Our 1st Proper Halloween - Pacific Coast Cruise Leg - Completed 4/24/2013 About This Page:

[Big Sister]

To reach about our first leg at Universal Studios Hollywood, please click here.

Sunday, 30 September 2012: Setting sail down the Pacific Coast on the Disney Wonder

Got up at 9.18am to have a shower. Woke Nest up afterwards so he could have his shower, while I finished packing last minute items and simultaneously looking out at the window at today's crowd for the park, envious that pretty much most of them would be riding Jurassic Park River Adventure today, and I wouldn't My envy didn't get too out of hand once I reminded myself that I'd be going on a real cruise lasting seven days, and not a pretend one that only lasted four minutes

I had written a list of must dos before going to bed the previous evening, so I set about crossing them off: removing our Qantas flight tags from our luggage, and replacing them with Disney cruise ones; copying the details of our last two meals from room service (gotta be precise with these things!); and, packing the soft toys lining Nest's bed head. The other two tasks required me to leave the room - printing off our limo confirmation e-mail in the Business Centre, then going to the gift store to buy snacks and drinks (in case there weren't any in the limo), and postage stamps for Nest's letter and my postcards (can't believe I didn't manage to send any from Universal this time round!)

When I logged into my e-mail, there was no confirmation e-mail waiting As we had limited time till pick up, I briefly sent our bros an e-mail, saying that we had been having an awesome time, sorry we had been missing their calls, and our run-in with the chainsaw-wielding bunny. I also sent my boss/friend a one-liner, saying that Nest had left me in the middle of the backlot the previous night, surrounded by zombies! (She was the one who got me onto The Walking Dead in the first place.)

At the gift store, I was spoiled for choice with snacks! When faced with this dilemma, it takes me ages to make a decision I came away with four bottles of water, a tube of cheddar cheese Pringles, a packet of pretzels (we had made short work of our previous packet), a packet of Skittles, and a packet of Rolos (chewy caramel covered in chocolate), and ten international postage stamps

By the time I got back to our room, we had ten minutes till limo pick-up. A quick bathroom break, followed by security tagging our luggage, and we left our room for the last time that holiday, not knowing when we'd be back. It wasn't until the door had clicked shut behind us, did I realise I didn't take one last look at the view Oh well, I'll always have the photos

Wheeling our suitcases and struggling with our day bags, we made our way outside and found a shady spot to sit. We were surprised that the limo wasn't there already waiting for us, seeing as it was right on 11.30am. After ten minutes of waiting in intense heat despite being in the shade, I went to the Tours and Transport Desk to ask for assistance. Thank goodness Linda was on duty, and knew the history of our request. Her colleague was already on the phone on behalf of another guest, and found out the main highway had been closed for a marathon (who exercises and races outside in such intense heat?! ), and that the limos were having to use back roads to get to us (why couldn't the marathon runners have used the back roads?! ) Linda had received a confirmation e-mail on our behalf, so I didn't worry about not having received one personally.

Throughout our prolonged wait (we had moved into the air conditioned lobby by this stage), Linda periodically came up to us, apologising and saying the limo company had called again, adding yet another ten minutes to our wait time. She seemed really worried we'd miss the ship, but I explained to her that 1.30pm was the check-in time window I had chosen, and that our deadline was actually 4pm. I definitely wouldn't have been as relaxed as I was if the sail time was actually 1.30pm! She also gave us bottles of water to drink, despite me already saying we already had some.

Nest and I were so happy and excited to see a black stretch limo finally make its way up the driveway. A manager appeared from out of nowhere and gave me his business card, saying that he had arranged for us to get a discount due to the delay, and that if I didn't, to contact him. Linda gave me her card also, to cc her in the message, and thanked us for being so relaxed during the whole thing. (Being agro and difficult wouldn't have made the limo appear any faster.)

As our driver loaded our luggage, we loaded ourselves into the beautiful plushness of the limo, where we could help ourselves to yet more iced water, sparkling cider, ginger ale, 7up, and red 'n white striped peppermints. We just ended up having a 7up each, and snacking on salted pretzels and cheddar cheese Pringles while watching the world go by.

Inside, the very comfortable seats were grey leather with matching cushions. Ever changing coloured neon light tubes lined the ceiling and bar levels. The different sections of the refreshment sections, lit up from below, giving the glasses a beautiful golden glow. Most importantly though, we had air conditioning! I sat in front of one of the vents the entire way, in the curved part going backwards. Nest sat on the back seat below the row of buttons that controlled the sun roof and refreshment lights.

I was soooooooooooooo surprised the drive only took around 50 minutes! Nest was the first to spot the Disney Wonder, and seemed visibly excited, as if it had suddenly sunk in that all this excitement was real and ready to begin. I got massively excited too, especially when I spotted a big welcome banner flanked by Mickey and Donald.

Our first view of the Disney Wonder

I seriously couldn't believe how smooth the check-in process was! It probably took all of 15 minutes, from curb side drop, to boarding the ship! We said goodbye to, thanked and tipped our limo driver.

Even before our suitcases were out of the boot, a luggage handler was on hand to take the suitcases away and make sure they got on the ship. We showed our passports and cruise book at the door to the terminal, and were let inside.

Right inside, we stopped and filled in a two question health survey (it took forever ) Then we went up the escalators (after having received our first copy of the Daily Navigator) and checked in (the people checking in next to us, were from Albury Wodonga - almost right next door to our hometown! ) I was surprised at the lack of crowds. We showed our passports, signed and submitted our online reservation form, had our photos taken, and received our Key to the Worlds cards (blue with Captain Mickey on them), and another card with our boarding number and time on it (which ended up not applying.)

Went outside and had our pic taken with some of the characters from the Cars movies.

Went through Customs - the lady loved Squeaky Koala Bear, who Nest was carrying around in his top shirt pocket. Out of Customs, we stopped at a hand sanitation station. It was cute how they had spouts at adult and child levels. Then we walked through an enclosed see-through ramp, and then suddenly we found ourselves on board the Disney Wonder!!

Nearly there!

Getting closer!

A cast member asked Nest, who boarded first, for our family name, and then announced in a really loud voice, "Ladies and gentlemen - please welcome the Carriage Family!", and everyone nearby started clapping! Neither of us were expecting this, and it put even bigger grins on our faces

After our royal welcome, another staff member approached us and told us there was food available in Parrot Cay, or a buffet up in Beach Blanket Buffet. Nest and I headed up to deck nine to Beach Blanket Buffet. It was another stinking hot day, and the first thing I noticed once on deck, was a table with fantastic arrangement of traffic cone drink things (what with this being a Pixar cruise) - they were awesome, and attracted me like a magnet! I bought one each for Nest and myself. They contained a really yummy tropical cocktail drink.

Up at Beach Blanket Buffet, the lady cast member took a liking to the traffic cone drinks, and asked if we had gotten one for her. Then she spotted Squeaky Koala Bear tucked into Nest's shirt pocket, took him out, and confiscated him , saying that animals weren't allowed in the dining room, and gave him to the male cast member on the other side, saying that he collects soft toys.

After talks of a $10 ransom, Squeaky Koala Bear was returned, and Nest and I began our journey up the buffet line, trays at the ready. I had some prawns, a pesto and sun dried tomato pasta, mashed potato with Monteray Jack cheese (was thrilled to see that! ), and an assortment of cheeses. From the dessert bar, I pretty much took one of everything! There were double shot glasses (marbled effect with little Mickey heads on them) with peach jelly, peach pieces and mini marshmallows on top (this was super delicious!), peach cobbler, raspberry and white chocolate mousse, a chocolate brownie square (super rich), cheesecake square with a crumb base and raspberry couli topping, and a petite cake with a choux ball on top containing custard. I could detect a hint of citrus about it. Nest had a marinated chicken breast (which was apparently very yummy), some cubes of cheese, a mini tuna roll, and heaps of desserts (the peach jelly one I had, fruit crumble, choc chip cookie, chocolate slice, mini New York cheesecake, and others.)

It was well after 2pm once we had done with the buffet, so Nest and I decided to check out our stateroom: number 8074 on deck eight - a deluxe family stateroom with balcony

It was smaller than I imagined, and the separate loo and bathroom were tiny, plus we only had one king-sized bed (and a coach that could be made into a bed), but we managed, and were still really happy.

Explored our stateroom, took photos, and sat out on the balcony, relaxing.

View from balcony

Were introduced to the announcement system, and the emergency warning system. The latter was so unbelievably loud, it was worse than my old work fire alarm made for a factory environment and not an office environment. We didn't relax too much though, as we had to be on the ball for the mandatory safety drill at 3.30pm, which took around half an hour.

Think the sail away party began at 4.30pm. Nest and I went up to check it out. There were cast members walking around with trays of cocktails - I bought one for myself, and got a mocktail for Nest. The cast member then kindly offered to take a photo of us, cocktails in hand, with her tray in the foreground, as if they were all ours. It turned out to be one of my favourite photos of the whole trip. While we were mucking around like this, Mickey and friends were dancing and singing on stage - exciting background music to our introduction to cruising

Once we were all sorted, a cast member came on stage, hyping everyone up and putting the Party Rock Anthem on. Loads of kids and some adults got up on stage and began dancing. Nest and I were watching from up on deck ten. We both love the song, and I couldn't help but move around to it a bit myself. I videoed a portion of it to preserve the intense happiness on board. I only stopped when Nest told me we were moving - I hadn't even noticed! It was so smooth! We rushed to the side, and eventually the front, to record the beginning of our maiden voyage. If I was massively happy on reaching Universal, then I was euphoric on finally being on a Disney cruise after four years of badly wanting to go on one!

Judging from the look on his face, I think Nest was getting 'over-excited' at me taking so many photos of him

Retreated to our room and relaxed (think we watched MIB3) until it was almost time for our pre-dinner show, Welcome Aboard : Let the Magic Begin! On the way to the Walt Disney Theatre, we dropped our entry into Shutters to win two free photos. We didn't know when the results were going to be made known, but I was sure we'd find out if we were the lucky winners. We still had a bit of time before the show began, so we decided to check out the shops. We were one of the first people in the door of Treasure Ketch when it opened for the first time during our cruise, which was exciting. It was if we were getting a special preview. I picked up a really pretty hoody, which I was told was a discontinued line, and three postcards for my collection. We had a massively quick look in the store opposite, Mickey's Mates, but didn't make any purchases, as it was show time.

The show was hosted by Jimmy, the Entertainment Director. The show was done in about three segments, and was about a family boarding a Disney cruise just like we had done, and all the excitement they were experiencing. It then focussed on the boy's dream of becoming a sailor, and of one day becoming the 'Big Cheese' (ie. Captain) like Mickey.

In-between these segments, Jimmy would get to know the audience, and tell us what to expect over the course of the next seven days. He also said that all diets weren't applicable on the cruise, and to just eat everything we saw! No worries there, especially as he said the most weight we could gain was about seven pounds! He also said he liked high fives, so for the kids and adults to feel free to come up to him and give him a high five whenever we saw him. (Nest and I came across him once, and held our hands up as we walked by, smiling, and he returned the favour )

In one of the show intermissions, we got to see a preview of a comedy show for the following night, by two comedians we'd never heard of before, called Alfred and Seymour. They were so funny , that we both made a note that we just had to see their full show the following night! Thank goodness for this preview, otherwise we wouldn't have known just what we were missing! Here were some of the highlights from their preview:

· We learnt, on no account, to be late to one of their shows, as either Alfred or Seymour would approach every single latecomer, and engage in some kind of embarrassing banter with them. We also learnt never to sit in the front row
· They were also going on about how since a lot of us had paid over $5000 to go on the cruise, and how we were going to get none of it back (stamping their foot to accentuate this fact), that we should eat as much as we could.
· Another thing they said we should do, was to let the laughter out, otherwise if we held it in, it would just come out as farts
· Alfred was going to do some dancing, and Seymour was going to put on some dance music. Seymour kept on putting the wrong music on (for eg. Barbie Girl and I Wish I Were Taller (as Alfred's shorter than Seymour)), and Alfred was getting annoyed. Finally Seymour put the right music on, and Alfred did some hip hop dancing.
· Near the end of their set, they said we should get all of our luggage in from the corridors by the end of night, otherwise or they would be doing some shopping later on that night

The last Disney show segment was the infectious song and dance number, Be Our Guest, from Beauty and the Beast This signalled that it was time for the people with second seating, to go to dinner ... in an hour's time.

Leaving the Walt Disney Theatre, we popped into Mickey's Mates, seeing as we didn't have any time to purchase goodies before the show. Mickey's Mates was so exciting! There was so much inside that I wanted to buy! There was a Halloween display right on entering, that I spent ages pouring over. I came out with:

· A Mickey Mouse ghost lantern that glows or flickers. You can store candy in the head part. (It wasn't until a lot later, when Nest discovered that it projected a Halloween Mickey on the ground when it was turned on - so awesome!);
· A glow-in-the-dark Disneyland Halloween t-shirt. There are even ghosts on the back of one of the shoulders - a cute touch;
· A Pacific cruise Summer 2012 pin;
· Three Halloween pins (Mickey & Minnie ghosts, Halloween Minnie, and Halloween Duffy); and,
· Two packs of twelve postcard memories (one pack to write on and sent, and the other pack for my collection.)

After shopping, we went back to our stateroom to get ready for dinner. On entering our stateroom, we found a towel swan and two chocolates with Sleepy the Dwarf on the wrapper, waiting for us. We were to learn this was going to be a nightly occurrence, which we were thrilled about, as we've always wanted towel animals waiting for us on a regular basis after a big day out. (Previous to this, out of all our Disney travels, we've probably received only two towel animals.)

Our dinner was scheduled for Triton's, which was putting on a French dinner. On the back wall, was a beautiful large mosaic of King Triton and Arial. Parts of the ceiling were made up of blue and pink lights, which reflected beautifully in our glassed beverages and shiny silver cutlery.

Dinner was absolutely divine! I had:

· Cocktail: The Royal: white wine, creme de cassis, and peach schnapps (thanks to Nest making a selection of liqueur cheesecakes back home, I didn't have to wonder what creme de cassis was);
· Appetiser: Market green salad with goat's cheese and a raspberry vinaigrette (this was so nice);
· Main: Braised lamb shank in red wine with creamy polenta and mushrooms (the lamb shank was so HUGE, I began to panic! LOL!);
· Dessert: Chocolate mousse (a small round circle (they must've known I could barely fit anything else in after my huge lamb shank!) with a cherry on top and a chard of white and dark chocolate resting against it. There was also a smear of chocolate on the plate, a blob of cream, and three dots of citrus sauce.)

Nest had:

· Drink: Diet Coke;
· Appetiser: Market green salad with goat's cheese and a raspberry vinaigrette;
· Main: Slow roasted chicken breast with steamed vegies and a baked potato;
· Dessert: Creme brulee.

Sometime during the evening, we went to Shutters and got our boarding photos and Cars photos. I bought a special album with a beautiful photo of the Disney Wonder going under the Golden Gate Bridge. Inside the album, is our boarding photo and a formal photo of the main Disney characters.

How do we top the night of our very first cruise? By doing our washing, which had amassed during our time at Universal! It took us an hour and twenty minutes, and we weren't able to crash into bed until well past 1am as a result!

We were just so excited at the prospect of doing our laundry

As I went to sleep, I looked back excitedly on the day, how much I had thoroughly enjoyed it, and how super happy I was to have been able to share it with Nest. I also thought it was great how all the Disney staff we met from the second we arrived at the pier, were so super friendly, helpful and happy - their mood was like ours, and if was as if they'd be joining us for a week's worth of cruise excitement.

Next entry: First day at sea