We do love our Disney vacations and Allison found a fantastic deal where the Disney cruise line was offering trips where "kids sail free". The ship was the Disney Wonder and during the summer it sails from Vancouver up to Alaska... and in the winter from Long Beach, CA to Mexico. Early this fall when the ship was in port, Allison took the kids down to Canada place to see it, and by chance they saw several characters on the landing. I don't think the kids (or Allison) needed any encouragement to get excited about this trip, but it did the trick... :) We travelled in November... driving to Seattle and flying to Long Beach where we met the boat. We sailed 7 nights, Sunday to Sunday, with stops in Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas.
Getting Ready!
At the airport in Seattle.... Molly singing her story about how she's going to see Minnie mouse!
Serious excitement here....
In the hotel room on Saturday night... I just thought this was a funny picture of Owen, relaxing on the bed watching a show with Molly.
At the cruise port, getting ready to board. I was wearing my Mickey ears too!
The ship has 11 decks, is almost a 1000 feet long and can carry 2700 passengers with 950 crew. It's not as big as some of the newer ships, but is still quite impressive.
Onboard!
We boarded just before lunch, so while we waited for our bags to get to the room, we had some snacks in the forward cafe.
The rooms were quite a bit larger than any cruise ship we had been on before. There were upgrades available when we checked in, so we moved to a stateroom with a veranda. This was a great decision because having the deck was quite nice in the evenings and while we were in ports.
Looking from outside....
And from the hall side. The couch folded out into a twin bed and there was a bunk that dropped down from the ceiling. It was perfect for Molly & Owen and they loved their sleeping arrangements. Molly only rolled out of bed once during the whole trip. :)
We spent the early afternoon walking around the ship before heading to the departure party! It was raining and kindof cold when we arrived in LA, but Sunday when we left, it was a beautiful blue sky and warming up!
Owen in a porthole outside of the Animators Palate Restaurant.
On the Sail Away! deck party as we left LA...... They put on a great show and it's hard to put into words how excited the kids were. It was pure joy. Both of them were smiles ear to ear and dancing their little hearts out.
Molly seeing Mickey for the first time on the boat!
Some interpretive dance with her tassles...
Oh the things you can do!
Life on the boat was full of possibilities for everyone. "The lab", which was an activity area for the younger kids on the ship, had the perfect combination of things to do for Owen. Computers, movies, cooking, stories with the characters, crafts and more... The kids wore bracelets the entire voyage and you just had to scan them into the room. The rooms were supervised and organized by a large team of cast members so there was no concern leaving them there. Owen loved it so much, one day he spent almost the entire day there, despite us stopping by to see if he wanted to join us for lunch, dinner, swimming etc... Molly was mixed to be honest. She was an age where she was too old for the nursery, but somewhat intimidated by the activity rooms. In addition to the lab where Owen spent a lot of time, they also had the "Club". which was aimed at the 3-5 year olds. We tried many times to get here interested in going in there, so we could have some adult time alone, but usually the drama came out. What ended up working, with tons of credit to the caretakers in the room, was to have her in the lab with Owen. She would throw a fit when we left, but then would settle down and have a great few hours of activity. So, while we struggled at times, in the end, it worked out.
For us, there was a surprising amount of adult activities and spaces on the ship. In fact, there were many people on the ship vacationing with no kids! There were quiet adult only pools, a coffee shop, clubs, bars, adults only restaurants etc... If you wanted quiet time to read a book, it was possible! The spa on the boat was fantastic and we both enjoyed our peaceful massages.
There were several restaurants and they structure things so you have a seating time for dinner, and you rotate restaurants... but your servers stay with you the entire voyage, so you get to know them a little bit. To be honest, the food quality/presentation wasn't as great as some other cruises we have been on, but it was good.
There was something happening almost all the time on the ship, either an activity in one of the lounges, or a party on the deck. The stage entertainment was geared perfectly to entertain all of us. The quality of the shows was fantastic and they captured the attention of the kids for the entire duration.
Lots of smiles on this vacation!
On the first day, Molly, Owen and I went to an origami class to learn how to fold a paper frog! It was fun and Molly took a detour practicing to be a pirate! "I see you daddy!"
Owen folding up his version of Kermit.
Molly & Allison at dinner on formal night.
Owen and I...
Breakfast at sea.....
They had two pools for families, one of which was in the shape of a big mickey head. It was shallow enough that Molly could walk around the entire pool, so she was in her glory. She's so cute in her little tankini laughing it up and having a great time!
They have a big "goofy slide" on the boat and I think Owen went down this at least 15 times one afternoon.... here he is resting up between runs...
Miss Molly... drama princess ~extraordinaire~
Everyone always says the kids look like me because of the blonde hair, but seriously.... Here's the girls waiting in the theatre for a show.... like mother, like daughter.
Owen took this picture of us at dinner in animator's palace on one of the last evenings...
Molly didn't take many naps on the ship, so it wasn't too unusual to be battling at dinner with some 2 year old attitude. On this evening after a particularly busy day, she crashed.... and slept through the entire meal. For us it worked out perfect... a nice meal with Owen and a rested Molly for the show that night. :)
Our little man... mischievous at times, but ready with a smile.
This was on the last evening when we were walking around the disney store on the ship. Molly's expression says its all... a girl on a mission with purpose! This is the result of telling her she could pick out one small item in the store and then turning our back for a few seconds... She comes back down the row, loaded up with treasures... a few princess dress-up dolls, some shoes and another Minnie mouse.
Special moments with Cinderella
Molly is a huge Cinderella fan and we captured many Kodak moments on the princess theme evening. I think Molly was one of the only little blonde girls in the blue dress that matched... so many people were saying "awwwww.... " when they saw them together.
Waiting to meet for the first time....
Molly was timid at first....
Then she sat right down and made herself at home......
Later in the week at the princess ball... dancing with Cinderella.
Allison got some of this on video.... it's so precious.
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta was the first of two planned port stops on the cruise. We arrived during the night so we had a full day in port to go out and see the city. We didn't have any grand plans in ports, but we did sign up for a guided city tour that included lunch at a local restaurant. We rode the bus around some developing areas and also the original settlement region of the city. Lunch was nice, and somewhat random, with the one man band belting out Van Halen classics while we ate. After lunch, they had all the kids take cracks at a pinata until it broke and released the pile of candy.... Molly and Owen loved it.
The ship in port...
At the boardwalk....
Cabo san Lucas
After a day at sea, our second stop was in Cabo san Lucas. Cabo is an interesting city with quite a few high end resorts and destinations, but surrounded by a city with many issues. Disney Cruise line won't spend the night in the harbour for safety reasons, also to ensure that all their cast members must return to the ship for the night. The harbor is very pretty, with fantastic features in the landscape. I'll upload some pictures in a following post.
The only thing we planned off ship in Cabo was an excursion for Owen to swim with dolphins. It was a highlight of his trip and he talked about it for the rest of the vacation!
Pirate Evening!
They also had a few themed evenings on the ship and the Pirate party was a hit with the kids. We had a pirate themed dinner, followed by a huge pirate party up on deck... finishing in the only fireworks show that a cruise line does at sea...
Owen and I at dinner.
Molly and Allison dancing at the Buccaneer Bash Pirate Party!
Molly and I at dinner
Characters...
One of the great things about the Disney cruise experience is access to the characters. They are at every event and often, you will come across them on the boat walking from one area to another. Unlike at the parks where they are on a mission to be somewhere... on the ship, they often stopped to say hi and give the kids a high five. Owen and Molly loved it! The majority of the time, they were both pretty interested in saying hi. Molly would get intimidated once in a while with the characters that she wasn't as familiar with, but would usually warm up after a few minutes. Minnie and Cinderella were always a hit, but the one thing she wouldn't do was visit with the other princesses.
An exciting moment with Minnie.... who borrowed Molly's Minnie for a hug.
All of us with Mickey in Mexico
This is one of those frightened moments where she loves Daisey, but wouldn't go near her... but after a few seconds decided to blow some kisses... I loved that the characters just played along to whatever comfort level the kids were at.
Owen with Chip & Dale. Just remember... Chip has the black nose... like a chocolate "Chip".
Ahhhhh yes.. The two most important princesses.
Mr. Goof with Mr. Goof.
All of us with Pluto
And with Mr. Mickey Mouse himself.
Owen with Belle... who I think he's particularly fond of.
Owen with Captain Mickey.... we had to work at this one a little because he only came out in the captains outfit a few times on the cruise.
A great picture with Molly... she was shrieking because Minnie mouse was just off to the right of this picture
Owen with the characters from the stage show "Disney dreams".
Owen with those swashbucklin' Pirates and Captain Hook!
Allison & Owen with Donald
On the last night, all the characters were in the main atrium to sing some songs and bid farewell to everyone.
We arrived back in port on Sunday morning.... disembarked the ship and took the shuttle to LAX. It was a long day getting home after the flight and the drive from Seattle to Vancouver. Within a week of getting home, both Molly & Owen were asking when we were going on Mickey's boat again. :)
