Puerto Rico Cruisin' (2019) - Day Five

Good morning everyone, it's going to be a magical day!  Oh, I'm sorry, I should have taken my shirt off first.  Hold on a second.

Okay, let's try this again!  Good morning everyone, it's going to be a magical day!  Yes, that's better.  But, in truth, the day was certainly going to be more magical than the others before it.  Because after 4 days in Puerto Rico, we were scheduled to transition from Part 1 of our cruise to Part 2.  The boys were so excited.  I mean, I have properly raised a bunch of Disney freaks.  And they were finally waking up on the day of their first Disney Cruise.  But it wasn't all happiness around the hotel room.  One person in particular was quite sad.

Elisa had truly fallen in love with Puerto Rico and did not want to say goodbye.  I think she had found a part of herself, whether it be in a little cafe in Old San Juan, snorkeling in the waves of Culebra, or discovering farms owned by people with the last name of her grandparents.  Elisa had found a second home.  And while I was excited about the cruise, I must admit that Puerto Rico had definitely captured a portion of my own heart.

In my life, I really have two major (worthwhile) experiences in beach type locations - Hawaii and the Puerto Rico.  And I can best describe Puerto Rico by comparing it to Hawaii.  You see, I view Hawaii and Puerto Rico as sugar, but not the same kind.  Yes, they're both highly addicting and tremendously sweet, but they're very different.  For me, Hawaii is refined sugar.  There's an air of it being a bit processed, perfected, and "clean".  That's not a complaint.  You go to Hawaii for the manicured type of beach getaway, and you love the islands for it.  I especially love Maui, a perfect mix of the refined aspect minus the crowds of Oahu.

Puerto Rico, while still sugar, is raw.  There's something incredible natural about this island.  It's real, unprocessed, unfiltered.  Sure, you see more of the realities of this island (both being a territory and the damage from being in the path of major hurricanes), but there's also something incredibly pure about it.  I can already tell you that Elisa prefers the raw version.  I seem to fall in the middle.  I can appreciate and love both, though something like the previous day's cave tubing certainly adds to my love of the "raw" nature of Puerto Rico.

So while we packed our bags that morning, Elisa did so with a heavy heart.  However, we weren't leaving the hotel first thing.  We weren't even scheduled to get on the cruise ship until 1:00pm, so we definitely had some time to kill. As a final treat, we headed back to the buffet for another great meal of various breakfast foods and all of the danishes and breads and sweets you could hope for.  Sam, unsurprisingly, opted for the usual of Fruit Loops, a banana, and a ham and cheese omelette.  Hey, whatever works, right?

The rest of the family enjoyed the usual faire as we began to say goodbye to the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar.  On a separate note, if you're ever going to Puerto Rico, I highly recommend this hotel.  Not only is it set apart from the hustle and bustle of San Juan, but it is very close to El Yunque, and San Juan is only about 25 minutes away.  You're also right on the beach and the hotel has 5-6 great places to eat.  We didn't head down there, but they also have a casino for those interested.  It truly was an experience.

After eating breakfast, though, we needed to check on some souvenirs from this portion of our trip.  We all headed into the gift shop and looked around.  Lukas found a great shirt that featured the Avengers as sea creatures.  Miles opted for a Puerto Rico shirt with frog in a violent shade of neon green.  And Sam? Well, you know Sam.  He's...unconventional.  Sam discovered a small ukulele that said Puerto Rico, had the Puerto Rican flag, and even had two birds...that resembled the birds outside the hotel (remember Bob and Geoff?  Hi Bob!).  He had to have it.  So the boys got shirts and Sam had his ukulele.  And let me tell you, while the boys definitely love their shirts, Sam got his money's worth on this little musical instrument.  But more on that later.

It was time to finish our last packing and then Lukas and Miles had begged my Dad and I to go outside and play a game of football.  I think Lukas was hoping to imagine himself replaying the Saints/Eagles game from the night before.  But packing was first.  We headed up and somehow got all of our clothes and new souvenirs back into our 42 suitcases and I was immediately filled with dread.  The suitcases.  The rental car.  We would have to pile back in with every spare crevice filled up.  Oh joy.

After packing was complete, we headed back outside.  Elisa took my camera and would spend the time getting amazing shots of Sam (with instrument), us playing football, and her last images of the beach at the hotel.  Did I mention she didn't want to leave Puerto Rico?

Lukas, Miles, my Dad, and I ended up playing a fantastic game of football.  It was Miles and me vs. Lukas and my Dad.  Miles and I kicked butt.  We won along the lines of 35-20 and I was the proud recipient of two pick sixes.  Hey, that's how you learn, Lukas!  It was a really fun time, though.  Here we were, on a patch of grass at a hotel in Puerto Rico, and I was playing football with my boys while Sam serenaded us with songs with us ukulele.  Now that's what you call a vacation.

But before long, it was indeed time to start our way to Phase 2.  As we would be getting on a cruise ship, and though I was dreading the ride in the rental car, at least we would be getting rid of the thing.  The plan was to head back to the airport, drop the rental car, and then get a taxi to the Pier.  We loaded all of our suitcases and headed to the rental car.  The same conundrum existed as before (where to put it all?), but at least this time, we were prepared.  We even did a better job of organizing everything, said one final goodbye to Geoff and Bob (Hi Bob!  Bye Bob!) and we were off.  It was only about a 20 minute drive back to the airport and we pulled in and finally got rid of the way too small rental car (okay, fine, the room was good.  It was the luggage space!  But I digress.).  We headed back across the street and went straight for a line for taxis.  I had noticed this when we first got to Puerto Rico, and I was happy to see that there was no one in line.  The plan had been to get two taxis, but when I told the woman at the desk that we had 8 people and 432 suitcases, she said it wouldn't be a problem.  Sure enough, a van that was actually large enough pulled up and loaded all of our suitcases.  We left the airport and were headed to the pier!

And unlike yesterday, where Sam wanted to devote all of his time to finding hurricane damage, this time we were all on the hunt for the Disney Wonder!  The Wonder is one of Disney's 4 cruise ships.  The Magic and Wonder were the first and are smaller than their newer counterparts (the Dream and the Fantasy).  I was curious to see if I would be sad that we were on the smaller boat, but I'll skip ahead here.  We weren't sad at all.  2,500 people on a ship as opposed to 4,000 made a difference, in my opinion.

So here we were, driving in a taxi, looking for water and then the cruise ship.  I think Sam or Miles saw the cruise ship first.  And then everyone started getting excited.  This would be our lovely home for the next 6 nights and everyone was thrilled.  We finally made our way over to the pier (only about a 12 minute drive from the airport) and pulled up to unload.  And in a very Disney way, we found that our first step would be a line!  Yay, Disney.  Whether it be on a cruise ship or at a theme park, you're always guaranteed lines!

All kidding aside, we wheeled all of our luggage through the line, but it wasn't that long and the line moved briskly.  Prior to leaving the Wyndham, we had put our special cruise tags on our luggage (it would be delivered to our rooms), so we offloaded all the suitcases (and booster seats) and headed into the terminal much lighter than when we had arrived.

After a quick jaunt through Security, we were greeted with...another line!  And then I got a bit nervous.  I had checked us in online and we were assigned a time of 1:00pm.  In my research, I had found that Disney was quite stringent about these check-in times, but right before we were assigned a desk agent, I glanced at my watch and saw it was only 12:35.  I had fears that Disney would kick us back out of the line, but come on now, this is Disney.  In the end, the check in time meant nothing.  We would be on the ship before 1:00pm even came around.

So we split our groups and went through the check-in process.  The woman that helped us was delightful, but clearly told me at the beginning that her English wasn't perfect.  So I thought that this would be the right time to tell her that Lukas was learning Spanish and could help.  Talk about a deer in headlights.  The minute she started talking in rapid Spanish, Lukas just looked back and forth between me and her.  We gave that up pretty quick, but I do love the kid for trying.

In the end, her English was perfectly fine.  We got the boys their bands for Oceaneer Lab (the kids area on the ship), got our Keys to the World, and were instructed to head through the doors to the right.  Here we go!

We went around a couple corners and were greeted with...a line!  This one was for pictures in front of the backdrop of a cruise ship.  I knew this part of Disney magic was finally underway when we all did the thumbs up pose and were told to head up the escalators and get on the ship.  Up we went two escalators, and then we were walking parallel with the ship.  From the looks of it, we would be entering the ship on the 4th floor.  We crossed a bridge and then I set foot on our very first Disney cruise ship!  I was full of...wait for it...Wonder!  Okay, I'll stop.

Once we were on the ship, we were rewarded with...a line!  Yay!  But a more pressing matter took over.  We got to the place where you need to scan your new Keys to the World and...my Mom had lost hers.  No offense, Mom, but how do you lose a Key to the World in less than 5 minutes!?  Unfortunately, by the time we noticed this, we were already checked into the ship.  We pulled to the side and I looked over everyone's heads (it pays to be tall sometimes) and saw her frantically searching her purse.  Finally, after about 45 minutes (okay, maybe 45 seconds), she came across her Key to the World!  We were back in business!  They caught up to us and I made a joke about this being like the time where we were going to Disney World and after all my planning, I arrived at the airport only to realize that my Driver's License had expired.  Whoops!  Talk about speeding back to the house to get a birth certificate!  I'll never forget that the attendant told us we had to be back 30 minutes before the flight or we wouldn't make it.  We arrived back with my birth certificate 31 minutes before our flight.  Yowza.

We rejoined the line and I promptly got the boys excited by telling them that they were actually on the cruise ship.  When we finally reached the door, a nice gentleman asked "What's y'alls last name?" I was half temped to say "Our y'alls last name be Pierce", but I resisted.  After telling them Pierce, though, we stepped over the threshold and were officially announced over microphone.  "Please welcome the Pierce family!"  Well wasn't that a nice touch.  Other cast members welcomed us aboard and we got our first view of the atrium.  The ship looked exquisite.  After rounding a couple corners, they asked if we were looking for lunch (oh we were...starving) and they told us to head up to Level 9 and to the back of the ship where we would find the buffet of Cabanas.

So off we went.  At check-in, we were told our rooms wouldn't be ready until 1:30, so we thought eating was a good first step.  The problem was that EVERYONE was wanting to go to Cabanas.  Ironically, the only time on the entire cruise that crowds caused a problem was at lunch.  Cabanas was full.  Thankfully, my "magical" research had taught me that there were a lot of quick service shops all around Deck 9.  Some of the crew headed to Daisy's De-Lites, for, well, lighter faire like salads and sandwiches.  I took Sam and Miles to Pete's Boiler Bites for a hot dogs and chicken tenders, and then we found some tables and settled in.  As the rest of the family was still not quite up to speed on the ship, I went over and loaded up drinks.  I brought them in two shifts (4 drinks each shift) and then finally sat down to lunch.  The food was pretty good.

But something even better happened while we were up on deck.  Remember the ukulele? Well, Sam hadn't let go of it since we bought it.  So here he was, on Deck 9, playing away.  Steve, one of the cast members quickly noticed.  He asked Sam to play him a song and Sam complied, including a little singing as we went along.  Steve was in a Captain's outfit, which told you he had to be one of the managers on board. He thanked Sam for the song and typed something into his iPad.  Don't worry - this will come back later in the story.

After eating, we decided to go check out our rooms and then explore the ship.  While it was 1:30, the ship itself wouldn't be leaving dock until around 5:30 or so.  We headed down one level and all the way to the front of the ship.  We were in cabins 8500 and 8506.  The plan was for Elisa and me to be in 8500 while my parents and Connie were in 8506. The boys would rotate.  However, when we arrived (and I loved our room placement by the way - farthest cabin forward), we found that in addition to our bed, you could pull down not 1, not 2, but 3 beds from the walls.  Very quickly, we settled into the idea that all three boys could stay with us for the cruise and we were really excited.  I mean, usually when we travel, one of the kids is inevitably with Grandma and Grandpa.  It was kind of special to have all the boys with us for our first Disney Cruise.

Soon enough, though, after falling in love with our veranda (this would be AWESOME on the cruise), we headed out to explore the cruise ship.  First, we headed over to Oceaneer Club.  This is designed for kids Age 3-12.  It's really cool and really secure.  You head in and we had pre-registered, so the only thing we needed to do was get their bands secured on their arms with a little additional gray circle.  We also set it up that Lukas and Miles could check themselves in and out but Sam needed an adult.  And if anyone was checking someone out, they needed our family password...duh, it was "Utes".

As the cruise hadn't departed, this was considered an open house, so the whole crew got to go in and watch the boys.  They started in Andy's room, which was a great recreation of a bedroom.  You headed upstairs, could "bounce" on Andy's bed, and then could ride a Slinky Dog slide back to the ground floor.  All boys went up.  Sam came down first, thrilled.  Miles came next, a bit slower than Sam (those longer legs!).  Lukas basically had to crawl out of the slide.  Yep, he was officially too big for this.

We explored other parts of the Lab.  There was a Marvel section and a crafts section.  Then you headed down a long hall and entered the other part of the Club.  Here, Miles went crazy.  He is an artist through and through, and there was so many art activities awaiting him.  You could trace Disney characters, learn how to draw Disney characters, or even do more crafts, painting, etc.  He was in heaven and immediately started tracing some of his favorite Disney characters.  Lukas did some too, but Sam already wanted to head back to Andy's room.  He and I went back and Sam rode the slide about 49 times.  Man, that was fun watching that happen over and over again!  Before too long, we did head back and discovered a bunch of dodge balls.  So now, in the middle of the Lab, Lukas, Sam, Miles, and I were throwing balls back and forth at each other and having a great time.

It was then time to go explore other parts of the ship.  First, we headed to Edge, which was a preteen hangout zone.  Lukas seemed pretty interested in returning later on in the cruise.  Up on Deck 9, we also discovered the adult only section of the ship - more on that in future blogs because I truly believe you could do a Disney Cruise as a couple adults and have a wonderful time - and we found ourselves at Cove Cafe.  I had learned about this in my planning and knew it would be a hit with Elisa.  We headed in as the boys found some deck chairs to wait in and Elisa saw a whole coffee bar in front of her.  Yes, theses were extra charges, but how could you resist a coconut chocolate mocha concoction?  I pushed Elisa into getting one and she was very glad she did.  I was too - it was delicious.

From there, with iced coffee in hand, we went up to Deck 10 and to the front of the ship.  Here was the Wide World of Sports deck.  They have a netted in area for basketball and other activities.  Lukas and I went in and played some basketball while Sam obsessed over the foosball tables. '

And do you know why Sam obsessed over the foosball tables?  Because of that damn Michael Kay!  So many magical experiences losing at foosball to his brother!

Anyway...

After a bit of basketball and a rousing game of foosball that had to end in a tie so no one was upset (ah, boys), we decided to head back to our rooms to see if our luggage had arrived.  On the way down, we let the boys get some free ice cream and then got back to our cabins.  Sure enough, our luggage was waiting for us.  While we unpacked, Sam headed into my parent's room.  Before long, Lukas, who had traveled over as well, came to tell us to come see what was delivered.

Remember Steve?  And the ukulele presentation?  Sam (who was registered in my parent's room) had received a special card and a plate of chocolate chip cookies.  The card read "Thanks for the song.  Please enjoy these cookies.  Your friend, Steve".  Sam was overjoyed.  Sure, the cookies were great, but I think we was more excited that he had a friend named Steve.

We settled into the room and had some time before the muster drill, and that's when we discovered a very understated and cool part of a Disney Cruise.  Where other ships just sound a bland horn, the Disney Cruise horn is...well, Disney.  It plays the tones of "When You Wish Upon A Star" each time. Maybe it's just me, but it was a nice little touch.  After eating some of the cookies from Sam's "friend", it was time to actually do the muster drill.  The first part was just trying on the life jackets in our room, which turned into the boys making crazy, silly faces while putting on the life jackets.  Then, we finally got word to head to Group C, which was just down a few floors from where our room was.

We headed onto the deck and I was sad to see that we were on the side of the ship that was in the full blast of the sun.  I jealously imagined the people on the other side of the ship, calmly waiting.  We, on the other hand, were collectively counting the minutes until the muster drill was over.  It was so warm that the boys started hiding in our shadows.  But soon enough, after seeing life jacket demonstrations and hearing what we would do in an emergency, we were finally released and it was time to head up to Deck 9.

Disney was having a Sail Away Celebration, which would effectively kick off the trip and invite the Disney characters out and about.  We went up immediately and Lukas, Miles, Sam, and I got a front row seat.  I looked around to see where everyone else was, but they had smartly found chairs that overlooked the stage and my Dad was already busy getting us our first official cruise drinks.  Sure enough, over came a Pina Colava (thank you very much!).

Before long, the deck had filled and the Sail Away Celebration kicked off.  First came the cast members, doing a variety of small skits and even more dances.  Then came the cruise director, who had entirely too much energy.  Finally, I looked to the right and the Disney characters were lined up to come on stage.  We were greeted to Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto, Chip, and Dale, and they had their own dance routines to get through.  Finally, we all started a countdown from 10, streamers exploded, the cruise horn sounds (When You Wish Upon A Star!), and we were "officially on vacation."  Okay, sure, the ship wasn't moving yet, but Disney said we were on vacation, so we're on vacation now, damn it!

We headed back to the rest of the crew and Miles and Lukas told everyone else about all of the dancing they had done.  It was a fun send off.  And then immediately, Miles wanted to see Disney characters.  So we headed down to Deck 4 where Mickey Mouse would soon arrive.  After a short wait, Mickey did indeed come barreling down the hall.  We weren't that far back in line, and it was fun to see the excitement from the boys.  However, I have to give it to other parents (or maybe tease them a little).  The strides people go to for Disney autographs.  Just in front of us, some families brought large canvases for signatures.  Others had made wooden anchors for the characters to sign.  I mean, come on.  Aren't the pictures more memorable?

Anyway, it was finally our turn and there were big hugs all around for Mickey.  We got some great shots (maybe some of the best ones of the crew for the whole trip) and we were truly feeling the magic.  Are you happy now, Mr. Kay?  Just as we were leaving Mickey, I glanced out the window and saw that we were indeed finally moving.  We immediately headed outside to get our last glances at Puerto Rico (yes, Elisa still didn't want to leave).  And then I realized that it was time for our first dinner.

Now, I'm not sure how other cruise ships do dinners (it was a decade since my last one), but I'm a big fan of how Disney does it.  There are three separate restaurants on the Wonder: Triton's, Animator's Palate, and Tiana's Place.  You rotate through them, but your server comes with you.  That really opens up the cuisine changes and keeps things fresh.  Our first night's dinner would be at Tiana's Place, yes themed after Princess and the Frog.  As we walked into the restaurant, we were greeted by a jazz band already playing.  We were assigned to Table 21, which meant, as a group of 8, that we had a table to ourselves.  We all got settled in and waited to meet our server.

It was a little while before we met her - she was busy with another table right next to us...same party size, it seemed, and even from afar, you could tell that one of the cruisers was "special".  Oh, yes.  She would be special through the cruise, I was sure (and I wasn't wrong).  But then we did meet our server and assistant server.  And my, they were amazing.  Our head server was Judy, who was from Barbados.  Our Assistant Server was Genevieve, who was from South Africa.  They were both lovely, and we all liked them immediately - especially Judy, who right away seemed to make a connection with Elisa.  They would later bond over their distaste from special girl at the other table.

We glanced over the menu and I already knew that I would need bigger pants.   On cruises, you can order anything and as much as you like off the menu.  The problem is, they have appetizers, soups/salads, and entrees (and that's not including the full dessert menu).  Too much looked good, but as I was on a cruise where the food was included, I wasn't going to skimp now was I?

I started with the Louisiana Hot Crab Dip, got the Cream of Mushroom Soup, and also ordered a Caesar salad.  I know, I know.  Elisa gave me grief thoughout the trip as well.  Oh well.  This was part of making my cruise magical.  When it came to entrees, though, I only got one - the sirloin steak.

And the verdict?  Holy hell, everything was amazing.  I cleared literally every plate put in front of me, and wasn't sure I could squeeze in any dessert.  While most of the adults were wrapping up their entrees, though, Sam and Miles had gotten bored after eating Mickey ice cream bars.  They asked to go to Oceaneer Club.  Lukas seemed brave enough to head to Vibe.  So Lukas went off and I took Miles and Sam to the Club.  I loved this set up.  I could check them in and then head back to the dining room, knowing they were safe and secure.  In a cool bit of tech, even when we went to pick them up, they knew precisely the room they were playing in.

So I did head back to Tiana's Place and discovered that Elisa had ordered me some chocolate cake.  Somehow, I made the ultimate sacrifice and found room for it.  Elisa was pretty much done for the night (this would be a theme, but it's her vacation too...if she wants to relax in the room each night, she absolutely should).  But the rest of the group had wanted to go to the big theatre to see the first of many productions.  Tonight would be a ventriloquist that, according to Judy, was supposed to be very good.  So we met up with Lukas, and I checked Sam and Miles out of Oceaneer Club, and we browsed the new open duty free shops.  The boys were already making plans for souvenirs.

We headed into the show and got seats.  And the ventriloquist?  Hilarious.  He used a variety of them, and each routine seemed to get even better.  However, about halfway through, Sam said he was tired, so as Daddy, I had to leave the show and get him back to the room.  Once he was back, I headed to the theatre once again to see the best part of the show.  The guy had called up various adults and kids from the audience and were letting them use his puppets while he made them talk.  One little girl was an angel with the puppet.  Very kind, very careful.  The boy, however, was a nightmare.  Like so bad I would have personally been embarrassed as the parent.  He was so rough with the puppet that one of it's legs fell off.  Yes, literally.

You could tell that the ventriloquist was not a happy camper.  But he handled it like a pro.  He thanked the boy and had him leave the stage, and then went to the girl and told her she got to keep the puppet she was so careful with.  That's a pro move right there.  Well done.  And even amidst the chaos, the ventriloquist was still hilarious - like tears running down my face hilarious.  When that little boy was being incredibly rough with the puppet, he had the puppet saying the craziest things.  We all enjoyed it and it would remain one of our favorite shows of the cruise.

And then we were all exhausted.  Whew.  What a day.  What a blog!  Kudos for those than hung with me in this never ending account!

Next time, we hit our first port of call, build castles, get the jewelry "offer" of the century, and head for the red carpet.