I have always been pretty vehement that we wouldn’t cruise but when the stars align (Disney/Australia/holiday time/price being ok) who can deny the magic?

We have never been on a ship of this magnitude before. the boats from Dublin – Holyhead or Cork – Roscoff or Larne-Cairnryan or Folkestone-Calais or St. Malo – Jersey or Harwich – Esbjerg (route ended in 2014!) or my couple of days on a boat in Halong Bay does not compare.

Our journey to go cruising started the moment we booked the cruise, on browsing Facebook I came across a group for people going on the Disney Wonder (name of our cruise ship), and from there I joined a group for our specific cruise. On joining this group I realised that my love of Disney was superficial. I appreciate Disney, its magic and the feel good factors but it seemed that there was a whole other level to Disney and specifically a Disney Cruise that I wasn’t prepared for.

Fish Extenders, Pixie Dust and Pirate night are just a few terms that got Martin and I turning to Google.

We watched the Facebook group with interest and possibly “oh my goodness… can you believe the questions” but when I did eventually ask my own question – of who was travelling with teens I had a a few people answer and one who even responded that the teens had their own social media place to start the introductions. We knew that on the ship there was a place “Vibe” for 14-17 year olds to hang out and that there was an adult only area. The group was also useful in highlighting that the ship’s plug sockets were American – I guess not really important to us as we had to bring adapters with us anyway but something that others had to consider.

Having googled Fish Extenders, Pixie Dust and door decorations we decided that our luggage was going to be full enough without taking gifts for people but we watched as excel spreadsheets were generated and shared. Now on the cruise – do I wish we had participated? no – but I wish we had decorated our door.

The Facebook group is voluntary and not run by Disney but there is an App for your smartphone and this is where everything is – from what time and where you are dining to booking experiences and finding out where and when the characters are. It is also a messaging app. So you don’t need an internet package to message other guests on the ship. (Martin has been amazingly generous as we have an internet package – hence how I am able to blog at sea)

Embarkation day arrived.

We offloaded our luggage and joined our check in queue. Guests had all been assigned a check in time and ours was 1:15-1:30.

We entered White Bay Cruise Terminal to Check In just before 1:15, queued for immigration (not even 2 minutes), queued for a baggage search of our hand luggage and then we got on board. At Check-In we were told that our room would be ready from 1:30pm. We were announced on board and then we went to find our Statesroom.

Our room is 6642. We are in the aft and thanks to Martin doing a lot of exam marking it has paid for a verandah. Hotel points that Martin has acquired from IHG has meant that for every hotel we have stayed in in Australia it has been on points and we have also been fortunate that Eleanor’s room has also been on points. On the cruise – we do not have that luxury. But we aren’t in the cabin (sorry – Statesroom) for very long each day as a family.

Our luggage arrived shortly after we arrived in the room, and for the first time in a long time we unpacked for a holiday. The room is not big enough for 3 suitcases to be open, but it has storage for all clothes and room under the bed for the suitcases to be stored. The wardrobe has plenty of full length hanging room with plenty of coat hangers and there is a full length mirror in the room.

Once we had unpacked, and put our wine in the fridge (we were allowed to bring 2 bottles of wine per adult on board) we went exploring.

Deck 10 has a basketball court and table tennis tables and areas for sunbathing to Deck 9 which has an adult only pool/bar, family pool overlooked by a funnel with a film screen on it, and children’s pool/slide. Deck 9 is also home to unlimited help yourself soft serve icecream, soft drinks station and hot chocolate and coffee.

Deck 3 is the shopping area and theatre/cinema and Deck 5 has the cinema. There are bars, cafes, family areas and adult only spots around the ship. Deck 9 is also home to the gym and spa for over 18s only. If I so desired I could have my teeth whitened, my hair cut, a massage, facial, acupuncture, ionithermie (to remove cellulite), go to fitness classes and have a personal trainer – all of course for an extra fee. Martin and I entered a raffle on our exploration but neither of us won so I put to bed the idea of a massage on the ship. The cost is extortionate at over $200 (USD).

Deck 4 is home to the running track. I try and walk around it once a day. Martin of course has run it!

Deck 9 is also home to the Vibe club a place where Eleanor goes some of the time.

By the time we had explored we had missed lunch. But dinner was scheduled for 5:45. There are two sittings which are pre-allocated. Originally we were set for 8:30pm one but that was changed which Martin is thankful for given that usually he is tucked up in bed for 9pm most nights!!!!

Our dinners are also rotated so we get to eat in one of the three restaurants twice on the cruise. Our dinner on our first night was also our emergency location. We had our emergency drill at 4pm on the first day which was just like a massive fire drill – except that register is taken by the swiping of your room card and you get to watch a video of what to do when you hear seven short and one long blast of the ship’s horn.

Dinner was at the Animator’s Palate. Unfortunately on deck 4 at the aft it has no windows but we were surrounded by moving cartoons. I say unfortunately because just as dinner was happening for us we sailed through Sydney Harbour and we missed it.

Dinner is a sit down affair, we are being served by Joe and Ricky at Table 75 which is a table for 6. When Martin and I arrived for dinner we found that Eleanor was already sat down and opposite her was a boy. Both Eleanor and this boy were sitting as awkwardly as only two teens can. His parents had also sat down. This family we will now see for every dinner for our cruise which is nice because by the end of the meal our teens had talked to each other and had left the table to go to Vibe together. In fact – I didn’t see Eleanor until 12:50am that night! But the fact that neither Martin nor I had set a curfew meant that when I woke up and Eleanor’s section of the room still had the light on I didn’t panic – it’s a boat and it is a Disney boat at that – there couldn’t be anywhere safer! Which was also the conversation at dinner last night with our table companions when they too realised their son hadn’t arrived back until 1am.

After dinner we went to the Sail Away party and at 8pm thinking that most of the ship would be on deck I made Martin come to the shops with me. Another thing that the Facebook group had mentioned was the shop and how they sold out of things! Talk about creating panic! So at 8pm we queued – turns out a lot of the others on the ship had the same idea as me. Christmas decoration and magnet of the ship secured Martin left me as it was too crowded. I then queued to pay. Martin went to the theatre to watch Wish where I eventually joined him having also bought two Pandora charms available only on the ship. I say “bought” but by handing over my room key everything is charged to the room. I owe Martin a lot!

After Wish, Martin and I headed back to our Statesroom passing by all the Fish Extenders (FE) and door decorations. FEs are hung on the fish decoration by the door. People put gifts (pixie dust) in them. Thankfully our 15 year old doesn’t feel as if she has missed out.