A Disney Wonder-ous Engagement!

On September 25, 2008, our first night aboard the Disney Wonder: somewhere between a full stomach from a fantastic dinner, and childish laughter from a creative "towel animal," Jolyon proposed. Despite our serious talks about the future for months (a year, really, if you count our innocent musings last fall), he completely surprised me when I realized that he was, in fact, down on one knee, ring-box in hand, asking me to marry him.

We had been planning to go on a 3-night Disney Cruise for awhile, checking the "space available" link on our Cast Member website on a daily basis. Finally, an availability opened, and for less than a hundred bucks a night each, we were booked for our first cruise. Neither of us had ever been on a cruise before, and were thrilled that we'd be experiencing this together, and for an incredible discount.
We ate dinner at Palo, a fancy Italian restauarant, on our first evening on the ship. It's an adults-only restaurant, in which the women are required to wear dresses and the men must don a jacket and tie. This was a unique experience for me-- for us actually-- since we never eat at expensive restaurants, and we certainly don't dress up to go out to eat. However, for a mere $15.00 extra a person (all the other restaurants on board the ship are included in your booking price), we dined in a fabulous atmosphere: on the top deck of the ship with a breathtaking view of a sunset sea.

After dinner, we went back to our room to change into casual clothes. Our room host had left an adorable surprise for us-- a towel animal on the bed, which was wearing my sunglasses. Launching into full tourist mode, I insisted that Jolyon take a picture of this cuteness, and I proceeded to lie down on the bed next to the creature. Jolyon stooped down to my level to snap the photo. I laughed and looked up at him; he had a contemplative look in his eye, and he started to speak very slowly:

"This has been the best vacation so far... and only one thing would make it better... (it's at this point that I realize he is down on one knee, and he removes a jewelry box from his pocket)... if you were my fiancee." He opens the box to reveal a stunning diamond engagement ring.
I think I said something intelligent like, "oh my God, oh my God," because he had to ask me again, "So... will you?" Of course I said yes, wrapping my arms around his neck, feeling myself becoming emotional. I was in a state of complete amazement, if that's even the appropriate word, and Jolyon had to ask if I wanted to put on the ring. He asked me if I recognized it, then told me it was the very first design I had said I liked, back in June, when we first started looking at rings together. He had told me that he had called the store a few weeks after the fact to see if the ring was still there, but that someone had already purchased it. I didn't think much of it, at the time, because we were still looking around... but I silently compared every other ring to that specific one. Turns out that the "someone" who had purchased that ring was him.

Afterwards, he gave me another jewelry box, which contained two notes: one was typed and had a cute design around it, and it read, "I Love You" ... the other was handwritten, reading, "I owe you one real ring." Beneath these notes was a Ring Pop. I laughed outloud as Jolyon explained that he was going to give me this box first, and then surprise me with the real ring at another time. But he told me he didn't really have a plan, that he didn't even know if he would propose on this trip... he just wanted the moment to feel right. And it was.
The rest of the cruise went by too quickly, as most vacations do, but we had an amazing time. We ate delicious food from three additional restaurants, enjoyed two broadway-style shows, danced with pirates, indulged in a midnight dessert buffet, sailed on a glass-bottom boat, explored Disney's private island on bikes, snorkled with (and touched!) tropical fish, and saw Captain Jack Sparrow from afar. And yet, we probably only tackled a quarter of the activities and excursions that Disney's cruiseline offers. It definitely won't be my last cruise, but it will certainly be the most memorable.