Making History! A 2017 Westbound Panama Canal Trip Report **Complete**

[laevson4712]

Love the report! We are really hoping to go on a Panama cruise in the next few years or so. Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[arielmomma]

I enjoyed your 1st trip report also and am enjoying this one also. Not that much longer until the EBPC for me either.

Thank you! You'll have a Wonderful time on your cruise.

I'm in! Excited to read more!!!

Thank you!

Enjoying your report! I'm going next year,so this really gets me excited!

Thank you. Next year you'll get all of this, plus Castaway Cay. It doesn't get better than that!

Enjoying the report so far! Cannot wait to read more!

Thank you!

 

[arielmomma]

From deck 3, we headed up to deck 9 to check out what Cabana's buffet had to offer. We were on vacation. One lunch just wasn't enough!

While I wasn't a fan of the mustard yellow décor on the way into the new Cabana's (formerly Beach Blanket Buffet), I greatly preferred the new set up. It was much easier to move around and make your selections from the buffet. Also, Triton's apparently wasn't the only restaurant to get a new menu. On our five previous DCL cruises, the embarkation buffet menu was always the same, regardless of what ship we were on. This, too, had recently changed. I was a bit sad. Jimmy and I really loved the little chicken salad sandwiches that used to be on the embarkation buffet. Alas, they are no more. **sigh** Oh well! Gaining the entire sit down menu at Triton's was worth the trade off.















Nothing on the buffet screamed, "Eat me!" So, we went to check out the new quick service additions on deck 9. Though it wasn't a new addition, I snagged a turkey and cranberry sandwich with a couple of slices of honey dew melon from Daisies Delights (formerly Goofy's Galley).



James helped himself to his first slices of pizza of the cruise. There would be many, many more to come.



The kids both made Sprite floats.



Yeah, I know. We didn't actually try any of the new offerings. That would come later...

 

[arielmomma]

In case anyone was wondering what flavors of soda were offered on deck... Unfortunately, its missing Cherry Coke.



The new Twist 'n Spout slide replaced the old Mickey slide. Emily enjoyed it. She said it was rather slow compared to most of the water slides she'd been on, but better than the previous slide onboard. James tried it later in the cruise and ended up stopping halfway down the slide. No, it was not on purpose.

No fear. He nudged himself going again. It was just too slow of a ride to handle a big guy like him even though he met the weight/size requirements. It wasn't a big deal but worth sharing for anyone who may have a similar experience.



The Mickey pool



The Aqua Lab





Dory's Reef for the preschoolers



Jimmy was anxious to check out the new Edge, so that's where we headed next. Formerly, it was located on deck 2, midship. Now, it is located on deck 9, midship.





While there, I signed a waiver that would allow Emily to play in the Edge even though she was only 10. She never used it, but at least she had the option. We all loved the submarine theme. The kids played on one of the games for a bit, while James and I chatted with the youth counsellors who remembered us from previous cruises. It turned out that there were about 250 kids infant to age 17 onboard. 15 nursery children (under age 3), 200 lab/club age kids (ages 3-12), 50 Edge kids (ages 11-14 - obviously there was overlap here with lab and Vibe), and I didn't clarify how many Vibe teens there were (ages 14-17), but obviously there weren't that many.

The kids finished their game and we headed back down to deck 3 to finish running our usual day 1 errands. First stop - Guest Services.



Lucky me, there was no line. While there, I checked on our onboard credits and put my Disney Visa Points gift card onto our onboard account. Look who we ran into while leaving Guest Services. Emily was thrilled.



Next, I went to the Port Adventures desk to sign James and I up for Art of the Theme Show Tour and Emily up for the Coast to Coast Campout that would take place in the Oceaneer Club later in the cruise. Errands done, it was time to check out our cabin.

 

[arielmomma]

Love the report! We are really hoping to go on a Panama cruise in the next few years or so. Can't wait to read the rest!

Thank you! I can't recommend a DCL Panama Canal cruise enough. You won't regret it!

 

[xavier2001]

This, too, had recently changed. I was a bit sad. Jimmy and I really loved the little chicken salad sandwiches that used to be on the embarkation buffet. Alas, they are no more. **sigh**

This crushes my soul a little bit, I have DREAMED about those sandwiches! Please tell me that they made an appearance somewhere in the 14 days lol.

 

[pepe3penelope]

Joining in! Have always loved the idea of a PC cruise but our kids' schools would go ballistic! We will take them out for a week in October for a Halloween Wonder cruise!

 

[condorthb]

following

 

[TLovesDisney]

Following!!! So excited to read all about your adventures. My sister and I are thinking about taking the Eastern Panama Canal Cruise Oct 2018.

 

[adSimba]

I read your other Panama report, It's funny I recognized your family right away from the photos (and I'm really bad at that kind of thing)

Thank you for making another awesome report!

 

[arielmomma]

This crushes my soul a little bit, I have DREAMED about those sandwiches! Please tell me that they made an appearance somewhere in the 14 days lol.

They didn't make another appearance as far as I know. Those things were addictive!

Joining in! Have always loved the idea of a PC cruise but our kids' schools would go ballistic! We will take them out for a week in October for a Halloween Wonder cruise!

Thanks for joining in! The Halloween on the High Seas cruises are tons of fun too!

following

Thanks for joining in the fun.

Following!!! So excited to read all about your adventures. My sister and I are thinking about taking the Eastern Panama Canal Cruise Oct 2018.

Glad to have you join in. You'd love a Panama Canal Cruise. The two we've been on have been our favorite vacations overall.

I read your other Panama report, It's funny I recognized your family right away from the photos (and I'm really bad at that kind of thing)

Thank you for making another awesome report!

Your welcome. Its funny that you say you recognized us. On the first day of this cruise, there was a couple on the ship that called to James and I by name because they recognized us from my previous trip report. It was bizarre. It was like we were famous! (For 5 minutes in our little DCL universe anyway )

 

[nycdisneygal]

Very cool that you have done both ways!! Unfortunately we are currently tied to school vacations otherwise would love to do that! Looking forward to reading the rest. And thanks for the nice pic of the starboard side of the Wonder. Was able to nicely see where our cabin and our parents will be next month!
Oh love the Princess Leia hair!

 

[arielmomma]

Very cool that you have done both ways!! Unfortunately we are currently tied to school vacations otherwise would love to do that! Looking forward to reading the rest. And thanks for the nice pic of the starboard side of the Wonder. Was able to nicely see where our cabin and our parents will be next month!
Oh love the Princess Leia hair!

Thank you and your welcome! I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of myself with the Leia buns. Oh darn! I guess I'll just have to go again someday and take pictures then.

 

[arielmomma]

We were in cabin 5005, category 11B, one of the sideways inside cabins at the front of the ship. Originally, when I booked, we could only get a standard inside room on deck 6. However, a few months before our cruise, this lovely sideways cabin opened up and I snatched it! We love the sideways cabins. Yes, the inside cabins are small, but as you'll note from this report, we only utilize our cabin to sleep. The sideways cabins feel larger because of the layout. I like that they allow us a place to put the table so that it is out of our way. I also like the fact that the inside rooms get totally dark at night allowing us to sleep in as long as we like without that rude, ole sun attempting to wake us.

All four pieces of our checked luggage were already waiting outside our cabin door. Excellent! We could get unpacking out of the way. Waiting for us inside the cabin was our Castaway Club gift - a very nice back pack and two luggage tags.



A couple photos of our cabin







I had just enough time to unpack before the Muster Drill. We were to meet at muster station H, which was located outside on deck 4. It was rather hot outside, so standing tightly packed together was less than ideal, but we passed the time by chatting with a few of our neighbors. One couple happened to be part of our social media cruise group. Seeing the lovely lime-green Mickey head tags on their lanyards made me realize that I had completely forgotten about our group Meet-n-Greet that had taken place at 2:30p in Crown & Fin (where the tags, generously made by one of the members, had been distributed). Apparently, it had been extremely crowded. I wasn't surprised. We had an amazing social media group for this sailing.

Following the muster drill, we headed to the Oceaneer Club and Lab. Overall, we loved the refurbishments (though, I did miss the pirate ship). Jimmy was sad that he would no longer be able to play in the lab as he had aged out. While he'd spent the vast majority of his time in the Edge on our last cruise, he liked having the option of going to the lab when he didn't like the activities in the Edge. I assured him that he could still visit the Lab/Club during the open houses if he was feeling nostalgic.







From the kids clubs, we went to check out the D Lounge (formerly Studio Sea). While I liked the theming of Studio Sea better, the D Lounge was more comfortable and utilized the space better.

 

[aan1701]

Hi. I was on this cruise as well. It was fantastic. I just wanted to share something about twist and spout. I too went very slow and almost stoped my first three times down the slide. I finally asked the lifeguard if there was a secret to picking up speed. He said not to wear my rash guard. Boy was he right. I am a little self conscious about my body being 285 and a little more body hair t would like, but man did I fly without the rash guard on. I don't know if a rash gauged was worn for you party. Just wanted to share.

 

[arielmomma]

By the time we left the D Lounge, we had about twenty minutes left before dinner. The kids skittered off to their clubs, while James and I went up to deck 9 to soak up what little sun we could though the clouds.

At 5:45, the kids met us outside of tonight's dinner venue.



Our dining rotation was Tiana's Place - Triton's - Animator's Palate. We were super excited to try Tiana's Place. The décor was lovely. We were led to Table 50 where our tablemates were already seated. As usual, DCL matched us with incredible tablemates who were fellow homeschoolers to boot!





First off, don't you love these plates? I want a set of them for myself. Anyway, back to the meal. The kids both ordered the calamari. They LOVE calamari. Jimmy ordered a second one for his main course.



I had the bruschetta. It was not the best I've had onboard, but it was good.



Rather than a single helping, our server, Levi, brought Jimmy two calamari's for his main course.



The kids and I had the mango soup. This was delicious as always.



James had the clam chowder. He also asked for a small bowl of 8 year old balsalmic vinegar to dip his bread in. Yum!



Look, a hidden Mickey!



For my main course, I had the mango chicken salad. It was very nice.

 

[arielmomma]

Hi. I was on this cruise as well. It was fantastic. I just wanted to share something about twist and spout. I too went very slow and almost stoped my first three times down the slide. I finally asked the lifeguard if there was a secret to picking up speed. He said not to wear my rash guard. Boy was he right. I am a little self conscious about my body being 285 and a little more body hair t would like, but man did I fly without the rash guard on. I don't know if a rash gauged was worn for you party. Just wanted to share.

That is good to know. Yes, both my husband and daughter were wearing rash guards. That must have been the problem. They'll have to try it without them next time. Thanks for the info!

 

[aan1701]

That is good to know. Yes, both my husband and daughter were wearing rash guards. That must have been the problem. They'll have to try it without them next time. Thanks for the info!

Yes try without. Boy was I making some splash downs when I stoped wearing mine. I once got the ceiling and the lifeguard on the same ride. Lol. It was so much fun when going faster. I can't wait till year when I get to go on it.

 

[arielmomma]

For her main course, Emily had the penne pasta with shrimp.



James had the steak and potatoes. Not being a fan of vegetables, he gave the asparagus to Emily.



Emily loved it so much, she asked for a plate of asparagus for herself.



Dessert time!



Emily had a Mickey bar.



I had the warm fig and pecan pudding. It was a tad overcooked, but down right yummy!



Jimmy had the sundae. James had a bowl of ice cream, but I forgot to take a picture of it.



Emily adored the little chocolates that came on the desserts.



After a delicious dinner, we stopped by our cabin and found this letter on the bed. Yay, an invitation to our first Gold and Platinum Castaway Reception!



As usual, we opted to skip the Be Our Guest Variety Show in the Walt Disney Theater. Instead, we went to see Pete's Dragon in the Buena Vista Theater. After the movie, the kids ran off to their clubs, while James and I went to Azure to play adult Wonderquest. We had a great time!

After the game, we decided to call it a night.



What a great first day! And to think, there were so many more adventures to come...

Up Next - Formal night and the best dessert of the cruise!

 

[kaicruiser]

I saw this picture and thought, "She looks familiar." A second later it hit me.