We all woke up early and ate a yummy breakfast at IHOP with auntie Lory and uncle Nestor. After breakfast we drove back to San Diego airport to catch the bus to get to the pier. My heart jumped when we saw the Disney Wonder! We boarded on the ship in the afternoon and were able to get into our room, 7121. To save money, we decided to just book an inside stateroom. On Disney Cruises the west coast sailings are so much more expensive than cruising in the Bahamas or Caribbean. Perhaps it's because they do it less frequently so they're in higher demand? Anyways, we chose the 7th floor because it was only 3 flights of stairs to get to the top deck, and three flights of stairs to get to the main atrium. We also chose the back of the ship on deck 7 because there's a "secret" verandah, which I desperately wanted to be near since we didn't have any windows. I thought our inside stateroom was alright, but my husband said that we will not do it again. Haha. It was a tight fit for the three of us, but it wasn't uncomfortable.
After we got settled in we decided to explore the ship. After sailing on the two larger Disney ships, I was a little worried that I'd be disappointed sailing on an older ship. While the Disney Wonder is noticeably smaller, I could not believe how beautiful she is! She's nearly 20 and still looks amazing! We ate a delicious lunch at the Beach Blanket Buffet and then went to the mandatory evacuation drill. We took pictures with Woody, Donald, and also with Minnie Mouse. We watched the Toy Story musical, shopped at the cute gift shops, and then ate dinner at Animator's Palette. Our server team were nothing less than extraordinary, in fact, they were my favorite servers we've had on any of our Disney Cruises.
I took note of what I ate - Smoked Salmon Tartare, Sliced Serrano Ham, Chicken & Walnut Salad, Lemon-Thyme Marinated Chicken, and had the Sweet Temptations trio for dessert. The Animator's Palette is different from ship to ship, and on this sailing Mickey Mouse himself came out! It was such a lovely surprise!
May 19 marked my sister's 27th birthday! We took pictures with all of the Disney princesses in the main atrium. Then we ate breakfast at the Beach Blanket Buffet. Sean and I went to the DVC Group Preview and actually won a prize! It was just a USB drive, but exciting nonetheless. Of course it was tempting for us to add more points to our Disney Vacation Club timeshare, but we avoided the temptation. Hahaha. We watched Shawn Farquhar work some magic on stage... And then we realized that he sits next to us on our dinner rotations! How awesome is what?! Bella had some fun interactions with him later during our sailing.
Dinner was at Parrot Cay. I had the Pirates Golden Postickers, Chilled To The Bone Honeydew & Watermelon Soup, Treasure Of The Seas Grilled Shrimp & Seared Scallops. Unfortunately I felt so sick. Not even Dramamine was helping me. The west coast seemed so much rockier than on the east coast! Maybe it felt rockier because the ship is smaller than its sister ships? Anyways, it was a bummer that I missed out on Pirate Night. They do fireworks at sea and throw a huge party on the main deck. I kept telling myself that I can experience it on our next cruise! I knew I had to try to sleep it off because we were going to be in San Francisco the following day and I didn't want to miss any of the excursions.
Friday - May 20, 2016
Jenn and I woke up super early at 6:15 and went to the top deck. We woke up in San Francisco and wanted to see the Disney Wonder sail underneath the Golden State Bridge! It was so cool, and it was even more magical when our ship blasted "When You Wish Upon a Star" through it's horn. Thankfully I woke up feeling much better. I was pretty excited for my little sister because she's ALWAYS wanted to see the Golden State Bridge.
We did a Muir Woods and Sausilito Tour. The first place we stopped at was Vista Point which had some lovely views of the bridge and then we continued on to Muir Woods. Oh my gosh, Muir Woods had be breathless! It was so cool to be surrounded by those redwoods. I loved it so much. After Muir Woods we went to Sausilito and ate lunch there.
When we got back to the pier, we took a cab to go to the Walt Disney Family Museum. It's been on my Disney Bucket List for quite some time! It was pretty cool to learn even more about Walt Disney and see many artifacts that he's personally owned. After the museum we took a cab and went to Pier 39, aka tourist trap. Even though it was super touristy, I loved it! I had some of the yummiest calamari in my life from one of the vendors. We also saw the famous sea lions that live on the docks. We went to CVS and picked up some medicine and also some snacks and then walked back to the pier that our ship was docked at.
Dinner was at Parrot Cay. I ate Jamaican Jerk-marinated Chicken Tenderloins and Mixed Grill plate (lamb chop, tenderloin steak, jumbo shrimp). After dinner we did some loads of laundry and also ordered room service.
Saturday - May 21, 2016
We enjoyed a day at sea. The first thing we did when we woke up was took pictures with Anna, Elsa, and Olaf. Then we watched Jungle Book at the theater, ate lunch at Tritons, and then I took a nap with Bella. We watched the reimagined Golden Mickeys! It was my favorite show that we saw on the ship. Dinner was at Tritons and I ate Iced Lobster and Jumbo Shrimp, Gaston's Escargot Gratinee (my first time trying snails! LOL), Farmhouse Salad, and my entree was the Oven-Baked Salmon Royale.
Sunday - May 22, 2016
Yay, Sean's 28th birthday! We enjoyed another day at sea. Boom dropped off Bella at Disney's Oceaneer's Club, aka daycare, and the adults enjoyed a lovely brunch at Palo. OH EM GEE, it was one of my favorite experiences on the ship. The food was delightfully delicious and the service was impeccable. Palo on the Disney Wonder is my favorite compared to Palo on the other ships we've been on. There are more windows so the ocean views looked even more spectacular and the service seemed a little more casual, yet still sophisticated. After brunch we were so full that we decided to take a nap, haha! When we woke up from our nap we went to the Vista Spa. Sean and I just bought guest passes and relaxed in the saunas and steam rooms. After the spa we started packing since we were going to disembark the following day.
Sean and I headed to the Future Cruises desk and planned my Dirty 30 celebration. There are some perks if you book a future cruise while still on board:
- The deposit is 10% (instead of the standard 20%)
- 10% off cruise rate
- Up to $200 stateroom credit on the future cruise (I think it's $100 for 3-6 night sailings and $200 for 7+ night sailings)
After making our reservation, we did some last minute shopping at the gift shops. We watched the Dreams show at the theater and then Sean and I had a romantic dinner at Palo. Not only was it his birthday, it was also our engagement anniversary. He proposed to me on his golden birthday 6 years ago. :) For dinner I had the Fritto di Calamari e Gamberi, Ciuppin Soup, Caramelle di vitello, and Amaretto Souffle.
Monday - May 23, 2016
Today was disembarkation day :( While we were sad our cruising adventure was finished, we were also excited to be in Canada. It was my first time in Canada! Our cruise ended at Vancouver, BC. We ate breakfast at Animator's Palate and got to say goodbye to our wonderful servers. After we disembarked, we took a taxi to get to our hotel. I chose the Hyatt Regency since we had a great experience at the Hyatt in Orlando. While the hotel is nice, in the future I'd probably pick somewhere that's more "family friendly." We relaxed for a few hours and then explored downtown. The architecture was pretty cool. It was amazing being surrounded by those tall buildings! I can see why so many movies are filmed there and make the city portray Seattle. On the other hand, I don't know if it's just because we were downtown or if Canadians are just not friendly. One of the examples I have - We walked into a few businesses, which some of them were "high end," and no one even said hello to us. I don't know if it's because we had a kid with us, but it was irritating and unwelcoming.
We ate at a sushi place and while I initially thought it was expensive, I remembered that the conversion rate to USD meant that the meal was actually a lot cheaper than I thought it was. Awesome! The food was really good, but then we had a problem when it came time to pay. I read several reviews that said many establishments in downtown Vancouver converted and accepted American money... I was going to pay with cash, but they insisted that the conversion was dollar for dollar (bull shit) so I ended up paying with a credit card instead. If I paid them with cash it would have resulted in a big fat undeserving tip if I caved in. We only brought $120 CAD with us on the trip, next time we go we'll bring more or just put everything on a card.
After lunch we walked to Stanley Park. Sean and I were able to watch the Disney Wonder sail away to Alaska! It was a very wonderful surprise. We ended up taking a cab back to our hotel and met up with the rest of our crew for dinner at Pink Elephant Thai. The food was awesome and the decor was pretty (lots of pinks and whites). After dinner we picked up some snacks and drinks from Urban Market and then called it a night.
Tuesday - May 24, 2016
Sean, Jenn, and I are HUGE Once Upon a Time fans. One of the biggest reasons why I wanted to spend some time in Vancouver was to go to Steveston, aka Storybrooke. We decided to use public transportation since it would have been expensive to take a cab there. We took the skytrain, which was my first time being on a subway! After we got off the skytrain we hopped on a bus to get to Steveston. All in all I think it took an hour and a half to get to our destination.
Oh my gosh, I can't explain how cool it was to walk along the street of "Storybrooke!" I was really surprised how short the street is. Then again, everything seems to be bigger on TV than in real life. We ate at "Granny's Cafe." The food was okay, but it was cool being there nonetheless. We saw the clock tower, Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop, and we also saw the dock. Steveston was hands down my favorite thing we saw while in Canada.
After Steveston we made our trek back to Vancouver. When we got back we checked out the mall and ended up eating dinner at the food court. We went to a few London Drugs stores (it's kind of like a big Walgreens or CVS) and bought several snacks that we never see in America. If I had known Kinder Eggs weren't sold in USA, I probably would have brought a bunch more home! LOL.
Wednesday - May 25, 2016
Our last day of vacation! We checked out of our hotel, ate lunch at Tim Horton's (which is like the McDonald's of Canada), walked and shopped along Robson Street, and then took a cab to the airport. We took a short flight to Seattle and then flew back home to Anchorage.
I thought I'd like Vancouver more than I actually did... I don't know, maybe I had too high of expectations? Or maybe we shouldn't have stayed downtown? Or maybe that's just their culture and vibe? Or maybe we didn't stay long enough for us to get a "true" feeling of the city? Our time in Vancouver wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. The only highlights I have are going to Steveston and seeing the Disney Wonder sail away.
I eventually want to go again since we didn't get to do a lot and I'd love to see Steveston again. Hopefully the next time we go we'll have a much better experience!
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