Babymoon Aboard the Disney Wonder: Day 3, Cozumel

 Hey there princess!

On this third day of our cruise, we docked in Cozumel, Mexico to beautiful weather in the mid-70's with an incredible breeze coming off of the water. 

After a quick breakfast, we met the rest of our excursion group so that we could depart the ship together to go on our tour of the Mayan ruins and a chocolate factory. There weren't too many people in our group, and we were all able to fit into two air-conditioned passenger vans together. I think it is worth noting that our tour lasted from about 10am to 2:30pm, and we were provided with bottled water by our tour guides and a tortilla with mole on it at around 1:00 at the chocolate factory. There was not stopping for lunch along the way, and by the time we were back on the boat, Niles and I were both super hungry. If you're going on a tour like this, I would pack a snack to eat on the bus. 

The first stop on our trip was the Mayan Bee Sanctuary. We didn't actually tour this location, but we could purchase honey if we wanted to, and it was the largest available public restroom that we could use, so everyone got in line! The weather was gorgeous, and I loved getting to see the beautiful tropical plants all around us. 

The first tour spot on our journey was the Mayan ruins. Now, this isn't exactly the type of ruins that you might imagine, with huge pyramids. Instead the site they took us to is one that was covered by the jungle for thousands of years, until locals re-discovered it and a large-scale preservation effort began in the 1970's. The name of the location is San Gervasio, and our guide told us that it is thought that the purpose of this particular area was for women seeking pregnancy, or women who were pregnant to come and pay homage to the goddess Ix Chel who would bless both childbirth and fertility. I thought this was very fitting, since I was 6 months pregnant during this visit!

What a beautiful area! Our guide said that the roads were paved with limestone so that they would glow at night so that people could see where they were traveling. I am so thankful that we got to see this beautiful place. It made me want to visit more of the world!

Next, we visited the Mayan Cacao Company, where we were able to see how a modern-day chocolate factory works. This area was also incredibly beautiful, and was located at a cacao farm where all of the beans for the chocolate we ate that day were grown. We were able to take a tour of the area, and our guide even gave us handmade corn tortillas with mole (a chocolate sauce) inside. It was piping hot and so delicious... I could've eaten like 10 of them! 

The owner of the factory gave us a history lesson on Mayan chocolate production over the years, and then let us sample chocolate using original production methods. Everything was delicious! I loved that I got to learn something, and eat - two of my most favorite things!

I am so grateful that we chose to go on this tour! Our guides were kind, thoughtful, and made sure that all of our questions were answered and needs were met. We had an absolute blast, and I know that I made memories I will treasure forever. If you're thinking of going on a tour like this as opposed to something like... swimming with dolphins or driving golf carts down the beach... this for sure was fun! It wasn't boring, and I felt really safe with our guide and tour group. 

Before you knew it, it was time to get back onboard the ship! Here is a view of it from the dock. 

This evening, the theme for dinner was "Pirate Night." Our towels were folded to look like Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean, with fun gold medallions for eyes - as if we needed more chocolate that day! For dinner we were back at Triton's and we couldn't wait to dig in! 

Dinner was insane! The pirate theme extended to both the food and the floorshow. My husband ordered the steak for his main meal, and we both dug into crab cakes, grilled shrimp, jerk chicken, and red beans and rice. Everything was delicious, and I so appreciated having such a filling meal after such a long day. I will say - Disney takes care of you here. Our wait staff were so incredible and let us try literally everything we could eat. Not pictured is the macadamia nut cheesecake. It was so good they gave me one to-go so that I could have it as a midnight snack! I absolutely did eat it later that night, and it was just as divine the second time around. 

This was our last meal at Triton's for the trip, and I had to get a photo of the mural on the wall. The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney animated film and I was so happy in this room! 

We got to enjoy fireworks outside on the high seas for our last event of the evening. What a treat! The fireworks were so fun, and they were the perfect thing to send me off to bed!

Babymoon Aboard the Disney Wonder: Day Two, Day at Sea

 Hey there princess!

On the second day of our cruise, the focus for us was 100% on relaxation. My pregnancy was filled with complications and stress (not to mention perpetual nausea that lasted from about my fourth week of pregnancy all the way up until delivery) and I wanted to enjoy our time on the ship just taking in the ocean and the opportunity to take it easy. Strangely enough for me, the rocking of the ship completely counteracted my nausea and it was the absolute best I felt the entire time I was pregnant. 

It was a little chilly, in the low 70s while we were sailing to Cozumel, so we both dressed for the weather. This day at sea was spent napping in our room, eating around the ship, taking leisurely walks, watching the waves and seeing Shang-Chi in the movie theater onboard the ship. I am a firm believer that everyone should do exactly what they want to on their own vacations. If you want to go to craft time, character meet and greets, bingo, and trivia - do it! All of those options are available and accessible to every person onboard the ship. Personally, we wanted to take a lot of naps and eat a lot of snacks!

Before dinner, we went and saw a Broadway-eque show called "The Golden Mickeys" which was super cute! I love live performances, and it was super sweet to see some of my favorite Disney songs performed by a wonderful cast. There are two shows every evening, so what you see in the photo above is 50% of everyone who was onboard our boat. While I hope that tourism picks back up for the sake of businesses, it was really special to have our first cruising experience together feel so personal. 

When we booked the cruise, they gave you the option to choose either an early or a late dinner and we chose the later dinner seating with the idea in mind that likely families with small children would have chosen the earlier dinner service. Since we had some time to kill after the show, we went back to our stateroom to hang out before heading off to eat. Each evening, there was a new, fun towel creation on our bed with some chocolate. It was such an incredible surprise and we loved seeing what would be waiting for us each evening. 

For dinner this evening we ate at Triton's where I took exactly one photo of our table number and then became completely engrossed in our meal. The Little Mermaid is my absolute favorite Disney movie, and the decor and food in this restaurant didn't disappoint. Everything felt very calming and blue, and the food was a mix of seafood and other items. The nice thing about it being all you can eat is that we could try things that we wouldn't normally go for because you don't want to risk disliking your meal. This evening we ordered the lamb, as well as safer options, and ended up finishing everything! 

I am telling you, it is like the rocking of the ship totally counteracted my pregnancy nausea and for the first time in months I actually had a huge appetite! 

Babymoon Aboard the Disney Wonder - Day 1, Embarkation

 Hey there princess!

Before I found out that I was pregnant, I scheduled a surprise Disney Cruise for my husband, Niles' 30th birthday. Just a few weeks after booking the trip, I found out that I was pregnant and the trip turned into a combined birthday celebration and babymoon. This was the first time either of us had ever been on a Disney Cruise (I went on a Carnival Cruise in 2008 and Niles has never been on a cruise). 

Now, I will start off by saying that this cruise happened in January 2022, so there were a lot of COVID protocols in place, so for the most accurate information you should check the Disney website for the most accurate information. I will also say that the beginning of the Disney Cruise began at the port of entry (for us this was Galveston, Texas) where you were given a COVID test. It was at this test that I found out I had COVID and was not permitted to board the ship. I will put all of the information about what happened at the very bottom of this blog post for people who are interested, as I haven't seen a lot of information online about what happens when you test positive for COVID on the day you are supposed to set sail. Long story short - I rebooked the trip for three weeks later at no additional cost. 

Above is a photo of what the waiting area looks like in Galveston while you wait for your test results. As you can see, the place isn't packed at all. In fact, the whole ship was pretty empty. Our cruise was only booked at something like a 20% capacity, which is terrible for business, but was incredible for our experience. There was no waiting in line, we got great seats for the shows, and we felt incredibly cared for. 

Once we boarded the ship, there was a little performance put on by Mickey and Minnie to welcome us on the ship. As you can see, mask policies were very much in place, and we were required to be masked in all areas of the ship unless we were in our stateroom, outside, or actively eating or drinking. You guys know the drill. The show was super cute, but if I am totally honest after the anxiety of waiting for the COVID tests to come back negative, and the exhaustion of being 4.5 months pregnant... I mostly just wanted to go to the stateroom and crash.

Before you know it, we had completed our safety drill and were able to go to our room to put our things down and relax a little bit. However, being the pregnant woman I was... by then I was hungry! Thankfully, no matter what time it is, there is always food to be found onboard a cruise ship. We made our way to Cabanas, the buffet onboard and loaded up on chicken nuggets and French fries. 

Above is a photo of the buffet (notice... no line!) and you can also see a photo of the classes that they give you to drink out of which have little Mickeys on them! So cute! Here is what I will say about the buffet - the food is great! There is something for everyone, and each meal rotates out the food so you don't ever get tired of anything. However, there is always something available for picky eaters as well, which is great because as a pregnant lady there are just some days where you want to eat something safer. There is also a fresh fruit stand open all the time in Cabanas so you can get in your vitamins. 

Negatives for me would be the size of the glasses that they give you. I love the little Mickey heads, but I am from Texas where we do everything bigger - most certainly cup sizes (I mean have you been to Whataburger?). After lunch, I had to run myself to the gift shop and purchase a large Tervis tumbler to use throughout the rest of the trip. It was easily the best thing I purchased! While I didn't need it in the main dining room, it was essential the rest of the time. 

After my very necessary trip to the gift shop, we took a stroll around the rest of the ship to get our bearings. Look at this place - totally empty! Now, keep in mind, this was the end of January/beginning of February and the weather was a little chilly (chilly to me is high 60s/low 70s). The weather was still gorgeous, but I understand why this wasn't prime cruise time for the average person. The boat was meticulously clean and there were tons of cast members available to answer any questions. 

we went and listened to a live jazz band play before being seated for our dinner hour. All of the performers on the ship were absolutely wonderful. But who am I kidding? I was there for the food. 

Our first meal on the ship was at Tiana's Place, which is a New Orleans-style restaurant complete with live jazz music and an end-of-meal parade. On Disney Cruises, they do something called rotational dining, where your servers in the dinner hour go with you from one restaurant to another (there are 3 different restaurants onboard the ship, so we transition from one style of cuisine to another, and the staff move with you). 

Something else of note is that all of the food is included, and guests are encouraged to order as many items from the menu as they wish. The people seated next to us were food bloggers and ordered one of everything! On this first night onboard, I ordered the barbecue shrimp and grits as my appetizer followed by a salad. The real showstopper was dinner, where I ordered the pork chops and niles ordered steak. The servings were enormous and we were absolutely stuffed by the end of our meal! Everything was divine, and we were even given little Mardi Gras beads as a souvenir from the meal!

After that, I absolutely had to go straight to bed to sleep off our enormous meal in preparation for the next day. It was truly a 'wonder'ful day!

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Now - on to the story of what exactly happens to you if you show up to a Disney Cruise and test positive for COVID. The day of our first scheduled cruise, we showed up and took our COVID tests (these are PCR tests that you administer yourself, testing inside the nose). We then went to the waiting area which is pictured above, prior to boarding. I noticed that a lot of the people in the room had gotten the green light to go upstairs to the boarding area, except for us and a few other families. 

At that time, we got a notice on our app to approach a staff member who would give us directions - my heart immediately sank and I knew in my gut what was happening. Immediately, one woman began yelling her grievances to the cast members working at the desk, which was rather upsetting. I waited behind her for her to finish speaking her peace, and another cast member approached us and another couple (there were 3 groups in total who tested positive on this day), and told us that our COVID tests were inconclusive and that we needed to follow them to retake the test. 

We did follow this cast member out of the room and down a long hallway (note that everyone was masked this entire time), and went into an area of the pier that I now know is where luggage is transported on and off of the ship to be sorted. It was around 12:00pm at this time. A doctor in full gear (think hazmat suit) came into our area and told us that I had tested positive for COVID and that we would not be permitted to board the ship. A few minutes later, a cast member came by and asked if we would like any snacks and water while we waited for our luggage to be returned to us. 

I thought this was super weird... how long could it possibly take to find our luggage? Either way, he came back with a water bottle for each of us about six single-serve bags of Lays brand potato chips. He explained that we could have a full refund on our trip, and I said that was totally ok and signed off on the paperwork he presented to me. We then proceeded to wait in the terminal until 3:30pm when the boat was scheduled to depart. At that time the same man came back and walked us from the terminal to the parking lot and that was the end of our little adventure. I admit, I shed a lot of tears that day and in the following days. 

I still don't understand why we had to wait in the terminal for three and a half hours, and why I was told that I was being taken back to retake the COVID test when that was obviously not what was going to happen, but either way the experience didn't disturb me so much that I didn't rush to rebook the trip as soon as I could.

In all, I had an absolutely fantastic time! I just wanted to share that experience, since I haven't been able to find anyone else online who went through the same thing. If you have any questions about it, please don't hesitate to ask!