Planes, Trains & Antitussives, Alaksan Wonder Cruise - All done! Complete 11/21

[afwdwfan]

After my shower, I poured a glass of wine and went out on the Verandah. Soon I saw Fran on her way back from the Tongass Trading Company.

Look at that traffic jam Fran caused!!!!!!!

I like the Alaska gift basket idea. That was nice of Fran to go off on her own to take care of the shopping so that you could get off your feet for a while.

 

[pkondz]

Look at that traffic jam Fran caused!!!!!!!

Funny! I was thinking that she looked like she was leading a parade.

 

[rentayenta]

I am not getting notifications anymore. I was, then wasn't, then was, now I'm not.

Cute cute cute character pics especially the one with you ladies and Jessie. Very cute shot of Fran too riding back from shopping. I really like the contents of your Alaska baskets and can't believe she got all that for free. I mean I can believe it but it's pretty incredible. How did they go over?

Dinner looks delicious. I am glad someone got the mushroom soup because it sounds fantastic. And you can never go wrong with a Mickey bar for dessert.

 

[franandaj]

That is a really lovely idea.

She's good with ideas like that.

Dinner and the character photos looked great. I love the one with Mrs Incredible.

Thanks this was one of the better dinners.

That stinks. I supposed they are getting greedy.

I bet they also don't want to burn a whole CD for one picture. I ended up buying it and Fran scanned it in.

That is an impressive list for a gift basket! I hope they were successful.

I have no idea if the folks who won them liked them or not!

Cute to catch Fran on her way back from shopping.

I knew I'd probably spot her, but she was faster than I expected.

Great character pictures Did Captain Jack try to pilfer your gold?

No. He did not. I wasn't so impressed with this Captain Jack.

I don't like that they skip the show in AP. At least do the color changes, even if Mickey isn't going to come out.

It can't take much more than turning on a switch, right?

I didn't know you went through a time change on the Alaska cruises?

Yeah, Alaska is one hour behind the west coast.

What an Alaskan list! And I bet Fran enjoyed her shopping for the items.
I loved the pictures of Fran on her way back as well. Great spotting.

Ooh! What an awesome line-up for the Meet and Greets!

I really hate when I lose an hour.

She just looked so cute amongst those huge busses!

I like that they have some of the more rare characters on the longer cruises.

I know you're always happy to gain the hour, but it hurts when they take it back!

It's definitely not the easiest place in the world to get to.

Which is one of the reasons I might have trouble convincing Fran to go there.

Not bad... no.... smart!

She's good like that.

Love that shot.

Thanks.

Happy shopper!

Can't see your left ear, but assuming they're matched with the ones on your right ear, then we can see them all.

The right ear has four earring spaces while the left only has two, so I'm a little lopsided.

Awww... you're so cute in that shot.

And "Two super heroes in one photo!"

She has more Skilz than me.

Thanks for saying that. I took one look and immediately thought "That's not tiramisu."

Yeah, I tend to be a tiramisu snob. My Dad challenged me to make it well over 20 years ago, it took a bit to regulate the Brandy as my first few attempts knocked people on the floor. Eventually I got really good at it. I hate when someone just soaks a piece of cake in espresso, puts some chocolate and a sort of creamy substance and calls it Tiramisu. Back when I was experimenting with it you had to get the mascarpone from an Italian deli. Now they sell it in the markets.

Special favours from the staff. The sky's the limit now.

Well that's just plain rude.

I know! They should let you stay as long as you wat!

I talked to my dad and he has been to Ketchikan but they go there for a stop to their next destination in Alaska.

That is a lot of Alaska stuff that Fran bought that day. That is nice that you were able to get a picture of Fran from the top.

Very nice meet and greet pictures with the characters.

Dinner looks good as always.

I can see where it would be just a stop along the way.

She really knocked herself out there. I like getting great shots with the lesser seen characters. Yes dinner was very nice.

 

[pkondz]

She has more Skilz than me.

Doubt that.

I know! They should let you stay as long as you wat!

 

[franandaj]

Look at that traffic jam Fran caused!!!!!!!

There were buses parked there all day, so I didn't even think of that but you're right, it does look like she is causing a massive traffic jam!

I like the Alaska gift basket idea. That was nice of Fran to go off on her own to take care of the shopping so that you could get off your feet for a while.

Face it, she was jonesing to spend some money and wheel and deal. I was just slowing her down!

I am not getting notifications anymore. I was, then wasn't, then was, now I'm not.

And I forgot to send you a private bat signal as well.

Cute cute cute character pics especially the one with you ladies and Jessie.

Thanks!

Very cute shot of Fran too riding back from shopping. I really like the contents of your Alaska baskets and can't believe she got all that for free. I mean I can believe it but it's pretty incredible. How did they go over?

Oh no, that cost her around $100 for everything and I may have regifted a couple of our FE gifts. . But the Ulu knives were like $20 each, but she had a BOGO, I think the smoked salmon was $9.99, but with the coupon it was only $6.99. The candy bars were probably 2 for $1 with the coupon.

Dinner looks delicious. I am glad someone got the mushroom soup because it sounds fantastic. And you can never go wrong with a Mickey bar for dessert.

If there is a mushroom soup, Fran is on it! And no you can't go wrong with a Mickey bar!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

There were the Contents for two baskets

2 packages Wild Alaska Smoked Salmon
2 Ulu Alaskan Knives with Display Stand
4 Packs Hand Warmers
4 Alaska Chocolate Bars
2 Hat/T-shirt Combos, 1 XL one 1 L
2 shot glasses
2 King Salmon Jerky
2 Baby Seal Plush
2 Whale Tale Necklaces
2 bags of Wild Huckleberry candies
1 wild huckleberry jam
2 Hematite Necklace/bracelet/earring sets
2 Alaska Knit Caps (1 bear, 1 eagle)
2 Alaska hand crafted mining pans
2 Alaska Baseball Caps (1 dark with Eagle, 1 light with a seaplane)
1 XL Shirt

Wow! Somebody was going to get hooked up!

I got a gold nugget pendant, and two dangly gold nuggets for my main earrings and then four gold nugget posts for the remaining earrings. Not sure if you can see them all.

Did Captain Jack try to steal any of it?

Who knows what they will do to it in the dry dock!

I'm looking forward to seeing how the ship changes!

Dad and I got the bacon cheese tart, which to me was more like mushroom quiche.

I can't tell you how disappointing that sentence is.

Fran stopped by shutters to see about purchasing a digital copy of one of the portraits of my parents, and if you could buy just one picture. You couldn’t.

Of course.

 

[dhorner233]

Great character photos! I would love to meet Capt. Jack Sparrow.

The food looked delicious, as usual!

Thanks for taking the time to share with us!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I am not getting notified either! Darn it.

I just adore Fran's taste of Alaska basket. How thoughtful. Lol re the drag queen bingo. That has to be a hoot.

Love the aerial shots of Fran. Espically when she waves!

Thank you for photos of the shopping area on The Wonder. I like that Minnie and Mickey statue behind the glass on the right.

The character photos are cute. Woody and Jessie. How amazing to score Toy Story on your cruise. I do like your new jewelerry items.

Hello Mr Sparrow. He is a very good likeness. And wonderful photo of the three of you.

I find Shutters quite inflexible with photo sizes and packages they offer. They would sell more if they varied it. How many prints must go unpurchased from folks albums in the trash?

Dinner looks nice. Thank goodness you were spared the over stimulating show tonight. Never seen the Princess and Prince menu option. How neat. I like all of your choices.

Shucks re time change. But at least it is at night! Not like Corinna's surprise in the middle of the day.

Thank you for update. I see I will have to try the old fashioned look and see method of updates to watched threads.

 

[franandaj]

Doubt that.

Wow! Somebody was going to get hooked up!

Two people actually!

Did Captain Jack try to steal any of it?

No, I was unimpressed with this Jack.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the ship changes!

I'm not sure I'm so thrilled about that. Magdalene has a thread over on the cruise board to chart it's progress and they are taking out some public areas and making them more "exclusive". Like making a concierge lounge and some other stuff. It will remain to be seen once the Wonder is out of dry dock.

I can't tell you how disappointing that sentence is.

I know what you mean!

Of course.

Well at least we were able to buy a single copy of the photograph.

Great character photos! I would love to meet Capt. Jack Sparrow.

I've met two different Cap'n Jacks, the other was much more entertaining.

The food looked delicious, as usual!

Thanks for taking the time to share with us!

You're welcome, just wait until you see the next update!

I am not getting notified either! Darn it.

If I relied on notifications, my inbox would be forever clogged by the DIS.

I just adore Fran's taste of Alaska basket. How thoughtful. Lol re the drag queen bingo. That has to be a hoot.

It was a little less fun than it sounded. The Drag Queen had a bit of a potty mouth.

Love the aerial shots of Fran. Espically when she waves!

Thank you for photos of the shopping area on The Wonder. I like that Minnie and Mickey statue behind the glass on the right.

I thought it was funny I was taking pictures of her without her knowledge.

The character photos are cute. Woody and Jessie. How amazing to score Toy Story on your cruise. I do like your new jewelerry items.

Hello Mr Sparrow. He is a very good likeness. And wonderful photo of the three of you.

I love it that they have the less common characters on the ships.

I find Shutters quite inflexible with photo sizes and packages they offer. They would sell more if they varied it. How many prints must go unpurchased from folks albums in the trash?

I know what you mean. I always get the photo package because the character photos are very easy to get and then we also get a formal portrait of the two of us, but you have to "make it work" when get the package we look at it like this. The first photo costs $250, the second $125, 3rd $65...etc... We try to get them to under $20 per photo.

Dinner looks nice. Thank goodness you were spared the over stimulating show tonight. Never seen the Princess and Prince menu option. How neat. I like all of your choices.

I don't mind if the portraits change (have you been on the Wonder? It's less "in your face" than the Dream) but I can do without Mickey's appearance and the clapping and shouting.

Shucks re time change. But at least it is at night! Not like Corinna's surprise in the middle of the day.

Yeah, that one was weird.

Thank you for update. I see I will have to try the old fashioned look and see method of updates to watched threads.

It seems to work for me, but then again I have to have time to click on the threads...by the time I got to yours today I was three updates behind!

 

[franandaj]

Day 10

I woke up somewhere in the middle of the night 3 maybe 4 AM it's not clear to me since we had to set the clocks ahead. I could have watched the sunrise, but decided against it. Fran put on POTC Dead Man's Chest and while I wanted to sleep, I got sucked into watching it. Around 6AM I fell back asleep until 8 AM when it was time to get up for sure. I had to start packing since today was the last day on the ship. Plus, we had Palo Brunch at 10AM so I wanted to be ready for that as well.

I went up to the Cove Café for a cup of coffee. The free one would have to wait until the next cruise. It was sort of dreary out that morning, but I took some pictures off the verandah and spotted some sort of marine life that had a spout!



















I had started packing up a suitcase the day before, so I finished that one up and weighed it. 45 pounds. That's pretty good, only three more to go!

Here is another one of the shirts that Fran picked up for herself.



We headed up to Palo for Brunch and we were in the very first seating. Even though it was dreary day, Palo was still lovely.



And finally we are all here for brunch.



Hristo suggested that I take pictures since the buffet was still pristine, and even though I had pretty good pictures from the first day I went ahead and did it again.












































[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]


















And then we get to the prepared dishes.



I can’t believe we’ll never have the Palo version of Strawberry Soup again.





And then desserts















Today was a very popular day for Palo Brunch and the place filled up quickly. Hardly anyone seems to stay as long and take it as leisurely as we do.


[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

Here was Fran’s first plate.



Mine



She got another Strawberry Soup to make up for not visiting Palo earlier in the week.



A second plate to make up for not going earlier in the week



And some extra shrimp for good measure.



I went for some more cheese.



Then we all started to order from the menu cooked a la minute. Dad got the pancakes soaked in Rum syrup. He didn’t see those the first day.



Mom decided to try the truffle pasta since we all liked it so much the other day.



I think I had this tomato basil soup. I read about it on someone else’s TR and they loved it. It was good, but there’s things I like better.



Fran got this salmon, it was wild caught by fishermen in Ketchikan and one of those things exclusive to Alaska Cruises and us being at brunch this day as this was the only day that they served it.



Dad liked the truffle pasta so much, he got an order of it.



Then it was time for the Chicken Parm for me. I was so missing this dish that I tried to make it a couple weeks ago. No risotto, but I came pretty close, at least to the crispy goodness of the chicken.



And then I got my favorite pizza which I split with others at the table.



And yes this another strawberry soup for Fran



And some sticky buns



I went up to the dessert table and picked us out an assortment of desserts to share for our chocolate course.



Then there was the non chocolate course.



And she couldn’t resist one last sticky bun.



We were definitely stuffed, but I didn't feel bloated and over eaten like I did earlier in the week. During brunch my Dad asked about Gelato that he had heard was served at Palo. Hristo said that they did have it but only at dinner and during brunch it was packed away in the freezer and he couldn't get any. He talked to his manager and said that if we wanted to come back at night we could have some gelato for dessert at no charge, so we made a note of it.

 

[bcwife76]

What's better than Palo brunch? A second Palo brunch!!! Glad all 4 of you were able to make it for the second go 'round!

So sad about the Strawberry soup it just so lovely. Do you think if enough people 'complain' it will once again reappear? One can hope.

Can't believe it's your last full day!

 

[ljcrochet]

Brunch sounds amazing

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I love Fran's Star Wars T shirt. Too cool for school.

Ahhh Palo brunch. What can be better on the last day when parting is such sweet sorrow. I am glad you managed to get a photo of the virgin buffet before the zoombies got to it. I enjoyed this as Jo goes to fetch ours so I never see it for myself. What a selection!

You made some great selections. Sticky buns but why can I still see white on your plate lol. I asked for a jug of the sauce of that on the side. I swear my eyes were on stalks from even a sugar overload for me.

Shame about the starwberry soup. I didn't know this was getting the dead mans chest treatment. What a shame. I will throw myself in front of the castaway cay tram in protest.

Jo and I are going to try 1900 park fair next time we visit based on your other TRs!

Shame it is your last day. Lovely photos.

 

[kid-at-heart]

Oh no, no more strawberry soup. How sad. Brunch looks wonderful. I would to try the truffle pasta, but I am like you, I like the Chicken Parm so much that I always end up ordering.

Kate

 

[rentayenta]

Holy moly Palo looks incredible. That pizza looks TDF! And all those chocolate desserts; Michael would love that. One day......

Sorry your last day was gloomy.

 

[dolphingirl47]

You were very organised with your packing. I love that Starwars shirt. Brunch looked divine. I was gutted when I found out that the strawberry soup and the grape and Gorgonzola pizza have gone the way of the dodo. Hristo really is a superstar. How nice to offer you to come for some gelato in the evening.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh Palo brunch, how do I love thee! Mom prefers dinner... Those scrumptious pudding like deserts, I think they were pana cotta, were out of this world delicious! They attempted to make me gluten free pancakes, which was only one pancake, and terrible. I make much better out of a box... The salmon looks so good.

Love the gloomy foggy pictures.

Mom was down here last week and we went over all the excursions for our Alaska cruise. She's set on the 5 glacier plane ride.