September 30, 2012 - "To San Francisco and Beyond"

[Elf1]

I promised DD nothing that feels like school this trip, as we did that with Cabrillo Monument / Maritime Museum in SD earlier this year. But if you like museums, I found a third options...San Francisco CityPass ($69 / $35 age 5-12). It has a Muni & Cable Car 7-Day Passport plus 5 attractions...the same Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise, Aquarium of the Bay, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and choice of Exploratorium OR de Young Museum. It's good for 9 days.

On the must list is Chowder and Sourdough Bread followed by a Hot Fudge Sundae at Ghirardelli Square

Agree. For a good school-like/educational stop the Exploratorium is great. Agree even more about Ghiradelli Square and the HOT FUDGE SUNDAE! DW grew up in the Bay Area and we are looking forward to re-visiting the city.

 

[babydiver]

I was just wondering if anyone not from the US has received their cruise documents yet? I'm getting anxious, not long now!

Hello

We live in the UK and received our Docs on Sat 1st Sept which is earlier than normal BUT when we did our on line check in we did state on the flight information we would be flying over to the US 2.5 weeks BEFORE the cruise so am wondering if that had something to do with it.

We are hoping this is the case because for our next Disney Cruise we are leaving home a whole 4 weeks before the cruise and taking an extended holiday with friends before cruising together...

Maybe a phone call to DCL would be advisable just to get the heads up?

 

[silversae]

I was just wondering if anyone not from the US has received their cruise documents yet? I'm getting anxious, not long now!

Nothing here yet which is frustrating, but at the same time, the only thing i really need from the docs are the luggage tags. If disney let me print those out myself, I wouldn't need them to send any sort of package lol

 

[stsomewhere]

Nothing here yet which is frustrating, but at the same time, the only thing i really need from the docs are the luggage tags. If disney let me print those out myself, I wouldn't need them to send any sort of package lol

You can get luggage tags at port. No worries!

 

[Exskygoddess]

No docs here yet...but then we are driving to the port as we live in So. Calif.

Weird that they send you your luggage tags, most cruise lines let you print them yourself when you do your on-line check-in. We are taking our own onboard so not too concerned about tags and , right, they do have them at the dock.

Used this for my doorsign.

 

[BinkYABT]

Curious: Do you "dress" for dinner on formal/semi-formal nights? If you don't, do you still eat in the dining room?

 

[Exskygoddess]

Yup we dress up for Formal nights on Cruises, but for the semi-formal I am just wearing a long dress and my Dh is wearing a blazer, but no tie, with a sportshirt and slacks.

Mar~

 

[Bostonluvs2cruise]

I'm still pondering SF. I was planning to buy the Wharf Pass ($69 / $41 age 5-11), but it looks like they trimmed down the options since I first found it. They used to offer multiple land tour options including the 2-day hop on hop off I want to use to learn a few things and get around town. We did a hop-on-hop-off in Boston to see the sites and loved it. Now there's only one transport options on the pass, and its a 1-day. It still has the Cable Car ride, Aquarium and Bay Cruise. You now get Ripley's or the Wax Museum not both and the option to tour Military ships instead are completely gone. Also gone are the bicycle rental, GOcar and Boudin Bakery Sourdough Bread tour. I wonder what happened?

I'm thinking we'll go direct to the Blue and Gold Line They have the 2-Day Double Decker Bus Hop on Hop off Downtown Loop and the Bay Cruise as a package ($38/26 age 5-11)... we'd just have to pay for a Cable Car ride separately. (they have another of other tours/routes as well). I don't think I want to do the Aquarium as the one at the Oregon Coast is awesome! We have Ripley's and the Wax Museum there as well. Maybe we'll do the Rocket Boat (avail on Wednesday) instead of the Bay Cruise... its a whopping $1 upgrade

I promised DD nothing that feels like school this trip, as we did that with Cabrillo Monument / Maritime Museum in SD earlier this year. But if you like museums, I found a third options...San Francisco CityPass ($69 / $35 age 5-12). It has a Muni & Cable Car 7-Day Passport plus 5 attractions...the same Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise, Aquarium of the Bay, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and choice of Exploratorium OR de Young Museum. It's good for 9 days.

If you want to go really insane with choices, there's the Go San Francisco Card™ 3-day Card from Costco ($85.99 / $62.99 age 3-12).

Many of these offer an Alcatraz upgrade to replace the Bay Cruise.

On the must list is Chowder and Sourdough Bread followed by a Hot Fudge Sundae at Ghirardelli Square

Lise -
Thank you for all these recommendations. We were originally going to rent a car and try to get out to Napa and possibly Muir woods, but have decided to stay closer and not deal with the car hassles. I am thinking that the City Pass with the Alcatraz option is the way to go as we were planning on doing most of the sites inlcuded in that package. We also want to get over to Sausilito for a few hours. Have always loved visiting there - and agree on the sourdough bread and chowder at Boudin's in Ghirardelli Square. I used to order their bread and chowder several times a year and even had it delivered to us at Disney World one year when we were staying at Old Key West.
Getting so excited -
Michele

 

[PapaPaul]

Last night DW and I were speculating about the weather for our cruise and if it would be possible to just sit on the veranda and watch the coast go by. Does anyone know if the ship remains in sight of land while cruising?

If you go to sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=C6QM8 (sorry but I can't post links) you can actually see the air temperatures and location of the ship. So I suppose I could just keep my eye on it the day after tomorrow when the ship heads to L.A., but I'd prefer to hear from someones personal experience.

 

[Exskygoddess]

Last night DW and I were speculating about the weather for our cruise and if it would be possible to just sit on the veranda and watch the coast go by. Does anyone know if the ship remains in sight of land while cruising?

If you go to sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=C6QM8 (sorry but I can't post links) you can actually see the air temperatures and location of the ship. So I suppose I could just keep my eye on it the day after tomorrow when the ship heads to L.A., but I'd prefer to hear from someones personal experience.

It is hard to say about how far from land....when we have gone from LA to Puerta Vallarta....we were close to land when we went down Baja and got to Cabo....saw lots of dolphins over the years and whales....but when we have done the Coast up to SFO....did not see land until we got there.

I love sailwx.info as it not only shows the ship you are interested in, but all the others as well, including some freighters.

Mar~

 

[stsomewhere]

Lise -
Thank you for all these recommendations. We were originally going to rent a car and try to get out to Napa and possibly Muir woods, but have decided to stay closer and not deal with the car hassles. I am thinking that the City Pass with the Alcatraz option is the way to go as we were planning on doing most of the sites inlcuded in that package. We also want to get over to Sausilito for a few hours. Have always loved visiting there - and agree on the sourdough bread and chowder at Boudin's in Ghirardelli Square. I used to order their bread and chowder several times a year and even had it delivered to us at Disney World one year when we were staying at Old Key West.
Getting so excited -
Michele

My mom and I are taking the DCl excursion to Sausalito and Muir woods on Tuesday morning. I think we get back around 2pm. We plan to hit Fisherman's wharf in the sometime after we get back. On Wed, we are on the first ferry to Alcatraz and plan on the hop on bus in the afternoon.


If you are booking your own tickets to Alcatraz, make sure you use the one from the National Park service. They are the cheapest. It was $28 pp w walking tour.

 

[stsomewhere]

Curious: Do you "dress" for dinner on formal/semi-formal nights? If you don't, do you still eat in the dining room?

Not sure what I am packing yet.

I have found that Disney ships are more casual than other lines.

For semi formal- I usually wear black dress pants and a fancy top or a nice dress. You will probably see alot of guys in dress pants and polos. Ladies sun dresses or dress you might wear to church or a wedding. My husband wears a shirt and tie

Formal- cocktail type dress. ( i do have a long gown I wear on other lines)
People will be in everything from jeans to ball gowns.
Due to airline luggage restrictions , I have noticed less people dressing up as much.
Guys will be in shirt and tie, some suits, few tux, one or two in kilts.

Women- Nicer dresses and dress pants.


Disney will still allow you in the main dining rooms if you are not not formal attire.

Casual- Disney allows jeans.

 

[kirkaliciasmom]

I just got an upgrade... I didn't even know it.

I pulled up the reservation ... still inside cabin, so I called DVC to see if they could give Tink a hand with a little upgrade. Nothing the sweet gal could do. Then when I hung up I glanced back at our reservation, and the stateroom number was wrong... just off by one digit. I was thinking I wrote it down wrong, then I noticed that an even number meant Oceanview!!!

I called DCL and said something is wrong with my stateroom number. Anya was great and explained that the cabin class and description remains that of your original booking, so they know what you paid for. Only the cabin number changes. We were thinking about upgrading at the port, so I'm glad I noticed. I'm not telling DH and DD ... quite yet. So do I play it all the way to the stateroom door... as we check-in just tell DH "Oh Honey, don't worry about an upgrade. The inside cabin is fine, no need to spend the extra" ??? Hummm I might bust by then

Has anyone looked up the comments on your stateroom? I ddn't realize Stateroom Reports from DISmembers were posted. DCL Staterooms. No posts for our new cabin on Wonder, but Magic is in the same layout. Our new cabin is still considered "noisy" but now we have a window!

Im so happy for you Lise! I too thought we had an inside cabin when I looked at the reservation. When I searched for reviews for our cabin, 2096, I realized it was an OCEANVIEW! I was so happy since its been a long time since staying in a dark inside room. Our cabin is directly across from the laundry room, but it's midship. I'm VERY happy with our upgrade!

 

[kirkaliciasmom]

Curious: Do you "dress" for dinner on formal/semi-formal nights? If you don't, do you still eat in the dining room?

I don't have anything formal. I wear a nice dress for formal/semi.

 

[erk711]

Yup we dress up for Formal nights on Cruises, but for the semi-formal I am just wearing a long dress and my Dh is wearing a blazer, but no tie, with a sportshirt and slacks.

Mar~

Same for us. Looking forward to it as we very rarely have the chance to get all dressed up.

 

[Meganyvemarie]

Same for us. Looking forward to it as we very rarely have the chance to get all dressed up.

I agree, at the getting ready process is half the fun!

 

[LiseG]

Curious: Do you "dress" for dinner on formal/semi-formal nights? If you don't, do you still eat in the dining room?

Formal night - DH Tux, DD Knee Length Little Black Dress, Me... TBA, still shopping
Semi formal - DH Suit, DD Nice dress, Me... more shopping
Palo dinner - DH Dinner Jacket, DD not invited, Me... you guessed it, shopping

In the past, I've work a long gown for Formal Nights and Palo dinners. Skirt and dressy top on semi-formal.

Lise

 

[Kribar]

My mom and I are taking the DCl excursion to Sausalito and Muir woods on Tuesday morning. I think we get back around 2pm. We plan to hit Fisherman's wharf in the sometime after we get back. On Wed, we are on the first ferry to Alcatraz and plan on the hop on bus in the afternoon.


If you are booking your own tickets to Alcatraz, make sure you use the one from the National Park service. They are the cheapest. It was $28 pp w walking tour.

That sounds like the perfect 2 days in SF!!

 

[Kribar]

I agree, at the getting ready process is half the fun!

I LOVE getting dressed up!!

 

[LiseG]

DD is working on FE gifts for her DISfriends. She's been chatting a little on the KIDS ONLY Sf and Beyond thread (I won't let her on this thread... too many spoilers).

Here's what we need...who's your kiddo's favorite character? Any Disney... Pixar... Princess...