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

[pharmjenn]

I wanted to let you know I am enjoying your TR. We are sailing on the Wonder through the Panama Canal next month, so I am trying to read all the Wonder TR to get a feel for the ship and what activities we can do.

[LisaHK]

A super trip report. Your photos are beautiful.

[disneyfaninaz]

Originally Posted by Mickey&JoshNut

Wendy...I am loving your trip report. We were on the same cruise but I love reading other people's trip reports.

I'm sorry you were disappointed with your hop on/hop off tour. If you ever visit San Francisco again, I highly recommend the Comprehensive San Francisco Tour Company's Premium City Tour. It was 5 hours and we saw so much of the city I feel that I really have seen San Francisco. We did this tour on our first day and our tour guide was Jan and she was fabulous. It was nice to be able to ask a local (she has lived all her life in San Francisco) about how to get to places we wanted to see the next day (like the Disney Store and what was the best cable car to ride). My Mom and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in San Francisco and I think the highlight of our two days was this tour. Here's a link to their web site:

http://www.sanfranshuttletours.com/s...isco_tours.htm

Welcome and thanks! We liked the concept of hopping on and off so we could enjoy some of the sites, but I just wasn't impressed with the whole tour part of it. Anyway, next time we go, we'll look into this other company.

Originally Posted by Joanna71985

Following along. I am loving the pictures!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by fredgirls

This is a great trip report!! And wonderful pictures! Especially love san fran at night. Stunning! Would like to have seen the flattened hat!

Thanks so much for sharing! I would love to do this in the future if it's offered. Can't wait to hear more about it!

Thank you! Yes, SF at night was stunning and cold up on the deck at night, but well worth it. In regards to my visor, can you say as flat as a pancake?

Originally Posted by hjd0411

Hi there!! Loving your report and pictures - we were on the cruise too! (Met you on the photo walk in Ensanada!) And like someone else said, I'm enjoying reliving through your photos!!
I was one of those on Deck 10 early on our San Francisco morning!! It was freezing standing there, but boy - what a view!!
I will follow along eagerly awaiting your updates!!
Thanks for doing the report!

Hi Heather! Welcome to my report. I am a big fan of your photos on the boards.

It was cold, but I wouldn't have missed standing up there and going under the bridge for the world! It was amazing!

I'm heading off to participate in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes this morning. It is a beautiful day here in Phoenix! I hope to have another update this weekend. Thank you all for reading!

[disneyfaninaz]

Originally Posted by pharmjenn

I wanted to let you know I am enjoying your TR. We are sailing on the Wonder through the Panama Canal next month, so I am trying to read all the Wonder TR to get a feel for the ship and what activities we can do.

Thanks! I am so jealous! I would love to take a cruise through the Panama Canal, but they are always in the middle of school and I can't justify taking my DD out that long. You will love the Wonder! Have a great cruise!

Originally Posted by LisaHK

A super trip report. Your photos are beautiful.

Thank you!

[disneyfaninaz]

Thursday, October 11, 2012
Sea Day

It was a good morning to sleep in. It was another beautiful day at sea. We went up to Beach Blanket for breakfast and ran into our neighbors again. We sat inside this time. Luan helped find a table this morning. While we were eating, our DNeighbor spotted some whale blows in the distance. Unfortunately, they were quite a ways away so we didn’t actually see any whales.

After breakfast, I went to attend the talk by Robb Gibbs, an executive with Pixar about storyboarding. He works a lot on the Tow Mater Tall Tales series. He showed us how Pixar now uses the computer to draw their storyboards and he showed some clips from some short movies he worked on. It was very amusing and interesting. During the seminar, I received a text from DD that she wanted to go swimming (DH didn’t have the other phone and he was supposedly at Cove Café reading). The talk had run overtime, so I left during the Q &A to take DD swimming. When I got to the stateroom, she wasn’t there and wasn’t answering her wave phone. I went out to look for her. I found DD & DH on Deck 4 above the lobby waiting for the Princesses with our DNeighbors.



Evidently, Peter Pan was to make an appearance. He is DNeighbor’s DD’s very favorite character. While they went in search of Peter Pan, we went to take DD swimming up at the Goofy Pool. After a brief dip in the pool, we went down to Parrot Cay for lunch. I loved how they had hard packed ice cream with all the toppings for dessert.

At 1:45, I headed up to Deck 9, Goofy Pool to watch Ice Carving. It always amazes me how somebody can take a block of ice and turn it into a work of art. Fiona hosted the event. The carver had to work very fast as the ice was already starting to melt. There were ice chips flying everywhere!











After the carving exhibition, we went to the Pixar Pals in the Atrium Lobby. All the Pixar characters onboard made an appearance. Daniel emceed the event. At the end, we all said goodbye to the characters by singing “You’ve Got A Friend In Me.”











At 3:15 DD and I met DNeighbors at the Promenade Lounge for a round of Disney Theme Park Trivia. Daniel from the crew staff ran it. He was very good and made it a lot of fun. He would play music from a Disney attraction, you had to name the attraction and where it could be found, i.e. Disneyland, EPCOT, etc. Then there was a bonus question about the attraction. I really enjoyed the trivia games onboard, I only wish that I could have gone to more. We didn’t win, but we did pretty well. Some of the questions were pretty tough. After trivia, it was time to get ready for dinner.

It was semi-formal night and Toy Story 3D was the menu. They were having another Pixar Pal gathering before dinner. DD got her picture taken with Dug and Russell while DH and I had a formal portrait done. Then we had a family lifestyle portrait taken. We went to dinner in Parrot Cay. On the way to dinner, the CMs were selling Pixar Cruise drink cups and popcorn cars at the Promenade Lounge, 2 for 1. I had wanted to get the traffic cone drink cup with the Pixar Cruise logo on it and it seemed like the perfect time. We each got 3D glasses to see the cover of our Toy Story menu. Sasha told us that we get to take the menus home since they wouldn’t be used anymore. I’m sure somebody has put them on E-Bay by now. I enjoyed the Mai Tai with my dinner



and a Mickey Bar for dessert.



After dinner, DD and I went to the Toy Story show, since neither of us had seen it before. The theater was full, we were lucky to find a couple of seats 3 rows from the stage off to the side. Of all the shows I have seen on the Magic and Wonder, I have determined that Toy Story is not my favorite. In the meantime, DH went down to Diversions to see if they were showing the ASU vs Colorado football game. They weren’t, so, DH watched it in our stateroom before heading up to Café Cove for a bit. (ASU won! Go Devils!) Anyway, after the show DD and I headed up to the stateroom for the night. On our way, we ran into Cruise Minnie and Cruise Daisy.

Our towel animal was another dog.



Next: Here come the Zonies.

[jennyjinx3]

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

[franandaj]

Subbing in! Will be back later to catch up!

[mkmommy]

So glad to see you got your husband to go.

All your pictures are lovely especially San Francisco at night.

[franandaj]

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!

[pharmjenn]

Originally Posted by franandaj

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!

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.

[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]

Originally Posted by jennyjinx3

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

You're welcome!

Originally Posted by mkmommy

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!

Originally Posted by franandaj

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.

Originally Posted by pharmjenn

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

Originally Posted by wiigirl

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.