eandesmom
I'm with Beast
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
Youll never get me on a cruise. Unless its to ALASKA! Recap and New PTR Link! 2/1
- Thread starter eandesmom
- Start date
eandesmom
I'm with Beast
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
HI Cynthia! Finally made it over, and will catch up soon. Just here to mark my place and say HI!
Liesa's here! I'm only on day 2 so you are in good shape 
my friend!
englishrose47
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2007
The Alsaka Cruise is a dream of mine !!! So I am living my dream through your TR!!!!
eandesmom
I'm with Beast
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
Well I think at that point we may have actually been in Hecate Strait, which is rather shallow so that's a great analogy. Clearly it was deep enough to sail through but oh it was so calm! We were going pretty slow though I think.
I hope somdeay you can Rosie, it really was amazing.
eandesmom
I'm with Beast
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
Well, that foghorn was certainly rude!I would not have been happy either - but I guess it gave you a chance to go for a nice walk - the scenery is fantastic. Almost makes me want to cruise to Alaska. Almost.
Honeslty Tammie, I really don't think it was any colder than your Repo in May!Thankfully that was the only day of foghorn.
eandesmom
I'm with Beast
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
It was noon and wed had a late breakfast. We decided to make our way back up and get a late, light lunch after we perused the shops just to see what we might see. The Es and I had a must do on our list. Winnie the Pooh was playing at 1:45. While I find it hard to believe that took us an hour and 45 minutes, I admit I dont recall doing anything else. The boys of course found tons of pins and other things that they wanted to buy NOW but were convinced to wait and think about it a little bit. Nothing they wanted was anything I thought would run out. Jeff spent most of his time looking at the special map they had for sale of our cruise, though didnt mention he was thinking about buying it. While none of us were all that hungry, we knew if we waited until after the movie, wed be sorry. Most of us hit up Goofys for Paninis, which had to be cooked to order. Eric I think got a cheeseburger from Plutos. We learned that the sandwhich was really a half a sandwhich so if you wanted a full Panini, it was best to order two. There were not a ton of optiosn for sides, bananas, apples or fruit. No chips which just seems wrong to me, not that I needed them. Next to it we discovered the 24 hour soft serve ice cream station. Hmm! Something to remember for later. As our meals were cooked to order we quickly ran short on time and after inhaling our food the boys and I took off for the theater.
Jeff had NO interest in it and opted to get his book and read while we went to the movie. This was our first movie on the ship, and on any cruise ship for me for that matter. Note to self. Movies on the Disney ships are PACKED! It took us a minute to find the theater and since wed cut it close, we were maybe 5 minutes late. Note to self. Movies on the Disney ships start on TIME and there are NO previews! I mistakenly let Evan lead us and he proceeded to steer us towards the middle of a row. Which, to be fair, had 3 nice empty seats. But the movie had already started, it was packed and it was dark. And note to self. The Buena Vista Theater is ridiculously tall and narrow. There is basically no room to pass in front of someone without whacking them. It is a great theater, with good views but oh, the narrowness and no cup holders! Just wrong if you ask me. Honestly it was probably my biggest issue on the ship. Impossible to walk past anyone and if anyone even breathes behind you they basically kick you and arent even trying. Which meant of course at some point, Im sure I kicked someone. But back to the movie. It was absolutely adorable! We all loved it and it was just the right length. We did feel movement of the ship during the movie, or at least I noticed it. I believe we entered the Dixon entrance during the movie. Our first must do complete the boys had swimming on the brain.
I got them settled
and took off to find Jeff who had moved in to the Outlook Café. For the Alaska itinerary I believe this area is now different than it was before and is all glassed in. They have a lovely drink menu but hot tea just sounded lovely. I cant find the menu online but they had lots of delicious offerings, ala GF tea if you ask me. I wanted to try and finish my book (The Help) as it was showing that night!
Tea consumed we decided we really didnt want to be inside. Our plan was to read a little bit outside, hit the gym, shower and then all head to the Golden Mickeys.
We found a lovely, deserted, spot on the back of the boat and continued our lazy reading (after checking to make sure our waterlogged boys were still, in fact, waterlogged and content. And to alert them to our location.
And while you cant see it and I sure as heck never managed to capture any shots, we did see a humpback whale! Not sure if it was one or two as those suckers move surprisingly fast.
While it may not have been the best idea before a workout we did make a stop here.
We also had one of these. Nice pre-workout choices I know. It was vacation! I think Jeff reused some water cups from somewhere and filled us up from the room, which we had stocked the day before.
Really, it doesnt get much better than this
The weather was just gorgeous and we had very little wind at this point, it actually felt pretty darn warm
Theres a another whale out there, I swear
At this point, though we could have quite happily just stayed on deck and had another beer enjoying sun and whales, we decided we need to go sweat out the days activities (lack of) so that we could justify eating again that night. Not to mention getting dressed up as it was formal night!
I did not take my camera to the gym for obvious reasons. And unlike Jeff who had scoped it out fully while I was getting my nails done, I hadnt and so just proceeded to the bike, putting my jacket on the back of my bike seat. While the views from the spa were something else, the view from the gym, another thing entirely! Completely encased in glass you have a front row view and it was the most gorgeous distraction Ive ever had while working out. As a result, and due to a lack of built in fans on the bike and a room slightly on the warm side, after an hour on the bike jamming away to a view and my ipod cranked up I managed to semi soak my jacket that Id put on the back of my bike without realizing it. EEW! I was NOT happy about that as Id planned to wear it the next day for Tracy Arm. I went ahead to wash my jacket in the room while Jeff rounded up the troops, telling them to just shower at the pool.
Cutting it close, as we are wont to do, Jeff hopped in the shower while I finished up the handwash of my jacket and then draped it on the balcony, then hopping into the shower myself. With no time to spare we booked it to the Golden Mickeys. The boys leaving first as I was drying my hair, to get us seats. As it was only a 45 minute show we figured we had time to go back and dress for dinner. As a result, we were underdressed. Id never seen the show, and while I knew the general story line, that was about it. The boys were clueless, knowing only that Id said we HAD to go. I found them relatively easily, via wave phone and as we settled into our seats we were very amused to see one of our tablemates daughters being interviewed on the red carpet, she was adorable. We really really loved the show, and the theater, which was much easier to navigate around is just lovely.
Heading back to the room, we proceeded to get ready for dinner and opened one of our bottles of wine, having a glass while we got ready. Interestingly enough, I was by far the fastest to get ready! The boys had new shirts that needed ironing and Jeff needed to iron as well. We tried spraying the shirts down and then tossing them in the dryer with my still wet jacket (or more accurately Evan did that part, having been equipped with the mission to 1) Find the laundry room and 2) stick stuff in the dryer, using my KTTW card. He managed all of that just fine but .they still needed ironing. Jeff took on the challenge since his shirt wasnt acceptable as well.
I forgot just how long and perfectionist Jeff can be when it comes to ironing a dress shirt.
We had 2nd seating. 8:15. At 8, all boys were still missing and I was dressed and ready to go. So I decided to take pictures of our FE loot for the day. Sadly I did not do a good job of keeping up on this and the Es inhaled candy as it arrived. Actually Jeff was probably just as bad with the candy!
The kids came back and well, we did the best we could with what we had to work with.
Eric kept making these cheesy smiles so Evan tried to make him laugh
Why is it both cant look at the camera at the same time?
A few last glimpses of the evening, while we waited for Jeff
Believe it or not, we did make it to dinner. Definitely not early though! Im guessing we were a good 15 minutes late, late enough that our tablemates apparently thought we might not be making it. Theyd spotted us at the Golden Mickeys and noted we werent dressed for dinner. You might recall that the night before one of the moms had asked if they could sit by their girls at dinner moving forward. Wed actually thought about it all day and had decided that we didnt want the boys to be upset so wed put them in the middle and us on the end so they could be by the girls, if they were in the middle. Since we were late, it had already been decided. By the girls! It was a round table and apparently the girls had gotten mad at their moms when it was suggested they sit closer together, stating that they got to eat them them all the time, and wanting to sit by the boys. So again, and for the rest of the week, the 4 kids sat near each other. Wed rotate who was by whom, both adults and kids but basically the 4 of them ignored us at mealtimes unless they had a food question or we were trying to tell them something. The moms had done their Palo brunch that morning and we enjoyed getting the scoop, as we had reservations ourselves for the next day. Due to the lateness of our arrival wed not gotten any formal pictures taken and I didn't bring my camera as it's a bit big for the evening bag, but the one at the table was decent enough I bought it! As you can see, we were in Parrot Cay. Id originally been disappointed in this for our formal night rotation but it really was lovely all around. We had a lovely meal and splurged on a bottle of wine with dinner. I am not sure at all what I had to eat other than it went with a nice Riserva Chianti as that is what wed chosen for wine. Whatever it was, was good.
Much has been made about the Alaska cruise being more casual. We saw NO signs of that at dinner, everyone had dressed for it, probably equal parts jacket and no jacket for the men, though more women in cocktail type dresses than long. Everyone looked fabulous. After dinner the kids all wanted to hang together and collectively, we agreed and set a target return to stateroom time. The moms were off to one of the adult clubs for a show (I cant recall which one) and we were off to see the Help. First though we swung by Shutters to check out our embarkation photo (liked) and then by the room to fill up the wineglasses wed managed to hang onto and walk out of the restaurant with (sneaky I know). But really, in a cocktail dress, drinking wine out of the drinking glasses from the room just didnt work for me. Once again we arrived exactly on time as the movie was starting. Actually it HAD started and we ended up in the front row! About half way through the phone rang and the kids had actually followed instructions and gone to the room, and bed, at the agreed upon time. By the time the movie was over at almost 1am, we were ready for the same!
Jeff had NO interest in it and opted to get his book and read while we went to the movie. This was our first movie on the ship, and on any cruise ship for me for that matter. Note to self. Movies on the Disney ships are PACKED! It took us a minute to find the theater and since wed cut it close, we were maybe 5 minutes late. Note to self. Movies on the Disney ships start on TIME and there are NO previews! I mistakenly let Evan lead us and he proceeded to steer us towards the middle of a row. Which, to be fair, had 3 nice empty seats. But the movie had already started, it was packed and it was dark. And note to self. The Buena Vista Theater is ridiculously tall and narrow. There is basically no room to pass in front of someone without whacking them. It is a great theater, with good views but oh, the narrowness and no cup holders! Just wrong if you ask me. Honestly it was probably my biggest issue on the ship. Impossible to walk past anyone and if anyone even breathes behind you they basically kick you and arent even trying. Which meant of course at some point, Im sure I kicked someone. But back to the movie. It was absolutely adorable! We all loved it and it was just the right length. We did feel movement of the ship during the movie, or at least I noticed it. I believe we entered the Dixon entrance during the movie. Our first must do complete the boys had swimming on the brain.
I got them settled
and took off to find Jeff who had moved in to the Outlook Café. For the Alaska itinerary I believe this area is now different than it was before and is all glassed in. They have a lovely drink menu but hot tea just sounded lovely. I cant find the menu online but they had lots of delicious offerings, ala GF tea if you ask me. I wanted to try and finish my book (The Help) as it was showing that night!
Tea consumed we decided we really didnt want to be inside. Our plan was to read a little bit outside, hit the gym, shower and then all head to the Golden Mickeys.
We found a lovely, deserted, spot on the back of the boat and continued our lazy reading (after checking to make sure our waterlogged boys were still, in fact, waterlogged and content. And to alert them to our location.
And while you cant see it and I sure as heck never managed to capture any shots, we did see a humpback whale! Not sure if it was one or two as those suckers move surprisingly fast.
While it may not have been the best idea before a workout we did make a stop here.
We also had one of these. Nice pre-workout choices I know. It was vacation! I think Jeff reused some water cups from somewhere and filled us up from the room, which we had stocked the day before.
Really, it doesnt get much better than this
The weather was just gorgeous and we had very little wind at this point, it actually felt pretty darn warm
Theres a another whale out there, I swear
At this point, though we could have quite happily just stayed on deck and had another beer enjoying sun and whales, we decided we need to go sweat out the days activities (lack of) so that we could justify eating again that night. Not to mention getting dressed up as it was formal night!
I did not take my camera to the gym for obvious reasons. And unlike Jeff who had scoped it out fully while I was getting my nails done, I hadnt and so just proceeded to the bike, putting my jacket on the back of my bike seat. While the views from the spa were something else, the view from the gym, another thing entirely! Completely encased in glass you have a front row view and it was the most gorgeous distraction Ive ever had while working out. As a result, and due to a lack of built in fans on the bike and a room slightly on the warm side, after an hour on the bike jamming away to a view and my ipod cranked up I managed to semi soak my jacket that Id put on the back of my bike without realizing it. EEW! I was NOT happy about that as Id planned to wear it the next day for Tracy Arm. I went ahead to wash my jacket in the room while Jeff rounded up the troops, telling them to just shower at the pool.
Cutting it close, as we are wont to do, Jeff hopped in the shower while I finished up the handwash of my jacket and then draped it on the balcony, then hopping into the shower myself. With no time to spare we booked it to the Golden Mickeys. The boys leaving first as I was drying my hair, to get us seats. As it was only a 45 minute show we figured we had time to go back and dress for dinner. As a result, we were underdressed. Id never seen the show, and while I knew the general story line, that was about it. The boys were clueless, knowing only that Id said we HAD to go. I found them relatively easily, via wave phone and as we settled into our seats we were very amused to see one of our tablemates daughters being interviewed on the red carpet, she was adorable. We really really loved the show, and the theater, which was much easier to navigate around is just lovely.
Heading back to the room, we proceeded to get ready for dinner and opened one of our bottles of wine, having a glass while we got ready. Interestingly enough, I was by far the fastest to get ready! The boys had new shirts that needed ironing and Jeff needed to iron as well. We tried spraying the shirts down and then tossing them in the dryer with my still wet jacket (or more accurately Evan did that part, having been equipped with the mission to 1) Find the laundry room and 2) stick stuff in the dryer, using my KTTW card. He managed all of that just fine but .they still needed ironing. Jeff took on the challenge since his shirt wasnt acceptable as well.
I forgot just how long and perfectionist Jeff can be when it comes to ironing a dress shirt.
We had 2nd seating. 8:15. At 8, all boys were still missing and I was dressed and ready to go. So I decided to take pictures of our FE loot for the day. Sadly I did not do a good job of keeping up on this and the Es inhaled candy as it arrived. Actually Jeff was probably just as bad with the candy!
The kids came back and well, we did the best we could with what we had to work with.
Eric kept making these cheesy smiles so Evan tried to make him laugh
Why is it both cant look at the camera at the same time?
A few last glimpses of the evening, while we waited for Jeff
Believe it or not, we did make it to dinner. Definitely not early though! Im guessing we were a good 15 minutes late, late enough that our tablemates apparently thought we might not be making it. Theyd spotted us at the Golden Mickeys and noted we werent dressed for dinner. You might recall that the night before one of the moms had asked if they could sit by their girls at dinner moving forward. Wed actually thought about it all day and had decided that we didnt want the boys to be upset so wed put them in the middle and us on the end so they could be by the girls, if they were in the middle. Since we were late, it had already been decided. By the girls! It was a round table and apparently the girls had gotten mad at their moms when it was suggested they sit closer together, stating that they got to eat them them all the time, and wanting to sit by the boys. So again, and for the rest of the week, the 4 kids sat near each other. Wed rotate who was by whom, both adults and kids but basically the 4 of them ignored us at mealtimes unless they had a food question or we were trying to tell them something. The moms had done their Palo brunch that morning and we enjoyed getting the scoop, as we had reservations ourselves for the next day. Due to the lateness of our arrival wed not gotten any formal pictures taken and I didn't bring my camera as it's a bit big for the evening bag, but the one at the table was decent enough I bought it! As you can see, we were in Parrot Cay. Id originally been disappointed in this for our formal night rotation but it really was lovely all around. We had a lovely meal and splurged on a bottle of wine with dinner. I am not sure at all what I had to eat other than it went with a nice Riserva Chianti as that is what wed chosen for wine. Whatever it was, was good.
Much has been made about the Alaska cruise being more casual. We saw NO signs of that at dinner, everyone had dressed for it, probably equal parts jacket and no jacket for the men, though more women in cocktail type dresses than long. Everyone looked fabulous. After dinner the kids all wanted to hang together and collectively, we agreed and set a target return to stateroom time. The moms were off to one of the adult clubs for a show (I cant recall which one) and we were off to see the Help. First though we swung by Shutters to check out our embarkation photo (liked) and then by the room to fill up the wineglasses wed managed to hang onto and walk out of the restaurant with (sneaky I know). But really, in a cocktail dress, drinking wine out of the drinking glasses from the room just didnt work for me. Once again we arrived exactly on time as the movie was starting. Actually it HAD started and we ended up in the front row! About half way through the phone rang and the kids had actually followed instructions and gone to the room, and bed, at the agreed upon time. By the time the movie was over at almost 1am, we were ready for the same!
KatMark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2007
I posted right before you. 
Great update, Cynthia. It looks as if it was a nice relaxing day...well, until you had to hurry to get ready for dinner.
I've tried taking pictures of dolphins while sitting on the beach...they never turn out.
The boys look so handsome all dressed up, and that is a great family photo.
Great update, Cynthia. It looks as if it was a nice relaxing day...well, until you had to hurry to get ready for dinner.
I've tried taking pictures of dolphins while sitting on the beach...they never turn out.
The boys look so handsome all dressed up, and that is a great family photo.
jeremysdisneymom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2008
Wow, the views are absolutely breathtaking! Reading your trip has me looking at Alaska cruise prices!
treece2122
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 3, 2010
Great formal night photo! Love the boys' matching ties.
The gym sounds great (even despite the drenched jacket); floor to ceiling windows and an amazing view would make me want to work out too!
Something about your pictures has me craving a nice beer, a good book, and a comfortable deck chair....now that sounds like a relaxing vacation!
Great update!
The gym sounds great (even despite the drenched jacket); floor to ceiling windows and an amazing view would make me want to work out too!
Something about your pictures has me craving a nice beer, a good book, and a comfortable deck chair....now that sounds like a relaxing vacation!
Great update!
eandesmom
I'm with Beast
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
Ninja post!
Tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!
If I don't make it over to wish you an official send off, have a GREAT GREAT trip! I know you will!I posted right before you.
Great update, Cynthia. It looks as if it was a nice relaxing day...well, until you had to hurry to get ready for dinner.
Ah well, that's the story of our life, we milk the time till the 11th hour and then run around like crazy people. I guess the good news is we BOTH do it so can't really be annoyed with the other.
I've tried taking pictures of dolphins while sitting on the beach...they never turn out.
The boys look so handsome all dressed up, and that is a great family photo.
They are pretty cute
I'll keep them. Though they look a lot better now with their back to school haircuts.I'd look at 2013 when it comes out asap as they prices go up fast! It was pricey, but worth it. If you can go on either end of the season, not nearly as bad though. I'd have loved to go one week later but when we booked it we thought school would be starting, it would have been a better deal but oh well.
thanks! It was funny, both outgrew their dress shirts and it's easier at their sizes, to buy a tie/shirt set. They loved one tie and hated the other so we had to go do a swap so they had the same one and didn't fight over it. I actually prefer the ties they got with the old shirts that didn't fit versus these but they loved these ones so it was all good.
The gym sounds great (even despite the drenched jacket); floor to ceiling windows and an amazing view would make me want to work out too!It is a gorgeous facility!!
Something about your pictures has me craving a nice beer, a good book, and a comfortable deck chair....now that sounds like a relaxing vacation!
Great update!
I'd love to be doing that right now, it sounds absolutely heavenly!
Congrats on your puppies! I can see wanting to postpone. I had to take both of our cats to the vet while we were gone which was a first. They did fine but OUCH!
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
Cynthia, I love your trip report. You seem to have such a great time on that cruise and it makes me want to change plans for the trip in October and take Katharina on a cruise instead of WDW now... (not going to happen, but I really need to figure out how to cruise within the next two years!!).
KristiMc
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2005
Great formal night photo. I loved just sitting on our verandah reading during our cruise. You can't get more relaxed.
FYI - We sent out about 5 shirts and 1 dress to get pressed on the first day of our cruise and it was only $14. Very reasonable if you don't want to deal with ironing.
FYI - We sent out about 5 shirts and 1 dress to get pressed on the first day of our cruise and it was only $14. Very reasonable if you don't want to deal with ironing.
eandesmom
I'm with Beast
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
Cynthia, I love your trip report. You seem to have such a great time on that cruise and it makes me want to change plans for the trip in October and take Katharina on a cruise instead of WDW now... (not going to happen, but I really need to figure out how to cruise within the next two years!!).
Oh you do, you both would love it! I know I'll be keeping an eye out for the 2013 itineraries when released as the prices are so much better the earlier you book. The nice thing about the day at sea, especially for us who are always just go go go go, is it really does force you to slow down. Which is very helpful for us!
It was a wonderful trip.
Thanks! I was pleasantly surprised with the restaurant one. There is something about a verandah isn't there? Even if you are only out there for 5 minutes, or 10, it's so very restorative and relaxing!
We did think about that, sending them out, but weren't really organized enough to do it unpacking wise due to our late arrival until the next day at at that point it seemed easier to just iron but it's good to know the prices, that isn't bad.
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