Our Wonderful "Pixar" Pacific Coast Cruise, October 7-14, 2012 ~ Completed! ~ w/ pics

[PlutoRocks]

Hello fellow Chandler Disney fan!!

I just stumbled upon your report much like I find everything else on the internet by randomly clicking on links from various pages. I love the pictures and I had no idea Disney had a cruise that spent more than one night in San Francisco - I have only been once but I loved it.

 

[wiigirl]

I love your pictures!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I am really enjoying your TR...what a nice way to get to know the wonder! Thanks!

You're welcome!

So glad to see you got your husband to go.

All your pictures are lovely especially San Francisco at night.

Hi old friend! We think about you everytime we cruise, especially when we were hanging out in the Route 66 area and taking pictures in the huge port holes. Hope you are all doing well!

It was never a doubt in my mind that DH would go on this cruise. By the time our deadline came to pay in full, DH was more than ready for a vacation!

Your photos are amazing, I can tell that you hang out on the photography board (also your scavenger hunt siggie pic gives it away), but I'm loving all your pictures!

I never thought I would want to do a Pacific Coast cruise since I grew up in the Bay Area and live in the LA area, but seeing all this stuff makes me think that we could actually just enjoy seeing SF for a day or two without having to run out on visiting my parents. We might just have one of these cruises in our future as it looks like a lot of fun, the combination of crusing and getting to visit the City!

Thank you for your kind words! I wish my photographs were as half as good as the people that post on the photography board.

We really enjoyed the itinerary because it gave us an opportunity to see a city that we probabaly wouldn't have planned on visiting anytime soon because of transportation issues. I hope Disney does some more pacific coast itineraries.

I thought this as well, living in the Bay Area. But I hate going into the city, so we rarely do. Maybe a coastal cruise would be a good chance to actually explore SF.

Loving the trip report. Awaiting your next updates.

Thanks! Hoping to have another update in the next day or so.

Hello fellow Chandler Disney fan!!

I just stumbled upon your report much like I find everything else on the internet by randomly clicking on links from various pages. I love the pictures and I had no idea Disney had a cruise that spent more than one night in San Francisco - I have only been once but I loved it.

Hi neighbor! Thanks for clicking in!

I wish these pacific coast cruises were regular itineraries for DCL, but alas, they only had 4 of them. Maybe in 2014.

I love your pictures!

Thank you!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Friday, October 12, 2012
San Diego - Pirate Night

As I have mentioned before, there were a lot of people from Arizona on this cruise. Arizonans love to go to San Diego. It is relatively close and has lots of things that AZ doesn’t have, i.e. an ocean! Anyway, San Diegans have a pet name for us, Zonies.

DH was up early and headed up to Deck 10 to watch us sail into San Diego Harbor. I left DD sleeping and went up top to see us sail into the harbor. Evidently it had just rained prior to us getting in to San Diego and everything on the top deck was very wet. I took a few pictures and then went down to our stateroom to wake DD and watch from our verandah.

We were escorted, not only by a harbor pilot, but also 2 armed Coast Guard boats as well. They would approach any vessel in the water and zig zag back and forth beside us.

We sailed past Cabrillo Point.

We also went by the naval base and Coronado Bridge.

Finally we headed into our slip.

After getting pictures, we went to Beach Blanket for breakfast. We were also joined by many very hungry seagulls. Mine, Mine, Mine! The cast members couldn’t clear the tables fast enough before the gulls had breakfast. I can’t believe I didn’t get any pictures of the gulls.

Our plan today was to go to the San Diego Zoo. We have been to San Diego a few times before and this is what DD wanted to do. We left the ship at about 9:00 AM and walked through the new cruise terminal. It was much nicer than San Francisco’s.

Our original idea was to take the city bus to the zoo. While we were walking down the pier, an airport shuttle driver asked if we needed a ride for $9 a person. As my economist father would say, it was an opportunity cost that we couldn’t pass up. There was already another family in the van heading to the zoo, so we took him up on his offer and made it to the zoo a lot faster than we would have.

We got to the zoo and got our 1 day admission which included a tram tour, which is where we headed first. We saw elephants

And baby giraffes.

Flamingoes

After the tram tour we headed over to the skyway and headed to the top of the zoo to work our way down. The first stop was the new spot for the Koala Bears while their habitat is being remodeled.

Then we went to see the Polar Bears. As usual, they were sleeping.

We then walked down to the new Panda exhibit to see the Pandas. I love these guys! They are so cute. Unfortunately, their newest baby wasn’t out on display yet.

After the Pandas we headed to the Hill Top restaurant, where we saw the tigers, a few very active gorillas, This little guy loved tormenting and chasing his very large silverback father.

While this one just looked on.

We saw the hippos.

We saw the tigers.

and the orangutans before heading to the exit.

We ran into the family we rode up to the zoo with and called the taxi to pick us up and take us back to the ship.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Once back on board we just hung out.

and got ready for Pirate Night. We found a snake in our bed along with our tip envelopes. I liked having the tips automatically added to our onboard credit. However, I did make DH add some additional tips for Sasha and Luan.

After getting dressed for dinner, at 5:15, I headed down to the Promenade Lounge to play Pirate Trivia Quest. They were just finishing a rousing game of Who Am I. Again, Daniel ran the game. DH & DD met me just as the trivia game was starting, but soon got bored, saw our DNeighbors, and left me to my own devices. I did pretty well, but I didn’t win. There were some very serious trivia players onboard.

We had dinner in Triton’s. LE, DE, C and L all head dinner reservations for Palo tonight, so it was only DNeighbors and ourselves for dinner. We all got our pirate bandanas and our Toy Story menus to take home. Sasha and Luan having fun with the Pirate conga line. Unfortunately, without the music.

After dinner, we went up on deck to watch us leave port and to take photos.

Afterall, we had to get back out to sea for fireworks later on.

We went back to our room to change clothes for the party and DD discovered that Nonjoy (our room host) had made up her bed with princess sheets. It was a very sweet surprise.

When it was time, we went up to watch the Pirate Party from Deck 10 near the aft funnel. It was very windy and starting to sprinkle, so I decided not to attempt any pictures of the party. We enjoyed the party and the ensuing fireworks. We were standing in front of the aft funnel on Deck 10 to watch the party but had to scramble around to see the fireworks as the wind was blowing them behind the funnel. DH and DD went back to the stateroom and bed. I stayed up on deck to watch Pirate of the Caribbean – The Curse of the Black Pearl on Funnel Vision. As soon as the dancing was over, crew member started setting up lounge chairs so we could watch the movie. I love the scene when Captain Jack makes his appearance in Port Royal. I watched it until Jack and Will sailed off in the Interceptor and the British Officer says “That's got to be the best pirate I have ever seen.” And Norrington replies, “So it would seem.” By then it was 11:30 PM, so I headed to bed.

Our towel animal was a monkey.

Next: Hola Ensenada.

 

[BDACE]

Oh, this is so sad! The trip is almost over... AGAIN!

It looks like you had a great day at the zoo and what wonderful pic's. We're native San Diegans so we go a lot but we never see that many animals in one trip. We usually only stay for a hour or two until it gets crowded or too hot. Sorry, I'm using hot as a relative term in this case.

Oh, we also refer to you as Zoner's... LOL!

 

[tink too]

Looks like you all had another great day. Fab photos of all the residents of San Diego Zoo as well.

 

[PlutoRocks]

I love the San Diego zoo! I've been twice - the second time we went we bought 2 day passes and we opened and closed the zoo both days - I still felt like I didn't get to see and do everything I wanted. I enjoy just hanging out and watching the animals.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Oh, this is so sad! The trip is almost over... AGAIN!

It looks like you had a great day at the zoo and what wonderful pic's. We're native San Diegans so we go a lot but we never see that many animals in one trip. We usually only stay for a hour or two until it gets crowded or too hot. Sorry, I'm using hot as a relative term in this case.

Oh, we also refer to you as Zoner's... LOL!

I know, right? I know exactly what you mean about just going to the zoo for an hour or 2. We do the same here, but I don't usually go near our zoo during the summer.

Looks like you all had another great day. Fab photos of all the residents of San Diego Zoo as well.

Thanks!

I love the San Diego zoo! I've been twice - the second time we went we bought 2 day passes and we opened and closed the zoo both days - I still felt like I didn't get to see and do everything I wanted. I enjoy just hanging out and watching the animals.

It is one of our favorite places to visit as well.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Saturday, October 13, 2012
Ensenada, Mexico

It was never our intent to get off of the ship in Ensenada. None of us are huge fans of Mexico and really had no desire to go shopping or sightseeing here. We were going to treat this like just another sea day.

We started putting into port at about 7:30 AM. We were greeted by a large contingency of sea lions barking their welcome.

Evidently, we weren’t the only ship in town today as a Carnival cruise ship was already docked. The captain turned us around so we backed into the town and blew our beautiful horn.

Our character breakfast was this morning in Parrot Cay. Luan was busy at work making napkin hats for those at our table. DNeighbors got Peter Pan and Jasmine. L, DE and DD got Minnie Mouse. DH got Goofy. LE got Captain Jack and I got Dumbo ears made with plate covers. Man, are those heavy! We had a great time and a good breakfast.

After breakfast, I wanted to get started on packing. So I had DH dig out all of the stowed luggage. Since we backed into the pier, our verandah overlooked the town, so I got some more pictures of the sea lions.

At 10:45, DD and I headed back to the Promenade Lounge for Disney Movie Trivia. There were some hard questions, but we only missed 3 out of 25 possible. But we didn’t win, again. Like I said, there are some serious trivia buffs on board this ship. After trivia, we took DD swimming again at the Goofy pool. Tangled was just starting on the Funnel Vision. We ate some lunch while up there. DH wanted to get off of the ship just to say he did and I had wanted to get a good photo of Donald on the back of the ship since we hadn’t had a chance the entire cruise. At about 1:00 PM we disembarked, went through the little market they had set up and walked along the pier. Unfortunately, Donald was on the wrong side of the ship and I still didn’t get a good picture of him.

Oh, well. We headed back through security, through the market where my DH picked up a shot glass and a few coins before heading back on board. We were probably on Mexican soil for about 10 minutes total. That was plenty for us.

On our Cruise Meet Thread, one of our fellow cruisers, Denise, arranged for us to participate in the 2012 Worldwide Photowalk while we were in Ensenada. Evidently, this was the first Photowalk ever to take place on a cruise ship. We were honored. She even made door magnets for us. Anyway, we were to meet at the Café Cove at 2:00 PM to begin our walk. Unfortunately, fewer people showed up than expected and one person had to bow out because of technical difficulties with his camera battery.

We started out our walk in Palo. We got permission from the manager to walk around and take photos while nobody was there. We then took some pictures from the deck and got a group shot.

We then headed down to the Atrium, where again, we had it all to ourselves and took photos. I took photos for about 2 hours before splitting up. It was fun meeting people with an enthusiasm about photography and learn new tips and techniques from.

Afterwards I headed back to the stateroom and finished packing. At about 5:30 we head the horn sound and we started pulling away from the dock. Adios, Ensenada.

Tonight was Till We Meet Again dinner. We were at Animator’s Palette tonight. We had our tip envelopes all ready to go for Sasha, Luan and Tektas, our head server. All of these gentlemen were wonderful with the girls and we enjoyed their service tremendously! I love the parade of nations during dinner when all of the servers come out with their nation’s flag and the chefs bring out the Baked Alaska.

Based on our experience with Toy Story, DD and I knew we needed to get to the theater early to see Dreams. We got to the Walt Disney Theater and waited for them to open the doors at 8:00 PM. We were able to get great seats in the middle of the row close to the stage. Then we waited. Before we knew, we were caught up in Dreams. I love this show and it brings a tear to my eye every time I watch it.

After the show, DD and I headed back to the stateroom to change clothes and put our luggage out for the stewards to collect. I made sure we all had our clothes for the next day and tagged our luggage. We had purple Minnie tags. With our luggage all set, we headed back down to the 5th deck to watch Till We Meet Again with the characters. DD really wasn’t interested in meeting any characters, so we just observed. DNeighbor’s DD got to meet Peter Pan again as well as Anne Marie from Dreams. She even chased Captain Hook out of the door onto deck 4 by doing her crocodile imitation. We all sang “M I C, See ya real soon, K E Y, Why, because we like you. M O U S E” and watched the CMs as they flung Mickey ear confetti from deck 5 to the atrium below. Afterwards we went through the stores one last time and headed to bed.

Our towel animal was a seal.

Next: Home again!

 

[BDACE]

Your emotican says it all...

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Well I’m afraid I have put this off long enough and must suffer through the end of our wonderful cruise, again!

Since we had early dining, our breakfast time in the morning was 7:00 AM in Animator’s Palette. Tektas told us at dinner the night before to leave our carry ons in the stateroom and collect them after breakfast. It was much nicer going to breakfast without our bags. We had a good breakfast and a tearful goodbye with lots of hugs for Sasha and Luan before heading back up to our stateroom.

They were disboarding guests by calling specific character tags. We had gathered our bags, went out on Deck 4 and settled on Deck 3 when purple Minnies were called. We got in line and noticed that the See ya Later” sign had not been hung. So disappointing. Anyway, by 8:30 we had our KTTW card swiped one last time and headed towards customs. As we approached, I noticed that we were on the starboard side of the ship and it was backed into port. Could I get my Donald shot? I tried, but we had to move to quickly for me to get a good one.

We went through customs, handed the officer our passports, answered a couple of questions and we were on our way to gather our luggage. We found a porter and got all of our bags in 5 minutes. The porter then took us to the place where our hotel shuttle would pick us up by 8:50 AM. I had not heard good things about departing cruise ships in LA, but I have to say that our departure was very well organized and quick.

Our shuttle showed up within minutes, our bags were loaded and we were off back to our hotel to get our car. We retrieved our car from the parking garage, loaded our bags and left for our 6+ hour drive home.

Well, that was our wonderful cruise. I have to say that of the three we have taken, this one was my favorite. I hope your enjoyed reading about our adventure along the pacific coast.

Until next trip!

 

[BDACE]

There are no words to describe this day any better than this...

Thank you so much for all the time and care you took in telling us your story. It was so wonderful to relive it even if it did have to come to an end.

 

[jlmarr]

Yes, thanks to disneyfaninaz for sharing. We were on the Sep 16th cruise, and we also thought this was our favorite cruise out of the five we've done, three of those not DCL.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

So, once it was pointed out that I would be sailing under the Golden Gate bridge, if my B2B actually does come to be, I searched San Francisco in the Trip Reports section and look where it brought me. Thoroughly enjoyed your report and your lovely pictures.

I am a very amateur photographer, but DH is a serious photographer, so I am sure the two of you could talk camera stuff all day long. I have no idea how he will be able to bring all the gear he is going to want to have on the Alaska sailing.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

So, once it was pointed out that I would be sailing under the Golden Gate bridge, if my B2B actually does come to be, I searched San Francisco in the Trip Reports section and look where it brought me. Thoroughly enjoyed your report and your lovely pictures.

I am a very amateur photographer, but DH is a serious photographer, so I am sure the two of you could talk camera stuff all day long. I have no idea how he will be able to bring all the gear he is going to want to have on the Alaska sailing.

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge was indeed a marvelous experience. You will have to get up early though, along with half of the ship to be on Deck 10 in time.

As for the status of my photography, I am certainly in the class of being an amateur myself. I only wish I had the skill to have to choose which equipment to bring with me on the Alaskan cruise. However, with the scenery that we are going to see, I don't see how anybody could take bad pictuers.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

DH would have loved doing a Scott Kelby walk on board as he has done a couple here in town and enjoyed them.

I am sure that DHs camera bag will far outweigh his suitcase and he will probably actually have more camera stuff than clothes with him.

No, I am the true amateur-have a Nikon J1--which I call Nikon for dummies. I love it though, far better than my old point and shoot.

 

[Luv2Diz]

Very enjoyable TR.....wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Very enjoyable TR.....wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading.