September 30, 2012 - "To San Francisco and Beyond"

[LiseG]

While trying not to unpack, I just found a FE surprise... a Cadbury Carmello Koala.... yum!

 

[Seamama]

Our family is still recovering from what an amazing time we had. Seriously, amazing. And our trip was doubled in amazing-ness thanks to all of you here. I can't even tell you how grateful I am for ALL of your tips and advice. Being the planner than I am, our whole experience was that much the better b/c of all the insider info I got from you beforehand. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I'm so glad we participated in the FE- my kids loved coming back to the room checking for presents and I was touched by the thoughtfulness of the items. Unfortunately, my kids usually opened everything before I could read which tag went to what so I'm not able to thank each person properly- please accept this as my thank you to each and every one of you for the FE gifts.

I also want to give a shoutout to MickeyFan531 (hope I got the # part right)- we met in the waiting area before boarding and before we even knew we were both DISboarders, he was giving tips and helpful suggestions. You really set the tone for our first Disney cruise and we'll be forever grateful. Most especially, the pins you gave to our kids w/out even expecting a pin in return- wow, that was just the sweetest thing ever. And it really made an impression on us. You can be sure we're gonna 'pay it forward' one day to some other newbie cruising family. (And yes, we will be cruising again! We rebooked on board and are now just waiting for the 2014 schedule. Need some time to save up but there WILL be another cruise in our future.)

Finally, I do plan to do a room report but in the meantime just wanted to say that I'm sorry for any hassle that our second-day room change may have caused. Our room had a terrible mechanical sound (hydraulic lift?) that happened periodically around-the-clock. I went to GS at 6:15am the second morning and they sent an officer to our room, who then reported back to GS, and by 9am I got a call from the GS Manager who apologized and offered to move us to another room. W'd been Deluxe Inside Room on Deck 1 and I would've gladly taken a Standard Inside Room anywhere as long as it was away from the noise. Plus, I wasn't even sure if we could get moved since we'd booked IGT. So I was shocked when they offered us a Oceanview room on Deck 6! AND, the next day, we got a note w/ small gifts for the kids again apologizing for the inconvenience to us! Talk about customer service!! Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that within 30 mins of getting our new room #, I started racing around the ship myself (kids couldn't keep up so stayed w/ hubby) and delivered all our FEs w/ the room change notes. And whenever a room had a whiteboard, I wrote on there as well. I hope that worked out ok for everyone as far as getting the word out...

Phew! I gotta make school lunches now and get these kids out the door! Thanks again to you all- it was everything we hoped it would be and more!

 

[LiseG]

Unpacked a little more... found a Ghirardelli chocolate square. I think I'm going to stretch out unpacking for a few more days!

 

[BinkYABT]

Great cruise. Kudos to all FE participants. Adjusting to the culture shock of returning home... Gee, I was spoiled. Now I have to:
pull out my own chair at dinner,
put my napkin on my lap myself,
make my bed,
clean my room, and
cook my meals.

 

[stevenpensacola]

Plus...the waiter at the local restaurant does not know your name AND they expect you to PAY for the food.


On another note...I'll never complain about my neighbor's barking dog after listening to the sea lions...not to mention the SMELL! Truly breath taking...in a bad way.

Otherwise, great cruise...incredible weather.

Was funny listening to the SF locals complaining about the heat. They have no idea.

 

[MomofM&M]

Just want to say a belated thank you. My girls had so much fun with the FE gifts, both receiving and giving. I could not believe some of the gifts we got! Also, thanks so much for the tips and to Deb for organizing everything for the FE and Linda for arranging the Palo brunch. I go back to work next week. bummer!

 

[LiseG]

Great cruise. Kudos to all FE participants. Adjusting to the culture shock of returning home... Gee, I was spoiled. Now I have to:
pull out my own chair at dinner,
put my napkin on my lap myself,
make my bed,
clean my room, and
cook my meals.

I know .... it's a crisis

 

[LiseG]

I put my wrinkly clothes in a bag in the hall... ya think they'll show up in my closet pressed and ready to go?

 

[erk711]

I put my wrinkly clothes in a bag in the hall... ya think they'll show up in my closet pressed and ready to go?

If they do let me know...I'll come and put mine there

 

[LiseG]

Check out more photos on Facebook... To SF and Beyond - Grato Family Album and Lise Gerlinger Grato - Disney Cruise 2012

I posted "Day 1" so far. I'll post a few at a time to keep the fun going.

 

[DesertGal]

Seeing all the pictures makes me so sad!! I want to be back on The Wonder!! What a fun trip.

 

[LiseG]

Sail Away Party Video... Sabrina is learning When You Wish Upon A Star on her saxaphone so we can pretend we're leaving port on a Disney Cruise

 

[LiseG]

Sir Harley Gassup - "Your majesty, may I present to the investenge.... , Tow Mater of Radiator Springs!" —Sir Harley Gassup announcing Mater.

Sir Harley Gassup is a character in Cars 2. He is the Lord Steward, and appears at the side of the Queen during the London race of the World Grand Prix and at Buckingham palace for Mater's knighting.

Harley is modeled as a Tatra 87, a Czechoslovak car. He is named after Cars 2's production designer Harley Jessup.

Reference: http://pixar.wikia.com/Sir_Harley_Gassup

 

[threeiscrazy]

Sir Harley Gassup - "Your majesty, may I present to the investenge.... , Tow Mater of Radiator Springs!" —Sir Harley Gassup announcing Mater.

Sir Harley Gassup is a character in Cars 2. He is the Lord Steward, and appears at the side of the Queen during the London race of the World Grand Prix and at Buckingham palace for Mater's knighting.

Harley is modeled as a Tatra 87, a Czechoslovak car. He is named after Cars 2's production designer Harley Jessup.

Reference: http://pixar.wikia.com/Sir_Harley_Gassup

So cool! I felt like I was stalking the poor man because every time we turned around there he was or I was bumping into him. We even saw him at the airport on Sunday morning.

 

[LiseG]

So cool! I felt like I was stalking the poor man because every time we turned around there he was or I was bumping into him. We even saw him at the airport on Sunday morning.

I know what you mean...We were seated one table away from Harley and his wife at dinner.

He's in most of my photos from Animator's Palate (rather appropriate if you think about it)

 

[stevenpensacola]

We had the Palo brunch "with" him and his wife...well, they were at the table next to us, and we had the same waiter. We asked our waiter if he knew who that was, he said yes...he waited on them at dinner and he was listed as a VIP in the computer.

 

[MummyKat]

We are home again. Came home to crisp fall weather here in northern MN. There was even a little ice forming around our dock. So glad that DH took out the big boat before we left for our trip. Now we have so much to do before the first snow flies.

So many Thank Yous are in order.

Thanks to Roxanne and Jeff for making all the arrangements for our cruise. It was truly a trip of a lifetime for us. Love you guys.

Thanks to Deb for organizing the FE Exchange. That was so much fun!! Also, thanks Deb and Eric for all your cruising tips, and for seating us with such a WONDERful group with the best serving team on the Wonder. Mealtime was such a delightful experience.

Thanks to all of you who participated in the FE Exchange. So many WONDERful gifts. They were creative, unique, and oh so generous.

Thanks again!!!

 

[MummyKat]

For those of you with kids 10 and under I just wanted to add a note about the Autograph Pillowcases that I made for the FE Exchange.

The main fabric is 50/50 Polyester Cotton Broadcloth
The printed trim fabric is 100% Cotton Quilt Fabric
So launder accordingly.

If characters autographed your pillowcases you may want to heat set the autographs. You can do this by either drying briefly in a hot dryer or by pressing with a hot iron. Both are best done before the first laundering. If you use the hot iron method I would insert a towel in the pillowcase to prevent bleed through of the writing, and would use a damp pressing cloth.

Sweet Dreams!

 

[Seamama]

Finally got to writing my room report. You can see it here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/roomreport.cfm?Room=1069 . I had it all written up w/ paragraph breaks but for some reason it ended up being all squished together w/ some weird symbols instead of proper punctuation. Oh well, at least all the content is there...

 

[LiseG]

Finally got to writing my room report. You can see it here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/roomreport.cfm?Room=1069 . I had it all written up w/ paragraph breaks but for some reason it ended up being all squished together w/ some weird symbols instead of proper punctuation. Oh well, at least all the content is there...

Nice review. Are you doing a report on your 2nd stateroom?