Bringing the Wonder home (LA to Vancouver Repo) - 04/27-05/03 - (Lots of food pics)

[castawaycayfans]

Hi we were there with you in 6609, we loved our trip. We arrived at the port by 9:30 and check in was a breeze, as we got in before the computer problems (don't ask me how that happened, I didn't ask questions). We were in boarding group 3, a feat that will never happen again! Sounds like you had fun, we enjoyed meeting everyone on the trip.

 

[megsablue]

My family was on the same cruise. In fact, we were neighbors. We were in room 7004. I just wanted to comment on the embarkation process for this cruise. It was very long. We arrived at the port around 11:15. We were sent as a family to the Castaway Club line and we stayed there for an hour and 45 minutes. I understand that they were having computer problems, but it was a very long time. In January 2010, we were in Port Canaveral and they only send one family member to the line and I was through within 20 minutes. Needless to say, we were hungry and tired by the time we got onboard. But I just kept telling my boys that it was like waiting in line at Disneyland, but this would be a 6 night ride!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was pretty annoyed at how long we had to wait. I know that in some people's eyes Disney can do no wrong, so I wondered if I'd be the only one who wasn't too happy with the check-in process.

Thank you so much for posting the balcony picture!

I just want to comment that it looks like the ship was in a different spot in the port, from when I went on the MR last month. Maybe they had to put the ship in a different port and that messed with the computer system. That is one theory. Our embarkation was very smooth and quick.

I also think it's strange that you give your luggage to a stranger! Someone simply asked us if he could take our bags - I had to ask, "Are you with the Disney ship?"

Can't wait to see the rest, and hear about the room in the front of the ship, since we were aft for our cruise.

Not a problem - sorry I didn't have a better one!

A different spot could explain the computer mess up - it was just really weird to have the computers down for that long during such a critical time.

Hi we were there with you in 6609, we loved our trip. We arrived at the port by 9:30 and check in was a breeze, as we got in before the computer problems (don't ask me how that happened, I didn't ask questions). We were in boarding group 3, a feat that will never happen again! Sounds like you had fun, we enjoyed meeting everyone on the trip.

Lucky you getting to skip that loooong line that came later! I'm glad to hear the check-in was a breeze for some I'm still debating if I want to get the port early next time (if there is a next time) because we'll have a little one in tow.

 

[megsablue]

Cruise Day 1 - Dinner at Palo

At 8pm, we headed up to Palo for our 8:15 reservation. I was a little worried I'd be underdressed because the only dress that managed to fit me and my belly was a plain black wrap dress. Once we got there, we realized we were dressed appropriately so relaxed a little bit (yes, I tend to stress out about these things).

Our server's name was Toni and unfortunately I can't remember where he was from, but he was great. He soon brought us some of the ridiculously yummy bread and served us antipasto from the antipasto cart. I'm a huge fan of antipasto (I could eat it anywhere anytime) and this did not disappoint! (Sorry, no pictures of the bread and antipasto, I totally forgot until we got to the appetizers).

Since the motion of the ship was getting to both DH and I and we weren't starving, we decided to only order appetizers and entrees and forgo the pizzettes.

I got the Sicillian Pesto Marinated Grilled Shrimp Salad:

and DH got the Mozzarella and Plum Tomatoes with Balsamic Dressing (the tomatoes look like salmon because they've been blanched).

Both dishes were very good - I loved the balance of the shrimp dish and my DH, who loves Caprese salads, thought that his appetizer was one of the best Caprese salad-like dishes he's ever had.

Toni then brought us a palate cleanser of lemon sorbetto, which was also very good (it was tart and I love tart things).

For our entrees, DH ordered the Lobster and Mascarpone Ravioli and I couldn't decide between the Lobster and Mascarpone Ravioli and the Braised Beef Short-Rib Ravioli with Chianti Reduction, so Toni brought both.

My DH absolutely loved the Lobster and Mascarpone Ravioli and while it was good, I thought the mascarpone cheese and cream sauce overpowered the lobster and truffles (I honestly didn't taste any of the truffle oil). I liked it, but I don't think I'd order it again.

The Braised Beef Short-Rib Ravioli was a different story however - I thought it was one of the best pasta dishes I've ever had. If it wasn't against proper decorum, I probably would have licked my plate clean . Seriously, my mouth is watering as I uploaded the photo!

For dessert, we both ordered the Chocolate Souffle, which did not disappoint. It was one of the best souffles I've had (probably beat only by the Grand Marnier Souffle I had at a Morton's one time).

I loved the mix of cold vanilla bean ice cream with the warm souffle and chocolate sauce - it was a delicious combination.

Since Toni knew I had been contemplating the Chocolate Pistachio Cake as well, he brought that along with a cute plate wishing us a happy anniversary.

I have to say, while the Chocolate Pistachio Cake had delicious flavor, it was a little dry. I wouldn't order it again, but it was delicious to try.

Finally, Toni brought us these little frozen shots to finish our dinner with. As they had grappa and champagne in them, I politely declined, but DH was fine having mine

After signing our bill, we headed back up to our room and found this:

As an aside, we were led to believe that the service charge for Palo included gratuity, but according to Guest Services, this is no longer the case. We were very embarrassed as we had only left a $5 tip (thinking that it was $5 above and beyond), but after talking to Guest Services and being told we were wrong, my DH got a tip envelope and took Toni his proper gratuity.

 

[Toria]

Wonderful TR! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[dfriia]

Cruise Day 1 - Dinner at Palo

As an aside, we were led to believe that the service charge for Palo included gratuity, but according to Guest Services, this is no longer the case. We were very embarrassed as we had only left a $5 tip (thinking that it was $5 above and beyond), but after talking to Guest Services and being told we were wrong, my DH got a tip envelope and took Toni his proper gratuity.

That is confusing because according to the DCL website:
Palo Gratuity included

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faqs/onboard-services/gratuities/

 

[megsablue]

That is confusing because according to the DCL website:
Palo Gratuity included

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faqs/onboard-services/gratuities/

I completely agree - we thought gratuity was included based off of that and information we got off of the DIS boards, but my DH spoke to two different people at Guest Services and they said that it was not. Either the website needs to change or both people at Guest Services were incorrect - but they both can't be right. We also looked through the DCL book that's in the staterooms and it said that Palo was an extra fee, but it didn't say that the fee included gratuity, so we decided to err on the side of caution and make sure Toni got a tip.


For those wondering if we'd do Palo for dinner again, we might, but to me, when the regular dining rooms are also really good, it almost seems like it's not worth it. It was almost $50 for dinner ($20 per person + gratuity) and though our meal was really good, I'm not sure if it's $50 upcharge good. I will try to do Palo Brunch sometime though...

 

[megsablue]

Cruise Day 2 - Day at Sea

Since the wristband release for the Pacific Cruise pins would begin at 9am, the night before we decided to set our alarm. Unfortunately for me, it was another early morning, so we didn't need the alarm at all. I watched the different channels about the cruise ship (Report from the Bridge, the live map, the camera from the bow of the ship) until my DH got up and we got up and ready for the day. We went up and ate at Beach Blanket Buffet for breakfast.

Sorry, I totally forgot to take a picture until I had half-eaten my breakfast! By the way, those mushrooms were really good!

I think it was a little after 8:30am when we finally got in line and for those of you who have been on the Wonder before, we were wrapped around from Mickey's Mates around to the entrances to the Walt Disney Theatre (near the elevators) back around near Treasure Ketch and then down the hallway towards the midship elevators. We ended up in line behind Steven (sdlong329) and his sister-in-law Lisa, so it was nice to meet some DISers while we were in line . (I was that nosy person who whenever I saw a DIS lanyard, I asked the person who they were ).

Because they were checking off staterooms, it took us a bit to get through the line once they opened it up at 9am and at 9:30am we rushed up to the DVC Member's Meet in Wavebands (it had started at 9am). That's one thing that I think Disney could have done better - I'm sure many DVC members wanted to get pins and many DVC members in line for pins wanted to go to the DVC members meeting. The DVC members meeting went a little past 10am and I went to meet up with Padalyn for Pin Trading 101.

Unfortunately I couldn't find her (my guess is I walked by her several times, as I often have a really hard time finding people). I felt bad that I wasn't able to connect with her!

Since we couldn't seem to find Padalyn, we decided to go to the The Art of Entertaining: The Appetizer class that had already started in Studio Sea. DH got a sample of the Tuna Tartare (one of his favourite foods) and a small taster of Sauvignon Blanc and he enjoyed both.

The host was really funny (and must have been Canadian because he referred to Kraft Mac & Cheese as Kraft Dinner and it's only called that in Canada - there was a whole thing on Jimmy Fallon about that), but I felt bad for the chef because you could tell he would have MUCH rather been in his kitchen and not teaching a class.

After the class we wandered around the ship a bit (stopping at Shutters to look at our photos - here's something that's funny, our Embarkation photo was so bad they didn't even print it! But our Palo photo turned out pretty well) just checking everything out before deciding that we were hungry and wanted to eat lunch. We decided to try the plated lunch at Triton's, so we went and got in line. We ended up talking with the people in front of us, Steven and Karen from Edmonton, AB and when they were told that there were no tables for 2 left, we joined them for lunch. The host brought us to a table where another guest, Andrea (from near Vancouver and on her 67th cruise, but her first Disney Cruise) was sitting, so there were 5 of us for lunch. We were nervous about sitting with other people, but they were so nice they put us completely at ease!

You'll have to forgive me because I can't find a lunch menu for Triton's online (and I didn't think to take a picture while I was there) so I'm going completely from memory on what we had.

My appetizer was chilled poached scallops and shrimp, with a crab claw and a vinaigrette dressing over top.

All of it was really good - but the crab claw was extremely hard to get out! Later in the week in the seafood buffet, my DH had a crab claw and his came out really easy. Apparently I had a faulty crab claw .

DH had a salad that had apples, walnuts and cheese (I think it was goat cheese), which is his favourite kind of salad.

He declared it delicious and then asked to to stop taking pictures of it so that he could actually eat it!

After the appetizers it was 1pm and Steven and Karen realized that they'd miss the DVC presentation (probably didn't help that we explained that we thought it was one of the best investments we've made ), so they told the head server and ended up leaving so that they could make that. We did end up running into them several times during the cruise though, so we did see them again!

Then our entrees came:

DH and I had the same thing - it was a pasta with mushrooms, cream sauce and sun-dried tomatoes. By now motion sickness was starting to get to me, so nothing really sounded good, but this was a really good dish - it was total comfort food and was really yummy. I'd definitely order it again.

For dessert, we both had the Key Lime Pie, which was very good - it was on the tart side, which is how I like my Key Lime Pie .

(Had to split this post into two because I have too many photos - sorry! Bear with me!)

 

[megsablue]

Cruise Day 2 - Day At Sea - Part II

After lunch, I was feeling particularly motion sick (it was a little rough and it was a little windy as well), so we decided to go first to the DVC desk and get our special gift (we never had things delivered to the room, even though we had booked on points ), then pick up our pins (you could pick them up after 12pm) and then head back to the stateroom.

Here's our special "gift":

It's actually really nice! We also got lanyards and a Steamboat Willie DVC pin.

Here are the Pacific Cruise pins:

We're just getting into pin collecting (not trading, sorry), so we're new to all of this. I know some people were picking up lots of these pins so that they could trade, but we figured since we're collecting and not trading, we'd just get two.

We then headed back to the room where I ended up taking a nap (see, I told you - lots of naps!) and then woke up famished around 4:30pm.

This is one of my complaints about DCL - if you're hungry between meals (which for us was *seven* hours - we usually ate lunch at 1 and we didn't have dinner until 8:15), we found you really only have three options: 1) Cove Cafe (the best of the bunch), 2) Diversions (wings and chips & dip) or 3) Room Service. I really wish they would have somewhere where you could get small snacks (like appetizers) between meals - I can't imagine if you have little ones and have late seating! Unfortunately for me, I couldn't remember if Cove Cafe or Diversions had snacks, so we decided to stick it out until dinner. This ended up being a really really bad decision that I severely regretted later.

We went up to Decks 9 and 10 to get some fresh air, which definitely helped. Here's a photo from Deck 10:

At 5:30, we decided we'd better get going so that we could get dressed and then make it in time for the Golden Mickeys at 6:15. Here's a photo from Deck 3 we took on our way back down:

We ended up getting to the Golden Mickeys right as the show was beginning, so we slid into the seats and watched (these became "our" seats for the rest of the week - we're such creatures of habit! ) . By now, the ship was rocking and rolling a little bit (I completely realize that I'm *really* sensitive to motion, so it might have just been me) and having to focus on the show made my motion sickness worse.

Between my being motion sick and hungry, I was not in that great of a mood, which I think is reflected in my feelings about the show. While the people in the show are definitely talented, it felt super cheesy (and I like cheese!) and almost thrown together. It was my least favourite of the shows that we saw.

After dinner we went and sat in the hallway between the DVC desk and Shutters - they have artwork hanging there and some comfy chairs, so it's a great place to just relax and people watch. As people started walking by, I was feeling completely underdressed in my simple black wrap dress and combined with my ever-increasing motion sickness and low blood sugar (I have a hard time keeping my blood sugar up sometimes), I was pretty much miserable.

At 7:45, I was close to tears and I begged my DH to let me head back to the room and just order room service for dinner. We both were really disappointed as we were excited to be eating in Triton's (since we had missed it the night before) and the Golden Mickey's menu looked pretty good. Here are some photos of the menu that I snapped before we headed back to our room (sorry they're a little blurry, but they were under glass and I wasn't able to get still enough to make them turn out):

After getting back to our room, we ordered a bunch of food - a Caesar salad, chicken wings and Chicken Fajita Wrap for me and a Steak Sandwich for my DH. We both got the Cake at Sea (which happened to be Cheesecake) as well. I thought it was pretty funny because we ordered so much food they brought 3 place settings for us

After eating, I was feeling a little better, but since we were so far forward (the forwardest Ocean View cabin on the left side), the motion in our cabin was killing me. I looked on the Report from the Bridge and it said we had Rough seas (8ft to 12ft waves) and a Moderate Gale - my smart DH took a motion sickness pill right away, but I decided to try and stick it out.

We ended up going to bed around 10pm and at midnight I woke up and my decision to not take a motion sickness pill caught up with me (I'll spare you the details, but I promise you it was NOT pretty) . I was sick from 12 - 3am, and at 2:30 I woke up my DH and made him promise that no matter what the cost, we would fly home from San Francisco. He made me take a motion sickness pill and I ended up finally being able to sleep until around 6:30am.

Though the rough seas and moderate gale couldn't be helped, I realize that letting my blood sugar get so low and being so stubborn and not taking a pill until after I was sick were pretty stupid decisions and I most likely could have prevented being sick if I had just taken some precautions.

 

[megsablue]

Cruise Day 3 - San Francisco (Day 1)

My DH had set the alarm for us to wake up early so that we could take photos as we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge, but after the night we had, neither one of us was going to get up any earlier than we had to. We ended up waking up right as we sailed past Alcatraz, so my DH snapped this photo:

After getting ready, we headed up to Beach Blanket Buffet for breakfast.

As you can see, it was a beautiful sunny day in San Francisco!

And just because I'm sure you want it here's the gratuitous shot of my breakfast:

The buffet was actually pretty empty, but I'm not sure if that was because we were there early or late (it was around 7:30). After breakfast, we went back to our room, packed our day bags and headed out for San Francisco.

We weren't doing any excursions this time around because we had been to San Francisco about 18 months beforehand and had pretty much done everything touristy then. While we wanted to go to the Walt Disney Family Museum, it seemed a little daunting to take a taxi or transit out there and I just wasn't up for tons of walking.

Here's a photo of the Wonder as we were walking towards Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf:

Since we were off the ship so early (around 8:30am) not much was open. We walked down to the Boudin Bakery (I realize it's touristy, but I love it!), did some looking around, then headed up so that we could take the cable cars to Union Square. Unfortunately, it seemed like that particular area wasn't running, so we stopped at a Starbucks and then headed to take the F-line to Market St (much cheaper than the cable cars and it seemed much faster as well). Once we were at Market St., we did a little more shopping and sightseeing around Union Square, before grabbing some lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (at the top of Macy's in Union Square).

It was so sunny up there, it was beautiful (and warm!). Here's some shots of Union Square:

We then headed to the Disney Store where we picked up this pin:

We were wanting to get some infant Disney clothes, but were sorely disappointed that the Disney store didn't really have any (they had some, but I thought they would have a larger selection). However, my credit cards were probably happy for the break .

By that time it was about 1:30, so we decided to take the F-Line back to the ship. We got back to the ship around 2pm and as I was determined to not be hungry in between meals, after dropping our bags off, we headed up to Deck 9. DH played around with his camera while I grabbed us a plate full of food from the Beach Blanket Buffet so we could nibble for the next couple of hours.

I had also forgotten to pack our Kleen Kanteens and it was driving me nuts to have to refill my water every 5 minutes with the tiny cups that DCL provides. DH & I saved our iced Venti cups from Starbucks, so if you saw someone walking around the ship with a Starbucks cup full of water or iced tea, that was me . (I of course, refilled it properly ).

We relaxed on Deck 9 for awhile before heading over to the Cove Cafe to grab some snacks and a cup of tea. If you're a tea drinker, this was a great place to get some good tea and some yummy snacks during the day (we'd definitely be back). After some tea and snacks, we back to our stateroom to relax and see if we could find some of the highlights of the royal wedding on TV. We watched TV for awhile before I ended up falling asleep - and since I'd had such a rough night the night before, I managed to sleep for quite awhile. (See? ANOTHER nap!). DH ended up falling asleep too and we woke up a little before 7pm. We got ready for dinner, then did some walking around before we headed to Animator's Palate for dinner.

(Oops, too many photos again - stay tuned for Part II)

 

[megsablue]

Cruise Day 3 - San Francisco - Part II

At Animator's Palate, we were introduced to our server, Mihailo, who was from Serbia, and Henry, who was from the Dominican Republic. They made a big deal of us finally coming to dinner as it was the third night of the cruise and they were just now meeting us, which was kinda funny. Mihailo later told us that if we hadn't have shown up for dinner that night, they were going to send someone to check on us to make sure we were okay! (We had our own table so at least we didn't have tablemates wondering where we were!)

For appetizers, I had the Roma Tomato and Portobello Mushrooms on Polenta Cake, while my DH had the Ahi Tuna Tartare.

I wasn't expecting much for my appetizer, but it was the only thing that sounded appetizing (ha!). However, the sauce (red curry and coconut) was amazing and brought the whole dish together. I keep thinking I need to recreate this at home!

DH loved his tuna tartare as well - we joke that we're starting to take after our cats with the amount of tuna tartare and sashimi we can pack away. Normally, I would have had the tartare as well, but it's frowned upon when your pregnant.

For our soup and salad course, I had the Baked Potato Soup (with Bacon and Chive Garnish) an DH had the Smoked Salmon and Trout with Goat Cheese Salad.

The Baked Potato Soup was SO ridiculously good! In fact, I have a bunch of the Disney cookbooks, so I'm thinking I need to look through them and see I have the recipe because come fall/winter - that would make an awesome dinner with some crusty bread and salad!

DH really enjoyed his salad too - he's a huge fan of goat cheese, so if it has goat cheese in it, he'll order it!

For our entrees, we both had the Beef Tenderloin with Baby Bok Choy and Mashed Potatoes. (This is a photo of mine, since it was medium-well, DH's was rare).

This entree was absolutely delicious! I think it was one of my favourites (if not the favourite of the trip). The sauce was very flavourful - we both really enjoyed the dish. We also both enjoy baby bok choy as well, so we also really enjoyed the veggie portion of the dish.

For dessert, I had the Strawberry Sable with Passionfruit Cream and DH had the Buckled Warm Apple Crumble.

I really liked the Strawberry Sable, though I couldn't figure out how to eat it properly (the sable is crunchy, but if you try to cut through it, you squished the dessert). No matter though, I managed to eat it all!

I like to bug my DH because he can be very predictable when it comes to food - like he always orders Tuna Tartare, he ALWAYS orders Apple Pie or Apple Crumble if it's on a menu. He thought this one was particularly good, which is a lot coming from him - since he orders it everywhere!

Mihailo also brought us a chocolate celebration cake for our anniversary (it had been noted on our reservation) and a bunch of the servers sang "Happy Anniversary" to us. It was very sweet of them!

The cake was really good - very chocolately and fudgy.

After dinner, DH went up to the upper decks and took some nighttime shots of San Francisco while I went back to relax (and ended up falling asleep before he got back. Whoops!).

 

[mmmears]

Great updates! I'm really enjoying your trip report. And great photos as well.

I get motion sick, too, so I can really sympathize with you.

One question: When we were hungry in between lunch and dinner (also late seating) we would go to Deck 9 and grab some fruit and a wrap (or maybe a slice of pizza or nuggets). Were these places not open in the middle of the day during your cruise?

 

[megsablue]

Great updates! I'm really enjoying your trip report. And great photos as well.

I get motion sick, too, so I can really sympathize with you.

One question: When we were hungry in between lunch and dinner (also late seating) we would go to Deck 9 and grab some fruit and a wrap (or maybe a slice of pizza or nuggets). Were these places not open in the middle of the day during your cruise?

Thank you!

I should have clarified that - sorry! Goofy's Galley and Pinocchio's Pizzeria were open during the afternoon hours. However, I don't know if we just got a bad slice, or what, but the pizza we had from Pinocchio's was absolutely disgusting. I'm pretty sure my flip flop with cheese would have tasted better. As for the wraps, we never ended up trying them because deli meat is a big no-no when your pregnant, so I wouldn't have been able to eat them. Since the pizza was so bad, I didn't dare get a burger or chicken strips from Deck 9 - but perhaps I should have given it a chance!

I just thought it was weird that the buffet wasn't open during the afternoon hours - my parents have cruised lots - mostly on Norwegian and Celebrity - and when I explained what was open in the afternoon, they thought it was weird too.

 

[Mindyjoy]

So sorry to hear you got sick! I get motion sickness too. I wore sea bands and also took ginger pills. If I felt slightly woozy, I popped a ginger pill and felt much better. Don't know if you can take them while preggers, though. I hope you felt better as the trip went on.

I wasn't thrilled with the pizza either, but we loved the chicken strips and fries! A couple times I just asked for a bucket of fries. Not the healthiest snack but hey, it's vacation. Goofys Galley also had a chicken sandwich, not deli meat but chunks of chicken, however, I thought the sandwich was really greasy. Also I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in olives from Diversions during my trip, heh.

Loving all the pics, great report!

 

[megsablue]

So sorry to hear you got sick! I get motion sickness too. I wore sea bands and also took ginger pills. If I felt slightly woozy, I popped a ginger pill and felt much better. Don't know if you can take them while preggers, though. I hope you felt better as the trip went on.

I wasn't thrilled with the pizza either, but we loved the chicken strips and fries! A couple times I just asked for a bucket of fries. Not the healthiest snack but hey, it's vacation. Goofys Galley also had a chicken sandwich, not deli meat but chunks of chicken, however, I thought the sandwich was really greasy. Also I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in olives from Diversions during my trip, heh.

Loving all the pics, great report!

Aw, thanks. I definitely was MUCH better for the rest of the trip (I really focused on keeping my blood sugar up and taking a pill when I needed to). I think my exhaustion and hormones also contributed to how upset I was (though I was really sick ). After pulling out of San Francisco, we had much better weather in terms of wind and waves, so I was a much happier camper! (I did wear sea bands if I felt like I was getting sick again - after talking with Andrea, the experienced cruiser we met at lunch, we figured out that they needed to be stretched out - so my DH stretched them out for me after San Francisco).

Dang, I wish I had investigated the Deck 9 food more! I didn't see any chicken sandwiches with actual meat, but it could have been I just didn't look hard enough. Between Diversions & Cove Cafe, for the rest of the trip we managed to find enough snacky type foods in the afternoon to keep us from starving (I think we may have been getting to Diversions too late) - plus the self-serve ice cream and the Passion Fruit Breezes (not sure if that's the proper name, it was the drink they had at all of the bars that was non-alcoholic and made with ice cream and juice) definitely helped as well. We were definitely ready for dinner by the time 8:15 rolled around though!

 

[jtiggerb]

It is dangorous to look at your post on a empty stomach... one look and I'm drooling. So looking forward to the meals. Thanks also for the Navs it great to see what we might get on ours. I planning to spending alot of time on the boat as I live very close to Victoria and have been to Ensanada before.

 

[megsablue]

It is dangorous to look at your post on a empty stomach... one look and I'm drooling. So looking forward to the meals. Thanks also for the Navs it great to see what we might get on ours. I planning to spending alot of time on the boat as I live very close to Victoria and have been to Ensanada before.

I have to say that the meals in the dining rooms were really really good and were much better than we originally thought it would be (basing it off of the food in the parks). My DH & I have been laughing that as I'm uploading these photos, we're wanting to go back on a DCL cruise (perhaps a cruise to nowhere to help with the motion sickness?) just for the food!

Just as an aside, I see you live in Lynden! I grew up in Lynden (didn't go to school there, but grew up off of Birch-Bay Lynden Rd - we were about 2 miles from the Guide). We've since moved (me up to Vancouver, my parents to AZ) but we still have many friends there.

 

[jtiggerb]

Moved to Lynden i 07 since it was about half way between my job near Sumas and my wife's job near Bellingham.

 

[animalx]

Great Report, thanks for posting !!

 

[giftcard]

Fantastic TR! Can't wait for more!

I also suffer from motion sickness. I take meclizine (Bonine) before I even get on the ship and take it throughout the cruise. I've been on 4 cruises so far and have never gotten sick and we've had some pretty crazy waves.

I'm also from Vancouver. Yay hometown!

 

[megsablue]

Fantastic TR! Can't wait for more!

I also suffer from motion sickness. I take meclizine (Bonine) before I even get on the ship and take it throughout the cruise. I've been on 4 cruises so far and have never gotten sick and we've had some pretty crazy waves.

I'm also from Vancouver. Yay hometown!

That's great to know - this time I was limited due to the pregnancy (my Dr. said stick with Gravol), but if we decide to take a cruise again, I'll definitely look into meclizine! Thanks!

Yay another Vancouverite! Stay tuned, I have some great photos of downtown from the ship...

Sorry I haven't posted another update - I'm trying to coordinate a big family function next weekend (combo of a family weekend for my Mom's birthday and then a big surprise party for her during it) and it's taking much more of my time than I thought it would. The term herding cats comes to mind

I'll try to get another update posted this weekend - I have it typed up, I just need to scan in the navigator and upload the photos.