The boarding process was delayed by approximately one hour and the tension in the port was reaching a boiling point. People began to line up for the boarding process long before we were actually given clearance to board. In the meantime, members from various message boards were meeting up (identified by their matching shirts of course!) and the few lucky little sailers found each other to start making friends for the kids clubs.
When we were finally given clearance to board it was reminiscent of the running of the bulls, the only difference being the slight hesitation required to swipe the Key to the World card. The overwhelming majority of passengers are Gold and Platinum Castaway Club members so the line for dining changes was out the set of double doors before you could say “Mickey”. There were no sheepish souls wandering the halls in search of their stateroom and there were quite a few tense moments when passengers decide to flaunt and debate their Disney knowledge. Past passengers on Inaugural Voyages have told me the atmosphere on any ship for the Inaugural Voyage is like that...full of a bunch of know it all’s and die-hard fans. This is my first experience on an Inaugural Voyage so this atmosphere is new to me and I must say...i’m not a fan! This is also the longest cruise i’ve ever been on, with four sea days right upfront. I was unsure how they were going to entertain this intense group of cruisers but there was a navigator in our stateroom when we arrived showing an overview of events for the 15-night cruise.
The overview included the dinning attire, dining menu, event in the Walt Disney Theatre and the day’s event highlights. There is a handy chart i’ve made with this information as well that i’ll be posting on my blog. For those of you taking this cruise in October, or just for general information, here is what the overview navigator had to say:
Sunday-Los Angeles-Embarkation Day
Port Departure 5:00pm
Evening Attire: Cruise Casual
Dinner Menu: Let the Magic Begin
Walt Disney Theater: All Aboard: Let the Magic Begin
Event Highlights: Adventures Away Sail-away Celebration
Monday-Day at Sea
Evening Attire: Formal
Dinner Menu: Taste of California
Walt Disney Theater: Toy Story
Event Highlights: Storytelling with Uncle and Adult Variety: Mike Super
Tuesday-Day at Sea
Evening Attire: Cruise Casual
Dinner Menu:
Animator’s Palate-Show Dinner
Parrot Cay-Island Dinner
Triton’s-French Dinner
Walt Disney Theater: Showtime: The Comedy and Mystery of Guy Bavli
Event Highlights: Ducky Williams Presentation and Match Your Mate Gameshow
Wednesday-Day at Sea
Evening Attire: Cruise Casual
Dinner Menu:
Animator’s Palate: Show Dinner
Parrot Cay: Island Dinner
Triton’s: French Dinner
Walt Disney Theater: Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer
Events Highlights: Aulani/DVC Resort giveaway bingo and Adult variety: Guy Bavli
Thursday-Day at Sea
Evening Attire: Cruise Casual
Dinner Menu:
Animator’s Palate: Show Dinner
Parrot Cay: Island Dinner
Triton’s: French Dinner
Walt Disney Theater: Showtime-the Comedy and Magic of Mike Super
Event Highlights: Shake-a-shak-a pool party and Rock n’ country (18+)
Friday-Hilo Hawaii
Evening Attire: Cruise Casual
Dinner Menu: Welcome E Komo Mai
Walt Disney Theater: Movie Night
Event Highlights:
All Ashore 9:30am
All Aboard 7:30pm
Saturday-Kahului, Maui
Evening Attire: Cruise Casual
Dinner Menu: Celebrate Hoolaule’a
Deck Event: Escape to Paradise
Event Highlights:
All ashore 7:30am
All aboard 11:00pm
Sunday-Honolulu, Oahu
Evening Attire: Cruise Casual
Dinner Menu: Makahiki The Bounty of the Islands
Walt Disney Theater: Keiki Hula Show
Event highlights:
All Ashore 7:30am
All Aboard: 11:00pm
Monday-Nawiliwili, Kauai
Evening Attire: cruise Casual
Dinner Menu: Mai e’ ai-Come and Eat
Walt Disney Theater: Showtime-the Comedy and Ventriloquism of Ronn Lucas
Event Highlights:
All ashore 7:30am
All Aboard: 5:30pm
Tuesday-Day at Sea
Evening Attire: Cruise Casual
Dinner Menu: Aloha Hawaii
Walt Disney Theater: Showtime-The Musical Comedy of John Charles
Event highlights-Ducky Williams Presentation and Disco Legends (18+)
Wednesday-Day at Sea
Evening Attire: Formal
Dinner Menu: Golden Mickey’s
Walt Disney Theatre: Golden Mickeys
Event Highlights: Golden Mickey’s After Party and Adult Variety: Ronn Lucas
Thursday-Day at Sea
Evening Attire: Cruise Casual
Dinner Menu: Master Chef
Walt Disney Theatre: Showtime: an Evening with Lehua Kalima
Event Highlights: Canoe Building Finals and Adult Variety: John Charles
Friday-Day at Sea
Evening Attire: Cruise Casual
Dinner Menu: Pirates
Walt Disney Theater: Disney Wonder Crew Talent Show
Event Highlights: Gameshow-A Pirate’s Life for Me and Pirates in the Caribbean Deck Party
Saturday-Day at Sea
Evening Attire: Semi-Formal
Dinner Menu: Captain’s Gala
Walt Disney Theater: Disney Dreams
Event Highlights: Final Jackpot Bingo and Guest Talent Show
Sunday-Ensenada, Mexico
Evening Attire: Cruise Casual
Dinner Menu: Till we Meet Again
Walt Disney Theater: Remember the Magic
Event Highlights: Gameshow: Who Wants to be a Mouseketeer and Cruise Staff Pub Night
There are a number of events on the Personal Navigator each day including native Hawaiian activities such as crafts like learning to make a lei and ukelele lessons. Uncle Aito hosts a sunset gathering and storytelling session each evening and guest host from Aulani, Marcus hosts stargazing from the upper decks with tales of how the natives use to navigate using only the stars.
Special for this voyage the Tihati performers joined us aboard the Disney Wonder. They flew from Hawaii to Los Angeles and sailed with us until they returned home to Honolulu. The performers include a guitar player and a ukelele player (both who sing beautifully) two women hula dancers and a male dancer who is extremely popular onboard with ladies of all ages...I suspect because of his dimpled smile and muscular chest that hasn’t seen a shirt since he stepped onboard. They are new to the cruise entertainment industry and have made the Disney Wonder feel like home, they have brought an “Aloha” vibe that only a local could and there’s an authentic flair to their song and dance styles. They are friendly and down to earth and look completely at home dancing barefoot in the atrium, the Promenade Lounge or the pool deck.
It’s not all just fun and games, there are also educational lectures about each of the islands that, honestly I haven’t attended. These are also being broadcast on the stateroom televisions for those who were unable to attend the various lectures.
I’ll be scanning and posting the Personal Navigators from my cruise as soon as i’m able because I know all you cruise fans want to see them!
Captain Fabian was in charge of this Inaugural Voyage and at first I thought he must be exacting some sort of revenge on the passengers. The waters the first few nights were FAR more rough than I had anticipated. Compared even to the Mexican Riviera cruise the water was far more choppy and the boat far more effected by it. The Pacific Ocean clearly had not gotten the message that we Disney Cruise Line passengers are partial to calm waters for our lovely ships! The majority of cruisers were repeaters, but even for them the seas felt rough. The rocking wasn’t nearly so bad as the noise in the staterooms. It felt very much like sleeping inside of an accordion, like the room was being stretched and compressed over and over again. The ceiling, door, walls, everything was creaking and eeking and groaning and that’s something i’ve never experienced on any of the ships before.
The time difference from my Eastern Standard Time zone to Pacific Daylight Time was a rough adjustment but the consecutive nights each had at least an hour time change as well.
The weather wasn’t what I had expected either. I had visions of sunning at the adult pool, being served fruity drinks with umbrellas in them and coming back with a tan to rival that or the sun screen models...but alas my pale skin has remained pale as most of our time was spent indoors. There were a few moments of rain during the sea days but it never lasted long. The sun was nearly impossible to find and the skies were grey everyday. For some reason I envisioned a more tropical climate for our sea days but clearly I was mistaken; which is why Captain Fabian is in charge of the ship and not me.
I was a bit disappointed in the Port Adventures staff...it didn’t seem they had a grasp of what was being offered in their department and while I understand this is a new itinerary for Disney Cruise Line but they were provided extensive materials on each of the Port Adventures, I just feel they didn’t care to utilize them. The staff seemed more eager to use their energy to hide in the back office away from the people with questions than to research and get answers to questions. I heard many complaints about the Port Adventures team for this cruise and had a few of my own as well.
There was, of course, special merchandise for the Inaugural Voyage. I think the selection was reasonable and the pricing was standard to other DCL merchandise. The items all had “Hawaii” and “Inaugural Voyage” on them somewhere. There was a bulky charm bracelet in the $50 price range, towels, t-shirts, hoodies, purses and tote bags and a limited edition set of pins. From what I understand the limited edition pin sets have caused a lot of problems in the past for Inaugural Voyages. I think DCL has learned from their mistakes because this time they seemed very prepared. There was a sheet with images and information about the pins in each stateroom when we arrived. It gave you an idea of what they’d look like and what they said and had information about when they’d be available and how to get them. A wristband distribution system was used for the first few days and when those were fulfilled they were open to the “general public” for purchase. The only things that seemed to be sold out were the regular ole suitcases...because I sure could have used an extra when packing up my stateroom on the last night!
The merchandise didn’t change much from port to port, the Hawaiian merchandise at least. There was a representative from Maui Divers Jewelry onboard who had a display of their jewelry, which was beautiful but the DCL towels, bags, etc didn’t change and there wasn’t much “Hawaiian” merchandise that rotated. Package nuts and chocolates were brought in from Aulani after our Honolulu port day and many people were bringing them home for gifts.
There was such an abundance of “aloha” feeling, by the time we arrived at our first port in Hawaii we felt like natives but were treated like beloved guests. There was Hawaiian music playing in all common areas, including the elevator for the first 8 days or so and it was even playing in the port terminal before we able to board. It felt a tad excessive considering many of the Hawaiian songs sound the same to those who don’t know the language and you can only deal with “Hawaiian Roller-coaster Ride” so many times in the course of a day. I’m happy to report it was back to the regularly scheduled Disney tunes by the time we reached Ensenada.
The “Aloha” feeling wasn’t present during the various trivia onboard. “Skipper Dan” was nearly run down when he ran out of DCL water bottles and you certainly got the evil eye when you won a hat. I suppose that’s the difference with the “repeat cruisers”, we’re all Disney nerds who love trivia...but some of the participants forgot how to be polite Mouseketeer's! The “prizes” for winning trivia were better than i’ve seen offered before but I think DCL upped the ante for this cruise knowing how many repeat cruisers they had on board. The Gold and Platinum members celebration was held on deck 9 at the Goofy pool as it was the only venue large enough to hold all the guests and I think every single one came because it was packed. There was a brief moment of panic when the wait staff ran out of Mickey rice krispie treats but thankfully the backup supply was found and distributed.
I think that’s a decent overview of things in general. I’ll do my trip reports for each port separately and feel free to ask any questions on things you want to know about that I may have missed. It was a long time onboard and I did my best to take notes, etc but sometimes there are just better things to do than sit on a laptop and detail my day!
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