Eastbound Panama Canal Cruise (AKA Patricia who?)

If you're reading this straight on from Disneyland and San Diego you may want to refresh your cuppa and grab a few biccies or a slice of cake ;-) This will be a longer installment...

It’s here it’s finally here!!​

As soon as I woke up I looked out of the window (naturally)

I wasn’t sure if I’d see her but I was so happy I could!! We decided we would skip breakfast this morning so did a little lounging. For the first time since we left the UK we put on the news only to hear there was a cat. 5 hurricane (the highest cat recorded) heading in the direction of our second port of call (Puerto Vallarta). This is hurricane Patricia! It seemed to be picking up momentum and it was expected to hit land at some point that day and they were expecting devastation. To put it into perspective Hurricane Katrina was a cat 3 when it hit New Orleans. So a lot of folks were worried, we tried not to though. If we had to miss some ports then we had to miss some ports, we knew the Captain would do a great job and get us where we needed to go safely. I was a little worried about the locals though, it must be so horrible knowing that’s coming.

The hotel offered a free shuttle to the cruise port which started from 11. Our P.A.T (Port Arrival Time) was 11 so we decided we may as well walk – we had 2 large cases which were relatively light 1 small case and a backpack so it was all fairly easy.

We got down to the lobby and bumped into someone from our FB group who I had become friends with over the last year or so. It was nice to finally meet! We said our hellos, she and her DH were waiting for the shuttle. We checked out around 10 and walked on down. It was all downhill, had it been uphill we would not have walked! By 10:25 we had dropped off the 3 suitcases, leaving just our backpack, and we headed in to our first waiting area. We were given a Donal Duck card meaning we were next through security. It wasn’t long before we were called, went through a Passport check then the baggage scanners and metal detectors. Which took no time at all. Through to the next stage – Check in.

We were given navigators on the way in​

These were generally issued every day - I wont include every one.

Whilst the hall was busy there was no one in the queue, this was all being run quite efficiently, so we called straight through to the next desk. Here we met a small hiccup our fellow non Americans will want to know about…

Do you remember our very swift experience when we reached LAX? Well, because it was all automated and done electronically our passports hadn’t been stamped. Because of this they couldn’t let us board without a copy of our ESTAs. Now the ESTA website says you do not need to print them as it is all linked to your passport. I always do just in case. HOWEVER, as we had already passed through customs to get into the USA I didn’t think we’d need them again so they were in the suitcase ( was carrying 4 bottles of wine, swim wear and books in the backpack and didn’t want to carry anything I didn’t need). Next step they wanted to pull the case! I knew which one it was in so wrote out the description on their form. At this point I was a little worried, what IF I had left them somewhere and they weren’t packed, would we be boarding?? So we were sent to sit in a little waiting area whilst they pulled our case.

After about 5 minutes they came to ask for our Passports as one of the clever managers realised they could print them off for us instead of pulling the case – happy days! We were finally able to check in.

We were given a letter regarding the weather

Along with a silver lanyard, and our Key to the world (KTTW) – and relax.

Our dining rotation was APT (A= Animators Palate, P= Parrot Cay, T= Tritons) we had table 71 and second seating which was 8:15

We were given boarding number 5 and went to the waiting area where we met another person from the FB group. We seemed to be boarding in no time. Had our embarkation photo taken and off we go.

I think we are in a minority but we feel a little uncomfortable with the announcement onto the ship. Because of this we thought about coming up with a funny family name to make it a bit better. We failed so we got that over and done with and we were finally onboard the Wonder!!

Parrot Cay and Beach Blanket Buffet were both open for lunch and we opted for BBB as we like grabbing our food from the buffet and sitting outside for our first meal on ship. This is the way we have started all of our cruises so far. Next years may be a little different as we are going to be a group of 9 so I think it will be easier in the main dining room.

We caught the elevator up to 9 (this is only 1 of 3 times we used the elevators all cruise)

Here is my first meal of the day and of the cruise

​ It’s not hugely exciting and full of carbs (I had been on a no carb diet leading up to this trip and I just wanted all that I had been missing) but I really enjoyed every bite. There’s Mac n cheese, Mini corn dogs (I love these), Olives, Focaccia, cheese, Schnitzel and Mash. I don’t have a picture of Carls but it wouldn’t have been hugely different, I do know his had an addition of cottage cheese.

Then onto dessert​

Cookie, Chocolate cake and a lemon puff – I liked the Cookie, the rest was OK.

We walked around deck 10 and took a few pictures of the scenery, we quite like ports that are actually in a city – more interesting than Port Canaveral. ​

It really was a beautiful day to be on a beautiful ship!

I got a snap of the drinks on offer at the 24hr self service machines​

There is also regular coffee, decaf coffee, hot chocolate and hot water with a large array of twining tea bags.

We had a wander around and got a few snaps of the quiet pools

Mickeys pool

This is for the little kids really, the slide is for ages 4-14 I think I read and the little splash zone under the slide is for really little kids as they are not allowed in the pools if they are still in diapers. Central you maybe able to see a sign for Plutos, here you can get Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, Chicken Strips, a Fish sandwich, Cajun chicken sandwich and usually a special of the day (these included philly cheesesteak, Chilli with cornbread and pulled pork) For those who haven’t cruised before the opening times are published in your navigator. The places near the pools are open most of the time and you can go up as little or often as you like really. Behind the slide is a little bar.

Goofys pool and funnel vision

This is more a family pool which also has 2 hot tubs. Down to the right (under the white) is Pinocchio’s pizzeria and a bar. Usually the pizza options were pepperoni, ham and pineapple, margherita and another veggie. The pretzels were normal salted or a cinnamon filled with cream cheese.

Finally the pool we spent a fair amount of time in

Yes that’s another bar along the back and there are 2 hot tubs just out of shot on the right. This is the Quiet Cove Pool and the area is for 18+ there is also a cove café which sells premium coffee drinks and alcoholic beverages and usually has complimentary snacks. We have yet to visit cove café, I had every intention of doing it this cruise but never got around to it. I expect I will next time as my parents enjoy a latte.

We played some table tennis (I hate this game but DH likes it) I lost 11-9 by the time we decided to stop. We then went and sat on the side of the Quiet cove pool to paddle until DH decided it was to tempting and he had to get in. We always pack our swimming costumes in our carry on so he went and got changed in one of the restrooms whilst I worked on refreshments.

We actually purchased the beer mugs on the last cruise – for those who don’t know they serve 2 different sizes of draught beer – 16oz and 22oz. With the mug you get the 22oz for the price of the 16oz so you save yourself a couple dollars if you want the larger one and eventually you break even on the cost of the mug ($14.95). You don’t have to carry the mug around all the time, you can change it to a card to hand over with your next beer. The great thing is once you have bought it you can take I home at the end of the cruise then take it back on the next. We took the actual glasses home last time but decided to make a new purchase this time for a few reasons – 1, I quite like having our 2 at home for souvenirs and we use them regularly (I mostly use mine for water) 2, we wanted to save room in the luggage, 3, My dad and brother are cruising with us next year and we were going to buy them the glasses to use. This way we had a gift for them from our trip and they have something useful for next year. We will bring ours back then too. The options for beer were Kona Longboard (lager) Kona Big Wave (Pale Ale) Bud light and in diversions they also had Heineken, Murphys stout and Stella Artois. These do vary however as I remember there being different options when we were in the Med a couple years ago. The prices varied but it was between $6.50 - $8.00 a glass. ​

Rooms are usually ready around 1:30 so I headed down at 1:45 to check it out, and drop off my heavy bag. This was our first time in a navigators verandah and we really liked it room # 7122

I then got into my swimsuit to join DH. By the time I got up there he had made a friend and we talked to this chap quite a lot during the cruise – we enjoyed his company! The pool was like a bath – it was hot. I am not exaggerating, I have my baths about the temperature the pool was that day! Luckily it was cooler after this, I can only assume it’s because it had been in the sun all day.

By the time we got out around 14:30 a breeze had picked up so it was a little chilly. We had showers and got changed back in the room then went to the 3 o clock FB meet and greet in the Promenade lounge. We are introverts unfortunately and quite shy around people we don’t know – If you ask some of my colleagues they will tell you it took about 6 months to get into real convos with them. So we aren’t every good at this sort of thing. I picked up some rubber bracelets I had ordered but everyone was in groups and deep in convo so we picked up a beer at the bar and went for a stroll around the ship.​

We ended up in Diversions​

Where I narrowly lost at draughts

Now it was time for our muster drill – for those of you who haven’t cruise this is a drill in case of emergency, you go to your designated muster station, checked off a register and get talked through the procedure of what to do in an emergency. This is compulsory and will take place on every cruise. Be kind to your fellow cruisers and get there on time – we have been stood at outside stations our previous cruise and have had to wait for people on both occasions.

This time we got to sit in the air conditioned animators palate. We ended up being sat next to a lovely older couple from Southampton which isn’t a huge distance from us – It’s a small world after all!

After the drill we headed back to the room and as we were leaving we met our room host, Elmer, who said our cases were next. We didn’t wait though, we had somewhere else to be…

Our Cruise director was Peter Hofer which we couldn’t believe – has been the CD on every cruise we have taken!​

I would also like to say our entertainment staff were brilliant – the best we have had on our 3 cruises but some of that will be down to the fact we spent more time with them than any other cruise! ​

After the adventures away party we went back to our room to unpack for our 2 weeks and decorated the door

until we started moving then back up to deck 10

So long San Diego

Our escort had the lights flashing red and blue as we were leaving and as we passed it they played under the sea to which we cheered!

Just before 6:15 we went to the Walt Disney Theatre for our first show – Let the magic begin which showcases some of the entertainment we can expect a long with a production from the characters. One of the acts – Marcus Monroe – looked really promising (comedian/juggler) so we would definitely go and see him again. No pictures of the show though I’m afraid

Back at the room we freshened up and got ready for our dinner. We were shown to a table set for 4 but ended up a table just the 2 of us. We were quite happy with this. We like meeting other people and enjoyed sitting with others on our first cruise but we also enjoyed eating just us.

To start I had the Calamari​ C had the Chicken Bastela

We both had the Mango and Papaya soup (I love the chilled fruit soups on DCL)​ for mains I opted for the Halibut with peas which was light and flavoursome​ Carl had the Mesquite grilled chicken breast. For dessert we both had the Kahlua Chocolate Crème Brulee.

Well we could not taste chocolate or Kahlua (a common theme for the crème Brulees on this cruise unfortunately) but we love normal Crème Brulees – I would say it’s our fave dessert, so we were happy. In fact we enjoyed our meal – everything tasted great! We also liked our servers – Milton from India and Kenan from the UK – he was very excited to be serving us as he’s from up north and has a bit of an accent which he says others sometimes find a little difficult to understand so he has to talk a little slower, he could talk his normal speed with us. More about them later though…

After dinner we went for a lap around deck 4 to try and walk some of it off then we went on a search for the laundry which was actually very close to our room.

When we got back to the room we were met by our first towel animal and tomorrows navigators

I decided to put a load on of all the clothes we had worn since Anaheim – the Washer and dryer are $1 each and you just swipe your KTTW – it’s very easy! I brought washing powder capsules from home as I picked some up really cheap on offer but they do also have a dispenser. There was also 2 irons in there.

Whilst I was waiting I updated my notes and Carl watched Terminator. I had to take a picture of this lampshade

I wouldn’t mind these at home – there is a little castle in every place on the globe they have a park and a ship on the west coast, 2 in the Caribbean/Bahamas area and one entering Europe.

Walked up to deck 10 to get us some tea - I loved being so close to everything! I also like a themed cup

Washing done I was in bed around 11:30. That so very comfortable bed, very happy this was home for 2 whole weeks!! ​

Day at sea

My sore throat came back with a vengeance in the night, worse than it had been and now accompanied by an annoying cough so I barely slept. I am glad I bought those throat sweets though as they soothed a little!

Anyway…

We had a plan! We wanted to get up early Panama Canal day to watch us go through the first locks (more on that later) SO… we decided we would get up early every morning and workout at the gym watching the sunrise before canal day so it was easy to get up

With that in mind set our Mickey wake up call for 6 but I had woken up at 5:30 and noticed sunrise wasn’t until 6:50 so we set a new alarm for 6:30 when we got up and headed to the gym. We worked out for 45 minutes watching the sunrise – I really enjoyed it. I had been working out a lot this year and it has been a bit on an epiphany for me as I had never stepped foot in a gym before and now I love my workouts. However, due to medical issues getting in the way I hadn’t been able to go since mid Aug so it was great to be back! We then decided to walk it off and stretch it out a little with a lap around deck 4 – for those who don’t know 1 lap = 1 third of a mile.

We returned to our room showered and I decided we would start handing out our exchange gifts. We didn’t join FE – we haven’t done one yet and I don’t think we will. However, this was a Christmas ornament exchange and I buy Christmas ornament everytime we go away so I thought I’d give it a go. I am not very crafty (AT ALL) but I managed to pick up some bargains at the Disney store after Christmas last year so had these to give (I bought the xmas mickey on Etsy):​

We had originally had 3 groups which was reduced to 2 and there were 11 in my group but 2 from the same stateroom so whilst most had chip n dale they had one of each design

Here are the decorations I received in return

I think I had 1 missing which was either not delivered or stolen. A shame whichever it was.

After making a few deliveries we headed up to BBB for a light breakfast, the workout had made us hungry and I really wanted some fruit! My plate:​

Carls

By this time it was around 9am so we went to the lecture by former Panama Canal Pilot Ken Puckett

It was interesting, but his lecture style was not really for us – maybe we are still too close to remembering boring uni/college lectures like this and will give it another go in a few years so - we didn’t make it back to another one but he did them on most sea days (if not all).

We made a few more deliveries then decided to go for a swim, passed these in the hallway​

I’d love to hang these at home!

Well the pool was like people soup so we didn’t get in. Instead we sat on the side and paddled our feet before heading back to our room and getting ready for our 12:30 Palo Brunch reservation…​

We had only done Palo Brunch once before and that was our first cruise and the reservation was 10:00 or 10:30 . Carl wasn’t fussed but I loved it. I have since learnt DH doesn’t like eating a lot early in the day so cleverly made the reservation for 12:30, coupled with the early morning work out, he enjoyed it a LOT more this time!

We were led to our table and introduced to our server Hristo – I will say now he was fantastic, really friendly and nothing was any trouble.

Hristo told us these were sweets not desserts desserts are for the end but sweets can be eaten anytime!

My first plate

I particularly liked the Scallops and camembert so had to go back for seconds whilst Carl had some sweets

As well as the buffet there are entrees you can order from. I can’t remember them all but they do a strawberry soup which is amazing (didn’t have any this time though) we ordered a 50/50 pizza which was half Gorgonzola and grape and half Italian sausage which was yummy. DH doesn’t usually like blue cheese but he did enjoy the pizza. We also each had Chicken Parmesan, not quite as good as I remember but still very good

I had my sweets as dessert and C picked himself up another plate

It was a delicious meal and I would highly recommend it as it is worth every penny!

I didn’t take any photos this afternoon but then we didn’t do a great deal. Stuffed after brunch we headed back to the room where we snoozed a little then watched the incredibles followed by the cruise directors morning show – on sea days the CD did a live show in studio sea where he’d talk with various entertainment acts and give us information. We never made it to Studio Sea but we did watch it on the in room TV when we remembered. We then went back to the pool which was a lot quieter now, I even managed 10 minutes completely alone in the area so enjoyed the hot tub to myself.

Tonight was formal night and they were having the captains gala in the atrium where they were giving out drinks, I had a red wine and DH a white to take to the show. Before that though we had to get a photo with the big cheese​

Tonight was the Golden Mickey show which we were looking forward to as it is not on the Magic so we hadn’t seen it before. We saw the preshow interviews but, unfortunately, there were some kind of technical difficulties so they were unable to go ahead. Instead we were treated to a ventriloquist act we quite enjoyed. After the act there was a glimmer of hope they may be able to show it but it wasn’t to be. They promised us a matinee later in the week. Unfortunately it was on when we were doing something else so still yet to see it.

There wasn’t much going on between the show and dinner that we wanted to do so we decided to hang out on our verandah before we headed to Parrot Cay​

We both tried the crispy cheese ravioli ​ which were really nice But after the delicious scallops at brunch I also had to try the scallops with tomato risotto (not as good) whilst Carl had the sangria soup which I did not photograph. I then had the duck which tasted wonderful but I am so used to duck coming with a crispy skin I was a little disappointed it wasn’t there. Carl had the steak. For dessert he had sweet temptations and I had the lavender crème brulee. Again, you couldn’t taste the lavender which was a shame but it was a nice crème brulee all the same and I couldn’t finish it all.

After dinner we walked up to 9 to pick up some teas then headed to Wavebands to watch the Marcus Monroe adult show – This was very funny, he is a great act and if you ever cruise with him I definitely recommend going to see his show. I would go as far as to say it was one of the 2 best acts of the cruise and the others didn’t come close.

We then decided to go to the Walt Disney Theatre to watch the Nightmare Before Christmas 4D sing and scream. The nightmare before Christmas is one of my faves!

But 3d glasses give me a headache and we were both pretty tired so left about 1/3 of the way through and went back to the room where we were met by this guy

Cabo San Lucas​

Set the alarm for 6:15 which we slept right through waking around 7:30. Oooops – skipped our work out! Oh well we ARE on vacation after all. My cough and sore throat were worse this morning so probably best I don’t work out anyway.

We lazed in bed watching the end of one of my recent favourites – Tangled. And watched us come into port from our verandah

Just look at the colour of that water!

We then headed up to BBB for breakfast but I was starting to feel pretty rough and had a headache so we went back to the room where C watched Pirates of the Caribbean and I had a 45 minute nap which seemed to work.

Then got ready for our Santa Maria Snorkel and sail. Here is the blurb from the Disney website -

Sail the blue Sea of Cortez on a catamaran past Lover's Beach to secluded Santa Maria Cove for a snorkeling expedition.

Life on the Waves Cruise along the coast by Cabo's most recognizable landmarks to snorkel in the beautiful waters of Santa Maria cove.

On this adventure you will...

From the pier, board a sailing catamaran and embark on a cruise along the Gold Coast to some of the Mexico's most picturesque destinations. Pass Lover's Beach, Los Arcos at Land's End, the Arch of Poseidon, and even a resident sea lion colony, en route to the picturesque, palm-studded Santa Maria Cove.

Receive your snorkeling gear and the instructions from your experienced crew.

Take the plunge on an eye-opening snorkel adventure in an underwater wonderland of magnificent marine life as you explore life just beneath the ocean's surface.

After your approximately one-hour visit, sit back, relax and enjoy the spectacular coastal scenery with a refreshing drink in hand during your one-hour cruise back to the pier.

Once aboard the catamaran we went up the coast

They provided some soft drinks and we enjoyed the (bumpy) ride listening to some music until we arrived at a pretty little cove for snorkelling

I didn’t really liked the jumping off the boat part and had a little panic attack to begin with (very minor and I’m glad Carl is the only one who noticed) I composed myself quite quickly though.

Because of the recent storm (Patricia) the waters were a little murky. Whilst we saw a lot of fish (our guide was feeding them – that’ll do it) we didn’t see the variety we had seen in the Caribbean…

We were given an hour in the water but we were back onboard after about 45 minutes. At that point they brought out snacks – cheese sandwiches, breaded chicken rolls, Tortilla chips and salsa. Also the drinks and they were pouring freely – by the time we had gotten back they had managed to persuade us to have 4 lite beers (they were in normal sized plastic picnic cups) and a shot of tequila – see they are very persuasive as I don’t like tequila! Despite the lack of variation of fish we did have a great time on this excursion – the staff definitely make it and it was a nice relaxed fun atmosphere on the way back.

Back onboard we walked up to the room via the promenade lounge where we picked up some wine glasses, we sat on the verandah and ordered some room service and opened one of the bottles of wine we brought with us.

For those who may not know room service is included. However, you do tip so it’s worth taking some $1 bills with you

We ordered the All aboard cheese platter, Steak and cheese sandwich and a Pepperoni Pizza. It all tasted great and really hit the spot. We watched us leaving port and watched beauty and the beast

Eventually we got ready and headed to the Walt Disney Theatre to watch Voiceplay Before the show they had a little trivia, most serious questions then this

I love the attention to detail everywhere

We enjoyed them, it was something a little different – they use their voices to sing of course but also make the music etc. We then went back to Wavebands for the Marcus Monroe family show – again very enjoyable! This finished at 8:18 so we went straight to Tonights restaurant – Tritons…​

Carls meal started deep fried brie-Leek and potato soup whilst i had Escargot - Frnech onion soup, We then both had the rack of lamb and for dessert we both ordered the Grand Marnier Soufflé and Milton also brought us a Crème Brulee to share

I am glad I tried the soufflé after the praise it gets on these boards but you will be glad to know there will be more for you all as I wasn’t overly bothered by it.

As we left the restaurant Donald was there with barely any queue…

Tonight was the night I debuted my new dress from Disneyland.

We then headed back to the room to pick something up or drop something off and tomorrows navigator was there in which we found our first clues for Annas scavenger hunt

So we went on a hunt around the ship using the clues in the navigator – I won’t give away where any are but I will say they put them in some hard to spot areas! Well, it was hard to spot until you knew exactly what you were looking for.

We did this on the way to Wavebands to watch the ventriloquist – Kevin Johnson – adult show. It was funny but, unfortunately, he had had to stand in for the Golden Mickeys yesterday at last minute so we had already heard some of his material. Then back to our room for bedtime We lose another hour tonight

Puerto Vallarta

Well I didn’t just lose an hours sleep last night – I barely had any at all as I was kept awake by my cough. We had a mickey call at 6:30 but I felt so rough Carl was instructed to hang up on the mouse. I dozed a little getting up around 9 and sitting on the verandah whilst we pulled into port. I caught up on some notes and had an orange I had picked up from Goofys galley for breakfast whilst pulling into port.​

Despite Patricias efforts she didn’t really amount to much meaning we could visit today. Originally we weren’t going to prebook anything and either stay on the ship or get a taxi to the boardwalk area and explore on our own – we should have done the latter. Instead we booked ourselves on the city tour thinking we may never be back so may as well see the place. My negativity may be swayed by the fact I wasn’t feeling great….

Website blurb:

Sightsee and shop along the Malecon and visit the cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe during a tour of the city.

Local Color

Be sure to bring your camera to capture a town brimming with restaurants, shops, music and stone sculptures.

On this adventure you will...

Drive approximately 15 minutes to the city center of Puerto Vallarta.

Stroll along the picturesque waterfront boulevard known as the Malecon (sea wall) as your guide shares stories of Puerto Vallarta's rich history. The area is brimming with restaurants, shops, music and stone sculptures. Note: This tour includes approximately 0.5 miles of walking at a steady pace, part of which will be on cobblestones and/or uphill, including stairs. Wear comfortable walking shoes.

Visit the cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, built over 12 years in the early part of the last century, and marvel at the hand-carved columns and magnificent moldings that adorn its interior.

Shop and sightsee on your own for approximately 45 minutes before boarding your coach to begin the second leg of your journey.

Journey south to a beautiful restaurant that offers views of Banderas Bay and enjoy refreshments. During the stop you can also peruse some of the eye-catching work of a number of local craftsmen. Your children will delight in a fun-filled piñata party where treats will be had by all. We met in the Walt Disney Theatre at 10:30 and made our way down.

Our first stop was the boardwalk (which is where we should have stayed)​

Our guide gave us some history on the area but we didn’t really get to “stroll along” the boardwalk

And then we went to the Cathedral​

Which was a nice little church and we were given 10 minutes to look around – not the 45 in the description you will notice.

Our next stop was a jewellery store. Honestly I thought the stuff was just tacky, there were free margaritas but neither of us were in the mood. We went to try an explore some of the other shops but it was all so dirty with trash strewn everywhere and it just didn’t necessarily feel safe so instead we, and quite a few others, stood outside the shop waiting for the coach to come back. I would have MUCH rather used this time to explore the boardwalk more than in this back street.

After this we went to a restaurant on a cliff where we were given drinks and a lacklustre enchilada, the views were nice though

Although, there were some regular customers on the table next to us and their food look fantastic so perhaps it’s just the tour buses they don’t really bother with.

No Pinata party for the kids on our bus!

We then went on a long drive and when we were in the coach the guide told us about hotels – I’m not sure if he was aware we had one we were going back to, it was a pretty boring ride to be honest and then we stopped for some pictures​

​ Then a guy put some creatures on Carl leaving us feeling force to give him a dollar for a picture

We went to a shopping arcade but I was starting to flag by now. We were taken to a shop which sold traditional pieces but all I was interested in was the pharmacy next door where I bought some cough syrup and more throat sweets for $4.50. We got back to the ship a little later than expected and there was a huge queue to get back on. They had closed the aft gangway so we were all waiting to get on front, they had taken away the cool wet towels and water and there were a lot of unhappy people behind us.

Once onboard we headed straight to deck 10 for some food and boy were we hungry.

We both had some pizza and Carl had a philly cheesesteak whilst I had a cheeseburger and we picked up a few drinks each

We were very disappointed in this tour and like I said earlier the fact that I was ill and the guide was more interested in telling us about hotels will be factors. I think they could do away with the “shopping” stop in the back streets instead allowing for more time at the boardwalk and they could do away with the last stop – which was a long way out and most people didn’t get off the bus for! And replace that with better food at the restaurant. In hindsight i probably should have given some feedback

This is just our opinion but if you do decide to do this in P.V. please go into it with very low expectations and you might be ok.​ Onward and upward...

We chilled out in the room and I took some medication and napped while Carl watched more POTC before heading out to the show – Heath Hyche – We didn’t find him at all funny, not our thing at all and I kinda wish I’d stayed in bed. We then went to the atrium to see the pumpkin tree come to life

Then went to Diversions and watched a little NFL until dinner.

Tonight we were back at Animators Palate for the show dinner. I love the décor in this restaurant – it’s an homage to the artists and art of Disney. The show is the only classic show left the room starts as black and white and comes to life as the meal goes on.

We both had the Truffle Pursiettes followed by the baked potato and cheddar soup. For Main Carl had the steak (surprise surprise), although I will say I was quite impressed by Carl this trip – there are very few vegetables he likes but he ate a lot he didn’t on this trip, the only ones he left were his Brussel Sprouts but I love them so more for me

I decided to go for the pasta Bolognese. It tasted good but there was so much I couldn’t finish it. I did, however, need to finish with something sweet so choose the Mango mousse and Carl had the cookies and cream ice cream​

This was another very enjoyable meal!

We then went up to deck 9 to watch haunted stories on funnel vision

It was a nice show and parents don’t worry it wasn’t really scary!

We then called it a night

The first of many glorious days at sea.

Another really restless night and I had now completely lost my voice (Carl is always grateful when that happens) Throat wasn’t hurting much but the cough was really annoying – As a side note even now 4 weeks later my voice still isn’t exactly back to normal!

Finally got out of bed around 10:30 and headed down to Parrot Cay for breakfast. I didn’t take any photos I’m sorry but I did discover the Disney Muesli which I really loved! So I only really had that.

We then went to something we had been looking forward to – the first presentation by Disney Artist and Historian Stacia Martin.

Upon entering we were told to choose a lucky seat so we chose seats D3 and D4. A little later we were all asked to move to a more central location to make it easier for late comers to get in “oh well, we don’t usually win things anyway I expect it won’t matter” we thought, and moved down.

This presentation was very interesting about her life, how she got into doing what she has done and an overview of what to expect from the later presentations.

At the end of the presentation there were 2 signed pictures being given away the first one went to…..D4!!! can you believe it. It was a picture of Tinkerbell and having only seen her in Peter Pan we aren’t fans of her, otherwise I would have been really bummed

Afterward we separated, DH went to play a little football on the top deck and had a lunch but since I wasn’t feeling great I didn’t fancy doing too much and wasn’t hungry so took it easy and had a little wander through the shops and took some pictures around the atrium

We met in the atrium then made our way through route 66 to make way to our first ever mixology

From Left to Right we have French Martini, Sidecar, Captains Mai Tai, Double Crown and After 6. My fave cocktail onboard is the Captains Mai Tai and I also loved the After 6 (Kahlua, Crème de Menthe and Baileys) It was hosted by Wawan who told us all about the fundamentals of cocktail making and had a few volunteers up to make full size after discussing each cocktail. I refrained – I didn’t want to get any of my germs on those bottles and infect the rest of the ship! But Carl got up to make one of my faves – the Captains Mai Tai If you look at the photo of all the drinks you can see a dark line on the top which is a float of Meyers Dark rum. Well Wawan encouraged Carl to fill his to the top so that small float became what you see above !!!!!!!

Mixology was a lot of fun and I can’t believe we didn’t sign up for one on our previous cruises! We definitely will do them in the future. We took the full Mai Tai with us when we left. Luckily the rum float stayed on top so when Carl got to that part he stopped and we put it in the fridge in the room and I had it with some coke later in the week

Went back to our room for a little and saw some Turtles and Dolphins from our balcony. I wasn’t quick enough to capture them so this is my best photo

We headed up to deck 9 where Carl grabbed a pulled pork sandwich and I had a hot dog and a drink of the day (What? – you have to drown a cold right???)

Carl had a dip in the pool

Whilst I read one of my magazines and updated my notes. It was a hot but windy afternoon.

When Carl was done in the pool he wanted to head up to deck 10, the Basketball court was empty so we shot some hoops for a while (I played a little when I was about 10 but neither of us are very good) I beat him so that’s all that matters! We then played table tennis which he won 13-4 but it was so windy so we gave up – I totally would have come back and won the game if we didn’t have to abandon!

We then had a little kick around with the football then a child joined us and before we knew it there were 4 of them against the 2 of us. We won 4-1 and all I am saying is I kept a clean sheet when I was in goal….

We then headed back to the room and chilled on the verandah for a while before getting ready for dinner. There was a full moon tonight and I spent a lot of time trying to get a decent picture which showed the yellowy colour we could see with our eyes rather than the white my camera was seeing..

We decided to skip the show – I didn’t want to annoy everyone with my coughing so we just went straight to dinner in animators palate when we were ready.

Tonight was Frozen night. To start I decided I wanted to have the Duke of Weseltons Favourites (meat, cheese and Pickles) When I ordered it Milton said it was not very nice and tried to get me to order something else for a while (this was the only negative of the service all cruise) but I stuck to my guns and I’m glad I did because I really enjoyed it. Milton later said most of his guests don’t so we put it down to my European palate and the fact that we are used to eating this sort of thing. Carl had the carrot soup which he liked but said it was lacking something, maybe a little kick or herbs – this is my fault though as I usually make Carrot, coriander and pepper soup so it’s what he’s used to.

For our mains Carl had the steak I had the Veal. Both dishes were delicious!

For dessert Carl went with the pancakes which he enjoyed. I decided to go with the sweet temptations. I wasn’t a huge fan of any of them. My favourite was the crumble but it’s not like a crumble you get here in the UK which is a fave of mine! Would have been Very nice with some hot custard on top. Just my opinion though!

Milton gave us a challenge tonight – turn this to four triangles without the S was the clue

I wont give away the answer but I will say Carl was not impressed!

Then up to top deck for freezing the night away. It was a nice little show and I really got a kick out of watching the kids really get into it BUT it’s not a show I necessarily need to see again unless I had kids of my own who wanted to (I am a bit Frozened out to be honest, I liked the film but it’s just everywhere you look now! Plus thought Tangled was better so I am looking forward to seeing the show on the Magic next time!) anyway, some pictures

Elsa did make it snow which I did think was quite neat. After the show we went to try and solve our last scavenger hunt clue but we were truly stumped. Eventually we gave up and went to watch Frozen on funnel vision. There was a little girl, about 3, sat in front of us who was really getting into all of the songs which was lovely to see.

We then decided to call it a night

The clocks go forward another hour tonight so it was already 1:30!!!​

A day to do very little​

I didn’t carry my camera all day today and took less than 20 photos so this will only be a short chapter, I didn’t even photograph all of our courses at dinner!

I didn’t sleep at all between 4-6. Carl went to the gym at 6:30 and I didn’t hear or feel him leaving so must have been having some good sleep then. I got up a little after 7 and went and did some laundry then went up and got a cup of tea and watched some Disney cartoons whilst waiting for Carl to get back which was around 7:40.

We went to the 8:30 showing of Inside out which we had been saving to watch on the ship. We really enjoyed it so glad we saw it! We then went to Parrot Cay for breakfast – I had muesli and fruit and Carl had his usual of scrambled egg, bacon, sausage, pancakes and maple syrup. We then had a game of shuffleboard (which I won) but it really set off my coughing.

We then went to the Buena Vista Theatre to listen to Stacia Martin tell us about the original Adventureland and Frontierland. It was very interesting and there was a lot we hadn’t known such as the Tiki room was originally supposed to be a restaurant. There was another giveaway at the end but we were unlucky again.

Up to deck 9 I had a bacon, brie and tomato sandwich (I like tomato but found it weird in that sandwich so will ask without in the future) Carl had 2 beef and horseradish sandwiches for lunch. Carl went for a swim and I sat on the side and read a while. We then played a little table football. I won the first game and should have stopped there, we ended up playing best of 3 and Carl won 2-1.

Then a bit of sunbathing and reading whilst Carl worked on his Basketball “skills”. The only thing I had been a little worried about leading up to this cruise was him being a little bored on all those sea days or me having to entertain him – I can quite happily sunbathe and read – but he likes to be doing things. It was useful there wasn’t a huge volume of children onboard as he spent a lot of that time shooting some hoops or kicking a ball around and burning off some of that energy – I knew I had to rest some to get over being poorly.

We decided to skip tonights show which was a Beatles tribute. Being in the UK the Beatles are everywhere so we didn’t feel the need. Instead we played some shuffleboard

Which I won again naturally. Then to Diversions to watch some baseball and have a beer

Dinner tonight was in Parrot Cay and we discussed the fact they should turn Parrot Cay into the original idea for the Tiki room. The décor is already there they just have to add some audio animatronic birds. Every night at dinner there is Bread served and in the bowl is usually several rolls then enough of a speciality bread for 1 piece each. Usually we aren’t too bothered but tonight was a huge favourite of ours! Banana bread. Oh my Goodness!! We loved it so much we asked for some more and were brought a plate with 6 more slices!

Carl had the Chicken Tenderloins and tomato soup and I had the Baked crab Martinique and asparagus soup the plate in the background of my crab dish was the extra banana bread which we had finished before our appetisers came! And Kenan had brought us 4 more slices before mains were served!

For main Carl had a Pork chop (sorry no photo) and I had the Chicken. Needless to say I didn’t have dessert tonight, instead I had a piece of Banana Bread with a cup of tea. Carl had the Coconut and Pineapple layered cake which he enjoyed.

After dinner we popped up to 9 to pick up some drinks and then went back to the room where we watched most of Monsters University before falling to sleep.

A lazy start to a lazy day​

Another bad nights sleep meant we didn’t get up until gone 11! We missed Stacia Martin sadly – today was Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. However, the lie in had helped a little as I was starting to feel a lot better!

Once up we headed up to 9 and got some hot drinks and Carl had a Pretzel. I wanted something a little more substantial so went to Beach Blanket Buffet when it opened at 12 where I had shrimp, mussels, salad and some mini corn dogs. We then decided to hit the pool where we spent several hours swimming, sunbathing and reading.

Picked up some snacks then watched Wall-e in the room. We had missed an announcement earlier but noticed we were getting closer to land and the map showed us off our expected route

We later found out we had diverted to Costa Rica for a medical emergency. I hope whoever it was is OK!!

Tonights show was

Carl enjoyed it a little more than I did. The female leads who played Andy and Sid didn’t sound great – it might have been the acoustics, the mics or my ears. But it was quite cleverly done and I think I would have REALLY enjoyed it if it wasn’t for those sounds.

We then met the *other* Mr and Mrs incredible

We had actually wanted a pic with Russell and Dug from UP! But must have gotten our timings mixed up.

Then onto Diversions where we had a drink and Carl got himself a hot dog

And we watched a little NFL until our dinner at Tritons where we had the taste of California menu.

At first sight this menu didn’t excite me. I had the Potato Croquettes, Pumpkin Soup which were good, the BEST beef dish I had all vacation and Crème Brulee. Carl had a cheese polenta dish, Vegetable soup, Maple glazed Pork Tenderloin, a Sundae and Crème Brulee. I was all really tasty so I was very wrong with my initial impression! I am sorry, we got talking a lot to the table next to us tonight and I ended up forgetting to take pictures. I will also warn you this happened a few times after tonight too so apologies!

After dinner Carl got a Drink of the Day (Why oh why do so many of them have to come with coconut flavours which I hate) I stuck to a bud light and we went to the Pacific Pool party.

There was incident which I will mention. We arrived and got a good spot on the steps near the hot tub, 1 lady came and stood just in front of me to the left but she wasn’t completely in the way so I didn’t mind. However, she had blocked the view of some others and they very nicely asked her to move so she came and stood directly in front of me – all I could see was her back which was only a couple centimetres in front of me. I asked if she’d mind just moving slightly to which I was met with some very unDisney language and she walked off in a huff. Guys – we all want to see but we all have to be mindful of others – especially those who have been waiting a while. I have no issue with people standing in front of me if I have left room but it’s not cool to completely block someone view then get visibly angry when asked to move a little!

The 1st game had 4 contestants who each had an officer on the edge of the pool, for each wrong question that officer had to take a step forward, There was then a lip synching competition at the end there were almost 40 in the pool!

It was quite a lot of fun to watch.

Then back to the room where we watched most of the nightmare before Christmas before falling to sleep…​

We all need a little pampering​ We awoke around 9 and watched the CD morning show in bed before heading to Stacia Martins history of Main Street and Disneyland after dark which was another fantastic talk. Again we were very close to the winners of the give away but it’s still not meant to be. It did rain heavily whilst we were in there as everything was soaked! We headed up to BBB for a light lunch and I grabbed 2 cookies on the way out to make an ice cream sandwich – yummy!

Then up to deck 10 to stake out some good spots to take in tomorrows crossing. We then went to our first

It was Disney Tunes trivia and there was a point for each correct name, each correct film and each bonus question answered correctly. Out of 60 we got 47 which we were quite happy with, although the winners got 60!

Back to the room we hung out on the Balcony where we saw these guys who were having a bit of fun taking photos of the Wonder whilst fishing

It is really sad seeing all of the rubbish floating by! We really do all need to be a little more conscious of what we’re doing to our planet! You could tell we were getting closer to the canal as we were seeing a lot more ships (we hadn’t seen any for days!).

Time to get ready for our 5pm Vista Spa reservation. We had booked an exotic Rasul I’m not sure either of us would like a massage from a stranger (might be wrong) so this works very well for us – we still get the relaxation and the massage but it’s private.

In the private sauna room as you enter there is a shower to the left, a long heated tiled bench across the back wall, a steam room and a trolley with toners, moisturisers, washes, exfoliates, face masks, cooling body mask.

They talk you through the “order” then you are left alone. As we were the last of the day they let us have a little longer than usual and they give you a knock about 10 minutes before time is up.

We both felt fresh and so relaxed after this. We both used their showers in the changing rooms before we left as it was a little cooler out there. We then got 2 wine glasses (plastic) from a bar on the top deck and we opened a bottle of red

And got ready for our evening

I had been looking forward to this day for a long time – spa reservation followed by

Our reservation was at 7:30 and we left a little before 10:30. Unfortunately they moved the Halloween party forward by one day, so as not to detract from the canal on the 31st, and the adult party was at 10:30. Needless to say we missed it despite having our costumes so we get to keep those for another year. I am not sorry because this meal was simply divine!

Hristo was our server again and he put together a little antipasti plate for us whilst we perused the menu

The Parmesan and Balsamic was so good we asked for more

We ordered a bottle of red – didn’t get a photo on the night but took this a little later (we took what was left back to our room)

It was delicious and went very well with our meals

To start we both had calamari

This was a huge shock for me because Carl never eats anything like this! Clearly Hristo did a good sales job. We both enjoyed it! He also brought us one of his favourites which is no longer available – it’s a dish with polenta and mushroom, a little different but nice

We both decided to order a smaller portion Pasta dish. Carl went for the Chianti Braised beef ravioli

Which was so good!

I had the Mushroom risotto

It was very nice but I didn’t eat it all otherwise I would never have gotten to dessert! I think next time I will order what Carl had.

We were then served a refreshing sorbet

He had the Beef Tenderloin

I had the rack of lamb

For dessert we both had a chocolate soufflé

Which was tasty but not as amazing as we remembered so may not need to have it again. Carl also had the panna cotta with a strawberry basil sorbet and I had the orange and almond cake, both of which we enjoyed more than the soufflé.

Hristo asked us if we were celebrating so we said no. He asked when our anniversary is – January and he came back with this saying it should be celebrated every day

It was quite cool seeing all of the ships moored up waiting to go through!

Then we called it a night – early start tomorrow!!

Panama Canal Day!​

We decided to get up at 5am today – after reading some TRs and overhearing others it seemed most people were going to be up crazy early so we aimed for 5 in the hope of a decent position. The moon was still out

We went up to deck 9 to grab some hot drinks then on to 10 for a spot at the very front- we were on the front rail just to the left of centre (if you were looking from in front of the ship) where we watched the sun slowly rise and show us panama

Around 6:30 it started getting very busy. Unfortunately I was too busy watching to clock the timings anything happened this day so can’t tell you exactly how long it took. I think I have it on one of the handouts I am yet to scan so will let you know later.

The flag was raised

And we were one of the first ships to make a move for our transit

Toward the Bridge of the Americas

As we went under the Bridge of the Americas some school buses started a horn war with us which we and they loved!

I will tell you now I took 100s of photos on this day so I will let them do the talking (not all of them don’t worry)

... Think someone parked in the wrong place!

I enjoyed being able to see the new locks being built and we decided we will take this cruise again when they are open.

And we started our approach to the first lock where we saw some wildlife

Two workers row out to hook us up to the tugs which will help guide us along and then we start our entry to our first lock

We saw more wildlife (no these guys were not caged – just casually breaking and entering…)

And then we were out the other side

The whole transition was very very smooth, you could barely notice you were moving. At this point we decided to leave and make room for others before we hit the second lot of locks so we headed to BBB for some breakfast. En route we bumped into this guy

I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo – Carl went to give Donald a high 5 which the duck missed and had a little meltdown. It was very funny – I love the roaming characters you get at sea

There was a nice view of the first locks and the bridge of Americas

After this it was starting to get very warm so we headed back to the room where we got ready for a dip in the pool.

The transit was being shown on the stateroom TV and funnel vision (this is in the second set of locks)

We stayed here for a few hours taking in turns getting refreshing beverages and having a wander around deck 10 to take in the views This is also where we got to know a new friend and we thoroughly enjoyed our long chat! (I think she may have convinced him on the Alaska front now I have to decide when to fit it in!)

They dig holes and insert poles (above) in which they drop explosives to help clearing. They were also dredging

They were serving a special BBQ in BBB today so we dragged ourselves out of the pool at 1:40 to check it out. My battery had died and I had left it on charge when we went back earlier so no photos I’m afraid but I have noted the Venison Sausages and Salmon were very nice (as was the banana bread of course)

After lunch we returned to our room to sit on the balcony for a little while when I noticed we were approaching the final locks so I thought I would watch from deck 7 aft. When I got out there it was quite busy and I got talking to another lady from England.

Just as we approached the last locks the heavens opened and it poured with rain! The deck emptied quite quickly but we both found it quite refreshing so we stuck it out (I do love rain – I only don’t like walking to work in it!!) Carl was on top deck and this is how it looked:

I did have to put my main camera back in the room before it got too wet then came back out with the waterproof to get some photos

Did we need to get up quite so early? possibly not. Were we glad we chose to? Absolutely. They did have narration on throughout the day but we hardly heard it in the locations we were in, we did go to Port Adventures at some point to get our passports stamped for Panama. The highlight of the day for me was nearly solitude on deck 7 aft in the pouring rain with a thunderstorm in the distance watching those final locks. Thanks Mother nature for making the show spectacular! At somepoint a gent had brought me and the other lady some towels but by the time I went in they were gone. It was freezing going into the air conditioned corridor wet! Time for a hot shower and when I got out I was greeted by this..

Safely in the Atlantic, warm and dry we headed to the Walt Disney Theatre to watch new film Bridge of Spies. Afterward we went to diversions to watch some NFL

We also got roped into doing the 00s music trivia – we aren’t really pop music kind of people, we may have done OK with 90s and were surprised with our 32/50! There were a few here we had never heard of even with the answers!!

Once our quiz master finished his questions we were asked to swap our answer sheets with another table. Carl went to the closest table who were very confused and looked at him like he had 2 heads. When the penny dropped they wouldn’t swap… a little odd.

We then headed to Parrot Cay for dinner which, tonight, was the Panama Canal Menu

We both started with the Cheese and Bacon tartlet , Carl opted for the mushroom pasta for his main, I had the lobster tail with creamy mash potato which was really tasty. Milton asked a few times if I’d like another and I wish I had but I saved myself for dessert which was Cannoli for me which I loved and sweet temptations for Carl and because we’re little piggies we shared a crème Brulee

After another yummy dinner (I am really missing those now!!) We checked on the progress of the gingerbread house

On our way to Wavebands where we wanted to check out the cabaret put on by the Walt Disney performers. They told us a bit about themselves and their aspirations and they sang, it was nice. After the show there were some games and then inadvertently ended up watching the same cabaret show before something called rock and bowl – Rock music and wii bowling

I think there was about 10 of us in wavebands at this point plus the entertainment staff. Our team lost.

Then back to the room where Carl fell asleep pretty quickly – I, on the other hand, figured it would be quiet at the laundry so took our bag down for washing. I got in to bed around 11:45 so almost a 19 hour day but it was really worth it!

It did start to sink in at this point that we’d be home in a week…​

Cartagena​

We set a Mickey wake up call for 07:45 then made our way up to BB for some breakfast and to watch us pull into port. Here’s my plate and pretty much what I had most days – Muesli (YUM!) some fruit and a Krispy Kreme donut (undoing all the other healthy stuff – I WAS on vacation though)

We met for our tour at 09:15. I will tell you now our experience in Cartagena was night and day compared to Puerto Vallarta, we felt safe wandering around including with the 30 or so minutes we had of free time in the old town it felt like walking around somewhere in Spain, Our tour guide was interesting and gave us local facts instead of hotel recommendations, it was clean and there was hardly anytime with the pushy sales stuff in shops no one wanted to buy from! We would go back to Cartagena in a heartbeat, we don’t need to go to Puerto Vallarta ever again – just our opinion though…

There is a high rate of unemployment in Cartagena so there are a lot more vendors. However, they weren’t overly pushy. If you gave them a firm no they would walk away. Otherwise, there were a lot of cheap goods if you fancy helping them out a little.

Our first stop was the fort where we got out to take some pictures

I would have liked to have gone in but not today – perhaps when we go back. I should mention the humidity was around 90% today so we were quite keen to keep cool. I took a few photos here but they aren’t great because of the grey sky and then we got back on the bus swiftly.

We then drove up to La Popa Monastery which is the highest point in the city and had a beautiful courtyard

We then went into the small chapel they had onsite

In the centre is one of Cartagena’s Patron saints. Once a year someone from the city makes an outfit for the year, then it is removed and put in storage for someone else’s turn.

We were then taken through to the other side to take in more of the views

It was interesting getting out of here. When the road was built for the monastery they obviously didn’t foresee coaches! It is a narrow windy road and there is a car park at the top. However, there were a lot of coaches up there at the same time and it made manoeuvring difficult but there were now bumps and we made our way back down.

The next stop was Las Bovedas which is a structure attached to the walls of the old city which were once dungeons, those cells are now used as shops

There was nothing there that really took our fancy so we came away empty handed but it was nice strolling around, the clouds were starting to go and the sun starting to shine.

Our next stop was the old city which I thought was beautiful

Then to the museum where we learnt a little about the fortresses of the city and about pirates – the main one being Francis Drake and it was interesting as Brits hearing it from the Colombian point of view. The English had a big feud with the Spanish and the French hundreds of years ago and Sir Francis played a big part in defending our shores. This is a man who was a knight and a Vice Admiral in the Queens Navy and generally a chap who’s life is much celebrated in this country.

We were also given a much needed cold bottle of water and shown some traditional dancing

Next onto another monastery and the home of another of the Patron Saints – Peter Claver. My memory is a little hazy so here is a little information about the man. We couldn't go in the church as there was a service.

We then walked a little further

And into Parque de Bolivar then to the Cathedral. Again we couldn’t go inside but we did see a statue of Pope John Paul II.

We were taken into an Emerald shop and briefly told how it is a main export before being given 20 minutes of free time. We went straight down to Hard rock café as we try and buy a glass at every one we visit – It used to be the hurricane cocktail glasses but as we are more likely to use pilsner we had just decided to change. It was located on Plaza De La Aduana

We had to meet back at the statue of John Paul II we still had some time to kill so we decided to have a look in one of the nearby shops where we bought ourselves a picture. We did have a bit of a 'Love Actually' moment here (think Rowan Atkinsons character) We chose the picture and were acutely aware we were nearing our meet up time. The nice chap rolled the picture up, then covered in 1 protective packaging (the tour guide then comes in looking for us - we wont be long we say) he then rolls it in another package, then slooooowly tapes it up THEN bags it! Then we were finally ready to head back to the coach (we weren't the last ones thankfully)

There were two guys who were on this tour and had been pains quite frankly. It was a middle aged man and his father, at one point the father had wandered off to have a cigar and just happened to find us again. About half way back to the bus our guide realised they were not with us. He called the driver and he met the rest of us and got us on the bus whilst the guide went back to find them. The guide was panicked and the rest of us had to wait on a coach for a long time before he came back and told us they had decided to stay!! NOT COOL! If you are going to stay that’s fine but is not fair on the rest of your group or your guide to just wander off. It takes nothing to say “ we’ll make our own way back later”

Back on the Wonder we dropped our stuff off at the room then headed to deck 9 as we were hungry! The queue for plutos was over 30 deep (the longest I have ever seen) so we picked up some fresh out of the oven pepperoni Pizza and cinnamon cream cheese pretzel and headed to the pool where we read, had a dip in the pool then headed to shoot some hoops. Carl beat me this time but only because I taught him how to shoot.

We then watched the 5:15 showing of Antman which we enjoyed. I have noted here that the theatres are a little cold and my mum will want a jumper so if you feel the cold have a jumper or something to hand for the theatres!

I didn’t take any pictures I’m afraid (I had been carrying the camera all day and just needed a break!)

Dinner was in Tritons and the prince and princess menu, neither of us were particularly we both had the veal main (delicious) and ordered 2 desserts we both had the sundae which was ok and I also had the choc cake (only ok) and Carl had the banana bread pudding which he really liked!

We then went to wavebands to watch the Shawn Farquhar Magic/comedy show which we enjoyed. Took forever to get drinks though. We stayed for the game “majority rules” which we totally sucked at – It’s tough when you aren’t 100% on American Culture. We’ll do better next year with a team of more than 2!!

Then it was time for bed

Why are Pirates called Pirates? ....... Because they Argh they argh​

As per usual we slept through our alarms! We woke up around 9 and lazed in bed watching 101 Dalmations – I love having all the Disney films on TV I just wish they were on demand or we had listings to know what was on when as we always just saw bits of films.

We then headed up to 9 to grab some drinks to go see Stacia Martin who was drawing for us today! When we entered we went up to get some raffles to see if we might win one at the end

It was really fantastic to watch her drawing! We did take a few photos but don’t worry – we weren’t being inconsiderate to others with an LCD screen in their faces..

It was impressive watching her draw whilst talking to all of us! Unfortunately we came away empty handed but there were a lot of very fortunate people who got pictures!

Inspired we went to the animation class in Animators Palate. Before the cruise I had intended to do a lot of these and I really wish we had gone sooner!! Todays lesson was Donald Duck and here are our attempts one is happy the other angry

After our classes we dropped our things back to the room then headed to BBB where we just had a general mixture of things (sorry, I started carrying my camera around less and less at this point) before heading to the pool to cool down and then read on a longer on deck 10. At 2:30 I left Carl reading to go to Disney Tunes Trivia where I got 45/60 – there was a lot more Pixar in this one and I would have done a lot better with Carl! I need to do some studying before our next cruise!!

We met up again on deck 10 where he beat me at Table Tennis AND Table Football. Then we took some ice cream back to the room where we watched cars 2 before getting ready for Pirate night.

We picked up some drinks from the Promenade lounge and had a photo with Goofy

Before we went to see the magician who put on another great show

Then it was to Animators Palate for my favourite menu, To start I had the Pot Stickers and Carl had Jerk Salad

Carl had a new addiction to drawing Donald Duck wherever he could

For main Carl had the rib and I had the steak No dessert for me tonight – I cannot stand the taste of coconut so couldn’t risk it (plus I know there is a buffet later so wanted to save a little room) This is also why I rarely had a drink of the day (DOTD) too many of them come with coconut! Carl had the banana crepes

We then headed up to deck 9

We love Pirate night! We always stand back at these events – firstly children / families who want to join in should be a little closer but also I like to take photos. I can’t stand watching something and having someone up front with their smart phone or tablet in the air recording the whole thing. If you want to record it fine but please be aware of the others around you, stand back a little bit (Deck 10 in front of the funnel is a great spot for recording) or hold it down a little way! We stood in front of the shower next to one of the hot tubs ensuring there was no one behind us we could annoy whilst taking photos (I tried to take mine when there wasn’t a screen in the air). I won’t share them all but here are a few…

The girls at Pinocchio’s were having a great time dancing (and may have noticed me taking this)

We stayed to the end of the dance party before heading to BBB to check out the buffet options

This was the first time we actually made it to this buffet and the food was pretty good – Mexican, Turkey legs, crepes, Banana Bread etc we shared a plate

Which we took back to the room to munch on and finish our drinks whilst we watched Pirates of the Caribbean Dead mans chest before going to bed

Beer, Chocolate and relaxation​

This update will be more words than pictures I’m afraid, took less than 20 all day! And didn’t even have a camera on me until late afternoon! We started the day our usual way – sleeping through our alarm. We got very very good at this! We grabbed some coffee then to see Stacia Martin who was to talk more about the lost music of Disney. The themes today were a lost musical – Disney bought the rights to the Wizard of Oz and intended on making a few films. There was a sequel set up which was going to star the Mickey Mouse club and the idea was that he cowardly Lion now ruled Oz but he wasn’t a good King – he had been put there by evil forces!! The concept pictures and music was delightful, it’s a shame nothing every came of it!

After it was to our next art Lesson – Goofy this time. Then lunch at Tritons I had a Mexican soup to start and Carl had a wrap then I ordered the burger with cheddar and bacon and Carl ordered the Cheesesteak croissant we then split each dish in half. I think my fave was the croissant!

Cruise Director Peter did a lecture in the Buena Vista theatre about his history of cruising, how he got started in the industry to where he is now which was interesting.

At 4 we had a beer tasting which was organised by our FB group. There were 5 to taste and if we could guess correctly we would win a bottle or can from the table.

The first was a lager and the clue was that it was brewed by Anheuser-Busch. I guessed Budweiser – I was wrong ( I wont give away the answer though) The second, however, I recognised as soon as I put it to my lips – Peroni – This is a lager sold in nearly all Italian restaurants in the UK so we have had (probably more) than our fair share! I told DH who chose a can of Guinness as his prize – clever as the Guinness was 440ml compared to the 330ml bottles. Next was a wheat beer and Wawan told us Wheat beer is known as a beer for the ladies (not this lady though), followed by Sam Adams and finally Guinness. After the tasting there was a “chugging” contest – The first was black and tan. 2nd was Irish Car Bomb which Carl did and came 2nd (A later replay did show that the guy who won did start before he should though…)

I don’t recall what the third drink was but two guys and a girl got up to do it. The boys finished theirs way before the girl BUT she didn’t spill a drop whereas they were wearing half of theirs. As she was the only one to drink it all we made her the winner!

This finished just after 5 when we headed up to the pool.

Tonight we skipped the main dining room in the favour of poolside pizza and relaxation. It was nice to have the place virtually to ourselves

We then decided to shower and dress for the 2nd showing of the crew talent show. The theatre was a lot more packed than it ever was for our usual first showing which shows how popular first dinner seating is. It was pretty good. Finished around 9:30 and we chilled out back at our room before 11 when we went down to Tritons for

It all looked fantastic! It didn’t taste as good as it looked unfortunately, it was still good though. Here’s my plate

We took our plates back to our room where we enjoyed them in our PJs with a film on the TV.​

Cozumel​

Up at ready to go by 7:30 when we headed to deck 9 to take in the views and have some hot drinks and bananas from Goofys Galley for breakfast and filled up our water bottles to take with us. We then headed to studio sea (1st time we had ever visted in 3 cruises!) to check in for our excursion Caves, Caverns and Paradise Lagoon. Here is the blurb from the Disney website:​

Swim and snorkel among the fishes and impressive rock formations in Playa del Carmen's mystic natural swimming holes. Explore the freshwater lagoons of a Playa Del Carmen and learn about their place in Mayan culture and natural history.

On this adventure you will...

· Embark on a 45-minute ferry ride to Playa del Carmen on the Mexican mainland.

· Meet your eco-guides and walk approximately 5 minutes to your air-conditioned mini-van before taking a 40-minute drive south to 2 natural cenotes. Cenotes are natural water formations caused by sinking limestone bedrock. The Mayan culture sometimes used cenotes for spiritual rituals.

· Hear about the history of these impressive rock formations and enjoy a refreshing snorkeling session in the crystal clear waters.

· Travel to a unique natural aquarium where you'll have approximately 45 minutes to snorkel among a variety of tropical fish and colorful marine life. Note: This is a freshwater lagoon, not a typical aquarium with sea life in a tank.

· Arrive at a beach club for a Mexican lunch and complimentary beverages. Here, you can relax, enjoy the sunshine or take a swim at the beach.

· Take a short ride back to Playa del Carmen where you will board your ferry back to Cozumel.

Take note of that explanation, it’ll come in handy later

Once we were all assembled we were taken down to the ferry to the mainland (Playa Del Carmen). As we were waiting to get on the ferry it absolutely poured down so we were wet before we even started!

The ferry is a bumpy ride, I do not get any motion sickness but I felt queasy on this and there were a lot of green faces onboard! It was a little funny seeing tanned legs, arms and necks with very white/green faces (not for them though) when we were getting off we passed a lady who had a bin next to her and several sick bags!

Back on the safety of land we started to queue up to be put into groups for our trip. There was a slightly unpleasant start to this, we were queued up and one woman and her husband marched to the front and ended up joining the front of our group (the 2nd group) her sister and brother in law quite rightly joined the back of the line and joined the 3rd group. We were led to our minibus and all the time this woman was going on at the guide asking when she will meet back up with her sister. The rest of our group were getting a little irritated and felt sorry for the guide as he was trying to explain there were 3 groups and we may not meet up with them until later, all the while trying to organise with the other guide so the 2 sisters could be in the same places at the same time at least. Keeping your personal group together is the responsibility of you, yourselves alone. Perhaps she should have done that instead of worrying about being the front of the group.

We got on the bus and Hector, our guide, started going through the days itinerary and as soon as he mentioned snorkelling guess who got very upset – uh huh – She kept saying she had not signed up for snorkelling, nowhere did it mention snorkelling, she wasn’t doing it. I don’t know if you noticed the blurb above? A whole 30 minute mini bus ride of this and the rest of the group were starting to get annoyed with her passive aggressive loud comments we felt so sorry for Hector who was really getting it and trying to organise us meeting up with her sisters group so she can go with them. It clearly states it is a snorkelling trip!

On arrival at our first port of call she chatted with her sister and flat out refused to take part. She was told there were benches by the lagoon so she at least had something to look at but no, she chose a bench in the car park instead. Her sister tried to talk sense into her but I think it was just one of those instances where she had gotten herself so wound up she couldn’t back down or make the best of the situation. She was there and had to wait for us to finish so why not go paddle your feet and take in the beautiful lagoon?

However, it was a fantastic ice breaker for the rest of us!!

The rest of us headed into the lagoon which is a natural aquarium with both fresh and salt water and a variety of fish. Our camera didn’t pick up a great deal – those fish are fast! - but we did get some shots and hector kindly offered to take pictures of us (this is rare, these things usually supply a photographer you have to pay for the photos!)...

We spent about 40 minutes in the lagoon, the pictures don’t do justice to how pretty it was. It was chilly in there but there were little pockets of warm water which were nice to swim over.

Hector managed to arrange for our unhappy companions to be picked up by another bus from their company and now we had nothing but good vibes for the rest of the day!! On our journey to the next stop we were given water, bananas and cookies – enjoyed these after a small breakfast!

Next up was a journey to some caves where we would snorkel through stalactites and stalagmites. It was a lot cooler here but the water was crystal clear, like bottled water. It was quite dark though so the pictures aren’t the greatest

We also saw bats which was cool.

After a while we got out and started our journey back to Playa Del Carmen where we went for some food and mojitos all in the cost of the excursion. The mojitos were good, there was a lot of food to choose from and it was all pretty good.

Then back to the ferry

Look at the colour of that water (those are fish you can see)

I can honestly say this is the best cruise excursion we have ever done and it was worth every penny! Might just spend some time exploring Cozumel next time though.

Back in our room we were greeted with a very sad bit of paperwork

Evidence the end was nigh

And we watched a storm from our balcony

We then headed to the show. Originally it was supposed to just be ‘JUNK’ from England who are a stomp type group. However, 3 pallets of their equipment was stranded in Florida and they had been unable to get it shipped to Mexico so they had spent the day looking for new equipment on the ship and in the surrounding area. The result was that heir show had to be cut short and it became a variety show. First up was Barry Allen – a man who has dedicated his life to being an Elton John tribute act – we thought he was awful! So glad we didn’t go to the full show earlier in the week. Then we saw magician Shawn again before JUNK. I will say we thought JUNK were very very good, especially considering the circumstances and that they only had a 30 min practise with equipment they had never used before!

After the show we went to the Promenade lounge for a drink and spent a long time chatting with a Gent and his granddaughter who had been on our excursion earlier. We enjoyed our chats but it did make us a little late for dinner – oops.

During this time the Gingerbread house was unveiled

Tonight was the Toy Story menu – I truthfully was not looking forward to this, I had looked at menus and was not impressed, nothing stood out to me and I was going to skip it but Carl wanted to go so we did. We kept it light with just 2 courses (no pics again I’m afraid) I had the Pork followed by the bubblegum ice cream and I again was pleasantly surprised. Carl had steak followed by White chocolate and raspberry truffle cheesecake.

We went to Wavebands for the hilarious comedy of Maryellen Hooper – check her out! Then we stayed around for the game show – 4 CMs on stage and 1 female + 1 male guest from the audience. Anthony asked questions and whoever was closest to a CM would win. It got a little risqué at times but was a lot of fun and the girls won!!

After that we returned to the room where we got not one but TWO special treats –

I didn’t know if I were more excited by the limited edition picture or the extra hour of sleep!!

We also had a little booklet of facts about the cruise

The beginning of the end – a final day at sea This was a busy day at sea but it is really nice to have the last day as a sea day so you can get organised for departure. We were up at 7:45 as We HAD to have breakfast at Tritons – this is actually my favourite breakfast location and I cannot believe it took until our last day to get here – I had visions of going for most of the trip – but we were busy in the mornings and my cold had made me value sleep a lot more highly! We both ordered English Breakfast teas. Carl had the Mornin’ Tug Boat (Strawberries, bananas, almonds, raisin granola and low fat yoghurt) followed by the Breakfast Trio (French Toast, Belgian Waffle and buttermilk pancakes served with cinnamon butter, syrup and whipped cream accompanied with Bacon). I had the Mango mountain hike (Mango, honey, granola and low fat yogurt) followed by my favourite – Eggs Benedict

It was all very yummy and even now I am still disappointed we didn’t go more often! I think I will make a point of doing it on our first sea day on the next cruise!

We then headed to the last Stacia Martin show which was about the music Disney used at the 1964 World’s fair and the lost music of Mary Poppins – it’s great how those tunes were repurposed for the likes of the Jungle Book and Bedknobs & Broomsticks. In fact the whole “Beautiful Briny Sea” section was originally intended for Mary Poppins.

We did a little shopping then I went back to the room to get on with packing whilst Carl went for a swim.

At 12:15 we had our last tasting – Chocolate tasting – which was $35 each and really worth it. It was all about how the tastes changed with different complimenting foods

From L-R we have Champagne which was paired with white chocolate and tasted better together. I have never liked Champagne or white chocolate but now I know I do as long as I have them together. Then a Lasseter red wine which was paired with a white, a dark and a caramel chocolate. The chocolate really changed the taste but I found the Dark complimented it best. Third is one of my favourite drinks – Port which we had with Parmesan. Then we dunked the Parmesan in Dark Chocolate to have with the port – it was all great!! Finally was a single Malt whisky which is usually $45 a shot or $700 a bottle which was paired with dark chocolate. I don’t usually like Whisky (DH is a whisky lover) but surprisingly I enjoyed this a lot more without the chocolate – it was smoother and less burning in the back of my throat.

We were a little lucky – the table next to us didn’t turn up so we had some extra port and whisky passing on the rest for the other who wanted it. I left Carl to settle the bill and headed to guest services to see if there was any chance of signing up for the 2pm mixology (we were a little merry and wanted to continue) but it was fully booked – I really wish we’d done it earlier! When I got back to pick up Carl the sommelier who ran the tasting – Jonathan – topped up our champagne. We definitely got our moneys worth with this tasting!

We left the Cadillac lounge around 1:15 and headed up to deck 9 where there was some ice carving happening

Sorry, we didn’t see what it became as we were hungry so headed to BBB They had a curry station in the centre and DH loves a curry. He didn’t love this as it had fish and he hates fish He also had a soup and some rib and apple juice I had a lobster roll, mussels, crabs legs, baked tomatoes and a salad of leaves, olives and mozzarella again with apple juice

We then went in the pool for the last time it was a little chillier today so it wasn’t hard to drag ourselves away for Disney tunes trivia. We changed our dirty mugs for clean ones to take home and each had a glass of wine

We got 44 out of 45 this time!! And still no winners medal! Oh well we tried.

I put on the last of our clothes washing – It’s so much nicer to come home with a case of clean clothes and only having to put them away when you get home rather than cleaning it all. Instead of waiting around for it to finish I always set an alarm on my phone so we could go and do things in the meantime. We went for a walk and used up some Arcade credits Carl had bought earlier (I don’t think I mention this so clearly a gap in my notes – sorry about that!)

We went to shoot some hoops before picking up our washing and finishing packing the case. We then opened our last bottle of wine and hung out on the balcony watching the sunset and talking about the trip

We then headed here

For our last time this trip. The show tonight was Dreams, Carl was not a fan but I thought it was nice. Not great but nice.

We had ordered one photo from shutters we had been told would be available after 6 so we went to pick that up

Then back to the room to put the photo in a case and put the cases out ready for collection

Our last meal was in Tritons and it was the till we meet again menu

Carl had the Chicken Consomme, which he was not a fan of, followed by the tandoori Lamb which he loved, I had the Potato and Goats cheese napoleon which was nice but not great followed by the Beef Wellington which was a little dry, We both had the baked Alaska for dessert. I liked it but Carl was disappointed.

We were then introduced to our chefs for the cruise and then we had the waving of the flags which signifies and celebrates the diversity of everyone onboard before we said goodnight to Milton and Kenan

Excuse Miltons unDisney pose – I’m sure he didn’t realise. I think I mentioned this before but Kenan was by far the best server we have had! He is training to become a main server so look out for him and if you see him say hi from me.

I finally got my photo of the mural at the back of the restaurant

We then headed to Wavebands where we saw a second Maryellen Hooper show which was funny! And then our Entertainment team did a very funny goodbye show “If I were not upon the sea”

And then we called it a night.​

That's all folks

I have no notes and hardly any pictures – It’s really hard to want to keep this up on the very last day but I will try harder next time. (yeah that didn't happen)

We woke up in the Port of Galveston

It’s not the prettiest port in the world.

A nice thing about 2nd seating dinner is that you have a later breakfast on disembarkation day. Breakfast is also available at BBB or with your servers usually in the dining room you were in the night before. We headed back to Tritons for 8:15

I didn’t get a photo of the food as we were busy talking with our servers and the next table but we both ordered English breakfast tea and the Route 66 (Scrambled eggs, Bacon, Sausage, ham and hash browns) I don’t know if I mentioned this before but I wasn’t a huge fan of the scrambled egg throughout the whole cruise.

We had Mickey Tickets meaning we were one of the last groups to get off. We hung about a little while

Before finally being called. When we got off we were held in a little waiting area before being let through to the hall with all the luggage. There was a huge queue to customs so I joined whilst Carl got our bags and we waited, and waited and waited. Galveston is the worst place I have had to go through for customs. All of the Americans were sailing through with loads of stations open for them but anyone from outside the US had to watch these people sail pass them while they waited in an area that was really in the way it was poorly run for non Americans! We had actually done an onboard booking for a cruise out of Galveston for our anniversary in 2017 but we thought it was run so poorly we moved it as soon as we got home!

For the first time we booked our transfers through DCL and this ran quite smoothly. We were on the bus and shown Disney shorts and advertisements

Our flight was at 3:25 and I was worried we'd have hours at the airport waiting to board. Because we were waiting so long at Galveston we only had a couple of hours so we both read.

The flight was fairly uneventful and we picked up some lattes from Starbucks when we transferred in Amsterdam.

We arrived back in Bristol just before 10 and it took hardly any time to get through to wait for the bus to take us back to the car. We stopped and did some shopping on the way home and were back around 11:30.

Home sweet home.