Jan 17 - Manzanillo

We had a buffet breakfast this morning at BBB and then walked around deck 4 with the Parsons and the children. There was a lot of energy and excitement for our first Mexican port of call. We had time for some board games at Diversions when the announcement came that we had arrived early at Manzanillo. Yippee!!! It was a cool but sunny day, perfect weather for port adventures. We had a very early lunch at Parrot Cay then walked off the ship in search of the friendly Paco, our guide for the private tour that we had organised.

He was ready and waiting with our red van and a welcome sign! All 20 of us squished into our little red van and off we went! We started with a quick tour of the city, and to be honest there wasn’t much around the port itself. We drove up to the mountain to get a bird’s eye view of the city as well as the exclusive Las Hadas resort, a beach side golf retreat with an Arabian theme complete with its own marina. En route we saw iguanas on trees. Paco stopped for us to take photos, and what I thought were a few iguanas turned out to be MULTIPLE iguanas. They were everywhere!

The Wonder, docked at Manzanillo, Mexico

Off the ship ready to go!

Our welcome sign being waved by Mei to hurry the stragglers!

The gorgeous school children lined up to greet the passengers. You can spot our little red van in the back ground amongst the big buses...

Inside the van

Iguana! If you look carefully you can see more behind and below

The beautiful view from the top

Part of Las Hadas

Our mountain journey ended with a visit to the flea/craft market by the beach. It was fun browsing through the various stalls with their colourful wares. We were the only ones there for a while before a bus load of Disney passengers turned up. We took the cue to leave and stopped at the restaurant next door for a snack by the beach. We let the children run down to the water but warned them to stay dry as we were about to head to another beach.

Jonah exploring and shopping on his own...

Puffer fish in the water

Puffer fish in the shops!

Selling fruit by the beach

The girls with their new head bands

and shell bracelets

The boys with their new toys

Where we stopped for a snack

Our view of the beach

Taking the instructions to stay dry very seriously!

Our next beach stop did not disappoint. Paco had taken us to a beach front hotel to let us use the facilities. There was a shallow pool overlooking the beach right next to a shaded area with our own table. The beach was deserted. It truly felt like our own private oasis. We ordered iced coffees and the staff surprised us with frappuccinos! They were absolutely delicious and cheap as well. In the meantime, Paco had gone to fulfill our order of churros. He returned with a boxful!!!

The afternoon flew by and sadly it came time to go. Paco once again obliged us with a quick shopping stop before taking back to the ship. Manzanillo for me was one of the most enjoyable port. It was so nice to be able see things in a small group and really enjoy the beauty of Mexico in such a relaxed and fun way. Paco made it that much better by making it logistically so easy. We only paid US$300 for ALL of us and he even provided drinks. We were only to happy to give him the gratuity that he well and truly deserved. Yes, we did have to squash into one van but it added to the sense of adventure!

Where we stopped for a swim

The pool, the beach and the shaded area

An empty beach

The girls enjoying the pool

The adults relaxing

Enjoying the shade

Australia's next top model?

Churros!

Enjoying eating on the sand

Time to pile back into our little red van

A quick photo with Paco before boarding the ship

Some sights of Manzanillo

We had dinner onboard and then watched Circurious, a show put together based on circus acts. The individual performers were actually very good but I thought they tried too hard to fit them into a theme/story which made it rather forced. And the narrator was not that good! It was still entertaining nonetheless and we went to bed tired but content.

A bizarre act where she "disappears" into the ball

This guy was an amazing dancer

Panama Canal & Beyond on The Wonder

This cruise from Port Canaveral bound for Los Angeles a much anticipated cruise .

The whole tribe will be congregating at Port Canaveral on January 4. A pre-cruise bonding session to remind ourselves of why we really want to be around each other for 15 days on end has been arranged for the 5th. We are heading for the Kennedy Space Centre for the day. The bus has been booked and discount coupons acquired. We are devising a strategy for boarding the Disney Wonder on Jan 6. The same bus company from the previous day's excursion has been re-deployed for morning transfer duties. We have a target time to be at the port. We have decided to maximise the power of numbers after embarkation. We shall divide and conquer. One has been allocated the duty of acquiring PALO reservations, another has been set the task of registering the children for kids club. The rest will have to battle with the feeding the children. A rendezvous point has been set by the pool. The research to finetune our approach continues.

Shore excursions have taken up a big portion of our meeting schedule. The ports of call include Castaway Cay, Aruba, Puntarenas, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. We seem to be bucking the general trend by choosing to do excursions either ourselves or with our own private guide. That is, we are only doing 2 excursions with DCL. Many other cruisers who are not doing DCL run excursions appear to not be doing excursions at all and staying on the ship.

Our first stop will be at Disney's private island hideaway, Castaway Cay. I can't wait! I have heard so much it and it has all been good. Next up is Aruba in the West Indies. We have arranged our own MarioKarting adventure for the boys and the girls will be touring the island in our air-conditioned private van with our friendly private guide, Sunny. The plan is to meet up for lunch and then explore the town before heading back onto the ship.

We will then travel through the historic Panama Canal emerging at the Pacific Ocean. Malcolm and I watched a documentary about the building of the Panama Canal and have been fascinated ever since. We jumped at the chance to sail through it. I am in the process of acquiring a book about the Panama Canal. I have been told to try to be less obsessive...

Puntarenas in Costa Rica is one of the ports where we have elected to do a shore excursions with Disney, one of the reasons being is that it is one of the few ports which:
1) offer excursions suitable for all ages
2) offer excursions suitable for all ages of interest
We will be heading into the rainforest for a ride on an aerial tram.

Our first port in sunny Mexico will be Manzanillo where we have lined up another private tour, this time with Paco. For a bargain price of US$300 total, he will drive us around and be our private guide, as well as providing cold water and refreshments.

Puerto Vallarta is slated for our other Disney run excursion. We are embarking on a Tequila making journey! Still not quite sure why I am doing this as I don't drink alcohol...

Last but not least, we have Cabo San Lucas. Our plan is to DIY. We will bargain for our own boats to the famous rock formation at Land's End and then explore the town at leisure.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to and end. That, for us, will happen at Los Angeles, where 14 of us have to figure out how to spend the day and transport ourselves around before boarding a 14 hour flight at 1045pm, with 6 children and our luggage in tow. Plans at the end of the cruise still undetermined! Wish us luck.

P.S. We have been allocated stateroom 7088, the same stateroom number as on the Disney Magic back in April! How cool is that?