To Alaska & Beyond!
- Thread starter saintstickets
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saintstickets
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I hope so. At least it will be a lot easier than getting around in our car.
saintstickets
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Well...another set back on the excursions. I got a call on my cellphone this week and the number ID said it was from Skagway, AK. Uh oh!!! It was TEMSCO saying that they were canceling our helicopter glacier/dog sled excursion. Noooooooooo!! 
This was the excursion we were most excited about. They said they were canceling their flights for the rest of the season (2+ weeks until the end of the season!). My guess is they didn't have very many bookings left. So...what to do now? When we booked this excursion, we did so knowing that quite often these get canceled at the last minute due to weather. There are many companies in Juneau doing this excursion but only one in Skagway. Since we stop in Skagway the day before we go to Juneau, my thoughts were to book this excursion in Skagway with the intention that if it got canceled, we at least had a slim chance to book another the next day in Juneau. If we booked it in Juneau and it got canceled last minute, there would not be another chance. Well, it got canceled but not last minute...15 days before we were supposed to go! Okay then, we put the backup plan in place anyway. I got online and found a company that had a spot open in Juneau for the same type excursion. This company is the same one 2 friends of ours had used for this excursion in the past. One was a few years ago and he said it was the best he and his family had ever taken. The other was earlier this summer and his got canceled as they were boarding the helicopter. We shall see which camp we end up in. Next we had to cancel the whale watching tour we had previously scheduled in Juneau. Their cancellation policy said full refund if canceled at least 14 days out. We were 15 days out! Whew!! Now what do we do in Skagway? This time I went to the DCL website and looked at what was still available in Skagway. We ended up selecting the Ocean Raft Nature Adventure - according to the brochure..."board the type of boat used by the Navy Seals and Coast Guard rescue teams for an intimate rib boating adventure through the Lynn Canal, North America's longest and deepest fjord. See up close hidden coves, waterfalls, beaches and abundant wildlife such as eagles, seals, sea lions, mountain goats and sea birds." Okay, not the same as the whales we were hoping to see but it should be interesting and picture worthy!
That's all for now. 5 days and counting. Throw a few prayers and pixie dust my way please. I don't want any more surprises. Two canceled excursions out of six before we even leave is enough! It might drive me to
Oh yeah, we're gonna do that anyway!! 
This was the excursion we were most excited about. They said they were canceling their flights for the rest of the season (2+ weeks until the end of the season!). My guess is they didn't have very many bookings left. So...what to do now? When we booked this excursion, we did so knowing that quite often these get canceled at the last minute due to weather. There are many companies in Juneau doing this excursion but only one in Skagway. Since we stop in Skagway the day before we go to Juneau, my thoughts were to book this excursion in Skagway with the intention that if it got canceled, we at least had a slim chance to book another the next day in Juneau. If we booked it in Juneau and it got canceled last minute, there would not be another chance. Well, it got canceled but not last minute...15 days before we were supposed to go! Okay then, we put the backup plan in place anyway. I got online and found a company that had a spot open in Juneau for the same type excursion. This company is the same one 2 friends of ours had used for this excursion in the past. One was a few years ago and he said it was the best he and his family had ever taken. The other was earlier this summer and his got canceled as they were boarding the helicopter. We shall see which camp we end up in. Next we had to cancel the whale watching tour we had previously scheduled in Juneau. Their cancellation policy said full refund if canceled at least 14 days out. We were 15 days out! Whew!! Now what do we do in Skagway? This time I went to the DCL website and looked at what was still available in Skagway. We ended up selecting the Ocean Raft Nature Adventure - according to the brochure..."board the type of boat used by the Navy Seals and Coast Guard rescue teams for an intimate rib boating adventure through the Lynn Canal, North America's longest and deepest fjord. See up close hidden coves, waterfalls, beaches and abundant wildlife such as eagles, seals, sea lions, mountain goats and sea birds." Okay, not the same as the whales we were hoping to see but it should be interesting and picture worthy! That's all for now. 5 days and counting. Throw a few prayers and pixie dust my way please. I don't want any more surprises. Two canceled excursions out of six before we even leave is enough! It might drive me to
Oh yeah, we're gonna do that anyway!! 
saintstickets
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- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
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Maybe yes....maybe no....finally back and starting to write my TR. Stay tuned to find out!!!That really stinks about the cancellation of the tour and then you not being able to do the whale tour.
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
- Messages
- 2,860
Well now...it's been a while since I have been on the DISboards. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and fantastic start to the new year! I apologize for the delay in posting but life gets in the way sometimes. With that said, I will start posting this TR and it will go fast.
Where do I begin? This was the longest and most diverse trip DW and I have ever taken. We were gone for 13 days. That’s the longest vacation I have taken since 1967 when my family drove from Mississippi to Disneyland with stops at the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Carlsbad Caverns, Knott’s Berry Farm, Sequoia National Forest and Las Vegas! I can’t even imagine taking a trip like that these days…especially driving the entire way. No driving for us on this recent trip. As stated to start this TR, we are flying from New Orleans, LA to Sacramento, CA via Las Vegas, NV. In Sacramento, we spent 4 days with our son Patrick. From there, we fly to Vancouver, BC, Canada with a stop in Seattle, WA. In Vancouver, we will spend the night before embarkation day on the DCL Wonder for a 7 night Alaskan cruise! Once we return to Vancouver, we will tour the city for the day and spend the night once again. The next morning we will fly out of Vancouver to Dallas, TX and then back to New Orleans. From there it is a 2 hour drive back to our little town in south Mississippi. WHEW!!
This TR is very picture heavy. I used a Sony a55 digital camera, a Panasonic waterproof point & shoot, a GoPro that I borrowed and our iPhones for a total of 3,150 pictures! Don’t worry, I’ve narrowed it down a bit for this TR…well, I narrowed it down. And now to the TR…..
August 20, 2015 – Thursday
Our flight leaving NOLA is scheduled to leave at 3:30pm on Southwest. I have downloaded the airline app and another trip app on my phone to get updates during the day. We leave home about 9:30am for the 2 hour drive to the airport in NOLA. I know, I know…we will probably be early but you never know about the traffic in NOLA and there is construction on the main roads to the airport that can shut them down in a flash. Before we cross the State line I get two notices that the flight is delayed. Sighhh. I hope this is not an omen for this week! We THINK we have time so we stop at Whole Foods to see if they have restocked a specific red wine vinaigrette dressing DW likes and they have not. While we are there, we eat lunch and get a text message that the flight is back on schedule. Okay, hurry up and finish and head to the airport! We get there and check our bags about 1:10pm. Did I mention how much luggage we had?!?! 3 large checked bags and 3 carryon bags + DW’s purse which might as well be considered luggage with all she has in there! The checked bags were 49.5 lbs, 48.5 lbs and 48 lbs. How’s that for cutting it close? Do you think I can use this as an excuse to deter DW from buying too many souvenirs? Where are we going to put anything that doesn’t make a checked bag go over weight? I mean, c’mon!
So we’re sitting in the terminal with a little time to wait and DW decides to pull out her iPad from her purse (I told you her purse should be considered luggage!) Guess what? No iPad. She left it in the vehicle. Sighhh. Nothing to do but I had to play O J Simpson (the running back, not the thug) and run through the airport to go back to the car to get her iPad in typical 95 degree hot and muggy NOLA weather!! I make it back only to get a text message that the flight has been delayed…again. A little while later, the PA announces that we are delayed again to accommodate an incoming flight from Houston. Wait a minute, you’re coming from Houston traveling east to NOLA only to fly back west to Las Vegas? You people couldn’t find a direct flight to Las Vegas?!? What about those of us that have a connecting flight in Las Vegas? We have…had…a 1 hour and 15 minute layover in Vegas so this is going to be close. By the time we leave NOLA, the flight is an hour late taking off! Once we board the plane, it is announced that our pilot is Captain Susie something or another. A female pilot…the plane was late…I look at DW and she says, “Don’t say it…just don’t say a word!” After 33 years of marriage, I guess she might have an idea or two about what I might say.
So we finally take off and it’s an uneventful flight. No time was made up so when we land in Vegas, we scramble to get to the gate for our next flight. No chance to pull the one-armed-bandit, go to the bathroom or get something to eat. We make it to the gate and within 10 minutes we get the boarding call. Another WHEW!!! Now if you remember, we originally had a dog sled excursion booked for Skagway, AK and it was canceled before we left. There were no other excursions like this in Skagway so we canceled our whale watching tour in Juneau and replaced it with another dog sled excursion at that port and scheduled something else for Skagway. Now back to the Vegas airport. During that 10 minute “wait” before our boarding call, I check a voice mail message only to find out that this replacement dog sled tour in Juneau has also been canceled! Well crap!! There’s nothing I can do about it at this time so don’t fret about it now.
At last we make it to Sacramento. DS2 is there waiting for us on the way to collect our baggage. After much discussion and rearranging, we finally get all of our luggage into his compact car and are headed to his house. It’s been a long day so we don’t sit around very long chatting. Before we call it a night, I checked online for another excursion for the port of Juneau. All our tours had been previously booked by independent operators and not through DCL. It’s usually cheaper to do this. We found another helicopter/dog sled excursion in Juneau through DCL that had space for two remaining so we booked it quickly. The replacement excursion in Skagway was also booked through DCL so now we have 2 of our 3 with them where we previously had none. I’m not getting my hopes up that this tour won’t be canceled too but who knows, maybe the 3rd time will be the charm! I hate we had to cancel our whale watching tour but we really want to try the dog sled excursion so we’ll take the chance. Anyone have some pixie dust they can spare?
August 21, 2015 – Friday
On this day, originally we had hoped to go to San Francisco but DS2 had his plans fall through so we were going to toodle around Sacramento. One thing we are not accustomed to where we live is walking from our house to places. We do not live downtown but DS2 does so we set out early this morning to find some breakfast. We ate at a place called Cornerstone Café on J Street. The food was decent. Afterwards we walked around downtown. It was a hot day by Sacramento standards, about 94 but very little humidity so by southern Mississippi standards, it was a nice day. We visited a park and ended up at the State Capitol. It has a beautiful domed rotunda
Our son Patrick and his partner Richard wanted to show us some portraits upstairs. Patrick works for the California State retirement system and Richard is a Federal judge so both have been to the Capitol often for both business and pleasure. Upstairs we are shown pictures of some of the past California Governors
There’s Ronnie
There’s Ahhhnold
And then there is “Moonbeam” Jerry
The Governor picks the picture so draw whatever conclusion you wish from Jerry’s choice.
(Continued in next post)
Where do I begin? This was the longest and most diverse trip DW and I have ever taken. We were gone for 13 days. That’s the longest vacation I have taken since 1967 when my family drove from Mississippi to Disneyland with stops at the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Carlsbad Caverns, Knott’s Berry Farm, Sequoia National Forest and Las Vegas! I can’t even imagine taking a trip like that these days…especially driving the entire way. No driving for us on this recent trip. As stated to start this TR, we are flying from New Orleans, LA to Sacramento, CA via Las Vegas, NV. In Sacramento, we spent 4 days with our son Patrick. From there, we fly to Vancouver, BC, Canada with a stop in Seattle, WA. In Vancouver, we will spend the night before embarkation day on the DCL Wonder for a 7 night Alaskan cruise! Once we return to Vancouver, we will tour the city for the day and spend the night once again. The next morning we will fly out of Vancouver to Dallas, TX and then back to New Orleans. From there it is a 2 hour drive back to our little town in south Mississippi. WHEW!!
This TR is very picture heavy. I used a Sony a55 digital camera, a Panasonic waterproof point & shoot, a GoPro that I borrowed and our iPhones for a total of 3,150 pictures! Don’t worry, I’ve narrowed it down a bit for this TR…well, I narrowed it down. And now to the TR…..
August 20, 2015 – Thursday
Our flight leaving NOLA is scheduled to leave at 3:30pm on Southwest. I have downloaded the airline app and another trip app on my phone to get updates during the day. We leave home about 9:30am for the 2 hour drive to the airport in NOLA. I know, I know…we will probably be early but you never know about the traffic in NOLA and there is construction on the main roads to the airport that can shut them down in a flash. Before we cross the State line I get two notices that the flight is delayed. Sighhh. I hope this is not an omen for this week! We THINK we have time so we stop at Whole Foods to see if they have restocked a specific red wine vinaigrette dressing DW likes and they have not. While we are there, we eat lunch and get a text message that the flight is back on schedule. Okay, hurry up and finish and head to the airport! We get there and check our bags about 1:10pm. Did I mention how much luggage we had?!?! 3 large checked bags and 3 carryon bags + DW’s purse which might as well be considered luggage with all she has in there! The checked bags were 49.5 lbs, 48.5 lbs and 48 lbs. How’s that for cutting it close? Do you think I can use this as an excuse to deter DW from buying too many souvenirs? Where are we going to put anything that doesn’t make a checked bag go over weight? I mean, c’mon!
So we’re sitting in the terminal with a little time to wait and DW decides to pull out her iPad from her purse (I told you her purse should be considered luggage!) Guess what? No iPad. She left it in the vehicle. Sighhh. Nothing to do but I had to play O J Simpson (the running back, not the thug) and run through the airport to go back to the car to get her iPad in typical 95 degree hot and muggy NOLA weather!! I make it back only to get a text message that the flight has been delayed…again. A little while later, the PA announces that we are delayed again to accommodate an incoming flight from Houston. Wait a minute, you’re coming from Houston traveling east to NOLA only to fly back west to Las Vegas? You people couldn’t find a direct flight to Las Vegas?!? What about those of us that have a connecting flight in Las Vegas? We have…had…a 1 hour and 15 minute layover in Vegas so this is going to be close. By the time we leave NOLA, the flight is an hour late taking off! Once we board the plane, it is announced that our pilot is Captain Susie something or another. A female pilot…the plane was late…I look at DW and she says, “Don’t say it…just don’t say a word!” After 33 years of marriage, I guess she might have an idea or two about what I might say.
So we finally take off and it’s an uneventful flight. No time was made up so when we land in Vegas, we scramble to get to the gate for our next flight. No chance to pull the one-armed-bandit, go to the bathroom or get something to eat. We make it to the gate and within 10 minutes we get the boarding call. Another WHEW!!! Now if you remember, we originally had a dog sled excursion booked for Skagway, AK and it was canceled before we left. There were no other excursions like this in Skagway so we canceled our whale watching tour in Juneau and replaced it with another dog sled excursion at that port and scheduled something else for Skagway. Now back to the Vegas airport. During that 10 minute “wait” before our boarding call, I check a voice mail message only to find out that this replacement dog sled tour in Juneau has also been canceled! Well crap!!
There’s nothing I can do about it at this time so don’t fret about it now.At last we make it to Sacramento. DS2 is there waiting for us on the way to collect our baggage. After much discussion and rearranging, we finally get all of our luggage into his compact car and are headed to his house. It’s been a long day so we don’t sit around very long chatting. Before we call it a night, I checked online for another excursion for the port of Juneau. All our tours had been previously booked by independent operators and not through DCL. It’s usually cheaper to do this. We found another helicopter/dog sled excursion in Juneau through DCL that had space for two remaining so we booked it quickly. The replacement excursion in Skagway was also booked through DCL so now we have 2 of our 3 with them where we previously had none. I’m not getting my hopes up that this tour won’t be canceled too but who knows, maybe the 3rd time will be the charm! I hate we had to cancel our whale watching tour but we really want to try the dog sled excursion so we’ll take the chance. Anyone have some pixie dust they can spare?
August 21, 2015 – Friday
On this day, originally we had hoped to go to San Francisco but DS2 had his plans fall through so we were going to toodle around Sacramento. One thing we are not accustomed to where we live is walking from our house to places. We do not live downtown but DS2 does so we set out early this morning to find some breakfast. We ate at a place called Cornerstone Café on J Street. The food was decent. Afterwards we walked around downtown. It was a hot day by Sacramento standards, about 94 but very little humidity so by southern Mississippi standards, it was a nice day. We visited a park and ended up at the State Capitol. It has a beautiful domed rotunda
Our son Patrick and his partner Richard wanted to show us some portraits upstairs. Patrick works for the California State retirement system and Richard is a Federal judge so both have been to the Capitol often for both business and pleasure. Upstairs we are shown pictures of some of the past California Governors
There’s Ronnie
There’s Ahhhnold
And then there is “Moonbeam” Jerry
The Governor picks the picture so draw whatever conclusion you wish from Jerry’s choice.
(Continued in next post)
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
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(Continued from previous post)
Next we went to the old town area and visited the California State Railroad Museum. DS2 knows how I like trains! This is a pretty good museum with guided tours and lots of different displays and history. A few pics
It’s hard to imagine traveling like this today.
We walked around some more downtown along the river and stopped in a few shops. It was a nice easy day. We headed back home to get ready to go eat that night. We ate at a restaurant named Bandera. It was a nice place and I had an excellent sea bass. No food porn pictures tonight. All in all, a pretty relaxing day. As stated earlier, we were originally going to drive to San Francisco but this turned out fine and we weren’t worn out with the trip just beginning. Back to the house and a good night’s sleep.
(Continued in next post 2)
Next we went to the old town area and visited the California State Railroad Museum. DS2 knows how I like trains! This is a pretty good museum with guided tours and lots of different displays and history. A few pics
It’s hard to imagine traveling like this today.
We walked around some more downtown along the river and stopped in a few shops. It was a nice easy day. We headed back home to get ready to go eat that night. We ate at a restaurant named Bandera. It was a nice place and I had an excellent sea bass. No food porn pictures tonight. All in all, a pretty relaxing day. As stated earlier, we were originally going to drive to San Francisco but this turned out fine and we weren’t worn out with the trip just beginning. Back to the house and a good night’s sleep.
(Continued in next post 2)
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
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(Continued from previous post 2)
August 22, 2015 – Saturday
Today we are driving to Napa Valley. First off we dine al fresco downtown at Magpie Café. Eating outside is something else we rarely do due to the weather where we live. We watch those home improvement TV shows that build a lot of outdoor entertainment spaces. They can do that in California but if we tried something like that in Mississippi, we would never be able to use it. If it wasn’t too hot, it would be too humid or too windy or raining or have a half inch of yellow pollen all over everything! It was nice and real good food as well.
The drive to Napa wasn’t too long. We saw first hand the dry weather conditions with practically no green grass anywhere. Our first stop was Sterling Vineyards. We took the tram up to the winery and took their walking tour. It included numerous wine samplings and a great view.
They even had a Picasso lithograph and several Ansel Adams pics on display. As we were leaving, there is a “bucket list” board that you can enter a “Before I Die I Want To” wish.
It was interesting the things people had wished for –
Be a Disney Princess
Invent Something
Make A Difference In The World
Play In The NFL
Convince Emma To Cook Something
But the one that caught our eye was this one right below Travel The World
Creepy!!!
(Continued in next post 3)
August 22, 2015 – Saturday
Today we are driving to Napa Valley. First off we dine al fresco downtown at Magpie Café. Eating outside is something else we rarely do due to the weather where we live. We watch those home improvement TV shows that build a lot of outdoor entertainment spaces. They can do that in California but if we tried something like that in Mississippi, we would never be able to use it. If it wasn’t too hot, it would be too humid or too windy or raining or have a half inch of yellow pollen all over everything! It was nice and real good food as well.
The drive to Napa wasn’t too long. We saw first hand the dry weather conditions with practically no green grass anywhere. Our first stop was Sterling Vineyards. We took the tram up to the winery and took their walking tour. It included numerous wine samplings and a great view.
They even had a Picasso lithograph and several Ansel Adams pics on display. As we were leaving, there is a “bucket list” board that you can enter a “Before I Die I Want To” wish.
It was interesting the things people had wished for –
Be a Disney Princess
Invent Something
Make A Difference In The World
Play In The NFL
Convince Emma To Cook Something
But the one that caught our eye was this one right below Travel The World
Creepy!!!
(Continued in next post 3)
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
- Messages
- 2,860
(Continued from previous post 3)
Next on our wine tour was a small vineyard called Goosecross. You will not see any of their wines at your local package store. They only sell their wine online and at the vineyard. In their early years when they were relatively new, they were visited by a young woman from Colorado. She returned home and convinced the family to buy the vineyard/winery and has been in charge since. Her name is Christi Coors Ficeli. You might recognize the maiden name and how daddy was able to buy the operation. Our guide was Jose Garcia but his official title is Tasting Room Bandit. He was excellent! He was informative and entertaining without being snooty like so many so called wine experts can be. Did you know that the date on a bottle of wine is the year the majority of the grapes were picked and not when the wine was bottled? In addition, he showed us how a different pour needle can make a difference in the taste of the same wine. Jose told us how some sommeliers at vineyards will tell you how they can taste the wood char or the hint of fruit that had been added or some other obscure hint of whatever that only a select few people can MAYBE discern. He basically said you either like a wine or you don’t. My kinda sommelier! If you’re ever in Napa Valley, this is an excellent place to visit and sample some very good wine as well as be entertained and learn a thing or two. A few pics from Goosecross
We are pretty light weights when it comes to adult beverages and after a dozen or so wine samples today, it was time to get something to eat. We tried to get into a local restaurant and there was at least an hour wait but across the street was this
I’m game so we tried it. We all ordered, got our food and then sat in the car to dine on this fine cuisine. Mine was a Mexican beef pita pocket concoction. It was a bit spicy but I like spicy. It had many different flavors but the meat was not just ground beef. Lo and behold, in addition to ground beef inside the pocket, there were Vienna sausages! Yup, you read correctly…or as we call them in the South, little weiners!! I don’t know if they saw a rube coming or this was their normal haute cuisine but whichever it was, it was pretty good!! I’ve always said I’ll eat anything that won’t eat me first and somethings that will so go figure. It just goes to show that old adage of “try it, you’ll like it” quite often rings true.
We headed back to Sacramento. A quick stop at Carl Jr for burgers and we were in for the night. Word of advice, the workers at Carl Jr do NOT look like the young women they have in their TV ads. Sighhh
(Continued in next post 4)
Next on our wine tour was a small vineyard called Goosecross. You will not see any of their wines at your local package store. They only sell their wine online and at the vineyard. In their early years when they were relatively new, they were visited by a young woman from Colorado. She returned home and convinced the family to buy the vineyard/winery and has been in charge since. Her name is Christi Coors Ficeli. You might recognize the maiden name and how daddy was able to buy the operation. Our guide was Jose Garcia but his official title is Tasting Room Bandit. He was excellent! He was informative and entertaining without being snooty like so many so called wine experts can be. Did you know that the date on a bottle of wine is the year the majority of the grapes were picked and not when the wine was bottled? In addition, he showed us how a different pour needle can make a difference in the taste of the same wine. Jose told us how some sommeliers at vineyards will tell you how they can taste the wood char or the hint of fruit that had been added or some other obscure hint of whatever that only a select few people can MAYBE discern. He basically said you either like a wine or you don’t. My kinda sommelier! If you’re ever in Napa Valley, this is an excellent place to visit and sample some very good wine as well as be entertained and learn a thing or two. A few pics from Goosecross
We are pretty light weights when it comes to adult beverages and after a dozen or so wine samples today, it was time to get something to eat. We tried to get into a local restaurant and there was at least an hour wait but across the street was this
I’m game so we tried it. We all ordered, got our food and then sat in the car to dine on this fine cuisine. Mine was a Mexican beef pita pocket concoction. It was a bit spicy but I like spicy. It had many different flavors but the meat was not just ground beef. Lo and behold, in addition to ground beef inside the pocket, there were Vienna sausages! Yup, you read correctly…or as we call them in the South, little weiners!! I don’t know if they saw a rube coming or this was their normal haute cuisine but whichever it was, it was pretty good!! I’ve always said I’ll eat anything that won’t eat me first and somethings that will so go figure. It just goes to show that old adage of “try it, you’ll like it” quite often rings true.
We headed back to Sacramento. A quick stop at Carl Jr for burgers and we were in for the night. Word of advice, the workers at Carl Jr do NOT look like the young women they have in their TV ads. Sighhh
(Continued in next post 4)
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
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(Continued from previous post 4)
August 23, 2015 – Sunday
We had a great time seeing our son Patrick in Sacramento and finally meeting Richard. They were perfect hosts! I just wish they weren't so far away. It is too long in between times when we get to visit.
Today we are off to Vancouver. We arrived early at the Sacramento airport and had breakfast there. It was okay. As in NOLA, our flight is delayed…35 minutes. We make it to Seattle and our gate with only 13 minutes to spare before our flight is scheduled to leave and guess what, this flight is delayed as well. While waiting for our flight to be called, I wondered if I could borrow some pixie dust from these folks
We finally were able to board. We finally taxi to the runway and there is a traffic jam. We wait for 5 planes to take off and finally are in the air. It was only a 54 minute delay!
Going through customs in Vancouver was fairly easy. I guess DW and I don’t look like anyone on the watch list so we made it through without any problems. We grabbed a taxi and make our way downtown to the Shangri-La Hotel. I have to say that the employees there were about the friendliest you will ever encounter. They would give any CM at WDW a good run for their money.
Our room
I had read that there was a AAA four diamond restaurant in the hotel so we decided to eat there for dinner. It is called the
Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten from France lends his inspiration to the menu. He has restaurants in New York, Las Vegas, London, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo. Whoop de do, right? Is it edible or not is all I want to know. It was.
DW ordered a Pinot Grigio and I tried a Red Truck Ale. In no time we were served a grilled sour dough bread with apple butter reduction and ricotta cheese
For appetizers we had seared scallop with caramelized cauliflower and tuna tartare with soy sauce avocado
The tuna tartare was a blast of flavors and probably the best of the entire meal for me. Next up for our entrée we had beef tenderloin and braised short ribs
For dessert we had cheesecake with roasted figs, rose water ice cream and raspberries.
Excellent, excellent meal but then we got ready to leave and the hand held credit card reader would not take our Discover card. At first they said it was declined…AWKWARD…but after I got the manager, we figured out the new machine had not been coded to accept Discover credit cards. WHEW! That’s all I needed was to find out my main credit card was not any good at the beginning of our trip! No problem, we just charged the meal to the room. The front desk had no problem accepting Discover. I later found out that Discover is not accepted everywhere in Canada. Who knew?
Time to hit the hay and call it a night.
August 23, 2015 – Sunday
We had a great time seeing our son Patrick in Sacramento and finally meeting Richard. They were perfect hosts! I just wish they weren't so far away. It is too long in between times when we get to visit.
Today we are off to Vancouver. We arrived early at the Sacramento airport and had breakfast there. It was okay. As in NOLA, our flight is delayed…35 minutes. We make it to Seattle and our gate with only 13 minutes to spare before our flight is scheduled to leave and guess what, this flight is delayed as well. While waiting for our flight to be called, I wondered if I could borrow some pixie dust from these folks
We finally were able to board. We finally taxi to the runway and there is a traffic jam. We wait for 5 planes to take off and finally are in the air. It was only a 54 minute delay!
Going through customs in Vancouver was fairly easy. I guess DW and I don’t look like anyone on the watch list so we made it through without any problems. We grabbed a taxi and make our way downtown to the Shangri-La Hotel. I have to say that the employees there were about the friendliest you will ever encounter. They would give any CM at WDW a good run for their money.
Our room
I had read that there was a AAA four diamond restaurant in the hotel so we decided to eat there for dinner. It is called the
Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten from France lends his inspiration to the menu. He has restaurants in New York, Las Vegas, London, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo. Whoop de do, right? Is it edible or not is all I want to know. It was.
DW ordered a Pinot Grigio and I tried a Red Truck Ale. In no time we were served a grilled sour dough bread with apple butter reduction and ricotta cheese
For appetizers we had seared scallop with caramelized cauliflower and tuna tartare with soy sauce avocado
The tuna tartare was a blast of flavors and probably the best of the entire meal for me. Next up for our entrée we had beef tenderloin and braised short ribs
For dessert we had cheesecake with roasted figs, rose water ice cream and raspberries.
Excellent, excellent meal but then we got ready to leave and the hand held credit card reader would not take our Discover card. At first they said it was declined…AWKWARD…but after I got the manager, we figured out the new machine had not been coded to accept Discover credit cards. WHEW! That’s all I needed was to find out my main credit card was not any good at the beginning of our trip! No problem, we just charged the meal to the room. The front desk had no problem accepting Discover. I later found out that Discover is not accepted everywhere in Canada. Who knew?
Time to hit the hay and call it a night.
Last edited:
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
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- 2,860
August 24, 2015 – Monday
After a good night’s sleep, we were up and at it to make our 11:30am boarding time. I called downstairs for the bellhop and something got mixed up during a shift change. It took 35 minutes for them to arrive. As I stated earlier, the staff at Shangri-La were really nice. To compensate us for the wait, they paid for our taxi to the airport. I didn’t expect that at all but it was a very nice gesture.
We arrived at the terminal at 11:00am. If you ever go on this cruise, get your walking shoes on at the port terminal. OMG! It is nothing like Port Canaveral. You go through a checkpoint downstairs, then walk upstairs and walk some more. You have to go through US customs since you are boarding a ship destined for a US port and then you have to go through the Disney check in process. And then you wait in a BIG room with folding chairs. One good thing here is that you can get this pic before you board
The wait area is so large that most people didn’t realize he was there taking pictures. Sometime just after noon, our boarding group number was called and we walked some more. The onboard photographer Shutters is set up before you get onboard
And finally we heard, “Welcome the Browning family”!! I bet the cruise CMs hate that job. We went straight to Beach Blanket Buffet to get something to eat.
Next up we went to Triton’s restaurant and registered for a wine tasting seminar and then to Guest Services to set up an internet package. Afterwards we went to Port Adventures to verify we were still good to go on our dog sled excursion. At this point we were still okay. The CM told us that private excursions go to a different glacier and that is why the others had been canceled. Apparently they had some early snow but the Mendenhall glacier where we were going was still good for now. We went by the Future Cruise desk but nobody was there. Somewhere in all this I took a couple of pics
(Continued in next post)
After a good night’s sleep, we were up and at it to make our 11:30am boarding time. I called downstairs for the bellhop and something got mixed up during a shift change. It took 35 minutes for them to arrive. As I stated earlier, the staff at Shangri-La were really nice. To compensate us for the wait, they paid for our taxi to the airport. I didn’t expect that at all but it was a very nice gesture.
We arrived at the terminal at 11:00am. If you ever go on this cruise, get your walking shoes on at the port terminal. OMG! It is nothing like Port Canaveral. You go through a checkpoint downstairs, then walk upstairs and walk some more. You have to go through US customs since you are boarding a ship destined for a US port and then you have to go through the Disney check in process. And then you wait in a BIG room with folding chairs. One good thing here is that you can get this pic before you board
The wait area is so large that most people didn’t realize he was there taking pictures. Sometime just after noon, our boarding group number was called and we walked some more. The onboard photographer Shutters is set up before you get onboard
And finally we heard, “Welcome the Browning family”!! I bet the cruise CMs hate that job. We went straight to Beach Blanket Buffet to get something to eat.
Next up we went to Triton’s restaurant and registered for a wine tasting seminar and then to Guest Services to set up an internet package. Afterwards we went to Port Adventures to verify we were still good to go on our dog sled excursion. At this point we were still okay. The CM told us that private excursions go to a different glacier and that is why the others had been canceled. Apparently they had some early snow but the Mendenhall glacier where we were going was still good for now. We went by the Future Cruise desk but nobody was there. Somewhere in all this I took a couple of pics
(Continued in next post)
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
- Messages
- 2,860
(Continued from previous post)
Then around 1:30pm our room was ready – Room 6630 Cat 5c
I like the split bathrooms
View out on the deck in port at Canada Place
We unpacked and met our room steward Lorenzo from the Philippines. We gave him our clothes to be pressed for formal night, asked him for some ice and then made our way back out. Our first stop was back by the Future Cruise desk and again nobody was there. On the wall was a sign that said they would not be there until 6:00pm today. Duh…when all else fails, read the instructions! So we headed to the Promenade Lounge for a FB meetup at 3:00pm
We met several people that we saw throughout this trip including the family in the stateroom next to ours, Claire, Sean and their daughter from the UK. We didn’t have long to mingle because we had to go to the mandatory safety instructions at 4:00pm. On our previous cruise on the Disney Dream, this was done outside in the hot sun. On the Disney Wonder, we met in Animator’s Palate restaurant. I vote for the Wonder version!
Then it was time to sail out of Vancouver harbor!
Those pics were from our room. We didn’t go up top to the Sail Away party. It’s pretty neat but we saw it on the Disney Dream. We were disappointed that we had to cancel our whale watching tour in Juneau but maybe our luck is starting to change? From our room as we were leaving Vancouver
Naturally I didn't have my telephoto lens on the camera when we saw the whale.
(Continued in next post 2)
Then around 1:30pm our room was ready – Room 6630 Cat 5c
I like the split bathrooms
View out on the deck in port at Canada Place
We unpacked and met our room steward Lorenzo from the Philippines. We gave him our clothes to be pressed for formal night, asked him for some ice and then made our way back out. Our first stop was back by the Future Cruise desk and again nobody was there. On the wall was a sign that said they would not be there until 6:00pm today. Duh…when all else fails, read the instructions!
So we headed to the Promenade Lounge for a FB meetup at 3:00pm
We met several people that we saw throughout this trip including the family in the stateroom next to ours, Claire, Sean and their daughter from the UK. We didn’t have long to mingle because we had to go to the mandatory safety instructions at 4:00pm. On our previous cruise on the Disney Dream, this was done outside in the hot sun. On the Disney Wonder, we met in Animator’s Palate restaurant. I vote for the Wonder version!
Then it was time to sail out of Vancouver harbor!
Those pics were from our room. We didn’t go up top to the Sail Away party. It’s pretty neat but we saw it on the Disney Dream. We were disappointed that we had to cancel our whale watching tour in Juneau but maybe our luck is starting to change? From our room as we were leaving Vancouver
Naturally I didn't have my telephoto lens on the camera when we saw the whale.
(Continued in next post 2)
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
- Messages
- 2,860
(Continued from previous post 2)
We have the late 8:30pm dinner seating so at 6:15pm we went to the Walt Disney Theatre to see “All Aboard. Let The Magic Begin!” I am amazed at the quality of these shows. The cast perform in various shows on the ship as well as do other duties. These are some really talented and hard working men and women. Now it was on to dinner at our first restaurant in the rotation, Parrot Cay. If you read my previous cruise TR, you might remember that our tablemates were from Rio de Janeiro and did not speak much English. Our tablemates for this cruise were a mother and adult son from near Boston and another mother and adult son from Orlando (her) and DC (him). They spoke English!! That’s a big step in the right direction. The Orlando/DC tag team were on their 8th cruise. The Massachusetts team were on their 1st cruise. Now it’s time for a little food porn (even though the pics aren't the best)
Baked Crab Martinique
Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower
West Indies Romaine Salad
Cream of Green Asparagus
Braised Jerk Seasoned Pork Chop
Slow Roasted Prime Rib
Chocolate Cake with Caribbean Rum
Paradise Coconut Pineapple Cake
Everything was very good. The pork chop and chocolate cake were the best IMO.
We stopped in the shops for a few souvenirs and then returned to our room about 10:00pm to this
Our clothes were already returned and pressed. There was a notice about DW’s spa massage tomorrow and that we had an onboard credit since we booked this cruise while on our last cruise. I checked our account for our TA credit but it had not been posted yet. Before we turned in, we went out on the verandah and could already feel the temps starting to drop!
We have the late 8:30pm dinner seating so at 6:15pm we went to the Walt Disney Theatre to see “All Aboard. Let The Magic Begin!” I am amazed at the quality of these shows. The cast perform in various shows on the ship as well as do other duties. These are some really talented and hard working men and women. Now it was on to dinner at our first restaurant in the rotation, Parrot Cay. If you read my previous cruise TR, you might remember that our tablemates were from Rio de Janeiro and did not speak much English. Our tablemates for this cruise were a mother and adult son from near Boston and another mother and adult son from Orlando (her) and DC (him). They spoke English!! That’s a big step in the right direction. The Orlando/DC tag team were on their 8th cruise. The Massachusetts team were on their 1st cruise. Now it’s time for a little food porn (even though the pics aren't the best)
Baked Crab Martinique
Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower
West Indies Romaine Salad
Cream of Green Asparagus
Braised Jerk Seasoned Pork Chop
Slow Roasted Prime Rib
Chocolate Cake with Caribbean Rum
Paradise Coconut Pineapple Cake
Everything was very good. The pork chop and chocolate cake were the best IMO.
We stopped in the shops for a few souvenirs and then returned to our room about 10:00pm to this
Our clothes were already returned and pressed. There was a notice about DW’s spa massage tomorrow and that we had an onboard credit since we booked this cruise while on our last cruise. I checked our account for our TA credit but it had not been posted yet. Before we turned in, we went out on the verandah and could already feel the temps starting to drop!
JAMIESMITH
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2011
- Messages
- 2,070
I'm glad you're back! I would love to see California someday. I'm glad you were able to visit your son. I can't wait to read about the cruise!
We're flying out of NOLA when we go back to Disney World in April for our girls only trip! My honey is being left at home this trip.
We're flying out of NOLA when we go back to Disney World in April for our girls only trip! My honey is being left at home this trip.
dvc at last !
DVC Member 2006!
- Joined
- May 27, 2006
- Messages
- 3,483
Wow - will read later today - Just found this !
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
- Messages
- 2,860
August 25, 2015 – Tuesday
Today is a sea day. It’s a good time to take advantage of the spa, attend a mixology seminar, roam around the ship to get your bearings or book your next cruise before the Future Cruise desk gets too busy. Well, it might not be a good time for all that for everyone but it is what we did! DW had a massage at 8:00am so I went to Parrot Cay for breakfast. Then I went to a DVC meet and met one of the most famous people at WDW. If you saw him, you would never know who he is. If you heard him, you would know instantly. His claim to fame is one line and one line only…”Please Stand Clear of the Doors. Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas." If you don't know what that is then you haven't been to Disney World in a while and ridden the monorail! I didn’t win anything at the DVC meet and when they played the various Disney trivia games, it was obvious many people know much more than I do. No, I didn’t succumb to DVC “addonitis” but I did contribute to the Mouse by going to the Future Cruise Desk and book two placeholder cruises.
Most of you probably know that if you book another Disney cruise while onboard, you get a 10% discount on the price of that future cruise, you get an onboard credit and your deposit is reduced from 20% to 10%. Until recently, you had to name a specific cruise date. Earlier this year the policy changed somewhat. You can still specify a cruise date and all the other benefits apply. However, if you were not sure of when you wanted to take your next cruise or the itineraries had not been announced yet for your sail date, you were out of luck for the most part in getting those perks. Now you can make a $250 placeholder deposit while onboard towards a future unspecified cruise date. Within 24 months of making the deposit, you must start your cruise. When you decide the sail date you wish, you call DCL or your TA to make the reservation. You will get the 10% onboard booking discount off the price of the cruise that is posted on the day you make your reservation. DCL cruises typically rise in price as you approach the sail date. Normally, the cheapest price is the day the sail date itineraries are announced (typically 15-18 months before the sail date) so the earlier you make your reservation, the lower the price. Prices can rise substantially. For example, on this August, 2015 Alaska cruise, the itinerary was released in March, 2014. By the time we took our first cruise in October, 2014, just over 6 months later, the price had risen 30% for our Category 5c room. In the next 6 months, the price increase by an additional 17% before this room type sold out in April, 2015. That’s a 47% price increase so you can see why it is important to book early. For many other cruise lines the opposite is true and prices will fall as you approach the sail date. It's simply the law of supply and demand. Other cruise lines don't always sell out their cruises so they reduce the price to fill up the ship. With Disney, more often than not, the cruise will sell out. Therefore, as you approach the sail date, the number of rooms get less and less so the price will increase. A lot of people will compare the cruise prices just a few months before they want to cruise and they are shocked that the Disney cruise is so much more expensive. This is one of the main reasons why plus Disney cruises are just like the theme parks are more expensive than Six Flags, Universal or other amusement parks. And besides...it's Disney! 'Nuf said.
When you make your Disney reservations, if the 10% deposit is more than the $250 already paid, you will simply pay the difference then. This also gets you the onboard credit offered by DCL in addition to any onboard credit offered by a TA if you use one. We are planning on taking our daughter and son-in-law on a cruise in May, 2017 when she graduates medical school so we paid for two staterooms using the placeholder deposit. About 5 weeks after we returned from this trip, DCL announced their itineraries for Jan-May, 2017. I called a TA and made our reservations for two Category 5c rooms on the 5/12/17 sailing onboard the Dream. We paid the difference in the 10% deposit and our $250 placeholder deposit and we are all set!
Back to this cruise…DW was back in the room from her massage when I returned. She had left her KTTW card at the spa but room steward Lorenzo was doing his thing and let her in our room. After she was finished cleaning off the massage oil and getting ready, we headed back to the spa to get her card and then went to Triton’s for lunch. We were a little late so we shared a table with another couple and a family of four. The family was originally from near New Orleans so we had a few things in common to talk about. Just before 2:00pm we headed to the Cadillac Lounge for a private drink mixology seminar that was set up beforehand on FB. Our host was Mr. Miroslav from Russia. Miroslav and his helpers prepared 5 different mixed drinks and gave us the history of each drink as well as how to make them with the best ingredients. The 5 mixed drinks were an Old Fashioned, Basil & Ginger Collins, Apple Mojito, Mai Tai and a Fruit Infused Amaretto Sour. A volunteer (our next door neighbor Claire) was chosen to help Miroslav
And the results
Mmmm, mmmm good. I’m not sure I could pick a favorite but if I had to, I guess it would be the Amaretto Sour. It wouldn’t take too many of any of those drinks to put you over the edge. One bit of advice, make sure you get something to eat beforehand and don’t schedule anything afterwards!
(Continued in next post)
Today is a sea day. It’s a good time to take advantage of the spa, attend a mixology seminar, roam around the ship to get your bearings or book your next cruise before the Future Cruise desk gets too busy. Well, it might not be a good time for all that for everyone but it is what we did! DW had a massage at 8:00am so I went to Parrot Cay for breakfast. Then I went to a DVC meet and met one of the most famous people at WDW. If you saw him, you would never know who he is. If you heard him, you would know instantly. His claim to fame is one line and one line only…”Please Stand Clear of the Doors. Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas." If you don't know what that is then you haven't been to Disney World in a while and ridden the monorail! I didn’t win anything at the DVC meet and when they played the various Disney trivia games, it was obvious many people know much more than I do. No, I didn’t succumb to DVC “addonitis” but I did contribute to the Mouse by going to the Future Cruise Desk and book two placeholder cruises.
Most of you probably know that if you book another Disney cruise while onboard, you get a 10% discount on the price of that future cruise, you get an onboard credit and your deposit is reduced from 20% to 10%. Until recently, you had to name a specific cruise date. Earlier this year the policy changed somewhat. You can still specify a cruise date and all the other benefits apply. However, if you were not sure of when you wanted to take your next cruise or the itineraries had not been announced yet for your sail date, you were out of luck for the most part in getting those perks. Now you can make a $250 placeholder deposit while onboard towards a future unspecified cruise date. Within 24 months of making the deposit, you must start your cruise. When you decide the sail date you wish, you call DCL or your TA to make the reservation. You will get the 10% onboard booking discount off the price of the cruise that is posted on the day you make your reservation. DCL cruises typically rise in price as you approach the sail date. Normally, the cheapest price is the day the sail date itineraries are announced (typically 15-18 months before the sail date) so the earlier you make your reservation, the lower the price. Prices can rise substantially. For example, on this August, 2015 Alaska cruise, the itinerary was released in March, 2014. By the time we took our first cruise in October, 2014, just over 6 months later, the price had risen 30% for our Category 5c room. In the next 6 months, the price increase by an additional 17% before this room type sold out in April, 2015. That’s a 47% price increase so you can see why it is important to book early. For many other cruise lines the opposite is true and prices will fall as you approach the sail date. It's simply the law of supply and demand. Other cruise lines don't always sell out their cruises so they reduce the price to fill up the ship. With Disney, more often than not, the cruise will sell out. Therefore, as you approach the sail date, the number of rooms get less and less so the price will increase. A lot of people will compare the cruise prices just a few months before they want to cruise and they are shocked that the Disney cruise is so much more expensive. This is one of the main reasons why plus Disney cruises are just like the theme parks are more expensive than Six Flags, Universal or other amusement parks. And besides...it's Disney! 'Nuf said.
When you make your Disney reservations, if the 10% deposit is more than the $250 already paid, you will simply pay the difference then. This also gets you the onboard credit offered by DCL in addition to any onboard credit offered by a TA if you use one. We are planning on taking our daughter and son-in-law on a cruise in May, 2017 when she graduates medical school so we paid for two staterooms using the placeholder deposit. About 5 weeks after we returned from this trip, DCL announced their itineraries for Jan-May, 2017. I called a TA and made our reservations for two Category 5c rooms on the 5/12/17 sailing onboard the Dream. We paid the difference in the 10% deposit and our $250 placeholder deposit and we are all set!
Back to this cruise…DW was back in the room from her massage when I returned. She had left her KTTW card at the spa but room steward Lorenzo was doing his thing and let her in our room. After she was finished cleaning off the massage oil and getting ready, we headed back to the spa to get her card and then went to Triton’s for lunch. We were a little late so we shared a table with another couple and a family of four. The family was originally from near New Orleans so we had a few things in common to talk about. Just before 2:00pm we headed to the Cadillac Lounge for a private drink mixology seminar that was set up beforehand on FB. Our host was Mr. Miroslav from Russia. Miroslav and his helpers prepared 5 different mixed drinks and gave us the history of each drink as well as how to make them with the best ingredients. The 5 mixed drinks were an Old Fashioned, Basil & Ginger Collins, Apple Mojito, Mai Tai and a Fruit Infused Amaretto Sour. A volunteer (our next door neighbor Claire) was chosen to help Miroslav
And the results
Mmmm, mmmm good. I’m not sure I could pick a favorite but if I had to, I guess it would be the Amaretto Sour. It wouldn’t take too many of any of those drinks to put you over the edge. One bit of advice, make sure you get something to eat beforehand and don’t schedule anything afterwards!
(Continued in next post)
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
- Messages
- 2,860
(Continued from previous post)
Around this time, I’m not sure when (*hiccup*), there was a shipboard announcement that we should see some whales around 4:00pm. Sure enough, almost on schedule we noticed this while on our verandah
How did they know?
I’m not sure what those last aquatic creatures were.
Soon we were sailing through a narrow deep channel. It couldn’t have been more than 75 yards from the ship to the shore at one point.
(Continued in next post 2)
Around this time, I’m not sure when (*hiccup*), there was a shipboard announcement that we should see some whales around 4:00pm. Sure enough, almost on schedule we noticed this while on our verandah
How did they know?
I’m not sure what those last aquatic creatures were.
Soon we were sailing through a narrow deep channel. It couldn’t have been more than 75 yards from the ship to the shore at one point.
(Continued in next post 2)
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
- Messages
- 2,860
(Continued from previous post 2)
This was formal night for dinner. One of the characters out and about greeting guests
The Captain was meeting cruisers and taking pictures. He took time to talk to every guest and wasn’t rushed at all.
Time to eat at Triton’s.
We noticed that none of our tablemates were in attendance when we were seated. It turned out that the Orlando/DC mother/son team had requested to be at a table by themselves. Was it something I said? Soon they arrived and the table they were assigned to was next to ours! AWKWARD! The son came over and told us that they weren’t comfortable with the other mother/son team and it wasn’t us. The next night, the other mother/son team told us that the Orlando/DC mother/son had told them they weren’t comfortable with our table insinuating it was us. We didn’t tell the Boston mother/son team what we had been told the night before. Okay, first off, if you want to be at a table by yourselves, it’s fine and you owe nobody an explanation….especially people you will probably never see again. Maybe you should’ve requested that before you sailed? Secondly, if one couple has a less-than-nice comment about another couple, why tell the other couple? Regardless, we brushed it off and not to get too cheesy, just Let It Go!
Back to our dinner (I really need instructions on food porn pics)
Fried brie
Escargot
Salad
French onion soup
Beef tenderloin
Lamb shank
Crème brulee
Grand Marnier soufflé
Excellent meal! It really was great. We have never cruised on any other cruise line before but based on our experience on the Dream and now the Wonder, dinner in the main dining rooms on these two ships will compare favorably with most TS restaurants at WDW and the specialty restaurants, Remy & Palo will surpass them. Of course, that opinion would be different if you didn’t like a specific cuisine. As evidenced by my girth, I like all cuisines!
After dinner, we went to the Wavebands lounge to see Michael Harrison’s comedy show. He was on America’s Got Talent and combines comedy with ventriloquism for an entertaining show.
Back to our room and Lorenzo has been up to his tricks again
We are in for the night. During the night we need to set our clocks back an hour since we pass into a different time zone. A very, very nice relaxing day.
This was formal night for dinner. One of the characters out and about greeting guests
The Captain was meeting cruisers and taking pictures. He took time to talk to every guest and wasn’t rushed at all.
Time to eat at Triton’s.
We noticed that none of our tablemates were in attendance when we were seated. It turned out that the Orlando/DC mother/son team had requested to be at a table by themselves. Was it something I said? Soon they arrived and the table they were assigned to was next to ours! AWKWARD! The son came over and told us that they weren’t comfortable with the other mother/son team and it wasn’t us. The next night, the other mother/son team told us that the Orlando/DC mother/son had told them they weren’t comfortable with our table insinuating it was us. We didn’t tell the Boston mother/son team what we had been told the night before. Okay, first off, if you want to be at a table by yourselves, it’s fine and you owe nobody an explanation….especially people you will probably never see again. Maybe you should’ve requested that before you sailed? Secondly, if one couple has a less-than-nice comment about another couple, why tell the other couple? Regardless, we brushed it off and not to get too cheesy, just Let It Go!
Back to our dinner (I really need instructions on food porn pics)
Fried brie
Escargot
Salad
French onion soup
Beef tenderloin
Lamb shank
Crème brulee
Grand Marnier soufflé
Excellent meal! It really was great. We have never cruised on any other cruise line before but based on our experience on the Dream and now the Wonder, dinner in the main dining rooms on these two ships will compare favorably with most TS restaurants at WDW and the specialty restaurants, Remy & Palo will surpass them. Of course, that opinion would be different if you didn’t like a specific cuisine. As evidenced by my girth, I like all cuisines!
After dinner, we went to the Wavebands lounge to see Michael Harrison’s comedy show. He was on America’s Got Talent and combines comedy with ventriloquism for an entertaining show.
Back to our room and Lorenzo has been up to his tricks again
We are in for the night. During the night we need to set our clocks back an hour since we pass into a different time zone. A very, very nice relaxing day.
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
- Messages
- 2,860
When are you going in April? We will be there April 19-24 prior to our next Disney cruise!
Glad you did. Welcome and hurry back!
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