Cruising The Canal May 1, 2015 (Roll Call in Post 1)

[Viking_53]

The chocolate tasting, as far as I am aware, is a pairing of chocolate with wine (possibly liquor).

If somebody wants to organise a chocolate tasting, feel free. I was going to stick with arranging mixology and one other drinks tasting.

We also did the chocolate tasting on last year's EBTA. It was a fairly new offering at the time.

It's different types of chocolate bits, that they pair with mostly wine, but the last glass (from Goofy Newfie's picture) was actually scotch. My wife was not keen on the scotch, but it was surprising how well the wines went with the chocolate.

I think the chocolate tasting was a bit more expensive - $20 as oppsosed to the $15 for the mixology.

 

[Viking_53]

Welcome to any and all new cruisers!!

Is anyone going to Disneyland right from the cruise? If so, do you rent a car or is there alternate transportation? DH and I have never rented a car during any of our vacations as we find it more relaxing to not drive.

We're considering spending the weekend at Disneyland, probably the Grand Californian hotel. I've only spent 1 day at Disneyland and that was many years ago, and DH has never been there. We mainly just want to do the "Magic Kingdom" part of Disneyland, which I think is referred to simply as Disneyland??? Is this right? LOL We are WDW experts, but don't know much about DL, except that their Pirates of the Caribbean is supposed to be much better, and there's a restaurant inside called Blue Bayou, which we'd like to dine at.

We'd fly home from LAX at that point. If we don't go to Disneyland at all, we'll either fly right home after the cruise, or possibly just spend one night in San Diego before flying home.

As for Miami, we are already booked via my generous brother's reward points at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami, which is in the Downtown area. We'll most likely get the best flights out of Boston, to FLL, so we'll use the SAS Transportation company to get us from FLL to the Marriott. We had decided that we wanted to wake up near the port on departure day.

As for transportation from the Marriott in Miami to the port, we'll just use a cab I guess.


So far, we are signed up for Wilma-Bride's Mixology sessions; two of them if a second session would contain different drinks!

The Chocolate Tasting sounds good, but neither DH and I are big chocolate lovers, so we haven't decided on that one yet. Does anyone know if they definitely offer that on the Panama Canal cruises??

We are signed up for the FE exchange, but haven't decided on the individual gift exchange yet, although it sounds like a nice idea as well.


I'm kind of rambling here because we are in the middle of a flooded-out basement and dealing with crews of workers in and out of the house all last week, and wondering how this is all going to work out with our homeowners insurance (it was water from a leaking pipe, not outside water), and we have the adjuster coming Tuesday morning. So I'm trying to think happy thoughts about this cruise and take a break from the house turmoil.

I hope everyone is doing well!

If you are going to Disneyland, you might want to consider flying out of Santa Ana (John Wayne airport) instead of LAX. It's a much closer option than flying out of LAX - it's at least 40-50 miles to LAX from Disneyland, and then you have to worry about the LA traffic.

That being said, it might be cheaper out of LAX, but I believe the fares are comparable - at least to Denver. Not sure how much it might change going to Boston.

 

[GoofyNewfie]

I did enjoy the tastings. In the end I don't know if it was more about the chocolate or the alcohol but perhaps that was the point. As the person doing most of the speaking explained, the pairings went so well together. I'm not a fan of white chocolate or scotch, but together they were amazing. My wife didn't want to try the scotch, so I was happy to have hers.

I don't know if the picture implies it well enough, we were supposed to try the alcohol above each glass of chocolate. There were also hard piece of chocolate. You can just see them in the picture here. Sorry about the coloring, new camera that I didn't apparently know how to use.



and here's a picture of the alcohols that we tried.



But, I certainly enjoyed all the mixologies too - I'll just have to remember not to do 2 in one day again.

 

[granmaz]

If you are going to Disneyland, you might want to consider flying out of Santa Ana (John Wayne airport) instead of LAX. It's a much closer option than flying out of LAX - it's at least 40-50 miles to LAX from Disneyland, and then you have to worry about the LA traffic.

That being said, it might be cheaper out of LAX, but I believe the fares are comparable - at least to Denver. Not sure how much it might change going to Boston.

I second that - flying from John Wayne Airport. We flew to New York from there on Jetblue and the whole experience was excellent and far nicer than when we went from LAX.

 

[NorCalGal]

Is anyone going to Disneyland right from the cruise? If so, do you rent a car or is there alternate transportation? DH and I have never rented a car during any of our vacations as we find it more relaxing to not drive.

We're considering spending the weekend at Disneyland, probably the Grand Californian hotel. I've only spent 1 day at Disneyland and that was many years ago, and DH has never been there. We mainly just want to do the "Magic Kingdom" part of Disneyland, which I think is referred to simply as Disneyland??? Is this right?

We'd fly home from LAX at that point.

I am planning to go to DL after the cruise taking Amtrak. As someone else said, the Amtrak station is very close to the port in San Diego. There is an Amtrak station in Anaheim and the cab ride to the DL hotels is about $15.

Yes, we call them Disneyland and California Adventure generally, and I think the normal dis abbreviations are DL and DCA.

Unfortunately, there is no free Magical Express to the airport, but there is Disney transportation directly from the hotel for a fee. It's at half hour intervals in a nice big comfy bus. I think there are a lot of West Coasters on this cruise, so feel free to ask specific questions.

I will do the Mixology (x2 if they are different), and the chocolate tasting if they have it

 

[Kirbo]

I was wondering about the tee-shirts. I know we talked about them and were seeing if there was interest. But did anyone say they were up for designing or organizing them? (Not me, I'm terrible at that stuff.)

On the September 2014 cruise there're a lot of great designs. I'm not sure if we can use them, but I bet we could ask the maker, I think it's davidls, if we can copy them for ourselves.
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49038920&postcount=2

Or something along those lines.

I just adore the Wonder getting squeezed/pushed/pulled through the canal.

 

[Kirbo]

Oooh, on the September thread they have a ton of info! They are very organized (I see a lot of folks that were on the EBTA with us last year ). DisneyMouseHouse (who also does the graphics on FB ) has a post with the prices for those of you considering tastings. http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49050167&postcount=8

 

[Bookwood]

I'll second using John Wayne Airport also. We found prices for us were a lot better for that airport. Besides it's small and I can't security isn't nearly the hassle there that it must be in LAX. (ok I haven't flown into or out of LAX since before 9/11 but it's way less hassle than MCO.) John Wayne only has 8 or so gates I think, so way fewer people to go through security.

 

[ukmickeyc]

Hi we have booked this cruise to join our friends from Pittsburgh PA who we just spent time with on a DW Alaska Cruise. Just me DH (Mike) and DW (Barbara) and really looking to 14 nights of sun. Next step is to book flights from U.K. We are in stateroom #6026. Look forward to keeping in touch.

 

[Kirbo]

What's a DW Alaska Cruise?

 

[ukmickeyc]

Sorry, DW = Disney Wonder We sailed last month.

 

[NWT]

Hi we have booked this cruise to join our friends from Pittsburgh PA who we just spent time with on a DW Alaska Cruise. Just me DH (Mike) and DW (Barbara) and really looking to 14 nights of sun. Next step is to book flights from U.K. We are in stateroom #6026. Look forward to keeping in touch.

I had to double check our stateroom number, as I thought we were neighbours. It looks like we will be down the hall in #6628

It will be just DH and I, celebrating our 25th anniversary. First time with no kids! We are looking forward to sun and relaxation It will be strange that we will not be planning our kids activities, making sure they get where they need to, and then making sure we pick them up on time. I am pretty sure we will manage though

 

[Kirbo]

Sorry, DW = Disney Wonder We sailed last month.

 

[aan1701]

If you are going to Disneyland, you might want to consider flying out of Santa Ana (John Wayne airport) instead of LAX. It's a much closer option than flying out of LAX - it's at least 40-50 miles to LAX from Disneyland, and then you have to worry about the LA traffic. That being said, it might be cheaper out of LAX, but I believe the fares are comparable - at least to Denver. Not sure how much it might change going to Boston.

Just a FYI. Mileage is off. I live right next to lax and it's 32.3 miles from my driveway to DL. Yes I did do it cause I was bored and curious one day

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[wilma-bride]

Just a FYI. Mileage is off. I live right next to lax and it's 32.3 miles from my driveway to DL. Yes I did do it cause I was bored and curious one day

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Thank you for that info. Since we don't have a choice (have to fly from LAX), can you tell me how long we should need to allow on a Sunday evening to get to LAX from DL please?

 

[aan1701]

Thank you for that info. Since we don't have a choice (have to fly from LAX), can you tell me how long we should need to allow on a Sunday evening to get to LAX from DL please?

There are a lot of factors that come into play here. First off time if day but in theory 45 min is all it should take. The place where you may need time is LAX. Depending on the airline and the time of day you really should allow your self 3 hours total just to play it safe. If you are paranoid like me, 4 hours.

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[wilma-bride]

There are a lot of factors that come into play here. First off time if day but in theory 45 min is all it should take. The place where you may need time is LAX. Depending on the airline and the time of day you really should allow your self 3 hours total just to play it safe. If you are paranoid like me, 4 hours.

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We will need to be there 3 hours before anyway, as it will be an international flight. Thank you for the info.

 

[aan1701]

We will need to be there 3 hours before anyway, as it will be an international flight. Thank you for the info.

What time is your flight if you even know yet?

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[wilma-bride]

What time is your flight if you even know yet?

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Sorry, only just saw your reply. We are probably looking at a 9.30pm flight.

 

[aan1701]

Sorry, only just saw your reply. We are probably looking at a 9.30pm flight.

I would start heading to LAX at 5 and no later.

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