mini Pixar 10/7/12 trip report - Updated with Day 6 San Diego, Ca

[RaglanRoad]

Day 1 - Embarkation

Back on our Med cruise in 2011 we booked this cruise without knowing it was a Pixar special cruise. It was a WONDERful surprise to have the trip made special by the Pixar extras.
We live fairly close to the port so it is only around a 30 minute drive. We were at the port and boarding in no time. There were some of the CARS there to great us.

Since we live so close we didnt leave super early because we didnt want to wait to board. This cruise it was us 4 girls including me, my mom, my aunt and my grandma who is 82 years young. The terminal area was a ghost area when we arrived and it was only around 12:15ish.

We were using a transporter chair for my grandma to board the ship since she could not walk those long distances. It was so easy to board and we walked on and over to Parrot Cay for lunch. Even though we were told it was full they were able to accomodate us so we did not have to take my grandma up to Beach Blanket Buffet. Throughout the cruise the staff was extremely helpful and accomodating with my grandma and they were so friendly it was much appreciated.

After lunch and an unexpected emergency trip back to the house we were finally relaxed and officially on vacation. We made it through the mandatory boat safety drill and up to the Adventures Away party at the Goofy Pool.

Before we knew it we were getting ready for dinner as we were sailing out of the Port of Los Angeles. The weather was beautiful and the views amazing.

Our first dinner was in Tritons where we met our serving team of Reagan, Asst server Ava and our favorite Head Server Paulo. We enjoyed this team throughout the cruise and found them extremely friendly.

There were a few new items that were Pixar related throughout the cruise including this cute popcorn bucket.

After a slightly stressfull first day we were all settled in and enjoying our vacation at last.

I was definetly a foodie on this trip and took pictures of everything we ate which became routine and quite comical as we went along with the cruise.
I wont post all my pictures here but if you are interested in seeing additional pictures and videos I will have them posted in my blog (check my signature).

Hopefully I will get posting the additional days but there are so many pictures it might take longer to get through. I will say this was a great cruise and everyone in my party enjoyed it.

 

[RaglanRoad]

We woke up after our first night to find beautiful weather on our first full day on the ship. Today we would be at sea and enjoy this nice weather and calm seas for the whole day.

Made our way to the buffet for breakfast and enjoyed all the selections of yummy food.

There were plenty of activities available today and because of the great weather the pools were full!
Todays activities included the Golden Mickey's, Castaway Club Receiption, 2 games of bingo, adult beverage tastings and tons of Pixar movies.
Today was also the first Pixar presention. Sharon Calahan gave a presentation of Storytelling with Light.
She had an AV presentation and it was extremely interesting. I will not go into details as they asked us not to blog about the presention itself or to take photos so I will most definetly respect that request.

The shops had Halloween merchandise available for purchase. There some cute items but I wish there were cruise specific items for purchase.

Besides all the activities available I also chose to do some of nothing. I enjoyed sitting out on the veranda and spotting dolphin in the ocean.

It was soon time for dinner and tonight would be the Golden Mickey's menu in Animators Palate. One of my favorite steaks is available off the Golden Mickey's menu. I really like the Yachtsman Steak and tonights was excellent.

For dessert how could I pass up this little cutie!

Since this was a special Pixar cruise they had a bunch of Pixar artwork up. I spent a good deal of time walking around and looking at the art.

This evening was the Golden Mickey's awards in the Walt Disney Theater.

It was a very WONDERful first full day of the cruise and an exceptional sea day.

Our next day would be San Francisco and I will update with that post soon.

 

[RaglanRoad]

This morning we had the great chance to go under the Golden Gate Bridge while sailing on the Disney Wonder. We were up around 6:30 am and all gathered on the veranda as the Wonder made the slow sail into San Francisco. The view of the bridge was gorgeous and the weather was amazing.

As we slowly made our way closer the majesty of the bridge loomed larger in front of us.

As we passed under you could hear what seemed like the whole ship cheering. I took video as we passed under but do not know how to post on here.
After we passed the bridge we made our way past Alcatraz.

The sun was rising over the horizon and it made for such an amazing view.

We pulled into our berth and later made our way over to Pier 39. We are literally docked right next to Pier 39 and the Embarcadero which made it easy to get around.
We walked the Embarcadero and made a stop at the Pier 39 entertainment area.

Further down Fisherman's Wharf there is an area with seafood vendors. You can find anything from fish & chips to shrimp sandwiches here.

We made it back to the ship for lunch and also to enjoy the great weather.
We even enjoyed the views from Outlook Cafe and I also enjoyed this little snack in there too!

Dinner was in Parrot Cay tonight and it was delicious.
Since we would be docked overnight I made my way back off the ship to enjoy the nighttime around the Fisherman Wharf area.
There are many street performers including these spray paint artists.

I also made it in a yummy candy shop while walking around. I was able to find some cheap taffy to bring back home for my coworkers.

Here is a night time shot of the Fishermans Wharf area where the seafood restaurants and vendors are located.

Back on the ship I made it up to deck 10 to take a few night shots. The lights of the city is very beautiful. Coit Tower was lit up and was located directly in front of our ship.

It was quite an amazing day and I loved being able to go on and off the ship all day. I took quite a number of photos and videos and have posted some here and more on my blog. I have to say the experience of going under the Golden Gate Bridge and the luck of having perfect weather and lighting was the highlight. Everyone that I spoke to on the ship that witnessed this all agreed it was simply amazing.

Tomorrow we would also be in San Francisco so there will be even more time to spend in this great city. With all there is to do we could have even spent another day and still not have been able to see everything.

 

[Joanna71985]

Following along! I really hope they bring this cruise back in 2014 (it doesn't even have to be the Pixar one- I just want to do the CA coast cruise).

 

[fredgirls]

Following along! I really hope they bring this cruise back in 2014 (it doesn't even have to be the Pixar one- I just want to do the CA coast cruise).

Me too! I would Love to do this one!
Great report and pics! Thanks so much for sharing. Scary to have to return home on embarkation day! I would have been going crazy!
Looking forward to following along too.

 

[RaglanRoad]

Following along! I really hope they bring this cruise back in 2014 (it doesn't even have to be the Pixar one- I just want to do the CA coast cruise).

It was a really great trip. We had already booked this trip when it was made into a Pixar trip but I really enjoyed it. I wish they would have more of these specialty cruises.

Me too! I would Love to do this one!
Great report and pics! Thanks so much for sharing. Scary to have to return home on embarkation day! I would have been going crazy!
Looking forward to following along too.

It was scary but luck was on our side as there was absolutely no traffic or construction. At the worst I knew I could even make it on side streets if needed but that would have been cutting it way too close!

 

[RaglanRoad]

Today we woke up in San Francisco. It was very nice to be docked over night as we didnt have to wait to be cleared by the port authority to get off of the ship.
My aunt and I decided to head in the morning over to the Walt Disney Family Museum. It was not open the day before so this was our only opportunity. We grabbed a taxi and after a short ride we were there.

There was no photography once you entered the actual museum part but I took one of my favorite pictures in the lobby.
The 1939 Academy Award won for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I love the big oscar and then the little 7 oscars.

We throughly enjoyed the museum and spent a few hours here.
After we grabbed a taxi to head towards North Beach. On the way the taxi driver took us down Lombard Street. What a treat this was.
Here is a shot looking down as we started our way down the most crooked street.

And here is a shot looking back up once we were at the bottom. I took some video of the ride but just posted it on my blog since I am not sure how or if I am able to post video here.

It was now lunch time so we made a stop at the Stinking Rose. I had always wanted to eat here because I am a garlic fan. We shared some appetizers and just enjoyed all the garlic goodness of the restaurant. I must say everything was extremely good and I would recommend this restaurant.

Just a couple blocks walk from the North Beach/Little Italy area and we were at Chinatown.

We looked around for a while and my aunt bought a few things she was looking for. On the way out we stopped at the Eastern Bakery. This bakery is in Chinatown and I have stopped by here before on previous visits. It is full of yummy treats including macaroons, pork buns and my other sweets at very reasonable prices.

Since it wasnt too far to walk back to the ship from Chinatown, and it was all down hill, we made our trek back.

One of my favorite things to see in San Francisco is the old streetcars running on the F-Line. These classics are collected from all over the world and restored to use. This one below came from Mexico City.

I wanted to make sure I was back on the ship in time to see the special Pixar presentation. We were fortunate to have Ralph Eggleston, Bill Cone and Bob Pauley onboard for the afternoon lecturing and discussing everything from their history to inner Pixar. These gentlemen were thoroughly engaging and the passion for their profession is evident in listening to them speak. Even my grandma, who is not a total Disney or Pixar fan, enjoyed this event. This lecture was supposed to last for about 45 minutes and once it reached 1 1/2 hours they finally had to be forced to wrap it up!

Since the presentation ran so long we had to hustle to get ready for dinner. Our dinner tonight was in Animators Palate and was the Show Dinner. This is the time I enjoy eating in Animators Palate and still love when Mickey comes out at the end.
Our Head Server Paulo is one of our favorites and we ask to be in his section whenever we cruise. He is so personable and we enjoy talking with him.

We enjoyed seeing all the Pixar characters after dinner. Mike and Sulley were very funny and even did some dancing.

After a while we were leaving San Francisco. We watched some of the sailing from our balcony but made our way up to the cold, windy, rainy deck 10 for the sail under the Golden Gate Bridge.

What a great day we had and the weather during the day had been great.
Tomorrow would be a day at sea and that always means a lot of activities on the navigator.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We were also on this cruise. Love to see what other people did. Thanks for sharing!

 

[RaglanRoad]

It was a fun cruise and our whole party had a nice time. I hope you enjoyed it as well

 

[RaglanRoad]

It was our second sea day today and I will admit once again that as much as I love the ports, I love the sea days as well

The Navigator was full of activities so I needed to choose wisely.
First was to attend the 10am Pixar presentation. Today's guest was Rob Gibbs who is the director of story development. Once again we were asked not to divulge any information about the presentation and not to take any photos once the presentation actually started. I loved the presentation and just took the one photo before the presentation began.

After our Pixar presentation we had our Brunch reservation at Palo's.
What else can you say about the Palo Brunch except it is Wonderful! Our server was Salvatore and he was extremely friendly which made for a very enjoyable experience. The food was good and we were all extrememly full by the end of our meal.

A little plate of sweet goodness!

The weather for the day was great. The seas were calm and it was fairly warm for a day off the coast in California.

There were not very many items that were Pixar specific added to the cruise but I did find these. There was a very cute Lightening McQueen popcorn bucket and a cute Pixar Cruise labeled cone cup.

Our dinner tonight was in Parrot Cay and it was the much anticipated Toy Story menu. The menu was in 3D and we were given 3D glasses to look at it with. It was cute the wait staff were dressed in Toy Storyish outfits.
Here is a pic of our Head Waiter Paulo in his Sheriff Woody inspired tux.

My dessert was the Buzz Light Year's Ice Cream Sundae.
I will tell you it was absolutely amazing!
Everyone at my table took a taste and loved it.
It was made up of bubble gum ice cream, marshmallows, topped with chocolate fudge sauce, whipped cream and a cherry.
It was so wonderfully colored I even put on my 3D glasses to take a look at it!

We even had a little extra surprise waiting when we returned to our stateroom. Our stateroom host Ben gave us a lesson in making a towel animal. I posted the video on my blog but here is the little guy he showed us how to make.

It was a very nice day and there were so many things to do the only bad thing about the day is you cannot fit all the activities into your schedule.

Tomorrow we would be in San Diego and we were looking forward to walking around off the ship.

 

[RaglanRoad]

Well I just finished up my trip report but Photobucket will not work for me.
I dont want to post here without having my photos available.
As soon as I get Photobucket up and working for me to upload I will finish my mini trip report.

If you want to check out my blog I was able to finish my trip report there since I can upload the photos directly.

thank you!

 

[RaglanRoad]

Well it finally looks like photobucket is finally up and running for me.

Our day 6 of the cruise was a stop in San Diego. Although I have grown up going and staying in San Diego it is always a great visit. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we couldnt have asked for a better October day.

Once I was up in the morning and looked out of my veranda this was the view that I saw.

The day was perfect for walking around and that is what we intended to do. After breakfast we headed off of the ship and started walking along the waterfront towards Seaport Village. The walk takes you right past the USS Midway. If you have never been here before its a must see.

The Seaport Village is a short walk from where the ship was docked. Its very scenic along the water with different military memorials along the way. Also, its very scenic with views of San Diego Harbor and the Coronado Bridge.

Once at Seaport Village we just looked around through the shops and got a drink and enjoyed the view of the Harbor along with the nice sunny day. There are a bunch of little shops and places to eat located in the village.

I didn't mention that tonight would be Pirate Night on the Wonder.
Taking that into consideration it was great to stumble across Captains Cove shop.
This shop is full of pirate items and anything you could want for pirate night.

After we spent some time at Seaport Village we walked back towards the ship. I kept walking past the boat towards the west where you run into the Maritime Museum. This museum is unique because its not a building full of artifacts its artifacts are in fact the boats themselves.
The Star of India is the worlds oldest active sailing ship which was built in 1863.

Back on the ship we headed to lunch and then hung out in Diversions. There was a nice view of the USS Midway from the porthole in Diversions.

I did walk around the top deck to enjoy the weather and beautiful view of San Diego before dinner.

We had dinner in Tritons and it was the Pirate menu. Afterwards it was time for the pirate party as the ship left San Diego.
Mickey always comes to save the day!

You have to love the fireworks!

By chance I was getting a hot coffee at the beverage station when they opened up the Pirate Night Buffet. I jumped in line to see what they had.

I thought the fruit looked delicious.

But I knew what I wanted to grab...the Turkey Leg! My mom loves these at Disneyland so I thought I would pick her up one. They were piping hot and smelled amazing.

San Diego is a great port because there is so much to do. Luckily we come here quite often and were able just to take it easy and enjoy a leisurely day.

Tomorrow will be Ensenada and our last full day on the cruise