Cruises are one of those vacations where you have all the fun in one place with both sun and waves. Every cruise line offers something different, despite what they offer, where they take you, and what the experience will be.

With this cruise, it is to celebrate my college graduation, in which happened a month and a half prior to this trip, as well as to have new memories and experiences on the ship. The last time I was on a cruise ship, I was 11 and just finished grade school. And the last time I was on the Disney Cruise, I was only eight. I barely have any memories of the trip aboard aside from dancing like a dog during the Pirates of the Caribbean deck party and taking a photo with Minnie Mouse with a (brand new at the time) Minnie Mouse stuffed animal.

When we were planning this trip, the goal is to have Brennan join us. But when we split in March, we had to change EVERYTHING, and I can only imagine the financial hassle my mom went through. But one good thing came out of it was I went from a porthole window room to a room with a veranda. Once I got approved for time off at my job at Hobby Lobby, I was green lit for 5 nights of a much deserved breather after 2 months of extreme ups and downs of life.

Pre-day (May 6)

Woke up very rested with a good 8 hours of sleep. Before we had to get to the airport, we had to board my cat, June, due to a leg injury she had 2 weeks prior and she’s in good hands and recovering well.

From RDM to SEA, I sat a few rows behind my parents and had the row to myself. So for the hour in the air, I’ve spent a good hour catching up on my bible readings since I’ve been really behind. I started the Gospel of Mark, finished Leviticus and started on the book of Numbers (which is a similar format as the Books of Chronicles) and continued with Elijah and Psalms.

In both flights, we arrived earlier than our anticipated arrival time. When we arrived in SEA, we arrived at the C gates and memories of my Empire Builder trip last spring came flooding back. And with that, memories of Brennan came flooding back because he picked me up at PDX that day. As we were catching the subway to our gate, on a different side of the airport, we ran into our friend Pat Carpenter aka Pat the Pilot. He and my dad have been friends for years and he flew for Alaska before he retired some time ago. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve seen him so I caught him up with everything in my life and he was really proud of me graduating. 

Before we board our flight, we had lunch, I had a burger but didn’t finish mine while my parents split a fish and chips. We had to pay quickly because we were the last people aboard the flight and I keep taunting mom about being late due to a prank my dad did on mom years ago (more on that in a later entry). Luckily, we managed to get to our seats before the plane took off. On a prior flight, I was sooo tired and decided to stay up due to it being a shorter flight. On this flight, I got some shut eye but not for long. Like I said before, we arrived to San Diego earlier than anticipated. 

After getting to our room, me and my parents were trying to figure out where to go for dinner. When dad mentioned that the bar where Top Gun was filmed was within a few blocks, in which he has been to back in 2019 for a business trip, we had to go. 

The story goes is the location director of Top Gun was searching for places to film in downtown San Diego back in 1985. He stopped at this little unknown place called Kansas City BBQ for a beer and liked this place. He told the main director, whom contacted the place to get permission to film in there and the rest is history. Fun fact, the bar scene in Top Gun: Maverick was not filmed at Kansas City BBQ, it was a set that was built on a beach. Which makes sense because the bar in the squeal is twice as large as the bar area at Kansas City BBQ and can hold more people. But Miles Teller did take a photo with the infamous “Great Balls of Fire” piano, which has moved from the main eating area to the bar area. 

When we arrived, the sign out front made it obvious that you’re walking into one of the most famous film sets still standing. Now as a college graduate that earned a minor in film, I was already on cloud 9 and smiling the whole time. And there’s this guy who acted as Maverick for the bar and looks exactly like Tom Cruise and I took a photo with him. I was shy at first because the guy is so handsome and so good at his role but I did it anyway. Me and my parents sat at the corner where Meg Ryan’s character said to Goose “take me to bed or lose me forever.” Aside from being immersed with Top Gun, the food was actually really good. I got the chili and their signature Top Gun Blonde beer. The chili was soooo good that I was thinking of getting another bowl. I tried the Mac and cheese but it wasn’t that good. My parents split the pulled pork. 

When we got back to the hotel, my parents went and got a couple things while I checked out the pool. The front desk person said it’s heated but they lied. It was cold, so I went back up and got a much deserved shower. The rest of the night was more like chilling and falling asleep at 10pm.

Day 1: Embarkation (May 7)

I woke up refreshed and ready to take on the day ahead. And surprisingly, I woke up the same time my parents did, which is a rarity. For breakfast, we had the buffet at the hotel and it is ok. The eggs are crumbly and the potatoes are soft. But the drink they had brought me back to my stint job I worked at when I moved back to Bend. It was the drink I drank all the time and it’s sugar free and sweet. 

After breakfast, we went over to Rite Aid, caught a glimpse of the Wonder, and get some last minute things before the trip. The first thing I looked for was aloe vera. Unlike my mom who spent a good amount of time tanning in God’s natural tanning booth, I have been working indoors 8 hrs/day and remain indoors the rest of the day. So in other words, I am Snow White while my parents are like Moana in skin tone. And with that, I know I am going to get burnt during the trip. Also, we woke up early and needed to kill some time. Thank God for this weather! On embarkation day, we got sunshine with a moderate temperature. After a Rite Aid run, we went back to our room and mom decides we leave early and we did! Since we were really early, we just hung out in this gathering place under this glass bubble at the pier. 

What we learned is that the waiting lines are separated into 15-minute intervals (one at 11:00, next at 11:15, etc.) so we’re not waiting in a very long line like what I remember at the last 2 ocean cruises. The security and check in is pretty easy and when our boarding number was called, we were off!

The first place we went to was Tiana’s place for lunch. We could’ve done the buffet but Tim Tracker suggested to go to a sit-down restaurant to avoid much of the crowds. For lunch, I had the smoked salmon, gumbo, Caesar salad, and a welcome aboard sundae (on a Sunday). Not a huge fan of the salmon, the gumbo was good but didn’t like the okra in it, but the sundae was good. 

After lunch, I went and explored the ship. I went from deck 3 to deck 9 or so. I wanted to check out the ship because I want to know where everything is and to get a good idea where I’d hang out and such. The areas I was looking forward to hanging out was obviously the adult areas because at 24 years old, I haven’t been to a lot of adult only areas. The only time I did was when I turned 21 and felt out of place in the 21 and up pool. 

As I was wrapping up with the self-guided tour, my mom texted through the Disney Cruise app saying that my room is ready. I wouldn’t say it’s exactly what I remembered but it was nice. But no graduation gift of a sort, ding dang. I couldn’t help but laugh at the shower because I know that Brennan would have a hard time taking a shower in it due to his 6’4” height. 

DISNEY TIP: Even though they do have wifi on board, their wifi is really iffy outside of their own app. If you really want to get online, there are online packages to purchase. But the downside of it is once you use it up, that’s it. So it’s a gamble to use their packages.

Just like on every ship since the sinking of the Titanic, we had to do a mandatory evacuation drill. During the drill, there was this couple getting all lovey and I got a little sad, wishing that Brennan’s there. But those thoughts went away when I struck up with a gentleman next to me who was a staff member in charge of the tech stuff and other stuff aboard the ship.

Right after the drill, the whole herd went up to decks 9 and 10 for the deck party and the memory of the deck party was very vague. I do remember dodging the camera when it was filmed at us. But this time, I notice some changes. Number one, there’s a kids zone on deck, I don’t remember that but I like the idea. Number two, unlike 8yo me where I only knew High School Musical songs, I recognize a lot of the songs playing for the deck party. 

While my parents went to a show at the Walt Disney Theatre, I went down to the pub for happy hour and for their movies quote trivia. Sadly, I didn’t do as well as I thought but I did sit with a couple of lads during the game. 

For dinner, we went to Triton’s, which is a seafood sit-down restaurant. I’ve had the deep fried brie, farmhouse salad, pasta, and soufflé. The brie was interesting and luckily there’s bread to spread all that gooeyness. Didn’t really like the salad, if they had ranch instead of that olive spread, I would’ve eaten it. The pasta had that strong herby flavor to it and wanted to eat more of it but I was starting to get full so I couldn’t eat it all. Despite it being hot, temperature wise, the soufflé was good. And to surprise my parents, our waiters brought over a cake to celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary (which was the same day I graduated). 

Before heading up to the room, I took a photo with one of my favorite Disney princesses, Ariel, and lovely as always. I told her that I had hair that red but it was too much work. And she responded with “benefits of being a mermaid.” And since I feel pretty, I got my pictures taken. To wind down, I get to watch reruns of that night’s show.

DISNEY TIP: If you missed the shows at the theatre, turn to channel 29 on your tv to watch scheduled reruns

Day 2: Day at sea (May 8)

I get to sleep in a little bit, which is really nice. After getting ready for the day, I met up with my parents for breakfast, in which was at the buffet place Cabanas. And I went back there for lunch as well.

After breakfast, I went to the adult cafe for a coffee run because the coffee ran out. I got the mocha fit frappe and it was surprisingly good. While enjoying my frappe, I got a message from mom saying she is gifting me a 50 minute hot stone massage. She didn’t have to do it but I’m always grateful at the end. Before the massage, I went down to the French Quarter Lounge for the Marvel trivia, in which I did better than the movie quotes trivia, and proud of it. After the trivia and before the massage, I took a wee nap. The massage was really nice and it was my first hot stone massage so the changes in temperature was interesting. Luckily it was so relaxing to a point where I can fall asleep. 

After the massage, I went over to the adult pool, got their drink of the day, and met some new friends. And what a small world that they’re George Fox peeps! Aside from that, I spend a good amount of time at the pool before heading back to the room to catch up a little bit on the blog  on the veranda and getting ready for tonight’s festivities.

I joined my parents at the pub for happy hour and participated on the brainteasing trivia. Luckily, my parents were there because I hate those and do poorly in those, and they did well. 

Afterwards, I went down to meet with Captain Jack Sparrow since it is Pirate night. We had an interesting conversation. When trying to figure out where the Pearl went, I mentioned that it may be in the Caribbean and he’s halfway to Cabo. “I must be sleeping on the job again,” Jack mentioned. “Maybe a little too much rum,” I replied. That one I like!

DISNEY TIP: if you want to meet one of your favorite characters, get in line about 15 or so minutes early so that you wouldn’t be in this long line missing your chance.

We had dinner before the deck party, and we went to Triton’s again but we had a special pirate night menu. I got the crab cake (all three of us got it), the carrot soup, grouper filet, and chocolate cake. As usual, the crab cake is delish, in fact the first time I tried crab cake was on a boat; a river cruise to be exact. The soup was interesting, the fish tastes like Mexico or has a certain flavor that makes you think of Mexico, and the cake was too much due to the rum sauce on top. One of our waiters, Laura, helped de-shell mom’s dish and it was one of the sweetest things ever. During dessert, it was my turn to get the cake for my college graduation so that’s really nice.

After dinner, we went up for the deck party. I gotta say the party is a lot more fun than the sail away party. A lot of great music that makes me want to dance and a great storyline as well. And the climax of the show, Mickey let out some fireworks.

FUN FACT: DCL has come up with a marine friendly batch of fireworks. When the fireworks set off, fish food falls into the ocean instead of some bad debris. Which causes fish to jump and have a hoot.

After the party, me and my parents went down to the nightclub to see me sing karaoke. I sang a song that meant alot to mine and mom’s relationship: Hold On by Wilson Phillips. I had a great time singing and felt like I’m in my natural habitat. Back in college, I was a frequent singer during karaoke night. When I had red hair, I gave myself the stage name Rose. One time as I was either getting on or off, people were chanting my name. This time, no name chanting for me but I got a huge round of applause and a pair of proud parents. 

Day 3: Port day (May 9)

Woke up early so we can get to the first tender out to Cabo; we have had our parasailing scheduled at around 10 in the morning so mom thought it was a good idea to get the first tender out. That morning we weren’t at port but did spot land ho from my room and during breakfast, I spotted the Finesterra, the resort where my family once had time share.

DISNEY TIP: there’s a meeting place, either at the Walt Disney Theatre or the Buena Vista Theatre, to go over a few things about tendering and entering the country. So please attend those and it is mandatory. 

FUN FACT: During the briefing, a crew member says that smoking of any kind is banned on Mexican soil. And if you get caught, you’d get fined and detained for 36 hours. This ban happened at the beginning of this year and is the strictest anti-smoking laws in the world all for public health.

During the majority of my childhood, we’d visit Cabo once a year, and it was there that dad asked mom to be his girlfriend 30 years ago. I had great memories there from nights at the Giggling Marlin to days at the pool and the beach near The Office. It was there where I learned how to swim and, more importantly, have my face in the water. The reason why we stopped going is still a mystery. 

Breakfast was rough.  Had breakfast at the buffet and finding a table was as stressful as finding a table during lunch at school. But eventually, I did find a table outside. The weather is perfect for a day of parasailing, 90 degrees and sunny.

When we got to Cabo, I had a hard time getting my bearings because it has been a good 14 years or so since we last went there. Things are added and changed due to time. But what I learned about Cabo is that it is a nice boating/fishing community and everybody knows everybody. For example, our water taxi guy was saying hello to a few boaters on our way to the parasailing boat.

The parasailing was very peaceful up there. Mom was trying to not think of that one scene in Jurassic Park III and I try not to think of Hungry Shark. Other than that it was really nice up there and spotted some rays. They are not stingrays, and smaller than the monstrous manta rays. Mom saw two, I called her bluff. Then we both saw two more, right after we said they may’ve traveled in groups, we saw a pod of 5 rays. 

After parasailing, we went to The Office (yes, that’s the name of the bar) to meet up with my mom’s best friend and her partner. Even though we enjoyed the conversations, for me it was ruined thanks to those peddlers aka scammers. Scammers as in people demanding you buying souvenirs and to take a photo with their iguana. Where we were, they were literally a couple feet behind me, blocking any view of the beach. Mom said a long time ago, they wouldn’t let these scammers near the ropes of the bar. I remember them being bad but now they are worst. But mom told me that things will change where the city are requiring those to sell to have a permit or license and those who don’t will have a designated selling spot. All to clear out the touristy areas from these pests.

No beach time due to the lack of umbrellas, so me, my parents, Jill and Jim hung out in the back of the Office, drinking beer, having good conversations. I knew mom is afraid of snakes but I didn’t know Jill was too until a guy with a boa constrictor passed us by and mom and Jill went the other way. Now that is funny! I’m only afraid of the poisonous snakes but that snake caught me by surprise. They were like these little birds when the waves come up. 

We didn’t stay for long. When we got back on board, I had lunch at the buffet, had a tequila sunrise at some point in the afternoon. After lunch, I took a nap and woke up hot and sweaty. Thank god for the aloe vera, I got sunburnt in a few places but not that bad

For dinner, we went to Animator’s Palate, where we had a show after dinner. I had the Serrano ham, potato soup, chicken, and the sundae. The ham was surprising how they did it, it’s almost like a charcuterie board and it was also good too. For the sundae, there was a chocolate chip cookie at the bottom which was very interesting. 

After dinner, I had some photos taken because I feel pretty. I also took photos with Mickey and Cinderella. Before heading to the nightclub, I got a brandy at the piano bar. The environment is quite fitting for a late night rendezvous. After finishing my drink, I headed over to the nightclub where there’s a lot of hollering. It turns out it’s a game similar to the newlywed game but funnier. I know I laughed along with the audience. Which is good because the silent disco was a flop due to technical difficulties.

Day 4: Day at sea (may 10)

I woke up really tired, it must be the alcohol from the night before. So much that I had a mid-morning nap after having breakfast at the buffet. Since it was the last day, there was not a whole lot to do. So after getting some coffee, I packed up for disembarkment and just lounge around. And the cold, windy weather didn’t help either. 

But a good amount of families braved the cold so their kids can play in the pool. Kudos to them! Due to the weather, I didn’t get to be in the pool. But I spent some time catching up on the blog at the cafe after lunch until I got cold. But I didn’t do nothing for long.

Since before the trip, I’ve wanted to recreate the photo I had with Minnie 16 years ago on the Wonder. When it was my turn, and the photographer showed her the photo, Minnie was ecstatic and shared the same reaction she did 16 years ago with the stuffed Minnie. And I’m so glad I’ve been able to capture this moment.

While getting ready for dinner, I tuned in to channel 29 to watch the show Disney Dreams. While watching, it jogged my memory big time and I remember that show! It was one of two shows we watched the last DCL cruise. The dress I wanted to wear for Tiana’s for dinner was too showy to where it’s showing my bra. So I just dolled up a bit with the outfit I was wearing anyway. 

For the first time during the entire cruise, I beat my parents to our seat. Normally, I was a bit late so that was a small victory. Tiana’s Place is basically your Roaring 20s jazz club in N’Orleans. Tiana was wearing her all white flapper outfit which was a stark contrast to her typical green dress. And speaking of roaring, we were literally above the engine that was shaking the quake up, even the lights were shaking!

For dinner, I had a charcuterie board, tomato soup, salmon and Tiana’s beignets. I gotta say that the soup was really good, the others, not alot to say about it. But we did have fun with the powdered sugar by blooping the noses of each other. Mom and I were laughing at dad when he ordered the tartar due to an experience with it while we were in Paris years ago. Speaking of mom, she did not eat much during the entire trip, let alone her main course! All due to her having a low appetite these days.

Aside from the food, entertainment was good. Along with Tiana, the gator came to greet everyone. While having my salmon, he got hungry and said it looked delish. Mom didn’t even said hi because she has this fear of people in costumes. Rapunzel and other Disney princesses are ok but Mickey freaks her out. Later on, I get dragged into the limbo and did loosen up. Due to living in the big city and maturing, having “fun” and loosening up is not for me.

There was one last show for the cruise, it was more mellow and personal. We did have one last chance to take a photo with our favorite characters. For me, it’s Rapunzel and Moana. And while they were singing, they signed as well, which makes it special.

After the show, I went back to the nightclub and boy, things went crazy! The first game I watched was almost like the shoe game and there’s this pair of sisters, one of them is trans, and they put on a show when the question “who’s on their phone the most”. The next game was even crazier. It was all about the 1980s and one of our physical challenges is to go all out and put on a show. Now the same trans girl literally put on a show like she’s done this many times. She lost one of her shoes and did one of those drop splits. But hey, it was worth it cuz we got a point. And what a great ending to an already great vacation.

Final words

When Brennan and I split, the questions that circulated in everyone’s minds is if I’m going to have a fun time during the cruise or be cooped up in my room crying. When we split, I made sure that I’m going to have fun with or without him because it’s my trip after all. And luckily I did.

I made sure that I’d make some memories from this trip that I’ll be looking back on and go “wow that was a fun trip.” The number one goal is to do whatever I want to do and I did. I had alot of pictures taken, went to certain activities and made the best of everything. And the cherry on top was finally feeling like an adult and being able to relax and lower my stress levels to a level that’s comfortable.

Now the big question: did I ever miss Brennan? The obvious answer is yes. There were moments where I see him there. A few examples being him eating with us at Triton’s, him on the water taxi with us, and him laughing on the contender’s couch at the Match your Mate game. I don’t see it as a bad thing, I see it as a sign that he’s still here with me. 

There are lessons to take away from it all. Never stop dreaming and achieving those dreams; be the hero in your life story, there’s always a villain lurking around so stand strong and courageous; with every low and sad part in life, a sense of joy is right around the corner; and most importantly, dreams do come true and there’s a person for you. Unfortunately in this world, everyone is burning down your dreams, crushing your beliefs that they’ll come true and love is a precious thing that has been misused. So to know and learn those things gave me hope for some great.