Hawaii to Vancouver – A Royal Return to Cruising May 2022

[armandova]

INTRODUCTION


Hi there Dis friends!

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I’ll be honest – I haven’t been on the Disboards for a while. I was pretty bummed with the whole Photobucket issue a few years ago and abandoned a trip report in the midst of it.

Then it was COVID pandemic time and there was not a whole lot of information other than speculation on when things would ramp up again (and during that time, one Aulani trip and two booked cruises were cancelled…..) It was a bummer couple of years, I’m sure many of you will agree, so I didn’t do a lot of torturous vacation dreaming and scheming.

After our eagerly awaited Aulani visit, Panama Canal cruise, and a second DCL cruise from NYC to Bermuda were all cancelled, we decided to cast our thoughts ahead to happier future times, and booked the 2022 East-bound Hawaii to Vancouver cruise and applied our cruise credits to it. Most exciting, in honor of our 30th wedding anniversary and our 50th birthday year (hubby and I were born only three weeks apart), we booked the Roy O. Disney Royal Suite (now category 1A). Somehow after re-applying all of our cancelled concierge deposits to this new sailing, it didn’t seem THAT expensive. I’m probably in denial about that, but when you keep saving each month for non-existent vacations over a couple of years, it adds up pretty nicely.

So, to anyone who is feeling that we are crazy to spend silly amounts of money on a Royal suite for just the two of us – you’re probably right. But please don’t hate – we feel a need to be perfectly spoiled after so many disappointments in 2020 and 2021. We DID try to convince family members to come along initially to bunk in that second bedroom, but the price differential was either too steep for them or they couldn’t take the time off work for that long.

This sailing, as I mentioned, it will be just myself and DH. Our DS is now 20 years old – yikes! – and will still have college commitments the first half of May. Here he is with us five years ago - when he was much shorter. Sigh.

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Our plans:

Fly from Denver to Las Vegas

Two nights in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace

- Tickets to Cirque du Soleil “O”

- Dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen”


Fly from Las Vegas to Honolulu

- Three nights at Hale Koa on Waikiki

- Re-visit some of our favorite experiences from our previous (and only) vacation to Oahu in 2017. Wow, has it really been 5 years already??!!

- Mai Tais here I come!


On May 6, 2022, we embark on the 10-night cruise leaving Honolulu, visiting Maui (Kahului), Hawaii (Hilo), and Kauai (Nawiliwili) x 2. Then five glorious days at sea sailing to the cooler climes of Vancouver, B.C. before catching an early afternoon flight back to Denver.

As I was searching for more details on this sailing on the Disboards (not a whole lot of luck, to be honest – trip reports are sadly lacking for sailings LEAVING Hawaii, as well as any Royal Suite experiences) – I came across the last trip report I did. Although it was not fully completed, it was fun to re-read my report, and it brought back some great memories. So, I decided to bite the bullet and create another report for this trip.

Our biggest worry now is that one of us will test positive for COVID either prior to boarding or upon disembarkation in Canada. From what I understand, DCL will compensate us for the cost of our sailing if the first happens, but we won’t be able to fly home if the second happens, and will have to get a rental car and cross the border to Seattle and either drive the long trip to Cheyenne or get a last-minute flight from Seattle to Denver.

Things can and are changing constantly in this regard as far as testing goes, so wish us luck and stay tuned! (BTW, both DH and I have gone through this pandemic disease-free thus far, so hopefully luck will stay with us).

31 days until we leave for the first day of this vacation! I’ll be back to post more details and “teasers” of plans before we leave. Here is the moment I am most looking forward to re-creating: my book and coffee on the verandah with the Pacific Ocean waves as my soundtrack:

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This is such an amazing way to celebrate your anniversary. I have been following along your updates. We will be on the same sailing - will hang a little gift for your celebration on your fish! (fortunately your stateroom isn't that hard to locate!)

 

[dtrain]

Actually - I don't think that's a bad idea at all. I have always been curious about a Royal Suite as well and wished I could see it in person rather than just via YouTube videos. We'll plan to have an "open house" on Thursday, May 12 - for drop-in between 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM. Just come on over if you're available. But if you have conflicting plans for that morning, just give a shout or leave a note on our door and we'll find another time. I'd be happy to give a tour, although it will likely be pretty messy at that point. Ha Ha! Don't be too impressed.... this is two years' worth of Future Cruise Credits from two cancelled sailings rolled into one crazy vacation. The Royal Suite is definitely not our norm. Looking forward to seeing you onboard - and if you don't see our "Shawn and Leslie" magnet on the door, you'll know that we were struck down by the pre-cruise COVID testing. In which case, don't stop by..... Funny, Not Funny. So nervous.

OMG this is amazing thanks!

 

[lovingeire]

If you have time to take note, I'd love to know what kind of red wine is offered in the lounge. Thank you!

 

[disnygirl55]

Spoiler alert, folks...... we were turned away at the port of Honolulu with a positive COVID test. So stunning and sad, but we made the best of our quarantine time in Waikiki and turned it into a fantastic Hawaii vacation anyway. There were a few other families in the same boat, so I hope they were all as lucky as we were to just enjoy being together in the sunshine. DH was the culprit, but was asymptomatic, so it was really a shock for us. We were able to get a nice room with a huge and awesome lanai overlooking the beach, and it was amazing. Hard to feel entirely sorry for ourselves when it was HAWAII, right??!!

I will not continue with this trip report, since our vacation turned out to not be cruising - but we have a B2B on the Wish coming up in December, also in Concierge in a 2A one-bedroom suite with extended verandah, so stay tuned for a (hopefully) complete trip report by then. Let the excitement for the new ship and all the wonderful trip reports this summer to begin fueling our anticipation.

Thank you all for reading along and helping build the excitement for the cruise. Until we "meet" again......

 

[NAB]

Sorry to hear this. How long did you have to quarantine?

We are going on the Wish in Sept. all fingers crossed.

 

[lovingeire]

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear this! Glad you made the best of it and had a sweet room. And at least you were in Hawaii! I think this is likely all our worst fears! Again, I'm sorry, but can't wait to hear all about your trip on the Wish! (We're eyeing the Wish for December 2023 to celebrate our youngest's 10th birthday.)

 

[disnygirl55]

Sorry to hear this. How long did you have to quarantine?

We are going on the Wish in Sept. all fingers crossed.

The quarantine period was 5 days, so not terrible like it used to be. Best of luck to you in September - hopeful for further relaxation of testing by then. Knowing this was always a possibility, I had a contingency plan to go to Maui and at least see another island, but I guess I didn't put two and two together..... and they told us we could not fly commercial during the 5 days - which makes sense, but totally caused a couple of frantic hours trying to find a hotel (with bad wifi connection in the terminal, so not a good time....). BTW - Disney offered to assist us with finding a hotel, and it seemed they helped others find rooms at the Doubletree in Waikiki, but we wanted something with a view of the ocean.

 

[bcwife76]

Oh no, I'm so sorry you couldn't make this cruise! Definitely sounds like you made the best of a bad situation though. Hope you are both staying healthy and enjoying your time in Hawaii!

 

[dtrain]

Spoiler alert, folks...... we were turned away at the port of Honolulu with a positive COVID test. So stunning and sad, but we made the best of our quarantine time in Waikiki and turned it into a fantastic Hawaii vacation anyway. There were a few other families in the same boat, so I hope they were all as lucky as we were to just enjoy being together in the sunshine. DH was the culprit, but was asymptomatic, so it was really a shock for us. We were able to get a nice room with a huge and awesome lanai overlooking the beach, and it was amazing. Hard to feel entirely sorry for ourselves when it was HAWAII, right??!!

I will not continue with this trip report, since our vacation turned out to not be cruising - but we have a B2B on the Wish coming up in December, also in Concierge in a 2A one-bedroom suite with extended verandah, so stay tuned for a (hopefully) complete trip report by then. Let the excitement for the new ship and all the wonderful trip reports this summer to begin fueling our anticipation.

Thank you all for reading along and helping build the excitement for the cruise. Until we "meet" again......

Ugh, such a bummer! My wife & I went to the Roy Suite on open house day and when I saw no sign on your door my heart sank for you guys. So sorry it didn’t work out, but glad you made the best of it.