Wonder at Sea

Day 2 at sea

Tuesday June 10, 2025

We moved from unseasonably warm weather to chilly weather pretty quickly!  The day at sea was windy and blustery, with choppy water which didn’t sit well with many of the guests on board.  The pool was closed, but the buffet and food stations were open, as well as the multiple shopping areas, so we had plenty to keep us busy! 

The scenery is amazing, even in the windy weather.  The wonder of nature surrounds us on the Wonder.

The girls got to meet several princesses…

and then had a wonder-ful experience becoming a princess at the  Bippity Boppity salon!

We played Bingo, dressed in our "Shake it up Betty" shirts.  (The bingo machine is Betty!)

  You could get a paper card, or go the more elaborate (lazy) route with a machine that does everything for you except yell Bingo, but none of us were lucky enough to call Bingo.

We learned some interesting facts about the ship.   It took 2 years to build, and was first launched in1999.  The Wonder is one of the oldest and smallest in the Disney fleet.  It is 984 ft long with an anchor that weighs 34,250 lbs!  Maximum speed is 27.4 mph.  Over 50 nationalities make up the 1000 crew members on board, and it can hold about 2200 guests. 

We eat in a different dining room each night, but have the same serving crew.  Our waiter is from Indonesia.  The day went by quickly and we wrapped it up with a broadway-like production…The Golden Mickey’s…a take on the Oscars and Disney movies over the years.

We got a genius “tip” (thanks Tom & Heather) to order a pot of coffee when we go to bed at night.  Room service brought the coffee in a steel carafe, which allowed it to stay warm overnight.   So, we can enjoy a cup of hot coffee in the morning while still in our pj’s, sitting on the veranda enjoying the scenery.   

What a Wonder-ful day!

Fjords and Frozen

Wednesday June 11, 2025

Day 3 at sea 

We woke up with an extra hour of sleep due to a time zone change! This body is going to have a hard time adjusting back to Indiana time.  We are now 4 hours off from Indy!

We were greeted with a much different day today…sunny and calm.   The distant mountains provided stunning views with the smiling snowcaps.  

We saw a small boat heading our way, and it must have been a passenger left behind.  The boat sidled up to the ship and unloaded two people with rolling suitcases!  It seemed like it came from the middle of nowhere!  We never did find out the details, but I’m glad the passengers made it.

We were also treated to dolphins and whale sightings along the way.  It’s almost as if they were performing for the ship.   Two large whales breached and showed their tails and a huge cheer went up from the ship!

Today we are travelling to the Dawes Glacier.  The captain explained that we would enter one “arm” of the fjord (the Endicott arm).  As we were entering, another ship was leaving...

  Once we entered the fjord, it would take us about 2 hours to reach the glacier.  The views along the way were breathtaking…snow covered peaks, waterfalls, ice floes, etc. 

Seeing the waterfalls coming from the snow capped mountains along with the floating ice makes you realize how cold the water must be!  

We saw several seals sunbathing on the ice chunks.  

As we entered the fjord, the water became still, the color of the water changed to a beautiful teal green, and the number of ice floes increased as we inched closer and closer to the glacier.  

We were all surprised at how far into the inlet the ship ventured.  Then the captain turned the boat sideways to give everyone a good view of the glacier.  It was spectacular!  

The ship was nestled in very close…it seemed we were surrounded by rock mountains, and we got some great pictures of the glacier. 

The crew commented that we were so lucky to get a nice sunny day for the glacier viewing.  The kids got out of the pool to enjoy the view!  

And then we spent quite a bit of time just glacier- gazing! 

As if that wasn’t enough for a complete day, it was also Frozen day…a take-off on the movie.   It made an appropriate theme for the day.   Our crew dressed up for the occasion as characters from the movie. 

And the dinner menu was perfectly themed, with everything from drinks to dessert.

 

Sail-A-Wave -- Alaska here we come!

 Monday June 9, 2025 -Vancouver

We woke up Monday morning in time to see our ship, The Wonder, sail into port about 6:30 am. 

Yesterday there were 3 cruise ships in port, but today (Monday) ours is the only one here.  The port is Canada Place, right in downtown Vancouver.  It is a busy place with a convention center, ferry terminal and sea plane terminal alongside the cruise terminal.

There were a lot of excited people checking out the ship, with oohs and aahs, remarking at the size. 

The ship came in at 6:30 am, did a quick unload, and they started boarding new passengers at 11:30! It is quite an organized and efficient operation.   There were specific luggage tags and drop off instructions which made it easy.  

The luggage porter told us boarding had been delayed.   He said they found two large rodents on board! (Ha ha!)  I wonder how many times he's used that line!  It’s amazing the Disney staff was still smiling…But they weren’t smiling as big as our crew!

Goofy greeted us as we entered the ship, and our name was announced as we walked through the lobby, making us feel like vip's. 

There were a few hours before sailing time, so we were able to eat, swim, check out the boat, and watch preparations for departure. 

We also noticed a lot of unusual Mickey stuff...shoes, a bathing suit and a lighted backpack???

The ship is so big, it is easy to get lost, but Heather helped us by making door magnets for us! 

Everyone gathered on the deck for the “Sail-A-Wave” party which was quite an extravaganza, getting everybody into action.

We ended up getting prepared for our destination by closing out the night with an Alaskan brew!  Alaska here we come!

 

Sunday and Soccer!

 Sunday June 8, 2025

Vancouver

We started the day with mass at the beautiful Holy Rosary Cathedral in downtown Vancouver.  

The church was built in 1899, and has been well preserved.  The choir and music were beautiful and traditional.  At communion, you knelt at a communion rail...I didn't know that was still done.

Later in the day we met up with the rest of the family and attended a Major League Soccer game (thanks Jennifer for the idea and for the tickets!)  The teams were the Vancouver Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders.  The stadium is right downtown next to Costco, and yes, I did go into Costco, but I didn't buy anything.

We took the train from the hotel to the stadium...very efficient and quick trip.  However, there was a little (big?) glitch in getting in.  My bag was 1 1/2" too big...GRRRRR!   So, I had to take my purse to a "bag check" at another gate, in a long line, and then pay a $10 bag check fee.   I was not a happy camper.

The soccer game was exciting though...lots of action.  Two red cards (player ejections), and the Whitecaps won, 3-0. 

The weather has been unseasonably warm...mid-high 70's and really hot in the sun.  They even stopped the soccer game twice to give the players a water  break!

For many of us it was the first MLS game...add another check on the bucket list!  

Getting ready for the next big adventure...the Disney cruise!