Cruising the Dream on our 1st cruise ever!!! (5 Night Double Dip)

[Pinkocto]

I am sorry that your birthday dinner at California Grill was less than magical. It unfortunately is pretty much the same experience that we had at Graham's birthday dinner in 2010. I loved the location and the view, but the food was decidedly not up to expectation and nowhere near as good as we had at other signature restaurants.

Corinna

Thank you I'm sorry Graham's was the same. It makes it even more disappointing when you're celebrating. Mom's meal from start to finish was fabulous which I'm so glad about. I've just got to remember not to try and be adventuresome when we go back. Jiko has become out ultimate favorite and we went there the next night.

 

[Leshaface]

I did a double-read for the Pirates ride. Did they actually tell you they were out of rum?! What a great line! Haven't heard that one before!

You guys got a fantastic view from Cali Grill. Too bad you didn't enjoy your dish. On the other hand, that cheese plate and flatbread looks AMAZING! I'm hoping they'll have that cheese plate when we go in December.

 

[Pinkocto]

I did a double-read for the Pirates ride. Did they actually tell you they were out of rum?! What a great line! Haven't heard that one before!

You guys got a fantastic view from Cali Grill. Too bad you didn't enjoy your dish. On the other hand, that cheese plate and flatbread looks AMAZING! I'm hoping they'll have that cheese plate when we go in December.

Oh yes, and with a pirate accent and everything. Some of the CMs are a riot!

The cheese plate and flatbread were absolutely amazing. There's no doubt we'll be back, we really enjoy the atmosphere. And all of mom's food was fabulous so no complaints from her. Regardless of which cheeses they'll have there is always one offered. It's really fun to try them all, and they'll let you keep the menus if you ask.

 

[jennyjinx3]

The view from California Grill is sooo nice! We had that one on our list of maybes for our 10th anniversary trip this September, but decided against it. Actually we aren't really planning any adults dinner with just the two of us...just a evening out at Epcot I think.

BTW We have nailed it down...Dec 1 2013 4 night dream....followed by 4 nights WDW...just inches away now!

 

[Pinkocto]

The view from California Grill is sooo nice! We had that one on our list of maybes for our 10th anniversary trip this September, but decided against it. Actually we aren't really planning any adults dinner with just the two of us...just a evening out at Epcot I think.

BTW We have nailed it down...Dec 1 2013 4 night dream....followed by 4 nights WDW...just inches away now!

I think anywhere would be nice if it's quality alone time I would definitely recommend Jiko for the future if you havn't been there yet, it's fabulous.

That is a great amount of time. Are you planning on staying onsite for the WDW portion?

 

[jennyjinx3]

I think anywhere would be nice if it's quality alone time I would definitely recommend Jiko for the future if you havn't been there yet, it's fabulous.

That is a great amount of time. Are you planning on staying onsite for the WDW portion?

Yes, hoping there will be some sort of discounts offered then!! Fingers crossed!

 

[Pinkocto]

We've made it to 3/20/12 which was the second to last day of our marvelous trip.

Plans for the day:

Go to AK and

Dinner at Jiko at 8:00

We had a lazy morning, I didn't wake up until 9:15 and as usual mom had been up for about an hour drinking coffee and watching the animals. I wanted to get all our clothes cleaned before heading out the next day so we did some laundry. I knew there was supposed to be a laundry room for DVC members but I hadn't seen it yet. After trying to find it on the room map, and resort map provided on check-in I finally called the front desk. She actually had to ask someone else. I would think everyone would know that kind of info... It wasn't too far from our room and all you have to pay for is the detergent and dryer sheets. We did a few loads and while waiting had some honey and peanut butter sandwhiches for breakfast in the room. And would you believe, this beautiful creature finally graced me with its presence!!!

I was riveted! These guys are my absolute favorite, the beautiful Red River Hog

This is why I need a better zoom next trip. It looks so far away, but in actuality it really wasn't. I couldn't catch a picture of it, but the little guy was jumping on the tree and hitting the feeding bucket with its snout to cause some food to come out of it. I thought it was quite clever.

It just wandered around snuffling and exploring. I was just so happy to see one close.

Some other lovely specimens.

This couple was very fun to watch.

After tearing myself away from the beautiful creatures we made it to AK around 1:00.

These looked a bit ominous but it thankfully never rained on us.

I had never seen this plant before so tried to get a good photo.

We love to watch the spoonbills so stopped for a few minutes.

They're not the prettiest of creatures, but I think that makes them even more fascinating to me.

After seeing enough of the spoonbills we headed toward the safari.

These beautiful orchids were just growing up in the trees.

and look at these plants!

View from the bridge. I was trying to see any alligators, we had seen one last December, but none were in view that day.

 

[Pinkocto]

Some flowers we found on the way

We stopped by the Tree of Life to specifically watch the Galapagos Tortoise for a while.

To me he looked so sad, which just made me sad for him.

I was getting quite sad for him thinking he was all alone in his enclosure until I saw he had one companion. It was some kind of goose, and he was very curious.

but our tortoise friend still looked sad. I really hope he's ok living in AK, I'm sure the handlers treat the animals well.

We tore ourselves away to finally make our way to the safari but found these guys on the way.

some local fauna

We had never seen these birds before, I think they were different types of cranes.

This one was so tall! Perhaps even 4 feet, and very stately.

We finally made it to the safari at 1:58 and we were in our vehicle at 2:06 thanks to our wonderful FPs. Thankfully we didn't have to stand in this line.

Our magnificent guide was named Sasha, and he has been dubbed the best driver in WDW. By me that is. I almost believed we were on a real adventure he was so good.

 

[Pinkocto]

The outlook where you'll eat lunch if you do the Wild Africa Trek.

I think I love rhinos just as much as I love Red River Hogs. They're just so cute!

 

[jennyjinx3]

Great pics once again...BTW I forgot to mention I LOVE all your plant and flower pictures...I am a horticulturist by trade!!!

 

[Pinkocto]

Great pics once again...BTW I forgot to mention I LOVE all your plant and flower pictures...I am a horticulturist by trade!!!

Thank you so much I was getting worried I was boring people Have you seen those funky orange and purple plants before? They were so unusual to me.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Thanks for sharing all those wonderful photos. The goose is a Nene Goose and is a native of Hawaii. I love them. We have them here in the UK in a a number of nature reserves as they were very close to extinction at one stage and a UK based conservation charity tried to make sure that they do not become extinct. The Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust successfully bred them in captivity and a lot of those birds were taken to Hawaii were they are now quite common again after there were only 30 Nenes left in Hawaii at one point. All nature reserves in the UK that are managed by the Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust do have Nene Geese and some of them escaped and have now formed viable colonies in the UK.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

Thanks for sharing all those wonderful photos. The goose is a Nene Goose and is a native of Hawaii. I love them. We have them here in the UK in a a number of nature reserves as they were very close to extinction at one stage and a UK based conservation charity tried to make sure that they do not become extinct. The Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust successfully bred them in captivity and a lot of those birds were taken to Hawaii were they are now quite common again after there were only 30 Nenes left in Hawaii at one point. All nature reserves in the UK that are managed by the Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust do have Nene Geese and some of them escaped and have now formed viable colonies in the UK.

Corinna

Thank you so much for the info. That is just amazing they were able to come back from such a small number. These kinds of stories always make me happy to know that there are people out there keeping an eye on things. This goose was so curious, he came out of where ever he was hiding and specifically came over to investigate our presence. I loved his neck feathers, they were just so unusual.

 

[jennyjinx3]

I am sooo excited....I just wanted you to see our new ticker!!

 

[dgbg100106]

not bored here!!!!


Love the animal pictures, and I agree, I am so glad to know that there are groups of people who are fighting to keep different species from dieing out.

 

[Pinkocto]

I am sooo excited....I just wanted you to see our new ticker!!

Congratulations!!! That is so exciting!

 

[Pinkocto]

not bored here!!!!


Love the animal pictures, and I agree, I am so glad to know that there are groups of people who are fighting to keep different species from dieing out.

Thank you I was hoping it wasn't overkill with all the flower pictures. That's why I warned you guys back when I posted about Castaway Cay.

Does your new camera do well with zooming? There's just so many to choose from, I've got to figure out what I really need.

 

[dgbg100106]

Thank you I was hoping it wasn't overkill with all the flower pictures. That's why I warned you guys back when I posted about Castaway Cay.

Does your new camera do well with zooming? There's just so many to choose from, I've got to figure out what I really need.

To zoom in and out, you have to turn the lens itself, I have had my lens for a while now, so I am not sure if you are asking about the DSLR or a PnS?

For my DSLR (Nikon D-7000) I have different lens that zoom different lengths. My favorite lens is a Nikor VR 18-200mm

 

[Pinkocto]

To zoom in and out, you have to turn the lens itself, I have had my lens for a while now, so I am not sure if you are asking about the DSLR or a PnS?

For my DSLR (Nikon D-7000) I have different lens that zoom different lengths. My favorite lens is a Nikor VR 18-200mm

I'm curious about your new camera David got you for your birthday. Was that the D-7000? I'm wondering if I should get one that as an interchangeable lens feature or just a fixed lens. Does it take a lot of getting used to changing them?

 

[franandaj]

Great pictures! No, I'm not getting bored with all the flowers, they're nice to see. I don't pay a lot of attention to detail often and so when someone else points it out to me, I tend to stop and look next time.

I'm curious about your new camera David got you for your birthday. Was that the D-7000? I'm wondering if I should get one that as an interchangeable lens feature or just a fixed lens. Does it take a lot of getting used to changing them?

We have two lenses for our DSLR camera and changing them is pretty easy, just a twist and a click. I really like having the zoom, especially for things like the safari. I have some pictures from when we went on it without the zoom and another when we had the zoom and the zoom pictures are much better!