WBPC May 6th 2013 Wonder

[aan1701]

You know the more I think of it, I think I did have both. There was no appetizer or soup and salad I wanted. That being said, when that happens I usually ask for a Caesar salad. So I got that too I am sure.

 

[roseburghughes]

You know the more I think of it, I think I did have both. There was no appetizer or soup and salad I wanted. That being said, when that happens I usually ask for a Caesar salad. So I got that too I am sure.

When I added the menu to my binder I noted what I had last time and what I would like to try next time. I didn't see anything in the appetizer, soup, or salad that I remember having. Or for that matter anything I would like to try.
Maybe the crab legs?

Now that you mentioned it I will definitely get both this time.

 

[granmaz]

I don't know if any of you have read the Kingdom Keepers books by Ridley Pearson. They are aimed at young teens but are a great read for Disney lovers.

Not sure if it is the most recent one, but certainly one of his recent one is 'Dark Passage'. I haven't read it yet though have read about 3 earlier ones. This one is set on one of the DCL ships and Ridley did some of his research onboard our last PC in Jan 2011. So, poetic licence aside, it should give some view into the ship, possible the PC day etc as well as be a fun read if you like that kind of book. He did some 'lectures' onboard which were excellent and said to look out for some of us in the book!! Now I seem to think he said the ship would be one of the new ones which of course can't actually go through the present Panama Canal but that is fiction for you.

http://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Keepe...7&sr=8-1&keywords=ridley+pearson+dark+passage

 

[Politzania]

That's too funny. I've read the Wool Series (hubby will tackle them on boat) and I, Zombie (was ok, not as good as some of his other works). I've also added Shift and Warm Bodies to my cue. Windup Girl was also very good if you need another. Just finished robopocalypse by Wilson, which was just a fun read.

Can't wait to have Wine on the verandah with zombies!

We're definitely on the same wavelength - I really enjoyed Windup Girl (tho parts were a bit disturbing) and Robopocalypse was also good - have you read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline?

Oh, and Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is only $1.99 on the Kindle Daily Deal today. It's not "light reading" by any means (either physically, at 1168 pages, or in terms of what Stephenson expects you to know/keep track of) , but is a great, geeky adventure story - I'm looking forward to re-visiting the Waterhouse and Shaftoe families!

And grandmaz - thanks for mentioning Kingdom Keepers- I read the first book quite some time ago & enjoyed it well enough - tho may have to check out Dark Passage!

< / end book geekiness >

 

[Jackson's grammie]

Turf and surf! Absolutely!

Definitely both. It gets to be a joke when the server automatically says and you will have the beef again tonight.

 

[annichan]

Looking for 2 people interested in joining us (that is, WestCoastNovaks, my DH and myself) for a private tour in Cartagena ...

This tour is set up for 6 persons, and while we were originally full already, one couple sadly had to cancel.

The cost is $ 70 per person (if we get to a total of 6 people).

A description of the tour:

"From the pier we drive to the Monastery of Our Lady of the Candle, built early 17th Century on La Popa Hill, for a visit. Also from the top of the hill we will be able to take in a beautiful view of the city and the bay. We continue the tour with a stopover at San Felipe de Barajas Fortress, a military engineering masterpiece, erected as part of the defensive system to protect the city. At this photo stop, from the bottom, we explain to you about the construction techniques, dates, attacks, etc.

Then we drive towards the walled colonial city. First we take some time off at the handicraft stores of Las Bóvedas (Optional). After shopping, (if we stop) we take a walk along the quaint streets for a close-up view of the old homes and beautiful balconies, plazas and religious buildings such as the Cathedral, the Inquisition Palace; we also pass by Bolívar´s plaza and Customs Plaza, making photo stops all the time, naturally !!! At the end of the walk, we visit the Sanctuary of Saint Peter Claver.

After the walk and visit we board the van and depart towards the modern areas of the city to admire the architecture, the forts by the bay; then we make a stop at the Emerald Museum/workshop for emeralds and a drink !! This tour takes approximately 4 to 4 ½ hours."
www.toursclaudiavidal.com

If you would like to join, please pm me!

 

[Politzania]

I saw on another thread where one cruise had a stargazer DISMeet - anyone here interested in participating/organizing something?

I am a (VERY) amateur star watcher who is hoping she'll be able to see the Southern Cross for the first time*, as well as any other more southerly constellations. I'd love to pick the brains of anyone who is more astronomically astute!



------------
* "I'll understand just why I came this way"... why, yes, I am a CSN&Y fan!

 

[Jcmh]

I saw on another thread where one cruise had a stargazer DISMeet - anyone here interested in participating/organizing something?

I am a (VERY) amateur star watcher who is hoping she'll be able to see the Southern Cross for the first time*, as well as any other more southerly constellations. I'd love to pick the brains of anyone who is more astronomically astute!



------------
* "I'll understand just why I came this way"... why, yes, I am a CSN&Y fan!

I remember seeing stargazing with an astrologer as an activity on a couple of sets of Navigators for a 2 week cruise. I can't remember if it was for a PC cruise, a Hawaii cruise, or a TA, but I know I saw it. I thought that would be really fun and made a note to keep an eye out for it in the Navigators once onboard in case they do it again. It would be great if Disney brought someone aboard to do this on a couple of nights. It can't cost them much to book someone like that, and it seems there are plenty of empty cabins they could put them in.

As an aside, the Aulani does this as a special activity a couple of times a week. It was tempting, but it was a paid for activity (and wasn't exactly cheap, as I recall), and we ended up with one kid sick while there so it just didn't work out for us to do it. Next time!

 

[OKW Lover]

Given that this cruise doesn't cross the equator, is it even possible to see the southern cross during the voyage?

 

[Jcmh]

The stargazing conversation had me looking at the globe wondering what we'd be able to see where. For the first time, I noticed how short of a distance it is between Cartagena and the Panama Canal and it made me curious about the way our schedule is constructed.

It is roughly the same distance in terms of nautical miles from Cartagena to the Panama Canal as it is to go from Puerto Vallarta to Cabo. We sail from PV --> Cabo overnight, yet we have 2 nights and a full sea day between Cartagena and the Panama Canal.

Do we sail in circles to get from Cartagena to the canal? Just go really slow? Or will there be a period of several hours in the evening where we are basically sitting still waiting our turn to start the passage through the canal on the morning of the 12th?

I do a lot of timeline management for work, so it just has me curious.

 

[Jackson's grammie]

The stargazing conversation had me looking at the globe wondering what we'd be able to see where. For the first time, I noticed how short of a distance it is between Cartagena and the Panama Canal and it made me curious about the way our schedule is constructed.

It is roughly the same distance in terms of nautical miles from Cartagena to the Panama Canal as it is to go from Puerto Vallarta to Cabo. We sail from PV --> Cabo overnight, yet we have 2 nights and a full sea day between Cartagena and the Panama Canal.

Do we sail in circles to get from Cartagena to the canal? Just go really slow? Or will there be a period of several hours in the evening where we are basically sitting still waiting our turn to start the passage through the canal on the morning of the 12th?

I do a lot of timeline management for work, so it just has me curious.

I would imagine its a schedule thing. They have to book a certain time going thru the canal and don't want to chance missing their appointment. I believe the charge is quite a bit so you don't want to take a chance of not being their on time.

 

[Jcmh]

I would imagine its a schedule thing. They have to book a certain time going thru the canal and don't want to chance missing their appointment. I believe the charge is quite a bit so you don't want to take a chance of not being their on time.

Oh I have no doubt in that!

I'm mostly curious what the sailing will be like between those two ports, or if it will be more 'sitting' than sailing. I'm thinking if we're sailing slowly or doing a lot of sitting still, it might be a good day for me to plan to to do some picture taking around the ship since there wouldn't be as much wind or motion.

 

[GoinPlaces63]

I remember seeing stargazing with an astrologer as an activity on a couple of sets of Navigators for a 2 week cruise. I can't remember if it was for a PC cruise, a Hawaii cruise, or a TA, but I know I saw it. I thought that would be really fun and made a note to keep an eye out for it in the Navigators once onboard in case they do it again. It would be great if Disney brought someone aboard to do this on a couple of nights. It can't cost them much to book someone like that, and it seems there are plenty of empty cabins they could put them in.

As an aside, the Aulani does this as a special activity a couple of times a week. It was tempting, but it was a paid for activity (and wasn't exactly cheap, as I recall), and we ended up with one kid sick while there so it just didn't work out for us to do it. Next time!

An astrologer or astronomer? I hope the latter....

 

[Jcmh]

An astrologer or astronomer? I hope the latter....

HA HA HA! Wow. Can you tell I'm tired and it's been a long day, or what? That's one of my better oopsies. So glad you corrected me! But now I have quite the mental image of someone in a turban out on deck providing us all with our star charts and predictions of our future. (Which might be better suited to Pirate Night, actually.)

 

[aan1701]

On past Panama Canal cruises I have been on, they did so stargazing. It was conducted by the navigation officer. He did it because DCL requires that officer to know how to navigate by the stars. He did come armed with a iPad with a really cool app that I should get and some really strong binoculars. Has he said it, only constellations that are in the northern hemisphere are seen north of the equator and the same for the southern ones. So I guess that means since we will not be crossing the equator, we won't be able to see those southern constellations.

 

[aan1701]

The stargazing conversation had me looking at the globe wondering what we'd be able to see where. For the first time, I noticed how short of a distance it is between Cartagena and the Panama Canal and it made me curious about the way our schedule is constructed.

It is roughly the same distance in terms of nautical miles from Cartagena to the Panama Canal as it is to go from Puerto Vallarta to Cabo. We sail from PV --> Cabo overnight, yet we have 2 nights and a full sea day between Cartagena and the Panama Canal.

Do we sail in circles to get from Cartagena to the canal? Just go really slow? Or will there be a period of several hours in the evening where we are basically sitting still waiting our turn to start the passage through the canal on the morning of the 12th?

I do a lot of timeline management for work, so it just has me curious.

I would say that we would be going slow. We will be at a holding area around midnight the day before our transit. DCL books, and pays a premium, a specific date and time to transit. I guess it's just one of those things. So it will be a slow lazy day at sea for our last day in the Caribbean.

 

[BoosGram]

On past Panama Canal cruises I have been on, they did so stargazing. It was conducted by the navigation officer. He did it because DCL requires that officer to know how to navigate by the stars. He did come armed with a iPad with a really cool app that I should get and some really strong binoculars. Has he said it, only constellations that are in the northern hemisphere are seen north of the equator and the same for the southern ones. So I guess that means since we will not be crossing the equator, we won't be able to see those southern constellations.

According to ABC Science (http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/06/17/2929420.htm),

..."A lot of people think you can't see the Southern Cross in the Northern Hemisphere, but that's not actually true," says Watson.

If you're north of the equator but south of a latitude of about 25 degrees, which is around say Hawaii and parts of northern Africa, you can still see the Southern Cross.

"But unlike us in the Southern Hemisphere, you won't see it all year round."

"If you were in Hawaii and looking south in May/June, you would see the cross, standing upright and pointing towards the South Pole," says Watson.

 

[aan1701]

According to ABC Science (http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/06/17/2929420.htm),

..."A lot of people think you can't see the Southern Cross in the Northern Hemisphere, but that's not actually true," says Watson.

If you're north of the equator but south of a latitude of about 25 degrees, which is around say Hawaii and parts of northern Africa, you can still see the Southern Cross.

"But unlike us in the Southern Hemisphere, you won't see it all year round."

"If you were in Hawaii and looking south in May/June, you would see the cross, standing upright and pointing towards the South Pole," says Watson.

I don't know. I just am a armature start gazer. My cousin got me into it. The Nav officer I guess was wrong. All good to me. I just like looking into the depth of our universe.

 

[GoinPlaces63]

On past Panama Canal cruises I have been on, they did so stargazing. It was conducted by the navigation officer. He did it because DCL requires that officer to know how to navigate by the stars. He did come armed with a iPad with a really cool app that I should get and some really strong binoculars. Has he said it, only constellations that are in the northern hemisphere are seen north of the equator and the same for the southern ones. So I guess that means since we will not be crossing the equator, we won't be able to see those southern constellations.

The app I use is called Night Sky.....

 

[GoinPlaces63]

According to ABC Science (http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/06/17/2929420.htm),

..."A lot of people think you can't see the Southern Cross in the Northern Hemisphere, but that's not actually true," says Watson.

If you're north of the equator but south of a latitude of about 25 degrees, which is around say Hawaii and parts of northern Africa, you can still see the Southern Cross.

"But unlike us in the Southern Hemisphere, you won't see it all year round."

"If you were in Hawaii and looking south in May/June, you would see the cross, standing upright and pointing towards the South Pole," says Watson.

That s what I've been told... We will see it and can navigate by it.