ELEVATE! Is that a whale out there? A three-generation cruise to Alaska!UPDATE 8/29

[pas130]

And then my wave phone vibrated!

Up next: 12. A Royal Visit​

I hope all is well Roni....uh oh

 

[LittleGirlGrey]

Yes! More please! I hope everything is okay!!!

 

[shan23877]

I loved all of the pictures of the ship! The shop windows are adorable. Made me realize that I didn't ask if Willow was doing BBB on the ship (I guess I don't even know if all of the ships have a BBB). The restaurants all look so well themed!

I'm guessing you may not have gotten back to photograph Route 66?

I hope that everything was ok with DD! Can't wait to hear what happened next!

 

[karajeboo]

Love the ship tour - makes me feel like I'm back on the Magic!!! Waiting to hear about the seas.... I have a "milestone" birthday coming up in a couple of years and I'm thinking an Alaskan cruise sounds pretty good, but I've heard the seas can be really rough.....

 

[RGirl]

I love the pics of the Wonder! I felt like I was on a tour!

I completely understand what you mean! I love my kids more than anything but I love having some time to myself too. I would love to be able to walk around a Disney ship by myself!

I'm excited to see what you and Willow have planned. I hope your wave phone ringing is good not bad!

ETA: Thanks for the nice words. My mom and I have definitely improved on our relationship as I've gotten older. We are really close now but we still have our moments.

I will raise my imaginary wine glass too!

Thanks! The ship was really beautiful, and it was just amazing to be able to wander around by myself for a bit.

 

[RGirl]

I hope all is well Roni....uh oh

Never fear.

 

[RGirl]

Yes! More please! I hope everything is okay!!!

Never fear. .

Hoping to have time to post an update tonight maybe.

 

[RGirl]

I loved all of the pictures of the ship! The shop windows are adorable. Made me realize that I didn't ask if Willow was doing BBB on the ship (I guess I don't even know if all of the ships have a BBB). The restaurants all look so well themed!

I'm guessing you may not have gotten back to photograph Route 66?

I hope that everything was ok with DD! Can't wait to hear what happened next!

No BBB on the Wonder. I think there is on the Dream and the Fantasy though. Not sure I would love the huge size of those ships though. Might have to try 'em to find out someday!

 

[RGirl]

Love the ship tour - makes me feel like I'm back on the Magic!!! Waiting to hear about the seas.... I have a "milestone" birthday coming up in a couple of years and I'm thinking an Alaskan cruise sounds pretty good, but I've heard the seas can be really rough.....

The Magic is very similar to the Wonder, right?

Alaska would be a great milestone birthday trip! We had no issues with rough seas - there were a few rockin' evenings but not bad enough to bother anyone in our party. I do know that the cruises this year prior to ours experienced a lot of rain, so you would want to look into timing and forecasts, because our weather was lovely the entire week (Alaska lovely, not Caribbean lovely - there's a reason there's so much drinking in Alaska!).

 

[JLCJMC]

No BBB on the Wonder. I think there is on the Dream and the Fantasy though. Not sure I would love the huge size of those ships though. Might have to try 'em to find out someday!

They are bigger?!?! My comment for the tour photos was I can't believe how big it is! I am amazed it is all on a boat! (I mean ship....)

 

[karajeboo]

The Magic is very similar to the Wonder, right?

Alaska would be a great milestone birthday trip! We had no issues with rough seas - there were a few rockin' evenings but not bad enough to bother anyone in our party. I do know that the cruises this year prior to ours experienced a lot of rain, so you would want to look into timing and forecasts, because our weather was lovely the entire week (Alaska lovely, not Caribbean lovely - there's a reason there's so much drinking in Alaska!).

The Magic and the Wonder are nearly identical - your Triton's was our Lumiere's - your Beach Blanket Buffet was our Topsiders, etc..... The chandeliers are just slightly different - and where Ariel is on the Wonder, the Magic has Mickey statue. The Wonder was built one year after the Magic, much like the Dream then the Fantasy.....

 

[RGirl]

They are bigger?!?! My comment for the tour photos was I can't believe how big it is! I am amazed it is all on a boat! (I mean ship....)

Yes! As I understand it, they are actually markedly bigger!

 

[RGirl]

The Magic and the Wonder are nearly identical - your Triton's was our Lumiere's - your Beach Blanket Buffet was our Topsiders, etc..... The chandeliers are just slightly different - and where Ariel is on the Wonder, the Magic has Mickey statue. The Wonder was built one year after the Magic, much like the Dream then the Fantasy.....

Thanks! That's what I thought. I would like to verify in person on the Magic one day.

 

[amandaw]

I love seeing all of your ship pictures!

I am a little as to why your Wave phone went off. Hope everyone was ok!

No BBB on the Wonder. I think there is on the Dream and the Fantasy though. Not sure I would love the huge size of those ships though. Might have to try 'em to find out someday!

Only the Fantasy has BBB. And they also do Pirates League makeovers there, too. I'm really hoping I can get Reid an appt for a pirate makeover for pirate night on our cruise.

 

[RGirl]

I love seeing all of your ship pictures!

I am a little as to why your Wave phone went off. Hope everyone was ok!

Only the Fantasy has BBB. And they also do Pirates League makeovers there, too. I'm really hoping I can get Reid an appt for a pirate makeover for pirate night on our cruise.

No worries. Everything was fine.

Thanks for the correction - I know next to nothing about the "big ships"!

 

[RGirl]

12. A Royal Visit

When I last left you, I was blissfully wandering the ship BY MYSELF. And then I felt the ominous vibration of a text coming over the wave phone. WHAT, ALREADY?????? Is there an emergency???? Nope - DD just felt like being picked up. Well, what is a good mommy to do? Snap a few pics from Deck 5 on the way to the kids club, of course!

They were setting up for something very important down there!

I gathered up DD, and we headed out. It was still a bit too early for our planned royal visit, so we wandered down to Deck 4 towards Shutters through the hallway where they had art displayed (I think there was a silent auction throughout the cruise - when we were leaving on the last day, very few of these remained).

We didn’t spot any of the photos of DD with CAPTAIN Mickey in Shutters, and I was secretly glad. I knew it was going to be very hard for me to see the pictures printed out and not be able to take them with us, but no way was I going to pay so much for prints. And I had not bought the CD (which is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$). Next time, if it is just me and DD, I will probably pre-order the CD, because if it is just the two of us, we will make a point of getting a lot of pictures. The Judies had no interest in pictures, and I would have felt like I was annoying everyone and/or holding things up if I had gotten a lot of pics taken.

ANYWAY, we made our way out of there, and I tried to get one of those lovely shots of my child in a porthole that everyone on here has. Well, I am not a photographer. And I have no idea how to do anything with my camera other than switch between pre-set things like “automatic,” “outdoors,” “fireworks,” etc. So I ended up with a whole bunch of pictures of a brightly lit porthole with a shadow of DD in the middle. This was the best I got.

DD was getting bored (I know, how is that possible, isn’t it every five year old’s dream to wander around aimlessly and have to sit for random photos in windows????), so I decided that we were close enough to the appointed hour to go see if a line was forming yet. (Yes, I do see the problem here - a bored child, so I am going to solve that problem by getting in a line! ) As it turned out, there were two women in line already (holding places for their families), so we hopped in line after them, and soon, the line stretched waaaaaaaaaaay back. Included in that line was a family with two little girls both dressed as Merida (that’s her name, right? the Brave princess??). They had the wigs and everything - it was so cute. And the cutest thing is that, later in the trip, Judy 1 told me that she had seen the older girl several times over the course of the week, and every time, she was still dressed as Merida! Love it!

DD’s thoughts on waiting in line: “Uh-uh. I wanted to get in a shorter line.” (No FastPass on the Wonder, kiddo!)

Anyway, I was really glad that we had decided to line up early. I really was. Even though DD was whiney, irritated, and annoyed with standing around in the line. Really - I was still glad.

Why? Because, once the royalty arrived, we hardly had to wait at all, and we had a great view of the princesses descending to the atrium to visit with us.

We did not have to wait long at all before DD was getting her chance to talk to her old friend Belle.

One of my favorites was next - I love her dress so much!

And then the world’s tiniest Snow White! (For perspective, DD is *very* short, even for a five year old - like 40 to 41 inches.)

And then DD’s current favorite:

Who doesn’t love Cinderella?

I forgot to mention that, while we were endlessly (from DD’s perspective) waiting in line, The Judies came wandering through the atrium. I told them we were waiting for princesses, so they decided to go up to Deck 4 just above us to get a view from above. Judy 1 was telling Judy 2 how beautiful the princesses are and how it is really neat to see them. (I was surprised and kind of thrilled by this - I have never been sure whether Judy 1 enjoyed her trip to WDW with us in 2010, so hearing that made me think that she did have some good memories of that trip. )

DD’s thoughts on the princesses: “I liked them. Snow White told me that I didn’t talk very much like Dopey. Belle said ‘what’s your name,’ and I lifted up my hand and she read it on my wristband. She said, 'Willow! That’s a pretty name.' She didn’t remember my name from Disneyland. Ariel didn’t say much.”

Up next: 13. The Less-Than-Royal Rest of the Day with a Very Brief Mouse-tastic Moment​

 

[amandaw]

So glad Willow was ok & just wanted to leave the club.

I love the way they do the princess meet & greets on the ships. I'm glad Willow got to meet all of the girls. That Snow White is short!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the day!

Thanks for the correction - I know next to nothing about the "big ships"!

You're welcome! Although, when I re-read what I wrote, I think I came off like an obnoxious know-it-all. I really wasn't trying to be - sorry! This is the 1st time I've gotten on the boards this week & I think I'm trying to catch up too quickly.

 

[RGirl]

So glad Willow was ok & just wanted to leave the club.

I love the way they do the princess meet & greets on the ships. I'm glad Willow got to meet all of the girls. That Snow White is short!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the day!

You're welcome! Although, when I re-read what I wrote, I think I came off like an obnoxious know-it-all. I really wasn't trying to be - sorry! This is the 1st time I've gotten on the boards this week & I think I'm trying to catch up too quickly.

No! You weren't obnoxious at all! And I really don't know anything about those ships!

I do love being able to get through all the princesses so quickly, and the decor is lovely for it too. Willow really enjoyed it. I am sad we didn't do more character meets - it's just like our first WDW trip, I guess, kind of a practice run for when we do it right!

 

[amandaw]

No! You weren't obnoxious at all! And I really don't know anything about those ships!

I do love being able to get through all the princesses so quickly, and the decor is lovely for it too. Willow really enjoyed it. I am sad we didn't do more character meets - it's just like our first WDW trip, I guess, kind of a practice run for when we do it right!

Thank you - I'm really glad you didn't take it that way. I was so upset with myself when I re-read it.

On our 1st Disney cruise last May, there is so much we missed or didn't do. Of course, it was only 3 nights so we were very limited. But, I think we'll get to do more on our 7 night cruise with it being longer & we'll understand better what all there is to do & such.

 

[RGirl]

Thank you - I'm really glad you didn't take it that way. I was so upset with myself when I re-read it.

On our 1st Disney cruise last May, there is so much we missed or didn't do. Of course, it was only 3 nights so we were very limited. But, I think we'll get to do more on our 7 night cruise with it being longer & we'll understand better what all there is to do & such.

Oh, goodness, no!

I can't even imagine a 3-night cruise. 7 nights went by in what seemed like 48 hours!