Day 1: Embarkation

Canada Place from Deck 10 aboard the Disney Wonder

Embarkation day. The day you board the cruise ship. In our case it's the Disney Wonder. We made it to Canada Place after a quick stop at a local Mall to pick up some binoculars. It's a mortal lock that you will forget something "vitally" important when you go on vacation. In our case it turned out to be binoculars. If that's the worst thing that happens on this trip I think we'll be doing fine.

At Canada Place we dropped off our checked luggage and then parked the car in long term parking. We got our long term parking pass and then headed up the elevators to start the 'waiting in line' portion of Embarkation day. We showed our boarding passes and passports to the Canadian TSA equivalent and then wound our way through the security line.

At the front of the line there is an x-ray machine and a metal detector just like you'd see in airports. Remembering my 5-P's (Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance) I tucked all of my metal and electronic devices into my backpack. My turn came up and I put the backpack on the x-ray machines conveyor belt and headed through the metal detector. It went off. I had forgotten that I was wearing my steel toe boots. Well done Me!Before you ask, my steel toe boots are more like light weight hiking boots. They are the most comfortable shoes I own. That's why I was wearing them.

Out came the wand. After a quick wand down, and some dirty looks from TSA Canada. I got to run and catch up with Heather and Cam. I do love my wife. We had six bags between us and she had found a way to hang all six bags around her body. She looked like an animated luggage rack. Talk about Disney magic. There's got to be an animated luggage rack scene added to Fantasia. It was truly awesome.

After the security check we checked in at the gate and were given a card with a number. We waited for that number to be called and then queued up again for boarding. We had our picture taken and then were herded out to the gangway. Down a ramp, around a corner, down a second ramp, then we step on the boat. A crew member asks us for our family name, and then they announce our arrival over the Public Address system. Very cheesy, and a lot of fun.

Welcome Aboard MacBeerchill Family!