2018dclrepo

[2018dclrepo]

Final Day in San Diego - Saturday, September 15, 2018

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2018

We headed down to the complimentary hotel breakfast by 9am. Of all the things updated at this hotel, the breakfast wasn’t one of them. It was Saturday and the place was PACKED! The actual food area is only big enough for about 4-5 people to move around. This was Introvert Hell, especially for a non-morning person. If it hadn’t been “free” and knowing we had a full day out & about ahead of this, I would have skipped it. Oh, and I know it’s beautiful San Diego with its stable temps, but having no A/C in the lobby & breakfast area, especially with that many people, was pretty miserable. (However, the A/C in our room worked MUCH better than the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver - thank goodness!)

We hadn’t been sure when we might do our city tour, or if we’d do it at all vs other options, so we waited until that morning to buy our tickets online (for a bit of savings). Due to the now obvious blister on my right foot and foot/ankle sprain on left from all that walking in flip-flops, I was sadly in socks & sneakers today. A bit after 10am we headed to the nearby Saturday morning Farmers’ Market in Little Italy. It was nothing compared to the broader festival like the last time we were here, so we headed to the port area to board the Old Town Trolley. (I thought there was a stop closer in Little Italy, but we struggled to find it. We later realized it was one block behind us. Sigh.)

We had done the Old Town Trolley on our first DCL visit to San Diego and loved it. (They also have this in other cities, which I would definitely do - in warm weather!) The open trolley and telling of both history and fun trivia were as lovely as the last time we took this tour. While it was only about 76-78 degrees, like the day before, the intense sun was stifling. The shade and breeze in the trolley were lovely, but I was still overheating and dehydrated.

After riding the entire 2+hr tour loop, I declared we either needed to ride around again to the air conditioned mall (Westfield Horton Plaza) or go back to the hotel (which I failed to mention when we were nearest the hotel). Not wanting to waste the day in the hotel room, we went to the mall. However, we realized it wasn't connected inside and was more empty than Circle Center in downtown Indy! Things got worse when I realized a migraine was quickly setting in. (It was a recipe for disaster: strong sun, heat, dehydration, and no caffeine.) So I used the rest of my Uber credits to get us back to the hotel.

Sidenote: Arriving at the mall, I immediately headed inside for A/C while Kara browsed an outdoor, pop-up Etsy market. She surprised me with this thoughtful bracelet. 

It’s from a company called La Meno Jewelry. This organization promotes their jewelry for “healing and wellness”. Now I don’t believe in the power of stones, but it can’t hurt, right? (It makes me think of the cursed Tiki idol on The Brady Bunch trip to Hawaii!) My bracelet came with a card noting, 

Removes feelings of anxiety and nervousness.

Calms, relaxes, and improves sleep quality.

Protects people and their families.

Improves communication skills.

Both the descriptions and the preferred color combination indicate the care and personalization Kara put into the selection of this gift!

We were back to the hotel by about 2:30pm and I was down for nearly two hours fighting the migraine with two Excedrin Migraine and 1.5 Rx Imitrex (permitted 2 max per day)! I was pretty nervous and unsettled that the headache remained and I didn't have many self-solutions to apply. Still in pain I dug-in and Kara and I set out for dinner before a Saturday night rush hit. 

Being creatures of habit we headed for a nearby pizza place we’d eaten at during all of our San Diego visits: Isola. We were delighted to realize they had a notable Happy Hour menu, so we ordered formagio al forno, margherita pizza, & arancini. (I’d discovered arancini on my first trip to Rome and LOVE them. I wanted Kara to try these before our venture to Italy, but sadly these weren’t nearly as good as those from their homeland.) Luckily, it seems part of my headache may also have been from not eating since 10am, so once I got some food in me, my headache virtually disappeared! Phew!

For dessert we headed to this tiny corner gelato shop Pappalecco, which had been closed during a prior visit. The authentic staff and gelato (mint and dark chocolate) were incredible! I highly recommend this to anyone in San Diego.

Then since one dessert wasn’t enough, especially on a final night of our trip, we stopped by an ice cream/gelato shop that had obviously opened recently - at least based on the buzz and the line out of the door: Salt & Straw. The line was a little crazy and reading the menu board we realized they specialize in “different & unexpected” combinations. 

I settled on one of their classic San Diego flavors: Freckled Woodblock Chocolate. I guess I expected a flavor of wood-fired chocolate over an open flames. Well this was NOT that. The chocolate must have had an incredible low butter fat/high cocoa percentage, because there was virtually nothing sweet about it. In fact, I ended up throwing most of it away; THAT tells you what I thought of it. (Recently they announced a Salt & Straw is going in at Disneyland, so that’s one more reason I don’t need to revisit the California resort.)

With that it was back to the room to shower & pack. The next morning the breakfast experience was only slightly better. (My next visit to San Diego will definitely be at a different hotel.) 

We had the airport shuttle all to ourselves and a conversational driver. Apparently the drop-off at the airport is all new, because where we were dropped off was NOT at the United desks. So we had a bit of a morning trek, because most strangely, the airline desks at San Diego are not connected inside the building! The TSA line was nuts, so we were again grateful we had previously invested in Pre-Check. 

Waiting for our plane I bought us some amazing cookies from the Elegant Desserts pop-up shop (& somehow avoided procuring one of the GIANT donuts they had from the renowned Donut Bar)! It was an easy return home, which brings this travel blog to a close.

It wasn’t the most amazing trip we’ve ever taken, but that wasn’t our expectation, so all was fine. Would I do this cruise again? Uncertain, but probably not. I’m all for relaxing actual “vacation” trips, which this was, but I don’t need to fly across 3 time zones to the other side of the country (to technically a different country) to do that. The stop & experience in Astoria definitely make it worthwhile though.

So thanks for following along. While there are a few small personal & work trips in the coming months, the next formal Travel Blog will be coming in Summer 2019. For this there will likely be pain-staking detail from our first European Disney Cruise, which also marks 10 years since Kara & I last visited Europe together - a VERY different experience!

Presented by:  Gayle Hartleroad - DCL Platinum Castaway Club and travel agent with Authorized Disney Travel Vacation agency - Off to Neverland Travel. Contact me today for a no-obligation quote!

[2018dclrepo]

Debarkation/Welcome to San Diego - Friday, September 14, 2018

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

As anyone who has ever sailed DCL knows, today is always a sad day. Today’s the day they kick us off. :( What do you mean someone else with board, enter our room, sleep in our beds, and eat our food?! 

What’s worse is they make you get up early! Talk about adding insult to injury! We pushed it as long as possible with a 7am alarm. With nothing left to pack, it was quick work shoving PJs & toiletries into our backpacks. We were out of our stateroom by 7:40am. I noted surprise at having not yet heard the traditionally endless (yet polite) announcements to “get out”! 

We learned long ago, we have no love for the main dining room breakfasts on debarkation day. No matter what is always feels rushed and the food is limited. (My final straw a few cruises back was having ordered a waffle at debarkation breakfast and was presented with what appeared to be a full-fledged... Eggo waffle. And I’m not even sure it had been toasted.)

Thus, we headed to Cabanas for breakfast, which the vast majority of cruisers aren’t aware is even open. There are plenty of people, but it’s not packed with everyone on their own eating and departing schedule. The buffet still offers a lot on this morning, so I was still able to get a mix of most everything I wanted. Yay! (And I’m pretty sure I grabbed a second plate!)

The ship was cleared at 8:30am. 

The one thing that helped comfort us was the fact we weren’t headed to the airport and onto home. Nope. We both adore San Diego and docking on a Friday meant we would easily take advantage of extending the trip to stay in town for the weekend. Therefore, we were in no hurry to finish breakfast.

So we embraces the sun and view by strolling around deck 10 for ship pictures. 

The early morning blazing sun eventually had us headed down to Deck 9 for water and then settled into comfy chairs outside Cove Cafe waiting for our bag tag (Donald) to be called after 9am. (I love the serenity of this photo! Suddenly the N*SYNC version of “Sailin’” is playing in my mind. Ahhhh.)

I had thought bag tags were given out by location on the ship, but Kara countered she’s seen many different ones along our hall. Thus, we figured out they were by departure time & transportation. Since we had neither indicated on our reservation, we were the last group to be called. As each color & character was called, we breathed a sigh of relief when it was NOT ours! We were going to milk every last minute we could! 

Amazingly there was NO Customs process to go through. What?! So we retrieved our bags and dodged our way through the streams of people lined up for buses, cars, and taxis. This time we were leaving the ship in a way we never had before - on foot, walking! Once at the front of the ship, I took a few longing looks and photos as we left our lady of the sea. (The weathered wood around the dock makes this photo so authentic. It might get framed....)

Yes we were walking to our hotel. We were staying just a few blocks away at the Hampton Inn. We’d stayed here on a previous cruise. It was not my favorite option, but it had supposedly been updated since our last stay. More importantly I’d worked to hurry and earn a few more Hilton points so when Kara and I pooled our points we could get our two nights here for free. (Yes we cashed out all of our Hyatt & Hilton points on this trip, but that’s because we are saving our mountain of Marriott points. I already knew how/when/where we will use these. In 2023. Stay tuned!)

Amazingly we were granted the only room ready at this early morning hour, so we didn’t have to just store our bags and go. We were in our room by about 9:40am. We took a few minutes to unpack (again!), sort our backpacks, and move things back to our day bags. We also noted it was (& felt) much warmer than expected. I was personally all for this, as I was still acclimating from the cold and rain of Vancouver! Kara? Not so much.

By 10:30am, we called Uber to go out to Coronado Island, specifically the Hotel del Coronado. As I’ve explained previously, if you are unaware, this hotel served as the inspiration for the Grand Floridian, the flagship hotel of the Walt Disney World Resort. 

Upon arrival I noticed our Uber BMW didn’t have a license plate! We quickly browsed through the hotel shops, one of which we were shocked to see DeBrand’s Chocolate, which is an Indiana company! This is great chocolate, but we didn’t buy any because 1) we can get it at home and 2) it was so warm, we knew it would melt before we got back to the hotel!

 Then we headed out to one of our favorite beaches.

We brought no towels or beach gear and also didn’t want to pay the insane amount they charge for beach chairs. At this point I think we were questioning why we made the trip out there, other than we go there every time we’re in San Diego? 

So we decided to stroll down the main street running across the island, but didn’t seem to have an interest in going into any of the shops? This was the point that I came up with (what is now) a Very Stupid Plan: to walk across the entirety of Coronado Island in order to take the ferry back to San Diego proper (since we’d never taken the ferry). It was gorgeously sunny by this point; plus we needed to walk off all those calories we had consumed for the past five days! 

The ferry schedule was on the half hour, every hour. (So if we missed the ferry we’d have to either wait an hour or just take Uber back.) I determined we could make it, but would only have a few minutes to spare. This resulted in nearly 30 minutes in direct, intense sun, hoping for green lights to cross the countless intersections, needing to move at a “purposeful” pace! Did I mention Kara doesn’t walk as fast as me? More importantly, we were trying to do this in flip flops. #stupid

At the ferry dock are shops, including a Cold Stone! However, we were too hot to stop for ice cream and it was obvious the ferry was about to leave. We barely pleaded our way onto the ferry with a very sour worker. Yet, the ferry back across the bay to San Diego gave us great pictures of ship that would be a challenge to easily get anywhere else!

That’s Kara on the left in the coral shirt. 

The breeze on the water was lovely, but by this time we were hot, melted, & tired! So we trekked back to hotel to recover, read, hydrate, and nap. I declared “no more flip flops” even with the higher temps.  There was a public fountain for people to walk through/kids to play in. Even though there were disrespectful kids playing soccer to dodge, we didn’t hesitate to cool off our poor tootsies!

 At this point I believed I’d gotten a blister from the beach, specifically from having stray sand on the bottom of my right foot rubbing during the more than mile trek across Coronado. The lack of support also resulted in a strained left ankle.

Sidenote: Even with good cushioning, I need  more “insole” supportive/arch support footwear - both for my feet and the lingering back issue. This is why we’ve already tried on and plan to invest in Chacos for the Med cruise!

A bit after 4pm we walked up to Burger Lounge, another San Diego tradition.

Then we topped off our meal with the long-sought return to Extraordinary Desserts. 

Tonight I had chocolate fudge brownie ice cream and (again) the Au Chocolate cake. 

Kara had some form of raspberry ice cream and a blackberry crumble. (This resulted in a deep conversation about the difference between a crumble, cobbler, & crisp!

I have to admit this was an overall disappointing experience. The fireplace feature was gone; the ice cream menu wasn’t intriguing; and it felt like they had less dessert options (including no chocolate bread pudding). (I know the photos appear otherwise.)

There were virtually no lights on and there wasn’t a ton of natural light that can flow through there. I actually wished I hadn’t gotten the ice cream and the cake wasn’t as good as I remembered. I don’t think I finished either (something I’d never do with Earl’s Court from The Cake Bake Shop back home).. Even I was bewildered by the experience!

On the way back I wanted to stop at Rite Aid for water (as I knew I was dehydrated) and Chex Mix since they didn’t have Gardettos. (Yes, I know one would offset the other. It’s also a testament to how “not great” Extraordinary Desserts was that I still wanted a bit of a snack.) Finally it was back to our room for showers, trip reports, postcards, etc.

Next up: Another day in San Diego!

[2018dclrepo]

Day 2 (of 2) at Sea - Thursday, September 13, 2018

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

After cranking the air conditioner (We were sailing south!) at 2am (& taking the other ¼ of Dramamine), I slept until about 8:30am. Now in a groove, we arrived at the breakfast buffet in Cabanas just after 9am. With a second day at sea, it seemed people were deeper into late-sleeping, relaxing vacation mode, which made for a much calmer experience than the previous mornings. Today’s offerings included a new fantastic mountain of chocolate bread pudding French toast that I topped with peanut butter, banana, syrup, & whipped cream! Dessert for breakfast is my idea of vacation!

At 10:45am there was a Disney Cruise Line Trivia session - yes trivia about Disney Cruise Line! Of all the topics they have for trivia, this is one I was both intrigued about and felt fairly confident in my knowledge. As we are starting Kara looks over and sees The Group. This happens every so often that people pool their resources in an effort to try to win virtually every trivia session on-board. (They do give out smallish “prizes”, but they are usually the same throughout the cruise.) Fine. Whatever. I wanted to see how I stacked-up, specifically for my Off to Neverland travel clients.

Some questions were super easy, some we guessed. Yet, in the end...

WE WON! (We even beat The Group that bonded just to win all the trivia sessions!) Took our “victory lap” around deck 4 with our overt medallions and  then back to the room for some reading & showers.

So this is just another reason to use me as your travel agent! If I can win the DCL Trivia contest ON-BOARD DCL, just think what I can do for your travel planning!

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog.... Around 1:30pm we headed up to Deck 9 for water (& Kara saw someone coming out of the buffet with a plate full of shrimp cocktail).

Then since it was a second Day at Sea we stopped into the shops for a calmer perusal and bought postcards. Then we handled our “business” by stopping by Guest Services to checked our folios and move around some charges. All the tips went on Kara’s folio since that’s where our onboard credit was, made sure we had only the gratuity charge from Palo, and verified our onboard re-booking (next cruise).

Just after getting back to the stateroom Kara relented and succumbed to the awareness of shrimp cocktail and headed back up to Cabanas to grab some. Having FOMO I followed her up to investigate the desserts (maybe for later). I ended up with a bowl of chocolate pudding cake with vanilla sauce, while Kara had her healthiest meal of the trip! #ThatsVacation This only made us more hungry so we ordered a Margherita Pizza & cookies (of course) from Room Service. 

During the call to Room Service, they thankfully reminded me we’d yet to order our Platinum in-room gift of a fruit tray, sparkling wine, or chocolate. Chocolate? Chocolate isn’t mentioned in our letter (& wasn’t offered on our previous cruise).

Since this was our final cruise of only me being Platinum, technically this was “my” benefit, so of course I selected the unknown “mystery” chocolate option!

I (more so than Kara) was delighted to receive a box of truffles (my fave!) 

To make best use of them to help our moods, we shared them on the (always sad) flight home! We split the Sea Salt, Kara had the Raspberry & Milk Chocolate, while I relished the Vanilla & Dark Chocolate! Yay!

This afternoon we flipped around the TV options & enjoyed uninterrupted reading before having to pack and discussing our plan for arrival in San Diego. Packing is always tough as 1) we usually do this before we are in our dinner wear, 2) limited space, and 3) we don't wanna! Between packing and the folio task, the final day always feels like a bit of work.

As we were packing, showering, and getting ready for dinner - Finally! - Avengers: Age of Ultron was on the Marvel channel!

Since we were on Second Dining (8:15pm), our Show time was 6:15pm. However, Kara keenly noted tonight’s performance of the newest show, “Frozen” was listed earlier at 6pm. Again, with all the first-time sailors and the popularity of this film, we knew getting to the theatre early was key (& still strange). There was even a line of people queued before they opened the theatre! 

I had heard a less than stunning review of this show online, but was trying to approach it with an open mind. Sadly, I have to agree with others; I have no interest in ever sitting through that again. First, it was LONG - an hour & a half! Normally the stage shows are about an hour-ish. However, my core peeve was that it was nothing more than a stage production of the film (maybe with one original song?). I could have stayed in the stateroom (or heck, stayed home!) and watched virtually the same thing!

This may sound gripey, but I think Disney Cruisers are very accustomed to original offerings onboard, something you cannot get anywhere else (including the parks)! Further those original offerings usually live up to their “Broadway-style” description with regard to quality. So having nothing more than a rehash of arguably one of the most over-played films/soundtracks in a good long while may not have been the greatest move. On the other hand, I’m sure the addition of this show and the “reservation” option of meeting Elsa and Anna encouraged families to try DCL for the first time. 

We will encounter something similar next May on the Magic with Rapunzel/”Tangled”. However, I adore that movie & soundtrack, so I’m interested & uncertain in what my reaction to that will be.

After we escaped the theatre(!), we headed back to our usual Crown & Fin for 90′s Music Trivia. Wow was the place packed for this! The entertainment Cast Member assigned to Crown & Fin was a real British ham, so having a bigger crowd just energized her. It was an incredibly fun time - & that’s saying something from an introvert who works to avoid crowds! 

Tonight’s dinner was in the newly re-imagined Tiana’s Place, themed (as you’d guess) from “The Princess & the Frog.” While the menu looked intriguing, I was really worried about this experience. Knowing there would be a combo of singing, dancing, and characters DURING the meal conjured chaotic images (similar to character meals at Walt Disney World that I typically avoid these days.) Additionally, I’m not a fan of this movie.

Honestly I was amazed and pretty blow away at the level of detail. The flooring, walls, tables & chairs, and especially the ceiling & lights - wow! 

Of course the menu was an exact duplicate from the movie.

Now onto the food! For the appetizer Kara ordered the traditional Shrimp & Grits, while I opted for the Boudin Sausage Fritters.

We found both of our dishes to be quite tasty! Unsurprisingly we ordered the same entree of the Cajun Sea Bass with Jambalaya.

It was equally tasty. (I mean, it is Sea Bass!!) And note the cute little frog on the plate! 

For dessert Kara tried the Southern Style Pecan Nut Tart.

Then, for our final dinner, I ordered THREE desserts: Tiana’s Buttermilk Beignets, the Chocolate Doberge Gateau, and Mama Odie’s White Chocolate Bread Pudding. (We had never dined in this restaurant previously and didn’t know when we might be on the Wonder next/again, so I had to try all of these, right?!)

Sadly, we were impressed by none of the desserts. Kara didn’t care for the tart. The Chocolate Doberge Gateau was the best of my options. The Beignets were the most disappointing in they had a bland flavor and I knew I wouldn’t appreciate the espresso in the sauce. I’ve never had an affinity for white chocolate, so I should have skipped the bread pudding altogether. I honestly thought it would be a more pure bread pudding, instead of swimming in ice cream, so I didn’t even bother finishing it.

So that was all the food, but a significant thread throughout the evening was the musical entertainment. First, we were lucky enough to be seated in the main aisle of the restaurant and only the second table from the stage. (A few photos up you can see the stage; we were the 2nd table on the right.) Second, Tiana introduced the entertainment and made her way around to each table for greetings and photos. 

Throughout the appetizer & entree courses, we had the New Orleans-style entertainment of The Crawfish Crooners. While I was concerned about overwhelming noise (especially that close to the stage), I must admit this was my favorite part of the entire dinner experience. It wasn’t too loud; they chose recognizable songs (of course), and they were quality entertainment. It was nice to “tap my toes” and even sing along at times! (I do wonder if the guests at the back of the restaurant could hear them or not???)

As we approached the dessert course, the music increased with the arrival of Louie. 

During and at the end of dessert was a full-on Mardi Gras-type parade around the restaurant. Personally I got into it (while staying in my chair) because it was a new fun experience, but normally this would have been too much for us in a dining room, as the sound grew far beyond a conversation level. 

We stayed for much of this just to see the entire production, but were beyond ready to dash back to our stateroom, mainly because we had to set our bags out.

We raced back upstairs (as is tradition) to change out of our dinner clothes and put our checked bags out by the 10:30pm deadline. I realized after my bag had been whisked away I’d packed the Dramamine and had only left out enough Bonine for morning (as we - more so Kara) tend to have a touch of imbalance acclimating back to solid land.

So clad in PJs, we worked our way through the obstacle course of hallway bags to trek down to the Medical Center on Deck 1, knowing they have a complimentary 24/7 bin of seasickness pill packets! (I can now confirm they are the non-drowsy meclizine formula!) 

This last night sleep was a struggle, probably because I’m become accustom to the Dramamine of nights past. 

Next up: Yes, there’s more to come; welcome to San Diego!

[2018dclrepo]

Day 1 (of 2) at Sea - Wednesday, September 12, 2018

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2018

View from our Navigator Verandah!

We awoke around 8am after both finally having a strong night’s sleep. (Thank you Dramamine!) Our only choice for breakfast after 9am was Cabanas. Interestingly I wrote myself a note here to “warn” future cruisers about this. As you read in a previous post, Cabanas, especially on the smaller ships is not made to accommodate all the guests. As can be expected on Days at Sea guests sleep later and take a more casual start to the day. (Thus, I was surprised at the limited later offerings.) 

Anyway, as Kara and I both spent our fair share of time pursuing college degrees and now both work in higher education, we are quick learners. Thus, it was the strategy of “divide & conquer”. We first went looking for a rare table to snag so we’d actually have somewhere close to sit and eat! Welcome to the vacation “Aggressive Kara” to snatched a two-top right out from under an older Asian lady and little girl. Vicious!  One of us held the table while the other got food in an orchestrated tag-team effort.

As each day of a cruise passes, we get more relaxed (read: lazy). Thus, neither of us brought our phones (cameras) to breakfast. So you’ll have to imagine the eggs Benedict, fruit, Mickey waffles (covered in strawberries & whipped cream!), banana bread and more!

At 10:30am Kara went to the cooking demonstration of the Wild Mushroom Risotto she had the night before in Palo, while I lounged in the stateroom reading. I placed the first order of my traditional Big Island Cookies from Room Service. However, the service was running late. (We’ve long-believed new servers first begin their training in Room Service.) The cookies were delivered  while we were out. So upon return, I was shocked/stunned/massively disappointed that they were notably smaller, definitely not Big Island! (This is going to require “a letter” to DCL.) Kara blames me for packing so many home in the past, requiring them to cut back for product loss reasons! FYI I only packed a few home, but didn’t even bother freezing them. I just ate them the weekend we returned, as they weren’t worth saving for later. So sad!

At 11:30am we met for to watch Avengers: Infinity War (again) in the on-board Buena Vista movie theatre. (Yes, I know I’d just seen it on the plane, but seeing it again in the theatre, a Disney theatre!, is a different experience! Note: The theatre is usually a little cool, so bring a jacket! This time I was cold enough I almost went back to the room for a blankie!) 

Immediately after the movie we headed down to Crown & Fin for the 2pm presentation of “Innovations: Theme Parks”. These are kind of a mix of seminar & documentary. However, this space was too cold and the presentation too slow, so we headed back to room. (The Navigator Verandah has a compass, barometer, and thermometer in it. This was showing only about 58 degrees, which slowly got to 70 in sun. So of course, I was “freezing”!)

The afternoon was spent lounging, reading and a slight nap before I got motivated to go to the 4pm Pilates in the Fitness Center. While I did this, Kara was on a nearby treadmill. The Pilates “class” had about 6 of us in the middle of the fitness area, which overlooks the front of the ship. Thus, it has incredible views! The class was tougher than I expected in some ways, and a bit easy in other ways. I almost wished I’d stayed on a treadmill next to Kara, as they are my favorite machines. They allow you to set the type of workout, give you a view of a track, mountains, etc., watch entertainment from your mobile device or choose from the onboard TV stations. (Of course this was the time Iron Man 2 - a real fave - was on the Marvel channel and I had to miss it!) FYI the Fitness Center offers machines, free weights, mats, and much more along with ice water, fruit, & towels. Nice!

After our minor “workout” we grabbed a late lunch at the Deck 9 pool quick service of chicken strips, fries, and treats from Cove Cafe.

I don’t know what is in the Chicken Strip breading, but I adore it. Luckily they accommodate the Midwestern need for BBQ sauce as well! This was the first time we’d experience rice krispie treats in Cove Cafe, so that was noted!

It was then time for quick showers while watching end of Avengers: Age of Ultron (YAY!) and all of The Little Mermaid. This all works out, as you have to plug the hairdryers in at the desk area right next to the TV.

Tonight we skipped the main stage show, as it was a guest performer. This is a typical offering of a magic, illusion, ventriloquist, and other entertainment like Stomp, etc. that we just don’t tend to love. So we took our leisurely time noting some features for you - our followers, like the “hand” on the elevator and the detailed directories at every elevator.

You aren’t getting lost with this!

We strolled through the Deck 3 shop again for me to finally buy a new bedazzled DCL top!  This was on our way to the 7:30pm 80s music trivia in Crown & Fin. It was a great place to enjoy a drink, some chips, a game of chess, and the trivia. #multitasking! 

Then it was off to our 8:15pm Pirate Dinner in Animator’s Palate. Today was Pirate Day/Night around the ship with pirate-themed activities, dinner, and special evening offerings. Sadly I didn’t snap a photo of my Pirate Day shirt. I only ever wear it on this day on the ship, as it’s a pink T with magenta sequins outlining the DCL wave logo and a skull & crossbones in silver sequins! :D They encourage Pirate attire, so plan accordingly!

The lighting is themed fairly dark in the restaurant to give a more pirate-y feel and to view the monitors, so apologies for the photos below. 

Tonight’s dinner started with appetizers of Shrimp Cocktail for Kara...

...and the Rock Crab Cake for me.

Kara and I ordered the same entree of the “Treasure of the Seas” highlighted with shrimp & scallops.

As a bonus, they also brought us a plate of the Marinated Caribbean Grouper Filet.

For dessert there was only one option for me: “Bananas in Paradise” - banana bread with hazelnut filling served with a banana spice puree.

While Kara had her usual.

If memory serves, we were not enamored with this meal. At least for me, it was pretty underwhelming to disappointing. I don’t know what it is about Animator’s. It’s an incredible “show” restaurant, but we don’t tend to like any of the menu options it offers. Very strange. 

Dinner ended with the traditional Pirate Parade around the restaurant.

This cruise I was determined to live in the moment and embrace the evening entertainment of the Pirates IN the Caribbean Deck Party & Show followed by the fireworks at sea. (Disney is the only cruise line to offer fireworks at sea!) I’d even learned they changed the evening on-deck dessert reception to a combo of sweet & savory in Cabanas. I was going to do it all!

You can guess where this is heading. We basically did none of this. Knowing how many first-time cruisers were on-board, experience told us the deck party would be a crazy chaos of humanity. The bigger issue was even with my trusty “puffy” jacket the dropping temps and increasing winds would make for a pretty miserably top deck experience for the fireworks. So instead we did what we almost always do and spied a bit of the fireworks from our cozy stateroom. 

Instead of the Cabanas reception, we (I) ordered the Cake of the Day (chocolate mousse) and cookies from Room Service while re-watching Dr. Strange. At this point we accept and have come to terms with our introvert-status (& my intolerance of the “cold”). It’s who we are, so this is how we Disney Cruise! (We also understand others do this very differently!)

Thus, it was off to Sleepy Town after midnight.

Next up: Day at Sea - Round Two!

[2018dclrepo]

Inaugural stop in Astoria, Oregon - Tuesday, September 11, 2018

I woke up at the traditional 6:30am, but on vacation and with the Dramamine, I went back to sleep until about 9am.  Sadly, Kara slept quite poorly. After quick casual dressing (only a step above sleepwear!) and some conflict-filled communication, we headed up to Cabanas for the buffet breakfast. (Note: Always pack leggings to thrown on for a quick dash about the ship!)

Cabanas was chaos.

While they have reorganized it to be more like the stations of the larger ships, and with so many first-time cruisers, most kept to a traditional single-file cafeteria line that made it incredibly slow. With the looks being thrown, many felt others were cutting in line, where there’s not supposed to be a traditional line! (DCL needs to give instructions at the door about this.)

Additionally, Cabanas cannot accommodate anywhere near the entire ship. With it being full, we took our brief breakfast to an outside table by the pools. The cool temp and breeze only made a bad situation worse. (A cold and windy breakfast is never going to work for me.) We scarfed that down, went in to make a 2nd plate of food and took them back to the serenity of our stateroom.

We then immediately got dressed and headed down to Azure on Deck 3 to meet for our Port Adventure at 11:45am. Our Port Adventure was promoted as “Create Your Own Glassblowing Masterpiece (AS10)” 

Price: $124.00 (ages 13 and up)

Activity Level & Duration: Mild 1.5 to 2 Hours

Watch glass transform into beautiful works of art in the experienced hands of Claude Kurtz.On this adventure you will…

Meet Claude Kurtz at the Fernhill Glass Studio and learn about the ancient craft of glassblowing.

Assist in the craft by choosing the right colors to help create your own one-of-a-kind masterpiece. 

Claude will complete the piece for you and ship it to the address you provide.

We were pretty excited about this, as I most gravitate toward hands-on activities where I’m actually “doing” something vs just gazing in museums, etc. Plus, BONUS it includes a personal souvenir! #winwin 

I love this lighting in Azure!

There were only 6 of us - all adults - for our tour. While breezy, it great to finally see the sun at this seaside village. Somehow our driver got a bit lost (!), but we made it to the Fernhill Glass building place in quick order.

Surprisingly it was a fairly basic open-air garage with a cement lower-level and viewing area/items for sale upper-level. It was an industrial, rustic facility. We signed our waivers, stored items, and donned safety glasses.

Claude gave an effortless demonstration; he had obviously been doing this work daily for years. He showed us each step of the process:

Heat the pipe

Add liquid glass 

Heat the glass

Add color pebbles

Heat glass & pebbles to melt the color into the glass while evenly turning

Press into mold to give accent shaping

Blow air to expand into ornament while using tool to twist color and evenly shape

Drop into water to immediately cool

Add glass loop to top of ornament

Place into kiln for finishing

Then we each got to choose a color for our ornament.

Kara volunteered to go first and chose to make a multi-colored ornament.

The first one didn’t make it. Claude said roughly 30% fail in the process, typically from not getting it formed & shaped quickly enough. It took a little longer than expected, so I volunteered to go next. It was tough for me to choose between the blues, teal, and white. In the end I chose the teal. Boy was a nervous!

As the other members of our group made their ornaments, we browsed the beautiful pieces being showcased.

There was also a tray of pieces of unfinished ornaments that “didn’t make” it. The tray was titled “Broken Dreams”. (How sad!) So I purchased $8 worth of Broken Dreams to add to the sea glass already featured in my living room. I also purchased a small cobalt blue “wave” (that’s still in its bubble wrap - that I always travel with for just these occasions!) 

FYI both of our bulbs (damage-free) where waiting for us at our respective homes upon our return. I’m SUPER glad I chose the teal. With the flecks of white, it reminds me of ocean waves!

We were transported back to the ship in wonderful sunshine, but still blustery wind. 

The sun was so bright we captured terrible selfies (not shown), which is typical for us!

We showed our IDs, swiped out Key cards, and cleared security to re-board the ship. We were gratefully greeted with complimentary cookie & hot chocolate! AHHH, welcome home!

With the lobby fairly empty, I grabbed additional photos of its beauty.

This new light feature was inspired by the flower typically found in Ariel’s hair! (Yes, this is what replaced the Chihuly, if you know what I’m talking about. I miss the previous version. However, we learned it was taken out and is in storage to make for better sight lines from Decks 4 & 5.)

We participated in Disney Tuned trivia in the Prominade Lounge at 2:45pm. Since we didn’t have a real lunch, Kara grabbed some chicken strips on Deck 9, while I dropped off Kara’s placeholder form (to book a future TBD cruise!)

We then lounged in our stateroom for a bit. Since this ship doesn’t have On-Demand, I was excited to see there was a Marvel Channel. Disappointingly, it seemed to show Ant Man at least 75% of the time we turned it on!

Our Navigator Verandah was a great choice in these windy conditions! Then it was time for showers and to get ready for dinner! As we left for dinner, we FINALLY met our stateroom host. This had to be the latest we ever met our stateroom host, so sadly we did have opportunities to get to know Jervie.

Then blissfully, it was time for our 6pm dinner at Palo, the reservation-only, adult-only restaurant on the top deck! Svetlana from Serbia was our server and we were seated right next to the windows for the glorious 180 degree views! I timed our dinner to coincide with our sail-out from Astoria, so other than some unexpected fog, it was wonderful scenery!

Palo offers a prix fixe wine pairing menu and a traditional a la carte; we chose the latter. Due to the theme of the restaurant, the meal always begins with a traditional Italian antipasti course. 

Below is Kara’s plate, as about the only thing I eat of this course is a bit of fresh mozzarella! This course also comes with a variety of hard breadsticks that pair wonderfully.

For the appetizer, Kara ordered fresh Tomato and Mozzarella Caprese. 

I ordered the Soft Potato Gnocchi.

The pinnacle of service is at the core of Palo. As you see here, each table has a different server. Only as time passes in the evening have we seen a server cover two tables! FYI the man in the gold (vs burgundy) vest is the Palo sommelier.  Did you know Disney has more sommeliers than any other company in the world. Here are some fun facts on the topic!

The rest of the meal is what I had been longing for for months! Kara wanted to try more than one options. So her primary pasta dish was the Wild Mushroom Risotto. 

Then she got a 1/2 order and I got a whole order of amazingness I discovered on our last cruise - the Pappardelle con Aragosta. This is a Pappardelle pasta tossed in lobster Tarragon sauce with Leeks, White Truffle Oil, and grilled Lobster. Yes, the pasta is made from scratch every day. In short, this is a dish from Heaven.

Then we have a refreshing palate cleanser of lemon sorbet with blueberry.

Next were the entrees. Kara selected the Pennette Pasta with grilled shrimp.

While I chose the Sea Scallops.

Finally was the dessert course. Kara does appreciate all the “gooey” Italian options, so she orders a bit off menu for a simple glass of raspberry sorbet with mixed berries.

The I dove into my TWO Chocolate Souffles with Vanilla Bean gelato and vanilla & chocolate sauces! Palo is the only place across all the Disney Destinations you can order this!

To Kara’s shock and my disappointment, I was only able to consume about 1 2/3! I felt so sad for me and the souffle that I physically couldn’t finish it! (I blame it on the readily expanding Pappardelle!)

We realized when we got home that we didn’t have the traditional shot of Lemoncello to end the meal! Alas, we were full! It was another highly successful time at Palo, and made even better now that this is complimentary due to my Platinum Castaway Club status!

We had just enough time to pop back to our stateroom and grab 1/2 a Dramamine early, as the ship has some unexpected, but notable rocking!

Then at 8:30pm we settled in for my favorite of all the DCL stage shows, Disney Dreams!

Having had a day of sun, fresh air, no nap, full bellies, and a rocking ship, it was an early night to bed! 

Next up: Day 1 (of 2) at Sea!

[2018dclrepo]

Boarding the Wonder in Vancouver - Monday, September 10, 2018

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

Even with the mostly non-functional hotel A/C (grrrr), we slept a bit better, but we're still awake by 6:30am.  Showers, packing and in-room breakfast and we were headed downstairs with luggage in tow to mail postcards.

We had time for Kara to pop into a drug store attached to the hotel and we were off to the port just before 10am.

The Port of Vancouver is great, as you get dropped off INSIDE the port parking garage, thus, covered from the elements! (This was key on another day of nearly constant on/off rain.) The bell staff loaded our luggage and we were headed inside the terminal. We were immediately ushered upstairs to check in for the cruise. 

There were only a few families there and we were the only ones at the Concierge/Platinum desk. In what was probably our quickest check-in. We had our photo taken, issues Key to the World cards & lanyards, passports verified, and given the Personal Navigator. We saw our requested dining rotation was granted!

Next we were directed to security to go through the TSA-style system, which they had just opened. We next entered all our info into a Customs & Border Patrol kiosk and were cleared. Most people around us were doing a Back-To-Back and were allowed back on the ship. We were the first at the pre-boarding holding area...

...and after about 10 minutes were the first to lead the rest of the growing group to the primary waiting area. 

This is all mostly in a large warehouse, unlike the themed terminal at Port Canaveral.

Around 11:45am the Family of the Day was called along with the Group #1 cruises (us) to board. We stopped for the customary pre-boarding photo and were announced onto the ship. 

We dashed upstairs to Deck 9 Cabanas for buffet lunch, knowing it would be empty (for a very brief time). 

After a lovely lunch (& now full Cabanas) we headed to the Youth Clubs. They have open house time on boarding afternoon and 1) we had never been in them and 2) I needed photos for my travel agent work!

These photos are from both the Oceaneer Club & Oceaneer Lab. The hallway with the blue pixie dust carpet internally connects the two so kids can effortlessly move between the two as activities change throughout the day!

Then we checked out and captured pictures of the re-imagined, new adult clubs in After Hours. (I LOVE the new blue textured wallpaper welcoming guests into this area!)

Welcome to the piano bar, Cadillac Lounge!

We’ll be seeing A LOT of Crown & Fin, the British pub, on this sailing!

This is Azure, an all-purpose area for such things as Port Adventure meeting location, a lecture/presentation space, and the evening themed dance club! (It’s actually beautiful, decorated in reflection of ocean waves!)

Next we headed down to pick-up the re-booking form and happened to catch Cruise Minnie! 

We also grabbed a photo of D Lounge, the “family” club...

...and even Animator’s Palette (with no humans)!

We wasted a bit of time just sitting in the windows in Shutters until our room was available. 

We headed to our stateroom (6638) right at the 1:30pm “opening” and in an amazing feat, Kara’s bag was already here. Kara unpacked, while I perused the in-room Guest Service book - a nerd tradition!

Here’s a look around our stateroom with Navigator Verandah - Category 7A. This special verandah is semi-enclosed, a great option when the weather is a bit questionable!

The TVs on the Classic ships (Wonder & Magic) offer many Disney-specific channels, as well as Pixar and Marvel! When the ship is close enough to reach a land signal, national news and sports channels are also available. (The Dream Class ships, Dream & Fantasy, offer free on-demand TV & movies!)

The Navigator Verandah is partially-enclosed, which is great protection from the wind, and also features a huge opening to bask in the surroundings. There’s also a chair, bench-seating, and small table to enjoy fresh air, a good book, room service, & more!

Plenty of storage in dressers, a double closet, drawers around the desk, and a raised bed to store your luggage!

The sofa folds down into a twin-sized bed and most cabins also feature a twin-sized drop-down bunk from the ceiling. No worries here, as your room steward will make up and put away the bedding options each day!

My bag was delivered around 3:30pm. (It was actually dropped off a couple doors down, so make sure to really look around for your luggage!) It was a quick unpack before the 4pm muster drill.

All ship activities stop and a required muster drill is held before things really get started. Your Key to the World Card, the map on the back of your stateroom door, and about a dozen Cast Members will show you where to go. All muster stations are located on Deck 4, the same deck as all the lifeboats. (Our station was in Animator’s Palete.) They account for all the passengers, make the safety instruction announcements, and then you’re effortlessly released.

From the muster drill is typically a mad dash to the pool deck (Deck 9) for the Sail Away Party! 

If you want to really experience the party, dance with the Cast Members, & see the characters up close, head to the middle of the pool deck as they cover the pool to make a dance floor! If you want great views of the surrounding and want to be a bit more removed, choose the overlook railings of Deck 10!)

It was still a cloudy, cool, & misty day, so we skipped the Sail Away Party, and like good introverts, headed to Cove Cafe, the adult coffee bar. (On the Wonder the upper deck of Cove Cafe is reserved for concierge guests.)

As we began to pull out, I dashed out to get some photos. The view was good enough I encourage Kara to brave it as well. Any location around Deck 10 provides great views!

It’s always breeze up here so the weather wasn’t too bad (especially in my puffy coat!) There is also a nice glassed-in at the very front of the ship.

We headed back to our room to change shoes for the evening show & dinner. We (read: Kara) went to meet Pluto at 5:45pm, but the line was crazy (for ship, not park, standards), so we by-passed it. (The line for Mickey was nuts, wrapped more than half-way around the Deck 4 atrium! I’m not sure I’ve seen lines for characters like this on any other sailing. Odd.)

We wasted more time taking in the views from the large windows in Shutters and then did an initial walk through the Deck 4 shops when they opened at 6pm. (FYI on-board shops are not open while in port, due to certain laws.)

The opening night show was the traditional “Golden Mickeys” at 6:15pm. 

During all of the welcoming, they went through the usual poll of returning vs first-time cruisers. There were A LOT of first-time cruisers, so we knew we were in a bit of “trouble”. (But at least we knew where to hang-out that others might not be aware of!)

Between the show and dinner we browsed through the one (almost hidden shop!) on Deck 3 & then went to Movie Music trivia and simultaneously played a game of chess in Crown & Fin pub over a plate of chips & salsa. (If you’re curious about us and chess, you need to read our previous trip report from the Dream in 2017....)

Kara says this illustrates who we are as people. The nicely organized black piece are those I won from Kara, while the light jumble are those Kara won from me. (Make your own conclusions....)

This time our game ended in a peaceful draw.

Our 8:15pm dinner was in my favorite of all the DCL restaurants: Triton’s. I find the hand-laid mosiac feature wall to be glorious! (It’s twice as big as the portion in this photo!)

This sailing our Assistant Server was Ariel from the Philippines & Server Elizabeth from Mexico. (FYI I do have photos of all the menus, so message me if you’d like to review them!)

For the appetizer Kara & I both selected the Iced Lobster with Jumbo Shrimp. (FYI in the main dining rooms I tend to exclusively select seafood, which is tough to find good options in the middle of Indiana!)

For the entree, again we both selected the Conchigle Pasta (buttered lobster in a tomato shrimp tarragon, Brandy sauce with lemon basil). Delish & quite filling!

Kara tried the Apple Tart Tatin, but as usual, she tends to not like the standard dessert options.

As usual, I ordered two desserts. Triton’s features one of my favorite DCL offerings: the Grand Marnier Souffle! YUM. Also as usual, they also brought us a bonus Tahitian Banana Creme Brulee! (It was just ok, especially in comparison! Actually I thought it was a bit under-done.)

After a day filled with so many things, the adrenaline of finally being on-board wore off. So we both journaled for this blog (& future scrapbook) and were lights-out by 11pm. (And stay tuned if I need to any specific comments from Kara after posting!)

Next up: The inaugural port stop in Astoria, Oregon and an interesting Port Adventure!

Gayle Hartleroad is affiliated with Off to Neverland Travel, LLC. Contact me today for your no-obligation quote and free planning services with any Disney Vacation booking! Web: gaylehartleroad.offtoneverland.com; Facebook page: www.facebook.com/gayle.offtoneverland

[2018dclrepo]

A (rainy) day in Vancouver - Sunday, September 9, 2018

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2018

While we were asleep the night prior by 9/9:30pm Pacific (12/12:30am Eastern at home), it was a fitful night with a hard pillow and under-performing air conditioner. Thus, we gave up by 5am Pacific (8am home) - & it's still dark out side. Flying west is usually easier for me, but sadly not this time.

Our plan for today was to take a hop on/hop off bus for Kara to show me the sights of the Vancouver. However, with the continuous forecast of 100% rain and having not slept great, our plans are being downgraded.

We hung out in the room until around 8:30am since Granville Island Public Market would open at 9am.  We decided to walk since it was maybe just sprinkling. We accidentally missed our turn to get to the ferry and instead realized we had walked a major bridge, no longer needing the ferry. 

It added time and distance, but frankly we needed the steps. Since it was so early, very luckily the Public Market wasn't yet busy. We did an initial walk-through and then ventured to the Arts area. 

I bought a few postcards from a store selling only interesting postcards, so that checked a must-do from my list, but forgot I was in another country and would need special stamps!

Even though we weren't too hungry, we decided to get lunch and mutually decided to share a Corn Chowder Pot Pie in a mug (from A La Mode Pie, who sadly doesn’t have a website or option to ship!) since we'd be getting other “treats”. 

The place was now packed and it was raining outside! We were lucky to find a bench to share space with a cocktail table under an outdoor awning to dine. It was cool enough the steam gloriously rose from the pot pie. The croissant was buttery & flaky and the chowder smooth & creamy. It was probably the best corn chowder of my life! 

We realized we'd finished lunch at 11:45am!

We then went to Stuart’s, where I got a Chocolate Decadence cake and Kara got a blueberry scone (for tomorrow's breakfast). 

Next we selected Canadian boxed chocolates & truffles from ChocolaTas. My selections were Maple Pecan (when in Canada!), Dark Chocolate Orange, Dark Chocolate Vanilla, and Dark Chocolate. (See a theme?!) The second box will be a treat for Mom.

Then we headed back to the free samples of Bon Mano Bon to purchase some amazing natural, organic Chocolate Almond Crunch granola. (This stuff is seriously so good that I already looked at ordering online, but wow is it expensive!) Kara also bought chocolate covered coffee-beans.

Finally, we ended at A Bread Affair where I got a giant chocolate croissant (for breakfast tomorrow) and cookies (Best Freakin’ Peanut Butter Awesomeness and Double Valrhona Chocolate & Brown Butter).

The rain was to continue into the night and we knew the lacking sleep would catch up with us quick. So we skipped going to Science World (& their special Pixar exhibit!) as well as finding our way to Ganache Patisserie! (That tells you how tired I was!) Kara had asked where to find a taxi, but we didn't get a useful response. So we walked back to the main street away from Granville Market and quickly accepted the reality that randomly getting a taxi wasn't going to happen. So we took a breath, channeled our marching band days, put up our hoods, and made the long journey back whence we came.

After this long & mostly uphill trek, we arrived back at the hotel damp and sweaty a bit after 1pm. We learned we'd already complete over 13,000 steps (including over an hour in “exercise mode”, so we collapsed for the rest of the afternoon.

Eventually we dashed across the drive for a quick bagel & turkey sandwich from Tim Horton’s with some treats from Granville Island. During “Mission:Impossible Rogue Nation” and the “Miss American” competition, we reorganized & packed.

Next up: All aboard the Disney Wonder!

[2018dclrepo]

Vancouver - Saturday, September 8, 2018

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2018 The day is finally here! My alarm was set for a challenging 5am! (I always say the only reason to get up before the sun is for a marching band competition or a Disney trip!)

I departed promptly at 6:31am (following a long goodbye to my cat, Princess Kealy) and made record time getting to my BFF Kara's in Indianapolis at 7:24am! It was a cool & rainy in Indy.

#chirpchirp Go Cards!

We endured our 10:30am United flight to O’Hare (via Embraer 175) on a seat as hard as a wooden bench! At O'Hare we had our traditional Auntie Anne's pretzel dog & treats from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company during a 2 hr layover.

United to Vancouver (on Airbus A330) was gratefully on much more comfortable seats. While I was grateful for the sun, it blasted in our window, so no sleep for me! I was really hoping to see Avengers: Infinity War (again) on this trip, hopefully on the ship. Well, I couldn’t give up watching it on the plane and Kra & I even synced our tablets! I get really antsy on long flights, especially on my way to a destination so I got too impatient with two favorites of Inception and Now You See Me, so I wasted time the new Muppet Babies! LOL!

We arrived a bit early into Vancouver, which has a beautiful airport. (Apparently this is thanks to the most recent Olympics there.) I was shocked at how quiet & efficient customs was. (Welcome to Canada!) However, our aggressive taxi driver had me fearing for my life on our way to our downtown hotel. We immediately got checked into Hyatt Regency Downtown. Floor 15 (which was half paid by our Hyatt points)! 

They have an unusual system of  swiping your room key at the elevator bank and it tells you which elevator to take - no buttons inside the elevator so make sure you get on the right one! 

We ventured out into the cloudy and rainy downtown Vancouver to split Chipotle for dinner. We swung by a pastry shop I wanted to try very near our hotel (Thierry) for dessert treats. 

I chose the Chocolate Succe ( hazelnut meringue + dense chocolate mousse + tempered 70% chocolate)!. 

Rain came down harder on way home, so we were pretty damp (jeans & shoes) by the time we got home. Glad we packed rain gear!  

That evening we found the original Avengers movie on TV - except it was in French! Definitely entertaining “Capitaine Amérique”! With a long travel day, we called it a night pretty early. Based on the notable rain forecast for the next day, we already suspected our plans would change....

Next up: A Day in (some of) Vancouver getting our steps. Lots of steps.

[2018dclrepo]

Welcome!

Welcome to another BFF trip report from Gayle & Kara! In case you don’t know us:

Gayle (right) - DCL Platinum, side gig with an Authorized Disney Travel Vacation agency (Off to Neverland Travel), higher education administrator, is obsessed with desserts, in this friendship I’m the “planner/implementer”

Kara (left) - DCL Gold, higher education administrator, is obsessed with Pluto & cool art, in this friendship she is the “idea person”

HISTORY OF HOW TRIP CAME ABOUT

Due to our busy work schedules and budgeting, we now plan trips (or at least wishes!) a few years out. Thus, 2018 was to be a “less” year. These days we browse through the seasonal Disney Cruise Line announcements looking for something “different”, as we've done our share of Bahamas and Western & Eastern Caribbean cruises.

Even though it was slated for the 4th week of the fall semester, we made plans for a very different sailing - a re-positioning cruise. (That’s what “repo” stands for; nothing got repossessed!) This is where the embark & debark ports are different. For ours Disney is re-positioning the Wonder from its season in Alaska to Mexico. So as a sole offering, we are taking a 4 night cruise from Vancouver, BC to San Diego, CA with a single port stop in Astoria, OR.

The “firsts” for this cruise are 1) It's our first cruise starting in a different country, 2) It's the furthest we've even flown (so far - stay tuned!) to get to the cruise, 3) It’s my first time to Vancouver, and 4) It’s my first time in Oregon! This will also be DCL’s inaugural stop in Astoria, OR.

The most exciting “last” is it's Kara’s last cruise in Gold Status in DCL’s loyalty program, Castaway Club. By next week she will join in Platinum, the highest tier!

Since the cruise is Mon.-Fri., we of course are making use of the weekends by flying in two days early to Vancouver and staying two extra nights in San Diego. We both love San Diego, so that was a must! Thus, our schedule is:

Sat., Sept. 8 - Fly to Vancouver

Sun., Sept. 9 - Day in Vancouver

Mon., Sept. 10 - Board Disney Wonder!

Tues., Sept. 11 - Port in Astoria, OR

Wed., Sept. 12 - Day at Sea

Thurs., Sept. 13 - Day at Sea

Fri., Sept. 14 - Debark in San Diego

Sat., Sept. 15 - Day in San Diego

Sun., Sept. 16 - Fly home