An Easter Weekend Trip on the Wonder with (most of) the TCD Gang

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Here we are on the best day of the cruise- Castaway Cay day. Watching the ship approach Castaway Cay is one of my favorite things to do, so I was once again up before the sun, and headed up top. I spent a lot of time standing at the bow of the ship, watching us steam toward a speck of land with a few lights on it. I know that Castaway Cay isn't far from other larger islands in the Bahamas, but it looks isolated when approaching from the sea. 

The full moon was still shining brightly, which made it possible to see the outline of the island barely above sea level on the horizon. We seemed to be going pretty fast, but the little speck of an island was still a ways away. 

It was going to be another pretty sunrise, so I headed down to the cabin to wake the twins. They admitted that they were glad a I had woken them early the day before so they could see the sunrise. Today's was even better:

That's Castaway Cay the sun is rising over. The girls asked me how I knew- I pointed out the tall antenna that towers over everything else on the island. I miss when they had it disguised as a giant palm tree, but that's definitely Castaway Cay:

We were not in as big a rush as usual to get to breakfast. Normally, we want to leave the ship as soon as possible, but this morning the girls needed a photo with Chip and Dale in their swimsuits, and that was scheduled for 9 am at the post office near the dock. 

So, we headed to Cabanas and ate outside as the ship pulled up to the dock. Awesome. 

We headed off the ship, and got behind the first family in line for the Chip and Dale meet and greet. It was a little cloudy, but the temperature was perfect- low 70's with a nice breeze. There was a big snowstorm bearing down on the northeast as we enjoyed this morning:

We had a nice view of the ship from here:

You can see our verandah in this photo-do you see the oval shaped openings there on decks 5-7?  Ours is the second from the left on the bottom row. 

We were right by the air mail mailbox:

They had started letting guests leave the ship at 8, but there weren't many people leaving. That was amazing to us- first timers are a lot more chill than repeat cruisers. But, they all liked the free bug spray station:

Another thing you can see in that photo is the big crane that is already out to wash the ship. The Magic is 20 years old this year, and the Wonder 19, but you wouldn't know it, because they are vigilant with their maintenance of the ships.

The sun was still rising as we awaited the arrival of the chipmunks:

Meanwhile, back on the ship, we could see that the outdoor seating area for Cabanas was still quite busy (it's all the way up top on the aft of the ship) :

I was running out of things to take pictures of, so here's another photo of the air mail mailbox:

The chipmunks showed up right on time, and the girls got what they needed for their respective social media accounts:

And then we took a group shot:

Then, we were on our way. Bob Iger's ego sign is still here:

And is that an old Fort Wilderness log bench?

We headed to the tram stop and saw the tram was just pulling away. Darn. No big deal though, as we weren't in a rush, and it was still early:

I love the view of the ship that you get from here:

What a gorgeous day!

We probably should have just walked rather than wait for the tram, but we always take the tram, and I enjoy the scenery along the tram path, so we waited. The tram finally came, and we took it to the second stop- Pelican Point. The girls took a few photos of the Summertime Freeze hut- this had just opened the last time we were on Castaway Cay, and they think it's cute:

Normally, this is the area where we would set up base camp for the day. 

But we were going to do something new today, and we hopped on the next tram to Serenity Bay:

The girls have been old enough to go to Serenity Bay on our last couple of cruises, but we've never gone there out of force of habit. I like the family Beach, and I pushed back when the twins said they wanted to spend most of the day at Serenity Bay. But, they both work in departments with many long time Disney castmembers now, and had been told by numerous people how nice Serenity Bay is. So I got outvoted on this. I figured it would be easiest to just head out there, let the girls see how boring it was, and we'd be back to the family beach by lunch time.  We'll see how that plan went in the next update. 

TCD 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I'm going to guess you spent the entire day at Serenity Bay.  It's very nice, for a beach.  And they serve steak for lunch, you know.  That had to sway you.  

[Beckers 1,136]

I’m thinking if I was cruising without kids, my butt would be on the kidless beach all day.

[Seals 111]

I guess you didn't have Natalie as your cruise director?   When I was on the Wonder she would announce each morning in her English accent "This is Natalie your cruise director and today is going to be a b-e-a utiful day!"   I still say that on particularly gorgeous days like the ones in your pictures.

I'm also predicting you spent the day at Serenity Bay and realized how nice and peaceful it is. 

[Grumpy and Grandma 739]

51 minutes ago, Beckers said:

If thinking if I was cruising without kids, my butt would be on the kidless beach all day.

And in typical mother fashion, worrying about the kids......  

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Man those pictures are making me want to be on a cruise bad!

Looks like a great day and I'm also guessing you like Serenity Bay!  I've never walked out there, only biked past.

WBI

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

On 4/18/2018 at 11:36 AM, DaveInTN said:

I'm going to guess you spent the entire day at Serenity Bay.  It's very nice, for a beach.  And they serve steak for lunch, you know.  That had to sway you.  

So, you think I would let the availability of a freshly grilled steak dictate how I spent my day?

You've got my number. That's exactly what happened.

On 4/18/2018 at 1:43 PM, Beckers said:

I’m thinking if I was cruising without kids, my butt would be on the kidless beach all day.

You are wise beyond your years. 

On 4/18/2018 at 2:13 PM, Seals said:

I guess you didn't have Natalie as your cruise director?   When I was on the Wonder she would announce each morning in her English accent "This is Natalie your cruise director and today is going to be a b-e-a utiful day!"   I still say that on particularly gorgeous days like the ones in your pictures.

I'm also predicting you spent the day at Serenity Bay and realized how nice and peaceful it is. 

Natalie had apparently just left for vacation. We had an American woman- Leslie. We really liked her- she was much more low key than some of the loudmouth men we've had as Cruise Directors. 

Your prediction is correct- although we did have to sneak away for a Pelican Plunge ride. 

On 4/18/2018 at 2:49 PM, WannaBeImagineer said:

Man those pictures are making me want to be on a cruise bad!

Looks like a great day and I'm also guessing you like Serenity Bay!  I've never walked out there, only biked past.

WBI

I was the same way- we always saw Serenity Bay when we rode bikes, and Twin #1 and I even took a quick dip there on one bike ride on a recent cruise, but I thought it looked too boring. 

I was wrong. Yes, there is less activity there than on the family beach, but that's a good thing.

TCD 

[Beckers 1,136]

I think the twins and I would get along pretty well [emoji23]


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[WannaBeImagineer 98]

36 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Natalie had apparently just left for vacation. We had an American woman- Leslie. We really liked her- she was much more low key than some of the loudmouth men we've had as Cruise Directors. 

TCD 

Was Leslie a skinny blonde?  We also had an american woman and I didn't think they had many american cruise directors.  We also really liked her, like you said she wasn't over the top like others.

WBI

[dblr....Rennie 224]

1 hour ago, Beckers said:

I think the twins and I would get along pretty well


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Why were you not wearing that this past weekend, it was warm enough

[Beckers 1,136]

17 minutes ago, dblr....Rennie said:

Why were you not wearing that this past weekend, it was warm enough

Not mine lol. Was at a candle making class, I wore it to embarrass my mom 😂

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

2 hours ago, Beckers said:

I think the twins and I would get along pretty well


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LOL. You're right. Those coverups were the surprise hit of the cruise. They bought them as a joke, but they got a surprising amount of compliments from other passengers when they wore them. So, they wore them a lot. 

1 hour ago, WannaBeImagineer said:

Was Leslie a skinny blonde?  We also had an american woman and I didn't think they had many american cruise directors.  We also really liked her, like you said she wasn't over the top like others.

WBI

That must be her! I hadn't heard of her before, but I liked her a lot more than some of the obnoxious men that think it's part of the job to draw attention to themselves. I think the last CD we had was a fellow named Jimmy, and I swear all he did was scream into the microphone. Chill, bro. 

TCD 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

5 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

That must be her! I hadn't heard of her before, but I liked her a lot more than some of the obnoxious men that think it's part of the job to draw attention to themselves. I think the last CD we had was a fellow named Jimmy, and I swear all he did was scream into the microphone. Chill, bro. 

TCD 

On our cruise on the Wonder last year, we had Darren.  He was ok.  I don't recall a lot of yelling.  

I was reading somewhere that Clayton is back on the Dream.  Is that true?  His Carlton dance is pretty funny...the first 15 times.  

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

4 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

On our cruise on the Wonder last year, we had Darren.  He was ok.  I don't recall a lot of yelling.  

I was reading somewhere that Clayton is back on the Dream.  Is that true?  His Carlton dance is pretty funny...the first 15 times.  

Clayton is not ont he Dream as of last week. We had a Scottish gentleman who's name I can't remember. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

59 minutes ago, Katman1356...Jason said:

Clayton is not ont he Dream as of last week. We had a Scottish gentleman who's name I can't remember. 

Ok, interesting.  I had read at one point several years ago that he had moved over to the Fantasy, but then I thought I'd seen him listed as being CD on the Dream more recently.  Well, at the end of the day what does it matter I guess.  I'm more interested in how big the vat of bleu cheese is.  

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

3 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

Ok, interesting.  I had read at one point several years ago that he had moved over to the Fantasy, but then I thought I'd seen him listed as being CD on the Dream more recently.  Well, at the end of the day what does it matter I guess.  I'm more interested in how big the vat of bleu cheese is.  

He was on the Fantasy our first cruise. Then we had Leslie (SP?) on our cruise with Gram on the Fantasy. I remember virtually nothing about the cruise director on the Magic last September but with everything that had happened I mostly still went on that to escape as much as possible from life. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I have some tea to spill on Clayton. It's been kept quiet, but he was asked to leave the company because of improper behavior by him toward female guests. What was OK for Doc and Isaac does not fly with DCL. I actually just heard this on our cruise.  It's too bad, because I liked Clayton.

TCD 

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

3 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I have some tea to spill on Clayton. It's been kept quiet, but he was asked to leave the company because of improper behavior by him toward female guests. What was OK for Doc and Isaac does not fly with DCL. I actually just heard this on our cruise.  It's too bad, because I liked Clayton.

TCD 

I had a feeling something was up. He was supposed to be on ours according to reports and then there was the scottish guy all of a sudden. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

3 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I have some tea to spill on Clayton. It's been kept quiet, but he was asked to leave the company because of improper behavior by him toward female guests. What was OK for Doc and Isaac does not fly with DCL. I actually just heard this on our cruise.  It's too bad, because I liked Clayton.

TCD 

That's too bad.  

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We are on our way to Serenity Bay!

We had all seen Serenity Bay before while bike riding, but this was our first time riding the tram there. 

When we got there, we were surprised by how uncrowded it was. We had lots of spots to pick from, and we weren't sure what would be best. I've always liked going as far as you can go on the family beach, so I told the girls to follow me, and we walked all the way down the beach as far as we could go. About halfway there, the girls asked why we had to walk so far.  That was a good question, but I insisted that we keep walking. When we got to the last set of chairs, I realized that it wasn't a good spot- we were far away from the restaurant, bar and rest rooms. 

So, we walked all the way back and claimed a spot we had walked past initially. Twin #2 had suggested in the first place, and I had to admit she was right. It was perfect, and included two hammocks for us to use. Two. It's next to impossible to claim one hammock on the family beach, and there were plenty here. 

This was the view from our spot:

We got right to work sunning and enjoying the hammocks. 

After a bit, I took a stroll down the beach:

It sure was peaceful here. At the family beach, there would be a million of these tubes and wall to wall people. 

Look up the beach to the right in that last photo, and you'll see a group of guests doing yoga. I'm not sure if that was an organized group from the ship, but it looked like a great spot to do yoga. 

The water at this beach was amazingly clear:

This rope said this was far as guests are allowed to go on the beach here:

It looked so nice past the rope that I was tempted to keep going. The only one watching was this bird:

I decided to follow the rules, so I went no further. But look how nice the beach and water are on the other side of the rope:

After I got back, we hung out some more enjoying the sun and breeze, then we headed to lunch. I stopped by the restroom and snapped this photo- Mrs. TCD and I have discussed redoing our pool bathroom with corrugated steel wainscoting like this- I like the look:

Lunch was great- so much calmer than the Cookies BBQ locations at the family beach. And, they were indeed serving ribeye steaks hot off the grill. It was surprising how few guests there were eating with us. I've heard that it can get crowded at Serenity Bay, but that certainly was not the case for us. 

After lunch, we had more beach time, and Twin #2 broke out the beach hat she made:

I'm going to stop here and post this update. The site has been proofing my updates, so I'm going to go with shorter updates to reduce that risk. 

TCD 

[Grumpy and Grandma 739]

17 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

We are on our way to Serenity Bay!

We had all seen Serenity Bay before while bike riding, but this was our first time riding the tram there. When we got there, we were surprised by how uncrowded it was. TCD 

Another advantage of the Magic and Wonder.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

We had a very similar experience at Serenity Bay.  It was quiet, and we had no trouble getting a spot with 2 hammocks and 2 loungers, plus plenty of those low beach chairs you can drag down to the water's edge.  And it's not like we were hogging chairs....there were lots of chairs that went unused that day.  Like Dave said, I guess that's an advance of the smaller ships.  

There was also a group doing Yoga down there on the beach when we were there, so my guess is that it's an official activity.  

It's a good thing you didn't go past the rope.  The smoke monster can get you if you cross over there.  Jacob's cabin is right beyond that tree line.  

[dblr....Rennie 224]

16 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

 

It's a good thing you didn't go past the rope.  The smoke monster can get you if you cross over there.  Jacob's cabin is right beyond that tree line.  

Dave, you got me a little "LOST" with that comment 

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

54 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

We had a very similar experience at Serenity Bay.  It was quiet, and we had no trouble getting a spot with 2 hammocks and 2 loungers, plus plenty of those low beach chairs you can drag down to the water's edge.  And it's not like we were hogging chairs....there were lots of chairs that went unused that day.  Like Dave said, I guess that's an advance of the smaller ships.  

There was also a group doing Yoga down there on the beach when we were there, so my guess is that it's an official activity.  

It's a good thing you didn't go past the rope.  The smoke monster can get you if you cross over there.  Jacob's cabin is right beyond that tree line.  

 

36 minutes ago, dblr....Rennie said:

Dave, you got me a little "LOST" with that comment 

Why did you guys have to remind me of that stupid show!  

[dblr....Rennie 224]

1 hour ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

 

Why did you guys have to remind me of that stupid show!  

It's all Dave's fault, remember!!!