10 Feb

Day 1 – Testing and Boarding

 

Today was the day!  Debbie and I flew in the night before and stayed at the Marriott in the Houston airport.  We woke up at 7:30, and called to confirm where the transfers would pick us up! 

We got ready, and went down to the hospitality desk a little before 9.

There were a few people there, but we had to wait for a few people, so we didn’t actually leave until about 9:30.

Hello, beautiful!  On a slightly gloomy day, but still beautiful!

Walking in!

We went right to the testing stations.

I had a 90 day Covid recovery letter, so I knew I was in! That was fairly seamless. Debbie was a little more worried since she didn’t have that and had to pass the test! She tested a few times before we traveled, so I wasn’t overly concerned.

After her test, we went to the waiting area.

They submit the tests in batches, so several people clear at once. They post the confirmation numbers on TV monitors.

When a batch appeared, there were quiet cheers as people started gathering their belongings.

Debbie passed! Woohoo!

We got an email before we saw it on the monitor. Woohoo again! So happy!

The cast members cheered and clapped for everyone that cleared and was walking past them.

There were 700 people on our sailing, and later we heard only one person tested positive!

ONE! That’s great that it was so low, but man, that poor person.

We went upstairs and checked in. After she finished, I asked if there were any upgrades. There were!

So we went to the Supervisor’s desk to check on a price.

This is where everyone waits for their boarding group to be called.

They had concierge! Eek! I love concierge so so much.

I hesitated for about 90 seconds before saying yes and throwing my credit card at her. Lol

Yes, Disney. Yes you can have my money.

Concierge had already boarded, so we boarded right away! There she is!

Thanks for the welcome!

The Captain was waiting for us onboard!

We watched the boarding show.

Captain Minnie came!

Then it was time for the concierge lunch in Triton’s!

Concierge likes to do a little research on you before you board so they can take better care of you. They like to know how many cruises you’ve done, have you sailed concierge before, etc. When you upgrade at the port it throws them a little bit!

Mariela was the first concierge host to come by and say hi. She apologized for not knowing anything about us. We didn’t mind, of course!

We told her the things we were looking to still book, like the Rainforest Room and Palo brunch.

In the far right of this picture, you can see Glenn, one of the other hosts, securing reservations for people:

Here’s my straw hat that I never ended up needing!

We ordered lunch and chatted.

Empanadas!

Glenn came over, and Mariela came back too. I have met Glenn before and we have mutual friends, so it was fun to see him!

They warned us that we were expecting very rough seas when we left port. Several people warned us, in fact! I don’t get seasick anymore, so I wasn’t too worried.  But man there were a lot of warnings!

I had pasta:

Debbie had a salad:

Glenn brought over our keys since they wouldn’t be waiting on our door!

They were a little sparse on details, but they worked!

We said thank you and started making our way to our room, and immediately got distracted by the French Quarter! French Quarter was added in late 2019, and I hadn’t had a chance to get on the Wonder and see it before everything shut down.

I loved it!!

Also, they have beignets here! So what else do you need?

I took a LOT of pictures.

The park benches were so cute!

As was the street car!

Finally we left, vowing to come back for beignets, and headed to the room!

We were in a Concierge Family Oceanview with Verandah. It’s the same size as the other Family staterooms, but with several upgrades. Like two tv’s, upgraded bedding and linens, upgraded toiletries, and a stocked fridge, of course!

We had tons of space!

Here’s our fridge! We would be adding Coke Zeros to that soon.

The bathrooms are also different with the blue countertops. I like them!

Elemis!

Oh there I am!

There were also H20 products in the shower for those that prefer.

Here’s a video of the room:

 

We left the room to head to the lounge, and we ran into the concierge drink cart!

The drink cart was run by Jay and Joy, whom we loved!

They came to the room twice a night to bring drinks to anyone who wanted them.

When we walked up, they were pouring that beautiful blue drink on the front of the cart for someone.

I wanted a picture of that so bad! So Debbie decided she would get that and I would get something non-alcoholic.

When it was our turn, I asked what they had that was non-alcoholic, and they pulled out the blue drink!! I was so excited!!

I said, “That’s non-alcoholic?!!”

Jay said yes, and asked if we were always non-alcoholic.

I said I was and they told us they would hook us up all week! They had the drink in another flavor/color too!

The driink was called Cloudem, and when you shook it, there was a beautiful cloud effect. Debbie and I decided it is the perfect Space Force drink, and I needed to find it back home.

Joy held it for a picture.

They said it was new, and from Spain. We took it with us to the lounge!

We relaxed in the lounge for a little while.

The Wonder has a beautiful lounge!

There are two sides to it. I only took pictures of one side this time.

Here’s the coffee machine!

And tea:

Here’s the current snacks:

Then we decided to go back to the room and unpack!

I asked for some cans of Coke Zero to bring to the room and they gave me a bag full.

Here’s the host’s desk:

This was outside the lounge on the floor:

We popped upstairs to the concierge sundeck before we went to the room.

Debbie relaxed with her coffee!

There’s always sunscreen on the sundeck, which is awesome.

Here’s a video!

 

Then we started moving towards the room again. These funnels never get old.

Here’s the family pool:

We got distracted by the stairs again, and went up to see Vibe!

Then the room! Oh wait, no. First we had to check in at the muster station!

We passed Mickey and Minnie!

And no one else!

Hello, Captain!

While I was taking pictures, a crew member asked if I wanted to see Goofy. Um, yes. Always yes!

He was in D-Lounge all by himself!

Then we walked by the lounges! Here’s Crown and Fin:

And Azure:

Here’s the Cadillac Lounge:

Then finally we made it back to unpack!

We unpacked, I processed some pictures, and we ironed some clothes. At about 5:15, there was a knock on the door, and… It was Jay and Joy!

With the drink cart and Cloudem!

I grabbed my phone for a picture:

This time we had the Rose flavor! Faux-se if you will!

They also brought us some appetizers!

That was awesome. Here’s Debbie enjoying it:

Dinner was in Tiana’s tonight!

Our servers were Sutas and Wendell, and they were great! Debbie had shrimp:

I had a steak:

Debbie had much rarer steak. Ha!

We both had beignets, of course!

Sutas insisted on bringing us some cake too!

We stayed for the show. There’s Sutas waving!

I do love the live music:

We sailed away during dinner, and while the back of the ship has some serious vibrations, the rough seas never really materialized! We weren’t mad!

After a delicious dinner, we shopped a little. These are so cute!

We went to the lounge for 70’s music trivia. We knew we would be horrible, but it’s still fun!

I had a mocktail:

After losing handily (ha!), we went back up to the lounge. I had a Coke Zero there!

Debbie had tea!

Then we went back to Crown and Fin for one more round of trivia. This one was brain teasers. We got in the groove after the first couple of questions, and we won!!

We won! By a lot! Woohoo!

We won key chains and phone card holders:

See? Winners!

We were so excited!

When we got back to the room, they had stocked me with Coke Zero:

And chocolate:

I read for a while, and fell asleep! The ship was still fairly calm, with just enough rocking to put me to sleep!

 

Simply Wonderful – January 28-February 1, 2022
Day 1 – Testing and Boarding 
Day 2 – No Bones Day! 
Day 3 – Sunburns and Shade
Day 4 – Stocking Up