Disney Wonder Down Under

Guess who went on a Disney Cruise and blogged about it in a timely fashion… not me. I mean, I did go on a Disney Cruise. It just happened to be in February of 2024.

We’re actually going to cast our minds back a little further to January of 2024 - when I was supposed to go on the cruise.

I’d been on a holiday USA and got really sick (check out like 2 blog posts ago). About 5 days after returning Mum and I were supposed to set sail on a 3 night cruise adventure.

There’s no way I was being let on that cruise, so I did something unthinkable - made a phone call. Thankfully the person I spoke to was incredibly lovely and was able to find a new cruise to go on. It would be the last cruise of the Wonder’s inaugural Aussie season. Except this one was an extra night and it would be sailing to Tasmania. I only had to pay a very small extra amount, and the transfer fee was waived. It was also during the school term, so for the next 2 years any time I was away one of my classes would ask me if I’d gone on another cruise.

Ok, so now we’re up to the day of the cruise, but we’re not on the boat yet… because we’re in front of it taking photos.

As is standard practice, I made notes about the cruise. As is also standard practice, I look back on some of them with much confusion.

“4 keys when boarding”

This could mean we received 4 keys when boarding, but that seems excessive. Side note: it reminds me of “The Four Keys” when I worked at Pizza Planet in Disney World - safety, courtesy, show, efficiency.

Wait…

I get it now…

The cast members employed the Four Keys when we were boarding. The experience was safe, courteous, part of the Disney show and efficient.

There was a photographer snapping photos of the cruise goers.

Cabanas (is that a restaurant? I’ll get back to you) is open from 12pm to 3pm for lunch.

Update: Cabanas is the buffet dining location.

My notes from day 1 are divided into 2 sections. This is what the second section looks like at the beginning.

Board ship

Find room

Eat food

Take photos

Pretty sound advice if you ask me.

Upon boarding we were greeted by Goofy.

Here are some photos of the room. There was only an accessible room left, which ended up being handy for mum and also roomy.

We were prepared for any emergency… except a fashion one.

The doors are magnetic, so I ordered a birthday magnetic from someone on Etsy.

Was it still my birthday. Technically, no.

Did that matter? Also, no.

Here are some photos on board the ship.

We hadn’t started sailing yet.

After the drill it was quicker to use the stairs, which I took to the Sail-A-Wave Party.

I even spotted Krystal who I used to work with at Legoland in the UK. The entertainment industry is a small world.

Then I had some eye scream and pizza. One can only assume they tasted reasonable because I didn’t write any notes about their taste or quality.

A Little Advice For Onboard

Download the app and use DCL Wi-Fi. You can use it to chat to people onboard.

You can also use it to find out the itinerary, favourite things you’re interested in and be notified 15 minutes before they start.

The ship plan is also on the app - great for directionally challenged people, like me.

There’s an early or late dinner option and an early or late show option. Based on how late mum and I joined the cruise we were forced into the late dinner option. I actually quite liked it. We’d see the early shows and eat the late dinner.

The show for night 1 was The Golden Mickey’s.

I lined up about 45 minutes before the show started, then found myself in a good seat in the middle of the theatre. I used my time in line to edit photos and write notes for my blog. I really did intend to write about this cruise much earlier.

The Golden Mickey’s was a professional production full of great characters, costumes and dancing. No photos or videos are allowed in the theatre, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Afterwards I got some photos on the blue carpet.

Then Mum and I headed outside to see the ship leaving Darling Harbour.

Then it was time for our late dinner at Triton’s - which is why I chose the Ariel Disneybound outfit for this night.

Here are my notes about the food.

“Should’ve asked for more sauce with lobster and prawn. Rack of lamb delicious.”

That sauce comment will surprise nobody who truly knows me.

I’ve also just read a note that said: “Find bathroom and realise the flush is on the side of the toilet.” I do remember taking quite some time to figure out the flush. But I did because mamma didn’t raise no quitter. Just like blogging, sometimes things take me a little while.