Disney Wonder Cruise {Part V.}

Ahhh, my final post on our Disney Wonder Cruise! Part of what I love about writing these blog posts is the opportunity that it gives me to go through all the photos. With the cruise 2 months behind us now, there were parts of it that I had forgotten already, but writing these blog posts have brought them all back for me! 🙂

Cabo San Lucas was a 2-day port, with the second day being only half a day long. We woke up bright and early to tender onto shore once again, only this time, we separated into two different groups. The two moms, my sister, Brianne, Bridgette, and myself signed up for the Salsa and Salsa activity, where we were taken to a local resort for a class on salsa making and salsa dancing. The 3 dads hopped onto a bus for a local tour around town (a little less exciting).

The Salsa and Salsa class turned out to be bundles of fun. We had our own table with our own chefs’ hats and aprons, with most of the necessary ingredients prepared for us to minimize the chopping that we had to do. The instructors made it very entertaining and interactive, and offered limitless margarita and juice throughout the class.

We made several different kinds of salsa, and ended our session with a big bowl of guacamole which we devoured in minutes. They also served us quesadilla to go with the salsa, and bottomless baskets of tortilla chips. After all that food, the tables were pushed aside and we began the second part of our activity–the salsa dancing lessons!

Brianne and Bridgette had a hard time following the moves, and gave up rather quickly to explore other things. My mom and my mother in law, on the other hand, had a blast learning to salsa and were even awarded the title of Most Tenacious for their efforts!

We boarded the Disney Cruise again in the early afternoon, and the ship began its journey back to Los Angeles. We spent our final day and a half at sea on a variety of activities–family game shows, disco night for the kids, card making classes, swimming, more awesome shows….and the list goes on. As you can see, we could have stayed at sea for another week and not run out of things to do. 🙂

I had read about the mysterious Princess Tea Party on the cruise ship forums, so I was well aware that it was an unadvertised activity on the Disney Wonder that allowed only those “in the know” to participate. They have very limited seatings, so if you do not plan  ahead of time, the chances of getting tickets to the tea would be very limited. We had signed up for one of the first boarding times at embarkation, and the minute we got on the ship, I made a mad dash to Guest Services to obtain tickets to the Princess Tea Party. It’s complimentary, and they serve apple juice and chocolate chip cookies to the children while they await for the Princesses to circulate the room. We had Tiana and Ariel at our seating, and they did spend quite a bit of time chatting with the children at each table. The girls’ favorite part was getting on the dance floor after the tea to learn ballroom dancing from Tiana!

For our last day at sea, I had made brunch reservations at Palo, the more upscale adults-only restaurant on the Disney Wonder. To dine there, you had to pay a surcharge of $20 per person, which was very reasonable considering the fact that we feasted on caviar and champagne. Reservations should be made online months in advance, as it is nearly impossible to do it once you are on board.

The Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab arranged a special performance with the children, themed “Friendship Rock”. They played a slideshow that included photos of the children’s week on board the Disney Wonder, ending with a singing and dancing performance with Mickey and Minnie on stage!

And that concludes our fantastic journey upon the Disney Wonder’s 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise! The disembarkation process was just as hassle free as the embarkation. Luggages were picked up the night prior, and each stateroom was assigned a Disney character that would later identify your disembarkation order. The whole process would have taken about 30 minutes if it wasn’t for Bridgette’s need to go to the restroom while we were in line to go through customs, and we had to take her back to the ship.

Until next time….