Jessica Johnson - June 2006

Day 2 - June 23, 2006

We had debated getting up early today, because our room package had included a free breakfast. But, in the end, we opted for extra sleep. Chris and Joe headed off to move our cars (you have to park in a special lot behind a dome for the cruise parking packages), and then when they returned, we loaded up our stuff and headed to the lobby to get on the shuttle.

I had booked us on the first shuttle, at 10:30, and they'd told me to arrive about 15 minutes early, so we did. The driver of the shuttle seemed to be pretty cranky and couldn't understand why we had a reservation for 6 when only 2 of us were standing there. We tried a few times to explain that the others were on their way, and could we go ahead and load our luggage, but he wouldn't do it until the others showed up. Bizarrely, about 5 minutes later, he walked up to me and asked when we wanted him to load the luggage, like we hadn't already talked about it. In any event, he happily took the luggage at that point, and loaded it onto the little trailer. The others showed up and loaded their stuff, and soon we were on the bus, on the way to the port.

We were dropped off at the curb, where we handed over the big items to the Disney Cruise guys, and then headed into the Terminal with our carry-ons. Before you get through the gate, you have to show a photo id, and then when you get inside the door, you go through metal detectors, and put your carry-ons on a conveyor through an x-ray machine. After that, you head upstairs, after being handed a boarding card from a cast member. At the top of the stairs, you break off into different lines to check in. Chris and I were both happy that we were able to go into the Castaway Club line ;o)

After everyone was checked in, Annette went and registered Kyle for the kids clubs, and then we found some seats to wait. We had about an hour before we could board the ship, but we were able to get in and get settled with almost no wait- and I'd always rather be early. Donald came out for a visit, and Mickey showed up later on, to entertain people as the terminal got more and more crowded. We were keeping an eye out for the others, and spotted Carla and Tom shortly before they began the boarding process.

We were in boarding group 3, so we made plans to meet Carla and Tom at Parrot Cay at 12:30 pm, and then got in line. After showing our photo ids and our Key to the World cards we were officially scanned onto the ship, and got into another line for the embarkation pictures. The lines went fairly quickly, and once we were all onboard, we headed directly to Wavebands, to see if we could change our dining rotation. On our cruise in October, we'd been booked at Palo for the night we would be doing Triton's, and the same thing had happened this time, so we wanted to see if we could move it around.

As it turns out, they don't set up the dining change stations until around 1 pm, so we gave up and made our way back to Parrot Cay, where we were told we couldn't eat, because there was a long line. This was puzzling- as you could see in, and it was pretty empty, but they were herding people up to Beach Blanket Buffet. We pulled off to the side to regroup and figure out what to do when Carla and Tom just walked right into Parrot Cay with no one stopping them. So, at that point we were like- well, we're meeting people here, and they let us right in (and no, there was no line).

We got settled at our table and then took turns hitting the buffet. I think I ended up eating mostly ham and cheese, though I did try the salmon, and had to get some strawberry soup. Chris hit the kids buffet and had mac and cheese, a chicken finger and some garlic bread, along with some cookies from the dessert buffet. After everyone finished eating, we decided to head back to Wavebands to see if we could make some changes, and as we entered, we found Linda Stockwell, her husband Mike, and their girls. We were able to change our dining rotation, and were also able to change our Palo reservation to include the Stockwells and Linda Norton who was also on the ship with us.

Once dining was situated- it was time for the second most important thing, the spa! On our previous cruise both Chris and I had had a few treatments and while we'd decided not to splurge quite that much this time, we did want to do the frangipani head massage. I got in line and got us booked for 8 am (ugh!) the following morning. Chris had come in behind me and checked out the spa specials and found a package called Traveler's Tension, which was a great deal at $99, so we decided to cancel the head massage and book that instead. That particular special was only available that day, so we booked it for 7 pm. A quick check of the time revealed that our rooms would now be available, so we set off to find our stateroom.

We were in 5014, on deck 5, forward. It was just a short walk from the elevator bay, and we had a Category 9, so a large porthole. Chris and I spent a few minutes unpacking our carry-ons and getting things situated in the room. I checked to see what movies were playing and see what the Navigator had to say, and then we decided that as much as we didn't want to do it, we should get our workout in. I had brought my laptop and dvd so I could work out on the ship, but in the end, there just wasn't enough space, so we changed our plans, and headed down to deck 4, where we followed the jogging trail.

Three laps is a mile, so we set off to do 6. As it turns out, the jogging trail winds it's way all the way around deck 4, you go through some passageways in the back and when you get to the front of the ship, you walk through the area that has the mooring lines and the anchor chains on whatever the spool-ish things they sit on are called. Chris was thrilled to see that stuff, and I just wanted to get another lap done. As we were getting back to our starting point, we found that there was a rope across the course, saying that no one was allowed in the area, because they were loading CO2. Unfortunately, they hadn't roped off the other side, so we found out by coming up to the back of the sign, and figured they just hadn't removed it, and continued on with our laps.

When we'd finished our 6 laps, we headed back to the room to cool down, and grab our life jackets, as it was approaching time for the Lifeboat Drill. They have new lifejackets this year, and they're way less bulky than the old ones- but still not too stylish. In any event, at the appropriate time, we headed down to deck 4, in our jackets, and stood with everyone else on the deck while they ran through the usual announcements. Eventually we were released, and it was back to the room to ditch our stuff.

When we got back, our bags were waiting for us, so we brought them in, and sort of unpacked. We at least hung things in the closet, and stowed the extra shoes in the chest thing. Then, it was time to head upstairs to Signals to get our drink, and meet in the "sailaway spot". At Signals I asked about a chocolate martini, but the bartender seemed unsure, so I opted for a strawberry daiquiri instead. Chris had a jack and coke, and we headed up to the front of the ship to watch them pilot us out into the ocean.

Unfortunately, our "usual" spot was roped off, so we had to go to the other side of the ship, where we couldn't see the controls used, but it was still close enough. Carla and Tom were already there, and we hung out. I went back to see if anyone else was waiting near the other spot and found Annette and Kyle, so showed them where we were. We hung out and watched as the ship was released from the dock, and escorted out by a Coast Guard ship with a machine gun on it, into the ocean. After toasting our voyage, we decided it was time for a snack, and made our way back toward the various food areas on the ship. I found a table while the others ran off to get some snacks.

While I was waiting, Steph wandered by after her pedicure, so we pulled up a chair for her, and soon the others were all back. Carla and Kyle had gone for ice cream, while Chris went for chicken fingers. Steph went to get a snack, and we spent some time just hanging out and talking.

After a while, Chris and I had to head down to our stateroom, as I wanted to change before dinner, and with an 8:15 seating, I didn't think we'd have time after the spa. So, I grabbed my dress, and tried to put on my heels, but found that my feet had swollen and there wasn't a chance they'd go on. No big deal, I'd just wear my flip flops instead! Once we were both changed, we headed up to the spa, and checked in. As usual, they had a huge form to fill out, but after we were done and had turned them in, Chris was taken right back for his treatment.

My therapist, Kate, wasn't ready just yet, but she showed up a few minutes later, and soon I was on my way back to my treatment room. My room was one of the ones that overlook the deck, so after closing the blinds, Kate left the room so I could strip down, and then climb on the table, and cover myself with a giant towel. Kate was back in just a few minutes and my first part of the treatment began, a back of the body massage. The Traveler's Tension package included a 25 minute back of the body massage, and then a 25 minute facial. The massage was wonderful- though of course too short ;o) It was much needed though, and for the first time that week, it felt like my shoulders weren't permanently wedged by my ears.

After the massage, I flipped over, and we did the 25 minute facial. I always find facials to be so relaxing- I end up just about asleep by the time they're done, and this was no exception (the ship swaying didn't hurt either! LOL!). I hated that the treatment ended, but eventually it was over, and time to get redressed and ready for dinner. After signing off on the bill, Kate handed me a cup of water, and walked me back out of the maze of corridors to the lobby where I found Chris already waiting. We headed down to Triton's, where we had dinner for the evening, and on the way I asked how his treatment had gone. This had been his first facial, and he loved it.

In the Atrium, we found Carla and Tom, and realized that none of us had brought our dining rotation ticket, so Chris headed back to the room to get it. Annette, Joe, Steph and Kyle showed up a few minutes later, and they hadn't brought it either, so we waited for Chris to return. Just as we were about to send out a search party for him, he showed up, and we headed inside, to find that they had put us at a table that was too small. They re-assigned us to another table, and we were quickly settled and meeting our servers.

On our previous cruise, we weren't overly thrilled with our servers, but the ones we had on the sailing were wonderful. The food was amazing- for an appetizer, I decided to try the escargot, as I'd never had them before. They were ok, I'm not a fan of the texture, but Chris tried them and liked them. For an entrée, I got the filet, while Chris got a citrus roasted duckling. His duck was kind of varied, some pieces were wonderful, some overcooked, but the filet was awesome. We couldn't resist dessert, and he got an apple-honey tart, and I got a white chocolate raspberry mousse dome. Both were really good, and we were all glad we'd finally been able to experience Triton's.

After dinner, Chris and I headed to the shops to see if there was anything we needed to get. We had plans to meet up with the others, at Wavebands, for the 80s party, but it wasn't until 11 pm, and we didn't want to watch the Match Your Mate game, so we headed back to our stateroom and hung out there for a little while before. Around 11, we made our way back to Wavebands, where we found the "midnight" buffet, and we grabbed three chocolate covered strawberries, one for me, one for Annette and one for Steph. We headed to the club, and found the others sitting down, and grabbed some chairs to join them, after handing out the strawberries.

We caught the tail end of Match Your Mate, and then the 80's party began. It was the same as in October, some CMs will come out and dance to a few songs, and then try to get people up onto the dance floor to join them. We were kind of near the dance floor, but, none of us were particularly in the mood to join in, so we'd just shake our heads and say no thanks when they'd come to our table.

All was fine, we were having a good time until an over zealous Cast Member came out after the Michael Jackson number. He first grabbed Chris's arms, pulling him up from his seat, while Chris said no, that was ok. When he let go, Chris had been kind of anchoring himself with his bodyweight, so much like two kids playing tug of war, when one lets go, the other goes flying, and he ended up hitting his head on one of the radio towers in the room. That sucked. Then, he approached me, he was kind of off to my side, and put one arm around me, trying to lift me out of the chair- I said, no, thanks, and he kept pulling. I repeated that I was fine, and he kept lifting- finally I was yelling NO! and he kept pulling. It took Chris getting up and telling him to leave me alone to get him to go away. I was, and kind of still am, quite a bit ticked. I do get that it's their job to get people out on the floor and having fun- but I think there's a line he crossed, and I wasn't happy about it.

But, we shook it off, and hung out for a while longer- through the 80s party and into the general dance party afterwards. Around 12:30, we decided to call it a night, and after taking some pictures in the portholes outside the club, we headed off to our respective rooms.

I was hungry again- so we called room service, and I ordered a burger with no bun, and some fruit instead of fries. Chris got a hot dog and fries and some chocolate chip cookies. The food arrived quickly, and after eating, we settled into bed for the night- drifting off watching the Disney movies on tv.

To see my photos: Disney Wonder Cruise Photos
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