3 Night Disney Wonder Cruise Getaway Part 1 Gaylord Palms

Every now and again, I need to escape to my favorite place. What? you ask – aren’t you there all the time? Yes, it does seem like I”m there quite a bit. But I need to get away to RELAX; not as someone who has appointments or research items or a large to do list.

One of the ways I visit my favorite place and relax is by taking a Disney cruise. I do not plan any meets and just use the time for myself and my friends. No meetings, no research…well, there is always the desire to take photographs.

A number of months ago, several of us decided to take a Winter break and head to the Bahamas; the 3 night Disney Wonder Cruise. On this journey were Masayo and Mamoru (Japan), Beci Mahnken (Washington State), Linda Mac (Florida) and LindaLou and myself (Maryland).

We’d fly down Wednesday after work and then head to the port on Thursday.

I decided to check out my new 2008 advertiser, Gaylord Palms and made a reservation for one night.
While I had toured Gaylord Palms before, I had never stayed there. I did not make any special arrangements with my contact person. I simply made a reservation like anyone else would. The online reservation process worked very well. We requested a Florida View King Non-Smoking room and that was exactly what we received.

The room was really nice and big. We had plenty of area to have our suitcases out and move around!

There is a resort fee of $16.95 per room per night which includes: daily newspaper delivered to your guest room door; wireless internet access in your guest room and in public spaces throughout the hotel in the three atriums (St. Augustine, Everglades & Key West); in-room high speed internet access; two bottles of Dasani water delivered daily to your guest room refrigerator; complimentary local and toll free telephone calls (up to 20 minutes); use of Canyon Ranch SpaClub fitness center; complimentary scheduled shuttle bus service to Walt Disney World theme parks and a free bucket of range balls at nearby Falcon’s Fire Golf Club.

Arriving late like we did after plane travel, I have to say we were very glad to have 2 cold bottles of water waiting for us in the room. We also used the in-room internet service and enjoyed the newspaper.

The next morning, Linda Mac met LindaLou and I for breakfast at Villa de Flora. It’s a buffet which includes an omelet station. I joked with LindaMac that there was an entire area just for carnivors 🙂 There were a wide variety of options to choose from. Our server was quite good.

In fact, all the employees we encountered at Gaylord Palms were above average, some exceptional!

And after breakfast we toured the atriums. In the St. Augustine area, there is a gator pond!

I look forward to staying here again in the near future and enjoy more of the resort. Oh, and if you are in the Orlando area during December, be sure to check out ICE! a unique winter experience at Gaylord Palms!

Stay tuned for Part 2 as we gather all our personal belongings and head to the Port!