Ahoy Captain Minnie! Happy New Year!

[Katie]

We are a Disney family. My Teen and I have been to every park, except Shanghai. Mr Katie has been to every park except Shanghi and Paris.

In 2023, we went on the Disney Wonder in its first season in Oz and sailed on a 6 night cruise from Sydney to Noumea and back to Sydney. We bought a placeholder on that cruise for a future discount. Late 2024, the Teen and I go on a trip to the US and WDW (Disneyworld in Florida). Maybe that's enough Disney for us for a bit.

Then April 2025 comes around and we have no travel plans for the Christmas holidays this year. Too preoccupied with the mid-year Euro holiday documented in this TR - Katies do Euro Summer.
Disney hadn't quite said they're not coming back again, there's port bookings in 2026-27, but the bookings for this season aren't going well and they offer an unheard of discount of 30-35% off the NYE cruise from Sydney-Eden-Sydney (Hobart was added later as a port stop on NYE day). So, we book a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah for the 5 night cruise for US5,196 for three adults. I booked through a Disney TA in the US to get a huge USD150 travel credit on board.

After booking, we sit back and wait.

Until November, when my FIL passed away and we thought "wouldn't it be fun for MIL to come along, too? We'll be on the Derwent river on what would have been FIL's 86th birthday". In between cremations and funerals, the last rooms were booking out. SIL doesn't want to go on a cruise, other SIL has two kids the costs would be too much at such short notice. So, we ask my Mum to come along and share the room with MIL! We end up booking one of the last inside staterooms for the two mums, knowing one will have to sleep on the couch or they'll be sharing the bed - Disney Queen beds *do not* separate. PHEW! Time to prepare the Grandma Squad for the cruise and all of the things to know about cruising with Disney.

 

[Flyfrequently]

On board with the @Katie clan ️

 

[Katie]

After booking the Grandma Squad's room in late Nov, getting us all checked in online, we started a weekly dinner with the Grandmas for debriefing and questions. We also started a group chat so I could eke information to them, unlike the Teen who tended to excitedly information dump on her Grandmas.
Our weekly dinners continued until my Mum left for Sydney on 18th Dec, deserting me and her only grandchild for Christmas, as she was lured to Sydney by the much younger and cuter grand nieces and nephew, the youngest of which was born on 1 Nov (ripe cuddling age for a besotted great-aunt).

We booked MIL on the same flights as us to/from Sydney. Luckily I had already booked two hotel rooms in the Hilton for the three of us; we just added Grandma into the room with the Teen and they were OK sharing the King bed for a night. I had booked Executive rooms, which in the end was almost a waste as we didn't make it to the lounge at all. It was useful for the included breakfast, but I probably could have gotten a cheaper rate and paid for brekky. Oh well.

Decorating your stateroom doors is common on Disney cruises - we found navigating the long hallway to our room last cruise was really aided by the door decorations! Last time, the room next to us was covered in paper roses with a comment "We're all mad here" - Alice in Wonderland theme.

I hit up Etsy for some door magnets with our names on them and also bought some "pixie dusting" items. The Teen made us a "fish extender". Pixie dusting and fish extenders are unique to Disney, I think. The staterooms have a fish-shaped hook next to the door, and you can hand a receptacle from this, which becomes your fish extender. Then, in your cruise's FB group, if you're organised 6+ months in advance, you sign up to swap gifts with another 5 or so staterooms.
If you're not organised, you can still put out a fish extender and you can also pixie dust any other room. Pixis dusting is random acts of kindness/random small gifts, which could be as simple as a sheet of stickers. I bought some bracelet kits on Etsy (to make "Disney" or "Wonder" bracelets) and a heap of stickers to put on other small items I'd found at Daiso. I had a packet of 150 lollipops left over from my big birthday party, so we also used them as pixie dust.

Some other cruisers had their ceramic moulds and 3-D printers out - someone made Mickey waffle magnets! The pixie dusting was quite incredible. An aspect I like about the random pixie dusting - if you're not going to use an item you receive, you can always pop it into someone else's fish extender bag!

 

[Katie]

A stateroom door from the 2023 cruise:


Take a glow stick pixie dust



The fish and fish extender in the wild:



Our neighbours in 2023-24

 

[Katie]

Pre-booking
At something like 90 days before the cruise, we could pre-book various experiences, such as the wine and coughtail tasting classes, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and dining at Palo, the adults-only restaurant that costs extra.
After doing some whisky, wine and champagne tasting classes last time, we'd already decided not to bother well before the Grandmas were going to join us.
All of us are too old for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique makeovers, though the Teen discovered last time if you visit, the Assistant Fairy Godmothers will sprinkle some pixie dust (glitter, not random presents) over your head.

We booked a Palo brunch for the three of us on New Year's day. Palo brunch is all you care to eat, whereas the dinner is a la carte (hmm, there might be a prix fixe menu?). Palo is Italian and named for the gondola poles of Venice, which adorn the outside of the restaurant. There's a number of Venetian masks and other interesting art in the restaurant; it has no Disney theming at all, so it's a great spot to get away if you're getting over Mickey and co - and kids!

Palo brunch is available only on sea days - of which we only had 2 of the 5 night cruise. We had brunch there last time in the group dining room; someone had organised a group of us, so we had a family style experience in 2024 compared to just a nice family brunch in 2026.

Wine tasting classes, etc, were all about USD80-100. I think you cancel up to 24hrs in advance and you're only charged when you attend.

I also pre-booked the unlimited photo package, which is offered at a discount if you pre-book it. The price varies on the length of the cruise. We got about 80-100 photos for something like USD 250. Most were in front of backgrounds, the Teen got a few character ones. We had fun with some magic photos (they add in a character or something like Tinkerbell's sparkly stars), and we also got some photos missing their magic.

Flights
I only thought to call QF the day before we flew to Sydney to see about linking MIL's booking with ours. This was because at T-80 and even T-30 I couldn't get her to an empty seat near us in row 6 (two QF WPS and one SG). The agent was great, and we were able to get MIL in the shadow between her son and grandchild.

On Sat 27th, dog and house sitting arragements were all finalised and we just needed to finish packing for an early trip to the airport the next morning!

 

[Katie]

Sunday 28th Dec
QF509 BNE-SYD 0715- 0950
We were meant to be in 6ABCD, but overnight had been moved to 4ABCD. Must have been the only WPs and most important VIPs on the flight!

We got an Uber to the airport and SIL drove MIL, meeting us at the Qantas checkin. We went to the Premium checkin area, but they couldn't take our bags as BNE was having intermittent lugagge belt issues. Back to regular checkin, to a machine, and I put all 4 checkin bags in the names of the two WPs. Had issues again at bag drop, but a nice QF staffer helped us.
We were close to the staffed QF checkin counters/international transfer checkin and got to experience a man yelling at the QF staff from the queue. He seemed to be objecting to the different queues for Business/status and Economy, though he was in the Business line. Some comments about him not being different to anyone else, etc, etc. A bit intense for 6:30am on a Sunday morning.

We went back to premium entry, this was a mistake. Should have gone to normal security, though I'm not sure that would have worked. The entry agent (correctly) refused my SIL entry to the lounge area, as non-flying guests aren't allowed in the lounges and she had no BP to scan. So we had to say hurried goodbyes to her there and went up to the lounge.

QF J Lounge
The lounge was quiet, we all grabbed something to eat, and then were quickly off to board our flight. Luckily linking our flights meant MIL got group 1 boarding, so we all boarded together.

Full flight to Sydney, row 4 was OK, the legroom's nice, but I don't like the lack of overhead space, which is why I usually pick rows 6-8. I was also trialling a new Tote bag and my knitting was bulging out of it, making it hard to fit under the row 3 seat.
Our breakfast snack was an Egg and Chorizo Toastie with Smoky tomato relish on ciabatta. It was OK.

Uneventful flight to Sydney. We collected our bags and got a taxi to the Hilton as I couldn't figure out from the NSW transport/rail site just how much we would pay per person to catch the train. We figured the train would be at least $20pp, so a taxi would be cheaper/almost the same. The taxi took thew new West Connect tunnel, which prompted much commentary from MIL about it being the longest tunnel she's been in.

 

[Katie]

Breakfast

 

[Katie]

Sunday continued

We wandered near the Hilton, the Teen needed to hit Kinokuniya as quickly as possible. We also gave MIL a "voucher" for Kinokuniya for Xmas (in scare quotes because they only sell vouchers in-store and I made a fake one on Xmas morning for her) so she could get a book for the cruise.

A snack and some drinks at Starbucks between Town Hall station and QVB. Then we hopped on the tram to Haymarket to the theatre - we were off to see The Book of Mormon. We met Mumma Katie outside the theatre.
Mumma Katie's now deceased partner was a Mormon, so she had some giggles. Everyone enjoyed the show, cheeky language and sacrilegious content included.



Back on the tram to the Hilton to find our rooms, unpack a bit and rest. I got Exec rooms for this trip, not anticipating gathering with relatives, a bit of a waste, but at least brekky for all was included. The rooms were two floors apart, glad the Teen is almost an adult and she's also well versed in hotels to help her G'ma out. It was only meant to be the 3 of us originally, but didn't need to pay more for G'ma in the room and it was easy to buy two extra tickets to the Book of Mormon a few weeks prior.

View from our rooms:



Then we braved Sydney public transport to Newtown station and walked to the Carlisle Castle hotel, where we met my Aunt, Uncle and cousin.


Enjoyed a pub dinner, Mumma Katie walked home with our rellies and the other 4 of us got the train back to Town Hall. The Teen didn't eat anything at the pub (sensory issues and gluten-free food), so she and I went to Betty's Burgers to get something safe for her. I realised the Teen was coughing quite a bit, so sent her back to the room with her G'ma and I went to Chemist Warehouse to stock up on a variety of cold and flu products that may have limited efficacy but perhaps some level of placebo effect, at least on me.

Mr Katie and I snuck down to the bar - hardly sneaking when the Teen isn't even in the room with us! - and had a wee dram and some dessert. Yummy Sticky Date Madeleines.



The waiter didn't even ask about sharing dessert and automatically brought two spoons.
How careless. I never share dessert!

 

[Katie]

Monday 29 Dec
One of the delights of cruising with Disney is the countdown calendar in the cruise app ... we were finally down to 0 sleeps!!
A character displays instead of a 0 during the countdown process. Some devotees collected key countdown pictures in the leadup to the cruise!

Mr Katie and I slept a little longer than MIL and the Teen, so they beat us to brekky. MIL insisted on going straight to Glass. I had wanted to check out the Executive Lounge, but alas.

After brekky, we checked out, left our luggage at the hotel, and went our separate ways for an hour or so. The other 3 stayed in town while I went on a pilgrimage to Skein Sisters in Dulwich Hill. Time was of the essence, so I Ubered both ways.
Spotted our ship on the way there!!



Got a coffee from a cafe down the road with a very funky cup, while I waited until it was 10am and Skein Sisters opened.



I met the owners of Skein Sisters, who are not any kind of sisters, other than being two women who love yarn crafts, on Mumma Katie and my Rhine River knitting cruise in August last year. I've been keen to visit their store ever since.


I wandered the store, bought a few lovely things (some stitch markers, a yarn cutter in the shape of the Opera House or Harbour Bridge, and a few other things). Despite squishing a LOT of yarn, I refrained from buying any. Neither of the owners were in the store that morning and I was on a tight timeline, so hopped an Uber to Morris & Sons yarn store in the City to pick up some needle ends - that I still haven't used. Sigh!

Some more wandering and a late snack before the 4 of us hopped a taxi from the Hilton to White Bay. We weren't due to embark yet, but I read on the cruise's Facebook group that they were boarding something like the 1pm embarkations at 12 already. We planned to have lunch on the ship, so had only wanted snacks to get us through.


Who's excited??

Boarding at White Bay was faster for a domestic cruise than our one to New Cal two years' earlier.



Soon enough, we were checked in, had our first photo taken, and were being announced on board the ship - the Richo Tay Tays and the Grandma Squad!

Members of the entertainment crew announce you as you board the ship, and you elect how you're mentioned.

 

[Katie]

Monday 29 Dec, cont.

Our rooms weren't ready, and we didn't want to join the hoards at Cabana's (the buffet restaurant), so we went to Tiana's Place, one of the two restaurants on deck 3. Triton's was open, but only for passengers in Concierge rooms. Deck 3 is where we boarded, so we just headed towards the rear of the ship.
At Tiana's, we were encouraged to go to Cabana's and told there'd be a 45 min wait. I said we'd wait, and sure enough, within 5 minutes they found a table for the 5 of us. There's a special menu on embarkation day.


I had a Beef Empanada for appetizer/entree.
I got the Gumbo mostly for the corn bread side ...


and didn't bother with a main, to save room for dessert, the Welcome Aboard Sundae.





Tiana's Place is themed for the movie the Princess and the Frog, and generally serves New Orleans inspired cuisine. At lunchtime, it's a general restaurant, but at night there can be entertainment, including Tiana singing and Louis playing the saxophone.

We used the enthusiasm of the Teen to help us discover when our rooms were ready. We'd booked on deck 6, same as last cruise, but this time where we'd have a view of the Opera House on embarkation rather than our return. As The Grandma Squad were booked so late in November, they were on deck 2 in an inside cabin.
We finished lunch around 2:15 and by 2:30 were entering our room! I splurged on a decoration package, including two pillow cases, a large towel, and the posters you can see (hanging by magnets). The bag and lanyards were gifts for it being our second cruise, so we have attained the base level of status in Disney's Castaway Club.

MIL and Mumma Katie checking out our room

 

[Katie]

It's still Monday, 29 Dec

By 6pm, we started leaving White Bay. We went up to deck 10 to watch it all and enjoy going under the Harbour Bridge. Not often you see this angle up close!







Too windy to keep my ears on!!



MIL got quite cold during this part of the cruise. When she started getting a cold/virus (both Grandmas got sick eventually, we blamed the Teen for sharing her germs with us!), MIL was insistent it was due to getting cold on this first night. Can't convince her otherwise. Unfortunately, whatever the Grandmas got really knocked around MIL when she got home for a couple of weeks, and both Grandmas had bad coughs a month after getting home. I think for MIL there was probably also a bit of that situation where you get sick at the start of a holiday because suddenly you're not doing anything after a couple of years of caring for FIL and so intensely in the prior 6 months.






Mickey's Sail-a-Wave party was at about 7:30/7:45 on deck 9, between the dinner sittings.

A starfish on the first night! Whittaker's chocolates on the bed every night.


Bye, Sydney

 

[Katie]

It's finally time for dinner on Monday 29 Dec

After freshening up quickly, or maybe just brushing our hair after being out on deck, we went to our first dinner. We were back at Tiana's Place.
Disney dining is different to other cruise lines, and very much caters to families. Since Covid, their buffet restaurant only opens for breakfast and lunch, not dinner. Your dinner options are your assigned dining rotation, room service (most items included in your cruise cost), or if any of the Quick Service options on the pool deck are open (burgers, pizzas, hot dogs, schawarma, salads).
With the dining rotation, you're assigned one of the three restaurants each night, and a dining time - 5:45 or 8:15pm. We had 8:15pm and followed our dining rotation each night. The menu changes each time you dine in the restaurant - even on the 14 night trans-pac positioning cruises, when you'd dine at a restaurant 4 or 5 times.
The other element is your servers stay with you and follow you each night. They start to learn your preferences and can have soft drinks, etc, already on the table before you come in.

As we were a group of 5, I thought we'd be sitting alone. No! We ended up at a table of 10, with 2 5-person families. The other family was Mum, Dad, 2 daughters, and one daughter's boyfriend. The younger daughter turned 21 on the cruise. The older daughter and her boyfriend had cruised each season on the Wonder in Australia. She was interested in similar things to our Teen, so they chatted geeky stuff together.

Menu for the first night
Shrimp and Grits


Roast Pork Tenderloin


And of course, a pecan pie for dessert


Decorations at Tiana's Place


Almost midnight, goodnight moon.

 

[Katie]

Drinks packages
Another difference with Disney cruises, there really is no Drinks package like other cruises. There's also no casino.

For drinks, fountain/postmix soft drinks are free and included. So is tea and filter coffee. You can buy espresso coffee in Cove Cafe on the pool deck or in the French Quarter lounge on deck 3. Get a loyalty card, because after 6 or so overpriced in USD single-shot espresso coffees, you can get a free one.

In some of the bars/lounges, they serve soft drinks in cans, which cost money. On deck 9, there's soft drink fountain machines open 24x7, a couple of water dispensers, and a hot coffee/tea station.

For wine, beer and coughtails, you can buy drinks as you wish. With beers, there's a special on tap beers where you buy a 16 oz? 18 oz? beer mug and it gets refilled at the price of 12 oz or something like that. For wine, you can order a wine package of 3-5 wines and choose a bottle from the basic, medium and fancy range with dinner or lunch. If you don't finish the bottle, you can continue drinking it the next day with your meal.

Otherwise, in the bars, there's a drink of the day coughtail and mocktail that's at a cheaper price.