It's Not Always Pixie Dust and that's ok - our 4-day Wonder, Feb. 2019 - all done!

DEBARKATION

Since we drive to the ports and have an 8-hour drive home, DH likes to get a relatively early start. So there’s never any lingering over breakfast at Cabanas for us. I had stocked up the previous day on fruit, pastries and yogurt. We woke at 7:00 and were able to take turns eating as we took turns getting ready. The Millennials had not heeded my advice to stock-up so they woke late to no breakfast but did insist on a deck 9 run for coffee.

I darted down to Shutters to pick up our USB – delighted again to find hardly any wait and be amazed at the woman with 250 photos. Again, seriously, how do you get 250 photos on a 4-day cruise?

Leaving the room, we called for the elevator and the first one arrived full. We agreed to meet in the atrium and some took the stairs. MIL and DH caught the next elevator while I darted back into the room to grab the Comment cards. I called for an elevator and it arrived promptly and empty.

We all met up in the uncrowded atrium and waved goodbye to all the CMs. GS started crying. We were all sad. We walked off without a line, grabbed our luggage and passed through customs. In all, it was 25 minutes from the time I left the room until we arrived at the car in the parking garage.

See ya real soon, DCL? I’ll break it all down in my next post.
 
And it looks like we crossed paths again because my mom and I saw Mary Poppins in the Theatre during the day at sea! I guess it wasn't a huge ship, so that was bound to happen!

Don't know if you guys are football fans, but did you notice the NFL star on the ship? RG3 (He was on our dining rotation so we ran into each other a lot.)
 
Don't know if you guys are football fans, but did you notice the NFL star on the ship? RG3 (He was on our dining rotation so we ran into each other a lot.)
Just googled what a RG3 is - so nope and nope. I'm a girl of the south so pretty good with college football names.[/QUOTE]
 


Just googled what a RG3 is - so nope and nope. I'm a girl of the south so pretty good with college football names.
[/QUOTE]
Haha, yeah he tried to stay under the radar. I recognized him as a football player but couldn't place his name until the last night when he took photos with his serving team and I quietly asked one of them and of course had a lightbulb moment. But I didn't get a photo of him because he was with his wife and baby daughter.
 
I forgot to mention the distribution of Valentines on sea day. We brought about 60 school valentines the boys signed and affixed a magnet to pre-cruise. They had fun going down the hall leaving cards on people's doors. I hope we brought a smile to people's faces.
 
I forgot to mention the distribution of Valentines on sea day. We brought about 60 school valentines the boys signed and affixed a magnet to pre-cruise. They had fun going down the hall leaving cards on people's doors. I hope we brought a smile to people's faces.
How sweet! I brought a bag of chocolates and left some for our stateroom host and gave some to our servers that morning. It was hilarious because they didn’t even realize it was Valentines Day!
 


WRAP UP

If you read through all the posts you see that we had things that did not go as we would have liked them to go – lots of rainy days, cancelled excursions, some hits of poor food quality, some slow and inept service, being sick, being cold, not much pool time, boys did not like the clubs, Sail Away party held in the small(er) atrium, things we wanted but didn’t have time/energy for (a movie in the Buena Vista Theater, after hours in the adult bars and listening to musical talent). And let’s not forget that this is an expensive vacation when compared to other options.

I’ll also add quickly that I feel like our experiences are a reason why 3-day cruises may be too short for people on their first cruise, or traveling like us as part of a larger group. There are more moving parts with a larger group and less down time. There were many times I wished we were on a 7-day cruise and was really glad we were not on a 3-day.

On the other hand we had some great experiences – character interactions, some great meals, great shows, playing on the beach, time with four generations and a MIL who loved everything about the cruise.

Just a quick note about the Wonder. All week, we experienced how the size of a classic ship impacts the experience. MIL could not take the stairs at all. We used the forward elevators and never had a moment’s problem getting a car, even after one of the shows. I never even felt like we were inconveniencing anyone by taking the elevator up one floor. Most of the time we were the only ones on the elevator. The lines for the characters were always manageable. Same for the slides. Embarkation and debarkation were easy. It did seem the cabin size was smaller but DH and I have not sailed with 4 people in room in a very long time! You could also tell the difference in the smaller Atrium. But the only major impact was at the Sail Away Party. The ship is in great shape. I love the décor and didn’t notice anything that would indicate she is 20 years old. Also, we just kept finding each other without problem. One thing I noticed was that everyone always chose the port side of the boat when we went somewhere - theater, atrium, pool deck, Cabanas. It wasn't conscious or planned out. I suppose it was because our cabins were on the port side? Anyway, we always seemed to be able to find each other without texts, etc. And finally, as always, everything was kept spotless.

Overall, this cruise was a win! I decided to share our experiences because I see people posting about being disappointed if they experience some of the things we did. And I really can’t say we were ever disappointed. The Pixie Dust moments of simply seeing joy in our family’s eyes made every inconvenience worth it.

As for DH and I, we probably won’t be back to DCL until DD has a grandchild to spoil. We’ll go back to cruises that don’t hit the pocketbook so hard and provide different entertainment options. Our next cruise is back to the MSC Yacht Club, then we’ll probably try out RCL. I have to admit though, I’ve started toying with a summer 2020 trip to WDW for the boys. I’m just wondering if DH and I can keep up with them or if we’ll need to bring a millennial along!

Happy sailing!
 
We were on that same cruise. My niece got married on the boat on the Nassau day. This was my first DCL, I was on Carnival a long, long time ago. The weather was definitely a letdown, but I knew it would be hit or miss since that Carnival cruise was the same week. The boat rocking was definitely challenging. My daughter (15) and husband left dinner to go back to the room that first night. We had no problem with dinners, but 2 of us are really picky so we were custom ordering a lot of stuff (no cheese, no sauce, etc). We liked all of the shows, except Hector the magician. We did enjoy CC, but probably helped having a cabana. Boat day, with the rain, was a bore. We watched a few movies, played some games. I really didn't find a cruise relaxing like so many people say. I felt more relaxed running around Epcot and MK the day before the cruise. Overall, I just don't think cruising, in general, is for us.
 
We were on that same cruise. My niece got married on the boat on the Nassau day. This was my first DCL, I was on Carnival a long, long time ago. The weather was definitely a letdown, but I knew it would be hit or miss since that Carnival cruise was the same week. The boat rocking was definitely challenging. My daughter (15) and husband left dinner to go back to the room that first night. We had no problem with dinners, but 2 of us are really picky so we were custom ordering a lot of stuff (no cheese, no sauce, etc). We liked all of the shows, except Hector the magician. We did enjoy CC, but probably helped having a cabana. Boat day, with the rain, was a bore. We watched a few movies, played some games. I really didn't find a cruise relaxing like so many people say. I felt more relaxed running around Epcot and MK the day before the cruise. Overall, I just don't think cruising, in general, is for us.
How lovely for the wedding though! My mom did notice some guys walking around with fancy outfits and ties on Nassau day, so I’m assuming that was your group? And there was also the wedding at CC!
 

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