I have a WONDERful feeling about this! 2015 WB Panama Canal Trip Report, Completed 6/14/15

Wow! What are you doing posting this on the middle of the night!

I almost did the chocolate liquor tasting that day. I had done it earlier in the cruise, second sea day I think, but would have to check notes. I enjoyed it so much I signed up again as soon as they offered it for our additional sea day. Then I decided I would like the day to be completely unscheduled. Yes the port with dark chocolate and Parmesan......oh my!!!

I'm on the west coast, so it wasn't that late here. :) We are on summer schedule now, so staying up later than normal!

If I'd have known how awesome the chocolate and liquor tasting was, I would have signed up for the first one, too. It was so good! It would be fun to try to recreate it for a party or something.
 
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Day Thirteen Navigator

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Day Thirteen, Part One (May 13, Cabo San Lucas)

We slept until about 8:00 and Oliver woke up saying he still had a headache. He had it on and off for the next few days, so I suspect it was the changing weather, going in and out of AC, eating more rich and sweet food, and probably not staying as hydrated as he should when he was in the kid areas. Luckily it did stop before I was going to haul him off to the doctor!

Elliott asked if he could go get some breakfast at the buffet and then go to the Lab. I decided that it was ok. I still wasn't ready for him to have check-out privileges, but he was doing a great job with his increased level of independence. He never abused it even a little bit. Next time I will probably stick with the same system.

When Oliver was ready for some breakfast we ran up to the buffet to bring some back to the room. We were off of Cabo San Lucas, but we didn't have any specific plans. I was hopeful that Ollie would feel well enough to go ashore at some point!

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I went to pick up Elliott from the Lab a few minutes before the Edge open house was going to start, at 10. We quickly did that day's Chocolate Chase clues and checked out the Frozen décor in the lobby. Today was the big day when all of the Frozen activities would take place!

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Ollie took a dose of medicine and rested up in front of the TV. I decided that I might as well get some preliminary packing done since I was just going to be sitting in the room anyway. I just left out what I knew we were going to need for the last couple of days and got everything else packed up, suitcases stacked in that handy area beyond the bathroom door. Love the sideways cabin!

By 11:45 Ollie was feeling well enough to venture out, so we went to Disney trivia. We only lost by 1 point, but the very nice man who won gave Oliver his medal. Ollie loved that.

After trivia we went up to the top deck to get some ice cream. We noticed a few butterflies that were trapped in the windows, battering themselves against the glass as they tried to get out. I managed to catch them carefully, without touching their wings, and let them go in a safe spot. Ollie and I decided that butterflies are the closest thing to real fairies and that it must be good luck to save one. He was so cute.

The ship was so empty. It felt weird! I took a couple of pictures of the pool deck because of the Frozen décor, but it also illustrates the lack of people that were on the ship. This is around 12:15!

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Oliver decided that he felt better and wanted to go into Cabo for a little while, just to get a couple of souvenirs. It was around this time that we realized there was something going on with the computer systems on the ship. We got a text from Ryan and Christa that they'd sent hours earlier, asking if we wanted to go ashore with them.

Ollie and I went down to Edge to verify that Elliott did not want to come along. No surprise; he did not! I told him he could stay on the ship, but that he was kicked out of Edge (the open house had ended almost an hour earlier) he was to take himself off to the Lab.

Oliver and I were going down to deck 1 to catch a tender when we ran into Ryan and Ava, returning from Cabo. They asked if Elliott would like to join them at the pool, which I figured he would. I gave Elliott's room key to Ryan, so that he'd be able to get his swim stuff, and Ollie and I headed off. Poor Elliott – this did not go well for him!

Apparently, the counselor in Edge had heard me tell Elliott to go to the Lab, so when Ryan and Ava showed up to invite him to the pool, she intervened and told him that he couldn't go. Instead she told him that he should head to the Lab. So, not only did he not get to go to the pool, he had to leave Edge! He was not a happy camper when I picked him up. Still, it is good to know that they pay attention and are that careful with the kids!

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Oliver and I were the only ones heading into Cabo at that time, so we had a tender all to ourselves! The men who were running the tender put us up top with them and offered to take pictures of us.

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Then, they asked if Ollie would like to “drive” for a while. He was so excited!

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We were quickly nearing the harbor and Oliver was very concerned about all of the pelicans. He was pretty convinced they were taking over.

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There was quite a bit of new construction going on, with a lot of changes from the last time we were there three years ago. I assume a lot of it is rebuilding after the hurricane that devastated Cabo last fall.

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The second we got on the dock Ollie and I had to hit the churro stand that was right there. They were really good!

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We then went into the big tourist-trap shop that is the first thing you pass, where we loaded up on gifts and souvenirs. Little sombreros, guitars, a Christmas ornament, vanilla, chocolate... we did a good sweep, and it wasn't actually too expensive. Nothing like the one in Cartagena! We also went slightly off the beaten path to go to the Oxxo (I'd equate it to 7-11) to pick up some candy. Nothing fancy, just Mexican candy bars and things, including a couple of Kinder eggs for the boys.

After that we decided to go get back onto the ship. We ran into Joseph, our assistant server, on the dock. I was glad to see that he got a break to go ashore! There were more people on the tender with us this time, but we were able to get right on without waiting in line.

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We went to the Lab to find Elliott, and he told us what had happened in regards to going to the pool. Luckily we had gifts and candy, so he cheered up pretty fast. Elliott hung out in the room while Ollie and I went to get a snack from the buffet. I got so excited when I saw churros in the dessert area, but they were not tasty. Thank goodness we'd just had the good ones in Cabo!

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Oliver had his little guitar, which led him to make friends with one of the servers. They decided that they would start a band.

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It was time for TV trivia, so the boys went to the Lab while I headed for Diversions. Thanks to my mom, I am familiar with lots of old TV shows, so I am pretty good at that! We only lost by 2, which was such a bummer. The reveals of the songs could really make you smack your forehead!

After trivia it was time for the first big Frozen event – Oaken's Maypole Swirl & Twirl. Elliott didn't want to go to this, nor did he want to stay in the Lab, so he went back to the room while Oliver and I zipped up to the pool deck and sat in a couple of loungers. The Swirl & Twirl officially kicked off the night of, “Hoo hoo, family!” as we were instructed over and over to say it. It was actually a lot of fun and everyone got into it.

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They called for volunteers to come up to participate, and of course Oliver ran right on up. It was a very cute event, though the pool deck seemed a strange spot for a dancing event. Lots of people were soaking wet and in their swimsuits dripping all over the place while they did the Maypole dance.

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Hoo hoo, family!”

It was almost dinner time, so we went back to the room to get Elliott and so that I could change my clothes. Tonight was our last night in Triton's, for the brand new Frozen menu. We were excited to try it out!
 
Day 13, Part Two (May 13, Cabo San Lucas)

The servers were wearing very cute outfits, blue vests with snowflakes on them. The head servers were wearing a Kristoff-ish outfit. Beata told me that female servers had an Anna outfit, but there were none on the ship so we didn't get to see that one.

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The spread that was served with the bread was a liver pate. Oliver was brave and gave it a try, but he did not enjoy it a bit.

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I saved the menus using the phone app:

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I ordered the Jarlsberg tart, which was delicious.


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Right after I got my tart the head servers went around the room and gave everyone a light-up snowflake necklace to wear to the big Frozen deck party that night. So cute!


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I had barely started eating my tart when both of the boys started to get restless and begged to go to the Lab. I decided to let them go, because there was still quite a bit of meal left and I preferred to eat it without the kids badgering me to finish.

A few minutes later friends from the cruise group invited me to eat at their table, as their tablemates weren't in attendance that night. I worried that it would be inconvenient for Beata and Joseph, but they assured me that it was fine. So I joined Mari, Jeff, Carmen, and Jonathan a few tables over. Carmen gave me an Olaf necklace – so sweet! I really enjoyed getting to know all of them through the trip.


I didn't get pictures, but I had Andersens Field Greens Salad and Kristoff's Rosemary Marinated Striploin. I enjoyed the meal quite a bit.


For dessert I ordered the no sugar added Sitron Mousse, but their server accidentally switched it with Jeff's White Chocolate Floro Dome. I think the new menu items were throwing them off. I didn't realize I had the wrong item until I got to the carrot cake center! Jeff said the mousse was very tasty. The Floro Dome was fine, but I have a feeling I would have liked the mousse better! The dome was adorable, though.



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After dinner I went back to the room for a while, because I knew Oliver was doing the “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman” activity in the Club, and I didn't want to interrupt. He told me it was a lot of fun, and apparently Olaf made an appearance!

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Around 8:30 I went to get the kids so that we could get a good spot for the Freezing the Night Away deck party.

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When we got up there, people were already waiting. The front half of the pool deck was labeled as being just for children. The kids were standing up there when a man came up and totally snapped at them that he wasn't finished setting up yet. I'm pretty sure he wasn't part of the regular crew but with the group of corporate people who were on the ship to observe the new events. After he finished and left I let the boys go back in, and I stationed myself right at the bottom of the steps about a third of the way back, starboard side. I wanted to be in a place where the kids could always find me.

It was so cold and windy that night, a total 180 from the weather we'd been having up until then. Apparently nature listens to Disney and took the Frozen theme very seriously. We all put on the jackets and Oliver started dancing with one of the counselors from the kid clubs, which helped him stay warm.

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Elliott and his friends stationed themselves right at the front of the area, behind the railings.

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At 9:30 the party started and... I can't even really describe what happened. It was insane. All of a sudden the entire area filled up to the point where I couldn't move my arms to take off my jacket when Oliver got cold. There was a woman who came up a few minutes in and crowded me to where I had bruises all over my legs from being battered against the edge of the pool. Another woman climbed up onto the steps in front of us and then picked up her child. I couldn't see a thing on stage, but I did get one picture of the screen:

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Oliver was standing next to me, but on the inside of the kid area. After a while he decided to walk up to the front where Elliott was, because he couldn't see anything. I had a view of Elliott, so I could see him make a cage of his arms and station Ollie in front of him in a safe spot. It was so sweet.

Shortly before the big finale (Elsa singing Let It Go), Elliott fought his way through the crowd and told me he was leaving. He couldn't see anything because children had pushed their way onto the actual stage and were blocking the view of everyone else. It was all too overwhelming for Elliott, so went to stand near the elevators. Oliver stayed put and had a good time.

I had no clue what was going on with the show, but at the end there was “snow” falling. That was pretty cool! There was a buffet afterward, but we had no interest in dealing with the hoards any longer.

I was planning to drop the kids off at the Lab so that I could attend the adults-only after party with Christa and Ryan.

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Unfortunately, things went a bit sour as we walked in that direction. I'm still not exactly clear what happened, but I believe it involved Oliver telling Christa and/or Ryan about an embarrassing photo of Elliott, taken by the staff at the Club during the sleepover. Elliott, already stressed out and at the edge of what he could handle, flipped his lid.

We went back to the room where they started screaming at each other until I clapped a hand over each of their mouths and told them that someone was going to call security. Luckily that stopped them in their tracks, though they were both pretty upset. I decided that it was best if we just stayed put for the night. Oh well!

That night we had a towel heart with a Freezing the Night Away card inside.

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Tonight was the final time change, so I again set our clocks back an hour. We just watched movies until the kids fell asleep and then I read for a while. Luckily everyone had calmed down and cheered up and the night ended peacefully.
 


I loved the Freezing the Night Away!!! Too bad I wasn't younger when Frozen came out. How neat that Olaf made an appearence at Do You Want to Build A Snowman. Poor Elliot. I hope he was okay the following day
 
Hello, so far I'm loving your trip report and your making me want to cruise the panama canal. But did any of your pals mention frozen dinner in Animators Palate. I love doing that resturant on themed nights and I was just wondering if they had frozen sketches or clips going.
 
I loved the Freezing the Night Away!!! Too bad I wasn't younger when Frozen came out. How neat that Olaf made an appearence at Do You Want to Build A Snowman. Poor Elliot. I hope he was okay the following day

It's still fun for the adults! Elliott was fine the next day... he just was overwhelmed by the crowds and by inconsiderate people and so his last straw was easily reached. Both kids got calmed down fairly quickly and all was well. :)
 


Hello, so far I'm loving your trip report and your making me want to cruise the panama canal. But did any of your pals mention frozen dinner in Animators Palate. I love doing that resturant on themed nights and I was just wondering if they had frozen sketches or clips going.

I checked with the group and I am told they just had the standard images in Animator's Palate, though they had Frozen ones during the Anna and Elsa meet and greets.
 
Well that's kind of depressing. Oh well it seems like a waste of a great opportunity to me since they have the stuff for the meet and greet.
 
Day Fourteen (May 14, At Sea)

The last day of a cruise always makes me sad. I want to make sure I have fun, try to get to things I meant to do, and make it last as long as possible. This time I was lucky that I'd done almost all of my packing, so I didn't have to take time out to do that.

The boys and I slept until about 8. The darkness of an inside room does wonders for helping you to adjust to backward time changes! We got up and dressed and decided to hit the breakfast buffet one last time, by way of Goofy's for my final Mango Mountain Hike.

After breakfast Elliott was anxious to head off to Edge during open house, but we had time to get in a quick dip in the Mickey pool first. It was quite chilly this day, and there were only 1-2 other kids in the pool while we were there. Since there were also two lifeguards standing watch, I finally felt comfortable enough to wrap up in a blanket and read my book while the kids were swimming. Sort of. I mostly watched them, because I love to see them laughing and happy. But I tried to read!

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After a little while I hauled them out of the pool. They were so cold! It took plenty of towels and blankets to warm them up enough to go back to the room to change their clothes.

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Elliott went off to Edge for a little while, and then the three of us decided to wander the ship taking some photos and doing some last shopping. I had brought along a selfie stick, hoping to actually have pictures of all three of us for once, but I hadn't used it yet. I wanted to use it at least one time to make it feel like it had been worth buying/bringing!

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We ran into Mari, Jeff, and the kids and decided to get some lunch with them. They were having another barbecue at Beach Blanket, a la the one on Panama Canal day. It was nice to get in one last hang-out!

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After lunch we went to the pool to cheer on Ryan and Ava, who had entered Goofy's Boat Building Bash. They had to create a boat that would stay afloat holding a can of soda.

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Elliott was right up front having fun, so when I needed to sneak out for Broadway trivia at 1:00, I asked Mari to let him know he should take himself to the Lab when the contest was over. I dropped Oliver off there on my way down to the Promenade Lounge.

I was by myself again for Broadway trivia, but I only lost by 2, so I was feeling pretty good!

I stopped by the room for a little while and I found our prizes for completing Anna's Chocolate Chase (rice krispie treats). I also found our luggage tags and debarking instructions. :(

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We were in the Gray/Daisy group:

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Also on our bed was a special lithograph that had been commissioned for the crossing (no photo, because there are warnings about reproducing it) and the photo mats I had dropped off at Guest Services on day 1. Here they are all finished up at home:

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And a “don't steal our stuff” reminder:

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PLUS, a commemorative Navigator containing all the information about our crossing.

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I had been signed up to go to a mojito and caipirinha tasting with Christa and Ryan at 2, but we had decided to cancel that so that we could go to the “Talk Back” about the Frozen activities. Since so many executives and creative people were on the ship to watch the very first performances, they had decided to do a reverse Q&A to find out how real people felt about the events. A bunch of our new friends ended up there, which was nice!

We gave them our feedback, which hopefully will allow them to make some changes to make everything even better. They did tell us that they were having a second Maypole Swirl & Twirl that evening in the atrium, to see if it worked better there. I thought that was a good idea, considering the fact that they had the atrium decorated but no events scheduled there. Also, on cold weather cruises, people might prefer indoor activities. Some people mentioned how upset they were to learn that their non-participating friends got prizes for the Chocolate Chase. So, if you don't participate, you can blame those guys for the fact that you don't get a delicious treat on the last day!

After the Q&A I went to the Lab to see if any children wanted to come hang out with me for a while. Surprise surprise, Oliver wanted to stay, but Elliott actually wanted to come out! We went to get a slice of pizza (oh man, that was really good – it's probably a good thing I didn't realize how much I love the pizza until the very end of the trip) and then we hung out in the room for a while so that I could finish up all but our very last bit of packing.

At 5:00 we went to watch Oliver perform in Friendship Rocks, a show the kids in the Oceaneer Club/Lab do on the last night. I just love it. All of the kids get up on the stage in the Walt Disney Theater and do a little singing and dancing with Mickey and Minnie, and they show a slideshow of pictures that were taken through the trip. Elliott tends toward stage fright, so he didn't want to participate, but I think he regretted it when he saw the rest of the Stitch Club up there. We were joined by Kaitlin, a member of our cruise group.

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It was already time for dinner, so we went to pick up Ollie from the Lab. We could hardly believe we were sitting down for our last dinner of our two week dream vacation, which had been more than a year in the planning!

The boys ordered their favorite, mini burgers, and I asked for an ahi sashimi for each of them. Anything that resembles sushi will be a huge hit with them (though they were having too much fun to leave the Lab the day I saw that there was actual sushi being served in Triton's!) They loved it.

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I ordered the Goat Cheese and Potato Napoleon, which was so good. I want to try to recreate this one at home!

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I also had the Cranberry Salad and the Lighter Note Offerings sirloin steak, with a baked potato. Very tasty, though I wish the last night had an amazing steak on the menu to finish off the cruise on a culinary high note!

Elliott made it through the international parade, where the servers carry flags through the dining room, and then he went to the Lab. Oliver stayed for one last Mickey bar and I went for the Baked Alaska, because it's a cruise tradition.

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We said our (first) goodbyes to Joseph and Beata and gave them their tip envelopes. Deniz wasn't around at that time, so we decided we'd give it to him in the morning if we saw him.

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Before we left, we were given our ticket for the final morning's breakfast.

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Oliver and I walked around to take some more pictures and we ran into a bunch of Disney friends in the hallway.

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Oliver was rather horrified to have a lipstick kiss on his cheek.

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We saw that they were doing the Maypole dance down the lobby and stopped to watch for a few minutes. They didn't get to use their pretty graphics, but this venue did seem better. Plus, you get a really cool view if you stand up on deck 5 outside the Lab!

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We went to grab Elliott from the Lab and we went to the Walt Disney Theater for the last night's show – Dreams. This is such a nice show, and a great way to finish up the perfect vacation. The only downside to the show was that there was something wrong with my seat! I kept feeling like I was being poked in the butt, and then I realized that something was broken and there was a sharp pointy thing stabbing me. After the show I verified that I wasn't bleeding, nor had my dress been torn (one good thing about something that sharp, it goes through like a pin!) I let a cast member know so that they could change out the seat before someone got really hurt. If a child, for example, had put their hand down and put their weight on it, they could have been seriously injured. It was that sharp.

By this time the kids had decided they were ready for bed. I was sad, because I would have liked to have stayed up late and maximized every minute of our last night. I just wasn't quite ready for it all to end. I put our last laundry into our suitcases and then stuck them out in the hallway. After reading for a while I drifted off, knowing that soon we would be home.
 
Day Fifteen (May 15, Disembarking)

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We had to wake up pretty early to make it to our breakfast at 6:45AM, but that turned out to be no problem for me. I was up ahead of the alarm and checked to see if we were already in port. It would have been fun to go up on deck to see us sail past my hometown! We were already there, however, so I got up and ready so that I could put the rest of my things into the bags we were carrying off.

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The little island you see right under where the ship is docked in the map above is our town, Coronado.

We had a little time before breakfast, so we decided to take some pictures from deck 4. When we got out there we found that it was raining! Sorry, visitors to town, but for locals this was good news. We are in a major drought and rain is rare and desperately needed!

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You couldn't see Coronado behind the Midway (aircraft carrier) Museum, but it was still fun taking pictures of downtown San Diego from the deck of the ship.

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We went off to breakfast, our last visit to Animator's Palate...for now. The mood was rather somber and we were all pretty tired.

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I had a cheese omelette, and I'm pretty sure the boys just had cereal and pastries.

We said our final goodbyes to Joseph and Beata, lots of hugs, and then we went off to take a few more pictures from deck 9 before we had to finish vacating our room (by 8:00).

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The view of Coronado from up there was a bit better. You could even see the bridge.

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There were already people lining up for express debarkation (where you carry off all of your things rather than picking the up in the terminal).

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Finally, we went to our room one last time, to pick up our things. We ended up sitting at one of the tables outside the Walt Disney Theater while we waited for them to call the Daisy group. Elliott was getting bored, and I think the sadness of the end of vacation was getting to him, so he was being rather whiny at this point. I was also making the boys work on their journals, for school, which didn't help! Luckily our group was the first one called after the priority group.

We went down to get in line in the atrium, which went very fast. I called my father, who was coming to pick us up in my car, to let him know he could head out. We were quickly having our Keys to the World cards scanned for the final time and then we were off the ship. We exited into the terminal where we were to round up our luggage. It didn't take us too long to find four of our five bags, but our fifth was nowhere to be found. I looked and looked, had Elliott start searching, but it was definitely not there. I started to get upset, because of course that was the bag that had ALL of our laundry in it. If we lost that suitcase we would also lose almost every item of clothing we owned.

I found someone to help us, and she directed me to the lost & found table, and she even stayed with the boys for me so that we didn't have to haul all of our luggage over. I had taken photos of each suitcase, both from afar and a close-up of the brand-name, before we left, so I got permission to open up my phone so that I could show them what the bag looked like. You are not normally allowed to use a phone or camera in the terminal.

They had me fill out the claims form in case it really was gone, and someone also went to see if they could locate our suitcase. They figured it would save time in the end if the form was already done. After about half an hour of getting more and more upset, the original woman who'd been helping me came up with a huge smile on her face to tell me they had found our suitcase in the Minnie Mouse area. I was so relieved!

At this point they got us a porter with a luggage cart to help carry all of our things out. She told us she'd meet us at the front of the incredibly long line that wound its way through the terminal. The line didn't actually take that long – maybe five minutes – because they weren't checking passports or anything. Just taking your customs form and sending you through. We saw quite a few of our new friends in line and were able to say some goodbyes, which was great!

When we got outside I saw that my dad had texted me about two minutes earlier to let me know he had arrived and where he was parked. I was so relieved that he hadn't been sitting around waiting forever and that it had turned out to be very simple for him to get in and be in a convenient location. I'd had no notion of what the parking situation would look like and had been worried that it would be complicated.

We got our things loaded into the back of the minivan and drove away, saying a final goodbye to our beautiful ship. We did return two days later, along with Ryan and Christa, to watch her sail away on the cruise we had originally been booked on.

This trip fulfilled every expectation we had set for ourselves. We made new friends, saw new places, relaxed, had fun, ate (and ate and ate), and created wonderful memories. I will never be able to thank Larry enough for giving us the gift of this time together!

When we got home the real world did come blasting back in full force as I learned that while we were gone my husband had finally self-destructed to the point that his AA friends basically forced him into a four-month rehab program. In some ways this is good, as it means the kids will have a chance for some stability without worrying that he is going to cancel plans with them, and I will know that he is somewhere safe.

This also means that he definitely will not be allowed to come on our October cruise, so I had the brilliant idea to ask Granddad if he would like to come along with us. I knew that he had no interest in cruising, but it's just a five-day trip and he definitely has an interest in spending quality time with the boys. He said that he would love to go, so that will be wonderful! It is a big surprise for the kids, which he is totally on board with. He loves few things more than surprising those children. It should be a wonderful trip and knowing it is out there (125 days today!) definitely helped make it easier to be home.

Thank you so much for reading along! If anyone has any questions about the Wonder, the Panama Canal trips, or anything else, feel free to ask. Working on this report made it feel like the vacation wasn't quite over yet!

I still have some videos that I haven't looked at, so if I find anything fun I will be sure to post it here.
 
Day Fifteen (May 15, Disembarking)

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We had to wake up pretty early to make it to our breakfast at 6:45AM, but that turned out to be no problem for me. I was up ahead of the alarm and checked to see if we were already in port. It would have been fun to go up on deck to see us sail past my hometown! We were already there, however, so I got up and ready so that I could put the rest of my things into the bags we were carrying off.

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The little island you see right under where the ship is docked in the map above is our town, Coronado.

We had a little time before breakfast, so we decided to take some pictures from deck 4. When we got out there we found that it was raining! Sorry, visitors to town, but for locals this was good news. We are in a major drought and rain is rare and desperately needed!

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You couldn't see Coronado behind the Midway (aircraft carrier) Museum, but it was still fun taking pictures of downtown San Diego from the deck of the ship.

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We went off to breakfast, our last visit to Animator's Palate...for now. The mood was rather somber and we were all pretty tired.

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I had a cheese omelette, and I'm pretty sure the boys just had cereal and pastries.

We said our final goodbyes to Joseph and Beata, lots of hugs, and then we went off to take a few more pictures from deck 9 before we had to finish vacating our room (by 8:00).

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The view of Coronado from up there was a bit better. You could even see the bridge.

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There were already people lining up for express debarkation (where you carry off all of your things rather than picking the up in the terminal).

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Finally, we went to our room one last time, to pick up our things. We ended up sitting at one of the tables outside the Walt Disney Theater while we waited for them to call the Daisy group. Elliott was getting bored, and I think the sadness of the end of vacation was getting to him, so he was being rather whiny at this point. I was also making the boys work on their journals, for school, which didn't help! Luckily our group was the first one called after the priority group.

We went down to get in line in the atrium, which went very fast. I called my father, who was coming to pick us up in my car, to let him know he could head out. We were quickly having our Keys to the World cards scanned for the final time and then we were off the ship. We exited into the terminal where we were to round up our luggage. It didn't take us too long to find four of our five bags, but our fifth was nowhere to be found. I looked and looked, had Elliott start searching, but it was definitely not there. I started to get upset, because of course that was the bag that had ALL of our laundry in it. If we lost that suitcase we would also lose almost every item of clothing we owned.

I found someone to help us, and she directed me to the lost & found table, and she even stayed with the boys for me so that we didn't have to haul all of our luggage over. I had taken photos of each suitcase, both from afar and a close-up of the brand-name, before we left, so I got permission to open up my phone so that I could show them what the bag looked like. You are not normally allowed to use a phone or camera in the terminal.

They had me fill out the claims form in case it really was gone, and someone also went to see if they could locate our suitcase. They figured it would save time in the end if the form was already done. After about half an hour of getting more and more upset, the original woman who'd been helping me came up with a huge smile on her face to tell me they had found our suitcase in the Minnie Mouse area. I was so relieved!

At this point they got us a porter with a luggage cart to help carry all of our things out. She told us she'd meet us at the front of the incredibly long line that wound its way through the terminal. The line didn't actually take that long – maybe five minutes – because they weren't checking passports or anything. Just taking your customs form and sending you through. We saw quite a few of our new friends in line and were able to say some goodbyes, which was great!

When we got outside I saw that my dad had texted me about two minutes earlier to let me know he had arrived and where he was parked. I was so relieved that he hadn't been sitting around waiting forever and that it had turned out to be very simple for him to get in and be in a convenient location. I'd had no notion of what the parking situation would look like and had been worried that it would be complicated.

We got our things loaded into the back of the minivan and drove away, saying a final goodbye to our beautiful ship. We did return two days later, along with Ryan and Christa, to watch her sail away on the cruise we had originally been booked on.

This trip fulfilled every expectation we had set for ourselves. We made new friends, saw new places, relaxed, had fun, ate (and ate and ate), and created wonderful memories. I will never be able to thank Larry enough for giving us the gift of this time together!

When we got home the real world did come blasting back in full force as I learned that while we were gone my husband had finally self-destructed to the point that his AA friends basically forced him into a four-month rehab program. In some ways this is good, as it means the kids will have a chance for some stability without worrying that he is going to cancel plans with them, and I will know that he is somewhere safe.

This also means that he definitely will not be allowed to come on our October cruise, so I had the brilliant idea to ask Granddad if he would like to come along with us. I knew that he had no interest in cruising, but it's just a five-day trip and he definitely has an interest in spending quality time with the boys. He said that he would love to go, so that will be wonderful! It is a big surprise for the kids, which he is totally on board with. He loves few things more than surprising those children. It should be a wonderful trip and knowing it is out there (125 days today!) definitely helped make it easier to be home.

Thank you so much for reading along! If anyone has any questions about the Wonder, the Panama Canal trips, or anything else, feel free to ask. Working on this report made it feel like the vacation wasn't quite over yet!

I still have some videos that I haven't looked at, so if I find anything fun I will be sure to post it here.
I have read your whole trip report, but this is my first time commenting. I so enjoyed hearing about you and your sons' experiences on this amazing trip. I was glad (and a bit jealous) that you had some time to yourself, made new friends, and created such amazing memories with your adorable sons. Hopefully things only get better from here. We leave on the Wonder next Monday...I will make sure to tell her "hi" for you!
 
I have read your whole trip report, but this is my first time commenting. I so enjoyed hearing about you and your sons' experiences on this amazing trip. I was glad (and a bit jealous) that you had some time to yourself, made new friends, and created such amazing memories with your adorable sons. Hopefully things only get better from here. We leave on the Wonder next Monday...I will make sure to tell her "hi" for you!

Thank you so much! I hope that you have a great time on her. Alaska is on my bucket list!
 
Thank you so much for writing this TR and sharing with us. It has helped me get even more excited for October! I am so glad you all had a great Vacation :goodvibes
 
Thank you so much for sharing your trip report with us! I have this cruise itinerary booked for next May and I'm hoping we don't have to cancel. Beata was our server on my Alaskan cruise a few years ago. She was a delight. I'm hoping she will be our server next year! Again, thanks for sharing! Your trip report is amazing and it looks like you had a great time! :love:
 
I've been reading along with your TR but this is my first time commenting - I felt I had to say something (as I've enjoyed it so much!!!), felt rude not to let you know how wonderful this TR is! What a fantastic trip for you and your two beautiful boys! We are going on our first Disney cruise in September, also on the Wonder and am so excited!! Also hoping to book Alaska for 2016 while onboard. That you so much for writing such an indepth and heartfelt TR!
 
Great trip report. Thanks for the hard work on this, I thought of doing one before, but it seems like so much work. It is helping me get excited for our PC cruise next year.
 
Thank you so much for writing this TR and sharing with us. It has helped me get even more excited for October! I am so glad you all had a great Vacation :goodvibes

You're welcome! I am so glad it helped to get you excited for your trip!

Thank you so much for sharing your trip report with us! I have this cruise itinerary booked for next May and I'm hoping we don't have to cancel. Beata was our server on my Alaskan cruise a few years ago. She was a delight. I'm hoping she will be our server next year! Again, thanks for sharing! Your trip report is amazing and it looks like you had a great time! :love:

It is just the best itinerary. I really hope that we will get to do it again! A lot of our cruisemates are planning to do it again in 2017. Hopefully we will be able to work that out! I asked Joseph and Beata if they will still be on the ship for a while. Joseph said he will be going on break in September, but Beata is going this summer and then she said she will be back. I requested her for our October cruise - hoping that goes through!

I've been reading along with your TR but this is my first time commenting - I felt I had to say something (as I've enjoyed it so much!!!), felt rude not to let you know how wonderful this TR is! What a fantastic trip for you and your two beautiful boys! We are going on our first Disney cruise in September, also on the Wonder and am so excited!! Also hoping to book Alaska for 2016 while onboard. That you so much for writing such an indepth and heartfelt TR!

Thank you so much! You are going to love the Wonder. She is just a great ship. Alaska is on my bucket list - hopefully we will be able to do it someday!

Great trip report. Thanks for the hard work on this, I thought of doing one before, but it seems like so much work. It is helping me get excited for our PC cruise next year.

Thanks. :) I love doing TRs! It helps to keep me in vacation mode for just a little while longer, and then I can always go back and relive the magic of our vacation. I need to edit it down now so that I can put copies of it into our various scrapbooks! Have a wonderful trip!
 
Thanks for the work doing this TR. We did the EBPC in 2012 and enjoyed reliving it through your report.
 

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