Almost "Live from" Disney Wonder to Alaska! My Second Disney Experience

[lovely_serenity]

Of course, these were the only things that caught my attention:

 

 

I knew I had to quickly attain those meet Ana and Elsa tickets (for my 10 year old cousin especially), and that my Mom would have to go straight to Triton’s to check out our Palo brunch reservation (for Bro, Dad & me) and if our tables for dinner were okay (that we were all seated together). Mom, Sis & I would have our jobs as soon as we boarded. We had received boarding number 5, while everyone else (as in Dad, Bro and the rest of our relatives) had boarding number 8. Mom would go to deal with the dining arrangements; I would grab the Frozen meet and greet tickets and Sis would go get us a table for 19 of us at Parrot Cay (since we didn’t really care for Beach Blanket Buffet. At least at Parrot Cay, we would have actual seats and tables, as well as an area to leave our luggage. Beach Blanket Buffet was cramped and small.)

 

P.S. I was expecting the Princess Tea Party, but apparently that was replaced by the Frozen Meet & Greet. (By the way, it’s basically just Ana and Else standing in front of a screen to take pictures with everyone with tickets).

 

Anyways, here’s the rest of the Navigator :P

 

 

 

(Sorry the quality isn’t so good, I took these pictures right at the waiting area LOL. I swear the later ones will be better ^^”)

 

 

 

 

Something else you should definitely take note of! They have this special Internet offer that’s free on embarkation day. (Top right of the page just now). You get free 50 MBs of data if you sign up on day one prior to midnight. This can be used throughout the trip, so use it sparingly. ALSO, although they say one Internet package per stateroom, it’s really per person. So sign up for everyone! It has a tracker to help show you how much data you have left. Once the 50 MBs has been used up, they’ll simply cut you off, so don’t worry about getting charged for anything. You won’t be.

[lovely_serenity]

Anyhow, after some waiting, they started calling boarding numbers to enter the ship! We slowly started gathering our stuff when they called number 3, and quietly started creeping closer to the entrance when they called number 4. While I loitered (LOL), I ran into my relatives! I was in the middle of showing them my Mickey Mouse nails, when suddenly boarding number 5 was called. I literally just disappeared mid-conversation and ran up to board the ship. Well apparently I was quicker than everybody else, because when they asked for my boarding pass, I stopped and realized that … well … I didn’t have it LOL. I turned around and waited for my Mom and sister to catch up to we before we all went and lined up to enter the ship.

 

Finally! I got my first glimpse of the ship!

 

 

All of a sudden, there was a lot of ruckus coming from further up the line. I poked my head out and what do I see? The captain coming straight at us! :D

 

 

 

Of course, I’m quite sure that I was one of the only who got a picture of him since I turn on my camera’s point & shoot function just as fast as people drew guns in the old Wild West LOL. He disappeared shortly after.

 

We decided to skip the embarkation photo (because we never buy those anyways) and headed straight for the ship. We beeped our cards, grabbed an Alaskan coupon booklet and made our way onto the gangway. As we approached the ship’s entrance, I set up my camera to record video because I knew they were going to do the “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome … the ______ family!!” and 2 rows of crew members would applaud. After we entered the atrium, I turned right and headed straight to the Port Adventures desk. While I waited in line, I took this picture of the staff welcome committee:

 

 

At one point, there was this solo cruiser and they welcomed him, “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome … PAUL!! :D” LOL

 

It took forever to get the Frozen Meet & Greet tickets because there was only one person working at the counter (even though there were many other workers just hanging around the counter) and she was new and didn’t know how to do anything. It looked like she was being trained. It was okay, we all just patiently waited for our turn.

 

 

After I had finally gotten my Frozen Meet & Greet tickets:

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

I headed straight to Parrot Cay and saw my relatives and my sister at the restaurant. Most of them had just arrived. We entered the restaurant (which was still relatively empty) and got seated at 3 tables that were near each other. While everyone else filled their plates, I filled my SD cards.

 

 

Here was the embarkation lunch available at Parrot Cay:

 

(Salad)

 

 

(Shrimp)

 

 

(Cold food)

 

 

(Cheeses)

 

Edited August 31, 2014 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

(Mashed potatoes & vegetables)

 

 

(Schnitzel, pasta and beef)

 

 

(Salmon)

 

 

There was also a bread section:

 

 

I picked what I liked and after I had eaten my fill:

 

 

I went with Sis to get dessert!

 

[lovely_serenity]

(Chocolate brownie)

 

 

(Soft chewy cookies)

 

 

(This is cheesecake)

 

 

(Some sort of passion fruit mousse)

 

 

(This is a creampuff on top of a bread thing)

 

 

(This is orange jello with marshmallows on top)

 

[lovely_serenity]

(Carrot cake?)

 

 

Sis and I worked as a team. I got desserts from one side, and she got them from the other (so we wouldn’t wind up getting 2 of anything). We then brought our lovely plates back to the table to share! :)

 

This was my plate (all of the things I picked were good)

 

 

(The jell-o was okay, Sis liked the carrot cake, I don’t care for it. The bread thing was so-so and the cookie was good)

 

 

As we ate, I looked around and noticed that the room was still quite empty. (Beach Blanket Buffet was probably packed right now LOL).

 

 

 

 

I definitely recommend you all eat here instead of the buffet they direct you to. You’re eating the same thing, except you’re not fighting/hunting for tables, it’s proper seating, and it’s more relaxed. You also get your drink order taken by your server!

[lovely_serenity]

That is what seem to be a long walk form the train to the ship. No wonder your father did want too large of a suitcase for you to carry.

 

Haha, yeah ^^" I got into a bit of trouble. On the bright side, it was still a shorter walk because we took our short cut! :D

[lovely_serenity]

Thank you for doing such a nice trip report. I look forward to more postings. My family did this cruise June of 2013, and we loved it. Your trip report allows me to relive it again. I hope you had a fantastic vacation.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatal

 

You're welcome! :) Really? That's wonderful! We really enjoyed ourselves! && I'm very happy to hear that (: Thank you, we did!

[lovely_serenity]

I was wondering where your trip report was since I knew you went in August and thought you were going to do a "live" report like your last HAL cruise. Looking forward to more.

 

Haha, I'm glad you managed to find me! :D :D Thanks for following along! I will work hard on it! (P.S. Did you read my Cunard one? I wrote a second one too :))

Edited August 31, 2014 by lovely_serenity

[marvholly]

Been looking for you for about 2-3 weeks because:

 

I LOVED your HAL & Cunard reviews

I SOOOO much want to do AK again

[connes1]

 

I headed straight to Parrot Cay and saw my relatives and my sister at the restaurant. Most of them had just arrived. We entered the restaurant (which was still relatively empty) and got seated at 3 tables that were near each other. While everyone else filled their plates, I filled my SD cards.

 

 

Here was the embarkation lunch available at Parrot Cay:

 

(Salad)

 

 

(Shrimp)

 

 

(Cold food)

 

 

(Cheeses)

 

Do they have a sit down lunch or is it just buffet?

[karin5]

I had no idea Parrot Cay had a buffet on embarkation day. It must have been so much more relaxing and less crowded than the buffet by the pool. I'll have to remember this for our next disney cruise. Your pics are wonderful and those desserts look fabulous!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatal

[BullDawg91]

I had no idea Parrot Cay had a buffet on embarkation day. It must have been so much more relaxing and less crowded than the buffet by the pool. I'll have to remember this for our next disney cruise. Your pics are wonderful and those desserts look fabulous!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatal

 

Parrot Cay has a buffet every day. We rarely went to Cabanas because we were guaranteed a relaxing experience at Parrot Cay. The buffet is also set up more casually than the cafeteria line format of Cabanas.

[connes1]

Parrot Cay has a buffet every day. We rarely went to Cabanas because we were guaranteed a relaxing experience at Parrot Cay. The buffet is also set up more casually than the cafeteria line format of Cabanas.

So there is no sit down table service for breakfast and lunch?

[Shmoo here]

So there is no sit down table service for breakfast and lunch?

 

Except for embarkation and debarkation day, there is one MDR that serves sit down breakfast and lunch. On the Wonder that's Triton's. Hours are limited, however, it's not open as long as the buffet for those meals.

[nykaren_greg]

Thanks for doing this review! I'm reliving our fabulous cruise as a read. We had a gorgeous week. If anyone can believe it, we had NO RAIN -- even in Ketchican!

[geocruiser]

The food looks wonderful. I made my DH come to the computer to take a look. Can you tell me what Frozen Meet & Greet is?

[lovely_serenity]

Been looking for you for about 2-3 weeks because:

 

I LOVED your HAL & Cunard reviews

I SOOOO much want to do AK again

 

Haha well I'm glad you managed to find me! :D Thank you for reading my reports! && Definitely, I love Alaska ^^

[lovely_serenity]

Do they have a sit down lunch or is it just buffet?

 

Parrot Cay has a buffet for embarkation lunch, and breakfast in the morning. They only have sit down meals at dinner! The only sit down lunch venue is Triton's which runs from noon to 1:30pm. :)

[lovely_serenity]

I had no idea Parrot Cay had a buffet on embarkation day. It must have been so much more relaxing and less crowded than the buffet by the pool. I'll have to remember this for our next disney cruise. Your pics are wonderful and those desserts look fabulous!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatal

 

Yeah, I actually found that out through my online researching a few years ago prior to our first Disney cruise! It is definitely more relaxing and less crowded. It feels a lot more like you're on vacation because we don't feel rushed! (: Definitely give it a try! && Thank you!! ^^

[lovely_serenity]

So there is no sit down table service for breakfast and lunch?

 

There is sit down table service for breakfast and lunch only at Triton's! :)

[lovely_serenity]

Thanks for doing this review! I'm reliving our fabulous cruise as a read. We had a gorgeous week. If anyone can believe it, we had NO RAIN -- even in Ketchikan!

 

No problem! :) Definitely, the weather was beautiful all week! I think this was some of the best weather we had ever had on an Alaskan cruise!

[lovely_serenity]

The food looks wonderful. I made my DH come to the computer to take a look. Can you tell me what Frozen Meet & Greet is?

 

LOL Thanks! I hope he liked it too ^^ & The Frozen Meet & Greet was basically an event that required you to get tickets to the event. If you didn't have them, you wouldn't be allowed to go. Ana and Elsa did not roam the ship like the other characters. They didn't have scheduled appearances at any venues either. It was basically us going into Animator's Palate and lining up to take a picture with the 2 characters. Honestly it was a bit of a let down because I was expecting a variation of the Princess Tea Party, not something completely different (ie. a photoshoot).

[lovely_serenity]

 

Our server came around and offered coffee/tea to everyone. A few of my aunts and uncles opted for it.

 

 

Shortly afterwards, we finished our meal and were on our way!

 

 

Before heading back to the stateroom, we stopped by Triton’s

 

 

 

So that Dad could make sure that they knew it was going to be Grandma’s birthday in one day.

 

[lovely_serenity]

While we were there, I figured I might as well take some pictures while the place was empty.

 

 

 

My siblings and I quickly grew bored so we exited the restaurant. While waiting outside and taking pictures of ourselves, I noticed tonight’s dinner menu already on display!

 

 

I also took a few pictures of the view outside the windows nearby:

 

 

(Psst! Look at my reflection! You can kind of see the Mickey Mouse print of my shirt! :D)

 

 

After a little while, Mom and Dad were done. We then headed to check out the room that would be our home for the next week.