Another day, another vacation to talk about! I am so excited to share the first in my next series of vacation trip report posts, this time from our mystery vacation…which, as we know by now of course, turned out to be a Very Merrytime Disney cruise!
On our first day, we were so hyped to be on vacation and on board that we spent most of the day exploring the ship. We also had an amazing dinner at the fabulous Tiana’s Place!! I have a bunch of fun photos and of course a vlog from this day to share with you… so let’s get started:
Also, as a fair warning, I lost my voice the day before the cruise so I sound really ridiculous in these vlogs!! anyway…
DAY 1 – NOVEMBER 12, 2018
So Chris successfully hid the boarding pass destination from me, and it wasn’t until we got all the way to our gate that I got to see where we were going… Houston. Houston??? Houston was not on the list of places!
But I actually quickly figured it out! When I was researching possible places Chris could take us, I looked at Disney cruise itineraries and found out that there’s a cruise terminal in Galveston. So when we were flying to Houston, I knew that wasn’t our final stop and figured out we were cruising!!
With our destination now revealed, I was so excited to get going!! The flight was short and uneventful, and we slept most of the way.
We landed on time and Chris called us a Lyft to get to the cruise terminal!! About an hour later we were pulling up to the port and I could see the Wonder in the distance!!
Checking in was quick and easy too, and before long we had our key to the world cards and were waiting to board!
We also picked up our first personal navigator of the trip!!
We were pretty early so we used our time to download the DCL app and get acquainted with everything again. I could not believe we were actually here!!
I was especially excited to find out we would be eating at Tiana’s Place our first night!
We also saw that the had info on our mandatory safety drill, as well as the cruise planning desk where we could book a future cruise for a discount…we made a mental note to check that out later.
Soon it was finally time for us to board and just a few minutes later we were on board the beautiful Disney Wonder! I started crying as soon as we got on because I was so happy to be there 😭 Almost immediately we realized how hungry we were and popped into Triton’s for lunch, which was just off of the atrium.
Look familiar? This is the same menu that we were served on the Dream on our first day on board back in April! This time we chose the seafood gumbo and pennete pasta.
I also had the cookies & cream cheesecake for dessert again because I had loved it so much in April!
Once we finished lunch we walked around the ship a little bit to explore, and before long our room was ready!
Our room this time was an oceanview so we had a big beautiful window!
We also had the super cool split bath, one of my favorite parts of DCL rooms:
Our room number was 2070, on deck 2 and right next to the elevators. It ended up being so convenient throughout the trip.
We also had some port adventure tickets waiting for us! Chris had booked us a few more surprises for the cruise including a chocolate & wine tasting when we dock in Cozumel!
We also quickly discovered that the stateroom tv had great taste – several Christmas movies were on a loop the entire cruise, including our FAVORITE, White Christmas!
Soon after we got to our room our luggage was also delivered! We took a few minutes to unpack and change, and I did my makeup too. Then we decided we were hungry (again) so we made a quick trip up to Cabanas for a second lunch.
Then it was time for our safety drill! On our previous cruise we had been situated inside the theatre as our assigned meeting area, but this time we were out on the deck, and it was COLD! Luckily it didn’t last too long though, and soon we were back inside our warm stateroom.
We had some time to kill before the evening show, so we explored some more. By the way, every time I say “we explored”, there’s footage of it in the vlog – I was busy taking video so I didn’t get many photos! It’s all in the vlog though 🙂
Before long it was time for the theatrical performance of the evening, which was the Golden Mickeys! It was a pretty wild show and I didn’t film any of it but we did review it in the vlog. Here’s a full video someone else took of the show, if you’re curious:
Well… just a few minutes later, we had booked our next cruise! We put down a deposit for a placeholder cruise, which means that we don’t have to choose a specific sailing just yet. So… I don’t know when we are going to cruise again, but apparently we are!
Next we found a spot to watch the Christmas tree lighting, which was super cute and festive.
And then….finally….
it was time for dinner at TIANA’S PLACE!!!
I was SO excited!! Tiana’s Place is something I was looking forward to most on the Wonder – she’s one of my all time favorites!
Inside the restaurant, we were seated at a table for 8 – we were sharing with a few other parties. I was nervous about this at first but it ended up being fine because our table mates were super cool! They didn’t even judge me for vlogging!!
As far as the table settings… every detail was perfect!
Look at the plates!!!
Even the menu was just like the movie!
I was so excited, I wanted to order everything! And we kind of did. We started out with some appetizers:
- Boudin Sausage Fritters – minced pork and boudin sausage, breaded and fried, served with a bourbon aioli
- Sautéed Gulf Shrimp & Grits – with andouille sausage, grilled green onions and a smoked barbecue sauce
- Mama Odie’s Creamy Tomato Soup – with chopped cilantro
They were all SO delicious but those shrimp and grits…omg…. one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. I wanted to order them every day afterwards.
Then for our entrees…we also got three to share!
- Roasted Creole Half Chicken – with toasted corn, pecan bread pudding, buttered chard and chicken jus
- Big Daddy’s Roasted Prime-Rib of Beef – with a double baked potato, broccolini, sweet roasted carrots and a red wine veal sauce
- James’s Roasted Pork Tenderloin – sliced pork tenderloin with white rice and greens on an andouille sausage stew
Again, all three were great but my absolute FAVORITE was the chicken. The combination of the spices of the chicken with the pecan bread pudding was so amazing!
Between courses we had a visit from Princess Tiana herself!!
She was so sweet and beautiful! I normally don’t like character experiences because I feel awkward lol but Tiana was so lovely!! During our meal there was also a live band playing (the Crawfish Crooners) and Tiana performed a few sets as well. It was amazing!!
Soon it was time for dessert, and the menu was so cute:
We decided by now that good things came in threes, so we also got three desserts!
- Southern Style Pecan Nut Tart – with bourbon caramel sauce
- Tiana’s Buttermilk Beignets – dusted with powdered sugar and served with chocolate espresso dipping sauce
- Mama Odie’s White Chocolate Bread Pudding – with praline sauce and vanilla ice cream
The beignets were obviously to die for, but the bread pudding was a surprise favorite too!! I liked the pecan tart but I couldn’t eat much of it because I was so full!! think I would skip it next time, maybe in favor of another order of beignets…
Before the end of the meal they also had a special Mardi Gras celebration, where all the servers came out with tambourines and umbrellas and they invited us to dance around the restaurant with them! It was so cute and the whole environment was so much fun!! I was sad to leave when our meal was over!
After an AMAZING meal at Tiana’s, we were pooped and headed back to the room to pass out! We said goodnight to our towel animal:
And quickly fell asleep!
And that’s the first day of our cruise!! It was still so weird that we were actually on a CRUISE and 24 hours before I had had no idea where we were going. So fun! We had an amazing first day and I couldn’t wait to see what other fun things were in store for the rest of the trip. Thanks for reading and watching! Be sure to check out my youtube channel for more trip vlogs and other videos and stay tuned here as well for more trip reports. See ya next time!!
