My long-time high school friend went with me on my first Disney cruise; the Wonder, 7 nights sailing the western Caribbean out of Galveston. I had no idea what to expect, on any level, and wow, was I pleasantly surprised!

We arrived at our parking lot about 10:30 and were immediately loaded on their shuttle bus and taken straight to the pier. Check-in was flawless, but we did have to wait a while before boarding. Seemed that everyone had boarding priority over us, regardless of when they arrived. Well, it wasn’t so long, and we had both brought books to keep us occupied while we waited.

When we boarded the ship we went straight up to the buffet on deck 9 and had lunch. It was very nice and was much like the embarkation day buffet on any ship. I was impressed with the beautiful boiled shrimp, cooked to perfection. As a matter of fact, it was on the lunch buffet every day, and always cooked just right. When you enter the Beach Blanket Buffet (deck 9 aft) they give you a tray with a plate, napkin & utensils on it. That makes it so easy to go outside to eat, or walk a little further to a quiet spot to sit and eat. There’s a beverage station in there also, as well as a dessert station and salad station. The hours of serving lunch in there are 12:00 noon till 2:00 pm each day. Read more