I have another confession: after we paid the cruise balance, way back when, I almost forgot to do our online check-in. I KNOW. Consequently, the earliest port arrival times were already gone and we got stuck with 12:30. I KNOW!!! This ended up being both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because Monday morning we were in no rush whatsoever
.with the exception of having an 11 am condo check-out time. We got up, we had breakfast, we finished charging our devices and we soaked up the last of the free wifi before heading out to call taxis.
Taxis, plural, because by then our friends and their little one had arrived in Vancouver as well and we all wanted to head to the port at the same time. Alaska, ho!
Dont worry; Ill get to the curse part momentarily.
I dont have fond memories of the terminal at Canada Place from our 2011 trip. It was bustly and crowded and had these terrible folding chairs. This time, however, things were much more pleasant. It isnt the Disney terminal at Port Canaveral, but I think they did a good job of trying to bring the Disney to Canada Place considering what they had to work with pretty much a giant, open room with some long counters and an awkward bend in the middle.
By noon we were through customs, had checked in and were taking pictures with both Minnie and Mickey.
There was NO CHARACTER LINE. At all. I wondered aloud if anyone even knew they were there, because it was kind of off in the corner away from where all the action was (opposite side of the awkward bend from the kids check-in area). Another Dad in the photo line said just minutes prior it had been a madhouse. Upon further examination, it seemed everyone was now huddled at the entryway waiting for their boarding number to be called. Being boarding group number 14 and knowing what we know about a watched pot, we were in no hurry.
A slightly blurry Mickey taken from my phone. I'll replace with a better one once the rest of the photos are up
Minnie! A better one is coming - think of this as a placeholder!
After pics, they called number twelve, and as we headed over to the entryway I thought I should warn our companions that I always cry when we board. Yes, I am that person. Ironically, its one of the few times in my life when I become a total sap. I can watch Lassie without Kleenex, and I am usually the only dry eye in the house during weddings. But on Disney Ships? I bawl my head off. I didnt want anyone to be alarmed.
Me: ok, just a warning. Im going to cry.
My Dad: whats wrong, pokey? (yes, he calls me pokey after the Pokey Little Puppy, its been my nickname since I was crawling. NO ONE but my dad is allowed to call me pokey. Lets just get that straight right now
)
Lionel: nothing, she always does this.
Jason and Stef:(concerned) you do? Why?
Me: because when they
.well
um
.
Jason and Stef were first-timers, and I wasnt sure if they knew about the whole name announcement thing or not. They werent getting my drift, leading me to believe that if I kept my mouth shut it would be a surprise. I really didnt want to ruin it for them.
Me:
uh, well, youll just see.
They appeared temporarily satisfied with the response, if not a little wary, but my stepmom was not. She leaned in closer.
Me: *whispering* you know, when they call your name.
She was still leaning in, eyebrows raised, clearly waiting for more.
Me: thats it.
Her: *looking a little disappointed* oh.
And then, they announced it: number 14! Peace out, Vancouver! Sure, well still be docked here for a few hours
.but Ill be aboard my favorite ship, eating shrimp and giant chocolate chip cookies so HA! I gathered what was left of my pride and headed toward the entry. Inside we swiped our key cards and proceeded to wait in the longest line ever for boarding photos.
I dont know why we even stop for these any more. I never like them, we never buy them and they seem to take forever. Dear self-cruising-in-the-future: skip the boarding photos next time. Youll beat like 10 people to the shrimp.
At the top of the ramp I paused to shove our friends in front of us. They were starting to look nervous, but I made the universal go on, shoo shoo sign with my hands and they had nowhere else to go. In they stepped, gave their name and BOOM: newbie announcement. And guess what? Stef totally cried. So there we were in the atrium, sobbing tears of joy because some stranger pronounced our last names correctly over the loudspeaker, invoking mass levels of embarrassment for my parents and respective husbands. Stef sobbed, ok, I get it.
Ah, young Padawan. It has only just begun.
And then my parents walked past shaking their heads and chuckling, totally ruining our moment.
Remember that curse I mentioned earlier? Here is part of it: late buffet arrival SUCKS. They give you the look, like oh no, here come more of them and the food just isnt as inviting an hour later. Sure, they keep it replenished and all
but it takes a little longer to get your drink, and for your plate to be cleared, etc. And I have to say, this is the first time in 9 cruises I have ever felt like I was in the crews way. And that includes every farewell breakfast we have ever attended. To say it was bad service would not be accurate, because they were not unfriendly. As one of our friends so eloquently describes this occasional phenomenon at Disney, it was less than MAGICAL. It could have been any buffet anywhere. Except for the Disney chocolate chip cookies. They always rock. I may or may not have put one in my pocket before leaving the restaurant. Dont judge.
The next few hours passed in a blur. We popped in and out of our rooms, and we gave everyone the quick ship tour. Popped into the kids club to get the girls wristbands and to let them explore, and then headed back to the room to unpack. As I was pushing the suitcases under the bed, they made the mandatory drill announcement.
And then it dawned on me: I had forgotten ALL ABOUT THE DIS MEET. Well, poop. I felt awful. How would I know who anyone was now? Would I spend the rest of the vacation eyeballing my fellow cruisers, trying to figure out if I knew any of them? Would anyone recognize me from my picture? What excursions were they all going on again? I couldnt remember. Its hard to just walk up to someone and say something like BrysonandKatiesMom? No? Oh sorry, I could have sworn
without getting the hairy eyeball.
Another curse of the late arrival time gets away from you and before you know it youve not only missed the DIS meet but youre running late for the sailaway party. WITHOUT A DRINK IN YOUR HAND. An oversight my husband soon remedied.
Traditional sailaway drink! Cup MAY since have been re-purposed for rinsing kid hair in the tub....
The whole gang: me, Stef, Jason, my Dad and my Mom if you look closely you can see the pink puffball on my daughters headband
We came, we waved streamers, we pumped fists and then without any warning the party was over. It just
ended. We werent moving, the horn didnt sound, just
nothing. Everyone was leaving the dance floor and the cast members had all disappeared. I was so confused. I hadnt even finished my drink! About 15 minutes later, we started inching along and the horn eventually sounded, but it was kind of anticlimactic. Im not sure why we left late, but I do wish they would have kept the party going at least in some form or fashion until we actually started rolling away. As was, it felt like Yay, here we
.oh wait, were
.still
.here
..
I was actually starting to stress about making our 5:45 dinner time. I really REALLY wanted to stay out on deck until we went under the Lions Gate Bridge, because for some reason giant bridges are really novel from a cruise ship. It was taking so long to sail out that I didnt think we would make it. In 2011, I distinctly remember having lots of time on deck before dinner, and we were in early seating! I also distinctly remember having much more fun at the sailaway party. Ah well. At least we were moving in the general direction of Alaska. At this rate we would surely make it by Friday.
Sea plane!
Leaving Canada Place - VERY SLOWLY
The bridge was getting closer and closer, and time was ticking away. And then with 5 minutes to spare we went under. I snapped about 10 pictures because DARNIT, WE HAD MADE IT. And then, for the first time ever, I went to the dining room wearing jean capris because there was simply no time to change. Ladies and gentleman, I think you will agree that it was worth the fashion sacrifice. Also, pretty much everyone else was in their embarkation duds as well. In a last-minute effort to look civilized I did add a sparkly scarf, which probably didnt even match.
There it is
.off in the distance
Pfffffft
."BRIDGE!" (thats a little Star Trek humor for you geeks out there)
Our server team were Sunil and Gerda, both lovely and low-key. Im not much of a foodie so the meals dont stand out much in my mind, but I do know Isabelle had what became the traditional mini cheeseburgers. I think she thought mini was actually Minnie but fortunately did not seem too disappointed upon the arrival of a smallish cheeseburger with a ridiculous amount of green peas. I think this may have actually been the one and only night she ate more than a few bites at dinner. More on that later.
After dinner Isabelle went with the gang to see the show, and I Lionel and I walked around soaking up the sights and sounds our favorite ship. We visited the Cove, and deck 4, and peered hopefully off into the distance in search of whale spouts. None tonight at least not for us. The next morning, however, my parents were talking about all of the whales they had seen. This became a daily event. I would silently shake my fist as I listened to their excited tales of whales at sea.
When Isabelle returned we tucked her into her little converted couch-bed and she conked out almost immediately. I spent the rest of the evening tucked in bed, feeling the ship rock and highlighting the Navigator. I made big plans for Isabelle, including Wheres Tink? and the Do-Si-Do with Snow White. Lionel had his eyes on Bingo, and I was watching for signs of the elusive Champagne tasting. Few of our plans made it to fruition, unfortunately, but we will speak more of that as the report goes on.
Goodnight, almost-Alaska! Coming up: first day at sea. No vomit!
to the IT genius! That is awesome he was able to recover all the pics! Looking forward to the next update.
