Our Wonderful "Another B-E-A-U-tiful Day" EBPC & Halloween Cruise ~ October 2018 ~ Completed!

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 14

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Cozumel, Mexico







We were up at our usual time and looked to see where we had been overnight.



It was yet another B-E-A-U-tiful day! By 8:20 AM, we were docked in Cozumel.

DSC_5158

DH and I booked the “Mayan Chocolate Experience and Island Tour” excursion through DCL. We were to meet at the Crown & Fin at 9:45 AM. Our neighbors booked a private island tour.

We went to breakfast at Cabanas a little after 8:30 AM and were greeted by this.



Oh, Happy Halloween, by the way!

After breakfast we waited until 9:30 AM to go to the Crown & Fin. Dustin gave us our number 3 sticker for our tour. Shortly after, we were led down to Deck 1 forward to get off the ship. We then met our tour guide and walked down the pier, up the escalator, up and around the entire shopping center, and then down another escalator to where our bus was waiting.

We saw performers and crew members getting off the ship to do some grocery shopping and find some WiFi.













I have to say, it was the tightest tour bus I have ever been on. There was hardly any room for our legs.

Our guide today would be Dante and our driver was Rodrigo. Of course, he was the best driver in Cozumel. Dante was a good guide, except after every sentence he would finish with “OK” or “Right”. It got to be very annoying shortly into the tour.

Our first stop was the Mayan Cacao Company.







We were greeted by a Mayan performer to greet us with an authentic Mayan welcome. He was both living and dead with skeleton drawings on one side of this body and markings of a jaguar on the other.



Once his welcome was complete, we were “encouraged” to get our picture taken and then to purchase and picture and frame to support the Mayan culture on the island.

Dante started by explaining how they counted in the Mayan language.





We then went through a gallery that showed how the cocoa beans were harvested and made into chocolate. We had no idea that cocoa beans actually grow in a huge pod. We also saw the Goddess of the Cocoa bean.







We were then led through a hut that showed the “Dia de la Muertas” offering. Since watching “Coco”, we understand the holiday a lot better than we did and, of course, the holiday is the next day.







To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 14 (Continued)

We were then given a freshly made tortilla with a pumpkin seed spread. I personally didn’t care for it.



They had Macaws and parrots everywhere.



We were then led into a theater of sorts. We were given samples of raw ground chocolate. I don’t really like Dark Chocolate so didn’t like the sample. DH, on the other hand, did.


We got our seats and waited for a few more tours to join us from other ships. We watched a very entertaining and informative demonstration on how cocoa beans used to be made into chocolate. They used organic ingredients like honey, cinnamon, paprika and vanilla.








We then left the theater and were given a “hot cocoa” drink of sorts. Basically it was chocolate with warm water. We could add vanilla or sugar to sweeten it, but it was fine the way it was. They were also selling Chocolate Margaritas for $5. We did not get one.
However, we did go buy some chocolate bars from the shop. They were a little pricey at $8 per bar, but what the heck. We bought a bar with coffee beans for my sister-in-law and a dark chocolate bar for our DD.

Before getting back on the bus, the photographer was there with everybody’s picture. We ended up buying ours with the frame.
We then headed along the coast of the island. We passed several resorts.





We finally came to an area where, surprise, surprise, vendors were set up on the beach to sell their wares. They weren’t shy about letting you know they were there either. We just went to enjoy the views.













We then headed back to the ship. We were let off outside the mall after being “reminded” that gratuities would be welcome.









Before heading back to the ship, we decided to call our DD back home as she was between classes and we had Verizon coverage in Mexico.
By 1:20 PM we were headed back up the pier to the ship. By the way, we only had to show our KTTW card to the security guard, photo id was not requested.






To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 14 (Continued)

By 1:30 PM we were back on the ship. We returned to our stateroom to find the saddest things of all. Tip envelopes!



But, we also got our Trick or Treat bag!

by Wendy, on Flickr

At 1:45 PM, we were on Deck 9 having lunch from Pete’s Boiler Bites with some fruit and cookies from Daisy’s De-Lite.



We wanted to work on or photobook in Shutters, but forgot that it was closed because we were in port. I get the whole “can’t sell anything on-board while in port”, but couldn’t they disconnect the purchase part and just let us access our photos?

Remember when I told you that DNM had decided what our costumes were going to be for the cruise? She was going to be Cinderella, I was going to be Lady Tremayne (the classic animated one), DH was the “Fairy Godfather” and DNC and DNJ were going to be Anastasia and Drizella, her evil step-sisters.

Well, after some shopping at Goodwill, we had our costumes and were ready to go.

We decided to wear our costumes to dinner. Dinner was at Tiana’s Place and it was Mardi Gras night.









When we sat down, Nino gave us our Mardi Gras beads.

I was amazed at all of the people in costume. There were some really good ones too. I was not surprised, based on the demographics of the passengers, to see a lot of Mr. Fredericksens from “Up”. It was funny, how many we saw. Anyway, DH and I arrived at our table first. I was dressed relatively normally except for my hair and make-up.



However, when DNC and DNJ showed up with their wigs, complete with bows, their skirts and their big butts (pillows), Nino started busting out in laughter. I thought he was going to have kittens. He could barely take our orders with a straight face. It was priceless!













I ordered the Iceberg Wedge.



And Big Daddy’s Roasted Prime Rib for my entrée.



The piano player and Tiana joined the Crooners and the party began.





The servers marched around the room while the band played “Dig a Little Deeper” and then kids joined in on the Limbo line. It was great fun!



I was especially looking forward to dessert tonight and had to order 2 because I couldn’t decide.









To be continued. . .

 

[darnheather]

There are so many things on this menu that I am looking forward to! It might be a four dessert night for me. Love the costumes, looks like everyone had a great time.

Day 14 (Continued)

By 1:30 PM we were back on the ship. We returned to our stateroom to find the saddest things of all. Tip envelopes!



But, we also got our Trick or Treat bag!

by Wendy, on Flickr

At 1:45 PM, we were on Deck 9 having lunch from Pete’s Boiler Bites with some fruit and cookies from Daisy’s De-Lite.



We wanted to work on or photobook in Shutters, but forgot that it was closed because we were in port. I get the whole “can’t sell anything on-board while in port”, but couldn’t they disconnect the purchase part and just let us access our photos?

Remember when I told you that DNM had decided what our costumes were going to be for the cruise? She was going to be Cinderella, I was going to be Lady Tremayne (the classic animated one), DH was the “Fairy Godfather” and DNC and DNJ were going to be Anastasia and Drizella, her evil step-sisters.

Well, after some shopping at Goodwill, we had our costumes and were ready to go.

We decided to wear our costumes to dinner. Dinner was at Tiana’s Place and it was Mardi Gras night.









When we sat down, Nino gave us our Mardi Gras beads.

I was amazed at all of the people in costume. There were some really good ones too. I was not surprised, based on the demographics of the passengers, to see a lot of Mr. Fredericksens from “Up”. It was funny, how many we saw. Anyway, DH and I arrived at our table first. I was dressed relatively normally except for my hair and make-up.



However, when DNC and DNJ showed up with their wigs, complete with bows, their skirts and their big butts (pillows), Nino started busting out in laughter. I thought he was going to have kittens. He could barely take our orders with a straight face. It was priceless!













I ordered the Iceberg Wedge.



And Big Daddy’s Roasted Prime Rib for my entrée.



The piano player and Tiana joined the Crooners and the party began.





The servers marched around the room while the band played “Dig a Little Deeper” and then kids joined in on the Limbo line. It was great fun!



I was especially looking forward to dessert tonight and had to order 2 because I couldn’t decide.









To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 14 (Continued)

After dinner, we headed to the atrium for the Halloween festivities. My “daughters”, I’m so “proud” of them. Do you know any eligible princes?



We had a great time staying in character. I asked every prince I saw if they were eligible. I even asked Capt. Henry if he was a prince, but Drizella didn’t want to settle for a “sailor.” We even asked Anthony, who was dressed as the “Prince of Darkness”, but he refused her as well. It is so hard getting daughters married off these days! Ha ha

We Trick or Treated on the 3rd and 4th decks where tables were set up, they had the same candy that is passed out at the Halloween parties in the parks. We quickly filled our bag and went to the Mousequerade party in the Lobby Atrium. We watched Jo lead the costumed characters in showing their dance moves.

















Dustin and Derrell were dancing above.









After the Mousequerade, we made our way to Azure for the “Halloween Isn’t Just for Kids party.” Look, the President showed up.



We were early to the party and Michael Harrison, a ventriloquist, was still performing his adult show. I have seen him on previous cruises and he does the same shtick by talking for people as they move their mouth. But, it is still very funny!

After the show was over, all people who wanted to enter the costume contest had to get on the stage and dance to the music while cast members went through and determined who they were going to nominate for 4 different categories: Spookiest, Best Original Costume, Best Disney Costume and Best Group.

We waited patiently thinking that we weren’t going to be nominated as the cast members kept walking by us. Finally, Mitch came over and gave us a card for “Best Group.” I was so excited.



We found some seats and waited for our group to be called.



As the nominees gathered on stage, Jo would interview each one and ask what they were dressed as. Several of the people or groups stayed in character while being interviewed. Voting was done by audience applause. The group or person with the largest applause would win.

The first group was the spookiest. A family dressed like the Empire characters from Star Wars including the Emperor himself won. Very scary.

The next group was the Best Original. There were some really good groups, including 3 Blind Mice. However, the group that won was a group of older people dressed as the original Mousketeers complete with Mouseketeer ears and their names on their shirts. They even sang the Mouseketeer Song.

The third group was for Best Group. We went up with 4 other groups. 2 guys dressed as the concubines from Mulan, a family dressed as Jedi Knights, a group of Inside Out Characters minus Sad, a family dressed as Hocus Pocus characters and us. Except for the concubines and Jedi’s, everybody stayed in character. The thing with the Jedi costumes was that the teenage daughter designed the enter family’s costumes, but didn’t finish them in time for the cruise, so they brought the fabric and a sewing machine on the ship with them. Now that’s dedication! They were beautiful and would have totally fit in at Comic Con. Anyway, Jo came to ask about our group, and in character, I thanked her for inviting us to the ball and asked if the Prince would be arriving shortly, then introduced her to my daughters, whom I needed to marry off. She couldn’t stop laughing when she saw DNJ. Anyway, she asked DNM if she was Cinderella and she nodded yes. Then the voting began. It took about 4 times of audience applause for Jo to declare our group the winner!! We were amazed! We didn’t even expect to enter a contest, let alone win it. Kudos to DNM for coming up with the idea! We had a blast!



The last group was best Disney Costume. There was a couple as Beauty and the Beast, another as Briar Rose and Prince Philip, Roz and one of scare monsters, complete with the sock on his back, a guy dressed as Stinky Pete complete with boxes for his shoes and a couple dressed as Russell and Mr. Frederickson. They even brought all the materials on board to make a cardboard wagon carrying a paper mache Kevin. It was awesome. Also, Mr. Frederickson shaved off the moustache he has had for 39 years just for the costume. They deservedly won that group.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was having so much fun I forgot. Besides, I was on the side of the stage and the room was relatively dark so I’m not sure how the pictures would have turned out anyway.

Unfortunately, the “Fairy Godfather” wasn’t into the festivities and cut out early so he didn’t participate in the contest. But he found this in our room; a commemorative lithograph. This one was not going to DD that was for sure!



Halloween is my favorite time in the parks and we have been to several Halloween parties on both coasts. However, we never made an effort to dress in costume. It was always a bother with weather conditions, getting on and off rides, etc. But, dressing up and participating in the Halloween festivities on the ship was really fun!

By 11:30 PM, I felt like I was going to turn into a pumpkin, so I turned in.



Next: No, say it ain’t so!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 15

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Sea Day 8





Last night DCL provided this really cool souvenir about our cruise.









Where has the time gone? Not only is it November already, but our 14 day cruise is just about over!!

We woke up to a partly cloudy day. We went up to Cabanas for breakfast.

Since it was closed yesterday, we headed to Shutters to work on our photobook before it got slammed. We were able to get a kiosk and finish our book. Shutters’ was also selling stock photos that had been taken of the Wonder as it went through canal. They were selling 5 for $20, or you could get 30 stock photos and a time lapse video of the ship going through the canal for $49.99. Either one was a great deal. DH opted to just get 5 photos. The video will be up on You Tube soon enough.

Our neighbors were working on their book as well and we coordinated some prints to get as second ones are cheaper. With that job done, I headed down to Port Adventures to get the last Photo Challenge of the cruise. It really wasn’t a photo challenge as much as a scavenger hunt for crew members.



10 flags from different nationalities were provided and you needed to find a crew member from that country, get their name and have them autograph the sheet. Then you could take it home as a souvenir. We got a few signatures of our favorite crew members. It was more fun finding out the nationalities of the flags.

The night before, we had received a commemorative Navigator showing all of our cruise days, temps, and facts about the Wonder. Along with those facts, we discovered that the Wonder was actually 984.5 feet with the addition of the duck tail. Well, of course that meant that we were actually correct with the tie break for trivia the other day. Our mission was to find Dustin.

After some searching and stopping to get crew member autographs, we found Dustin in the Crown & Fin. When he saw us he said, “you guys were actually right weren’t you” and asked if we wanted our medals. Duh, yes! We laughed. He said that he had also realized it to the night before.

At about 11:15, DH and I decided to go hang out in the Promenade Lounge and enjoy one last drink. After all, it was 5:00 somewhere! I ordered the drink of the day: Caribbean Dream.



While we were enjoying our drink, the activities crew brought out all of the extra 3D paper crafts that they had left after 2 weeks. I grabbed some for DD so she and her roommate could do them at school.

We went up to our room at 12:00 to finish packing. I checked to see where we were and where we had been.



and noticed that the skies were getting darker.



We were definitely heading into some bad weather. We headed up to Cabanas for lunch at about 12:30 PM and the rains began. Of course, the outside deck was closed.

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After lunch we went to walk on Deck 9. You could definitely feel the difference in temperature. It actually started feeling like November. I felt sorry for the life guards because even though there wasn’t a soul in the pools, they had to continue being on duty in the cold wind and rain.

We saw a stowaway.







It continued to rain the better part of the afternoon. We even heard the Captain blow the fog horn a few times. Von got our room done later than usual and we found these on our dresser.



DNC and I decided that we had better use our Rainforest Day Pass that we purchased pre-cruise. You’d think that over 14 days we’d have plenty of time to check it out. Well, there was always something else to do. We got ready and headed to the spa. Well, the room was packed and it looked like nobody was leaving anytime soon. They were comfy on their chaises with their books, crossword puzzles, etc. Didn’t look like we were going to be able to use it. Bummer.

At 4:30 PM I headed down to the Promenade Lounge for the last round of Disney Trivia. I did ok. It was a lot of fun playing all of the trivia on-board and the fact that each trivia game was different was nice.
To be continued. . .

 

[bcwife76]

Your costumes are fantastic!!!! Way to go guys, winners!!!!!!!

My hubby *almost* won for best original costume this past cruise, he was narrowly, narrowly beaten out by someone else lol

Oh gosh, not fabulous weather for your last day (and a sea day to boot).

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Thank you! I take no responsibility for my neighbors costumes, but they were great! I was amazed at the quality and ingenuity of some of the costumes on board and how many people actually dressed up. Judging was pretty close in all of our categories as well. Better luck next time for your hubby! I'd do another Halloween cruise in a heartbeat!

We actually enjoyed seeing the not so fabulous weather for a change. It was pretty "cool", literally!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 15 Continued

It was time to get ready for our last dinner. It was in Triton’s.







I was really bad about taking food pictures tonight, but I had Marinated Tiger Shrimp and Chicken Parmesan.

Dessert.







I had the Lava Cake for dessert.



After dinner DH and I headed back up to our stateroom to change our clothes and pack our dinner clothes into our luggage to put outside our door to be picked up.


The final show of the cruise was “Frozen.” I hadn’t seen the show before and was really looking forward to it. DH even wanted to see it. I have seen the Frozen show at California Adventure and figured it would be similar. However, they used more puppets for the cruise show.

Expecting a bigger crowd tonight, we made our way down to deck 3, outside the Cadillac Lounge at about 8:00 PM and waited for our neighbors. There were already 2 families with wheel chairs waiting to go in. It was almost comical seeing each of them inch closer and closer to the door and race each other to be the first ones in the theater.

We were let in and DH and I found seats in the 3rd row center.





We had our last evening briefing by Natalie, with whom I must credit with the title of this trip report. B-E-A-U-tiful sounds so much better said aloud with a British accent.



But first, there was a special surprise for us. Shutters put together a time-lapse trip through the canal. They basically condensed 8 hours in to 4 minutes and added music. It was awesome.

The show was phenomenal. We loved how they used the puppets in the beginning of little Elsa, Anna, Sven and Kristof. Of course, Olaf stole the show. The cast member was phenomenal!

After the show DH went back up to the stateroom while I went with our neighbors to the Til We Meet Again show. This show always gets me.

Before the show I took some last pictures of the Pumpkin Tree.



Anthony hosted and the cast came down.





Then it was the characters turn.





Our neighbors went off to see the characters; I searched out some of the cast members and told them how much I appreciated their Halloween show and their performances in Frozen.

I noticed there wasn’t a line to see Mickey so I jumped in and got my only character pictures of the cruise. I told him I had to say hi from DD to her future boss!



Then it was time to sing M-I-C-K-E-Y . . .









The aftermath.



Bye Mickey, see you in July!



After the show, we went around to find some of our favorite crew members to say good bye and thank you. It had been the most incredible 2 weeks ever!



“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” premEARed on board at 11:00 PM. I personally didn’t want to see the movie, but our neighbors went and enjoyed it.

Next: Back to reality!

 

[darnheather]

I can't wait for the chocolate lava cake! I'm going back through to re-read the menus now. So soon for me.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I can't wait for the chocolate lava cake! I'm going back through to re-read the menus now. So soon for me.

Oh my goodness, the time will go by so fast and you will be on the Wonder before you know. It will be weird in July knowing that I left the Wonder in Galveston and that it would have gone back through the canal before i get on in Vancouver.

 

[lorimay]

I can't wait for the chocolate lava cake! I'm going back through to re-read the menus now. So soon for me.

I am so excited for some new menus on our upcoming cruise!
Longest we have done so far is 10 nights through Hawaii, so I am hoping to have four new menus!!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 16

Friday, November 2, 2018

Galveston, TX







I can’t believe our 14 night cruise was over.

S

It just seemed like it just started. The time flew by. We had 7:15 AM breakfast at Triton’s, therefore, we were up early. The wonder was docked in Galveston by the time we woke up.

We headed down to breakfast and kept our carry-ons in our room. We cleared it with Von ahead of time.







I had pancakes.

We finished breakfast at about 7:45 AM. We went up to our room to get our stuff and then headed to our neighbors room while they finished getting their stuff together. We stepped out on the verandah and noticed dolphins in the water. Unfortunately, they never jumped out of the water and it was all but impossible to get a picture of their dorsal.





We originally planned to go up to Deck 10 to walk around before getting off. Unfortunately the elevators were so busy, we decided to go to the Promenade Lounge and wait. I had reserved Galveston Express at 10:00 AM to take us to Hobby airport. At 8:30 AM, DH got bored and insisted that we should get off and get our luggage. Well, we walked toward the atrium and had just a few people ahead of us as we left the Wonder for the last time this cruise.





Our neighbors took the elevator at the end of the hall, while we took the 3 long ramps heading to the warehouse. Our luggage was in the 2nd warehouse where Grey Daisy tags were. Our luggage was very easy to find and were actually grouped together. We then got in the huge line to go through customs. It literally took us an hour to get through. I’m glad DH insisted that we get off when we did.





Once outside, DNC and I started trying to find where our shuttle would be. Once we found out where, our driver texted me and told me he was there. We were the first ones on the shuttle, which was a good thing because once we got our luggage and a wheelchair in, there was barely enough room for 4 more people. Our driver had to arrange for another shuttle to pick up the other 2 that hadn’t showed up by the time we left. Our shuttle was literally racked, stacked and packed. It was an uneventful 30 or so minute drive to Hobby.





We were dropped off at the terminal and we went to check in our bags. At that time our flight was on time, but we were about 2 ½ hours early. We went through security and decided to grab some lunch. We went to Pappa’s Burgers where we could sit down and enjoy a meal. DH and I split a burger and a chocolate shake. They were good.

By the time we were done with lunch, our flight had been delayed 10 minutes to 2:00 PM and our gate had been changed. This was a good thing, because instead of traversing to the complete other side of the terminal, our gate was only a few gates away from the restaurant.

We waited at the gate until the attendant asked us to line up. The request was weird because our plane hadn’t even showed up to the gate yet. Well, we found out that our plane had indeed arrived, but ended up going to the old gate. They deplaned passengers there and then moved the plane to our gate. We boarded and then had to wait while several of the passengers were re-ticketed because we were late enough for them to miss their connecting flights in Phoenix.

Finally, at about 3:10 PM we were on our way! We arrived home at 3:35 PM, Arizona time. Our luggage arrived quickly and then we went outside to wait for our Super Shuttle, which arrived at 4:15 PM.

What a difference a 30 minute late arrival made. We hit Phoenix rush hour. A 20 minute trip from the airport turned into 45 minutes. At 5:00 PM we were unlocking our front door.

We only had this many more days until our next cruise!



This was our 7th cruise, and I have to rank it right up there as one of our favorites. All of our other cruises had been very port intensive so we were constantly getting on and off the ship seeing marvelous and amazing things in wonderful and fantastic places. However, this cruise offered a chance to really relax and enjoy the ship and all it has to offer, while still getting a chance to see incredible places. We met some extraordinarily friendly and talented crew members who really made the cruise so exceedingly enjoyable! I hope to I meet up with them again soon.

Thank you for reading this very long trip report. I hope you enjoyed it and it helped you plan a similar cruise with DCL!

Until July my friends when we sail to Alaska! Adios!

 

[Geomom]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report! This is on our 'list'...we just need to wait another 3 1/2 yrs until our youngest is off to college...

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report! This is on our 'list'...we just need to wait another 3 1/2 yrs until our youngest is off to college...

The time will fly by. This cruise is well worth the wait and the guilt trip your kids will lay on you for going without them!

 

[Geomom]

The time will fly by. This cruise is well worth the wait and the guilt trip your kids will lay on you for going without them!

I believe it! DD18 is already guilt tripping us for our upcoming travel plans over her birthday (while she's living at college 4 hrs away...). We are taking her younger sister to Disney World during her school break, to get one last trip with our annual passes. Note that SHE has been to Disney 3x in the past year (1x without us) AND we plan to go in August WITH her! We sent DD18 back to school with lots of presents to open on her b-day as well as mailing her stuff...and we can video chat that morning. I love her...but I have no intention of spending February vacation in NY state...I have enough snow and cold at my house!

I do understand how time flies with the kids...not sure how I have 2 freshmen (HS and college) this year.

 

[Ladybugx87]

I really enjoyed your trip report. Thanks for sharing as it will be awhile before Panama Canal fits our schedule.

 

[bcwife76]

Have really enjoyed this trip report!!! Panama Canal is definitely on our list of future cruises. We actually had the March 2020 WBPC cruise booked, briefly, but ended up cancelling it about a month after opening day as we just can't make it work with my husbands' vacation schedule (the way they do it at his work is very annoying!) So it will have to wait, perhaps until our kids are also out of the house but we'll see.....

 

[darnheather]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful cruise. Can't believe I'm going this month!

 

[lorimay]

Thank you for a great review!!!
Enjoyed reading along.......