Stowaways onboard the 2016 EBPC - TR update 11/4, p.24

Well, I must say I’m sorry it’s been positively ages since I updated on here. I’m settling into the new house nicely. Most of my belongings are still in Maryland and I’ll need to get up there sometime in the coming months to bring it down. Things are scattered between my mom’s house, dad’s house, and storage, nothing is an emergency to get so when there is a lull in work I’ll make the journey. Work has been frustrating and I will need to find something more consistent this year as well. Some weeks I don’t make all my hours, other weeks I’m in overtime. It is not consistent to pay bills, let alone have money afterwards for vacations. And you all know vacations are a must!



It looks like I left off with us meeting our fabulous stateroom host for the first time and heading off somewhere. Not sure where because we happened upon the DVC meeting. While we were walking my brother called in a state of panic saying ‘something something something died’. We were inside the ship, in the stairwell and reception was not clear. Again he repeated, ‘mumble mumble mumble, died, I’m sorry.’ Well you can imagine the panic I started to have because I just left my two precious dogs with him and my sister in law. Finally we got the full story and he was saying my mom’s truck had died. Whew!!! It had been on its last leg for a long long time, it was inevitable. It ended up staying in the parking lot of Walmart until we got back from vacation, and it had in fact driven its last drive. Thankfully the boys were ok. Sighs of relief by both my mom and I we continued on.


In Route 66 we saw a great view of the Star of India







At that time we happened upon the DVC meeting, which I did not receive a call about. Usually before a cruise they’ll call me and say on what day and at what time it’s happening. I mentioned this to the CM and he curtly said they can’t call everybody if they don’t know we’re DVC… Well I got my sticker on the door. Oh well.



We had a fabulous M & G with Goofy

















Before the presenters came out I realized I didn’t have my KTTWC! Where oh where could it be??? Panic returned, but I remembered I had taken it out of my lanyard when we made Palo reservations earlier, so I quickly left mom and raced over to Tritons to see if it was still there. Thankfully the magnificent Gonzolo still had it and was waiting for my return. Reunited once more with that precious piece of plastic I returned to Wavebands to find mom. (I just read back and completely forgot to mention that we first booked a Palo dinner before going to BBB for lunch. I wanted to make sure we would skip a regular rotation dinner, and Gonzolo helped us do that.)



We didn’t win any prizes, and it seems like the meetings are more of the usual sales pitches. The M & G with Goofy was the highlight. We headed back to the room before going to the Lifeboat Drill to drop off stuff but I have no idea what we had since we didn’t win prizes. Maybe new hats?





We chatted with some lovely people next to us waiting for the drill to start.







Then we made the long trek up to the top deck to watch the Sail Away Party. Mom and I had promised each other we would take the stairs instead of the elevator this cruise, and except for probably 5 times in two weeks, we did take the stairs. Looks like we wandered around before actually going up the stairs







Excited to see some Panama Canal merchandise







Found this cute Little Mermaid mural on the way. I had seen it in photos but never in real life on the ship.



















Then upstairs to find the party where I got the virgin drink of the day in a special Finding Dory cup







I remembered to take a picture of the navigator to remember the drink’s name, a Coco Bali. Basically a strawberry daiquiri and pina colada, delicious!







The stoways didn’t want to be forgotten!







We managed a semi good selfie before the show started







And then watched the festivities























I love that show, and it was great being down in the action instead of up looking down. We did head upstairs to watch us sail away











And that’s where we found Karin and Tom! That time I KNEW it was them and I quickly introduced us. We chatted for a bit, it was so nice to meet in person. We would be seeing a lot more of them later. I think we separated because mom and I were in need of a snack in the form of French fries. If you remember I hadn’t gotten them for lunch and they were calling my name. Very conveniently they only fry fries in the oil, so I didn’t need to wait for them to make me special fries like I have to on the Fantasy.



Our little friends















Then we headed to the All Aboard show in the theater. It was really cute and we got a taste of the various entertainers for the next couple days. There would be an adult show of Matt Baker, a juggler, later that evening that we both wanted to catch. We went back to the room before dinner.
 
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Back up in the room I put the magnets on the door and started unpacking. Mom made an announcement that she was too tired for dinner. Absolutely not I said, not on the first night! She took a nap while I unpacked and was ready to go after about 20-30 minutes. Whew! I did not want to meet our servers or tablemates alone.



We had dinner at Tritons that night and it was quite delicious. Our tablemates were nice, at least we did not get any inklings of the unpleasantness that would occur later in the trip.



We had the Let the Magic Begin menu







Mom started with chilled coconut and papaya soup







I had smoked salmon







Then mom had an endive and onion salad







I skipped the salad course



Mom had a pasta with red sauce for her main course. It was something with meat but they did it without for her. She said it was fabulous.







I had a halibut entrée







For dessert mom had a Mickey bar







And I had a banana foster sundae







It was a nice meal.



Then, who did we see in the lobby after dinner but Minnie Mouse herself!!!! There was hardly a line so I jumped right in for my turn.















Then off to get a seat at the juggling show in Wavebands. Looks like that’s Brett up there introducing Matt Baker. Mom and Brett had a cute interaction throughout the cruise, every time she saw him she’d go crazy and he’d come over and give her a hug.







Matt Baker was hilarious as well as an excellent juggler. We were both glad we went to the show.









Then back to the room where we found a pretty swan towel animal







We turned on the Incredibles and I attempted to catch up in the journal. We were fast asleep in no time. It was a fabulous first day of the cruise.
 
It will be good to get all your items into your new home and a job that gives you regular hours. Star of Indian lovely!

Oh the shock of your brother saying something died! Rambo and Gucci! No just a truck we can live with an old truck that died.

Glad you found KTTWC! How lovely booking Palo.

I adore the Littlr Mermaid mural. The detail! I would be making excuses to go that way alot!

The sail away looks fun. Nice souvenir cup and yummy fries. Careful you don't eat the stowaways with kethchup!

Great you meet up with Karin and Tom. Oh my that banana sundae.... Yes please.

I adore jugglars. What fun. Great update.
 
It will be good to get all your items into your new home and a job that gives you regular hours.

I need to seriously start looking for a new one. I just dread it though.

Star of Indian lovely!

She certainly deserves a closer look at some stage.


Oh the shock of your brother saying something died! Rambo and Gucci! No just a truck we can live with an old truck that died.

Not a happy few minutes until we found out what he was saying :(


Glad you found KTTWC! How lovely booking Palo.

I'm glad Gonzolo still had it instead of turning it in. I didn't want to have to get a new one on the first day.

I adore the Littlr Mermaid mural. The detail! I would be making excuses to go that way alot!

We did tend to go that way a lot, as a matter of fact. :)

The sail away looks fun. Nice souvenir cup and yummy fries. Careful you don't eat the stowaways with kethchup!

That cup is my favored right now, perfect size for my favorite diet dew when at home.

Great you meet up with Karin and Tom.

They were a highlight of the trip, glad we found them right away! :)


Oh my that banana sundae.... Yes please.

I do like those sundaes.


I adore jugglars. What fun. Great update.

The juggler really was awesome. Every act we saw on this trip was great. And quite the variety too. Thanks for reading :)
 


Friday the 13th is when I signed papers so that added a fun twist. Mom has felt that is a lucky day and now I agree :hyper:

We got married on Friday February 13th 19 years ago. On my 8th wedding anniversary, I started my present job and on February 13th this year, I will start my new job. So for me the 13th is definitely a lucky day.

Work has been frustrating and I will need to find something more consistent this year as well. Some weeks I don’t make all my hours, other weeks I’m in overtime. It is not consistent to pay bills, let alone have money afterwards for vacations. And you all know vacations are a must!

That must be so frustrating. I hope that you find something more reliable soon.

While we were walking my brother called in a state of panic saying ‘something something something died’. We were inside the ship, in the stairwell and reception was not clear. Again he repeated, ‘mumble mumble mumble, died, I’m sorry.’ Well you can imagine the panic I started to have because I just left my two precious dogs with him and my sister in law. Finally we got the full story and he was saying my mom’s truck had died.

I can imagine that your heart must have just stopped. I am glad that it was no big deal in the end.

Mom made an announcement that she was too tired for dinner.

Graham has done this to me on a number of cruises.

Our tablemates were nice, at least we did not get any inklings of the unpleasantness that would occur later in the trip.

That does not sound good at all.

Then, who did we see in the lobby after dinner but Minnie Mouse herself!!!! There was hardly a line so I jumped right in for my turn.

That was lucky.

Corinna
 
So glad you signed the papers, and on the 13th! That does indeed make it a lucky day! I hope you are able to look around for a new job, it's always unsettling when money is not consistent.

It sounds like a fabulous first day. Your Halibut looks delicious! I'm always too tired for the shows, but then again you and your mom are night owls!
 
Wow! You had some stamina - I think we went to bed after sitting out on the veranda for a while - no other entertainment for us. Well, I had a glass of the wine "Leshaface" gave us and Tom had a beer.
I really hope you stay WAY ahead of me with your TR as I really have very few notes from the cruise and I need to "steal" from you. LOL

Hope everything will work out with work soon - can't wait to see you again in the summer!!!!
 


Joining in. Loving your descriptions and details! Awesome n looking forward to the rest!
1 quick Question, if u don't mind...
The chandelier you photographed... do you know if that is a Chihuly Piece, by chance?
I've recently seen an entire installation of a "ceiling" completed by the artist which was Simply Amazing!
 
Joining in. Loving your descriptions and details! Awesome n looking forward to the rest!
1 quick Question, if u don't mind...
The chandelier you photographed... do you know if that is a Chihuly Piece, by chance?
I've recently seen an entire installation of a "ceiling" completed by the artist which was Simply Amazing!

It is a Chihuly, isn't it gorgeous!!! I'm very disappointed to have found out they removed it during the refurb. It truly boggles my mind.
 
It is a Chihuly, isn't it gorgeous!!! I'm very disappointed to have found out they removed it during the refurb. It truly boggles my mind.

Agree, Gorgeous! That is mind boggling. I've seen other installations of his.. one more spectacular than the last.
I hope to get to a museum (fla) that has his pieces!
 
Agree, Gorgeous! That is mind boggling. I've seen other installations of his.. one more spectacular than the last.
I hope to get to a museum (fla) that has his pieces!

If you are a fan, you have to get to Seattle. I am huge fan and when we were in Seattle in 2013, Chihuly Garden and Glass near the Space Needle blew my mind. Up to that point, my husband could never really understand why I love his stuff so much, but let's just say, he came around to my way of thinking quickly.

Corinna
 
We got married on Friday February 13th 19 years ago. On my 8th wedding anniversary, I started my present job and on February 13th this year, I will start my new job. So for me the 13th is definitely a lucky day.

Definitely a lucky day!!!


That must be so frustrating. I hope that you find something more reliable soon.

Its so hard to look, it stresses me. It took months and months to find this job. I do need to get on the ball though.


Graham has done this to me on a number of cruises.

I've gone alone before and had a good time, I just didn't want to on the first night.

That does not sound good at all.

Everything worked out in the end.

That was lucky.

Corinna

I really enjoyed the characters this trip.
 
So glad you signed the papers, and on the 13th! That does indeed make it a lucky day! I hope you are able to look around for a new job, it's always unsettling when money is not consistent.

I must get on the ball and make a change. There's just been a lot of change recently.

It sounds like a fabulous first day. Your Halibut looks delicious!

It was a fabulous first day! And dinner was quite yummy, but more deliciousness to come.

I'm always too tired for the shows, but then again you and your mom are night owls!

The only way I got mom to stay up late is because she slept in late. She said the cavelike inside stateroom was really good for sleep because she automatically wakes up with the sun.
 
Wow! You had some stamina - I think we went to bed after sitting out on the veranda for a while - no other entertainment for us. Well, I had a glass of the wine "Leshaface" gave us and Tom had a beer.


I was glad we made it to the juggling show, it was great. I think we went to most of the extra shows and enjoyed them all.


I really hope you stay WAY ahead of me with your TR as I really have very few notes from the cruise and I need to "steal" from you. LOL

I hope I can, I've been moving very slowly :laughing:


Hope everything will work out with work soon - can't wait to see you again in the summer!!!!

Us too, can't wait to see you and Tom!!! :)
 
If you are a fan, you have to get to Seattle. I am huge fan and when we were in Seattle in 2013, Chihuly Garden and Glass near the Space Needle blew my mind. Up to that point, my husband could never really understand why I love his stuff so much, but let's just say, he came around to my way of thinking quickly.

Corinna

Can you remind me, or refer me to the TR, how you got from Seattle to Vancouver? Mom likes the idea of the train ride up there. Now that you've reminded me of the Chihuly museum I think we need to stay in Seattle for at least a day. I'm just trying to figure out logistics of getting to the train station.
 
Can you remind me, or refer me to the TR, how you got from Seattle to Vancouver? Mom likes the idea of the train ride up there. Now that you've reminded me of the Chihuly museum I think we need to stay in Seattle for at least a day. I'm just trying to figure out logistics of getting to the train station.

We actually did it the other way round as we did a back to back cruise consisting of the repositioning cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver and the first Alaska cruise. We took the train from Vancouver to Seattle, had a couple of days there and then flew back home. The corresponding trip report is "But You Promised Me A Subtropical Paradise".

Corinna
 
We actually did it the other way round as we did a back to back cruise consisting of the repositioning cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver and the first Alaska cruise. We took the train from Vancouver to Seattle, had a couple of days there and then flew back home. The corresponding trip report is "But You Promised Me A Subtropical Paradise".

Corinna

Thank you for this, I'm going to go back and read it again. Did you find getting to the Chihuly museum difficult?
 
Thank you for this, I'm going to go back and read it again. Did you find getting to the Chihuly museum difficult?

No, this could not be easier. We stayed at a hotel near the airport and took the train into Seattle. We got off the train near the Westlake Center Mall and there we got on the monorail to the Seattle Centre where Chihuli Garden and Glass is located.

Corinna
 
No, this could not be easier. We stayed at a hotel near the airport and took the train into Seattle. We got off the train near the Westlake Center Mall and there we got on the monorail to the Seattle Centre where Chihuli Garden and Glass is located.

Corinna

Thank you so much for this information :)
 
Hi everybody :wave2:

Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy all day so I will be getting an update posted, but in the meantime I wanted to share some fun news.

I just booked Hoop Dee Doo Review for my birthday :cool1: :cool1: :cool1: thanks mainly in part to Alison and Fran's fun experience there, and the fact that I found they are very accommodating with gluten free needs. I'm very excited! I booked the 4pm show so we can still have some park time afterwards if we want.

Also, at exactly my 7 month window I was able to book the VGC for after our Alaska cruise :hyper: as this has turned out to be my only vacation this year its going to be a big one. Southwest still hasn't released flights for September so I booked a whole week just in case. The online booking site was down for maintenance at 8am. How can they do that when people anticipate booking things??? Finally just before 9 it worked only to boot me out on the last page of booking, before it was confirmed :mad: so I called member services but they were having problems too and couldn't book anything either. Oh the horror!!! Finally I was able to snag a 1BR for the week, the studios weren't available for the first night and I wanted to book something right then. Glad I did because neither are available for all the nights I needed any more. Whew!

Next course of action is to buy flights and book hotels for Seattle and Vancouver. If anybody has some good suggestions I'm open to anything.
 

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