The Last Trip: An (Eastern) Fantasy Food Adventure-Bonus Feature, Pam & Her Mom Pt 2 Sept 17 the end

[pkondz]

Because it's just a little blurry, it looks like she's zoooooming through the store!

This is the place where they sell the jewelry, D&B purses, watches and other stuff. I figured that I was safe since DCL has not been producing any signature merchandise since we sailed in 2012.




Wrong.

Uh, oh...

Eventually she finished and we went back to White Caps. I ended up with this pendant.

I can't make it out. What is it, Alison?

We still had half an hour until character photos

Great photos. Glad you both got in them.

There was a bit of a party downstairs, the duo playing was pretty good. They played jazz standards, and came from the UK (or at least their accents sounded like they came from there). Both played several instruments, the gal played woodwinds and the gentleman played tenor sax and trumpet.

Nice.

The chandelier is beautiful, just like on the Dream.

That thing is drop dead amazing.

Is SWDaS just character meets?
Or am I getting ahead of myself?

They told us to pose the force.

Perfect!

Evidently this is “showing the force”.

Ack!!! Ughhh.... Can't............ breathe................................












Thank goodness I was able to scroll down.
I would've died!

Love that.

We got on pretty well and it wasn't awkward at all. That's always a worry,

I get that. You never know who you'll get.
Some people are absolute duds.

You should know. You sat across from me!

I'd rather sit with folks at dinner than be alone. We do that every night at home.

Huh. Ruby would probably prefer it stay that way if we were to go.
Which we very well might in August.

I started off with an Imperial Illusion. It was good, not nearly as sweet as I expected.

Looks good.
No rum, right?

I had the onion soup, so yummy!

That looks soooo good. Want.

One of our tablemates got the Potato Leek soup. They were really nice about my food porn obsession and even volunteered their dishes for photographs.

Really! That was nice of them.

For the main, I got Rack of lamb. It was nicely cooked and I finished almost all of it.

Man. It's been years since I've had that.
Really should remedy that.

So if you've read any of my previous cruise reports, you should know what I'm having for dessert. The Grand Marnier Souffle!

We stopped in at Skyline and introduced ourselves to the bartender.

Uh, huh. Just "introduced" yourselves?

Hello!

Love that one.

I was so full every night that I put our chocolates into a ziplock bag (we brought a whole box) and I’ve been munching on them as a late night snack before bed at home. Only because no one is serving me a 4-5 course meal that includes dessert while at my house. The nerve!

What?!?!? This is an outrage!!!

The upper right was “something Companions” which was R2D2 and C3PO. This was our first choice.

Would be mine too.

“Trials of the Temple” (middle) was an experience for kids, this was choice #5 for us. The Dark side, lower left was to meet Darth Vader, our second choice. And Chewbacca was our third choice. You’ll have to stay tuned as to how it came out.

Standing by!

 

[pkondz]

I woke up at 4AM. I'd had about 5 hours of sleep

Now that's the Alison I know.

I checked the map on the TV just to verify that the sun would rise on my side of the ship.

You're lucky Disney didn't schedule it to come up in the West that day.

At first I thought I would be out of luck as were headed Southeast and not due South. However as that glisten on the horizon began to shimmer, I realized that I would be treated to the view of the orb rising from the horizon.

Beautiful sunrise photos as always, Alison.

Holy crap! Shocked the door didn't collapse from the added weight.

The jacuzzi didn’t open until 8AM.

Criminal.

Even though I came here every day, I never took a seat anywhere.

Because you always got stuff for Fran, I presume?

Fran had me take a picture of this bag that we bought and this was for us and our usage. It was one of those, buy X amount of dollars, get this for some outrageous price.

We were immediately greeted by waiters with trays of Prosecco, Mimosas, Bellinis, Kir Royal, and Apple Cider. I got the Prosecco while Fran ordered the Apple Cider.

Bellini please!

Then a gal came by with a tray of Canapés. Fran got the salmon, Brie, and shrimp in Gazpacho.

Shrimp please!

Before getting up and speaking to the room, Captain Fabian stopped by our table. I didn't realize this but he was the Captain of the Wonder three out of the five times we sailed on it!

Really!

Plus we got a Mickey head Rice Krispie Treat on the way out!

Mmmm.... one of pkondz's favourite things.

 

[Steppesister]

I will have to quote this one first and work backwards... have soooo many to get to!

Love this one!!!

Drooling over that rug! Very pretty!

that’s the one they didn’t include on my photo package. Boo hoo!

I see what you did there.

We were immediately greeted by waiters with trays of Prosecco, Mimosas, Bellinis, Kir Royal, and Apple Cider. I got the Prosecco while Fran ordered the Apple Cider.

It's a beautiful sight! Seriously, very classy!

 

[Steppesister]

I assume you will be there keeping me company in a couple days!

Well, I hope I kept you company enough.

 

[Steppesister]

Super cute!

If you're friends with me on FB, you may have seen the pendant when I updated my profile picture with a picture taken later on in the trip.

I did, I did!!!

I love the backdrop with Walt in this one!

Ok, THAT floats my boat! That is toooo gorgeous!

Awwww, I really, really like this one.

I'd rather sit with folks at dinner than be alone. We do that every night at home.

AMEN!!!

Super nice looking drink! Just lovely!

Only because no one is serving me a 4-5 course meal that includes dessert while at my house. The nerve!

What's with THAT?! LOL!

so I settled on Guardians of the Galaxy, forgetting that the first thing that happens is his mother dies of Cancer.

Oopsie!

You’ll see that she keeps trying for the whole cruise.

So frustrating! (That was me at DLR!)

I was falling asleep and the rocking motion of the ship put me to sleep.

Nighty, night, Alison!

 

[pkondz]

No update and I know I have replies to get to,

What's with that! Slacker!

Well already I've voided our travel moratorium.

That accelerated quickly.

they’re telling us that we made 25% over our initial investment,

Very nice!

So help me, not only should we be out of that place by then, but it should be renovated and rented by then!

What are the Vegas odds on that?

We met a young couple there who were interested in our Armoire, they gave us the 10 bucks and being rookies they proceeded to use our dolly (they didn't think to bring one) to wheel it out to their car. It was some little baby SUV, and they had a baby in the back seat. After several feeble attempts to get it into the car, they decided to come back with a truck. They put the shelves and drawers in the car and then put the Armoire on the side of the building. A couple hours later we got a text that they wouldn't be back. So Yay! We can't even donate the dang thing without shelves and drawers so now we get to take a sledgehammer to it so it will fit into a trash can.

Look at it this way. They paid you $10 to demolish it.
I'd have done it for free!

another former DISer will be joining us and crashing on the couch of our one bedroom villa.

This is an option??
What's your rent like?
Is there a discount for Canadian travelers?

Saturday we are attending a demo with Cat Cora

Nice! Hope you'll tell us how your demos went.

Fran has been frantically working on the taxes

Please. Don't remind me.

ETA: And Fran tells me she has an appointment Sunday (while I'll still be at the park) for someone who wants to look at the four tall bookcases we have listed. $100 for the lot!

Cha-ching!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

At least you can use the sledgehammer to get out your frustrations. My mother did that to her poor Christmas tree last summer...

I'm glad you have some vacations in the works! Always give you something to look forward too!

 

[afwdwfan]

Well already I've voided our travel moratorium.

Some people just think the rules don't apply to them.

So help me, not only should we be out of that place by then, but it should be renovated and rented by then!

Good luck!

Armoire, they gave us the 10 bucks and being rookies they proceeded to use our dolly (they didn't think to bring one) to wheel it out to their car. It was some little baby SUV, and they had a baby in the back seat. After several feeble attempts to get it into the car, they decided to come back with a truck. They put the shelves and drawers in the car and then put the Armoire on the side of the building. A couple hours later we got a text that they wouldn't be back. So Yay! We can't even donate the dang thing without shelves and drawers so now we get to take a sledgehammer to it so it will fit into a trash can.

That sucks.

But look at the bright side of things. You make it sound like smashing it with a sledgehammer is a bad thing. That's a great way to take out some frustration!

 

[DnA2010]

Lots of good things in the last "update" !

Yay for going ahead with panama! that is a cruise that both DH and I really want to do someday!

Looking forward to hearing about your next DL vacation and drinking the wines sound great!

That's just crap about the armoire!

 

[franandaj]

Gorgeous sunrise photos!! I'm not much of an early bird so have yet to get any cruise sunrise photos, one of these days though!

Normally I'm not much of a morning person, but for some reason on cruises I tend to wake up early.

It's nice to be welcomed back with a little meet and greet, something to strive for for ourselves I'm a coffee snob so Cove Cafe is a must!

I like going to the receptionship for the free drinks and rice Krispy treats.

Woohoo, excited for your Palo brunch!

Now it just seems like a memory. I sure hope that we get to go back I'm October!

I just love the sunrise from the boat! I wish I had a cruise soon to see it. At least I get our pretty Naples sunsets!

I don't see sunrise or sunset at my house. We live at the bottom of a hill, so at sunset the sun has been long gone from our view. At sunrise, we have a 14 ft wall shielding our backyard from the busy street which is east of us, so I live being on the ship!

Nice to see what happens in those Gold/Platinum Receptions! I'm only 4 cruises down at this time so I haven't made it there yet!

It's a nice place for free drinks!

 

[franandaj]

I'm glad it worked out that you could see it. I mean, if you're not going to be asleep, might as well.

Without having too much of a spoiler alert, this is the only sunrise I see.

Wow, that's a lot of magnets...

It's a little deceptive, four of those are "strings". They were hanging from the ceiling of our room from our welcome package on the Alaskan cruise. I brought them along for an easy set of decoration. Our door is nothing compared to some!

Oh yeah... spend 50 bucks and we'll throw in this $10 bag for an additional $19.99? Something like that?

Cool bag though.

Pretty much...

Nice reception! I don't blame you for not wanting to eat too much before Palo, but that is a nice little perk that

It is nice that we get some recognition for our loyalty.

Gorgeous sunrise pics! Worth getting up for!

Thanks!

Lots of my favourite things in this update!
Your sunset pictures are lovely, great colours! The empty calm ship is great, I really enjoyed the couple of times I walked around at that time, checking out details.
Man do I love both coffee and croissants- my hubby pulled an Alison one day and brought me fruit and croissant to the cabin also- mostly it was me bringing him the coffee

I do eventually get some sunset photos, but that's a few days away. I'm the one who does all the carrying, although she's pretty good at carrying when she has her scooter.

That tray of drinks at the reception looks splendid indeed- nice shot!

Very excited for the Palo update!

The waiters had quite a selection of beverages, hopefully Palo will be coming soon!

 

[franandaj]

Your sunrise pictures are gorgeous!!!

Thank you!

That is not good.

I make up for it later.

I really love this photo.

Thank you.

That is nice that they had Boo out for meet and greets, but what a shame that they missed out the photos.

I know, she was in her monster costume. Teach me not to bring my own camera.

We really like him. He is definitely one of their more personable captains.

I'm not sure I've ever spoken to any of the Captains before.

Loved the sunrise photos!

Thank you

Just popping in to say hi! Love reading your trip reports. We just got off our first cruise on the Fantasy last Saturday, and booked the May 2018 cruise out of San Diego for next year!

I have a cruise out of San Diego next fall provided we get the last of our stuff out of our old apartment! We have two months and a few days left to get it done!

 

[franandaj]

That's my favorite one. Nice shot.

Thanks. I like it that different people like different shots.

Probably a good thing. The Cove Cafe would get upset if you tried to take a chair away.

Smart a$$.

Cool bag, though. Even if you took out a second mortgage.

Actually its a 4th mortgage.

Sounds like you guys should be on a first-name basis!

Pretty much!

Since your other reports are still going strong, I didn't realize I was missing a new one. This cruise looks wonderful. I am not even a Star Wars fan, but I am looking at the pictures and wishing I was there, too. I have a couple short Wonder cruises in my future, but would love to try out the Fantasy someday.

I am convinced that longer cruises are far superior to the shorter ones. The Fantasy has become my favorite ship after the Wonder.

I'm hoping some of your motivation for cleaning out the apartment rubs off on me. We have a lot of junk to get rid of at home and repairs, etc. I get on spurts where I work on it for a few days, then I lose my motivation for months or sometimes, years! I keep a couple boxes out at all times that I can easily put stuff in to donate. I can't even bother will having yard sales or selling stuff on Ebay or Craigslist anymore. I just want to get rid of stuff and never see it again.

I pity you if you're counting on my motivation to rub off, because clearly I don't have enough to spare! I'm pretty much there, that I wish stuff would disappear and I'd never have to see it again, but Fran still values it so I'm stuck.

Stunning sunset pictures!

And all that food is making me hungry. Hope you're doing well IRL.

Thanks. I can't really complain about IRL. Just first world problems.

 

[franandaj]

Lovely photos of the sunrise. I saw a thread on the Disboards about the crew removing tables from verendah rooms because children were standing on them and they were a safety issue. Well I hope this doesn't apply where there are no children in the cabin. Where will we put our drinks!

I swear reckless people spoil things for everyone. My drink usually stays in my hand though. How else will I drink it?

Lovely decorated door.

Thank you.

I love that Star Wars bag.

I need to get it out and use it!

How nice to attend the Castaway silver and Platinum reception. Lovely photo of you and Goofy. Food and drink sound nice.

I've enjoyed the few that I've been to.

Looking forward to hearing about Palo brunch. Sticky buns...

There may be some of those...

You are so right! I never ever would have put those two together

There’s that huge gap in the Navigator from 3:30-4:30 where everything is closed.

Great update, gorgeous sunrise photos. I can't remember the last time I saw a sunrise.

Other than when I'm on a ship, I don't generally see them either!

Great door decorations!

Thanks!

Love the Star Wars bag, that would have come home with me too.

I still have one suitcase left to unpack and that bag is in there. We need to stay home long enough to put stuff away or where we can use it!

 

[irene_dsc]

Other than when I'm on a ship, I don't generally see them either!

Sadly, with how early the high school bus picks up my son, I am up before the sun for most of the winter. The only problem is, we don't tend to see much of the sunrise from our house!

(ETA: And, I am usually up before the son, not just the sun, lol.)

 

[franandaj]

That sounds like great news.

It should help out a lot!

Looks like real progress is being made.

Baby Steps.

Oh wow, well congrats on being able to book those trips!!

Well they have been booked for some time now. It just means we don't have to cancel them....yet.

Baby steps right? Funny about the armoire, but yes, a little sledgehammer therapy sounds fun

I just don't have the time to do it!!!!!

Have a great weekend. I was going to ask you if you were going to be around for the Grand Prix of Long Beach but I see that you are getting out of dodge for the weekend. Never been to Long Beach but can understand it will probably be busier this weekend.
Judy

We despise Grand Prix weekend. If we can we always try to get out of town. It's not so bad in our new house as we live almost as far away from it as we could be (without going farther North), but at our old house you could hear the cars all weekend, buzzing like a swarm of bees.

Overall sounds like good news-- one trip confirmed and the cruise within reach.

Just a few more pieces of furniture to go!

Enjoy! I wish I were there this weekend!!!!


Congrats on getting a little windfall.
YAY for having vacay's booked. I'm glad you bit the bullet and booked some in.

You would have had a lot of fun! Jill and I did! But then again we spent a lot of time not in commando mode.

Sounds like things are moving in the right direction!

Hope you have fun this weekend!

Slowly but surely. After F&W ends this weekend, we should be able to get a lot more done.

What fabulous news that the investment saved both trips! I am so pleased for you both.

Lol re that rookie couple and their baby SUV.

Positive update! We love those.

Well the investment let us take them off the chopping block for sure, we still need to finish moving!

Loving your report so far!! I have the same DCL cross body purse that I got in 2015. Nothing caught my eye in March which was good bc I ended up with Pandora charms instead, lol!! Can't wait to read more!

I think it was 2015 when I got that one as well, or maybe it was 2014. They need to keep releasing purses I don't like because my closet is overflowing!

 

[PrincessInOz]

You would have had a lot of fun! Jill and I did! But then again we spent a lot of time not in commando mode.

I still wish I could have been there.

 

[franandaj]

Hey! Look at me! Commenting on your TR!
(finally. Sorry!)

Actually you got over here sooner than I had expected!

Assets? You meant assets?

Well when we moved the wine cabinet, that was probably the last of the assets, so now all that's left is liabilities.

No. You need your butt on fire too, right?

Evidently.

What, no library?


Sad.

The library was in the bedroom we called the "closet room", from which we just sold the four bookcases that were not part of the built in bookcase structure.

Awwww! It's little Alison!

No that's Elinor. I'm the big one that isn't the mouse.

That's... dedicated.
About as bad as waiting hours to see Jack Skellington... in driving rain.

But no one is that stupid.

Yeah, who would do that?

Just like me!
I'm one cruise away from.... what do they call it when you take your first cruise?

Newbie? Neophyte? Rookie?

Nice of Picard to give up his seat.

Of course he did, he's a gentleman.

I missed that. Had to chose between that or Christmas Story house.
The latter won out.

Lemme guess, daughter trip?

What?!?!?! Who are you and what did you do with the real Alison???

The real Alison cones back soon, but I'm not sure where she was during this particular update!

I would suspect that's correct.
Otherwise you'd really remember.
"Went outside. Got arrested. Spent the day in jail for indecent exposure."

Actually probably no. As I'm sure you drove by to surveil my house when you were here, you noticed that almost no one is ever outside so it's no wonder Naked Jim made his way from the backyard without notice...I do it in my backyard all the time when I go out to the jacuzzi.

Sure. There's practically zero traffic in LA.





I have a story about that.
Which will have to wait upon the inevitable TR.

I tried to warn you.

It looks..... ew.

It was....ew.

Because Fran is very wise.

That she is!

Butterscotch > Strawberry.

You're always judging my food.

It's huge!

I would have been happy to have that room for a week, if it had been somewhere a person would want to go....

Whoa. That's more than our family of four takes.

I know. Which is why I question you when you say, "We had two suitcases." I'm thinking "each, right?" Then again I wear fresh undergarments and pants/dresses every day.

Mischievous on vacation grin.

Either that or why did I drive right in the middle of her picture?

Not a huge waffle fan... but.... suddenly I want waffles.

I love these places where you can make your own waffles fresh at breakfast. You get them while they're still hot and the butter melts on them (especially if you put it in your pocket while the waffle is cooking).

I get that you like to share, but personally, I would always take the blurry one for myself.

She is being gentleman-like.

"You didn't hear me say 'Simon Says'!"

There was a collective groan when they made the announcement .

Awww... all tuckered out.

I don't know whether to say "awww..." or "lol".

You can LOL, we did.

Holy crap.

It almost felt like home.

And yet, you're still smiling.

We're about to embark on a week long food adventure!

Can I steal your shrimp?

There’s plenty more on the buffet over there...although I probably couldn't finish them all and ended up letting Fran finish some.

That's the official name for it on the name tag. "Asian stuff".

I think it was spicy noodles with pork and vegetables or something like that, but since there was fried rice and noodles in the same bowl (wow! I let my food touch) Asian stuff was the official name.

Really! I'm surprised.
Usually buffets are pretty bland.

Most of the stuff is mild, but they do provide plenty of spicy sauces and stuff that you can apply yourself. They know that they have folks who like things crazy hot.

mmmmm.... Apple cobbler sounds sooooo good.

It sure does....we're having someone over for dinner next weekend and we were talking about what to do for dessert. Maybe I'll do that instead of what we talked about.

Wait. Lemme guess.... Rum.

Probably. OK, thanks Google! Nor only is it Rum, but Coconut Rum.

A favourite hobby of hers. Ship's shops good?

Anytime she has access to LE pins and merchandise she is all over it like a rash!

 

[franandaj]

Because it's just a little blurry, it looks like she's zoooooming through the store!

That's funny, but no she does not zoom through the store. She looks at every. Single. Thing.

Uh, oh...

I can't make it out. What is it, Alison?

It's an oval pendant with the DCL logo in the center. Next update there is a shot of me where you can get a good look at it.

Great photos. Glad you both got in them.

She did really good on getting photos this trip. Sometimes she is a little more reluctant.

That thing is drop dead amazing.

It is beautiful, sets the whole feel of the atrium.

Is SWDaS just character meets?
Or am I getting ahead of myself?

You're getting ahead of yourself. It's a mindset and a whole lot more. I get to it on the day (which is actually quite a few days away).

Perfect!

Ack!!! Ughhh.... Can't............ breathe................................












Thank goodness I was able to scroll down.
I would've died!

Well I'm glad, you didn't die. Spoiler alert: Be prepared it will happen again.

I get that. You never know who you'll get.
Some people are absolute duds.

You should know. You sat across from me!

Actually it's not the duds I'm worried about. It's the intolerant folks with an agenda.

Oh please, you are among some of the best dining company I have shared recently.

Huh. Ruby would probably prefer it stay that way if we were to go.
Which we very well might in August.

I can see that. But you two probably rarely get a quiet evening alone together. For us just about every evening is alone together. After 20 years we have kind of run out of things to talk about which is why we usually have the TV droning on in the background.

Besides from what I know about you two, small talk might not be so easy or appealing.

What cruise line are you going on?

Looks good.
No rum, right?

Absolut Mandarin, Apple Pucker, Blue Curacao, and Pineapple Juice. It was good!

That looks soooo good. Want.

Me too, actually.

Really! That was nice of them.

They were rather accommodating.

Man. It's been years since I've had that.
Really should remedy that.

Yes. Yes you should.

Uh, huh. Just "introduced" yourselves?

It was too late and I was good on alcohol for the night.

What?!?!? This is an outrage!!!

I know! Where is my personal chef?

Would be mine too.

They're the coolest!

Standing by!

It's a few days before we get our choices back.

Now that's the Alison I know.

Sad but true.

You're lucky Disney didn't schedule it to come up in the West that day.

That's why I looked the map up on the TV. To be sure.

Beautiful sunrise photos as always, Alison.

Thanks

Holy crap! Shocked the door didn't collapse from the added weight.

Ha! I've got very few compared to some people. There are folks who make custom magnets for their trips and some people have enough to cover the entire door. I have no time to make custom magnets so I reuse ones that I've been given in FEs on past cruises

Because you always got stuff for Fran, I presume?

Pretty much. If I didn't I would rather go back to the room and badger Fran to get up and watch whatever movie, than sit and sip coffee in solitude.

Bellini please!

You'll see one for me later.

Shrimp please!

Mmmm.... one of pkondz's favourite things.

They are quite yummy!

 

[franandaj]

I will have to quote this one first and work backwards... have soooo many to get to!

That's OK. I suspect when you get your laptop back, you'll have to use the "jump right in" method as I hope to post an update today.

Love this one!!!

The one where I'm trying to kill her with the Force.

Drooling over that rug! Very pretty!

They have beautiful floor coverings throughout the ship.

I see what you did there.

You seem to be the only one.

It's a beautiful sight! Seriously, very classy!

I like that there was such a variety. Pretty colors too!

Well, I hope I kept you company enough.

You sure did!

I love the backdrop with Walt in this one!

That's the foyer for the Walt Disney Theater. We did a few character meets there.

, THAT floats my boat! That is toooo gorgeous!

It is pretty and really sets the tone for the Atrium, gives it a very classy feeling.

Awwww, I really, really like this one.

Thank you!

AMEN!!!

I would imagine that you might enjoy some alone time with your hubby, but then again, you like to socialize and chat with folks, so I can see the desire to be seated with a group of folks.

Super nice looking drink! Just lovely!

And it was tasty too!

What's with THAT?! LOL!

I need you as my personal chef!

So frustrating! (That was me at DLR!)

I know, it can be infuriating when you can't get online. I would occasionally sign on to receive my emails, but I never tried to get on the DIS or FB, so I wasn't frustrated with the lack of bandwidth for pictures.

Nighty, night, Alison!

Even if it is oh, so brief, I do make up for it! But I'm getting ahead of myself!