Our final full day on board the Disney Wonder was to be a day at sea. I had been looking forward to each day of our cruise for different reasons. For this day, I was looking forward to exploring the ship even more than we had before and experiencing some of the fun activities that were to be found. The day at sea seemed to have a more laid back pace than the others. Before the Hercules show the night before, Teresa the cruise director said that because of the upcoming day at sea, everyone could party later that night. And judging from everyone's slow pace in the morning, that seemed to be what many people did. I noticed that although we were at sea, I couldn't feel much movement in the ship at all. I later checked on the television, which said we were cruising at around 7 knots, a leisurely speed.

After breakfast, we took some time to wander around the ship, trying to find more areas that we hadn't visited. We went downstairs from Beach Blanket Buffet to explore some of the upper decks that mainly had staterooms. We found an overlook at the back of Deck 8 that we didn't know was there before. If we had found that sooner, we might have spent more time there, although I think we still preferred the Promenade on Deck 4. We also wandered up to the Forward area of Deck 5 to find pictures of the ship when it was under construction. Our head server had mentioned these at dinner the night before, so we wanted to try to find them, and they were interesting to see. It seemed like we were always discovering new things on the ship, and it was fun to explore just to see what we would run across.

The covered area on Deck 9 near the Quiet Cove pool

In addition to exploring, we spent much of the day relaxing. After wandering for a while, we went to Deck 9 and each got a cup of pink lemonade. We sat by the pool deck near the glass windows for a while, watching the water go by. Every day, I was amazed at how blue the water looks. I also enjoyed being able to look out and only see water for as far as I could see.

One of the important activities of the day was the information meeting about leaving the ship. Teresa the cruise director gave all kinds of information about customs, packing, leaving tips, guest services, and many other important topics. She said that if we wanted our bags carried off the ship for us, we should have them outside our door at 11:00 that night. This surprised me a little bit, and it would take a little bit of planning to make sure that we have everything we need for tomorrow.

As we were leaving the meeting, we noticed that the characters were having an autograph session in the atrium lobby. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto, Chip, and Dale were all there. It was fun to watch the characters interact with each other as well as everyone else. Donald would get mad when someone wanted one of the other characters to sign their book, or he would get mad if the autograph book didn't have his picture on it. Minnie would kiss each book after she signed it, and Goofy started making fun of her for it. As always, the characters were quite entertaining.

Walking around the Deck 4 Promenade

Usually when we would sit on the Promenade, we would see joggers going by, and I had been curious about where they would go between the port and starboard sides, so we decided to walk around the entire deck. We started on the port side and went counterclockwise, which took us around the aft end of the ship. Not much to see here besides a hallway-like passage going around with occasionally some portholes to look out of. We continued up the starboard side until we reached the forward end, where we discovered what looked to be a large machine room. There were what appeared to be pulleys with huge chains; each chain link appeared to be over three feet long. We thought these must be for the anchor or something like that. There were also some huge ropes that wed thought were used when the ship was tied up at the dock. All this was quite fascinating to see. We had wanted to watch sometime when the ship was tied up or untied at a dock, but we never did have that opportunity.

Walking around the Deck 4 Promenade

The Quiet Cove swimming pool was a little more crowded than before, probably because everyone was on the ship today instead of off exploring things elsewhere. But the pool still wasn't too crowded. And the water felt a little warmer than it had before. Again, another great opportunity to relax. Some people swam, some people soaked up the sun. And everyone looked to be having a great time. Later in the afternoon, there were organized games at the adult pool. And then there was live music, making Quiet Cove not so quiet. But most of the people seemed to enjoy it.

One of the featured movies in the Buena Vista Theater on Deck 5 was Pirates of the Caribbean. We made it a point to be there, since we had missed the showing on our day at Nassau. There were three showings that day, and although we got there almost 10 minutes before the movie started, there were still not many seats left. We ended up sitting on the front row, but the view was still good. We both really enjoyed the movie. I hadn't given that much thought to seeing it before the cruise, but after it was over I was glad I did. It was especially fun to see Pirates of the Caribbean in the Caribbean.

The atrium lobby and the entrance to Triton's restaurant

In the early evening, we were noticing that we could feel a good bit of movement in the ship. Captain Henry was signing things in the Treasure Ketch shop, and I heard someone ask him about the motion. He said it was because we were picking up speed, and that things would smooth out again once we got up to speed. This was only the second time where the ship's movement was really noticeable. We hadn't known how it would affect us, but seasickness was never a problem for us, although I imagine some people were bothered by the motion.

After dinner, we went to the Farewell Party that was held in the atrium lobby. We got there just as the characters were starting to arrive. All the favorite characters were there, as well as some of the performers from the different shows. They all posed for photographs and signed autographs, and everyone seemed to have a good time. After some time had passed, Teresa the cruise director called all of the performers to the stage area. There, they all posed for one final photograph, waving to each section of the room. Then they sang the Mickey Mouse Club alma mater, and the characters said goodbye. Mickey and Minnie were the last to leave, giving one last wave to the crowd.

The characters waving goodbye at the Farewell Party

After the party was over, I happened to notice that it had been raining outside, and the rain was still continuing. This was one of the first times it had rained during the entire cruise. We eventually went back out to the Promenade one last time. The rain had ended, although the storm was still visible off in the distance. We sat in the chairs for a while, just watching the lightning far away. One man walked by and commented on it being nature's fireworks. And he was right, that was almost as exciting to watch as the fireworks show two nights before. We would have liked to stay up as long as possible, enjoying as much time as we could before our cruise ended.

The next morning started earlier than the last few had. It had started even earlier for international travelers, who had to present themselves at Barrel of Laughs at 6:00 in the morning; at the meeting the day before, Teresa had commented on the irony of the location, stating that probably very few people would be laughing. We also found another advantage to having the second dinner seating, because our breakfast seating this morning was 8:00 instead of 6:45. We were to go to the same restaurant where we had dined the night before.

Fortunately we hadn't packed away anything in our suitcases that we needed. We didn't really enjoy leaving our stateroom, because we had such a good time on the cruise. One of the first things I noticed when we went into the baggage claim area was that there were signs prohibiting photography and video taping in that area. I suppose that was for security reasons, although I wouldn't have thought to take a picture in that area anyway. Once we had our bags, we went through customs, which was quite easy and quick. And then we went to our car, ending our time with the Disney Cruise Line.

It really was a great trip. My words probably don't do it justice. Everything seemed to work together to create a wonderful experience. The accommodations were more than adequate, and the service was excellent. I was impressed by how everyone spoke to us, from Captain Henry to the maintenance staff. And every crew member that we talked to seemed genuinely interested in what we had to say. It was just like the old days at the parks, where the service was remarkable.

There was never a shortage of things to do on the ship. It seemed like there was always something going on. Movies or shows in the theaters, entertainment in the clubs, trivia games, napkin folding classes, towel animal classes, a discussion about the ship's design, and on and on. There really was something for everyone. But there was so much to do that we made it to very few of these, although many of them sounded interesting.

I liked how available the characters were on the cruise. It seemed like they were everywhere, whether it was on the ship, at Castaway Cay, or in the Cruise Line Terminal. And they were always willing to sign autographs and pose for photos. Because the crowds were smaller than at the theme parks, it was much easier to get to the characters without having to fight a large group of people. And the characters were always willing to put on a show. Such as one night before dinner when Mickey and Minnie were coming out for photographs. They were dressed in their formal attire, and when they descended the staircase in the atrium lobby, they did a ballroom dance before going to the picture area.

We had a wonderful time. We don't know when our next cruise may be, but we are already looking forward to sailing again!

- Story and Photos by Steve Burns
Posted

Steve is a three-time Disney Store National Trivia finalist and webmaster of BurnsLand, home of Steve's Disney Railroad Adventures.

E-mail Steve at steve@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.

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