Cass, Rob & Kira - Christmas on the Wonder - 2018. Third time's a charm!

[Timon]

I WISH next week - stupid thumbs- Next September - cant wait till packages are released!

Oh hahah, big difference

Hopefully it will be here before you know it

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

Last day…boo! My husband and I will eat almost anything and my 20 year old son will eat anything beside cucumber and watermelon
But my 15 year old is much more picky. He is very similar to Kira as he reads the menu and doesn’t like all the stuff that comes with something. Give him just the meat or fish without the sauces etc he’s a happy camper. One cruise he actually ordered the grilled salmon every dinner, I think it came with rice and broccoli which he loves.
I agree about the store not carrying all the sizes, have had that happen multiple times. At least at the parks you can usually hunt it down somewhere.
Sorry you have to get off the boat

 

[buteraa]

Sounds like a great last day! I really enjoy your trip reports. When is the next one? LOL

 

[cadien]

I'm really enjoying this report. Not least because our first Wonder cruise is on Feb 3.

My husband nixed the Turtle Farm when we went to Grand Cayman last year and it sounds like that was for the best. Our son loves all things sea life but that wouldn't have been much fun.

 

[Timon]

December 27th, 2019 Part 1

I woke up just after 6:30am and checked to see if we were docked yet. I peeked out the curtains and noticed that we were not docked yet!

I turned the TV on and saw that we weren't even in the channel yet, I knew what that meant

Stepped out onto the verandah and saw this...

I jumped in the shower and got ready and checked out the view again...no closer to the port

My kiddo was sleeping through all of this

Rob showered and we all got ready for the day. As we were packing up all of our toiletries and such, the captain busted into our cabin...not literally, though, just his voice

He told us that the channel and port were closed to all traffic due to severe weather conditions. He said that parts of Texas were under a tornado watch and there was lightning and wind watches/warnings in the area and we had to wait for it to clear before they would let us enter the channel.

He said that we were close enough to receive cell service and that if anyone needed help changing their flights or arranging different transportation they could stop at Guest Services. He said he didn't know exactly how long the delay would be but we could stay in our rooms until further notice and no need to bring your carry-ons to breakfast. He said he would have another update for us in 45-60 minutes.

Wow!

This was a first for us! We've been on the nasty end of this delay, if you remember back to my Christmas 2016 cruise trip report, when we didn't get to board the ship until 4pm due to fog in the channel and it wasn't pretty

Thankfully, I know better and never book an early flight home so we had nothing to worry about! We were just heading over to the San Luis Resort for a few days so this totally worked out for us!

This was probably the first time that I was able to enjoy a breakfast on our disembarkation day, actually

Normally I am too worried about feeling ill when disembarking and travelling somewhere but I knew we would be here for at least a couple of hours and we didn't have far to travel so off to Tiana's we went

I finally got some nice, fresh, over easy eggs

And burnt toast

Rob got his cream of wheat...

And pancakes!

Not sure what Kira had since I don't seem to have a photo I think she had the same as me which makes sense as to why I am lacking a photo

We said one final good-bye to Wayan and Chani and then headed back to our room.

We could see TONS of ships around us although I didn't get a good picture.

I enjoyed every second of extra verandah time I got

According to the DCL Blog, we circled around for quite a bit that morning.

Then the captain made another announcement so I ran back in the room to listen...

He said that it looked like it was clearing up soon and that we should be on our way very shortly. He said once we were cleared, we would have to wait for a pilot to come on board and because of the sea conditions, that is a hazardous undertaking and we could be delayed even further.

Once that the pilot was on board safely, he said it would be about 90 minutes to sail into the channel and get docked. Once that happened and we cleared customs, then we would start the disembarkation process.

Shortly thereafter, the weather did improve a little and the pilot made it on board! He wasn't joking about it being dangerous. This is a video from a fellow passenger who caught the action...thanks Brandice

Our cruise director came on the speaker and told us they would be reopening the Club and Vibe (not Edge, sadly) for parents to come and enjoy those spaces with their kids and they were playing a couple of movies, Mary Poppins in the Walt Disney Theatre and Ralph Breaks the Internet in the Buena Vista Theatre. Rob and Kira went to see Ralph while I enjoyed every second of my balcony time.

As we were sailing past Seawolf Park, Rob and Kira popped back in because they thought we would be disembarking soon. I told them that we had at least an hour or more to go so they went back to finish their movie.

I enjoyed watching us sail back into the channel, not often this happens in daylight.

The tugs were getting into their positions for us...

Then we did our big turn around in the turn basin...

This was a dolphin boat tour, I could hear what the captain was saying. They got lucky, tons of dolphins in the water that morning

As we were slowly backing in, a bunch of idiots, both in the front and aft parts of the ship were feeding the seagulls so they were flocking together, fighting each other for the food.

This went on for about 30 minutes and they came close to me thinking I was going to feed them too.

I was chatting with Nancy the whole way in. She was watching us sail in on the webcam. She sent me this pic and then I edited it a bit and sent it back to her

That's me in the blue circle

Everyone at the port was anxiously waiting for us

All the supplies waiting for the next group of passengers...

Some new beds...I hope they had covers on them because it was raining out

There's the trucks waiting for us to drop off all of the supplies. Kind of neat that I got to watch them do this for our sailing and for the next sailing.

I watched them unload luggage, some of which almost went into the water

I watched the gorgeous K-9 dog sniff all of the supplies...

Then Kira and Rob came back and they were hungry so I told them that I bet the deck 9 places were open since it was now just after noon.

They left and both came back with food! Kira got Pete's and watched her TV.

Rob said that Cabanas was also open, albeit, there were no tables to sit at so he brought it back to the room with him and enjoyed a very special lunch on our verandah. Not often that happens

We waited and listened to all of the luggage tag characters being called. We were Blue Donald.

We heard them call Ariel, Chip & Dale, Daisy, Minnie, Tink & Mickey....no Donald. We were okay though, we were in no hurry and I knew lots of people were in a hurry so I'd rather let them get off first.

Shortly after 1pm, they called Goofy and then announced "All luggage tags have been called now!"

WHAT?

We were listening and they did NOT call Donald! We waited a few more minutes and they clarified that Donald can now disembark.

Okay, fine! Guess we should go now...

My sad little crew leaving our room...

We got down to deck 3 and there was a massive line to get off still so we sat down in Promenade Lounge for awhile and let it clear up a bit. Kira was anxious to go (she wanted Wi-fi ) so although I would have preferred to wait until the line cleared completely, I didn't want to listen to her complaining anymore so we joined the herd

We are about to leave our ship.


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[bcwife76]

Well I know you know all too well about being delayed on the other end (like you said, back in 2016) so it was 'nice' (if that's the right word!) to be on this end since you did NOT have to rush off to catch a plane Dare I say I'm a little jealous at the several 'extra' hours you got on board? The last morning is always such a clusterf*ck, it's always such a downer ending to any cruise, no matter how smoothly disembarkation may go. I can imagine there were a lot of people on your cruise NOT happy to be delayed so long, however. Note to self: if we ever sail from Galveston we shall book a flight home for the following day!

 

[acndis]

Sounds like you made the most of your extra time onboard! Sounds lovely.

We were on the next cruise so we were eagerly checking updates to see when you got into port. However, thanks to your trip report (when you were delayed), we knew not to rush to the port. We hit Rainforest Cafe for lunch and rode the ride--we loved it! And, then we headed over. We had to wait to park but everyone had loaded their device with Netflix so we waited about 1/2 an hour and then were allowed to park. Check in was not crowded and we started to board fairly quickly once we arrived at Port. All in all it was very smooth and no big deal at all! DCL also credited us $25 pp for lunch.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

I watched them unload luggage, some of which almost went into the water

OH MY! I wonder if the luggage ever actually does go into the water?

How wonderful that you had an extended trip. That is what I love about back-to-backs, being able to sit and enjoy breakfast and not having to rush away.

Kate

 

[JenLovesMM]

We are about to leave our ship.

sniff sniff, so sad! seems this trip went by so fast! what`s up with that??

 

[Lesley Wake]

When I was done, I noticed a flash in the sky so I stood up to take a pic and got this beauty

Very cool photo! I love watching lightning! I think my favorite was flying in a plane over a lightning storm - there were some breaks in the clouds so I could see it from above! Not too often you get a chance to do that!

 

[cntkg1]

For some reason I wasn’t able to post last night but I totally knew the answer to your trivia question. I knew it was Andy (Tim Robbins) from The Shawshank Redemption as that’s my absolute favorite movie ever. I’ve seen it more times than I care to admit. Probably just as much as Pretty Woman and Cocktail! LOL. But after a quick text to you, we realized it was said twice....once by Tim Robbins and once by Morgan Freeman. I would’ve only been half right then because your cm wanted to hear Morgan Freeman.

Funny thing about the screenshot I sent to you when you were trying to return to Galveston. I saw that person on their verandah and thought, “wouldn’t that be cool if that was Cass”? And it was!!!!

Did you ever find out what time the next cruise after you was able to sail out? Wondering if they had to wait as long as you did in ‘16.

 

[MAeroGirl]

Extra time on the ship! I know that a delayed arrival messes up ALL sorts of plans (our own cruise nearly got derailed by an absolute mess of airline delays)...but the selfish part of me says it would be great to have an entire morning on the ship before disembarking. Glad it didn’t disrupt anything for you!

 

[jedijill]

What a wonderful cruise even with that whacky ending! Yay for getting to stay onboard longer!

Jill in CO

 

[oufpat]

Thanks for sharing, I had fun traveling along with you!!

 

[lilsonicfan]

thanks for sharing this trip report, i really enjoyed reading all of it!!

 

[Lesley Wake]

According to the DCL Blog, we circled around for quite a bit that morning.

I saw this online! It seems I'd get a bit dizzy if I was the captain!

Shortly thereafter, the weather did improve a little and the pilot made it on board! He wasn't joking about it being dangerous. This is a video from a fellow passenger who caught the action...thanks Brandice

Wow, seriously! That would be terrifying for me!

I watched them unload luggage, some of which almost went into the water

That is my worst fear!

 

[Timon]

December 27th, 2018 Part 2

As we passed the Christmas tree, Rob realized that we didn't get any pics in front of it so he used this opportunity LOL! Kira did NOT want to be in the photo. She was little miss grumpy pants that day.

Leaving the ship...noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

And down into the baggage hall, where there wasn't many bags left, which makes it super easy to find your bags

And then we headed to the shuttle for Lot A, which was packed full of people! I knew we should have waited a little longer in the Promenade Lounge! The last Christmas cruise, we were some of the very last people to get off the ship and we literally just walked onto a shuttle, it was so nice! We WILL be doing that next cruise, I don't care what the cranky teenager says


Oh my dog! She will be a TEENAGER next cruise

If we are lucky enough to do it again next year, that is

The line took about 30 minutes to get through then finally onto the shuttle and the very short ride over to the lot. Back into our rental and off we went!

Loved this Seussian-looking tree

We were going to head over to the resort right away but then Rob commented that we will be passing the Target, which we were going to hit up later anyway and that we should do it now. Good call, babe

Rob stayed with all of our luggage, just to be safe and I made the mistake of asking Kira to come in with me. She normally is a good helper when I am grabbing stuff but she complained the ENTIRE time. I can handle the normal complaints, I have become numb to some of her attitude, because, well, you kind of have to, otherwise, you won't make it through this stage in their life but this was extra special crankiness! It was so bad, I sent her back to her Daddy LOL!

I didn't have much to get and wasn't too long before we were on our way to the San Luis Resort!

Hello, beautiful! These were the biggest waves we've seen here so far!

Past the Hilton we went, which was weird for us!

So, let's start with why I booked the San Luis...basically it was for my kid and I to have lots of pool time together as she told me that the best part of both Christmas vacations was swimming at the Hilton with me. They have a great pool but they only offer double beds. That just doesn't work for us. Rob and I sleep in a king and I feel like I am still pushing him over

We have made the Hilton work for us because it's only been for 2 nights and Kira actually slept on the chair last time. This time, we were staying for 3 nights and her legs are now way too long for that chair

Plus, the San Luis is a resort, not just a hotel and people rave about the grounds and the pool. And they have a slide and TWO hot tubs.

But it's more expensive, quite a bit more expensive, especially after figuring in all of the extras.

But hey, let's give it a try and see how it goes!

We pulled up and Rob and Kira stayed in the car. Normally she comes in with me but I told her to stay this time.

I walked through the sliding doors and I literally was stopped in my tracks!!!

They were still decorated for Christmas and it was breathtaking!!!

I waited in line to get checked-in. Listening to the other check-in agents, they all seemed so nice and helpful. Then it's my turn and I get Mrs. Grumpy Pants! Go figure! Because I didn't get enough attitude from my daughter, I guess

Whatever, she is rather short and had to ask her some basic questions that I feel she should have gone over with me without having to ask her but she gets me checked in, does the job and I get our room keys.

Back to my family and then around the building to park.

The San Luis has two parts, one is a typical hotel type building and the other is a condo building.

We grabbed all of our stuff and headed up to the 8th floor and tried to open our room...and can't!

The door latch is engaged so it only opens a couple of inches. Yikes!

Did they give us someone else's room???

I call out but no one answers...I can peek into the room and it looks empty and ready for us but we can't get in!

Okay, so Rob and Kira stay there with all of our stuff and I run back down and wait in the line. Thankfully, this time I get one of the nice agents. I tell her what happened and she apologizes and explains how sometimes if the previous guest slams the door hard enough or leaves the balcony door open, the wind will slam it.

She issues me a new room, prints out three new keys and calls maintenance to get it open.

Back up to floor 8 to get my family and then up to floor 12.

This one does open, thankfully!

Beautiful sunset from the balcony...and we can see our room at the Hilton from last year

As we were heading to the elevator, we spotted the Disney Wonder still in port.

Closer view where you can see those famous red stacks

I'm not exactly sure what time she left but it was definitely later than the usual time as it should have been gone by now

I had to show Rob and Kira the gorgeous lobby area so we headed out the front doors...

This was gorgeous, I only wish it was in a place you could see it all the time. You could only really see this well if you were walking in front of the resort. Gorgeous though!

Walking down to the street...

Heading to our dinner destination...any guesses as to where we are going?

Let's just say that the valet warned us against going there

 

[bcwife76]

Wow......

I'm so sorry you had such an awful experience with this resort. Before we changed our 2017 cruise from the Wonder out of Galveston to the Fantasy we had the San Luis booked (refundable). Now I'm thinking we had a lucky escape.

Do NOT delete your review under any circumstances, I can't believe he had the nerve to ask you to do that in the first place! Ugh. I'm so sorry. Not a fabulous way to end your otherwise-fabulous vacation!

 

[iivye]

After following all three of your Christmas cruise reports, I'm dying to take this one next year. That's so disappointing about the resort. It looked so promising from the lobby pics. Thank you for not taking down your review on TripAdvisor as I am someone who reads over the reviews before booking anything. Hilton needs to get it together and get some larger beds. We are a family of three (with a 15yo) and no way can we do doubles anymore but I do love the Hilton brand.

 

[jenseib]

What a wonderful time spending half of the day on the Wonder...I would love to do that. I hate getting off the ship.
Sweet Kira was grumpy? NO!!!!! I don't believe you.

What a shame about your resort. Skip and I had a similar issue once at a hotel where we kept calling to the desk about our noisy neighbors and each time they would come and tell them to be quiet and it would last about 5 minutes and then the music went back up. Skip started humming the song..and I think they played the same song over and over.