On the second sea day on our Disney Wonder cruise from Hawaii to Vancouver, I woke up at 7:30am after a good night’s sleep. I had been looking forward to this day since the cruise began as we had both brunch at Palo booked as well as Pirate Night to look forward to. It was a little cloudy out and we could see from watching the Bridge Report on the stateroom television that the outside temperature would start dropping quickly the following day so we knew we had to make the most of the good weather while it lasted.

Our first stop of the day was the Lobby Atrium at 9:00am where there was a photo opportunity with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto who were all out together for a group photo in their classic outfits. I had loved these rare photo opportunities that only happen on longer sailings when we had done our Transatlantic cruise back in 2015 so was really looking forward to this one as well. The line was very short as it was not listed as a group photo on the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app (it simply said “Character Photo”) but thankfully one of the amazing Cast Members that we had been talking to had told me about it the previous day. I also later found out that we had sadly missed the group photo of the characters in their Hawaiian outfits which took place on our first day in Nawiliwili.

It had been a few days since we had last done some laundry and we once again needed some clean clothes. After finding an empty machine on Deck 7, we headed to Cabanas for a light breakfast. All I had was a bowl of pineapple which is probably the healthiest breakfast that I have ever had in eight cruises as well as the last twenty years of my life in general. I was hungry but I did not want anything else to eat as we had a brunch reservation at Palo at midday.

After leaving Cabanas and putting our laundry into one of the dryers, we walked around the ship and met Moana, Rapunzel as well as Spiderman who were meeting in the Lobby Atrium.

After collecting our laundry we went back to our stateroom for a shower and to start getting ready for our brunch at Palo. As there were so many Platinum Castaway Club members sailing on this cruise, it had been impossible to get a brunch reservation as a Gold Castaway Club member when our booking window opened 105 days before the cruise – so any Silver members or first time cruisers had no chance at all. However despite there being nothing available, the moral of the story is to not moan (as some did) and never give up – both of us checked the Disney Cruise Line website or the Disney Cruise Line app multiple times every day and we eventually managed to get a Palo brunch booking about three weeks before we sailed when someone cancelled their reservation.

We arrived at Palo on Deck 10 just before Midday which is the latest that we have ever had brunch as given a choice we would always book an earlier time. We were shown to a table next to the window and introduced to our server who was the incredible and amazing Sylvester from Mumbai.

It was our first time dining in Palo since the changes to the brunch offering as there is now no longer a buffet option (we did not go to Palo on either of our Disney Magic at Sea staycation cruises) so we were interested to see how the experience had changed and if we still liked it as much as we did the last time we had Palo brunch which was on our Disney Fantasy cruise back in 2019. As well as the menu, Sylvester bought us both a Mimosa (which is included in the charge for Palo) to drink and we also ordered a bottle of San Pellegrino which was served with lemon.

As well as a basket of beautiful and freshly baked breads (my favourite was the beautiful Red Onion Focaccia) Sylvester also brought both plates of the different Antipasti selections for us to share. I also found out that if there was something you did not like on the plates they could leave it off and add more of or also bring more out of something that you did like. I do not eat meat but I loved the seafood plate and the Spiced Ahi Tuna was my absolute favourite thing that I tried – who would have thought that up until two days beforehand I had never eaten tuna before but now I absolutely loved it especially with the spice! I honestly thought that I would miss the buffet but I really didn’t and I thought the food quality was even better than before.

As we were chatting to Sylvester we mentioned the amazing and very much missed Grape and Gorgonzola pizza and he said they could make one and shortly afterwards, the best pizza in the world was on the table in front of us which us simply incredible and it tasted so good. I know that we’re not the only people who love and miss this pizza so I really wish that it could go back on the menu permanently. I also ordered the Artichoke Ravioli which is one of my favourite Palo dishes ever and it tasted just as good if not better than I remembered.

Sylvester also brought us both a warm and freshly baked Almond Croissant before we ordered dessert. I could not decide what dessert to have so ordered the Vanilla Berry Panna Cotta (the strawberry basil sorbet was divine) and we shared the beautiful Raspberry Chocolate Crunch Tart. All of our desserts were heavenly and we were both happily stuffed afterwards.

There is an upcharge of $45 per person to have brunch at Palo and I have read a lot of opinions saying it is not worth it anymore now that the buffet is no longer available but I could not disagree more. I absolutely loved every minute of our brunch on this cruise and I still believe it to be completely worth the money especially as you can still order as much food as you want from the menu. Times change and it was far from the disappointment that I was told to expect and I still walked out completely full and in food heaven. I was also looking forward to our dinner in Palo on the last night of our cruise even more and we have already booked brunch on our next cruise as we cannot wait to go back again.

Back in our stateroom we had two more towel animals sitting on our bed waiting for us and one of our other creations had moved into the bathroom where we found them hanging off the side of the sink – my favourite part of each day was seeing what towel animals would appear and where they would be. We had also been left some bandanas ready for Pirate Night and our towel monkey was already wearing theirs! We got changed into some comfortable clothes as we needed to walk off our amazing Palo brunch.

Our first job was to return the duplicate Hawaii T-Shirt as I had bought two sizes on the night that the shops first opened. As I was not sure which one would fit the Cast Members simply told me to get both, try them on back in our stateroom and then simply return whichever one I did not need later in the cruise which worked perfectly.

We got a cup of tea from Deck 9 which we brought back down to Deck 4 as we wanted to walk some laps to help work off our brunch – three laps of Deck 4 on the Disney Wonder is a mile. We also attempted to play shuffleboard for the first time ever and very quickly discovered we are both rubbish at shuffleboard so we probably will not attempt to play it again for a while.

Between 3:45pm and 4:30pm on Decks 3,4 and 5 in the Lobby Atrium we were able to meet Mickey, Chip and Dale, Stitch, Goofy, Hook, Smee and Minnie who were all out in their pirate costumes ready for Pirate Night that evening. It was so nice to be able to get all the photos done and out of the way so early in the day with no lines whatsoever which meant we could relax for the rest of the day and have a very chilled night. Even though all of the character meets had been very quiet so far this cruise (it was only ever the same handful of people in line each time), sometimes it can get very busy on Pirate Night so we were happy to see all of the characters when we did that afternoon.

Back in our stateroom we had been left a charcuterie plate and after getting changed, we then headed up to the Quiet Cove Pool for the rest of the afternoon. Even though it was 5:00pm the weather was still beautiful out, the sea was calm and the skies were still blue. I was starting to feel a little tired so I got a small Soy Latte from the Cove Cafe to have some much needed caffeine. We also made the most of a very empty Quiet Cove Pool and even though there were not many people around, we could never get into one of the hot tubs as they were always full as the people sitting in them did not move for hours at a time so no one else had a chance to use them.

After sitting by the pool, we made a cup of tea to take back to our stateroom where after having a shower, we sat on the bed and watched the start of George of the Jungle on the television and it was lovely to see the beautiful Kualoa Ranch where it was filmed and where we had visited on Oahu the previous week before boarding our cruise.

Before making our way down to dinner, we walked around Deck 10 a few times to the sounds of the Pirate music playing around us and Muppet Treasure Island playing on Funnelvision.

Our dinner on Pirate Night was back in Tiana’s Place however it was not the traditional Pirate menu but the World of Flavour dinner instead. As the light-up Pascal in Rapunzel’s Royal Table had been sold out on our Disney Magic at Sea staycation cruises, I had already decided that I needed to get the light-up Ray from Tiana’s Place which clips onto the side of your drink. He cost me a couple of dollars and I could not stop smiling and laughing at the sight of him constantly changing colour whilst hanging off of my glass of Sprite.

I had the Vietnamese Spring Rolls to start followed by the Indian Prawn Curry for my main course. I was still quite full from our Palo Brunch earlier in the day so skipped dessert as I was hoping that my beloved Strawberry Panna Cotta that I last had on our Disney Fantasy cruise back in 2019 would be available at the Pirate Night buffet in Cabanas after the fireworks that evening.

After finishing our dinner we made our way up to Deck 10 to grab our favourite spot ready for the Pirates in the Caribbean (or should that be Pirates in the Pacific) deck party and we were the first ones there. After having no deck parties for the last few years, I did not mind being early and I was so excited to see the fireworks that night. The party was due to start at 10:00pm and it only got busy in the ten minutes before showtime – in fact it was the first time I have ever seen Deck 10 busier than Deck 9.

After the cruise staff had warmed up the crowd, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale appeared on the stage and danced to Try Everything, Me Too, Birthday, What Makes You Beautiful, Treasure, Uptown Funk, Time of Our Lives, Shut Up and Dance With Me and Cake by the Ocean.

Shortly afterwards Captain Hook and Smee arrived on deck to take over the party as well as the ship. The assistance of Captain Mickey was quickly needed who appeared opposite us on the other side of Deck 10 and ran down to the stage and did not zip line across the decks between the two funnels as expected. After seeing this deck party before, it was obvious that something had gone wrong as the fireworks did not start as expected and Mickey just told everyone to keep on dancing.

At this point I was just smiling and laughing so much as it really was like old times once again as something has always bizarrely gone wrong at one of the deck parties every time we have sailed on the Disney Wonder – at least Mickey did not fall down the funnel like he did on our last cruise on the Disney Wonder back in 2017!

Our Cruise Director Lee arrived on stage to let us know that there had been some last minute technical issues so they were not able to do the fireworks that night – as he said it’s never good news when the only person dressed in white and not as a pirate makes an appearance. He also said that they had already spoken to Captain Fabian and were hoping to do the fireworks in the next few days. The Club Pirate dance party started and again you know something has gone drastically wrong when both the Cruise Director and Assistant Cruise Director are dancing to the Cha Cha Slide! Despite all of this, it was so good to see the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party back again after everything that has happened in the last two years.

After Club Pirate had finished, we joined a long line for the buffet and it was definitely the longest line I had seen the entire cruise as only one side of Cabanas was open. The normal Pirate Night foods were all present (along with the incredible fruit carvings) but the longest line of all was for the crepe station. We walked past everyone waiting for the crepes to the area where the desserts were set up and I was so happy that they had my beloved Strawberry Panna Cotta which I got two of to take back to our stateroom to eat.

We sat in bed with our desserts from Cabanas as well as a cup of tea (as always) and finished watching George of the Jungle on the television. We had another message on the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app to let us know that the second time change of the cruise would be happening overnight so before falling asleep we remembered to put our clocks forward on our phones by one hour. I was looking forward to yet another lazy day onboard the Disney Wonder and was hoping that the fireworks would take place the following night and we would find out in the morning if that was going to happen.

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