to be one of the best ones of the cruise! We definitely missed our photographer (Scott) this time around!
We made it through security very easily, checked in quickly, and we were soon on our way upstairs where they told us it was already open boarding. There was a small line to get to the scanners to get onto the ship as they have the photographers before the scanners. We patiently waited, even though we skipped the photos, as I figured it would be rude to try and push past everyone, but I really wish they had a separate line to make skipping photos a little easier.
We walked onto the ship at about 12:30 pm, and ran into a server we have had in the past, Putra, who was outside Tritons. He told me that Maggie was on our dining rotation, so that was good news! As we had booked this cruise a few weeks ago, I had not been able to get a Palo brunch reservation so we went into Azure where I was easily able to get us in for 10 am the next day. We then headed up to Cabanas and got ourselves a seat in a corner where we could stow our carry-on bags for them not be in the way. Maureen bought us both a drink of the day in the commemorative cup, I think that’s the first time I have ever had one, and definitely the first in the new cup for sure! The drink of the day was a Bay Breeze, and it was pretty good. I have learned not to try and get anything that is “off menu “going out of Galveston.
Time to fill plates and bellies! I had a little bit of this and that. The panko crusted cod is pretty good and they had a stir fry today that looked good too.
Yummy drinks. This isn’t a great photo I got of my sister.
But she obliged by taking a not-great photo of me in return.
A bit of a wonky photograph of flat-as-a-pancake Galveston. Scott would not deem it worthy, but it works for me.
Mum - who rarely looks at her phone (according to her) …hmm…..
We had killed enough time that it was now 1:30 pm so we headed down to deck 6 aft. As we stepped off the elevators we were in a sea of people as they hadn’t opened up the barriers yet to let people into their cabins. Right as we were trying to find a place to stand, they came and took down the tapes and the sea of humanity disappeared quickly.
Mum and Maureen had a veranda this time around, and seeing as I was on my own I had booked an inside cabin with a pretty decent IGT rate. Mum and Maureen were on an onboard booking discount and the prices weren't much higher than opening day prices so I didn't feel like we had done badly for booking closer to the cruise date.
The view from their verandah.
Thankfully the fingernail obstruction in this photo didn't last all cruise.
Checking out everything going on down below.
I went down to check out my cabin. It’s been a while since I’ve been inside but it was perfect for me and I was glad I hadn't spent the extra on a verandah (especially as I could bum a looksee off Mum and Maureen!)
I forgot to post a photo of the new soap and shampoo set up on the last cruise, so here's my token photo now. I like the bigger bottles and I really like having body wash instead of a bar of soap.
My stateroom host was Piedad, who we had a few years ago on the only back-to-back we have done. It was good to see her again - I often wonder if they really recognize repeat cruisers or if they are just trained to act like they do. All of our luggage arrived very quickly and we all set to unpacking to get it over with. After I was finished, I went to join Mum and Maureen in their cabin and we sat outside and watch the luggage being loaded. There were a lot being loaded right at the end, after we were unpacked even, makes me wonder if it’s coming from the hotels?
These are somewhat interesting to me these days because my work has recently involved wind-turbine technology - I wondered where these blades are being shipped in from as I think they are all being made in Europe at the moment.
I popped back to my cabin for something, and obviously decided it was a good time to take a quick photograph of the artwork. I kept trying to think about WWSD? (What would Scott do?)
Piedad had left this reminder that we lost an hour tonight. Boo.
We headed down to muster a little early as we were in Animator’s Palate, so we knew we could sit down while we waited. Score!!
Quick photo while we waited.
It had started to turn chilly, and you could feel it coming up the service stairwell.
Continued in next post.
This adventure was booked fairly last minute in early December for myself, my Mum and my sister, Maureen. My husband, Scott, was back at work in Saudi Arabia right after Christmas and so it was a perfect, quick 4 night cruise, that we could squeeze in for us girls.
Here's a picture of the three of us about a year ago on the Panama Canal cruise, which was awesome, and Scott came along on that one.
The plan was that Maureen would come down from Tennessee, we would go on the cruise and then she and Mum would go back to TN so that Mum could spend some more time with her. The cruise timing was perfect for us to have a short get away together. So, time to get this trip report rolling as I have been so busy at work that I am behind on getting it started!
Thursday, January 9th - Embarkation Day
Our previous cruise at the end of November had been delayed by fog and so the day started very early for me as post-fog cruise paranoia snuck up on me, and I was checking to see where the Wonder was in the middle of the night. Thankfully I did manage to get to sleep on and off for the rest of the night.
At 6:30 am the Wonder was showing up at the pier in Galveston, so my worrying was all for nothing (of course!)
I sent Mum and Maureen a screen capture from the Galveston cruise cam that our ride had made it.
We all were up and in the kitchen ready for a cup of tea by 8 am. I took our kitty, Charlie, to be boarded at the vet at about 8:30 am. He has to have medication, and he isn’t very nice about it, so he gets to be boarded while the others stay home. Here is a photo of him staring at me that morning trying to telepathically tell me it was time for his breakfast before I got up.
Mum and Maureen had both packed before getting to my house, so there wasn’t much left to do that morning and we were ready to leave early, but we had an hour or so to relax before we left the house at just before 10 am. After the major boarding fiasco from the fog delay on our last cruise, I elected to avoid the initial cruise terminal crush and get down to Galveston an hour or so after the terminal opened. Here is the amount of luggage we considered necessary for three people for four nights.
The traffic down to Galveston was very easy and we didn’t get stopped in anything that was significant enough to make the journey longer than normal. We made it to EZ Cruise parking by 11:45am. I’ve been using EZ Cruise since many other parking lots that serve the cruise industry have dropped Disney since their time in Galveston became so short. They do a good enough job and the shuttles run frequently. We didn’t have to wait long for a shuttle and DCL were the only ship in town. As they reminded everyone about passports, we just HAD to look at my sister, (see last trip report for details on why ) she definitely wasn’t being allowed to forget it.
We were at the terminal a little before noon and there were no lines at all outside. One of our fellow shuttle bus people offered to take this photo of us – turned out to be one of the best ones of the cruise! We definitely missed our photographer (Scott) this time around!
We made it through security very easily, checked in quickly, and we were soon on our way upstairs where they told us it was already open boarding. There was a small line to get to the scanners to get onto the ship as they have the photographers before the scanners. We patiently waited, even though we skipped the photos, as I figured it would be rude to try and push past everyone, but I really wish they had a separate line to make skipping photos a little easier.
We walked onto the ship at about 12:30 pm, and ran into a server we have had in the past, Putra, who was outside Tritons. He told me that Maggie was on our dining rotation, so that was good news! As we had booked this cruise a few weeks ago, I had not been able to get a Palo brunch reservation so we went into Azure where I was easily able to get us in for 10 am the next day. We then headed up to Cabanas and got ourselves a seat in a corner where we could stow our carry-on bags for them not be in the way. Maureen bought us both a drink of the day in the commemorative cup, I think that’s the first time I have ever had one, and definitely the first in the new cup for sure! The drink of the day was a Bay Breeze, and it was pretty good. I have learned not to try and get anything that is “off menu “going out of Galveston.
Time to fill plates and bellies! I had a little bit of this and that. The panko crusted cod is pretty good and they had a stir fry today that looked good too.
Yummy drinks. This isn’t a great photo I got of my sister.
But she obliged by taking a not-great photo of me in return.
A bit of a wonky photograph of flat-as-a-pancake Galveston. Scott would not deem it worthy, but it works for me.
Mum - who rarely looks at her phone (according to her) …hmm…..
We had killed enough time that it was now 1:30 pm so we headed down to deck 6 aft. As we stepped off the elevators we were in a sea of people as they hadn’t opened up the barriers yet to let people into their cabins. Right as we were trying to find a place to stand, they came and took down the tapes and the sea of humanity disappeared quickly.
Mum and Maureen had a veranda this time around, and seeing as I was on my own I had booked an inside cabin with a pretty decent IGT rate. Mum and Maureen were on an onboard booking discount and the prices weren't much higher than opening day prices so I didn't feel like we had done badly for booking closer to the cruise date.
The view from their verandah.
Thankfully the fingernail obstruction in this photo didn't last all cruise.
Checking out everything going on down below.
I went down to check out my cabin. It’s been a while since I’ve been inside but it was perfect for me and I was glad I hadn't spent the extra on a verandah (especially as I could bum a looksee off Mum and Maureen!)
I forgot to post a photo of the new soap and shampoo set up on the last cruise, so here's my token photo now. I like the bigger bottles and I really like having body wash instead of a bar of soap.
My stateroom host was Piedad, who we had a few years ago on the only back-to-back we have done. It was good to see her again - I often wonder if they really recognize repeat cruisers or if they are just trained to act like they do. All of our luggage arrived very quickly and we all set to unpacking to get it over with. After I was finished, I went to join Mum and Maureen in their cabin and we sat outside and watch the luggage being loaded. There were a lot being loaded right at the end, after we were unpacked even, makes me wonder if it’s coming from the hotels?
These are somewhat interesting to me these days because my work has recently involved wind-turbine technology - I wondered where these blades are being shipped in from as I think they are all being made in Europe at the moment.
I popped back to my cabin for something, and obviously decided it was a good time to take a quick photograph of the artwork. I kept trying to think about WWSD? (What would Scott do?)
Piedad had left this reminder that we lost an hour tonight. Boo.
We headed down to muster a little early as we were in Animator’s Palate, so we knew we could sit down while we waited. Score!!
Quick photo while we waited.
It had started to turn chilly, and you could feel it coming up the service stairwell.
Continued in next post.