Day Seven ~ First Stop Honolulu

 

Our first port was Honolulu on the island of Oahu. We had been to Oahu in June of 2024 and did the big things we wanted to do then so we tried to select something we hadn’t done. The excursion we picked was the Hawaii Scenic Shores and Sea Cliffs. As we sailed into port, we could see Diamond Head. We did hike Diamond Head on our  last visit so this was really neat to see from this view.

As we pulled into port, we saw the pretty Aloha Tower. We were led off the ship with our group and to a waiting bus to take us on our excursion. We had a great tour guide ‘Cousin Loni’ who was very informative about the areas we rode by. The first being Waikiki Beach. This tour was mostly driving by these sites though, with a few where we could get out to view. We were on the windward side of the island and the water was so beautiful and blue. As we climbed up the elevation to a lookout we could see the water from various beach areas and it was just amazing!

We made a stop at a look out over Makapu’u Beach Park. The water is so rough crashing into the rocks in some areas, yet we saw a crazy person jumping into the water from the rocks!!!

We then made our way further up the mountains to the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout. From there you could see for miles! It was so windy though and so much cooler up there! 

After the lookout it was time to head down the mountain and head back to the ship. After getting back on board we enjoyed some relaxing time on the concierge sun deck with some refreshments and then hit the Rainforest Room for a little more relaxation to finish out our day before we went to dinner.

When we returned to our cabin that evening our host had decorated our bed in celebration of our anniversary (which we were celebrating on the cruise since it was just a few weeks before).

We of course made a stop to the atrium to get some photos in our ‘Hawaii’ outfit since this was the ‘typical’ Hawaii night on the cruise, yet it was not actually celebrated this time (which was odd).

Next stop will be the island of Kauai! - Things get real busy from here on out!

Hawaii Scenic Shores and Sea Cliffs 

Day Six ~ All About Relaxing

This was our last sea day and we were going to enjoy it! We made sure to get our pics with the characters in their Hawaiian outfits. It’s one of the fun things on the cruise, getting everyone in one photo! Makes for some great memories. We spent some time relaxing about the ship, breakfast in the lounge and some time on the sun deck. Dale played a game or two of bingo (maybe not this day but at some point, things get fuzzy the further out we get from the trip). I got some magic shots around the ship.

And I picked up Dale at some point for some more photos. We. knew we were getting close to Hawaii as they were serving drinks in pineapples on the pool deck this day!

The water is so beautiful, the closer we were getting to Hawaii, it was getting more beautiful. I had to grab this shot of how pretty it was, it matched the blue in my bathing suit, before we went up to the spa.

We had booked a Couples Choice 130 Minute Spa Villa in the afternoon and were looking forward to that. This was something special we had planned. We like to book a couples massage when we go away. A little relaxation since Dale doesn’t get massages (thankfully, I do) on a regular basis. 

The Senses Spa Villas on the Wonder are open air verandahs where you will discover a tranquil oasis. These spa villas on the Wonder have open-air verandahs where you will discover a tranquil oasis. You start your amazing couples treatment with a foot cleansing ceremony. You then have time on the verandah with your own jacuzzi or just relax on the loungers and enjoy the amazing ocean view. After a period of time you are escorted back into the room for your couples massage. You have your pick of which massage you want. I went with a hot stone where Dale had a deep tissue. After you massage, you go back onto the verandah for a tea ceremony, which was just such a relaxing way to end this amazing treatment. We did not feel rushed at all and it was the perfect amount of time.

After this amazing time, we actually made our way back to the concierge lounge as another character was making his way for a special appearance. You never know who will be showing up, so you have to be there to see. Tonight, it was Goofy in his formal wear, because it was going to be ‘semi-formal’ night, so we knew we had to get changed soon for dinner.

Years ago on our first seven night cruise on the Fantasy, we ran into Chip & Dale just walking along and I got my photo with them similar to this evening. It was so fun to have this happen again.

We had a great last sea day and were looking forward to docking in Oahu in the morning for our first excursion, a bit bittersweet, since that meant our cruise was winding down, but we still had several days of activities to go and lots of excursions planned before we had to truly disembark the ship for good.

Day Five ~ This Beautiful Ocean

 

We started this beautiful day attending one of the Anyone Can Cook Sessions with Jon Ashton. We had done this several mornings, but I forgot to post about it. What is so awesome about these sessions, is not, only do you get to taste the amazing dish he is preparing, you also get the recipe to make it at home. We had missed the first session but made the rest of them (and picked up the recipe for the first one). After that, we ran into a few of our ‘friends’ walking through the ship. You never know who you will see where.

We spent our afternoon relaxing on the sun deck of the concierge lounge and some time in the Rainforest room in the spa. Truly a relaxing day. We also chose this day to enjoy our Cloudem Blue on our verandah. This was a non alcoholic 'bubbly' with 'glitter' in it. It just looked pretty and I picked that to be included in our 'Romance package' that included our robes and chocolate. 

This day is Pirate Day on the ship so we always pick this evening to go to Palo for dinner. So after our very relaxing afternoon it was time to dress for dinner. This was one evening where we didn't get any photos in the atrium. Thankfully, we did get one at dinner and my one selfie in our cabin.

After dinner we were meeting up with friends for a Bourbon tasting in the Cove Cafe. I am not a bourbon drinker by any means but I did come along for 'fun' and shared my bourbon with others.

I did have to make a pit stop by my new friend Karen who helped me immensely with our things with our group to drop off something to her cabin. Her cabin was selected at the 'Door of the Day' for the first sea day on the ship! Check this out!. Karen also gifted us two 'ducks' that she made. Of course these will make their way to Dale's Jeep!

Day Three ~ Part Three ~ Princesses!

 

I completely forgot before our Palo Brunch we had our reservation for the Royal Gathering. This is just a short time where you get to meet the Princesses on board. It is nice that they have short reservation windows so that you are not in a long line waiting forever. You go at your designated time and see them and are done, all in a 15 minute window. Which worked great before our Palo Brunch, then we were able to go dress for brunch.

Day Four ~ Who Runs on a Ship??

 

So, Disney cruise ships have one deck that has been mapped out as a ‘running/walking’ deck. On the Disney Wonder, approximately three laps around deck four equals one mile. This is an uninterupted lap that you can run the entire way around the ship. It’s kind of crazy as you run behind the Walt Disney theater at one end of the ship and can see the ropes for the anchors at the other end. The two ends though are VERY narrow. Because of this, I gave out runner ettiequte before we started and instructed some to go up to deck ten to run/walk where they did not have those narrow paths, but they do have more obstacles to run around.

I should start this with our Facebook group. I started a sign up for those that were interested in doing a 5K on board the ship. I had contracted a gal to make medals and offered them at cost to those who were interested. I was a bit overwhelmed when the group of those who wanted to participate grew to approximately 150 people!!! If you know Disney Cruise Line, you know they are ALWAYS working on something to keep things looking fresh and nice. They are always painting something or polishing something. And maintenance happens all the time. These are things you cannot always anticipate. When we boarded the ship, I spoke with our concierge team and let them know about our plans for the 5K and asked if they could find out if there was any scheduled maintenance for the date/time we had pre-selected (really hoping not). They were so kind to make sure that the deck was completely clear for us for our 5K. 

The morning of the 5K, I asked everyone to meet at the stage by the pool (there is a pool under that wooden area in front of the stage we are all standing on) for a group photo. Most everyone arrived on time and claimed their medals before hand so I didn't have to worry about what time people finished and this 5K was on the honor system and could be done at any time during our cruise. I was so thankful to my new friend Amy who helped me during the chaos of handing out 135 medals. There were a few people who missed the morning 5K due to the changing of times. We were moving our clocks ahead an hour a couple of nights in a row, so some people were not realizing that their phones were not correct since they did not take them out of the auto mode. We were on 'ship' time, not 'real' time! 

This was the medal that they were awarded for their 5K!

We had young kids with their parents, teens, adults and older adults doing the 5K. We had people who had never done one before, doing their very first 5K, worried that they wouldn't be able to get it done, but they DID! We had people who run so much more doing it. We even had an amazing runner who runs with a running blade due to an awful accident that took her leg several years ago. It was so great to see so many out on a beautiful morning just having fun. 

After breakfast Dale of course made his way to Cabanas for breakfast, that was his morning routine. I was enjoying the lighter fare in the lounge with fresh fruit and tea or a latte in the morning. Being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, we enjoyed time on our verandah, just enjoying the fresh air, beautiful blue water and just relaxing.

We had a Mixology session booked for this afternoon. This was one of only two ‘tastings’ we had booked this trip since we were staying concierge, we felt we didn’t need to spend the additional money on other alcohol things. We have always enjoyed the mixology classes though because they give you good ideas for drinks you can possibly make at home. Or different takes on something you may have tried before. We attended this with one of our new friends Celeste. These classes are always fun and you get three totally different drinks. This time what was so crazy, was the drink I liked the most, was a bourbon drink and I do NOT drink bourbon and the one Dale liked the most was a tequila drink and he doesn’t drink tequila. So this is the fun part of the class.

After a few drinks, thank goodness they were not full size drinks, we had a special character meet and greet in the lounge so we made our way up there. This was another benefit of the concierge lounge, getting to meet a character without any line.

We had dinner this evening in Animators Palate again and it was their traditional dinner. This was one of the meals I was looking forward too. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in my dinner. I will say Disney Cruise Line used to be so amazing with their food, but this trip, it just didn’t live up to what we were used to. I am not one to send my food back. It was edible. And, unfortunately, your servers are always asking if anything is wrong if you don’t finish something. First off, I never finish my meal, but secondly, this time around, things just were not as good and I do not want that reflected on the server. But, Animators is where we do see Sorcerer Mickey, so that was a highlight of our evening as he made his way through the restaurant before we made our way back to our cabin for the evening.